rafalgorka

Schwarz suffers season-ending injury Source: Ski Austria Alpin FB page

How it's gonna be (these will be counted for my pts): 1. Denmark 2. Johannes Thingnes Boe NOR 3. Kaori Sakamoto JPN 4. Scottie Scheffler USA 5. Czechia 6. England 7. USA 8. USA 9. Aryna Sabalenka 10. Arizona 11. Novak Djokovic SRB 12. Max Verstappen NED How i'd like it to be: 1. France 2. Sebastian Samuelsson SWE 3. Kaori Sakamoto JPN 4. Jon Rahm ESP 5. Czechia 6. Spain 7. USA 8. USA 9. Iga Świątek POL (but if she wins singles event at Paris olympics, she can even skip rest of the 2024 season, I don't mind it...) 10. Baltimore 11. Carlos Alcaraz ESP 12. Charles Leclerc MON

Yes, i was probably biased here. I wished Sochan well. And i hoped Wemba will not only play well individually but the whole team will improve. Maybe next season...

A small question to the speed skating fans (US fans maybe): Conor McDermott-Mostowy - he may have some Polish family? Mostowy may be a Polish surname. Andrzej Gut-Mostowy is a Polish politician from Zakopane, he opted for the winter olympics here if i remember correctly. He's doing (or he used to do, I don't know, whatever) bussinesses in hotel, tourism and skiing facilities sector obviously.

And the leading role actor - Bartłomiej Topa - is one of the best Polish actors these days imo. You can watch another Polish series with him - "Wataha" on HBO, sth totally different, not a comedy at all but it is even much better than 1670.

If you use Netflix, you can check if a new Polish comedy series called "1670" is available in your country. I must say i generally like this kind of absurd humour and this series is a proof than Poles can laugh at themselves, harder than anyone. Not everyone likes this series here in Poland, opinions are divided but i do recommend it. It is so hard to find a good comedy these days.

1. JANUARY - Who will win the 2024 European Men's Handball Championship? 2. FEBRUARY - Who will win Men's Pursuit event at the 2024 Biathlon World Championships? 3. MARCH - Who will win Ladies event in 2024 Figure Skating World Championships? 4. APRIL - Who will win Golf Masters Tournament in 2024? 5. MAY - Who will 2024 Ice Hockey IIHF World Championship? 6. JUNE* - Who will win UEFA EURO 2024? 7. JULY* - Which NOC will win the most medals in total in Paris 2024 olympics? 8. AUGUST* - Which NOC will win the most gold medals in Paris 2024 olympics? 9. SEPTEMBER - Who will win Tennis Ladies Singles event in 2024 US Open?3 10. OCTOBER - Who will win 2024 World Series (Baseball)? 11. NOVEMBER - Who will win ATP Finals in Singles event? 12. DECEMBER - Who will win World Drivers' Championships in F1 2024 season?

A new contest: answer 12 questions, deadline is 06/01/2024, 20:00 CET One point for each correct answer We'll see the results in next December

Small updates here

Next stop: Biathlon WCH in Feb 2024, stay tuned.

Men at work And in the middle of all of this: Marek Rożej - Natalia Kaczmarek coach - a coach of the year here in POL imho, but I may be biased here.

Ewa Swoboda has made it to the final eventually...

Anyway, this whole week in Budapest was fun. On the left, Piotr Lisek, our pole vaulter, one of my fav POL athletes these days. On the right - you may know this guy, a terrible spammer here on TO.

These are hammer throwers! That's the way they like it!

One of my fav sports moments of the year 2023 heh. This photo was taken in Budapest just a few hours after Hammer Throw WCH final. A guy on the right has just won the whole thing and is celebrating it with a well-deserved glass of beer. Dude on the left didn't make it through the national prelims...

