Topicmaster1010

Unbelievable. Czech Republic is going to the World Baseball Classic. First ever fully homegrown European team. Huge for not only Czech baseball but for European baseball as well

What a turnaround, Czech Republic leads Spain 3-1 with one inning to go!

September 20th Scores: Germany 4-8 Czech Republic Spain 9-10 Great Britain F/10 * Germany eliminated from qualification. Great Britain qualifies to the 2023 World Baseball Classic September 21st Schedule: Czech Republic vs. Spain , 19:00 CET One last game to determine the final qualifier. Opening Round Semifinals Qualifier Winners Bracket Game 3 Game 1 Czech Republic 7 Game 8 9 South Africa 4 Spain 5 Spain 21 Spain Game 4 Great Britain 10 Game 2 Germany 1 Great Britain 14 France 4 Great Britain 8 Lower Round 1 Lower Round 2 Lower Final Lower Bracket Game 5 Game 7 France 1 Czech Republic 7 Czech Republic 8 Game 9 Game 6 Germany 4 Spain South Africa 5 Germany 11 Czech Republic

Congrats Great Britain! Hope this can help grow the game in the country! Now here's hoping the Czechs can pull off a big upset tomorrow

What a game!

Czech Republic beats Germany 8-4 and they will play for a spot in the World Baseball Classic!

September 19 Scores: South Africa 5-11 Germany * South Africa Eliminated from Qualification September 20 Schedule: Germany vs. Czech Republic , 13:00 CET Spain vs. Great Britain , 19:00 CET Biggest day of the qualifiers coming up with a direct qualification game between Spain and Great Britain and a game between Germany and Czech Republic to determine who gets to play in the 2nd qualification game. Updated Bracket: Opening Round Semifinals Qualifier Winners Bracket Game 3 Game 1 Czech Republic 7 Game 8 South Africa 4 Spain 5 Spain 21 Spain Game 4 Great Britain Game 2 Germany 1 Great Britain 14 France 4 Great Britain 8 Lower Round 1 Lower Round 2 Lower Final Lower Bracket Game 5 Game 7 France 1 Czech Republic 7 Czech Republic Game 9 Game 6 Germany Loser Game 8 South Africa 5 Germany 11 Winner Game 7

September 17 Scores: France 1-7 Czech Republic * France Eliminated from Qualification September 18 Schedule: South Africa vs. Germany , 19:00 CET Updated Bracket: Opening Round Semifinals Qualifier Winners Bracket Game 3 Game 1 Czech Republic 7 Game 8 South Africa 4 Spain 5 Spain 21 Spain Game 4 Great Britain Game 2 Germany 1 Great Britain 14 France 4 Great Britain 8 Lower Round 1 Lower Round 2 Lower Final Lower Bracket Game 5 Game 7 France 1 Czech Republic 7 Czech Republic Game 9 Game 6 Winner Game 6 Loser Game 8 South Africa Germany Winner Game 7

September 17 Scores: Spain 21-7 Czech Republic Great Britain 8-1 Germany September 18 Schedule: France vs. Czech Republic, 13:00 CET South Africa vs. Germany, 19:00 CET Updated Bracket: Opening Round Semifinals Qualifier Winners Bracket Game 3 Game 1 Czech Republic 7 Game 8 South Africa 4 Spain 5 Spain 21 Spain Game 4 Great Britain Game 2 Germany 1 Great Britain 14 France 4 Great Britain 8 Lower Round 1 Lower Round 2 Lower Final Losers Bracket Game 5 Game 7 France Czech Republic Winner Game 5 Game 9 Game 6 Winner Game 6 Loser Game 8 South Africa Germany Winner Game 7

and rain delay in GB vs. Germany game

Czech Republic

September 16 Scores: South Africa 4-5 Spain Great Britain 14-4 France No surprises today though South Africa gave Spain a good scare today. September 17 Schedule: Spain vs. Czech Republic, 13:00 CET Great Britain vs. Germany, 19:00 CET Updated Bracket: Opening Round Semifinals Qualifier Winners Bracket Game 3 Game 1 Czech Republic Game 8 South Africa 4 Spain 5 Spain Winner Game 3 Game 4 Winner Game 4 Game 2 Germany Great Britain 14 France 4 Great Britain Lower Round 1 Lower Round 2 Lower Final Losers Bracket Game 5 Game 7 France Loser Game 3 Winner Game 5 Game 9 Game 6 Winner Game 6 Loser Game 8 South Africa Loser Game 4 Winner Game 7

