Games of the X Olympiad - RP thread

[The Serbian Empire]

High Empress Marisa's Speech

All of the Mafija has been arrested and have been placed on a merchant vessel, the M/V Palutena, today at 2 am Serbian Local Time. The Palutena is bound for Gregoryisgodistan and should arrive by Sunday evening if traveling at full speed. If all goes to plan, they'll be turned into Swiss Cheese by Monday night. At this point, I'm indifferent to their fate after they've been converted into food product for the cheese police to monitor.

Captain Giovanna Palermo's Log. M/V Palutena

We have had to alter our course and will have to stay very close to a region known as the Vakolicci Haven due to an intense storm and a few shoals on the most optimum route. I have heard the area is lawless and that pirates and paramilitary organizations like to steal ships for their own financial gain. But the weather forecast for rough seas near countless rocky shoals is bound to rip my ship to shreds and make me lose my captain's license for six months for reckless sailing. It's either risk running aground or get attacked by pirates.

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Deathless Order Marine Destroyer 'Sea Wraith,' off the coast of Velstrania, Northern Varathron

POV: Squad Commander Elosqir nos Vandriel nos Nierra

Well. You just never can be sure of what you're about to do next, can you. One moment I'm drinking a cup of Zakarija in a bar in the thankfully peaceful city of Velstursgaaten...thankfully because it's where I happen to live at the moment, the next I'm being told to get to command headquarters as soon as possible. Which I did, because the commander-general, my Uncle Oltainie nos Nierra, is the man where the money comes from...he's also the man where the orders to put myself in the firing line come from. I know which one I prefer.

Knowing that I got some of the former in the last week and I haven't heard any of the latter yet, I put down my unfinished drink and stood, hoping I wasn't too wobbly on my feet. I wasn't, thanks be to the Gods, so I strode out with a few men doing their best to not look like trailing bodyguards in tow.

When I got to the war room, deep underground as tradition seems to mandate all war rooms must surely be, what I found was my Uncle sat with the guy from Havenic central command who knows that he often needs someone to do his dirty work for him, even if it wouldn't be politically possible for the Haven to do it itself. And so...we do it, because it's generally what we do anyway: fight slavery, which exists rather too much in this wonderful nation, and is supported by the friends of the bloke from Havenic Central command. I sat down, not being asked to, and folded my arms on the table.

So let's imagine this scene. You've got me: big, scarred, muscular squad commander, nearly 8 feet tall...my uncle could have followed me around for the last few years and been in the exact same scrapes...we look a lot similar, to be honest. Then you've got this little guy...and believe me, he is a little guy. I really do think whoever sent him had an amazing sense of irony...I can even imagine the conversation:
"Hey! We need someone to go and be the middleman between us, and a bigg island filled with giants. Oh, and did I mention that the giants all hate our guts? Like...really want to kill us?"
"Oh, I know! Let's find a gnome."
"Gnomes don't exist."
"Yeah they do! My secretary" (or whatever this guy is) "Is about 5 foot tall."
"Perfect!"

So he's cacking it. You can see the sweat beeding on gnomey's face even as my uncle interegates him. He really doesn't need to be scared, what he's asking us to do sounds pretty reasonable. Noone hear cares what the 2 nations are called, all we apparently need to know by the wisdom of Gnomey is that it's a ship carrying prisoners from one country to another, where they're going to all be killed. Apparently the prisoners have some covert crime training as well, which is good: he doesn't know that we'll use anyone with training like that against his friends if we can...did I mention that Gnomey's not the brightest little spark in the fire?
So, this captain obviously was at the same level in the line when the brains were handed out, because his course is looking ridiculous. It's blowing a fucking massive storm apparently where they're coming from, so mr. Brains as I'll call him has decided to travel in that little channel which separates Velstrania in Varathron...from Gholgoth in the North.
Yeah, clever clever man for a guy transporting human freight. You've got a nation full of people who hates slavers and exxcecution to your south, and a regional alliance filled with people who'd like to use the cargo as slaves in their own countries to the north. Oltainie's actually starting to crack up at this point, and I'm joining him: because this guy's put himself in a situation where we'd actually be doing him a humanitarian aid service by saving him from his own idiocy.

So, this explains what I'm doing now, lying in wait. Our censors are picking up Mr. Brainy and the crew of idiots moving their slow merchant tanker in from the east...come on idiots, hug the coastline, you don't want to be in the storm, you want to be able to radio help if you need it...oh goody, he is doing. This isn't even difficult: won't even be much fun.

I'm watching him attempt to take evasive moves as he's obviously seen our trap...far too late. The 6 of us, swift and agile marine destroyers, quickly surround his ship and one of them blows open an access port. Call forth little special operations craft from each one of us and we're in...I'm issuing orders, and they're being followed. The crew, some of them, the idiots among them, have seen huge armored Velsturmen invading their ship and tried to retaliate...we actually lost one man in this whole event, tthey lost far more, however. The ones that didn't try and fight back were simply handcuffed to whatever piping we could find, and their places were took by hardened Velsturman officers with one goal in mind: the rather easy trip back to Velstrania.

((OOC: Post written with the permission of the Serbian empire.))

[Alphatheta]

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Day 7 Highlights

Hockey — Men's team
{no match}
Group G: 3 Alphatheta 2 1 1 0 2 1 +1 4

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Water Polo — Women's team
Kelssek (KSK) 5–7 Alphatheta (APT)
Group E: 2 Alphatheta 3 2 0 1 21 19 +2 4

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Shooting — Women's 25m rapid fire pistol
Qualifying:
1 Hanna Rudawski (APT) 99 98 100 98 98 97 590
21 Nina Maly (APT) 97 95 95 94 98 96 575
Final:
3 Hanna Rudawski (APT) 590 203.1 793.1

Second Bronze, Fourth Medal Secured

Arryx MSK+7 5:40pm - After the heartbreak of watching Mariangela D'angelo lose the bronze shoot-off in women's skeet, the women's shooting delegation is once again in raucous celebration after the women's 25m rapid fire pistol. While Nina Maly made a fine showing, all her excitement was focused on teammate Hanna Rudawski, who came first in the qualifiers and finished with a bronze. Rudawski is in her first year of compulsory service and had been encouraged by her fellow cadets, including Maly, to try for the Olympiad team.

A friend since childhood, Maly was more than happy to gush to us about Rudawski's performance. "I did fine--all our comrades have done fine--but Hannalein was truly outstanding. She certainly showed her stuff in the qualifiers, and then despite the pressure still brought us home a medal to be proud of. We're over the moon for her."

Although Rudawski herself couldn't be reached for comment at time of printing, we did manage to convince D'angelo to take a break from the celebration. All accounts point to D'angelo as one of the chief organizers of the revelry.

"It feels amazing," D'angelo told us, looking happier than we've seen her since the women's skeet competition. "That's the beauty of having a team of comrades at country and comrades at arms. Every victory for one is a victory for all. We all carry each other's hurts and losses--but today we get to carry Hannalein's victory. We couldn't be more pleased."

Olympic Rumors Reach Capital

Wytropolis MSK+7 7:54pm - Nebulous concerns about the capture and deportation of members of the Mafija from the Cutest Marisa of the Serbian Empire, as well as rumblings about the potential response of the Holy Monastic Republic of The Archregimancy to the free flow of contraceptive devices among the delegations, have reached Wytropolis. Earlier this morning, the Emperor sent an official statement out to the Alphathetan delegation in hopes of quashing their concerns.

The official dispatch reminds athletes that a large part of being sent to compete in these international games is to encourage tolerance of other cultures. Not every nation holds the same basic tenets of national fraternity and personal restraint that the patria teaches all its citizens. It remains important to hold firm to core Alphathetan beliefs and return home unchanged, but with a mind broadened by our global community of comrades.

The statement is already being hailed as entirely wise and without logical flaw.

Curious Rise And Fall

Tyurderevnya MSK+7 8:27pm - Contrary to expectation, the last returns show the women's water polo team churning their way steadily up through the group, while the men's hockey team dropped to the third slot in the group after a rest day. The water polo team was a very last minute addition to the delegation, but has been doing the patria proud with continued success in each game played thus far.

The men's hockey team, on the other hand, who have proven themselves highly successful competitors in the past, have tied once and won once, not quite showing the elite skills they had been selected for or the strong performance the women's hockey team has demonstrated. They have ramped up their training schedule, making intense use of the fields when allowed and running drills through other fields when forced to cede time.

Remember, you can keep up with all Alphathetan results and medal counts on the national sports newswire's dedicated Olymiad X page, updated as often as news makes it through the firewall to our servers.

Headlines in APT International Sports

Ice Hockey: Antipha United Loses Second QF Series Game; Buckles Down
Curling: Season Delayed By NZEL Playoffs
Association Football: National Team Seeks International Partners For Annual Polar Bear Swim

[Ficiscia]

FNSN.fc Olympic Games - Women's football team turns group upside down!

Remember what we told you about the Ficiscian women's team not advancing? Forget that. The girls put up a fight against Quebec yesterday that eventually ended with a victory for our team. For the second time, we surprisingly beat a Quebecois team in a crucial game (as we did in IBC 19). The Quebecoises started rather defensive, with the Ficiscian team applying their usual offensive style but opening their defense to counter attacks - which almost cost them a goal after 12 minutes. But a brilliant save by defender Pia Esquarta on the line kept Ficiscia from going behind. The midfield looked shakier than before due to the suspension of Petra Tertina after her yellow-red card against Super Llamaland. She was replaced by the only 20 years old Larisa Najarskas who was at the beginning of Ficiscia's first attack with a great pass down the left side, from where Viscova crossed it in to Kajssa Ericssen who narrowly missed the ball. Quebec began to attack more and Ficiscia struggled, but the defense along with Severia Secunda kept the goal clear. However, the Ficiscians lost another player for the next round as Pia Esquarta was given her second yellow card in the tournament, meaning the centre back will miss the next game and likely be replaced by Cornelia Limita.

