Monthly Archives: August 2015

Hanna Knyazyeva-Minenko – You Da Real MVP!

Yes, the Athletics World Championships are going on in Beijing right now. And yes, I’m watching all the competition and all the events like I did in previous edition. However, I decided not to post daily summaries of the action in Beijing like I did for the Swimming World Championships in Kazan earlier this month. Continue reading

All-Time Top Medalists in the Swimming World Championships – Women (Kazan 2015 Update)

Sadly, we reached the final part of our 2015 Swimming World Championships summary – the effect it had on the all-time medals leaders among the female swimmers. Sadly, because now it means that the Championship is really over. Forever. And nothing can bring it back. All we will be left with are the memories. And on this optimistic note, let’s move to the all-time tables. Continue reading

All-Time Top Medalists in the Swimming World Championships – Men (Kazan 2015 Update)

After we’ve seen how Kazan 2015 affected the all-time single most successful Championships evar, it’s time to look at the all-time overall leaders lists and to see how much THEY changed.

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All Time Top Medalists at a Single Swimming World Championship – Women (Kazan 2015 Update)

Was I the only one that couldn’t eat and sleep, eagerly waiting for the second part to come out? Well, probably yes. I was just so anxious to see how Kazan 2015 affected the women’s all-time single most successful Championships ever lists! But now the wait is over, let us dive into the wonderful world of medals rankings… Continue reading

All Time Top Medalists at a Single Swimming World Championship – Men (Kazan 2015 Update)

After summarizing Kazan 2015, it’s now time to look at the all-time medals standings and to see how much things have changed after the 2015 edition of the Swimming World Championship. I used the past couple of days to give my historical swimming excel files a makeover, and now they are more presentable and handsome and single, so if you have some cute power point presentation I’m open for suggestions! Continue reading

Swimming World Championships 2015 – Summary

So, the Championship is over and it’s now time to make some summaries. If we are looking at the medal standings, we see that USA won the most gold medals – 8, but this was nevertheless a disappointing World Championship for the Americans – they won 13 golds in the previous one. Another nation who was a major disappointment is of course the host nation – Russia. Only uno gold and 4 medals in total – what a terrible haul. The Russians had several huge fuck ups here, and even their one swimmer who was truly excellent – Yuliya Yefimova, is not free of criticism (remember her 200m breaststroke?). Continue reading

Swimming World Championships 2015 – Day 8

The Championships is over. As always, I ask “already?!”. And as always I feel sad when it’s done, knowing that it’ll be a full year until I will see again the likes of Ledecky, Sjostrom, Sun Yang, etc… Luckily, it’s only a year. When the 2013 edition ended we had to wait two fucking years! Anyway, The morning heats had the usual amount of Russian incompetence. The women’s quartet missed the medley relay final, paying the price for going out with not their strongest quartet, and the men as well! Well, no, actually the men’s relay team made it, but only because the Hungarians were DQ’d (and rightfully so). But still – had they not been disqualified, no Russian team would have been present in the medleys final! What an embarrassment. Anyway, let’s see what the final afternoon session of the Championships had to offer… Continue reading

Swimming World Championships 2015 – Day 7

The morning sessions today had a couple of surprises in them, the main one being Sun Yang in his 1500m heat, where he finished only 3rd, well behind Paltrinieri and even behind Connor Jaeger. Could it be that he was simply saving his efforts for the final? I really hope so. Because it was really unnatural seeing him like this. After winning both the 400m and the 800m, I can’t imagine him losing the 1500m… but who knows. The second surprise was a personal one, when Israeli swimmer Guy Barnea failed to qualify for the 50m backstroke semifinals, after featuring in the final two years ago. Anyway, evening sessions – the stage is yours. Continue reading

Swimming World Championships 2015 – Day 6

Another day of awesome swimming. Today we once again had 5 finals, and in the morning heats we saw a true legend of the sport return to the pool, as Grant Hackett swam the first leg of the 4x200m relay for Israel Australia. Sadly, he didn’t get a chance to participate in the final, even though he swam a decent split and won his leg. Anyway, let’s move on to the afternoon swims, shall we? Continue reading

Swimming World Championships 2015 – Day 5

Five days already behind us. Today was another good day. Well, for us the spectators, not so much for the host nation. The heats this morning were really disastrous for Russia, as first Efimova, the 100m breaststroke champion, failed to advance to the semifinals in the 200m, and then the women’s 4x200m team failed to make the final. A personal disappointment for me was Yakov Toumarkin, who, after performing so well in his previous two events and advancing to the semis in both, failed to make the semis in his main event – the 200m backstroke… A real disappointment. Well, enough about disappointments, there were also some good things, right? Right. So, as my good friend Eminem says – let’s get down to business. Continue reading