For all the geography nerds out there, thought it would be fun to see a breakdown of birth countries for each nation. Czech Republic Czech Republic/Czechoslovakia: 27 United States: 1 France France: 13 Venezuela: 9 Dominican Republic: 2 Canada: 1 Cuba: 1 Japan: 1 United States: 1 Germany Germany: 13 United States: 12 Australia: 1 Canada: 1 Cuba: 1 Great Britain United States: 12 Great Britain: 7 Bahamas: 5 British Virgin Islands: 2 Canada: 1 U.S. Virgin Islands: 1 South Africa South Africa: 27 Australia: 1 Spain Venezuela: 11 Dominican Republic: 7 Cuba: 6 Spain: 2 Nicaragua: 1 United States: 1 Really nice to see the Czechs and South Africans with mostly homegrown rosters!

World Baseball Classic Qualifiers begin this Friday! It starts with the 1st of 2 qualifying Pool's. The first pool basically acts as the Europe/Africa qualifying tournament and features Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, South Africa and Spain. Top two teams will qualify to the main tournament. This is the more wide open of the two pool's. South Africa is probably the weakest team here and France is probably also a step behind but I could realistically see any of the other four teams qualifying. Should be a fun 6 days. The schedule is below. Unfortunately, the qualifying tournament uses everybody's favourite double-elimination format (same as the Olympics) which means the bracket is very difficult to visualize so I've tried to recreate it below. Sorry for my poor table skills. Opening Round Semifinals Qualifier Winners Bracket Game 3 Game 1 Czech Republic Game 8 South Africa Spain Game 1 Winner Winner Game 3 Game 4 Winner Game 4 Game 2 Germany Great Britain France Game 2 Winner Lower Round 1 Lower Round 2 Lower Final Losers Bracket Game 5 Game 7 Loser Game 2 Loser Game 3 Winner Game 5 Game 9 Game 6 Winner Game 6 Loser Game 8 Loser Game 1 Loser Game 4 Winner Game 7 September 16 Schedule: South Africa vs. Spain, 13:00 CET Great Britain vs. France, 19:00 CET

