rafalgorka

Passerelle Debilly bridge show:
 
Adeline Kerry Cruz: a 10 years old dance girl from Canada
 


 
 
 
 
Princess Madoki, French waacking dancer

 
 
 
Germain Louvet

 
 
 
 
Sofiya Nikole Katerynchuk: she's a French dancer of Ukraine descent


 
 
 
 
Justine Catala

 
 
 
 
Daniela Barbieri: Italian French female dancer


 
 
 
 
Anna Mercurio: Italian French female dancer


 
 
 
 
Marie Jade

 
 
 
 
Greta Mirabelli

 
 
 
 
Ludovica Cimmino

 
 
 
 
 
Oli Vixxu

 
 
 
 
Victoria Prevel

 
 
 
 
Chanelle Boujdi

 
 
 
 
Graziana Veneziano

 
 
 
 
Isabel Urpi Aziliz Le Cras (in left)

 
 
 
 
Aurélie Giboire


 
 
 
 
GG Palmer, voguing dancer

 
 
 
 
Andrea Moufounda

 
 
 
Fauve Hautot and Romain Guillermic

 
 
 
 
Raya Martigny

 
 
 
 
BBoy Haiper

 
 
 
 
Loïs and Antorin de la Bourrée de Paris

 
 
 
 
Flavio Di Marzo

 
 
 
 
Alexis Ankadje

 
 
 
 
 
The Drag Queens: there're a few of drag queens who performed the Passerelle Debilly bridge show, include:
 
Nicky Doll
 

 
 
 
 
Piche

 
 
 
 
Paloma

 
 
 
 
Mathis Idris

 

My early bets. I know it doesn't make any sense 15 months before the games and before 24/25 winter season really started. But what the hell - I just like PREDICTIONS
 
So this is just for fun, if i were you i wouldn't look at it when i went to the bookies
 
But i will try to update it while the season unfolds and in April 25 it will be more interesting.
 
DAY 1
 
1. SPEED SKATING - W 3000m
 
1. Irene Schouten NED
2. Isabelle Weidemann CAN
3. Ragne Wiklund NOR
 
2. SNOWBOARD - M Big Air
 
1. Su Yiming CHN
2. Kira Kimura JPN
3. Taiga Hasegawa JPN
 
3. ALPINE SKIING - M Downhill !!!!!!!!!!!!! :-)
 
1. Marco Odermatt SUI
2. Cyprien Sarrazin FRA
3. Dominik Paris ITA
 
(dark horses: Florian Schieder ITA, Cameron Alexander CAN)
 
4. SKI JUMPING - W Normal Hill Individual
 
1. Nika Prevc SLO
2. Alexandria Loutitt CAN
3. Eirin Maria Kvandal NOR
 
5. CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING - W 10km + 10km Skiathlon
 
1. Jessie Diggins USA
2. Victoria Carl GER
3. Ebba Andersson SWE
 
(dark horse: Kerttu Niskanen FIN)
 
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
1-0-0---1
0-2-0---2
0-1-1---2
0-1-0---1
0-1-0---1
0-0-2---2
0-0-1---1
0-0-1---1

Well, we beat CZE in QF here. Nice. Maybe we will even win this thing. Or not. Whatever.
 
After Iga lost that semi in Paris olympics i was so disappointed that i just can't enjoy this tournament. It doesn't matter much to me.
But at least she lost to a very good player there. Not some random player from the bottom of Top 100.

Which one?  

Sarajevo 84 was our last good chance for a medal in alpine. But Tlałka sisters threw it away. And gold went to Italy.
 
Bachleda-Curuś was 5th in combined event in Nagano but that was all.

Sure. When i have a bad day i like to watch last 1km of 30km race in Vancouver 2010 to cheer me up. There she showed what a fighter she was.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf9YKm2l_iU&t=1s
 
But i am so sad how her life went on after she finished her career. Her husband died in an avalanche.

Justin Kowalczyk was a big fighter.

The only good thing for Italian slalom today is i'm almost sure a 2nd run without Italians won't happen again this season. You reached the bottom. You can only go up from here.

But ok, Paolini is a good example if we talk sports in general

Never underestimate her. Never.
 
They'd say the most important thing a fighter can have is heart. And I'm thinking about an athlete who is a greater fighter in women's wintersports these days than her and noone comes to my mind.

Tell me sth i don't know.
 
I said we will never be as good in SPORTS like Italy. In general. Didn't think about alpine only.

In 2019 they gave us the games in Cortina. Then there should be a plan to be strong then. We should hire good coaches and invest a lot of money. Then there would be medals. Nothing has been done, and our best coaches work in Switzerland or in private teams.

Great Britain, Bulgaria and Croatia are already better than us, so maybe we should get coaches from those countries, since we ourselves have not been able to train 1 athlete to the top group in slalom for several years.

Man to watch next few seasons: Fabian Ax Swartz  
 
Mind my words 🤪

Dutch Winter Olympics is all about speedskating and shorttrack. 
 
