Games of the X Olympiad - RP thread

[Electrum and New Gelderland]

Games of the X Olympiad
hosted by
Centralis, Electrum and Nassau Bay, New Gelderland

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Results and schedule thread
Problems thread
Roster/Information thread
OOC thread
Host bid

List of delegations and rosters, if applicable

Acronius (ACR)                                 Krytenia (KRY)
Alphatheta (APT)                               Liventia (LEN)
The Archregimancy (ARC)                        Lymantatia (LYM)
Aristian Republic (ARS)                        Mattijana (MTJ)
Asteran (AST)                                  Muriburiland (MBL)
Avissian Union (AVU)                           Natanian and Nosts (NTN)
Banguela (BNG)                                 New Gelderland (NGL)
Banija (BNJ)                                   Noksentin (NOK)
Barunia (BAU)                                  Nova Anglicana (NOV)
Benjamin Mark (BNM)                            Oisinistan (OIS)
Britonisea (BRI)                               Paripana Sporting Council (PSC)
Cosumar (COS)                                  Quebec (QUE)
Drawkland (DRK)                                San Jose Guayabal (SJG)
Eastfield Lodge (EFL)                          San Llera (SAN)
Eirelia (EIR)                                  Santaclausisgodistan (SCG)
Elejamie (EJM)                                 Schottia (SCH)
Electrum (ETM)                                 Semarland (SEM)
Electrum Diplomatic Offices (EDO)              The Serbian Empire (SRB)
Estelar (EST)                                  Shytysle (SHY)
Ethane (ETN)                                   Super-Llamaland (SLL)
Eura (EUR)                                     Swibia (SWI)
Ferret Civilization (FCF)                      The Sword Bloke (TSB)
Ficiscia (FIC)                                 Taeshan (TAE)
Fluvique (FLU)                                 The United Kingdoms of Zackalantis (UKZ)
Frenline Delpha (FND)                          Urain (URN)
The Greater Vakolicci Haven (VKL)              Valanora (VAL)
Gregoryisgodistan (GGS)                        Vaugania (VAU)
Izmedu (IZM)                                   Vekaiyu (VEK)
Kaboomlandia (KBM)                             Welcomzia (WEL)
Kaboomlandian Foreign Territory (KFT)          Wray (WRY)
Kannapian National Delegation (KAN)            Youhavenorightsistan (YNR)
Kelssek (KSK)                                  Zillmerilic (ZMC)
Kriegiersien (KGS)

Cut-off times and other explanations
New Gelderland will be the one cutting off, at around 2100 GMT each day. Each nation will consider RPs between NG’s cutoffs (to ensure consistency), and will mark each RP independently (Electrum results will come a few hours after New Gelderland's). The only exception to that is the first day of competition (Day 1) where Electrum will cut off. Please note that RPs posted after New Gelderland's cutoff will most likely NOT be tabulated (as I cut off only as I finish grading RPs - when I cut off I'm almost always into the scorination process and won't see your RP until after I've posted scores for the day).

In the scenario where one host is unable to scorinate a particular day, then the day will be split into two ICly. For example, if Electrum was unable to scorinate in Day 5, then NG would scorinate their side of the day as usual, and on the next available day (the old Day 6), only Electrum would scorinate to ensure the days are synchronised. The 'RP cutoff' would be extended for another 24 hours (so Day 5 becomes 48 hours long). Both nations would send scorination files in a common place both before and after the scorination, so that one host can take over in emergency situations. If New Gelderland had a sudden emergency where Electrum had to host both sides, then on one day Electrum would score the Electrum half, then on the next day, Electrum would score the New Gelderland half. If there is time, then a nation can scorinate both sides of the draw.

Day 0 Cutoff, Opening Ceremony to be posted straight after
Day 1 Cutoff (Only events in Electrum held, rest day for athletes travelling back from Centralis to Nassau Bay)
Day 2 Cutoff (Events start in New Gelderland, 20 hours after the Day 1 Cutoff)
From Day 2 onwards, the cutoffs will be roughly every 24 hours, New Gelderland cuts off

[Electrum and New Gelderland]

Nassau Bay
While not the political capital of New Gelderland, Nassau Bay is most definitely the country's economic, cultural, and sporting capital. Most of the country's premier institutions call this vibrant and cosmopolitan city of three million their home, including the country's main stock exchange, most of New Gelderland's major financial companies, and many premier cultural institutions, such as the ballet company, symphonic orchestra, choir, and theater. Nassau Bay also serves as a culinary hub, drawing on its roots as an agricultural terminus where products would be shipped from the fertile interior to other nations in Rushmore for sale, and is at the forefront of modern cuisine.

Geographically, the city centers itself around the Talos River and its mouth in the Terranean Sea and Nassau Bay itself. A historic waterfront lines the shores of the bay, while the Cultural District spans the south bank of the river. Along the north banks, the Royal Quay District hosts Nassau Bay's financial institutions. Suburban homes radiate out to the north, south, and west of the city's core. The Olympic Park is located to the north of the waterfront in the neighborhood of Westmore Bluff, until recently lightly developed (now, it is a hub of suburban development). To the south of the core, working-class areas reflect a history of immigration; industrial sectors and the port also are situated to the south of the Talos. In the bay itself, Bay Island boasts an excellent park and castle.

At this time of year, the climate of Nassau Bay is similar to that of Electrum. However, it may be a little bit more extreme due to its more southerly location. In all, though, Nassau Bay's climate should be mild and temperate, pleasing for visitors and athletes alike. While nobody can predict the weather accurately over a 3-week period, rain storms should be sparse for the duration of the event. Most of the city will be blanketed by the colors of fall as many of the city's trees turn their colors into beautiful hues before the coming of winter.

Nassau Bay was founded in the mid-1600s as a colonial experiment by a group of English-speaking Endemian settlers, who were attracted by the excellent natural harbor as well as the proximity to the Talos River, which helped to facilitate transportation of agricultural products down river. The area gained importance as a trading port as a more global and interconnected economy emerged throughout the 1700s and 1800s; Nassau Bay also led New Gelderland's industrialization efforts.

New Gelderland
New Gelderland was first discovered by a group of Dutch-speaking Endemian settlers led by Johan van Dercke in 1604; this group named their new discovery after their homeland of Gelderland. They established a colony near present-day Arrowhead Point. However, that colonial experiment proved short lived as a group of English-speaking settlers also fell in love with the area, and, due to their military superiority, pushed this first group out into other pastures. This group of colonists then moved on to found the city of New Amsterdam, which still exists today. Meanwhile, the English-speaking group expanded their hold over the country, establishing the cities of Nassau Bay (named after their King, of the Orange-Nassau dynasty), Arrowhead Point, and Queenstown. This group of colonists continued to expand into the interior of New Gelderland, eventually occupying around 50% of the modern-day New Gelderland, centering around the Talos River.

Around the late 1700s, another group of colonists arrived in modern-day New Gelderland from the northern border with Electrum. This group, fed up with the lack of opportunities in their area of Electrum, followed the Great Rushmori River into New Gelderland, establishing their colony centered around the confluence of the Great Rushmori and Rogue Rivers, modern-day Electrum. Yet a third group of colonists, from Austroslovakia, founded their own colony in the east of New Gelderland, seeking wealth in the fertile lands of this area. They did establish colonies along the Great Rushmori River, sometimes intermixing with the Electrumites. This group also expanded southward and colonized the eastern reaches of the Talos River. Modern legacies of this group's colonization include the cities of Vaduz and Noviodunum.

By the early 1800s and the Industrial Revolution, most of New Gelderland's present territory had been colonized. However, tensions began to rise between the German-speaking settlers of the east and the English-speaking settlers of the West. The two parties fought few brief skirmishes in contested areas along the Talos River, but they agreed to come to the negotiating table before these skirmishes erupted in wider bloodshed. At the Conference of Lexington, brokered with the help of the neutral Electrumites, the parties agreed to form the modern New Gelderland, with Lexington as the capital (as it was centrally located and hosted interests of both parties). Over time, the country industrialized rapidly and began to diversify from its agricultural roots. Today, New Gelderland is one of the most prosperous economies in Terranea in per-capita income, with its 15 million citizens enjoying a very high standard of living.

Practical Concerns
New Gelderland generally prides itself on its liberal laws on most subjects, including legal marijuana (see the modern Dutch policy). It takes a less strict approach in guns than its northern neighbor, but guns are still highly regulated. Travel and hotel arrangements are similar to those of Electrum (see below in the Electrum IC section).

The currency of New Gelderland is the guilder, at a conversion rate of around 1000 guilders to the USD and 1500 guilders to the Synergy. Most vendors around the vendor will take all three currencies, and most vendors in New Gelderland will take the Guilder and USD. For those with Synergies wishing to convert into Guilders (and vice versa), currency exchange vendors will be located throughout the Games zones as well as in Airports and Train Stations

[Electrum and New Gelderland]

Centralis, Electrum Information

Centralis

Centralis is the capital city of Electrum, and located smack bang in the middle of Electrum. It is located on Bittern Bay on flatlands. It is the major cultural, sporting and food capital of Electrum, with various institutions calling Centralis their home, including the Electrum Symphonic Orchestra, various art galleries, and so forth. The population of Centralis numbers at eight million, most of them living in the vast suburbia to the west, with only now new development starting in the east. Some of that new development is the revitalisation of the Centralis Sporting Precinct, the Eastern Zone being created from reclaimed industrial land -- now housing the Olympic Stadium, Athletes' Village and Media Centre.

Centralis was founded by a group of settlers who fled their respective nations after civil war broke loose. Although it's unknown which nation they came from, as it happened so long ago, Centralis was the first colony to be set up in what was to be known as Electrum. The settlers would then go on from Centralis to form other colonies and settlements, including ones at Hamilton and Prescott. It is in this way that Centralis lies in the middle of Electrumite history as well as geography.

At this time of year, the climate of Centralis is temperate, with cool mornings, coming to mild afternoons. Only light showers are expected during these Olympics. To travel from Centralis to Nassau Bay, there are flights by AirElectrum or Ceniana from Centralis International Airport to Nassau Bay Airport, taking one hour 20 minutes. Also, there is a high-speed rail line which connects Centralis to Nassau Bay, taking only three hours to traverse the entire distance of 750km. The special Olympic rail service calls at Lazarus St Station (Terminus), Newberry (Connects with services to other Electrum cities to the north and west of Centralis, as well as Eura), Burnton, Lysterfield (Connects with Prescott services), down south to Garland (halfway between Burnton and Fairleigh), Warburton (just north of Fairleigh), Fairleigh, Geldectrum (Border town in New Gelderland), Nassau Bay. Connecting with other cities can be done by rail or by AirElectrum flights.

Electrum
See iiwiki article

The currency is the Synergy, a card based currency which is entirely digitalised. For those seeking to use the normal paper money, Universal Standard Dollars could be used instead, but it is recommended to get these cards which is very easily stolen but also very convenient to use. The central computing system that handles the Synergy is managed by the Reserve Bank of Electrum, the national bank of Electrum.

In general, the laws of Electrum are generally relaxed, with restrictions on the most serious of crimes as well as bans on smoking in certain areas and banning of 'hard' drugs only. Electrum is also an anti-gun nation so all guns will need to be given up at the border -- lest they face criminal imprisonment in Electrum, but special exemptions apply for these Olympics. Nations will fly into Electrum by AirElectrum planes to Centralis International Airport. All those holding New Gelderland passports, Olympic ticketholders, Rushmori passport holders can get expedited Visa clearance at Centralis International. Flights between New Gelderland and Electrum are treated as domestic flights for the duration of these Olympics.

Accommodation will be provided free of charge at the Athletes' Village with buses and high security staff shuttling people to and from their venues. All of the facilities are new and are in close proximity to the village. Staff will be on call 24 hours a day to cater to whatever your delegation wants. Dignitaries, official staff, umpires, etc. can choose to stay in the Athletes' Village or stay in the Orion International Hotel in the Centralis CBD, a five star hotel booked for the exclusive use of the Olympics for the duration of these Games.

All athletes and accredited staff will have reduced fares on the trains service between New Gelderland and Electrum. Fares will be free for accredited staff/athletes who are travelling from Centralis to Nassau Bay after the opening ceremony, and just before the closing ceremony. Travel between all other times will be with the reduced fare prices. Finally, these staff/athletes will have their own exclusive carriages on the high-speed high-capacity trains. They are scheduled to leave every five minutes during peak periods, with a maximum wait of thirty minutes at night.

Venues

Around Electrum
Soccer Venues
Agri, Auras, Burnton, Fairleigh, Hamilton, Port Grenville, Prescott, Somer
Centralis - Centralis Arena, and Olympic Stadium, capacity 100,000
Lexington and Nassau Bay
Road Cycling
All races start at Fairleigh. They either end up at Geldectrum (Border town on the New Gelderland side), for the Time Trial, or Nassau Bay itself (Road Race)

Suburban Centralis Venues
National Electrum University and Centralis University (Centralis A and B in the linked post), both universities have multiple courts - Basketball
Marise Symons Velodrome - Track Cycling, capacity 10,500
Portsmouth - Sailing
Newton Beach - Beach Volleyball, capacity 8,000

Inner-city Centralis Venues
Centralis Exhibition and Convention Centre - Boxing, Judo, Taekwondo, Weightlifting and Wrestling, capacity 9,000 per hall (sport)
Centralis Town Hall - Table Tennis, capacity 8,000
Olympic Stadium (shown above) - Opening Ceremony, Soccer
Centralis Tennis Park (individual courts) - Tennis, capacity varies
Centralis Sporting and Aquatics Centre - Aquatics (Diving, Swimming, Water Polo), capacity 16,000 and Badminton, capacity 5,000
Multi-purpose Venue - Indoor Volleyball, capacity 10,000
Centralis Arena (shown above) - Soccer

[Britonisea]

BVC News
Broadcasting the X Olympic Games to Britonisea in high Definition. Never Miss a Moment.

"Now to move on to Sports with Jerry Simone. Jerry, please tell me about Sports!"

Jerry Simone: Hello everybody, I am Jerry Simone and I am the Leading Sports Correspondent. First on the news is Britonish Bidding attempts. In the past few weeks, Britonisea has decided to bid to host the World Lacrosse Championships, the World Basketball Championships and has thought of bidding for the 2nd World Tour Finals, however this plan has been scrapped due to the amount of money wasted on failed attempts at bidding. The results from voting were outstanding showing Britonisea can't sympathise with voters in these contests. Other nations who won including a nation with a lot of hosting experience and one including no hosting experience at all, yet both managed to win, with a large margin. The Sports Minister for the Region of the UCR, Lukas Brito, states that bidding to host major, international, tournaments will be scrapped and aiming to do well in each of these tournaments will be what we're aiming for. It is expected Britonisea will be given funding for the best training so that we can win these tournaments. One of the funding went to the Olympic Committee. The Olympics starts in a few days and Britonisea's hopes are high though have been tested by a few average sportsmen and women. Britonisea has sent the second biggest delegation for a long time, 547 entries, around 610 Britonish Athletes will pack in to the stadium in Electrum ahead of the Opening Ceremony. We join Celina in Electrum who will give us the gossip of the Britonish Delegation. Celina?

Celina Veronica: Hello and Welcome to the Games of the X Olympiad. Though it's not started yet, you can see that Centralis is already packed filled with people getting ready for the Olympic Ceremony in a couple of Days. Britonisea, as you've said, is sending an entry of 547, which is the second biggest entry of the Olympics. Britonisea's delegation is also 69 entries larger than that of Electrum's entries and a lot more bigger than a lot of debut nations. Filling in at top place is the nation of Welcomzia with a large 570 delegation. Britonisea's medal hopes are quite high because if we go back to the First Multiverse Games, we won six gold medals, four silver medals and a great 10 bronze medals. That comes up with a total of 20 medals which for a delegation of 180, is quite good. However, now, our delegation is much better and much more improved and we seek to win a great place on the final medal tally.

Jerry Simone: Okay, well, can you tell me anything about the Opening Ceremony? I heard that a Britonish Person will be singing in the Ceremony, or is that just a farce?

Celina Veronica: Well, it is no lie as it has been announced that singer, Mya Richardson is set to perform in the "biggest Opening Ceremony ever" Mya Richardson has tweeted how she was excited to perform in such a wonderful nation such as Electrum and is looking forward to release one of her new singles. There has been a bit doubts on what song she is singing because some people think that she will be singing, "Return" one of the most popular WV Songs in Britonisea, or she could be singing her award winning song "I cry" how there are bets on the song "Resplendency" as she tweeted to be singing a very "Upbeat song" which will turn the ceremony in to a "Party" as if it wasn't already one. Resplendency hasn't been released or played live before so if it was to be played live, an exclusive of the song, it could be quite risky as exclusives are usually like marmite, you either love it or hate it. As the song hasn't been officially released yet (Though is available on her website http://www.myarichardson.aben or http://www.myarichardsonVEVO.com), here is the chorus of the song on your screen alongside the sound.

Resplendency will run through my blood,
My mind is set on the shining gold,
I have set my limits to my highest goal,
And if you don't think I'll make it...
You better run back home!

Now this song hasn't yet been approved by Electrum for the Opening Ceremony, and this could change however, the message of the song is quite fitting for such a competition. I think that having this song in the contest would be a great thing for Mya who is currently on board an AirElectrum plane going to the Olympic Stadium there for her "Practise Opening Ceremony" and all of that. So hopefully, someone can tell us the song fro Mya Richardson. Who is actually an iStudio Artist as of a month ago.#

Jerry Simone: Moving on from the Opening Ceremony though staying on the topic of the Olympic Games, we are now going to speak to the head of BRIOC live in the studio is Juke Deans. So Juke, do you think that Britonisea will do well in this Olympics?

Juke Deans: Hello there and thanks for allowing me on to your news channel. Do I think we will do well in the Olympics? I think that we would do quite well. There is a bit of friction on how well we will do because Britonisea sent the third or second largest delegation in the Mutltiverse Games in Electrum though only came tenth. Some critics think that that is going to be the case here in both New Gelderland and Electrum. What we have to remember here is that sports like Tennis and Athletics are present in this Olympics which means we could do well as the two sports have history of Britonisea doing relatively well in them.

Jerry Simone: Right okay, according to our sources, New Gelderland are hosting a bit less events than Electrum, but New Gelderland possesses a lot of Britonisea's main talents. Where do you think we'd do the best? New Gelderland or Electrum?

