IX Winter Olympics RP thread

[Arendelle 1]

February 25, Arcon Olympic Arena, Men's Hockey
Despite the high expectations of Coach Hans Boffman, the Arendelle Ice Hockey team lost to Taeshan who gained two points and Arendelle's team got none. It was a very quick finish for team Arendelle as its players failed to defend their own goal yet failed to make any points as well. Most of players fumbled with their clumsy new gear and half of the court was not even in the right place. Boffman walked around the court half of the time with his head in his hands. He knew this was a total mistake. However, Arendelle was off for the next two days and Boffman had already decided to force his men into rigorous practice with their new suits, something he knew he should have done first.

February 25, Arcon Olympic Arena, Women's Hockey
In the same stadium, the women's team from Arendelle did a slightly better job. However, Quakmybush did also prove a possible threat to them as well. The first game was tied one to one but in the next round, Quakmybush scored one point, offsetting team Arendelle. Olga used the men's defeat however to encourage her team that Arendelle was at least a match for some. The Arendelle girls fought hard against Quakmybush but were losing their punk in overtime, allowing Quakmybush to steal one point. Unlike the male team though, the women were informed they were to play again, this time against the Paripana Sporting Council. Olga told her girls that the PSC had lost to Super-Llamaland 0-5 and that possibly they could defeat them and become champions of their division. Not much information was known however by Olga about the PSC other than their loss yesterday but Olga immediately sent her girls out into the ice rink for more practice.

February 26, Arcon Ice Dome, Men's 5,000 m Speed Skating
The two men's speed skating athletes from Arendelle sat in the benches sharpening their skis. The older of the two, Kristoff Goord, was a old and accomplished skier but he was a bit rusty around the edges. The favorite for 5,000 m was Sven Rogard, a young racer who was also an accomplished skater. At 18, he was Arendelle's youngest skater ever and was also going to participate in many other events. Rogard was very eager to bring home a gold for Arendelle.

[Asteran]

“...and finally, in Group 16, Howdeellow beat Thatius 2-1. Moving on to the luge, we had the first and second runs of the men's singles competition this morning. James Merrill currently sits in 56th place, a little over a second back of first, while Yannick Melain is in 71st and Thomas Burns is in 137th place. Julie White spoke with James after the conclusion of his second run.”

“How did you feel about your runs today?”
“I thought they were pretty good. My first run was good, even though I kinda overcooked it coming out of a couple of turns and lost a bit of time. I got a little sideways on my second and lost more time, which really hurt me overall.”
“Do you think you can make up that second in your runs tomorrow?”
“Ah, it's hard to say. It's kinda tough to come back from that in this sport, but stranger things have happened. We'll see what happens tomorrow.”

“James Merrill there, discussing his first runs in the luge. Over at the Ice Dome, it was a successful day for Asteran's figure skaters in the team event as Riin Toom and Jeremy Loisel gave Asteran something to cheer about in the morning. Loisel came home with a 92.80 in his short program, the best score of the season for him. Dan Carney spoke with him after the event.”

“First place in the short program with a monster score, Jeremy! How did you feel out there?”
“I felt great out there. Um, it was a good skate for me and for the team, and I'm pleased with the score I put up. It's a good start for me, and hopefully I can keep it going in the free skate and in the singles.”
“Were you nervous out there at all?”
“A little, yeah. I felt it at the start, but once I hit the quad it kinda fell away and I just skated my way.”

“Jeremy Loisel there. On the women's side, the Duchess of Valmiera finished 5th in the short program, suffering a fall on one of her early jumps. Dan Carney caught up with Riin after her run.”

“5th place in the short program; a good finish out there, Riin. How did you feel out there?”
“It wasn't my best program, to be sure. I under-rotated a couple of jumps and fell on a jump I make every time, so it was tough out there. We're through to the finals, so I have to bring a better performance in the free skate. Not just for me, but also for my team.”

“Asteran currently sits on top of the team trophy on 86 points, with Vaugania in close pursuit on 85, and Yttribia in third with 80. The free programs will be tomorrow, live on ABC One in the morning and evening sessions. Turning to tonight's events, the biathlon team will hope to make it a golden start for Asteran in the men's 10 kilometer sprint, with last year's champion Steve Dallas looking to defend his title.

“Also on tonight: the 15 kilometer women's skiathlon, where Nicola Sisko and Victoria Sotherton will look to medal in their Olympic debuts, the men's 5000 meter speed skating contest with Bristol SC teammates Wolf Beckert and Roger Uhrman, the women's moguls finals with Hanna Pettersen carrying Asteran's medal chances, and the men's slopestyle. You can catch all the action on ABC One, ABC Sports, and on ABC Live Extra on the blue button and abc.com.as. We'll be back for the start of the evening session, and we hope you will be too. Now, the news at noon.”

[Vulshain]

Vulshainian Olympic News Coverage: Winter Olympic Games IX

Vulshainian Women's Hockey Team Melts the Competition while Skiers Prepare for Their Events

Hello everyone, this is Yermolai Vadimaron, reporting live from Arçon in Saugeais, where this year's Winter Olympics are taking place, for Vulshainian Confederate News and Media Network (VCNMN)'s Winter Olympic Games IX Coverage.

Vulshain is still going strong, as can be seen in the ice hockey event. Vulshain's Women's Hockey Team beat the team from Terran Borealis, although the match was a very fierce one, with both teams evenly balanced. It was only after going into overtime did Vulshain come out victorious, but only after overcoming Terran Borealis's strong defenses. The team has commented that this might be sign of how determined Vulshain's competition will be. Still, the Vulshain's hockey teams are preparing and training hard to make sure that they come out on top.

And while the Men's Hockey team didn't win their match, they still made a huge impression as their defense forced the match against Mollary to go into overtime as well.

Now Vulshain has to see if it can score some medals as the Ninth Winter Olympics continue with Cross-county skiing, Women's Moguls Freestyle skiing, and Men's 5000 m Speed Skating are about to commence. Will the Gold Sisters take home a medal in the Women's Moguls? Can Vulshain triumph in the Men's Speed Skating event?

Both Reinhilde Sisters are really skilled, but their competition is skilled too, and just as determined. Still, the Reinhilde Sisters are fan favorites and there is a strong support from their fans, as you can see behind me with people holding up signs and posters cheering them on in their events. Let's hope they can make it and score a medal!

This has been Yermolai Vadimaron, reporting live from Arçon in the Republic of Saugeais, for Vulshainian Confederate News and Media Network (VCNMN)'s Winter Olympic Games IX Coverage, and wishing our athletes good luck out there! I'll be back to bring you more news as the Ninth Winter Olympics continue!

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan in Sixth in Team Figure Skating after Short Program

Gregoryisgodistan's team figure skating entry is currently in sixth place after all short programs have been completed, but is 19 points back of a medal position with only the four long programs left. It will be hard for them to take a medal, but it is certainly possible. The competition got underway a day before the opening ceremonies, with the pair of Dancer 9DBBFBBB and Dancer QEREOAO in the ice dancing. They were the weakest of the four competitors in the skating team, and they knew it. So, they decided to skate a simple program in the hopes that they would execute it flawlessly and at least land in the middle of the pack. They did so. It wasn't a flashy performance, but they executed their jumps well and earned a score of 67.84, which was a new personal best for the couple. They previously recorded a 66.18 in the national trials. It wound up putting them in 12th place overall, not bad considering everyone else was expected to do better.

Next up was another husband wife pair, Lord Almighty Gregory and Cleffie Martinez. The two of them skated a complex routine almost perfectly. However, on the last jump, Cleffie Martinez slipped and fell. Had she landed it right, the pair would likely have finished in first place. Instead, it was a score of 75.89, good for fourth place. At the end of Day -1, or the first day of team figure skating, Gregoryisgodistan was sitting in seventh place with 34 points.

After the opening ceremony, with Lord Almighty Gregory carrying the flag, the team competition resumed the next day. First up was Dancer KUUUHUUUASA in the men's singles. He skated a very elaborate routine. Unfortunately, he fell once about halfway through and poorly landed another jump at the end. These mistakes cost him dearly, and he finished with a score of 84.25, putting him in 11th place.

Finally, it was Cleffie Martinez' turn. All she had to do was not finish in last place and the team would go through to the long program. However, she wanted to do as well as possible, since the points carried over. She skated a very elaborate routine, much to the amusement and pleasure of Lord Almighty Gregory, watching from the team box. Unfortunately, the second-to-last jump was a triple toe loop and she didn't get all the way around before landing. Then she slipped on the final jump and fell. She had been doing very well up until that point and likely would have finished in the top 5, but those two errors bumped her down to 13th with a score of 57.71.

The national team is in sixth, but is 19 points behind Yttribia, who currently sits in bronze medal position. The long programs will continue tomorrow with the pairs and ice dance, followed by the men's and women's singles. Gregoryisgodistan will need four exceptional performances if they want to medal, but it is doable.

Biathlete Assassin MADH9424A and speed skater Pervert Chaser 8838HSDA will both compete for medals today. Tomorrow, the two lugers will finish their last two runs, but both are too far out of it at this point most likely. Lady Soldier AUSUA888 will compete in the qualification for women's normal hill. She is not expected to contend for a medal. The ice hockey also continues tomorrow. The men's team won their first game, while the women's team lost their opener. The men's team is coming off a World Cup of Hockey where they finished in fourth place, but fatigue may be a factor after playing so many games in such a short time.

[Wray]

State of Play
A man. Sports. Booze.

Day 1

Ugh.

Booze.

