Games of the XI Olympiad—roleplaying thread

[Thatius]

Nöldner Herald - Olympic Edition

Thatius fights to qualify for Olympics
Iqaluit, Royal Kingdom of Québec
Aeropag, Paripana

From Drammen to Eisenstadt, Korcyka to the Valley, millions Thatians gripped their chairs as they watched the Olympic Qualifications. Over the course of several days, the citizens of the nation of Thatius saw everything: bitter defeats, mild stalemates, and stunning victories.

Hana Ljungberg missed qualifying for the final of the Women's 5000M final, finishing ninth place in her heat- only one spot short of qualifying. However, her time was nearly 9 seconds after the eighth place finisher. Ljungberg was heralded as one of the best long-distance sprinters in Thatius. Originally from the newly-incorporated city of Drammen (a suburb of the capital), Ljungberg grew up as tennis player before her coaches realized she was the fastest player on the court- by far. She could easily make it through a match without losing her breath, and her coaches introduced her to long-distance sprinting instead. There, she found success before moving on to the University of Korcyka, where she earned a spot on Thatius' Olympic Team. It is unfortunate that she did not qualify for the games in Aeropag, but as Ljungberg is only 19, she will most definitely see another opportunity to compete for Thatius again.

After a hot start in the preliminary rounds in football, both the women and men's teams struggled. Thatius men's team tied Cosumer 0-0 in regulation play, after a series of missed opportunities from the veteran-filled squad. Luke Krychowski and Marko Voloski each had two shots on goal, but Cosumar's players kept the Thatians in check. Cosumar is in Thatius' region, Atlantian Oceania, and has played their squad several times before, so it is little surprise that the two fought a competitive match. As for the women's side, they narrowly lost 2:1 to Estogium. Eleni Naxrios tied up the score 1:1 before the end of the first half, but Estogium managed to take the lead after their midfielder dodged Thatius' goalkeeper, Megan Martelli, to score once more. Both teams have one more leg to see if they will qualify for the Olympic Games. The men's team needs only to hold a one goal advantage in the next match against Cosumar, while the women's team needs an outright victory by at least two goals to advance.

Despite a mixture of poor performances, bad luck, and better competition, Thatius still found a variety of success. The Men's Handball Team topped off an excellent qualification round, defeating the Vilitan Union, Wray, and the Free Swiss States, while only falling in a close match to Paputu. The handball squad, captained by Christian Haas of Novano, will be sent to Aeropag within the next day, where they will begin training for the Games. In the Women's 800M competition, Valerie Uvarov and Ellie Ooijer finished in fifth and sixth place, respectively, setting themselves up for a spot on the Olympic stage.

Viktoria Bryukhankova, Kelly Martell, Helena de Wilde, and Ellie Ooijer finished first in their heat and had the second-highest time overall in the first qualification round for the Women's 4 x 100M Relay. Some concern has been raised that by competing in several different events, Ooijer may spoil her team's chances of victory. Ooijer dismissed this notion in a post-race interview, saying she has been training for this for years, and did the same thing at the Thatian Olympic Trials, No way will she let competing in several races interfere with each other. Little is known about Ooijer after she stormed the athletics scene, dominating both the National College Finals and the Thatian Olympic Trials. There is precedent for competing in multiple events- after all, Marko Njego competed individually and with a team in the VIII Olympiad before winning the Silver in the Men's 110M Hurdles and the Silver in the Men's 4 x 100M Relay at the IX Olympiad.

With only a few more days of qualifying, now is the moment for several the Thatian athletes to risk it all, if they want to officially compete in the XI Olympiad (we presume they do). The indoor volleyball, water polo, football, athletics, and many more individuals and teams must bring their guts if they are to enjoy a moment (or two) in the spotlight in Aeropag.

[North Eurasian Unified Sporting Team]

Opening ceremony outfits revealed

Ozorkow, Prusy Krolewskie - Opening ceremony uniforms were revealed to the public in an event organized by famous North Eurasian businessman Nicolas Kardashian at Caesars Palace Hotel in San Jacinto, Southern Democratic States. All North Eurasian athletes who are not currently trying to qualify attended, along with the nations leaders who are expected to travel to Aeropag. First, the band Pearl Vana performed some of their greatest hits, including "Smells Like Jeremy". Then the fashion show took place. Wojciech Szczepkowski (Men’s 100 m and 200 m Breaststroke) came up on the stage wearing the men opening ceremony outfit. Wojciech Szczepkowski was wearing a red t shirt saying "go hard or go home" with a blue bermuda short with palm trees. Then Esmeralda Sanchez (Women’s Road Race & Time Trial) took on the stage with a dress, a long dress. Some kind of dress a woman would wear on vacations. Athletes are expected to fly to Aeropag tuesday or wednesday.


Wojciech Szczepkowski wearing men's opening ceremony uniform


Esmeralda Sanchez wearing women's opening ceremony uniform

Qualifications: Day 4 and 5

Iqualuit, Royal Kingdom of Québec - (NEIP) Let's resume day 4 and 5 of the qualifications, more athletes got their tickets to Aeropag. The baseball team didn't do well, but both rugby sevens teams could qualify, let's take a look at each sports:

Water Polo men and women
Men won 13–7 and lost 14–5. Women won 9–6 and lost 9–6.

Basketball men
Men lost 87–78 against Fluvique and won 81–76 againt West Angola. They are 3rd in their group, the top 3 teams qualify.

Football men
Men lost 3–1 at home against East Saintland. Pawel Wawrzynkiewicz scored the lone goal for Prusy Krolewskie. The pruski needs to win 4–1, 4–2 or 5–3 in East Saintland to advance to Aeropag.

Football women
Women are eliminated.

Handball men and women:
Men lost 27-24 against Electrum and won 27–24 against Britonisea but failed to qualify. Women lost 28-27 against Judea and 28–22 against Kernansquillec and failed to qualify.

Rugby sevens men
Men crushed Royal Kingdom of Québec 33–5 (Zdzislaw Budziszewski (2), Ryszard Owczarzak, Philipp Schweinsteiger and Wojciech Drozdowski scored tries for North Eurasia and an asian looking guy scored a try for Québec). Then North Eurasia beat Kriegiersien 21–17 (Dawid Slusarski, Ryszard Owczarzak and Tomasz Gorski scored tries). North Eurasia are now 1st in their group.

Rugby sevens women
Women beat Paputu 38–10 on day 4 and had a bye the next day. Gwenllian Hawkins, Sinead Kavanagh, Aibreann O'Toole, Fiona Mac Leoid and Catriona Dunbar all scored tries against Paputu. Fiona Mac Leoid added 3 more points on a penalty kick. Women qualified for the olympiads!

Beach volleyball men and women
K.J. Randolph/Tyson House are qualified for the olympiads! Jorge Fuentes/Ivan Cedeño and Yelitza Loopstok/Lissandra Geerman are elminated.

Indoor volleyball men and women
Men won 25–23 9–25 25–19 17–25 and 15–12 against and won 25–20 25–15 25–19 against Judea. Women lost 21–25 25–23 25–23 15–25 and 15–13 against The Greater Vakolicci Haven .

American football men
Men won 10–3 against Electrum and lost 17–0 against Kaboomlandia. John McRae scored a touchdown on a 6 yards pass from Clifford Jenkins in the game against Electrum.

Baseball men
Men lost 6–4 against West Phoenicia and 4–2 against West Angola. Men are officially eliminated.

Athletics men
110 m hurdle Michael Greene qualified for the olympiads! Byron Greene and D.J. Brown didn't qualify.
4x 100 m relay men didn't qualify.
4x 400 m relay men didn't qualify.
200 m both DeShawn Robinson and Deonte Jones-Quartey qualified for the olympiads!
800 m Franciszek Mioduszewski qualified for the olympiads! But Federico De Rossi didn't qualify.
3000 m steeple chase Keefe O’Ceallachain finished 1st in the Iqualuit final and is indeed qualified for the olympiads!

Athletics women
5000 m Lena Wojtkowiak and Jesenia Alba advanced to the final.
110 m hurdle Cassandra Zappacosta qualified for the olympiads!
400 m hurdle Alicja Bartkowiak and Sandy Jenkins both qualified for the olympiads!
800 m Sophie Veldwijk and Kellie McDermott both failed to qualify.
1500 m Melanie Cahill qualified for the olympiads!

List of qualified athletes
–Women basketball team
–Elixabete Agirretxe (3000 m steeple chase)
–Anthony Floyd (100 m)
–DeShawn Robinson (100 m)
–Kasandra Sokolowska/Wiktoria Jakubowicz/Anne Jefferson/Roksana Czarnowska (4x 400m relay)
–Women rugby sevens team
–K.J. Randolph/Tyson House (beach volleyball men)
–Michael Greene (110 m hurdle)
–DeShawn Robinson (200 m)
–Deonte Jones-Quartey (200 m)
–Franciszek Mioduszewski (800m)
–Keefe O’Ceallachain (3000 m steeple chase)
–Cassandra Zappacosta (110 m hurdle)
–Alicja Bartkowiak (400 m hurdle)
–Sandy Jenkins (400 m hurdle)
–Melanie Cahill (1500 m)

[The Serbian Empire]

Beograd Journal Letter To Editor
Why Do Some Delegations Demand Ugly Outfits to the Opening Ceremony?

