XIII Winter Olympics — Roleplay thread

[The Holy Principality of Saint Mark]

Alone at last!

Amagitora looked over her menu and into the eyes of the His Royal Highness, Marcarius, Crown Prince of The Holy Principality of Saint Mark, and one of the warmest, kindest, most considerate men she knew ... and gorgeous! ... and now, as of ten minutes ago ... her boyfriend!

Each had been afraid of being interrupted ... again ... so each had blurted out their similar feelings for each other at the same time within minutes of seeing each other. After the rush of relief expressed by their laughter, Marc had held her closely, vowing that they he would not let anything come between them, now that they had finally come together ... not the press or fans, not the Games and not his birth.

There were still the Games to win (hopefully?) and a lot of complications to work out, but she finally felt that everything was going to happen just as she had dreamed.

[Kriegiersien]

In Luge Team Relay FemaleSilverBot won her second medal, bronze, together with GoldBot, Santa Fee and Emilia Notgeilnagel.

It was the first medal in a team event and the first time humans and Bots, or New Humans as like to be called sometimes, won a medal together. At the medal ceremony the Bots showed some overstated short break dance moves on the podium, Santa and Emma just waved happily, Fee giving his teammates and the other medal winners from Electrum and Anollasia some candy, while Notgeilnagel posed for the cameras. It was probably the nicest medal ceremony with Kriegiersiens yet.




A cafe in Prescott, with the Curling team from Kriegiersien sitting together, discussing, sipping coffee, chocolate and eating ice cream while watching the match on a tablet.

“You are too much into guards here. That could almost cost us the game. Try to bait them with a winning stone, that could really work with some of the nervous young girls here.”
“I think that is too much risk.”
“Bah, we are not 20 anymore. We need a bit risk in our life or we don't achieve the Top.”
“Hey, gals, now to something completely different. How often have we been here?”
“In this cafe? Very often. I love it. Don't you?”
“No, I mean in Prescott. Have you.. have we seen much of the city?”
“We are not here for sight seeing. We are here to play Curling.”
“And I watched the games and contests of the others from time to time.”
“Ah, I have seen this enough. I want to see the city.”
“I told you not to stay in Kriegiersien. After that I would want to see the world, too.”
“We wanted to train tomorrow.”
“Pff. We will not get that better because of one more training session. I say we live it up.”
“Your divorce really made you …. curious.”
“Whatever. Tonight, party, roaming the Blue District. Tomorrow..how about hiking in the mountains?”


And so Mirya Bratwurst, Ulan Egyptulan, Briza Icemop and Rhonwen Loewenzahn ventured into the mountains next day. And went missing. What happened? Would they find back in time? Would they meet unexpected strangers or even fellow athletes from the Olympics?



OOC:
I am ok with any sort of interaction with my RP.

[Kalosia]

Kalosia u l'Olimpiade d'Invernu
Official coverage of the XIII Winter Olympic Games by Lë Punto Kotidianu

Un anǧelu kaduto? / A fallen angel?

Alešandru Kaľari, who together with fellow figure skater Mišela Kote won Kalosia's first and only medal so far for the first time in the past few years, slipped and fell on the ice upon landing on the ice after performing a move. This severely affected his score and he came 35th in the men's individual short program, an event where the top 40 finishers qualify, with a score of 75.93. "I feel a bit disappointed in myself" he said in an interview. "But I'm grateful that I have the opportunity to improve, and what's important is that I do not disappoint my country."

Meanwhile, fellow skater Vinšenzu Alberti came 13th, a much better score than his colleague, with 82.57 points, having avoided any falls or possible mishaps. Kristianu Dalesu, however, was less unfortunate. With a score of 58.79 points, he came 91st and failed to advance to the final as achieved by his two colleagues.


Alešandru Kaľari-san / My name is Alešandru Kaľari

Kalosia's most beloved figure skater took to Tweeter to clarify on how his name is written, after reports that some Italian-language media outlets had written down his name as 'Alessandro Cagliari' in their articles. "My name is a Kalosian name," he posted, "and it is written the only way I have ever done it my entire life — the Kalosian way. Maybe Alessandro Cagliari is someone else, but that's not me."


Venti Kalosiani, trentadwe skwadre / Twenty Kalosians, thirty-two teams

In the Round of 32 stage of the Ice Hockey competition, Kalosia faced off with the Valanoran team — and tied! Following the tiebreaking procedure, Kalosia won in the shootout with a score of 2-1, thus advancing to the next stage.

(Pictured above is a photo of the Kalosian Olympic Ice Hockey Team's supporters at the match against Valanora, waving a civil variant of the national flag).


Veloš, pju veloš! / Fast, faster!

In Synchronized Skating, Silvia Garfalu came 59th in the 1500m Women's race, in which medals were given out to the 3 fastest finishers, with a time of 2 minutes and 51 milliseconds. Although failing to get a medal finish in both this and the 3000m race, she has one last chance to get a medal in the 5000m race. We wish all the best for Silvia!

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Savojarna's female curlers win opening matches and audience hearts

Curling is one of the less common sports in Savojarna, but regularly manages to get some attention during its major events. The national championships are usually decently followed, and the centres of the sport in Northern and Western Vestrholm usually have a party during it, celebrating their teams who usually storm to Savojar gold. But there were five women who crashed their party during the Olympic trials. Team Helena Berger, a young student squad from the Academic Curling Club (ACK) Sjoedrhavn, featured two students from classic curling strongholds, but its victories over previous champions CK Bergheim (Team Anglund) and CK Metall Jarnstad (Team Ullman) still shocked the local fans.

The team was clearly the youngest among the four teams that qualified for the trial playoffs, and given their losses against both Anglund and Ullman they were not necessarily seen as favourites coming from the third place after round-robin. However, their very precise and daringly offensive game won them many neutral fans as they won the 3./4. playoff game against Landsmark, the club who went on to provide the Men's Olympic Team, with 10-8. In the semifinal, they faced Team Ullman, the veteran Savojar curlers from Jarnstad. Ullman, a 48-year-old skip with a not much younger team, had won over Berger's squad in the extra end thanks to a brilliant 10th end by the young Sjoedrhavener, in which she scored three points to equalise the game, but lost the extra end to a good draw in Carola Ullman's last stone. However, this time they managed to get a great start as Jarnstads Second missed a crucial takeout in her second stone and thus allowed Berger to steal a stone, leading with 3-0 after two ends. While Ullman tried to come back with her tactical strength, her possibilities were limited by an overall lack of precision on the team. Berger's strength, aside from great precision on part of her entire team including the young skip herself, is exactly the exploitation of such mistakes. The party was quickly over in Jarnstad as Berger won the semifinal 11-6 and moved on to the final of the trials.

In the final, there would be a duel many fans were anxious to see by now. The young, offensive and refreshing team of Helena Berger faced off against the established and favourited team from Bergheim, the cold, efficient and almost mechanically defensive team of Linda Anglund. The game that Berger searched was a game of many stones, difficult draws and provoking mistakes, while Anglund's team stood for surgical takeouts and near-perfect clearings of the ice, leading to a much simpler game that she could build upon. Many neutral fans already liked the younger team for their more attractive play, and they would quickly get more fans as they managed to stand up to Anglund's team. Despite a strong showing by Anglund's Second Johanna Palsson, the precision in Hammarby's guards often led to stones in the house, thwarting Anglund's game and forcing the favourite to go into a tactical position-game. Here, the higher precision percentages of the Sjoedrhavner team paid off. After a tight and spectacular match, Berger's ACK won the match with 9-7 to secure the Olympic spot.