The first goal was scored after 38 minutes with a free kick. Jessika Liskovas tried to score directly from about 27 metres, but the ball was blocked by the Quebecoise goalkeeper and ended up on the foot of Ericssen who scored her first goal at these olympics. After the break, the game got more aggressive and more intense, with Ficiscia pushing. The best chance of that period had substitute Janna Pallgrinn, who came for Viscova, when she shot the ball just centimetres over the crossbar, and a bit later Ella Karvinne after dodging an opposing defender but failing to pass the Quebecoise goalkeeper. Ficiscia had to go into defense now and got into struggle with yellow cards again, losing Publia Lusita, a substitute defender, as well. However, the last minutes brought relief for Ficiscia as the ball found the way into the Quebecois goal again. A cross by Pallgrinn found the head of Ericssen, who laid the ball back to Carina Svercova. The midfielder had an open goal before her and scored the second Ficiscian point, securing the Ficiscian win and advancement to the next round.

QUEBEC 0-2 FICISCIA (0-1)

FICISCIA: Secunda - Carola, Esquarta (73. Limita), Marci, Quintilii (64. Lusita) - Karvinne, Svercova, Najarskas - Viscova (51. Pallgrinn), Ericssen, Liskovas

SCORERS: 38. Ericssen 0-1 (Liskovas), 87. Svercova 0-2 (Ericssen)
YELLOW CARDS (FIC): 15. Esquarta, 38. Carola, 73. Quintilii, 79. Lusita (all Foul)
REMARKS: FIC without Tertina (suspended)

[Fluvique]

The equestrian events, with the presence of the Queen.

The Queen Eugenie, as she promised, attended to the equestrian events. Since she is an enthusiastic and a lover of the discipline, her presence was not unexpected. The Queen has, in the White Palace, many horses in the Royal stables and when she returns to their home place in Greencastle, is often observed while she rides her favourite horse, Star, that was a gift of the Federal Government when she born in 1994.

Her majesty will be in the Olympics until tomorrow, when she will visit the Olympic Village and will greet the Fluviquean athletes. Later, she will watch the game of the White Foxes against Frenline Delpha, in the last match of the football group stage. Therefore, due to his presence, the National Anthem will be changed by the Royal Anthem, Reign over us forever.

Equestrian - eventing - endurance race
10 Roque Leone (FLU) 15.00
22 Arthur Efraín (FLU) 18.80
33 Harley Addo (FLU) 21.30
38 Johan Thauds (FLU) 24.10

Equestrian Eventing standings
19 Johan Thauds (FLU)
24 Roque Leone (FLU)
29 Arthur Efrain (FLU)
32 Harley Addo (FLU)

With some doubts, the Golden Boys won, but is obligated to improve.

The gait of the Fluviquean national team is on the expected rails and without any jolt according to the previous analysis in terms of results, but not in the level of play. Six points in three matches, the second place of the Group C and a hard working victory today are the highlights of the team.

It was a victory for 83–76 over a team that was presented as a complex rival. Their record was two victories and one defeat and today wanted to cut the unbeaten record of Fluvique and climb in the standings. The Golden Boys had a bad start, but the hierarchy of the Fluviquean starts and the performances of Ethan Stijn and Michel Nedjel, were the keys of the Fluviquean comeback

In the horizon is the next match, the fourth, which can be the qualification for the next round. However, the team had with Kriegiersien a quarter worryingly, the first, which lost 28-14. The end result reflects the difference between the teams, but during the middle of the meeting, at least, the Golden Boys suffered a bad time.

Luke Bram, of huge match, marked the path to the victory. With almost twenty-five minutes on court, Sheep decided to give him rest at the end of the match, and 100% of effectiveness over the three-points line, the born in Point Territory monopolized the statistics form: 24 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. In the scoring also had a good work Erik Zackary , with 21 points and Max Raleigh, with 20.

The performance of Carl Sevent, who took the responsibility of replace Severin Kerr, deserves a separate paragraph. While started fast and imprecise, his performance grew alongside the Fluviquean game and ended up being vital for the national triumph. The guard of Geneva Warriors, who was out of the court only 30 minutes, scored 12 points, gave 7 assists and took 9 rebounds.

Fluvique has good chances to qualify first in his Group. The objetive is to finish in the top to avoid a hard cross in the next round. It will depend of Fluvique. If the team win all the three matches, the first place will be guaranteed. Even with two victories more and with other results the team still can be first. However still left three matches, and project the final position is not advisable.

The Warriors obligated to win or return home

The Fluviquean men's handball suffered another defeat, predictable, but hard at the end. It was more than a shock of reality between two teams whose objectives are very different. The Warriors fell 24–29 against Cosumar for the third day of Group A. In this way, after this game the team is close to an elimination.
Fluvique showed courage to face the powerful Cosumar in the first minutes. He gave battle to 6-6, even with errors in the definition and an unstable mark. The national team missed three penalties in that moment that took more value, then, when Cosumar as a whole began to take off. The second stage was an confusion. All plan collapsed and the gap reached 10 points. Both teams, then, replaced some of their players in order of give rest to the upcoming matches. In that context, the Fluviquean young substitutes pressure Cosumar and put the score in a decent 24-29, that not show the differences between both teams.

"The first stage was good, but in the second half we had a slump and they took advantage", said the captain Michael Bristol. "We need to focus in the next match, is the key match. We are not dead" For Billy Dean, the coach, the match balance was bad "We made many mistakes and you can not do that in the Olympics". Later, he spoke about his squad: "Is too young and the basis of this team will reach his pick on performance in the future"

The Paysan Journey

Football — The girls know about football
The Fluviquean football women's team
defeated Banija and ended first of their group,
qualifing for the Knockout stage.
Group G
Banija (BNJ) 1–3 Fluvique (FLU)
Goals: Erica Noëlle (23´), Mariska Taegan (57´) and Evangelina Mariel (76´)
Next rival: The Greater Vakolicci

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Rugby Sevens — Men's team
Group D.
Fluvique (FLU) 35–5 Ethane (ETN)
The Red Devils re still breathing and need a victory in the last matchday to qualify.

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Good performance of Victoria Sterling.

Aquatics — Swimming — Women's 50 m Freestyle — Heats and Semifinals
Heats
7 Victoria Sterling (FLU) 24.98
25 Tania Cubbs (FLU) 25.72
Semifinals
10 Victoria Sterling (FLU) 24.51

The Panthers, eliminated

The women's team volleyball, The Panthers, lost in a very fought match against Nova Anglicana by 3-1, with partial of 25-16, 16-25, 14-25 and 11-25 and said goodbye to the Olympics Games in the group stage.Emiliana Joslyn was top scorer with 15 points while Ilda Unity contributed another 14 points.

The team led by Laura Bouchard ended in the last spot with one point in four matches.

Positive journey in boxing

The Fluviquean pugilists ended the journey with two victories and one defeat. Freddy Burke (Men's Welterweight) and Tasha Sissie (Women's Light Flyweight) advanced in the preliminary round to the next round in their respective categories.

Boxing — Men's Flyweight — Preliminary Round
Rodney Christopher (VKL) 11–2 Alan Delbert (FLU)

Boxing — Men's Welterweight — Preliminary Round
Freddy Burke (FLU) 11–4 Aleki Uresistre (VEK)

Boxing — Women's Light Flyweight — First Round
Zana Vloric (SRB) 4–10 Tasha Sissie (FLU)

Judo — Men’s Over 100 kg — Early Rounds and Final
Erik Pierre (FLU) def. by Dae-Nam Kim (ETM)

Judo — Women’s Over 78 kg — Early Rounds and Final
First Round
Andrea Sable (FLU) def. Andrea Snow (KRY)

Second Round
Victoria Castillo (WEL) def. Andrea Sable (FLU)

Shooting - men's 25m rapid fire pistol
Preliminaries
26 Jett Raffaello (FLU) 96 97 90 99 97 90 569
27 Rosario Casimir (FLU) 96 96 94 96 94 92 568

Shooting - women's 25m rapid fire pistol
Preliminaries
29 Liliane Tony (FLU) 95 95 93 95 94 93 565
31 Shelly Christabel (FLU) 95 85 95 95 93 95 558

Archery - women's - early preliminary rounds
Lady Soldier COOOCOCPPOAD (GGS) 111–107 Shelley Amédée (FLU)
Lady Soldier CLAMPASI (GGS) 114–107 Nadia Hannes (FLU)

Fencing - women's foil
second round
Kaylynn Maartje (FLU) 10–7 Judith Woodley (COS)
Natalie Silhouette (LYM) 15–11 Amie Kaelyn (FLU)
Dorina Sala (PSC) 12–15 Evangelina Fried (FLU)

Third round
Allison Brunette (QUE) 15–14 Kaylynn Maartje (FLU)
Jade Sesquiri (KRY) 15–5 Evangelina Fried (FLU)

[Elejamie]

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Doing a Favour for Dave-our - Pet Dri
Elan Raetolil (aka RubiFaman) - Nassau Bay, New Gelderland

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I think we might've been gotten a bit too cocky lately. I mean, we knew that we were going to have a whale of a time in the tournament, thanks to two massive wins. But that game against Shytysle, which was the only rugby game yesterday, was practically a wake-up call. We can't simply coast on that one win and expect to go through. Especially since nearly all of our other athletes are practically falling at their hurdles, although I'll show you a few success stories later. But still, it wasn't a bad game, just a narrow loss, in fact. But with one match left to go, we should buckle down, get out there and prove that our women's sevens team is just as good as our men's. Either way, I guess I should talk about the match. So here I go.

The first half could've gone a little better, to be honest. To begin with, Shytysle very nearly got ahead two minutes in when they were given a penalty. Luckily for us, they missed, just sailing wide of the posts. Luck turned out to be on our side when, halfway through the first half, Daniella Lombroso scored the first try of the match at the match, being dogpiled by the Shytylsh just as she put the ball down on the line. Raquel Cárdenas lined up to take the shot and slotted it comfortably in between the posts to make it 7-0. We were sitting comfortably for another two minutes until they managed to score a try, which they got converted. Although there were a few missed chances for both sides to get ahead, the score was 7-7 at half time.

The second half was also a drab and dull affair. As in, it took another three minutes before another set of points were added to the board. In this case, Raquel Cardenas stepped up to do a penalty after a Shytylsh player - I don't know how to spell their names so I'm practically not going to bother - didn't let go after she was tackled. Raquel stood up and sent the ball sailing in between the posts to put Elejamie back in fron with a 10-7 lead. A minute and a half later, Michelle Ortega scored the second try for Elejamie, with Cárdenas converting again to make it 17-7. Thing were comfortable until a minute later when they got a try, which was then converted. At 17-14, we were really feeling the heat but we kept pushing on. Unfortunately, that heat turned into a full inferno when they scored a final try which, fortunately, wasn'y converted. In the end, thanks to that try, Shytysle walked away the 19-17 victors, with a good chance to take the top spot in their next game.

