International Athletics Grand Prix - RP Thread

[Costa de Ouro]

International Athletics Grand Prix I

IC Letter to Come

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Euskirribakondara (EUS)
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Serretes (SER)
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[Costa de Ouro]

About Costa de Ouro
Costa de Ouro is an archipelago of nine volcanic islands located on a volcanic ridge in the Mar de Aviz region of Astyria. Its nearest neighbors are Cadenza and Trellin to the east, Aurelia to the southeast, Kelonna to the south, Jarridia to the southwest, and GHawkins to the west. Because of their volcanic origin, most of Costa de Ouro is not suitable for farming. Pascoa is made up of rainforest, while Santa Maria is very mountainous, with its Montanhas Negras mountain range. Other islands, such as Cibola, Sao Nicolau, Sao Jose, Natal, and Sao Mathieu are fairly flat and have sandy soil, making them not suitable for farming. On the other hand, both Antillia and Sao Antonio have land suitable for farming. Most of Costa de Ouro's population, which is one of Astyria's densest and most urban, lives on Antillia and Santa Maria, with eight of the top ten cities located on those islands. Sao Antonio is the third most populated, while the outlying islands have less population. In total, Costa de Ouro's population numbers 7 million people.

Costa de Ouro's economy revolves around tourism, with millions of people coming each year to experience Costa de Ouro's pretty beaches, coral reefs, and historic, colonial architecture. Many tourists come from Nikolia, Jarridia, GHawkins, and Cadenza, due to their relative proximity to Costa de Ouro. The second most important industry is fishing, with mackerel, tuna, lobsters, and shellfish plentiful in the coral reefs and EEZ. Other industries include biotechnology, luxury goods such as watches, services for Nikolian and Kelonnan military bases, and providing fuel for GHawkins military transports. Exports mainly consist of fish, and to a lesser extent, biotechnology and luxury goods.

Most Costenhos are either African, Creole (a mixture of African and Portuguese), or Portuguese. Sizable minority groups include Trellinese/Cadenzan and Nikolian. The official language of Costa de Ouro is Portuguese, while Creole, African languages with Portuguese mixed in, is also common. Minority languages include Trellinese and Nikolian. Most people involved in the tourism industry, including sports tourism, speak English and Nikolian as well, and some speak other languages to accommodate other foreign guests. As for religion, most people are Catholic, with a growing minority of evangelical Protestants. African religions and combinations of African religions and Christianity are also fairly common.

Costa de Ouro was settled by the Portuguese as a slave-trading outpost, sugar plantation, and supply stop on the way to the New World in the early 1500's. Costa de Ouro's early history was marked by tensions between slaves and masters, including frequent escapes and not-as-frequent revolts. In 1910, after the overthrow of the Portuguese monarchy, the deposed monarch was exiled to Costa de Ouro. When Costa de Ouro gained its independence in 1975, King Joao became the first king. In 1983, an isolationist, authoritarian right-wing dictator and former military officer, Marcio Marcelo Gouveia, came to power in a bloody coup of the king. He exiled the monarchy and remained in power until 2011, when he died to mostly everyone's relief. He was replaced by King Fernando, who soon died after gaining the throne, and passed it on to King Pedro, who rules today.

Costa de Ouro is currently a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy. King Pedro I, of the House of Braganza-Silveira, is the current king. In parliament, currently, a liberal party is in power, although a conservative party has been in power previously. By many standards, Costa de Ouro can be classified as moderate to liberal. Gay marriage is legal but abortion, exceptions only in cases of rape and incest, is illegal, as is marijuana usage. Costa de Ouro's government maintains a policy of neutrality to avoid the violence of current pan-Astyrian conflicts, as well as to encourage citizens of both sides to visit Costa de Ouro. Accordingly, Costa de Ouro's military is small, although fear of Gouveia's standing military also contributed to this decision. Nikolia and Costa de Ouro share very close relations, and Nikolia is pacted to defend Costa de Ouro if it is ever attacked.