In shorttrack we have a problem since Suzanne Schulting (3 times Olympic Champion) broke her ankle this year. After since it looks like she concentrates on speedskating on the long track. But in that sport she is not really that good. For shorttrack we have medal chances for Xandra Velzeboer on the 500 meters and Jens van 't Wout on the men's distances, although Danjinou from Canada is in a league of his own.
 
In speedskating we have several medal chances, but I'm expecting not that much gold, considering Jordan Stolz (500/1000/1500) and Davide Ghiotto (5000/10000) winning the gold medals on the classic distances almost for sure. There will be some silver and bronze on the men's side however (Patrick Roest (5000), Kjeld Nuis (1500), Tim Prins (1000) and maybe Jenning de Boo (500)).
 
On the women's side there is Miho Takagi (1000/1500) and Ragne Wiklund (3000/5000) and the Canadian women. But also chances for Dutch gold with Jutta Leerdam (1000), Joy Beune (1500/3000), Marijke Groenewoud (mass/3000) and Merel Conijn (5000). Unless Leerdam will continue travelling with Jake Paul and focus on her boyfriend's stupid influence-career more than on her own career. 
 
2 medals in short track, 10 medals in speedskating, but not many golden!

My knowledge of Winter sport isn't great, and I feel I tend to be over optimistic but I'll give it a go for .
 
Alpine Skiing - Never won a medal before but Zak-Carrick Smith picked up 3 including 2 golds at the Winter Youth Olympics earlier in the year. It's clearly a very outside shot but we will see how he progresses. Dave Ryding could also medal on his day, although he will be 39 in 2026
 
Bobsleigh - Brad Hall and Co have been in with a shot for a number of years now, winning numerous medals on the worlds circuit. 2026 will likely be their last but I can see them giving it a good go. Adele Nicoll is still a relative newbie but with another 2 seasons under her belt and some help from hall she could be a contender. 
 
Cross Country Skiing - Andrew Musgrave is still kicking around and he has won world cup medals in the past.
 
Curling - In 2022 our only medals came in curling. Bruce Mouat will certainly go in as one of the favourites, but the women's team is going through a bit of rebuilding. Double gold at the winter youth games bodes well for the future
 
Figure Skating - Fear and Gibson have looked good this year and could return us to the golden era of the 80's. 
 
Freestyle Skiing - Zoe Atkin and Kirsty Muir both won medals at last year world cup, and Atkin took silver at the worlds, so they would be medal contenders, but both in very crowded events
 
Short Track Speed Skating - Not really and serious opportunities after the retirement of Elise Christie. 
 
Skeleton - After an extremely disappointing Beijing, the team has bounced back well and will be competitive in all 3 events, it's nice to see the team having a range of strong athletes rather than being dominated by a couple of exceptional ones. We better not do to well though, or the American's may blame us for cheating again.
 
Snowboarding - Mia Brookes is the current world Champion, and would be the most likely to medal in 2026. In the Snowboard Cross, Charlotte Bankes will be up there, and I feel like Huw Nightingale could progress this year, after some great performances in the Mixed team event.
 
 
As is the case with British Winter Sport, there are no clear favourites in any events, but there is a nice mix of competitive athletes in a diverse range of sports. 

We could do a breakdown of  Canada's medal chances by sport. Overall, I'd say Canada is in line to win a number of medals in the high 20's.
 
Alpine Skiing: Not too familiar with this sport but we did win 3 medals in Olympic events at the last World Championships and skiers like James Crawford, Cameron Alexander and Valerie Grenier are capable of making podiums on the World Cup. 0-3 medals would be the likely range here.
 
Biathlon: The program is declining. At this point, the better question is whether or not we can qualify both the men's and womens' relays.
 
Bobsleigh: Another declining sport. The men's team is completely existent following Justin Kripps retirement. On the women's side, maybe 1 medal is possible.
 
Cross-Country Skiing: Antoine Cyr would be the most likely candidate to medal in this sport. He was 10th in the overall world cup standings last year and it'll be interesting to see if he can improve on that. 0 medals is still likely though.
 
Curling: 3 medals will be the expectation but Canada has underperformed greatly at the last 2 Olympics so who knows.
 
Figure Skating: Possible medals in pairs, ice dance and the team event. If Russia is back, then the medal chances greatly decrease.
 
Freestyle Skiing: As always, many medal contenders across almost all disciplines. Around 8 medals should be the expectation here.
 
Ice Hockey: With the supposed return of NHL players to the Olympics, the expectation will be two gold medals or there'll be riots.
 
Luge: Likely to be a young team sent to the games. Maybe a medal chance in 2030 but not here.
 
Nordic Combined: I'll eat a sock if we qualify an athlete in Nordic Combined
 
Short Track: Lot's of potential for medals here. The men's team has been on fire to start the season with William Dandjinou looking like the best skater on the planet right now. Women's team is not as strong but also has some potential for medals. The minimum should be 3 medals with 8-10 medals possible if everything goes right.
 
