XIII Winter Olympics — Roleplay thread

[Mattijana]

Mattijana Set For Action-Packed Start In Prescott

Mattias Burges and Kameran Albermauler are Mattijana's main medal hopes on Day 1 of competition at the 13th Winter Olympics as the Men's Downhill kicks off the action on day 1.

The two have performed well on the Alpine Skiing World Tour this season, Albermauler in particular has been a sensation since his arrival midway through the season, taking second place in his first race in Liebertwolkwitz and notching a maiden victory in the final race of the season in Ciavno. Dominika Jarnastic caught up with him over in Prescott before the start of the games.

"Kameran, good to see you again. How do you rate your chances ahead of the downhill on Sunday?"

"I'm in the form of my life at the moment, so now is certainly as good a time as any to race. The results on the World Tour have been very positive, so that's a big confidence boost and I'm just itching to get out on the snow now."

"Looking at those results, you haven't dropped outside of the top 10 in any of your 5 races. That kind of consistency must be a huge boost as well."

"Yeah... It's nice to know that you can just lean on your skis and trust your technique and the results will follow. In downhill skiing that's really important too. You can't fight the skis too much or you'll lose speed and time, so you have to trust your glide."

Kameran Albermauler's World Tour Results
Liebertwolkwitz-2nd
Jarrbergen-4th
Uppviken-9th
Murrayville-8th
Ciavno-1st

"You made your Olympic debut here a year ago, so you'll have some experience of the run. How can you use that in the race?"

"It helps you to know all the lumps and bumps and lines that you wouldn't meet on a training run. That kind of competitive experience is something you can't replicate outside of an Olympic games, so to have that behind me is a massive advantage even if the result wasn't so good."

"And of course the race being on the morning of day 1 may play a part as well. How will you be spending the evening before?"

"I'll be going to the opening ceremony, but leaving early with a few of the other athletes competing on Sunday morning. It's an early night unfortunately, but every fine margin counts and you have to be sharp to win."

"Good luck on Sunday, thanks for speaking to us."


Mattias Burges will also compete. The 28 year old won silver on his Olympic debut, but a costly mistake pushed him down to 42nd. Burges has been on good form during the season, most recently a 2nd-place on home snow in PuljanaBirjke. A return to Olympic form is his main goal.

Dominik Hiršer and Marcel Sabitzer also compete, but are not out-and-out downhill specialists and will likely treat the event as a warm up for the combined event later in the week.

What else is going on?

The day's other medal event is the men's 5000m speed skating. Mattijana are not expected to win a medal, but have Giorgio Mazaro and Dominik Lazaro going. The first two runs of the men's Luge also occur with Halzo Razmov looking to find some form after an abysmal world cup campaign. There's also qualification for the women's moguls and snowboard slopestyle.

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Truth News

Winter Games, Featuring The Leader!

"This is the Truth News reporting on the Prescott Winter Games outside of Main Nation Ministry. I'm journalist Brendon Paristein, writing this article straight from Prescott, Electrum. Our first topic is that the Main Nation Ministry team has landed and made themselves comfortable at the Athletes' Village. The Leader, himself will be taking part in the Winter Games once again for figure skating. His previous performance was a honor for the nation he helped control. Despite not winning any medals, The Leader wishes to try again, knowing that victory is imminent.

Other news about nations participating starts off with a nation with a fashion trend. West Phoenicia unveiled their delegation outfits, bright and colorful. Of course, Main Nation Ministry's outfits are still worthy of being fashionable. With their military aesthetic and The Leader brilliant black and white suit, Main Nation Ministry is another nation of worthy fashion quality. West Phoenicia happen to have two team mascots named Beira and Itztlacoliuhqui. The team mascot for Main Nation Ministry will be the famous Stanley the Snakefish, as many citizens will know him for dying for people's sins to save Main Nation Ministry from wicked evils. Two celebrities from Britonisea are confirmed to sing at the Opening Ceremony, performing the song "No Doubting Yourself". It goes to show that culture exists everywhere in the multiverse in a sporting event of ice and snow.

In minor news, the nation of Free Republics is expected to attend, despite some previous controversy regarding Sporting World magazine. No current news have happened so far. No information from The Leader is expected, also."

[Alinghi Federal-Democratic Republic]

SPORTMAGAZINE-98 Olympic Special (English Edition)
the Alinghi will partecipate at his second edition at Winter Olympics Games in Prescot. High aspectative in Bobsleight, skeleton, and luge.
Ready fir this edition the Confederation is ready to partecipate at this edition. High aspectative in the bob, skeleton and luge.

Tommorrow will held the opening ceremony of the 13th winter olympics, the our republic can bte thefirst to parade in in the nation parade, if they use the English language criteria, if they use French Alinghi wil parade in the Second Half the nations parade.
The chancellor Al-Fayeed El-Ghazzawy Neville Bassam are arrived today to assist the Opening Cerimony sayng that the Confederation will be pround to partecipate at this manifestation of unity and sane competition.
Revelated the Flag-Bearer, is the bobseighist Chandler Hoppler Giotto, pluri champion on bob, born in Soppergant im Zohn. 30 years old, this is his declaration in the cameras: "I'm very happy to be a flag bearer for our nation, I0m not expeed that I've been choosed to be this.. At the question that in the position he expect to end with his partner in bobsleight Ohhh... we try to reach the first place. We know that we had the possibility to reeach the gold medal.

[Vangaziland]

Two athletes walked together through the Olympic Village. They wore black jackets with both red and indigo markings. The latter was actually a shade called 'Vannish blue' which some thought was more of a purple. These two were skiers from Vangaziland's relatively small Alpine Skiing delegation. They were the team's top two male downhill skiers.

Felix Hammarstrom grew up near the mountains of Imperial Hills. It was the only true mountain range on the Vannish landmass and a prime access to access the nation's only ski resorts. There are limited glaciers to the far Northwest, but those areas aren't open to the sort of development that would be needed to opened even the most low impact ski-resort. Hammarstrom carried 'Old World Blood' dating back before the peaceful Great Migration. He wore his blond hair long and curly.

His best friend was Danny Base, a true Vangazi of the people, with a heritage as diverse as the nation's population. He had the slightest percentage of First Nations', from one of the tribes which lives in the protected western half of the Imperial Continent. He has about equal parts African-Gazilian and Scandinavian-Vann. He even has ties to one 16th century sailor from Fierte, Ensign J.C. Cortez.

The two could have been typical Vannish college students if they were placed on any campus across the Empire. Felix had just graduated from Auster. Danny was just starting his coursework at Blue Coast University. He was hoping to gain 15 minutes of fame and some name recognition in these Olympic Games to help him acclimate at Vangaziland's perennially voted #1 party school.

He was pretty good, but not near as talented as Felix. He was learning and might be a serious threat come next Winter Olympics.

The two were on their way to the dining facility. They expected great things from the cuisine here in Electrum. Electrum was a place most Vangazi had heard a great deal about, especially in the sporting world. Being here was surreal for many of the athletes. The two skiers discussed WGPC racing and their thoughts on the upcoming spring's season.

All of a sudden, there was a bump. Someone had cut out from a crowded pathway and hadn't seen them. The Vangazi were merging with the busy path and took for granted that they could just pass through.

Looking down, the team saw two angry Asian women. They were wearing shiny red and gold winter track suits and angry scowls on their faces to match. "You stupid Vangazi! You move from our way!"

Felix recognized the accent. They both noticed the flags. They were from Yanjin. The two countries were at war. Hundreds had died on both sides. Vannish marines and paratroopers occupied parts of Yanjin, blockading and cordoning off entire cities along with local rebels. The civil war taking place, which Vangaziland and her allies were interfering in, was forecast to last for a long time.

The nation never pulled training for the Olympic team and even got word to the Vannish Army when and where they would be flying the Olympic athletes from Yanjin to the games. Of course, Vangaziland had to confirm this. As a result, a pair of fighters may have accidentally flown low enough to cause a 'buzz' which terrified the Olympians in the middle of a session.

Footage of the incident shot from the cameras of government minders present at the training center, was currently leaking to the internet. The fighters clearly took turns flying extremely low to the training facility. You could even hear the engines accelerate as the aircraft got closer, a sign the pilots may have done this intentionally. Neither the Vannish Navy nor Air Force have identified the pilots or made any statement.

Part of the memory of that day and the aircraft left a defensive bitterness that rapidly multiplied a festering hate for the Vangazi. The two women literally wanted to fight these two guys.

"Listen, we didn't see you", said Hammarstrom. "We weren't looking. Why don't you join us at the café?"

"You think we want to eat with you?" Zhao Guo spoke once again, taking charge as her friend, Wen Yi, watched nervously. They were ski jumpers of the Normal Hill doctrine. They were separated by a similar age and skill level between them as the two Vangazi had between each other. Guo was Yi's mentor. They both desperately hoped to win medals for Yanjin, although Ms. Zhao had a much higher chance.

Now they found themselves squared off against two Vangazi. They knew this moment would come. The Vangazi were told to be extra polite to the Yan athletes, but incidents were already popping off almost as soon as people were allowed into the Olympic Village. Nothing worse than a minor argument had happened so far, but it was starting to put a damper on things for the Vangazi. Felix brought up the idea of trying to sit them down, talk and hammer out each other's differences. He hoped things would have went smoother than this for a first encounter, but he was pleased to start trying.

"Listen. We had a bad introduction. Let's just talk. What sport are you here for?"

"Ski jumping."

Felix smiled. Not far away, a steady stream of athletes was walking down a crowded thoroughfare. The Yanjin-Vangaziland encounter was probably just one more scene of many these people would see on their walk along the Village. They say when athletes think back on their Olympic experience, it's often their experience at the Village which sticks out the most.

"See. We ski too. We're downhill", said Danny jumping in. "We're walking just this way."

The four stood, sizing each other up. Guo turned to Yi and spoke in their Yan dialect of Chinese for cover. "Let's try to get information on them. Let's go with them."

Yi didn't really have much room to disagree. She REALLY didn't want to spend time with these strange men though. What was Guo on? She didn't expect this reaction from her boss. Yi also didn't buy this whole 'information' cover story. "We're going to get in trouble! Let's go back." She shook her head, a cue which the Vangazi caught up on.

"They're talking about us", Felix said to Danny.

"Play it cool", Danny replied in a low tone.

"Fine, we will go", Guo finally piped up. "But only for educational purposes. And to ease tensions around the camp." She used the militant term camp. She was a carrier deckhand in the navy before she was singled out for Olympic training. She grew up skiing because of where she grew up near Hengdao. Some of the government's few approved recreational sites in Yanjin were ski lodges. The government would sent dilligant workers to them for vacations.

"Your purposes are educational", Felix said. "Ours are diplomatic. We're really not such bad people. And the whole war thing. It's complex. The Vangazi want better tha-"

"That's not your decision!" Guo interrupted. These two Vangazi had seen the war on TV, but Yi and Guo had just flown over from the warzone. As a matter of fact, those Vannish fighters seemed to purposefully buzz her training session not even three weeks ago. And now this downhill skier wanted to be friends. No. Guo would learn about these foreigners so she could understand who she hated.

"I understand. Sore wound. Let's not talk about that. Come. Let's see what's up for lunch."

Yi rolled her eyes as she turned to follow the group, which started to walk off. Where was one of her friends to rescue her from this obligation of escorting Guo?

[Nacaltora]

The Standard Register
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Nacaltora to Begin Competition in XIII Winter Olympics
The Nacaltoran delegation of 74 athletes is preparing for their debut appearance at the Winter Olympics in Prescott, Electrum.


Domnall Ash, one of 4 players from the University of Efremore playing for Nacaltora in the Olympics takes a shot in the team's first practice in Prescott.

As competition gets set to begin from Prescott, it is important to highlight some of the athletes representing Nacaltora in its first Olympic Games. Each of the highlighted athletes have competed in international competition and are looking to bring home Nacaltora's first Olympic medal. As the games go on, the Standard Register will continue to provide athlete profiles as well as providing up to date news from Prescott.

Tuukka Vanhanen, 25, Zuridge - Alpine Skiing

Vanhanen competed in both the Downhill and Super-G in the Alpine World Cup. He earned a bronze in Downhill in his first World Cup competition of the season in Thandaye, Azadeshia. Vanhanen had 3 top-10 Downhill finishes in his first full season on the World Cup circuit. Vanhanen will look to earn Nacaltora's first Men's Alpine medal in Downhill, his primary event.

Dietmar Peura, 24, Alva - Skeleton

Dietmar Peura gained international attention throughout the Sliding World Cup in his first season. Peura began the season on fire, winning gold in the Cup's first two events. He struggled a bit late in the season, but still managed to finish 4th in the World Cup standings. Dietmar Peura is looking to move past some of his recent results and become Nacaltora's first medalist in Skeleton. Due to Peura's rapid rise to the top of the Sliding World Cup standings, he was named Nacaltora's flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony.

Therese Wynne, 19, Banta - Alpine Skiing

Therese Wynne won the Downhill gold in her first event of the Alpine World Cup in Liebertwolkwitz, RamsGates. She was able to finish 5th in PuljanaBirjke, and 10th in Grafjordur, but inconsistency plagued her throughout the season. Despite her age and inconsistency at times, Therese Wynne has emerged as the leader of Nacaltora's Women's Alpine team.

Ingemar Isaacson, 22, Kerton - Bobsleigh

Ingmar Isaacson is the driver of the 4-man sled known as Nacaltora 1 and the 2-man team with teammate Eugen Holst. Isaacson piloted Nacaltora 1 to gold at the second event in the Sliding World Cup in Dunnes and a silver at the season finale in Darkmania. Isaacson is still relatively new to the scene and will try not to allow his inexperience create a mental block that prevents him from piloting successful runs. A medal is probably out of the realm of possibilities for Isaacson, but a solid finish in Prescott could give him the confidence he needs in his young career.

Eva Winter, 27, Peblora - Bobsleigh

Eva Winter has the most experience in Nacaltoran bobsleigh. Her father serves as coach for both Men's and Women's bobsleigh teams. Winter piloted the Women's 4-man sled, Nacaltora 2, to bronze medals in Stevenson, Dunnes and Mattijana during the Sliding World Cup. As the driver for the 2-man sled with Filippa Gottschalk, Eva piloted the sled to 3 top 5 finishes and two in the top 10. This included a gold in Melbergia. Under the direction of Winter, the Women's bobsleigh team could land on the podium in Prescott.