Fortunately, Alex Brittany's girls aren't feeling bad about the loss; after all, they're still top of the table with a point difference of +49 but it's now that point where they should still keep their eyes on the ball if they want to stay in. If we're lucky enough to stay first, then there's a good but not great chance we'll take on New Gelderland; although they're top of the table, there's a very good chance they'll be usurped by Ethane. If we're unlucky to lose our next game but lucky enough to come second - which is possible thanks to that 42-5 thrashing we gave the Nova Anglicans on día uno - then we'll probably have to face Ethane or, if they're lucky, New Gelderland. In other words, there's a good chance we'll probably play against the co-hosts.

Elsewhere, Nova Anglicana returned to the pitch... and suffered a less humiliating defeat but still remain bottom of the table. 21-15 to Quebec, who are just above them thanks to that one win. And Britonisea, who didn't play today, comfortably stay in the middle of the table. I'm guessing they used that extra day to squeeze in some extra practice. Tomorrow, Elejamie will take on Britonisea in a make-or-break game, Shytysle will play against last-placed Nova Anglicana to see if they can finally take the top spot and Quebec will take a break just before their last game.

As there was no men's game today, I've decided to cut this one a bit short. But, before I do, I'll give a quick run-through of some of Elejamie's highlights. First, our women's field hockey team made it three out of three with a 1-0 win over mid-table Wray, where the only goal was scored in the 27th minute by Emi Naemoril; quite impressive for a team where three-quarters of the players actually play ice hockey. Our men's volleyball team got their first win, beating Wray (again) three sets to two. Our women's handball team won 27-23 against the last-placed Aristian Republic. Our men's water polo team beat Kriegiersien 11-9. And our women's basketball team beat Eastfield Lodge 91-78. But the biggest highlight was our women's football team qualifiying for the next round thanks to a 4-3 win over Schottia, which put them at the top - group runners up Vekaiyu just missed out on a spot thanks to point difference - and, as a result, they'll face Benjamin Mark at Agri. All in all, plenty of good results for nearly all of our team sports.

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More from RubiFaman:

• Doing a favour for Dave-our: Pet Du
• Doing a favour for Dave-our: Pet An
• RubiFaman's Rumours - New National Rugby League Kit?
• RubiFaman's Guide to the Olympic Rugby Sevens - Women's Tournament

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
Day Seven: The Unending Storm
Written by Borjas Serifovic

NASSAU BAY – The Olympics has a good way of equalizing and neutralizing your emotions. After happiness strikes your face, the next day's events will force concentration, happiness, heartbreak, or other sorts of emotions that arise and fall depending on the circumstance. Sometimes, you know they're coming, sometimes, you know the day before the day itself even ends. Regardless of the outcome, the day ends, and another day comes anew to repeat the same song and dance. Lessons are learned, and the changes from day to day only come if you've learned from the mistakes from yesterday. Besides that, the Olympics marches on.

Today was an odd day, as Izmeduan media was left with the confusing Izmeduan narrative of the Olympics, with yesterday's gold medal followed with Water Polo's continuous draws from the Men and Women's side, Archery falling to the wayside, as Basketball falls through with another victory. There's no one line to grasp at, no moment of triumph to distract ourselves from. As the teams we face against start becoming harder and harder, whether that's through the greater renown and skill that the opponents carry or whether it's through the fatigue that the delegation has, it's very clear that who is playing is clearly suffering from the latter.

Despite seeming cheery for the cameras, I catch the silent exhaustion as I observe the Izmeduan athletes play in their respective events. This was especially apparent in the archery rounds today, in which all 3 of our archers today were eliminated, with our best chance of an Archery medal, Finka Jankovic, falling at the Round of 16. Coincidentally, Paskal Stjepanic, widely considered the best male archer from the Izmeduan sides, also fell at the same hurdle. Basketball and Water Polo also seem to be showing signs of exhaustion, which is causing anxious whispers to be fraught about the delegation.

Archery – Women's Individual Preliminary Knockout Rounds

It's hard to put into specific words just how the Izmeduan archers did today. As you've probably surmised back at home from the news channels that panicked once Finka Jankovic was eliminated at the round of 16, you'd probably assume that the archers performed 'horribly.' It's not horrible by any means, but I think disappointing is the right word to use for the situation at hand. From 3 that were expected by and large to advance farther than the men (which was largely part of the problem with the reactions. At closer inspection the men and women performed similarly, with the women performing just slightly better + with them having the flagbearer). We'll go through this archer by archer, covering them by elimination order.

Morana Visnic was the first to be eliminated, largely considered to be the most silent one of the three present and the one that fell through the radar. In the news reports, her first round elimination was largely expected and did come to pass in reality. As Morana stepped up to shoot against Ji Hye Moon from Quebec, her fate was sealed prior to the first arrow being shot. Morana, after seeing an arrow lodged squarely into the 8 position and Ji Hye Moon scoring higher, Morana was unable to turn the tides despite the scores being relatively close through. The final arrow was shot from Ji Hye, and Morana Visnic was eliminated. She was all smiles, with some tinge of relief, as the results were announced.

Tina Antonela did better than expected, advancing through the round of 64 was felled at the round of 32. Tina's first round performance was capped off with an opening first arrow that proved her uncanny ability to shoot dead center that can come up at opportune moments, but aside from that opening shot, her performance tapered off slightly with some 10s and 9s, with the first shot remaining the peak moment of her match against Mercedes Castillo. The round of 32 saw Tina Antonela fluster against Doris Fields from Electrum, losing by a 3 point margin after a surprise 7 cost Tina Antonela from keeping the match level and secured Izmeduan defeat.

Finka Jankovic had the longest run of the three female archers, advancing through each round before before an under-performance in the round of 16 which saw Finka eliminated from the final knockout rounds. Finka initially performed well against her opponents, with the round of 64 match versus Grace Freebuilt being particularly close. The round of 32 was Finka's best performance, with a consistent amount of 10s and 9s shot throughout the match that saw Finka comfortably qualify for the round of 16, where a shaky beginning with a string of two 8s proved to be too much of a deficit that Finka could recover from versus Pooja Kaur. Ultimately, with a margin of 3 points, Finka lost the match, and was subsequently eliminated.

Women's Water Polo MD4 – Quebec vs Izmedu (7-7)

Even though there were close calls in previous Women's Water Polo matches, Izmedu went into the match truly looking like the underdogs. The Quebecois team was much more well-practiced, had a much deeper depth of skill and bench compared to the Izmeduan team, and a victory seemed assured. The old Izmeduan tenacity reared its head once again, as Women's Water Polo pulled the match to a surprise 7-7 draw, which only came about after a last sudden wind of strength came about in the final half of the match.

Quebec easily took the lead for the match's first period with a stunning display of offense and defense, demolishing Izmeduan plays that could've potentially gotten goals in earlier matches but this time, were caught in much slower, less skillful executions. Marijana Antic, typically competent at blocking goals, struggled as the Quebecois offense was greater than expected. Ines Vlahovic, also another reliable blocker and the first port of call when it comes to defending Marijana, also had a weaker first half game. For the first two periods, Quebec scored 3 goals, which came from Alisha Burke, Hye Jin Nam, and Isabelle Koo. An Izmeduan goal didn't occur until the 2nd period, from Lucija Radic.

After a disappointing first half, the Izmeduan team played a much more aggressive game for the third and fourth periods. Despite risking a boatload of minor fouls (of which there were a lot given, more towards the Izmeduan side along with a near moment where I thought a brutality foul would've been given on the part of Emilija Jankovic, whose fierce nature in the match really came out tonight after a hard-hitting goal at the end of the third period), saw a resurgence in the Izmeduan offensive despite a still weak performance defensively. Marijana managed to block more goals after the the Izmeduans were closing in the gap during the third period, but the rest of the defense underperformed. With the Quebecois keeping control of the match up to the last few minutes of the final period, where a surprise goal from Brankica Vanja, plus a minute of chaos where the entire team was trying to desperately cover. It was successful, with the draw being the final result, but it was clear the rethinking is sorely needed.

Men's Basketball MD4 – Cosumar vs Izmedu (68-83)

Much like the Quebecois match from Women's Water Polo today, today's Basketball game versus Cosumar was another intense one, following a close beginning after being tapered off by a stronger Izmeduan performance in the end. The Cosumarite performance is especially much more curious as, compared the Izmeduan team, they were far more experienced and skilled than us. However, clear fatigue hit both teams, as seen from the scores not being abnormally high as they were in the past.

The first quarter of the match was a close one, with the Cosumarite team taking a 2-point lead over Izmedu in a first quarter score of 19-17. The initial proceedings were largely dominated by Slavomir's sudden inability to be able to effectively intercept and defend the ball, as well as the ball being constantly kept out of Izmeduan possession as Dale Jeon and Severin Søholt were clear standouts, taking advantage of a weakened Izmeduan defense. Mladen and Jakov Antic helped buoyed the Izmeduan score, keeping the team from being fully demolished by matching the Cosumarites offensively. The second quarter played out much the same, with both teams keeping level with each other until a surprise 3-pointer from Boris Dragic during the last 2 minutes of the second quarter pushed Izmedu to a 1 point lead, 40-39 as halftime hit.

The last half of the then transformed into a 2-quarter long battle of attrition as fatigue was evident in both teams. The Izmeduans would largely dominate the proceedings of the third quarter, with Drazen Vukovic having managed to get over 2 subpar games and successfully regain the ability to be able to bypass the Cosumarite defense by being able to score successive lay ups that contributed to the lead alongside the combined efforts of Mladen and Jakov. Izmedu widened its lead as the fourth quarter approached, Slavomir was subsituted for Dado Valentin, an unproven Center who actually performed relatively well. He brought a different dimension on defense, instead of focusing on setting screens, Valentin was focused on a much more offensive style of play and prefers to contest shots in order to open up windows for changing possession. The match went on with Valentin occasionally contributing field goals within the paint, as Izmedu won the match with 83 points versus Cosumar's 68, a gap that only occurred due Cosumar's sudden under-performance at the match's second half.

