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93-405: Different types of repechage can occur. As a basis for the examples below, assume that 64 competitors are divided into four pools of 16 competitors, labeled A, B, C, and D. The first three rounds of the primary championship bracket winnow the field down to eight competitors for the quarter-final. In full repechage, a competitor who loses to the pool winner falls into the repechage bracket. The theory

186-515: A proprietary limited company called Australian Football Championships Pty Ltd in 1978 to run its night competition and offered shareholdings to the other state leagues in an attempt to lure other states into the competition. For the three years from 1977 until 1979, the NFL and VFL night competitions were run separately as rival night competitions. In 1978, the Tasmanian representative team competed in both

279-799: A 20% cut in industry jobs. The 2021 grand final was played in September at Perth Stadium in Perth because an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown prevented the match from being played with spectators at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne , Victoria. It was the first grand final played in Perth and the second consecutive grand final to be played outside Victoria. The event set a new attendance record for Australian rules football in Western Australia, eclipsing

372-613: A competitor's time, and the repechage system allows the "fastest losers" to qualify irrespective of the variable conditions in the opening heats. In rugby , the qualification processes for the Rugby Union World Cup and the Rugby League World Cup use a repechage system. The Air New Zealand Cup , New Zealand 's domestic professional competition in Union, used the repechage in the 2006 Air New Zealand Cup , but scrapped it for

465-515: A few home games on the Gold Coast in previous years, was offered significant subsidies to relocate to the Gold Coast but declined. The AFL then began work to establish a club on the Gold Coast as a new expansion team. Early in 2008, a meeting held by the AFL discussed having two new teams enter the AFL competition. In March 2008, the AFL won the support of the league's 16 club presidents to establish sides on

558-402: A flip-bracket format; the winner of the first championship bracket plays the winner of the second repechage bracket, and the winner of the second championship bracket plays the winner of the first repechage bracket. Both of those games are single elimination, with the winners playing for the championship. Some competitions use a modified double elimination format called Olympic Crossing, in which

651-487: A joint venture to begin construction of a brand-new stadium situated at Melbourne's Docklands . Representative state football came to an end, with the last State of Origin match held in 1999. In the late 2000s, the AFL looked to establish a permanent presence on the Gold Coast in the state of Queensland, which was fast-developing as a major population centre. North Melbourne, which was in financial difficulty and had played

744-561: A length of 250 metres (273.403 yd), though tracks of many lengths are still in use. Track cycling is particularly popular in Europe, notably Belgium, France, Germany and the United Kingdom where it is often used as off-season training by road racers who can frequently be seen at professional six-day events (races entered by two-rider teams.) In the United States, track racing reached

837-597: A new competition, the Victorian Football League (VFL). The remaining VFA clubs— Footscray , North Melbourne , Port Melbourne , Richmond and Williamstown —were given the opportunity to compete as junior sides at a level beneath the VFL but rejected the offer and remained for the 1897 VFA season . The VFL's inaugural season occurred in 1897. It made several innovations early on to entice the public's interest, including an annual finals tournament, rather than awarding

930-670: A peak of popularity in the 1930s when six-day races were held in Madison Square Garden in New York. The word " Madison " is still used as the name for a type of race. In Japan, the keirin race format is a very popular betting sport. The sport is well-regarded, and riders are extensively trained through the Japanese Keirin School. Track cycling events fit into two broad categories: sprint races and endurance races. Riders will typically fall into one category and not compete in

1023-485: A repeat champion in the same discipline. Though met with some criticism, Ivy holds her title as transgender athletes are permitted to compete as per the International Olympic Committee . Aerodynamic drag is a significant factor in both road and track racing. Frames are often constructed of moulded carbon fiber , for a lightweight design. More recently, track bikes have employed airfoil designs on

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1116-450: A reputation for being fast. Recently, these have mostly been at high-altitude locations, such as Mexico City, Mexico or Aguascalientes, Mexico , where the thinner air results in lower aerodynamic drag, offsetting the added difficulty of breathing. Innovations in equipment and the rider's position on the bike have also led to dramatic improvements in the hour record, but have also been a source of controversy (see Graeme Obree ). In 2019,