Recently Dunnes released their outfits for the opening ceremony and I found them appalling. The women's outfit was fine, but a suit jacket and tie with shorts? Good heavens, they look like Hogwarts rejects. But we never seen to know why the Serbian Empire's look like office workers with a Serbian seal on the lapel of the jacket. But at least the Serbs won't ever, ever wear shorts to the ceremony. It's disgusting to see the idea of a necktie and shorts.

Mara Vlasic
Amateur Fashionista

Where Are the Gregoryisgodstanis in the Qualifiers?

I have yet to see a single Enemy Crusher, Prune Juice Bottler, Pervert Chaser, Concubine, or any of the usual athletes yet Gregoryisgodistan is in the Olympiad? What happened? Too many defections? Too many people being executed? A genocide? All I know is I don't see very many entries of their delegation this year. Our rivalry and government sanctions seem to be killing their program of absurd Olympiad success. We will win more medals than they will. Long live Serbia and drown in fermented prune juice, Lord Almighty Gregory! None of your Enemy Crushers could catch me anyways.

Ratko Panic
Serbian Nationalist

The Serbian Sporting News
Flagbearer Announcement

The flagbearer vote was tied and took several revotes to break it between Marisa Darkovic and Cissnei Orta. Darkovic was selected on the 5th ballot by a margin of 119-118 with one abstainer who apparently went after the fourth ballot was cast to the restroom to take care of some business. The voter casted votes for Orta on each of the previous four ballots and admitted that he had eaten something that disagreed with him. Some conspiracy theorists accuse Gregoryisgodistani spies of tampering with the food of the voter the previous night. Said rumors are said to be unfounded by Dr. Nemanja Kesa, the assistant physician for the Serbian Empire's delegation as the voter was known to be lactose intolerant and was convinced by a friend of Marisa Darkovic to drink some milk prior to the voting as to calm his nerves.

At least the flagbearer has been determined, but it might have been in a crooked way. Who cares, this is the Olympiad and Orta's got many more of them for her skills to be shown off. And no Gregoryisgodistanis were inside of the voting chamber. So go home conspiracy theorists, you are drunk!

Going to Aeropag
Adrijana Crncevic, 2nd in Women's 10000m finals, 30:27.56
Serbian Empire Women's Water Polo Team by winning 17-8 against San Jose Guayabal
Serbian Empire Women's Volleyball Team by winning in three sets against Valanora with 25-23, 25-15, 25-20
Marijano Dusan and Goran Mandic in Men's Volleyball
Men's Rugby Sevens Team
Women's Hockey Team

[Wray]

The National Reporter Olympic Preview: Part 5

It tends to be the biannual apex of Wray sporting activity and achievement: The Olympic Games, held this time, at short-notice, in Aeropag, Paripana, is Wray's fourth, and whilst the Green-and-White has experienced substantial success in each of the three previous editions (each time outdoing the previous effort), we are always cautious of overhyping the delegation.

A 386-strong delegation travels to Aeropag this time round, having qualified through a combination of qualifying events in Wray, meeting OSS (Olympic Standard Scores) in private meetings, and achieving direct qualification based on previous Olympic and International performance. It's a young delegation, with an unprecedented number of athletes qualifying through collegiate or youth programmes - the youngest, just 18, is 400m runner Emily Dale. It is a testament to the true quality of Wray's athletic programmes that it is capable of producing such quality at such young ages. A significant portion of Wray's old guard has moved on - none more prominent than the indomitable Brendan Matthews, holder of 7 Olympic medals, but the quality coming through in his wake promises to be equally as exciting as medal-potent.

Through five editions across five days, we'll preview the delegation, it's strengths and weaknesses, and it's chances for medals. We have 7 journalists covering over 100 events in 28 sports in what will be your essential guide to Wray's chances this summer.

Part 5: Shooting to Wrestling
by The National Reporter Sports Features Editor Liam van't Haan and Deputy Feature Editor Chloe Lorcett

The lower end of the Olympic alphabet holds comparatively slimmer pickings for the optimistic, chest-thumping journalists in Wray - there's no swimming, or... - well, there's no swimming, classed under Aquatics of course, which means we have little to shout about. But by no means none - Ashley Dean and Mitchell Cleary have won the Men's Beach Volleyball twice, and are looking for their third title, and Wray have indeed won a medal in shooting before, so not all hope is lost.

Although it's pretty hard to find. Starting with the rifles and pistols, Wray has always entered a large number of competitors, mostly amateurs, as if to fill some imaginary quota which allows us to enter so many talented athletes in swimming. Strange. Anyway, there is in truth not a lot to get excited about, the team knows that and we know that. But that isn't to say there isn't talent - the qualifying process at the Olympics is rather strict and the fields tend to be large, so it gets diluted a bit. The top talent is Annabelle Kaleski,24 , Boulder Creek, NT, cousin of diver Tom, who competes in the Women's 10m Air Pistol. She is a student and a part time shop assistant, so it's a mighty achievement that she's made it to the Olympics. Angela Makin, 36, Cartersburg, CD, goes in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, which often wins the award for the 'Coolest Olympics Event'. For the men, Shane Harelson competes in the Men's 50m Pistol, a retired police sergeant who decided he couldn't quite give up the raw power that comes with brandishing a weapon, but now turns his hand to competitive sports. Scott Willason is from the hunting fraternity in North-East Wray, sporting a traditionally rustic beard and competes in the Skeet, which involves shooting down clays like they were city-types naively wondering off the highway to Crystal Springs.

I'm going to combine Table Tennis and regular Tennis in one paragraph because there's not enough in the former to warrant it's own paragraph. The Men's Table Tennis team is led by Dane Trower, 31, Felix Sheridan, 25 and Peter Gibson, 28. They also compete in the team event. For the women, Jen Martin, 28, Grace Elgar, 35 and Natalie Wilkins, 27 compete. Regular tennis has more potential, particularly in the women's section - Sloane McKeavy and Kaitlyn Michaelson are ranked 1 and 2 respectively in the country, and are two fabulous singles players, who could go far in the competition, and equally far in women's doubles. The Mixed Doubles Pairing of Brandon Lissett & Sloane McKeavy could also do well.

As mentioned previously, the Beach Volleyball pairings of Ashley Dean & Mitchell Cleary and Marcus Wood & Kieran Hassett are both world-class partnerships - Dean and Cleary have qualified by virtue of being Olympic champions, whilst Wood and Hassett shouldn't have much trouble coming through the group phases. Olivia Boorman & Kasey Oswaren, partners since high school, during which they were national champions, go for the Women, looking for gold, and are supported by Elizabeth Farran-Ridge & Sienna De Groet. Similarly, the Men's and Women's indoor teams will have to qualify, but could challenge if they get through.

We're also going to combine wrestling and weightlifting because, well, because. But that's not to say there isn't potential - two sports that have flown under the radar, but wrestling is lively in the high school scene, and weightlifting is well, just, lifting weights. Josuha Cockburn-Campbell competes in the 77kg competition, Brian O'Grady in the 62kg and Ben Baldwin in the 56kg - all could challenge for medals. In wrestling, the freestyle version, which is equally as sweaty as it's Greco-Roman neighbour, Wray's strongest competitor is Patrick Luxton in the 86kg category.

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And that does it for our Olympic preview! The Games kick-off tomorrow, with the qualifying beginning (for Wray at least) in Aeropag itself. We'll have coverage on our live blog, with Sian McCullock and Jamie Langston live at the stadium. During the Olympics itself we'll have live daily coverage on our blog, with 10 journalists in the field and plenty back here. It promises to be a great 2 weeks of sports, and we hope you'll spend it with us.

[Dunnes]

Mirola Today
DOUBLE VICTORY FOR DUNNES

NEVEREND-Dunnes athletes swept the women's distance races last night in Neverend, with Madison Babros winning the 800m title and Lauren Bourgeois winning the 10000m. Both women set national records in their respective races.

After a rather slow start in the women's 10000, Lauren Bourgeois made a relentless move with 5000 meters to go. "I was feeling good, so I decided to go after it and it obviously paid off." She ended up winning by 200m, in a time of 29:54.14. She was joined on the podium by fellow Dunian Alex Regan, who finished in third with a time of 30:37.23. Those two will represent Dunnes in Aeropag, as the top qualifier, Samantha Cohen finished in 10th, just two spots off Olympic qualification.

"I'm obviously disappointed but I'll have plenty of future opportunities to make my Olympic dreams happen. I'll be back." said Cohen.

Dunnes will also be well represented in the 800m, after Madison Babros won the Neverend final in 1:54.96. She stayed in the pack for the first 600m before unleashing a massive kick, that brought her across the line to the gold token. "I'm so thrilled. Can't believe it. At the beginning of the season we were taking about winning the collegiate national championship, not an Olympic qualifier." Fellow 800m runner Elizabeth Madeja was not as lucky, running 1:58.86. Afterwards she explained that she had contracted a stomach virus after sampling some of the other countries cuisines on her off day.
"I'm glad it happened here and not in Aeropag. I've always liked to explore during my travels to various races and I guess I'm paying for that now." explained Madeja. They will be joined in the 800m by Morgan Irish, who didn't qualify for the final, but qualified for the Olympics as one of the fastest semifinalists.

