yoshi

Lauren James is quite a player... and it looks like the US really aren't as good as they used to be - a couple of inches away from being knocked out by Portugal . From what I've seen and read it looks like Japan, England and the Netherlands are the main challengers.

Why are they doing all the big shows today rather than tomorrow? Isn't July 26 the start date?!

Given where the ceremony is & how the general vision seems to be to have as much of the Games seen by as much of Paris as possible, I'd be very surprised if the flame doesn't rest in something in the middle hole of the Tower. At least there can't be long speculation like the last few Games, because you can't go attaching stuff to the Eiffel Tower without anyone seeing...

That's probably what its squat shape reminds me of most of all, thank you. You can almost picture Charlie unscrewing the two halves of it to get the message out...

As usual with pretty much anything Paris 2024 have designed, it's lovely - but it's very short! Probably looks most like an upmarket perfume bottle - fitting for fashionable Paris

Never a bad thing to have a good scare in your first match, stops any complacency getting in. As long as the scare isn't so scary you don't get through it at all, but that wasn't.

In a world where Milan-Cortina can happen, Paris-Albertville (effectively) is very possible, thank you TGV. Although there's no mention of Ile de France so I guess they're not involved yet. Lyon would make most sense and surely be big enough but I don't see why PACA would be involved if it's not to provide the main host city, whether it's Marseille, Nice, or strung out along the coast.

Amazing start for NZ I assume Norway aren't much good anymore, given how England put 8 past them at the Euros, plus apparently they lost to Austria which I don't remember. Good for Australia to get off to a good start too.

If they can somehow move the election to after Paris, maybe a 2012-style afterglow will be enough to see this get enough support from the French people and government to get over the line, if it hasn't already. I think the IOC will be very tempted to make that happen, so watch their timetables carefully. The IOC might well have their saviour here without having to worry about Sweden getting cold feet.

?!? WA is basically a giant gold nugget, how on earth have they run out of cash? This is all very concerning, what is going on with sports & governance in Australia? I thought the Victoria debacle was specific to that state and the specific plan they had, getting a bit worried about 2032 now...

Using the two regions is interesting. Suggests maybe that the main city could be Marseille or maybe Nice if it's in PACA. If it was Lyon as many of us thought it'd be it'd surely be all Auvergne Rhone Alpes...

I think the Commonwealth Games are still relevant to us, even if the Commonwealth itself as an organisation isn't so much - I don't remember anything about any CHOGM. Any international friendship or contact is worth having though, but yeah G7, NATO etc are bigger. I can see why some are saying its time is up though. Of course sport is a huge deal to both of us, and the ties remain. England v Australia is always special, whatever the sport, & one of the main reasons why I like the CWG & hope they don't die is that they also let the Home Nations get their moment as themselves, something they only usually get at football, and the Channel Islands/IOM etc who don't even get that. You can see how much it means to the athletes to fly the Scottish, Welsh or Jersey (say) flags. It also gives a chance to other sports. I don't remember much about 2006 & 10, although I vividly remember the opening ceremony in Melbourne. Wouldn't remember 18 much if it hadn't been for being able to watch a load of it in a hospital waiting room. They're always great fun though, especially 2022 which was so embraced by a city that deserved its moment. That's another good thing, the chance for other cities to show themselves off. I hope they can be saved. As for the European question, it depends which one. The Games in Krakow were a complete non event, I don't think I even saw any coverage. The Championships in Munich got a lot more coverage, I'd say comparable to a non-UK Commonwealth Games only with fewer sports. I think there's a future for those, and that it'd get a lot of interest if held here.

Well it's a shock to see the news this morning but I can't say this is a surprise tbh. Obviously I haven't been following it as closely as people in Australia, at the coalface, but from stuff like the kerfuffle about building one railway station (!) through to how low key it's all felt, it's never really felt from afar as though anything has been progressing as it should, even going back to how they got the Games. The regional model always did feel a little odd given one of the world's great sporting cities is in the middle being ignored, even if the idea was good in theory. A few questions though: How on earth has the budget got to 7 billion?! Iirc Birmingham spent about 1? I get transport costs and inflation but really? Why not shift it to Melbourne, that'd surely slash the costs - existing venues and transport... Why the abrupt cancellation, with seemingly no attempt to salvage something from it? Did Victoria even try to contact the CGF? Where to now? Three years is very not long, even less than Brum had. Most ominously...Australian state makes its own bid for major event, without much federal involvement, on a regional concept, gets to actually having to do it, finds it's bitten off more than it can chew, gives up when trouble starts. I would think and hope that being the Olympics, Brisbane will have more support all round, as well as Coates as a voice for Brisbane at the top of the IOC. But I can't be the only one feeling concerned... it's a very very sad day all round. I just hope the Games can recover somehow, although tbh I doubt it.