If anyone's interested, I compiled the best times 3 times in each event from the European Juniors, Pan-Pacific Juniors, and the World European Juniors. Non-olympic events weren't contested at Pan-Pacs so I'm skipping those. I think China is the only major country that didn't compete at any of the 3 events so this should mostly give an idea of what a full junior world championship medal table would look like. There's a few notable juniors that didn't compete. This was especially true at the Pan-Pacs because swimmers that competed at the world championships weren't allowed to compete there. At this point, I'm too lazy to compile a list of absent junior swimmers so if anybody wants to do that, that would be appreciated. Men's 50m Freestyle: 1. Diogo RIBEIRO, 21.92 2. David POPOVICI, 22.16 3. Flynn SOUTHAM, 22.36 Men's 100m Freestyle: 1. David POPOVICI, 47.13 2. Flynn SOUTHAM, 48.23 3. Jacob WHITTLE, 48.65 Men's 200m Freestyle: 1. David POPOVICI, 1:45.45 2. Flynn SOUTHAM, 1:47.11 3. Lorenzo GALOSSI, 1:47.71 Men's 400m Freestyle: 1. Lorenzo GALOSSI, 3:48.14 2. Stephan STEVERINK, 3:48.27 3. Joshua STAPLES, 3:48.36 Men's 800m Freestyle: 1. Lorenzo GALOSSI, 7:52.04 2. Carlos GARACH, 7:52.73 3. Vlad STANCU, 7:54.02 Men's 1500m Freestyle: 1. Vlad STANCU, 15:05.47 2. Carlos GARACH, 15:08.14 3. Laszlo GALICZ, 15:12.71 Men's 100m Backstroke: 1. Ksawery MASIUK, 52.91 2. Pieter COETZE, 52.99 3. Daniel DIEHL, 53.27 Men's 200m Backstroke: 1. Pieter COETZE, 1:56.05 2. Ksawery MASIUK, 1:56.62 3. Hidekazu TAKEHARA, 1:57.00 Men's 100m Breaststroke: 1. Zhier FAN, 1:00.74 2. Volodmyr LISOVETS, 1:00.96 3. Koen DE GROOT, 1:01.21 Men's 200m Breaststroke: 1. Asahi KAWASHIMA, 2:11.81 2. Yamato OKADOME, 2:12.19 3. Nicholas MAHABIR, 2:12.50 Men's 100m Butterfly: 1. Thomas HEILMAN, 51.98 2. Diogo RIBEIRO, 52.03 3. Jesse COLEMAN, 52.23 Men's 200m Butterfly: 1. Krzysztof CHMIELEWSKI, 1:55.49 2. Aaron SHACKELL, 1:55.81 3. Thomas HEILMAN, 1:56.52 Men's 200m Individual Medley: 1. Maximus WILLIAMSON, 1:59.01 2. Sanberk Yigit OKTAR, 1:59.89 3. Tomoyuki MATSUSHITA, 2:00.64 Men's 400m Individual Medley: 1. Riku YAMAGUCHI, 4:14.88 2. Ei KAMIKAWABATA, 4:15.23 3. Maximus WILLIAMSON, 4:17.58 Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay: 1. United States, 3:15.79 2. Australia, 3:18.06 3. Romania, 3:18.84 Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay: 1. Australia, 7:13.07 2. United States, 7:15.18 3. Italy, 7:17.08 Men's 4x100m Medley Relay: 1. United States, 3:36.65 2. Australia, 3:36.96 3. Great Britain, 3:37.44 Women's 50m Freestyle: 1. Milla JANSEN, 25.19 2. Nina JAZY, 25.22 3. Anna MOESCH, 25.32 Women's 100m Freestyle: 1. Erin GEMMELL, 54.13 2. Milla JANSEN, 54.36 3. Olivia WUNSCH, 54.50 Women's 200m Freestyle: 1. Erin GEMMELL, 1:56.15 2. Jaime PERKINS, 1:57.34 3. Nikolett PADAR, 1:58.19 Women's 400m Freestyle: 1. Erin GEMMELL, 4:05.07 2. Jaime PERKINS, 4:06.64 3. Jillian COX, 4:06.84 Women's 800m Freestyle: 1. Merve TUNCEL, 8:28.32 2. Jillian COX, 8:30.38 3. Jaime PERKINS, 8:30.44 Women's 1500m Freestyle: 1. Merve TUNCEL, 16:13.68 2. Alexa REYNA, 16:21.46 3. Michaela MATTES, 16:24.02 Women's 100m Backstroke: 1. Maggie WANEZEK, 59.96 2. Iona ANDERSON, 1:00.39 3. Dora MOLNAR, 1:00.88 Women's 200m Backstroke: 1. Yuzuki MIZUNO, 2:09.17 2. Mio NARITA, 2:09.67 3. Dora MOLNAR, 2:09.80 Women's 100m Breaststroke: 1. Eneli JEFIMOVA, 1:06.50 2. Piper ENGE, 1:08.58 3. Karoline PIECHOWICZ, 1:08.73 Women's 200m Breaststroke: 1. Kotomi KATO, 2:26.55 2. Eneli JEFIMOVA, 2:26.85 3. Justine DELMAS, 2:26.86 Women's 100m Butterfly: 1. Roos VANOTTERDIJK, 57.85 2. Lana PUDAR, 57.88 3. Alex SHACKELL, 58.58 Women's 200m Butterfly: 1. Airi MITSUI, 2:07.82 2. Lana PUDAR, 2:08.92 3. Yasuki FUJIMOTO, 2:09.63 Women's 200m Individual Medley: 1. Mio NARITA, 2:11.22 2. Ashley MCMILLAN, 2:13.31 3. Lilla Minna ABRAHAM, 2:13.45 Women's 400m Individual Medley: 1. Mio NARITA, 4:36.79 2. Kayla HAN, 4:43.60 3. Ayami SUZUKI, 4:43.70 Women's 4x100m Freestyle Relay: 1. United States, 3:37.99 2. Australia, 3:39.04 3. Canada, 3:40.90 Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay: 1. United States, 7:54.70 2. Australia, 7:55.85 3. Hungary, 7:59.04 Women's 4x100m Medley Relay: 1. United States, 4:02.14 2. Japan, 4:04.01 3. France, 4:05.33 NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total 1 United States 12 5 7 24 2 Japan 7 4 4 15 3 Romania 3 1 2 6 4 Australia 2 10 5 17 5 Poland 2 1 1 4 6 Turkey 2 1 0 3 7 Italy 2 0 2 4 8 Portugal 1 1 0 2 8 South Africa 1 1 0 2 8 Estonia 1 1 0 2 11 Belgium 1 0 0 1 12 Spain 0 2 0 2 12 Bosnia and Herzegovina 0 2 0 2 14 France 0 1 2 3 15 Canada 0 1 1 2 16 Brazil 0 1 0 1 16 Ukraine 0 1 0 1 16 Germany 0 1 0 1 19 Hungary 0 0 6 6 20 Great Britain 0 0 2 2 21 Netherlands 0 0 1 1 21 Singapore 0 0 1 1