The men’s 5000m saw Dunnes qualify another athlete as well, Will Teets. He finished inside of the Olympic qualifying spots in eighth, with a time of 13:06.15. It was a personal best.
“I’m glad to be in form now.” said Teets. “It sucks I'm the only Dunian in the 5, but its still awesome, awesome to be going to the Aeropag games.” said Teets.
“It’s been a dream of mine for a long time so it’s nice for it to finally become a reality.”

Tomorrow will be the final day of athletics competition, and will feature the men’s 1500m, 400m, and 4x400m finals, as well as the women’s 1500m final. Dunnes features three athletes apiece in the men’s individual finals, as well as a relay team and two athletes in the women’s 1500m.

Water Polo
The men’s water polo team continue their dominance of group V4, beating the Orion Islands 7-4. Duncan Mactavish led the team in scoring again, scoring a goal per quarter. He was joined on the score sheet by Evan Feller, and Conor Granick, who scored two and a single goal respectively. The win over the islanders guarantees them Aeropag qualification barring a catastrophe.
“I’m glad. We’ve looked strong.” said Head Men’s coach Steve Granick. “We’re right where we want to be.”
Dunnes plays Mattijana in their next and final preliminary match.

Beach Volleyball
The Lizdenis/Lynch pairing has been eliminated from the competition after losing in straight sets again. Unlike track and field, they will not get in because they are the best placed loser from the country, and will not be competing in Aeropag.

[Commerce Heights]

The fifth day of qualifying results from the Olympic Test Events and Olympic Football Qualifiers are now available (part 1 · part 2).

[Zillmerilic]

Zillmerilic Daily News

By Zeak Petz.

XI Olympiad Expectations!

While Zillmerilic has been growing in the sports area, our athletes have only a few achievements to lift our expectations. Since debuting in open competition, Zillmerilic athletes have done very favorably in two competitions, one being the Triathlon and the other speed skating. Speed skating can hardly account for any substantial merit. Of all of our competitors Trizen Yelz competed in the most events, frequently finishing among the bottom. With that said, it only takes one good race to come out on top, and it doesn't matter how much you win by. Yelz was competing in most speed skating events, but the one he seemed to accelerate in was the 100 m. He made it to the finals and won out his competition by less than a second, thus bringing Zillmerilic its first, and only, gold medal.

To be informative, Zillmerilic has competed in only two Olympics, and has had a small delegation to represent us compared to other countries. Zillmerilic is very proud of those sent to display our athleticism, but we only send those we think will win. To be true to this statement, we can see how Zillmerilic has fared in other areas. While Yelz will not be attending the Summer Olympiad, we do have some memorable contenders we've previously seen. The Triathlon will be Zillmerilic's best chance for medals and these splendid athletes are why... Zeke Uriz, Hart Temz, Traz Cloriz, Louiz Katz, Erika Nanz, and Kair Uriz. Lets go through them and break down their accomplishments.

Hart Temz: Temz has had some introduction to the world of triathlons. During the August Open, he managed to take 5th place. He did nicely and was proud to stand next to his teammates as they dominated this open.

Traz Cloriz: Among those teammates in the August Open was Cloriz. He did slightly better than Temz, finishing 3rd overall. This was a step down from his June Open victory, placing 1st among the many competing.

Louiz Katz: She is relatively new to the triathlon, but she has shown wonderful improvement. During the World Triathlon Championship she finished 35th among the Elite Women.

Erika Nanz: She is also fairly new, but did better than Katz in the World championships, placing 28th. She is expected to do better; she has been training with Kair Uriz.

Kair Uriz: The leading lady of our women's team. She finished 19th in the World Triathlon Championships. She did this after finishing 4th in the August Open last year. Hopefully her spirit and competitive edge will stay with her and explode during this Olympiad.

Zeke Uriz: This man is the epitome of the team. He has competed in three major competitions and done well in each of them. In last years June Open he managed 5th place in his debut triathlon. In his second triathlon, the June Open, he improved to 2nd. And in last month World Triathlon Championships he landed in 2nd, losing by 3 seconds. His prize money for his victories has reached 125,000 zwendens. He is the team captain and will be leading the athletes of Zillmerilic into the opening ceremonies.

While these are the athletes that have the best chance, there are still many Merilics rooting for the other events as well. You will be able to see people in Archery, Modern Pentathlon, Triathlon, and the Traditional Pentathlon. Many of our competitors are doing multiple events, but that doesn't take away from our single event athletes.

As the Olympics begin, Zillmerilic will be cheering on their athletes, and hopefully continuing to cheer as they bring home a few medals.

[Vangaziland]

Womens' sports were quite popular in Vangaziland. In some leagues, women could earn a fair bit of fame and fortune. One such sport was womens soccer. Their team was much lauded and expected to make a run in these Olympics.

The Vannish Womens National Soccer Team beat San José Guayabal in a 2 part-aggregate match. Vangaziland went into the second match trailing, but pulled together a 5-2 victory, making the final score 7-5.

"We hope this is the start of a medal run", said Coach Janna Bairns. "We've got some athletic women, some smart girls. We can make some noise."

Ismi Vantu and Jill Anlensen scored 2 goals each. They were the finishing touch. Vangaziland put up way more shots on target than SJG, mainly because of these two ladies.

Mary Sander was the driving force, the facilitator. She picked up 2 assists, but didn't score any of her own. She did come close, putting forth a shot that sailed wide right on the 72nd minute.

Annie Rutherton and Katie Lafeson both scored one goal each. Lafeson is the team's Captain. She found her way past her defender with smooth dribbling moves and a quick first step. Rutherton's speed came into play for her.

"This is the start we wanted", Rutherton told reporters. "We can use this momentum and let it push us once the games start."

The girls on defense had a big night too, limiting SJG to 2 goals.

"Sometimes defense gets underestimated", said Laura Ashton. "But we are a big part of this team." Ashton led the Vangazi in tackles and clearances.

Teri Chambersen also had a nice match in goal. She was troubled a few times and had to dive for a few shots.

"This was a good warm up against a tough team", Chambersen said. "Defense really came together as a unit and held it down. I had the timing down on the shots."

But the team wasn't all optimistic.

"Chances are, it's only going to get harder from here", said Claire Cruger. "It's a long road to any medal. This is just the start."

[Todd McCloud]

Whoa! What a finish! Last day of the Women's Water Polo in Vekaiyu is finished! Allow Vekaiyu to finalize the scores and standings!

[Todd McCloud]

Vekaiyu Advances Amidst Arrests
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

PROVINSK - With a score of 9-5, the Vekaiyun Women's team defeated the delegation from Ndaku by the score of 9-5 amidst a sellout crowd of 25,515 in Provinsk, advancing to Olympic qualification in Paripana, along with Ndaku, which secured enough points to finish second in the V4 delegation. Vekaiyu joined Benjamin Mark as the only undefeated womens delegation, which won by a score of 8-6 in a highly contested match that went back-and-forth, providing the Vekaiyun faithful in Calesu with an invigorating match that went right down to the wire.

With respect to the Ndaku match, Vekaiyu's leading scorer Selvala Useveli was mum throughout the contest, but her absence was filled by Livikia Naseri and even defensewomen Sayli Lupestre, who netted two goals apiece. Joining in on the celebration was offensively-gifted Rin Kesuru who took three goals and is quickly establishing herself as a center envious of all Olympic delegations. "We're a complete team," she said after the game, "we don't really have any weaknesses - if one of us have a bad game, another player steps up. That's a complete team. It takes a lot of pressure from us all to know that any one of us, even a reserve, can change the dynamic of a game."

While Vekaiyu qualifying for an Olympic berth would be a story enough, the fact that they did it against Ndaku, a nation that had at first made it quite clear they were not happy with playing in a nonhuman nation, was a little too much for the predominantly Vekaiyun crowd in Islasi Rostrovistre Sen Provinsk (The Water Palace of Provinsk). The vulpine faithful there were ready for the Ndakene delegation, holding up various signs in Unonian and broken Codexian in an attempt to voice their displeasure. Vekaiyuns hissed after the Ndakene national anthem, waiting after the fanciful intro in order to show their displeasure with comments vollied at their race and their nation. After that, things remained rather quiet until about the third section when some Vekaiyun fans, presumably egged on by Ndakene faithful, became physical. Several arrests were made from both parties by the Provinsk Metro Police, but all arrested were released before morning.

Two arrests were made after an altercation involving ripping apart a cardboard sign. Two separate arrests were made from 'petty insults', while another three were made from physical altercations. Provinsk Metro Police has not made distinctions as to which fanbase merited said arrests.

"People were upset even before the game," local fan Floria Nebilistre said of the altercations. "It was definitely both-sided from what I could tell. But I'm not pleased that my countrymen were involved in this nonsense."

"It's only inevitable that said altercations occur," leader of the Vekaiyun Conservative Party Ankyela Iskoliyey said shortly after the arrests. "A hard line needed to be drawn from the start from the controlling Olympic body that speciest remarks would not be tolerated. This is merely a reaction of Vekaiyun individuals angry at a foreign decree instrumented by world leaders who had no business drawing comparisons."