After the Opening Ceremony, me and a few of the press corps from Wray (and a few locals) went out to sample the nightlife that Arcon had to offer. A beer here, a few shots there, the world's best (or possibly the worst, at 2am you can't really discern). I stumbled back to my hotel room, according to the concierge who was on duty at some point, at around 4am, supported by an unnamed Saugeain who I still haven't identified, and apparently I was babbling incoherently about Territorial Cricket and why Central Districts were far superior to any domestic side in the multiverse. I went to bed in my clothes, and was rudely disturbed after just 4 hours sleep by my alarm.

"What the f*** could that be for?" I mumbled to myself as I scrambled through the carnage that was my bed sheets to reach my phone. I had to be at the Luge track in 30 minutes. And it was 40 minutes away. F***.

I tumbled out of bed and had to make a calculated decision: what clothes to change. I changed my underwear (obviously...), and then I decided to change my shirt as there was a horrific stain right across the back (EDIT: A few days afterwards, I realise that this was chilli sauce. My bed also smells like chilli sauce. Even after they changed the sheets. 4 times.). The same trousers would have to suffice. Grabbed my hat, scarf, coat, and out the door.

The bus up to the Forest Cluster was packed. Suitably. There were tourists everywhere, of all shapes and sizes. The journey, with me being pressed up against the window and a particularly large foreigner whose nationality I couldn't place, was particularly uncomfortable, and I was very relieved to be off the bus and heading to the Luge track.

Luge is basically like skeleton, except you're on your back. I don't know whether that makes it better or not. From Wray, the best performance came from Uitbregeni first-gen. Mitchell (name changed, apparently, from Michel) van Aarden posted a very acceptable 1:43.262 in his opening two runs to be placed 7th at the half-way stage. Ryan Phillips was placed 52nd whilst Hunter McHugh placed rather lower at 121st. It was all quite tight, with just 7 seconds seperating 1st and 151st, and the only anomalies (very, very funny anomalies) came when Lugers fell, and then proceeded to clamber aboard their luges and continue the run.

I was disappointed to hear that the Lugers were the only Wray athletes in action on the opening morning, but it did give me time to go back to my hotel, have a proper bath, have some breakfast, call Amy and generally clean up...

[Ancharmunn]

The Maudraiska Mirror

Anger as nascent Charmunnry curlers banned from Olympics

Barely hours after officially being opened the Arçon Winter Olympics have been thrown into a state of disarray and controversy following the shocking revelation that Ancharmunn have been banned from participating in one of the event's most eagerly anticipated sports.

Curling may be a somewhat alien sport to most within the Vatmark, yet even before a stone has been curled in anger the sport has taken Ancharmunn by storm. Social media networks have reported that their servers are struggling to cope as the hashtag '#lovecurling' has hit unprecedented levels as Charmunnry from Seersha to Porthmageed have excitedly begun to wield their brooms to participate in off the cuff ends everywhere from the office to during waits for the bus.

Despite an official actual match on ice having never been played in the country already numerous clubs have sprung up with even a provisional national council for the sport having been founded within the last few days following a pub meeting in Ballyfeeaknock. Present at that meeting was Paige Robertson, the self-declared skip of the Inislara Women's Curling Club.

“It's very early days for curling in Ancharmunn obviously, but already take-up to the sport has been huge. We've received a great response and an appearance at the Olympics would go a great way to popularising the sport in this country even more.”

For a sport devoid of much media attention, the Winter Olympics in Arçon is truly an opportunity to showcase the sport like no other. For any curler in the world it is surely a great ambition to represent their country at the Winter Olympics, so it should come as no surprise that Ancharmunn's new found curlers are no different. However, it is of course expected that an Olympian may have devoted countless hours towards their sport showcasing a level of competence, rather than just showing up in Arçon and being allowed to compete as the Charmunnry team expected to do.

“I find it disgraceful” Robertson said, “The Olympics is all about inspiration and competing no matter the background. How great a story would it have been for Ancharmunn to be comepeting in curling? With actual Charmunnry athletes no less. Here we are, Charmunnry born and bred and we're not allow to represent our country. Yet Polarian and Mytanar mercenaries can. It's just not on.”

Bewildered officials at the curling draw however failed to be swayed by Robertson's argument for inclusion, leaving both the previously untested men's and women's teams purporting to represent Ancharmunn out of the draw and requesting that security personnel remove the curlers from the vicinity of the Olympic Village.

A frustrated Ancharmunn Olympic Committee spokesman meanwhile explained the curlers' exclusion sighing, “It's not that we don't want them to participate at the Olympics. We'd have loved to have sent a curling team, but the fact it that there were no registered Charmunnry eligible curlers at the time of the deadline for handing our entrants over to the organisers.”

“There existed no body for curling in Ancharmunn until last week. No team has yet represented Ancharmunn in the sport, and certainly no Charmunnry team has ever displayed a level of competence to compete at the Olympics. Ancharmunn simply couldn't have entered curling. It's as simple as that.”

Robertson however has vowed to fight back and at the same time aimed a dig at those who are able to represent Ancharmunn claiming, “People might say this is just a fad, but it's not, we hashtag love curling and we'll be back. Which is probably more than can be said be said for that Teagan Murphy girl. I bet she's gone back to Audioslavia or wherever not caring a jot about how she's embarrassed Ancharmunn. Gold medal hope my Arçon.”

Robertson's broadside has widely been interpreted as a swipe at the exit of medal hopeful Teagan Murphy as early as the semi-final of the women's slopestyle competition. Defendents of the diaspora policy however have pointed to the exceptionally strong field in slopestyle competitions. Polarian born Brendan Holgersson meanwhile also fell victim to the higher than expected quality of snowboarders as he struggled to a third last placed finish in the men's slopestyle competition.

[Vaugania]

VSN Olympic Coverage
Day 1 (Afternoon)

With the morning session of Day 1 over with, we now look ahead to the afternoon session of the first official day of these Olympics, the IX Winter Games. Before we talk about this afternoon and evening's events, a quick recap of the finishes of our athletes in the morning:

Figure Skating - Team Men's Individual

2 Dmitri Gavrilenko (VAU)       91.73

Figure Skating - Team Women's Individual

4 Kjersti Birknes (VAU)               69.50

Team Trophy Overall Table
Top 12 nations After All Short Programs Advance to Free Program Session

Nation              Points
Asteran                86  Q
Vaugania               85  Q
Yttribia               80  Q
Kriegiersien           77  Q
Cassadaigua            67  Q
Gregoryisgodistan      61  Q
Bears Armed            57  Q
Liventia               56  Q
Vilitan Union          54  Q
Saintland              53  Q
Estope                 52  Q
Taeshan                51  Q

Ice Hockey - Men's Matchday 1
Group 1
Middleton Valley (MID) 0–2 Vettrera (VTR)
Thatius (THA) 1–0 Vaugania (VAU)

- Group 1                           Pld   W  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Vettrera                            1   1  0    2   0  +2    2
2 Thatius                             1   1  0    1   0  +1    2
3 Vaugania                            1   0  1    0   1  −1    0
4 Middleton Valley                    1   0  1    0   2  −2    0

Luge - Men's Individual Runs 1 & 2

10 Vernon Delecouer (VAU)                           51.722    51.571    1:43.293

And now on to our preview of the evenings events:

This evening, 5 events will be contested and all of them will be for medals, these being the first 15 medals awarded in these Games.

Biathlon

We will all get our first look at our absolutely stellar biathlon team in the afternoon's first event, the Men's 10km Sprint. We have 4 athletes in this event and 3 of them are expected to be strong contenders for a medal. The three expected to be competed for the gold are Leo Bjoenkaer, Elias Franck, and Aksel Gunnestad. Their names were he very first listed on our NOC's entry form when we officially declared our return to the Winter Olympics some weeks ago. The 4th man on that list is Jasper Henning. He is not expected to contend for any medals as a solo skier, but will be on that 4x7.5 team where he is expected to up the ante due to the added pressure of the team competition.

All in all, we are fielding a very strong biathlon team in these Olympics. Every event in the sport of biathlon will have a Vauganian seriously contending for a spot on the coveted Olympic podium. You will get your next chance to see our biathletes in action on Day 2 in the Women's 7.5km Sprint.

Cross-Country Skiing

Your cross-country programming for the evening will consist of the Women's 15 km Skiathlon. Though it may perhaps not be quite as strong as our biathlon team, our cross-country is also going to be a formidable adversary for the other competitors. The main medal threat in this competition for the Holy Catholic Republic is Kristiāna Kaudzitis. She is our best female cross-country skier. A dark horse candidate for the Red and Gold is Magnolia Fanning, who isn't expected to make it on to the podium, but could sneak her way to a medal if the opportunity presents itself. Friede Bitschi is also competing for Vaugania, though she will likely be a ways away from the top 3. That does not mean she won't put a very respectable performance, though.

Freestyle Skiing

Women's Moguls is the first event to see a continuation of previous competition. You may remember that qualifications for this event were held on Day -1 prior to the Opening Ceremony. The lone Vauganian competing in this final will be Gratia Gagnon who finished in 6th place and within a single point of the leader. Be sure to watch and cheer on your countrywoman as she goes for the gold in this event. That being a feat she may very well accomplish.

Speed Skating

Tonight's speed skating event will be the Men's 5000m. Rurik Karpol and Donovan McCollum will be donning the skintight bodysuits and skates for us tonight as they put forth their efforts. Both of them are expected to finish near the back of the pack, but that should be no reason not to tune in and cheer them on. Even before the Games began, high expectations were not placed upon our speed skating team. Short or long track. However, Karpol and McCollum have the chance tonight to restore our faith in the team by putting on a good show and we certainly hope that they manage to change all of our minds.

