I NS Athletics Championships - RP Thread

[Vangaziland]

Day Four was a day full of surprises for the Vannish athletes and track fans. Things started off slowly with the men's 200m. Casper Hall was the only Vangazi to advance. His time of 20.80 was good enough to rank 22nd. He finished 5th in his heat.

"Well I didn't set any records", Hall said after his race. "But I still have my hat in the ring. Wish me luck."

Up to this point, the Vangazi have not had much luck past the semi finals. Yanice Jones also advanced in the women's pole vault competition. She was tied for 12th in a close field of competition.

Between these two events, two Vangazi advanced and four were eliminated. It was already a tough day for the Vangazi. It didn't look good for Shara Carden. She advanced in the women's shot put, but ranked 16th. She didn't have any great throws. She looked outclassed. But Carden was a fighter. This was the lady who placed third in the Olympiad's Pentathlon. The javelin throw kept her from winning there.

"I've been working on my shot put and javelin throwing", Carden said after she advanced. "I think I'm getting somewhere."

Carden ran the women's marathon on Day One, finishing 13th. Now she would be participating in the shot put final, later in the evening.

But first, Steven Pennyfeather participated in the men's 400m hurdles. He got off to a solid start, but stuck with the pack for much of the race. He made a run towards the end, but fell to third. Still, it was Vangaziland's first medal.

"I'll be glad to bring this home, to Vangaziland", he told the reporter. "This was for the whole team."

In the women's 400m semi-final, runners Kelly Wall and Anne Johnssen were eliminated. It was looking like Vangaziland's chances at another medal were slim.

"It's disappointing", Wall said. "Anne and I showed a lot of promise. But this was a good experience. This should help us get ready for the Olympiad."

Later that night, Shara Carden was up again in the shot put final. She set the tone early, with a solid throw of 20.39m. It put her in the lead, but her score was soon bested on turn 2. On turn 4, she took back the lead with a throw of 20.54. Sophie O'Brien's score of 20.50m from turn 2 was the closest.

Carden had won the gold for Vangaziland. This was the validation she had been seeking. She was supposed to have won at the Olympiad. Even her third place finish should have got her a bronze. But it was a demonstration event. There was no medal, even though she got to stand on a podium. Now she had a gold, and in shot put of all things.

This was going to help her secure an advertising deal. The Vannish sports media was going to be all over this. It was always searching for the next story. Right now, Shara was getting her 15 minutes of fame.

Carden was emotional after her win and fell to the ground crying. She tried to wave off the interview because she was in tears, but the reporter wouldn't let her get away.

"This is what it's all about. All the practice, the training, the aches and pains... This is what it's for. And I'm glad to be here in this moment." Carden then waved to the camera and walked off to the background.

The few remaining Vannish athletes will look to add to Vangaziland's medal count.

[West Phoencia]

Bronze Age

Day 4 of the NS Athletics Championships saw West Phoenicia obtain 2 Bronze Medals

Elise Dances picked up her bronze medal in the Women's 50km walk while Casey Moonee obtained her with the discus.

Both are a new younger generation of athlete that West Phoenicia experimented with after bad results at the Aeropag Summer Olympic Games.

Both making their debut entry at this athletes championships. Elise beat out West Phoenician veteran Michelle Tyler who placed 13th and Cate Sydney who placed 17th. With the win under her belt rumour has Elise being offered a spot in the Olympic Delegation for the next Olympics.

Casey's debut entry saw her pick up bronze making the top 12. Beating out Discus veterans Emily Guide and Myra Defence.

The 2 bronze meals have pushed up West Phoenicia's medal tally up to 5. With a goal of 10.

[Grapantar]

Grapantar Broadcast
Greetings one and all! As always, I am Veneda Gavgari, and I'll be recapping day four of the events. Yet again, we had another rather dissapointing day.

Now, the results:

In Men's 200m, Beal Molade succeeded in gaining his spot in the semi-finals of the event by qualifying at a time of 20.64 seconds!

In Men's long jump, Nilan Ladani missed out on qualifying by 0.03m. He was distraught, but grateful for the opportunity.

Dasalude Vovoti also failed to qualify in the Women's pole vault. She came 38th in the event.

Jana Crissodi did not qualify for Women's shotput, leading fans to wonder whether Grapantar will get a medal or not.