1209-724: A result, the club withdrew from the VFL at the end of 1914. The VFL premier and the premier of the South Australian Football League met in a playoff matches for the Championship of Australia beginning in 1888 with a 3-game playoff between South Melbourne from the VFL and the Norwood the most successful club in the SAFA. Matches where then held sporadically during the 1890s as single game playoffs and then annually from 1907 until 1914 (except 1912). South Australian clubs won 8 of

1302-492: A similar mechanism in the AFL final eight system , whereby the top four teams at the end of the home-and-away season are given a second chance in a qualifying final, with the losers of each qualifying final given a second chance in a semi-final, while winners get a bye and compete in a preliminary final. Unlike in other sport variations, the loser from a qualifying final may win the premiership should they win all three finals, including

1395-404: A small number of laps to defeat opponents. Sprint riders train specifically to compete in races of this length, and do not generally compete in endurance events. The main sprint events are: Endurance races are held over longer distances. These races test the riders' endurance capacity, as well as tactics and speed. The length of track endurance events varies by race type, whether it is a part of

1488-452: A sole source of income for players who had previously had part-time or full-time jobs outside of football. Functionally, the AFL gave up control over its Victorian-based minor grades at the end of 1991 – clubs continued to field reserves teams in a competition run by the new Victorian State Football League and the under-19s competition and zone-based recruiting were abolished and replaced with an independent system . Midway through 1990,

1581-405: A specified minimum result. The remaining qualification spots (if any) are given in order to the best results. In track athletics , automatic qualification for the next round is given to the best competitors in each heat. Other competitors with the best times may qualify for the next round indirectly as "fastest losers" as a result of the repechage. If a particular heat was significantly faster than

1674-631: A straight-armed Superman -like position with their arms fully extended horizontally, but this position was subsequently outlawed by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the sport's ruling body. In addition to regular track racing, tracks are also the venue for many speed records. These are over either a fixed distance or for a fixed period of time. Generally, time trial events (200 m, 500 m, 1 km, and Individual Pursuit) will be recorded for both gender categories as well as several age categories on each track, for each nation, and for

1767-467: Is also one of the oldest clubs to have later participated in the competition. The Victorian Football Association (VFA) was established in 1877 and quickly went on to become Victoria 's football competition. During the 1890s, an off-field power struggle occurred between the VFA's stronger and weaker clubs, the former seeking greater administrative control commensurate with their relative financial contribution to

1860-464: Is also the case that women race shorter distances than men in mass start events such as stand-alone scratch and points races , and omnium events. In many cycling sports, women raced shorter distances, are paid less, and receive less air-time. It was not until 2018 that the UCI mandated minimum wages for women's cycling at all. It is unclear how this will impact female track cyclists, as track cycling

1953-424: Is based upon the results in all UCI -sanctioned races over a twelve-month period. The ranking includes an individual and a nations ranking and includes the disciplines: individual pursuit , points race , scratch , sprint , time trial , keirin , omnium , team pursuit , team sprint and madison . Women's track cycling was only introduced as an Olympic sport in 1988, and women were not permitted to compete in

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2046-496: Is generally not an athlete's primary source of income (rather they are road cyclists selected for specific events by their national team). There is no talk of changing race distances to create gender parity in time for the 2020 Olympics. In 2018, Veronica Ivy (then known as Rachel McKinnon) became the first transgender World Champion in any sport, with a victory in the Masters Women Age 35-44 age category. In 2019, Ivy became

2139-502: Is that a worthy competitor who is paired with another worthy competitor should not be unduly penalized by luck of the draw, but have an opportunity to fight for at least third place. In our example, four competitors from each pool (the loser to the pool winner in the first, second, third and quarter-final rounds) fall into the repechage bracket. A larger pool results in a longer wait for first-round losers to determine if they will compete in repechage. Quarter-final repechage pulls losers from

2232-426: Is when losers fall from the primary championship bracket and compete for third place or a lesser consolation prize . Hence, except in the case of full double-elimination repechage, a repechage bracket might be referred to as a consolation bracket. In Major League Baseball (MLB) a repechage bracket is formed by wild card teams in each league. At many levels of amateur play in baseball and softball , including