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
Early Upset in Arçon

Spirits are a bit down in Valanora after the start of the Winter Games in Saugeais, with the women's ice hockey team being the victim of an early upset. Faced against an unknown in Patistan, the team had no coverage to study and prepare. And as has become something of a custom at the Games, the unknowns took down the giants, in this case our team, getting a goal just three minutes into the first period and adding an empty netter when the side tried to push for the equalizer late in the game. The forty shots on goal by the side showed the sort of possession superiority the side had, but the early goal and a hot goalie was enough for the opposition to get the victory and force two must wins now for the women in order to advance.

Elsewhere, Vanorian athletes are not performing well under the intense scrutiny of the games. It is just the opening two days mind you, but the Vanorian delegation seems a step off from how the competed at the qualifying games. Perhaps it is the unfamiliar environment, the pressure some of these athletes have coming into the games, or just the caliber of the opposition that they are facing, yet they are faltering at just about every turn. With many more days to still turn it around, there is not a great fear yet, but it is a bit of a worrying trend that has developed.

The biggest disappointment though had to be Anafindthae Ondomiel in the women's Snowboard Slopestyle, finishing first in the preliminary round. It was thought she was shoe in for the Finals and perhaps even a medal, yet a patch of wet snow that resulted in a stumble saw her stumble out of the competition in the semifinal round. It is a bitter tasting collapse for a woman who had high hopes of getting the podium in the event. It is a small mistake, a miniscule of difference, or even a second that can be the killer as seen in the men's luge, where that one second separated the top team from our top competitor.

Congratulations has to be given to Saugeais though on a wonderful opening ceremony and the great organization that has gone into making the athletes, press, and visitors for the games feel at home. They have shown exceptional skill in doing so and I suspect that the Games will be one of the best ones, with this sort of dedication being shown. All should be able to have a good time while here and enjoy the best in the world going at it in this memorable event.

[Isula ge Ru]

A light snow fell as Ato Ioĝou Salhaĝeĉisiua gripped the blades of his sled, sitting up as he coasted to a stop. He had just finished the second Olympic run of his life. And he was behind. Far behind. His brother Ober had already put up what was seen as a respectable 2-run time of 1:43.673, and now, with this run, Ato had a time of 1:43.554, a deficit of almost 49 hundredths on the first place slider, Lukajs Yorkhaund, an athlete from Some Village who, amazingly, also competed in Skeleton. How on earth, Ato wondered, could somebody compete in both Skeleton and Luge? That would be like competing in freestyle and alpine skiing. But, of course, such thoughts did not befit a man who had just established a spot as one of the top twenty lugers in the world. He pulled his sled off the track, marveling at the way the runners glided across the ice, barely slicing its surface. He'd been in the sport all his life, and still, the sled never seemed to cease to amaze him. He dusted ice shavings from his skin-tight, black-and-silver bodysuit, tracing the swirling, smoky patterns meticulously embroidered into it, creating the perfect blend of style, class, and aerodynamics. He paused to hug his brother, who had finished not one-tenth of a second off his own time, and receive congratulations from their coach. Then, it was time to settle down and watch the remaining competitors. Nobody said it, but the finishes were slightly disappointing. Jrue Arts, a Vettreran athlete, slid into first with a blistering time of 51.492, placing his combined time at 1:43.032. If he stayed in the top spot, Ato had two runs on the next day to make up a 0.522-second-deficit. Not impossible, not at all, but very difficult. Buck Barazzo of The Royal Kingdom of Quebec ensured that everyone would slip down a spot, tying with Lukajs Yorkhaund for second. Ato tried to work out the statistics for the type of run he'd need, then couldn't be bothered with the intervals, settling on "his best". The snow fell thicker as he slowly walked from the sliding center, a surreal scene, blending magnificently with the Saugeais National Forest. The pines, with a light dusting of silver, glittering flakes, were the kind you could lay under all night. Unfortunately, he couldn't stay here all night. He would be in the way of the Cross-country and Biathlon course his good friend and fellow Orien Lucau Moĝu Cæla would be competing on in just a few hour's time. He would miss a training run he hoped to get in that night before he arrived in the forest tomorrow. The forest that would decide his Olympic fate. The forest that would see him try to gain just 488 thousandths of a second, and land himself a place on an Olympic podium. The forest that would see his brother try to make up 607 thousandths, and stand by his side. The forest that would see heartbreak, the forest that would see elation, the forest that would see him.

---

Unbeknownst to Ato, his friend Lucau Moĝu Cæla was also in that forest, albeit on the other side, strolling through the pines on the site of which, in just a few hours, would be the biggest stage of his short life. It was a sprint, only ten kilometers to to the finish line, and either pain or pain and glory. Now, however, it was a tranquil scene, as he watched the very same snowfall that was occurring at the sliding center fall amongst the pines. He walked through the powdery snow, which would soon be packed hard, lined by rows and rows of spectators, as the first medal event of these games became reality. The first medal event. Just those words sent chills up Lucau's spine. He was only one of three biathletes in the Isulan delegation, and would sprint alongside his compatriots Marcu Sailu Calha and Alassæru 'O Laida, but, he was the one the Olympic Committee had placed their hopes in. He was the one they though could win a medal. The first medal. In the first medal event. There were those chills again. Lucau wasn't one to get nervous, but thinking how this pristine, glittering, postcard landscape of snow-covered trees and lightly falling flakes would be transformed into the greatest stage of his life was doing it. He emerged from the top of a hill to overlook the stadium, all but empty save for tracksetters, laying out brightly covered barriers, and some technicians, who smiled in satisfaction as lights flickered to life with a hum, bathing the glittering landscape in a silver, flaming light. Those were the lights he would be racing under, the lights he'd sweat, and live under. It was a sprint. Ten kilometers. That was, at this level, only twenty-five minutes. Enough time for anyone else to lay down and kick back before starting the evening chores. Enough time to maybe disregard everything. But for Lucau, it was the twenty-five minutes he'd spent a lifetime working for, a lifetime praying and studying for, a lifetime dreaming of. It was twenty-five minutes to beat out a massive crowd of racers all in his exact position, and now, he had about two hours to prepare for it. With a nod to the tracksetters, he walked out of the stadium and into the parking lot, a stark contrast to the silver snow in the forest, and slumped dramatically into his car's seat. He turned the keys, slammed the door, and turned the radio on. He had about an hour to get back, change, eat, then promptly turn around again, back to the tranquility of the forest to hear the screams and cheers, the cheers that made flags wave. Turn around to a light snowfall across a finish line, and the flames of desire pumping through his veins, pushing his muscles ever harder. Turn around to bullet-ridden steel targets, to spent shells clattering to the snow, to gently waxed skis slicing icy surface, to bloodstained flags and handshakes and flowers. An hour to turn around.

---

Samuél Forĉu Saramaria, thank God above, was not late. He was happily settling down into his cozy, if not a little small, studio in the International Broadcast Centre, having just watched the delivery of the morning session conclude, to slight dissapointment at the fate of the Ioĝou Salhaĝeĉisiua brothers in the Luge competition, and utter resignment to Isula ĝe Ru's last-place finish in the Figure Skating team trophy. The coverage concluded with a preview of the upcoming Biathlon race. Samuél, though not live, now needed to record a preview for the evening before the viewers back home had finished with the nightly news and chores. He smiled haphazardly at the commercial light, politely waiting for it to turn from red to green. When it did, he took a deep breath, a sip of coffee, waited for the Olympic fanfare to play out on the monitor to his left, and began, seamlessly transitioning from the Biathlon preview given before the commercial.

"Saludo œ, su Samuél Forĉu Saramaria, et salbe a o IX Lusi Olypii eç Arçon..."
Hello all, I am Samuél Forĉu Saramaria, and welcome to the IX Olympic Games in Arçon. The moment the Biathlon event's winners have been declared, the moment bodies had crumpled to the ground in pure elation, Anha Aĝisu Carna and the rest of the women's cross-country skiiers will take to the beaten track in the hotly contested Women's 15km Skiathlon. Anha, much like Lucau, is a medal favorite coming into these games, and will be racing alongside her compatriots Sara Ĝicu Suisa and Anhesa Ĉelhu Dasa. After that, hopefully positive, conclusion, it's Women's Moguls, where the story of the opening days of the games has been Iulha Maria Saidsoiqueu Ada. Isula ĝe Ru has never been favored or even given an iota of hope in much of the freestyle events, but Iulha surprised the world by qualifying for the moguls finals by just seven tenths of a point. You can watch the high-flying action, with Thora Bergen of Kriegiersien the favorite, directly after the Skiathlon. The night rounds out with speed skating, and another Isulan medal contender, as Iosef Iacubu Iulha takes to the ice in the men's 5000 meter. That will conclude Olympic coverage for day one of the Arçon games. Snowboarding's exciting, high-flying flips and tricks, though sans Isulan competitors, will be shown on tape delay after coverage has concluded.

Samuél stared pleasantly at the camera for another fifteen seconds, then saw the light go on. He crumpled into his seat. Olympics were exhausting.

[Transalpine Republic]

Disappointing Start to Winter Olympics for Transalpine Republic
Opening Ceremonies Tinged with Boredom; Transalpine Athletes Slide Out of Contention in Luge

---

Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Story by Daniel Knopp

Only the fireworks dazzled some people at the Opening Ceremonies.

Arçon, SAUGEAIS - The IX Winter Olympics officially started yesterday with the Opening Ceremonies. This morning's session of the first matchday just concluded, and the afternoon session is still going on. Transalpine athletes were extremely disappointed with their results today. The Opening Ceremonies also failed to dazzle, with cultural events sorely lacking from the Ceremonies.