Schedule: (First Week)
Day 1
Alpine Skiing — Men's Downhill
Tuukka Vanhanen, Femme Kerwer, Keefe McKenna, Detlev Marvin
Cross-Country Skiing — Men’s 30 km Skiathlon
Harding Knight, Osborn Arrington, Henrik Sundén
Luge — Men's Individual — Runs 1 and 2
Dilwyn Van Bokhoven, Kamil Williams
Day 2
Luge — Men's Individual — Runs 3 and 4
Dilwyn Van Bokhoven, Kamil Williams
Day 3
Alpine Skiing — Women's Super Combined
Tea Fenning
Luge — Women's Individual — Runs 1 and 2
Katinka Lennox
Day 4
Luge — Women's Individual — Runs 3 and 4
Katinka Lennox
Day 5
Alpine Skiing — Women's Downhill
Therese Wynne
Skeleton — Women's — Runs 1 and 2
Kizzy Meissner, Jaylene Bird, Hella Schirmer
Day 6:
Alpine Skiing — Men's Super Combined
Folke Van Willigen
Skeleton — Women's — Runs 3 and 4
Kizzy Meissner, Jaylene Bird, Hella Schirmer
Day 7
Alpine Skiing — Women's Super-G
Tea Pfenning
Cross-Country Skiing — Women’s 10 km Freestyle
Merideth Luther, Olivia Baardwijk, Hattie Rettig
Skeleton — Men's — Runs 1 and 2
Dietmar Peura, Bertil Herbertson, Mikael Adamsen

[Northwest Kalactin]

Oh man there is 1 day remaining until the big opening ceremony and here’s how Northwest Kalactin is doing before the big day

Biathlon
Biathlon isn’t very big in Northwest Kalactin although cross country skiing is huge here due to how our early people who didn’t have cars moved around particularly the Havion tribe they didn’t use guns so biathlon doesn’t have very many roots in Northwest Kalactin although we have some pretty good biathlon skiers so many nations will have to watch out for our skiers but we don’t have people in very many events

Bobsleigh
The bobsleigh team is interesting this year the first kalactanian bobsleigh championship was 3 years ago

Curling
Curling is a sport that many people think is boring but the kalactanian teams don’t think that they are pretty good this year they hope to compete with the best teams from the other nations in the Olympics

Ice hockey
Ice hockey is very popular in Northwest Kalactin although we don’t have a very good team from the WCOH 34

Luge
We have 4 athletes in luge and they are okay

Skating
This will be a good sport short track and figure skating will be good

Skiing
All the hype in Northwest Kalactin is about downhill skier Javier Pratt but we also have a great super G skier who did very good in Olympic trials this past year while qualifying for the Olympics

Snowboard
Snowboarding is not popular in Northwest Kalactin only 1 athlete in Northwest Kalactin is participating in this sport and it is Terri Flores in the men’s big air event

Demenstration events
Bandy and Yukigassen will be interesting Id like it if Northwest Kalactin did good and got a medal in these events

[Unified Beretania]

Albavona Capitol Sentinel

Athlete Bio Victoria "Vicky" Stevens

Sport: Alpine Skiing
Age: 22
Hometown: Mt. Guardian

We're all familiar with Rebecca "Becky" Stevens. She made the brave attempt to compete in the alpine skiing women's slalom at the XII Winter Olympics in Prescott, Electrum shortly after suffering a painful knee injury. Her performance there is ingrained in Beretanian Olympic lore.

Now, it's her younger sister Victoria's turn. Vicky as she likes to be called, has found the road to Electrum challenging. The biggest obastacle: the stiff competition on the national ski team, including her very own sister. Of five events, Vicky only qualified for one in these Olympics, the women's slalom. That's as Unified Beretania's fourth best skier. Jordan Ochoa is the nation's best female skier, Becky Stevens is nuber two and Skyleigh Paramour, three. Olympic qualifiers were brutal for them too, as Ochoa qualified for three out of five, while Becky qualified for two, and Paramour, just one.

"There's only one way to describe it, and that's cutthroat. We're all friends outisde of the ski team, but on the slopes we are hyper competitive," Vicky Stevens said.

Two years ago, Vicky moved to the small alpine community of Mt. Guardian, population 4,500. There, she trains constantly for these Olympics. The Stevens family has been skiing there since Becky and Vicky were small kids. "I grew up on Mt. Guardian. It's my home. It's everything," Vicky Stevens said.

Becky and Vicky grew up in a home with an alcoholic father, the product of the tragic death of the sisters' mother Julia dying when Vicky was five, and Becky nine. Their home life was quite rocky, but it's a chapter both girls have put behind them, and skiing was the perfect outlet for them to do just that. Vicky has made peace with her father, and today they are considerably close, at least more so than Becky. "I've forgiven him for all that went wrong during those years. It was a very dark time and I don't want to go there and live in that space. It's just so painful. I don't blame him because mum dying was traumatic for all of us," Vicky said.

Vicky Stevens finds herself in the shadows of her older sister, whose stock has risen dramatically in the last four years. The elder Stevens sister came second to Ochoa at Nationals in each of the four years following the XII Olympics. "My sister, coming back from her knee injury, she pushed herself twice as hard, she practices twice as hard, she encourages me twice as hard to go out there and be the best I can be. I want to make a name for myself, and not just be Becky's sister."

Becky is Vicky's unofficial coach. From sunrise to sunset, Vicky and Becky spend every day practicing for these Olympics, full of dedication and heart. It's an unbreakable bond, as sisters, and as competitors. "We ski every together every opportunity we get. She teaches me every trick she knows to help me achieve that level. Slalom is our signature event and if I medal, it's because of Becky. I owe it all to her."

Vicky draws inspiration from the infamous fall her sister took on the course in Wrycrev, Kosavakia during the Winter Universiade I. "I saw Becky fall in Wrycrev and I was heartbroken. I thought there was no way she could compete in Electrum. She made it, and it was so awesome and so inspiring," Vicky said.

Already, a new crop of talent is knocking on the door in women's alpine skiing for the XIV Winter Olympics. Britnee Britton, Abby English, Keisha Curry, Kristy Keller, Paige Coffee, Summer Hernandez, Savannah Gould, Hannah Browning and Destiny Lowe all are hungry to make the Olympic team four years from now.

"The ammount of depth we have in women's skiing and just skiing in general in Beretania is just amazing. I don't take anything for granted. I have to work hard to keep staying at the Olympic level, and I have to apply myself to keep that winning attitude and spirit."

Pair of Olympic themed movies poised to set new records and top Beretanian box office

If there's one thing Beretanians love, it's sports movies. It's seemingly woven into the cultural fabric of everyday life. It's no surprise that two new Olympic themed movies have been generating such fanfare. The long awaited "Wrycrev" chronicles the many events, both good and bad, surrounding Unified Beretania's participation in the Winter Universiade I in Wrycrev, Kosovakia. Events like the Becky Stevens knee injury, #Biathlongate and Jaguar Rodriguez winning gold in women's 1500m short track speed skating.

It's a three hour epic that is faithful to the events as they happened, as the actual athletes who lived them acted as consultants to make sure they were depicted accurately. Filmed on location in Wrycrev, Kosovakia and partially on Mt. Guardian in Unified Beretania, "Wrycrev" had a production budget of over $190 million USD, making it the most expensive sports themed movie of all time in Unified Beretania.

"Wrycrev features an all star cast, with Liza Acevedo portraying short track star Jaguar Rodriguez, Noëlle Welch as the unlucky Becky Stevens and Meghan Snow as fellow skier Skyleigh Paramour. Beverly Sullivan turns in one of her finest performances ever on the silver screen as disgraced Unified Beretania National Olympic Comittee president Sofia Waldeck, who resigned her position following the XII Winter Olympics in Prescott, Electrum. It was #Biathlongate in Wrycrev that truly sank Waldeck, but the final nail in the coffin for Waldeck was #RegistrationGate, revolving around Gözde Şentürk in the XII Winter Olympics.

About fourty five minutes of the film is spent on the infamous #Biathlongate, wherein Giovanni Prince, Ivory Patel, Buck Stewart and Cristobal Valez of the men's biathlon team paid Chrystal Whitehouse, Gretchen Leibowitz, Erin Montgomery and Charity Hartman of the women's biathlon team to take their place in the men's 12.5km pursuit event after waking up the morning of the event hung over. Chrystal Whitehouse "won" bronze in the event, but was of course stripped. The empty spot on the podium where the bronze medal winner usually stands, whilst the national anthem of Averyickan City played, was an iconic picture that made the rounds on Beretanian social media at the time. The same visual is haunting in the film.

Eldon Hess, Sanjeep Bakshi, Brady Dawson and Cary Chavez play Prince, Patel, Stewart and Valez respectively, while on the ladies side, Steffanie McConnell, Nelly Wynn, June Black and Erika Tyler portray Whitehouse, Leibowitz, Hartman and Montgomery.

Many critics who have seen advanced screenings have loudly proclaimed that Steffanie McConnell's turn as Chrystal Whitehouse, a cruical figure in the scandal, is a frontrunner for a a Silver Screen Award next year for her brilliant performance.

Prince, Patel, Stewart and Valez are currently in federal prison for sports rigging in connection with the event, and all eight are permanently barred from Olympic competition as a result of their actions in Wrycrev.

Another solid highlight of the film is the blockbuster soundtrack courtesy of preeminent post-rock band China Fire from the Fujisawan Territories. The highs and lows of Wrycrev are perfectly captured and amplified in magnitude by the music.

Competing movie "Jaguar" features the true account of Jaguar Rodriguez, also played by Liza Acevedo. In an intriguing case of art imitating life, Liza Acevedo is a star in her own right in short track speed skating, and with Olympic dreams of her own, is actually set to challenge Jaguar Rodriguez for her job in four years. It was actually her short track skill set that sealed the role for Acevedo.

"I was so honored. I look up to and adore Jaguar [Rodriguez]. She's a living legend, and to be able to portray her on the screen in two different movies was the highlight of my life. I am a fan. I'm definitely a fan," Acevedo told the Capitol Sentinel.

"Jaguar" details the short track phenom's childhood all the way through competition in Wrycrev, Kosovakia at the Winter Universiade I, which the UBNOC used as an opportunity to develop its future Winter Olympic talent.

The look on Jaguar's face as she wins gold in the Women's 1500m is spot on, and the quick cut to Jaguar's mother Maria (played by Guadalupe Castaneda), crying tears of joy in the stands is brilliant. There's a slightly obnoxious eleven second counter that flashes on the screen to highlight the eleven second gap between Rodriguez and the rest of the pack in the Women's 1500m final. That whole sequence alone is worth the price of admission.

The movie even covers a bit of Jaguar's post Wrycrev life, including inking an endorsement deal with Crosscom Global Telecommunications of Fujisawa, Inc. All told, it's a fascinating glimpse into one of the most iconic sports heroes of our time, and one that every diehard Jaguar Rodriguez fan should see.

"Wrycrev" and "Jaguar" are set to dominate the top five at the box office, unseating "Mountain of Despair" as the nation's top film. "Mountain of Despair" is the harrowing true story of world class mountaineer Brandi Branch, who was kidnapped while hiking the Desperation Pass Trail in Despair National Park. Branch was taken to a remote area around Mt. Despair, where she had to fend off her captor and then walk over fifty miles in blinding snow to reach safety. It's a triumphant tale of sheer will and survival.

"My Life is Weird", follows the socially awkward high school girl Jane Graham, who wakes up one morning to find she has the ability to see twenty four hours into the future, and makes desperate attempts to intervene in her friends lives (for better or for worse). It was number two at the box office last week, but should fall this week.

"No Privacy" also opens in theaters nationwide today, and should round out the top five at the box office. The film revolves around the story about private detective Ben Livingston (played rather convincingly by Brian Stewart), who is scooped up by a Beretanian intelligence agency to conduct a highly classified covert operation overseas.

[Barisea]

The Barisean Gazette

February 16th, 2018

Olympics Special Edition

Olympic Highlights

In preparation for the first Barisean participation in the Olympics, The Barisean Gazette has made a list of athletes and programs not to miss this olympics. Athletes:

Ashla Morgan:
The best Barisean athlete if we may say so, she is a figure skater, singles and couples, who has won more national medals than anyone else on the ice. She will certainly be something to look forward to! She has been given a rating of 80 for the women's singles, and 85 when paired with Matthew Martin, our next person we will interview.

Matthew Martin:

He is another great Barisean athlete, though he has had a rather rough season over the past few months. He scored, unusually, bronze on the national finals, whereas he had gotten golds on the same competition before then. His reputation allowed him to continue on with the bad score, as it is deemed unusual for him.

Jessica Miller:
No image available.
Jessica is a newcomer to the stage, scoring second on the national competition and securing a spot on the Olympic delegation. She shows much promise, but only time will tell.

Finally, the Yukigassen teams. Barisea, peculiarly, has developed people who are very good at throwing snowballs. It seems to be that in any sport involving weapons, Barisea will have an excellent team. Which begs a question, where is the biathlon team?

Programs:
The programs to make sure to watch are, in chronological order:

Opening Ceremony This is on February 18th, a time to look at our beautiful uniforms, and enjoy the spectacles of the city of Electrum.

Men's 500m Speed Skating This is not an highlighted event, and will be raced by Daniel Brown, Jack Davis, Samuel Martin, and Thomas Ahonen. This is on February 20th.

Women's 500m Speed Skating This is not an highlighted event either, and will be raced by Lauren Allen, Jessica Miller, Saffi Powell, and Chloe Moss. This is on February 21st

Pair's Short Program This is a highlighted event, performed by Jessica Miller/James Miller, the sibling pair; Ashla Morgan/Matthew Martin, the elite pair; and Saffi Powell/Joshua Williams. This will take place on February 23rd.

Pair's Free Skate This is a highlighted event, performed by the above, on February 24th.

Men's individual short program This is a highlighted event, performed by James Miller, Jack Davis, and Matthew Martin on the 26th.

Men's free skateThis is a highlighted event, performed by the above on the 27th.

It is a while until the next program.

Women's individual short program This is a highlighted event, performed by Lauren Allen, Jessica Miller, and Ashla Morgan, on March 5th.

The final program is the
Women's free skate This is a highlighted event, performed by the above, on the 7th of march.

Closing Ceremony Soon after the free skate, this is the end of the wonderful event.

It is not currently known when the Yukigassen takes place.

[Riysa]

Riysa | International | Economy | Sports | Culture | I Am Riysian! | Opinion

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RIYSIANS TO PARTICIPATE IN WINTER OLYMPICS FOR THE FIRST TIME, 13 ATHLETES BEING SENT TO ELECTRUM!

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Sports
Tel al-Riyah, Riysa | 16/2/2018

Bloudan's natural beauty and alpine terrain attracts casual players, amateurs, and Olympic athletes alike.