2325-550: The 2007 Air New Zealand Cup . A repechage stage in sailing is sometimes used in match-racing competition to allow teams finishing the round robin(s) just below the top-level teams a chance to advance to the quarter-final stage. This is standard competition for the Olympic-class events, such as the ISAF Sailing World Cup . In field athletics , automatic qualification for the next round depends on meeting or surpassing

2418-577: The 2012 Summer Olympics there were fewer events for women. The UCI Track Cycling World Championships are held every year, usually in March or April at the end of the winter track season. There are currently (2024) 22 events in the World Championships, 11 for men and 11 for women. Qualification places are determined by different countries performance during the World Cup Classic series held through

2511-665: The Gold Coast and in Western Sydney . The Gold Coast Suns were established and joined the AFL in 2011 as the 17th team. The Greater Western Sydney Giants , representing both Western Sydney and Canberra, were then established and entered the league as the 18th team in 2012. On 25 April 2013 the Westpac Stadium in Wellington , New Zealand hosted the first ever Australian Football League game played for premiership points outside Australia. The night game between St Kilda and Sydney

2604-540: The Melbourne Hawks but the merger ultimately fell through and both teams continued as separate entities. Fitzroy, however, was too weak to continue by itself. The club nearly merged with North Melbourne to form the Fitzroy-North Melbourne Kangaroos but the other clubs voted against it. In 1994 Port Adelaide was awarded an AFL licence but could not enter until a Victorian team had folded or merged. At

2697-581: The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), tournaments are established as a full double-elimination repechage. In the current 64-team baseball and softball NCAA tournament formats, there are alternating four-team double-elimination repechage formats, and best two-of-three games series. The first and third rounds are full double-elimination repechages, while the second and fourth rounds are best-two-of-three-game series. The Southeastern Conference (SEC) baseball tournament has

2790-633: The Omnium or not, and the gender of the competitors. Many track endurance riders also compete in road cycling events. The main endurance events are: There were six events in track cycling at the Olympics in 2024: team sprint , match sprint , keirin , omnium , team pursuit , and Madison . The Madison was added in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics held in 2021; the other races had been held in previous Games. There are separate races of each type for men and women; until

2883-540: The VFL Night Series (1956–1971) and records relating to the three competitions are often combined. With the number of players recruited from country leagues increasing, the wealthier VFL clubs were gaining an advantage that metropolitan zoning and the Coulter law (salary cap) restricting player payments had prevented in the past. Country zoning was introduced in the late 1960s and while it pushed Essendon and Geelong from

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2976-637: The West Australian Football League and Queensland Australian Football League were awarded licences to field expansion teams in the VFL, leading to the establishment of the clubs in Brisbane and Perth ( Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles ), who both joined the league in 1987. These expansion team licences were awarded on payment of multimillion-dollar fees which were not required of the existing VFL clubs. In 1989 financial troubles nearly forced Footscray and Fitzroy to merge but fees paid by

3069-610: The World Championships at the end of the season. The overall leader in each event may wear a white points leaders jersey at each race, with the overall winner at the end of the season may keep the jersey and wear it at the World Championships. Riders compete for either national teams or trade teams, though the future of trade teams is unknown after controversial decisions by the UCI to eliminate World Cup events, and replace them with Nation's Cup events. The UCI Track Cycling World Ranking

3162-399: The grand final . In double-elimination repechage, any loser in the championship bracket falls into the repechage bracket. Typically the losers from the championship bracket's first round compete against each other in the repechage first round for the right to compete in the repechage second round (against the championship bracket second round losers). In full double-elimination repechage,

3255-406: The keirin and match sprints . These heats give a second chance for non-qualifiers in the preliminary heat(s) to advance to the next round of competition. Although not normally used for FIE events , sometime local events use direct elimination with repechage. A disadvantage is that some competitors have to wait. An advantage for team events is more willingness to use direct elimination (DE) from

3348-562: The 11 Titles of which Port Adelaide was the most successful winning four titles in 1890, 1910, 1913 and 1914. The majority of the matches were held in South Australia at Adelaide Oval . Following the outbreak of World War 1 the Championship playoff ceased and wasn't revived until 1968. In 1916, district football was introduced, meaning new players from metropolitan Melbourne were allocated to clubs based on residential address. In 1925,