Juke Deans: That's a very hard question. I don't think that group competition's are our focal point but more individual sports. Electrum is hosting aquatics and tennis, which could give us a lot of medals on the tally whereas New Gelderland are hosting Athletics, that is a pot of gold for us. Maybe, if you interview me when the Olympics is over, I could predict that result for you. *Chuckles*

Jerry Simone: *Chuckle* Sure will! Anyways, back to the main news, New Edom band the WV Song Contest and Britonisea shows appreciation? I've got to watch this...

**As of 22nd of November

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan Olympics Preview Part 1

In today's article, we will take a first look at some of the Gregoryisgodistani participants in the Games of the X Olympiad. Gregoryisgodistan comes in with high hopes, looking to exceed their count of 16 medals won in the Kytler Peninsulae. And they also hope to finally hear the national anthem of Gregoryisgodistan played at a Summer Olympics, as it was banned last year by the infidel Kytlerians thanks to some patriotic Gregoryisgodistanis doing their jobs. But the Gregoryisgodistanis have promised to not crush anyone or shoot anyone this year unless they have to, so we should be on better footing. Anyway, let's get right to the preview, starting with the Aquatics events. As a note, due to the press time of the GGS Sports Report combined with the time zones in which Electrum and New Gelderland are located, we will be able to report on the events in New Gelderland for the next morning's edition, but some events in Electrum may end too late to be published due to the time zone differences. As always, you can read our reports on GGSSports.gs as soon as they are published, or watch the events live or tape delayed on the same website free of charge Video is only available in Gregoryisgodistan - readers in other countries should check with their local broadcaster. (OOC translation: Due to my own schedule as well as the hosts', I will quite often not be able to RP the events in Electrum until after the following day's cutoff. These will be RP'ed along with the New Gelderland events from that day. They will still be treated as different days IC-ly.)

Male Dancer JU3883428SDF will be participating in the Men's 3 m Springboard Dive. He is not really likely to win a medal, as he is mediocre at best. However, he hopes to at least finish in the top half of the standings. He is a dancer for entertainment, entertaining commoners and VIPs alike. However, unlike his teammate in the event, he is not a slave. Speaking of said teammate, Male Sex Slave 983248HSDFSDF will also compete in the Men's 3 m Springboard Drive. He is a male sex slave belonging to a female government VIP, who forced Male Sex Slave 983248HSDFSDF to participate in diving to make her feel sexually pleasured. He will surely not do so well either.

Next up, Goat Farmer 8388348 and Prune Juice Bottler KUD399ASDU30 will each be participating in the Men's 10 m Platform Dive. They are also not very good, but are just there to round out numbers and to do their best. Their jobs, respectively, are farming goats and bottling prune juice. For those who do not know, the only beverage Gregoryisgodistani commoners are allowed to consume is prune juice. Prune Juice Bottlers are in charge of bottling the prune juice, and it is most certainly not laced with mind control drugs. No, sirree. Anyone who says it is will be executed along with their family. So don't say it, don't even think it, or think about thinking it, or so on, or else you and your family will be executed.

Next up is the synchronized 3 m dive, featuring our first two Government VIPs, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Newsome Geeder and Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Elmonoski Mononucleosis. These two individuals are among the most loyal to Lord Almighty Gregory, and for that, they have been rewarded with many additional opportunities, such as a chance to own slaves and the ability to eat any food they desire. This is what Lord Almighty Gregory does to those who are most loyal to him. And those who are least loyal to him, he executes. Do not sin in his presence or you will perish. That is an abomination, so please do not sin.

Anyway, back on topic. Competing in the 10 m dive for men will be Slave Beater X3S38D34 and Whale Guardian L0O0O0O0L. Whale Guardian L0O0O0O0L is a Whale Guardian in charge of protecting whales. Whaling is a capital crime in Gregoryisgodistan and is punishable by death to the offender and their family. It is Whale Guardian L0O0O0O0L's job to stop people from whaling, and to summon an executioner if necessary. Please do not whale in Gregoryisgodistan. It is very illegal and the whales do not deserve it. Anyway, this is another pair that is unlikely to win a medal. Diving is not Gregoryisgodistan's best sport.

Next up, competing in the women's 3 m springboard dive, are two sex slaves, Sex Slave ASDFXXXXXXEEEE and Sex Slave XXXXXXMAXXXXSEXXYLADDDYYY. Neither of them are expected to win medals, but they are both competing for the pleasure of their master or masters. As sex slave masters are allowed to remain anonymous, they may have the same master or different masters and we will never know unless we do.

Competing in the 10 m platform dive are more sex slaves, Sex Slave IUXXXXEDJAXXX and Sex Slave XXXUUUXXXUUXXXEEE33. They are very sexy sex slaves and like all the female sex slaves in aquatics, will be competing in very skimpy outfits for the pleasure and pleasure of their masters. This should be very pleasureful.

Competing in the women's synchronized 3 m springboard will be the sexy slavey duo of Sex Slave JUJUBARLS and Sex Slave JUGULARSEXY. They are also not expected to win a medal, but you never know. We shall see how it goes when they dive and sexy their master. It should be fun.

The final divers are two more sex slaves, Sex Slave 7777323 and Sex Slave 33832948 who will compete in the 10 m synchronized platform.

Now, let's move on to swimming. Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Guaya Beans are Dumb will be competing in 15 different events, a Gregoryisgodistani record. He is merely an average swimmer, at least by Olympic standards, but who knows? He may get lucky and win one or two medals when is is competing in so many. "Guaya Beans" is, of course, the Gregoryisgodistani term for those infidel heathens of San Jose Guayabal, Land of the Devil, and is considered a derogatory insult. Should he compete against Guaya Beans, he will make sure to insult and possibly threaten them in an effort to provoke the Guaya Beans to attack him so he can respond with force. However, he will not actually initiate force, lest Gregoryisgodistan be punished unfairly again.

But there are other swimmers as well. Pervert Chaser 93489SDFHUISDHFIUHSIDUF and Slave Beater SCXU38 will compete in the men's 50 m freestyle, one of the few events our hero the Guaya Bean hater did not qualify for. For those who do not know, it is Pervert Chasers' duty in Gregoryisgodistan to track down those who commit sex crimes, dickapitate and castrate them, and turn them over for their punishment, which is usually execution. However, certain sex crimes, like making a sexual joke or drawing pictures of genitalia, are only punishable by fines and/or slave labor. They are still punishable by dickapitation and castration. So don't do them.

Competing in the Men's 100 m free alongside Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Guaya Beans are dumb is Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Jorge LaDeza. Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Jorge LaDeza will also be looking to win a medal and also hates the Guaya scum. He is a veteran of the Great War of Esportiva and fought on the Guayabalense front, killing over 5,000 Guaya Bean soldiers and civilians. For this, he was made a Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory.

Joining our Guaya Beans are Dumb friend in the Men's 200 m Freestyle is Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Sanctii Must Be Dead. And word on the street is all the Sanctii will be dead soon because Lord Almighty Gregory has a special surprise in store for them. He will use his God powers to teleport the members of Feministvs Sanctvsterra to an undisclosed location, then use his God powers again to destroy what remains of the wicked land of Saintland, saving only Feministvs Sanctvsterra. The rest of the Sanctii will die. This will happen in just a few short weeks, during the Olympics in fact (OOC: when Saintland CTE's, and Lord Almighty Gregory claims to have destroyed them. He won't, but everyone here will believe he did.) That will be a most glorious day, one of the most glorious ever. And then we will all rejoice. But for now, let's focus on the rest of the Olympic roster.

Joining the hero of Guaya Hatred in the Men's 400 m freestyle is Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Nuke Saintland And Kill King Petrus. Lord Almighty Gregory may do just that pretty soon. That would be awesome!

And joining him in the Men's 1,500 m freestyle is Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Costa Lunians Are Muy Estupido Much Like Guaya Beans. Costa Luna is, of course, the stupidest nation in the Multiverse, as evidenced by Costa Lunians Say the Darndest Things, the hit TV show about an idiot Costa Lunian named Doybert who thinks stupid things like llamas live in trees under the sea. What an idiot.

Other male swimmers include Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Curse The Sanctii Curse Them All Smite Them Dead, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Dumbini Costas, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Death to King Petrus XX May He Be Beheaded Off With His Head, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Ponies Are Stupid, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory We Nuked Hicana They Are All Dead WOOHOO, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Hicanans Are All Gone, and Enemy Crusher Bellyfloppy Fatty. Of these, only Enemy Crusher Bellyfloppy Fatty is competing in more than one event, excluding relays. What is an Enemy Crusher, you may ask? Well, I'm glad you did. Enemy Crushers are really fat heroes, weighing over 600 and as much as 900 pounds, whose job it is to crush enemies. Sometimes this is a form of torture to extract information. Sometimes, it's punishment. Sometimes, it's both. Sometimes, they just like crushing enemies. And who wouldn't? it's really quite fun. The Enemy Crushers, however, will not crush enemies at these Olympics, as they have been warned. But we could still see chaos, since they are Enemy Crushers and like to make threats. And nobody will stop them from making threats, only if they actually deliver on those threats. Enemy Crusher Bellyfloppy Fatty weighs 718 pounds. We'll hear more about the other Enemy Crushers later.

Many of Lord Almighty Gregory's concubines are participating in women's swimming, including his 38th concubine, entered in several events. Lord Almighty Gregory now has 1734 concubines, the largest Corps of Concubines ever. They give him pleasure, but not as much pleasure as his wife Cleffie Martinez, who he loves very much, whereas he just likes the Concubines' pleasure. Cleffie is OK with the concubines. We'll meet her in a later part.

But that's all we have time for today. Tomorrow, we'll move on to archery and beyond. We'll meet our first old medalists too. This should be fun. And let's win some medals!

[Todd McCloud]

Vekaiyu Seeks Another Strong Performance, Continues to Grow and Change
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

CENTRALIS - It has been a rather sharp climb for Vekaiyu and the vulpine delegation to both reach and maintain Olympic dominance over the course of five years, but the athletes have braved another tough year of training, have stretched their limits yet again, have pushed themselves to reach new horizons, and have not let setbacks condemn them to regression or inadequacy. No, this year's crop of athletes, much like those from previous competitions, have demonstrated their focus thus far and look to demonstrate their skill on the international stage once again. Yes, it's that time again. It's time to see that great red banner with the Vekaiyun star emblazened in the center raised high above the rafters as the Vekaiyun National Anthem, Eternal Vekaiyu resonate in a state-of-the-art facility. It's time to stay up late into the night and cheer our athletes on as we watch them in front of a television or a computer, or perhaps hear through a radio, believing as if they can hear us, their countrymen, despite being time zones or even worlds apart. It's time to be touched by stories of these Vekaiyun athletes, to laugh with them, to support them, to cry with them, and, yes, to occasionally have our hearts broken by them.

The Vekaiyun Olympic Committee (VOC) is a body that was formed to oversee, support, and maintain all Vekaiyun Olympic athletes. Many international pundits criticized the team during the Fifth Summer Games, believing that the nation secured an 18th place in the medal standings due to the benefit of being close in proximity to the host nation, and therefore did not have to worry about circumstances such as being far from home or far from those who could even speak their language. But the nation did quite well and demonstrated their strong swimming prowess with their young athletes and their cutting edge speed swimsuits - garments that have long been coveted by other delegations. Vekaiyu also demonstrated skill in gymnastics and took four silver medals.

What was supposed to be anticipation to a bright Olympic future was cut short when the nation endured a perilous and onerous civil war, a war that saw many Vekaiyun athletes fight for their nation and some, like three-time silver medalist Kira Niru, give the ultimate sacrifice. It was uncertain if the nation would even field a team during the sixth summer games, but newly-appointed Premier Ikrisia Levinile wouldn't hear of it, and pushed the VOC to field a team because, as she famously put it, "nothing can mar the Vekaiyun spirit." She also lifted regulations for particular sports placed by the previous Premier, Selvala McEva, some of which included the banning of shooting competitors to "preserve the distinction between sport and war" and restricting Vekaiyun lifters and wrestlers because such sports "were not intended for the vulpine physique." But the nation (and its fans) struggled overall during these games. Despite an eighth place finish, the team regressed in swimming and could only muster five medals, down six from the previous year. No doubt was the swimming squad distracted and were still reeling from the death of one of their leaders. An increased delegation did not equate to a higher medal count, and the Vekaiyun faithful, which had understandably unrealistic expectations after the 18th place finish from the year before, fidgeted from the growing pains. But there were bright spots. The Vekaiyun gymnastics team managed an unprecedented eleven medals and boxing featured three gold medals and two bronze. At the end of the day, both the delegation and the fanbase learned valuable lessons: patience is key.

Vekaiyu proved it would not buckle under the intense pressure to repeat and ascend higher in the Seventh Summer Games in Krytenia. A dominating third place showing was possible with a balanced attack with swimming at the forefront followed by two golds from multiple disciplines - in Gymnastics, Taekwondo, Boxing, and Wrestling. However, Vekaiyuns love their aquatics, and that year was no anomaly. In fact, Vekaiyu finished second overall in swimming events - second only to the host nation, a feat they have achieved twice (they finished second in all swimming events in the Fifth Summer Olympics to rival and host nation Kelssek). That was the year Vinsent Ivere captivated a nation with the nation's first Olympic record: Men's 100m backstroke. It was the year Ikrisia Sulevire gave it her all in the last lap to not only secure the gold for the Vekaiyun relay team, but the Olympic record as well. And, it was the year Yenga Husteriste and Isii Sileveri netted a pair of repeat gold medals in boxing, solidifying Vekaiyu as an atypical punching powerhouse.

Stability rang true for Vekaiyu during the Eighth Summer Games as the nation won the most medals it had ever seen - 56 - which was good enough for a fourth place showing, behind Eura, Kelssek, and host Liventia. Fans were indeed fanatical with the performance, as the nation showed it could compete with any nation on the field and, despite Liventia being far from Vekaiyu, the Vekaiyun faithful made their presence known as they cheered on their countrymen. Stapen Skilusi returned to greatness once again after experiencing a medal drought the year before, and took a silver and a bronze, which moved his total to two gold, five silver, and three bronze medals overall, solidifying his place as the top Vekaiyun medal-getter. Leaders among the Vekaiyun female swimmers - Yva Noveli, Riyna McAves, and Lisa Ikaveri - took home three golds and two silvers between the three of them. Ikaveri in particular won two of those golds, but also won a nickname - "skimmer" - after what she said to V3 News reporters in an interview conducted during the games: "When you don't have the reach like those opponents have, you have to keep getting faster and faster. But when you're [4'11''], you have a little bit of an advantage too. Like with weight and stuff. If you don't weigh a lot and you're thin with just muscles, you can move pretty fast. It's like you can skim on the water." The ever-talkative Ikaveri differentiated herself from McAves, who had been thought of as critical in interviews past, but even she showed a lighter side during these events and emerged as a quiet leader. While Vekaiyu amazed below the water, it also amazed above the water by coming out of nowhere to win gold in the Men's Lightweight Fours in Rowing. It was so unusual that V3 News Services did not even air the semifinals. But later the next day, with the cameras rolling, Reko Luvari, Enlil Isuleni, Mikhil Aseneli, Vanse Kinisere showed true Vekaiyun spirit: down but not out, underestimated but not undertalented, unknown but undying. They won gold and showed no Vekaiyun should ever be underestimated.

After "the flub", as Vekaiyuns have come to remember it by, the Vekaiyun Olympic Committee had much to prove this time around. Fans will recall the failed Provinsk bid from 2013. The bid went to vote, but no committee voted on the Vekaiyun choice, not even the VOC. Anger and humiliation felt by the Vekaiyun populace eventually forced then-chairman Verenyi Lemestrovyey to resign. Vanse Elegeri was appointed interim chairman until the completion of the Ninth Winter Olympics, when he was replaced by the first VOC chairwoman Riyna Yovisktre, who had resigned shortly after the Sixth Winter Olympics due in part to the death of athlete Yiisu Oblervi. So, with the VOC remaining quiet during the Eighth Summer Games, Vekaiyuns wondered exactly what their involvement would be in the games. But they did not disappoint, and nor did the athletes. Riyna McAves and Yva Noveli finished their Olympic campaigns with a gold medal apiece. Indeed, Noveli summed it up best by saying "I've always wanted to end on a high note. To hear the national anthem of my country play for winning [a gold medal], there is no other high note I can think of." No doubt their retirements will be the subject of a sort of "changing of the guard" between old and new swimmers during this year's games. One of those swimmers could be phenom Ikrisia Sulevire, who came within a few hundredths of a second of the Olympic Record in the Women's 200m Breaststroke. The athlete had already won three golds and a silver during her career, but at only eighteen years old, she is now ready to hit her prime. Isii Sileveri returned to greatness in boxing with her third gold in the sport, and Leina Uverilsetrese nabbed the top medal count for female Vekaiyun athletes with a gold in gymnastics.

What new endeavors will Vekaiyun athletes, and their fans for that matter, experience during these Tenth Summer Games? Can we even refer to these games as "Summer" games anymore? Well, yes, yes we can, even if the athletes might be a little colder this time around. Follow V3 News as we maintain our stellar coverage for the sixth year in a row!

[Wray]

(From the National Reporter, Olympic Supplement

Wray have 'unprecedented chance' for 'record medal haul' - WOA Chief de Klee

On the eve of the departure of Wray's 337-entry delegation, Wray Olympic Association chief Nathan de Klee gave a press conference to the assembled members of the media corps at the WOA Headquarters in Nelson's Bay.

de Klee was in upbeat mood, as has become typical form for Olympic officials in Wray before an Olympic Games, suggesting that Wray had an 'unprecedented chance' to win a 'record medal haul'. He attributed this chance to two factors - that a number of prominent medal-winning nations were absent from the Games, and to appease the home delegation, that the high quality of the athletes in Green-and-white allowed for more medal shots than ever.

"A number of high-profile nations and delegations are either entirely, or virtually absent from these Olympic Games. If you look at the medal table for the previous Games in Kytler Bay, from the top 10 delegations, Kytler Peninsulae, Sargossa, the Avissian Union and Fenbar are all completely absent - Liventia have just two entries. Vekaiyu are here, and will probably be our main rivals in the pool, Kelssek will also be present there, so it will be a three-way challenge in the pool, I reckon. That is, of course, if no-one hits the scene hard, like we did back in Liventia.

