Olympian1010

@De_Boni.BR I thought the selections were interesting because it seemed like there were a few differences between the announced selections for Lucerne and the teams ultimately selected for Lake Placid. I’d imagine the pandemic/invasion/timing had something to do with it, but I still wonder how FISU makes their discretionary selections for various sports at the summer/winter Universiades (ie, what actually criteria are applied to replace the relegated teams). Welcome to the forum by the way

@Sindo made any feline friends this time around? Venue looks nice

Just wait until you hear about the fencing, swimming, laser shooting, obstacle course component their adding to it

If you need a reason to get excited for these games, is scheduled to make their debut with cross country skier Link: https://medium.com/beacon-of-olympia/haitian-skiing-to-countrys-debut-at-winter-universiade-aa29a77075d8

really is copying the U.S. homework at this point

Really happy you brought these back @vinipereira

You don’t remember, or your conveniently choosing to forget so we don’t ask too many questions Totallympics has a value too great to put in writing as far as I’m concerned anyway

Probably the most user friendly of the OTT international sports apps. I watched both the 2019 Universaides on it, and never really had a problem (so far as I can remember). It is interesting that they seem to be listing coverage of the preliminary ice hockey matches because I read that those wouldn’t be covered by the HB. ESPN’s schedule shows snowboard cross qualifying as the first live coverage on Thursday, but who knows Either way, my hype is building for these a little bit as always with any multi-sport event

This means we get a cut of the $40 million USD profit that one website said Totallympics was operating at, right?

I really hope Sandra Sanchez gets some love in the Lifetime Award voting. She won literally every major event in karate (Olympics, World Championship, World Games, World Beach Games, European Games, Euro Champs, etc.)

I didn’t end up voting in the best athlete categories because I was too conflicted under this format, but Ami Yuasa (B-Girl Ami) is another “urban” athlete I felt was overlooked by users. She won gold at both The World Games and World Championships this year.

Korfball, Flying Disc, Wheelchair Rugby, Ice Sledge Hockey

Darn, I almost put in for media accreditation. We’ll work the same event one of these days

Happy New Year!!!

Well, where to begin… The forum stayed online another year thanks to @Sindo. It got a facelift thanks to the content generated by @Matej@JoshMartini007@Vojthas @Mkbw50 and others. Our results section grew thanks to the major contribution of @frantic13poland, among others. We celebrated another two editions of TISC under the guidance of @OlympicIRL, with wonderful hosts @Vektor @Hipooo. Our competitive circuit of prediction contests was once again successfully overseen by @Wumo, and our end of year awards revived by @vinipereira. Finally, the moderation team kept things (mostly) civil in the threads for another year against all odds. Hats off all It finally felt like international sports returned to a semi-normal state this year. We celebrated another Olympics, World Cup, and numerous other events together. Unfortunately, it was also a year marked by conflict. Conflict between nations; between internal domestic forces; between users. It was certainly a year of highs and lows; from top athletes missing the Olympics due to Covid and other injuries, to Messi finally leading Argentina to a World Cup victory. Some of us spent time recovering from injuries and illness, while others celebrated bringing a new life into the world. Through it all, and not to lean too hard on the favorite cliche of the international sports community, we were united by sport. Whether we were captivated or devastated, entertained or bored, overjoyed by victory or ostensibly angered by loss; users alike were connected by sport. We screamed, laughed, argued, celebrated, and debated like one large dysfunctional family; a brotherhood of international sports fans. I can say, without a shred of doubt, that my year was inextricably improved by the time I spent on this forum. If time is money, then joining the forum just over four years ago was one of my more sound investments. I’d like to thank all of you for your contributions to this forum. We’ve collectively grown such a wonderful, even if occasionally frustrating, community. Additionally, many of you have been so incredibly supportive of my career as an international sports journalist. I can’t thank you enough for your support. I can only hope to repay you with more excellent content in the year to come. So with that sentiment, let’s remember fondly the year we’re leaving behind, and greet the future with great enthusiasm. We’re now mere minutes away from the last Totallympics time zone joining everyone else in the New Year, so break out the confetti, libations, firecrackers, boomsticks, and cursed vuvuzelas. It’s time for one last celebration in 2022!

If I’m not mistaken, I’m now the last Totallympian living in 2022. Wholesome remarks incoming…

I will be bringing back my end of the year, last time zone remarks this year, so you can all look forward to that in the New Year

Also, something to consider for next year if we do this again… I think it would be better to create a user generated shortlist for each category (ie, users can suggest a few 2-3 unique candidates for each category), and then hold a preliminary vote with all those candidates listed, with the top 5/6 candidates moving on to the main round of voting for each award. There’s some athletes/teams/moments other users have suggested that I didn’t even think of or consider that I wish had when reading through the thread. There’s just so much to consider and evaluate for individual users in the first round at present.

@vinipereira here’s the other categories I’d like to cast votes in for the first round. BEST NON-OLYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Non-Olympic sports #1: Paola Longoria (Racquetball) #2: Max Verstappen (Motorsport) #3: Shannon O'Keefe (Bowling) #4: Ouk Sreymom (Boules) BREAKTHROUGH OF THE YEAR for the most improved athlete or team (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Bart Swings #2: Remco Evenepoel #3: Carlos Alcaraz #4: Mixed Doubles Curling Team #5: David Popovici #6: Urša Bogataj SPORT MOMENT OF THE YEAR for any sport moment from 2022 (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Argentina win the FIFA World Cup. #2: Sydney McLaughlin sets a new 400m hurdles world record to win the world championships. #3: Abdelrahman El-Sefy wins gold in sumo at The World Games after being disqualified for over-celebrating original win. #4: Muzala Samukonga comes from behind to win 400m at Commonwealth Games. #5: USA beats Japan to win The World Games softball gold medal in front of home crowd. #6: The Vatican debuts at the Mediterranean Games. I’m finding it too difficult to fairly rank athletes in the remaining categories, so this will be it for me. I’m purposely choosing to not vote in the Olympic Spirit category (didn’t feel there were any striking examples this year, more negative if anything)

Here’s what I have so far: BEST PARALYMPIC ATHLETE for athletes in Paralympic sports #1: Jesper Pedersen #2: Diede de Groot #3: Brian McKeever #4: Marcel Hug #5: Brenna Huckaby #6: Cécile Hernandez BEST MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM for men's teams, pairs or groups (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Football #2: Ice Hockey #3: Floorball #4: Beach Handball #5: Curling #6: Goalball BEST WOMEN'S NATIONAL TEAM for women's teams, pairs or groups (including Olympic, Paralympic and Non-Olympic sports) #1: Ice Hockey #2: Rugby 7s #3: Flag Football #4: T20 Cricket #5: Beach Handball #6: Softball

@vinipereira I might take your offer on the first stage extension. My votes will likely be submitted late night on 30th Pacific Coast Time

They looked good in the first half, but they had some unfortunate misses at the start and finish of the second half. Still, WTC still enjoyable and unique as ever.

I didn’t grew up watching football, so my first introduction to him was the London 2012 closing ceremony. The reaction to him just being there is such a great example of the mark he left on sports. What a sad headline to read today