With their arrival in Prescott, the Savojar team gained even more supporters with their friendly and happy demeanor, but also with their still highly attractive game. Their first venture into international waters ended fairly successfully despite some problems in the beginning, when they let Darmen steal a stone in the first end. But as the Savojar team could follow up with a three-pointer in the third end, there was no problem anymore and they could hold on to a two-point lead, which they could expand with yet another three-point-end in the seventh to make it 8-4. Darmen was forced to score a single point in the eighth, and after a pointless ninth Team Berger won the game 9-5 in the final end. Following up against Elejamie, they won another tight match, with 9-7 this time and only in the final end, when they scored two to win over the Elejamians. Thus, Savojarna now leads their pool before a bye while the men play North Prairie in the first session of the day, and a difficult match against Ethane in session two of the day, when the men will have their break after a victory after a mixed first day, winning against Alinghi and losing against West Phoenicia.

[Liventia]

Liventia medal target 'realistic and achievable', says chef-de-mission

PRESCOTT— The head of Liventia's Winter Olympic delegation has defended the medal target of 15 set for the team after rumours of discontent among athletes.

Pearline Jones, an Olympic champion in both biathlon and shooting, says the aim is "perfectly achievable" should athletes perform as expected, despite an enlarged field in these Games.

Jones is in her third Games as Liventia's chef-de-mission, having served in the role in the XI Winter Olympics here in Prescott as well as at the Games of the XI Olympiad in Aeropag. However, this is her first Games in the role in which the Liventia Olympic Association have set a hard target.

LOA MEDAL TARGET BY SPORT:
Alpine ski 0
Biathlon 3 (1 bronze)
Bobsleigh and skeleton 1
Cross-country ski 0
Curling 2
Figure skating 0
Freestyle ski 0
Luge 2 (1 gold, 1 bronze)
Nordic Combined 1
Short track 2
Ski jumping 0
Snowboarding 2 (1 silver)
Speed skating 2 (1 silver)

Liventia have only won one gold medal so far (of a target of four), and with some highly-fancied athletes doing poorer-than-expected, rumours began circling that athletes were feeling under "more pressure than is necessary for us", a source said.

Jones pointed out that with medal hopes in bobsleigh (Evie Rowe and Anna Brooks), Nordic Combined (Antoine Girault, Brendan Asquith, and Robbie Bates), and speed skating (Javier Rosario) competing in finals over the next two days, "we could quite possibly have already reached our goal of four golds in the next 48 hours. It's perfectly realistic and achievable, if everyone does what they're capable of."

Both curling teams are also expected to qualify for the knockout stages from their respective pools, while Girault, Asquith and Bates will look to improve on their Nordic combined normal hill performances (11th, 35th and 6th respectively) in the large hill. Speed skating legend Rosario goes in the men's 10k, while Rowe and Brooks will hope to add to Liventia's two sliding medals already won.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

The Taegukgi - Economy - It took 40 years, but Quebec City is finally getting a second airport

Geraldine Klinkhammer

QUEBEC CITY, CAPITALE-NATIONALE - Quebec City finally started its work on the second, new airport- four decades after first proposing it on Regimbault Report - as the airport slots ran out in one of the busiest airports in Atlantian Oceania and the Multiverse.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Kim Joo-Hwa laid the foundation stone of Reneegrad International Airport, to be built on 15,000 hectares (37,065 acres) of land about 22 kilometres southwest of Downtown Quebec City. The new airport, expected to handle 75 million passengers annually when fully complete, has been marred by many logistical and financial challenges brought by the size of the project.

"It has taken way too long, but now the time has arrived to improve our airports, starting with our Reneegrad Airport," Kim said at the ceremony. "The aim is to make sure that we will get the airport constructed safe, on time and with state-of-art expectations to be met."

In terms of air traffic, Quebec City's concerns with slots lie on not just its international status, but its international status as well. Limited by the financial challenges brought from well-outdated Terminals 3 and 4 (3 reserved for Low-Cost Carriers and 4 cargo) Quebec City has been lagging behind most other major airports in Quebec alone in upgrading its facilities. In 2036, Montreal is due to open a £5 billion ($15 billion NSD) facility in Mirabel that will become the city's second mega-airport after Sir Charles Merton Regimbault located in Dorval. It is expected to accommodate at least 75 million passengers and with 5 terminals and 5 runways (the most for a Quebecois airport). In the past decade or two, Kingston, Winnipeg, Attawapiskat and Halifax have all boosted their capacity, building new terminals and providing additional stopover options for capitol travellers not looking to travel in long queues (ironically enabled by the QTX, the killer of many domestic flights here).

This comes in huge contrast to the existing Catherine III International Airpot, which contains 4 runways but 2 of them (08R/26L and 11L/29R) limited to 2,500 metres due to surrounding housing projects. "We've run out of slots in Quebec City," said Ian Papadakis, the chief operating officer at Aeroquebec, whose headquarters and largest hub is located in QBX. "And it's not just on us either. More airlines have always wanted to fly to Quebec City, but we're not getting enough space to expand. It was the right time to expand, albeit a decade later than expected."

The first phase with two runways will be operational by November 2034, handling 24 million passengers a year, according to local officials. It is rumoured that Aeroquebec, one of nation's two flag carriers, will be the first to move there - along with Chromatik Air, whose Quebec City-Chromatik City route is recognised as one of the busiest in multiverse (Aeroquebec and Spiritair each operate A350s 6 times a day, while Chromatik Airways operates 16 times daily). Aeroports de la Capitale, with a mix of public and public investments, will be taking a gradual, 4-step approach, is expected to be finished by year 2042.

The airport, first proposed in 1992 under Regimbault Report to His Majesty and approved a decade later by Marian Lecavalier Government before the cancellation following a sudden economic downturn, will be built by a joint venture between Richardson Constructions-led consortium and Imperial Engineering of Quebec, with Aeroports de la Capitale serving as the operator of the airport. Richardson Constructions, no stranger to airports, had made its mark with the construction of highly-acclaimed Terminal 4 in Kingston Airport that was noted upon its selection.

With the imperative task of the airport construction, the company hd to be carefully picked. "It's an absolute must for Quebec City," said Antoine Martin, the transportation consultant for J.D. Prowse LLC. "Quebec City has been needing a second airport for at least half-century and it's ridiculous that we're only going through with this right now. I said this as a teenager flying abroad and am still saying this as a 68-year old man. Just ridiculous in the way it only took now for the construction process to go through."

[Ceni]

Sweet Dreams Are Made of This - what are yours made of? Cutoff.

[Teremaran Olympics Delegation]

St. Alois Bridge
Over The Thal River
Border between Neu Engollon and Austrakia

The bridge was over four hundred years old, and had survived through many conflicts between the two nations, including one major modern war. Modern as in the first in which the two Madurinite nations had used machine guns, airplanes, tanks and other instruments of war that had ushered in the modern technology age of warfare.

Over the Thal, and down the road, one could reach the town of Pfunds, Tyrol, Austrakia. In the other direction, one could walk into the small city of Goertenthal, Grisbenden, Neu Engollon. Both towns had been instrumental in the border war of almost a hundred years ago, when the two nations’ forces had clashed and thousands of soldiers and civilians had been killed. Goertenthal had been a major staging area for the NEDM into Austrakia. Pfunds had been occupied by the NEDM, while Bad Terzel to the south, had in turn, been occupied by Austrak forces. Nothing had been gained but mass bloodshed and continued bitterness to carry into the next century.