Neal Molade failed to advance to the finals in Men's 400m, falling seventh in his heat.

Fans now hope that the next few athletes make Grapantar proud, and win a medal. Join us tomorrow, for info on Day 5! Good Night, and thank you!

[Tumbra]

Logo courtesy of Krytenia

ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS DAY FOUR - CONSOLIDATION

---

* 50KM GOLD
* In Action Today

---

The fourth day of the Nationstates Athletics Championships, held in Emberton, Krytenia, was a relative disappointment from the previous day, even though Tumbra added to its gold tally.

The day started with the Men's 200m heats, where Robert Sanderson made it through easily, finishing second in Heat 1. John Allen and Albert Hunt, however, were eliminated. Sanderson moves on to the semi-finals, where he faces off against Woody Doe of West Phoenicia, amongst others.

In the men's long jump competition, Tony Harvey and David Gallagher barely made it through to the finals with distances of 8.09m each, while John Lockwood finished in sixteenth and was eliminated.

In the women's 50km walk, Mary Carroll picked up Tumbra's fourth gold medal with a winning margin of over thirteen minutes over the second-placed Marion Borde of Ndaku. Speaking after the four hour event, she was ectastic at winning the gold medal, especially in one of the most physically demanding events.

"It feels great to win this event...certainly one of the most demanding events on the calendar. I hope to win it again and maybe set a record, since I managed to break the four-hour mark, which is certainly a formidable barrier."
- Mary Carroll, 50km walk champion

Suzanne Cox tripped and fell, and recovered but could only finish last, while Moira Beckwith was shown a red paddle 16km in.

In the women's pole vault, Jayne Haines and Cynthia Edwards both made it through to the final with jumps of 4.60m, while Jackie Beaumont could only muster 4.15m before giving up the ghost.

Unusually for Tumbran athletes, all three women's shot put throwers made it through to the final, with Joy Brooks making a throw of 18.97m, while Michelle Brooks and Karen Dixon made it through as well. All three of the shot putters would later face massive disappointment in the final, with Karen Dixon finishing fourth, Michelle Brooks finishing fifth and Joy Brooks finishing ninth.

In the evening events, Colin Gregory was knocked out in the semi-final, finishing fourth in Heat 1. He will not be progressing to the final, whereas in the men's 800m, Peter Freeman finished seventh after a poor start, which was won by Wray's Nathan Elliott.

The men's 400m hurdles, which did not have any Tumbran competitors, saw Andrew Poulson of Wray also win the gold medal, with Jacob Mason, also of Wray, taking the silver.

Both Rebecca Culley and Barbara Riggin made it through to the final of the 800m, Culley by virtue of finishing second in Heat 1. Desrochers Weiner Katherina of Allinghi became the first athlete to break the 50-second mark, with her timing of 49.80s.

Tumbra remains on top of the medal table, by virtue of Carroll's gold medal. Ndaku and Krytenia are just behind Tumbra, with three and two gold medals respectively.

Athletes in Action - Day Five

Men's 5000m Heats
Christopher Hayward
Andrew Gilligan
David Brownsword

Men's 110m Hurdles Heats
Charon Saleh
Matthew Parr
Thomas Mumford

Women's 200m Heats
Erica Williams
Adeline Johns
Emma Foy

Women's 800m Heats
Amanda Hobbins
Julie Metcalfe
Angela Walker

Women's Hammer Qualifying
Jane Balriggan
May Beveridge
Jennifer Llewelyn

Women's Pole Vault Final
Jayne Haines
Cynthia Edwards

Men's 200m Semi-final
Robert Sanderson

Men's 400m Final
No competitors

Men's Long Jump Final
Tony Harvey
David Gallagher

Men's Javelin Final
Eric Spalding

Women's 10000m Final
Paula Bryers
Donna Peters
Nina Hibbert

Women's 400m Hurdles Final
Diane Harris

Women's 3000m Steeplechase Final
Vanessa Hammond
Catherine Cope

[Asteran]

“Over now to the NS Athletics Championships, and the full recap of Day 4 action from Emberton. We start in the men's 200 meters heats, where Quentin Flowers ran a 20.57 in the first heat to qualify for the semifinals. Ty Harden missed out on the semis, running a 20.97 in the third heat to finish well outside the qualifying standard. Ray Spikes caught up with both men after their races.”