"Elsewhere there are number of small delegations who may not pose quite the same medal threat as the larger ones. That isn't to put other countries down, but we think after the progress we made at the two previous Games, we're in a really good position to make an assault on the top of the medal charts.

"On our own front, we've got an incredibly exciting crop of young athletes to complement our core of proven Olympic athletes. What's more exciting is we've diversified the talent pool - with Sports Wray funding we've improved base funding and support for athletics, rowing, combat sports, built new centres of excellence for canoeing, diving and hockey, as well as the continued extensive support for swimming, which we hope will form the core of our medal haul.

"Obviously we've still got the household names in our squad - Matthews, Spencer, Hamilton, Overton, Grevan, Foster, and we hope that they'll perform, but some of the new names in the new sports - Leah Marou and Will Porter in the athletics, Kellie Fallon, just 19, in the cycling, Amy Byrnes in the equestrian, Kaitlyn Michaelson on the tennis court, there's plenty of talent going round, and everyone in Wray can be rightly excited for what will be hopefully an extremely prosperous Games for Wray."

[Ferret Civilization]

FC Ferrets

Manager Euan Niklas,

You have been given a great honor of being able to represent The Colony abroad with the new developing Sports Interest, you will be helping a team of fellow Ferrets in this task. Do whatever you can without causing any problems for the nation or any of the other individuals to find out whatever you can about other sports, cultures, or peoples. This program is new a growing, your reports will let the Council and Industry Interest know if this is worth continuing, for now it does not matter if you win any of the games. Enjoy them for now, get as much exposure as possible. Of course you will have some duties besides just helping everyone learn about this things, you will have a team of Ferrets to watch over and help in any way that is needed. You will be given as much freedom as the host nation and game rules allow.

For the Games of the Olympiad, your team will be only playing Tennis, with this Mark Aðalsteinn, Pryce Cormac, Ainsley Eurig, and Flannán Dorit will be the sports members joining you and they will be playing the game. With this short document is a report on all of them, as much information on Tennis as you or the team needs, and all team equipment that is necessary. Again, try as hard as all of you can, but have fun for now.

Euan read over the documents and sorted everything out while joining the rest of his team. They were all still new to this, the whole program was still new to The Colony. Mark, Pryce, Ainsley, and Flannán were all dressing up in their sports uniforms, the uniforms fit comfortably. They were all lucky to be a part of a new program such as this and to go see something most Ferrets would never get to see, and to do it as a group. The Colony had been doing everything it could do to break out of the isolationism that had protected them forever in their history. Everyone was excited to be able to do this, which was typical for them in a new situation. They would get to see a lot of new things and do a lot of new things too.

"Well, hope you are all ready to do this. Some of the teams that you will be going up against are probably going to be the best of the best. Enjoy being able to do this, we will have plenty of time to continue to practice and see what this new place has to offer before you all play in the games. Hope those uniforms are comfortable, and that you all have fun. The Colony is looking for as much exposure as it can get for all the Ferrets and business."

They were a small team, and they still had a while before they were to be heading off to the games. For now they were getting used to what they were going to face and what they were going to do. For now they were just enjoying the excitement of this opportunity before they came back to tell The Colony about their experiences.

[Welcomzia]

Welcomzia's Olympic Preview

"Hello! Welcome to our first episode of Olympic preview, I'm Aaron McAlister and alongside me is Keith Brown. The Olympics are finally upon us and with only one week to go, Welcomzia are the country who entered the most athletes. We entered 570, 23 more than 2nd place Britonisea who entered 547. The results are in from a big online poll which expected Welcomzia to finish in the top 25% of the medal table, despite this being our first time at the Olympics. With this, we're starting a piece by piece series where we analyse the events Welcomzia have a decent chance of getting a medal in".

KB: "We'll also review each day's action every evening and preview upcoming events. This is the first part of Olympic coverage coming your way!"

AM: "And with that we'll take a look at our biggest medal hopes, starting with aquatics".

Name: Harry Baldwin
Events: 100m freestyle, 200m freestyle, 4x100m freestyle relay 4x200m freestyle relay

Harry Baldwin is a 26 year-old competing in various swimming events. Although his strongest event is definitely the 200m freestyle race. He is the reigning national 200m champion four times in a row and would love to add on Olympic medal to his collection.

Name: Keneth Garcia
Events: 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, 4x100m freestyle relay, 4x200m freestyle relay

29 year-old Keneth Garcia is Welcomzia's official flag bearer at the Olympic Games. He has won a record 11 consecutive national 100m backstroke titles and 7 200m backstroke titles. He is Welcomzia's greatest ever backstroke swimmer and is loved among the populace. He started to swim before he could even walk and has always been ahead of his age group. For example he won a major under 18's swimming tournament aged 15. Garcia smashed the national 100m backstroke record last year and it is in that event he is arguably strongest. He is also good friends with the president Cathal Banks.

Name: Rosa Patrick
Events: Women's 50, 100 and 200m freestyle, Women's 200m individual medley, Women's 4x100 and 4x200m freestyle relay, Women's 4x100m medley relay

Rosa Patrick is the athlete competing in the second most events for Welcomzia at the Olympics, she's in 7 of them. She's an extremely versatile swimmer who can easily swim all 4 types of strokes, thus her conclusion in the medley events. She could competently fill in for an athlete in any of the swimming events. Her strongest event would be the 50m freestyle where she looks to add to her massive collection of swimming medals.

Name: Kirk Larson
Events: Men's 100 and 200m, Men's 4x100 and 4x400m relay

Kirk Larson is a very strong young runner and will be hoping for a medal in the 100m and 4x100m relay races. He was brought into the 4x400m relay race late on when one athlete had to pull out. He is arguably Welcomzia's best male track athlete.

Names: Kirk Larson/Michael Jenkins/Terry Powers/Earl Porter
Event: Men's 4x100m relay team

Welcomzia has one of their finest 4x100m relay team in years. All of these athletes are competing in the 100m race with the exception of Earl Potter. They work together excellently, and lead by the brilliant Kirk Larson, have a decent shot at a medal.

Name: Benny Brady
Events: High Jump

Brady will be looking to secure gold after breaking Welcomzia's national high jump record earlier this year. He's in his prime and could give the Olympic Record a run for it's money if he hits his stride.

Name: Oscar Ross
Event: Men's Hammer Throw

One of the finest field athletes Welcomzia has ever produced, Ross is a leading contender for gold at these Olympics. He could even break some records if he gets going. Ross is a massive bulky man two metres high with plenty of muscle. He even tried qualifying for weightlifting but didn't quite make the cut. Ross was also nominated to be the flag bearer at the opening ceremony but Keneth Garcia pipped him to the post.

Name: Amanda Baker
Events: Women's 100m and 200m, Women's 4x100m relay

Baker's strongest suit is definitely the 100m, where she's enjoyed great national success over the past five years. Although, the 27 year-old does have an outside chance of winning the 200m and the 4x100m relay. Baker's father is on the National Olympic Committee, he also used to be a track athlete.

Name: Lola Murphy
Events: Women's long jump, Women's triple jump

Lola Murphy has always dreamt of being in the Olympic Games ever since she was a little girl and now she's gotten her wish. Her big legs will help propell her forward in the long jump, which would be her best event, but she's not bad at the triple jump either.

Name: Shirley Smith
Event: Discuss throw

Shirley Smith is a massive women weighing in at 92kg. She is one of Welcomzia's best ever discuss throwers and recently threw it 70m, 3cm of the national record. She'll be a leading contender for gold at the upcoming Olympics.

Name: Gregg Park
Events: Men's Badminton Singles, Men's Doubles, Mixed Doubles

Gregg Park is ranked #1 in Welcomzia for badminton, and will be looking to leave his mark on the world's biggest sporting event. He has a good chance of a medal in the singles and also the mixed doubles. Park is the national champion three years running and will be gunning for gold at the Olympics.

Name: Gretchen Castro
Events: Women's Singles, Women's Doubles, Mixed Doubles

Gretchen Castro is only 50% Welcomzian but chose to represent the nation she was raised in. She'll be out for gold in the women's singles and mixed doubles. The 24 year-old has been the #1 in Welcomzia since she was 19 and right now she's in great form.

Names: Gregg Park/Gretchen Castro
Event: Badminton Mixed Doubles

Park and Castro are both national badminton champions who have a big arsenal of medals and will compete together as a deadly duo in the mixed doubles event. The two are good friends and are both in contention for medals in the singles competition as well as this event.

Event: Men's Basketball Team

Under the strict yet wise judgment of Darren Hermet, the men's basketball team have a real chance of contending in the upcoming Olympic Games.
There will be a lot of tough competition but the team captained by Stefan Alvarez have really improved in the last couple of years and have big support from the public behind them. The team have unveiled new kits for the upcoming Olympics, Welcomzia are hoping that it'll be in these jerseys that they find Olympic success.

AM: "That concludes our opening night of Olympic Coverage, join us again tomorrow for more of this preview".

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan Olympic Preview, Part II

Yesterday, we had Part I of the Olympic Preview, where we looked at Gregoryisgodistan's Olympic athletes. Now, we'll move on to Part II.

Soldier USADFUY98WRU will represent Gregoryisgodistan in the men's archery. He is a veteran of the Great War of Esportiva, fighting on the Republican front, where he killed several hundred enemies from what was then known as the Holy Republican Empire, and was a member of the Elite 87th Brigade, the first group of Gregoryisgodistani soldiers to reach the capital of Republica. The plan was to kill Consul Kulseth with the Brownie Cutter of Death, then roast the pieces over a campfire and eat them, but alas, the cowardly Kulseth committed suicide and burned his body to the ground. So there was nothing left. How sad. For those who don't know, the Brownie Cutter of Death is the most painful method of execution in existence, used only for the very worst offenders in Gregoryisgodistan, such as traitors, blasphemers, and those who shame the nation. The Brownie Cutter of Death resembles a very large brownie cutter, only it is sharp enough to cut through human bone and organs. The victims who are sliced with it beg for a quick death, but a quick death does not come. Rather, they howl in pain, screaming and crying and begging for mercy, for over an hour, before they finally die. Once they finally die, the slicing quickens since there is no point in going slow anymore. But it is very painful, so do not dare blaspheme the Lord. Anyway, Soldier USADFUY98WRU has high hopes of winning a medal in archery for Gregoryisgodistan, as do his teammates Soldier PPOOPO320ASF and Soldier XZCC83948GSD08F, both of whom are also veterans of the Great War, but on the Guayabalense front. They eventually returned home and were responsible organizing and launching for the retaliatory nuclear attacks following the Guaya Beans' nuclear attack on the Glorious Homeland. It was a glorious moment of revenge, and the joy allowed Gregoryisgodistan to recover more quickly.

In women's archery, we have the first returning medalist to get mention in this article, Lady Soldier CLAMPASI. Lady Soldier CLAMPASI caused controvery in Kytler by bravely and nobly shooting an arrow at an archer from The Serbian Empire during the team event, costing the team a medal but killing the wicked heathen. She ultimately won a bronze in the women's individual. For all that, she is a true national hero. As if that weren't enough, she also saw combat on the Republican front, as part of many all-female units that stormed through the Holy Republican Empire killing all the heathens they saw, but attempting to encourage women to throw off their head coverings and join the fight against gender tyranny. Many did, and helped overthrow the Church of Saintland-backed government in that country, others failed to do so and were brutally executed. Most of the all-female units were sent to the Republican front, as a sort of take-that to the Republicans' policy of sexism and wickedness backed by the Church of Saintland. Very few all-female units saw combat on the Guayabalense front, but a few did just to mix things up. Anyway, Lady Soldier CLAMPASI is a true national hero, and will hopefully win some more medals upon her competition in these Olympiad. She is joined on the team by her fellow veterans, Lady Soldier COOOCOCPPOAD and Lady Soldier CUNAPALALA9. They will all compete in the team event as well, and will look to win more medals.

That's it for archery, very plain and simple. Now, let's move onto athletics. This is not as strong a sport as certain others for Gregoryisgodistan, but they're not outright terrible either, like the swimming Enemy Crusher. Maybe they'll win a few medals. Competing in the men's 100 m will be Pervert Chaser RUVIRUFI283947987, Slave Catcher U920384098SDF8U9AS8YF98YASHF, and Slave Catcher SUDIFYHIUSDF8438248SULIMAN. Slave Catcher SUDIFYHIUSDF8438248SULIMAN is probably the best of the three, but he's still average at best. He has an outside chance of winning a medal, but really, his goal is to get to the Top 20 overall. We'll see how he does, it should be very exciting.

Competing in the men's 200 m will be Slave Beater LO23949S0FDUISUDF, Nuclear Bomb Maker SDH3848F, and Clockmaker U49809AS8FD98U. Of these, Nuclear Bomb Maker SDH3848F has the best shot at a medal, but you never know. But he is also the truest hero of the three, making many nuclear weapons which are used to vanquish our enemies, using blueprints and uranium provided by the Royal Kingdom of Quebec along with maintaining the nuclear bombs that Quebec sold us earlier. He will not launch any nuclear weapons during the Olympics, rest assured, unless by some chance someone should kill Lord Almighty Gregory, in which case their nation would be completely annihilated by nuclear bombs, as would both host nations for allowing it to happen in an event they hosted. (OOC: Nobody is killing Lord Almighty Gregory. It's literally the one thing my RP Permissions don't allow. And if you try anyway, I'll retcon it out rather than launch all those nukes. Have no fear.)

But back on topic, again, competing in the Men's 400 m will be just one athlete, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory It's Time To Nuke SJG, who will also compete in the 800 and 1500 meter runs. However, the 400 m is his best shot for a medal. And you know what? It is time to nuke San Jose Guayabal, or as we call it here in Gregoryisgodistan, Monday. The Guaya Beans will soon perish from this Earth, for they are heathen Devils. They must die. And let's hope Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory It's Time To Nuke SJG lives up to his name.

Competing in the 3000 m steeplechase and defending his gold medal from Kytler will be Pervert Chaser RYEYUSS, Gregoryisgodistan's only competitor in the event. After finishing 16th in the heats and barely qualifying for the finals, Pervert Chaser RYEYUSS turned the standings upside down, winning gold in a time of 8:10.47. He will look to better that here en route to another gold medal. And what a gold medal it would be, his second of his career, and it would make him so awesome.

Speaking of awesome, let's move on to the men's shot put, featuring three awesome and brave Enemy Crushers. First up, weighing in at 711 pounds, we have Enemy Crusher I Lift Things Up And Put Them Down. He is a major threat to win a medal, and a major threat to crush anyone who tries to stop him. Whether we mean that literally or figuratively remains to be seen. He is joined by the 802 pound Enemy Crusher Fatty Tossy and the 884 pound Enemy Crusher Tossy Fatty, both of whom will also be competing in the hammer throw. They are both serious threats to medal in both events, and may crush as well, literally or figuratively, who knows?

Gregoryisgodistan is sending a few women in athletics, but only a few. We have Sex Slave 00D99SDF competing in the women's 100 m, and Sex Slave VUVULAZA competing in the 100, 200, 400 and 800 m. Neither of them are serious medal contenders, but are just sexy sexy sex slaves for the amusement and pleasure of their master.

There are three athletes each in badminton singles for men and women, we have Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Martin Martin, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Max Maxxx, and Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Shamwow Oddysey in the men's, joined by Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Death To The Nunneries, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Polus The Wicked Evil Maria Dead, and Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Mabel OldLadyWhoIs98 in the women's. Despite being 98 years old, Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Mabel OldLadyWhoIs98 is the best of the six of them, possibly because badminton is the old people sport of choice in Gregoryisgodistan, similar to shuffleboard in certain other countries. What exactly is shuffleboard? Stupid, that's what.

Gregoryisgodistan will also send men's and women's teams in basketball, but neither are expected to medal.

Now, let's move on to boxing. All the boxers, or at least, all the men, come in with a genuine chance of winning a medal. We could see numerous more again. Some of them have won medals before, we'll get to them soon. Competing in the men's light flyweight, we have Slave Beater J32984098SDF. He beats slaves who misbehave, that is his job. Slaves must obey or they will be beaten. Competing in the men's flyweight will be Horse Beater COCOLALAXYLOCRAP2. Horse Beater COCOLALAXYLOCRAP2 is a horse beater, as his name implies. Horse Beaters are Gregoryisgodistani entertainers who beat horses for entertainment, using whips, chains, canes, sticks, gun barrels, sometimes their bare hands, and anything else you can think of. This is great entertainment in Gregoryisgodistan. And now, he hopes to beat humans too.

Competing in the men's bantamweight will be Slave Beater 747SIADFI. He too is a slave beater who beats slaves. And now he hopes to win a medal. His fellow slave beater Slave Beater 328U498UDUF will compete in the men's lightweight. And he will beat people too. This should be fun. Not a slave beater but a horse beater, Horse Beater I948098SDF8UDSF will compete in the men's light welterweight and look to win a medal. Fellow horse beater Horse Beater 09SUDFU089U209384 will compete as well, in the men's welterweight, and will be joined by Slave Beater 9398498DF in the middleweight. This brings us to our first former medalist in boxing, Slave Beater NUXHAHAHAH. In the final in Kytler, Slave Beater NUXHAHAHAH defeated Jeheil Antonini of Darmen, and will look to win another medal here. Competing in the heavyweight will be Horse Beater L294SUDF, and in the super-heavyweight will be defending gold medalist Enemy Crusher Krushy Burger. Enemy Crusher Krushy Burger won gold in Kytler mere days after knocking out Vilim Popov of the Kytler Peninsulae in revenge for Kytler's unfair treatment of Gregoryisgodistani athletes, and to ensure his victory. He has gained weight since Kytler and now weighs in at 989 pounds. He will almost certainly be the heaviest athlete to compete at these Olympics. Unless you count horses.

There are also two lady boxers, Sex Slave U89498SDF and Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory My Name Is Gertrude I'm 88 and I Want to Box. Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory My Name Is Gertrude I'm 88 and I Want to Box is an interesting case - she is 88 years old, but was named to the boxing team in honor of her 88 years of loyalty to Lord Almighty Gregory.