Seeing as two of my compatriots have already done predictions for Canada, I'll go a different direction. Taiwan Archery: Shouldn't have a problem qualifying a full quota. 6 athletes Artistic Swimming: Not gonna happen. 0 athletes Athletics: Based on the qualification system for Tokyo, I believe there's 3 Taiwanese athletes that would qualify. The number could be up to 7 potentially. 2-7 athletes Badminton: Likely 2 guys in the singles, Tai Tzu-Ying in the women's singles, and a men's doubles teams With luck, maybe a mixed or women's doubles team and 2nd women's singles quota. 5-10 athletes Basketball: Pretty popular sport in the country especially among the younger generation but no chance of qualification. 0 athletes Boxing: Not too sure about this sport. The addition of one extra women's weight class should help Taiwan though. Let's say 2-5 athletes Breaking: Could be a good sport for Taiwan. Let's say at least one in each gender with a potential for 2nd quotas. 2-4 athletes Canoe Slalom: Maybe a continental quota. 0-1 athlete(s) Canoe Sprint: Also could get a continental quota here. 0-1 athlete(s) Cycling-Road: Maybe a chance to get a rider in either the men's or women's events. 0-1 athlete(s) Cycling-Track: Not happening. 0 athletes Cycling-BMX Racing: No way. 0 athletes Cycling-BMX Freestyle: You've got to be kidding me. 0 athletes Cycling-Mountain BIking: I'm starting to sound like a broken record here. 0 athletes Diving: Also not happening. 0 athletes Equestrian: Had a jumper in each of the last few games so hopefully we can expect the same again. 0-1 athlete(s) Fencing: Don't really know here. Maybe will get lucky and qualify an athlete. Most likely not. 0-1 athlete(s) Field Hockey: Until baseball/softball come back, don't expect to see Taiwan in any team events anytime soon. 0 athletes Football: See above. 0 athletes Golf: Finally a sport Taiwan is competitive at. Can expect two woman and one or two guys. 3-4 athletes Gymnastics-Artistics: Hopefully the men's team can qualify again. A woman should be able to qualify as well. 2-6 athletes Gymnastics-Rhythmic: 0 athletes Gymnastics-Trampoline: 0 athletes Handball: 0 athletes Judo: Men's -60kg, Women's -48kg and Women's -57kg. 3 athletes Rowing: Likely an athlete in the singles sculls: 0-1 athlete(s) Rugby Sevens: 0 athletes Sailing: Maybe a continental in one of the laser boats. Most likely not though. 0-1 athlete(s) Shooting: Definitely should be some quotas obtained here. Let's go with 3-5 athletes Skateboarding: Nope. 0 athletes Sport Climbing: Nope. 0 athletes Surfing: Nope. 0 athletes Swimming: Probably just the standard one man and one woman. Maybe a 2nd guy. 2-3 athletes Table Tennis: Full quota. 6 athletes Taekwondo: Between 3-4 athletes sounds about right. Men's -68kg, Men's -80kg, and Women's -57kg are the best bets. Tennis: Good chance of having of qualifying a women's doubles team. Maybe a man can qualify too. 2-3 athletes Triathlon: Pass. 0 athletes Volleyball: Not gonna happen. 0 athletes Water Polo: 0 athletes Weightlifting: This has generally always been Taiwan's most successful sport. But with the IOC killing weightlifting quotas, it also kills Taiwan's quotas as a result. Kuo Hsing-Chun should easily qualify. Chen Wen-Huei also has a good chance of qualifying. Hopefully at least a couple more males and females can qualify. Let's go with 3-6 athletes. Wrestling: Maybe one with a bit of luck. 0-1 athlete(s) In total, that puts Taiwan at around 60 athletes.