Over the last century, they had done their best to try to normalize relations, both nations wanting to be neutral and stay out of the regional conflicts. While Neu Engollon had been on that track for some centuries, but for their soured relations with Austrakia and some episodes with the Gauls, it was a newer cultural/political shift for Austrakia, who had only continued to suffer for imperial designs in their recent past. There had been some slips over the decades, but the backchannels were kept open by key people in both governments, despite what administrations were in place in Telleursville (capital of Neu Engollon) and Vilgenna (capital of Austrakia).

St. Alois Bridge that spanned the border was a traditional meeting place for these officials, as it was now on this early Wednesday morning. The trees were still bare, waiting for spring that was aching to launch into full bloom. Ice floated in chunks down the river, broken and melted free from its anchors higher up in the mountains. Fish darted around for any meals, as their insect treats were few and far between, still at this point in the season.

On both sides, soldiers stood firm on their respective soil. Gates were in place with little kiosks on either end. The crimson, purple and gold striped and cantoned flag was on one shack, and the black, white and forest green fess with the coat of arms charge was on the other. A man and woman in heavy wool dress coats, bundled over suits, approached each other and met in the middle of the structure.

The woman stopped first, pointing to a smooth spot on the stone wall of the bridge.
“It’s so worn down from all the times us and our predecessors have leaned elbows here.”

The man smirked,
“I’m sorry, Gretchen. Should we move to another spot to start wearing that down?”

She looked around.
“I think we’re in the same situation for meters in either direction, Tony. If we get too close to one side, we’ll get our soldiers nervous, eh?”

“Probably.”

“So, even now, I don’t rate the big man himself, Minister Aldric Servino?”

Antonio Gausinamo was a Deputy at the Neu Engollian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He turned on the wall and shrugged at Gretchen Doerner, a special adviser to the Bundesrepublik President.
“Not yet, I guess. Let’s take it as a good sign that things haven’t advanced that far yet.”

“Yet.”

“You called the meeting, Gretchen. So…?”

“Do I really have to spell it out? You nabbed one of our athletic officials for spying. My boss is pretty fuckin’ pissed off. So are all our people.”

“I understand that, but our people are pretty pissed that your so called ‘athletic official’ was spying. Not just here, apparently, but at the last Olympics and every other chance he got around our people and our allies.”

“Where’s the proof, Tony?”

“He’s a BND officer and you know it, Gretchen.”

“Again, what proof have you come up with?”

“Well, first we have his modified phone. The trespassing...Then there’s the intercepted phone calls…”

“Where is the legality in that? You monitored one of our government officials’ transmissions?”

“We’re working on this investigation. It’s only been a week and these things take time. I realize that the phone calls won’t hold up, but there’s so much more. Really, honestly, Gretchen, I’m coming into this blind. I don’t know how they got onto your guy or why Pine Park had such a bug up their ass to bust him.”

“I thought it was your NEDM-MI that apprehended him?”

“Whatever, you know what I mean. This is all over my head. I don’t know why, but I’m a go between, as always. We nabbed him fair and square, that’s the official line.”

“We could argue that all day…”

“Yeah.”

“Let’s move on. How do we get him out before this blows up worse?”

“Right. Trust me, I want that too.”

“So, tell your goon squad to speed it up and send him home, dammit!”

“It’s not that simple. They’re going to squeeze him a bit.”

“Dammit! This is going to get out of hand. Remember, we were supposed to talk about getting embassies re-opened this year. That’s probably not going to happen now.”

“I know. Look, we caught your BND doing what they usually do, which is digging around in our business and provoking our counter-intel people. They aren’t going to just brush this off. They’re going to make an example of this Liebsgott.”

“Seems like they already did, in full bloody color.”

“What?”

“The video of the arrest at the Alpine Skiing World Tour in Ciavno. It went viral you know.”

“Oh...Yeah. I heard that.”

“You mean you’ve seen that.”

“Of course I had to see the video to get some optics on this, Gretchen. Like I said, I’m walking in almost blind. Spook types don’t like to share too much. Anyway, what’s your point?”

“My point is that he got roughed up pretty bad. Like he should be in the hospital.”

“He fell down a small mountain like he was doing some Peter Sellers imitation and somehow survived the real life consequences. Tough son of a bitch. He’s getting the best care you could imagine. He’s all patched up and recovering.”

“We want to see him to verify that.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Then some Teremaran Red Cross or WA observers get in there to see him and document.”

“Eh...We’ll see.”

“No...It’s either or. How’s it going to look if you deny the WA or Red Cross access? Pretty bad, I should think…”

“He’s not a prisoner of war. He was arrested in the middle of prosecuting a criminal act.”

“Says you!..Look, this is going to get bad before it gets better, Tony.”

“We’re in agreement there, Gretchen.”

“So...what? Tell Pine Park or whoever’s secret dungeon he’s in to give him up.”

“My hands are tied.”

“So are his.”

“Clever. Can we just agree to keep meeting and keep the channel open? You and I both don’t want this to get out of hand. If we stop talking, dire shit happens.”
It had been proven so many times in the recent history between the two rivals.

“If I keep dragging my ass out to this bridge, I want real updates. I want proof of life. Jeezus!...” She shook her head, “...We’re really talking about a hostage here.”

“He’s not a damn hostage! We’re not going to kill him! He’s a spy in detention…” He waved his hands, “Yeah, yeah, I know, you won’t admit to that. I’ll do the best I can with them. Likely, we’re coming up on an official announcement from the capital.”

“When?”

“Couple days tops. Meet after that?”

“Fine. Text the time to me to the usual number. Don’t make me drag out here for nothing, Tony. I need progress to bring back to the President.”
They began to walk backwards, putting more distance between them.

“We all want progress. That’s why we’re here. I’ll bring you some tea, how about that?”

“It’s a start.”
They about faced and walked swiftly to their respective sides.

RP Courtesy of Austrakia and Neu Engollon

[Laeral]

Aujourd'hui Du Quotidien

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Vol. 36 Num. 26

Wednesday, February 28, 2018

English Daily Edition

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Skater Wang Kuo-yung Wins Silver Medal for Laeral
By Lin Chia-nan

Prescott, Electrum- In an Olympic event seen by audiences across Laeral, Laeralian speed skater Wang Kuo-yung sped across the finish line to win an Olympic silver medal for Laeral's Olympic team. Mssr. Wang came second in a field of 78 of the multiverse's greatest winter athletes in the Men's 10,000 meter speed skating event. This ten-kilometer long endurance event was held at the Prescott SkateDome, and marks Laeral's third-ever Winter Olympic medal. All three Laeralian medals- one gold, one bronze, and now one silver- have been in speed skating and short-track. Wang finished with a time of 13 minutes and half a second, less than a second behind first-place finisher Simon Choudry of the home team, Electrum. Wang was one of the first skaters to compete, assuming the first-place position and setting a high bar for the remaining skaters to pass. Wang remained near the front of the pack, with only Simon Choudry's finish being faster than his. Wang's time was a comfortable second ahead of third-place finisher Wouter van der Zijde, of the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. Fellow Laeralites Pierre Tseng and Chiu Chien-hung finished in 25th and 53rd place, respectively.