Riysians in the streets of Tel al-Riyah today celebrated the 13 men and women honored to compete on behalf of their people, as they took off for Electrum. This year is a year of firsts, as for the first time in Riysa's history, Riysian athletes will be participating in the Winter Olympics. This also marks the first large-scale winter sports competition Riysa is officially taking part in. Planning for sending a delegation has been going on since the end of January, and the National Olympic Committee officially declared its intent on the 12th of February, with a letter listing the athletes who have passed the Olympic qualification standards. Lastly, this marks the first time female Riysian athletes are attending an international event; 4 are women, who have honored their homes and the banner of their country with their participation.

Though this might be the first winter competition with Riysian athletes waving the flag of their forefather's land, we are no strangers to winter sports. Anyone who's vacationed in the winter in Bloudan, Zabadani, or the Jolan knows this. A large number of winter sports clubs and groups can be found across the mountains of Riysa, catering to casual players, to amateur athletes, and even professional clubs - the famous Bloudan Alpine Club being among them. Indeed, the terrain of the three mountain ranges - Riysian, Western Riysian, and Coastal - are excellent for playing alpine sports across their entire range, with Bloudan being famous for the variety of alpine ski slopes it has for sport. It isn't just vacationers or athletes who will find it useful; our military, the defenders of our homeland make use of our blessed nation's terrain to practice fighting in cold, harsh terrain. As such, its no surprise that alpine skiing was surveyed to be the most popular "winter sport" in Riysa, as it is not only the most accessible sport, but also contains both leisure and martial benefits.

It should also not be a surprise that, of the 13 athletes attending, 3 of them are alpine skiers, 2 are cross-country skiers, and 6 are biathletes. Making use of our natural resources, much of their training time has been spent in Riysa itself, on the slopes of Bloudan and Jebel Sheikh among others, with some time outside for specialized training. Many of the athletes are affiliated with the Bloudan Alpine Club, and have fought their entire way to this day from simple amateurs and enthusiasts to world-class Olympic athletes. So, while Riysa may not have international experience with winter sports, we will continue to fight, and fight like no one else for the chance at victory.

[Southern Yugoslavia]

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Laiatanese athletes return to the Olympic stage
Damir Petrovich Vosolovsky | Volkgoroda, Laiatanese Federation | 2/16/2018


A resort in Northern Laiatan where several Olympians frequent.

After making their first appearance on the Olympic stage in 2015 at the 10th Winter Olympics, the Laiatanese national team had a promising future to be one of the more competitive delegations in Winter Olympic sports. At their first Winter Olympics, the team finished seventh overall with six gold medals, a silver medal, two bronze medals, and an Olympic Record in Short Track. The team had completely blew past the expectations set by the Olympic Committee. When the team was entered into the 11th Winter Olympics, the expectations were much higher. Instead the team seemed to choke, winning only two silver medals and finishing 40th overall.

The absolute failure of the team prompted the Olympic Committee to skip the 12th Winter Olympics pending a review of the training regimens, facilities, and coaching staff. After several changes, the team is proudly carrying the Laiatanese flag back to the Olympic stage with high hopes. "We think we'll do a bit better than last time, we can only get better from here," President of the Laiatanese Olympic Committee, Matvei Vyacheslavovich Aksakov said on Thursday. While 105 Laiatanese athletes attended the 10th and 11th Winter Olympics, a total of 193 athletes will be in attendance for the 13th Winter Olympics.

A nation with a strong tradition for winter sports, hopes are once again high as athletes from across the nation gather in Electrum to compete under their nation's flag. While the national team is expected to do relatively well across all events, the ones to keep an eye out for are listed below:

Biathlon

The biathlon men's 12.5 km pursuit was the first event the Laiatanese Federation won a medal in, thanks to the hard work and dedication of Sasho Kozar. Kozar, born and raised in the northern Laiatanese town of Yurmansk, he grew up participating in winter sports until he found his love of the biathlon. A young 20 years old when he first competed, the 23 year old looks to win another medal in the upcoming Games. In the 11th Winter Olympics, Damir Golovin won a silver medal in the biathlon men's 10 km sprint. He too will be competing in the 13th Winter Olympics.

Medal total: One silver, one bronze.

Bobsled

Thanks to the team of Avkt Zadornov, Pavel Vanzin, Kiril Yamov, and Alexander Tefurnov the Laiatanese Federation proudly holds a gold medal in bobsled. No medals were won in bobsled in the 11th Winter Olympics, so the team is looking to add another medal to the nation's tally. The team of four who won Laiatan's sixth gold medal will be returning, hopefully to add another gold in bobsled.

Medal total: One gold.

Luge

Luge is a sport the Laiatanese Federation did phenomenally well in during its inaugural Olympics. Thanks to Lukyan Ukhtomsky, Magdalena Ukhtomsky, Alla Klimov, and Daria Kuzmin, the nation secured a gold medal in the doubles event and team relay event. All four will be attending these Olympics in the hopes that they will be able to secure more gold for the Laiatanese Federation.

Medal total: Two gold.

Snowboarding

The Laiatanese Federation has won two medals in snowboarding, one gold and one silver. Alexi Zaytsev was responsible for both medals, and he will be competing once again to bring more medals to his country. The 26 year old consistently placed in the top three spots of several national competitions, and he hopes that his successes in those will translate over to these Olympic games.

Medal total: One gold, one silver.

Skeleton

Volodymyr Shchavelsky brought home a gold medal in the 10th Winter Olympics, and will be competing again in the 13th Winter Olympics. He was not as successful during his time at the 11th Winter Olympics, and hopes to turn it around in order to bring home another medal.

Medal total: One gold.

Speed Skating

In terms of sheer amount of medals, Speed Skating is one that Laiatan has excelled at for such a young Olympic squad. Three total medals across two appearances gives the athletes competing in this sport hope that they can meet and exceed their country's expectations of them. Alya Gagolin, one of Laiatan's youngest competitors, set an Olympic record at her first appearance in 2015 - one that still stands. She will be competing once again, hoping to either beat her own record or at least bring home another gold.

Medal total: One gold, one silver, one bronze.
Record held: Women's 1500 meters - 2:16.944

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
A Guide to the first Olympic Weekend

After a long wait, the first Olympic Winter Games with Savojar participation are finally about to kick off tonight, and the nation has multiple athletes in the run which could reach medals, or at the very least stay in contention for such an Olympic Medal. You can be sure not to miss any Savojar or foreign athletes, as STV2 and this very page give you full coverage of all events! STV2 will focus on Savojar athletes and medal decisions, while our livestreams give you free choice of all Olympic events, with two or three commented channels (depending on interest) and four uncommented channels for complete Olympic coverage. To make sure you don't get lost in this sea of material, here's a guide to who you need to see in Prescott!

Day Zero: 17. 2. 2018

Opening Ceremony
While three athletes already compete for Savojarna - Krister Jorgensen and the pair Viktor Karanov/Jelena Mirzova are competing in the figure skating team competition - the focus of Savojarna will be on the Opening Ceremony given the high unlikeliness of a Savojar team medal. In Prescott, Electrum, the thirteenth Olympic Winter Games will kick off with a ceremony that is expected to feature many international stars, a breathtaking show displaying the host nation Electrum, and the famous entry of the athletes. Savojarna's athletes are expected to enter around 21:42, but of course this is only a rough estimate and we encourage you not to miss the rest of this wonderful ceremony!

Day One: 18. 2. 2018

Men's Downhill (Rynneberg, Urkkanen, Urvalainen, Leifsson)
In the most prestigious discipline of the alpine skiing, Savojarna has multiple favourites for the first gold medal for our delegation. Marcus Rynneberg is one of the best athletes in the downhill as he consistently showed in the Alpine Skiing World Tour, where he was often successfully fighting his great rivals for the overall title, Luis Gourda of Dunnes and Jonny Dimo of Melbergia. However, Petteri Urkkanen lies only one place behind Rynneberg in the downhill standings and is another favourite for the medals, with Urvalainen and Leifsson waiting for the favourites to slip up and take a top spot. The Savojars field one of the most competitive teams in the Games and have a big shot at a medal here.

Biathlon Men's Sprint (Bergman, Hallberg, Rautamäki)
Following an extremely thrilling Olympic Trial Race in Savojarna, the three biathletes filling the spots are now aiming for gold in Prescott. However, none of them are favourites to take the top spot. Bergman, who qualified clearly in the trials, is generally seen as the best of the trio and could aim for the medals if he has a perfect day in his strongest distance. Rautamäki only narrowly edged out Ruslan Oryanov, who is only going to compete in the other two races. Him and Simon Hallberg are not favourites for the medals, but in the sprint, many athletes have managed to snatch a medal out of the blue with a perfect shooting!

Men's 30 km Skiathlon (Poulsen, Haagroen, Karpov)
Like in the biathlon, Savojarna's team is not as strong as the world's best, but they do have a shot at the medals with an Ivar Poulsen in his best form. He will have his best day at the end of the games when he can compete in his speciality, the 50 km classic, but he's in top form and could surprise the world if he stays with the leaders. A strength of the Savojars is race tactic, which is why many experts believe that the team has a stronger shot in the skiathlon than in the (individual start) 15 km skating.

Day Two: 19. 2. 2018

Biathlon Women's Sprint (Johansson, Valtrinen, Ternberg, Yovkova)
Nilla Johansson is the clear leader in the Savojar team, but in her weakest distance she was challenged heavily by Valtrinen and a brilliantly shooting Ternberg. The trio wants to challenge the world's elite in Prescott in their first race, while Yovkova's chances are smaller but she has a good shot at gaining experience for the longer distances, in which she is considerably stronger. Like in the Men's Sprint, the women would have to hope for a mistake by a favourite, but they are ready to take a chance if it arises.

Men's Short Track 1'500 m (Teryanov, Jonasson)
The most spectacular kind of skating is one of the most interesting events of the Games. Short track provides great duels man against man, and a spectacular event for the fans. While the Savojar athletes Andrey Teryanov and Eric Jonasson may not be among the favourites, this event is always a magnet for fans when four or six skaters chase each other around an ice hockey field. And as every short track fan knows, the races can change in very short time, as we saw in the Olympic trials for Savojarna when Viktor Paranov crashed in the final corner of the 1500 m race to cede his spot to Jonasson. If a similar thing happens in the Olympic final, why not hope for a medal for the former hockey players Andrey Teryanov or Eric Jonasson?

[Yanjin]

Continued From: viewtopic.php?p=33478863#p33478863

Wen Yi and Zhao Guo had finished their meal with the Vangazi. The two were making their way back into their dorm building, when they found one of the team's 'Guardian Athletes' waiting. The Yanjin delegation had been denied the request to send government minders to isolate their athletes. This turned senior athletes into minders.

Peng Xiuyang is one such guardian. She is a lieutenant in the air force, rank still current although she has technically been 'transferred' into the Olympic training section. Xiuyang had heard from two other athletes that Yi and Guo ate with some Vangazi. Xiuyang was angry about that personally. The fact that this happened so soon, the fraternization between 'her athletes' and the Vangazi, made her sick to her stomach.

She called back to Yanjin right away, while the ladies were still eating. The advisor told Peng to use the opportunity. Guo and Yi should get as much information about the Vangazi as they could. The minder also would have Peng tell them to put their best feet forward. Be proud. Show them how much they loved Yanjin.

In truth, the meal conversation mostly went that way. Guo became flustered and then upset when Yi laughed at one of the Vannish jokes. They were not supposed to be enjoying themselves.

"Just what do you think you two were doing?" Xiuyang stood with her arms crossed as she spoke.

Snapping to attention, they spoke. "Ma'am, it just happened. They were apologizing for their rude behavior."

"Well, I don't like it. Still. I called Yanjin. They want you to get closer to them. Lucky. Find out something personal about them."

"Like what?"

"Where they are from. Who they know. Find a way to bribe them. Find a way to cause a scandal around them."

"Hmmm." The two took in the words of someone higher in the team's hierarchy. This was surprising. They had never been told they couldn't talk to the other teams. Maybe this was why. The information would probably be of little value.

The officials wanted Yanjin to put their best foot forward. The nicer they seemed, the worse Vangaziland looked for fueling their civil war.

"I need to have a full de-brief of what was said. Both of you come with me."

The trio made their way deeper into the building. Other athletes gave the pair odd looks. The rumor was already spreading that these two talked to the Vannish. Some of them wanted to do the same. Others had been scared off from trying to meet others, based on the gossip spreading about Yi and Guo.

[Imperan Olympic Association]

Two months ago, annual meeting of the Ministry of Sport

"...considering the policy of sports ministry is currently fund sports that bring the audience to the arenas, the National Olympic Committee won't be on the priority list for the next cycle. That means we will not send an Olympic team to Prescott this winter." These words fell like a bomb in the event. Some complained, some just left off at the exact time. Don't be in the Olympics was completely unacceptable.

And that wasn't a feeling only for the athletes. RTL representants were also upset. Radio & Television Lisander, the biggest public TV in Lisander, had secured the broadcasting rights for the Olympics. Without local athletes, it would be an audience fiasco. Financial loss would be imminent. Some days after the fateful meeting, an e-mail arrived to nearly a dozen of people.

From: Sports General Direction <sports.gd@rtl.ls>
To: Petronilla Martin <pmartin@teamlis.ls> <TV4 sports <tv4.sports@tv4.lr> Lisander Hockey Internationals <internationals@lnh.ls> and other 8...
It's already known the noted interest of you in attend the Winter Games as a competitor. Contacting our partner channels around the world, we noticed they contacted Lorenthian and Aristian similar projects. Of course, you must already know about this. Please consider the support of RTL, and we'll gather our resources to have all the nations in contact to manage an Unified Imperan Independent Team, instead of compete as Independent Athletes.

Personal postscript - What is RTL earning with this?
Lots of money, with sponsors and audience. Not having Lisanderian athletes would be disastrous to us, since we bougOn rights for this event. In our side, this is imagined to reduce the losses.

With all intentions clear, we expect a response.

Luis Fernando Egremont
Sports Director, RTL

In the end, the proposal was accepted. Lisanderian and Lorenthian had a deal. Petronilla Martin and Jan Simonssen would have a chance to be in Prescott. But there was still a problem. Men's Hockey. Neither side would give up playing the tournament. And it is to be born more fierce rivalry.

E-mails were interchanged, lots of meep messages, but in the final IOA planning meeting, none was interested in concede. The chief of delegation, Erik Horssen (a retired snowboarder), was the one to first effectively deal with the problem.

