rafalgorka

NT (Ján Valach) announced tonight the nomination for Tokyo.
We have 2 male quotas (2 in Road Race and 1 of them in Time Trial)
 
and without big surprise...
 
The Sagan Bros will represent us in Tokyo.
 
Peter will compete only in the road race,
his older brother Juraj selected in 2 events, first he will try to help Peter in the Road race and four days later will be the one who will use our quota in the Time Trial
 
 
*However Juraj had a bad accident last Friday, with broken collarbone, but it looks the surgery was successfull and by his own words he may return to bike in a couple of days and should be ok for Tokyo, if not, then Lukáš Kubiš will replace him as first alternate
 
Peter today won the national championship and look what he found in front of his bus, the luggages and uniforms for Tokyo, he already tested them and send them to Tokyo immediately after the TdF he will travel to Japan for the road race
 

Fore sure ... OKSANA CHUSOVITINA . She deserved it 

Congrats !!!

Barshim in his best days, those times when he jumped near or over 2.40m as if he could literally step on the air  
 
His whole style of jumping, it was some of the best bits of athletics I can remember watching, and he did so for quite a few times. I hope he wins, but he doesn't seem to have that 'magic' anymore of his best days..

(From the other thread)
 
I would like to add this for myself in this thread, that'd be an awesome medal!

Day 4 muki.  That's the one

Any country with their first medal 

Let alone a head of state or government or a ruling party and the ideology represented by that party.

I would even say : because people don't necessarily equal their country. 
Which may be quite a surprise for some guys here on this forum. 

I would even say : because people don't necessarily equal their country. 
Which may be quite a surprise for some guys here on this forum. 

What medal for your country would be the most fun for you?

I have a few:
 women's water polo (I'm sure everyone on this website secretly wants them to break the 4th place curse)
 
 Simona Halep - tennis (I love to watch her play and I know it is so important for her)
 
 Zorana Arunovic - shooting (For the amazing career she's had, it is crazy that she never won any Olympic medal)
 
 Novak Djokovic - tennis (It is crazy that in his career so far he only won one bronze. Of course I want Tsitsipas to win gold but I'd also like to see Djokovic win silver or bronze )
 
 Darya Klishina - long jump (I always wanted her to win an Olympic medal)
 
 Mariya Lasitskene - high jump (She deserves an Olympic medal in her career)
 
 Kendra Harrison - 100 hurdles (I thought she was so unlucky in 2016 that she missed the Olympics despite breaking the world record a few weeks prior)
 
 Helen Maroulis - wrestling (Of course she is half Greek, and she was going to compete for us after not being selected for London but there were some delays in her paperwork, anyways she won gold for USA in 2016 and they named the main square after her of the town in Greece where her grandparents live)
 
 Alex Kesidis - wrestling (He is also Greek and actually his brother competes for Greece and was in the qualifying tournaments but didn't make it to Tokyo)
 
 Orlando Ortega - 110 hurdles (His coach is Greek)
 
 women's basketball (Their coach is Greek. She was born in Canada but her parents are Greek and she used to play professionally in Greece so she is quite well known in Greek basketball)

-Some peruvian in the surfing.
-India in field hockey (men) after 40 years. 
-Italy gold in women's volleyball.
-Flora Duffy in the triathlon.
-Something for Kuwait in shooting after they were "stolen" 2 medals in 2016.
-Any nation that can win first medal, of course.
 

Matvei Petrov in gymnastics. Not impossible, but unlikely. However, he had a HUGE score in the latest World Challenge Cup stage, so he definitely has a chance.

Tai Tzu Ying & Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin (Badminton)
 
winning gold would be nice, to stop some dumb Indonesians mocking them
 
Vladimir Samsonov - although probably it's super hard
 
Any country winning their first medal

As a Thai-American, I can think of a few that would be fun:
 
-Carlos Yulo of the Philippines winning a medal in Gymnastics, because Southeast Asia has never won a medal in the sport and to win it in a mainstream sport means a lot for the region (At least in my opinion).
 
-Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei winning the Women's Singles in Badminton. Some badminton observers would say Ratchanok Intanon is the best technical player in that division. But Tai ups her game to a higher level in comparison to her peers. She works hard on her technical game and physical fitness and it shows on the court. She embodies what it means to be a professional and rarely lets outside stuff like social media comments distract her unlike Ratchanok. She is basically an upgrade version of Ratchanok with less stamina and mental issues. For a neutral, Tai is very easy to root for. 
 
-Belgium winning men's field hockey. Because that sport badly needs a new country to win the Olympic gold medal.
 
-Naomi Osaka winning the Women's singles in tennis. A title win to cheer her up after her off-court fight with the media at large. 
 
-Ireland winning any medal with Rowing, Sailing or any other sport besides boxing because I have a soft sport for that country and they need to win medals in events they haven't won before. 
 
-Any medal won by someone from a Refugee Olympic Team because that would be historic and weird in the same time that a person without a country can win an Olympic medal. 
 
-Anyone who could beat China in Table Tennis because it's been 17 years since someone else won a gold medal in that sport.

Don’t know if fun is the word, but some athletes i like and want them to do well that I can remember now (among others):
 
Athletics:
 
 Allyson Felix (if qualified)
 Ivet Lalova
 Angelica Bengtsson
 Sam Kendricks
 Maria Lasitskene
 Yulia Levchenko
 Yaroslava Mahuchikh
 Airine Palsyte (if qualified)
 Mutaz Eza Barshim
 
Canoeing:
 
 Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos
 
Fencing:
 
 Ana Maria Popescu
 
Gymnastics:
 
 Larisa Iordache
 
Judo:
 
 Daria Bilodid
 
Swimming:
 
 Katie Ledecky
 Nathan Adrian (if qualified)
 Kliment Kolesnikov
 Yulia Efimova
 Simona Quadarella
 Sarah Sjostrom
 
Tennis:
 
 Simona Halep
 Iga Swiatek
 Daria Kasatkina
 Roger Federer
 Novak Djokovic
 Daniil Medvedev
 
If i had to choose only a few from this list, I'd say Felix and Federer winning golds, Efimova, Halep and Iordache winning a medal and Ledecky sweeping the 200-1500.

Easy.
1st Mirela Demireva 
2nd Belinda Bencic,
3rd, as mentioned W Water Polo
 
 
and obviously
 
Finally medal (looking very promising this time)
 
and because we are one, whatever the maps show
 

Basically everyone who wins, who was not expected to win at all. Surprises  
 
Big names and people who already have a big list of major wins (especially if it already includes Olympic golds and such) generally don't do much for me, especially if it's athletes who were basically expected to win. Sports is emotion and emotion is often the biggest and best when someone surprises.

Speaking of our women's water polo curse, there's another curse in team sports: Sweden in men's handball with 4 silver medals. So I hope that they will finally win that gold if they will be in the final again. 

Just from the top of my head:
 
-  winning the 100/200 sprint
- someone else than  winning one of the basketball tournaments
-  and  competitors in general of course not at the expense of  :D

there are a lot of athletes I like and support despite not being from my Country...
 
it's too hard to select a few, but this year there's 1 woman I'd really love to see on the Olympic podium:  swimmer Rikako Ikee (many people who know her story could also imagine why)

Oh that would be awesome  
 
If I had the power, I'd trade any medal in swimming for a medal for Ikee!

I am fan of Rafael Nadal but I hope   Roger Federer could win men's single in his maybe last five events.

-   ALL
(Janja Garnbret )

- A medal for  in Gymnastic 

-  Maria Magdalena Andrejczyk GOLD medal

-  Hughues Fabrice Zango, Men's Tiple Jump
 
-  Ruman Shana, Archery