“Quentin, you're through to the semifinals. How did you feel out there today?”
“I felt great out there, y'know. I knew coming in that I would have to put in a good time today to progress, and things just felt good for me out there today. It was a pretty quick heat, so I felt good about my chances of moving on.”

“Ty, a tough run for you.”
“It was, it was. I felt alright coming into the race, and we ran a slower heat than some of the others. It just wasn't to be today for me. We'll regroup and get ready for the relay, and hopefully put together a solid performance there.”

“In the men's Long Jump qualifiers, Vincent Hopkins and Fabian LaPierre both missed out on the finals after their qualifying jumps. Hopkins put up a 7.97 meter jump with his best, while LaPierre scored a 7.92 meter jump.”

“In the women's 50 kilometer race walk, Caroline Mondor finished 11th, with a final time of 4:31:30, while Lauri Rantala finished 18th with a time of 4:42:03. Our Emily Freese spoke with both after the race.”

“A very tough race out there for you both today.”
“It was. It's always a tough race at this distance, and both Lauri and I knew going in that this would be a tough outing. Finishing the race was our main goal, and both of us got to the end.”
“Lauri, your thoughts?”
“I agree with Caroline. It's a very tough race and we were able to finish the race. It's a real confidence booster for us to get to the finish line, and we can take that into the next race and hopefully pull off the win next time.”

“To the women's pole vault qualifiers, and Fiona Leighton and Jenna Collins both ended their championships with a tough outing. Leighton finished with a height of 4.40 meters, while Collins finished with a height of 4.30 meters, both well behind the qualifying standard.”

“In the women's shot put final, Victoria McGovern put together a solid performance, finishing 6th overall in the event with a final distance of 20.05 meters. Mireia Rojas finished 18th with a distance of 18.97 meters. Ray Spikes caught up with McGovern and Rojas after the event.”

“Victoria, a good performance out there from you. How did you feel after the first throw?”
“I felt pretty good after putting up that number, but I just wasn't able to get anything else out of the day. It's tough when your first throw is your best, but I'm still pretty pleased with the finish. We'll take it and move on to the next.”
“Mireia, you were knocked out early in the final. Obviously, you must be disappointed by that.”
“Of course. I felt like I had momentum from the quals, but I just couldn't get under the throws like I wanted to. We'll go back and work on it, and come out next time with a stronger performance.”

“The final event of the day, the women's discus throw, saw Alexis Brown bring home the gold for Asteran. Brown's winning throw of 63.87 meters was good enough to hold off a late charge by Naomi Acclaim to claim gold.”

“Alexis, a gold-medal performance out there. How did you feel coming into the final?”
“I felt great coming in. I had good qualifying throws, and I knew coming in that I just needed to tweak my technique to get more distance. That third throw felt almost perfect to me, and the fact that it won gold makes it all the better.”
“What was going through your mind when you watched Acclaim's last throw land just short of your mark?”
“Relief at first, then just waves of joy. To work so hard all your life for this and to walk away with gold is an incredible feeling. I'm just over the moon right now.”

“And live Day 5 coverage from Emberton continues this afternoon on ABC Sports One, with the evening sessions coming up.”

[Krytenia]

Here is your (severely) delayed Day Five cutoff.

[Vangaziland]

Jennie Elmers and Maria Ljungman both ran a similar race in the Women's 200m. They both hung with the pack and sprinted the final quarter of the track. Both women finished second in their heat. Ljungman ranked third overall, Elmers placed eighth.

"My time was .04 seconds from first", Ljungman said. "I have to like my chances for the next race. We've seen how tough semi-final heats have been though. I'm going to try to strategize and time my sprint. Of course, when you start sprinting all out, there is always the chance it could backfire. You don't want to lose steam too soon."

"I don't think my time will be fast enough in the next stage", Elmers said. "So I know I'm going to have to push. It's all or nothing, if I want a medal."

In the Women's Pole Vault, Yanice Jones was eliminated, placing 15th. "It's disappointing", she said. "It feels like I let my country down. But I'm glad I got the chance to compete."

Casper Hall was also eliminated, placing 9th in the Men's 200m Semi Finals. He placed fourth in his heat, just never building any space from the other runners. If he ran .01 seconds faster, he likely would have qualified. It was such a disappointing finish that he declined the on camera interview.

He would later say that he felt like his hopes of ever making the Olympics have been crushed. That was the thought that made him so emotional after the race.