3441-469: The Brisbane Bears and West Coast Eagles, propped up the struggling VFL sides. The 1980s first saw new regular timeslots for VFL matches. VFL matches had previously been played on Saturday afternoons but Sydney began playing its home matches on Sunday afternoons and North Melbourne pioneered playing matches on Friday night. These have since become regular timeslots for all teams. The first national draft

3534-624: The NFL and VFL night competitions but all SANFL and WAFL clubs and the minor states teams remained in the NFL Night Series. In 1979, the WAFL clubs and the New South Wales and A.C.T. representative teams defected from the NFL Night Series and joined the VFL's night competition, leaving the NFL Night Series mostly composed of SANFL teams. The NFL Night Series was not revived in 1980 and the SANFL clubs joined

3627-528: The SANFL's most successful club, Port Adelaide , made a bid for an AFL licence. In response, the SANFL gained an injunction via Glenelg and Norwood against Port Adelaide , allowing it time to establish a composite South Australian team called the Adelaide Crows , which was awarded the licence and joined the league in 1991 as the fourth non-Victorian club. The same year saw the West Coast Eagles become

3720-569: The VFA and University Football Club from the Metropolitan Junior Football Association . Professionalism began from the 1911 season, with clubs permitted to pay players beyond the reimbursement of expenses for the first time. University, after three promising seasons, finished last each year from 1911 until 1914, including losing 51 matches in a row, in part caused by its players' focus on their studies rather than football and in part because it had chosen to remain amateur; as

3813-533: The VFL commenced in 1957 with direct telecasts of the final quarter permitted. At first, several channels competed through broadcasting different games. When the VFL found that television coverage had reduced crowds, it decided no that television coverage was to be allowed for 1960. In 1961 television replays in Melbourne were introduced although direct telecasts were rarely permitted, where as the rest of Australia received live telecasts every Saturday afternoon. In 1959,

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3906-434: The VFL expanded from nine teams to twelve, with Footscray , Hawthorn and North Melbourne each crossing from the VFA. North Melbourne and Hawthorn remained very weak in the VFL for a very long period. Although North Melbourne would become the first of the 1925 expansion sides to reach a grand final in 1950 , initially it was Footscray that adapted to the VFL with the most ease of the three clubs and by 1928 were well off

3999-435: The VFL night competition was at its largest, with all VFL, WAFL and SANFL clubs plus the four minor states teams (selected under residential qualification rather than state of origin qualification) competing for a total of 34 teams. In 1982, the size of the competition was reduced and, thereafter, only the top two or three teams from the SANFL and WAFL and the winner of the minor states' annual carnival were invited. In 1987,

4092-473: The VFL planned the first purpose-built mega-stadium, VFL Park (later known as Waverley Park) , to give it some independence from the Melbourne Cricket Club , which managed the Melbourne Cricket Ground . VFL Park was planned to hold 155,000 spectators, which would have made it one of the largest stadiums in the world – although it would ultimately be built with a capacity of 78,000. Land for the stadium

4185-423: The VFL's night competition. Although the NFL itself continued to exist as an administrative body into the early 1990s, the power gained by the VFL as a result of its take-over of night competition was one of the first significant steps in the VFL's spread interstate and ultimately its take-over and control of Australian football across Australia. In 1980 and 1981, the first years after the NFL Night Series ended,

4278-470: The VFL's weaker clubs into dire financial situations. The South Melbourne Swans became the first VFL team to relocate interstate. The South Melbourne Football Club was deeply indebted, including to the VFL which took over the club's Swans team and moved the team's home games to Sydney in 1982 and renamed the team the Sydney Swans the following year. Under the private ownership of Dr Geoffrey Edelsten during

4371-428: The VFL, SANFL and WAFL, as well as state representative teams from other states. In November 1976, the VFL announced that it was withdrawing from the NFL's competition, having arranged more substantial television and sponsorship deals for its own, rival night competition for 1977 to be based in Melbourne and feature only the VFL clubs. Light towers were erected at VFL Park specifically for the event. The VFL established

4464-564: The assistance of state governments and health officials, the season resumed on 11 June, with the length of the season reduced from 22 matches per team to 17 matches. The grand final was played in October at The Gabba in Brisbane , the first time it was held outside of Victoria since the creation of the league due to the spiking cases in that state. The pandemic caused the league to lose out on up to $ 400 million in anticipated revenue and also precipitated