We have time for just one more athlete tonight, but it's a big one. Penmaker 12XKAKXA, the reigning silver medalist, will compete in the men's C-1 canoeing slalom. And he hopes to improve on that and win gold. Coming up tomorrow, we'll preview equestrian, fencing, soccer (or football as those heathens call it), and, if we have time, we'll go into handball, field hockey, and maybe even judo. So read us tomorrow, and find out more. Let's get some medals!

[Kannap]

Kannapian News Network: Sports

Kannapian National Delegation Expected to Win Record Amount of Medals

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The Kannapian National Delegation for these Olympic Games is certainly presenting itself as a good showing of Kannapian athletes and is expected to win a record amount of medals exceeding the amount of medals previously won by Kannapians in past games. In the past, Kannap has done well in tennis and the triathlon event but has only one medal between those two events during the Summer, a silver medal in the Triathlon last Summer games. We are going to take a look at the athletes we expect to win medals this year.

Thomas Dales
This is Thomas Dales first Olympic games and he will be performing in the men's 3 m springboard. Thomas first entered into the hobby of diving at the age of four. He quickly became a skilled diver and won the national youth diving championships at age 10 in Kannapolis, Kannap. He continued competing in the national youth diving championships for four more years and won three of the four - Winning a total of four out of five youth diving championships. At the age of 15, Thomas began to perform in the Kannapian national diving championships and finished fifth that year. At the age of 16, he won the silver medal in the competition and ascended to winning the gold medal at the age of 17. Now, at age 18, Thomas Dales has ascended to international competition and is seeking to win a medal at these Olympic games. We personally think that he can win the silver medal at least, but we won't rule out his chances for gold.

Phillip Fonten
Much like Thomas Dales, Phillip Fonten is competing in his first Olympic games. However, Phillip is more decorated in his events. He'll be competing in the following swimming competitions: 50 m freestyle, 400 m freestyle, and 1500 m freestyle. Phillip learned how to swim at the age of five and immediate took a love for the water. If he wasn't in the water, he wasn't happy. He began competing in competitions at the age of seven. He holds six bronze, four silver, and six gold medals from the national youth swimming championships. He also holds two bronze, six silver, and six gold medals from the Kannapian national swimming championships. Phillip is currently 19 and we believe he is searching to take home three gold medals from these games, though we're sure he'll be happy to take home any three medals.

Gregory Markston
Despite his older age, at 26 years old this is Gregory's first Olympic games. He's competing in Kannapian archery competitions since the age of 11 years old and has quickly ascended to becoming the best archery athlete in the nation of Kannap. He is now to appear in the Olympic games. We personally don't think he will win a medal, but we suspect that he will compete for the gold and settle only for silver.

Max Chand
Max Chand will be appearing in his second Olympic games this year. He is a competitor in the 1,500 m run, the 5,000 m run, and the 10,000 m run. He is the best runner in the nation of Kannap, holding the national records for each of these three events. He is arguably the fastest runner in all of the world! We expect to see star performances from Max as he competes in his three events. We expect him to win at least the silver medal in each of his events, maybe the gold medal in the 5,000 m run. This will be a good performance for all spectators, Kannapian or foreign.

Briana Powell and Samantha Howell
The engaged couple are appeared in their third Olympic games. Brianna Powell and Samantha Howell are the two best tennis athletes in the nation of Kannap and are also appearing this year as the first same-sex couple from Kannap competing in the Olympic games. At last year's games, they finished fourth in the doubles competition and Briana Powell placed fourth in the singles competition. This year, however, they are going for gold and will only settle for silver. They are here to win and will not settle for less than the best.

Kathi Betsold
Appearing in her second Olympic games, Kathi Betsold is seeking to win the gold medal in the women's triathlon. Last year, she competing strongly and finished with the silver medal in this event. She has been training much better and seriously to be able to compete better for the gold medal this year. She is determined and we believe that she can win the gold medal and that it will be greatly disappointing to the entire nation if she fails to do so. We don't expect disappointment.

[The Serbian Empire]

The Serbian Sporting News

The Serbs are back and somehow able to fly on AirElectrum flights from Jehenna, the renamed Beograd of years past since High Empress Marisa took over. Marisa Darkovic and Mirela Blagojevic have focused less on the Team Pursuit efforts given this years less crowded field in hopes of winning more events in total. They've won a gold medal in the previous Olympiad, but at this point they have desires to win in other events as to prove who is the most skillful. Others like Mia Garkovich long to win a medal or two herself. Other individuals long to punch their way to medals such as the heaviest of women's super heavyweight boxers, Dia Beetus. We'll even go into the life of being Dia Beetus including daily calls to Wilford Brimley who has Type Two Diabeetus. What does she punch other than other people on the way to the vending machine? Dia Beetus punches the twinkies, the waffles, and the cake into her mouth. What could be worse than Dia Beetus? An encounter with the fists of Marika Galles or Natalija Petrovic who are far more nimble and lithe when compared to the Beetus.

Mafija Memo

As for the claims of the Gregoryisgodistani government, the "heathen" who was killed wasn't a Serbian athlete, but a Serbian mob boss. And with that, expect the Mafija to end up violating gun laws in this country just to seek their revenge. Or worse yet, kidnap the archer and get this hot head to Jehenna as to be a body guard to High Empress Marisa.

[Welcomzia]

Welcomzia's Medal Chances

AM: "Hello! Welcome back to the second part of our special Olympic preview, where we analyse where Welcomzia have a decent chance of getting a medal. Alongside me yet again is Keith Brown, let's dive straight into the action".

Name: Ted George
Event: Men's Middleweight Boxing

Ted George is an up and coming, star and finds himself in the hunt for an Olympic medal aged just 21. He's just about light enough for the middleweight class, and will probably be moving up to light heavyweight in the not so distant future. George had a lot of completion for a spot at these Olympics, the reigning nation champion narrowly beat David Wallace during qualification. Wallace almost put on enough weight to qualify for light heavyweight but couldn't quite do it.

Name: Sheryl Tygart
Event: Women’s C-1 200 m 

Sheryl Tygart is arguably Welcomzia's strongest canoer competing at the Olympics in a sport not widely played across the nation. She's a late bloomer, as the 31 year-old is in the form of her career, after a slow start. She raises the bar really high for herself and won't except anything other than gold.

Name: Tommy Summers
Events: Men's road race, Men’s Omnium, Men's Sprint, Men's Time Trial, Men's team pursuit and sprint

Summers recently came 12th in the tour of Mattijana, a major international cycling competition. He's a sprinter and is very good at working with his team. He shows great leadership and is the men's main cyclist who'll be competing in the Olympics.

Name: Marguerite Rowe
Events: Women's road race, Women's time trial, women's sprint, women's team sprint, women's team pursuit

Rowe is a very similar cyclist to Summers. She's a very good sprinter, but can sometimes struggle in the mountains. She'll be competing in 5 cycling events and is realistically the women's only shot at winning a medal in cycling. Her strongest event is the road race, but she has an outside shot of winning the sprint events.

Name: Connor Mahony
Event: Men's Equestrian dressage

Connor Mahony is a professional horse whisper in his spare time. He's always loved horses ever since he could speak and starting ridding very early on. He also has a great sense of fashion. In fact, the dressage event is a mixture of his two favourite things.

Name: Wade Jennings
Event: Men's Equestrian Jumping

Wade Jennings is one of the best at equestrian the country has ever seen. He comes from a remote island owned by Welcomzia but is actually over 200km away from the mainland. He grew up there before moving to Welcomzia's capital, Cornamona in order to pursue an equestrian career. That decision has paid off as he is now ready to take on the world at the Olympics.

Names: Merle Cole/Preston Chambers/Sammy Mason
Event: Men's Team Épée

These three men have been best friends ever since they were young stars. They met at a fencing club aged 16. All three are the same age, they used to practice for hours on end to make it as professionals. Out of the three, Merle Cole has had the most success. Winning three nation épée titles. However they'll now compete together in the team épée event.

Event: Men's Football Team

The men's football team have a good chance of getting a medal under the brilliant management of Cian Riordan. They are an attacking side and like to play possession football. With the captain Omar Price in goal and the lethal Raul Numez up front, this team is arguably the country's strongest ever. The team is still very young, with the team's average age 21.9. The WFA (Welcomzian Football Association) put a lot of money into youth, by promoting football, setting up football camps, and giving money to teams for their youth systems. This decision has clearly paid off, with tomorrow's stars looking to lead the country to glory. A good showing here, would certainly be an encouraging sign for upcoming football events.

Name: Barry Olson
Events: Men's Individual and team all round, Men's vault, Men's rings, Men's pommel horse, Men’s Floor Exercise, Men’s Horizontal Bar, Men’s Parallel Bars 

Barry Olson is a spectacular and versatile gymnast aiming for gold in 8 events. He is best at the individual all round, but is certainly capable of winning gold in the other gymnastic events too. Olson was also shortlisted to be flag bearer but narrowly missed out. He'll be hoping to get at least three medals at these upcoming Olympics, despite some strong competitors going up against him.

Name: Christy Holland
Events: Women's Individual and team all round, Women's vault, Women's rings, Women's pommel horse, Women's Floor Exercise, Women's Horizontal Bar, Women's Parallel Bars

On April 7th 2011, Christy Holland collapsed at her home out in the countryside, suffering a minor cardiac arrest. At hospital, doctors feared that she would never perform professionally in gymnastics again, but she made a steady recovery and was able to perform again a year later. Critics thought that she would never return to her best again, but she proved them wrong when she won 5 medals at the national gymnastics tournament in 2014. Now, four years on from the accident she's going into the Olympics with a good chance of getting a medal.

Event: Men's Hockey Team

Outdoor hockey is certainly on the rise in Welcomzia, with it being preferred to ice hockey, due to the warm weather conditions in the country. They're managed by Jonathon Lipman and are an attacking side looking to promote the sport even more back home with success at the Olympics. The tall centre Tom Leamington has been a starter for the national team for the past 10 years, yet hasn't had much international success. Perhaps this is his and Welcomzia's chance to shine.

AM: "Ok, that concludes the second part of our preview, come back tomorrow where we'll analyse Judo, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting, Table tennis and Taekwondo. See you next time".

[San Llera]

"Hello Llerana. It's 9:00 AM, and you know what that means - time for Pere's Thoughts, your favorite radio show from myself, Pere Llera. If you like hearing me talk - and a surprising amount of people do - you'll like this show! Today, I'm going to be talking a little about the Olympics. They're right around the corner, and I know that I'm excited. Personally, the Olympics are probably my favorite sporting event. There's just so much going on, and so many great athletes from great countries. Including San Llera! So I'm going to take a look at our athletes. Let's see what our country is sending to Electrum and New Gelderland, shall we?

"We'll start off with swimming. Swimming has never been San Llera's forte, so don't expect too much, but I'd be lying if I said we had no decent swimmers. On the men's side, there's Alfredo Mora. He's hardly a medal favorite, but he's competing in 50m and 100m freestyle races, and with a bit of luck he could place in one of those. Jan Cassus is behind him in the 50m race, but I highly doubt he'll make it out of the first heat. Cassus just isn't that great. Rigoberto Llava competes in the 100m, but like Cassus, he doesn't have much of a chance to do anything. Oh well, I hope he does well. He's a nice story - grew up an orphan. The only solace he had in his life was swimming... NDS did a great piece on him a while back. Wait. I'm getting off track, and I'm not supposed to promote television stations. Back to swimming. He's a good swimmer - good enough to compete in the Olympics - but the competition is very fierce and I doubt he's going to make it past Heat 1. The two men in the 200m freestyle are similar. Joao Grega and Abalard Pena. Perhaps one of them can make a run for a nice spot, but they're definitely not favored for anything. Then again, we must remember that the 200 meter freestyle is a fairly weak race, and things can happen. If you can, watch these two guys, cause something amazing could happen. Both Pena and Grega also compete in the 4 by 100 medley and freestyle races. In the freestyle one, they're with Mora and Llava, so that shouldn't be too bad of a team. In the medley, they're with Mora and Aleix Korda. Korda isn't bad at all, and that team could theoretically pick up a medal. But now we get to San Llera's best chance at an aquatic medal, and that is Motinhata. He's more of an endurance swimmer than a sprint swimmer, but he is pretty damn good at endurance. Motinhata will compete at the 1500m and 10000m races, and he actually has a realistic shot at placing in the top three of one of those. For the 10000 meter in particular I feel he has a good chance. Joao Grega is behind him in the 1500m and Matias Guardiola in the 10000, but neither will threaten the medal stand.

"Now we get to women's. The face of women's swimming in San Llera, of course, is Catarina Bisson. She has set the national record - men's and women's - in many events, as well as being the most decorated swimmer in the history of the nation. Of course, age has taken its toll on Bisson. At 36, she is no longer the elite swimmer she used to be. Alas, she is still the best San Llera has to offer in her events, which include the 50m freestyle, the 100m freestyle, the 200m freestyle, and the 4 by 100 freestyle and medley relays. By now, Bisson is no more than an average Olympic swimmer, but women's swimming in San Llera isn't particularly strong at this moment in time. Rosa Agueda will compete with Bisson in the 50m and 100m, but she's mediocre at best. Francesca Oroles will compete in the 200m freestyle. I know her husband, he's a good friend of mine from journalism school. I've met her several times as well. She's a very nice person, very intelligent as well. Unfortunately, I don't see her medaling in her race. The two medley teams are made up of the same rosters - Bisson, Jordana Morrietta, Justina Avella, and Olivia Duro. Neither is bad, neither will finish last, but I doubt either is going to finish first. For the women, much like the men, the best chance at medaling lies in the endurance races. In the 10000m freestyle race, both the swimmers - Rosalita Bou and Maria Marus - are very good at what they do, Bou in particular. It is my opinion that she is a contender for gold in that race.

"So with that, we are done with aquatics. Let's move on to athletics, track and field in particular. San Lleran men are a little better at running than they are at swimming, Josep Monchego in particular. He is the best sprinter our team has to offer, and a run to the final heat is not out of the question given his talent. However, he can be a bit inconsistent in his runs, perhaps due to some dietary concerns. That will be an interesting story to watch. Monchego will compete in the 100 and 200 meter sprints, and he is San Llera's best runner in both of them. Abelard Manzana is the only one that can compete for that crown, and he will also compete in the 100 and 200 meter sprints. If Monchego has an off day, Manzana is our best hope. Both will compete at the 4 by 100 relay, a team that would be excellent if Monchego and Manzana were the only members. Unfortunately, four members are necessary, and Guillermo dels Angles and Oscar Serezello will be forced to compete with them. Dels Angles will run at the 100m, while Serezello, an all-around sprinter, will compete at the 200, 1500 and 10000 meter runs. Neither will likely medal at any of their events, and both will probably hold back their teammates in the really. The top-heaviness of San Llera's runners really is a shame. Francesco Capella and Prosper Sosa are the other two that will compete in track, Capella in the 1500 and both in the 10000. Neither will likely place in some tough races. Which brings us to the marathon. 26.2 miles. Like swimming, San Lleran runners are simply better at endurance then speed for short amounts of time. I wonder what that says about our country. In any case, Pompeustino holds the San Lleran record for a marathon, at a little over 2 hours and 10 minutes. Word is that he will eclipse that at these Olympics. If he does so, he has a very nice shot at gaining San Llera a medal. Behind him are Jordi Mays and Miquel Mallero. Both are outside shots to place in the top 3, but both will probably place in the top half of the race, and, on a good day for either of them, things can happen. So that's it for men's track. Oh. Wait. No. Forget what I just said, I've forgotten about the 50km walk. Who would know that 50 kilometer walks are an Olympic event. I've been anticipating these Olympics for years and I had no idea. Let's see, let me look over my notes... Luca Belles, Teodor Torrijo, and Antonio Rosco are the competitors from San Llera. Belles seems to be the best of them. I doubt the 50km walk is a highly popular event, so, who knows? Perhaps he can medal. And there's also an actual event I forgot about, the decathlon. That must take a lot of skills. For those who don't know, it's basically a combination of every event imaginable. Salvador de Casa, apparently, is very good at it. Hopefully he can take home a medal. Octavi Dano is... not quite as good.

"So that's the actual end to the men's athletics event. So let's move on to the women's! And, surprise surprise, we're better in the endurance races. But, granted, it's a little more balanced, and only because of Isabel Murillo. She's a young and very potent sprinter, and I am very excited to watch her compete in this and future Olympic Games. I think that, despite being the best sprinter the women have, she's flying very far under the radar, and she;s going to surprise a lot of people, San Lleran and foreign, in the coming weeks. I think she has a real shot at a medal in the 100m and 200m sprints, The 400m is less her thing, but she's certainly not going to do badly there. Behind Murillo, unfortunately, isn't too much. Francesca Llava will run at the 100 and 200 meters. Perhaps she'll finish in the top half, but certainly not far beyond that. Luisa Bonifacia will run the 400m, and a top half finish for her would frankly be a shock. Bonifacia and Olivia Rios also will likely prevent the medley team from really doing anything. But now I get to the good part, and, unsurprisingly, the good part is the endurance. For the 10000 meter and marathon, our women actually shouldn't do too badly. One woman I'm really high on is Rosetta Millet; she's married to hockey start Roberto Millet, interestingly. She's also very fast, and will look to do very, very well in the race. Emiliettina will race with her, she's not quite as fast, but she still could pull off a miracle. And the marathon. Rodolfa Vela and Louisa Cateritacia are very solid marathon runners, both do have something of a chance at a medal. Not a huge chance, but a place on the medal stand is not out of the question for either of them. For the last marathon runner. Lily Agressa, it unfortunately is out of the question.

"A team sport! Yes, athletics is done, and it is time for a team sport. To kick off team sports, we have men's basketball. Now, I'm sure all of you are very aware of the IBC performance our senior team put forth. Shameful. Really shameful. There I was thinking that Brad Eiffel was a miracle worker, and now I'm about to call for his head. I want Brad Eiffel's head. There. Fire him. Fortunately, we're not sending our senior team. Unfortunately, we're sending Brad Eiffel. Oh dear. It's too bad, really, because this team has a lot of talent. Felip Capella, for one, is an absolute force on the post. He will physically and mentally dominate most power forwards he's drawn against; I almost feel pity for Duane Hart or whoever plays power forward for Welcomzia, and Xavier Guillame of Britonisea, and Tomas Gabrielez of Schottia, and Bradley Turston of Kannap, and Mitchell Garnsey of Wray. They really have no idea what's coming for them. Also, just got to pat myself on the back for that. I really did my homework. Capella's really good. And there are some other solid pieces as well. Leo Odena, from the University of Biology, is a lights-out shooter and will stretch the floor. 5 foot 8 Aaron Verdeja may be short, but he can also shoot, as well as play some very scrappy defense. Hopefully Eiffel doesn't mass with this roster too badly, because they could go deep into the knockout stages.

