Games of the X Olympiad - RP thread

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
Day Seventeen & Day Eighteen: The Taste of Victory
Written by Borjas Serifovic, Brankica Vanja, and Suncica Babic

A note from Borjas: I am immensely sorry for being unable to publish on the regular schedule, and that Day Seveteen's article missed its deadline. Unfortunate circumstances that I cannot go on at this time forced my hand, and I had no choice but to purposefully not complete my article in order to tend to family matters that have become urgent in these past few days. This choice of waiting has now led me to now put 2 days worth of Olympic events in one article, with Day Seventeen presented in 3 parts and Day Eighteen in one part written by coach Suncica Babic. In order to keep some form of quality control going, I also decided not to rush-release a Day Seventeen article due to some concerned e-mails that were largely concerned with the nature of Day Sixteen, which I haphazardly wrote.

Normal publishing schedule will resume from now on until the very end of the Olympics. Thank you for your patience.

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CENTRALIS – The events are finished, the Olympics is beginning its slow wind towards the closing ceremony. The final set of medals are just beginning to be awarded as we enter the last few days, the end now in sight for many of the hard-working athletes that have competed for the past 2 to 3 weeks. It's been a long journey for some, filled with successes, dreams fulfilled, dreams crashed, and careers that are either made or broken. It's been a long journey for all of us, and the period of valediction is slowly creeping up on us. However, the stakes have never been so higher in the last few days. Each and every game now decides if we have a chance of attaining medals, if we either get gold or silver or if we have to compete for bronze. There have been and will be more surprises in the following final days. For us, the nation both experienced triumph and some heartbreak for days seventeen & eighteen, which have proved pivotal to how team sports will be perceived in the future post-Olympics and just how much the Izmeduan athletes have grown. From humble beginnings of neither Basketball or Water Polo expecting to qualify for the group stages, Water Polo has attained 2 medals for the nation, while one Basketball team is competing for gold, the other competing for bronze. They've become sensations, an unexpected force that's suddenly gaining medals for the nation.

Now, we try to dissect how this happened. Onwards to the first part of day seventeen.

Day Seventeen

Part 1 – The Men's Water Polo Bronze Final (Izmedu vs Drawkland)

You may be wondering why I'm covering a day sixteen event in the article that deals with the day after. That's always been the plan from the beginning when I began to outline day seventeen's material, and what occurs in these games will also help to understand what also happened in the women's water polo final as well. This game was one of the primary game tapes that Ana Mirjovic and her team studied prior to the match, and I was invited to watch along as the team was devising strategies versus The Serbian Empire.

Much of the match consisted of back and forth goals between Izmedu and Drawkland, keeping the game tied constantly. Throughout the match, both teams focused mostly on defense, trying to make sure that the other team doesn't gain an advantage. If one were to try and take the advantage (Mislav Dugic is the most likely player to try and make goals, regardless of how hopeless they are), it wouldn't be long before the other team tries to make its own goal. The stamina that both teams showed is what women's team were hoping to emulate in the women's water polo final. It was clear from the game tape that both teams weren't putting every egg into the offensive line, as most players were concentrated to keeping it level. The offense was only brought out when one team was ahead, and the rest of the game as aptly described by one of my junior editors, “felt like a protracted 4th period game with both teams so concerned with maintenance and defense that goals are treated like poison.” This was where the Izmeduan team almost nearly lost, as one half was focused on scoring, while the other half was focused on making sure that Divorin wouldn't have to face a Drawkish goal.

This was especially imperative at the match's halftime, which 4-4 with signs of the Izmeduan team beginning to crack under the pressure. It took a surprise rally from Ognajan prior to the third period where he managed to put up a united front against the Drawkish team. There were signs throughout the first half that the team wanted to just give up on the game, with their potential thoughts surely echoing some of the things I've heard in discussions in between my colleagues and some Izmeduan fans. “Surely, the men's water polo have made it this far, they can embrace the loss with dignity. 4th place is much higher than what was expected,” which were all true, but a very defeatist way of looking at competition, and that's what I suspect that Ognajan was trying to eliminate.

The match itself was drawn to a hair's length, with the third and fourth period seeing the continual deadlocked scores continue on the buzzer drew 0. The third period saw the scores only go to 5-5, with the Drawkish team gaining the advantage at the halfway mark of the period after minutes of goals being blocked from both sides, Jakov Zoric's near moment of frustration (thank goodness he didn't act on it) after a goal he thought would line up into a score was blocked off by a brilliant maneuver from the Drawkish goalkeeper. The last half of the 3rd saw Izmeduan panic as the score went 4-5, and it was a surprise goal from Borna Dedovic, with all the wings unable to score effectively, passed the ball to the ones that the Drawkish defense wasn't consolidating their defense on, and thus saw Borna throw a fast one at the goal, and third period was 5-5.

The fourth period of the game saw a huge initial pandemonium that would then lead off to a series of events that mirrored what the previous periods were. A sudden goal from Antun Pavlovic saw the score go 6-5, which lead to a period-long scramble for the Izmeduan team to maintain the lead, and the Drawkish team to go on the absolute offensive to equalize it first and then surpass it for the victory. This panic between both teams easily ignited an additional stamina in both, but you can only run on for so long in fumes, as the Izmeduan defense began to break down and Drawkland scored a goal at the final minutes of the fourth period, largely due to Matko Jerkovic unable to defend effectively due to creeping exhaustion and also easy distraction from the ball being passed around at a rapid rate. In any case, it was 6-6.

It would stay that way until we hit uncharted territory for Izmeduan players, overtime. Group stages easily allowed for draws to occur, but for this match, someone had to win. We entered overtime, and in the hoopla and excitement, Ana and I could easily see that the Izmeduan men were far too jittery in the first few seconds of overtime play, allowing for Drawkland to put the game 6-7. Luckily, Ognajan and Mislav had their heads in the game despite everyone else panicking, and set an example within the game for the team by scoring not long after Drawkland did. This kicked the Izmeduan team into action, and thus the game was drawn once more until overtime ended.

The game was thus decided by penalty shootout, and by a margin of 5-4, all thanks to a last shot from Jakov Zoric, Izmedu won the match and thus, got the bronze medal. As the game tape ended, I looked to Ana Mirjovic for any sort of comment, as did the women's team behind us.

“No nerves, I want absolutely no nerves tomorrow. Look at what the men did right in their plays, and look at what they didn't do. Keep the ball to us, make sure we're at the offensive line or else we'll allow The Serbian Empire to catch up. Now is NOT the time to give up. We are close to gold, at the stages where no one thought we'd be able to go to. Don't just be content with silver, fight for that gold like your lives depended on it! Fight, I say! Fight! Are you with me!?”

Part 2 – The Women's Water Polo Final (Izmedu vs The Serbian Empire)

No game has ever been so pivotal, nor so pressure cooking as the game that went on in day seventeen, the match that decided if the women would go home with silver or gold. Despite the Serbian team being shrouded in mystery, most Izmeduan pundits predicted a tight loss for us. There was one simple train of logic that most Izmeduan fans and analysts went on prior to the match's start, and one that the players also realized as they reviewed Serbian footage of the games they played. If The Serbian Empire can defeat Vekaiyu, albeit in a game that went down to the wire in a penalty shootout, then Izmedu stood no chance despite how hard they're going to inevitably fight. Again, the same train of logic also begin to dog the women's team the same way it chased the men. They've made it to the finals, they're guaranteed a silver despite how big the margin of loss (you can score zero and still be a hero (in silver), as one great Izmeduan meme said, which was quickly eradicated once the final outcome was known).

The game was initiated with a blistering offense from Brankica and Emilija. Following the more defensive game shown from yesterday, the official directive for this match was to get a head start. Score as many goals as possible before The Serbian Empire can contain the team. The first period easily saw the best performance from Brankica, who led the wings through an arc offense that allowed them to strike goals from afar without risking getting too close, with the ball being passed from player to player that allowed them to scramble the Serbian defense. This strong emphasis on offense was a sacrifice on defensive performance, which saw Ines and Edita weakly performing as the Serbian Empire built up its own foundation of scores. It was 4-3 at the end of the first period, leading some to question if the strategy was working, but the initial one-point lead had surprised some.

The second period saw the offensive strategy backfiring slightly as the plays became more aggressive from the Izmeduan side, leading to the Serbian Empire just taking advantage of Izmeduan mistakes throughout this quarter. Lucija Radic, somewhat infamous for being the most aggressive of the Izmeduan women on the team and probably the most heavy thrower in regards to goal, led the team to some pivotal mistakes during the period. Following a goal from the Serbian Empire with the possession being turned over to the Izmeduans, Lucija's desperation caused her to attempt to a wet pass in order for either Brankica or Emilija to score a goal, but instead pulled the ball underwater and caused a turnover. This caused the Izmeduan to now face a disadvantage, it was 5-6 at the halfway mark of the second period. Bozica, under the direction of Brankica, was then put in toward a more offensive role, with her youth allowing a greater stamina in holding the ball while also swimming fast, and she managed to attain a goal within the match being considerably close to the net, bringing it 6-6. The score was drawn once again, and after a missed goal from the Serbian side at the tail end of the match, this allowed the necessary change of possession for Brankica to score a goal at the 5 meter line, bringing the match 7-6.

This was turning point of the match where it was realized that Izmeduan victory was beginning to look to be a possibility. In the heat of the match and the emotions from the fans, it seemed unlikely, an almost too distant of a prospect. The Serbians would rally back surely and take their score to the double digits and humiliate the Izmeduans in their short celebration of a one-point halftime lead. It was clearly no time to celebrate in Ana's corner as I heard her direct the team in conjunction with Brankica. Stamina was running out, but some of the players had been underutilized. This was especially the case with Edita and Bozica, whose defense games were largely okay, but their stamina along with speed allowed the defense to not be so defenseless. Ultimately, it was Ines that had to do all the heavywork in making sure that goals wouldn't reach Marijana. But she could only do so much as a hole guard.

Thus, it was decided, Lucija would be shifted to 2 meter line alongside Brankica and Ines during defense, while Edita and Bozica would gain a greater prominence in the offense while passing the ball alongside reliable goalscorers such as Brankica and Emilija in order to ensure that the Izmeduan score would be kept ahead. The third period was largely dominated with the implementation of a more strategic offense and a paradoxically aggressive defense, but it worked, surprisingly enough. The period started off with a goal from Emilija, in which Bozica dry passed the ball to her. The defense made much greater strides in making sure the Serbian offense didn't score, this time with Lucija and Ines forcing turnovers and keeping the ball firmly at the 5 meter line in order to ensure that no easy goals could be scored. At the end, it was 9-7 going into the next quarter, the Izmeduans gaining an additional point to widen their small lead.

In the fourth quarter, there was a tense tense first half with the Serbians rallying an offense that put the game initially at 9-8. A comeback looked likely after a distracted Ines was unable to cover Marijana due to Lucija's aggressiveness coming in play once again, forcing her to abandon the goal post and allowed the Serbians to score an easy first goal despite the Izmeduan's best efforts. Brankica then redirected the strategy to a more aggressive, but still dynamic offense but relegating Edita back into the defense, seeing as she was better at containing her opponents on the 2 meter line, which was a hole that the Izmeduans left throughout the match and what the Serbians took advantage of. Bozica was then given the directive to focus her efforts on the offense while maintaining a defense strategy that allowed for her weakness to be covered by Ines and Bozica. She would then be the one to score a goal for Izmedu as the team regained possession after a slowly weakening Serbian offense failed to score a goal, thus bringing it 10-8. At the seven minute mark, Brankica would score the final goal of the match as all strategies were focused on maintenance and containing the offense, making sure that the Serbians wouldn't score an additional goal.

The buzzer heralded the end of the game, the clock struck 0, and I heard a large cheer from the Izmeduan contingent in the Aquatics centre. It was over, it was done, we had won, we had a gold medal. I could hear Ana Mirjovic jumping for joy. All semblance of order was lot for a few minutes as the game was announced 11-8, Izmedu won.

What was thought to be unthinkable had happened, and the women stand with gold medals around their neck, the Izmeduan national anthem playing proudly.

Part 3 – The team's personal manifesto and message (written by Brankica Vanja)

Hey there, by the time you're reading this you're probably wondering why this isn't on the official Izmeduan Olympics page or on the Izmeduan Water Polo site. Well... That's because it will be on those sites when this is published, but Borjas' blog was the best vehicle for us to do so. We already know who follows us, but I think we'll be able to reach the readership that doesn't follow us to read this little manifest of ours.

As you can probably surmise, we won a gold medal for water polo, thanks to a great team along with a great coach. The road to get here was a tough one, filled with a load of obstacles that almost stopped us at our tracks. Naysayers were at our every corner, predicting us to become eliminated from the game prior to every match. Even in the group stages, where we proved to be initially competent within our group, there were those nagging voices that wished for our exits. We prevailed, we endured, and there's a lot of people to thank in regards to the journey we took that lasted for 17 days. The first people I will obviously thank is each other, the team. Our team is flawed, there isn't much versatility and some of the players can risk aggressiveness for fouls that can lead to a timeout, but our team managed to stick together and gel throughout the entire Olympiad. Without Ines, Lucija, Marijana, Edita, or Emilija, there would be no team. I thank them for prevailing, for their stamina, and for their dedication.

I also thank our head coach, Ana Mirjovic, for having the strength of will to prevail as wins came about and when losses hit our morale. No matter what happens the day prior or the day after, Coach Mirjovic is always prepared. A tactic is always in her mind, a suggestion to add to counter mine is always there, and she aided each player individually whenever anyone needed her. Her passion for water polo is unlike anyone I've ever seen have. It may seem paradoxical that winning was never in her sights, nor was the gold medal, but that was her prerogative throughout the entire Olympiad. She wanted to see everyone of us personally develop into something more than what we were before. Succeeding ourselves and growing beyond our limits was her key goals. Practices were grueling, and she will drill you in basic mechanics and advanced strategies all at the same time, but that's where we see her passion. There is no one like her, and she played a pivotal part in getting us the medal, and on behalf of the entire team, we thank you.