"No hockey then. It's sad if no one will give the hand, but that's it. Let's forgive the idea of the Unified Team, and inform the TV guys that their bigger audience won't happen because you won't mix yourselves. I know the World Cup of Hockey is around the corner, so you don't want to expose your weaknesses, but being honest: Neither Lisander nor Lorenthia will go far in the WCoH. Has LNH settled the peace with northern teams? RTL could have a northerners team in thirty minutes if the LNH commissioner refuses to support this. It would generate a lockout or even a disband. Should I call them? Same can be said of Lorenthia. Is the recently-formed Elitserien sustainable without TV money? I know you have two new teams, but if TV4 isn't getting satisfied with what you do for the audience, they will consider pulling away from the boat, leaving you without the cash. So please, gentlemen. Agree to the terms of the Unified Team. You win more than you lose. You can keep both coaches, there's no rule against it."

With that persuasion, was difficult to refuse. LNH and Elitserien agreed to field a unified team to Olympic Male Hockey.

[Anollasia]

THE ANOLLASIA NATIONAL

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English edition

Saturday, February 17, 2018

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Anollasia is in the Winter Olympics
The athletes have settled into the Olympic Village

By John Henderson
Prescott, Electrum

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The Anollasian Olympic Committee (AOC) had revealed their intentions of joining the XIII Winter Olympics in Prescott, Electrum. Now those intentions are reality, with Anollasian athletes competing with 196 entries. Anollasia is participating in the sports of bobsleigh, skeleton, curling, ice hockey, luge, figure skating, short track speed skating, speed skating, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, Nordic combined, ski jumping, snowboarding, and the demonstration sport of synchronized skating.

The flag bearer for the upcoming Opening Ceremony is Pierre Bournet, who is competing in Men's Individual Figure Skating and Pairs Figure Skating. Bournet has competed in various national and international figure skating competitions, winning 3 trophies, 1 medal, and 1 ribbon. He has also competed in various competitions with his skating partner, Grace Zarif, winning 2 trophies together. In an interview, Bournet told us, "I am very honoured to have been selected as Anollasia's flag bearer and I'm excited to have the opportunity to participate in such a major sporting event. Skilled athletes from all over the world, from many different countries large and small, gather to compete in one city, all for the love of sport. It is truly amazing."

As this is Anollasia's debut in the Olympics, people nationwide are tuning in to watch and support Anollasia's athletes. Many are hopeful that Anollasia's athletes will successfully represent the country and bring home some medals.

Watch the XIII Olympic Games on NATV Sports, or online at http://www.natv.an.

[Elejamie]

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The TDS Quick 'n' Easy Guide to the XIII Winter Olympics

Our first Winter Olympics wasn't that bad, wasn't it? We saw a shock gold from Cpl. Tony Coffey in the men's 20km individual biathlon, a not-so-shocking gold medal from the men's ice hockey team (even if they were made up of ENIHL2 players) and a shedload of silvers. Well, four of them: Jenny Aramaki for Women's Super-G; Emilia Córdova, Liz Montair, Bianca Ferreira Moreno and Jennifer Isles all won silver in the women's 4x6km biathlon relay; Cpl. Tony Coffey, Mical Raemonir, Gregorio de la Fuente and Kyle Berry all won silver in another biathlon relay, this time it was the men's 4x7.5km; and Hannah Rowen, Alexandria Massina, Kate Archer and Alicia Caballero all won silver in the four-woman bobsleigh. There were the reports of that romance between Fort Checkers Elites defenceman Jay Bailey and cross-country skier Kelly Morgenstern from Mount Pleasant, which apparently and sadly had to end due to there not really being any ice hockey in her home country. And there was whatever the hell happened in the second preliminary round in the Women's 1,500m Short Track, in which all three entrants were somehow disqualified. All in all, a memorable tournament.

Antonio Cervantes, who'll be
retiring at the end of the
season after over 20 years
playing the sport. I wish him
luck.

But that was last time. For now, we've got to look to the future. Yes, we head back to Prescott in Electrum for the 13th Winter Olympics. Most of our athletes will be the same as last time, although there is one major difference. The Icy Elephants will be representing us in the ice hockey. Not just that but also Michael Madgwick will be making a return, with Tim Furst sitting this one out. No sense in beating about the bush, let's get into who our men and women will be playing. Fortunately for them, they only have two other opponents in each of their groups so at least they get some bye days to sharpen up their skills or take a breather after some tough games. Either way, let's get started.

Our men will be up against a couple of unknowns over in Group K so, to make it simpler and to make it less like padding, I'll be talking about both of them in the same paragraph. And first up we've got Usniya. Then the following day we've got Nacaltora. While I'm not sure about the former, there does seem to be an ice hockey presence in the latter, with at least one known league. I'm not sure what it's called or which teams are in it but I'm sure someone who's more familiar with the country would help me out there. Granted we could easily steamroll these guys since we have two WCoH championships under our belt but, since fighting is verboten in Olympic ice hockey, we might be at a slight disadvantage. It also explains why Francisco Solano is absent from the tournament, having been replaced by Stacy Saunders. At least it's not all bad, as Saunder's speed and skill could help us get a second gold.

Meanwhile, the women, who are playing in Group J, will kick off their tournament with a home game against Tobiasia. Fortunately, unlike our other opponents, their women's team were at the last Winter Olympics so I'll talk about that. Anyway, they only got a single win (a 2-0 shootout win after a 1-1 draw against the Fujisawan Territories on the final day), a 2-1 shoot-out loss after a goalless draw against Kaboomlandia and two 1-0 losses against Gregoryisgodistan and Aurentina. Fortunately, the men's team performed a lot better, finishing second in their group and winning their Round of 16 game against Qasden before being eliminated by West Phoenicia 2-0 in the quarter-finals, but that's another story. And then the day after we have Vangaziland. I can't seem to find any information about them taking part in any ice hockey tournaments before this one, although they did send a roller hockey team to the King Paulus XV games many moons ago (where they finished last in their group with one win and three losses) and they sent a field hockey team to the last Summer Olympics, who fared a lot better when they finished second in their group but were unable to grab one of the wild card spots.

Obviously I think we'll be going through, since the top two teams in each group will be going through to the next round. But who will be joining us? Obviously Tobiasia's women's team should theoretically be joining us into the next round since they have some skilled players and they've made it past the group stage before. But who out of Usniya and Nalactora would be joining us in the knockout stage? My best guess would be Nalactora since they seem to have more of a history of ice hockey. But, on the other hand, Usniya might pull off that shock win. Either way, if I had to pick, I'd stick with Nalactora. Although, knowing me, we'd be the ones failing to make it out of the group stage. Hopefully that won't happen.

What else should I mention? This will be Antonio Cervantes' last international tournament before his retirement at the end of the season, after two years doing Educational League ice hockey, three seasons with the Ángeles junior team and around 15 seasons with the Ángeles senior team. Cpl. Tony Coffey will try and see if he can medal again after his individual gold and team silver. Jenny Aramaki said she's hoping that she'll go from silver to gold in at least one of her events. And street luger-turned-regular luger Mical Aleman said he's hoping to celebrate his 26th birthday in style by picking up at least one medal. Anything else left to add? No. So let's all sit back, relax and watch some ice hockey. And other Winter sports.

[Electrum]

This is your Day 0 cut-off.

The Opening Ceremony awaits...

OOC: Special thanks to Britonisea, Kalosia, United Islamic Khanates, Banija and South Covello for contributing. Day 0 roleplays and rosters have already been graded.

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Northcote Oval, Prescott

For the third, and final time, Prescott would once again be host of the Olympic Winter Games. Unlike previous iterations of the Winter Olympics, things were going to be shaken up this year - some events were removed, and some were added: for the first time, mixed curling and big air, introduced in the Prescott just two editions ago as demonstration events finally became promoted to the top billing as medal events. There are now 110 sets of medals up for grabs, and 110 chances for history to be made. And of course, aside from the medal events, who could forget about the demonstration events? From the coordination in the synchronised skating to the seriousness of bandy and snowball throwing, the Olympics had it all.

For some Prescottians, they were a bit sick of the international attention that they seemed to have, but for others, this was going to be their very last chance to catch some of the world-class snow and ice action. In the words of Electrum’s first ever football captain and now EOC President/Chair of the Prescott Olympics Organising Committee, “This will be the third and last time Prescott will ever host the Winter Olympics. It’s time for new stories to be written in new places.” As traditional, Max Hardwell and Sonya Portelli would be the host of the Olympic Games, helping to announce things to the audience, and translating things into French, as necessary.

At the appointed hour, deep into evening, after the morning’s events were played, a clip started playing. The freezing audience in the open air looked up at the screens. It would begin not with the skyline of Prescott, but with a montage of two Electrumite children (a boy and a girl) visiting different landmarks, cities and nations from around the multiverse -- first they visited the Junteräpten Waterfall in Junteräpten, Britonisea where they marvelled at the natural beauty, meeting a Britonisean boy and ushering him to follow them. Next they travelled closer to home in Rushmore: more specifically, the three children visited Monterra Tower in Monterra, Kalosia. They went to the observation deck at the very top and once again met another kid - this time a Kalosian girl. Now, the four children were visiting all of the different cities around the world, from the deserts of Hamilton in Electrum to Nassau Bay in New Gelderland. While in each city, they collected a souvenir such as a token or a badge from each city, a dove token from South Covello, and a horse badge from the United Islamic Khanates to a drum badge from Banija. The theme of the Olympics was becoming clear: it was going to be all about international co-operation. In a way it made sense too: the Olympics were a place for nations to put aside their political differences and compete on a level playing field, this edition would have the hosting help from the Cenian and Vekaiyun and Olympic Committees, and nations like Kalosia and Britonisea, friends of Electrum through the WorldVision Song Contest were also helping to contribute to the Opening Ceremony festivities as well. When the montage clip was over, the traditional timpani started and the countdown began: on screen, were tight shots of Electrumites of different ages, backgrounds and ethnicities helping countdown with the audience: ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, THREE, TWO, ONE, ZERO!

With the countdown completed, the audience’s attention turned to the middle of the arena, where a large wooden boat seemed to materialise from out of nowhere. The four children were on the boat as it moved across the wave-like projections on the ground. They sailed a lap around the oval, waving at everyone until the boat started to rock side by side, and large electrical sparks started to jolt at the mast of the wooden boat. The boat started to rock more violently and the children were hanging on for their lives when all of a sudden, an old crotchety voice from an old lady yelled, “SSSSSSTTTTTTOOOOPPPPPPPPPP.” Just as quickly as the violent waves and thunderstorm appeared, the boat reverted back to normal, sailing again on the seas. The children looked up to the sky to see who stopped the weather -- it took a minute due to technical difficulties, but above the arena, a certain Gertrude Pullman was being lifted down by helicopter.

Gertrude Pullman is embedded in the Electrumite mythos -- well known across the multiverse for her cheesy songs in the WorldVision Song Contest, she is a former foreign service security officer who has turned into a songstress in her own right. It seemed like a questionable choice to send a seventy-something (no one really knows how old she really is) to play a part in the Opening Ceremony but it made sense in the scheme of things: she had won a gold medal in the previous year’s team tennis tournament competition with her two geriatric sisters and she embodied the spirit of the theme of the Olympics: international co-operation and friendship, given that she has represented Electrum in WorldVision, and worked for Electrum’s foreign service in some capacity. As soon as the children saw her they leaped off the boat (which was soon moved away, with the projections on the ground changing to clouds), and held each others hands making a ring. Gertrude landed as gracefully in the middle as a hippopotamus on ice, slipping on the icy grounds and tripping several times.

“YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE SNOTS, WHY DIDN’T YOU HELP GRANDMA GERTRUDE UP?” The children immediately rush to her aid and help her stand. Gertrude was, and still is known, for her prattish and rude behaviour against the youth, who have always conspired to push her down the WorldVision rankings, almost always finishing at the bottom half of the table. She dusted her self off and took a bow before going on a five-minute rant in front of the freezing audience how the youth were diluting the quality of Olympic events in forcing the Olympic Council to introduce the big air event and the fact that she lost her slaves from Gregoryisgodistan. Luckily, before she could do anymore damage, she was muted. Right on cue, the music started again, and her, with the children started to dance on stage. From an entrance, hundreds of volunteers, dressed in Gertrude’s classic guard uniform came in and made a square formation around Gertrude and the children. A central platform is then raised in preparation for the impending performance.

Song: Olympics! by Gertrude Pullman

The children start circling Gertrude, wondering if they should ask her opinion about the Winter Olympics: she is well known in Electrumite and multiversal circles as being a nutty old lady, but of course, since this was entirely rehearsed, it was already known what she was going to sing, and this was going to be part of her performance:

Gertrude tell us your views, (is that a good idea?)
Well I’d like to know, (Dolphin Noises)

The audience looked at each other in confusion of the dolphin noises, but on stage a large dolphin (in the style of a lion dance) appeared and nuzzled the children, representing the friendly seas that separate nations from each other. Apparently the dolphins were also interested in what Gertrude had to say.

Olympics! Olympics! Why would you be in the cold?
Olympics! Olympics! I'm getting too old!

Holographic projections of ice shards started appearing near Gertrude, getting closer and closer until Gertrude smashes them (thrashing in the air) with her hands. While she is grasping at the holograms, a camera zooms in her neck to reveal that she is still wearing that gold medal that she won last year in the women’s table tennis team event.

The youth in cold don’t suffer rheumatic in shoulder
The youth don’t know about the fact that you’re more graceful when older
Olympics! Olympics! Remember the fact that I won gold!
Olympics! Olympics! If you lose, know you got trolled!

Listen: if you need some help, don’t even ask me
As I don’t care, instead ask the volunteers who’s time is free
Olympics! Olympics! The EDO loves everyone
Olympics! Olympics! Even though you’re all dumb!

Of course, the EDO is referring to the Electrum Diplomatic Offices, the equivalent of a Foreign Service of other countries. The EDO has decided to send a unified team of ex-patriate Electrumites who just didn’t make the qualification standard of Electrum, celebrities of Electrum, as well as athletes from Coconut Isle, an Esportivan nation which was formerly in Electrum’s possession. She is reminding all of the audience that if they need any help, to ask the many Electrumite volunteers around the grounds for help. They can speak many languages and are aware of the cultural eccentricities of different nations, due to some of them being trained by the EDO.

No troublemakers!
Or the guards will come!
Olympics! Olympics! Athletes are gonna take flight!
Olympics! Olympics! The globe unites for one fortnight!

The guards, as many in the audience would know, are a common trope for Gertrude Pullman’s songs in WorldVision. They often appear on stage or in the audience with tasers and handbags with bricks, and are known to hit out at troublemakers, especially drunk youth, in the audience. For the volunteers, all of them threw their handbags up in the air in unison before catching them, unholstered their tasers and pointed them before putting them back in their holster.

