vinipereira

BTW, have you guys seen what happened at this mixed doubles match?

I just want Halep to win. That's all.

Wow wow wow It's been quite some time I've seen a match this good. Terrific

lol

Super early predictions indeed, but let's see. I guess Brazil's situation can be compared only to Greece among the recent hosts: Greece Medals in Sydney: 13 (4 golds) Medals in Athens: 16 (6 golds) Medals in Beijing: 3 (no golds) Brazil: Medals in London: 17 (3 golds) Medals in Rio: 19 (7 golds) Medals in Tokyo: ??? If we're talking about total medals, Brazil and Greece didn't improve a lot at home compared to the previous edition, but had a very good result counting gold medals only. I expect a fall of those numbers for Tokyo, maybe not so big like Greece's, but right now I'm predicting 12 medals. (for this prediction, I won't predict the "colors", because it's too early for this) Sports that gaves us medals in almost every edition since 1996 Volleyball/Beach Volleyball: 2 to 3 medals should be reachable. Judo: 2 to 3 medals. I think we have a good chance at the new team event. Football: 1 medal, but now that we have a gold, will we care to send the best team? Sailing: 1 medal. Total: 5-8 medals Sports that occasionally gave us medals in the last two decades Athletics/Swimming: I think we can reach 2 medals from the two big sports combined, or at least 1 (Open water?). Canoeing: 1 medal should be possible if Isaquias mantains his level. Boxing/Taekwondo: 1 medal, but I could easily see Brazil getting none here. Equestrian/Gymnastics/Modern Pentathlon/Shooting: maybe 1 medal among these. Total: 2-5 medals The other sports (including the "new" ones) Basketball: the only other sport not previously mentioned in which we have medals. Pretty sure we won't return to the podium in Tokyo (we won't even qualify). Karate/Skateboarding/Surfing: If everything goes according to plan, we should get at least 2 medals among those. If not, at least 1 medal. Other sports: unless some new name rises, I don't think we will medal in a new sport (except for the ones included for the first time in Tokyo). Tennis should be a possibility, but Melo/Soares aren't great playing together. Total: 1-2 medals Pessimistic: 8 medals Optmistic: 15 medals Early prediction: 12 medals

Except that this thread is dedicated to Olympians only.

Yes, because is very easy to ask to the government: "could you please give us millions of dollars to build these ice facilities of sports nobody has ever heard from and that will cost additional millions to mantain?". I don't blame the countries who have tradition in the Winter Olympics, they're in their own right, but the idea that "summer" nations don't participate in a higher level simply because "they don't want" is a little too much.

You can't be seriously comparing the challenges faced by US athletes to the ones faced by brazilian athletes, as if I can travel to another state and have all the facilities needed to train, etc. You talk about how this is a "cultural" problem, but how can Brazil (or any other tropical country) create a culture of winter sports and general interest if they're so hard to practice? Even if we had some ice rinks and other facilities (not snow, of course, because you know...), you can't simply create a top level athlete from day to night - unless we buy them, which is not the right way to go. I'm not against the Winter Olympics, but in one way or the other, the climate HAS great influence in the results - just take a good look at the nations who will win a medal next month. The point here is that the Winter Olympics can't never be compared to the Summer version regarding reach. That doesn't mean it isn't fun or that they must be cancelled.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5271823/Cranberries-singer-Dolores-ORiordan-dies-London-hotel.html RIP

What a terrible day for the US players

(for better understanding, I will post the currency as US dollars and not brazilian reais) The whole budget for the Ministry of Sports in 2018 surpasses 300 million dollars, which is applied in many different ways. For instance, the portion going to athletes ("Bolsa Atleta") suffered a cut of 36% compared to last year - they will only receive about 25 million; the school/university sports will receive about 11 million; the budget for infrastructure was raised, though, which I don't think is a great thing since we have very corrupted politics - of this budget, about 45 million alone should go to the so called "Olympic legacy", including the Olympic Park and Deodoro facilities. Anyway, for the money received by the federations, we have the following (Football is not included because it doesn't receive money - its revenue is bigger than all the other sports COMBINED): 1) Volleyball - US$ 1.95 million 2) Judo - 1.94 mi 3) Sailing - 1.50 mi 4) Athletics - 1.36 mi 5) Gymnastics - 1.31 mi 6) Canoeing - 1.25 mi 7) Aquatics - 1.18 mi 8) Boxing - 1.16 mi 9) Shooting - 0.98 mi 10) Weightlifting - 0.96 mi 11) Wrestling - 0.89 mi 12) Modern Pentathlon - 0.87 mi 13) Tennis - 0.85 mi 14) Taekwondo - 0.84 mi 15) Equestrian - 0.83 mi 16) Handball -0.80 mi 17) Archery - 0.78 mi 18) Fencing - 0.75 mi 19) Cycling - 0.73 mi 20) Golf - 0.72 mi 21) Table Tennis - 0.72 mi 22) Badminton - 0.70 mi 23) Rugby - 0.70 mi 24) Rowing - 0.68 mi 25) Field Hockey - 0.68 mi 26) Triathlon - 0.67 mi 27) Basketball - 0.65 mi 28) Snow Sports - 0.50 mi 29) Ice Sports - 0.42 mi 30) Project 2020 (Baseball/Softball, Karate, Skating, Sport Climbing, Surfing) - 1.12 mi - meaning 0.22 mi for each federation As you can see, the budget is nothing compared to the bigger nations. On the positive side, all Olympic sports have a budget, even if some of them are quite low - for instance, the whole budget for the Winter Sports doesn't surpass 1 million. There's also a portion going to non-Olympic and Paralympic sports, but I don't have those numbers.

Because both tournaments happen at the same period and place, it is "easier" to call the Women's groups "C" and "D" to avoid any confusion. BTW, really unbalanced draw in Women's with China, USA, Brazil (all top 4 at last Paralympics) and Canada (current continental champions) in the same group.

Do I really have to say it?

First week (February 9th to February 18th) will happen during Carnaval time in Brazil, so I'm glad I will have a lot of free days to watch the Olympics

Gracenote updates its medals projections for PyeongChang.

Tell that to people who have never seen snow in their entire life* *me

Amen to that! In all seriousness, I like the current programme, but that's coming from a person that understands about 5% of what actually is going on.

Honestly, I understand why they picked Rippon, but Zhou over Miner? Probably they wanted someone younger?

I agree, but "general chat" is fine - and much better than the previous one, I think.

A little bit shocked they didn't pick Ashley Wagner even though she finished 4th at the nationals - but, IMO, had a better record in international competitions. In the men's side, the expected, even the exclusion of Ross Miner who was 2nd at nationals (but previous to that, didn't have so many good results). I was hoping for Jason Brown, but oh well...