Transportation
Javelin Airways, which has links to a good number of sporting regions, operates a hub out of Antillia Sonhos International Airport, which is the main airport for Costa de Ouro. Global Wings Airways and a number of other Astyrian airlines operate out of both Antillia Sonhos and Morroseta International Airport, Morroseta's main link to the outside world. There are frequent air services between Morroseta and Costa de Ouro, around three times a day. In the islands of Costa de Ouro, plane, train, and boat all compete for passengers between the islands. There is a large, high-speed rail network connecting Albergaria at the southern end of the island of Santa Maria and Monteverde on Antillia; smaller railway lines connect other parts of the island. A high-speed rail line does connect the main airport at Antillia Sonhos and Antillia, as well as the cities of São Alberto and Monteverde. Ferries connect all of the main airlines to each other. In Morroseta, high speed rail connects all the main cities - along the coast and into the interior - to each other. Morroseta and Vilança are fairly close to each other on this line; Vilança is the main hub of Morrosetan rail transportation. Within each of the cities themselves, there is a dedicated subway and/or light rail system to bring players and spectators from their hotels to the venues.

City & Venue

Named after a mythical island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, Antillia is the heart of business, government, culture, and sports in Costa de Ouro - as well as the Avissian Union. Antillia has a population of around 900,000 and is the capital and second largest city in Costa de Ouro. Antillia is geographically located on the island of the same name, along the coast of the Mar de Aviz. Founded by the Portuguese, Antillia has a rich history. Antillia is composed of several distinct districts: Old Town, along the south side of the sea; New Town, toward the north side of the city; the Jewish Quarter, north of the Old Town; the Bairro Real, home to the Royal Palace and other sites related to the Costeño royalty (and near Old Town); the Bairro Universitário, home to Costa de Ouro's leading universitys; the Ilha do Castelo, home to the historic Antillia Castle; and the suburbs, home to many of the city's residents.

Antillia boasts numerous theaters, opera houses, and amphitheaters, with many performing arts groups. Antillia is also renowned for its Chamber Choir, one of the best in the region. Its food scene is also one of the most delicious in Astyria, with the world-famous Tartaruga Cafe having its home in New Town. Citizens of Antillia love their morning coffee, and as a result, the city is filled with cafes that serve coffee as well as small sandwiches and soups. Seafood is a major part of Costa de Ouro's cuisine, with Antillia having great access to the sea. Visitors can also enjoy the martial art capirinha, brought to the island by slaves who wanted a way to conceal their fighting skills from their masters. Its fish market is one of the largest in Astyria, and Antillia is also a hub for cruise liners full of passengers seeking to enjoy Antillia's beaches and historic sights. Antillia, with the virtue of being a tourist attraction, already has a large hotel capacity to serve its tourist markets. With options varying from gleaming high-rises in New Town to historic inns in Old Town to family-owned bed & breakfasts, there will always be a comfortable option for visitors to stay.

Antillia Estádio Real
The Antillia Estádio Real, or Royal Antillia Stadium, will host the Antillia Grand Prix, the last event on the International Athletics Grand Prix. The stadium is located on the coast of the Mar de Aviz, north of the Biotechnology Park and downtown Antillia, the center of most business in Antillia and close to major hotels. In addition to athletics events, the stadium also serves as the home stadium for the Costenho national association football team and the Antillia Albatroz football team, which plays in the Costenho Liga Real. The stadium seats 75,000 people. All track and field events will take place in the stadium; walk and marathon events will take athletes along a course through the city's various districts, including Old Town and the Bairro Real, where the King may be in attendance.

[Wray]

Ones to Watch: 5 Wray Hopefuls for the IAGP

Anna Sharner - 26 - Heptathlon

Wray's queen of the track. After coming in as a relatively unheard of 22 year old to the Orean Olympic Games, she took the world of Athletics, well, perhaps the world of heptathlon by storm. After solid performances in every event, she was top of the points table with just one event to come. Fate conspired against her, and a poor showing in the 800m meant she lost out on the gold medal to Isabella Lordham of Ferkas. But a silver in one of the toughest disciplines in Women's athletics. Originally a sprinter specialising in short-distance events - she raced at the National Junior Championships in the 100m and 200m - but a talent scout suggested a move to the heptathlon, where she flourished, taking a seemingly endless slew of National and Regional medals. Selection in the first Wray squad seemed inevitable, and the trust was rewarded with a medal performance. Two years later she took another medal, a very hard earned bronze medal in Zube and Kytler Bay, which she took by just 3 points from Breeshey Kermit of the home nation. She comes into the IAGP as the captain of the team, and will look to lead Wray's charge on the medal table. Having dealt with on-and-off injury over the last year, her build-up has not been ideal, but she looked good in the National Qualification meet, winning the 11-strong event, first from her closest rival Bella Shaw, who also competes at this event.