In the men's luge, all three Transalpine athletes were disappointed with their results - Alexandre Travert only slid into the 50th spot, nearly 2 seconds behind the leaders in a spot that puts him outside of medal contention. Klaus Chevrolet didn't even compete in the luge, even though his entry was properly concluded, most likely the fault of tournament organizers who overlooked his entry. Saugeais officials refused to let him slide for runs 1 and 2, refusing to give any reason. Chevrolet is disappointed. "I worked so hard to get here - and now a bureaucratic mishap has fluked my chances. I feel like burying my head in my hands and crying." Paul Bohm was even less lucky. On his first run, he crashed, making it extremely hard to continue. Bohm was forced to drop out of the competition.

In figure skating, there was a mixup as Ilona Siegel was scheduled to perform in the team competition. However, tournament officials had Silke Werth down on their rolls and refused to switch the two ladies. Werth went on to score 18th out of 24 competitors. Transalpine Republic will not be advancing to the free skate portion of the team event. Transalpine skaters will still compete in the in the individual, pairs, and ice dancing events within the ice skating discipline.

Other disappointments on the first official matchday were the loss of the men's hockey team to Patistan in overtime and the subsequent loss of the women's hockey team to Icatus. The Transalpine men scored the first goal with a good pass from Axel Gehring to Sören Vogel, who was in the right position to capitalize on a feint. However, Patistan struck back with a goal 20 minutes later. The game was tied, forcing the game into overtime. Patistan sneaked in a goal against Charles Favreau-Faure. After their defeats, both Transalpine hockey teams sit in 3rd place in their groups with almost no hope of advancing.

The Opening Ceremony was no less disappointing. They were, in a word, long. In three words, long and boring. The ceremonies started out with images meant to evoke memories of past Olympic games and the successes of athletes who came before us. The nearly-endless parade of nations started with Capitalizt SLANI, the hosts of the first Olympics, and Liventia, the host of the past Summer and Winter Olympics. Transalpine Republic entered the stadium near the end of the procession, with the crowd equal parts excited and bored that the parade of nations seemed endless. Still, Stephanie Seidel, Transalpine Republic's flagbearer, proudly waved the blue-and-grey with a smile on her face. She wasn't daunted by the crowd.

Saugeain organizers opted not for an overly cultural ceremonies, which many found disappointing. The fans, especially from Transalpine Republic, wanted to find out more about the host nation, and Saugeais disappointed, choosing instead to celebrate its sporting achievements, with past Saugeain gold medalists bringing in, and subsequently lighting, the Olympic torch. After that came a long speech by the President of Saugeais. The speech could have been summed up in a memo. He made few salient points, most regarding the joy that Saugeais had in hosting the Olympics. There was not much joy in the crowd, which clapped politely. It seemed that the crowd would have preferred a more cultural performances.

Still, things are what they are. The Opening Ceremonies still managed to delight the fans and everybody did their best. That's the best you can expect out of any athlete: to do their best. We at the Transalpine Times hope that every Transalpine athlete does their best in the games, and hopefully Transalpine Republic will get a medal in the games. Good luck to all athletes.

[Florgania]

FlorganiaSport
Our Contributors: Jessica Williams, Brian Tate, Gloria Sanders, Joseph Fulton

Florganians in Early Action on Day 1

After a stunning ceremony last night, the day began early for several of the Florganian teams and competitors. The FlorganiaSport staff split up to cover this morning's events. Jessica Williams and Brian Tate took off for the sliding center to take in some Luge while Gloria Sanders and Joseph Fulton took in both Men's and Women's Hockey games from the Arçon Olympic Arena.

ICE HOCKEY

The Florganian Men's Hockey team got off to a superb start in a convincing 5-2 win over Dangelia. Center, Tim Melton scored twice in the win. Danny Eisenreich, Paul Gardner and Bobby Johnson also scored goals of their own. Tomorrow, Florgania will take on Icatus who has yet to play in the tournament. At this point, things are looking smooth for Florgania and hopes are high here in Arcon.

Florganian teammates celebrate after Tim Melton's 2nd goal of the game.

The Florganian Women's Hockey team made their debut and was shut out 2-0 by Taeshan. Expectations are not high for this rag-tag group who just recently began playing together. The Women's team will take on a New North Aqmuland team tomorrow.

LUGE

The 1st and 2nd runs for Men's Luge took place today at the sliding center. At this current point, Matthew Farnum sits in 41st with a combined time of 1:44.101. Paul Dempsey sits in 89th with a combined time of 1:45.298 and Andrew Gurnsey had a bumpy second run that was 3 seconds slower than is first. He sits in 136th with a combined time of 1:47.353. Runs 3 and 4 will take place tomorrow.
Matthew Farnum during his second run of the day.

Talk about an eventful morning! We stopped by a local restaurant in Arcon for lunch and raced back to the hotel to write this article for everyone at home. We are getting ready to head out to cover Men's Biathlon and Men's Speed-skating this afternoon.

For all of your Arcon Olympic coverage stay tuned to FlorganiaSport!

[Nassau-Hessen]

Day 1 Part 1In Review

Women's Ice Hockey:
3-1 Win Over New Wolfopolis

The women hockey hit the ice skating with an important win over New Wolfopolis. The experienced women knew how to find a way to win and drill the game home.

The puck dropped soon enough near the supposed game time, and both sides went to their work. The game was definitely olympic worthy, both sides dueling all out in a chance for national pride. The first set of minutes were filled with clean consistent play. Strong offenses passed and set up while strong defenses blocked and counter attacked. There was a slightly below average amount of shots for the goalies at the beginning. Out of the blue, the Eagles created a massive opportunity with a strong offensive possession. They ended it with a tic tac toe goal from Decker to Tulane and a tip by Travers to put them up one to nil. There was repetitive play for the rest of the period.

The second came around the corner and blasted off. The tempo of the game went up and the intensity followed. Shots slightly increased, with their quality greatly improving. Screens, tips, and chances were constantly popping up. It was only a matter of time till one let loose and hit the twine, and the shooter was Left Defense Tracy Gursch in a snipe from the top post, then down, the time was 7:46. New Wolfopolis kept the pressure on the Hessians, getting a quick five hole by Lisa Meyer in with around two minutes left in the second. The rest of the period was soon over, and teams headed to their respective dressing rooms.

The third followed as the second, and soon things were back up and running. The gameplay took a more conservative turn, each team did not want to let up a crucial goal. The goalies at both ends received very little shots and struggled to keep up their intensity. It continued this way until the end of regulation was in sight and New Wolfopolis was forced to be risky in order to tie it. With 1:42 left in regulation, Merrissa Vandale committed an interference penalty. New Wolfopolis took advantage and pounded Lila Larson, they had to pull their goalie with a minute to go. With twenty seconds left, Olga Draco managed to ice the puck into the other net, securing the win and a temporary division lead.

Luge:
Louis Frazier Hits The Dust, Still Hope

The first and second runs of luge was a huge event for the urban Louis Frazier. It was the chance to start anew on a global stage, a chance to make a name for himself, too bad he passed it by. All was looking to turn out well one way or another, unfortunately, with a damaging run of 53.5 seconds (nearly a whole 1.5 seconds above the average), he ended up with 123rd place and better pick it up if he wants to continue. This is a prime example of how every second counts and that there is little to no room for mistakes.

[Kogvuron II]

Arcon, Saugeais

"Goal for Florgania. Melton on the goal..."

Andelko sat in the apartment, watching an ice hockey game. He could have just gone to the ice hockey arena, but he wanted some peace and quiet to get ready for his next run.

They had been woken up the night before at three in the morning by a television repairman who spoke a mix of broken english and french. Neither Andelko or Aron knew french, so they had mostly nodded and made affirmative grunts when the repairman spoke. The end result: he could watch Florgania battle Dangelia, but he was also tired out.

"Bing."

Andelko heard the bell go off on his phone. It was a text message. Andelko grabbed the phone and scrolled through the screen until he reached messages. Opening it, he saw it was from Bram, his friend from back home.

"How's Arcon?" Bram had asked. Andelko slid out the keyboard to text back. It was an old phone, but it got the job done.

"Pretty good. Little noisy. TV Repairman sucks."

He hit the send button and watched the icon come up while the message was sent through space and back before ending up in the inbox of Bram's phone. That task done, he turned back to the hockey game, where Florgania had scored twice more.

"Those poor Dangelians," he mused. "I bet they really thought they had a good chance these games."

Yawning, he slowly dozed off watching the little men skate around the ice, the colors slowly blending then fading to black.

OOC: Apologies for length, didn't have much time today.

[Vettrera]

First Things First
The Valor City Reporter Online (BLOG)
Arietta Johnson

Luge - Men's Individual Runs 1 & 2
 1 Jrue Arts (VTR)
 2 Buck Barazzo (QUE) 
   Lukajs Yorkhaund (SVL)
 4 Guenther Frieb (FSM)
 5 Tim Lafontaine (ACA) 

After the opening ceremony, Vettrera's Olympic Squad went to work...and boy did they work hard.
The Vettreran men & women's hockey teams both posted wins in their first matches, as they now sit in the top 1/2 of their groups. The main focus however, was on Jrue Arts and the luge competition. Arts placed first after the first two runs, leading over competitors from Qazox and Some Little Village. Jrue now looks to medal in this event, as he now leads the world as the competition marks forward. Vettrera's two other luge competitors: Lukas Arts (little brother of Jrue) and Freddie Wheats, placed 80th and 130th respectively.

[Saugeais]

Alright, who will be getting the first medals of these Olympics? Day 1 evening cutoff is now.

Results

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

IX Winter Olympics- Day 1(1)

Right now it's 14:30 in Arçon, Saugeais, with all the events for the morning of Day 1 finished. With legendary figure skater Annabelle Vance as flag-bearer, the Quebecois Commonwealth has 244 entrants entering the festivities of Winter sports held in this Rushmori nation. That being said, I am sure that we're all looking forward to see and find out what happened to some of our athletes. Here it goes!