Wang, a native of Ningxia province, in the New Territories, is considered among the best long-distance speed skaters in Laeral. After his finish, one of his own personal best for the 10 kilometer distance, Wang described his feelings as "overwhelmed". "It'll take a little while for all this to sink in," Wang said. "This is the biggest field I've ever competed on, and it's probably the hardest race I've ever run." Wang will next compete in tonight's Men's 5000 meter relay alongside his teammates Pierre Tseng, Stephane Riviere, and Jin Li. As a result of Wang's medal, Laeral is now 22nd in the Olympic medal count.

In other news, Laeral's Nathan Lemaire and Huang Chih-ming finished 8th and 13th, respectively, in the Men's Individual Free Skate. Electrum's Lachlan Spencer won gold in that event.

[Gryphonian Alliance]

Griffin National News

XIII Winter Olympics: Day 10 Results

Let's start off with Two-Woman Bobsleigh, where we saw some impressive performances. Jura Asdenbur and Seraph Shiffer came in at tenth place, completing Run 1 in 53.22 seconds and Run 2 in 53.5 to get a combined time of 1:46.72, less than a second behind first place, and 3 centiseconds behind ninth.
Next, let's take a glance at Men's 4x10 km Relay. The Gryphonian team (consisting of Hekloomtor Gochtar, Jem Gentrich, Jiure Zentam, and Preven Asteff) came in 20th out of 30 teams.
Moving on to the Qualification round for Men's Aerials Freestyle Skiing, Gryphonian athletes saw some excellent finishes, with Melvar Galatevo placing 12th out of 78 competitors at a score of 120.72. With top 24 advancing to finals, we can expect some more performances from Galatevo at the Olympics soon! Garoud Westerbur came in 41st with a score of 108.95, and Vumish Quintaka came in 64th with a score of 101.63.
Let us move on to Men's Individual Large Hill/10 km Nordic Combined, where results were relatively disappointing in relation to what we saw for the Women's division. Mebleton Quadrik came in 30th out of 82 competitors with a cumulative score of 26:05.3. Though we note that Quadrik scored relatively high on the 10 km portion, his scores in penalty and jump were not high enough to compete with the top contestants. Colfor Denvemo came in at 40th place with a total score of 26:36.6. Mellto Quara finished 65th with a cumulative score of 27:57.2, followed by Zachari Feortiff with a rank of 75th and a score of 28:54.8.
However, we did see some good results in the final rounds for Men's Snowboard Cross, where the top three competitors in each set advance to the next round of finals. In Heat 5, Barard Bolzovix came in 5th place and did not advance. On the other hand, Jay Errentol came in 3rd in Heat 7 to advance to octofinals. Alsan Carlsom was eliminated at 4th place in Heat 10. Meltovo Preinskur broke to octofinals in Heat 13 with a rank of 2nd place. Now, on to Octofinals. Meltovo came out strong in octos, taking first place in Octofinal 4, advancing to Quarterfinals. Unfortunately, Jar Errentol came in 6th place and was eliminated in Octofinal 7. Meltovo Preinskur continued to ace in Quarterfinal 4, taking third place and advancing to Semifinals. Alas, he was eliminated in Semifinal 1 and came in at 6th place in his set. Despite not medalling, many Griffins have praised his performance, managing to advance all the way to Semifinals in a highly competitive event despite inexperience and adversity.

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That is all for today. Thank you for reading, and we will be back tomorrow with results for the Gryphonic delegation in several highly anticipated events for Day 11 of the XIII Winter Olympics here in Prescott. We will be seeing Runs 3 and 4 for Two-Woman Bobsleigh. Fingers crossed that our impressive Gryphonic team manages to medal. We can also expect the final round of Men's Aerials Freestyle Skiing with Melvar Galatevo competing, along with the qualification rounds for Men's and Women's Parallel Giant Slalom. Cheer on!

[Main Nation Ministry]

Thorstein was unnerved at the prescene taunting and stalking him throughout the empty town. While walking one day, he notices the marquee of a movie theater up and lit. He was planning on entering, until he realized it could be another trap waiting to happen. Cautious at almost everything by now, he continued walking till he found himself at a large intersection. No cars at all were seen. Walking to the middle of it, the unexpected happened. All of the lights in the town immediately lit up. He didn't know what was happening. A large light was happening on the horizon. The world was getting brighter and brighter. His eyes were starting to burn. By that point, he was screaming to the point, as white noise and static filled with ears with pain.

"Sensory-depriving experiment at 80%. Subject is undergoing severe emotional and physical changes. Heartbeat is above average and at severe pace."
"That's enough. Bring him out." A scientist said, as Thorstein Call's body exited the booth, drenched in water. "All subjects with bonds are only candidates to pass tests. Results are to have multiple personnel during mission. All other needs will be provided."
"What about the other subjects?"
"The Leader already send another one. Some blind guy. He got some amnesics in his system already. We just need to do the usual mind rearrangement process and subject is free to return back to Prescott, just the Leader asked."

Thorstein Call was on a stretcher, having his will broken. Of all of the emotions he was addicted to, he had the urge to forgive everything. His freedom lost and destroyed, he knew the minute they had him on his feet, he would make things right. For the glory of the Ministry. As Thorstein is wheeled out of the lab, a group of soldiers escorting a blind man in a jumpsuit entered the experiment room. The scientist got out his notes and began to jolt some down. "Subject #####. Crime: Failure to use best abilities when necessary. Given same sentence as treason. Age is around 60's.."

[Willania Imperium]

Imperial Palace
Imperialopolis, Willania Imperium

Emperor Augustus Willanius reviewed the news delivered to him about the Olympics. The different tournaments, matches, and teams fighting against each other to dominate the games. However, he always found his mind drifting from concentration and occupying the back areas of his brain. It wasn't that he was bored about the Olympics. Heck, he enjoyed hearing news about the contestants and the tournaments. However, he found only one truly interesting: Biathlon. True, it was most likely due to patriotic pride, but the Emperor found news of the sport where the nation's finest are sent in its first debut. He was especially interested in the places of the competitors.

While starting off in a bad place, the team obviously started to show its true power, reaching the Top 10s and even, although Bronze, winning the nation's first medal. When news of that exploded through the nation, the entire populace celebrated. For one night, drunken yells and songs rang through the land. Even in his palace, there was an impressive quartet with the President and the other government officials, singing the glories of Latinius. Still, even after news subsided, the people were still in jubilation. The first Olympic medal of our Olympic debut!

However, there was a minor crisis that happened. During the drunken shenanigans, INN was surrounded by drunken mobs. The mobs weren't those of fuming peasants or hate-filled citizens; the people were all cheering the news of the Imperial athlete and barraged the source of the news as a way of thanks. As such with a mob, one thing led to another. An unknown participant smashed through the building with his own body, and was recorded saying, "Let's find more athletes to sing!" Soon, the mob surged inside the building and ransacked the place. Not only were the printers destroyed, but the servers suffered serious damage. Eventually, the police managed to gather the mob and dispel the chaos, but it was too late. INN would be newsless for some time.

Some time... until today,

[Central Shaneville]

CENTRAL SHANEVILLE STREAK OF RESULTS COMES CRASHING DOWN
Day 10 of the Winter Olympics has been and gone and Central Shaneville's chances of getting a debut medal seems more than far fetched as of right now after some poor performances in the events they were in. However the Womens Yukigassen team were exempt from criticism because of their bye on their matchday.