Bella Shaw - 21 - Heptathlon

Shaw suffered Olympic heart-break at just the age of 19, when in the long jump event of the Heptathlon, she stumbled and suffered what is known as the 'Unhappy Triad', an injury to the ligaments in the knee which put her out of athletics for close to a year. She saw myriad specialists in this period, who were all impressed at the resilience of the young woman and the speed at which she recovered from the injury. A month before the prescribed return date for Shaw, she was back competing in the University Athletics Meeting at Seven Bays, where although she didn't win, she put in a very promising performance. She has advanced greatly since then, and in the intervening 4 months, she has set National Heptathlon bests in the shot put, the 110m hurdles and the long jump. She went head to head with Sharner as aforementioned, at the National Qualification meet in Albion, and finished behind her by just a handful of points. She won 2 events (long jump and shot put) whilst Sharner won 3 (the 100m, 800m & high jump). Back at the Zube & Kytler Bay two years ago, things were going amazingly for her. She won the first event of the heptathlon, storming through her heat in the 100m hurdles in 12.77 seconds, 0.15 seconds ahead of any other competitor and 0.34 seconds ahead of Sharner, one of the favourite's for the competition. Sharner admitted she'd never really heard of Shaw, but then again, she didn't pay much attention to any of her compatriots, but she definitely sat up when she saw a fellow Wrayian at the top of the leader board. Shaw kept up the strong performance in the high-jump, finishing third owing to the number of failures on previous jumps, as all three athletes at the top failed on the same height. Sharner in comparison was down in 22nd. Sharner overtook her in the shot put, and she registered a sub-par performance in the 200m, but still maintained the lead going into the second day. However, disaster struck at just before 11am for Shaw, when on her second jump, she collapsed on her right knee and was rushed off to hospital, ending her hopes. Sharner took the bronze and dedicated it to Shaw. Bella now has vowed to come back stronger, and will look to start her road to stardom at the IAGP in her home country.

Ollie Le Roux - 20 - Men's Pole Vault

In the rather unheralded and bizarre sport of pole vault, Wray has a medal hope. 20 year old Ollie Le Roux, from Azien, in Western Provinces, has emerged from the school athletics scene like no other athlete in the last 5 years. At the School Athletics Championships in 2013, when he was in his final year at Leyland College in Seven Bays, he not only won the Pole Vault competition, he obliterated the field - he was jumping for 15 minutes after the last of his rivals had failed. Standing at 6ft 3" and with a wiry frame, he looks more like a long distance runner than someone who requires the immense strength to perform in the high jump. Whilst he is relatively inexperienced at national levels, just two appearances at meets, one of which he had to pull out of before the final because of illness. But those performances and those previously were deemed good enough for selection, and since he recorded a national record in the event, and is in good form coming into the IAGP.

Amelia-Jane Havermann - 25 - Women's 100m, 200m, 4x100m Relay

Uitbregen born-and-raised, but transferred her allegiance to Wray before the IX Summer Olympics, where she perhaps disappointed a touch, only succeeding in making the quarter finals, albeit in one of the most hotly contested events in Women's athletics. She trained and competed in the Uitbregeni system for 20 years, and met mixed-reviews from members of the press - some were pleased that she had foregone perhaps better financial opportunities in Uitbregen to compete in the Olympics for Wray, but others were concerned that her arrival meant that she was blocking the way for some young sprinter from Wray. She certainly is blocking the way for one sprinter, as she is currently the number one ranked sprinter in the country, holder of the national record for both the 100m and 200m, as well as a component part of the 4x100m relay team. Tall for a woman, with dyed blonde hair and an imposing Uitbregeni demeanour, she still speaks with the instantly recognisable clip of Uitbregenis who have crossed the ocean and set up shop in Wray.

Eliza Payten - 27 - Women's Javelin

Women's Field events are definitely Wray's strong suit, and Eliza is one of the athletes leading the charge. A powerful javelin thrower with a background in the armed forces and also in semi-professional women's rugby union, where she played fly-half. For the last couple of years, she has been deputy to Cathy Alexander, but has since overtaken her in terms of national performances with an increasingly powerful string of performances in her event. She first took up the javelin whilst at University in Cartersburg, and excelled in the event, and apparently foregoing some of her academic commitments in Wray to compete in Varsity competitions in Uitbregen. She is one of the form athletes for Wray going into the IAGP, and will look to pick up some medal-ware in front of her home fans.