4557-502: The bottom of the ladder. Between the years of 1927 and 1930, Collingwood became the first and only VFL team, to win four successive premierships. In 1952, the VFL hosted a national day, when all six matches were played outside Melbourne. Matches were played at the Sydney Cricket Ground , Brisbane Exhibition Ground , North Hobart Oval , Albury Sports Ground and Victorian country towns Yallourn and Euroa . Footscray became

4650-586: The end of 1996 Fitzroy played its last match and merged with Brisbane to form the Brisbane Lions. This allowed Port Adelaide to enter the AFL for the 1997 season as the sixth and only pre-existing non Victorian club. Through the 1990s there was a significant trend of Melbourne-based teams abandoning the use of their small (20,000–30,000 capacity) suburban venues for home matches in favour of the MCG and VFL Park , which have and had larger seating capacities. The 1990s saw

4743-630: The eventual repechage bracket winner competes against the championship bracket winner to determine the winner of the overall competition, but the repechage bracket winner must win two matches to win the competition whereas the championship bracket winner needs only win one match. In a partial double-elimination repechage bracket, the bracket winner (or winners in dual third-place scenario) will take third place. Dual third-place finishers can result with full, quarter-final, or double-elimination repechage. Losers from two championship bracket pools (e.g., A and B) are placed into one repechage bracket and losers from

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4836-753: The field, a succession of owners and transfer to its supporter "members", the Sydney Swans remain indebted to the AFL and subject to its veto control and reversion rights in what became a model for the AFL control of teams. Throughout the 1980s, approaches were made by SANFL and WAFL clubs to enter the VFL. Of particular note were approaches by the East Perth Royals in 1980, the Norwood Redlegs in 1986 and 1988, and an East – South Fremantle merger proposal in 1987. None of these attempts were successful despite Norwood trying again in 1990 and 1994. In 1986,

4929-413: The final for first and second place. The repechage bracket is built from athletes who were knocked out by the finalists and building brackets to determine third place. Repechage addresses the possibility of two top competitors meeting in an early round, allowing the loser a chance to compete for a bronze medal. In University Challenge , 28 teams compete in each season. Of the fourteen teams who lose in

5022-585: The first non-Victorian club to reach the grand final, which was won by Hawthorn. The Eagles would then win the premiership in 1992 and 1994. In 1994, Fremantle obtained an AFL licence and joined the AFL in 1995, becoming the fifth non-Victorian club, and the second from Western Australia. The VFA took over the Victorian Football League name in 1996. In 1996 several Victorian clubs were in severe financial difficulties, most notably Fitzroy and Hawthorn. Hawthorn proposed to merge with Melbourne to form

5115-443: The first of the 1925 expansion teams to win the premiership in 1954. Melbourne became a powerhouse during the 1950s and early 1960s under coach Norm Smith and star player Ron Barassi . The club contested seven consecutive grand finals from 1954 to 1960, winning five premierships, including three in a row from 1955 to 1957. The became the only club to win the minor premiership 6 times in a row from 1955-1960. Television coverage for

5208-487: The first round, the four teams with the highest scores compete in the Highest Scoring Losers Play-Offs, with the two winners advancing to the second round. In rowing , often only the first one or two boats in a race will qualify automatically for the next round, and the other boats race again in one or more repechage to qualify. Conditions such as wind vary between the heats, often significantly affecting

5301-498: The first time. The main early centers for track racing in Britain were Birmingham, Sheffield, Liverpool, Manchester and London. The most noticeable changes in over a century of track cycling have concerned the bikes themselves, engineered to be lighter and more aerodynamic to enable ever-faster times. Track cycling has been featured in every modern Olympic Games except the 1912 Games . Women's track cycling events were first included in

5394-591: The first-ever AFL match for premiership points in Shanghai , China, attracting a crowd of 10,114 at Jiangwan Stadium . Port Adelaide won the game by 72 points. In 2020, the AFL season was severely disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic . The first round of matches was played in front of no crowds due to the pandemic, before the season was suspended on 22 March due to health concerns and strict government regulations on non-essential travel. After nearly two months of planning with