Final Reflections

The key words today are clearly exhaustion and fatigue. The athletes are clearly tired, practices aren't producing fruitful results, and it's very clear that while it may all be paying off, future victories might end up being more Pyrrhic in nature. Rest is sorely needed, which I've communicated to Ratimir Juric and Ana Mirjovic at the day seven debriefing, which I hope these athletes receive.

Tomorrow sees me relocating back to Centralis permanently to cover the team sports to its end, as well as future diving events. I am also currently negotiating an interview with Laura Mateja and/or Ruzica Adamic tomorrow, along with my typical reactions to the day's events. Til then, see you soon.

Borjas Serifovic is one of the lead writers and editors for the Vodiznad Chronicle and was assigned the task of writing special coverage for the Games of the X Olympiad. This is the eighth of many news posts detailing personal coverage of the Olympics through its end, and will provide intimate looks, interviews, and stories of the athletes and committee. This will coincide with the regular coverage offered by the Vodiznad Chronicle, which will provide real-time statistics, cover the Opening and Closing ceremonies, as well as every game that Izmedu participates in.

[Vers-Gelderland]

This is your Day 8 cutoff.

One Man's Dream is to win a medal...

[Mattijana]

Good evening Mattijana and welcome to today's Olympic round-up live from Port Nassau in New Gelderland. We're here by the seaside and there is news from this city where Mattijana have Niko Molotnikov going in the men's 25 metre rapid-fire shooting final. Your commentary team are Boris Alotkin and Leon Barič.

Hello everyone, well the good news is that Niko Molotnikov is through to the final and the better news is that he has qualified for it in second place with some really consistent shooting. His initial score of 99 gave him a great starting pount and he immediately consolidated on that performance with another 99, a 96 in higher winds, another 99, a 98 and a very respectable 97 in deteriorating conditions, he perhaps benefitted from being able to get his final shoot out of the way before the weather really came in this morning, that gave him an extra boost on his way to an excellant score of 588, easily good enough for entry to the final. I'm with Leon Barič, a former Mattijanan shooter, what do you think of Niko's performance this morning?

I think he's looked really sharp this morning, he seemed to have his breathing under control nicely, despite the conditions, so I think we could have the chance of another medal this evening.

Yes, under the floodlights at the moment, it's a warm steamy but rather breezy dusk here on the outskirts of Port Nassau although it has at least stopped raining, so slightly easier conditions for the competitors than this morning.
So here is Molotnikov for his final shoot of the competition. A different setup to the one this morning with competitors having just a couple of shoots to prove themselves with the chance of bonus points to boost scores.
So here comes Molotnikov, calming himself down, trying to compose himself and firing very well at the moment over this first burst of shots.
Indeed Boris and that's very nice from him, most of the bullet marks look like they're around the middle which is always a good sign so we'll have to wait and see what comes back.
Second burst looked decent as well, so hopefully a good score is on the way.

Here we go Boris...

The score is in for Niko Molotnikov and I can tell you that at the moment, it is good enough to put him in the lead. 200.3 is the score and Mattijana is guarenteed at least a silver medal.

It all comes down to what Willie Wise can do now. He has the lead at the moment, but he needs to reclaim it from Molotnikov for the gold. Here he is oh and a little shake there and some misses. This might not even be silver for Niko.
Scores are in. Is this the moment? ... One hundred an... Oh HE'S DONE It!!! Mattijana have their first ever Olympic gold medal and Niko Molotnikov's name will surely go down in history. What a moment for Mattijanan sport and the Matti in the crowd seem to think so too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thank you guys and congratulations to Niko Molotnikov for his fantastic acheivment. Hopefully many more will follow. I'm also very happy to say that Niko is here with us tonight. Niko, congratulations how did you feel coming into that final round?

I knew it was going to be tight, I just wanted to concentrate on my own style and make sure the nerves didn't hinder my performance.

So, you've won the gold, what are you planning to do between now and the medal ceremony?

I'll try and talk to my family and friends as much as I can, have a bit of a party with everyone here and try and relax a little bit before the ceremony.

Enjoy yourself! Out of interest, how much coffee did you drink before the competition?

Too much.

Niko, thank you very much for joining us and congratulations on winning Mattijana's first ever Olympic gold medal.

[The Serbian Empire]

Captain Giovanna Palermo's Letter of Captivity

Apparently, these pirates think I'm a man. I wonder how long it will be before they figure out my true identity and that the guy on the radio was the first mate. I guess having my hair in a bun under my captain's hat will do that given my small breasts and hips aren't really going to draw attention as I'm fairly lean to say the least. Some of the deckhands fought back and ended up dead. They fought both valiantly and foolishly as trying to revolt against armored rebels wasn't going to end the way we wanted. I have no idea where the criminal cargo is and the vessel is in Velstrania. I didn't even get enough time to alert the mates or engineers. I don't know if the engineers are still working away or were they captured as well. Gregoryisgodistan is going to be pissed.

Captain Giovanna Palermo, M/V Palutena

High Empress Marisa's Speech

All the Mafija were on a ship bound for Gregoryisgodistan. All contact was lost about 5 nautical miles off of the coast of a region known as the Vakolicci Haven when the M/V Palutena lost contact seeing shelter from a strong storm system with waves up to 30 feet over the intended course which would have taken the vessel about 50 nautical miles from the coast. We have heard rumors of the vessel being in Velstrania Harbor and that the captain and crew were abducted by pirates. Other rumors involve the vessel having broke in two further north further from the coast. If the vessel has sunk, this is the first Serbian flagged vessel to have sunk in the last ten years. I'm hoping that the pirate rumor is true as it means the only one to blame would be the captain, Giovanna Palermo of Split, Croatia, Serbian Empire. She's a captain of just 39 years of age and viewed as a highly competent deck officer. The pirates are rumored to be heading to Kannap if you want to follow that path.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

OOC: I'm really hoping TSE and TVGH have something planned that I do not know about, seeing as I have a telegram from TSE promising OOC-ly that the Mafija would be turned over to us by the deadline. Alas, if she in fact lied to me, Lord Almighty Gregory will have to make good on his threat.

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and slaves. I speak to you today from Electrum, where I am absolutely infuriated by recent events. While The Serbian Empire, that wicked heathen land, was transporting their wicked heathen Mafija to our shores for execution by the Brownie Cutter of Death, they were apparently kidnapped by pirates from The Great Valkolicci Haven. I say "apparently" because I don't for a moment believe this is actually what happened. Rather, I believe this was a clever false flag orchestrated by the Serbian and Valkolic governments to ensure the Mafija stays free, out of our hands, and able to perpetrate their crimes against us.

"This is simply unacceptable. The Mafija has committed and conspired to commit numerous capital crimes against our people and must be executed. The deadline of tomorrow night still stands - approximately 24 hours from now. If every member of the Mafija is not turned over to us, by that time, alive, so that we can execute them via the Brownie Cutter of death, both The Serbian Empire and The Greater Vakolicci Haven will meet their prompt and utter nuclear destruction. We will launch multiple nuclear bombs at every one of their major cities at exactly 9:00 PM tomorrow night, Gregoryisgodistani (OOC: Eastern US) time, if these heathen criminals are not turned over. We will even launch some nuclear bombs at minor cities and towns. The end result will be the complete, utter, nuclear destruction of those two heathen nations. We will not hesitate to launch these nuclear weapons, just as you did not hesitate to conspire in a false flag.

"I really do not care how you get them to us, but I am sick and tired of your useless, pitiful excuses. The Mafija will be turned over to us within 24 hours, or both of your nations will be totally and utterly destroyed. This is not an empty thread - you saw what we did to the nation of Hicana, completely destroying them with our nuclear weapons. You saw what we did to the devil nation of San Jose Guayabal, killing hundreds of thousands of people in several of their major cities, in spite of their high-tech missile defense systems which neither of your nations have. Consequently, you two will meet the same fate as Hicana if the Mafija is not turned over to us within 24 hours. We will not hesitate to launch our nuclear weapons, we will not hesitate to wipe you off the map.

"I am absolutely infuriated right now, so furious that I consistently overhit tennis balls while practicing with my wife Cleffie Martinez. Which reminds me - the "tennis balls" joke is considered a sexual joke, and telling it is considered a sex crime and will be dealt with by our Pervert Chasers. Do not do it. But back on topic, this false flag is absolutely unacceptable. There can be no more excuses of incompetence from High Empress Marisa and the Vakolicci government. You will turn the Mafija over to us within 24 hours, or there will be consequences of a nuclear scale. I am sick and tired of dealing with petty fools like you, and you, along with the rest of your nations, will meet their end in 24 hours time if the Mafija is not turned over.

"Our army is currently at the ready, preparing nuclear missiles for launch at 9:00 PM tomorrow if necessary. Furthermore, all active duty military members who are also athletes representing Gregoryisgodistan have been sent back home to deal with this. Additionally, our team's entire security force, save a skeleton crew, have been sent home to work with the military, and we have asked the Electrumites, New Gelderlandis, and Eurans on site to provide us with assistance against threats. As the Mafija is no longer a threat one way or the other, at least for the time being, the prune juice is no longer under 24/7 armed guard, though it is still locked away where only team staff can access it. This will prevent any tampering that may occur.

"To those in Gregoryisgodistan, although I encourage you to sleep as usual tonight, dreaming sweet dreams of dead Vakoliccis and Serbians, I understand it may be hard to sleep with all the excitement. Consequently, I am suspending curfew tonight, although any rioting or other crime in the streets will be dealt with harshly by civilian and Secret police. The military will not be called in, for obvious reasons. Curfew may also be suspended tomorrow night, depending on what happens with our nuclear attack - an announcement will be made no later than 10:30 PM. As this is only 30 minutes before normal curfew, I am extending tomorrow night's curfew until at least midnight regardless of what should go down in this conflict.

"To our brave, noble military troops serving us at home, preparing for a nuclear strike if necessary, I thank you. You have the eternal thanks and gratitude of the Lord and are assured a place in the Land of Eternal Reward when you shall leave this Earth. To the Serbians and the Vakoliccis, you are bound for the Land of Eternal Punishment. If you do not wish to head there tomorrow night, turn the Mafija over to us by then or else. They will still head there tomorrow night as we execute them, but you can at least spare the rest of your two heathen nations for the time being. This is a command of the Lord, a command of a head of state, you must obey or there will be dire consequences. I have warned you of your prompt, utter, nuclear destruction if you fail to cooperate. The choice is yours - send us the Mafija or be wiped off the map. You have 24 hours. The clock is ticking. Good night."