My predicted medal table so far, with a small update to the original one (due to a change in Cycling Road - M Ind Time Trial Results) Silver: SLO -1 (Pogacar) ITA +1 (Ganna) Bronze: ITA -1 (Ganna) GBR +1 (Tarling)

While updating my predictions I will try to do Top 8s ( I have already done day 1) but I am not sure if I can do it in all the events . We will see

Voting in this one ends soon

As a joke - early thoughts on who may win this thing in 2024: BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports Noah Lyles (Athletics) BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports Shericka Jackson (Athletics) BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports and disciplines Max Verstappen (F1) BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes with a disability - BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Mirra Andreeva (Tennis) BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Volleyball BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Swimming 4x100m Freestyle Relay BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Men's Doubles (Tennis) BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Mirra Andreeva (Tennis) COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Kristof Milak (Swimming) SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 M Volleyball team winning QF game in Paris :-)

Some interesting news found on our Polish olympic forum tylko-igrzyska: The World Athletics Council also approved that seeding for the first round of relay competition at the Paris Olympic Games be determined at the World Athletics Relays Bahamas 24. The event in The Bahamas will automatically qualify 14 teams to Paris, but Council has confirmed that the finishing order of the top eight teams in the Bahamas finals will, additionally, determine first round seeding rights to the best lanes for Paris 2024. https://worldathletics.org/news/press-releases/decisions-made-233rd-world-athletics-council-meeting-monaco

My nominees: BEST MALE ATHLETE for sportsmen in Olympic sports Lèon Marchand (Swimming) Marco Odermatt (Alpine Skiing) Noah Lyles (Athletics) Novak Djokovic (Tennis) Armand Duplantis (Athletics) Nikola Jokic (Basketball) BEST FEMALE ATHLETE for sportswomen in Olympic sports Mollie O'Callaghan (Swimming) Kaylee Mc Keown (Swimming) Iga Świątek (Tennis) Faith Kipyegon (Athletics) Femke Bol (Athletics) Mikaela Shiffrin (Alpine Skiing) BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports and disciplines Max Verstappen (F1) BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes with a disability - BEST YOUTH ATHLETE for athletes up to 18 years old (born after January 1st, 2005) (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Summer McIntosh (Swimming) Darja Varfolomeev (Rhythmic Gymnastics) Qiu Qiyuan (Artistic Gymanstics) Kaylia Namour (Artistic Gymnastics) BEST MEN'S TEAM for national men's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Volleyball Rugby (Union) Handball BEST WOMEN'S TEAM for national women's teams or groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Swimming 4x100m Freestyle Relay Swimming 4x200m Freestyle Relay Handball BEST DOUBLES/PAIR OR MIXED TEAM for doubles and pairs or mixed teams and groups (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Equestrian - Jumping Team BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete (aged 19 or over) or national team (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Jordan Stolz (Speed Skating) Ethan Katzberg (Athletics) Ilia Malinin (Figure Skating) Kaylia Namour (Artistic Gymnastics) COMEBACK OF THE YEAR for athletes or national teams who made a comeback performance in 2023 (including Olympic, Non-Olympic and Paralympic sports) Simone Biles (Artistic Gymnastics) Cameron McEvoy (Swimming) Katarina Johnson-Thompson (Athletics) Sha'carri Richardson (Athletics) Iga Świątek (Tennis) - due to coming back to No. 1 in style Ewa Swoboda (Athletics) - advancing to the 100m WCH final in the end... SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2023 Josh Kerr beating Jakob Ingebrigtsen in M 1500m Athletics WCH Final Iga Świątek winning French Open Militiadis Tentoglou winning M Long Jump Athletics WCH Final in Round 6 RSA winning Rugby World Cup Final ARG beating WAL in Rugby World Cup QF FIJ beating AUS in Rugby World Cup Pool C Match and being biased 2 additional moments: W 100m final in Athletics WCH (Ewa Swoboda) W 400m final in Athletics WCH (Natalia Kaczmarek)

Yes, I know. I wanted to spice things up a bit 😎

Interesting comparison. But I bet he won’t order to shoot anyone in the back, you know…