5487-452: The football ground. The VFL played the first of a series of exhibition matches in 1962 in an effort to lift the international profile of the league. In 1967, district football was expanded throughout all of Victoria, clubs now allocated a country zone in addition to their metropolitan districts. The 1970 season saw the opening of VFL Park, with the inaugural match being played between Geelong and Fitzroy, on 18 April 1970. Construction work

5580-538: The game by 10 points, featured a famous spectacular mark by Alex Jesaulenko and was witnessed by a record crowd of 121,696. In 1976, the National Football League , which was the peak national administrative body of Australian rules football at the time, established the NFL Night Series to succeed the Championship of Australia . The Night Series was played concurrently with the premiership season and

5673-446: The game. This came to a head in 1896 when it was proposed that gate profits, which were always lower in matches involving the weaker clubs, be shared equally among all teams in the VFA. After it was intimated that the proposal would be put to a vote, six of the strongest clubs— Collingwood , Essendon , Fitzroy , Geelong, Melbourne and South Melbourne —seceded from the VFA and later invited Carlton and St Kilda to join them in founding

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5766-418: The inaugural season. Six clubs joined the league in the coming years; Geelong and North Melbourne entered the competition in 2019, while Gold Coast , Richmond , St Kilda and West Coast made their debut in 2020. The remaining four clubs— Essendon , Hawthorn , Port Adelaide and Sydney — entered AFL Women's in the seventh season in 2022. On 14 May 2017, Port Adelaide and the Gold Coast played

5859-456: The last matches played at Windy Hill (Essendon), Moorabbin Oval (St Kilda), Western Oval (Footscray) and Victoria Park (Collingwood) and saw Princes Park abandoned by its long-term co-tenant, Hawthorn. The transition to the use of only two venues in Melbourne was ultimately completed in 2005 when Carlton abandoned the use of Princes Park. In 1999, the league sold VFL Park and used the funds in

5952-476: The leading rider pushes air around themselves; any rider closely following has to push out less air than the lead rider and thus can travel at the same speed while expending less effort. This fact has led to a variety of racing styles that allow skilled riders or teams to exploit this tactical advantage, as well as formats that simply test strength, speed and endurance. During the early 1990s in individual pursuit events, some riders, including Graeme Obree , adopted

6045-477: The league as its 19th team in 2028. AFL premiership season matches have been played in all states and mainland territories, as well as in New Zealand and China to expand its audience. The AFL premiership season currently consists of a 23-match regular (or home-and-away) season, which runs from March to September. The team with the best record at the end of the home-and-away season is awarded the minor premiership ;

6138-527: The mid-1980s, the Sydney Swans became successful on-field. Moving the Swans team to Sydney effectively shifted the debts of a Melbourne club onto Australian football in Sydney and re-directed support and finance to the Swans team to the detriment of existing Australian Football clubs and league competitions in Sydney. However, the Swans team attracted new prominence and supporters for the sport. Despite becoming successful on

6231-522: The modern Olympics in 1988. The sport was moved indoors since 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney , Australia, mainly because of the hot weather. Along the decades, track lengths have been gradually reduced. Early velodromes varied in length between 130 and 500 metres long. By the 1960s to 1989, a standard length of 333.333 metres (1,093 ft 7.346 in) length was commonly used for international competitions. Since 1990, international velodromes are built with

6324-400: The night competition reverted to include only the VFL teams. The competition was pushed earlier into the year, with the final played on 28 April. The following season, the competition did not overlap with the day premiership season at all and became entirely a pre-season competition . The night competition is generally considered to be of equivalent importance as the pre-season competition and

6417-508: The other two pools are placed in the other repechage bracket. The winner from each pool's repechage bracket competes against the loser in the championship semi-final who comes from one of that repechage bracket's two pools. Alternatively, in a "cross-over" arrangement, the semi-final loser comes from the other bracket's pools. Each winner of this repechage round takes third place. The losers of the prior two repechage rounds are often considered to take fifth and seventh places. A consolation bracket

6510-420: The other. The bicycles used are optimized for track racing; they are fixed-gear bicycles without freewheel or brakes, with narrow tires inflated to high pressure. Frame and other components are designed for rigidity and lightness, to give maximum speed over the distance of the race (sprint or longer). Sprint races are generally between 3 and 8 laps in length and focus on raw sprinting power and race tactics over