There's a lot of other people to thank, but I think we'll get to the most important one, which also coincides with our fans and supporters. All of us here at water polo thank you, the fans, who are either in Centralis or who support us at home. Sometimes, you don't have to be in the pool to rally a team together, and it's the fans that keep us going after team morale isn't enough to get us going. So I guess now it's time for our main message, the 'secret' behind our team.

Perseverance.

To persevere and to survive no matter the circumstances, to keep yourself going even after the greatest loss. It all sounds like those hokey inspirational messages, but it is true. The ability to keep your will alive and just push will matter more than you being on top. Sometimes you may never find yourself on top, but giving up on the dream? Sometimes, dreams are only accomplished after you realize that giving up isn't the option to take, but to push through. Once you hit your strides after determination, once you begin to realize that you 'can' do this naturally and that you don't overthink your capabilities, you'll find yourself performing at a level you always wanted to perform in.

Just know that your dreams will always change and become higher and lower as life goes on. Remember to know your limits and break them when necessary, perseverance is not just throwing caution to the wind and disregarding reality. There are going to be times when giving up is okay, when giving up is the only option. But when you give up, your ability to persevere from the consequences and benefits of that decision will be tested.

The best piece of advice I can give someone: never focus on being the best. When you do, you lose focus. Focus on improving yourself, and you will fly to the skies.

Day Eighteen (written by Suncica Babic)

Following a loss to Electrum during the chaos of water polo is a bitter pill to swallow. My team is understandably frustrated, and there's a phenomena of defeat going along the basketball teams, not just mine but also Ratimir's. The Izmeduan delegation seemed to be affected as women's water polo got their gold, though by no means am I blaming them. Borjas had his family emergency, and neither my team nor Ratimir's team practiced during day 16, 17, or 18. Leaving them completely under-prepared for the upcoming, pivotal games. I especially feel guilty about not putting my women in practice sessions last night, seeing as the festivities of day 17 were too hard to ignore. We are trying to catch up tonight, but I fear after that close 3 point loss Electrum, who knows if we're up to getting a gold medal.

In what's been described as a fluke by my players and also the media, Izmedu won against San Llera despite a messy Izmeduan play during the match. Even I was astounded, for I cross-checked with Ratimir's team and they were completely and utterly blind going into the match against San Llera. Left with at least one day without practice along with a team, despite being college students, were in a league of skill far beyond the Izmeduan players. It was believed just one day of missed practice would send the team into a guaranteed loss.

That didn't happen, and now Izmeduan team is standing versus Electrum in a final that's surely going to be close, if not already in Electrum's favor. I was surprised myself, with those feelings of loss lingering inside of me as I read the match result and report from San Llera vs Izmedu, 57 to 74. I caught myself thinking, no way could that have happened. As skilled as Ratimir's players have become, as versatile as the Antics have become and how they don't rely on proven duos like I do, there was no possible way for Izmeduan victory to have come out tonight, how did it happen?

That versatility, versus my team's completely offensive-minded nature kicked in. Ratimir is fond of mix and match strategies, keeping a balance of offense and defense, that's where we fell when Electrum scored that 3 pointer to send the match from 72-72 to 75-72. We were so focused on getting field goals, 3 pointers all the time to the point where Electrum had responded in kind, and we were unable to counter their tactics as they were so well versed in countering the plays that Tanja and I had built. Tanja's ingeniousness fell at the field, and the Electrumites were just far too skilled for Tanja to be able to keep up with their strategies.

I've argued time and time again, and have tried to push it towards my team, that a team that acts as 5 instead of 2 or 3 works the best, and that's exactly what happened when Ratimir took on a clearly under-performing San Lleran team. Based on replay footage, clear advantage of the fact that the Antics can reliably score and defend, and diffuse their strategies to the other players made for a good defense/offense mix that lead to a reliable performance no matter who had the possession of the ball. Mladen Antic proved to be a reliable stealer as Slavomir easily had his best game of the entire Olympiad, as he mixed what Dado Valentin would do but with his own strategies, reliably scoring points after gathering the team's rebounds, seeing as he can easily hit field goals despite the San Lleran players often contesting his shots.

I can't really provide more than what has probably been dissected in Izmeduan media, but there are a few key weaknesses, which mainly pertain to how Ratimir encourages the mix of offense/defense. It works, and it works brilliantly provided the starting 5 can get the ball rolling in the early stages of the match. Only the two Antics and Slavomir can really function on their own in the court, while Boris, while competent enough as a Shooting Guard, is often overshadowed by Jakov Antic, while Drazen Vukovic is not nearly aggressive enough to drive that ball, often that comes to the role of either Boris or Jakov. However, Drazen has taken a mid-range role as a power forward, often stopping at the 3 point line and taking very risky shots. This sometimes adds to the score, as evidenced when the tandem of Boris, Mladen, and Drazen helped to boost the Izmeduan score in the latter half to prevent San Llera from catching up to them. But there are holes to be exploited, and their next opponent will have no problem to do them what they did to my team.

Electrum. As Slavomir himself mentioned, anyone facing up against a basketball team with the name 'Electrum' on their name, or a team filled with Electrumites, you are entering a challenge like no other. The Electrum teams are just as skilled as the other, but going up against the men's one is going to be a difficult challenge for the Izmeduan team. Though they have grown under Ratimir's guidance, it is doubtful that it will be enough to secure victory. My team's offense was a clear target for shutdown, though we prevailed throughout the match, keeping it leveled, a distracted defense on behalf of Petra led to that loss.

It's a bit harder to determine how Electrum could approach the game. There's a clear 2 pronged approach I would take if I had my women compete with the men. A strong offense and a strong defense would decimate the mixed approach provided that it's not strong yet, and it typically takes until the second half of the first quarter for the Izmeduan men to truly get to their rhythm. Electrum typically starts off strong, and I can easily foresee a first quarter with a foregone conclusion result, something along the lines of 30-15, as the Izmeduan team's rhythm will be broken with a strong Electrumite start.

The Antics are the wildcard themselves, the closest thing the men have to a duo, in which I have two in Jelena-Tanka and Aleksandra-Ljerka with an interchange in both duos, leaving Petra alone most of the time. The men, to their great advantage, operate as 5 and will stay as 5, the Antics just have the leading role. This interconnection between the team will be the greatest advantage the team will have against the Electrum team. This is where having that mixed strategy will work, simply because the team will be able to fluidly change strategies on demand and be able to confuse Electrum for a moment. The key to this will be Mladen Antic, whose skill in forcing turnovers in possession will prove key for Izmedu's opportunities to score, that along with Drazen and Boris' penchant for scoring 3-pointers will prove critical to have any sort of hope in gaining gold.

I don't have a hard verdict on the final, but whatever happens to the men, they will be making it out with a medal.

Suncica Babic is the head coach for the Izmeduan Women's Basketball team, who will be playing against Lymantatia for the bronze medal match.

Brankica Vanja is the team captain for the Izmeduan Women's Water Polo team, which recently won a gold medal versus The Serbian Empire

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 fourteenth 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.

Day 19 preview: Women's Basketball – Bronze Final

[Vers-Gelderland]

This is your Day 19 cutoff.

Unlock the secret to winning more medals with these Keys to Imagination.

[Todd McCloud]

Athletics Takes a Step in the Right Direction, Vekaiyu Sets Personal Records
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

CENTRALIS - In case you missed it yesterday (because we sort of did - trouble with the Unonian to English translator and all), Vekaiyu broke its own record in total medals earned, 58, set during the Ninth Summer Games in Orean, Liventia. While it's not a record that's stood for years, it's certainly a testament to Vekaiyu and the progress the nation has made in the span of six years, so that certainly counts for something. And with two days left, the Vekaiyun delegation not only has a chance to earn a few more medals and continue to build their lead, but completely crush the former total. Vekaiyu has, after all, earned 30 gold medals this year, which has obliterated the previous record of 20 set in Orean.

We actually had a chance to catch up to the 59th medal winner: Mackswell Niyeli from Lira, who lost his match to Domi Lourenço from BNG and therefore had to settle for a bronze medal. However, had he won the match, he would have been guaranteed a medal, though he would not have won Vekaiyu's 59th - that honor would have gone to Sayli Eroni, who took bronze later in the day on the trampoline.

"Eh, not really," Niyeli responded when asked if he'd rather win the 59th medal this year or gone on to win a silver or a gold in his event. "It's just a number, really. I trained for a gold this year because I won silver the year before. I was looking forward to the end match."

Either way, that was yesterday, and Vekaiyu took two bronze medals to rack their total up to sixty medals overall. Today, the nation won four more medals - three gold and one silver - over the day. While some medals were quite possibly expected today, such as the silver won by Reko Xanavostre (who took silver during the Eighth Summer Games and competed for a medal in the Ninth), others were rather unexpected. Take Iso Ervuli, for instance. A boxer who had not found success since his bronze during the Sixth Summer Games in Lasft, Ervuli was beginning to fade, especially as he was unable to advance passed the first round last year. But this year, his efforts, combined with a little bit of luck, perhaps, placed him in the final round where he would face Aaron von Neumann of Taeshan, a traditionally strong nation when it comes to boxing. He was no match for Ervuli today, however, as the vulpine lightweight dominated the match from start to finish, landing quick blows along with a classic hook, taking the opponent by surprise, we muse.

"It's good to be a top," the stoic Ervuli replied after the medal ceremony.

In addition to some unexpected medals from a veteran boxer, two more golds were taken in Athletics. These came from one first year competitor and another competitor whose medal had eluded them for years. Indeed, today both Ikleva Jereslavestre and Ankya Yeskalori managed to find unusual greatness in events that Vekaiyu has historically struggled in. First, Jereslavestre took gold in the Women's 400m event after finishing first in the semifinals yesterday. Her margin of victory - one hundredth of a second - was the smallest margin in the history of the event (based on what we could look up), and just barely beat Pam Andrews of Electrum and Alex Kwanzaa of Taeshan by one hundredth and three hundredths of a second, respectively. It was so close, in fact, that the results had to be checked and re-checked in order to determine the appropriate victor.

Later in the day at Nassau Bay, Ankya Yeskalori won gold in the Women's 1500m run, besting the second place opponent from Quebec. This was certainly not an easy test for Yeskalori, who began her Olympic career in Lasft. Her first two years of competition were forgettable, as she did not advance past the two heats in those two years, finishing 61st in the Seventh Summer Games. The Eighth and Ninth Olympics were better, where she advanced into the final rounds but could only manage a seventh and ninth place overall. This year, she improved last year's time by approximately four seconds, and while it was not quite an Olympic record, she appears to be gunning for it next year.

"If I keep improving, why not?" she questioned after earning her medal. "Seriously though I'm pretty content with this finish. It's nice to do this especially since I didn't want to be forgotten about."

Stay tuned as V3 News brings you to the closing of these games!

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and slaves. I speak to you today with great news. I am the new Olympic Champion in Men's Singles Tennis. Earlier today in Electrum, land of the electric rectum, I faced off against Electrumite heathen Carmichael Brown. Mr. Brown is a heathen who does not accept me as his Lord and Master, and for that, he had to be defeated.

"And for a while, it looked like Brownpoop was going to win. He jumped out to a two-set lead, winning 6-3 and 6-1, and it seemed all but over. But then the clock struck the hour, the Gregoryisgodistanis in attendance started singing the national anthem, and I realized just how much a victory by me would mean to this Glorious and Holy Nation. After Carmy-Warmy held serve in his first game, I went on a tear. I scored four straight points in my own service game including three aces to even up the set 1-1. I then scored three straight points against serve before Carmichael finally won one. Alas, he was broken on his next serve and I took the lead 2-1. I then got three more aces en route to holding serve, Carmichael again failing to win a point on my serve. And need I say, Carmichael is an outrageously stupid name, almost as stupid as Republican Consul Dumpy O'Rumpy or whatever his name is. He is a fool, and he will one day be destroyed and replaced by Legion of Lucifer.

"But back on topic, Carmichael again failed to score, this time in his own service game, how humiliating, to win 4-1. He scored on my service game for the first time all set in the next game, but I still won to make it 5-1, and broke him again on his serve to make it 6-1, set me. And then some Gregoryisgodistanis in attendance started bowing to me to honor me winning the third set, and everyone rejoiced and cheered.

"The fourth set was level 4-4 and Carmypoo was serving 40-30, when the clock again struck the hour, and again Gregoryisgodistanis stood to sing the national anthem in praise of me, Lord Almighty Gregory. This inspired me and I won the next three points to take the lead 5-4 and I was one service game away from forcing a fifth and final set. I did, by serving two aces and easily winning the other two points as well, at which point the crowd gave me a standing ovation once they finished the national anthem.

"The fifth set was grueling, and not just in a gruel sort of way. We each won our first six service games, and then it was Carmichael's turn to serve at 6-6. No tiebreaker in the fifth and final set, that would be the way of wimps and fools. But he double faulted on his first point, then I easily returned his second serve for 0-30. He won the next point in a grueling 18-hit rally, but I won the next one, an equally grueling 19-hit rally, to make it 15-40. Brown then served his first serve into the net, and then I easily returned his pitiful second serve to force a break. I was one service game away from the match!

"On my first serve, I hit an ace. Carmichael weakly returned the next serve, but I smashed it down the sideline for 30-0. I then served another ace for match point, Gold Medal Point, Olympic Champion Point, and what did I do? Another ace! The crowd erupted into cheers and started singing the Gregoryisgodistani national anthem, partially in praise and partially because the clock had just struck the hour again.