The day started with the Mens 15km Mass Start Biathlon event. Which featured Charlie Patterson and Royce Robertson, this was the last chance for at least the Biathlon athletes to make Central Shaneville history, but this was not to be. With Patterson finishing 61st and Robertson finishing 115th much to the disappointment of Central Shaneville fans. Later in the day it was time for Josh and Aaron Beardmore to take to the snow in the Finals of the Snowboard Cross, things looked hopeful when Aaron Beardmore successfully got out of the heats. But Josh Beardmore couldn't capitalize on his impressive 7th in qualifying as a crash put him out of contention and ended his Olympic run, after that things didn't go too well for Aaron either as he only just missed out on a place in the quarters. The brothers then returned to Central Shaneville to a warm reception for trying but they both had a look of disappointment in their faces.

Lets see how Central Shaneville do on Day 11, this day has got to be one of the favourite days for the nation as they return to the ice and more importantly the Speed Skating which sees Jeff Shreeves and Olly Kenyon do battle with their fellow nations in the Octofinals and hopefully the quarters as well, elsewhere the Mens Yukigassen team are out and about again on Matchday 4, will they secure a knockout stage spot? Find out all of this and more today as we continue to watch today's edition of the Prescott Winter Olympics right here on SHTV Sports.

[Kelssek]

Letters of the Southwestern Kelssek Academy of Behavioural Health and Science Biology Knowledge Economic Studies Technology Science Journal Interdisciplinary Collaborations vol. 72, no. 21 (March 2018)

Harsh Diacritics? An endless parade of statistical piffle utilizing a dataset parenthetically connected to results from the Olympic Games
Gordon B. Gordon Jr. and Bylanti Ziegler

ABSTRACT
The importance of diacritical marks in one's name for sporting success has been widely debated in the literature. The widely-known "Cabañas effect" has been linked to more successful wins, greater championships, and the adulation of global sports audiences. But the claim that it cures cancer remains controversial. After extensive p-hacking and redefining the meaning of the word "dungeon", we find a large and statistically significant relationship between weight gain and watching live television coverage of an event in which a study participant's country of birth wins a medal at the Olympic Games. Several applications for artificial intelligence are proposed.

[Togonistan]

Togonistani bobsled team disqualified for finishing two-woman race with one woman.
By: Martin Kauakowole


Tele and Falagi sliding down the tube just moments before the terrible flop.

Togonistani bobsled pair Lili Tele and Calyphona Falagi suffered an embarrassing moment during yesterday's Two-woman bobsled competition when Falagi fell out of their sled midway through the run. Things seemed promising for the pair after their first run, where they managed to set down a time of 54.54. The girls went towards the second run with a lot of confidence under their belt, but perhaps too much.

Second run was about to start, Tele and Falagi got their sled set up, their Kalmarlundian coach Gertrud Joakimdjotter even shouted a few encouraging words when they were pushing their bobsled down the track. Both Tele and Falagi managed to have a decent start and were speeding down the tube, when suddenly, Falagi was seen leaning back and eventually falling out the back of their sled midway through the fourth turn.

''It does not matter why or how, all that matters is that she's all well and healthy,'' Joakimdjotter said to tgsports.tn after the tragic run. Tele and Falagi both refused to give any commentary and were seen rushing away from the venue as soon as the competition ended. Dr. Anita Toleafoa, bobsleigh team's medical personal also confirmed: ''Falagi got checked by medical staff immediately after the fall, luckily she did not have any injuries.''

After Falagi falling out, pilot Lili Tele kept sliding down the track all by herself. Luckily she noticed her teammate's absence before reaching the end of the track, which meant that she managed to lean over to the back of the sled and pull the brakes. However, after reaching to the end, she was greeted with a big screen displaying letters D, S and Q.

''One thing is certain, all my respect goes to Tele for not losing her head and managing to end the run all by herself,'' were the words heard being said by Cal Daughton during the live broadcast on Ultrasports 1.

With Tele/Falagi disqualified and Togonistani men's curling team knocked out, we only have one entrant to look forward to - Men's 4-man bobsled team starting their competition on March 6th. Meanwhile, Ultrasports 1 & 2 keep on broadcasting various events live from Prescott. Stay tuned for more!

[Tobiasia]

Martin Pollson has won his second gold medal ever in a hotly contested 1500m skating final. The athelete from Stormburg won by a mere 0.04 seconds against Kendrick Tartok, who took silver. With his second 1500m gold around his neck, many are calling him the best athlete ever in this distance, but Pollson also reached out to Samij Jedinack, the Mattijanan who won joint gold along with Pollson at the XII Olympics in a world record breaking time. Pollson said in an interview “I don’t think I would be here today without our friendly rivalry, although he had an unlucky go this time, coming 53rd, he is still one of the best in the world in my opinion, and he has definitely helped me loads. I feel for him because I know how much this meant to him, but he still has that gold from last time.”

The gold is the only medal won so far at these games, after Yvette Terra came a close 4th in the skiing. Tobiasian athletes are still hoping to grab a few more medals, with Sandi Rel-wah and Sam Yun in particular worth watching.

[Kriegiersien]

The 8 o'clock news

Good evening and welcome to the 8 o'clock news.

Schoenwetter. After the shooting of the 18-year-old Bigtopian boy, Dirk Hicks, by a policeman, violent protests have again shaken the Capital City. The Kriegiersien president said again he would later look into this issue.

Pro Democracy protest in whole Balder are now reaching Kriegiersien, too. The president acknowledged that he would react, when finding time. “Do I have to to do everything myself? Sometimes twice or more?”

The anonymous society of ‘cinematic aficionados’ have brought the debate over the proposed disposal of the watershed, the hour after which adult material is allowed to be shown on television into the media. The Kriegiersien leader told upon request that he had better things to do then ponder about this nonsense.

Following his purchase of a large plot of land in the middle of Schoenwetter, Samuel Dada, the heir to a fortune made on the back of the Information Technology industry, has begun his conversion of the property into a vast and unusual mansion. Busybodies are in an uproar at the design, however, which they claim is everything from “out of social context” and “bizarre” to “just plain ugly”.
The Overlord of Kriegiersien just told Reporters that he “couldn't care less what this weirdo wants to build”.

The Police department is considering installing surveillance cameras in all major public areas, in an effort to crack down on crime.
Asked if he supported this idea, the President shouted at the press that his head was elsewhere. “We have the Olympics going on, who cares for anything else?”

Sport.
SilverBot won his first medal at the Olympics in Prescott, Silver in Nordic Combined — Men’s Individual Large Hill/10 km. After being third after the jumping, he was able to overcome the leader, Zac Poteri from Vakolicci Haven and Celeria, but not Valerian Larashenko from Falkasia, who won with nearly 50 seconds margin.

The president gave a jubilant 30 minutes speech, thanking every one responsible and praising the Kriegiersien will, sportsman and ingenuity, again promising every athlete a reward and personally contacting athletes on site in Electrum.

And now to the weather. Winter is coming...

*******************************************************************************************************************************


Two technicians working at a computer.

“Robert, I have the new program for the speed skating ready. With that our Bots will be unbeatable! We just have to install it.”

“Ok, show me the code.”

“Here. An advanced collision system. Wind and weather compensation. Our Bots secretly and casually knock down as strong rated opponents at the start in the bulk, then going directly to the front and with the lead win the race from the start. They are strong and can then use their advantage in endurance to win it from there.”

“Ah…. Arnold, have you ever been at a Speed Skating race?”