This is how you make an epic entrance into the game. https://youtu.be/8BYSp2pzP0Y

First of all, welcome to the forum Josh! Hope you've enjoyed your stay so far. Always great to see another Canadian join. Even though we're still two years out, I'll give this a shot although my knowledge of some of these sports isn't that great. Scroll to the bottom if you want the medal prediction summary. Keep reading if you want my sport-to-sport breakdown. Archery: Guessing Crispin Duenas will be the main contender here again so a medal would be highly unexpected. Artistic Swimming: Duet podium will be China, Ukraine, Austria or Russia, China, Ukraine if Russia isn't banned. Team podium will be China, Ukraine, Japan or Russia, China, Ukraine if Russia isn't banned. Still two years away but we already know who the medalists are. No chance for Canada here. Athletics: Quite a few medal contenders here. Let's start with the men. Andre de Grasse had a down season but hopefully he can recover in time for Paris. If he's in form, he'll once again be a contender in the 100m and 200m and will anchor a promising 4x100m relay with gold medal potential. In the 800m, there's Marco Arop who just won a bronze at worlds. In the decathlon, you have Damian Warner and Pierce LePage. Don't know if Evan Dunfee will be in Paris or not but his medal chances are probably close to none now with the 50km walk and no woman to compete with him in the mixed 35km walk. Ugh. In the 5k and 10k, you have Mo Ahmed. Not sure what happened to Justyn Knight this season but he looked promising in Tokyo. Maybe Lovett could be a contender and maybe the two hammer throwers of Adam Keenan and Ethan Katzburg can be contenders. On the women's side, the best track contenders look to be Gabriela Debues-Stafford in the 1500m and the 4x400m relay at this point. Neither look to be likely though. Field events have more promise with Sarah Mitton in the shotput and Camryn Rogers and Jillian Weir in hammer throw. Maybe Liz Gleadle in the javelin throw. Hopefully Rogers and Mitton can be gold medal contenders in two years. I think we also have a few good young prospects so hopefully they can be good come Paris. Badminton: No Basketball: Cautiously optimistic about basketball. Women's 3x3 team looks pretty good right now so they can hopefully be medal contenders come 2024. One of my biggest qualification wishes is for the men's 5x5 team to finally qualify. Considering that coach Nick Nurse recently got 14 players to make a three year commitment, it gives the players time to build chemistry with each other and if they qualify, they can definitely be medal contenders. Women had a disappointing Olympics in Tokyo but should still be in the mix. Beach Volleyball: Doesn't looks like there's any chance on the men's side. For the women, Pavan/Melissa just parted ways so there goes a medal contending pair. But Wilkerson/Bukovec just won a silver medal at the world championships and the McNamara twins are also decent. Medal is definitely possible. Boxing: Tammara Thibeault and Charlie Cavanagh winning medal at world championships is very encouraging. Thibeault in particular looks to be in great form this year but there's still 2 years to go so fingers crossed. Breaking: I know absolutely nothing about this sport but apparently we had a guy that was pretty good a few years ago but I don't see his name on the word ranking lists now so probably no won't be contending for medals here. Canoeing: No chance in slalom probably. In sprint, women's canoeing will be the main hope medals with Katie Vincent and Sophie Jensen. On the men's side Fitzpatrick is probably the best hope. Cycling - BMX: Nope Cycling - Mountain Bike: On a downward trajectory in the sport so not likely. Cycling - Road: Don't know too much but considering the Tour de France results, maybe Hugo Houle or Michael Woods? Cycling - Track: Kelsey Mitchell will probably be the name to watch although after the Commonwealth games, she probably isn't the main favourite in the sprint anymore. Not the greatest Commonwealth games for Lauriane Genest but hopefully she can continue to improve. As of now, hoping for two medal in the women's sprint disciplines and maybe one in the pursuit. Diving: Team is young but there's definitely potential. Mia Vallee is looking like the athlete to watch. On the men's side, best chance of a medal looks like the synchronized pair of Zsombor-Murray and Wiens. The problem as always is that China is always going to take all the golds and the silvers in the individual events. Equestrian: Don't really know much about this sport but medals don't seem likely at this moment. Fencing: Also cautiously optimistic about this sport. Considering we had 3 top 10 fencers in women's foil at some point this season, a medal would definitely be possible in the team event as well as the individual event. Field Hockey: Unless the field freezes over, can't expect any medals here. Football: Women will definitely contend. Golf: Field is usually wide open and I would say the some Canadian golfers can definitely get a medals