[Costa de Ouro]

This is the first cutoff for the International Athletics Grand Prix!

Results

[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - Sports Section - George Greste

International Athletics Grand Prix starts off in Louagarat

The world's premier athletics competition, second only to the Olympic Games itself, is being held right now in Louagarat, one of the venues featured in these 'grand prix' style competitions. The Electrum competitors were largely unsuccessful in this week's events, mainly long-distance track events such as the marathon, and both the 20km and the 50km walk. Of course, where Electrum's real strength really lies is in the short-distance track events as well as a select few field events -- which is also where Electrum gained their medals in the Athletics last time in the Kytler Peninsulae.

In the 20km walk, Eric Tyler came in fifth place, coming in fourth place after Wray's Jan Beiler. It was a slow start for Tyler, but he managed to work his way up the field to manage a respectable time and position. But the same could not be said for him in the 50km, where he came in last place in the ultra-long event, coming in 28 minutes after the first placer from Avissian Union. Justin Ingram, Electrum's other participant simply could not make it through, falling to the ground at the 40km mark, and being unable to get back up, called it a day. It was a different story in the men's marathon however, with Timothy Lane coming in first place defeating Rios in the breakaway by just four seconds.

On the women's side of things, Janice Lippert suffered too many penalties and was therefore disqualified -- the rules and regulations being very tight in the 20km walk. That was despite the fact, as she claimed, that other athletes were breaking the rules too -- just that they couldn't see it fast enough to act on it, and that they unfairly picked on her. She was one of two disqualifications in the event. In the 50km walk event, an event rarely held for women, both of Electrum's entrants came fifth and seventh, a great first time effort. Finally in the marathon, Ashley Gill came last, coming thirty-two minutes after the winner Laura Eades from Wray. What was heartening was the audience's reaction, one of applause, after Gill came across the finish line, after all, running 42km is no mean feat and should be applauded.

Our next update will be in Albion, Wray where both the relatively short track distances and the field events will be held.

[Smertolina]

The Smertolinan track athletes were warming up and practicing for the events of the upcoming days. There was an excitement and tension in the air, with the athletes focusing on their own competitions, but also a quiet, crestfallen disappointment due to the lackluster performance of Smertolina's long-distance competitors in the events that had already been completed.

Smertolina's Minister of Sports, Baroness Alzbeta Bleskyvalka, was being attended to by Deputy Minister Yan Matoushek as she prepared for her own challenge, the women's 800 meter. Since she was busy competing herself at the Grand Prix, Matoushek was handling the Smertolinan contingent's organizational duties.

Years ago, she had been a competitive sprinter in the Mederano peninsula, earning the nickname "Baroness Blitzkrieg." During her private military service under Princess Martina, she had concentrated on longer distance running to build up her endurance, and returned to competition after their coup reinstalled the monarchy. Entering multiple events at the Esportiva Autumn Festival, she had taken the Bronze in the women's 800, but hadn't competed internationally since then, due to Smertolina's internal "restructuring" after several attempts on Princess Martina's life.

Bleskyvalka's plan this time was to focus on what was now her strongest event, and let a number of new, promising Smertolinan athletes try their mettle in an international event.

"It's too bad about Zayats and Melinek," Matoushek said. He was a quiet, cheerful man who had years of experience coaching and judging track and field events, and seemed to get along well with foreign athletes and sporting officials. "They seemed quite promising in homeland marathons in the past couple of years."

"It might have just been a bad day for them, or they weren't prepared enough for the terrain or the altitude," Bleskyvalka replied. "Or, and this is a thing, you know, they may simply have choked under the pressure of their first real international competition. We'll find out how everyone else does. We've done as much as we can to prepare them. Now it's up to our individuals, staying focused, doing what we taught them, breathing, visualizing. They CAN do it. Now let's see if they WILL."

Matoushek nodded. Baroness Alzbeta and Princess Martina were die-hard believers in the importance of the mental game.

She finished a yoga stretch, and stripped off her track suit down to a black 2-piece. Tomorrow she would wear a red suit with an off-set vertical black-and-white stripe, like all the Smertolinans wore variants of. Matoushek always had trouble looking away; Alzbeta's appearance was so striking that she was distracting.