"Then it was time for the medal ceremony. After Brown and the laughable bronze medalist from Fluvique were introduced, it was my turn. And they introduced me as Gold Medalist and Olympic Champion, and the crowd went nuts, bowing to me then getting back up to sing the national anthem. And sing it they did, louder and more boldly than ever before. And that is exactly what they needed to do, to recognize me as their Lord and Master, God of the Multiverse, and now, my newest title, Olympic Champion. I will be attending the closing ceremony, again carrying the flag into Olympic Stadium, and then we will return home, and I will be Olympic Champion along with numerous other Gregoryisgodistani athletes. Which other God is Olympic Champion? None, because there are no other Gods. But even the so-called "Jesus Christ" from Associated Godlands has no medals to his name, yet alone two, including a gold. Clearly he's not God, and this is even more proof. Now the world shall recognize me as God, and they shall also recognize me as Olympic Champion. And if they do not, they will face their nuclear and utter destruction. But let us save our threats for another day. Thank you, Me Bless Gregoryisgodistan, and take that, Jesus!"

[Kriegiersien]

After three gold medals for Quebec on this day, who won both Volleyball finals, it was to giant Killerbot 2.015 to end the series against Quebec Heavyweight Boxing Champion Woo Sahm Ji.
In the first clinch after a few seconds Killerbot breathed an acromatic chemical mixture in the face of Sahm Ji. It was like really bad breath when the gas hit the face of Ji. Then he taunted him with random phrases like "Analyse this, bachelor", "I donate you a Punch", "let me give you a fist" or "You want a medal, take metal". He then clobbered his confused and weakened opponent, while the crowd went nuts, mostly booing him. When Woo Sam Ji showed some resistence against the raining blows in the third round, Killerbot strangled him in the ropes while distracting the referee with a bad joke. The most impressive part of the fight was, except that Killerbot wasn't disqualified, that Sahm Jii ended the fight standing.

At the medal ceremony Killerbot intonated the Kriegiersien anthem with tinny voice while things were thrown at him. Mostly old vegetables, water, toaster, but also flowers from a crazy woman who held up poster reading "I want a baby from you".

Side notes:
Atlanta Johnson qualified for the 100 m Finals by getting second in her heat with the shared second best overall time.

Alice Butterfly lurched through the BMX Course and reached the final.




A hotel room.
The Kriegiersien President working at his Netbook. The Kriegiersien Sport Minister enters and leaves the door open. *clapping can be heard from the other room*
The President doesn't look up.
"Are they still celebrating the Gold medal in Boxing?"
"Yes, Sir. Could I get the 100 shiny things?"
"You want to have the whole budget for the year now?" *laughter*
"That would be great. But I am speaking of our bet."
"Which one?"
"You said that Gregory would never win the Tennis competition by himself."
"You are kidding."
"No. He did win, 8-6 in the last set."
"Maybe he is really a god." *laughter*
"Or he sleeps with a god. Maybe his wife is the real divine entity behind it." *more laughter*
"I have seen her. And he has lost the mixed final with her. So that is unlikely." *booing*
"Could you close the door? Whatever they do, it is too loud and annoying me."
"Yes, Sir." *closes door*
"Maybe I should start at the next Olympics in Tennis."
"Sir, it was a good decision to not start in Golf here, I would recommend the same for tennis."
"Yeah, the minigolf training was disastrous."*laughter*
"Oh, how can so few people be so loud? We didn't take as many with us to the Olympics. And many of them are really not the type that parties."
"That is another problem, Sir. We could have gathered more Athletes, to enhance our chances."
"We did bring the Zombiebots. Didn't we?"
"True, but, whatever the Chief Scientist says, they were not all good material. Most of them were not even at 50 per cent. Many not even 30 %. And we could have brought more with us."
"We just came out of nowhere. I am happy that we could get so many athletes assembled in this short time. And one of the Zombiebots won a Gold medal. What was her name?"
"Some number." *laughter*
"Speaking of, how is she?"
"Let me say it this way. She won't defend her title." *laughter*
"QUIET! Maybe I should also ascend to goodhood, I mean godhood and win all competitions by myself." *silent snigger*
"I don't think that helps. If we really wan't to be on Top we have to host the Olympics..." *cheering*
"Ha. Good luck with financing that." *silent laugther*
"It also would have been helped if you hadn't been gone missing at the start."
"Oh, I am so sorry. I have sometimes other things to do. I have a nation to run, you know, that is important. You don't want to say that my presence here is needed and important for success?"
"Statistic shows that your example and charisma can have a huge impact on the results of our athletes."
"Don't be silly. You think if I pet our Ponies, tell them a joke and show interest in their activities, they get better?"
"Of course the skill of our Ponies helped, but yes, you spurred them on."
"Well, then let us drink with some of our Athletes, so that they can be soaked with my awesomeness and remember themselfes to win." *clapping and cheering*
"I can't work anyway if they are doing this all the time."

[Banguela]

”In the left-hand corner, with the red shorts, representing the Republic of Banguela, Dumi Lurontsho!”

This is the moment, the one my life has been building up to since the dawn of time. Today I’m fighting for the Olympic gold medal. Some might think that, as the silverware is already assured, there is already some pressure of the kettle. But there is nothing such as honourable defeat at times like these. The guy opposite to me, a Gregoryisgodistani pile of muscles, looks as if he wants to plough straight through me but at times like this you’re not fighting an opponent, you’re fighting your own limits. Your capacity to deal with pain, the power of your punch. Today I triumph or fall.

”In the right-hand corner, with the red shorts, get your hands together for the Gentle Panter, the Fear from the North, give it up for the challenger of tonight… Domiiiiiiiiiiiii Lourenço!”

This is the moment, the one my life has been building up to since the dawn of time. Today I’m fighting my personal hero, Lupo Batista, in a fight for the unsanctioned national title. There is something about Lupo that gives him an advantage even before the bell resounds for the first round, a mystical force that surrounds him and which he exploits with a smile. A grin, rather, the grin of the wolf. All possible odds are up against me.

”In the right-hand corner, with the red shorts, applause for this debuting boxer, coming all the way from the north… Domi Lourenço!”

This is the moment, the one my life has been building up to since the dawn of time. Today I’m fighting my first professional fight, against one of the several old foxes that roam the circuit. You can scarcely say that he’s a strong opponent, but he knows all the tricks from the book. Both those in the main chapters and the forbidden one from the appendixes. We’re in a shady bar, his shady bar and the home supporters were already trying to give me some blows on the way to the ring. I’m told to make a spectacle for a few rounds and then go down. But that’s not how you build a career.

”In the left-hand corner, with the red shorts, for the 65th Lancers, your applause for… Sergeant Lourenço!”

This is the moment, the one my life has been building up to since the dawn of time. Today I’m not only fighting for the honour of my regiment, but also for a lot more. Half a truck of rations, enough to prepare a festive dinner for our whole regiment and still have something extra. They’re all behind me, even if my opponents easily outweighs me by twelve pounds… These are army rules, it’s all a bite loose if it provides enough spectacle. The guys are shouting on top of their lungs, some have betted all the cash they usually sent back home to their mothers and wives on this bout.

”Hey, Domi, is that your sister that’s being abused by that Bottina? She looks like here and the bastard seems drunk… And Domi? Domi?!”

This is the moment, the one my life has been building up to since the dawn of time. Today I’m fighting everything, not just that one drunk image of the oppression, not his mates who know where to hit with their sticks, not … It’s not a blind rage, black in front of my eyes and just hitting what comes in the proximity of my iron fists. It is as everything is going a pinch slower, just ideally to process what is going before it is executed. Every jab is on the chin, every attack is fended off.

---

”Domi Lourenço here with us as he is about to enter the arena for the Olympic title fight. One last question, Domi, all foreign experts seem to favour your opponent, Slave Beater Barcode. What do you have to say about that?”
“I’ve fought worse odds before.”

And off he goes, a man with a mission. In the brim of his short there’s a tiny message that should work like a red rag on his opponent, ‘Liberty and Equality for All, No Rulers Above Us’, even if the delegation leader forbid him to spread political messages. If the gloves touch, he’ll be whistling ‘John Brown’.

If Domi Lourenço loses, I hereby give you the right to end his career – but not to kill him.

[Ficiscia]

FNSN.fc Olympic Coverage: Review of the Games

The games are not over yet and there are still plenty of medals - about 50 golden ones in the last two days, to be exact. However, only three of those bear any medal chances for Ficiscia, the two marathons and the only realistic hope, the women's BMX. For us, this is a chance to look back at the last three weeks and all their glorious, scandalous, surprising and disappointing events that put Centralis and Nassau Bay in the center of Ficiscian attention. Lean back and enjoy FNSN.fc's Olympic Review.

AQUATICS - A Tale of Early Surprises

Things started out badly in the pool before the games even began. The changes on the top of the Foederatio Aquatica meant the women's limits got changed twice, confusing everyone, a trial was planned and then cancelled again, and in the end no Ficiscian women were sent to swim in the Olympics. Evil tongues said that back-then-FAF-president Valerius Trimalchius didn't mind... but we will not dig deeper into the dark sides of the suspended president. The Ficiscian team was therefore reduced to six men: Ianicius Nevata (23/FOV), Peccurius Nevata (26/FUL), Lucius Marinus (25/CAR), Carolus Minor (26/CAR), Urbanius Marcelli (25/FER) and Tertius Cato (20/FOV). They were accompanied by two water polo teams.

The men's water polo team actually had the honour of being the first Ficiscian athletes to compete in Olympic Games and started out impressive. In a close game against The Sword Bloke, our team took a 5-4 win thanks to keeper Antonius Cavius and Andreios Pacus, who would go on to become the Water Polo team's MVP. The men stayed in the competition for Round of 16 right until the last game, which they lost narrowly to Benjamin Mark. The women were eliminated earlier along, but nevertheless we could be proud of our water polo teams. Real pride was brought to us, however, by the small swimming team.

It started at the very first day with the 400m Individual Medley. A few minutes before, Tertius Cato achieved his expected result of missing the semis in the 100m Breaststroke, but Carolus Minor won his IM heat surprisingly with the fifth-best time of the heats. And then, in the time between heats and final, Minor lowered his time seven seconds. Yes, SEVEN seconds. The Carinhan pulverized the Ficiscian record and won a bronze medal in a final that produced a OR. This incredible achievement brought the nation the first medal ever and Minor a place in the Hall of Fame, where he was soon joined by Urbanius Marcelli. The backstroker surprised everyone in the sixth day, when he competed in a close, dramatic race. Marcelli lead from the beginning on and beat Felix Mozer from Vakolicci to a gold medal, only a few fractions of a second short of a OR. And still, it was not over. Actually, it took just two more days for Ficiscia to surprise again. 3:29.34, or in other words, 0.29 seconds slower than the Olympic Record, was the time that gave Marcelli/Cato/Minor/Nevata a silver medal in the Medley Relay. Nobody ever expected a complete medal set in swimming, but this is what we got.

CYCLING - The Ficiscian Erinyes And More Medals

Cycling was expected to be the most successful sport for our nation, and despite an initial disappointment we held that promise. Things, however, started out badly - and that eventually lead to two scandals involving angry women. But first things first. We wrapped up road cycling already, so we'll keep that fairly quick. The only medal in that came from Clovia Miscimana in the women's time trial, but the images we'll keep in mind will be Derarus getting overtaken by four opponents and pushed to fifth place on the last straight - and the angry face of Evelina Juvitsaska when she was knocked off her bike, eventually leading to drama and a 75'000 Ficisci (for our foreign readers: about 19'000 NSD) fine.

What was much more interesting was the track. Starting out a little bit disappointing as well, Deborah Nuntiata in Keirin was expected to be THE hope of the nation for a track medal. And failed gloriously. After a collision with Katriona Harris (ETN) she attempted to jump the Ethanian, unvoluntarily provoking a collision between Ficiscian and Ethanian fans outside the stadium where, luckily, not more than some insults happened, and starting a fight against her own association. The CFC first wanted to suspend her for a season, but then, due to Nuntiata apologizing to Harris and showing regret, suspended her only for the rest of the season and upped her fine from 75'000 to 100'000 Ficisci (about 25'000 NSD). However, in the same event, her teammate Pecca Sumova went on to take bronze - which seems to have kickstarted a true track medal flood.

The first one to profit was Sumova herself - together with Sura, Eccarta and Murata, who dominated the women's Team Pursuit. A fifth place in the qualification was not that impressive yet, but when it really mattered, the three women were almost flawless. Losing only to Ethane, the big favourite after the first two rounds, in the first round, they went into the final against the nation with who Nuntiata clashed the day before. And they secured a clear victory. Finally, the medal set in cycling was complete together with the silver in the women's time trial. The next day, there was more to come: While Ioanna Murata secured her spot in the women's sprint quarterfinals, over in New Gelderland it was the day of Olvar Sjaberr. The only 21 year old Norja showed the form of his life, racing a brilliant Mountainbike Cross-Country and taking home the third Ficiscian silver! Sjaberr is a great promise for the future, hopefully providing us with many more medals to come.

One day later, he was joined in the MTB medal club by Irina Novacastra, the women's champion in Mountainbike not only in Ficiscia but now also in the Olympics. Novacastra shocked us all with a fast, offensive race that nobody ever saw from her, the 27 year old from Ficiscia Ulterior beat her opponents with a kind of ease hardly seen before despite the short gap to her first chaser. The seemingly effortless race of Novacastra set new examples in MTB technique. Meanwhile, Nuntiata, our revenge angel from the Keirin, managed a second place at half time in the Women's Omnium. What was, however, truly wonderful for Ficiscia was the 14th day. On the track, we started with the last runs in the women's Sprint. Murata had to go through a third heat in both races and ended up on a second place that was almost an omen to the rest of the day. She was followed by the efforts of Andrinus Aquax, a Keirin specialist, who showed an almost flawless final. Starting out with a high speed, Aquax did the race of his life, never letting anyone get close to him and won the final start-to-finish, taking home a second track gold. The complete medal set in one day could be realized thanks to Deborah Nuntiata. Her second place was lost due to a bad effort in the Individual Pursuit, but stayed in front of her further chasers. In the end, a bronze in the Women's Omnium resulted.