if they have an excellent tournament. Gymnastics - Artistic: One of the most satisfying medals of the games would be if Ellie Black can finally win a medal. Not sure if Shallon Olsen is going to compete but she would probably be a contender on vault. I thought we had a man that was also pretty good now but I might be wrong. But at the end of the day, a lot can change in this sport in two years. Gymnastics - Rhythmic: No Gymnastics - Trampoline: Anyone know if Rosie is planning to compete still? She would hopefully still be a contender. And looking at the world cup series, there's another woman that's 2nd in the standings, although there's no Chinese athletes in the standings. Handball: Lol Judo: With Jessica Klimkait, Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard, the Deguchi sisters, Shady El-Nahas, and Arthur Margelidon, we have a pretty good core. A few medals should be expected and hopefully there can be a gold medal this time. Modern Pentathlon: No Rowing: Not sure what the boat situation is at this moment, but I would imagine that we would have a few medal contenders here. Rugby Sevens: Both teams aren't looking great so a medal would be a shocking at this point. Sailing: Sarah Douglas showed in Tokyo that she can contend. Not sure about the other boats but that might be it. Shooting: Nope Skateboarding: If we do win a medal, it'll likely come from men's street but that doesn't seem likely. Sport Climbing: Probably not Surfing: I can't name a single Canadian surfer besides that surfer that won gold at the junior world championships or whatever it's called. Paris is probably too early for her though. Swimming: This is once again the sport that should provide the most medal opportunities for Canada. On the men's side, Josh Liendo looks to be one of the biggest names on the team in two years. He will expect to contend for medals in the 50m Freestyle, 100m Freestyle, and 100m Butterfly as well as lead the 4x100m freestyle relay team to a medal. The problem is he is going against many super athletes. Caeleb Dressel, David Popovici and Kristof Milak are all super talents and guys like Kyle Chalmers and Ben Proud are also really good. But Liendo is also a great talent in his own right and is just 20 years old. He's going to go to the University of Florida to train with Caeleb Dressel and coach Anthony Nesty, the coach who's responsible for Katie Ledecky's resurgence this season. I'm hopeful he can win at least one individual medal. The relay team also looks promising with Liendo, Gaziev, Kisil, Acevedo and Calkins. Going to have to beat at least 3 of USA, Australia, Italy, Great Britain and Brazil. Hard but doable. Elsewhere on the men's side, Finlay Knox showed some promise this season swimming with a Canadian record swim in the 200m Individual Medley at trials. Then he was sick at worlds so didn't do too well. I don't see him medaling because of the two young 20 year old superstars that are Leon Marchand and Carson Foster. Not sure what happened to Cole Pratt this season, but he's still only 20 and there is room for improvement though a medal is still very unlikely. Despite a poor performance at the Junior Pan-Pacs, Adam Wu was definitely the best Canadian male athlete at the meet highlighted by a bronze medal and big drop personal best time in the 200m Freestyle. Don't see a medal happening but who knows in two years. If we go even younger to the 14-15 category, Laon Kim had a great Canadian Championships and also competes in the same events as Wu. Unfortunately, male swimmers don't usually become medal contenders in their teens (unless you're a certain Romanian teenager). Now onto the women. She's on track to be the biggest Canadian gold medal favourite and the face of the 2024 Canadian Olympic Team. Summer McIntosh needs no introduction. Ranked 1st in the Ranked 200m Butterfly and 400m Individual Medley, ranked 3rd in the 200m Individual Medley and 400m Freestyle, ranked 6th in the 200m Freestyle and also showed to be pretty good at the 100m and 800m Freestyle. What an incredible season she's had. At her current form, she will compete for six medals in Paris: 400m Freestyle, 200m Individual Medley, 400m Individual Medley, 200m Butterfly, 4x100m Freestyle Relay, 4x200m Freestyle Relay. It could've been seven if the 200m Freestyle and 400m Individual Medley weren't on the same day. Either way, what an incredible talent at 16! Maggie MacNeil even with her mental health struggles this season and an injured wrist proved that she's still a force to be reckoned with in the 100m Butterfly. Her main contenders at this point look like Huske, McKeon, Wattel, Zhang and Curzan, but given how good her turns incredible turns and explosive back half speed, as well as her history of being clutch, there's a good chance she'll head to Tokyo as the gold medal favourite. Kylie Masse has no doubt been the most consistent Canadian swimmer since the Rio 2016 Canadian breakout. Though not in the career best form she was in last season, she'll once again be a contender in the backstroke events, she still won