Team Figure Skating

Alexandre Jeong was the first one to step up in the ice, at the Team Men's Individual category. 27-year old Jeong, considered by many as one of the top Quebecois male figure skaters in last 5 years, stunned the audience with a back-to-back sequence of a quadruple and an I spin with great intensity and no time spared in between. By the end it seemed as if Jeong, who's often outshadowed by his long-time rival Rodolphe-William Park, would win the men's short program.

Unfortunately Jeong, in middle of his last required element of the skate in form of Triple Axel, received a sudden heart attack and fell. On-ice medical officials arrived right after and carried him to the nearby hospital. Fortunately he was able to be treated quickly and is currently at care in nearby hospital. As with the results, he placed in 7th place, with 86.40 points. It is widely agreed that Jeong had a great program and execution to place the 7th, which would've been much higher if the unfortunate incident did not happen.

Quebecois surging performance continued in the Team Ladies' Individual category, as Annabelle Vance stepped into the ice to have the Knights go on to next round. Annabelle Vance, his partner both on and off the ice, skated very well with an extremely complex routine that involved a back-to-back of Triple Axel and a Quadraple as forte. Unfortunately, Annabelle, after that back-to-back series, had little bit of balance issues and nearly fell. Despite that, she quickly regained her confidence and managed to finish the program without any mistakes from then. In the end, she placed 2nd with 76.62 points, showing the multiverse the might of The Ice Queen.

Unfortunately, Quebecois Commonwealth recorded 50 points to place 13th and missed the Free Program session by a mere point. This can be attributed to a horrendous performance in the pairs and ice dancing sessions, during which Quebec placed at the bottom of the standings. The positive side though, is that we'll be able to see much greater things from our individual skaters, especially from Annabelle Vance.

Men's Hockey

The true hockey nation of Multiverse showed why they're called and self-claimed as such when its Under-14 squad satisfyingly destroyed The Licentian Isles in a 3-0 shutout. The game got off to an extremely facile start as Jeong Seok Kim won the faceoff and skated down on breakaway before passing the puck to Ivan Kovalev in a back pass. Kovalev quickly converted the opportunity, and it became 1-0 for Quebec. 4 minutes later, Sean Girard converted on the powerplay with a huge one-timer goal, doubling the lead. By now the Licentians' morale were down, which only worsened when Brogan Allan, one of their top two defensemen, got run over after being pushed to the ice by Callum Lee. He got a leg injury and did not return to the game. With the lead and momentum on their hands, the U-14 Ice Knights have changed their gameplan during the first intermision, resorting to the series of trap systems that are more than capable of shutting the opponents down. This worked very well and for the next 17 minutes the Licentians did not record a shot.

Soon starting goaltender Jean Perros got quickly bored and recorded himself with 7 saves(in whole game) before being switched in favour of Maxime Perreault-Han, citing the boredom that the 14-year old received. Things didn't go better for Perreault either, as he had to make only 9 saves for the rest of the game before the whistle rang. The last goal of the game was scored by Kiril Kamanev, an empty-netter 34 seconds before the end.

Fresh off the victory, the mini Ice Knights will face the unknown opponent in the form of Dangelia tomorrow night. The best of our luck is wished upon our boys in blue and white.

Men's Luge

Three lugers from the Quebecois Commonwealth were in the roll earlier this morning, with two placing at the top of the worlds so far.
Buck Barazzo, the 27-year old luger from Redbath Bay, Manitoba, blitzed down the Arçon Sliding Centre on the first run with 51.384 seconds, placing him in the first. Lots of Quebecois in the attendance cheered for the Manitoban, who kissed his girlfriend just as he got out of his sled. On the second run he faltered and finished with 51.682 seconds, a slight disappointment for many. Despite that he has managed to hold on to the lead and is right now 2nd in the standings, only 0.0034 seconds behind leading Jrue Arts of Vettera.
Meanwhile Tim Lafontaine, the luge star from Bayou Glenwick, Quebecois Acadiana, had a respectable run, placing 5th on the standings after first two runs. On the first run he struggled, recording 51.673 seconds after a slow start. On the second run he bounced back however, recording 51.464 seconds(4th fastest in the run) to end the runs for the day. His overall record so far is 1:43.137 minutes.
Eric Blanchard-Kim unfortunately had a flu and ended his runs in disappointments as he slid down the luge tracks in 51.876 and 52.086 seconds, with the final result being 1:43.962 minutes. It seems as if the boat is already sailing too far ahead for EBK, who placed 35th out of 154 lugers.

Later in the day....
Fortunately for us Quebecois sports fans, there are more events to watch in the later part of the Day 1.
We have the following events:

Cross-county skiing - Women's 15km Skiathlon final
Freestyle skiing - Women's Moguls final
Snowboarding - Men's Slopestyle finals
Speed Skating - Men's 5000 m final

Ooh! Lots of athletes to watch, eh? Anyways, these sets should be interesting.
As for 15km Skiathlon Final Erin Brunette, Christine Brunette and Georgia Del Ricardo will represent the commonwealth, hoping to take their chance and give some competition to the other skaters, while on Men's Slopestyles Finals for Snowboarding Hermenegilde Naslund and Brad Wrightley will be making their strides toward victory. With both athletes being 17 it is expected that this will serve more as gaining experiences for our athletes, though it won't be bad to win some medals as well
To end this poorly-written article, here's the closer........

GO QUEBEC-COM GO! YEAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

[New Wolfopolis]

Outrage over NWBC's coverage of the Olympics
by Richard Page, Olympics Correspondant
pager@lupiniatribune.nw

Citizens all over New Wolfopolis are outraged over NWBC's sporadic, at best, coverage of the Winter Olympics in Arçon, Saugeais. They delayed the broadcast of the Opening Ceremonies to primetime in New Wolfopolis, and have also taped all Wolfopian Olympic events, and shown them delayed as well. During other nation's performances or events, NWBC has switched to analysis or interviews about New Wolfopolis's performance. They also neglected to show some of the nation's delegations during the Parade of Nations in the Opening Ceremonies, and instead, showed an interview with Michael Record, the star biathlete. We asked some citizens who were protesting outside the headquarters of NWSN in downtown Lupinia on why they were so outraged.

"I WANT TO SEE THE OLYMPICS WHEN IT HAPPENS," said leader of the protest, Caroline Patchett. "AND IF THAT MEANS GETTING UP AT 3 AM TO DO SO, THAT'S WHAT I'LL DO! I DON'T WANT THIS RECORDED BULLS****, I WANT IT LIVE! THAT'S WHY I WATCH IT ONLINE!"

"Look, guys, you don't understand," said NWBC CEO, Clarence Voley. "We're just trying to let more people be able to watch the Olympics, so that our ratings- er, I mean, our athletes are recognized by more citizens across the country. Most people aren't going to get up at 3 AM, and that's why we choose to delay the event: so people can watch it at a decent time."

Whatever the case may be, coverage of the Olympics is ongoing, on NWBC and NWBCSN.

[Qazox]

Arçon, Saugeais-

With no events involving Qazoxian athletes tonight, we'll take a closer look at some of the athletes competing for Qazox at these games:

Brian (center) and Brandon (right) Steele with their brother Barton in Arçon.

Qazox' best bobsleigh pair these last 3 years, the Steele brothers are one of the best chances that Qazox has of getting a gold medal at these games. Former gridiron stars who decided to give bobsleigh a try after the last Winter Olympics, the Steeles have quickly earned the respect of their fellow sledders and their brother Barton, who just missed qualifying in skeleton, are all under 25, meaning these brothers could be the steel backbone Qazox needs to regain it's status as one of the best sledding nations.

[Zwangzug]

It's not easy, being one of your country's brightest hopes. Hopes in the category of "being able to recognize a cedilla and know what to do with it." Nevertheless I shall attempt to bravely take up this challenge, in spite of all competitors. Those of you who attempt to dissuade me from chatting amiably with the delegation from Yttribia, on the spurious grounds that I shall merely pester them about whether they are really named after a distinguished element on the periodic table, know who you are.

Not much practice today, still sleeping in from the spectacle of the opening ceremonies. N. was rather less celebratory last night and woke up early to take in some women's hockey; she claims it has always been one of her favorite events, although her obsession with competitive balance strikes me as mildly dubious. I waited around to travel to the Forest Cluster later on, glimpsing the Skiathlon (Cross Country: I assume Ski- is an obscure numerical prefix here on a par with bi- and tri-, dec-, sept-, etc. for the summer games, though N. dissents), Biathlon (Men's Sprint; N. is rather hopelessly paranoid about the potential of me getting close to the guns, as if I would dare start trouble!), and, lastly, Snowboarding. Specifically, the Slopestyle. I assumed that attempts to define the style of a slope would involve some tangent lines and differentiation; N. remains skeptical.

At any rate, it was an eventually taut competition. Kelly Reed-Hall, also from Zwangzug (well, he is from Irco District, and I guarantee you he wouldn't recognize a diacritic if you choked him with it), had the third-best score in the first run, but by the time the second run came around Marian Tritten was contending instead. Reed-Hall made it most of the way through his second run before an uninspiring finish, and was docked accordingly, so he missed the podium. While the other medalists also declined--though not as severely--during the second run, others improved. I thought Des Abel from the host delegation was impressive, but what do I know about snowboarding? I have better things to do.

Among which, practice, soon. N. claims she wants to wake up early again to watch the figure skating team event conclude, but I can't say I care much about team events. If she wants to listen to bizarre foreign music for that long, I'm sure one of our fellow athletes would be able to put together a more tolerable mixtape.