Provinsk Metro Police stood by in order to ensure the scuffles wouldn't influence the post-game crowd. No other arrests were made after the game, but, true to their word, all reports involving the incidents would be turned over to the Olympic body in order to determine an impartial response. "It's a shame a very small portion of both crowds seemed to take competition into their own hands, but we plan to submit each instance to the Olympic Council in order to maintain impartiality," Riyna Yovisktre said after the match. "We take all extra-competitive matters seriously and advise the Olympic Council to rule with stringent justice on this matter. We as a nation are certainly better than this - these altercations are in no way indicative of either nation here."

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Alright, here's your Day 6A Cutoff from Quebec.

[West Phoencia]

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Olympic Qualifying - Matchday Five Recap

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The 24 hour Olympic Sports Channel.

Hosts:

Devlin Carter
Princess Stephanie Sunbury, West Phoenician Figure Skater
Mitchell, Former Captain of the West Phoenician Basketball Team
Richard Home, Gold Medallist, Paralympics swimmer
Genevieve Horton, Sport Columnist



Devlin Carter: And welcome to another day of Highs and Lows at the Qualifiers. As the heats are slowly dwilding and the semis move into finals our athletes are going to have to give it there all to make it to the Games. Lets see the winners and losers in this latest pursuit.


ATHLETICS—Men’s 200 m
Semis

Woody Doe ran his heart out to place 4th Overall and placing 2nd in Semi Heat 1. Securing a spot on the Olympic Team. *

ATHLETICS—Men’s 5000 m

Ricky Parramatta placed 17th and Nathan Twin did worse placing 29th. Both will not be heading to the Games with the 5000m

ATHLETICS—Men’s 110 m Hurdles

Tim Bain has secured a spot on the Olympic Team by placing 6th overall and his team mate Scotty Mare placing 11th.

ATHLETICS—Women’s 200 m

Repentance True-Path placed 11th overall and will be moving forward to represent the nation at the Games.

ATHLETICS—Women’s 800 m

Adele Italia ended on a placing of 16th while her team mate Jeanette Bunny was disqualified both will not be moving forward.


ATHLETICS—Women’s 5000 m

Lady Buffy Gellar placed 6th overall, moving her onto the Semi's.

Her team mates Mercy True-Path and Adele Italia failed to qualify to the next stage placing 35th and 36th.


ATHLETICS—Women’s 100 m Hurdles

Gen Swanston has qualified for the Olympics placing 4th overall.

The dreams of Rowena Debney and Tanya Thorne have been dashed with neither moving forward to the Games.

BASKETBALL—Men’s

East Saintland defeated West Phoenicia is a very close game. 72–71.

The 1 point loss has kept West Phoenicia from qualifying and will need to play an extra match to determine the outcome currently they are 2nd place in their pool.

FOOTBALL—Women’s

The dream has ended with West Phoenicia losing to Abaja in both legs.
Abaja qualifies 5–1 on aggregate)

HANDBALL—Men’s

San José Guayabal beat West Phoenicia 30–23.

The loss has them in 4th place with still some hope.

HANDBALL—Women’s

Orion Islands tied with West Phoenicia 29–29 in MD3. But that was enough for West Phoenicia to head to the Games. Ending 1st place in their pool.

HOCKEY—Men’s

Mapletish defeated Phoenicia West 4–1. Giving Mapletish thev step to qualify for the Games while West Phoenicia was ranked 2nd in the pool, and a strong position to progress to the Games themselves where they will take on their new nemesis Mapletish.

RUGBY—Men’s Sevens

West Phoenicia pushed its way through to defeat Judea 31–21.

Ending 1st place in their pool with 3 Wins and No losses.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL—Men’s

Darren Eastlow/Tom Eastlow defeated David Reif/Pablo MacIntly (CKF). Placing them third. With the storng ability if they can win their next match to be moved up to 2nd and head to the Games.


INDOOR VOLLEYBALL—Women’s

West Phoenicia lost to Ethane. The loss has still kept them in the top 2 with Ethane in third place no doubt wanting to bump West Phoenicia out of the running. A win will be needed in the next match for these ladies.

WATER POLO—Men’s

West Phoenicia defeated Britonisea 10–7.

The Merman have moved up to 2nd place. They now are in a position to move forward to the Games if they can win their next match.

WATER POLO—Women’s

West Phoenicia lost to Edhros 8–12.

The slimmest of chance now remains. But many punters predict this team is washed up and will not be progressing.

BASEBALL-SOFTBALL—Men’s Baseball

The Greater Vakolicci Haven beat West Phoenicia 8–7.

As West Phoenicia had already qualified for the Games they took heir eyes of the Game, and lost by 1 run.


Beach Volleyball-Mens

And who would have guessed Micah True-Path/Amos True-Path defeated
Ben Stephens/Kyle Carp (TAE)(21- 16 , 21-15) to secure a spot at the Games.











* Qualified to attend the Olympics Games

* Basketball - Women's
* Hockey- Women's
* Ajay Pisaccio- Athletics-100m
* Woody Doe - Athletics-100m
* Anh Cell - Athletics-800m
* Hayden Bishop - Athletics-800m
* Steve Del Lorenza - Athletics-3000m Steeplechase
* Daniel Mac - Athletics -3000m Steeplechase
* Teressa Napolitano- Athletics—Women’s 1500 m
* Susan Tasman -Women’s 3000 m Steeplechase
* American Football—Men’s
* American Football—Women’s
* Men’s Baseball
* Woody Doe-Athletics—Men’s 200
* Tim Bain-Men’s 110 m Hurdles
* Scotty Mare-Men’s 110 m Hurdles
* Repentance True-Path -Women’s 200 m
* Gen Swanston-Women’s 100 m Hurdles
* Handball-Women's
* Ruby- Men's Seven's
* Micah True-Path/Amos True-Path-Men's Beach Volleyball

[Astyrian Olympics Delegation]

ENGLISH | Portuguese
Costa de Ouro | Morroseta | Astyria | World | Business | SPORT | Culture | Opinion

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CLERICAL ERROR LEAVES AVISSIANS OUT OF OLYMPICS

FILED BY: Matias Pereira (7/31/2016)

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For many people, paperwork is merely a pain in the lower region of the body, something to complain about but something to be endured while doing. Several Avissian athletes, however, are finding paperwork to be more than a minor irritation as a simple error in some official Avissian Union paperwork caused them to lose their spots in the upcoming Olympics.
Paperwork submitted by the Avissian Olympic Committee for two Avissian taekwondoin and four Avissian wrestlers was complete for all six athletes, except for one minor error in each athlete's form: a date for one signature within the form.

That was enough for the Paripanan Olympic Council, already tired of processing large amounts of paperwork from the Astyrian Unified Delegation, to reject the entries.
The errors in paperwork also left the Avissian women's table tennis team in limbo as Avissian organizers misplaced some of their paperwork, leading the three members to be unsure whether they would be competing in the team event as well as the individual events.

With the error, taekwondoin Cristóvão Serafim Rodrigues and Nico Antônio d’Cruz (in the 80kg and +80kg events, respectively) and freestyle wrestlers Lourenço Abreu, Martin Abreu, Enéas Ferreira, and Jacó Veríssimo (in the 57, 65, 74, and 86 kg events, respectively) were informed that they would not be able to attend the games, leading to anger and resentment from the six. "Give us a break," Mr. Ferreira on Chiraneio, a popular social media platform. "So bummed to be unpacking my bags due to a silly error. #Olympics #PaperGate," using a hashtag that has now sprung up on Avissian social media to describe the situation.

The head of the Avissian Union Olympic Committee, Amilcar Victor, gave his "profound apologies" to the six affected athletes and promised to place the individual responsible for the errors on administrative leave. He also indicated that his organization would file a formal request to the Paripanan authorities to accept the athletes, using a rule regarding qualifying standard.

Paripanan authorities, however, have indicated that they are unlikely to accept Mr. Victor's request, citing the administrative difficulties of running an Olympics and dealing with the paperwork of thousands of athletes. "Deadlines are deadlines, and paperwork is paperwork," said an anonymous official, who only spoke with us on the condition of anonymity. "We do not have time to make special exceptions for every delegation."
Mr. Victor then issued a clarification of his statement, withdrawing the formal request. "The Olympics are VERY hard to organize, and we apologize for giving the Paripanan organization a hard time. Had we been hosting the Olympics, we would have likely done the same thing."

Mr. Victor's clarification on the matter, however, did not help things on social media, with the #papergate hashtag emerging to express Avissians' discontent with the errors by the Avissian Olympic committee and the Paripanan organizers. Users pointed fingers at both organizations; nobody emerged unscathed. "Who knew a date could be so disastrous? #papergate" wrote irocha38. Davief7 wrote, "Outrage for everyone. So sorry for the athletes who lost their spots :/ #papergate."
The six athletes involved are understandably not happy about losing the chance to compete at the culmination of years of training and hard work, and also the loss of sponsorship money due to Olympic involvement. But all of the athletes are fairly young - with the oldest, Mr. Rodrigues, at age 24, so they will have chances at next year's Summer Olympics, wherever that may be, so all of their training and hard work will not totally go to naught.

