Olympian1010

Invictus Games and Mediterranean Beach Games in between gratuitous bouts of physical therapy (hopefully)

The Lyles memes are going into overdrive this morning. FIBA and ESPN getting in on the action.

Prishtina confirmed as host of the 2030 Mediterranean Games. I’m sure there won’t be any geopolitical issues with that

Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh has been nominated for IOC Membership (along with seven others). https://x.com/chklaue/status/1700145662749196321?s=46&t=eeNhSzi4Rylqjvpt-IBinQ

The IFAF rules are different from what I played in my youth league growing up. We played 8-on-8, so there was more room for position players, and you could get more creative with plays. Flag Football essentially started as a safer, developmental form of the sport. Although many parents just start their kids in tackle football anyway. For what it’s worth, I actually enjoyed playing 8-a-side flag football as kid, and I had ZERO interest in playing tackle football. However, I found myself struggling to enjoy IFAF’s version of the game last summer at The World Games. I think it would be interesting to see as a one-off at the Olympics, and does reflect local sporting culture. I’m just not sure how it will land with the wider public.

Blackman has had a great season. There really is something about TTO swimmers and the men’s 50m free though

Gauff match got delayed by 49 minutes due to a protest in the venue. US Open statement: https://x.com/usopen/status/1699980532019241147?s=46&t=eeNhSzi4Rylqjvpt-IBinQ

Oh, definitely. It’s basically the NATO+Friends Wounded Warrior Games. It’s mission certainly includes some individual rehabilitation and public awareness, along with the added bonus of strengthening political/cultural connections.

Germany has “upped-the-ante” for this year’s edition of the Invictus Games. They’ve contracted ISB (International Sports Broadcasting) as the host broadcaster, and Atos as the results provider. The Netherlands edition was pretty invisible internationally, so it will be interesting to see if this edition gets a little more attention. The LOC will also be livestreaming competitions on YouTube. will make their debut as well. Website: https://invictusgames23.de

ITG’s reporting makes it seem like LA28 wants flag football, but isn’t entirely sold on cricket, while the IOC wants cricket, but isn’t sold on flag football. I do feel like including both is a fair compromise, but they need to figure how the quota distribution will affect other sports. The point about who’s footing the bill for all the new inclusions is something I hadn’t considered either.

I really like the backside of the medals : https://heraklion23.gr/the-medals-of-the-games/

declines quotas like they’re . Why can’t they cosplay instead?

Supreme Court decriminalizes abortion: https://apnews.com/article/mexico-abortion-decriminalize-d87f6edbdf68c2e6c8f5700b3afd15de?taid=64f8de160336bb000175f417&utm_campaign=TrueAnthem&utm_medium=AP&utm_source=Twitter

Participation statistics published by the LOC By Sport: https://heraklion23.gr/participation-by-sport/ By NOC: https://heraklion23.gr/participation-by-country/ It’s a shame to see a few nations only entering one athlete or pair, but understandable given the packed calendar for many NOCs this year. competing in their 4th/5th multi-sports games sanctioned by NOCs this year, not to mention other events like University Games, Commonwealth Youth Games, or Island Games.

@hckošice leading the charge to get croquet back on the program. It’s been a while since it last featured at the Olympics.

Cotswald Games still exist. My colleague desperately wants to go and write stories about them.

@heywoodu I haven’t bought Nestle products in years. They were caught taking water from a spring in California during the drought when they didn’t even have a license to do so. Not to mention all the allegations about child labor and whatnot.

There are very few Olympic arguments that boil my blood as much as “x isn’t a sport.” Mainly because I don’t actually think the Olympics should be solely about sport, but also because it’s insulting to athletes/competitors who work very hard to be the best at what they do. Personally, I believe there should be room for mind sports, artistic competition, and maybe even e-sports. The Olympics, in ancient times, were meant to be a celebration of humanity. There were sporting and artistic competitions. It was also a time to exchange social/political ideas. People gathered to celebrate many aspects of Hellenic life. I think the modern ideal of the Olympics as a purely sporting competition meant for only the “best of the best” loses sight of what the Games are supposed to be about. The Olympics should be world championships, Cannes/TIFF/Sundance, Glastonbury/Coachella, The World’s Fair, International peace summit, etc. mixed into one. It’s a pipe dream of mine, but I do think the focus on elite sport has detracted from some of the more charming/eloquent aspects of the Olympics. Cricket, modern pentathlon, breaking, etc. all add something to the event even if you don’t personally enjoy them. The Olympics are fun because of the diversity of sports offered. I don’t think we should lose sight of that during all our deliberations in this thread.

Can we be best friends? Our opinions diverge elsewhere, but that is take I can get behind.

For what it’s worth, the only time I choose to watch golf is during the Olympics. It’s different from other stuff on the program, and the last tournament has the fun tiebreaker for bronze.

I got something nice in the mail today. There were some activities you could do on the website after the Games finished to earn points. You could then spend those points in a web-store. There were pins, plush mascots, notebooks, and other stuff to choose from. I didn’t take it too seriously, but I got enough points to submit an order for the notebook/journal. I wasn’t sure they’d offer international shipping, but sure enough, they did. Now, I have a nice little notebook with the Games branding that cost me absolutely nothing

All these changes to the qualification systems seem really unfair to events. Qualification events being cancelled, quota distributions being changed in the middle of the qualification process, etc. It leaves a sour taste in my mouth looking ahead the Games, especially since many events will act as Olympic qualifiers (or have a sizable impact on qualification prospects).

3,000m Steeple, 5,000m, 10,000m lost one quota each. Marathon and race walk were hit harder, losing three quotas each. The quotas seem to have gone solely to the mixed 4x400m, so I bet that will be a popular change Honestly, we’re going a point where field sizes are comically small in some sports at the Pan American Games.

The real loss with boules is that (and others) could have had legitimate hopes.