Talia Vitka and Cari Flinter rounded out the day's Vangazi competitors, running in the Women's 10,000m. Both runners got off to a quick start. This race was all about pace. Halfway through the race, and Vitka was doing much better after the early push. Vitka found herself in a close battle with the top 6 runners. As the race progressed, the front 6 spread further apart.

Flinter meanwhile, had caught up to the top 6 momentarily after a mid race push. However, she would soon be overtaken. Vitka was still doing well with her pace. She had climbed into the top 3 and was holding 4th place back. She was trying to catch up to the front two, but their lead was building as they settled into their late race pace.

Vitka would finish third, winning Vangaziland's second bronze medal of the tournament. Flinter would finish 8th. Considering there were 31 runners, both women did fairly well.

"Well if a bronze medal was in the cards, then I will happily accept it", Vitka said. "A gold would have been sweeter, but this bronze represents a heck of an effort on my part. Maybe I'll get the chance to run in the next Olympics. But for now, I'll bring this medal back to Vangaziland."

She joins gold winner Shara Carden and bronze winner Steven Pennyfeather on the proverbial Vannish podium.

[West Phoencia]

West Phoenician Long Jumper Guy Bush has secured a bronze medal for the West Phoenician delegation. Pushing them up to 6 medals overall with a target of 10.

Guy Bush who can trace his illegitimate lineage to the current Royal Family was elated about the win. "A win always bring joyous celebrations and harmony back home. It's a time where our nation can be proud of our achievements."

To add to the Bronze win Guy Bush was surprised when WP Weekly announced that he would be sexiest athlete in the top 10 of Sexiest West Phoenician Male Athletes.

"I am honoured to not only be awarded a medal for such hard work and determination and discipline my whole life but to awarded by the public as sexiest male athlete is a bonus. I thank the good people of West Phoenicia. "

[Wray]

Athletics World Championships Digest

Mortock blitzes competition to win 400m Hurdles Gold

Sharna Mortock, the latest collegiate athletic sensation, has capped her meteoric rise with a resounding victory in the final of the Women's 400m Hurdles in the evening of the fifth day of competition in Emberton. The 23 year old from Torran, who studies at Highenmount University, scraped through the qualifiers as a result of being in a slow heat, but once she reached the semi-finals, she demonstrated the speed and race acumen which had made her such a star on the domestic circuit. She ran on the tail of Hofer Seidel Amina of Alinghi, pacing the race beautifully to finish in the top two and secure a finals place. In the final, she moved up to another gear and set out powerfully on the opening 100m, taking an early lead. She found herself reeled in slightly by the host nation's Nancy Munoz, but burned away in the last 30m to secure Wray's 3rd gold of the meeting. She also secured a new national record in a time of 52.79. Mortock will definitely be an athlete to watch come the next Summer Olympics.

Wray 1-2 in Men's 400m Hurdles

Of 6 medals available in the 400m Hurdles pursuit across the meeting, Wray has claimed 3 of them, thanks to a sublime 1-2 from reigning Olympic Champion Andrew Poulsen and Jacob Mason. Poulsen continued his dominance of the event with an imperious race in which he set the fastest time of the meet, although interestingly, it was a slower time than his fastest, which earned him a silver at the X Olympic Games. In fact, Poulsen and Mason were the only athletes to run under 48 seconds in the race, leaving 3rd place Steven Pennyfeather of Vangaziland in their wake. Whilst Mason pushed hard on the final straight to overcome his illustrious compatriot, but couldn't find that last extra bit to stral the gold. The first-time international athlete, from Cerys Creek, SWT, will no doubt be elated with his performance, and will have surely cemented himself as a core athlete for years to come.

Elliott ensures middle-distance trend continues with 800m win

Wray has recently found considerable success in the middle distance running events - at the Olympic Games, Cameron Oliver and Leah Marou won golds in the 1,500m event, and Elliott ensured the tradition continued with a surprise gold medal in the Men's 800m. In a very tight race, Elliott held off two athletes from Krytenia - Graham O'Shaughnessy and Ian McLeod - and one from Ficiscia to win the gold in a thrilling finale. Coming round the final bend, McLeod lead, with the home crowd urging him, but Elliott bided his time and moved at the perfect moment, catching McLeod off guard and taking first place with a matter of metres to go. A late push from O'Shaughnessy wasn't enough to prevent the Wrayian from winning his first international medal.

