stryker

Regardless of the finishing date, the NHL and commissioner Gary Bettman have said the NHL will not participate if the ice is not satisfactory.

A perfect exhibit as to why the YOGs were created; to give cities that don't have the finances or infrastructure to host the big one. All three candidate cities would make excellent YOGs hosts.

This cluster is still a head scratcher. Why build a temporary BMX track when L.A. already has a world class BMX race course at Whittier Narrows near Pasadena? No space for temporary stands maybe? Also, couldn't modern pentathlon be held at Dignity Health Sports Park where Cal State Dominguez is? For skateboarding you have the skate park in Huntington Beach which was a regular stop for the Vans Skate Pro Park Series. 3x3 basketball could go anywhere practically.

The NHL has serious concerns about the main ice hockey arena. There`s been some chatter that NHL teams could pull their players if the ice isn't up to standard.

Barely half of the tickets have been sold. Even more concerning is there is little interest among the Italians. Nearly half of tickets for Milan-Cortina Olympics still unsold - ESPN

It has already been made clear by the Trump administration that fans from Iran and Haiti will not be given visas to attend games in the U.S. Even more concerning is Iran boycotted the draw because members of their delegation were denied visas after Trump previously promised visas for all teams and their delegations. And Trump's travel ban list is about to grow which is said to include Egypt, Algeria, and Senegal. I still do not discount the possibility that the orange man will outright ban the Iranian and or Haitian teams from competing. I would venture that FIFA is figuring out how to keep that from happening.

Not really any good options for an athletics stadium in either Liverpool or Manchester. There's a better chance of Scotland leaving the UK along with a united Ireland than there is of Manchester United allowing their new stadium to be built with specifications for an athletics track. As for the temporary stadium option it's the one that is often talked about but not viable. Remember how all those stadiums in Qatar were going to be downsized and given to developing countries? Even the stadium built out of shipping containers is still standing. Budapest's athletics stadium built for the world championships was built with a smaller capacity to decrease the number of temporary seats needing to be removed. I could see some thing where 10,000-20,000 are downsized but building a 60,000 seater and going down to 10,000 is not viable.

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1155951/olympics-set-for-liverpool-manchester A rather misleading headline, but I know the topic of a northern England bid has made its way around the forums here before. Venues wise, quite a few are already in place and I'm sure Andy Burnham has grand visions of ceremonies being held in Manchester United's "Wembley of the North." In addition to the substantial investments in transportation infrastructure and hotels, there's still the problem of an athletics because no football club in either city needs one (there`s a zero percent chance Manchester United would agree to an athletics track in a new stadium) which would leave them with two options: either London or expanding the athletics stadium in Birmingham that was used for the CWGs. I'd still say London is the favorite going forward when the UK does decide to bid again because of the existing infrastructure and experience.

Albertville staged the speed skating at an outdoor oval (the last WOGs to do so). Today stadium serves as an athletics stadium - L`anneau de vitesse. If I am not mistaken, a covered and climate-controlled oval is now a requirement which is a shame because it increases costs significantly.

This is a dress rehearsal for a future Olympics, and that does not include 2036. I am sure as part of the dialogue that India has been told, host the CWGs successfully, and an Olympics is in your future. 2030 is too close to 2036 for an evaluation as to the successes or failures of the CWGs and be ready for 2036. My prediction is the IOC will wait and see how India does in 2030 and then go same route they have done with Switzerland for the 2038 WOGs, giving India privileged dialogue status for 2040 (I maintain that 2036 is going either to Istanbul or somewhere else in Europe). On the flipside, if the 2030 CWGs are a repeat of what happened in 2010, then India will not be a serious contender for an Olympics for the rest of the century. As for the CWGs, this will probably be the most expensive one in history, and it will not help the problem of finding hosts for future editions.

They are cutting it close with the main ice hockey arena. https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/47138756/no-plan-b-hockey-arena-not-ready-26-olympics

So Trump promised the WC teams and their support staff would be granted visas? Looks like they've just denied members of the Iranian delegation visas. Wouldn't shock me if he extends it to the entire team on the eve of the WC. Iran of course has protested to FIFA, but FIFA is silent. Iran boycotting World Cup draw citing visa denials - ESPN

Well as we have seen from Trump so far it doesn't matter when you get your visa application in or even get your visa as his state department has shown it can revoke existing visas and visa applications on a moment's notice

Haitian fans will be barred from the WC. Could Trump turn around and bar Haiti and perhaps Iran's national teams next? If he did so a few months before kickoff of the WC there would be little FIFA could do. It's not like they could relocate the entire WC on a few months' notice. I could easily see Trump banning the Haiti on ridiculous claims like U.S. intelligence found evidence that some players are connected to local gangs or that some of the Iranian players have ties to terrorist organizations.

This one's a head scratcher for sure. Reminds me of when France selected Lille for their 2004 bid and Germany chose Leipzig for their 2012 bid. It does seem like this is gradually shifting towards a Seoul led bid, but I could easily see it becoming Korea 2036. Everyone knew from the start that North Jeolla could not handle the Olympics on their own and that Seoul would need to be involved. Furthermore, this allows Seoul to be a part of the bid without the much talked about renovation of the Seoul Olympic Park which would have been the centerpiece of a future Seoul bid but was jettisoned for being too costly. All that said, I think Korea's biggest obstacle in a 2036 bid is the time zone factor. Korea is still one of the few safe hosts in Asia for the IOC along with Japan and China so I could see them back in the mix in 2040 especially if India`s drops the ball again in hosting the 2030 CWGs.