"The women's team, on the other hand, probably won't go deep into the knockout stages, but at the same time, it's not implausible. They are not devoid of talent, and their coaching situation is pretty good. Julia Berenguer, who coaches the San Llera Univeristy of Biology, is pretty damn good at what she does. By the way, she's the only female head coach of a men's college basketball team, so that's impressive I guess. It's a pretty balanced team, with no clear star. I'd argue that Nadia de Bas, the small forward, is the best player, but many disagree, and with good reason. Montserrat Avella, Rosetta Roures, and Alicia Borneo all have a decent claim to be the best player on the team. Even Marcellitana, who spends most of her time on the bench, could make an argument to be the team's best player. So this team really can hurt you from any position. But, then again, they don't have a single player that rivals some of the star talent that they'll be facing. I guess we'll see whether that will be a blessing or a curse. My money's on a close miss on a knockout round spot.

"Next, what do we have... oh! Would you look at that? It's another team sport. This time it's soccer, what they call football, but is actually soccer. Come on. We invented the sport, we get to name it (inaudible grumbling). People never believe us about that. But that's another rant for another day. Now, I'm supposed to rant about our soccer team. It's the U-23 team, as customary with the Olympics, and my hopes are high. After all, we did excellently well in the last Di Bradini Cup, and since this team is a very similar age group, and a very similar squad, I see no reason why we won't do well here. I mean, we have some payers who are very good for their age. Robert Rivello will be one of the best center backs competing, Adam Gasca is developing into a very good player, and Bellemurillo, who's currently warranting interest from Abanhfleft, is a very solid striker. Anything less than a medal will, frankly, be a disappointment for this team. Gerra Duvale will coach it; I love him. My favorite San Lleran coach, that man. I have fond memories of watching him play when I was a child... and he's almost as good of a coach as he is a player. I mean, he's made the semifinals of every Di Bradini Cup he's competed in! Well, at least the one's which had semifinals.

"The women's team is also playing, and I, for one, am very excited. Not because they are good, but because the senior national team is playing, and that is a rarity due to our men's team playing in the World Cup. Hence this is the biggest competition they'll play in. But, as I implied earlier, they're not fantastic. I mean, they're not bad, just mediocre. I consider myself an optimistic fan and I would be very shocked if they were to advance past the group stage, especially considering the very strong teams others are fielding, many of their players World Cup veterans. Meanwhile, all we have is Angelica Lopez. She's a world-class goalkeeper, and she'll keep us in games, but the goalkeeper can't do everything. She can't score goals for us. And we have a major problem scoring goals. I mean, Celestina Asia and Genoveva Guardiola just aren't cutting it up top. If this team wants to advance, they're going to need someone to step up and score goals. I guess the reason I'm excited is because of Macarena Tahengo. She's young, and unproven, but she's the only one that I could see just catching fire... and if that happens, in that small chance, this team could become something really special.

"Next up is handball. Handball isn't hugely popular in San Llera; however, it's found a niche in some small villages in the southeast, each of which have teams which play against each other. So, according to my sources, the teams actually aren't bad. The inferior of the two is the men's team, they can complete on the world stage but they are little better than average at what they do. The head coach, Aaron Asprilla, is an eccentric man, one devoted to his job, loved by the team and the handball community. Or at least my source says so, and he is a friend of Asprilla. Keep in mind that everything which comes out of my mouth now is taken straight from my source's mouth. Marius Sabater is, allegedly, the Enric Bou of handball, a young player with an acute awareness for the game and who can do anything. As I have demonstrated, I don't know too much about men's handball, but you know what? I looking forward to watching them. I'm looking forward to watching this Marius Sabater play. Let's see what these guys can do.

"I'm also interested to see what the women's handball team can do. After all, according to my source, the women are the class of San Llera's handball teams. They're marshaled by Alberto Mayala, and they have a lot - a LOT - of talent. I have very high hopes for this team, or at least my source does, and I trust my source. Unfortunately, there are a lot of very good women's handball teams out there. Apparently, about half of the handball teams are nowhere near are level, while the rest are around here. Which is unfortunate. But I'm still looking forward to watching this team play. Lola Sentafe, of Marines Bas, the top women's handball club - before a few days ago, I didn't know there were top women's handball clubs - but Lola Sentafe is a very exciting player. She is an excellent shooter, very athletic, and has a wide array of ball tricks most unfamiliar with handball didn't know to be possible. One viral video shows her jumping - and I'm not kidding about this - over a defending, the promptly faking a shot and then taking a shot, which went into the net. Whether she does this or not during the games, I will be watching. I think this team might get a medal.

"Field hockey, regrettably, isn't terribly popular in San Llera. I love the sport, and I can hardly wait for our men's and women's field hockey teams to take the field. Let's start with the mens. As an avid fan of the San League Field Hockey, the premier semi-pro field hockey league in San Llera, I could talk for hours about this team. But, unfortunately, my show only lasts so long. So the mens team. The best player, without any shadow of a doubt, is Salvisima. He absolutely tore up the SLFH last season, bagging insane amounts of goals and quite a few assists as well. I am looking for him to be huge in the Olympics. His shooting is so accurate and so powerful, as with his passing, and his ball handling is impeccable. I just love this guy. There's also some other good players. Marti Figa is a wizard with his passing, a Martini Saragosa if you will. And Aaro Mendocino will be an absolute brick wall in goal. A lot of people not affluent with field hockey think this team is just mediocre, but I'll have to disagree. I love this team. They, the men's team are going to go far.

"Although I'm not entirely sure I can say the same about the women. The women are by no means bad - in fact, it is my opinion that they are an above average team. I just don't have the same enthusiasm about them as opposed to the men, which you can probably tell from the tone of my voice (chuckle). They don't have the same firepower, and none of the payers are special, at least not in the way that Salvisima, or even Figa or Mendocino, are. They just have a lot of solid players, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. When one player is struggling, the rest will make up for her. Once again, this team is better than the average women's field hockey team. I just don't think that they have quite made it to the next level, the level where they are truly among the world's elite. Hence I doubt they'll make it to the knockouts, and even if they do, they probably won't make it beyond that.

"OK, let's move on to table tennis, the only sport listed so far which I am remotely adequate at. But not as adequate as Ignasi Perpinya, Artur Soria, and Xavier Boga. I am adequate at table tennis on the level of radio hosts who play table tennis as a hobby, but these guys are adequate at the Olympic level, which is very impressive. But unfortunately for the Olympic viewership, at the Olympic level that are merely adequate. Perpinya is easily the best of the three, and he could conceivably do damage in the singles tournament which all three compete in. If you're going to watch table tennis these olympics, watch Perpinya - he can really put some amazing spin on the ball; make it do weird things and, on occasion, absolutely... befumble opposing players. Befumble? I don't think that's the word I'm looking for there... he confuses them. You get the point. The three players are also the three members of the table tennis team. If you're wondering how a table tennis team works, don't ask me because I have no idea. But I assume it's still table tennis, so Perpinya will be the best players. Unfortunately, the other two players will be mediocre at best and that will prevent him from doing too much.

"There's also women's table tennis, but, unfortunately, they're not great. Similar to the men, there are three players who will compete individually and on a team. Isabella Moratta, Martina Crovalla, and Gabriella Nuno are the three, and none of them are particularly good. None of them is going to go very far in the tournament, I must admit. Unfortunate, really. I don't have much more to say here. I still have no idea how team table tennis works. Do they all play at the same time? That sounds crowded. Do they play different sets at different times? I guess that sounds like the most realistic scenario, I guess. I'll find out eventually.

"So next, we move on to a different kind of tennis - tennis. The kind with a bigger court, and a racket. Well, I presume table tennis has a racket, but this one is a different type of racket. Unsurprisingly, Arnaldo Pan is our best tennis player, and the one with the best chance of medaling. Which, unfortunately, isn't a very good chance, but hey, it's a chance. And many of you are probably familiar with Marco Quintana, the second banana of San Lleran tennis. He'll win a match or two I'm guessing, but probably not more than that. There's also Carlo Murita. He's always Arnaldo Pan's doubles partner, although he rarely competes individually. But he is here. Murita has great chemistry with Pan, and they'll make a formidable doubles team. Murita, however, will not do anything as an individual tennis player. The other doubles partner who will compete individually is Lucas Barranquo. He's not bad. In fact, I find him underrated, but he's still not gong to get a medal or anything like that. He'll double up with Quintana, which will be a mediocre pair. At best, they'll destroy someone else's tennis hopes. There is also mixed doubles. The women don't compete individually, since women's tennis isn't particularly strong in San Llera, but there is mixed doubles. As expected, Pan and Quintana are the two men for the two mixed teams. I can't imagine this workload is going to do them too many favors, but we don't really have any other options to be completely honest. So we settle for a tired Arnaldo Pan and a tired Marco Quintana. Pan's partner is Rosalia Morales, the best healthy women's tennis player in San Llera which, unfortunately, isn't saying much. But, they're the best mixed team we could possibly have to offer, so they can't be too bad. If Pan gets eliminated in early rounds for other competitions, he might do well here. And vice versa. Same with Quintana. He, interestingly, is paired with the second best healthy women's tennis player, Oactavia Fina. They're supposed to choose their own partner, but I wonder how much the Olympic Federation played a part in that decision. A doubt either team will medal, but in a sport like tennis, weird things have happened before and will happen again. Hopefully something weird happens in San Llera's favor.

"Let's move on. The penultimate event I'm covering - well, the penultimate event overall, at least in terms of events San Llera is competing in, unless you cont different genders as different events - is men's triathlon. Like tennis, not many women here. I can't completely explain why. But we do have men, the most notable of which is Marcusulius. He is our only hope in this event, an uber athletic runner, swimmer, and bicyclist with tremendous endurance. I have high hopes for this kid, who I can almost call a kid, considering that he's just 20. Behind him Dionis Abello and Carles de Bas, two athletes who aren't up to the standard set by their peers. Not to criticize their athleticism, I mean, this is the hardest event in the olympics, every competitor is practically superhuman. I've nothing but the highest respect for these guys. Unfortunately, they aren't as good as other triathlonists. And they're not going to get any medals.

"So the final event is a team sport - volleyball. We're going to start with the men's team, mostly because I've started with the men's team every time. Which is not meant as a sexist thing, they're just listed first on the paper I have. Men's volleyball, in this case, is significantly worse than women's. They do not have much of a chance of doing anything, so don't get your hopes set on a good performance from this team. Because such a performance, in all likelihood, is not going to happen. The coaching of the team has been a trainwreck, with the last two coaches both being fired for problems related to substance abuse. The current head coach, Antoni Ferrer, is not addicted drugs, at least not as far as we know. But he only has had two weeks to prepare this team for the Olympics, and for such a huge event, that is not nearly enough time. The team with have to rely on the piecemeal talent they've got. Adria Avarres is an excellent defensive player, as is Aleix Fabio, but the setting and spiking is far below average. Expect points to go for a very long time with this team, usually ending in the opposition's favor. Don't expect silverware.

"Women's volleyball is a much brighter story. Not quite saving the best for last, since this is last, but saving a pretty good one for last. Aldonza Corvo has coached this team since its inception 21 years ago, much in contrast to the very short, drug-fueled reigns of the men's coaches. And the players are also more talented than the men's team. Lupita Reus, for one, is an elite setter of the ball, and she very well sets up spikes of the ball from Natalia Aznet. Their one-two combination is one of the best in the world. Other players on the team aren't quite on their level, but they are good enough to make me think that there is a chance of a medal. Not a huge chance - after all, there are some very good women's volleyball teams out there, but a chance for this team. I'm looking forward to watching them pay.

"And that's perfect timing! Because, with that, our show has concluded! I'm Pere Llera, this is Pere's Thought's and have an excellent morning, afternoon, and night!"

Parts of the transcript have been lightly edited to prevent grammatical errors and to remove "um"'s, "ah"'s, and whatnot. All opinions expressed are those of Pere Llera and no other entity.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan Olympic Preview, Part III

We are now at Part III of our Olympic preview, looking at Olympic athletes from Gregoryisgodistan. Let's get right to it.

Gregoryisgodistan will send 13 athletes to participate in Equestrian, all Horse Beaters. They are all purely average and stand an outside, but only an outside, chance of winning a medal. However, they will be sure to be very violent with their horses, win or lose, because nobody likes horses, sapient or otherwise. First up, competing in dressage, we have Horse Beater Q2UASD, Horse Beater 858ASDASD, Horse Beater AUASUDUSDFU, and Horse Beater PANTEEEEL. They will look to beat their horses while dressaging. Next up, in the eventing, we have Horse Beater AIHAIUHCBHYEYZS, Horse Beater WEEWEEINTHESANDBOX, Horse Beater WEEWEEINTHEPIZZAHUT, Horse Beater SJGDUMBO, and Horse Beater HORSEYWORSEYDIEDIEDIE. They too will look to beat their horses to victory. Pony for the win! Die Die Die! And finally, in jumping, we have Horse Beater JUMPUASD, Horse Beater ZEEBRA, Horse Beater I3408098F09S8DF09DSF, and Horse Beater ZEEBRAJUA. Of these, Horse Beater I3408098F09S8DF09DSF is actually pretty good and has a good shot of winning a medal, but the rest are only average.

But now we move on to another sport at which Gregoryisgodistan is awesome, fencing. A team comprised of mostly Pervert Chasers will compete at this Olympiad. Pervert Chasers, thanks to wielding their pervert chaser sword frequently, are very strong in fencing and many of them have a shot at a medal. First up, in the men's individual eppe, we have Pervert Chaser 8Q34989F8YDSF, Pervert Chaser 83098SDIF90835, and Pervert Chaser DSIFIHDSIUF983409. They all come in with high hopes of a medal, joy of hearing the anthem echoing in their head. They exist to serve Lord Almighty Gregory, and now they look to sweep the podium. Another trio out to sweep the podium will compete in men's foil - Pervert Chaser 098098E09R8098SDF, Pervert Chaser UW095809SD8FSDF, and Pervert Chaser 809W8098. And they do have a good shot at a sweep there as well.

Now, let's move on to men's saber, the least good of the three fencing styles. Pervert Chaser 398409S8F098SD09F8 will compete, joined by Pervert Chaser 90834098SDF and Pervert Chaser 93048908SF09. Pervert Chaser 93048908SF09 was not originally supposed to compete at these Olympics, but after Gregoryisgodistan's top saberist, Pervert Chaser LXI93490LAXAKIE, injured himself dickapitating and castrating a mooner after the mooner fought back and broke his hand, the Fencing Organization was scrambling to find a third fencer. The fourth ranked fencer in Gregoryisgodistan declined, feeling he had his shot at the Olympic trials and didn't make it, as did the fifth ranked, sixth ranked, and so on, all the way down to Pervert Chaser 93048908SF09, who is the 19th ranked saberist in Gregoryisgodistan. He accepted and will compete.

Three women will compete in the epee, Cheese Police 3984098AD, Prune Juice Bottler J8388SF, and Sex Slave I284098AS09D8. Just what is a Cheese Police, foreigners may ask. Well, here in Gregoryisgodistan, only those most loyal to Lord Almighty Gregory may have cheese. Cheese Police are in charge of tracking down those with illegal cheese, confiscating said cheese, and summoning the executioner to execute them. This is their duty to Lord Almighty Gregory, and they do it with pride.

Gregoryisgodistan will also enter soccer teams, men's and women's. The men's team, as per custom, is U-23 with three overage players. However, a few other players are senior team members who are 23 or younger. That being said, this team will not be as good as the 29th ranked senior team in the world, because junior international soccer is almost unheard of in Gregoryisgodistan, so they basically just selected the best U-23 players from the club level. That is unfortunate and could hurt them.

Now, let's move on to Gymnastics. There are six, count them, sex gymnasts each of male and female, and let's start with the males. Male Dancer LSPS8813 is first, having won two medals in Kytler - one in individual all around and one in floor exercises, both silvers. He will look to improve on that performance here. He is awesome and will win. He is joined by Male Dancer 834998FUSFDH, Male Dancer 394089SDF, Male Dancer NCUVARMIT, Male Dancer 49SF999, and Male Dancer I3W09R8S0D9F. None of them have much of a shot at winning a medal, but you never know. This is the Olympics. Anything can happen.

Now, let's look at the lovely ladies. First up is Sex Slave ABDBDBAJAJ, defending champion in the women's uneven bars. She will look to repeat that performance here. She is a sex slave, and her master likes her and wants her to win. She is joined by fellow sex slaves Sex Slave SDI38909Q8W0R9, Sex Slave 349098SF098SD08FH98AS, and Sex Slave REYFULAM, as well as Lord Almighty Gregory's 633rd and 111th concubines.

Meanwhile, Sex Slave JINGLEBELLS and Sex Slave JINGLEJUNIOR will be in women's rhythmic gymnastics.

Gregoryisgodistan will also send teams in men's and women's handball and field hockey.

Welp, that's all we have time for today. We'll look at judo, modern pentathlon, and sailing tomorrow, before the Grand Finale on Thursday, where we cover all the heroic shooters, Lord Almighty Gregory himself and his fellow tennis players, as well as table tennis, taekwondo, volleyball, weightlifting, and wrestling. It should be fun, so read us tomorrow!

[Alphatheta]

---

Hopefuls shipping off to Games

Wytropolis MSK+7 8:34pm - More than a week after initial announcements were made from the Capitol, over 100 Alphathetans are shipping off from Wytropolis to participate in the Games of the X Olympiad. The ports have been filled with a festive atmosphere since the announcement, but as the last planes depart, a hesitant mood has begun settling over the rest of the nation.

Officials from the hill have been quick to address the slight nervousness in the air. Emperor Adam himself has yet to make any statement, but his chancellors have been speaking nearly non-stop on national news channels.