[Maineiacs]

From MSPN--

Welcome to Olympic Update. The big news on the first official day of competition is that Maineicas has picked up its frist medal of these games, with Dave Hellman winning the bronze medal in Men's Snowboard Slopestyle. Hellman posted a best score of 94.75 for the bronze. The rest of today's competiton was less encouraging. Biathlon got underway, but Garrett Nichols and Pete Foley finished 91st 137th in a very crowded field and neither qualified for the pursuit. In the Women's Crocc-country 15k skiathlon, Anna Karsten was hoping to match her sister, hockey player Karla's, good start but it was not to be. Karsten came in 71st. Our Speedskaters fared no better, with former in-line skater Miguel Fuentes coming in a disappointing 96th in the Men's 5000m.

[Quakmybush]

The Daily Quak
One Day, One Medal
Mathias Rodman (reporting from Arcon, Saugeais)

After a disappointing Summer Olympics held in Liventia, the Quakmybush Olympic Committee was looking to the Winter for an answer. Being that Quakmybush, is indeed, The Frozen North, there is much more expected from the nation when it comes to the Winter Olympic Games. The 200 strong delegation landed in Saugeais earlier this week, excited and ready to go. The athletes all took tours to the various clusters to scope out where they would be participating prior to the games. Many of the athletes commented on how beautiful the setting was, "a picturesque setting" was the general tone of the athletes. The freestyle skiers and snowboarders marveled at that technical aspects of the slopestyle and cross event courses. These freestyle skiing and snowboarding events are where Quakmybush hopes to bring in many of their medals.

The games began with a bang. With a day of competition occurring even before the opening ceremonies began. On this day figure skating and slopestyle were the focus. Quakmybush is not known for being a great figure skating nation, due to most good skating being siphoned off into hockey at a young age. However, one entrant for each event managed to qualify for these games. The first competition that would partake in was the Team Trophy. On this first day, the two pairs would skate, and finish a respectable 13th and 19th place, leaving Quakmybush 18th, six places behind the preliminary cutoff with two skates to go.

The mountain was also a focal point of competition on the pre ceremonial day. Many athletes from Quakmybush took part. A small contingent of ski-jumpers will be representing Quakmybush and the first did so on this day. Emmanuel Sokolofsky finished 53rd in the qualification jumps, barely moving on, but the through down a near personal best and finished 9th in the semifinals, moving onto the final. Also on the mountain, the women's moguls qualification took place, with all the women having one chance to put down their best scores. Sindy Stueck, and Yuliana Lenox both completed their runs, but failed to advance. Snowboarding is a very popular sport in Quakmybush, and the quality of athletes produced by the nation show this. Both men's and women's slopestyle qualification took place on Thursday. Quakmybush has strong medal chances in both events, with top ranked athletes in both. In the men's qualification, Bjarne Corey laid down an absolutely nasty run, putting him second, while Marian Tirtten also qualified, finishing 37th. Ottmar Starosta could not complete a clean run, and failed to advance, while Greg Struna also could not make the mark. With the two men through, the semi-finals took place right after. Although the atheletes did not put down their best runs, they both managed to make it to the finals, finishing 16th and 24th. On the women's side of things, again four atheletes were entered. Following in the footsteps of Bjarne, Febe Kozlov finished second in the qualifying round, and qualified to the semis along with Eva Favager, and Paige O Madaidhin. Kassandra Huddleson went down hard and did not advance. The semi-finals were also taking place later in the day, where two of the three women advanced, O Madaidhin and Kozlov both completed solid runs to advance.

After a busy day Thursday, there were no events held on Friday, other than the Opening Ceremony. Damijan Elzinga led the Quakmybush delegation into the stadium. Elzinga is an extreme medal hopeful for Quakmybush in the Snowboard Cross event. The night went off without a hitch and it was amazing way to view Saugeais.

Finally after all the hooplah, the games were truly ready to begin with the first medals being handed out. In the morning the figure skating team event continued, with Quakmybush failing to advance. The women's hockey tournament also started, with Quakmybush taking on Arendelle. After 60 minutes, and a goal by Denise Junha, the game needed a shootout, where Quakmybush prevailed and won the game 2-1. The mountains are home to the sliding center, where the Men's Luge began, and after two runs the Quakmybush sliders sit 72nd and 124th, out of medal contention.

The first near miss for Quakmybush occurred in the Men's 10km Biathlon Sprint. Quakmybush athletes are not expected to medal in Biathlon, but after a performance of a life time Rein McKendrick found himeself in competition entering into the stadium for the last time. It was all for not as he could not close the gap, and finished an amazing 5th place. Also in the race was Hein Lindgren finishing in 75th place. Also at the cross-country skiing venue was the Women's 15km Skiathlon. Tsvetanka Waterman, finished nearly 5 minutes off the pace in 80th place. The Speed Skating also held its first event with the 5000m men's competition. Quakmybush had two skaters entered, who both finished well of the pace, in 53rd and 94th place.

The event that all of Quakmybush was waiting for finally took place. Under the moonlit sky, the Men's Snowboard Slopestyle final was taking place. After the first run, neither of the Quakmybush riders sat in a medal position. Bjarne Corey took his run and put down an impressive 92, which normally is competitive for a medal, but for today it eventually place him in 12th place. Marian Tritten was the last hope for a Quakmybush medal. After a very impressive and technical rail section Tritten went off huge on the bottom jumps. Nailing a switch 900 double cork, and then on both of the final two jumps landing two insane triple corks. The run was scored a 96.28 and was only .07 points behind gold.

So it was Marian Tritten who won the first medal in these Games for Quakmybush. Tomorrow will bring much more competition. To follow live, download The Daily QuakApp, or follow me on Twitter @MRodman56.

[Electrum]

Network ENN - IX Winter Olympics - Arçon, Saugeais - Day 1 Recap Transcript

Sam Pace: Welcome Electrumites to our Day 1 Recap Show, where we will be showing the result's of today's events and look onto tomorrow.

Ed McCoy: It's been an exciting day, but with a few disappointments from one of our favourites. Today was the first of five days that was split into a former and a latter session - morning and evening if you are over in Saugeais. For those who don't know, Electrum competed in their first ever ice hockey match, the first part of men's luge, men's 10km biathlon, women's 15km skiathlon and finally Tanya on the Moguls course. Let's talk to our resident winter sports expert Sam Pace with more about her performance today.

Sam: In a word, disappointing. Although she tried her best today, I just feel that she is getting too old for this sport. This time around she was a bit more slower, and her knees did not seem to be as pumping as they were previously. Let's look at a replay on her run. She scored 23.66, qualifying in 19th position - where only 12 qualified for the second run. Our commentator for the mogul's event earlier today is Tim.

Tim: A bad start for Riley Samuel with her fumble towards the end of the bottom costing her some valuable points. She is not happy about it. Up next will be our very own Tanya Hanescu from Electrum - who qualified in 2nd last year and also just missed the podium by one place.
Tanya sliding down the mountain - looking good - she attempts her first jump, a backflip .. yes standard, down more moguls - she's actually losing speed off that landing - flip and a twist - and down the line! 26 seconds is her time. This is not looking good at all. She has one of the slowest times on this course ever. She knows she can go faster than that and you can see her disappointment on her face. What is the score? 23.66. Not nearly as enough to qualify. She will have to evaluate and reflect on this.

Ed: Soo Sam, what went wrong?

Sam: She was a bit too slow off that landing and those speed points are what really cost her. Her jumps were although standaard, she didn't execute them flawlessly with that botched landing and her skis didn't cross over for that final jump. Her style was good though - moguls skiiers wear a different colour on their knees to accentuate their knee's movement going up and down - like pistons so to speak.

Ed: The next headline for today is the very first match Electrum has competed in for Ice Hockey in the Women's event. To see how we fared, we will now cut away to a highlights reel. The commentators for this one is a Saugeain, rinkside.

Commentator: Electrum is just been smashed right now! It is their first time competing, and it's against Zombiestan who have trained well in the preseason. Possession is on 80%-20% with five minutes to go in the second period. That hat trick from their captain is unbelievable!!
----
Commentator: Power Play for Zombiestan, their last chance to gain another goal to add on to their GF scores -- With a minute left in power play and two minutes until the match ends - here's their opportunity: Electrum's keeper pushing back - arms wide open - Zombiestan switches - she is facing the left - Zombiestan switches in again and scores directly into the net! That is another goal! Spectacular performance for Zombiestan today.

Sam: Meanwhile the Ice Hockey was going on, Electrum had two competitors in the Luge competition - Janelle Masmo and Tim Terrine. They placed in a 102nd and 133rd in a 154 man event. Today's men's luge competition consisted of two runs - both of which were aggregated. Tomorrow, Day 2, will be the day where the final two runs will be held for the individual luge competition. This event set a new record for the longest luge day ever, with the event taking 6 hours to complete. It must have been draining for the competitors who were only on the track for about 4 minutes today. Jrue Arts of Vettrera is in the lead with an aggregate time of 1:43.032.

Ed: OK Now let's cross over to our roving reporter Christina for more results - she's in the forest where Peter, Campbell and Du competed in the 10km biathlon sprint event.

Christina: Yes Ed I am in the forest right now where the biathlon was just held. Behind me is the targets where Electrum's competitors were shooting from. Electrum went to a terrific start with Du and Campbell coming in 37th and 13th respectively. What a wonderful start to the campaign, but even more wonderful and surprising was Peter Effie who crossed the line in 7th position, just half a minute away from the podium winners. Here he is with me right now.

Peter: Wow! There's no way! This is totally unreal right now.

Christina: How does it feel to rank in the top 10 in your very first Olympic Games?

Peter: Look - words just can't describe it. All I focused on was getting through that pain barrier early on - which usually hampered me - and ensuring to get a good position into the shooting sections. The shooting sections was just -- I think it was the adrenalin in me -- but I think I didn't miss a single shot - which I never do.

Christina: About that, your fellow Electrumites were in the leading pack quite early on in the race, but ran into trouble in the shooting section. Just how hard is it to stay focused - even though there is a race going on?