Silver Success for Brady, Portman, Archer and Ashbolt

Silver has been the predominant mode of currency for Wray at these championships, as Wray have often found themselves just off the pace in finals. There was a double in the 10,000m, as former Olympic champion Will Portman came second to Paul Casano of the host nation, whilst Melanie Brady couldn't overturn the enigmatically named Cleopatra Salami of Audioslavia and had to settle for second, but that will be considered a very good result for the 31-year old circuit veteran, who has only just begun to come into her own as an international athlete. There were other pleasing successes from Rosie Ashbolt, 24, from Albion, who was beaten by a quite sensational run from Maja Faust of SWR, who finished a staggering 8 seconds ahead of the pack in what was an otherwise competitive race. Harrison Archer won Wray's first medal in the field, a jump of 8.25m enough to win silver behind Chris Woburn of Krytenia.

Barrett and Dale to go head-to-head in 400m final

Two of Wray's brightest talents, S-J Barrett and Emily Dale, will compete against one another in the final of the Women's 400m tomorrow. Barrett qualified quicker than Dale, in a time of 50.16, as Dale recorded 50.40. The two have a noted rivalry which has evolved during their respective collegiate athletics careers, and is set to explode onto the international stage. Barrett would be considered favourite - her domestic pedigree and Olympic final going for her, but Dale has surprised many with her string of impressive times and performance here. Whichever way it goes, it is sure to be an enthralling race.

[Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic]

Another 4th palce: we wished for a medal

[...]
Another fail attempt for the alingan athlete. Fourth palce in the woman 400 heats, in teh qualification and in the semifinal she was the first in time, but int he final she didn0t reach the bronze medal.
This a 4th place maledition [...]

[Krytenia]

I've been made aware of a few errors, so I'm going to do a cutoff and clean up tomorrow morning.

Good news everyone; your cutoff is extended until 9:00 UTC.

EDIT: Cutoff for Day Six. Day Seven cutoff is tonight at the usual time.

[Vangaziland]

Day six for Vangaziland accounted for only two races, both in the Women's 200m Semi-Finals. Jennie Elmers and Maria Ljungman faced off in separate heats. The two women would look to advance to the finals.

Up first was Jennie Elmers. She got off to a bad start, trailing the group in the initial push. She started gaining more time as the race progressed. But by the end, the front two had already built their lead. Jennie managed to finish third in her heat. But her time would put her on the bubble and would most likely not be fast enough.

Maria Ljungman was up next in heat 3. She tried a different strategy. Maria pushed throughout the early 3 quarters of the race. She ran as hard as she could, until she slowly began to run out of steam towards the end. Her effort also qualified her at third. She was .12 seconds faster than Jennie Elmers.

When the final times were scored, Ljungman advanced and Elmers did not. Although the two ladies were racing for Vangaziland, they were usually rivals. Elmers ran for Overglade University, Vangaziland's most prestigious college academically and athletically. Ljungman ran for Blue Coast University. Blue Coast had a reputation for being Vangaziland's number one party school. The two schools were fierce competitors.

Ljungman's win would give Blue Coast fans bragging rights for the moment, at least in track.

"it's been nice getting to know Jennie", Maria said. "I've raced against her for four years and have only had passing conversations. She's not as bad as I thought she was."

Elmers also had nice things to say about her newfound teammate.

"Running on the same team for the Empire has really made me think about the big picture", said Jennie Elmers. "Maria and I decided we will entire the Army together, where we'll do our 18 months of conscript service. It's something we both have to get done, so we might as well do it together. We'll be able to train at our unit. There would even still be a chance we could compete in the Olympics."

Vangaziland's military was good about working with her athletes, knowing everybody had to serve at some point. The athletes would be able to sign for a waiver and use leave time to compete in international competition. Being athletes, they'd also be given freedom to conduct their own physical training program. So there was nothing holding these women back from doing their time.

The interviewing reporter asked Elmers what they wanted to do in the Army.

"Water purification", she replied. "I heard they stay busy. It also doesn't sound scary."

Vangaziland's conscript force is a reserve element of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard of Vangaziland. They normally do not get deployed, unless a conscript volunteers for a limited assignment. For example, a Coast Guard conscript unit was patrolling Al-Khalifiya's White River and ports.