Then she did what she did best. She ran.

Matoushek continued his rounds, checking up on the other track athletes, then set off to exchange pleasantries with officials of the host and competitor countries

[Serretes]

Saartholm Times
Sports #1a
Aldhelm of Cester

Ragnar of Lundholm continues in his rise to success. He is the undisputed Serreten 100 Meter, 200 Meter, and Decathlon champion as well as national record holder in all three events. Going into the Grand Prix of Athletics, Lundholm is the favorite to win the Decathlon by a large margin. No other athlete in the prix hase ever recorded a score as high as his, a staggering 9007, which he recorded a few years ago at the Christmass Relays.

Lundholm has trained extensively for this chance, a chance to forever mark his name as the greatest of the decathletes of Serretes. Growing up in the tiny village of Lundholm in western Serretes, Ragnar knew little of the world around him. The only thing he knew was that he was addicted to winning in every physical challenge set before him. By the time he was eleven, Lundholm trained with his father as well as the local team in an attempt to at the least cement his name upon the 100 Meter sprint title of Serretes. Upon recommendation of his father, he began training in earnest for something much grander, the decathalon. Entering highschool, he was the village favorite in most any track event. By the end of highschool, there was no question who would win each and every event of the decathalon.

Now, going into the largest meet of his young life, Lundholm says he is ready. The past two years have been spent training for this meet, only a few breaks were taken for other competitions. On the eve of the opening day of the decathlon, Lundholm is perfectly at ease with himself. When he runs tomorrow, it will be like any other meet he has ever competed in. An easy win, followed by more easy wins in every event. He has only one fear, and that is high jump. Despite being exceptionally good in every event, Lundholm has never gotten over the stresses of high jump. His father, also his coach, Ragnar of Lundholm the senior claims it is entirely mental for his trainee.

"I have seen him jump much better than his best mark in a meet at practice. But practice is not meet. At the end of the day, only the tape measure tells the truth. If and when Ragnar pushes through what is holding him back, then he will jump higher than everyone else in his field. That is how good my son is, that is how good Ragnar is.”


The confidence of his father, expressed in the heavily accented western Serreten english is one thing. But how he does is another thing, and that is what everyone in the nation waits on.



In other track news….

Lundholm will also run in the Men’s 100 and 200 Meter sprints, accompanied by his fellow athlete Wulfsige of Ackirk. The field looks very deep here, and if Lundholm can win, he will only further encapsulate the hearts of Serretes.

In the 800 Meter semifinals, Eadwulf of Ashwick is looking to make his international debut in a fast fashion. The field here is also very deep, and Ashwick himself said he would be happy with a top ten finish. Hardly the confidence you want to see in your athletes, but realism is always important.

Finally, Ced of Blackmerisc is competing in the 1,500 Meter run. He looks fast, and although the pool is deep, a top five finish is not unattainable.

[Costa de Ouro]

This is the second cutoff for the International Athletics Grand Prix!

Results

[Serretes]

Saartholm Times
Sports #1a
Aldhelm of Cester
The pool of competition in all the events was much deeper than expected. Of all the events, only two Serretens qualified for the finals. No surprises there, one of them was Ragnar of Lundholm in 200 Meters of track, the other being Ced of Blackmerisc in the 1,500 Meter. Suprisingly, Lundholm did not qualify for the 100 Meter finals for the first time in his life. Hopefully that does not throw him off kilter before the decathlon.
Full Listing of Results
100 Meter - Ragnar of Lundholm - 10.07s - Did Not Qualify For Finals
100 Meter - Wulfsige of Ackirk - 10.13s - Did Not Qualify For Finals
200 Meter - Ragnar of Lundholm - 20.13s - Qualified
200 Meter - Wulfsige of Ackirk - 20.30s - Did Not Qualify For Finals
400 Meter - Leofric of Aberwick - 44.82s - Did Not Qualify For Finals
800 Meter - Eadwulf of Ashwick - 1:47.76m/s - Did Not Qualify For Finals
1,500 Meter - Ced of Blackmerisc - 3:36.59m/s - Qualified