When the song finishes, Gertrude takes a deep bow before sitting on a throne that seems to appear out of nowhere. The volunteers-dressed-as-guards lift the throne and carry her away, like the Queen she is supposed to be. As soon as she leaves the arena, the children look up to the sky, as Max and Sonya say: “Ladies and gentlemen, please stand for the Electrumite National Anthem as we raise the Electrumite flag over Northcote Oval.” The instruction was promptly repeated in French as the audience stood up. The four children then started singing “O Electrum” and saluting the flag as it came up the flagpole on one side of the arena. Another flagpole was left for a future part of the Opening Ceremony. Now was the time many of the athletes were waiting for: the Parade of Nations.

As per tradition, the first nation alphabetically entered the stadium first. There were particularly large cheers for many of the nations that have competed before in the Winter Olympics as well as cheers for small delegations. Each nation walked out with representatives from all corners of Electrum, from the elderly to six year old children to people in wheelchairs. Each of these representatives wore a glittering white ice costume with white branches coming off their shoulders. On these shoulders are the names of the nations they were walking out with. Meanwhile, as the athletes made their lap around Northcote Oval, an army of 300 drones with large lights on the bottom assembled into formation - the Olympic Estoile that’s present in the Prescott logo. Every few seconds it pulsated back and forth, to the rhythm of the music.

Of course, the Electrumites were the very last to enter the stadium -- the applause was building to see who would represent Electrum. Going one better than two editions ago when Evan White and Madeline Pinker led the Electrumite delegation, there were three Electrumite flag-bearers (which made sense given the symbolism of the occasion: it was Prescott’s third time hosting the event, and this was the 13th edition of the Olympic Winter Games), Cathy List, Alice List and Irina Robin, who have won three medals (one silver, and two-time defending gold) in the speed skating team pursuit competition. It seemed like they all wanted a go in waving the flag, with Irina Robin squished in between the two sisters. It takes a while for the excitement to die down, but with the last athlete sitting down on their designated seats, the entire oval is bathed in darkness, signalling the start of the Kalosian cultural component of the Opening Ceremony…

---

Song: “Ga-dii Waw” (Come In) by Miriam

Max Hardwell can be heard from the speakers across the stadium: “Ladies and Gentlemen, Miriam, in association with her friends from Kalosia, have written a song welcoming everyone to Prescott and Electrum.” Sonya then pipes up and says, “Take it away Miriam!” Miriam is a well known celebrity in Electrum: she is an Indigenous Electrumite and has sung for Electrum before in singing competitions across the multiverse. The Kalosians helped write the song -- they are a little known Rushmori nation that tends to do well in singing contests across the multiverse, but are less known for their sports programs.

Ga-dii waw, ga-dii waw, to all: ga-dii waw
Let’s come together under Jarangal
Even when the cold wind blows us all apart
We’ll start a fire that will warm our hearts

I see tired eyes like stars in the sky
Coming home after days of travelling through lands
Come and we’ll give you a place to rest and lie
And when the morning comes, we’ll go and join hands

Ga-dii waw...

Ga-dii waw...
Come in...
Come in…
Come in...

And we’ll be one!

Ga-dii waw
Ga-dii waw, ga-dii waw

From Jarangal to Kalos to the edge of the world
We’ll be in the spirit that can give us peace
Even when the cold wind blows us all apart
We will have each other to keep our hearts warm

Ga-dii waw, ga-dii waw, come in… ga-dii waw
Under Jarangal finally we’ll all come together, under one sky

Ga-dii waw, ga-dii waw, ga-dii waw
Let’s come together under Jarangal
Even when the cold wind blows us all apart
But when the morning comes, we’ll be one...
We’ll be one!

Ga-dii waw, together
Ga-dii waw, let’s come together

Ga-dii waw, ga-dii waw, to all: ga-dii waw
Let’s all come together right here
Right now, come in

Miriam blows a smooth kiss to the audience before exiting the arena in anticipation for Evangeline Hope and Santiago Carillion to perform. These first two international acts were a homage to the first Britonisean and Kalosian acts that performed during the Centralis Olympiad many years ago.

Ga-dii waw: means “Come in” in the indigenous language of Electrum
Jarangal - Mt Nixon: Electrum’s highest mountain
Kalos: An island that constitutes the territory of the Rushmori state of Kalosia

---

Song: No Doubting Yourself by Santiago Carillion and Evangeline Hope

Before the start of the performance, the stage turned dark with all of the people in the stadium waiting for whatever was going to happen on stage waiting with eagerness. The flashing lights from bright flashlights from the phones as well as the flashes from the press official’s cameras lit up the stadium during this time of darkness. Suddenly, a woman wearing a large white dress appeared in the middle of the stadium. The audience started to cheer as some of them noticed who was standing in the middle of the Northcote Oval. Whispers rung around the stadium, though these whispers were muted by the loud horns which signified the beginning of the song. Man-made geysers from near the audience shot up steam in to the air as the klaxon-sound escaped into the night, with all the lights around the stadium focusing on the magnificent Evangeline Hope. Before she sang, on Evangeline's dress was projections of the best moments from the last Winter Olympics;

Get ready, it's the day.
Put on your gears, take an extra sip of your coffee.
Look outside, it's time to go (yeah)
Are you scared? Even nervous?
I think I noticed, I can feel your heart beating fast.
Well don't be, I'll be here - watching.

Projection - especially on clothing or moving objects - has been apart of every-day television back at home in Britonisea, and since it blew up in 2016, companies have been going from strength to strength to make the most of this. As Evangeline carried on singing, the memories faded away, and her dressed turn in to a sea of sparkling gold - representing the colour of the best medal one could get at these Games. The gold filled the whole floor, causing people in the Northcote Oval to watch with glee. For those billions watching the ceremony at home, a wide-angle shot of the stadium made translated the magnitude of what was happening to them. Evangeline then turned around to face the other side of the arena, and her dress turned with her, as though the - what looked like - heavy material was as light as paper. The projection of the gold changed as she moved about, exaggerating how the strength of her turning around.

The courage you have is like nobody else's,
I watch you soar high in the air with amazement,
I do feel your drive every second it's your turn,
To shine brightest...

The klaxon-sounds came back during that pre-chorus, which meant that the man-made geysers also made a reappearance. Evangeline's dress was slowly disappearing, tearing away bit by bit, becoming less and less unveiling a much smaller, though still long, dress that she had underneath. As she sang the last line of the pre-chorus, "To shine brightest", the whole of the Northcote Oval turned dark with only a speck of light coming from all of the lights meeting together in the middle of the Oval, above everybody. As everybody looked up, the rest of Evangeline's dress disappeared, and as it did, the colours in the stadium reappeared, and dots of colours from the Olympic Estoile were mixed together. Evangeline, still in the middle of the arena, turned to one of the main entrances to the stadium floor.

Your journey to the peak has arrived,
You've waited for years for this moment.
So no looking back, no doubting yourself,
Oh no now, no doubting yourself at all!

A man's silhouette appeared at one of the entrances during the chorus, with a large glaring light coming from behind him. His shadow appears large on the arena floor in front of him. Santiago, who was about to sing his part, stood there so still as though he was in a trance. His part to sing came up, and as his verse came up, the colours in the stage faded away and cold, harsh blue lights lined Santiago's pathway towards Evangeline. A camera, for the viewers at home, slowly moved towards the man who grew in appearance as the camera grew closer to him. His hand finally moved, it had a microphone in it and he drew it close to his mouth - he began singing;

So tired, I'm hurting,
Years of years of training, I don't think I can go on,
But it's you, your words carry me. (Carry me)
I've stumbled, I've fallen, I've crumbled, I've faltered, (faltered)
But never have I stopped and I have never quit. (never quit)
There's so much motivation to go out there and win,
Win for myself.

As Santiago sang "I've stumbled..." he moved towards the camera, as his face became more viewable for those who were watching at home. For those in the Northcote Oval, they noticed that Evangeline was walking towards Santiago which made a few of them clap with cheer. The cameraman quickly ran off the Oval's floor, leaving just the two of the singers on the stage. The lights that lead Santiago to Evangeline soon faded away as the pair got closer to each other. In fact, all of the lights faded away as the two met each other as Santiago sang, "Win for myself." Suddenly, over 100 people ran on to the stage in different ways symbolising the different sports that take place in the Winter Olympic Games.

Your journey to the peak has arrived,
You've waited for years for this moment.
So no looking back, no doubting yourself,
Oh no now, no doubting yourself at all!
Your journey to the peak has arrived,
You've waited for years for this moment.
So no looking back, no doubting yourself,
Oh no now, no doubting yourself oh oh !

During this section, the song was turned up drowning out anything else in the Oval. Everything came to a stand-still, everyone was looking up to the sky as sparklers came rushing down to the stadium floor. People looked up with them, and a camera from the helicopter managed to capture this moment. The lights in the Northcote Oval were as they were during the first chorus, just circling around everyone sitting in the stadium on such a glorious night.

(The courage you have is like nobody else's,
I watch you soar high in the air with amazement,
I do feel your drive every second it's your turn,
To shine brightest...)
(My journey to the peak has arrived,
I've waited for years for this moment.)
So no looking back, no doubting ourselves,
Oh no now, no doubting ourselves at all!
Our journey to the peak has arrived,
We've waited for years for this moment.
So no looking back, no doubting us now,
Oh no now, no doubting ourselves at all!!
So no looking back, no doubting us now,
Oh no now, no doubting ourselves at all!!

Santiago and Evangeline held a pose close to each other before the stadium erupted into cheers, they both bowed alongside the 100 that ran on to the stage in their own unique ways. They all then ran off ready for the next act...

---

The Uzakhani, heralded for the ancient art of balance artistry on horseback would be representing the cultural component from the United Islamic Khanates.

As all lights die down in the Northcote Oval, a nearly sacred silence takes over as the echoes of the previous act still roll through the boroughs surrounding Prescott. One spotlight focuses on the main entrance and with a majestic tread, a black horse, its hair coloured in the deep green which reminisces of the delegation tracksuits, enters the stadium. One man, clad in a black leather jacket with felt trousers and woollen boots, stands on the animal’s back waving a Khanati flag. The closest spectators can see that there is nothing but focus in his expression as he theatrically lowers the flag before scooping it underneath the belly of the horse, only to rise the Electrumite banner from the other side. The royal blue and the rosy cheeks waving in the chilly night air give extra pigment to the whole occasion.

The man, slim yet sturdy like a tree shaped by the wind, repeats the same trick only this time to unfold the Olympic ensign to the crowd. The few not clapping yet now indefinitely join in the atmosphere, welcoming the sole horseman as his noble steed slowly but surely progresses along the outer rim of the arena. With another dramatic gesture, the flag gets draped over the back of the animal, a thoroughbred as there has ever been one. Surprisingly swift, the soldier moves into a handstand – only those at home with the advantage of slow motion details see the handles in pure black on the flanks of his carrier. The Khanati suddenly uncovers a torch, strikes it of what seems to be the back of the horse for the careless onlooker and suddenly the night bursts with fire. He still finds himself upside down with the torch, a replica of the official one, clamped between his feet for the world to see.

The more savvy commentators currently inform their audience that the art of horseback balancing is one that goes back for centuries amongst Khanati and has always been held in high regard, especially amongst soldiers. The tough and enduring life of these artists, who spend all their time with their closest companion – their animal – and are forbidden to marry or leave the stables unless on performances, might awe some of the cultures not involved in such spectacles and even shock some others. However, their explanations are cut short when an even more spectacular group enters the stadium. Three horses, side by side, with six smaller riders. None of them actually sits down, they stand and seems to hold on to one another to make some sort of pyramid, each one hanging to the arms of the inside man to counter gravity. What makes it even more spectacular is that they each hold up one pointy object to form the Olympic Estoile and…

A loud shriek goes through the crowds as it seems that the outside trio falls off. However, they somersault off the horse in a Summer Olympics worthy act of endearment and athletics. The elements, however, are still held in place as should be by those remaining. Up next, the three horses split and so does the star, but when they’re some ten metres apart, the outside duo toss their pieces back to the middle one, who makes perfect catches and reunites the Estoile in its proper position. Said central horse, strong and muscular, speeds up and a connoisseur might see how the soldier must battle to stay upright on its back, but he wins his grasp back. And so, it narrows down the distance on the first horse, with the royal tread, on which the initial rider still stands on his hands as the extension of the lit torch above him, calm and proud. The second man closes in and when there’s just a ten feet gap left, he starts throwing his load to the initial man.

It is as if he’s throwing them at a stake in the ground – only this time the stake is an upside down person on a horse. He tosses all five and makes no mistake but as they cross the flame of the torch, they light up. The burning parts drop in front of the upside down man. Some in the audience fear for his life but with what seems to be a swift move, he grabs them as they nearly reach the animals head balancing on one hand before he jumps back into an upright position and presents the burning star pieces, back in Olympic fashion to the crowd. The torch between his feet was, with his jump, passed on to one of the other horsemen. In one last act of acrobatics, he throws back the star to his fellow soldier. Going through the air, the flames die down but one can see that the heat melted them to one Estoile and made the hue even brighter. As such, it’s with symbolic action and triumphant pride that they are waved to those who fill the Northcote Oval. The audience waited as the stage was going to be set for the next act...

---

The local orchestra began playing, and then, a picture of the face of the historical origins of the Banijan Royal Family, Kizza I appeared. The Chief of the original Kasanke people, with him wearing traditional Kasanke warpaint on his face, with two red stripes painted on his right cheek, and two yellow stripes painted on his left cheek. They then flashed between a few prominent figures in Banijan history, as the four dancers did a slow clap around them- from Kirunda Museveni, to Kabonero III, to Sebowa, to Mugisha the Liberator, and, finally, to the current Kabaka, Albert III.

Albert III's face then burst into a large Banijan flag, and the orchestra suddenly stopped. the lights, instead of projecting faces, were showing the field again. Underneath that former flag was 50 Kiganda female dancers, with two male drummers in each corner, for a total of 8 drums to fill the stadium with sound. The women's ankles were decorated with orange bands, and they had green waist wear, representing the color of the Banijan flag. But the skirts and shirts of these women were all kinds of colors from all across the spectrum- from blue to yellow, from black to red, to everything in between and not in between. They were a beautiful representation from the various ethnic groups inhabiting mainland Banija.

And then, they started doing Banija's most famous traditional dance- the Kiganda dance. 50 women, doing it in complete unison, was an absolute spectacle. The dance consisted of quick, elegant waist movements, while simultaneously having some elegant tip toeing of the feet. They, of course, as professional dancers, were able to keep their arms flawlessly placed in the air.

These women, moving in unison to the beat of the 8 engalabi drums, also known as long drums. These drums were each 42 inches tall, and with the help of microphones, helped fill the stadium with sound. The dancers were moving upward and forward as they danced around the center of the stadium to the beat of the drums, which were growing progressively louder.