“Yes. The 30 miles from Windtown to Cold City on the frozen channel. 780 people. My brother ended in the Top 10 in his age class.”

“Great. But look, the speed skating here is a one on one. There are only 2 people running in circles against each other and the clock. Indoors. You will nowhere find more then 8 people in Skating, not even Short Track.”

“Oh…. Well, then we need a new program.”

“Use the old blueprint. Go to L.”

“Ok.”

“The Program is called Liventia.”

“Like the nation?”

“That's the name of a cousin of mine. She is Skater, too.”

“Does she have a friend? My brother is single, you know.”

“Just finish the program and upload.”

[Mattijana]

A History Of Mattijanan Winter Sport-Part 2

As found in part one. Mining in the ZentraleAlpe was incredibly important in the origins of Mattijanan sport. Skiing began thanks to competition between miners returning to PuljanaBirjke from their shift.
Bobsled began in similar fashion as on off days, mine workers would take carts, remove the wheels and race them down the same track that they skiid on. The track became built up every year over the winter and continues to be constructed on the upper slopes of the mountain to be used for national bobsled and skeleton races each season. It is one of only three natural tracks still used in the country.

The track evolved over the years to have banked corners, a start hut and adjacent stands, but retained all of its original shape. The sleds used on the other hand have changed almost beyond recognition. They started off simply as wooden buckets more equipped for carrying rock and although they eventually changed to steel as the mine carts made the switch to metal, the shape became concerningly more unstable, especially as higher speeds were reached. With crashes becoming increasingly more common and injuries increasingly more serious, racers decided a change of sled was needed.
Visits to foreign nations with similar competitions showed that lower, lighter and longer sleds were much less likely to overturn, but one would be hard to build, expensive to buy and difficult to bring back to PuljanaBirjke.
That didn't discourage the intrepid early sliders however. They collected money from their own savings alongside donations to the local sliding club by non-mining residents of the town. A year after seeing the sled they wanted, they returned to buy it and have it shipped back to PuljanaBirjke.
The new aquisition proved highly successful, beating all the modified steel cart sleds by a matter of seconds due to its stability and therefore increased speed, but with just the one high-quality sled. More would be needed to maintain fairness and there were many disagreements over who should own the sled. That problem was solved by the formation of the PSK (PuljanaBirjke Sliding Club) that later morphed into the Mattijana Sliding Federation.
The Federation managed to buy another sled three years later and eventually worked out how to build their own shortly afterwards meaning the days of steel tubs would finally be replaced by that of the aluminium bathtub.

Skeleton and Luge are both foreign imports, the former acheived by stripping down a bobsled to its floor and runners and then lying on it during the run. Luge was entirely brought in from abroad including the sleds, which were initially looked at as being death traps until the sliding community remembered it had slid down icy tubes at 70 miles an hour in unstable crates in earlier days. Luge however never reached the popularity of its two sister sports, something that remains to the present day.

Next Time: Part 3-Meanwhile Up North...

[Anollasia]

Olympic Village

"So, when are you going to introduce me to Stephanie Goran?" asked Diane Barton, standing by the door. Karen Gillian had told her that she met the famous skier Stephanie Goran while training one day and promised that she would introduce Diane to Stephanie. Karen, who was watching TV, didn't respond. "Well?" Diane pestered her.

Karen continued watching TV but uttered a single word, "Later."

"When is later?"

"Whenever she agrees to."

"And when is that?"

"I didn't contact her yet."

Diane's mouth gaped and her face was flustered upon hearing that phrase. "What?! Don't you know how important this is to me? Stephanie is my hero!"

"Well, Grace Penelope is my hero, but you don't see me going head over heels for her." Grace Penelope is the leader of the Green Party, and a young environmental activist.

Diane grabbed the remote control and turned off the TV so Karen would be more serious about the conversation. Karen didn't take kindly to that gesture. "Hey, I was watching that!"

"You can watch that later."

"But it's curling! It's not the same when you don't watch it live! You get this sense of urgency when it's live, when it's a rebroadcast it feels more sleepy."

"Listen."

"And we were winning! Can't I show some support for our fellow athletes?"

"LISTEN!" Diane shouted so loud that it silenced Karen and just about anyone else nearby. "Listen," she sat next to Karen, "Stephanie means so much to me. If it weren't for her, I might not have even become a skier. I'd be an accountant, or a secretary, or god knows what. I can't imagine myself being behind a desk all day, doing menial tasks. This is my dream job, my dream life. And I owe much of that to Stephanie. I at least want to show her my gratitude, my admiration for her. Remember when she broke that speed record in the Anollasian Skiing Championship a while back?"

"Yeah."

"I saw that as it happened, with my undivided attention. My face was so close to the TV screen that I was almost kissing the TV. I guess since you already met her, you don't really care if I do or not. But know that I will be forever grateful to you if you make my dream of meeting Stephanie Goran come true."

Karen looked to the side, biting her lip. "Well, I'd love to, but..."

"But what?"

"Well..."

"What is it?" Diane insisted on an answer.

"Well...I don't actually have any contacts with her." Diane's eyes opened wide, with her jaw dropping. She was speechless. Karen looked down and apologized. "I'm so sorry. I meant it as a joke when I said I can arrange a meeting between you and Stephanie...but you seemed so joyful at the thought - I could even see the light in your eyes - I had to go with it, or else you'd be upset." Karen looked up to see a ferocious Diane, once again with light in her eyes, but this light was a vicious fire.

Diane was trying to find words to say. "You..."

"It was so sudden, I hadn't thought it would come to this. I'm so sor-" Karen was rambling but Diane wasn't listening at this point.

"You...worthless piece of shit!" Diane exploded. She immediately stood up and spewed hateful remarks toward Karen. "You, you liar! You tricked me into thinking I could actually meet my life-long hero, when, when it was just a sham, you, you-"

"Diane," Karen tried to get in a word, but there was no stopping Diane now.

"You, you bitch!"

"Diane, calm down."

"Filthy swine! But no, I was too naïve to see your true colours. I'm such an idiot for believing you."

"Diane, you don't understand. You're overreacting." Karen got up to calm her down.

"I'm not overreacting! Stephanie Goran is my idol, my hero, and you can't take that away from me!" Diane was just a blabbering mess at this point, and ran off with tears in her eyes.

"Diane, I'm so sorry." Defeated, Karen just plopped back onto the couch and stared at the wall. She had enough of that and turned on the TV to see glimpses of Men's Aerials. "Dammit! I missed my curling!"

[Amuaplye]

THE SYDNEY TIMES

XIII Winter Olympiad Edition

2 BRONZE MEDALS IN 2 DAYS!

Recently in Prescott, over the course of 2 days, won 2 bronze medals, both of which are in Cross-Country Skiing.

"I'm very excited that I won bronze. It means I get to come back for the XIV Winter Olympiad." Myron Long said yesterday after winning Bronze in the Men's 4x10km Relay in Cross-Country Skiing with a time of 1 hour, 45 minutes, and 13.1 seconds.

What happened in that was William Glover started out very well, in first place, then when it was Levi's turn, they started slipping in the rankings, but when Lorenzo did it, they went back into almost 6th place, and then Myron tried to go back to either 1st or 2nd, but instead wound up with 3rd.

"I love the fact that I get to come back!" Clara Red said after winning Bronze in the Women's 4x5km Relay in Cross-Country Skiing.