[The Serbian Empire]

Serbian Air Force Coup Plot
Air Force Stožerni (Major) General Nemanja Samardzija

We now have proof the ship was commandeered by pirates. We will detain the criminals as soon as they enter Kannap as to send a message to the Mafija and to the pirates who took the ship, M/V Palutena. We are planning to remove High Empress Marisa from any decision making, and will join Gregoryisgodistan in bombing the pirate infested city. In other words, we're plotting a military coup. We have also freed Ship Captain Giovanna Palermo from her captors and she will be sent to Gregoryisgodistan for dereliction of duty resulting in the release of Mafija prisoners.

Segments of RP redacted due to General's poor intelligence data and lack of grivet monkey feces.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

OOC: This and the earlier RP tonight should be treated as one larger RP for grading purposes.

Written Statement from from Lord Almighty Gregory

In light of recent events and a statement by the Serbian Air Force, the deadline for the handing over of the Mafija has been extended by a further 24 hours. It will now bet set in approximately 47 hours time. Curfew will be suspended tonight as well as tomorrow night to allow preparations to be made for a possible war, though I hope it does not come to that. Me Bless Gregoryisgodistan, and good night.

[Todd McCloud]

"The Closer" Strikes Again, And Other Good Stories
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

CENTRALIS - You know her by now. She's been in your television sets since Vekaiyu entered these games, and in your newspapers and news tickers during the annual Summer Olympic season. She's been personified as a pure Vekaiyun. Heck, she's even pictured in the official Vekaiyun Olympic Program logo. Surely you know her by now, yes? Of course you do, being a fanatical fan for the Vekaiyun Olympic team and watching both her and her countrymen accumulate medal after medal. You probably even saw her during the parade of nations as she was picked up by two wrestlers to ensure our flag would be waved high much to the enjoyment of the Vekaiyun countrymen in attendance. And she's been perhaps the most consistent of Vekaiyun swimmers, with a medal count consisting of five gold, one silver, and one bronze over the span of five years. And she's still quite young. Of course, we're talking about Ikrisia Sulevire, the swimmer who continues to improve and seems to be growing into her role as the individual who soaks up the most of the media spotlight.

Of course, she doesn't do this via an eccentric personality or even confident, persuasive interviews. She gains her acclaim by results in the pool. And today was no different as the woman's relay team, which came within two-tenths of a second from setting the Olympic Record in the event, won gold. However, we cannot forget the efforts of the first three swimmers, who did an excellent job of keeping things competitive and ensuring Vekaiyu would be in the hunt during the Women's 4x100 m Medley Relay event. Sayli Koveseru, the darling of these games who has accumulated three medals in swimming this year, began with a solid backstroke routine, and quickly gave way to Ankya Isassi, perceived to be the "weakest" of the four swimmers, but "weakest" should be used lightly here as she herself has also taken medals during her young career. She completed her breaststroke routine but lost a bit of ground to the delegation from Electrum and Estelar (perhaps her and Koveseru should switch positions?). Xa Sipari competed next with an impressive butterfly routine, but the spread was still rather close for five teams. Next was Ikrisia Sulevire. From the moment she kicked off, she managed to put distance between herself and the other competitors. By the time she reached the opposite end of the pool, the race was a forgone conclusion, unless she slowed due to tiring herself out, which did not happen. At race's end, Vekaiyu went from being in the mix to spacing out a one-second lead on the rest of the field. Indeed, her efforts paid off for her team.

"I can't really explain it," she informed V3 News Services, when asked how she managed to be strong in relay events this year but in singles events appeared to struggle. "Some days I just really want to swim and I feel like I can swim for tens of kilometers, but other days I just don't. I can't really explain it."

The gold won by the Vekaiyun relay team is the twelfth won by Vekaiyu in swimming thus far, but the team clearly is looking for more. Unfortunately, they will need to wait until Day 20 to know whether or not the marathon swimmers will be able to match the efforts of their comrades. Of course, some other instances popped up during the day's events.

"Does anyone else hear that music?" she asked. "You know, the music they play after they're done scoring our events. It was kind of peppy and energetic yesterday, but today it's slower, and has a piano in it. It's weird. I've never actually heard music pumped over the loudspeakers like this during past Olympics. I mean, I'm not complaining or anything. It's just different. Can't anyone else hear it? I was told only the athletes could, but I don't want to be that naive." When asked about the whole condom controversy other delegations seemed to be opinionated on, she laughed. "We don't have time for that stuff here. I don't do that stuff, but other athletes have told me it's best to do that in the home nation because apparently the child will grow better if it was conceived in Vekaiyu. So we just use them to hang on our doorknobs. Whoever gets a red one has to buy drinks that night!"

We're not quite done with the medal celebration, however. Later in Nassau Bay, Makswel Venskegi not only took gold in the Men's Skeet event, but managed to nearly break a record along with Kwan Hi Seo from Quebec after the two shooters kept their tie from the qualifying round and were forced into a shoot-off. Unfortunately, as Venskegi claims, his competitor was apparently trying to break his concentration.

"I swear I heard him trying to make sounds during [the shoot-off final]," Venskegi claimed. "I can tell because after a while you learn to tell whose voice belongs to which athlete. If he did, shame on him. That's not the way to compete in these games." We've reviewed the tapes and honestly cannot seem to hear the noises Venskegi claims to have heard, so we are unable to draw any conclusions regarding these allegations. We will of course do our homework and check other angles and audio recording to see if this is the case, but as he won gold, it seems like a forgone conclusion.

Also taking a medal was Yeri Savirloru, who managed a bronze on the beaches of New Gelderland late in the afternoon. The athlete was actually leading after the swimming event, but fell slightly thereafter and was in second after the bike ride. He then fell another position during the run in what became a relatively close finish for the first seven athletes. "I really should credit the natural calmness of the waves today," he said of the swimming conditions in New Gelderland. "Really helped me and seemed to even the playing field. I don't like it when the waves are extremely choppy like they were last year."

And finally, punch your ticket for the men's and women's table tennis final rounds, as both Vanse Sokolowva and Xa Noslavistro advance to their respective finals. Today, Vanse made short work of his competition after defeating him in five rounds, while Xa required a bit extra concentration in what amounted to a back-and-forth match between her and Chunhua Long of Super-Llamaland. In the end, Xa earned the right to win the six-round contest and face her competition from Electrum, one of the home nations. Considering how Vekaiyu has remained near the top of the games in the early-goings (but may fade after swimming events draw to a close), she will look forward to increasing this newfound rivalry between Vekaiyu and host nations. Will she win out? As always, we ask you to follow her in a live telecast as we do with all potential Vekaiyun medals!

[Drawkland]

DRAWKLAND NATIONAL SPORTS NETWORK

"Quick News for the Olympics"
DAY 8/22

And we're back at the games!
We've missed a few days of coverage, no thanks to the exciting developments of the recent International Drum Corp competition ... regardless, Drawkland is still flying steady in Electrum and New Gelderland.

Unfortunately, it seems Drawkland has gone bone-dry as far as new medals go. The surge that occurred earlier in the week has seemed to die down again, but there's still some hope!

{Image of the Drawkian Lodges in the Olympic Village in Electrum}

Day 8 is *almost* over, so here's what happened the last 2 and a half days:

Aquatics

• In Women's Synced 3m Springboard, Hannah Strabeck and Christy Swibat get 7th in the overall competition.
• Joseph Bubbor, in the first Heat of the 100m Butterfly, scores 1st out of all with a time of 51.05, but drops to 16th in the Semis, losing a finals spot and a medal chance with a time of 51.66.
• Doug Rhemel, Silver Medalist, hits 23rd in 50m Freestyle.
• Melissa Lester, part of a Gold Medalist relay team, scores 21st in the 800m Freestyle.
• Sadie Kawnie and Christy Swibat are palced 5th in the Prelims round of 10m Synced Springboard.

{GIF of Sadie Kawnie and Christy Swibat performing their 5th-ranked dive.}

Boxing

• Men's: Devin Freeman, David Brumfield, Parker Peterson, and Luke Sanders all advance.
• Women's: Jessie Noe advances by a tiny margin, 6-6+.

{Image of Jessie Noe directly after the announcement of her win, relief evident in her eyes.}

Miscellaneous

• Men's Fencing: Zakary Winters advances to the 3rd round of play in Men's Foil before falling to Oscar Humphries (EUR).
• Mixed Badminton Doubles: Clay Wilson and Natalie Peters advance into the Knockout round in mixed doubles, badminton. Unfortunately, they drop the first match in the Round of 16.

{Short video of a point earned by Clay Wilson and Natalie Peters}

Team Sports

• Men's Water Polo: A victory over New Gelderland, 7-6 on MD4, and over Nova Anglicana, 5-9, means that the Drawkland Watermen are officially undefeated in their heat! They are qualified to advance along with bracketmates and hosts New Gelderland. Their first Knockout match will be against Mattijana, who barely qualified for the round in the first place. This bodes well for another medal chance.
• Women's Water Polo: Krytenia proves a challenge for the skilled water women, and they draw, 10-10. This keeps them in first place in their draw, however, since they're still the only team with 2 wins, and only 2 draws to drag it down.
• Men's Handball: A loss to Schottia evens out their earlier win. Drawkland's record here is now 1-0-1.
• Men's Basketball: In a 79-71 victory, Drawkland finally claims revenge on San José Guayabal for their defeat in the International Basketball Challenge from a few weeks ago. The taste is sweet. The next day, in MD4, they claim victory over Valanora as well, putting them in a shaky first place position in their draw, a mere point ahead of EVERY other team in the heat.
• Women's Basketball: With a loss by almost 30 points to Kriegiersien, Drawkland is at a shaky tying record and in 5th place of the heat. With one matchday left, the chances of advancing aren't very likely.
• Men's Indoor Volleyball: A skunking win on Kriegiersien brings the men to a 3-1 record and 2nd place in their draw. The next Matchday, they lose to The Greater Vakolicci Haven, but this doesn't affect them much, they still qualify for the Knockout round! Their first match is versus San Llera.
• Women's Indoor Volleyball: A humiliating loss keeps the super-tall girls at dead last in the heat, a win still frustratingly out of reach.
• Men's Football: The Kickerball Drawks are officially eliminated from play, as the ladies did not qualify for the knockout round. Honestly, they probably got more knocked out that night, at a local pub.
• Women's Football: The Lady Kickerballers suffer a similar fate as their male counterparts, and likely hooked up with them, especially due to the free contraceptives provided by the hosting nations.
• Men's Rugby 7s: A 10-point lead over Natanians and Nosts finally brings the water of winning to their desert of losses, their record now 1-0-2, and their placement now 3rd in the heat.
• Women's Rugby 7s: A horrible loss (17-33) to Estelar keeps the tough Drawkian ladies in dead least in their group. Fortunately, a win versus Frenline Delpha gives them a slight boost to 3rd/5.