gold in the 50m backstroke and silver in the 100m backstroke at both the Worlds and Commonwealth games. Too bad the 50m backstroke isn't in the Olympics. Didn't do as well in the 200 backstroke but I'm hoping she went with more of a speed focus in a non-olympic year. Unfortunately, she will be 28 by the time Paris comes while Smith and McKeown will both be much younger with some other American talents coming through. Penny Oleksiak hasn't quite had the individual success she's had since her Rio breakthrough but she always delivers on the relays. She'll be a medal contender again in the 100m and 200m Freestyle but the biggest problem is that the Australian swimmers are ridiculously good. Her success could depend on the form the Australians are in come Paris. But Penny always comes through in Olympic years so it's safe to expect her to put up good times in both the individual and relay events. All 3 relays are also expected to be medal contenders. Unfortunately, losing Kayla Sanchez is going to hurt a lot. Thankfully, in the 400m Freestyle Relay, Summer McIntosh looks to be her replacement and recently had a rolling 53 second split at the Commonwealth games. So at this point, the lineup looks to be McIntosh, Ruck, MacNeil, Oleksiak. Australians look unbeatable so the main challenge will be with the US for silver again likely though now with Sanchez gone, the Americans might have passed us. The 800m Freestyle Relay is more complicated because McIntosh is already on the relay team. McIntosh and Oleksiak should be locks for the relay. Given her resurgence this year, Taylor Ruck should also be on the team. That leaves the final spot to be likely to be between Rebecca Smith, Katerine Savard, Mary-Sophie Harvey and Ella Jansen. It's worth noting that Ella Jansen at 16 years old had a 1:57 rolling split and was the 2nd fastest swimmer behind McIntosh at the Commonwealth games so she could be the favourite for the 4th spot. In the medley relay, the big question as always is can someone deliver a good breaststroke leg. Masse, MacNeil and Oleksiak should take care of the other legs. Elsewhere, there could be some surprise medals on the women's side. Mary-Sophie Harvey has had a career year so far and looked great at the world championships. Kelsey Wog had a surprise 4th place finish in the 200m breaststroke. It would be great if she could produce some great times in the 100m as well and be the missing link in the medley relay. Ingrid Wilm was a monster in the ISL the previous season and she finally had some long course success this year. Hopefully she can keep on improving. And then there's Taylor Ruck. She looked much improved this year. If she could ever return to her 2018 form, that would be massive. In women's swimming, it's pretty common to have teenagers to come out of nowhere to be medal contenders so let's take a look at some prospects on the women's side. Ella Jansen is probably the biggest name. She swims roughly the same events that McIntosh swims and comes from the same swim club as her. She recently put up a personal best time in the 400m Individual Medley at the Commonwealth Games but didn't do as well at the Pan-Pacs. There's also Regan Rathwell who has swam under the Olympic qualifying time in the 200m Backstroke this year but was also not in form at the Pan-Pacs. In the 13-14 year old category, there's also some names to watch. Maxine Clark recently broke Oleksiaks's age-group record in the 100m Butterfly and also won several other medals in butterfly and freestyle events at the Canadian Championships and Canada games. Could she be the next Oleksiak/MacNeil? Too early to say. And then there's Halle West. She broke McIntosh's age-group record at the Canadian trials in the 200m Individual Medley and I believe she also swam a 1:11 breaststroke at 13 years old. Could she end up being the missing breaststroke link in the medley relay? Again, too early to say. Table Tennis: No Taekwondo: I imagine Skylar Park can still be a contender. Don't think we have any contenders besides that but I don't know the sport too well. Tennis: The talent level of our players is there. The consistency hasn't been there though. Who knows what we'll get in Paris. Triathlon: Doesn't look too promising. Volleyball: Men are on a downward trajectory. Woman aren't good enough. Weightlifting: Hopefully Maude Charron will still be great. With quotas being reduced heavily, don't even know if we'll qualify anyone else. Wrestling: Also on a downward trajectory in this sport. Maybe a women's medal? So in conclusion, based on this year's results, let's break it down like this: Swimming: 8-13 Athletics: 3-10 Cycling (all disciplines): 2-5 Judo: 2-4 Diving: 1-3 Rowing: 1-3 Basketball: 0-2 Beach Volleyball: 0-1 Boxing: 0-2 Canoe Sprint: 0-2 Fencing: 0-2 Football: 0-1 Weightlifting: 0-1 Breakout/Surprise Medals: 1-3 So pessimistic total is 18 medals, optimistic total is 50 medals . The mediam gives 34 medals . I feel like it'll more likely in the mid to high 20s instead. Will be over the moon if we actually end up winning over 30 medals.