"This is a new time in the life of the People's Republic," Vice Chancellor Markson assured in a broadcast early this a.m. "And the Emperor is incredibly pleased to see our young men and women engaging in that new time by moving out into the world to bring recognition and honour back to the patria. Our comrades representing us abroad are a source of infinite inspiration, and the government is certain that the mountains from Édafósákri to Uostas and from Roseau to Soronach will join us in hailing these young athletes as the heroes they are and will show themselves to be."

Particular interest among the people of Wytropolis is, of course, already focused on the Von Grimmelshausen siblings, who shipped out last night. Şukriye and Małgorzata Von Grimmelshausen, Emperor Adam's oldest nieces, and Boleslav Von Grimmelshausen, one of the Emperor's nephews, will be representing the homeland on the women's and men's national hockey teams respectively. Also to be watched will be the equestrian team. Laura Allegri, Aglaea Karga, Seleukos Wetterman and Hong Gerhardt are all children of upper level administrators in Wytropolisqū's administration, and hopes are high that they will enforce a certain level of decorum among the delegation.

Mixed response from sports fans

Vernyygorod MSK+7 9:28pm - Farther from the Capital, optimism remains high but concerns begin to seep into the cracks of conversation. Despite the current fantastic showing the national ice hockey team has had in its debut season with the regional league, fans aren't certain that the People's Republic finds itself in a strong position to be sending its athletes off in the midst of several important domestic seasons.

"I would never question the Emperor," a fan in Vernyygorodqū told us shortly after the initial announcement of participation. "It's just that curling is going to be completely different this year without Petya Fyodorov or Jelena Marek leading teams. And boxing-- well. It's just going to be a completely open field. This was supposed to be the real breakout season for Lenka Dürr-- and now, she'll be gone too long to compete."

Still others were simply worried about the forecasted impact a potential loss might make on domestic sports in the future. "I love Mariano Jehlička," a concerned fan in Steinstadt reported. "But what if he comes back after a loss and gives up on sabre? What if he goes back to foil? I don't know if I can go back to watching that."

Despite their concerns, households are still rallying nearly as much for the Olympiad delegation as they already have been for Antipha United, the nation's international ice hockey team. Houses and buildings in qū capitals are now festooned with more national flags than ever, and schools and businesses alike are making arrangements to adjust the work week to allow maximum viewing.

Whatever their concerns, fans are unanimous on who they're most excited to see compete on an international level. There's a buzz for Nina Kruckel's field hockey team, particularly for gentle giant and decorated war hero Pyotr Seelenfreund. Fans are also eager to watch Rodya Böhmer for men's bantam weight boxing, Helmfried Yuen for men's épée, Hanna Rudawski for women’s 25 m rapid fire pistol, and Hreiðunn Sørensen for women's Greco-Roman wrestling.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan Olympic Preview, Part IV

It's time for Olympic Preview, Part IV, where we look at Judo, Modern Pentathlon, and Sailing. Then we have the Grand Finale tomorrow.

First up is Slave Beater JU2439UA9S8FDU, competing in the men's 60 kg judo. He is, as his name implies, a Slave Beater who beats slaves for a living, and he likes beating them real good. He is an above average judoka, but not one of Gregoryisgodistan's best. He is, however, the best in his weight class, which is why he is here. Enemies, be afraid. Be very afraid.

Next up is Horse Beater JUCKUJUNKYARD, a Horse Beater by trade, who will compete in the men's 66 kg judo. He is somewhat better than the one before him, but he still has only an outside hope of winning a medal. But put him against a sapient pony, and he'll beat the pony until it dies. That will be so much fun and so incredibly awesome. It's Horsey Beaty Time! W00t!

Then in the Men's 73 kg, we have Slave Beater FADEDA, who is the worst male judoka of the bunch, but still about average. He beats slaves too, so don't be a slave and disobey unless you want to get beaten. He is also the judo team's official Slave Beater, and will beat any slave assistants who don't do their job, such as fetching food or beverage or making sure the bed is made, or anything like that. They had better do their jobs or it's Slave Beater FADEDA time!

Next, competing in 81 kg, is defending silver medalist Soldier MDUUUA81381. Soldier MDUUUA81381 got all the way to the Gold Medal Match a year ago before losing to Eamon Parrish of Kelssek. Well, go to heck, Kelssek! Soldier MDUUUA81381 is going to win gold this time, for he is so incredibly awesome! And he also killed about 5,000 Guayabalense Guaya Beans in between the two Olympiads, so he's gearing up for winning, especially if he faces a Guaya Bean again.

Competing in the men's 90 kg is the youngest judoka, 17 year old Youth 8394098SDF8H9S8F. He is above average but is still unlikely to win a medal. Let's all wish him luck in this tournament, though, and hope that he pulls out the Glorious and Holy Victory. He hopes to join the military when he turns 18 and possibly participate in another nuking of San Jose Guayabal. This is his last chance to prove himself on an international stage before then.

Competing in the men's 100 kg is Remote Control Maker XXXEEEXYALO. A surprise addition, Remote Control Maker XXXEEEXYALO is actually quite good and up and coming, and is just 19 years of age. He will look to win a medal and maybe a gold, but his best years are still ahead of him. We will see what happens here though.

And that brings us to our most heroic judoka, Enemy Crusher Fatty Krusherz. Weighing in at a whopping 983 pounds, Enemy Crusher Fatty Krusherz is your reigning bronze medalist and will look to better that result here, hopefully winning gold, and maybe even crushing a couple slaves who don't obey, or possibly evil Guaya Bean opponents. It should be a fun tournament for him, as he looks to win gold.

Lord Almighty Gregory's 433rd Concubine and Lord Almighty Gregory's 477th Concubine will be lady judokas, to please God.

Now it's time for sailing, a lot of no-names participating in events we don't fully understand, who almost certainly won't win medals, so we'll just run them by you one by one. Sailor 8243098834089908ASD908SHAFDUIGDSF, the team of Sailor ISDFUUSDF8U/Sailor 93809S09F8DF, Sailor IFORGOTMYPANTS, the team of Sailor PANTEERADA/PANALEDA, Sailor 88SFDSDFHISUDFHI, the team of Sailor TKDDDEUE/Sailor WEENHEHUTJUNR, Lady Sailor 9499S9FS9DFHSDFH, the team of Lady Sailor 8WE09R809SDUF/Lady Sailor UASDIUASFU, Lady Sailor LADEPOOPERSCOOPER, the team of Lady Sailor MISSIANA/Lady Sailor GUTRUA90SUF8 and Lady Sailor ROSLAPS. We would be shocked if any won medals. There you have it.

Come back tomorrow for the Finale!

[Benjamin Mark]

Kelly - Good Evening, I'm Josh Kelly

Zhang - I'm Jessica Zhang. The first Olympics held in two countries is being held in Electrum and New Gelderland. Angie Cameron is in Centralis with the athletes, Angie?

Cameron - I have Jacqueline Tetanamonga, Rendale Qureshi, Laneth Kanjurui, and Jacqueline Ordonez here and they are excited to talk about their journey to the Olympics. First we'll begin with Jacqueline Tetanamonga. Tetanamonga, anything you would like to share?

Tetanamonga - I am very excited to be in the Olympics, I have trained my butt off and expect to win a medal or two in this Olympics.

Cameron - Rendale, anything you like to share?

Qureshi - This Olympics will be more challenging and I am ready to be one of the best and win a medal for my country.

Cameron - Laneth, you?

Kanjurui - I am so excited to be in the Olympics, I trained hard, worked hard, and the fruits of my labor will all fall into place.

Cameron - Ordonez, you?

Ordonez - I've trained in 3 triathlons leading up to this event, I will make sure a medal comes my way.

Cameron - Reporting live in Centralis, Angie Cameron, BMNS News.

[Asteran]

“And since that story was first published in the Independent, the Racing Club appeal has raised over 30,000 pounds, with more being donated every day. If you would like to support the club's work, they are accepting donations of bicycles at the club's offices in Montrose, Kirano, or donations on their website, racingclubkirano.as.”

“And continuing with our Olympic preview, Tara Isola went to Kapi to discover how their clubs produce some of Asteran's best wrestlers. What she found was a centuries-old tradition being revived in the unlikeliest of ways.”

“In the old town of Valaurin, you wouldn't expect to find the nation's best wrestlers honing their craft alongside the stone churches and communal gardens. It is here, though, at the Valaurin Sports Club, where the best of the best got their start and, occasionally, where they return to help train the next generation of Kapi wrestlers. But these wrestlers are not training in the standard Olympic wrestling styles. Rather, they are learning the old Kapi folk wrestling style, Paini.”

“Dr. Toby Ilves, of Kapi University, has studied the history of paini and authored several books on the sport.”
“Paini has been practiced by the Kapi for centuries; it's a tradition that dates back hundreds of years, back to the first Kapi settlers of this area. Paini was considered a way to keep fit during the winter months, and eventually evolved to a year-round sport, with major tournaments following at the various tribal festivals.”

“The sport has persisted through political upheavals, cultural suppression, and major wars. Yet the sport is facing its fiercest fight ever, with traditionalists squaring off against modernizers. The fight started in 2002 with Charles Davis, a paini trainer in Valmiera, opening a school to teach a new paini style that he based on freestyle wrestling. He called it tasuta, the Kapi word for free. At the time, Davis thought it could bring in more students to help the sport grow.”

“And for a time, it worked. Davis' school enrolled 40 students in the first month, most of them former high school and university wrestlers. Davis used their skills and experience to refine tasuta, while staying within the standard paini rules. His assistant trainer, Kaia Rebane, perfected the tasuta style and brought it to the 2003 Paini Festival. There, tasuta was immediately rejected by the Paini Association, the traditionalists decrying the change from the talje, or waist, style.”

“The change, however, interested an Asteran Olympic Committee member visiting the festival that day. Diana Caplan got in touch with Davis, wanting to see his club in action. Her visit the following month would change the history of paini forever.”
“I met with Charles after the festival, and saw the work he had put into this new style of paini. We invited two of his wrestlers to the Asteran Institute of Sports, and they were head and shoulders above any other freestyle wrestler at the institute. We immediately saw an opportunity to build a pipeline of sorts from these paini schools to the AIS, leading to the national team.”

“Caplan's interest brought AOC interest, and eventually, AOC money. Clubs across the county received heavy investment from AOC grants, with a condition that the tasuta style be accepted by the Association. The Paini Association reluctantly accepted tasuta at the 2004 Paini Festival, with the following year's festival the largest in history thanks to the influx of tasuta wrestlers.

“This revived interest has pleased many trainers, such as Jukka Aaltonen, who has seen enrollment numbers at his club in Valmiera quadruple over the last decade.”
“The new interest in paini has revived the club, and the AOC's grants have allowed us to branch out into other forms of wrestling and even other combat sports. We're attracting better students, we're expanding our buildings, and we're bringing in better trainers. The growth we've seen has been incredible.”

“That sentiment is shared by Paini Association President Paavo Tepponen.”
“In the last ten years, we have seen the number of registered painija increase tenfold. It has revitalized clubs across the county thanks to the hundreds of thousands of pounds in membership fees and AOC grants. It has renewed interest in Kapi culture among the younger generation. The AOC's work here has been nothing but a boon for paini.”

“Not everyone sees it that way. Former Paini Association President Ari Nurmi is concerned that the tradition is being blinded by money.”
“There never used to be this much money surrounding paini. There were never cash prizes given out to winners of the festivals, and sponsorship was out of the question. Now, one sees sponsor banners and corporate booths at the festivals, cash prizes to the winners. The friendly competition has vanished, now that money is on the line. The sport is losing its heart, thanks to the money coming into it.”

“Former wrestlers, too, are concerned about the AOC's influence over the sport. Former women's national champion Heli Riipi, who runs a talje club in Espo, sees the AOC's growing influence as a bad omen for the sport.”
“I won't deny that the AOC's money has helped. I think, though, that their motives aren't entirely altruistic. Paini isn't an Olympic sanctioned sport, of course. My question is: how long will it take for the AOC to start attaching conditions to that money? When will the AOC say 'Right, enough of this fake wrestling, here's what we're gonna force you to teach?” The AOC could step in at any time and kill the paini programs at the big clubs, setting our sport back years, perhaps decades.”

“It's a concern shared by some at the AOC. In February of this year, the AOC's Executive Board passed a resolution affirming their support of paini, while creating a seat on the AOC Sports Board for the Paini Association's president to bring them into the decision-making process. AOC Sports Board Chair Harris Burke spoke with us about the AOC's support of paini.”
“Over the last couple of years, the AOC has taken a proactive approach to addressing the concerns of paini trainers and club directors, and the work we have done this year will help the sport thrive in this country. I can't count the number of e-mails and phone calls my office has received on this issue, and we have taken every call, every e-mail, every letter seriously. My goal is to ensure that paini will thrive alongside the Olympic wrestling disciplines in this country. It's as simple as that.”

“Back here at Valaurin, the fight is far from over. Not just the fight inside the circle, of course, but the fight outside these walls; indeed, the fight for what many describe as the soul of a sport. The past and future collide in these offices, in the sport's halls of power, and at the festivals around the county. Inside the circle, however, it's business as usual for these young painija, fighting for the present.

“For the ABC, I'm Tara Isola.”

[Wray]

(From the National Reporter, Olympic Supplement)

Ones to Watch: 5 Young Medal Hopes for Wray in Centralis/Nassau Bay

WOA Chairman Nathan de Klee, at his recent press conference, spoke of young talent emerging on the scene for Wray, and with an average delegation age of 26, this certainly rings true. In this article, the National Reporter takes a look at some of the hottest young prospects who will turn out in the Green-and-White over the next month.

Leah Marou - Athletics - Women's 1500m - 19 years old

Leah Marou, of Native Descent, goes in the 1500m, looking to break ground on the running track, somewhere which Wray has never seen much success. Hailing from the Candamundie tribe, whose homelands are the hills around Bennega, Marou grew up in a large household in Montresey, a relatively deprived district of the city, where she attended the local high school. Whilst the traditional sports for girls at public schools are netball and hockey, Marou found distinction on the track - the nearest proper one being at the Bennega Community Athletics Club, on the other side of the city. Marou would either take the hour-long bus-ride to the track to train, normally doing her school-work on the bus before training after school, or making use of the streets and parks around her home. As a result of her background and upbringing, Marou didn't have the same access to the same facilities as her counter-parts from more privileged parts of the country, but that didn't stop her mother from entering her independently in the National Youth Championships, for which she had to prove she met the qualifying standard in front of officials before competing. She won the U16 800m event and came third in the 1500m event, just one of two in both pursuits. This brought her onto the radar of the National Youth Athletics Board, who provided her with access to the Bennega Region Coach and a training grant. Marou returned to the NYCs the following year and won the 1500m in Youth Record time, matching that of fully professional adults. She entered the national set-up after leaving school at 17, training full-time and competing on the National Circuit. She missed out on the IAGP through injury, but came back in time for the Olympic trials, where she cleared away the opposition and was selected in the Olympic squad. Nathan de Klee listed Marou as one of the most prominent medal hopes for Wray, and she will certainly look to live up to that billing. In honour of her Native heritage, she will run with the traditional hair-piece, the Kasera, in her hair during the Games.

Alexandra Munro - Judo - Women's 52kg - 20 years old

In the relatively unheralded sport of Judo, Wray have a new golden girl. Following the Grace Spencer School of Blonde Bombshells, Munro might fit in better on the catwalk, but don't get on the wrong side of this Cartersburg lass, or you'll be spitting out your teeth for a week. Munro got into the sport at school, one of the prominent private colleges in Cartersburg, where she was told she was too small to play rugby, but still wanted to engage in physical sport, so was introduced to Judo. She uses her small frame and agility to get around opponents on the mat, and is a master of using her opponent's weight against them. Munro won the Cartersburg U17 and U18 Inter-Collegiate Judo Championships in the 48kg and below category, but decided on advice of her coach to move up to the 52kg category - one above that category, and has only competed in one competition at that weight, the National Qualifiers - from which the winner entered the Wray Olympic Team - and she cruised to the final, defeating two former National Squad members, and won the competition with a comprehensive 42 second victory. Things look very promising for Munro, but will face much stiffer competition to take home Olympic gold.

Jamie Giffen - Swimming - Men's 100m Butterfly, 200m Butterfly - 19 years old

The latest off the production line from the National Performance Centre for Swimming in Cartersburg, the same illustrious institution which produced Brendan Matthews, Grace Spencer, Hugh Foster, Keegan Davis, Holly White, as well as a host of other Olympic and national stars. Giffen is a giant of a person - 6ft 7", with arms and legs like tree trunks and size 16 trainers. No wonder, as he swims in the most physically gruelling pursuit, the butterfly - and also goes in the medley relay for good measure. Entrants for the NPCS are identified early and trained like nothing else. It was no different for Giffen, identified age just 11 from his club in his home town of Blue Harbour and put on training regimes which by any measure would be pretty harsh on an 11 year old. He received swimming scholarships to high school in Cartersburg, and then to University, where he took three golds at the University Open last year, in his 1st Year. If confidence is anything to go by, Giffen is assured of a medal, as he said to media before the Games, and said 'Yeah, I'm pretty sure I'll get a medal - I just gotta swim faster than anyone else.' Wise words indeed, Jamie.

Zash Sturrett - Athletics - Women's Long Jump - 21 years old

A former rugby league player, representing All Wray U21s, Sturrett is a natural athlete who would be good at any pursuit in any sport, Sturrett turned to athletics after damaging shoulder ligaments from a number of shoulder dislocations, which has led to her rather idiosyncratic long jump technique. Sturrett has been a component part of the dramatic rise in women's field athletics in Wray, breaking first a series of junior records and then briefly holding the national record for 45 minutes before it was broken again by Emily Weston at the CeltaDirect Open six months ago, in the space of two years leading up to her selection for the Games. She is listed second in selection behind the more experienced Weston, but many pundits, including the NR's very own David Muller, reckon Sturrett might be more likely to grab a medal, as she enters the Games on a wave of good form and strong performances. Sturrett starred at the University Open this spring, whilst also competing the 200m, where she made the final, but won the Long Jump, albeit in the absence of Weston and several other senior athletes.