Skeleton: Hallie Clarke is the reigning world champion but skeleton is pretty unpredictable so who knows. No chance on the men's side.
 
Ski Jumping: For the first time in probably ages, a legitimate medal in ski jumping is realistic thanks to Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate. A medal in ski jumping would currently be my biggest wish.
 
Ski Mountaineering: No chance here.
 
Snowboarding: As always, the slopestyle and big air events will provide the biggest chances of medals for Canada. Grondin in snowboard cross also looks like the current favourite. Maybe a chance in women's halfpipe as well. Some surprise medals in some other events are also possible.
 
Speed Skating: The team is getting older but the top skaters are still capable of winning medals. Improving on the 5 medals won in Beijing should be a realistic expectation.

Coming into Beijing, I (perhaps naïvely), believed that GB could get 5+ golds. In 2026, that possibility is still there, if not slightly greater, but my expectations have been lowered. 
We are still quite far away from the games but I feel the team is shaping up quite nicely, with a nice breadth of medal contending sports as opposed to our usual medal factories.

2026 Winter Olympics - Very Early Predictions Thread

Bookies favourite at the moment is Keely Hodgkinson 800m Paris, probably mine as well.  Although there were many great  golds, I think most people know that a gold in an historic athletics event is the most difficult of all.  Also, her final was absolutely at TV prime time, and the history is that most-watched event of the year usually wins. Also, there is usually a strong regional vote, and she is VERY typical of her region. 

Not yet but for Slovenia is more or less decided and has been decided since august. 
 
Janja Garnbret is winning the women sportsmen of the year
Tadej Pogačar is winning the male sportsmen of the year
and National Football Team is winning the team of the year. 

Lindsey Vonn Will try to come back to the World cup team this winter!

Thanks for the info! I will buy it for sure.

I already have two German Paris 2024 books, very good ones.

btw, for book collectors @rafalgorka : Part of the meeting was also the "baptism" of the fresh new book PARIS 2024, which is available on our libraries eshops from today.
 
Some images of the book available here
 
https://www.pantarhei.sk/555804-pariz-2024#preview

Schedule
 
I found this link through Wikipedia so I'm not sure how accurate it is or if it's legit. It didn't show up on the official site or through google search for me. If this is actually the schedule, then it was approved already on March 13.
 
Some things I noticed about the schedule:
 
Alpine Skiing
While the last two Olympics mixed the speed and slalom throughout the schedule, these Olympics will go back to featuring the speed events + combined in the first week and the slalom events in the 2nd week Biathlon
All events happen in the late morning/early afternoon. Now that the Olympics are back in Europe as opposed to East Asia, there is no need to schedule the biathlon events late at night to accommodate European Primetime Curling
Like the previous two Olympics, there's curling every day but the mixed doubles morning session starts at 10:00 instead of 9:00 Figure Skating
The order of events in the team competition looks like it's been reversed (so women's short program is first and the men's is last). For the individual events, ice dance comes first followed by the men, pairs, and then women. Notably the ice dance and men's short programs are on back to back days. Freestyle Skiing/Snowboarding
All of the big air and halfpipe finals are at night to accommodate US primetime. Slopestyle finals however are still in the afternoon. On the contrary, moguls and aerials events will take place during the morning/early afternoon. They were at night at least for the last 4 Olympics. The snowboarding big air events are the first events to occur and the men's qualification falls before the Opening Ceremony on Day -1. First time it's taken place before slopestyle. Slopestyle events have been moved to Days 11 and 12. On the contrary, for freestyle skiing, the slopestyle events now proceed the big air events. The slopestyle events are on Days 3 and 4 while the big air events are on Days 11 and 12. They basically swapped places from the 2022 schedule. Moguls events are now during the middle of the first week as opposed to the first weekend when it would usually take place. The dual moguls events will make its debut during the second weekend Mixed Team Aerials is now at the very end of the freestyle skiing program on Day 15. The individual aerials events are now in the middle of the 2nd week as opposed to the 2nd weekend/beginning of the 2nd week. Ice Hockey
Some of the days have staggered start times as opposed to multiple games starting at the same time Women's Gold medal game scheduled at night once again Luge
Both the men's and women's doubles are on the same day Short Track
The order of events looks the same but there are a couple of sessions that take place in the morning. In the last two Olympics, the sessions were all at night. Skeleton
Mixed team event takes place after both individual events Ski Jumping
Women's Large Hill will make it's debut during the 2nd Saturday of the Games. Ski Mountaineering
First time this has been held at the Olympics. Both men's/women's sprints are on Day 13 (February 19) and the mixed relay is on Day 15 (February 21) Speed Skating
The 1000m and 1500m events have swapped places in the schedule with the 1000m events taking place on Days 3 and 5 while the 1500m events take place on Days 13 and 14