“Good evening, Neu Engollon…”
“And also to our International viewers, hello and welcome! You’re watching a NETV 7 Sports Special Broadcast. I’m Magda Wertauer here with my co-host, Karl Demais.”
“That’s right. We’re coming to you live, in what will probably be one of our last couple broadcasts here in Aeropag, Paripana for the 11th Summer Olympics as we close in on the final day and the Closing Ceremonies.”
“There’s a lot to cover, and also a bit of recap as we have some folks that aren’t able to tune in for all the live coverage due to the time differential. It has been an incredible stretch for the Astyrian Unified Delegation. We couldn’t be more proud as the medals did start coming in, but aside from that glory, also just as much for the stories of struggle and adversity, persistence and fortitude in the face of certain defeat that have emanated from athletes from around Astyria, nations big and small…”
“That’s right, Magda. We do have good news for the Confederacy, with our first medal of the games going to none other than notorious tennis bad boy, Paul Quiront. Paul earned a bronze after his 2 set sweep of Forrest Cowser of Swibia.”
“Karl, it is quite shocking that Quiront was able to keep restrained in his criticism of...well, everyone. He’s well known for lashing out at officials, opponents, teammates, even ball fetchers with his vitriol.”
“Magda, I think our colleagues from Courtside Central, Dom and Lizbet, would agree with you. Quiront is certainly known throughout not only Neu Engollon, but the tennis world in general for his antics. Lately, he’s been the most extremely vocal about the Ministry of Athletics decision to pull the NETC (Neu Engollon Tennis Commitee) from International competition.”
“He’s not the only one, as many of his teammates are also frustrated about the controversial decision that has really put a damper on many Neu Engollian tennis players’ careers.”
“Despite that, they’ve all done fairly well in these Olympics. Speaking of tennis medals, Quiront was not the last Neu Engollian to receive one. Silvers went to mixed doubles team Mattias Doerwald and Felice Mareaux who lost out on gold to rivals Sjinkal Muubab and Turoala Muubab of the Vilitian Union. Noticeably missing was Marla Gerard, who holds the NSTT 3rd place ranking in the world for female tennis players. Many thought she’d be able to do better, but her opponents were just too tough in this first Olympics for the NETC.”
“We’ve seen some other Neu Engollians do very well. In the non-medal demonstration Pentathlon events, Arnaud Betancourt hung in there against some tough competitors to win third place, tying with Gibril Sambrosa of the Greater Valkolicci Haven. First place went to another Astyrian, however, Eirikur Leifsson of the Yellow Star Republic. In the women’s version, our own Chiara Matero would take second, with Hera Feal of Zillmerelic taking the top slot.”
“The Yellowsians have done incredibly well, both here and the just previous Winter Olympics that were hosted in Electrum. It’s quite the story of how both them and Glisandia, the nation they were in bitter conflict with just a short couple years ago, have bounced back from the ravages of the Northern Lorecian War to put forth well trained athletes despite a lack of training facilities and safe areas in which to perfect their craft.”
“Karl, not only that, but Glisandia is
still going through their civil war, which was born out of the International conflict of the Northern Lorecian War, when the resistance to the Yellowsian invasion fractured into the Royals and fanatical Evangelical Christian group, the GGA.”
“Yes, I think it may be a bit beyond this program to get into how much depravity and terror the people of Glisandia have had to endure due to the extremists who continue to wantonly kill civilians and government officials alike, but suffice to say it’s nothing short of miraculous that they can get organized enough to get athletes out to compete in the multiverse. Compete and win, in the case of Dagmara Billsdottir, who took the gold in women’s weightlifting in the over 75 kg class.”
“In both cases, I think it can be attributed to the generosity of many other Astyrian nations who were willing to make their training facilities available. Even with the YSR athletes, it was the Blackhelm Confederacy and some other Eastern Astyrian states that were willing to step up and host them for training, when many other nations balked at having anything to do with the former aggressor nation. Where better for Hrafntinna Einirsdottir to hone her Greco Roman wrestling skills before she went on to take the gold in her 75kg class than Paradise City, Blackhelm Confederacy?”
“Not to mention her teammate, Lilja Sveinmarsdottir, taking the bronze in the 48 kg class. The Yellowsian women wrestlers have done very well. Also in weightlifting, we saw Larus Heimirssen of the YSR grab a silver medal in the 85 kg class for that event. It is indeed a huge demonstration of adversity to see what they’ve accomplished and how far they had to go to get there, Magda. So, continuing on, we saw Rombergian Maksim Gunnarsson win a bronze in Men’s 50 meter rifle shooting, with three positions. They also did fairly well in the equestrian events.”
“Yes, Konstantin Mikhailov took the gold in Individual Equestrian, with fellow Rombergian Milena Freiin von Tserdynov coming in 6th in the final heat. In the Dressage, Niklas Freiherr von Vyshovsky took the bronze.”
“We saw the Astyrian women’s team take the gold in team pursuit cycling. It was quite a proud moment and I think what is really proof of the unity within the region to see these ladies on the podium. An Avissian, Zitran, Gaul and Glisandian all up there to represent us and bring home those medals...they were all crying and hugging each other and it was something to see.”
“Yes it was. Likewise, the barely represented nation of Vizion is making up for that by barrelling on strong through Group A in baseball. They have a good shot to take one of the top three spots as that demo event rolls towards the finals.
“There are several other medals earned over the last few days by Astyrians, as well as some missed opportunities that we’d like to get to, such as the Astyrian men's rugby team only making it to 5th place and the Neu Engollian women's rugby only getting 13th after their incredible qualifying matches. We will get to that, but I’d like to close out with these words before the sponsor break…
When we started on this venture, when the first plans for a Unified Delegation were announced, as a region, hopes were just that we could grab a handful of medals. Most of those were predicted to go to the Avissians, who are the only athletes in the delegation that I’m aware of that have any previous Olympic experience. Now, as we close in on the last days, you can see that not only the Avissians, but several other Astyrians were top competitors in their events. When collectively assembled, the Astyrian Unified Delegation’s medal total is 29, that is second only to Electrum with 35, the previously mentioned host of this past Winter Olympics and a sports powerhouse. That’s above the current host Paripanans, and dozens of other Esportivan, Rushmori, Atlantean Oceanic and other notable athletically focused nations. Astyria has proven again that we are a sporting region not to be ignored or made out to be a small deal. The climb to greater Olympic glory can only continue from here in the years to come. I think I can speak for the region...Well done, Astyrians, you make us all very proud.”
“Well said, Karl. Stay tuned to NETV Sports 7 Special coverage of the Summer Olympics. We’ll be right back after these messages…”