Expect us back with part two, featuring Football and Athletics, later today or tomorrow!

[Fluvique]

The golden punch

The boxer from Terralands , Nick Standorf, won the third gold medal for Fluvique, after defeat Billy Ochinea in the final of the X Olympiad by 12-7, the the middleweight category. He started with a victory over Filcho in the second round. Later he defeated Seth Clearwater to reach the semifinals. There he triumphed over Rodrigo Espina Carazo, to be in the big final.

Is the second gold medal coming from the box and the first gold medal for a male athlete. Also, with the silver medal of Constance Sotta, is one of the most successful disciplines for the country in these Olympics.

This medal is for my son. Here I reached my best, it was a wonderful week and I will return my home with the best memories and so much joy -said the champion, who added that he fought "with a broken hand"

For the third time in the Olympics, the tricolour flag was in the top of the roof and the anthem was sung for all the present paysans, representing the millions at home.

Vinny Barrie and his glorious day

It was a super-accion day for the paysan athletes. And started in the best way for Fluvique. Waiting for the final in boxing and the bronze medal match in tennis, in the men's 10 m platform, the objective was reached. In semifinal, Vinny Barrie ended fouth with a score of 520.80 above the other Fluviquean, Raffa Bryant with 520.80.

To reach the podium, Barrie had to improve his mark in order of be the most close to Reko Xanavostre, the leader and who made the best mark in the semifinal and was a candidate to fight por the silver and bronze. And he did, 541.60, close to the 543.15 of Xanavostre, but far away from the 553.75 of Nate Connors.

Always is a joy to see our flag on top. Perhaps is not the highest of the three, but all the athletes do a lot of effort to this and is a pride for me.

Fernandez: history made with bronze

A place in history, an unique moment for him. It was a ilusion, maybe only that when the Olympic tournament started. Juan Gabriel Fernandez had some chances, but he was not the favorite to reach the podium. Step by step, he gained confidence, gave everything in the semifinals and yesterday achieved a new medal for Fluvique. Juanga wrote history, another in perhaps the best day in the Fluviquean sport, after win over Ethan Stokes by 7-5 and 6-4. A great result for Juan Gabriel, that will keep in his heart all his life. Despite those tears of yesterday, after lose in the semifinal, Fernandez found the way to celebrate.

From his path in Centralis and Nassau Bay Fernandez took much more than a bronze medal and a page in the fluviquean olympic tennis history. The mevoisse shows to himself that he can play with the best and win. He played with courage, no matters who was on the other side of the court. If anyone believes that Fernandez won a consolation prize is totally wrong. Without doubs, this is the first brick on the wall of the recovery of the Fluviquean tennis.


The BMX finals will have Fluviqueans

In total, five Fluviqueans, both women and men, tried to reach the finals in the Olympics. Teddy Marvynn and Florencia Jurriaan will be in the final, with the dream of win another two medals for the country.

Cycling - BMX - men's semifinals
7 Winston Tiimho (FLU) 39.414 37.111 36.810 1:53.335 (DNQ)
3 Teddy Marvynn (FLU) 37.281 37.049 36.900 1:51.230 Q

Cycling - BMX - Women's semifinals
2 Florencia Jurriaan (FLU) 38.291 36.546 37.077 1:51.914 Q
6 Nydia Alhana (FLU) 37.083 37.052 42.933 1:57.068
7 Evangeline Nicole (FLU) 39.139 40.609 38.656 1:58.404

Sailing
Sailing — Men's Skiff — Race 15
John Kiaran/Adam Westley (FLU) 15 10 19 20 3 5 8 1 4 6

Sailing — Women's Skiff — Race 15
Gladys Oralie/Irena Yvette (FLU) 1 7 7 10 13 9 2 1 10 3

Sailing — Women's Two-Person Dinghy — Medal Race (Final)
Beth Sage/Adriana Kashk (FLU) 71 6 83

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
Day Nineteen: With a Vengeance
Written by Borjas Serifovic

CENTRALIS – Following a close defeat at the hands of Electrum, it seemed likely that women's basketball would begin to fade into the background as the women lost their fighting spirit prior to the bronze medal match. Following a stunning performance in the group rounds, to fall so close to the gold and silver medals and now have a chance of not going home without one seemed to disturb the team's once hard-working atmosphere. Resignation abound, and it seemed likely that even the bronze was out of reach. Their next opponent was Lymantatia, a team that Izmedu has faced before in the group rounds, who were just beleaguered and exhausted as the Izmeduan team. It was just a question of who was more tired and more exhausted up to this point, and that the winner would be decided on who had the most stamina, a last team standing if you will.

I worried for them, this defeatist strategy did not do the men's water polo well when they faced up against Drawkland in their bronze medal. In fact, I can sense some anger in the fact that the men were playing for gold or silver, while the women were relegated back to bronze (Suncica has told me that she's tried to calm this down, and personally I think it's a silly reason to get angry over results). It's largely unknown who decided to grumble about the recent results as, Suncica has tried hard to make sure that the comments were left anonymous. There's no vocal audio of the person who did it, but if Suncica is keeping the strategy exclusively just to the starting 5 players, then it's more than likely someone in the bench is airing out their anger.

There was far less attention paid to this game as the Izmeduan media is still recovering from the gold medal two days ago, but the Izmeduan faithful were still at the court, readying for a repeat of Izmedu vs Lymantatia, but this time were the stakes higher. The previous game versus Lymantatia saw a comfortable victory for the nation, with Izmedu reaching a stunning 106 points versus Lymantatia's 66. There was no way that could be repeated for a second time, considering that Lymantatia has managed to do well enough to reach the bronze medal stages. It would be far closer, and Lymantatia does have some luck on their side. A brief analysis on both team's chances led me to infer a close Izmeduan victory. Suncica was confident, but she refused to speak on the team's chances, knowing it could all turn around suddenly.

After pre-game ceremonies, the game kicked off straight into the first quarter. Watching from the crowd right near the Izmeduan bench, I could see that the strategy has changed, with Suncica implementing a more long-range offensive versus getting Ljerka to just drive it to the net, instead we have her simply maneuvering at the 3 point line, getting close while Tanja redirected the ball to either Aleksandra or Jelena, there was very few lay ups or dunks as most field goals were skirted around the 3 point line, many of them being deemed just regular 2 pointers on behalf of Aleksandra or Jelena. This seemed to work, but Ljerka was somewhat uncomfortable with the new dynamic, a moment in the match saw her fail to get a 3-pointer as a Lymantatian center contested her shot, forcing Ljerka to throw the ball without passing and missing it by a considerable margin. Petra's role was expanded and shifted to a more offensive style to make up for this, crafting a new dynamic with Tanja with both of them contesting Lymantatian defense plays. Regardless of this offense, the Lymantatians kept the game remarkably close during the first quarter, with their offense plays gleefully mirroring Izmeduan offense and countering Petra's usually reliable defense tactics along with their ability to shut down Tanja's ability to steal. The game 20-23 in Izmedu's favor after the first quarter. It was close, the Lymantatians could still get ahead.

The second quarter then proved to be where the women's basketball team got its mojo back after a severe lack of practice along with a lack of morale. Suncica, made a passionate, moving speech not only to her starting 5, but also to her bench prior to the quarter's start, as transcribed by myself here:

“Listen here, everyone. I know everyone's still heartbroken over that lost, I know that you've worn that on your sleeves ever since we've been trying to practice yesterday, but the time for grieving over what could've been is over. Don't you see what you're fighting for!? A medal! I don't care what kind of medal it is, I don't care if it signifies if your 3rd or that you were defeated the game before! You made it this far and I don't want to see any of you play like this game is meaningless! Do you hear me? This game is just as important as any other game we played, we've been surrounded by victory compounded with a loss so striking that it proves to sink you to another one! Where's your passion!? Where's your pride!? Don't tell you can't win, because you can! You can and you will, do you hear me!? Get out there and play like no one else has played for! Show everyone here why you're here in the first place! You're olympic athletes! Fight like the proud Izmeduans you are!”

With team morale boosted, along with a directive to then play a much more aggressive defense versus latching it all on Tanja and Petra to do all the heavy work, it seemed the original fighting spirit I saw in the group stages was regained, capped off with Ljerka's signature opening dunk before the first minute of the new quarter ended, putting the score from 20-25. From there on, the way the Izmeduans played was far more aggressive and forceful, focusing on scoring and pressuring the Lymantatians to turn over or stealing passes. This was especially where Aleksandra proved useful in the defense in conjunction with Petra, with her speed complementing Petra's ability for screens. Aleksandra's ability to hang close to strategic positions on the Lymantatian paint forced passes amongst the team as Tanja or Ljerka stood ready to steal passes or, along with Petra, gain rebounds and drive back the ball to the Izmeduan paint. Jelena also played a larger role in the offense, seeking passes and working in conjunction with Aleksandra, Petra, or Ljerka instead of relying so much on Tanja. The mixed player strategy worked, and it was mostly Aleksandra or Jelena that scored, the points spread equally over both with Ljerka, Tanja, and Petra focusing on plays instead of field goals. The small, surmountable lead has now grown bigger, it was 32-43 heading into halftime.

The third quarter then proved to be one where things almost seemed to equalize, after a hard 2nd quarter for the Lymantatians, they seemed to be coming back. The first half of the quarter was at first dominated by the Lymantatians bringing the score quite close to the Izmeduans, despite some plays from Ljerka and Jelena that clinched in 2 3-pointers that helped, but the defense fell by the wayside as Lymantatia introduced far better practiced tactics instead of relying on pure aggression. Midway through 3rd quarter, the score stood at 42-49, and if Lymantatia kept pressuring proven shooters such as Aleksandra or kept eluding the efforts of Tanja, the 3rd quarter would certainly end up closer than anyone expected. This was where Tanja changed the strategy, now countering the Lymantatians themselves instead of trying to overpower them on pure strength of shooting alone. This was where Petra proved key to the game's offense and defense, where her skills at center allowed her to undermine a key weakness in Lymantatia's strategy, the reliance on whiffed shots or unexpected passes to insure that any of the players could rebound, which with the previously strong Lymantatian defense pushed Izmeduan players to the wayside. Instead of going straight for the center, Petra and Tanja changed their defense formation as the Lymantatians held possession, with Petra now defending the Lymantatian point guard and the shooting guard instead of trying to prevent the wings from scoring.

If the final score after the third quarter suggests anything, it seemed to have work, with Petra then allowing the team turnover to the offense many times at the third quarter, scoring a boatload of free points while maintaining a mix of on the paint shots and 3-pointers, the latter of which were now largely relegated to Ljerka and Aleksandra, while Ljerka focused on conducting offense plays with Petra and Tanja. The final score at the end of the third quarter stood at 46-61

The fourth quarter was then a cruise to the win as the team toned down their aggression to a strategy that mirrored the first quarter, and thus the focus was then to diffuse the strategy of offense and defense through the five players instead of relying on one or two. The stand out player was inevitable, and fittingly enough for the final match, Tanja managed to dominate the field by cooperating with Aleksandra and having most of the field goals or 3-pointers directed to her, as Jelena was then given the task to then direct strategy with Ljerka. Despite Jelena being the team captain due to her superior shooting skills as with movement (rivaling Ljerka's speed if needed, but not taken advantage of due to Jelena being superior at more longer-range plays), Suncica desired to see Jelena being able to lead team strategy on the floor versus just acting as Tanja's on the court second in command. Jelena did well in channeling Ljerka's aggressive plays into defensive measures. The match was typically kept level in both teams, but the lead was unassailable. Despite a final 3 pointer from Lymantatia, it was far too late to try and claw back to a lead. The score was 59-76, and Women's Basketball wins the bronze medal for the nation.

Sure, it may be a consolation prize, but to Suncica and the team, I think this victory may mean a little more than just a medal to them. This proved that they could rise back after a loss, claw their way back to a win and regain morale after all hope seemed loss just a few hours ago.

It's a fitting end to a journey, and I could only smile with them as the women celebrated in the court. Now, they can back home with their heads held high, proud of their performance.

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 nineteenth 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.

Day 20 preview: Men's Basketball – the Final
Day 21 preview: Final Thoughts and Reflections; Closing Ceremony

[Mattijana]

"Not gonna lie gals, but you had a bit of a shocker..."

The Ladijanhockeyband had just finished a rather infuriating penalty shootout in which they had squandered the bronze medal to Barunia by 3 goals to 2. Having trailed 2-1 with just 2 minutes of extra time to go, Mattijana had scrambled an equaliser through Katarina Zafarova's dive at the far post and looked rather happy about it. But the experienced Barunians rallied rather well and won a tense penalty shootout when Handanovič failed to keep out the final penalty having earlier saved 2.

Although the mood was understandably low in the dressing room after the game, many pointed out that it was experience that counted and that the team should be really proud to have even troubled the medals at all. That seemed to buoy the squad, who are now feeling confident and determined that they can acheive next time out.

[Vers-Gelderland]

This is your Day 20 cutoff.

We're almost done with the games, can you believe it? Enjoy another Yanni song, "Santorini," while you wait for results.

[Kriegiersien]

The last day. The last attack on medals and titles.

While most athletes prepare for the Closing Ceremony and the Captain of the bronze winning Water Polo Team, Anita Waterfall, has been chosen as Flag Bearer for it, some have still their big finals and duty to do.
In three sports there is a medal chance and the tiny hope to somehow miracuolus reach the Top 10.