Peter: It is definitely not for the faint hearted let me tell you that. Who would have thought combining shooting into a race was a good idea? Oh wait -- this is in the Modern Pentathlon as well -- anyways, running a race and then shooting is the best idea ever. It is very hard to concentrate knowing that everyone else is also in a race as well and sometimes the pressure just cracks you. Nonetheless, the three of us have decided to go for it in the Pursuit competition.

Christina: Right -- the pursuit competition. All of Electrum's competitors have qualified for the event with only today's top 60 competitors going through into the pursuit event. What is the pursuit event about exactly?

Peter: It is not for the faint-hearted, no not at all. It's pretty much a staggered event with the winner of this one - Mathias Gardevoir - starting first and going all the way down the line. We all will have to go for an extra 2.5km - and the first person over the line wins.

Christina: Thank you Peter, I think that's all the time we have today. Just very quickly I also want to talk about the women's skiathlon results: Venus Junaedi finished in 12th place and Lapas Neus finishing in 55th position. Onto you Jennifer into the news room.

Jennifer: Thank you Christina. Now let's talk about today's featured Olympic Nation: Zombiestan. Zombiestan was a former part of Kriegiersien until a civil war changed the whole thing. Why are they called Zombiestan? I don't know? Why would they have a country called Zombie -place of (in Persian)? Is it because it is a place of zombies? ... Well yes. The nation is comprised of brain dead zombies who want to invade on people's backyards and sentient plants that repel them off. One wonders how those plants compete with no legs... Anyways that is our insight of the day -- Today's a slow news night.

Sam: That was Jennifer in the news room. Check your local guides for TV Viewing times for Day 2 of the 9th Winter Olympics. The following inset will show who will be competing tomorrow. It promises to be a cracker with both Ice Hockey teams competing and some medal hopes for the Ski Jumping. Until next time, good night.

Electrum Olympians Inset - Medal Event marked with [M]
Electrum Olympians for Day 2 Former
[M]Luge - Men's individual runs 3 & 4 - Tim Terrine and Janelle Masmo
Ski jumping - Women's individual normal hill heats - Janine Ella and Jamie Williams
Ice Hockey - Matchday 2- Electrum Frostbites (Males) vs Patistan and Electrum Bears (Females) vs Liventia

Electrum Olympians for Day 2 Latter
[M]Alpine skiing - Men's Downhill finals - Ken Bloom and Max Katter
[M]Biathlon - Women's 7.5km sprint final - Marie Warder and Kate Skeggs
[M]Cross-country skiing - Men's 30 km pursuit final - Stuart Mark and Adam Sokoff
[M]Ski jumping - Men's individual normal hill finals - TBA
[M]Snowboarding - Women's slopestyle finals - Queenie Feng

Electrum Olympians for Day 3
[M]Alpine skiing - Women's Super Combined finals - Pauline Tremble
[M]Biathlon - Men's 12.5km pursuit - Peter Effie, Campbell Gorges, Du Tran
Curling - Matchday 1 - Electrum Dynamos (Males) vs Kriegiersien
[M]Freestyle skiing - Men's Moguls qualification and finals - Tom Cross and John Obradovic
Ice Hockey - Matchday 3 - Electrum Frostbites (Males) vs Tobys Great Britain and Electrum Bears (Females) vs Bears Armed
Luge - Women's individual runs 1 and 2 - Lydia and Cass Ebbington
Short Track Speed Skating - Women's 500 m qualification - Mia, Maya and Mary Quentin
[M]Short Track Speed Skating - Men's 1500 m qualifiers and final - Pete Lorenzi and Tom Sheridan
[M]Speed Skating - Men's 500 m qualifiers and final - Paul Glenelg

Electrum Olympians for Day 4 Former
Curling - Matchday 2 - Electrum Freezebreaths (Females) vs Barunia
Freestyle skiing - Women's slopestyle qualifications - Ursula Butler and Jane Glassen
Ice Hockey - Matchday 4 - Electrum Frostbites (Males) vs Costa Luna
[M]Luge - Women's individual runs 3 and 4 - Lydia and Cass Ebbington
[M]Ski jumping - Women's individual normal hill final - Janine Ella and Jamie Williams
Snowboarding - Men's halfpipe qualification - Victoria Stevenson and Jean Clarks

Electrum Olympians for Day 4 Latter
Biathlon - Women's 10km pursuit - TBA
[M]Freestyle skiing - Women's slopestyle final - Queenie Feng
[M]Snowboarding - Men's halfpipe finals - TBA

[Hazamaeia]

Biathlon, speed skating and snowboard, no medal
Itrévna Rwpa issue 74, 351-5-17 (Feb 27, 2014)

Biathlete Rizunhalatsi (22) at his prone position in the
shooting part of the men's 10 km sprint biathhlon (26/2).

ARÇON : Hazamaeia gained no medal after the first day of the 9th Winter Olympics, playing quite bad at the biathlon, speed skating and snowboard eventss.

Biathletes Imidreli Ivankramidalantari of Khalabakhténaré, KHB and Liharnw Rizunhalatsi of Savaméa, TV didn't really bring the spirit of the Lam Alif at the men's 10 km sprint event of biathlon. Ivankramidalantari finished 81st while Rizunhalatsi got the 131st although they got number 19 and 22 bib at the start. Both were late more than 2 minutes from the gold medalist Mathias Gardevoir of Taeshan. Ivankramidalantari missed two shots while Rizunhalatsi missed four.

"Forgive us, Hazamaeia, forgive us" said Rizunhalatsi at a brief interview with our correspondent after the event. Rizunhalatsi and Ivankramidalantari admitted they didn't eat their rice.

Anbawa in his course of the men's 5000 m speed
skating (26/2).

In speed skating, Sarda Anbawa of Hasnuni, HA finished at the 79th position in the men's 5000 m event. "Very bad skating, but still got next year, hope they have more rice." Anbawa already ate his rice before the opening ceremony. He didn't have any rice after that until he performed.

Qi Ordamina Zalayatpiye from Fashtikh, FSH also didn't make it to the podium in the final of the men's slopestyle snowboarding event. He only scored 83.14 and 88.72 in the first and second run and finished in the 19th position. "Since this is my first Olympics, hope this will make me to do more practice", said Zalayatpiye after his action. Zalayatpiye already made it to the final stage by managed it through the qualification stage and semifinals stage in February 23rd but the final might be too hard for this young Fashtikh.

One day and no medal may be not too bad for an Olympics debutant but we are still hoping for the best from Team Haza in the winter games.


We presumably need the rice
Itrévna Rwpa issue 74, 351-5-17 (Feb 27, 2014)

ARÇON : Rice, according to HNOC spokeperson Akdila Imantangdantstavantsuglari, may be the cause of why Hazamaeian athletes didn't succes in the early days of the 9th Winter Olympics in Arçon, Saugeais.

Imantangdantstavantsuglari as interviewed in HNOC headquarter in Hasnuni said that the failure of several Hazamaeian athletes in early days in Arçon probably was caused by the lack of rice they eat. "I've already contacted Mr. Rizdzhipainalragawa (Hazamaeian delegation chief organizer) that there has been no rice served to our athletes until this day in Arçon."

Imantangdantstavantsuglari regarded rice played the core role of Hazamaeian spirit that the disappearance in the athletes body made them less powerful and reduce their performance. He called to the Ministry of Art and Sport to have HNOC an enough amount of money to accomodate the athletes with adequate rice.

Hazamaeia concluded with no medal at the first day of the 9th Winter Olympics in Arçon. Several including Akdila Imantangdantstavantsuglari claimed that rice played role in the strength of the athletes but others confronted this claim that it was mocking Hazamaeia that we couldn't be powerful with no rice.

[Nexxus Drako]

The Nexxus Drako Age

Olympic Update
Author: Guest Writer Geoff Harvey

ARCON, SAUGEAIS; After bobsleigh athlete William Hawk carried the flag for Nexxus Drako in the opening ceremony, people have lost most of the attention span for the winter olympics, mainly due to our tiny delegation.

Even worse, people have been commenting that no dracons are part of our delegation. The NDOC released a statement yesterday claiming that they "were not aware of the olympic rights of non-human species", which sounds like a complete and utter lie, the olympic charter allows all atheletes to compete, regardless of ANYTHING! The only rule is that men compete in men's events, and women in theirs.

Either way, the lack of dracons has got the dracon supremacist group Dracons of Doom very upset, so much that they uploaded a video to videos.nxd, saying that they will bomb the NDOC headquarters if they do not bring in dracon competitors to the Summer Games in 2 years time. At least they know it's too late to send dracons to Arcon!

Oh, and by the way, for those wondering why Kent isn't writing this, he's on holiday in the Northern Sunrise Islands. He'll be back when the world cup starts, so don't fear, as soccer is his forte and not mine,

[Buyan]

Forest Cluster, Day 1, 15u43

It wasn’t entirely clear to Jonas what annoyed him most, but that he had plenty of options was a given. While a first hint of snow was falling out of the air, he tried to find a bit of warmth in his coat. The giant ‘BRU’ on the back might have given in a firm appearance, the cold truth was that it probably had been designed for Summer Olympics. Fortunately for Jonas, his ears were kept out of the cold. As difficult as it was in the given circumstances, he tried to understand what Kjell had been boasting in his skull. Of course. Of course they had to give the new kid the line duty, which meant that he had to shiver it away with little view on the action, waiting until some frozen Buyanese would cross the line, explaining why things hadn’t gone as great.