Hallan Janowicz - Cycling - Men's Mountain Bike - 20 years old

The young tyro of half Wray, half Uitbregeni extraction goes in the Mountain Bike event, a relatively unknown event for Wray - whose knowledge of cycling begins with Sarah Grevan on the road and ends with Jackson Marsh on the track, but Hallan promises to tear up the form book and thrust the sport - popular with rural populations in Wray - into the mainstream. If you visit any village or farmstead in rurual Wray, you'll find a couple of bikes propped up against a wall, scarred with mud and dirt. Kids spend hours every Saturday and Sunday criss-crossing the mountain paths, and now they have their first national representative. Born in the Faulkner River Station, the fourth town down on the Central Valley River, Janowicz grew up on a bike and told the NR in a recent interview, he 'spent little time at school really', but instead preferred to just 'go out for 10, 12 hours on my bike and go exploring'. This youthful desire to explore has translated into a serious desire to succeed athletically - he joined the Central Valley Cycling Club downstream at the Kanet River Station where initially started as a Road Cyclist - cycling in the same team as Olympic Road Race competitor Tom Martin. Janowicz converted to Mountain Biking, an event which has no officially sanctioned National Championships, after losing out on a contract with a cycling team, and went back to Uitbregen to train as a specialist mountain biker. He returned 18 months later as a very promising cyclist, and, meeting international qualifying standards, got a place in the Wray Olympic squad.

[Welcomzia]

Welcomzia's Medal Chances

AM: "Welcome back for our third part of this exclusive series, where we analyse Welcomzia's best medal hopes. Let's jump into the action starting with Judo".

Name: Adam Sharp
Events: Men's Judo 90kg

Sharp started to play Judo when he was seven, and was instantly hooked. He won several regional youth tournaments and was clearly a natural. This prompted the interest of an elite judo club, where he was nurtured into the star he is today.

Name: Alberto Ortiz
Events: Men's Over 100kg

Alberto Ortiz is a massive man weighing 109kg. He has loads of muscle and has risen up three weight categories in the space of five years. He's won many medals and is a cult figure in Welcomzia. Many people call him by his nickname, "the beast".

Name: Victoria Castillo
Event: Women's Over 80kg

Castillo, like Ortiz is very heavy, she weighs 92kg and is 6"1 high. She uses her strength to great advantage in judo, it being her greatest attribute. She has won several national medals and looks to win another in the upcoming games.

Names: Lori May/Laurie Barton/Lydia Maldonado/Brenda Ward
Event: Women's Coxless Fours

Rowing has never really been an area of success for Welcomzia down the years, but this year these four look to change the script. They work very well together and are the nation's only real chance of a medal in rowing.

Names: Jeff Mitchell/James Bennett
Event: Men's Keelboat

Both these men are veterans of sailing and have been doing it for over twenty years. They've been steadily improving together over five or six years and now they are at a level to compete for a medal at an international event. As the saying goes, better late than never.

Name: Terry Munoz
Event: Women's Sailboard

Terry Munoz is the daughter of Alex Munoz, the legendary Welcomzian sailor who retired ten years ago. Now his daughter is starting to fill his massive shows, competing in the same event that he excelled in, the sailboard. Terry Munoz comes in as one of the favourites for a medal and has already had her fair share of success down the years.

Name: Luther Hampton
Event: Men's 50m Pistol

Luther Hampton is a former marine who resigned after his friend was blown up by a grenade. But five years on from the accident, the very experienced Hampton has moved on. He still has a gun in his hand but it's an entirely different type of battle he's in. This one involves less death for a start.

Name: Rex Becker
Event: Men's 50m Three Positions

Rex Becker has been shooting before some of these athletes were even born. The 42 year-old is military trained and is constantly practicing his shots, mostly with success. Despite his age, Becker has only been competing professionally for 12 years, and during that time he has won medals, many many medals.

Name: Sandra Rice
Events: Women's 10m Air Pistol, Women's 10m Air Rifle

Rice is a very strong female shooter who is very capable with both the pistol and the rifle, but is better with the rifle. She's only 5"2 but that doesn't take anything away from her exceptional shooting ability, and she'll certainly be a force at the Olympics.

Name: Mona Young
Events: Women's trap, Women's double trap

Young is one of the youngest shooters at the Olympics at only 22. She only started shooting five years ago but is naturally talented. She was considering joining the army when her father spotted her ability in the double trap. She is much better at the double trap than the single trap, but that won't stop her competing in both.

Name: James Miller
Events: Men's Table Tennis Singles, Men's Team

James Miller has been the national #1 for the best part of seven years. He constantly dominates national tournaments and doesn't really have a national rival up to his standards. He is one of the favourites in the men's table tennis and will look to make an impact on the international stage with gold. However, in the team event the mediocrity of his fellow countrymen will probably stop him from getting a medal. The 28 year-old is a big fan of the Olympics and is very excited about his country competing in them for the first time.

Name: Gregory Mendez
Event: Taekwondo Men's 68kg

Mendez has been a black belt in taekwondo since age 10. He is very experienced and trains at the country's best taekwondo club. The 26 year-old will fancy his chances of gold at these Olympics.

Name: Kendra Sutton
Event: Women's 67kg

Sutton is a black belt in three forms of martial arts: taekwondo, karate and savate. She is an expert at the sport, and has won countless medals in all age groups and has been undefeated in national tournaments for the past five years. Now she looks to bring her expertise to the international stage and has a strong chance of winning a medal.

AM: "That's it for today. Tomorrow the series will conclude before we start to preview the upcoming events in the tournament". "See you next time!"

[Schottia]

The Great Jaun Vereeni

'Did I ever tell you how much I love the Olympics?' Said Chloe Rudden as the first of the athletes assembled at the other side of airport security. 'Last time round, I literally couldn't sleep for a week before it started.' She giggled. 'I remember one time I had judo on my parents' TV, rowing on my laptop, and some obscure hockey match on my phone. It's like, I never realise that I'm in fact a massive triathlon fan, or an avid follower of badminton, or an aspiring pole-vaulter until the games start up.'

'And now you're, like, actually at the games!' Replied her friend and teammate Saskia Holden, palms held to either side of her face in mock surprise.
'I KNOW!' Chloe shrieked, hopping up and down on the spot, before being brought back down to earth by the glare of Larisa Banks, her coach in the women's football side. 'Sor-ry.' She mouthed slowly, acknowledging that she should probably pipe down. Like the rest of the delegation flying out to Electrum this morning, the girls were in their bottle-green tracksuit trousers and white t-shirts, as was the official Schottic Olympic kit. There were tops to go with it, but owing to the weather, most athletes had them stuffed in their hand luggage, or tied round their waists.

'I've never visited Electrum before, but any nation that has a boot "kickin' some ass" on its flag has to be cool!' Chloe said placing her hand luggage on the floor and checking one last time that she still had her passport.

There was a good vibe about Handon International Airport, as multitude of sportsmen and women descended into the departure lounge. Amongst the men's and women's football sides this was amplified even further, with a great deal of them having played together at various youth levels, and in the senior side. It was a little different of course, in that there were joined by a couple of the guys from Port Christopher, but it was undoubtedly weirder for them that it was for the Schottians. The Olympians cam in a whole host of shapes and sizes, ranging from wrestlers, weightlifters and heavyweight boxers, to wiry distance runners, gymnasts, and fencers, with everything covered in-between.

'What about that one then?' Asked Saskia pointing at a tall, gangly individual with red frizzy hair, who was absentmindedly walking by carrying a coffee.

Chloe laughed. 'Basketball maybe?' She replied not wholly certain. 'However, I'm going purely on height.' This was the game they had been playing since they arrived at the airport, trying to work out which athlete played which sport. It was obviously a lot more difficult with some delegates, and had the added problem of making them look like a pair of giggling children -- not that either of them cared.

'Oh oh oh! How about her?' Chloe blurted out, already unable to keep the laughter from her voice. Looking away as she pointed in the direction of a small blonde woman carrying a bubble wrapped canoe.

'I think that's the men's football team's new left back.' Saskia joked, as both the girls had to turn away, laughing into their hands. There was something about the tiny woman, dwarfed by her piece of apparatus, which excited some infantile tendency in the young football stars.

'Sounds like the mental preparations are well underway Sas!' Said Larry Watt, one of the players on the men's side currently plying his trade in Ceni. 'If any of the opposition players were flies on the wall right now, they would be quivering in their boots, looking at two such steely competitors.' He was returning to the main body of athletes, having collected a bottle of water from one of the vending machines.

'Just... like... lulling everyone into a false sense of security, y'know Laurence.' Replied Saskia playing up, as she loosely balled a fist, for a joke punch directed at Watt's shoulder. 'Don't want to show all your cards straight from the off, huh?'

'Indeed.' He replied smiling as he tied to grab her fist in a half-hearted attempt. 'Well I must say the two of you are doing an exemplary job on that front.' Watt laughed and shook his head. 'Out of interest, do either of you ever meet anyone who thinks you're footballers?'

Chloe pouted and shrugged her shoulders.

'What are you two up to anyway?' Watt asked unscrewing the lid of his bottle and taking a drink. 'It must be fun, by the sounds of it.'

'We aaaaar...' Chloe waved her hands euphuistically, in a way that told Watt he should brace himself. '...trying to guess what sport people are participating in, based on their appearance.' She screwed up her face, wrinkling her nose. 'Which I guess is kind of ironic given what you just said...?'

Watt smiled at them one last time before turning to walk away. 'I leave you guys to it. If whatever your doing helps bring us a medal, then good luck.'

'Do-do-doo...' Sakia stuffed her hands in her pockets, as both girls momentarily looked embarrassed for getting caught. However as Watt finally departed they were able to get back to business. 'Oh my freaking God! What about that guy?' Saskia suddenly bust into life pointing at a tall figure, with immaculately combed hair and a handlebar moustache, who was standing carrying a Schottia kit-bag. The man, who was possibly in his late thirties, was wearing a beige checked shirt, tightly buttoned up to his neck, a pair of neatly pressed grey flannels, and bright red, polished leather shoes. All this was topped of with a black cape, which hung down from him shoulders. The totality of the man's appearance was somehow one of style and elegance, despite the fact that the same attire on another individual would have looked utterly ridiculous.

Saskia's explosive reaction must have caught his attention, as the young gentleman smiled and gave a curt little nod in their direction. 'Good morning ladies.' His accent was hard to place, but it had a depth and richness to it, making it all the more noticeable. Both the girls were suitably embarrassed and were forced to smile politely back, not really knowing where to hide their faces. 'Beautiful day, no?' He eventually added allowing his smile to widen into a full grin.

'Eh, sorry.' Started Chloe. 'We were just eh... mucking about. We didn't mean to be rude.' The North Laithland winger rubbed the back of her neck, hot with embarrassment.

'Actually, if it's not too rude to ask...' Saskia added as Chloe turned to walk away, bringing her companion to a halt. 'Do you mind if I ask what sport you compete in?'

'No not at all.' The man answered, lifting his bag and walking over to where the girls stood. There was definitely something about him, which Chloe was beginning to find a little odd. 'But first, might I enquire as to whom I am addressing?' The man's cape, which came down to the back of his knees, floated gently behind him, with an apparent grace.

As he neared them Chloe and Saskia realised that they had misjudged his age, as the mysterious character was perhaps only in his mid twenties. 'My name is Saskia and this is Chloe.' Said the Bayern Phoenix defender, tucking a few strands of her dyed electric-blue hair behind her ear. 'And you are...?' She extended a hand in the gentleman's direction.

'I am the Great Jaun Vereeni; Trampolinist Extraordinaire!' The man spread his arms wide, lowering himself into a full bow, before accepting Saskia's hand, but rather than the handshake she intended he instead planted a kiss on the back of her hand. 'It is my great pleasure to meet you Saskia.' He replied before standing and giving a somewhat reluctant Chloe the same treatment.

'Is that, like, some kind of a cape you're wearing?' Asked Saskia, who was by far the more confident of the two in this situation. 'Are you aloud to dress like that?'

'Yes it it.' He said holding up one corner. 'Why would you want to be a sheep. To follow the crowd, like a mindless fool, when instead you can soar above them all like an eagle!' He pointed to the other athletes all identically dressed.

'Well... because we were told to...' Said Chloe with a shrug.

'Exactly Chloe, exactly.' Jaun Vereeni tutted loudly, waving a finger in her face. 'To be an athlete is to carefully follow instruction. However to be an Olympian, that is to break the mould, to forge one's own destiny.' Vereeni constantly spoke with his hand, and every word was mirrored by some body action. It was almost like watching some sort of interpretive dance routine.

Chloe looked to her left trying to make eye contact with her friend, but much to her frustration, Saskia was hooked. 'We're both competing in the football.' She put in, looking to keep the conversation going.

'And what, can I ask are two such rare and delicate flowers doing playing such a barbaric sport.' He reached inside his cape, revealing a tweed waistcoat and removed from the pocket two small red flowers, presenting one to each of them with a respectful bow. 'Such beauty is wasted in what must be the bluntest of sports.' Chloe rolled her eyes and folded her arms, clenching the flower unceremoniously in her right hand. 'Contact sports are for cavemen not for those better suited to more sophisticated pursuits.' Vereeni stood back and placed a hand on each hip. 'It is only when we compete by ourselves that we reach that Zen state, when phenomenology merges into one, and we truly find the meaning of physical endeavour. To play football is to kick a lump of leather mindlessly over the pitch. But to trampoline...' Vereeni raised his arms in the air. 'To trampoline is to be alive!'

At this he shouted loudly, causing Chloe to take a step back, and everyone else in the airport to turn and stare. A moment of utter silence descended on the departure lounge as people dropped their conversations to stare at the tramolinist. However the intermission was short lived, as the low rumble of chatter quickly recommenced and slowly grew.

'I always think of it like a metaphor for man's endeavour, trampolining that is, trying to reach the summit.' Saskia said smiling, trying to get involved. 'Stretching for that goal, and every time we jump, like Tantalus, it is always out of our reach.'

'I've never heard you say that before Sas.' Said Chloe, hands on hips, one eyebrow raised.

'Did you know, Jaun, that Chloe's boyfriend Gary was at the Oylimpics last time round, in The Kytler Peninsulae.' Said Saskia ignoring her. 'Her long term partner, whom she lives with in Nephara.'

'Yeah, and that's, like, totally on topic...' Chloe muttered but it had fallen of deaf ears. As the conversation moved on to the topic of "The Mystical Vereeni's" accent Chloe had thoroughly tuned out. She was starting to wonder if she should snatch his cape and see if she could use it to disappear in a puff of smoke.

Larry Watt was probably right enough. They needed to try and keep a bit of focus. There was no doubt that they had a good team, possibly as good if not better than the men's side, which was a bit nuts considering that last time round they only had two players in the side who even played mixed football. There were some tricky teams in their group; Asteran, Elejamie, and Vekaiyu could all prove to be banana skins. It was going to be weird playing without the boys, that was for sure, and Chloe hadn't played a women only game since she was seventeen. Although the Schottic Premier League had been mixed gender for several years now, the Women's Super-League had still been kept in existence while its players were transitioned into what was the men's league. There were only a handful of people in the squad this time round, who still played in the WSL, only four in fact, and they would almost certainly be snapped up in the transfer window. In Schottia it was pretty normal for men and women to compete side by side, so the Olympics were in a way considered a novelty. Rebecca James was considered Schottia's top swimmer, not top female swimmer, top swimmer full stop.

The Olympics probably weren't about that though, it wasn't about whom you competed with, it was about your own personal journey. In that sense perhaps it was the 'caped crusader's' turn to be right. Today had dealt Chloe a useful life lesson. She needed to be a little more like Larry Watt, and a teensy-weensy bit more like Jaun Verreni, if she was going to be a true Olympian.

[Izmedu]

THE VODIZNAD CHRONICLE

Borjas' Editorial Blog: Special Olympics Coverage
The Unauthorized Izmeduan Olympic Preview: Anxiety as Izmedu Steps Foot Onto the Olympics
written by Borjas Serifovic with additional contributions from Katrina Dodovic

VODIZNAD – Nestled in the quaint, but quiet office spaces of the Izmeduan skyline, the newly constructed Olympic HQ for the Izmeduan Olympic Committee seems to blend in. For such a huge undertaking in part of a joint project within the Izmeduan government to increase Izmeduan cultural exports along with the alliance of bare-bones sports leagues within the nation, one would think that the Izmeduan Olympic building would have a bit more pizzazz. As it stands, it is a lone plaza surrounded by Krias' Eatery and to its right, the VodiComplex. Behind the building is the closest thing that Izmedu has to a stock exchange. As the 10th Olympiad approaches, the building begins to stand out, as advertisement begins to push hard. Excitement is abound, not only within the public but outside. This is the first time that Izmedu will not be competing in a music competition, but in sport. A part of Izmeduan culture lost through bloody revolutions, wars, and government overthrows, but is now just beginning to makes its resurgence as the country stabilized itself over the past decade. Only now have we deemed ourselves worthy of the Olympic stage, but is it possible that we have cold feet?

Surrounded by nations that have infinitely more experience within the Olympiad, many in the public fear that the nation may get lost in the shuffle. No one feels this burden more than Izmeduan Olympic Committee President, Jelica Dragic. She has called the Olympic HQ 'her de facto home, I live here now essentially' she mentions so casually, despite her eyes screaming for slumber and rest. Jelica, in frank conversation, shares with me her fears for the Izmeduan delegation, with us only sending 22 entries but many nations sending numbers much higher than that. It may seem odd at first to be so fearful, considering Izmedu is only an unknown in the sporting realm. Jelica confessed to me that she wanted to ensure a satisfactory first impression with the small Izmeduan delegation, despite the limitation set upon by virtue of Izmedu participating in the Olympics for the first time, hushing me the official unspoken goal of the Izmeduan delegation, 'to get at least one medal and go home with our heads held high.'

Sponsorships were few and far between, money and budgets were stretched, expanded with the Olympic Committee in line of at least IL505,000,000. The Olympics were a stress not only abroad in our performance, but also domestically. What was once a manufactured hype for the Olympics to 'get the ball rolling' has turned into a media circus, with many Izmeduan athletes not used to the media scrutiny that entertainment and music celebrities were all used to. The Olympics brought up the awareness of sport for the first time, but how would the athletes fare? Would this hype last until the Olympics over? The mood was a jolly, if resigned one as Jelica gave me a tour of the complex, its color palette if dull, but pragmatic. A reflection of the Izmeduan delegation's attitude towards the nations' first Olympic outing. A pragmatic hope in, that in our small numbers of Izmedu's best of the best, one will take our nation to at least one medallion.