Women's 100 m
Atlanta Johnson tries to win a medal again. After bronze the last time, she hopes to get Gold now. The multifunctional Allrounder had no success in Boxing and failed in the 200 m, but hopes for a perfect day there.

Women's 4 x 100 m
Atlanta Johnson a second time. As final leg runner she has the order to repeat the win in the qualification where she dragged her teammates, Junior Champion and Newcomer Nicole Rain, the "Old Lady" Diana Prince and model Holly Handsome, with her.

Marathon
Stefan Wihelmshaven will try to make the impossible possible. Even not in Top Form he is still the best Kriegiersien runner here. Both Frank Corner and J. Kalbitzer will be there to aid him as rabbit (Pacemaker).

Somewhat different: Rugby

The Kriegiersien Rugby 7 team is the underdog in the final against Ethane, the Nation that had beaten the Kriegiersien men so easily.
But don't tell that the girls from Platoon 7, the Skullstealers, who will either ignore you or break your bones. Their mission to win Gold and the title Olympic Champion is not finished. Despite the fact that it is only a demonstration contest.
They even relinquished to play with Atlanta Johnson, who had participated at the mens World Cup, as Johnson wanted to concentrate on other Sports and the girls wanted to stay together as one unit.
In war they fight behind enemy lines, in Rugby Union they dominate the Kriegiersien Military League.


Now, everyone not competing anymore, go into the stadium and to the streets and support our girls and boys a last time.

[Fluvique]

Imagine our players with this music

The most exciting Fluviquean sporting triumph

The commentators Nigel Marijn and Patrick Ragnvald (father of Eric Ragnvald) were in the stadium, living the big final.

NM: There goes Corey Preston with the serveeeeeee...that's it...that's it....that's it! And is! Ace for Fluvique! Thanks Corey! Thanks for play for the Long Ones! Matchball for Fluvique, pat!

PR: Yes. I am very calm. I do not know what they put in my coffee, but I am calm.

NM: Ladies and gentlemen, a point that can be a gold medal. Matchball for Fulvique.

PR: Calm. Calm.

NM: Why not, Corey? There comes the serve, blockade, that ball is in the center! And point for New Gelderland. Calm! Calm! We have four matchballs.

PR: Calm. Calm. This will be. This will be. Look.

NM: New Gelderland serveeeesssss. He failed. OUT! IS OUT! Fluvique is gold! A ilusion! Always you need to have a ilusion in the sport. Always.

PR: Allez! Allez! Ha, ha! What a happiness, my God!

NM: Fluvique is gold! The happiness is Fluviquean! Enough sorrows! The stadium is silenced. They are attending to a funeral, we are celebrating the life! Fluvique is Olympic champion! The players are mixed, there is Maurice, Keegan, Clayd, Stij...is a round of celebrations. Also the historical Long Ones are jumping there. But this is another history. Those are other names. I can not believe it, Pat. With a Ragnvald there, with a Ragnvald here. Fluvique is the Olympic champion.

PR: Hey, I will jump to the court. Hold my suit.

The faces of Mario Cayden, Eric Ragnvald and San Kasmir were reddened after the shouts. The throats were at the limit, the veins near to explode. Arsène Maurice was crying when he remembers that he was dad of Aurélie a couple of days ago, during the Olympics. Miguel Angel Jantje was jumoping as a child among giants, meanwhile the New Gelderland players were with frowning after the missed served, their last chance.

Of the four Fluviqueans gold medals, the one of the men volleyball is, perhaps, the more celebrated by their protagonists. The rhythm of the Fluviquean fans, with at least five drums, trumpets and thousands flags, was listened for all the stadium. The palms that were who made the furious shots in the game, were used to hit the highest echelon of the podium and, after the mini-show, all the players jumped and raised their arms to the sky.

The victory ritual was spontaneous, like the development of the final against New Gelderland. A match that entered in the possitie wave after the conquest of the third set, after a huge fight of 32 minutes. And nothing stopped the boys, winners by 25-23, 25-27, 25-20 and 25-19. Two hours and ten minutes of fury and passion, in a stadium that was a coliseum wishing for a local victory. The crowd, hostile for all the Fluviquean athletes after the football incidents, seemed to want to guillotine all the Fluviqueans players and fans. But the end of the match was with photo flashes, greetings to the family at home and thousands selfies for twitter. All in red, white and yellow colours. They left with all their parts of that Coliseum of thumbs down. The lions do not ate them; they were the lions.

The Golden Boys won and reached their deserved podium

After their painful defeat in the semifinal, the boys had the hard task to recover, rest and have their mind in the right path to face the most important match of their lives. They deserved it, after being the best or the second best team in the tournament, the semifinals was a punch to their morale and their dreams, but not to their spirit. They entered to the court with the idea of finish the Olympics with a victory, a medal and a growing future. With partials of 26-20, 45-40, 69-54 and 89-74, Fluvique reached the objective a new medal for the country.

Severin Kerr was the top-scorer of the match and hangman of San Llera, with 25 points. Luke Bram also contributed for the Fluviquean victory and the first podium.

Twelve players were jumping, singing and hug each other for an achievement reached more than expected for the first time, showing that they have more that was expected. Thanks to their skills and talent, they kill the uncertainties about what they can do, their duty of be in the semifinals and put the flag on the top. All was a pressure. And they faced all of that. They showed that they are really good, that the national t-shirt is not big for these young. That they learned to love and defence with tooth and nail the colours of the motherland. This celebration with tears belongs to them, but glad hundreds and thousands, perhaps millions, of compatriots

The national squad thrilled once again. In a new battle in the Olympics, after the defeat in the semifinals, showed the best of himself, prevailed and defeated San Llera and signed a 89-74 and won the bronze medal. They won a medal, sure, but they also won something that will not be in the pages of the history, because is intangible prize. But will be in the memory of the fans that watch it, suffered and enjoyed and they was moved with the victory of the Golden Boys.

After the defeat in the semifinals, some doubts appeared in the press, but not in their hearts. The answer from the boys appeared today. And was convincing. Elwyn Stojan was the leader. Erik Zackary was a motivator. Max Raleigh was a beast. Severin Kerr was the ideologist. Ethan Stijn shot. And everyone in the rest defended, fought and contributed to the victory.

Perhaps their dreams was in other hands. But this is another dream accomplished. The dream of put the name of the country among the greats. The eyes, the photos and the videos will keep this eternal moment of euphoria, achieved with huge basketball and fierceness. The podium was a Fluviquean party, with the flag in the roof. The stadium was hostile land for the boys in white. However, those twelve braves entered and conquered the third place.

The Queen will be in the closing ceremony

The Royal Press Office announced that His Majesty the Queen Eugénie will be in the closing ceremony of the Games of the X Olympiad in Nassau Bay. The Airbus A310 of Fluviquean Airways will transport His Majesty and also the Prime Minister, August Moine, with part of The Cabinet and members of the Royal Fluviquean Olympic Committee

[Todd McCloud]

One More Record? One More Record
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

CENTRALIS - And you thought we were done handing out Olympic Records this year. As it turns out, we weren't - one final record was set in swimming today, specifically during the Men's 10,000 Marathon event. And the individual who set it was a Vekaiyun, Viktor Disnistre, who happened to win his first gold medal in Olympic competition. The fact that he did it during the marathon swimming event is a bit puzzling, however. Vulpines are typically not expected to exceed in endurance events, especially in marathons, but it is still interesting to see athletes buck the trend, as we've seen in several instances during these games.

"Heck no," Disnistre exclaimed when asked if he felt he was going to set a record in his event - the final swimming event - today. "No. I finished 32nd last year. That was tough on me. I was trying to do better than that - I didn't know I had a medal in me today!"

While some athletes found fortune on this second-to-last day of competition, others had their luck seemingly run out. Things started out well for Ika Uleveri after she finished second in the hurdles and ninth in the high jump, but a 30th in shot put and a surprising 24th in the 200m event put her hopes of keeping her medal streak alive. It would have taken a miracle and a little bit of luck in order for her to climb out of a rather steep hole from the first day's results, and while she finished 3rd, 9th, and 12th, it was not a strong enough effort to merit a top-three performance. Instead, this is the first Olympics since the Sixth Summer Games where Uleveri will not be present on the medal podium.

"I'm not disappointed," she said. "I'm cool with it. I'm not going to win medals forever, you know. It just helps to figure out where I need to focus on for next year."

Vekaiyu enters the final day of competition in third place overall with 70 medals to boot. Will our athletes continue this record-setting trend? Tune in to find out and spot the delegation out in the closing ceremonies!

[Ficiscia]

FNSN.fc Olympic Coverage: Games Review, Part II

After yesterday's BMX finals ended with Publia Varana and Atina Naskoras finishing fourth and fifth, no more Ficiscians compete except Numerius Boves and Curius Lictor in the men's Marathon, where only Boves has minor chances at a good result, unless we manage another surprise. This means that most likely, we will keep our thirteen medals - a very respectable result for a new participant like us. FNSN.fc continues our review with the rest of the medalists:

FOOTBALL: Goals Galore, and a Rising Star

One of them consists in fact of 23 medalists. The men's U23 football team ended up being the only supplier of Ficiscian team medals apart from the relays and track teams. However, we will start with the women's team. The ladies were going into the tournament with the goal of playing modern, offensive and attractie football, but ended up with a narrow 0-1 loss against Eirelia in the first game. They continued with a much disputed 1-1 against Super-Llamaland and a surprise victory over the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. This improvement throughout the game was rewarded with a KO round ticket, where a game in Lexington against co-hosts New Gelderland waited. Despite an early goal by Jessika Liskovas, the Gelders left our ladies no chance and beat them 3-1 in front of a fanatic home crowd. The tournament, says captain Severia Secunda, was a great experience for them and they were happy to have reached the KO round in their first attempt.

The other team, the men's team, was providing much more drama. They started with a 1-1 against the nation of Ethane, before Deborah Nuntiata's revenge ambitions made the two teams rivals on the cycling track. However, things would not stay so normal for much longer. The next game was a fierce battle between Ficiscia and Drawkland, with a total of five goals (3-2) and a penalty shot for both teams - but while the Ficiscian captain Decimius Hector, who we'll be speaking about later, scored, Drawkland missed theirs, deciding the game eventually. Another dramatic 3-2 came in the next game against Kaboomlandia. The team was behind with 0-2 by halftime, and ten minutes before the final whistle it was still 1-2 for Kaboomlandia. But the Ficiscians never stopped fighting and scored the equalizer after 83 minutes, and in the second minute of injury time, Decimius Hector (who else?) got his foot on a rebound, scoring the decisive goal!

The RO16 game was played against Eirelia. The nation that dealt a loss to the women's team in the first match of the tournament was the opponent in another thriller that ended in the third 3-2 in a row. An open game was played, with plenty of chances on both sides, and once again it was Hector who equalized it with a penalty shot. From that point on, both teams tried and came close to scoring, but in the end, luck was on the Ficiscian side. Laurentius Parca was the name of the man who scored the decisive third goal in favour of the Ficiscians, bringing up San Llera next. Guess what? Ficiscia won 3-2. But this time, it was the nation in white, green and black who pulled away. By halftime, they lead 2-0 after goals by Valerius and Parca (assissted by Hector again). A goal from San Llera was quickly countered by another one from Parca, and even a late score by the San Llera team couldn't stop the Ficiscians from entering a semifinal against Semarland. This semi ended with - surprise - not a 3-2 but a 0-2, delivering the first loss in the tournament to Ficiscia. Our team showed its lack of international experience, but made up for the loss with a solid game against Benjamin Mark, eventually winning it 1-0. The goal scorer was - another suprise - Decimius Hector with a free kick. Hector was appointed MVP of the team, and will lead the national team onto the World Cup fields soon.

ATHLETICS - Of Javelins, Qualifications And Decathletes

Athletics are generally seen as the key discipline of the Olympics, or at least one of them. It was also a discipline in which Ficiscia had quite a few medal chances - the number one of them being Perko Sjastrum, the flag carrier and decathlon hope. He also participated in the Javelin Throw earlier, where he came fourth after being third through almost the whole competition. But in the decathlon, it was not his day. A pulled muscle in the left shoulder made it impossible for Sjastrum to get close to any medals on the second day. Only his leftover points from Day One made it possible for him to stay on rank 23. For an injured athlete, this is fairly good though. However, not many Ficiscian athletes DID shine in Athletics - apart from Andrinus Brebici.

The 25 year old from Limites, Ficiscia Ulterior, showed an impressive Javelin Throw competition, eventually being the only Olympic Medalist in Athletics from Ficiscia. He threw the javelin over the 90 meter mark in his first attempt, remaining the only one to do so almost until the end of the competition, when Hunter Cooper from Drawkland almost beat him. However, two centimetres decided in Brebici's favour, providing us withone of the most iconic pictures of the Olympics. Brebici, as soon as his gold medal wasn't challenged anymore, fell to his knees, laid his head back, raised his arms high with victory signs showing and screamed into the dark and rainy sky of New Gelderland. This was a man who had finally made his dream of an Olympic Medal - a golden one even. Unfortunately, the rest of the field team proved to be qualification champions. High jumper Fulvius Iugata won his quali without a single failed attempt - and came fifth with 2.32 in the main event. Iocasta Liphores couldn't exceed a 9th place and 4.55m in pole vault despite doing a 4.60 with only one failed attempt in the quali. And Nicolaios Vero, one of the favourites in the men's pole vault, came fifth after delivering a flawless qualification as well.