The loss of the six athletes could be detrimental to the overall medal count for the Avissian Union and for the Astyrian Olympic Delegation in general. The six athletes were all highly anticipated and touted, largely considered throughout Astyria and the Avissian Union to be medal contenders in sports that don't generally see too much competition or international television coverage.

Interestingly enough, though, a movement to add Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) - which combines several combat sports - to the Olympics under the name of pankration had gained traction with the Ilysee bid including a provision to stage the tournament. It probably would have viewing figures eclipsing most of the other combat sports in the Games due to its widespread popularity in many nations. However, despite outcry from several nations which wanted the sport represented, organizers from Paripana chose to drop the sport due to lack of popularity within Paripana upon their receiving the Olympics.

In other Olympic news, Sara Coelho-Silva qualified for the women's 200 meter run in Quebec, braving the icy Iqualiut weather, as did Raquel Vargas to qualify for the 100m hurdles, while Amilcar Coelho barely qualified for the Olympics in the 110 meter hurdles. The Astyrian water polo team currently stands at 1-1 in their pool stage, with one close victory and one close loss, with some members of the team hoping to reprise their bronze medal from the Avissian Union.

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RP Courtesy of Costa de Ouro (Avissian Union)

[Kernansquillec]

Double football exit shocks Kernansquillec; but Green Army marches on

Finals day on track
As qualifying tournaments for Olympic Games draw into their closing stages, it was a day of finals in Liventia. All nine Kernansquillecan athletes involved had already qualified and could enjoy the day as a warm up before the serious stuff gets underway. In the men's 200m final, Mariano Blythe impressed with his second place, beaten to the gold token by Sargossa's Roque De Santa who set a new world record time of 19.27 seconds. In the 110m hurdles, Joaquin Cipriano would also be beaten into second place by another Sargossian. Elbert Dragoo secured an automatic qualification spot in the men's 5,000m but had already qualified by virtue of being the fastest Kernansquillecan.

The women's 200m saw the first of two finals that involved two Kernansquillecans. Nu Eck and Leanne Niver weren't able to finish on the podium however, missing out with hundredths of a second. The pairing of Ilse Barsh and Corliss Liang also couldn't finish on the podium of their 400m hurdles final, but will be hoping for a better performance at the Games. Judi Picou and Maude Heinze both finished sixth in their respective 800m and 10,000m finals.

Football nightmares
The worst day of qualifying was to come despite optimistic performances on track. With both the men's and women's football teams playing the final leg of their qualifying games at home, hopes were high that they could secure qualification despite edgy away performances that could only yield draws. However, it was not to be as the young sides cracked under the pressure. The men's team had gone 2-0 in front of a San Llera team that wasn't managing to get its game together in the first half, with Erskine Verity scoring twenty-three minutes into the match before Darren André netted from a free-kick. But in the second half, a freakish long range effort that caught Madoc Pugh off his line gave the San Llera team hope, with just an extra goal enough to secure qualification due to the away goals rule. And with twelve minutes left in the match they scored from a corner. Kernansquillec pushed, but it was too late. The women's team played to next day and must have felt a few nerves following the surprise exit of their male counterparts whom they were very close with due to the national team usually being a mixed affair. And the nerves were there for all to see as the young side seemed to forget how to play. Mapletish were gifted an early penalty following Ophélie Couch's mistimed tackle. Losing on aggregate, but with the away goals advantage just about intact, a goal would have saved the day for the Kers. But as the team once again pushed forward in the closing half-hour, Mapletish broke away in a rare attacking move. Four passes later and the scoreboard read two-nil and had silenced most of the Kernansquillecan fans who were seeing their team exit the Olympic Games before they had even started for the second time in as many days.

First defeat for the women's hockey team
The hockey team may have already qualified, but it was defeat in their final game against Mattijana. A much changed side was unable to keep up with the pace set by their opponants who are still in the mist of a fight for Olympic qualification. Despite a goal from Beulah Walton the Kers lost the game 3-1, but have their ticket for Aeropag in the bag. The top spot in the group is also quite sure thanks to their superior goal difference.

What's up next?
A number of athletics finals remain to be disputed in Liventia, as well as the finals of some preparation tournaments such as in the rugby sevens. But all tournaments are now in their final stages and most of the athletes and teams qualified for the games have been decided.

[West Phoencia]

Title Drop Nearly Caused A Flop

Lady Buffy Gellar, a female athlete participating in the 5000m Athletics has caused a stir post race where she placed 5th in Heat 1 and 6th overall for the 5000m. It enabled her to progress to the Semi's.

However the outrage came when they were announcing the racers to there positions and the Olympic Tower Stadium staff neglected to mention her royal title of "LADY"

"I come from a Monarchist country. I am connected to the Royal Family of West Phoenicia. I have noble blood running through my veins. So it was terribly upset to be introduced without my title both on the scoreboard and over the loud speaker. I am not a commoner. "

Lady Buffy Gellar admitted the slight in not respecting her royal title through her off her match. I was lucky it made me so angry that I used my anger to get me across the line. But that is wrong. I am respecting their customs they need to respect mine going into the Semi's.

[Ferkas]

Stepping onto the World Stage

Ferkas Excels in World Gridiron Debut

Between the Uprights - The Official Magazine of the Ferkian Football League

(Aeropag, Paripana) Something of a surprise is brewing in the Ferkian Olympic delegation. No, it's not the often discussed athletics squad - they continue to do their thing, winning and qualifying for the next rounds. No, it is volleyball or handball or some other nonsense where the teams honestly don't stand a chance.

It's good old football. Gridiron, as it's called on the world stage to avoid confusion with soccer.

Turns out, we are pretty good.

This isn't news to any true Ferkian football fans. The Ferkian Football League (FFL) has improved by leaps and bounds over the last ten years, the level of talent and game-play rising to a level truly fitting for a nation of our size and stature. But it is a surprise for many casual fans, and is likely quite a surprise for the international gridiron community as our boys have already put up an impressive showing in the Olympic qualifying rounds.

It all started on day one, when we were pitted up against Arioslavia in our international debut game. And what a debut it was, a comfortable 25-10 win would start us off in great position in the Group 1. Led by quarterback Grant Herring's two touchdown passes to wide receiver Dwayne Mitchellson the team showed that they were not a force to be taken lightly.

The next game, against San Llera, didn't go quite as well as the first. Struggling throughout with interceptions, dropped passes, and sloppy fundamentals, Ferkas failed to get anything started on offense, recording a lone field goal in the third quarter. Scratch it up to a sophomore slump if you like, but it wasn't all bad. The defense allowed a mere 10 points, coming through on several key third down stands and forcing several turnovers. While the game did underline some worrisome spots in the Ferkian team it highlighted some secret strengths in the defense.

The defense continued to shine in the third game, against the Free Swiss States, holding them to a single touchdown. Meanwhile the offense put together a solid 27 point showing, with Grant Herring recording three touchdown passes to make up for his lackluster performance the week before. By this point, sitting 2-1, advancement out of the group stage became a clear possibility and the real goal for the team. In a group of six, with three teams advancing, it became apparent that the men from Ferkas were well positioned to move on.

Game four was all about the defense, shutting out Mapletish 13-0. While Mapletish did put together a strong drive near the end of the first half, with Ferkas up 3-0, a key diving deflection by Rolland Hayes prevented the long touchdown. A sack by Martin Julliper on the next play knocked Mapletish out of field-goal range and preserved Ferkian momentum going into the half, which the team carried through in its third win of these games. This game locked up an advancing position for the team, ensuring Ferkian fans the opportunity to watch their team compete in the proper Olympics in its first international tournament.

With the defense clearly established as the powerhouse unit of this team, the result of the game against The Sarian wasn't too much of a surprise. Holding The Sarian to a field-goal allowed Ferkas to cruise by in a 20-3 final score. With a record of 4-1 and an impressive +58 point differential, the Ferkian team has really proved that it belongs. Averaging less than a touchdown allowed per game the defense has really set the tone for this team, while consistent play and game management by Grant Herring at quarterback allows the offense to get the job done when they get on the field. Although Ferkas has now only played five games internationally the team, the FFL, and the country are well on their way to establishing a solid reputation in international gridiron circles, assuming they can keep up the progress and manage a deep run in the tournament.

[Hannasea]

Article from Hannasean sports media.

Field hockey team qualify despite consecutive losses

The Hockey Olympic Test Event field in Aeropag was home to the surreal scene of the Hannasean team celebrating a 0-3 defeat, as other results in the group made the loss immaterial and guaranteed them a top-3 finish. They will be remaining in Aeropag to take part in the official Olympic Games, having qualified on the back of their strong early form in the group despite scoring just one goal, by forward Alyssa Hall, in their last two matches, both heavy defeats. Earlier, they had overcome Vettrera 5-2, with captain Nikki Dunn scoring the opening goal before penalty corner specialists Delta Osbore and Mckenzie Willoughby scored twice each to dominate from set-plays. Reflecting on a 2-2 qualifying run, Dunn admitted that once qualifying was all but guaranteed the team had slacked off a little, but promised a return to redoubled efforts in the Games themselves, while singling out the team's penalty corner expertise as the key factor in achieving success on the international stage.