As the women continued their dance, groups of women gravitated towards each corner, with just one dancer left in the center. She began to do her own dance, the adowa dance. She elegantly moved her arms, like an ice skating routine. She jumped. She spun. She twirled. She then did a Banijan war dance, which her arms crossed in front of her, she was able to move her legs up and down, and leap around the stadium. As she danced around the center of the stadium, she moved hands around in fists, spinning them around each other. Banijans were wowed by this dance, and the Banijan athlete delegation exploded.

As she finished her dance, the other dancers went back to center stage, and as a final actor, were able to spell out the word Albert- in honor of His Majesty, the Kabaka, Albert III. And then, of course, they all took their final bows, with the solo female dancer making her own bow to a thunderous applause, and the Olympic Committee of Banija delegation applauding the fact that their plan to showcase traditional Banijan dances to the world, with this kind of stage, had gone off without a hitch.

---

The lights in the stadium go all dim once again, representing the darkness and death that enveloped the land that is now South Covello for centuries. The are just bright enough that you can barely see mindless drones bowing to an unseen master. All of a sudden, an actor dressed as Lord Almighty Gregory plows onto the scene in a tank and the people flee in terror. More screams of terror are heard through the darkness, interspersed briefly with flashes of light and mushroom clouds on the video board. A message comes up saying:

"In Memoriam:
Hicana
Vjaalsburg
Coconutstan
Associated Godlands
Asuraia"

Listing the nations the former Gregoryisgodistan nuked into oblivion. The Lord Almighty Gregory character remains on screen, powering over mindless minions.

All of a sudden, a lone figure emerges carrying a lantern. The man is (an actor portraying) John Green, leader of the rebels. He leads more brave men and women with more lanterns, bringing light to a dark land. Eventually, they overpower Lord Almighty Gregory while lighting up the whole stadium just with their own light.

The lights in the stadium come back on to full power as a sun emerges on the stadium floor representing the dawn of a new day in South Covello. People run around freely and joyfully, carrying the once forbidden coconuts and waving the new nation's flag.

An announcer says "Only light can wash out darkness. To all the lands surrounded by darkness, may a new light shine upon your nation, heralding a dawn of cooperation and freedom."

The free people run around the stage some more before running off, signalling the end of the act.

---

With the end of the cultural components, it was now time for the officialdom that marked the end of the Opening Ceremony. Firstly, it was the speeches. First to speak was Prime Minister Wood, who remarked how well the symbolism had come together: the spirit of the games was international co-operation, and with Electrum joining the Common Rushmori Community, and various other Olympic Committees helping Electrum with the Opening Ceremony and the hosting, it all seemed to work out. He also remarked how fitting it was that it would be the 13th edition for Prescott to host the Winter Olympics for a third and final time, and how Electrum had three flag bearers who had each won three medals each. Otherwise, it was a pretty bland speech compared to the controversy in Centralis when he and Cynthia Suarez bickered live on stage in front of the multiverse. Also, another positive from his positively boring speech was that he didn’t talk about how Electrum was destined to win medals like he did in Centralis all those years ago. Then, it was the turn for the Olympic Council president from Kelssek to say their speech before the more showy parts of the closing stages of the ceremony.

On screen, the Olympic Torch was seen making its way into the arena: the children all took turns one by one running with the flame all the way into the arena. They all entered to rapturous applause as the audience was still wondering where the cauldron was. Just after them, the Olympic Flag was also walked in, with Electrumite Olympian greats like Lisa Tran, John Obradovic, Mary Bishop (who all won Electrum’s first medals in the Winter Olympics) as well as Alia Chapman, Cylene Andrikopolous, (Electrum’s first gold medallist and fastest swimmer) Sonya Gredello and Rosa Levinsky (dominant women’s doubles tennis champions) each holding a part of the flag. The seven greats took the flag to the centre of the oval and were just about to lay it on the floor when -- a crystalline snow flower materialised from below the grounds and with the flag lifted away, opened up to create a massive structure with a noticable peak in the middle for the flame.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” Max started speaking, “Please stand up for the raising of the Olympic Flag and for the Olympic Oath.” Sonya then added, “Administering the oath is Governor-General Taylah Gibbs.” With Mitchell Symons, on behalf of the athletes, and Michelle Gardner, on behalf of the judges, and Jake Zhou (the Electrumite ice hockey manager) making the solemn Olympic Oath, it was time for the large ice flower in the middle to be lit, signalling the official start of the Olympic Winter Games. Loreen Kim, a newly retired skeleton athlete, would be the one with the honour of taking the torch and bringing it to the ice flower, where it lit up brilliantly, the red hot flame complementing the crystalline petals. Blue and white fireworks were set off as the audience and athletes celebrated the start of the third and final Olympic Games that were to be held in Prescott. Of course, some figure skaters had already started competing in earnest earlier that day…

[Mercedini]

Official Mercedinian Olympic Anthem

Daniel Alishkaerni - Don't Tempt Me
performed at the Langtree Opera Hall
Tune: Zayde Wolf - Born Ready

The song begins with the stage mainly black but with an orange hue on the stage, nothing on the stage is yet visible, although the orange hue does give us a small clue as to the things on the stage, it's just that the audience and viewers don't know that yet. The camera begins from an elevated central position in the arena with white beams of light being scattered away from the stage and across the rest of the stadium. As the introduction gets more intense, the beams of light focus and turn to face a figure at the centre-rear of the stage. The figure reveals itself as Alishkaerni who lifts the microphone up to his face to sing the opening verse of the song.

Flames are splashed onto the LED screen behind him as he walks from the rear of the stage to the front, they then fade into the darkness and return for the third line, matching the beat of the song to give the song more impact. There are three male backing singers at the edge of the stage which are briefly shown during cuts after every two lines of the opening verse.

Even when the earth trembles
I'll stand strong and cast my spell
It’s just the way I’m assembled
There’s power in every cell

White lights flash to the drum beat of the pre-chorus, as the central camera has now switched to a zoomed in, close-up of the male vocalist. He shapes his hand into the shape of a gun and points it towards his temple before pulling the imaginary trigger and pointing towards the audience for the second line. He steadies himself as the camera fades to black for the start on the first chorus.

Pull the trigger, I won’t blink
My other foes, they’re extinct

Flames on the LED screen fly up behind Alishkaerni as he begins to sing the chorus, bathing the stage and the front portion of the audience in bright orange and red, adding to the intensity of the beats in the chorus. He stretches his arms out and opens his body language up to the audience while staring into the camera while he sings the title lyrics of the song. For the second half of the chorus, he interacts with the LED screen behind him, giving the audience the impression that flames are being emitted from his hands when he lifts them up or he is wafting the flames around himself as he swings his fingers in front of his body. As the chorus comes to an end, he buckles his body, spins and takes a knee which mirrors the music which is distorting in a downward pitch movement. The lights fade from white to a deep orange before the camera fades to black and cuts to the second verse.

I’ll wake up, vacate your lies
We’ll see through your veiled disguise
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

Flames will rise, ignite the ground
I will swim, leave you to drown
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

After ending the first chorus on one knee, Daniel rises up from his position, which is captured by the central camera that is now encapsulating the portion of the stage he is standing on. As he rises up from his kneeling position, a ball of flame burst from the centre of the screen and morphs itself into a set of wings which he stands in front of and flaps from time to time to add a bit of realness to the piece. He walks to left of the stage and the wings follow him, it's almost as if it was choreographed before hand. The wings are diffused and turn into smoke and fade into the darkness as Daniel walk to the front of the stage as the second verse ends.

Don’t ever play with my fire
We both know what that’s gonna do (yeah, yeah)
I’ll be the one who shines brighter
Outshine the black hole in you

The stage returns to darkness with the central camera zoomed in so much that Daniel's face and the dark background are the only things the audience can see at home. The crowd sees the lights in the arena flash white to the drum beats of the song before all moving to focus on the song's main performer, the light that is focused on Daniel is mostly absorbed but the small percentage that is reflected gives him a glowing appearance, it's just the only the crowd can see it, but it does raise a small cheer from the viewers in the opera hall.

Pull the trigger, I won’t blink
My other foes, they’re extinct

The flames return to the stage once again but this time actual flame jets fly from the front of the stage as Daniel takes a knee and pounds the ground in time with the music which matches up with the LED cracks in the stage, the final punch at the end of the first half of the chorus cracks the black LED floor which shatters into many pieces leaving a black shard which Daniel is kneeling on with the rest of the floor being a pool of lava which is flowing to wards the audience's side of the stage. He gets up from his kneeled position and walks backward towards the LED screen with the shards forming a path as he walks to make close to the LED screen as the chorus comes to a close

I’ll wake up, vacate your lies
We’ll see through your veiled disguise
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

Flames will rise, ignite the ground
I will swim, leave you to drown
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

The camera then moves from the left hand side of the stage and sweeps downward, flying above the heads of the audience until it sweeps by the front of the stage. Flame jets flicker from the stage and turn on and off without any order, this is mirrored by the strobe light which are flashing so much it would give a normal person an epileptic fit. They all flicker to the tune of the violin in an intense sequence of events on stage. The sequence ends with an inception style horn which blares as the beams of light turn red while the rest of the stage goes dark.

Just shine you light brighter, brighter
Just shine your light
(Ahh, just shine your light brighter)
Just shine you light brighter, brighter
Just shine your light

The camera moves up on the blackened stage and moves towards Daniel who is illuminated by a single while spotlight above his head. He is in the centre of the stage of one knee and staring down at the ground, meaning only his back and the top of his head can be seen, although the audience can gather from his silhouette where the rest of his body parts are. Red beams of light surround his body but are only seen around him and in no way do they reflect or show up anywhere on his body. He looks up and into the camera while holding his pose before standing up tall and letting out one long powerful note, leading us into the next chorus.

Just shine you light brighter, brighter
Just shine your light

The stage explodes back into life for the final chorus in the song. Orange and red flames appear on the LED screens on the floor once again with white beams of light working their way around the arena. Daniel has a determined look on his face as he points his finger into the camera before the shot changes to an elevated central camera moving forward yet still encompassing the entire design of the stage including the audience in front of it. He walks to the very front of the stage and makes it at the end of the chorus with the crowd waving their flags and enjoying the performance.

I’ll wake up, vacate your lies
We’ll see through your veiled disguise
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

Flames will rise, ignite the ground
I will swim, leave you to drown
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

The flame jets and strobe lights return along with more effects on stage to add to the intensity of the song. A smoke machine is turned on along with a wing machine which blows the smoke around causing a vortex of light and smoke and chaos which Daniel is happily standing in the middle of while he sings the lyrics to his song. The camera performs a series of sweeping shots yet again across the hall. The final flames wash away the lights and colours and reveal the black background, all of the lights, smoke machines and wind machines are turned off as they are no longer needed after this point.

(You were warned) Just shine you light brighter, brighter
(Oh just don't tempt me) Just shine your light
(Oh just don't) Just shine you light brighter, brighter
(You were warned, don't tempt me) Just shine your light

Daniel goes on one knee once again and is lit by the spotlight above his head as well as the camera light which is up on stage and giving the audience a close up as home. He looks up ahead of him and then back into the camera singing the words with purpose and intent while the male backing singers give their final accompaniments with their vocals.

As Daniel sings the last couple of words to his song, the camera which was originally filming him moves off stage to make way for the view of the central camera. He stands up tall with a rather masculine pose which ends his performance, flames burst and the wings of a phoenix form behind him which earns a cheer from the audience as it symbolises the end of the performance.

I’ll wake up, vacate your lies
We’ll see through your veiled disguise
You were warned, don’t tempt me
You were warned, don’t tempt me

The crowd goes wild as a sea of Mercedinian flags fly high above the audience as they applaud the performance before he makes his was to compete in his nation's debut Olympics. Daniel waves to the crowd before saying a message to the people at home, but more importantly for his fellow athletes travelling to Prescott. "Buena Fortuna Mercedini. Good Luck Mercedini!"

[United Islamic Khanates]

Competition without favorites favours the brave?

PRESCOTT - The Electrumites are known not to shy away from a minor bet and we can assume that many Synergies will trade hands when it comes to predicting who will come out on top in the opening event of the biathlon tournament. The sprint event in Mount Buckley Park shapes up as one where the smallest of details will decide upon the final position, making it a difficult to predict race. Moreover as those who dominated the field last time around are absent, giving room to new candidates for success and other youngsters to claim the snow as their territory.

It is difficult to pinpoint particular specialists amongst the large fields. Most notably is the military delegation from the Free Republics who can put forward four aces, no less. Nonetheless, it’s unknown how they’ll handle this stage. Those from the Paripana Sporting Council, on the contrary, know it very well - they have a national tradition to uphold even without XI Gold winner Mitchell. Last year’s winner Martin Sulvec does not return for Kosovakia either but with they do see the only top-ten athlete of the XII Olympics to return in Peter Prevec who lines up with Frans Ugabolov to make a duo of dangerous candidates.

As mentioned, there are few returning names - but those who do definitely deserve a mention. West Phoenician Prince Glenton Bush III could make a dent, even if the jury is still out on whether or not he’s actual royalty (most Electrumites would bet he is). Speaking of the home crew, we point to the presence of the experienced Rowan Jones even if biathlon is far from their strongsuit and he rather should be seen as a fan favourite. Neu Engollon sports Kristof Doernlatter and most notably Markus Katzenbech - who showed his prowess on the pursuit last time. Speaking of that event, those who combed through the result noted a stellar race by Mattijanan Julian Karilov - if he shows better consistency, this could well end in the medals. The same goes for Laitanese Damir Golovin, who knows how bittersweet silver tastes. (the medal, kids, not the actual metal)

The train of candidates has a few more stops to take. The idea of tropical Maka Flipoana on skis might make many chuckle but he’s as quick as the next… ehm… Nordic guy. And then there is a longe range of participants who get touted by their compatriots as the best thing since sliced cheese, including Cosumarite supertalent Aram Boreen, Taeshani Blankenship, Savojarn Anders Bergman, the Yanjinian pair powered by Major Yu, (deep breath) Vakollici national hero Helkerin, the illustrious Jan Mikkelsen, Kayode Blank Tenken (order of name pending), unknown quantity Edward Jones or the aptly named Harry Horntongue. And Kriegersien sends a Bot, not sure what’s that all about.

Amidst all that violence - proverbial, mind the guns - one wonders how Akbarjon Khvostunov will fare. Our national pride at the right end of a weapon barely scraped himself to the pursuit event in XII, only to drift even further away from the action. But considering the buildup and growth of his last few seasons, there seems to be no end to the options. If - and admittedly, if - the circumstances are tough, his fine shooting capacities could flip the table and see him land closer to the medals than one would expect. It makes the ‘top 20’ ambition voiced previously even mildly unambitious.