In the 4x5 relay, The entire Amuaplye team started and third and stayed in third, finishing with a time of 55 minutes and 38.8 seconds.

[Savojarna]

STV2 live from Prescott, Electrum

Normal script is STV's biathlon commentator Carl Holös, italics are the expert, Jacob Vilström. Bold represents both saying (roughly) the same at once.

"Welcome back to the biathlon mass start, where we tune in right in time for the last lay-down shooting! Anders Bergman and Simon Hallberg are still in the lead group, together with Kramer, ben Hillel, Nelin and Novotny. Let's see what they do now, the group comes to the shooting very much together. Conditions look good, do you agree, Jacob?"

"Definitely, the wind is very steady and visibility looks good. Everyone turns their rifle a bit to the left, let's see how this works out for Bergman, and especially for Hallberg who shoots very fast usually. And he is again the first of the trio to shoot, and... it's in! Now look at the shot clock, only three seconds for the second and in again. Bergman also gets one in, they all manage so far. Second one for Bergman-"

"HALLBERG MISSES! What a pity, Simon Hallberg misses the fourth shot. The rest all has four in, and now we also see the first shots for the next ones - Timothy Verne for the hosts sinks his first shot and it gets loud. Coffey came with him, the Elejamian also hits".

"Yea, this is really unfortunate for Simon. He manages to get the last one in and leaves first, but of course he has to go through the extra lap and is probably away from the medals. But now focus on Bergman's last... IT'S IN! ANDERS BERGMAN STILL HAS NO MISTAKE, HE IS IN THE MEDAL RACE!"

"Simon Hallberg has to go to the extra lap, but Bergman is still there together with Kramer. Ben Hillel and Novotny both miss one, and there is now maybe a duel for gold! It's a pity Hallberg can't stay with the leaders, but he'll still be in the race for a top ten place. Everything is very tight back there, with Coffey and Verne coming up with no mistakes so far but also a great number of athletes coming together now. In the front, these two will probably be the ones to look out for a medal".

"Yes, both of them are usually better on the stand-up shooting. We should also look out for the third athlete with zero mistakes so far, Alexander Nelin. The Quebecois has lost sixteen seconds on the cross-country so far, he isn't in great form and had some bad luck with a broken stick, but he has fought his way back into the pursuitors. There is still a chance for him to go to the top as well, but now we focus on Anders' fight for gold. He is probably a bit weaker than Kramer, but the Taeshani also has to actually do the run first and Anders is in great shape today".

"The second group now also has come together at the intermediate in the middle of the way to the next shooting. They are still about thirteen seconds behind the leaders, obviously they are a bit faster as they are a bigger pack, but the leaders will win this race if there is no more change at the shooting. Hallberg is right there in seventh position, at the back of the very strong-looking Elejamian, Tony Coffey. Who is the favourite for bronze here, Johan?"

"Don't be too happy yet, Carl... there can still be a surprise here! I wouldn't rule any of these guys out for gold before the last shooting, but if the leaders don't make any mistakes, Coffey may be the strongest on the last lap. Simon has a great shot thanks to his shooting speed if he can stick to someone's back, but there may be a problem with that, Coffey and ben Hillel look a bit stronger. Novotny seems a bit tired, and Nelin was not great on the track but has really calm hands, so I don't know, I'd probably stick with Coffey if I have to predict someone".

"Now the leaders approach the final shooting. Anders Bergman... one in! Two in!" - "And Kramer has missed the second! Has Anders seen that? If he makes them all, he is going to be the champion!" - "And Bergman has managed the third... and the fourth! Kramer misses again, come on now, Anders!" - "If he makes it, it's gonna be gold for sure!" - "And... NO! HE MISSES! Anders Bergman must go into the extra lap as well, and only Nelin has a clean sheet now. The pursuitors have also shot well so far, no mistakes yet for Coffey, ben Hillel, Nelin and Novotny. Hallberg also hits four and..." - "Also on the last one! Simon fails again, that is very unfortunate" - "Yea, this is now going to be very dramatic. Let's watch the shooting intermediate, Coffey leads before Novotny and ben Hillel. Anders Bergman comes in and... he's fourth. How much energy did that extra lap cost him, that is the question!"

"I think that won't be too hard on him, everyone in this group has done one except Nelin, who hasn't looked great so far. Anders has good stamina, so it should be good for him to run with this kind of group. Novotny hasn't looked too great so far, but the comeback from Coffey was quite the thing to watch after that start. Ben Hillel has been a bit of a mixed bag, but we shouldn't discredit him. Let's look behind now, what does it look like there? Simon is a bit behind, in a big group. Kramer has also ended up in there, together with Doxiadis, Halo and Tarasov. Parks is a bit ahead, maybe we should look out for him too, he has rockets on his feet today but didn't shoot good enough with two mistakes right away, otherwise he'd be going for gold as well!"

"A very close race then, Johan. Let's look at the final kilometres of this race and the final intermediate. How far is the distance with only 1.4 km to go, to the back with Parks? Bergman is still there with the others. He has all opportunities open to himself now, but who will attack first?"

"It's probably not gonna be Novotny unless he is planning something. Milan Novotny is now about a second behind the others and he'll have to watch out for Parks, who is only six seconds behind the leaders. It won't be enough to reach the best anymore though. Ben Hillel still looks in shape, but he only tags along with the others, while Nelin and especially Coffey seem to posture now. Anders just goes with his race, I think. He does barely look left and right, while Nelin and Coffey look at each other and Ben Hillel strictly sticks to Coffeys back. I think that the Elejamian is in the best shape, but if he thinks the others can match his pace he may want to wait a bit. The Olympics are very special because the competitors don't know each other too well, so it's quite hard to see what they can really do and who to follow".

"They pass the final km mark and... ATTACK! ATTACK BY TONY COFFEY INDEED!" - "Yes, Carl, he saw an opportunity there with Ben Hillel shortly dropping off his back a bit and Nelin seemingly ripping off the group a little. But Anders has reacted, he is on Coffeys back and there is a little gap open now. If they can pull through now, the two may just be going for gold!

"It is indeed looking like a two-man race as they reach the top of this hill and glide back down into the stadium. Only a bit under a kilometre to go and most of it downhill, and then the final 400 metres through the stadium for Tony Coffey and Anders Bergman. Bergman takes the back and waits there in the downhill. Johan, can Coffey attack again or will this go to the sprint?"

"No, this seems to go to the sprint. Coffey has tried first, but it was quite obvious Anders is still there and they start to position themselves now. Of course they have to watch out, because Ben Hillel and Nelin are coming close, now that would be a story. But it looks like there is a solid gap as they enter the stadium and Anders sticks to Coffeys back. Who will come out to start the sprint first? IT'S BERGMAN!"

"Anders Bergman has gone into the sprint! Coffey has not seen it immediately and Bergman has a little gap there, maybe a ski length or so! Coffey is coming up now, but it's Bergman! ANDERS BERGMAN WINS GOLD IN THE MASS START! GOLD FOR SAVOJARNA! What a race by Bergman!" - "This was a great sprint, he got Coffeys back and never let go - " - "And yet another great sprint for bronze, watch this... Ben Hillel has an edge and... what a story! Ioudaia wins a second medal over Nelin in the sprint".

"But the story of the day, for us, is the man walking around here now with our flag. Anders Bergman won gold, and I am so happy for Anders. He was really crushed after the last race, when he was quite disappointed, so it's really great to see him now get his gold. And Simon is also coming on the final straight now, in... A GROUP SPRINT!"