[Fluvique]

FOOTBALL—Men’s

Olympic Foxes

Complete party for Fluvique. At home, in front of a crowd at King George stadium, for the second time in history, secured the ticket for the Aeropag Olympics. The atmosphere at the stadium explains everything. Never before in the history of a under-23 team was sold out. For what was at stake, the history, by the desire that had Kaboomlandia to spoil the party of Fluvique and, in the same combo, take the big prize. For Fluvique, win for at least one goal was the objective, after the 1-2 defeat in the first leg.

And that is why the team went out to play with clenched teeth, firmness on each split ball and pressing. Trying to win the sides, specially in the right, with Bertens. At 7' minutes, in one of his first runs, he advanced by the side, avoiding one defende and pulled a ground level center, impossible to the goalkepeer and easy to Bernard Pullian, who scored the 1-0.

The Fluviquean superiority was more mental than a football capacity. The team won every crossroad, played at full speed bur inevitably they weren't unable to hold that pace throughout the match. In that scenario, with a national side tired, Kaboomlandia took more advantage and started to gain control of the match, leaving the nervousness and bringing danger to the Fluviquean area.

At 35', Teo Calmwater was surpassed, leaving a long gap in defence and, in a move very similar to the Fluviquean goal, a low center to the area's heart was right to a Kaboomlandia player, who scored the 1-1 with a powerfull shot, despite the efforts of Castanginnet, Kedzierski and Van Aalst.

At 10 seconds of the second half, after Fluvique made the kick off, André Villeneuve touched to Nick Auze, the Mevossian passed the ball to Mathieu Barbieri, who assisted Bernard Pullian and left him in front of the goalkeeper. The other Mevosa's player shot a voley, with great accuracy, scoring the 2-1. Encouraged by the crowd, Fluvique pushed his rival, making them defend on their own area. A dozen of centers were threw to the area, without big results.

With the passing of the minutes, the team was more calm, controlling the ball, and showing good moments of football. The Carusso's team understood that the couldn't play with the crowd rhythm and decided to play a football of touchs and quick moves. Hence, the victory came. And the fairly tale was total. Shakir El-Ghazzawy, son of arab immigrants, ran with the ball, avoided the same defender twice and shot the ball directly to the second post, far from the reach of the goalkeeper, to settle the final 3-1 and set free the Fluviquean euphoria.

The final whistle allowed the entire team to enter to the turf, throwing water bottles to the air, shaking towels, flags and joined together in a circle in middle of the pitch. In the most english-speaking province, a song in spanish was used to celebrate the qualification: "Hay que saltar, hay que saltar/ el que no salta, no va a Aeropag". The party was total. The boys deserve it. After an uncounted number of hardships, despite the institutional chaos in the Association, the difficulties to complete the roster, the apathy and belittling of club presidents. Paraphrasing the national anthem, they walked through the enemy corpses to finally reach the big prize and they are solely responsible of this achievement, together with are the coaches, with Ricardo Carusso as head, working with humility and enthusiasm. Values needed in the senior team.

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HOCKEY—

Olympic roar for Lions and Panthers

The Young Lions trod strong in the qualifiers and won the game and the ticket to the Aeropag Olympics, after beating Kaboomlandia 3–2 and continued their winning streak. In the Tristiano Droga Arena, the men's hockey celebrated a new qualification to the Olympics, a new step on their great development, dreaming with reach a medal in Aeropag.

The Fluviquean goals were scored by Ezequiel Noguiera, Césaire Gosselin (by penalty) and Frederik Gladwin, in a match that the tricolors dominated from end to end. And, after winning all their matches, they won the spot to Aeropag. The Lions, led by Stephen Shaw, sill had one match, wishing to finish with the best image possible and travel to the Olympics with a smile.

In the other side, but in the same venue, the women's field hockey team, The Panthers, crushed Electrum by 8-1 and qualified for the Olympics with one match to go. Emiliana De Snaaijer, in three opportunities, Eva Leilah (two goals), Tatiana Kaylin, Marina Capittanni and Delia Makenna scored the goals of the Dan Kusht's team.

After the draw in the last matchday, Fluvique had a date with the illusion and the possibility to earn a place in the Olympics with a victory. And they made history. This time, they destroyed Electrum by 8-1 and reached their deserved place, seeking for a rematch in Aeropag. In the start of the first quarter, Tatiana Kaylin opened the score to put the 1-0 and then, at two minutes to end that period, Delia Makenna scored the second goal. The second quarter was the best of The Panthers in the tournament, scoring four goals: Emiliana De Snaaijer (2'm31s and 14'm04') , Marina Capittanni (5'm19s) and Eva Leilah (8'm40s). The third quarter was for rest and to practice some moves and, in that relax, came the only goal of Eura. However, to finish the game as a party, the best squad was in the field and Emiliana De Snaaijer and Eva Leilah scored again to establish the final 8-1 and the qualification to Aeropag. The flags were waving many minutes prior to the end by a crowded Fluviquean attendance and the stadium exploded at the end, with some tears in the eyes of the players when they hugged each other to celebrate their objective: they are in the Olympics.

The Fluviquean field hockey is, perhaps, at its peak. More and more young players continue appearing and the national league is stronger, with more funds available and a great development program of the Royal Hockey Federation, which is already giving results and the future is even more glowing. The popularity of the sport is even gaining supporters among the men, especially after the Young Lions performances, while The Panthers continue being the most respected team sport in the country, with more positive perception than the football and basketball teams. The reason are many, but the main is the passion of this group of women, which leave their work, studies, friends and family to play for the national side and, besides, they are successful.

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BASKETBALL—Men’s

A step forward to the Olympics

Like against West Angola and North Eurasian Unified Sporting Team, Fluvique finished victorious a tough match after defeat Bulgar Rouge by 63–69 in the fourth matchday in the Group A3 of the Olympic Qualifiers in Aeropag. Thus, the team has 7 points, the same like North Eurasian Unified Sporting Team and Britonisea, with only one match in the schedule, dreaming to be in the Olympics.

It was only in the last half minute when the Fluviquean supporters, yesteday more numerous than in previous days, shouted the "La Fluvique, la Fluvique, allez, allez, allez", because the national side suffered in a match that seemed in the pocket. They were winning 60-47 with only 5' minutes to the end, but in three minutes Bulgar Rouge reduced the gap in five points (57-62). The Carl Sheep's team reopened the distance to seven (58-65), but their rivals didn't lose the footstep and with 33 seconds to the end were again at four points (63-67). But Fluvique saved the match thanks to the possesion and a final double of Severin Kerr, to achieve an extremely important victory.

With two U-22 players, Fluvique overflowed intensity and good defence in the first half, but failed in attack. Allowed only 25 points, but scored a poor 27 in those 24 minutes. They lacked fluidity on offense and Victor Lebeau did not have a very effective shot in the paint. Plus, Bulgar Rouge cut the game between Severin Kerr and the captain.

But at 2m28s of the thir quarter, with the score 32-37, there was a breack. Daniel Villa hit a 3-point shot, something which had been failing, and opened the comeback. Kerr set aside the losses and appared at its best: fast in body and mind, energetic, strong in attack and defense, lucid, courageous. With his speed and his insights scored points or dumped the ball to the perimeter and thus Fluvique swept away Bulgar Rouge. Lebeau scored a 3-point shot, celebrated with euphoria with the bench and, thus, closed that third state, wit ha partial of 28-20 (55-48)

In the last quarter, the festial of Fluviquean basketball led to a 13-point lead that seemed definitive. But Bulgar Rouge reappeared with great efficiency in the shots and the outcome became uncertain. However, Fluvique, with his best formation (Kerr, Bram, Stojan, Villa and Lebeau) did not panic and the fueld was enough to reach the goal.

Is true that for the first time in the tournament Fluvique did not score 70 points, but the balance is magnificent so far and the most important was the victory, the needed triumph to be in qualification zone and dreaming with one more sucess, perhaps the most important, because it could mean the desire ticket to the Olympics.

[Astyrian Olympics Delegation]

Women’s Badminton Doubles
Serreten Olympic Training Facility
Falmouth, Eastern Coast, Serretes
July 19th, 2016

The two young women walked into the weight room timidly. They were after all, the only two female members of the Serreten Olympic Delegation. Neither of them had ever been to a weight room such as this, it wasn’t proper. That was both of their prim families would have said. Yet here they were, standing in the the gem of the Serreten training facility, surrounded by other Olympians and future Olympians. Younger men, mostly still teenagers, leered at the two women. The older, more hardened veteran athletes barely took note. That was equally problematic, as they were too focused on their weights that they did not take notice of their surroundings.

Anna and Brigit came from the same, small village near Langceaster in southern Serretes. Their fathers’, both wealthy merchants of sorts, had decided that privately funding an Olympic venture would greatly increase the exposure of their respective businesses. The government had agreed, on the premise that it was an expedition solely under the condition that the two girls train at Falmouth. They gave no explanation for their demands, but that was usually how the Serreten government did things. Regardless of reasons, both young women found themselves in the Olympic training center, the first two women ever.

Both looked around for some form of cardio. Running through the buggy marsh was hardly appealing and rather dangerous. They saw nothing but rowing machines, and every single one was in use by the crew team. Neither knew anything of free weights and they had no coach, so they left the weightroom to run in the marsh.