---

Ficiscian Medalists - Gold

Andrinus AQUAX (28, Orientalis) - Men's Keirin
Andrinus BREBICI (25, Ficiscia Ulterior) - Men's Javelin Throw
Sextia ECCARTA, Ioanna MURATA, Pecca SUMOVA, Claudia MURATA - Women's Team Pursuit
Urbanius MARCELLI (25, Fervia) - Men's 200 m Backstroke
Irina NOVACASTRA (27, Ficiscia Ulterior) - Women's Mountainbike Cross-Country

Ficiscian Medalists - Silver

Tertius CATO, Urbanius MARCELLI, Carolus MINOR, Ianicius NEVATA - Men's 4x100 m Medley Relay
Clovia MISCIMANA (29, Centrum) - Women's Time Trial
Ioanna MURATA (28, Lux) - Women's Sprint
Olvar SJABERR (21, Montes Ulteriores) - Men's Mountainbike Cross-Country

Ficiscian Medalists - Bronze

FICISCIA U23 NATIONAL TEAM - Men's Football
Carolus MINOR (26, Carinha) - Men's 400 m Individual Medley
Deborah NUNTIATA (23, Orientalis) - Women's Omnium
Pecca SUMOVA (26, Orientalis) - Women's Keirin

[Barunia]

The games are almost done, but there is still one more action packed day to come. Here' what's coming up on Day 21 in New Gelderland.

They say the men's 100 metres is the blue ribbon event, but all Barunia's attention will be on the women's, where Lacey Millican looks to defend her title as the world's fastest woman. Later on Lacey will be in the 100 metres relay, as the team of Petit, Lum, Mata and Millican look to make history.

We'll have the gold medal matches of the hockey, if you can bear to watch it after the Moons came so close in both the men's and women's. In both cases, they fell to New Gelderland, who will attempt to win both matches on home soil and add to an already impressive haul. The Barunians can take some consolation in a bronze for the women, and a best finish for the men. It's the first time the men have made it out of the round of sixteen, good news, as it suggests the two genders are now playing on par with each other, and at the elite level. The expansion if the NHL has really opened up opportunities for players.

We'll also have the closing ceremony, and with that comes breaking news, as we are ready to reveal the identity of Barunia's flagbearer for the ceremony. We spoke to Chef-de-mission Roy Cass earlier, and he said the athlete chosen would likely reflect a sport that Barunians showed success in, rather than an individual athlete. That rules out surprise medallists such as weightlifter Trevor Alden, or the Badminton duo of Abano and Patrice.
Going by the number of medals alone, canoeing and swimming both win, with barunians winning six medals in both events. However, with a single swimming gold and none in canoeing, when colour is factored in, consideration has to be giving to judo, with three out of a total of four medals gold.

So, Canoeing, Judo, Swimming. The flag was carried at the opening ceremony by canoeist, perhaps her boyfriend Luke Davis might carry it at the end as a dual silver medallist? Over in the Judo, who to choose? Do you go to Mikelo Jauden, and hearken back to the KBC Zube Olympics, when Karl Sexton carried the flag in the opening ceremony, having won bronze at Orean in the Over 100 kilogram class. Or the other end of the weight scale, with Gibbs and Abbott?

In swimming, Matthew Johnson-Smith has to be a candidate, picking up his second gold medal. Gordon McCrew could also be a candidate with two medals in these games.

Well, we can tell you, that the Barunian flagbearer for the closing ceremony of the Games of the tenth Olympiad, is… May Abbott and Mikelo Jauden. That's right, the selection team electing to go with two flagbearers to represent equality in gender, and to celebrate the sport of judo in Barunia and their successes in the Olympics over the years. Barunia picked up four times more judo medals in Centralis than they have in either of the other two olympics they've been involved with. May and Mikelo represent a hopeful future for Barunia in the sport, and are worthy recipients of the honour. It might not seem like much, but to many of the athletes it's seen as recognition by your team. You can have multiple medal winners, 32 in Barunia's case, with maybe a few more to come, but there can only be one, or two, flagbearers. Congratulations to May and Mikelo, and you can see them and the rest of the Barunian delegation at the closing ceremony, which will be broadcast live right here on BNN Sports from 9am Barunian Time. We hope you can join us, for all of tomorrow's action for the last day of the tenth olympic games. As we leave you now, here's a reminder of all of Barunia's medals. I'm Kitty Smith, reporting for one last time from Centralis, goodnight.

< A clip plays, showing the winning moments/medal ceremonies for the winners. As the clip plays, the following words appear on the screen to line up with each athlete>

6 Bronze
Bronte Thomas - Swimming Women's 400m Individual Medley
Gordon McCrew - Swimming Men's 200m Breaststroke
Kayden Headley - Sailing Men's Sailboard
Annette Kiaran - Canoeing Women's C-1 1000m
Barunian Women's Olympic Hockey Team - Hockey Women's
Geoff Springer/Daryl Wolfe - Sailing Men's Skiff

11 Silver
Lorie Cummings - Judo Women's 70kg
Antonia Jordan - Swimming Women's 100m Butterfly
Alison Stanhope - Swimming Women's 200m Breaststroke
Bronwyn Hume/Chantelle Hume - Diving Women's synchronised 3m springboard
Molly Hooper - Women's 800m freestyle
Luke Davies - Canoeing Men's K-1 Slalom
Cameron Scott/Luke Davies - Canoeing Men's C-2 Slalom
Trevor Alden - Weightlifting Men's 94kg
Glenda Thornton/Kelly Savage - Canoeing Women's K-2 200m
Fortunata Williams - Canoeing Women's C-1 200m
Christiano Pelaez/Daniel Ortega - Canoeing Men's C2 1000m

6 Gold
May Abbott - Judo Women's 57kg
Lexa Gibbs - Judo Women's 52kg
Monty Dubois/Hadley Martin/Gordon McCrew/Matthew Johnson-Smith - Swimming Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay
Mikelo Jauden - Judo Men's Over 100kg
Perpetua Gobnata Abano/Joy Patrice - Badminton Women's doubles
Finola Logan/Petra Donnelly - Rowing Women's lightweight double sculls

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
Day Twenty: Remember
Written by Borjas Serifovic

CENTRALIS – The past nineteen days before us have brought the blood and sweat of many athletes who've worked hard to get to where they are right now, to get to Electrum and New Gelderland and represent their country proudly. To perform at a level that they never thought they could. Some walked away with medals, while some return home with none around their necks. Regardless, each and everyone of us has a bit of Olympic glory the moment the first Olympic event began. In 19 days of beautifully performed sport and athleticism, the Olympics are beginning to truly wind down and approach the endgame. The events that could determine if countries meet their medal goals or if the final few dreams still alive can still be fulfilled. The script of the X Olympiad which has largely been written and to which we will remember the games by, is now beginning its ending.

19 days of basketball has led up to this moment for the men's basketball game. After victories in the group stages, close calls, and losses, the men's basketball team stands in the final after a surprise victory against San Llera. They face an opponent from a country that felled their fellow basketball team, Electrum, a basketball giant whose women's team earned a gold medal in a comfortable victory against Semarland in their final. Questions were being raised, could Electrum make it two for two in the basketball stakes, have their two basketball teams score gold in one Olympiad? Victory for Electrum seemed like a likely outcome prior to the match's beginning, but how much was up to debate. Even I myself would've been happy for a silver for the Izmeduan team prior to the match, the Electrumite basketball team is something else, playing at a level so superior to other teams that most surely, everybody wanted a piece of advice or wisdom from the Electrumite basketball officials or their players.

“This is about as close as it gets,” I heard one of the Izmeduan commentators say as I watched multiple feeds of the match around me, myself being relegated to a press center instead of being in the court. Yet, even in here, it was crowded with media from the two competitors in the match and also from some of the other countries participating. Even from the TV screens, it seemed as if the entirety of the Izmeduan contingent was in attendance. I could spot most of the delegation, the women's basketball team was there, both of water polo, and most of aquatics. The only ones I couldn't see present were the Izmeduan archers or the gymnasts.

As national anthems were played and as pre-game festivities passed, the match for the gold medal quickly commenced. Electrum had first possession of the ball, and I could easily see Drazen, Jakov, and Slavomir book it to the Electrumite paint. Despite some pressuring from Drazen and Slavomir, Electrum scored the first few points of the game, and it would continue at this frenetic, almost energy-sucking pace as the press area around me cheered as each team scored their field goals. At the offense, Boris Dragic coordinated closely with Drazen and Slavomir for scoring on either the paint or outside the 3-point line, as Jakov and Mladen acted as decoys to ensure that the Electrumites focused their efforts on guarding the leading Antics instead of the hidden players. This strategy only worked for so long, and Electrum quickly caught on, focusing then on turnovers via catching rebounds from missed Izmeduan shots (mostly done by Jakov). This swift change in tactics led to the match being largely level, thankfully due to Boris' shooting being effective, scoring 2 key 3-pointers during the match that were boosted by Mladen and Drazen's quick mid-range shots. It was a largely defensive first quarter, with no team being able to score 2 field goals in a row without the opponent overturning. It was 18-17 after the first quarter.

The name of the game was Stamina as I processed the scores I was reading and the every-growing match report. The second quarter saw the scales tip slightly to Electrum's favor as they put forth a far more aggressive play that required some creative thinking on the Izmeduan team's part in order to overcome. As Suncica predicted (quite correctly), Mladen did end up being the standout player in this quarter, not necessarily to propel the nation to the lead, but to maintain a level result to ensure that the team still stayed in with a chance. If Mladen, in conjunction with Boris and Drazen for mid-range shots, adopted a strategy that focused on turnover after turnover, then Electrum countered that early and often by placing pressure on the shooters, and this is where Jakov and Slavomir come in to truly make Mladen's on-court strategy fluid. Jakov is a far more aggressive player than Drazen, and thus is the alternate choice of driving the ball to the net or for aggressive defensive measures which allow him to work closely with Slavomir to then counter Electrumite field goals. This was what Mladen emphasized on as he tried to diffuse the attention away from Boris and Drazen, aside from one 3-pointer in the middle of the match and field goals from Boris and Drazen, Jakov Antic allowed for the Izmeduan team to regain possession by collecting rebounds from Electrum or blocking their shots if he was in the correct position to do so, while Slavomir added to that job by covering for Jakov and Mladen if necessary. The end of the 2nd quarter approached halftime, and the score stood 38-39.

The third quarter, seeing yet another shift in Izmeduan strategy, seemed to put the game closer to Electrum's favor as signs of exhaustion creeped in, and as Electrum also shifted their strategy to a largely defensive one, emphasizing pressure along with multiple threats to steal, forcing the Izmeduans to then amp up their aggression and then tire them out for the ensuing fourth quarter. Mladen seemed to notice this and thus, following a two field goals from Electrum initially putting the quarter at 38-43, this was where the mid-range offensive was implemented as Boris and Slavomir were the ones that would fall prey on purpose to Electrumite tactics, and this was where Boris would be able to exercise leadership on the court and redirect Slavomir with his ability to collect rebounds versus having to rely on Mladen having to steal constantly. This was where Slavomir immediately passed the ball to Boris, who would then either perform a lay up by making sure he reached the paint first, or allow Drazen, Jakov, or Mladen the shot to make the field goal or the 3-pointer. This strategy worked with some modifications on who get to shoot, but it wasn't a perfect one. This was either negated by an Electrumite player smartly knowing when Slavomir or Jakov would gain the rebound, or by exploiting the fact that Drazen is helpless within the paint and pressure him to pass (which would then lead to a steal) or to just shoot blindly. Either way, this kept the match relatively level, but it certainly tipped closer to Electrum's favor as the match went 57-60 to the final quarter.

The fourth quarter saw the scales tip back to Izmedu as it closed the slight gap between them and Electrum, but during the quarter, it wasn't enough to overcome and take it to a lead (until that very last moment, which I'll get to). The strategy for this quarter was a full-out offensive from the Izmeduan team, as Mladen then regrouped back with Jakov and Boris to focus on shots within the paint with decisive 3-pointers, along with Drazen and Slavomir working defense seeing as Drazen's speed could allow Drazen to effectively guard Izmeduan players from having possession from being stealed. Mladen himself deliberately played a mix of offense/defense, but the true star of the quarter was Jakov Antic, with his penchant for lucky shots proving key as Mladen or Boris relied on him to make the shot once the pressure from the Electrumites was too much. Through roles were changed throughout, the final play of the game rested on Jakov or Boris being the ones spearheading offense, as Mladen focused on his specialty, stealing. Though the scores remained close, one pivotal steal allowed the Izmeduan team to be within striking distance of the victory. As Slavomir was putting pressure on an Electrumite player, this forced the ball to be passed, and this was where Mladen managed to catch the ball and force a possession change. The score was at 74-77 at this point, and there was only 2 minutes left. This then turned to pandemonium as the ball was passed from player to player, a near-steal as Jakov Antic got the ball, and in a moment of luck and skill, scored a field goal just within the paint, putting it to 76-77.

There's a minute and a half left as everyone in the crowd roared. This was the closest Izmedu has gotten to take the lead, just one more field goal and a victory was secured. I could see the Electrum side recollect itself once more, it was all-defense from here on out, making sure that no Izmeduan player would score. There was no field goals shot for the duration of the game's one minute, and each tactic began to grow more desperate but so beautifully executed. An Electrumite player collects a rebound, weaves through the court, only to meet Drazen with Slavomir in tow, and that shot is blocked. The score remained in deadlock as the final 30 seconds of the game saw the scores still locked.

This was the time to be bold it seemed, as the last and truly final play of the match saw Mladen and Boris take matters into their own hands. 25 seconds, Mladen gains possession of the ball, passing it first to Drazen whose speed can spur the team close to the paint. Appear to pass it to Slavomir, where Boris is in the wings waiting as a shadow. There is a moment of confusion as no one is sure who to guard from the shot, it's 20 seconds on the clock now. The players are beginning to hone in on Boris in a split-second realization. There's no time to risk a 3-pointer, he runs into the Izmeduan paint and throws that ball with such ferocity before any Electrumite player could try and steal. It's 17 and ticking, and the ball hits. 78-77. As the score is processed, it's 15, but Mladen and Boris still spur the team into action. 10 seconds, Electrum runs to their side of the court, their power forward prepared to make a shot. 7 seconds, Drazen is too fast, he's ready to defend. 4 seconds, Electrum players make last second passes, makes a shot, and it misses, scaling the rim and dropping. The buzzer strikes 0, and Izmeduan victory is official.