6603-453: The others, repechage spots can all be taken by athletes from that heat. Alternatives to repechage include single-elimination , round-robin , wild card and the Swiss system . Australian Football League The Australian Football League ( AFL ) is the pre-eminent professional competition of Australian rules football . It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and

6696-489: The premiership to the team with the best record through the season; and, the formal establishment of the modern scoring system, in which six points are awarded for a goal and one point for a behind. Although the VFL and the VFA continued to compete for spectator interest for many years, the VFL quickly established itself as the premier competition in Victoria. In 1908, the league expanded to ten teams, with Richmond crossing from

6789-563: The previous record set in 2018 despite not featuring any WA-based teams and being played during the COVID pandemic. [REDACTED] The AFL operates on a single table system, with no divisions and conferences, nor promotion and relegation from other leagues. Track cycling Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using purpose-designed track bicycles . Track cycling has been around since at least 1870. When track cycling

6882-519: The quarter-final round only. The prior rounds are single-elimination. Losers in the quarter-final from two pools (e.g., A and B) are entered into one bracket of the repechage first round. Quarter-final losers from the other two pools are entered into the other bracket. Repechage losers are placed in seventh place. Winners of these matches play against semi-final losers of opposite bracket. Losers are placed in fifth place and winners are awarded with bronze medal each. The Australian Football League (AFL) has

6975-429: The reigning premiers, having won the 2024 AFL Grand Final . Several of the AFL's current member clubs date back to the origins of Australian football and were instrumental in establishing the sport's popularity and the AFL. The oldest club is Melbourne Football Club , which wrote the first laws of the code, and Geelong , which date back to 1858 and 1859 respectively, while Melbourne University , also founded in 1859,

7068-518: The rider to position the arms closer together in front of the body. This results in a more horizontal back and presents the minimum frontal area to reduce drag. Aerobars can be separate bars that are attached to time trial or bull horn bars, or they can be part of a one-piece monocoque design. Use of aerobars is permitted only in pursuit and time trial events. Formats of track cycle races are also heavily influenced by aerodynamics. If one rider closely follows, they draft or slipstream another, because

7161-409: The same number of events as men until 2012. Though men and women currently compete in the same number of events, there are still significant differences between men's and women's races of the same type. For example, in the team sprint , men race three riders over three laps, whereas women race two riders over two laps, and men's individual pursuit is a 4 km race and women only race 3 km. It

7254-497: The season. The UCI Track Cycling World Cup series consists of six meetings, held in different countries beginning annually in October, and finishing in January. These meetings include 17 of the 19 events (excluding the omnium for men and women) that take place in a World Championship over three days. Events won and points scored by the riders throughout this series count towards qualification places individually and for their nation in

7347-494: The sprint event the rider's position is more extreme compared with a road rider. The bars are lower and the saddle is higher and more forward. Bars are often narrower with a deeper drop. Carbon fiber bars of many shapes, as opposed to lighter alloys , are used by many riders for their higher stiffness and durability. In timed events such as the pursuit and the time trial , riders often use aerobars or 'triathlon bars' similar to those found on road time trial bicycles, allowing

7440-427: The start (with seeding by drawing lots) instead of pools. Example format sheets are here . Repechage was formerly widely used in fencing tournaments, but the majority have now abandoned it, an exception being United States Fencing Association Division I tournaments. In karate , judo , taekwondo , and wrestling tournaments, single-elimination brackets are used to determine the two athletes who will compete in

7533-511: The top eight teams then play off in a four-round finals series , culminating in the AFL Grand Final , which is normally held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground each year. The grand final winners are termed the premiers , the most important team prizes for which are the premiership cup and flag . Carlton , Collingwood and Essendon are the joint-most successful clubs in the competition, having each won 16 premierships. The Brisbane Lions are

7626-455: The top of the ladder, it created severe inequality during the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1972 and 1987, only six of the league's twelve clubs – Carlton, Collingwood, Essendon, Hawthorn, North Melbourne and Richmond – played in grand finals. (equivalent to $ 53,142 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 2,898,675 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 3,221,426 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 99,714 in 2022) (equivalent to $ 12,885,702 in 2022) The 1980s