{Image of Men's Water Polo congratulating each other after they defeat Nova Anglicana, Caption: "Headed for the Finals"}

Day's Conclusion

No more medals for Drawkland since Day 5. But some teams are advancing in their brackets or heats or doing well (even though some, rather, aren't). The tension is mounting on the pitches, courts, fields, and arenas, and especially in the Olympic Villages.

A short interview with Zakary Winters: "Well, I didn't do as well as I hoped. But I advanced further in the bracket than the other fencers so far so I've achieved my short-term goal. I'm excited to come back next Games and do better. However, for the next few weeks, I'll be cheering on my fellow athletes, and probably getting *--*faced at a local bar. Hey, my games are over. I'm out."

Be sure to tune in every day for exciting new events and results! Footage of most competitions and all Drawkland are involved in are on channels DNSN4 and DNSN5, and freely online.

{Image of Drawkland Flag among other flags of competing nations}

For the Pride of Drawkland, Sonnel, and Ourselves, we Sing, we Work, we Strive!

[Banguela]

The mediocre pass, the shot from too far out only fueled by despair, the one step forward too much from Guilhermo Marques, the leather bouncing off the woodwork and against the net. It all came back like a silent movie to Joao Ferreira, who realised that their hopes for an easy draw would witter at once. Fortunately, an amalgam of results on other pitches still kept Banguela amongst the lucky losers but the luck they've got away with after the Vakollici game was ridiculously narrow.

Djalma Yaba had just left his room and Joao rubbed his head, his typical gesture when thinking. When first called up, Djalma had seemed a young kid. Three years in San Jose Guayabal later, he was the undisputed defense leader for years to come. His message had been clear and harsh: Marques is costing us points. He might have skill, but he can't lead a defense. And if he starts to slip up on catchable balls, well...

Joao hesitated. Mutiny in a group is the end of it all, but he should appreciate that Djalma Yaba approaches him with the worries of his teammates, without calling out their names. Maybe a tactical move, well aware that that captain's ribbon would need an arm once Flavio Kanté had ended his time, but still. That's the kind of maturity that arm would have to have. And as it is much easier to fire a manager than a player, especially in a national team, the voice of the team is an underestimated force.

But then he looked not only to the match-up with Benjamin Mark in the next round, but also to the future. Joao Pinto, absent here, could handle it for another year or two but was already at the wrong side of thirty. For years and years, Marques had been in the dressing room and prepared for this: one against goal in three games did not deserve an execution, right? Joao Ferreira slightly cursed himself for not bringing Landa Landa as alternative to the Olympics, but the junior Fernandao. Eighteen years and massive talent, but two games in the Superliga under the belt. Could you stage that boy? Here? At the eye of the world?

On the other hand, if Joao Pinto lasted another two years, Fernandao would be twenty. Great arms, not afraid to point out his veteran defenders. Gifted with something special.

Oil always finds the surface and Joao Ferreira added Fernandao to the starting line-up. A sacrifice.

[Swibia]

Swibian Olympic Bulletin
As brought to you by the Swibian Olympic Committee

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Day 8 Highlights

Canoeing — Men's C-2 Slalom
Final:
2 Cameron Scott/Luke Davies (BAU) 93.32
Thomas Figueroa/Ramon Brooks (SWI) 93.32

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Volleyball — Women's Indoor
The Serbian Empire (SRB) 13 18 26 25 12
Swibia (SWI) 25 25 24 23 15
Group F: 1 Swibia 5 5 0 15 5 +10 14

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Badminton — Mixed Doubles
Round of 16:
Leyton Milner/Nancie Milner (EFL) 15 15
Camron Wetmore/Lilliana Lenn (SWI) 21 21

Welcome to the eighth Swibian Olympics Bulletin for the 10th Summer Olympics.

In the Men's Badminton Singles, Cason Prout beat Nick Collins (WRY) in two games, meaning he came top of Group 21 and qualifies for the knockout rounds. In the knockout rounds, he will face Baz Lost (MTJ), and Jarvis Sherritt will face Kyrillos Mera (FIC). In the Men's Doubles, Camron Wetmore/Jarvis Sherritt beat Pol Ayers/Leroy Bowman (ETN) in two games, but Cason Prout/Alexzander Stilling unfortunately lost to Marc Bauer/Kors van Coten (COS) in two games to one.

In the Women's Badminton Singles Round of 32, Haley Seymore unfortunately lost in what was quite a close match with Cresel Nemon (ETM), in two games to one. However, in Matchday 2 of the Women's Doubles, Haley Seymore/Iliana Dearie beat Lizzie Sankuru/Louise Laursen (SEM) in two games to one, putting them very close to the top of Group 1. And in the Mixed Doubles Round of 16, Camron Wetmore/Lilliana Lenn thrashed Leyton Milner/Nancie Milner (EFL) in two games, each one being 21-15. They will progress through to the quarterfinals.

On Matchday 5 of the Women's Basketball, the team beat Britonisea (BRI) 76-87, retaining their place at the top of Group F with a points difference of +37, to Semarland's +24. On Matchday 4 of the Women's Handball, the team managed to beat The United Kingdoms of Zackalantis (UKZ) 29-22, meaning they remain second in Group F, but it will be hard to catch frontrunners San Llera, who are so far unbeaten.

On Matchday 2 of the Women's Beach Volleyball, Ireland Cockrill/Trista Sweetser thrashed Alice Culdey/Lena Fleming (WRY) in two games, with scores of 21-13 and 21-11, retaining their place at the top of Group C. On Matchday 5 of the Men's Indoor Volleyball, the team beat The Serbian Empire (SRB) in what was quite a close match, considering The Serbian Empire are the bottom of the group and we are at the top. The end of result, though, of three games to two, means our winning streak was unbeaten and we qualify, along with San Llera in Group F, for the knockout stages. In the knockout round, we will face Cosumar (COS).

In the Men's C-2 Slalom Canoeing final, something extraordinary happened. Thomas Figueroa/Ramon Brooks, the Swibian contestants, actually drew in second place with Cameron Scott/Luke Davies (BAU), both duos having the same indistinguishable time of 93.32. The hosts decided, after some discussion, that a joint Silver medal would be awarded to both duos, with no Bronze medal being awarded. An extraordinary event indeed, but our deep congratulations go out to both Thomas Figueroa and Ramon Brooks on their success, and also for winning Swibia's second medal of the competition!

A great tragedy as we may have witnessed the sweet decline of one of our favourite Olympic atheletes, Darin Layton. Layton, who came 9th in the Men's Triathlon back at the 8th Summer Olympics, one of Swibia's best results from that Olympics, has come a dismal 57th in this year's event. He was even beaten by his junior partner, Frank Roe, who came 35th. He has now announced his retirement from Olympic sport, and we wish him all the best in the future.

GOLDS	SILVERS	BRONZES	4ths	5ths
0	2 (Catalina Staff in Women's 10m Air Pistol; Thomas Figueroa/Ramon Brooks in Men's C-2 Slalom Canoeing)	0	2 (Alistair Williams in Men's Individual Archery; Matthew Osbourne in Men's K-1 Slalom Canoeing)	1 (Carolina Record in Women's 10m Air Rifle)

[Alphatheta]

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Day 8 Highlights

Hockey — Women's team
{no match}
Group G: 1 Alphatheta 3 2 1 0 5 0 +5 7

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Weightlifting — Women's 63 kg
2 Hanna Rudawski (APT) (APT) - 241
Gyöngyi Capello (APT) - DNF

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Fencing — Men's Sabre
Second Round:
Lysimachus Nicolai (APT) 14–15 Abdullah Marzouki (URN)
Mariano Jehlicka (APT) 15–11 Craig Lyttle (KSK)
Shayne Westley (BAU) 15–12 Salvatore Hoffmann (APT)
Third Round:
Pervert Chaser 398409S8F098SD09F8 (GGS) 15–6 Mariano Jehlicka (APT)

Second Silver, Fifth Medal Earned

Arryx MSK+7 4:58pm - It comes as no surprise that Alphatheta has achieved medal performances in Judo and Shooting. General martial arts are required of all military academy graduates, and there is surely no Alphathetian who didn't expect medal hopes to be placed in at least a few of the categories every citizen has engaged with, at least for the course of their service.

The true surprise is that two of Alphatheta's highest medals have come from Weightlifting, where Violeta Trudu's silver in Women's 63 kg now joins Zikmund Accorsi's gold in Men's 62 kg. Trudu's silver, hard earned, is shared with Etta Scully of the United Kingdom of Ethane (ETN); both women pulled an impressive 241.

Accorsi joined his fellow Arryxan Trudu to speak with us briefly, both in high spirits. "We're not sure what it is. Maybe there's something in the water back home."

"The entire delegation always tries. Everyone really is doing their best," Trudu added. "We're always just grateful when doing our best is able to achieve notable glory for our patria. And-- we like to think it reflects back on the rest of the delegation as well. Maybe I won this medal and Ziksha won that medal and so on, but really, our triumphs abroad are just like our triumphs back home. They're made with the help and love of our comrades. We've all won these five medals."

Early reports show that the Emperor is exceedingly pleased with Trudu's comments. Keep your eyes on the newswire for more; an invitation to move permanently to the capital may be in order.

Men's Sabre Devastated

Wytropolis MSK+7 7:32pm - Although far from the favourite national sport, fencing holds a special place in the heart of many Alphathetians, and no weapon more so than sabre. Fans and competitors alike have attempted to keep their expectations tempered while entering the international arena, but hearts were still broken watching the nation's three individual sabre competitors miss the chance at a medal--or even the finals.

Lysimachus Nicolai lost by a heartrending 14–15 to Abdullah Marzouki of Urain (URN), while Shayne Westley of Barunia (BAU) squeaked a 15–12 victory over Salvatore Hoffmann. Mariano Jehlicka earned a hard won victory of 15–11 over Craig Lyttle of Kelssek (KSK), but lost in a painful bout of 6-15 to Pervert Chaser 398409S8F098SD09F8 of Gregoryisgodistan (GGS).