Jelica led me to the training center, nestled in the deepest center of the building, a sort of cruel metaphor for how cameras would be trained on them in the nations of Electrum and New Gelderland, but before the storm would hit, it would only be the watchful eyes of Izmeduan coaches, doctors, and committee executives that would watch our hopefuls before the eyes of the world watch them. Three of the delegation were there, with Finka Jankovic, one of the three in women's individual archery. considered by many in Izmedu to be the most likely to gain a medallion. Of course, this was reflected in the attention and care the delegation places on her. She was recently selected as the flagbearer, and it can be easily seen in the way she practiced before we spoke to her. Arrows hit their targets as her hand handled the bow and arrow like a natural extension of her body.

Poised, confident, with those steely eyes. Her trained eyes spotted their targets, and Finka seemed encapsulated in her own world until Jelica disrupted her training with a throat clear. This caused Finka's final moment of training to crack open with mistakes, with a final mis-shot arrow missing the center by quite a wide margin on the target she was trying to shoot at. I paid this no mind, but I was concerned slightly. I shook her hand as introductions were given, and a short, but slightly in-depth interview was commenced. She spoke with a calm, collected demeanor, having no patience for small talk. Before I could ask her question, she prefaced our conversation with her fear and hatred of celebrity culture, and her concern that she would no longer be allowed privacy.

The conversation was easy, if a bit disconnected at times as questions unrelated to archery only brought upon silences after short answers. She was from the Vouno area, the historically mountainous region of Izmedu, not wanting to disclose the exact municipality from where she came from. Finka learned how to hold and shoot a bow and arrow at the tender age of 7, being taught archery in in primary Physical Education and pursuing it in an amateur level throughout her teenage years. Her abilities she self-described to be, 'were considered prodigal by my teachers throughout the years. Which I thought was odd. I mean I did shoot bulls-eye my first time when I was 7, but I don't think I ever caught that. You could say I'm competent, maybe Olympic worthy.' Now 25, she's been practicing archery for almost 2 decades, inching closer to professional Archery as she went into higher education.

Our little promptu interview ended with Finka training again, with Jelica and I glancing one arrow hitting a hair's length from center. Perhaps the delegation's faith in her was indeed justified. We exited the archery grounds to the swimming pools, where half of the athletes were training for the 3 meter springboard, Vilko Tomcic and Suzana Kosar, as well as mock judges on the sidelines. Vilko would be the first one to dive, jumping high up in the air before performing a pike, spinning for a second until heading straight towards the water, creating quite a splash. I hear mutters of 'rough performance, not as graceful as we thought, but good landing.'

Vilko Tomcic was another athlete earmarked as one that may clinch a medal for Izmedu, garnering some hopeful Izmeduan fans in the aquatics portion. At the age of 31, he's mostly an aquatics-based athlete for the past decade, having been a water polo player in high school but deciding not to pursue the sport professionally. Vilko tends to specialize in professional swimming as well as diving as performance, often described by Jelica to me 'swimming at a lightning fast rate compared to many Izmeduan athletes.' He's reputed to live at the municipality of Igrka, a subset of the larger city of Rajvosa at the county seat of Palatocka, one of Izmedu's most water-reliant provinces.

Suzana Kosar was a bit more graceful in performance as she spun, garnering a greater air time as she jumped backwards. However, her landing left a bit more to be desired. If Vilko Tomcic transitioned to aquatics as an individual sport, Susanna was someone who knew only swimming and diving. The story of her love for diving, described in a truncated version to me by herself. She has a fondness of falling down long distances, provided the landing point has water. Her first instance of 'springboarding,' despite there being no spring, was when she decided to dive into a lake in a creek. Instead of taking a rope and glide over the lake, she decided to fall straight in, arms point towards the water as her body made a splash. That was her first experience, at 16, and since then, she's wanted to do it professionally.

After 30 minutes of watching, Jelica and I decided to exit the training areas and close off my visit to the Olympic complex. It was a fascinating visit, if a bit hushed and rushed. As the clock approached 8:00PM and I relieved of the visit, the entire Izmeduan delegation was in the complex as the pre-games press conference behind, with Finka, Suzana, and Vilko in the lead naturally. I saw the 40-50 athlete delegation in full, and it was quite a sight to behold as shouts of national pride were heard. I vividly remember smiling, and holding a bit of hope as the national anthem played, and it was announced by Jelica that this would be the last night the athletes would stay Izmeduan soil until the end of the Olympics, barring some sort of bizarre occurrence to the delegation. Tomorrow, they would be Electrum and New Gelderland, competing under our name for Olympic glory.

Perhaps there is hope in our delegation, whether or not the the public or punters consider three athletes as 'standing a chance' in the games. I was proud of the whole delegation regardless, and I would be right there with them as the games progressed.

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

As part of a special deal to increase readership during the Olympics, the Vodiznad Chronicle offers a specialized subscription plan that gives full, exclusive access to Borjas' Olympic Editorial Blog as well as other coverage from Vodiznad Chronicle, ranging from on-the-dot news updates, to personal editorials, as well as access to potential guest articles from athletes. You will receive real-time updates, be entered in raffle to meet the Izmeduan flagbearer, and have access to all 'premium' articles related to the Olympics until its end. For a one-time payment of IL995, you will gain immediate access to 100% coverage of the Games of the X Olympiad beyond the regular coverage we give.

To buy your subscription today, please visit: http://www.vodiznadchroicle.iz to order today.

[Fluvique]

All is getting ready to the start of the Games of the X Olympiad. The expectations are high, especially in a country very enthusiastic like the our. Among other things (that will not be discussed here) the Fluviquean sports suffered a lot after the 2002 crisis, with cuts, stagnation and apathy. Is true that in the last years, at least since 2006, a revival of the Royal Sports Ministry helped to fix many things, but this will be the first chance to test how many improvements were made and what is needed for the future. In this analysis, we will list the opportunities and hopes to reach a medal in the most important sports of the Kingdom.

Men's Basket:

Fluvique have class, quality, experience,strength and knows how to compete. Perhaps the rising stars can be a double-edged sword: their talent is only equal as their ego. The manager will have to know how to deal with them.
Fluvique starting five can compete with anybody, but the Olympic competition will be hard for all. Fatigue and minor knocks and injuries can take its toll on everyone, but the specially the Fluviqueans

Fluvique vs: Elejamie
Fluvique vs: The Sword Bloke
Fluvique vs: The United Kingdoms of Zackalantis
Fluvique vs: Kriegiersien
Fluvique vs: New Gelderland

Football men's

Without doubts, the hope of the delegation. The white foxes have in their roster some of the best players around the world, with Sam Gonza as the leader of a golden generation. The team is dealing with fresh air and a lot of under-20 players, which participated in the Di Brandini Cup and are the basis for the future. If the team can deal with the fact of being one of the favourites will be the key for the luck of the White Foxes in the Olympics.

Fluvique vs Wray
Fluvique vs Mattijana
Frenline Delpha vs Fluvique

Men's handball

A sport being developed fast, have his big illusion in these games. Despite the present, the handball in Fluvique suffered a lot of time in the shadows and almost the forgetfulness, remembering the past glory in the 60s and 70s and watching how the players left the country and played for other nations. However, in 1992, the Handball Super League was founded and the investment came again, for the luck of this generation of young players. This boys, real warriors, have in their backs the glory and the proud of the past years and in their front have new pages of history to write. They can be the dark horses of the group, but anything is possible with a Fluviquean. Imagine with seven.

Drawkland vs Fluvique
Fluvique vs Cosumar
Frenline Delpha vs Fluvique
Barunia vs Fluvique
Fluvique vs Natanians and Nosts

Men's hockey

The men's team has the support of a generation that changed the nickname of the squad. The young lions can be a revelation in the games and are a good hope for medals. Patrick Ethan, Benjamin Denis and Brad Sawyer, among others, are the leaders of a team that privileges the good game over everything else. The show, at least, is guaranteed.

Fluvique vs Lymantatia
New Gelderland vs Fluvique
Fluvique vs San Jose Guayabal
Krytenia vs Fluvique

Women's hockey

Les femmes, lead by the captain and best player Tatiana Kaylin, the national squad will search his first title or at least fight for a medal. The Fluviqueans came to the Olympics with high expectations, after a couple of friendlies with great results and the confidence of years of good work and the tradition of a sport rooted in schools. Again, like in all the paysans squads, there is a balance between the youth and the experience, with a lot of freshness and seven players under-23, the hockey women's team hopes to add a new title to his famous career.

Fluvique vs Taeshan
Fluvique vs Mattijana
Taeshan vs Fluvique

Men's Volleyball

If anyone looks the roster, could think that is a team of the 80s. Well, almost. The coach is the second player with most caps in history and the team is composed by six sons of the historical Long Ones of the 80s and early 90s. Cayden, Maurice, Ghyn, Stij, Koen and Cedric are the successors of the legends and will try to write his own history. The talent is on their side.

Fluvique 25-16/25-23/25-22 Eura
Fluvique vs Drawkland
Kriegiersien vs Fluvique
Fluvique vs The Greater Vakolicci Haven
Shytysle vs Fluvique

Women's Volleyball

If Lara Bouchard had a merit, is to restore the professionalism in the team. The Panthers, another team composed by youth, were more focused in upload pictures to twitter and instagram or appear in the cover of the fashion magazines. Some say that the coach said to them, on the first practice, that they have to decide between be volleyball players or models. Since then, the girls only think in the game and how to improve. The fact that they need to prove that they are more that a pretty face can be the fuel for the illusion.

Nova Anglicana vs Fluvique
New Gelderland vs Fluvique
Fluvique vs Swibia

Rugby sevens

Perhaps the fourth great hope of the Royal Olympic Committee to win a medal. The team have some players of the Red bears and is entirely composed by players of the Royal First Division. Above all, the objective is to reach the top-4 and give experience to the players in order of be a refill for the bears. Still, all the rugby sevens available tickets sent by the local organization to Fluvique are sold out and the Red Devils will have the support of thousands fans, waiting to see them with the golden medal.

Fluvique vs Semarland
Britonisea vs Fluvique
Fluvique vs Ethane
Aristian Republic vs Fluvique


Tennis first round

Fernandez and Barbara are the two hopes for a sport that need fresh meat. Far away of the golden legion in the early 2000s, the young players are trying to ensure his place in the local elite, meanwhile the two best players of the country are dealing with injuries and slumps. Fernandez is who can win a medal or at least reach the last rounds and Barbara have the experience of years, but their body is not the same.

Juan Gabriel Fernandez vs Raki Uriz
David Barbara vs David White
Mike Terry vs Carlos Guerra
Dayde Anderson vs Amaury Sjors

Doubles:
Fernandez/Barbara vs Fairburn/Butts

Among the girls there's no too much. Since the retirement of Jackie White in 2002, the women's tennis had suffered a lot and never could recover and produce a new great player to the scene. At least, the experience with top players will help them to rise up

Beatrice Benchamp vs Robin Bates
Giselle Delkem vs Keeley Sinai
Jullianne Awada vs Jessica Moreaux

Doubles:

Benchamp/Delkem vs Vogt/Cota

Mixed:

Delkem/Fernandez vs Harvey/Latif

What to see

Women's Archery

Shelley Amédée and Nadia Hannes will participate in individual and they have really good chances to show a good performance.

Men’s Javelin Throw: Morris Loyd

Women’s Hammer Throw: Carmen Heleentje

Women’s Javelin Throw

Despite his condition of rare sport in the country, Fluvique have in Braelyn Maëlle
Hilda Delia and Eva Adalyn a fresh hope to reach a good ranking and perhaps win some medals.

Men’s Middleweight: Nick Standorf

Equestrian

In a country where the polo is more than a tradition and the horses are part of the national identity, this noble sport have a great expectation and great representatives. Ralph Llinaire, Dave Llonie and Peppi Gijs will participate in dressage. In eventing, will be Harley Addo as candidate.

Judo. Women’s 63 kg

Malouine Soledad, one of the best athletes of the country will have his baptism in a top competition. Malu will have to face great rivals and also deal with her nerves.

Rowing

There is a popular saying that say that if you can face the Yellow River waters and survive, then you can do anything. The sailing and rowing are traditions since the General Oscar de Saint-Romain crossed the river in 1817 and helped to win the Independence War.

198 years after Brian Dorian will participate in men’s single sculls. The same Dorian with Andreas Giacomo will compete in double sculls. For the women Eleanore Svetlana will compete in single sculls and will make a team with Lucia Lelia for the double sculls.

Sailing

Tradition and investment, the two pillars of the great present. In sailing, Fluvique will be represented by the best that the local sport can offer. All of them are sons of the Royal Yacht Club, with started to open his arms to non-traditional families, in order to democratize the sport. The Queen Eugenie itself is a supporter and helped a lot and is expected that she will attend to some events.

Men’s One-Person Dinghy: Dennis Teàrlach
Men’s Two-Person Dinghy: Alex Sherman/Carl Isaak
Men’s Heavyweight Dinghy: Olivier Tierney
Men’s Keelboat: Keyn Horace/Jule Lovel
Men’s Sailboard: Arthur Celso
Men’s Skiff: John Kiaran/Adam Westley

Men's Waterpolo

Fluvique 10-6 Frenline Delpha
Fluvique vs Mattijana
Fluvique vs Natanian and Nosts
Fluvique vs Kelssek
Fluvique vs Schottia

Women's Waterpolo

Fluvique vs Benjamin Mark
Fluvique vs Barunia
Fluvique vs Alphatheta
Fluvique vs Kelssek

[Barunia]

"Hi, I'm Michelle Corman, and I'm standing outside the Olympic Stadium in Centralis, Electrum. In a little over 40 hours this place will come alive as Electrum opens the doors to the world for the Opening Ceremony of the Tenth Olympic Games.

TheBarunian delegation touched down here in Centralis a few days ago and have been enjoying the city. Over the next two weeks, they'll take on competitors from 63 other nations, all vying to be the champion in their chosen sport.
BNN Sports have put together a top commentary team to guide you through all the action. To introduce you to them, we're now going to cross to our nerve centre for the next two weeks, the Centralis Studio."

"Thank you, Michelle, and welcome to all our viewers, live from Centralis. I'm Kitty Smith, and I'll be here in the studio for the duration of the games, and alongside me we have some of the other faces you'll see out and about. Alongside me now we have dual Olympic medallist Sabrina Griffin, international footballer Danil Samson, and our resident stats guru and loveable eccentric, Klaus. Klaus, I know you're excited to be here."

(Klaus) "So excited. You've got to love the Olympics. Can't wait to see Barunia win more gold!"

(Kitty) "Speaking of gold, let's talk about the team and some of our medal hopefuls. Barunia is sending a team of 354 athletes, which is down from the 372 sent to Zube… Danil, thoughts?"

"Well, the big loss has been track and field, which has never been an area Barunia has excelled in."

(Klaus) "What about Lacey Millican though? We have the fastest woman in the world!"

(Danil) "Track has been fairly consistent, it's field where the damage has been done. We've pretty much lost the entirety of our women's field team, and will send just six athletes this time. We have expanded in other areas though. The fencing team is back, they last competed in Orean, and we have more athletes competing in shooting and cycling."

(Sabrina) "Most of the traditionally strong Barunian sports have more members too. We have the same number of swimmers, but we have more sailors, more rowers and canoeists."

(Kitty) "Speaking of those sports, Sabrina, who do you think are going to be Barunia's best chances for medals in our strong sports?"

(Sabrina) "Well, let's start with the pool because that's what I know best, and I think you'd certainly have to keep an eye out for Antonia Jordan. She's in a lot of events, and I'd expect her to win in at least one. Bronte Thomas is also in a lot of events and in good shape. Jess Forrest might also be one to watch in the 400 freestyle, she smashed the national record at the championships last year. In the men, well, their's Matty J-Smith in the freestyle, and Damien Mooney's back again to try and better his silver."

(Kitty) "If we turn our attention to the canoeing, and one of our top medal hopes is Glenda Thornton, the reigning 500 metre champion in the Women's K-1 class. She'll also lead the Barunians into the stadium tomorrow as the country's flagbearer."

(Sabrina) "It's a big deal for Glenda, and she might just have the chance to pick up another medal here. She'll be very strong in the K-1, but I'm also looking forward to seeing her team up with Allycia Wallis for the K-2."

(Kitty) "Wallis is one of Barunia's finest canoeists, but has yet to make it big on the Olympic stage. She also competes in the Canoe Slalom, and would be great to see her pick p a medal there. Keep an eye out to for Clay Carnavon as he chases his 3rd olympic medal.

Moving on to the team sports now, and Danil, lets start with something very close to your heart, football."

(Danil) "It's looking really promising. All of the starters were in the world cup squad, with the exception of Miguel Manzana, and its great to have him back for injury and in the sky-blue jersey again. There might be a chance to try out some of the up and coming players like Kane Roberts and Valencia. I'd say they're an outside chance for a medal, but it would be a bit of a shock if they didn't make it out of the group stage."

(Kitty) "The women's team is also looking really strong, and they're helped by having six current and two former members of the national squad on the team."

(Danil) "That's right. When you've got girls like Moira Way or Rose Kinsley having to take a seat on the bench, you know you've got a strong squad. This could really be a time for women's football to shine here."

(Kitty) "Okay, so lets talk hockey, and we won't be seeing your sister this time round."

(Danil) "No, Vanessa's hung up her stick and boots, I'm afraid. But we still have two really strong teams. Tiffany Grouch leads the women once again, which is good as she missed the end of the NPL with a hamstring injury. Hockey in the country really has grown since the NHL underwent its mammoth expansion, its something like a hundred and twenty four teams now, and that means you have an awful lot of talent coming up through the system. I think the strength here is that they've got the balance of new talent and the old guard absolutely right. You need the players with the youth and energy, and you need the players who've bee through these types of campaigns. What's it like playing in a gold medal match? Ask the Doyle twins."

(Klaus): I have a really good feeling that this is going to be our year. Hockey has really taken off and everyone at home is right behind our Moons!

(Sabrina): It really is something that I think a lot of Barunians want to see a medal win, and to some degree they expect it.

(Kitty): well, that's all we have time for right now, as we are about to head down to the Olympic village where Michelle is standing by with some of our athletes. Don't forget to join us tomorrow for the Opening Ceremony live on BNN Sports from 9am."