“It’s jamming. It’s jamming!”

Tanat nearly cried, bashing his gun on the snow, before Akbarjon relieved him of it. In a way, he felt quite annoyed that there wasn’t a single delegation member who had joined them for the last target-training apart from a kid even younger than the contestants, for whom it was already difficult enough to not drop the weaponry. Kids and them nerves, he thought of Tanat.

“There, you see, it’s just…”

One shot going wide was enough to make a realisation. It’s not his nerves that jam the weapon - it’s the other way around.

“I’m not sure what to do now,” Tanat continued, “how can I debut tomorrow if…”

Fatherly, Akbarjon relieved him, “we’ll fix that”, whilst realising he had no ground to base such a statement on. Maybe better get to the organisation, he thought in silence, instead of our own people.

“Shouldn’t someone of ours…”

Of course the answer was yes, Akbarjon realised, but he couldn’t…

“They’re all sucking up them cross country skiers. If you’re no medal material, you can freeze to death from their part.”

The voice from Anvar Karpyk, the third Khanati who completed the line-up for the opening event, reminded anyone of a gas truck slowly finding its way over a gravel pit. He rarely used it. But Akbarjon knew that he only used it when he knew he was right.

---

Who stops Suyunov?

PRESCOTT - Notwithstanding some late subscriptions, there are no excuses for Asror Suyunov to hide behind adagues in the theme of ‘there are no favourites on the Winter Olympics’. Even if his Prescott gold medal was captured in a different event, he managed to improve even further and comes into the arena with nothing but medalware on his mind - and we didn’t write ‘gold’ there just because we are opposed to unnecessarily raising the pressure. Dominant domestically in one of the countries that has grown into a key location for cross country skiing, the Khanates will not see his failure as an option.

However, it does not allow us to discard the opposition, not in the least last year’s silver medallist Malachi DeWitt - a known name and quite possibly the man who starts with the best odds at the bookies. Not far behind him, Ethanian Newt Greene deserves a mention as the number seven of last time - twenty seconds to bridge for a medal could easily be achieved. Other ones who return for more and better include Elune Shannon, the Cosumarite, and Falkasian Valerian Larashenko, although the sprint seems to be his specialisation.

Considering that all participants take the starting line together, it is not excluded in a fiercely patriotic competition that certain delegation will make use of their numbers when finding themselves in a majority. A small slip, allowing a gap to open up or a clever choice of path could something make the difference in this close contest and some could well make use of that. The Darmeni, of whom O Laoghaire, Mullins and especially Jo Farmer look most dangerous, line up with such an advantage and the same can be said about the Dunnesi selection around Bryan Boulder - a debuting participant. Sunuyov will need eyes on his back to avoid getting caught in their games.

Lastly, there are of course those who are of yet unknown - but will do everything in their might to change that. Franklin Whetzel of Britonesia, Ivar Poulsen, Yancey Swathi or some bloke called Alex Vallejo. And… maybe even the winner of last time around? Sergey the Luvna Locomotive Shemyakin returns to the place of his finest hour but the question remains open what he can mean tomorrow. After all, he has beaten Suyunov only once on this distance in over two years - in the atrocious snow storm of Vandush, that was. At first sight, he lacks the swiftness to distance the field and could be caught out in the final kilometres. But then again, few know the tricks of Suyunov and the special vibe from the Olympic arena as well as Shemyakin…

“Shem… I’m not going to try to sugarcoat it here.”

Seemingly uninterested, Sergei Shemyakin looked up from his book about history. He was not sure why they had exactly paired him with Asror Suyunov for the rooms. Yes, they joined forces for the team event and yes, they had always been if not friendly, than at least gentlemanlike colleagues. But they were also rivals with a bitter goal set up for themselves and burning ambition. In short, it had taken Sergei some effort to look as if The life and legacy of Jane Prescott was that shockingly interesting.

“Hmm?” he replied.
“It’s… I think I have a good shot to win.”

So far, Asror had - obviously - denied such in the press, but it wasn’t even an elephant in the room anymore. It was as if someone had gone around 3D printing the elephant and putting it up anywhere where the Khanati delegation set foot. Suyunov turned into the favourite of any politician who crossed their path, the first target for reporters and didn’t mind answering their questions. And if Sergei was entirely honest, he had seen him develop into a strong and diverse athlete in the last four year, ready to harvest what he had worked for so hard.

“That’s… Good,” Sergei returned to the chapter The settler.
“But…”
“But?”

Sometimes the short words are the longest ones.

“But,” Asror continued after some hesitation, “it’s a national competition and it might be necessary, in the heat of the battle, that someone risks his chances to allow a teammate - because that’s what we are these two weeks - to fulfill the dream. Not just of himself, but of the nation that relies on him!”

He’ll make one damn fine politician some day, Sergei knew.

“So you want to say?” Shem left his compatriot hanging.
“If that moment arises, would you drop that gap for me,” Suyunov asked.

A short silence. The turning of a page.

“Well, Asror… Would you do it for me?”

---

The Strongest Field Ever

PRESCOTT - As newspaper journalists, we’re rarely inspired to use hyperboles to make our point but we could well and dandy say that the group of athletes who will compete tomorrow in the five kilometres in the SkateDome make up the finest group ever to face it off on the ice. Filled to the brim with Olympic heroes, national champions and relentless outsiders, the victor of this edition will truly be able to call himself the champion of the multiverse.

It is not just extremely difficult to name one primus inter pares, it might also offend the locals. Because they seem quite sure of their case with Niles Garland coming on the ice in the final run of the stint. Building upon his heroic conquest of the 10 kilometres last time, the Electrumite makes a candid statement for a sharp time - but then again, he will challenge the reigning champion of the actual distance in West Phoenician Trey Berri. Being sidelined to fly the flag for his nation in the opening ceremony could be that little extra oil on the fire to finally break the ‘impossible’ Olympic record from Derk Jenkins in Neverend.

Speaking of OR’s, this royal duo will have to do with one of the absolute legends of the sport in Liventian Javier Rosario. Time does not seem to impact this multiple medal winner - and OR holder on the shortest distance. It goes without saying that he does not step on the ice to just be a bystander of the drama. The same could be said about Ansobert Fairchild, the Darmeni who combined the two long distances best previously to capture second and fourth. He’s back for more and headlines a trio with Jameson and Dhomhnaigh - all valuable title candidates.

It doesn’t end there. Vekaiyun Todd Yeskoviyey is the most consistent of the whole pack and no one doubts that, given the right day, he’ll get that gold medal to show for it in the SkateDome. Or how about veteran Jaeden-Jean Durmin, the Kellsekian who knows the drill? Back for more, we’ve got Martin Sevic as well, captain of a stellar Kosovakian formation that locks times close to the top. And those who followed the race four years ago with tension - and which Khanati didn’t - might remember names such as Ed Reinhold, Charles Long, Stanislasz Ostergaard and Cosumarite Michel Pereira - although pundits claims that his younger compatriot Victor Ramirez could rock the whole stage.

We could line up all the qualification times from a Seung-Joon, a Diamantis, a Salvetieri or the Holiday’s from Kannap. We truly want to loud the praise of Lockwood Maksimov, Muko, Yurifai, Frazier, Oika or the aptly named Fr. Jeremiah the Highly Regarded - the man who on skates always manages to look both extremely orthodox and incredibly unorthodox at the same time. We really want - but our editor refused us another page or four.

As such, our final words are reserved for the Khanati who must battle all this gunpower with a mixture of doubts. Matvey Urinboev returns as the bronze medallist but has gone through four atrocious years. The fact he managed to get here - insert your own drunk driving pun here - is already half a miracle, he’s nowhere near a decent form. Youngster Tokhtar Darabayev will undoubtedly leave his best out on the ice and fingers are crossed about him mingling with the multiverse best at 21. But even he will get a little white around the nose when the starter fires his gun for this field, loaded with quality. The field, that is, not the gun.

“Allright, grand work, Tokhtar. Another thirty point one, well kept up. I got you off the ice, no need to stretch your limits today.”

Saybek Rushaev didn’t even look up from his notes, figures and graphs but in a way, this calmed Tokhtar a bit more. Some called his coach eccentric and well… Today they could see that he was not only proverbially but literally the only in the multiverse to walk along the rink with bermuda shorts and a backwards baseball hat. But he was dedicated, systematic and knew exactly what was needed to make the most from young, promising athletes.

A few seconds later, Kamoliddin Bakaev turned towards the duo as well. Being in his second Olympics, he acted as a guide for Tokthar but also…

“Where’s Matvey?”

Saybek simply lifted his shoulders. The beef between the two of them struck anyone who recalled the ecstatic pictures of Urinboev and his coach celebrating the bronze medal. But whilst the latter hoped it could be a platform for an ever higher calling, the only platforms Urinboev had seen for three years were those in shady bars. In his defence, the XII’s hero returned to the selection on his own power and considering the pounds he had lost over time, it showed a certain dedication. But with it, his natural stubbornness had only taken a leap for the worst and already on the plane, it became clear that the wounds slayen were too deep.

“Where is he?” Kamoliddin repeated - who couldn’t shake off the feeling that in the mixed bag of skaters, he served as the responsible one.
“Well,” Saybek spoke up, “that goofball did four quick laps - if you call some thirty-two’s quick, that is - then just walked off without a word, brushed off some foreign journalists, pissed off some delegation figurehead and than fucked off to the Village.”
“He seems a bit off, than,” Tokhtar tried to lighten the mood.

A stale stare made clear what Saybek thought of that.

“I don’t know who they’ll find to cheer along the line for him - but it won’t be me.”

[OIsINiSTAn]

After Day 0 of the events, Oisinistan is ready to rock and roll with the events of Day 1. So here's a runthrough of tomorrow's events, and our flag carriers.

Day 1 - 18th February:

Alpine Skiing — Men's Downhill
Oisinistan will be represented in this sport by the famed twins Eric and Jack Gallagher, as well as Cormac Foley and Luke Griffin.

Biathlon — Men’s 10 km Sprint
Oisinistan has sent Niall Barry, Max Boyle, Chris Brady and Eoin Brennan to this event.

Cross-Country Skiing — Men’s 30 km Skiathlon
John Lyons will spearhead the Oisinistani attempt tomorrow, as well as Brendan Maguire and Peter Maher.

Luge — Men's Individual — Runs 1 and 2
The Oisinistani delegation for the Luge is Paul Carroll, Aidan Casey and Brian Clarke.

Short Track — Men’s 500 m — Qualifying Round
Connor and Connors are the duo representing Oisinistan, in Mark Connor and Darren Connors, with Darren Corcoran accompanying them.

Snowboarding — Men's Slopestyle — Qualification
A pair of O'Briens in Daniel and Eoin will play as Oisinistan's hopes tomorrow, as well as Jack Nolan.

Speed Skating — Men’s 5 000 m
Aaron Farrell, Kieran Farrell and Andrew Egan are our representatives in the last event of the day.

Representatives: 22
Target: at least a medal

[West Phoenicia]

This year's theme of the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the XIII Winter Olympics Games will be international cooperation and working together to create a brighter future.

Due to it being an election year in West Phoenicia many of the political parties leaders have spoken out to express their thoughts on the theme in the hopes to sway voters.

Jimmy Bain, leader of The Conservative Party and Prime Minister of West Phoenicia alongside Grace Atin; leader of The West Phoenicia First Party; the main opposition party stood shoulder to shoulder in support of the theme.

“ The Olympics are a great time for international relations. Nations coming together in peace to play sport and have fun. It's a time of harmony that once the Games are over should spill over in a nation's daily lives. More Co-Operation is needed not just in sports but in diplomacy, trade, and the welfare of all citizens. West Phoenicia is always grateful to attend international sporting events.”


Mrs Violet Hungary, leader of the West Phoenician Green Party voiced during the National Greens Conference

“Its all smoke and mirrors. Millions of dollars wasted on sports so for 2 weeks the world can pretend we are all okay. That we somehow care to create a brighter future. Such nonsense, many of these nations aftending would gladly invade a fellow competing nation for land, oil and other pretty trinkets. West Phoenicia is no acception. If these nations cared they would scrap their Olympic delegations and spend the money on more important issues like the environment, climate change and true equality. The Olympics are outdated keeping to a two gender discrimination. The world has evolved events for males and for females discriminates against women who want to go up against men. It discriminates against transexuals and other species who do not fit into the traditional mold. If the Greens obtain a majority of seats we will boycott the Olympics until they are gender neutral that will create a brighter future. West Phoenicia parading around in expensive uniforms while we have people starving and no go zones for people who are not of the nobility class is an embarrassment. If West Phoenicia cares for a brighter future how about releasing those nations which we have under our wings as client states, releasing them to their own control so they too can have a brighter future outside of West Phoenician influence. The international community should screen a nation rejecting applications where nations are known for human right abuses.”


Senator Martina Rose, leader of the Segregation Party cited to the West Phoenician Weekly Magazine.

“Over the last few years West Phoenicia has made leaps and bounds in the international community in regards to sports. Archery, Water Polo, Baseball. West Phoenicia is a name that is starting to make an impact. One of our main platforms is a brighter future for all West Phoenicians, We love sending our athletes to represent us in the international community and we often work side by side with other nations. However we still feel discrimination when we venture to some nations, as we head off to the Winter Olympics athletes from noble houses will be housed in the same Olympic village alongside poor athletes not only from West Phoenicia but from around the world. We are the haves and our rights are being crushed by the havenots. The Olympic committees need to understand. All we ask is some segregation as to not throw off our more noble athletes from the common variety. In saying that i wish our team numerous victories. Let's bring home the gold.”

Senator Melody Werribee, leader of The far left Rainbow Party called on the need for more change.

“Sports are terrific and the world coming together to share their love of sport and peace is a noble gesture. And who doesn't love a good opening ceremony allowing nations to display their creativity to the world. However there is not enough mention of athletes who are gay, lesbains, bi sexuals, Transgender. We play a big part but we are often overlooked. Sexuality needs to be embraced and shouted from the high places. West Phoenicia may attempt to silence us but that will not always be the case. Gay and lesbian athletes need to be recognised above traditional straight athletes, every delegation needs to be made to include at least 25-50% of their athletes who are not straight. There needs to also be an Olympic games dedicated to gay and lesbian; a sign that we are now recognised and are not immoral. Its time for our own games to show the world how special we are. In doing that we will move towards a brighter future and sill bring in a new era of peace, love, tolerance and acceptance.”