While fans have been outraged, the fencers themselves all appear to be simply disappointed in themselves. "It's a difficult pill to swallow, learning that you aren't as good as you thought you were--and in such a public way," Jehlicka told us after his bout with Pervert Chaser 398409S8F098SD09F8. "The whole nation is watching, of course, but we're used to that. I've beaten and lost to Salvatore and Lysimachus dozens of times in the last few years while all of Alphatheta watched. People watch the national finals. After the first time you make a mistake on widely broadcast television like that, it stings less. But in front of the world? That feels different."

"It's just a little harder to shake," Nicolai added in the same interview. "We're proud to have represented our country and we're glad that we were good enough to be here at all, and-- well, we're proud that our defeats by and large were close calls rather than being entirely outclassed. But that last bout with the guy from Gregoryisgodistan... that's tough to shake. That was even tough to watch, knowing how amazing Mariano is."

Hoffmann, at least, seemed almost hopeful. "We're here. Once we're done licking our wounds--and I'm not saying it won't take time to get the taste out of our mouths--we'll see what we can learn. Watching the rest of the bouts helped, and maybe some of these guys will stick around. Hell, I'm even looking to spar with the girls. Mixed competitions make you a stronger fencer. And obviously competing with those who are better than you makes you a better fencer. We'll get there."

The Emperor's staff have expressed their hopes that the unhappy fans here in the capital undertake to follow Comrade Hoffmann's example and view the experience as one of learning for all Alphatheta's delegates.

Hockey Fans Excited, Frustrated

Wytropolis MSK+7 8:14pm - Whatever form of hockey, Alphathetan fans are known for their exuberance. With the women's and men's hockey teams having back to back rest days, however, fans are beginning to get antsy.

"It's our good sport," one fan lamented, despite the men's team being currently third in its group and medals in several other events. "It's not exactly the national sport, but it's the closest we get in this Olympics. I just can't get excited about-- Greco-Roman wrestling the same way."

Statisticians have turned from pondering sports themselves briefly to pondering fan reactions. The Bureau of Sports Data published a small report today indicating that high tension from Antipha United's international competition in the NZEL--taking the best domestic players out of the domestic season--has caused a dip in the overall quality of ice hockey played here in Alphatheta. Disappointed fans are tuning in more and more to watch other forms of hockey, with only a small percentage tuning in to the other various events the Alphathetan delegation is competing in.

No word yet as to whether there will be a national push for the appreciation of all sports not containing the word 'hockey,' particularly given the surprising showing Alphatheta has made in weightlifting.

Remember, you can keep up with all Alphathetan results and medal counts on the national sports newswire's dedicated Olymiad X page, updated as often as news makes it through the firewall to our servers.

Headlines in APT International Sports

Ice Hockey: Antipha United Talent Scouting Begins Early
Curling: Push For International Competition Considered
Association Football: Potential International Partners For Annual Polar Bear Swim Back Down; Call Arctic 'Too Dangerous' To Host Such Event
Association Football: Team Captain Apologizes For Making Remarks About How Potential International Partners Lack In Manhood

[Ferret Civilization]

Eight days, the same schedule, though now practice was regularly added in since they only had two days left before the team finally got to play. They had enjoyed the free time very much, doing all that they could do in the short amount of time that they could do it. Euan enjoyed watching the other delegations play in the numerous events here, he couldn't wait to see how their team did compared against them. And he really couldn't wait to get back home to talk about it, and hopefully be in for the next Olympic events. And for that time with, still hopefully, a larger delegation to compete with. It would probably be a long shot, but they all had gathered a lot of information from this since more seemed to happen in/during these events than usual. He had already gone over that thought many times, he was also sure the rest of the team had thought over the same thing. At least they didn't have to deal with that, but maybe that was also holding them back from something. Only time would tell.

Flannán still continued to collect as many stories as she could from anywhere possible to reaffirm that thought whichever way it went. They still had another day to get through before they played. And even then according to the Olympic event schedule she and Ainsley would be really playing first, then a few days later Pryce and Mark would play in their own games. It would probably be quick for them, the other players they were going up against probably had the skill over them, the most they could hope for was to be lucky enough to get further down the line of games. They had all agreed that it really didn't matter if they all were defeated and out of the games, they would stay around and watch the rest, collect as much information as possible, and really enjoy this place. There wasn't much more to add to that, everything was now figured out, they prepared for it, and it was stick to the schedule and wait for whatever happened to happen and do it happily.

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
Day Eight: Liquid Descent
Written by Ruzica Adamic

CENTRALIS – You know that distinct feeling you get when you're on the deck, or when you're just near the pool or a body of water in general? Depending on where that body of water is, you get a sort of 'fresh' smell that could really only probably be described as smelling like water. At some parts it smells like bleach that you use when doing your laundry, sometimes it carries that salt tinge that irritates your nose slightly. Even though I'm no professional swimmer, I feel right at home with the 'smell' of water. When you've dedicated at least half of your life training in various ways how to make yourself look aesthetically pleasing as the liquid surrounds and embraces your face. In the few seconds of synchronized diving, you twist your body around, gaining momentum and tuck your legs together, making sure there's no daylight seeping in together as you pike downwards into the water (the Pike is an Izmeduan favorite for water landing, so don't be surprised to see it employed multiple times). Then you dive into the water, and you do it again, and again, and again. There's no end to diving, even when you get it 'right.' There's always a way to improve your position, to make sure your rotations are going smoothly instead of flailing out at the last second and destroying your pike. There's always a way to move your body to increase the momentum in the air, there's always a better entry into your routine, sometimes how you jump and how high you go determines everything.

My name is Ruzica Adamic. I'm pushing 31 right now, making my partner Laura seem like a baby only in regards to age (she's only 7-8 years my junior). I, along with Laura, earned the first ever gold medal for our nation, our first medal ever to be precise. I've been diving ever since I was 13, this is what happens when you're born in Old Vodiznad, surrounded by the expansive sea or ocean next to where I live. Next to Old Vodiznad was a cliff that juts out from Varajic Alps, a sudden increase in elevation that is typically hidden by the 'new' Vodiznad, built with those pretty shopping centers and now mid-rise buildings that are just now beginning to dominate the skyline. The cliff wasn't high, there are much higher around the Izmeduan coastline. Think 20 meters, still pretty dangerous if you had no clue what you're doing. I can count the exact number of near death experiences I've had with the cliff in my mind, but for the uninitiated young me who had a bizarre love for heights and for falling (I'm a daredevil, yes, but I know my limits and you're going to need strap some safety on me first if you want me to perform a stunt that involves falling down), but I had a simultaneous love for water.

Aquatic sport in Izmedu is a big deal when it comes to recreation, but diving was often pulled on the wayside for water polo and swimming (odd thing we sent no one to the latter for this year's Olympics). I myself was a bad diver back in the day, I had no sense of grace or direction. That was the dimension I didn't learn until I was about 17, it took me a while for me to be able to properly develop aesthetic in my dives or even learn how to dive from the back. Diving competitions were few and far between in my time, and the way they were judges is so eerily similar to the Olympiad ways of scoring that perhaps a few Izmeduans were indeed studying the Olympics before the general public even knew. Anyway, the whole point of this was that it took me a while for me to hit my stride, not until I was in my early 20s, and that this is also 'informs' how myself and Laura had an immense amount of trouble practicing for the event.

This lack of grace and the constant amount of failed executions was the exact reason why the diving contingent were having panic attacks. It affected everyone to a certain extent, but especially Laura and myself. Laura had aesthetically pleasing pat down, to the point where it became a problem in her execution because she was way too concentrated in making the rotations look pretty that she became out of sync many times when we practiced for the synchronized 3 m springboard (to the Barunian commentator that caught Laura being out of sync with me in the final round, nice eyes. I noticed it back on replay too. It makes the gold medal very bittersweet now). I had a problem of execution being so well that I lost my sense of aesthetics, I looked very clean and... That was it.

As to exactly how we ironed it out, it's an answer that doesn't come clean and pretty in one tightly packed box. Just like with most routines, there's that one moment where it 'clicks' and 80 to 90 percent of it comes together. When Laura and I were practicing with fellow divers, at around the fourth day of practicing, the routine finally became polished, Laura had followed my example of focusing on execution first, and we managed to be consistently in sync in practice since then with a few hiccups. Of course, during the process of getting ourselves into Centralis ever since the announcement of an actual Izmeduan delegation being formed, we've been gradually getting better at synchronized diving.

So in a sense, it was something that solved itself as Laura and I were too focused on practicing for event, but with the added benefit of little media attention placed on us. This is a part of the athlete's life I don't think any of us will ever get used to. Props to the Izmeduan entertainment industry, they live for the media attention and they know how to manipulate the tabloids. But us? I like my current space right now, and I'm very glad to be at Centralis not being hounded by the media, much as I am slightly homesick.

It also turns out we received another medal today, say hello to new medalists Ida Horvat and Blanka Zevic, taking silver for the synchronized 10 m platform. A warm congrats to them, considering Laura and I both shared similar problems to Ida and Blanka. Watching them from the audience's side, though I was required to take notes under Borjas' request (who will be coming back for the article's final words covering that men's water polo match). I felt like I was one of the judges as I took closer inspection on the way Ida and Blanka performed their diving routines. I had to give them a bit more grace, the difference between what I did and what they did is obvious, so the dimension and the execution of the diving routine forces a difference in the way I look at it.

There's just a bit more airtime and also more focus on the landing when the deck is higher, and there's more momentum involved as you can easily be knocked down for execution in the home stretch. Ida and Blanka deployed a different routine in execution, focusing more on frontal dives along with a dive that curved then went straight down. The largest problem was landing on the same line, and on a 10m platform, that's a lot harder to execute than on a 3m. The biggest pings on their routine were indeed on the fact that Ida and Blanka seemed to be unable to land exactly the same line, a problem that really hurt their round 1 performance along with an imperfect routine that harked back to the same one Laura and I did that secured the gold medal.