I could feel colleagues from different news sites and blogs hug me as I was transfixed to the screen, barely believing what had just transpired. As celebrations were put out, I could see Boris and Drazen collapse to the ground as victory was achieved, and the starting 5 huddled each other, not moving around or celebrating or even making sort of cheer. Ratimir and some of the bench joined in, and even in the midst of celebration, I saw them hug Electrumite players in the chaos of victory. It was all smiles, very tired and exhausted smiles, but smiles nonetheless. Exhaustion was too evident to even begin to celebrate hard, but in the end, they prevailed.

The images of triumph were forever emblazoned in the screen and perhaps for eternity. A triumph of a conclusion that hopefully will be remembered for a long time, a stunning end to Izmedu's first Olympiad.

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 second-to-last news post 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.

Day 21 preview: The Olympic Round Up, final thoughts and reflections, messages of thanks from the athletes

[Vers-Gelderland]

This is your Day 21 cutoff.

You're definitely "Gonna Fly Now" with the end of the Olympics...

[Vers-Gelderland]

Against all the odds, the two countries had done it. Before the Olympics, New Gelderland was only a Baptism of Fire champion, only beginning to try out its new wings on the international scene, a nation that had not a single major accolade to its name, a nation that had not hosted a single international sporting event. Yet New Gelderland managed to hit the ground running with the Olympics, which managed to set new precedent: the first Olympics to be held in two countries, and only the second to be hosted in more than one city. More than 300 events were held across more than 20 venues in a dozen clusters in two cities and two countries, and more than 1,000 individual medals had been given out. By all measure, the Olympics were an exhausting enterprise for all involved, with logistics, medals, scheduling, paperwork, and many other minutiae causing headaches for the organizational staff (as the aphorism goes, “the devil’s in the details”. The Olympics were over, though, and New Gelderland finally could say with pride, “Our country has hosted an Olympics.”

The Closing Ceremonies started out not with the bang of fireworks, but a flicker, as lights went on and off at the Olympic Stadium. All the view screens then turned to a small room, buried deep inside a building somewhere, where many volunteers and paid staff hurriedly typed on computers, with papers stacked here, there, and pretty much everywhere. Finally someone shouted, “Eureka,” as the lights in the stadium finally went back on again, and the ceremonies began. As the lights came back on, they showed the orchestra as they began to play Yanni’s Until the Last Moment, signifying the effort that all the volunteers, staff, and athletes had put into the Games to back the event a success. A troupe of gymnasts from Nassau Bay began to do their routine on the stage to the music. The nation, and the millions looking on from television all around the world, looked ready to relax after the long and tiring games. Then the orchestra began to transition into Reflections of Passion, and the troupe continued their performance. It was time to celebrate all the achievements of the athletes at the Games, time to remember what had made the Games special, most importantly of all the passion that all the athletes brought to the Games.

Then the Ceremonies transitioned into the cultural items. A group of sailors on a 1600s-era ship rolled into the stadium, singing an old sea shanty. As the sailors transitioned into another song, one shouted, “Land Ho!” As the ship came more fully into view, a to-scale map of New Gelderland appeared on the performance area. Upon landing in an area around Nassau Bay, the Captain of the ship, Johan van Derck, proclaimed the spot to be just like his home of Gelderland on the shores of the Rhine River in Endemia, and therefore christened the area “New Gelderland.” He then directed his sailors to build a small fort, which they did. However, the fort didn’t last long, for several minutes later in the ceremony, a group of redcoats from an English-speaking area of Endemia, playing the fife and drum, followed by a procession of tradespeople and settlers from that same area. As the redcoats arrived, they pushed van Derck and his colony out of the territory, and started to build a settlement of their own. As the fife and drum continued to play, blacksmiths continued to play to the beat of the drums, and carpenters and other tradespeople began to build what would become the city of Nassau Bay. Settlement of the coast continued for another 15 minutes of the ceremony as the orchestra played period music, and actors dressed in period dress began to explore the rich agricultural lands of the Talos River as well.

The peace of this part, however, was shattered, as another group arrived from the north of the stadium. A group of men with drums begins to play and sing a Celtic tune, and a flute player comes out as more people wearing Celtic costume head out on stage. A beautiful singer comes out onto the stage and starts singing in a Gaelic language, and more people arrive, starting to build their own settlements in the west of the country, along the Rogue, Great Rushmori, and Talos Rivers. These people represented the Austroslovakian Migration into New Gelderland, and these people began to form a part of New Gelderland’s identity. Simultaneously, a group of Electrumites, without much noise or ceremony, arrived along the Great Rushmori River, establishing farms and communities. Much of the excitement toned down as a narrator began to elaborate on some of the major historical events of this time period. Disturbing the peace, however, a pair of gunshots rang out between the English-speaking settlers and the Germanic-speaking settlers: a conflict between the two peoples was developing over land and property rights. The gunshots continued for fifteen seconds before representatives from all parties arrived in Lexington, the central area at the confluence of the Great Rushmori and Rogue Rivers and the urban center of the Electrumite area. The ceremonies then zoomed in more detail to the Constitutional Convention; actors portrayed some of the struggles faced by the convention before brokering a compromise to all parties’ issues. The modern-day state of New Gelderland was born.

As industrialization came into New Gelderland, the plot thickened and the tempo quickened. Industries and factories sprung up along the coast, some processing agricultural products that were New Gelderland's literal bread and butter for so many years, some building cars and new technological developments. As actors playing laborers worked, the band sparked up a 1960's tune, "Mighty Quinn," and the workers started doing a 1960's -era New Gelderland dance. As the performance got to the modern era, the tempo of the ceremony continued to speed up. Trying to match the Electrumites' performance of "All the Silver Athletes," a band came out, playing the modern pop song "Electropop", representing modern music in New Gelderland. The dancers seemed to have fun doing it, and the singers certainly enjoyed their moment in the spotlight.

At that moment, the performances ended, and the first flagbearers marched in to the stadium. First came Commerce Heights, hosts of the first Olympics, as well as the Liventian flagbearer. Other nations' flagbearers came in at seemingly haphazard order, with Electrum's flagbearer, Ha Trinh, the gold medalist in the women's dinghy, eliciting cheers from the crowd. The last to march in, though, and marching in proud, was Gelderlish flagbearer Louis Rhodes, the football star who helped his nation to the Baptism of Fire trophy as well as the gold medal in the men's football event. Then the rest of the athletes, wearing their national colors, mingled into the stadium as one big mass, symbolizing the spirit of Olympic togetherness. As the athletes reached their designated places, the loudspeaker played the Gelderlish national anthem. Then the medalists for both marathons shuffled in, waving to the cheering crowd, looking tired and haggard after their long ordeal, starting out near Sentinel Peak before arriving near the statue of Johann van Derck in the city center. Charles Ouassima, the bronze medalist on the men's marathon, received cheers from the crowd, and the stadium played the national anthems of Mattijana and Eastfield Lodge, homes of the two gold medal winners. New Gelderlish President David Monday presented the medals himself.

After the medal ceremony, Monday gave a speech, praising the country, talking about the sporting wonders of New Gelderland, and generally arousing patriotic sentiment in the country, while most of the stadium looked bored with the politician's pontificating. The popular and pragmatic Savanna Brent, the country's Labour Prime Minister, took the opportunity to keep her speech short and to the point - New Gelderland is on the cusp of a new sporting renaissance, and she thanked each and every fan, athlete, volunteer, and official for making the Games happen. Soon-to-be Olympic Council President, and NGOC President Jonathan Mercer, also saved the stadium from the trouble of a long speech, and expanded upon Brent's speech, talking about the long strides New Gelderland made to make the Games happen, and he personally thanked the volunteers for their hard work and dedication. Then at the end, he quipped, "Speeches are boring, right?" and a ripple of laughter erupted in the crowd. "Now let's finish these ceremonies!"

With that being said, the New Gelderlish poet laureate, Debbi Morgan, rose to the stage and began reading a poem she had written especially for the ceremonies. While some people shuddered at that thought, she turned out to be quite engaging with her reading, and a nice break from the long speeches of the politicians. After she was done with the poem, NGOC President Mercer called, "Now for the extinguishing of the Olympic flame!" As the Olympic anthem played, the cauldron slowly closed, extinguishing the fire, which had burned for three weeks, again celebrating the Olympic spirit, and a phoenix light show appeared over the flame, appearing to fly away from the ashes as the flame died down. On the screen, New Gelderland's most iconic Olympic moments showed (in no particular order): New Gelderland's first medal, won by Scott Justice in the men's 400m individual medley; New Gelderland's first gold and Olympic record, set by Alex Nelson in the men's 10m air rifle event; Scott Justice and his Olympic record in the 200m individual medley; the two triathlon gold medals, won by Jace Pettigrew and Katherine Hewitt; the seventeen-round shootoff in the women's skeet, in which Evelyn Goldshore won to get bronze; Kim Ayers's smashing of the Olympic Record in the 800m freestyle, by almost eight tenths of a second, and beating the rest of the field by more than five seconds; the Olympic football team defeating world champions Eura en route to the gold medal, in which they beat Semarland; Mark Southgate and Megan Elliott winning the gold medal in the mixed doubles of tennis, stunning Lord Almighty Gregory and his wife; the sailing gold medals of Channing and Wolfe, Peck and Aaron, and Audley and Blue; and the two hockey gold medals. New Gelderland was excited for the Olympics.

The lights died down, too, as the flame was extinguished, and when only embers remained, the lights were totally out. Then the lights came back on, and in the place of the flame was an ornately decorated Christmas tree. With only a week remaining until Christmas in New Gelderland, the country was in a very festive and heartwarming mood. The Nassau Bay Orchestra played a poppy version of "Joy to the World," but without lyrics, to emphasize the secular nature of the holiday instead of the religious nature. After the performance finished, a performer dressed as Santa Claus walked up on stage and began to read the poem "The Night Before Christmas," again a secular choice for the occasion. He continued reading in a slow, stentorian, and steady voice and finally arrived at the poem's ending lines, emphasizing the last:

"He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
'Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!'"

With that, the ceremonies ended, to much applause. Overall, the Olympics proved to be a success - on both parts of the event. There weren't all that many mistakes with paperwork and logistics, and the few that did happen were rectified quickly. There were no terrorist shootings or bombs in the Villages or any of the venues, and despite the threats of the KAOS organization in Kannap, the Games continued incident-free, without the mass slaughter of athletes like KAOS threatened. That being said, the nation of Kannap proved to be particularly blood-soaked over the Games, but at least people's television screens at home showing the Games weren't showing stampedes or rogue archers or shooters. The Games, too, had set a precedent: the first to ever be hosted by two nations, hopefully a precedent that can be repeated in the future. New Gelderland, too, had a great showing at the games: 109 medals, 4 of them goals, although it did wish it had overtaken Electrum in the standings on the last day.

Fireworks exploded above the stadium, and the fans left New Gelderland with both Christmas spirit, Olympic brotherhood, and a desire to come back next year, with their delegations having more medals in hand, of course.

[Kriegiersien]

An anouncement of the Chairman of the Bigtopian Community in Kriegiersien

We all know that Bigtopians are a big part of many societies in many Nations. Many athletes at these Olympics are in one way or another Bigtopians or of Bigtopian heritage. The Kriegiersien President brought to my attention that if we would bound together we would be an unstoppable force that would be at the Top of the medal table. The thought of a unified delegation as BOBS (Bigtopian Olympic Brothers and Sisters) consisting out of
Kriegiersien, Britonisea, Kelssek, Fluvique, Eastfield Lodge, Drawkland, Eura, Paripana Sporting Council, Izmedu, Asteran, Cosumar, Mattijana, Avissian Union, Kannap, United Kingdoms of Zackalantis, Muriburiland, Nova Anglicana, Super-Llamaland, TheArchregimancy, Urain, San Llera, Banguela, Electrum Diplomatic Offices, Eirelia, Ferret Civilisation, Natanians and Nosts, ShytysleValanora, Benjamin Mark, Lymantatia, Santaclausisgodistan, Youhavenorightsistan, Elejamie, The Sword Bloke, Acronius, Vaugania and San Jose Guayabal
makes me shiver.

With 51 Gold, 93 Silver, 128 Bronze and 272 medals Overall we would dominate the Olympics in front of Electrum and Vers Gelderland.

As the big Bigtopian Marthin Looter Queen said: "I have a dream of many medals."

[Mattijana]

Good evening and wecome to the Mattijanan review of the 2015 Olympic Games from Electrum and New Gelderland. This year saw the 10th ever Olympic games, but only the first involving Mattijanan athletes.

How did we do?

Mattijana will take away four medals from the games, twi golds, a silver and a bronze. The first medal won was a gold in the mens road race, by Petre Lara on day 4 of competition. He outsprinted three other cyclists to the bronze medal and prompted wild celebrations from the Matti lining the streets. He will forever go down in history as the first Mattijanan to ever win an olympic medal.
On day nine though, Niko Molotnikov's incredible performance in the single trap shooting meant that Mattijana had even more to cheer. Some brilliantly consistent shooting handed him an excellant and unexpected gold medal. He will go down as the first ever Gold Medallist from Mattijana.
Brawno Longarmija got Mattijana's final medal on day 14 with a silver in the men's shotput. A rather...brawny performance led to a fairly comfortable second place.

And on the final day of competition, Benja Michelja won gold in the men's marathon puling clear of the leaders group, causing chaos amongst the pack and spiritedly hanging on to take the medal, which he received in front of everyone at the closing ceremony earlier tonight.