Both women also knew that Vangaziland's Olympic delegations have been notoriously so small, that neither had a huge chance at making the Olympics. Maybe the military would be the start of something new.

Until then, Jennie Elmers would be cheering on Maria Ljungman for one more race.

[Krytenia]

Apologies for the delay (again; work to blame this time) but here is your belated Day Seven cutoff.

[West Phoencia]

West Phoenician Michelle Tyler has redeemed herself. After failing to place in the Women's 50km Walk. She needed to prove to her home nation she what it takes to continue to be part of the athletic delegation.

"I was nervous. Elise Dances had won bronze in the 50km. I wanted to make West Phoenicia proud"

Michelle Tyler did not let nation down, as she had a remarkable comeback placing 3rd in the 20km Walk winning bronze for the nation.
"I would have loved to have brought home gold for West Phoenicia. But there is always next time."

And speaking of gold Paul Bancraft has brought gold home for the nation by securing a win in the Men's Triple Jump. Paul Bancraft was elated as this was his 2nd international tournament. His win brings home the second gold for the nation during this championships.

Meanwhile Hieu Phan-Deb continues to strieve in the Men's Decathlon. Hoping to place after his win at the Aeropag Summer Olympic Games.

[Krytenia]

Day Eight. BOOM.

[Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic]

I'm the lone nation without medals it's unfair, i know what i had an error i was sure to post in the rp posts, after one day i noted that I had wrong to post in result tread. the penality is huge in confront of the mistake. It's not possible what have over 120 athletes and moost have over 90 points and nobody had received at least bronze medal. Sorry but the probability confirm the my suspinctions, i'll retire from competition

[Vangaziland]

There are three Vannish athletes left in the NS Athletics Championships. They are all competing in the Men's Marathon. They represent Vangaziland's last chance at a medal. The Empire's small delegation has racked up 1 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze.

An official from the Vannish Sports Commission, the organization that handles funding for international sporting events, spoke on the recent track and field competition.

"The success of athletes in the NS Athletics Championships, as well as good ratings for its telecast should mean good things for future track events. It should mean larger delegations for the summer Olympiad. We plan on expanding the track & field program in Vangaziland. This event was an important first step." Minister Lawrence Patria spoke on the event to a reporter.

The Vangazi expected to do best in the marathon was Sergeant Ben Holders. The distance runner is also an Army Conscript. He reenlisted in the military and was promoted to sergeant while still training for distance running events. He is a member of the Army's new track & field team. The military is being used to scout track athletes for future events, including the Olympiad.

"We realize athletes are important diplomats in current Vannish policy", said General Hap Applebind, commander of the Vannish Armed Forces. "So our military is working with several sports delegations. This is especially true for our conscripts. We want our military to be an athlete friendly zone. These athletes have made an impact on their units. Commanders utilize their advice in the unit's physical training regimen."

Holders has been training for this marathon, along with several members of his unit. Private Rick Cole was one of them. Cole will also be running in this marathon. This is his first international marathon. He isn't expected to do very well. But the Vannish Sports Commission wanted to give a soldier a chance to compete.

The third runner, Nate Daniels, also had military ties. He was a sophomore at Navy Maritime, the Vannish Navy's academy. Daniels is thought of as an up-and-coming distance runner in collegiate track & field. He has a lot of potential and the VSC wanted to give him international experience.

The three runners will try to bring Vangaziland at least one more medal. In the women's event, the two fastest ladies stuck together and finished as a team. The men could possibly employ a similar strategy. The Vannish ladies failed to win a medal.

"If I feel running as a team gives me the best chance of winning, then I'll try that. Instead, I'll probably run it as fast as I can", Holders said the night before his marathon.

"Hopefully I can stay in the race with Sergeant Holders", Nate Daniels told the interviewer. "He's pretty fast. I'm going to try to beat him. That's not an easy task. But every runner's goal should be to beat everybody else... Teammates included."

[Krytenia]

This is your final cutoff.

Alinghi - OOC goes in OOC thread. The fact that you had your RP bonus reset early is insignificant compared to your lack of RP since. That's the more likely thing that's prevented you from winning medals. (That, and your astonishing knack for finishing fourth. I'm totally calling this the "Alinghi Curse".)

As you wish, though, I'll withdraw your athletes from the final day of competition, what few of them remain.