And things weren’t going great. Aato Parvi previously already had declared that he was focussing on the longer events, but that didn’t exactly gave him a hall pass to miss three targets at the first occasion. The pure sadness of having to ski, or rather hoover, three of those ridiculously small laps encircled by a bunch of other guys who clearly hadn’t been able to control their heartbeat had been a depressing sight. For some reason, Aleksi Turlov had decided that this wasn’t his day and was, if the info Kjell was passing on was correct, skiing at a pace which would be more applicable to a veterans gathering. In the meanwhile, most of the stars were already settling on their second row of bullets and our only Buyanese hope left, the twenty-eight year old Dzidek Kreszlaw was still in the competition to qualify for the pursuit. Although he always cheered on his compatriots, Jonas wasn’t looking forward to interviewing him as the length, or rather the lack of length, in Kreszlaws answers was infamous amongst journalists.

”And it is Taeshani Mathias Gardevoir who is getting ready for his standing range. One... Two... Three... Four... Oh, perfect round by Gardevoir and who will be able to beat that? What a strong performance by Gardevoir and we’ll have to see a stellar return from one of the Paripana guys to turn his gold medal into something else. Who will do it, Alarcon? Czerwinski? San-sun? In the meanwhile we see that Dzidek Kreszlaw almost entered the stadium, he’s slowing down now to get his heart rate at an acceptable level. Not too low as well, of course, as that has shaky by-effects. Shooting whilst standing up is his major weakness normally, let’s see how it goes today. He did astonish us with a 19th spot after the first range and now... One... Two... Three... Ai! It goes wrong on the fourth one, one extra lap for Dzidek Kreszlaw and top twenty will become difficult.”

Hot beverages. It had taken quite a while before it hit him, but now he realised what exactly it was that he was craving, he couldn’t keep his mind off it. Jonas suddenly started to dream about coffee and fantasize about soup. You know, that typical thick stuff his mother used to make with ham and peas... Almost dozing off, there suddenly was some excitement amongst the lucky few who could keep track of the other events with small televisions and supersonic cell phones. Apparently, the Darmeni ten kilometres specialist Lindsay Schuhart had gone underneath the 6.15 in the speed skating competition and set the bar for the following opponents. Hanging over someone’s shoulder, Salmus could see that Vytautas Kaukenas was lining up for his run against Asteran Wolf Beckert and that was confirmed by the sound of his headphones.

”Dear viewers, we’ve received notice that Kaukenas is about to start in the Oval but we’re going to stick to the final conclusion of this exciting event...”

Ah, bullocks. Gardevoir almost had the golden medal in his backpocket and could do some flikflaks in the meanwhile as it seemed that no one with the higher bib-numbers would alter the summit of the table. From far out, Jonas also saw that Parvi and Turlov were lining up for their second round of shots. He couldn’t see the targets, of course, but the slow and dispirited nature with which they took their sticks for the last stretch told him more than he needed to know. The way they once again followed the file in the punishment lap was only a confirmation. Both the celebrated specialist of the long distances, Parvi, as the gifted surprise inclusion, Turlov, would end with a time around twenty-eight minutes, hardly worthy of an interview. Kreszlaw, on the other hand, was clearly giving all he had, realising that the pursuit event wasn’t as far away. When he crossed the finish line, his time halted at 25.51, a strong performance by someone who wasn’t predicted to make the upper half of the table.

Like a hungry vulture, Salmus immediately ran up to the man who had hoped on a home show in Wladica. Kreszlaw was spending his last bits of energy to cough his lungs out, lying almost motionless on the crushed snow.

“Dzidek Kreszlaw, a very strong time which will probably qualify you for the pursuit event. Are you satisfied?”

From his mouth, a growl that could pass on for a yes escaped.

“You performed splendidly at the shooting range, was that the base of your success here today?”

By now, the poor bugger couldn’t say anything anymore and only nodded, with a face that indicated that even that small movement caused awful convulsions. Jonas wanted to stop it here, giving the man some breathing space but Kjell was roaring ‘great stuff, more, more, we need more before we switch to the skating’ in his auricles, so he continued his torture.

“What are your targets for the pursuit?”

He waved one of his sticks in something that kept the middle between a dying gesture and a poor attempt to stand upright.

“Indeed, let’s see it when it is there. Do you have any last words for the many Buyanese who have been supporting you back at home?”

For the first time, Kreszlaw looked Jonas straight in the eye. If he would have had the energy left, he would’ve speared the annoying journalist on the spot, but his main protest left was a murmured ‘fuck off’.

“F... Fank oll... Thank all, indeed, congratulations Dzidek with your splendid performance, we’re awaiting the arrival of Aato Parvi and Aleksi Turlov here, but I suggest we go to Sten Kukk at the five kilometres ice skating as he competes against William Soo Min Jeong. While the footage switched to a nervous Kukk, the veteran kept on readjusting his suit, Jonas tried to help Kreszlaw back at his feet. He managed to, but all the latter had to say was a monotonous ‘fuck off... fuck off... fuck off’.

---

Forest Cluster, Day 1, 18h39

Silently thanking the good Samaritan who had pushed a mug of tea between his frozen fingers, Jonas tried to stop thinking about his scheme to see the Buyanese highlight of the day – the run from Nils Hagelin in the speed skating competition – and get his focus on the skiathlon competition ahead of him. While the majority of the supporters were going berserk over the leader trio entering the stadium, featuring Valenti-Gonzales from Benjamin Mark, Kaldlandtian Lahti and the remarkable agile ursine Keerrha Fairbearrn, Jonas tried to spot the names of fellow Buyanese at the half way point. Eliza Pavlovs was having a field day, it seemed, parking herself in the forty-fifth spot after the classical part. Freestyle specialist Lotte Ostberg, on the other hand, clearly struggled with the opening seven point five kilometres and could be found in the last quarter of the field.

”An exciting last stretch here for the three remaining candidates for the medals, who will grant her nation their first gold medal of the Arçon Olympics? Hedvig Lahti, Keerrha Fairbearrn or Jennifer Valenti-Gonzales?”

The ‘look-how-I-exciting-I-am-over-an-event-I-know-jackshit-about’ voice from Lize really annoyed him and Jonas decided to switch off the sound until he saw one of the domestic duo approaching the finish line. No wonder that he was greated with a ‘for the fucking umpteenth time, Salmus, come in!’. After a stuttered apology, Kjell made clear that they would have to switch to the ice as soon as the clock ticked 18h45. Some quick additions learned Jonas that he would once again have to drag a few words out of someone who was too exhausted to stand up. Yoo-hoo. Four hours in the cold, four lines. ‘Hey man, you’re a journalist, with an awesome job’... To quote a certain Kreszlaw: fuck off.

Either way, he tried to approach Eliza Pavlovs as soon as she had finished in a respectable fifty-seventh position. All the viewers received in their living room was a ‘huh-huh-huh’ as she tried to catch the slightest of air. Nonetheless, she managed to express how satisfied she was with the result with a ‘yeaaaaaah’ and it soon became clear that that would be the maximum one could drag out of the exhausted cross country skister in this ample time. That was even a true quote in comparison to Lotte Ostberg, who had gone through a good free style part to park in sixty-first place, but wouldn’t share more with the viewers than a dissatisfied nod. Eventually, Salmus redirected himself to Pavlovs, who could find the air to say that ‘she was very satisfied with her result and proud to represent our colours’. Jonas couldn’t find the heart to tell her they had switched already to Lozoraitis and the speed skating.

”Good evening and welcome to the seven-to-last run of the five thousand metres and that means we get Nils “the Bullet” Hagelin on the ice. He’ll meet Javier Rosario, the Liventian superstar and I think we’re allowed to say that we’re going to say a tense encounter between these two skaters, both with the capacity to endanger Logan Lubbert from Estope, Lindsay Schuhart, the Darmeni surprise and Philip Carson, who confirms his fourth place on the ten in City Centre.”

...

“A quick start, both opt for a low eighteen in the opening metres and that’s immediately an attack on the time of Lubbert, it seems. Hagelin, triple national champion in this discipline, twice national champion on the 1500, only twenty-four years old but he seems ready to follow the experienced Rosario for a close encounter.

...

Six more laps to go and Rosario once again takes the lead, a good pace from the Liventian who seems to skate like he ate a clock for breakfast, staying just below the thirty time and time again. Nils Hageli manages to keep in his track but we must warn him not to blow up his engine here, this is a pace which even could worry the Olympic record from Derk Jenkins if you ask me!

...

Rosario switches in front of Hagelin and that is not good, last lap a thirty-one for our young compatriot and he can no longer keep up with the Liventian, the gap is widening, can he find some powers left in the toolbox?

...

Last stretch for Rosario, he’s going for third place, he’s coming near Carson and... Fourth! Javier Rosario positions himself in fourth place, ahead of Towner and Soo Min Jeong, who was so strong in his run against a disappointed Sten Kukk. And there comes Nils Hagelin through the last turn, he couldn’t confirm the high expectations held... Twenty-five, twenty-six, twenty-seven... Eighteenth so far and yet some great skaters left in the following runs. He bows his head, he knows he cannot be satisfied with this. He tried all or nothing by following the strong Rosario from the start and it turned out to be nothing for Nils Hagelin. His best event, the five kilometres, results in a poor performance and he can find his spirit back in seven days, because this is a tough blow for the Bullet.”

Holding his hands against his mouth, Jonas tried to grasp what had gone wrong. Nils Hagelin, predicted to duel for the top ten, had been beaten by more than ten seconds and Kukk nor Kaukenas had been able to keep up the national belief that speed skating was one of their fortes. Slowly, he walked back to the taxi point. These Olympics pressed the nation with their noses on the facts after the Karamaki ski jumping excitement at the opening day, namely that international level was something completely different from national titles and domestic praise. 27th, 28th, 39th... It would be hard to glue the viewers to the BRU screen with this kind of performances. Or luge. Oh damned, another morning of luge lying ahead.