World Baseball Classic MLB Player Commitment Updates (in bold) Australia: Curtis Mead (Tampa Bay Rays) Canada: Freddie Freeman (Los Angeles Dodgers), Josh Naylor (Cleveland Guardians), Cal Quantrill (Cleveland Guardians) Colombia: Sandy Leon (Minnesota Twins), Donovan Solano (Cincinnati Reds), Jose Quintana (St. Louis Cardinals), Harold Ramirez (Tampa Bay Rays), Gio Urshela (Minnesota Twins) Dominican Republic: Sandy Alcantara (Miami Marlins), Genesis Cabrera (St. Louis Cardinals), Emmanuel Clase (Cleveland Guardians), Rafael Devers (Boston Red Sox), Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (Toronto Blue Jays), Manny Machado (San Diego Padres), Jose Ramirez (Cleveland Guardians), Juan Soto (San Diego Padres) Israel: Harrison Bader (St. Louis Cardinals), Richard Bleier (Miami Marlins), Dean Kremer (Baltimore Orioles), Ryan Lavarnway (Miami Marlins), Joc Pederson (San Francisco Giants), Kevin Pillar (Los Angeles Dodgers) Italy: David Fletcher (Los Angeles Angels), Trey Mancini (Houston Astros), Adam Ottavino (New York Mets), Jordan Romano (Toronto Blue Jays) Japan: Shohei Ohtani (Los Angeles Angels) Mexico: Randy Arozarena (Tampa Bay Rays), Isaac Paredes (Tampa Bay Rays) Puerto Rico: Javier Baez (Detroit Tigers), Jose Berrios (Toronto Blue Jays), Carlos Correa (Minnesota Twins), Alexis Diaz (Cincinnati Reds), Edwin Diaz (New York Mets), Kike Hernandez (Boston Red Sox), Joe Jimenez (Detroit Tigers), Francisco Lindor (New York Mets), Jorge Lopez (Minnesota Twins), Seth Lugo (New York Mets), Martin Maldonado (Houston Astros), MJ Melendez (Kansas City Royals), Jose Miranda (Minnesota Twins), Jovani Moran (Minnesota Twins), Emilio Pagan (Minnesota Twins), Roberto Perez (Pittsburgh Pirates), Edwin Rios (Los Angeles Dodgers), Emmanuel Rivera (Arizona Diamondbacks), Eddie Rosario (Atlanta Braves), Marcus Stroman (Chicago Cubs), Christian Vazquez (Houston Astros) United States: Pete Alonso (New York Mets), Tim Anderson (Chicago White Sox), Nolan Arenado (St. Louis Cardinals), Mookie Betts (Los Angeles Dodgers), Paul Goldschmidt (St. Louis Cardinals), Bryce Harper (Philadelphia Phillies), Cedric Mullins (Baltimore Orioles), J.T. Realmuto (Philadelphia Phillies), Will Smith (Los Angeles Dodgers), Trevor Story (Boston Red Sox), Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels), Kyle Tucker (Houston Astros), Trea Turner (Los Angeles Dodgers) Venezuela: Jose Altuve (Houston Astros), German Marquez (Colorado Rockies) Team USA in the past has had problems attracting their biggest stars in the past but this year (at least on offense) is a completely different story. What incredible names! So at this moment, their potential lineup could look like: 1. Mookie Betts, 2nd Base (yeah, I know, it's weird but he apparently is going to play 2nd base) 2. Trea Turner, Shortstop 3. Mike Trout, Center Field 4. Paul Goldschmidt, First Base 5. Nolan Arenado, Third Base 6. Bryce Harper, Designated Hitter 7. Kyle Tucker, Right Field 8. Cedric Mullins, Left Field 9. Will Smith, Catcher Pretty ridiculous. Just need to see what pitchers commit for them.

Penny Oleksiak had a meniscus tear and is now undergoing surgery

Goodness me, Popovici with a 47.07 leadoff split in the relay. Fastest leadoff split in history.

Yeah definitely a bit concerning but a lot of them have had long summers of competition so maybe it's just fatigue? Also the medal tally would probably look a lot different if Summer was competing

Pretty good talent I would say. Made it to the final at both 100 and 200 butterfly at world championships. Won medals in all three butterfly distances at European juniors and I believe also won 2 gold at the Mediterranean games. She's had a really busy schedule this summer so her times havent been as strong at these championships. Hopefully she can win a medal in two years in Paris.

Milak swimming a 51.01 100m butterfly 15 minutes after a 47.47 100m freestyle.

46.86!!!