7719-438: The tubes of the frame to reduce aerodynamic drag. Given the importance of aerodynamics, the riders' sitting position becomes extremely important. The riding position is similar to the road racing position, but is ultimately dependent on the frame geometry of the bicycle and the handlebars used. Handlebars on track bikes used for longer events such as the points race are similar to the drop bars found on road bicycles. However, in

7812-400: The winning teams compete until two teams remain, while teams with one loss continue in an elimination format until two of them remain. Then, in the semifinals, each of the two remaining winning teams play a team from the losers bracket, and the winners of these matches compete in the final match, while the semifinal losers compete for third place. In track cycling , repechage heats are used in

7905-476: The world. One of the most heavily contested records is the hour record , which involves simply riding as far as possible in one hour. The history of the hour record has been attempted by some of the greatest names in cycling from both road and track racing (including, among others, Major Taylor , Henri Desgrange , Fausto Coppi , Anna Wilson , Eddy Merckx , Francesco Moser , Jeannie Longo and Tony Rominger ). Attempts are generally made at velodromes with

7998-493: Was a period of significant structural change in Australian football around the country. The VFL was dominant among the Australian football leagues around the country in terms of overall attendance, interest and money and began to look towards expanding its influence directly into other states. The VFL and its top clubs were asserting their financial power to recruit top players from interstate. The resulting rising cost pressures drove

8091-406: Was carried out at the stadium as the 1970s progressed, culminating in the building of the now heritage listed Sir Kenneth Luke Stand. Queen Elizabeth II , was a guest at the game and formally opened the stadium to the public. The 1970 grand final between traditional rivals Carlton and Collingwood, arguably the league's most famous game, saw Carlton recover from a 44-point deficit at half-time to win

8184-531: Was contested among twelve clubs from the VFL, SANFL and WAFL , invited based on their finishing positions from the previous year. The event was mostly played on Tuesday nights, with night games at Norwood Oval in Adelaide and all games were televised live in colour on Channel 9 , which opened up unprecedented revenue streams from television rights and sponsorship opportunities for the sport. The NFL began plans to expand its Night Series to incorporate more teams from

8277-596: Was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition from the Victorian Football Association (VFA), with its inaugural season in 1897. It changed its name to Australian Football League in 1990 after expanding its competition to other Australian states in the 1980s. The AFL publishes its Laws of Australian football , which are used, with variations, by other Australian rules football organisations. The AFL competition currently consists of 18 teams spread over Australia's five mainland states, with Tasmania to join

8370-502: Was in its infancy, it was held on velodromes similar to the ones used today. These velodromes consisted of two straights and slightly banked turns, though they varied more in length and material than the modern 250 m track. One appeal of indoor track racing was that spectators could be easily controlled, and hence an entrance fee could be charged, making track racing a lucrative sport. Early track races attracted crowds of up to 2,000 people. Indoor tracks also enabled year-round cycling for

8463-526: Was introduced in 1986 and a salary cap was introduced in 1987. District football within Victoria was discontinued around the same time. The league was renamed the Australian Football League in 1990 to reflect its national composition. In 1990 the AFLPA , the players union, signed its first Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the league which outlined wages and conditions in what was becoming

8556-558: Was played in front of a crowd of 22,183 on Anzac Day to honour the Anzac bond between the two countries. A national women's league comprising a subset of AFL clubs began in 2017. Thirteen AFL clubs placed bids to participate in the women's competition. Eight clubs – Adelaide , Brisbane Lions , Carlton , Collingwood , Fremantle , Greater Western Sydney , Melbourne and the Western Bulldogs – were granted licences to participate in

8649-658: Was purchased at Mulgrave, then farmland but predicted to be near the demographic centre of Melbourne's population. The VFL premiership trophy was first awarded in addition to a pennant flag in 1959; essentially the same trophy design has been in use since. In the 1960s, television coverage began to have a huge impact on the VFL. Spectators hurried home from games to watch replays and many former players took up positions as commentators on pre-game preview programs and post-game review programs. There were also several attempts at variety programs featuring VFL players, who generally succeeded in demonstrating that their skills were limited to

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