Olympian1010

https://x.com/ricardoten_/status/1689914684239912960?s=46&t=eeNhSzi4Rylqjvpt-IBinQ

Chilling gun safety advert that’s been playing before videos on YouTube this week.

Khudadadi won a gold medal in taekwondo. She was one of the two representatives from Afghanistan at Tokyo 2020. Now, she competes as a refugee with support from the French team. What a story it would be if she won gold in Paris! Link: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1139857/afghan-refugee-wins-taekwondo-gold

…and they’ve walked those comments back already. Link: https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1139849/ukraine-russia-paris-2024-clarification

could have had legitimate medal hopes in women’s basketball, but the federation blew all of their cash on the useless men’s team

I’ll be honest, I didn’t see that announcement coming. Although, the tournament gets underway right as the professional season starts. Plus, many college athletes will be training with their teams by then. Both countries might just have a lack of available players. Any idea which NOCs will get the reallocated quotas?

The IOC has created an environment where athletes, fans, and other stakeholders have to think that way unfortunately. Hopefully the quota cuts stop and the sport changes become less chaotic over the next cycle, so the program can stabilize a bit.

There are a lot more countries involved in sailing than in modern pentathlon. Yes, but the cost of participation for athletes and emerging nations is step. It takes a lot of specialized training. Obstacle course is supposed to solve part of that problem, but there has yet to be a major change in participating countries at those test events. I love seeing Egypt’s success in the sport, but modern pentathlon is pretty much non-existent on the continent outside of Egypt. I believe the last non-Egyptian to compete at the Olympics was a South African in 2000. There were 7 African NOCs represented in sailing at Tokyo 2020 (6 at Rio 2016). I would also agree that modern pentathlon has made positive changes in recent Olympic cycles. However, the UIPM has also made some poor business decisions and is experiencing a disconnect between executives and athletes (although they aren’t alone there by any means). In my opinion, sailing is in the danger zone. However, it has just enough going for it to remain above boxing, weightlifting, and modern pentathlon for the time being.

Meanwhile I’m nursing a my third ligament/bone injury in just about 1 1/2 years thanks to ultimate frisbee (flying disc). I think I might retire after this one, and pick up the inline skates or the chalk bag/hangboard again 😅

should have decent chances of a podium in both speed events. can possibly challenge in the combined events, with maybe or playing spoiler in the women’s event.

^ Pretty much how OBS covered sailing during Tokyo 2020. I liked what was offered and found myself watching sailing more than I expected.

Coach got a suspension. I think the rider was largely seen as a victim of the format.

It’s not like modern pentathlon is nailing it in the universality, promotional, or television departments either.

World Athletics put out a statement that said those reports are inaccurate. They are still waiting for a decision.

Duffy really put it together when it mattered this season. I don’t think he’s happy with how he climbed this year, but hopefully the quota helps him ease into the Olympic season.

Damn.

I think many climbers would consider bouldering in that spirit as well. It might not be as historically prestigious or prized as lead/big route climbing, but it’s definitely come into its own in the last decade. Even your traditionalist climbers like Ondra or Honnold train bouldering for fun or improvement on the big climbs.

I’m assuming we’ll have stronger entries under this qualification system though, or at least that’s the thought process? The only change was the Cali 2021 and WR quotas, right?

I could be wrong, but I believe that is the idea of the speed-classic discipline. You don’t see too many of those comps anymore unfortunately… You’re opinion is shared by a lot of climbers too. Personally, I find speed entertaining enough now (though maybe too random). However, I think that format would probably be interesting as well (and maybe in the traditional spirit of sport climbing).

Yeah, the quota here was a nice “steal” for them.

No smaller nations this time getting a men’s pair is nice though.

Then I don’t want to hear any arguments from IFs/IOC that international sports are apolitical because that’s clearly and simply untrue.

A sprint with designated lanes over say…300-500 meters…might make an interesting spectacle.

Cool, so World Athletics has created a system that doesn’t necessarily rank runners on best performance outright (since they factor in field strength, location, etc.), which has also apparently resulted in countries not sending “the best ranked” athletes under said system. Honestly, the Russia crisis, Israeli opponent withdraws, and growing theme of NOCs rejecting rightfully qualified athletes should really provide the impetus to create a “stateless” category of athletes. Those could be athletes who chose not to represent a country, but rather compete as an individual (self-fundraising, managing, etc.)