Looking Ahead…
Men's 200 Meter - Ragnar of Lundholm is looking to win his first international medal, and after a good performance yesterday, he is among the favorites. A first place finish would be excellent, but even if he only places in the top three, a medal is still a medal.
Men's 1500 Meter - Ced of Blackmerisc pulled off a solid performance today, and he looks like he has the energy to pull off another one tomorrow. The field he is running in is very thick, and a medal here would solidify his place among the Serreten 1,500 Meter greats.
Men's 110m Hurdles Semifinals - In the Men’s 110 Meter Hurdles, Harald of Ascot is among the favorites to win. The Serreten record holder’s son runs in very similar times to those of his father and if that proved true tomorrow, it is almost guaranteed that he will qualify for the finals.
Men's 400m Hurdles Semifinals - The 400 Meter Hurdles is one of the only events to have three Serretens in contention for a berth in the finals. Edmund of Dunbury leads this effort, followed by Æsc of Narmerisc and Ricard of Wulfham. With so many athletes in the field, one is bound to qualify for the finals. The current favorite is Dunbury, but the others are promising to say the least.

[Costa de Ouro]

This is your cutoff!

Part 1
Part 2

[Costa de Ouro]

Sometimes I feel frustrated
That I cannot do things
I think I can do -
That I cannot succeed when
I think I will succeed -
That I cannot win when
I think I will win -
That I cannot act when
I think I can act -

Sometimes I feel frustrated
In the face of adversity,
In the face of mounting challenges,
In the face of things that
I think I cannot do -

Sometimes I feel frustrated, but
I continue,
I plod along like an oxen plowing a field -
I give the problem my all,
I don't let my frustration get to me -
Even though I feel frustrated -
And I do my best,
Regardless of the challenges -

Sometimes I feel frustrated, but
I don't let it
Get the best of me.

---

This is also cutoff.

[Wray]

Wray Dominate In Front Of Home Fans

It was a good couple of days for the Green-and-Whites in front of a home crowd at Albion in the International Athletics Grand Prix. An aggressive marketing campaign and generous ticket prices had meant that the Albion University Athletics Complex was sold out at the start of competition on this warm late-summer morning.

The crowd, whilst knowledgeable of the various pursuits and nations participating, the support was very much partisan for the host's athletes. The opening event was the Men's 100m Semi-Finals, in which Dylan Maughan and Chris Morris, neither serious medal prospects, ran. Chris Morris ran an impressive 9.94 in the third semi-final, securing qualification into the final, whilst Maughan couldn't match the feat. Morris ran again in the 200m, but was clearly fatigued from the 100m, and couldn't reach the final. With a light head-wind, no athlete was able to break the sub-20 mark, but the races were closely competed. Matt Russell reached the final of 400m as a fastest loser, and Christian Pollock made the 800m finals with a relaxed run, presumably saving his best for the final.

In the Women's 100m, medal favourite Amelia-Jane Havermann qualified for the final in 11.18, albeit a long way off the fastest time of 11.01, impressively set by Maristela Silva of the Avissian Union. She'd have to up her game if she were to take a medal in the event. She then ran in the 200m, where she also qualified, this time fastest in her heat, but again some way off the fastest time. Katarina Sutherland, the 23 year old from Seven Bays, recorded the quickest time in the Women's 400m, getting the only sub-50 time from the pack. Sara Julien recorded the second quickest time, setting up a promising final.

In the afternoon, the finals began, and Chris Morris got the crowd going with a domineering performance in the 100m Final. Starting in lane 6, he blasted out a Wray-record run of 9.72, pipping Chikan Okinawa of Electrum to the Gold Medal. Whilst the competition is officially scored on points, Athletics Wray gave the honour of presenting traditional gold, silver and bronze medals to the respective athletes. Morris was the first gold of many for Wray. Matt Russell took the second in the 400m, running a very good race and coming in in 44.22 seconds. Christian Pollock completed a hat-trick of golds for Wray, with Rise O Wray blaring out from the speaker system for the third time in the afternoon after beating Álvaro Costa da Águia in a final 50m dash. Piedt Moore couldn't quite make it four from four finals, only managing to grab a silver medal behind Vilmar Olsson of Vermark in the 1500m. Amelia-Jane Havermann received a huge reception as she stepped up for the Women's 100m, clearly her Uitbregeni roots not affecting the allegiance of the crowd. However, a tacky start and a poor race in general meant she finished second last, and showed her frustration by kicking a water bottle away off the track. She was evidently frustrated as she was interviewed by WTV, and seemed eager to get away from the journalist and off to the 200m final, which she would run in in 40 minutes. The reception this time was a little frostier, but it immediately raised when she stormed round the bend and took the title in 21.74, just a millisecond ahead of her Avissian counter-part. She let out a roar as the board confirmed her victory, and she was far more vivacious in interview. Katarina Sutherland led a Wray 1-2 in the Women's 400m, with her compatriot Sara Julien taking the silver as they continued their dominance in the event, established in the morning session.

