Brekkie Boy

Axing the sliding sports and putting some indoor summer events into the Winter Games would be about as dumb as they can get. I'd say Bobsleigh is one of the first sports you think about when you think about the Winter Olympics and it's one that goes beyond the traditional mountainous countries when it comes to participation. Nobody wants to see the Jamaican Bobsleigh team replaced by a Jamaican Handball team. These for me have been the most successful Winter Games in a generation and they need to be preserved as best we can, not torn apart.

Superb games - just looks stunning on TV and for the first time in a long time felt like put the Winter into Winter Olympics. Finally for me after 32 years Lillehammer has been bettered - and from a sporting point of view Team GB's three golds were great but the contribution the host nations athletes made really lifted the event. Holding sports events in countries that care about the sport and have history in the sports makes all the difference. Only downers really are that Milan didn't bring much to the party and though it looked stunning the closing ceremony in Verona seemed odd too. But then that's all a small price to pay for the snow events to return to Cortina.

With the Olympics now all about recycling venues nice to see a bit of ambition for the 2030 games with a new 12000 seater Aquatics Centre, 18000 seater Arena to be built in the shadow of the 132000 seater main stadium as part of a new "Sports Enclave", along with a new tennis centre with 10000 seat centre court and a National Institute for Sport with several training facilities. https://www.building.co.uk/news/bdp-team-unveils-350-acre-masterplan-for-2030-commonwealth-games-venues-in-ahmedabad/5140840.article

Well they had to do something with everything Tom Daley knitted in Paris.

What happened to the ceremonies having to ve held in the host city? As stunning and historic as the Verona Arena is bringing a third city that has hosted nothing in to the mix is baffling. The cauldron situation is a bit of a farce really.

Agree - at best recent games have been awarded in panic, at worst to block out potentially better alternatives. There were multiple cities interested in 2032 who didn't even know "bidding" had opened when Brisbane "won" the games. The 2030/34 double awarding made sense but ryshing 2038 doesn't. A more formal process securing 2038/42 would be better- though that said good to see Central Europe becoming the focus of international events once again. The games work so much better when hosted somewhere that has history in the sport. Back to the topic at hand though and I'm sticking with my call though and willing to proclaim these the best Winter Olympic Games, knocking Lillehammer into second then I'd put Vancouver in 3rd.

Completely get what people are saying about Milano - compared to other city-mountain hosts it gasn't shined as the city host, or oerhaps more gas been outshined by the excellence of their co-hosts. However the action inside the arenas has been quite noteable - especially the Americans repeatedly throwing away figure sjating medals then blami g everyone but themselves. My view though posted last Friday has only got stronger - I've just fallen in love with these games in a way I haven't for a long time. Certainly my favourite Winter games since Lillehammer and my favourite Olympics since London.

Rare footage of the Lake Placid Opening Ceremony - usually missing from the caukdron compilationvideos but here in it's full "electrical and mechanical" glory.

Only a week in but Milano Cortina certainly enters this conversation - well Cortina does at least. The views are stunning and just give me similar vibes to Lillehammer, plus the host nation doing so well always lifts a game (well, when you like the host nation!). Such a contrast in the vibe to the last few games - a shame really the games couldn't have been fully focused on Cortina and surrounding areas as it is the geographical spread out to Milano that lets it down a bit. They've gone from a games in 1956 where everything was in walking distance to 70 years later the most widespread games yet.

They did the parade well and the lighting too, but I'd no longer consider buying opening ceremony tickets given the trend now for the flame to be lit outside of the stadium..

Absolutely - and the worst thing is that they don't actually provide much better shots. Most of the snowboard cross shots from behind were far poorer than the traditional shots from in front. Similarly in the sliding events the traditional camera shots along the track work much better than following them from behind.

There aren't many better examples of the Streisand Effect than this - had the IOC been rational and just let him run it would have got a mention during his run and perhaps a brief mention in the round up of news at the end of the day and that would have been it. Instead banning it has made it the dominant story for a couple of days and made it the headline story of the games so far.

Just as the games appeared to be rising from the dead they’ve gone and hammered the final nail in their own coffin.

Seems the closest they've got to filling their 132,000 capacity stadium is 111,000. The trouble with a stadium that big is you can sell 66,000 tickets and it'll feel like the stadium is half empty.

A return to a competitive bid process is a must - games should never be awarded behind closed doors before rivals who have expressed interest in hosting even know the bidding was open. I think a dual games awarding is wise though - effectively had that for 2024/28 and 2030/34 and there are no real downsides to it.

Agree - and of course the Paralympics being cheaper to attend open it up more, especially to locals. Practically merging the two would add to the requirement for hotel rooms, training facilities etc. and if events were cut to enable a merger you can guarantee it would be the Paralympics that suffer most. The current split arrangement is the most cost effective way of staging both and really gives the host city an added bonus to stage in the post-Olympics glow and effectively makes the games an 8 week event.

Really disappointing to see swimmer Ben Proud sign up. He justifies it with the money on offer but that's like justifying drug dealing because it pays well.

Not to a month or even three weeks but amazed they've never bought the Opening Ceremony forward to Thursday night given that is traditionally a peak viewing night in the US. Similarly pushing back the Closing Ceremony to Monday would give them an entire slate of events on the Sunday. In theory that two day extension could mean no need for any events pre-Opening Ceremony.

That's a good point - instantly removes a few thousand rooms though I guess with the lack of a significant games stadium and events like Rugby 7s there will be significantly less spectators. Really hard to get excited about these cut price games.

Seem the hot favourites and want to restore the games to full size too.

Well it completely glossed over the questionable way they got the games but agree other than that most the issues outside the Olympic Stadium fiasco were just the standard you get in the run up to any games. I actually think the 11 year window is more of a hindrance than a help too - gives cities too much time to faff about amongst themselves rather than the ticking clock tgat encourages things to get moving.

A good video summing up the story so far.

A And they'd likely be done before the season begins anyway so probably their first game away but then OK beyond that. The issue would be if West Ham end up involved in any of the early qualification rounds for the UEFA competitions.

The schedule now out. https://www.glasgow2026.com/news/4328872/session-schedule-unveiled-for-the-uks-biggest-sporting-event-next-year

Realistically Birmingham the only out of London option for the Paras. Would be a great host for it but I think bidding for both in the same year isn't the best idea as if will look like it's getting second tier treatment by being taken out of the capital to a stadium half the size.