Although Mattijana will miss out on its target of five medals, thanks to Niko Molotnikov and Benja Michelja, Mattijana do acheive their target of winning a gold medal on the world stage and winning two arguably makes up for a lack of quantity.

Minority sports in the limelight

Alongside the popular sports of Hockey, Cycling and Tennis, other sports also took a stage as they always do in the Olympics. Table Tennis proved particularly well-documented mainly thanks to Ulina Samarova's efforts, reaching the quarter finals of the competition.
Meanwhile, the men's water polo team also promoted their sport performing unexpectedly well in their group stage matches before slipping to an 8-5 defeat in their first knockout match.
Shooting also enjoyed a resurgence during the time of the games even before the historic gold medal with many youngsters taking up some form of the sport over the previous two weeks. It is hoped that this nefound love of a wide variety of sports will lead to more medals in future games.

What about the Hockey?

Mattijana's men had a fairly tough time failing to advance from a difficult group. In contrast, the women's team had an excellant competition reaching the semi-finals and were desperately unlucky to not take away a medal from their bronze medal match. Sophia Illicič showed wonderful potential and the team will look ahead to future Olympic games and the prospect of playing a tournament on home soil very soon.

Track and field running along nicely

Half of Mattijana's medals came in athletics events with Brawno Longarmija's shotput silver and the final day marathon gold doing the job and providing an encouraging performance. Dani Orlov and Sophia Velezia also provided signs of future greatness as relatively young competitors. Running is another popular sport in the country with five kilometer group runs in town and city parks now a regular fixture in Mattijanan lives.

The Matti are singing...

Mattijana's supporters drew in wide praise right from the start of the competition for their partylike and entertaining take on proceedings with shouts of "Barmy Army" as well as rowdy support for the athletes themselves made commonplace. However, Mattijanans also showed their prouder and more mature side with an inspiring rendition of our pretty partylike national anthem (which was debateably even designed for use at such sporting venues. The thousands of supporters in the stadium almost took the roof off.

So a big thank you to our athletes, but also everyone else involved, especially the organisers-it is no mean feat to host such an event, for their efforts.

To play us out, I think its time for a light hearted look at the games through this rather beautiful compilation.

[Fluvique]

The athletes that compete, the countries who enjoy it

It was our last day in the IBC at Nassau Bay. To be honest, we have mixed feelings. In one side, we are happy that we will return home after more than 25 days. Our sons will wait us and also will wait travel gifts. Luckly I bought four teddy bears of the Olympics, to save one and let the others be loved, be dragged in the streets or in the school and be used as footballs in our backyard by our petit paysans. On the other side, we are a sad. The routine of drink a coffee in the bar near the hotel, owned by a lovely couple of grandpas that talked us about our meat, our football, the Little Angels blvd and our young Queen. Also they chanted many unruhiges, making feel us as at home. However, it was time to return to our motherland (she is finishing the spring and is ready for the summer). We miss eat tea with indian breads in the afternoon; the milanesas at dinner and spend two hours around the table, talking with our friends. Here the people do not use the cheek kiss as a greet as much as we do, they shake hands or say hi, but they were warm and friendly with us all the time.

The Olympic Stadium started to beat and experimenting a closing ceremony full of surprises. Is the beginning, but also the end of everything. With a great punctuality, we watched a room full of computers and people working. Someone shouted and the vertigo started, with the lights on and the performance of Until the Last Moment, a tribute to all the people who helped to make the party.

When a group of colonists appeared and recreated the foundation of the nation, we fantasize that we were in Mevosa and those dutch sailors was frenchmen and spaniards creating colonies in the coast. Even when the Redcoats entered to the scene we remembered the events of April 1808. The review of the history continued with the birth of the modern New Gelderland and his industrialization process and the contemporary era.

The show changed his act and the protocolar part started: first entered Commerce Heights, in honor of the nation than started the Olympic movement. The national anthems of Mattijana and Eastfield Lodge are played, in honor of the winners of the marathons events. After, the president gave a speech and the poet Debbi Morgan showed her poem to the crowd's ears.

The Olympic flame was extinguished and even Santa Claus gave his farewell to all the nations, wishing a happy Christmas to all. The Queen Eugenie and the Prime Minister, August Moine, were using a santa hat and two scarves with the national colours. The formality and protocol are not in the paysan genes.

These Olympics was an extraordinary excuse to put on the table the huge social phenomenon that mobilizes millions to watch one place in the multiverse, that allows us to know and recognize societies and cultures that, without the sport in the middle, perhaps will never hear about. Thus, how many times we talked or show on TV the politics of New Gelderland or Electrum? Or how much information we had about San Llera, the rivals of the Golden Boys in the bronze medal match? And what about Gregoryisgodistan and his great leader?

That the Olympics are more than sports is a common place, but is not less true. That the country made a flag of his athletes is a undeniable feeling. That was why thousands of paysans came to the two cities, to support their compatriots. In Centralis and Nassau Bay, the game of favourites was played, with some surprising nations and dark horses. Fluvique was one of them, on his debut in a Olympiad. Before, only we were recognized for our football, our meat and our crazy ultras. Perhaps, without pressure, our boys made it better. Is the story of the Fluviquean life: So, you don't have hope in us? You will see.

After the 2002 crisis, all the Fluviquean athletes were seemed as the responsibles of bring some hapiness to a suffered, shocked and hopeless nation. Over their shoulders was a huge social pressure. Today, the situation is better, the hapiness is in other sides and the Fluviqueans traveled to the Olympics to watch and participate in a the party of the multiverse. Thus, social and sports are mixed sometimes. Over the twenty-one days that we lived the Olympics, we learned about the athletes that compete and the nations who enjoy it.

All the Fluviquean medals

Tasha Sissie (Boxing)
Rebekah Gluddy (800m)
Nick Standorf (Boxing)
The Long Ones (men's volleyball)

Constance Sotta (Boxing)
Shelley Amédée, Nadia Hannes and Robin Israel (Archery team)
Keyn Horace/Jule Lovel (Sailing)
Arthur Celso (Silver)
The Warriors (men's handball)

Raf Minke (Judo)
Malouine Soledad (Judo)
Carmen Heleentje (shot put)
Dana Claudine (Judo)
Bertie Erch (Diving)
Braelyn Maëlle (javelin throw)
Eliseo Damien (20km walk)
Kayleen Corp/Andy Minty/Malouinne Deziree (team sabre)
Alex Sherman/Carl Isaak (Sailing)
Juan Gabriel Fernandez (Tennis)
Vinny Barrie (Diving)
Golden Boys (men's basketball)

Is the final farewell to the great days of sport, feats and frustations, of records and shames. Magic instants that will live in the memory of all the multiverse. Centralis and Nassau Bay are walking together to some place in the memories, with All the silver athletes being played.

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
Day Twenty-one: The Wrap Up
Written by Borjas Serifovic

NASSAU BAY – Twenty one days ago, we went in hoping simply just to do well. For the sake of upholding the Olympic spirit on our first foray, the medal goal was kept deliberately hidden in order to keep the focus off of attaining medals. Simply put, the official goal was for our athletes to put the name of our nation out there, to be noteworthy enough to mark an impression on the multiverse. Twenty-one days later, with surprises and heartbreak along the Olympic road, we come home away with 11 medals. 3 of them gold, 4 of them silver, and 4 of them bronze. A higher tally than what anyone in the delegation expected, and even more than I had personally hoped. Half the delegation was carrying a medal around their necks. Raise a hand to our athletes that managed to do well enough to get one, but don't forget the ones that couldn't make it past those hurdles. They've worked just as hard as our medalists to get where they are, and their efforts shouldn't just be forgotten simply because they didn't bring home a medal. Raise a hand to our 22 entry strong delegation, representing Izmedu with complete and utter dignity and courage throughout the Olympiad. May their efforts as the first ever Izmeduan delegation be never forgotten.

As a recap, here are the list of medalists in the order of medal rank, and then the order in which they got them. Earliest first.

Izmeduan Medals

Gold
Laura Mateja & Ruzica Adamic – Women's synchronized 3 m springboard (Diving)
Women's Water Polo
Men's Basketball

Silver
Ida Horvat & Blanka Zevic – Women's synchronized 10 m platform (Diving)
Nela Tincic – Women's 3 m springboard (Diving)
Marko Stjepanic & Leo Vlahovic – Men's Duet (Synchronized Swimming)
Vilko Tomcic – Men's 3 m springboard (Diving)

Bronze
Branislav Kovac – Rhythmic (Gymnastics)
Majda Filipovic & Nedeljka Dodovic – Women's Duet (Synchronized Swimming)
Men's Water Polo
Women's Basketball

Final Reflections on the Olympiad

Looking at the list of medallions in full, it's very clear that a whopping 10 of them were earned right in Centralis, while Branislav Kovac is the only Izmeduan athlete who managed to earn a medallion in New Gelderland. Aside from his medal, along with the two basketball medals, the rest of the medals come from aquatics. Which will likely turn some heads in the delegation as initial hopes were placed in Archery to get the job done and take home a medal, unlikely a gold or a silver, but at least a bronze. Should the delegation decide to enter again, be on the lookout for a very aquatics-based delegation considering the results from this Olympiad.

Once initially written off as round of 16 knockouts or group eliminees, each team sport that the delegation has sent has managed to earn a medal, whether that be bronze or gold. If you consider it very odd to see Izmeduan Men's Basketball be walking around with gold medals around them, you aren't alone. It's a bit mind-blowing to say that every team sport has walked away with one, but that comes largely around to the very regimented practice system that each coach has placed during their time in the Olympiad, which really only fell apart at the near-end of the Olympiad due to press becoming larger as the stakes became higher. If this is to do anything for basketball or water polo, though both are already highly popular as recreational and amateur sports in the nation, this may spur the creation of new professional leagues (whether the country's infrastructure can handle that is another problem, there are grumbles within the Sabas with the country being unable to sustain participation in the Olympics).

As far as the athletes that couldn't gain a medal, my sincerest commiserations to them. This must be especially painful for those like Finka Jankovic, who had the media trained on her until the moment where she lost, or for those like Emanuela Dragovic who got close to the medal in her bike race, but it simply just wasn't enough to catch that elusive bronze medal. All I ask is for them not to be derided or to be forgotten. It is impossible for every member in the delegation to get a medal, it may be possible under very ideal conditions, but reality does not play like so. If anything, their dedication and the ability to be in good spirits should be worthy of some sort of commendation.

Closing Ceremony

There was no doubt that the ceremony from New Gelderland would be something electrical, but the way in which it was executed, and the way in which it started, it was truly something unforgettable and unique. A truly remarkable congrats to the nations of Electrum and New Gelderland for hosting such a magnificent Olympics, and they certainly made a point of it during the program of its difficulties. Even spread out over two very close nations, the Olympics itself still felt quite grand, so suffocating in its scale that it's impossible to take in. Even if only one country was required, I could barely imagine it now.

It's a beautiful day of music and history, but especially the music. Whoever this Yanni musician is, someone should make it a point to remind him of his brilliance, and also tell whoever created this program that the auditory part was absolutely brilliant. Despite the scale the arena and show as operating on, the music helped to augment that intimate feel the quiet celebration of what the Olympic spirit truly means to all of us. Where we watch in awe as athletes show their passions in whatever they were competing in.

Not to be outdone in pop music, they send in a fun little ditty in the form “Electropop.” Not as heartpounding as Resplendency from the Electrumite ceremony, but it certainly helped to have some fun while maintaining that intimate feel. After that, the flagbearers come in one last time, albeit in a somewhat haphazard order. I tried to spot the Izmeduan flagbearer, who for the closing ceremony was Ruzica Adamic.

A poem was then recited live by New Gelderland's poet laureate, Debbi Morgan, whose poem was quite beautiful and certainly very well-written. However, it was her speaking that made it stand out amongt all of the other speeches that the politicans had already made and that they will inevitably make later. Her writing and voice truly spoke to the testament and strength of the Olympic spirit, and there was no better choice for this moment than Morgan.

The Olympic torch was then extinguished, and that's where the ceremony started its Christmas festivities. Considering the proximity of Christmas day, I wasn't surprised to see this in the program tonight. A truly heartwarming end to X Olympiad, a fitting end to what has been an exciting 21 days here at Electrum and New Gelderland.

Final Words

I'd like to take this little final moment I have this article to thank you, the reader, for sticking with this blog and this newspaper for the past twenty-one days. I would be remiss to say that it was a wild ride through these Olympic games. I can't say for sure if the same readers that started out with me going into the Olympic HQ to the first have now stuck with me all the way to Nassau Bay, where final celebrations have ceased as fans and delegations prepare to make the trip back home. However, if you are one of them, my sincerest thanks for sticking with me through this Olympiad.

My thanks to Katrina Dodovic, Igras Milic, and S.L. Ivanovic, my three junior editors who've tagged along with me that helped me cover games I've covered. I can't give them enough credit for the work that they've done, simply because they've done so much that I feel this blog wouldn't be possible without them. They are instrumental in being the 'on-the-site' action for the Chronicle's Olympic page and they were the ones responsible for covering games I personally couldn't cover. Without them, this blog wouldn't be possible.

My thanks to the Izmeduan delegation for allowing me a generous look inside and for allowing me clearance to be able to requests (reasonable) audiences at will with Izmeduan Olympic officials and coaches. My thanks to the athletes of the delegation as well. Not only for their valiant performance, but also for their grace and dignity throughout these 21 days. Displaying a strength of character and discipline that's sure to make any Izmeduan proud that they're representing us.

It's been a wonderful 21 days, everyone. The games may be over, but the Olympic spirit never fades. That spirit, beyond over any medal or accolade, is what I hope each and every Izmeduan that came here takes back home.

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 final news post 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.