In the evening session, young Ella McKeirhan, just 19 years of age, qualified for the final of the 100m hurdles, along with the experienced Victoria Boardman, who qualified as a fastest loser. Rosie Hurst and Gemma Collis got through to the final in the 400m version of the event, whilst Kyle Brooks took a third place standing in the Decathlon. All eyes were on Bella Shaw, though, in the Heptathlon, after her horrific injury at the IX Olympics, as she officially announced her intention to become the world's best. Alongside her was double Olympic medalist Anna Sharner, looking to keep control of her Number 1 ranking in Wray. It was Sharner who started the brightest, recording the second quickest time in the 100m, as Shaw was well down the order. But Shaw came back with a strong showing in the High Jump, and then the Shot Put, and then she came out on top in the 200m, which placed her second in the overall standings behind Dorota Novicki of Smerltonia.

The relays began the following morning, with just straight finals, and Wray kept up their surprising performance with a victory in the 4x100m. Chris Morris ran a powerful middle leg to set up the team, then Bailey Robertson ran the final leg to take Gold for Wray. The Women, led by a pumped-up Amelia-Jane Havermann, replicated the feat in their own event, Wallace Olsen pipping Sofia Serafim d'Cruz of the Avissian Union to the line. Sara Julien ran a leg in the 4x400m which would have matched her silver in the individual event on the way to securing gold for the 4x400m team. The only team not to take gold was the Men's 4x400m team...who took silver.

The field events took place, and whilst a strong area for Wray's women, Wray's men were expected to struggle, with a couple of exceptions. Ben Ryan and Damian Arthur finished 6th and 7th in the High Jump, but Ollie Le Roux, the 20 year old with a gold-medal tag, did exactly that, annihilating the field on his way to 5.95m. Alice Stone, 21, from Keivler, Western Districts, impressed in the High Jump, taking a bronze - perhaps an Olympic berth in the near future? Jessica Vermuelen, of Uitbregen originally, took silver in the Women's Pole Vault, whilst Emily Weston took silver in the Women's Long Jump, rounding out the day's action.

[Costa de Ouro]

Cutoff!

[Costa de Ouro]

First cutoff for the Vermark Grand Prix!

Note that there will be no scorination Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Scorination will resume on Monday; ICly the GP has occurred the days when I will not be scorinating.

Results

[Costa de Ouro]

I had hoped there would be more RPs... /sigh

Cutoff anyway.

Results

[Costa de Ouro]

Cutoff.

[Costa de Ouro]

Another cutoff.

[Costa de Ouro]

No RP's. Why am I not surprised? Cutoff.

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Last cutoff of the Vermark Grand Prix!

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First cutoff of the last Grand Prix!

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[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - Sports Section - George Greste

Minister Harris announces funding for Stage II of the Centralis Sports Precinct revitalisation project

With Electrumites still lobbying for an Olympic Games in both Electrum and New Gelderland, Minister Andrew Harris has announced new upgrade plans to the Centralis Sports Precinct, with bipartisan support.

It was under former Minister's Nina Spring planning and organisation that saw Electrum host the Multiverse Games with much success and fanfare, in order to show preparedness for the Olympics. With the package of funding for the Multiverse Games were several needed upgrades including the building of a Press Office and the addition of several apartment complexes to the East of Olympic Stadium, which according to Harris, "Could possibly be used for the athlete's village in the near future, but not saying much more"

Also included were several infrastructure upgrades, including the expansion of the Multipurpose Venue, to be upgraded to 8,000 capacity, and stand upgrades in the National Tennis Centre, home of the Electrum Slam. In addition to upgrades to venues, the tram lines will be torn up and redone again to improve efficiency and reliability along the line, especially due to its heavy usage during sporting events all throughout the year.

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Cutoff. Only a few events today.