Yeah I can't see that looking too good. Tbh I've never really thought of Berlin as a serious candidate, because of the opposition that everything tends to meet there. I guess that means the only real options for a one-city/conurbation bid are Rhine Ruhr with Munich's stadium, or Munich does the lot. That or Rhine Ruhr asks the Netherlands nicely if Amsterdam's stadium is open

I like that idea of the finals. That'd be good to have a similar thing here, I know the British athletics championships are happening now but if it was bundled with a load of others it could get some proper attention :). I did wonder about Hamburg and Berlin together, it's not a journey I've taken but they look close - 90 minutes is bearable for sure. I guess Kiel would be used for sailing. Are the two cities rivals, would there be a problem dividing it up? (Also how were the Special Olympics received in Berlin? Could they go it alone?)

Interesting that most German sports are bundling their championships together - is that almost like a feasibility study for a hypothetical Rhine Ruhr Olympics? I wonder why they've chosen Kassel though rather than the Universiade stadium in Bochum... Nuremberg is a little bit closer to NRW than Munich is but not much as you say. I don't know which of the big two a bid would choose, I guess it'd depend on whether the main set of venues clusters towards the Cologne end, closer to Munich or the Dortmund end closer to Berlin. If it really makes that much difference.

So does that mean there's basically no way a Rhine Ruhr bid can have its main stadium in the region? Is there really only Munich and Berlin as practical stadium options, because they're both a long way from Rhine Ruhr, especially the northern and western parts of the region...

I didn't know you'd had a domestic bid race for 2012, I think if Munich or particularly Berlin had been in that it might've had enough to beat Paris and London. I'm not German so it's none of my business but I'd still have thought your best bet is to utilise the new model of a regional Games (assuming the IOC keep that for cities not called Brisbane) & use the area that's tailor made for that - Rhine Ruhr. The biggest problem there is the stadium - it's a long way from Munich and Berlin. But although I know the Bundesliga clubs are all fine, I'd still imagine at least one of the lower football teams there must have a stadium so bad they'd be willing to take a track in exchange for an upgrade...

I don't think it's a problem to give Leipzig something if there's a national bid tbh - let the east feel included in it and emphasize the modern Germany/first Olympics since unification aspect of the bid. Only question is what they'd get - I don't know what they've already got for venues. I only thought it was odd because I thought you were talking about a sole Leipzig bid again - Germany would've had a good shot at 2012 with a more suitable candidate.

Leipzig again?!? I don't quite understand what you're saying there, are they talking to these cities with a view to establishing which is best placed/wants it more or is it to try and get them all together as a single bid - Germany 2036?

That would save the Winter Olympics, no doubt, although I'll still only believe in a Stockholm games once it's signed and sealed. Never mind a double award, the IOC should be out there making whatever bribes/deals are necessary to get those three locked in - if that means there's no winter bid process until 2035, so be it, the world economy will obviously be different, maybe better, who knows, & those cities might well inspire others to bid. Climate change will obviously be a bigger problem then though.

The Championships do seem to be a much bigger deal in the eyes of the broadcasters & therefore the public. What are they doing, the other sports involved in that for 2026? I know athletics has split itself off & is going to Birmingham, is there anything stopping the other sports (maybe more even) carrying on & maybe holding the combined event in Birmingham at the same time, so it keeps the 'Games' feel? I do think the concept of a Games of Europe is strong, & Birmingham could definitely handle something like Munich 2022's scale at least. Would be an obvious next step for the city after the Commonwealth Games too.

Isn't the big branding boost and status in the premier league of cities supposed to come after the Olympics? Isn't that what happened with Barcelona, and I assume that's the template Brisbane want to follow...

Still haven't seen any live coverage of this at all on the BBC - & I've been checking iPlayer for it too. Only the odd report on the BBC Sport website, otherwise nothing from an official broadcaster in theory. The attempt to head off the European Championships by getting the EBU in obviously hasn't worked, at least not on this side of the Channel. Munich had way way more coverage last year, and obviously if they can get Brum on board, 2026 would have more still. As for these, I'm struggling to see where their future comes from - although I accept this is a specific British perspective. Maybe elsewhere in Europe these have been a bigger deal.

Interesting that it's not visiting every department, I know the centre of France isn't massively populated but there are some really huge gaps there . Still it'll be a great torch relay I'm sure, good to finally have a proper one. There'll be some spectacular celebrations for it too, I'm sure the cities will want to one-up each other