Senator Thomas Dunedin, leader of the right wing Nationalist Party stated during a late night talk show,

“The Olympics are a time for the world to get together, celebrate a love of sport in peaceful surroundings. Diversity should not be an issue, the best person for the event regardless of gender, colour, race or sexual orientation. Let's end this pc nonsense and focus on playing a great game. West Phoenicia stands behind their athletes. And we await the many parades to come when the nation brings home the medals. Lets keep politics out of these games. Let's all head to Electrum and play some great sports in the name if good sportsmanship.”

[South Covello]

South Covello Olympics Day 1 Preview

Following a spectacular Opening Ceremony in Prescott which featured a portion specifically designed by South Covello, and a couple events in the Figure Skating team program earlier that morning, the Olympics are set to get underway in full earnest tomorrow with Day 1 of the XIII Winter Olympics. A number of South Covello athletes will be participating, so let's take a look at them now.

The Men's Downhill in Alpine Skiing will take place tomorrow, with medals to be awarded to the Top 3 as is per the usual custom. South Covello will have four athletes participating. First off will be the 16 year-old phenom Alouicious Buckwheat, who won the South Covello Ski Championships earlier this year. He is not expected to medal yet, but he still has many, many years ahead of him and perhaps many, many medals. If he can finish in the middle of the pack, he'll be happy, but perhaps we'll have a surprise. Lucius Mauiriut will also participate in the Downhill. He is 27 years old and won the silver medal at the National Championships in the Downhill. Both him and Buckwheat will compete in several other skiing events later on in the competition. The third competitor is Charlie Borkitt, who won the Bronze medal at the National Championships. He is 35 years old and is expected to finish towards the bottom of the pack. The fourth and final competitor is Ricard Baugette. He is one of the Wild Card spots appointed by the South Covello Olympic Committee to athletes under special or unique circumstances. A prominent skier during the Gregist years, Baugette gave up skiing temporarily to join the Resistance Fighters in the Revolution and suffered a severely gashed leg due to an explosive detonate by the Gregists. He was expected to have difficulty walking, yet alone skiing, but spectacularly he made a full recovery. Unfortunately, this occurred too late for the National Championships, but he is back and ready now. The Men's Downhill will be his first competitive race since the injury.

The Men's 10 km Sprint in Biathlon will take place tomorrow morning as well. Although biathlon was an incredibly strong sport for the Gregists in the past, in order to start a new day, the SCOC forbid all soldiers associated with the Gregist Army from competing in the Olympics, except under certain limited circumstances (namely, they must have made a significant effort to reverse the wrongs they have done. Simply disclaiming loyalty and/or defecting is insufficient. We'll have more on that later.) As a result, the team is significantly weaker than it was in past years, though still pretty strong. The Rebels knew how to use weapons, and many still shoot recreationally to guard against future tyranny. Freddie Firrball is the first member of the team. At just 18 years old, one of many young members of this delegation, he has many good years ahead of him. He is an above average biathlete and will be aiming for a Top 10 finish these Games. He hopes to parlay that into perhaps a medal at the XIV Winter Olympics, wherever those may be. Dominic Jarinovic is also a member of the biathlon competition, and at just 15 years of age, he is likely too young to be a factor in these Games. Again, though, this delegation has a lot of young athletes. And they will be a force to reckon with in future Games. The third member of the biathlon competition is Harry Horntongue, who is widely expected to be South Covello's best medal threat at these games. He was the only member of the delegation to be given the Ex-Military Exemption - the others are perfectly clean. Horntongue was a former Seargant in the South Covello Military, but when the Revolution broke out, he knew what he had to do. He gathered up the explosives that were present at his base, and hooked them all up to a timer, then fled for Rebel territory. One hour later, with the soldiers all blissfully unaware of what was about to happen and Horntongue now fully defected, the base blew up and killed several hundred soldiers, destroying significant ammunition, tanks, and other weapons as well. For his bravery, Horntongue was given a bravery medal and allowed to join the biathlon team in spite of his ex-military status. The fourth and final member of the biathlon team is Jarred Volloch, a 20 year-old college student at Bayville College and a member of their ski and rifle teams. He is seen as too young for now, but a potential star on the rise as well.

Also happening tomorrow is the Men's 30 km skiathlon in cross-country. Mark Mueller is one competitor, and at 31 years old, this is likely his last real chance to medal. Unfortunately, he doesn't have much of a chance there as cross-country skiing is not South Covello's strongsuit. At 17 years of age, Robert Mailer may have potential in the future, but this is not his time either.

One of the great stories in this team has been Hamburg Rivers and Martha Rivers, the mixed doubles curling duo. Martha is an 83 year-old woman, and Hamburg is her 19 year-old grandson. They entered the South Covello Mixed Doubles Curling Championship, with the winner knowing they'd be bound for Prescott, and defeated 27 other teams to secure their spot. Hamburg celebrated by hoisting his granny up on his soldiers and carrying her around the arena. Martha is the oldest member of this delegation, while Hamburg is one of the youngest. Truly an intergenerational team. They will have their first two matches tomorrow, against Nieburasya and Urisya.

The ice dancing portion of the Figure Skating Team Competition will have its short program tomorrow, as husband-wife team Baxter Gumdrop/ and Yolanda Gumdrop will compete together in the hopes of scoring some points for their country. They are South Covello's best ice dancers and one of several families competing here.

Women's moguls gets underway tomorrow with the qualification round, and Kandina Daxzen will look to qualify and advance her medal hopes. She is one of nine 23 year-old nonuplets competing in freestyle skiing for South Covello. Truly a family afair. She will be joined by her brothers Jandon (aerials and halfpipe), Brandon (moguls), Kandon (ski cross), and Xanden (slopestyle) and sisters Jandina (aerials), Brandina (halfpipe), Xandina (ski cross), and Zandina (slopestyle) who will compete later on in these Olympic Games. Again, truly a family affair for South Covello.

The women's ice hockey will get underway with a match against Paripana Sporting Council.

Runs 1 and 2 of the Men's Luge will be held tomorrow as well. The team will feature three brothers - Porridge Green the youngest at 19, Rafters Green the middle child at 22, and Oatmeal Green the oldest at 24. They are all considered longshots to medal, but you never know.

The qualifying round for the Men's 500 m short track will also be held, featuring medal contender Gallow Tyrome as well as relative longshots James Harvey and Lee Gondwood. Tyrome is only 18 years old, so he's just going to keep getting better and better.

Also in short track, the Women's 500 m['/b] will have its qualifying round. South Covello will send three athletes, [b]Sally Sappinger, Wanda Huron, and Coala Berry. All are considered relative longshots, but none is over 21 years of age, so they'll be back.

In ski jumping, the Men's normal hill has qualification. South Covello's only entrant is the appropriately named Joe Flywell, who will be looking for a Top 15 finish. He's just 20 years of age, so, once again, he'll be back.

The men's slopestyle snowboarding also has qualification, featuring just one athlete, the 15 year-old phenom Joe Knapp. His goal is to crack the Top 10 these Games, and parlay it into a medal down the road.

The last event is the Men's 5,000 m speed skating, featuring Travis Johnstack, a 33 year-old in probably his last Olympics, looking to win a medal, and he may very well be a dark horse. It also features two up-and-coming speed skaters, Bo Boris and Simpson Orfood, who are just 19 and 20 respectively. Their best is yet to come.

All in all, it should be an action packed first full day of the Olympics. You can watch live coverage on SCSN, SCSN2, SCSN+, and The Olympic Channel, or stream every event live or replay on SCSN3.sc or the SCSN3 App, available for pretty much every device.

[Laeral]

Aujourd'hui

---

Vol. 36 Num. 7

Saturday, February 17, 2018

English Language Edition

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Laeralian Figure Skaters Debut At Winter Olympics
By Guy Le Vigoureux

Prescott, Electrum- Following last month's surprise announcement from President Nicholas Brennan and Culture Minister Sabine Auconie that Laeral would send a delegation of athletes to the Winter Olympic Games in Electrum, anticipation was building about the Laeralian debut on the international stage. The 13th Olympic Winter Games, hosted this year in the resort city of Prescott, Electrum, Rushmore, brings together athletes from across the multiverse in peaceful athletic competition in a variety of winter-related sports. As the closest equivalent to a sporting event for all nations, the Olympics' prized gold medals are considered the highest honor in sports.

While the Laeralian team is not favored to win most categories, the figure skating and speed skating teams are considered possible medal contenders. Although the Olympics did not hold their opening ceremony until tonight, several Laeralian athletes competed early today. Although the Laeralian delegation performed worse than expected, the duo of Devlin Chen and Charlotte Letellier received a score of 68.86 in the Pairs Short Program, landing in 13th place. Chen and Letellier were the respective winners of the 2017 Laeralian Figure Skating Championships. In Prescott today, they performed to the song "Sound of Her Laugh", a song by Laeralian singer Tristan Bocquet.

Chen is a 19-year old, often described as a natural on the ice. He was raised in Nanhai province, and began skating at age 4. He won his first championship in 2012, and has been described as "Laeralian figure skating's greatest jumper". Charlotte Letellier, born in Corday province, came from a family of figure skaters; her older sister Estelle also competed at the Laeralian Figure Skating Championships. At the Championships in 2015, Letellier won gold, and was paired with Chen soon after. The two have skated together for only two years, and announced that they were a couple only a few months ago.

Devlin Chen also competed by himself in the Men's Individual Short Program only a few hours later. He came in 9th place with a score of 72.48, and will move into the final round of the Team Trophy as well. Chen and Letellier will return in the Ice Dancing Short Program tomorrow, February 18th.

[Amuaplye]

Leonard Perry stood outside the entrance to the Amuaplyean section of the Olympic Village.

"I wonder what it's like at the nearby ones." He thought.

He got up, going near the Risyan complex.

He saw a fellow athlete, probably from Risya, which he waved to.

[Main Nation Ministry]

When all of the athletes from other nations appeared in the Parade of Nations, Main Nation Ministry appeared among them. Walking in synchronized lines, the athletes appeared wearing their national colors of red, white and black in militarized uniforms. The Leader appeared in a gestational chair, dressed in his proud white and black suit, wearing a military cap and cape, as he smiled as the athletes marched during the parade. "I must say, this is a lovely sight. With the world of ice very to be fought on, I shall consider my figure skating to be the best. Don't you agree?" The Leader looked at a guard who was carrying him. "Oh what me?" the guard said. "Of course. You would consider our nation to win enough medals? We have the top of our class." The Leader said.

"Oh! Oh course! For Victory and Glory of the Ministry! Can't forget those words!" the guard replied, where The Leader nods in approval, before taking a sip of his drink. The Truth News journalist was among the audience at the front rows, immediately snapping pictures of the Main Nation Ministry team with his high-tech camera.

The Truth News

The Games Begins!

"This is your finest on-site journalist at Prescott, Brendon Paristein. Day 0 is here and the opening ceremony was spectacular! Including the Leader. Always the Leader! But let me talk about the actual opening ceremony itself. The nations of Britonisea, Kalosia, United Islamic Khanates, Banija and South Covello helped contributed to the opening ceremony which I seen with my own eyes. We got Electrum Gertrude Pullman singing "Olympics!", Kalosian singer Miriam singing "Ga-dii Waw", Santiago Carillion and Evangeline Hope singing "No Doubting Yourself", the list just goes on!"

"There was some horse riding with United Islamic Khanates, dancing with Banija, and a tribute made by South Covello to show the defeat of the infamous nation of Gregoryisgodistan and the victory of the rebels led by John Green. The torch lighting ceremony was that of a flower made of ice. As for actual sporting events tomorrow, I recommend that all you viewers at home start making bets on Main Nation Ministry. I don't care how many chips you will lose. It's treason to be betting on a nation besides Main Nation Ministry! And make sure you tune in on any government-controlled technology to watch The Leader be figure skating for gold! For Victory and Glory, this is Brendon Paristein for the Truth News. And best wishes for you, Leader!"

[Riysa]

Parade of Nations,
XIII Winter Olympics

Uday felt his blood pressure spike, as a massive surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins. As the oldest athlete, at 30 years old, he was given the honor of carrying the flag of his country - and thus being at the front of the group. Nothing could've really prepared him for facing the entire world, he now realized, even though he had assured himself that he was ready. It was awe-inspiring, exhilarating, and terrifying - all at once, and he could tell on the faces of his comrades that they felt similarly.

"Riysian Arab Republic!" A voice cheerfully shouted out of the intercom. And, just like that, it was their time to shine.

And so, with a first step that felt like an eternity, they broke out into the stadium. Thousands of people watched them from the stands, and millions more watched from the comfort of their television sets. Indeed, somewhere out in the stands was Uday's wife and two kids, parents, and extended family; he imagined that was the case for the other Riysian competitors too. Channeling this mixed blend of extreme emotions, the Riysians breathed in air, acting as if in union.

"HAYYYAAAAAH!" All the Riysians shouted exuberantly, as Uday flourished the flag, while fists from the others violently punched the air. A cheer erupted from the crowd in response, and some - presumably other Riysians - waved the colours of their beloved land. Grins and waves and even some more punches followed, directed towards the crowd, as they marched their way down the dancer-lined walkway.

Like others in the Parade, they dressed to impress, and they certainly stood out in that regard. Uday as the flagbearer wore a traditional Riysian outfit, but in the colors of the flag, consisting of loose black pants, a striped, shimmering white collarless shirt, a red paisley waist sash, and a solid dark green vest. For the cold, he wore a long black wool coat on top of that, with a cream-and-gold koufiya draped over his shoulders, and a short red fez sat atop his head. The others wore something more trendy, a closely-fitted thigh length double breasted coat and matching pants, tailored by the Kamali Dress Corporation, with men wearing black and women wearing white. On the left breast was an embroidered seal of the Riysian coat of arms, and on the right was their last names embroidered for recognition. Draped around their necks was a scarf, patterned with the four colors of Riysa's flag, and men wore a simple fur-lined cap on their heads, while women wore their traditional hijabs.

Riysa was a newcomer, a stranger in this land. One unfamiliar with the region might even be astonished that a Middle Eastern nation could have winter sports. But, each one of the athletes here had undoubtedly earned their spot. Uday had spent years with the Bloudan Alpine Club and the Riysian Biathlon Association to get to where he was. Many of the others had a similar story; he knew both Moataz and Iyad well, from their time in Bloudan. And what about Nadim Tamam and Saeed Nawasi, who had spent years of their lives outside the country, practicing a sport that barely anyone in Riysa had heard of? All had struggled to get to here, and had came out on top. Whether or not they won a medal was largely irrelevant, though it'd be nice. No, their main purpose was to show the world that they could do it.

The people watching the Olympics wanted a show, and by God and then His Messenger, they would give them one.