Obviously to Serretes. Thanks again to him for giving us good, much needed RP bonus in timely snippets.

[Swibia]

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

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Qualifying Highlights

Athletics — Women's 400m Hurdles Final
1 Allison Cuny (SWI) 53.18

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Volleyball — Men's Indoor
Swibia 27 25 25
Judea 25 15 19
2 Swibia 3 2 1 8 3 2.667 265 217 1.221 7 Q

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Handball — Women's
Swibia 29–27 Britonisea
4 Swibia 3 1 0 2 79 87 −8 2

Welcome to the sxith Swibian Olympics Bulletin for the 11th Summer Olympics.

Matchday 3 of the Men’s Basketball in Paripana, and the team has secured the narrowest of victories over Estogium, with the final result resting at 70-69. This has put the team at the top of Group A1, with 6 points. A similar result on Matchday 4 has meant Swibia has beaten Pederal na Republika ng Pilipinas 75-71, so they retain their place at the top of the group, with 8 points. Additionally, this also means Swibia has already qualified for the Olympics in the Men’s Basketball. Well done to them!

In the first leg of Round 2 of the Women’s Football, in Paripana still, the team drew 1-1 against Ethane in a match they were widely cited as likely to lose. This is a surprise, but a nice one, as they now go on to play the second leg away in Ethane. Unfortunately, as the results came in from Ethane, it became clear it was a loss for the fledgling Swibian Women’s team. The final result was 2-0 to Ethane, so they win 3-1 on aggregate. Swibian Women’s team captain, Kirsty Williams, said it was “a great loss but a great opportunity for the team. We will come back fighting at the next Olympics.”

In Matchday 3 of the Men’s Handball, the team were up against Amnarei-asud, and beat them 32-20. Having won one match and lost one, the team are third in the group, but need to be in the top 2 to have a prospect of progressing further. In Matchday 2 of the Women’s Handball, the team unfortunately lost to Kannap, 24-31, and so has been eliminated from the competition. They will not be in the games. Matchday 4 of the Men’s Handball has yielded a loss for the team, as they came up against Ethane, losing 27-22. They are currently 4th in the group, and will have to fight very hard to get through. As a last ditch, the Women’s team have beaten Britonisea 29-27 in a very exciting match. However, they will still not qualify, with Britonisea and the Licentian Isles qualifying from their group.

In Matchday 3 of the Men’s Hockey, the team beat Vekaiyu 2-0, putting them third in the group, a place that they will have to retain if they want to qualify. In Matchday 3 of the Women’s Hockey, the team drew 1-1 with Kannap, and so they retain their place as a potential qualifier, as they currently sit 2nd in the group. Group leaders the Serbian Empire have already qualified for the games. Matchday 4 of the Men’s Hockey was a 2-2 draw with Orion Islands, which means they remain second in the group, on the same points score as Electrum in second. A similar result in the women’s game, drawing 2-2 against Kaboomlandia, and they also retain their place in the group in second.

In Matchday 3 of the Men’s Indoor Volleyball, the team had a bye day, but they are currently sitting third in the group with 4 points. They will certainly have to win their next match if they want to qualify – they also have to rely on the North Eurasian Unified Sporting Team not winning theirs. In Matchday 2 of the Women’s Indoor Volleyball in Liventia, the team has beaten Pederal na Republika ng Pilipinas in three sets to one. The results were, set-by-set, 25-19, 25-21, 17-25 and 25-13. Swibia are at the top of the group with 6 points. An interesting result from Matchday 3 of the Men’s Indoor Volleyball, as both Swibia and the North Eurasian Unified Sporting Team have won their matches, leaving them as second and first in the group respectively, with both qualifying. Swibia’s match was against former group leader Judea, who lost against Swibia in three sets, 27-25, 25-25, and 25-19. Our congratulations to the team.

Day 5B of the Liventia qualifiers, and we return to the athletics. Just as a note, before we look at the results, we would like to send our congratulations to Roque De Santa (SRG), who, in the Men’s 200m final, has beaten the World/Olympic Record by 0.02, with a time of 19.27. Our congratulations to him. Now, on to the Men’s 5000m final, in which Dallin Plumb has come a resounding fourth, and qualified for the Olympics, with a time of 13:00.50. He was only 0.02 behind Max Chand (KAN), who came third. Our congratulations to Dallin, who has already qualified to compete in the Men’s 10000m.

Another stunning result from the Women’s 400m Hurdles final. Swibian competitor Allison Cuny already qualified for the Olympics in the semi final, but has shocked in the final, winning it with the time of 53.18. This result, undoubtedly, means great things are ahead when the games begin. Finally, we have the result from the Men’s Beach Volleyball, with Elliot Sturgeon/Mitchel Patton losing in a close match against Mikhail Raskolnikov/Frédéric Gallant (QUE). The results were, to Swibia, 21-16, 18-21, and 13-15. The duo are third in the group, and will have to win another match to have a chance of qualifying.

QUALIFIED ALREADY
Luke Crawford – Men’s 3000m Steeplechase
Allison Cuny – Women’s 400m Hurdles
Dallin Plumb – Men’s 5000m, Men’s 10000m
Jaylen Provins/Rudy Ping/Cullen Dobson/Russell Arnall – Men’s 4x100m Relay
Men’s Basketball
Men’s Indoor Volleyball

[CoraSpia]

Voice of Feminism
[u]Vakolicci women prove superiority in football yet again[/b]

In a week in which the Vakolicci mens team have failed to make anything like an impact, humiliating themselves with an embarrassing defeat to an opposition almost everyone considered inferior, their female counterparts put on an amazing display in front of a pact capacity crowd of 105000 at Libertaina parc against the arion islands to book their place in Aeropag. Although our league is a mixed league, many foreign players have never experienced the thrill of playing in front of a large crowd due to a patriarchal mindset making female football less popular both for players and for spectators, and the crowd obviously proved too intimidating to handle.
When the Queen of Celeria led the team out to the raw of the crowd, our Vakolicci girls looked far more confident, despite being a goal down from the first leg. For this reason, they proved dominnent from the start.

Although the defence parted like butter before Sarah Court and Jasella Kokarin's advance, the goal keeper stood strong and the first goal proved elusive until the 65th minute, when Eve Minia came up from central defence to head a fantastic effort inside which proved far too much for the goalkeeper to handle.
Although they would have advanced to the Olympics through the away goals rule, Queen Laura made the fact an academic matter only as she tapped one home at the end of injury time.

The pitch invasion this time was jubelent, rather than the anger and hatred which followed the end of the mens game. The team were surrounded by happy and loving fans, and nobody died. Compare this to the last game, in which over a hundred people died and the team had to be led out by security. I won't say much hear, however it clearly shows something about the difference between the mens and womens games.

[Liventia]

Results from Day 6 of Liventian qualifiers, featuring the last set of actual qualifying results, are now available. Day 7 will see the tournament finals for rugby sevens and indoor volleyball; all remaining teams in those events have already qualified.

[Tobiasia]

Tobiasia did not perform spectacularly at the Liventia Athletics meet, only winning one bronze medal, but have some strong athletes in the Olympic Games that maybe will exceed expectations and win gold!

David Canon
-800m run
-1500m run
-David Canon was at his finest as he stormed to qualify for two events! He may not be the fastest at the Olympics, but he is certainly good enough to cause an upset!

David Simons
-400m hurdles
-110m hurdles
-David Simons has often been described as a gift to Tobiasian sport. He has been winning competitions all his life, and now, he goes into the Olympic Games as a serious contender.

Bobby Jones
-400m run
-Bobby Jones, fastest man in Tobiasia, missed out in the 100m, but came back and qualified for the 400m with a brilliant run.

Women's 4X400 team
-4X400relay
-The women's team may not have had much luck in the athletics competition, with Lucy Eagle just losing out, as well as the Pigeon family, but these four women sped down the track many times to qualify for the Olympic Games.

[Wray]

Stanford blasts qualifiers amongst injury furore

~AEROPAG, PSC Wray's athletics delegation at the Olympic Qualifying Event in Aeropag was thrown into chaos this afternoon after star hurdler, Maree Stanford, crashed out of her 100m Hurdles final after stumbling and straining her hamstring.

The extent of the injury is not yet known, although Chief Physio Genevieve Andrews said it will be 'touch and go' whether Stanford is fully fit for the Games themselves, which she qualified for by virtue of making said final. Stanford was escorted from the track by two members of Wray physio staff and helped down the tunnel at the Olympic Tower Stadium, where our man on the ground, Daniel Scott, was close enough to Stanford, to overhear her say '[it's] because of these f***ing qualifiers' - presumably indicating that the introduction of qualifiers had placed extra strain on her body and potentially caused her injury.

Stanford was one of Wray's prime prospects, currently Wray's number one ranked female hurdler and Olympic quarter-finalist in Centralis at the X Olympic Games, and had come through qualifying with relative ease until the final. It is clear that Stanford was somewhat disappointed that she had picked up a potentially season-ending injury in a qualifying event, which has been introduced for the first time this year. She has not been the first person in the sporting world to voice their displeasure at the qualifying process - Chief Executive of the Wray Athletic Federation David Seeker said that the extra competition was 'less than ideal' and admitted it would put 'added stress on athletes' which was 'avoidable'.