A frontal routine was then immediately put in place as medal chances for Izmedu seemed bleak, and I, in a moment of panic, thought that Ida and Blanka were done for in the medal race. A strong round 2 performance swayed me, it wasn't a perfect execution, but a frontal dive 2 and ½ somersault along with a ½ twist, along with piking down headfirst instead of legs down made the routine look pleasing to the eye. It was a much stronger showing from us, but that round 1 performance was still dampening the overall score. Round 4 was where I thought Ida and Blanka truly perfected the routine, with very few hitches in their performance along with a truly beautiful fall to the water, with perfect pikes from both of them and in quite a high degree of difficulty too. That, along with a fairly similar performance in the next round, was enough to secure the silver medal.

That's about it from me, I guess. Short of writing an autobiography on myself, I guess the other part of why I wrote this was to appease Borjas slightly, and probably to prevent him from trying to panic-write that... Unspeakable match against Vekaiyu in men's water polo. I can't write much for that either, as I've only played water polo as a teen but have never really followed it. All I can is that a blowout was bound to happen eventually, but I'm quite surprised to see it in reality. You know how lopsided sports matches can get, but as I watched that replay with Borjas, it was quite otherworldly to see the level at which Vekaiyu played at.

To Borjas, and perhaps to other news sites out there that do this sort of Olympics coverage: don't just give me a voice just because I suddenly got a medal. The amount of interview requests that Laura and I have gotten, and inevitably Ida and Blanka will get, is extraordinary. But there's far, far more to the delegation than us, and truly personal coverage will go beyond what the media covers. As for me personally, I would be more than happy to represent Izmedu once again, whether or not I dive on my own or with someone else, that's up to chance.

To my fellow divers and to the rest of the Izmeduan delegation, good luck to you all.

Ruzica Adamic is part of the duo that represented Izmedu in the Women's synchronized 3m springboard and is now a gold medalist. Aged 31, she was born in Vodiznad and has been a diver and occasional swimmer since her high school years, with her professional aspirations placed firmly in aquatics.

[Kriegiersien]

A short interview with the Sport Minister of Kriegiersien, Baldur Baldurson, with a local newspaper from Centralis.

Interviewer: Good evening, Minister. Good to have you here.

BB: Thank you for having me.

Interviever: You are an important figure in the Kriegiersien society, it is said?

BB: Well, sport is an important feature for Kriegiersien. Since a magical barrier makes it impossible to invade other nations who are not so called "Puppets" we can only show our might in other ways. For example sport. There we can compete with other nations and the losses of lives are not that high. So our credo is "make sport not war". And yes, this makes these post of mine second only to the war minister.

I: The President left and immediately the first medal was won? Coincidence? Did the pressure lift or are you the lucky charme?

BB: No. No. I would never say that. And don't forget, the Zombiebots surely don't feel pressure. Furthermore, the President will return tomorrow. He just had many important appointments.

I: You mentioned the Bots. Is it fair to use Bots? And isn`t it dangerous to bring in Zombies?

BB: Robots and Zombies are important backbones of our society. We don't forbids magic or science as we are an open culture. We wouldn't exclude Bigtopians either. Would you?

I: Some of my best friends are Bigtopians. Are you satisfied with the performance of the players born in Electrum and Gelderland who are competing for your Nation? The results are not that great.

BB: Well, in the most team sports the results are ok, there is still an option of advancement in some. We are happy that this players identify with the Olympic and Kriegiersien spirit and try their best. That is what we hoped for. When players, who were already out of the Electrum National team, like 42 old Lisa Griffin, score the decisive goal in the soccer match against Cosumar and the team reaches the next round, these are golden moments. I am really excited for the game against Gregoryisgodistan. I await a battle. And in Volleyball the match against Electrum, that will be really hard.

I: 4 Kriegersien players sent off in the Water Polo Match against New Gelderland (10-8 for New Gelderland), one broken nose, turmoil, even so the game had no effect on the end results of the group stage... what happened there from your perspective?

BB: Hm...yeah... three of these players were from Gelderland, maybe some old scars that made them over-motivated...that can happen. As mentioned, sport is war in a degree. I am sorry for that.

I: How do you like Electrum and New Gelderland and the attendance here?

BB: As we expected the crowd was really cheering for us most of the time and with us and showed much knowledge of the sports. I wished that for our people sometimes. It is great to see people watching other people living their dreams and support them.

I: Anything that really angered you or disappointments?

BB: The results could be better, but we had to improvise on many levels, so it is ok. It is sad that Noel Koller couldn't end his career better, but Esther Ada again losing in the Quarter Finals... breaking my heart. Valerian on the other side, a man of pure flesh and again winning a medal, reliable and creative, just great.

I: Thank you for the interview.

BB: A pleasure.

[Mattijana]

Message to: Lord Gregory of Gregoryisgodistan
Message from: Mattijana
No Encryption

Intelligence in the Serbian empire has heard the news that you plan to bomb the country, along with cities in the Greater Vakolicci Haven, with nuclear weapons. We are deeply worried by these threats and of your apparent casualness in issuing them, which does not only pose a danger to the countries you regard as enemies, but the world community as a whole.

As a result, we wish to appeal to you hoping at you will reconsider and remove your threats before the deadline you gave the two countries. Of course, we appreciate that the actions of the Mafija, operating in Serbia, are fully deserving of punishment. However, we do not believe that this would be acheived by the nuclear bombing of major cities and the resulting death of millions of innocent citizens, the main victim of your planned attacks. Ifmtou wish to persue those in the Mafija responsible, than we urge you to do it behind the scenes and without the catastrophic bombing of major cities.

We also wish to remind you that neither, Politics, crime or a mixture of the two have a place in the Olympic games and we hope that you will now take a peaceful path and enjoy the spectacle alongside us and the remainder of the international community.

We thank you for your attention and understanding and congratulate your athletes for their performances and medals.

The nation of Mattijana

[The Archregimancy]

IT'S A CONSPIRACY!

The Olympic Vlog of Fr. Vasily the Heavily Accented


For once there is being not outrage.

I was being concerned over the Men's C-2 canoeing final, after Fr. Basil and Fr. Callistus were finishing in the first place in semifinal, but brave monastic canoers then showed monastic humility by finishing in last place in final. It is my feeling that they were merely showing world that they were best canoers in Olympics in semifinal, but then in final they are showing the humility to finish in last, in spirit of Matthew 20:16, which - as you are knowing - is concluding parable of workers in vineyard.

Only other event involving monastic athletes in last few days has been triathlon, and here again there is being glorious success for monastic athletes. Fr. Mercurius the Mercurial is doing so well that he is not even finishing - that is magnificent display of humility that I am encouraging all monastic athletes to be following. If you are not finishing event, then there is being no danger of winning the medal! This is great plan.

Other participants in triathlon are not doing as well as Fr. Mercurius the Mercurial, but Fr. Mercurius the Faster and Fr. Mercurius the Willing are still not doing what I believe is called the troubling of scorers, finishing in the 45th and 47th positions. But for athlete from country written as 'BRI' - and I am not knowing what this is meaning, Frs. Mercurius would have been doing the crossing of finish line together, as true monastic brothers.

I am still being unsure on how to proceed with official complaint on the giving of free condoms to heretic and heathen athletes, but I am thinking of plan that I will soon be unveiling to world. Is important to respect local customs, it is true, but Orthodox monk still has duty to make displeasure with hanky panky better known.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Room 701, Building 121, Nassau Bay, New Gelderland
130 hours, local time

It's been about 4 hours since Celine Pazzini had returned to her room after working her sweat off in piste, and despite getting some hours of self-reflection, she finished feeling very exhausted and frustrated.

One touche...and one malfunction....and one robbery....

Celine found herself lying in her bed in the room, refusing to much much; She normally would've gone for a walk at this time of the night as she did back home, but right now wasn't the mood. The very disappointment she had over the olympics tournament, from the semifinal loss that she wasn't ready to accept by the time of bronze medal match to that robbing of the Bronze Medal by the scoring equipment and the Yttribian referee, left her far too bitter and disappointed.

She also knew that she had a whole new world ahead of her, and the whole prospects worried her. After her graduation last May, Celine only focused on winning the Olympic Trials (which she did, on a last-second touche over Allie Brunette) and earning an Olympic medal. That's what, along with academics, she had focused on since joining USC fencing team 4 years ago and now it's over. While her fencing career still had up to 20 years left, she didn't want to just be an one-sided being with his obsession towards the sports- far too many people around her fell because of that. Yet the whole availability of choices, whether be grad school, MBA, law school or teacher's college, left her significantly overwhelmed after that very last bout.

"Sometimes we all have those moments," a gentle voice from some distance shocked her back to reality, as Celine turned around to see William Ahn, the True North TV sports broadcaster and her longtime friend, standing in front of her.

"My goodness, where did you come from?" Celine responded, her tone of voice clearly evident in getting caught off-guarded.

"That's not something that matters right now. I am coming to you for a different reason."

The comment caught Celine wondering; most of the times they would be talking to each other a bit, but rarely did he visit, message or approach people for a personal matter. He was a man of well-controlled emotions in front, but not so much when people have managed to look into his shell. She always wondered why he's always tried to shut more personal side of him out when they're sober, especially considering the way he's been when in parties. It's that he wanted to maintain an air of professionalism when with each other, but it was to the point where him on parties seemed awfully like the opposite of what she's used to seeing him in other times. But right now....

"William. Don't worry about me. I'm fine, and sometimes life gives you losses and wins."

"Well I've had something else, in all honesty. Do you want to know?" He responded with his typical question, something that's been so predictable but quite adorable and funny due to the way it's executed by him.

Again, trying to do something to impress me....

Then he quickly took out a box, that he safely placed it right next to him, and then cut it wide open. What appeared was a huge birthday cake, with 5 candles (2 big, 3 small) already lit up. It had three layers: Chocolate at bottom, Cheesecake on centre and Vanilla on top with lots of cream on the top. On the surface it was very simple in drawings (William had to make it simple, for he's not the best with creating cakes), with a 2 Fleuret blades doing an X-sign over what looked like Gold Medal.

Once looking at it she smiled and looked at him with that warmth that kept on him coming back to her. She realised that after months of preparing for olympics, that she forgot about the most important day of her calendar: Her birthday. "My god. I focused too much on the bout that I forgot about it..."

"Happy Birthday Celine." That's all he said, as he graciously looked at her with the biggest smile anyone could've made. Their eyes met, and that moment they knew what either wished for came true.

[Electrum]

This is your Day 9 cutoff.

Opening ceremony music