Of course, it is not 100% clear whether Stanford was inferring directly that the added stress of the qualifiers had caused her injury, although the three added races will invariably put stress on already busy athletes. Some questioned the logic of qualifiers so close to the Olympics - just two months - which opens up the potential for athletes to get injured, like Stanford has suffered. Subsequently athletes might miss the Olympics when in other years, there would be no such case. WAF normally has a 2-month 'Rest Period' before the Olympics, whereby athletes are not permitted to compete in organised competition to ensure their fitness for the Games. As a result of the introduction the qualifiers, Wray has had to shorten this period to just 1 month, putting more athletes at risk - Stanford being an unfortunate example. It was a logical risk with qualifiers, that injuries could occur, but the logistical benefits had been argued ad infinitum, and the IOC has committed to the idea.

Elsewhere in Aeropag, Wray has had moderate success with it's athletes: Mitch Lorrenberg qualified for the Olympics by qualifying for the final of the Men's 110m hurdles, finishing third in his semi-final and qualifying as a fastest loser. He then finished third in the final, earning himself a bronze token and good form before the Olympics. In the Women's 200m, there was a surprise as Amelia-Jane Havermann, Wray's number 1 sprinter missed out the Olympics, whereas number 3, Skye Hurley, qualified as the 13th fastest runner. S-J Barrett, who had already secured qualification to the Olympics, continued her good form by finishing third in the 400m final in a time of 49.70. The teenager will indubitably be thrilled with her success - it's a great feat for the Collegiate champion. Alyssa Kirsova qualified for the Women's 800m at the Olympics by finishing as a fastest loser in her semi-final - Kirsova said she 'could definitely do better' but was 'pleased to qualify'. Melanie Brady qualified for the final of the 5000m, although she will have to improve her time if she is to qualify for the Games proper.

Wray's Women's Football team qualified for Aeropag, despite a 1-0 loss away at Benjamin Mark - their 3-0 first leg advantage carried Holly White's team through to the Games proper. Wray's men's hockey team secured qualification, despite a 2nd string side suffering a heavy 5-1 defeat to Greater Vakolicci Haven. The Women recorded a dominant 7-2 victory over Taeshan, but have not as yet secured qualification. The men's rugby sevens team qualified after a 29-12 victory over Valanora. Marcus Wood and Kieran Hassett qualified for the Men's Beach Volleyball by beating Sal Peralta and Pietro Carazzo, but the two women's pairing of Sienna De Groet and Elizabeth Farran-Ridge and Olivia Boorman and Casey Oswaren will have to wait for the last matchday for their qualification.

Previously, January Williams qualified for the Women's 3000m Steeplechase by finishing 4th in the final, and Leah Marou qualified for the Women's 1,500m by securing a 7th place finish in that final.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Quantum : A look at the Escrimeurs in Transition

Alexis Viau-Gaucher

The state of art Gilchrist-Hong Fencing Centre, located in heart of the Mount Ester University, is not a building particularly noticeable on the Mount Ester University's historic campus. Located near the student life centre, it is part of the 8-building athletics complex, home of the university's celebrated Lancers varsity teams and clubs, as well as recreational and training facilities for all those in the university community. Yet this building has perhaps a very important mission attached to it over the next few month, with probably the most significant offseason task to be achieved within the athletics complex. Gilchrist-Hong Fencing Centre, the home of Quantum this May to July, is responsible for the final stage of training ahead of the Quebecois National Fencing Team's youngsters at its open, dim-lighted realms - and many would also argue that this building is where some of the last olympic's top stars came and possibly this olympics will come up.

Quantum was a new project, and a brainchild of Michelle Ahn, the gold medal winner in last Olympics with Diana Kochinova, Isabelle Park and Jennifer Maeng. "I started coaching 20 years ago, age of 19 in summers in Univ. de Gaspe's Youth Fencing Development Program under my dad. Growing up under a dad whose focus in coaching remained unparalleled, I remember aspiring to be a motivator and coach like him when growing up. And then I ended up, after graduation, to pursue fencing as a career and that's what I did. Being in the all levels national team since 15 I've never had problems and was able to fit in with a well-built, highly-competitive group of players after another every year."

But then the realisation and rediscovery came after the 35-year old won the olympics gold medal in Women's Team Sabre, under the lights of Nassau Bay. "After winning the gold medal with the girls, I remember my father (who was present as men's foil team coach) congratulating me and then asking me about what to do after. It was then that I knew it's the best time to hang up the blades, to walk away while on top." Ahn noted that the Quebecois National Fencing Team, while walking away with 4 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze, was a very aging one with 4 of the anchors (Ryan Brule-Barre, Pierre-Luc Gibson, Marcel Cody-Yi and Michelle Ahn herself) heading off to the sunset. "I think the very next moment, I remember looking at the team photo and realised that half of the national team would retire or most likely hit their decline right after the olympics. Then it hit me that the immediate transition process was imminent with the national team. We had to build a brand new development system for younger fencers from junior level and of course first few years of senior level."

So she set up Quantum. With the focus set on retooling and rebuilding the national team, the project would keep focus on train current national team level fencers, with specialised offseason training for the fencer's weapon (Epee, Foil or Sabre). While this is largely a senior level project with focus on younger fencers (older fencers already knowing what to do and whatnot), those in junior or even cadet (especially if seen with extraordinary talent) are often invited to attend high-performance camps, lasting 2-4 months, to stay and train with the national team in offseason. This comes in addition to the usual national team level training and competitions under the Federation du Commonwealth Quebecois d'Escrime (FCQE) schedule, meaning that the national team fencers and prospects would receive full-year, high-performance training and competitive exposure at the same time. "This is to provide additional balance in the current national team schedule with further high-performance training for the current and prospective national team fencers, giving them a clear sense of where they are and what they need to improve, on top of training with their own clubs back home." said Ahn.

At first it was very challenging to start the project off the ground. "Like usual with offseason training, we had to remember that a lot of these athletes here have their own coaches and clubs whose style would be lot more different than the coaches under national team staff," admitted Ahn. "So ultimately we had to cooperate with them on how to train their student and try to bring them to our sessions in Quantum Project to help and establish networking." The policy of rotating venues every year was certainly a good measure to give the team exposure to different coaches and prospective fencers, the latter of which are often invited by the merit and/or potential by the RQFF. Through this the program is able to provide neutrality and also discover promising national team players, with the products slowly coming along today in the current national team : Fabien Grumier, Irina Scherban, Erin Kaiser-Kauter and Guillaume Polossifakis, as most notable examples. "With the rotation system, as well as the exposure to different coaching styles we've been able to get a better sense in senior level for some of the fencers back when they're in cadet or jr level, and that certainly helped us in long run." The results immediately showed, as the Quebecois National Team showed decent progress in what was a successful Commonwealth Games 2 years ago, with the new stars in Leanne Tokarski, Gweon Joon Yi and Irina Scherban winning golds in their respective events to complete a 6 gold, 3 silver medal journey for the team.

To see how the Quantum has been a success in bringing up the latest prospects, we've decided to visit the building and spend a day with Libby Dunnan, 20-year old Sabreuse who's been part of the project since the initial days as a 16-year old from Val d'Or. One of the more touted prospects in the art of fencing, she's been steadily developing as the next bluechip sabreuse following the lead of Olympic gold-medalists Park and Scherban. The average day, with changes none-standing, is a mix of practices and studies : the day begins with early morning training, followed by alternation between instruction periods and training sessions before settling for the day in 20:00. At Dunnan's 10:00 a.m. strategies session, Quantum coach Lane Ward, legendary sabreuse herself who has been coaching as a tactical assistant for sabre the last 2 years, is using the video recordings of Nationals held last week to explain things to improve on and how to fix some of the mistakes earlier. Ward says that tactics are absolutely important when it comes to fencing: "With fencing, adjusting your tactics on every match is important because the opponent, as you get into more advanced level, he or she is more or less going to be at your level. By knowing the pros and cons of your own style and performance, as well as that of recent ones by your opponent, you will be lot more prepared and ready in advance. For sure having tactics and right set of mind is as important, if not more, than having best skills out there."

After all the time spent on the Quantum camp, from morning to night, I felt very much in confidence that the national team was on track to surprise people by landing the results lot better than what most, including the insiders themselves, would expect. Despite all the successes of Quantum so far, however, Michelle Ahn is not that positive about the outlooks of the national team yet. "Replacing a generation of very strong fencers isn't easy, and we'll have to keep on working with our transition. While I'm really happy that our national team fencers, especially the younger ones who have been working with us on Quantum, are doing well in commonwealth stage, there is still a lot to do when facing against scary foreign competition in olympics. I would say we will fall short of replicating anything that good of results back in last olympics at Nassau Bay." But Ahn says that the she's really happy that the national team is progressing really well. "But from what we've seen so far, I see great potential in the fencers to break through the last summer olympics in around 4 to 6 years time. As long as we continue working on our development of younger fencers, by the time we reach the next olympics we'll see a very good group of fencers looking to reach unprecedented territories in history."