"Yes, they're really going all out for 10th here, that is great to see. Hallberg against Kramer and Khvostunov, and who is that..." - "Avery lurking behind Simon!" - "Yes it's Avery, he moves out now but Hallberg also attacks against Khvostunov, and... that was super tight! Kramer won the sprint I think, but what happened behind it?" - "I saw Simon in front of Khvostunov, Avery probably third" - "And the video seems to agree. An eleventh place for Simon Hallberg, but also the second gold of today for Savojarna after the victory in the cross-country relay, and what a dramatic victory it was. With these images, back to the studio and to you, Terje; we will be back when Anders Bergman comes to talk to our man on the ground, Haakon Markanen".

[Ioudaia]

Day 10

Biathlon

The three Ioudaian biathletes huddled, slapping each other on the back with joy. Peneleos grinned like a madman at Amyris. "I didn't know you could ski like that!"

"I didn't think I could either! Or shoot like that! I missed one shot, just one, my next to last." He held up a finger for emphasis. "So, I was in pretty good shape. During the last lap, I realized that there weren't that many people ahead of me, so I decided to pick up the pace. I wasn't even thinking of a medal, just a better showing.

"Then, about 500m out, I got a second wind, a burst of energy, and I went with it. I started passing people left and right. It was amazing!"

Gelon broke in with, "And I saw one of our uniforms blow past me like I was standing still. I thought it was you, Captain! I said to myself, 'I'm not going to let that old man beat me!' so I started chasing after you... well, Amyris." That drew laughter from Amyris and a fond chuckle from Peneleos: usually, his skill overcame his age, but he didn't mind the ribbing. "I almost blacked out after the race. Amyris may have had a second wind, but I was chasing him with what little I had left."

"It's a great finish for all of us, and a great victory for the whole squad -- the whole team!"

Amyris snorted in disbelief. "Don't tell me you're not bothered by not winning a medal, Captain."

"Of course I'm bothered by it! By rights, we should have swept the medals!" The other two biathletes howled with laughter.

A few minutes later, at the medal ceremony, both Tomer Simcha and Peneleos stood ramrod straight for the national anthem. They'd just finished talking, and both the coach and the military teacher felt they'd earned part of the bronze medal themselves. The team was maturing, with first Kyra and now Amryis winning, and by the next Winter Games, they'd be a force to be reckoned with.


Skating rink

Deukalion Hatzis found himself finishing two points shy of a medal, but he was still thrilled. He'd finished fifth in his first Olympics. That was an incredible start to his career. As he left the rink, he found himself mobbed by the other Ioudaian Olympians: it had been impossible to hide yesterday's short program score, and it seemed everybody came out to see if he'd win the free skate.

Amyris ben Hillel, the man of the day, asked him to explain what they'd just seen. "I'm sorry, I tend to focus on my own sport. That was an incredible performance, but how does it work? Why'd you score so well?"

Deukalion smiled: he rarely got to talk about his routines with anybody but his coach and his partner. "I'm glad you asked! I've got four and a half minutes to do anything I want on the ice, so long as it looks good." His audience chuckled: looking good seemed easier than being fastest. "I heard something about how music is made of motifs, little parts that repeat. I did something similar with my eight jumping passes: four were spin-jump-spiral, and four were spin-two jump sequence-spiral, with moves in the field separating them. The big flowing arcs that show off how well we can use all the ice.

"Each of my spins was different, but I started each jump sequence with some kind of Lutz jump, and spiral after it was always a catch-foot spiral variation. I'm pushing right up against the rules limits for repeating elements, but I've kept them all juuust different enough to avoid penalties. I think the almost-repeating elements are like a refrain in music, providing an anchor for the audience."

"Oh, so that's what those were!" Chaya exclaimed. "You did the... Lutzes in order: one, two, three, and four turns?"

"Yup! And that's what keeps them different enough to avoid the repetition rule."

[Dunnes]

The Sports Register

SKIHISM!

Dunnes and Savojarna Bring Battle to XC Course

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PRESCOTT, ELECTRUM- The Dunian-Savojar rivalry has now spilled over into cross country skiing as the Savojar Men’s 4x10km relay squeezed by the Dunians for the gold. The silver was won by the team of Bryan Boulder, Nick Care, Nate Parker and Nate Hill representing Dunnes. Boulder got out quickly and set the tempo, giving the Dunian squad a 10 second lead heading into the first exchange. However Care and Parker lost the lead to the Savojars relegating the Dunians to the main chase pack. Nate Hill then brought the pace back up with Myron Long of Amuaplye, who he then out-sprinted in the final meters to win a silver medal.

The Dunians and Savojars have a traditional rivalry on the alpine skiing slopes but it now seems that it has spilled onto the cross country courses as well.

“Well I heard the Savojar fans are pretty into it, and we definitely felt that on the course today.” said the anchor leg Nate Hill. He continued however, noting that, “We’ll have our chance to get revenge in the 50km, and we will get our revenge in the 50km.”

The Dunians had already garnered a silver medal in the Women’s 10km freestyle, as Ella Causer rebounded from her skiathlon performance to earn Dunnes’ first medal in the non descending ski sports. Hill and Boulder will also contend for the medals in the 50km which takes place on the final weekend of the games. Parker will return to competition in the team sprint in the coming days.

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BIATHLON

In Biathlon it was another dissapointing day for the Dunians, as they failed to finish in the top twenty in an event that commentators thought the Dunians had an outside chance at a medal in. Mike Belzberg was the top Dunian in twenty fifth, but Edward Jones, who was seen as a contender had a disatourous day on the range, missing a total of eight shots throughout the 15 kilometer race. He would finish all the way in 62nd, meaning that Dunnes could have a rough go of it in the team relay event to be held this week, which had been noted by Dunian Olympic Committee Officials as a top medal event.

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SNOWBOARDING

The Dunians also had a rough go of it in the Men’s Snowboard Cross. Nick Dennis, the two time defending Dunian champion failed to make it out of the heats, after bolding claiming to the media yesterday that he was, “making it to the finals or else it would be pointless to come all the way out here.” Perhaps overzealous, Dennis attempted to do a board grab over the final jump resulting in his crash, and 4th place finish. His Dunian counterparts in the event, Wesley Kidman and Vanya Burnley also failed to make it out of the heats, as Burnley crashed early in the run and failed to build back any significant speed.

COVERAGE:

DBC PRIMETIME (8PM): Alpine Skiing: Women's Giant Slalom, Bobsleigh: Two-Woman Runs 3 and 4, Freestyle Skiing: Men's Aerials Final
DBC DAYTIME (3PM): Cross-Country Skiing: Women’s Team Sprint Qualifying, Women's Curling: Dunnes v. Natanians and Nosts
DBCSN DAYTIME (1PM): Ski Jumping: Men’s Individual Large Hill Qualification, Snowboarding: Parallel Giant Slalom Qualification
DBCSN (8PM): Women's Curling: Dunnes v. Vilita

[The Holy Principality of Saint Mark]

The Saint Mark Herald

Royal Romance

Olympic Winter Games
Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Medals aren't the only things being won by the Saint Markian athletes at these Winter Games. Gold Medalist, His Royal Highness, Marcarias, and Bronze Meadlist, "Iron Lady" Amagitora, were seen leaving the athlete's cafeteria arm in arm yesterday! Either this is a new development or the best kept secret in sporting circles. The most eligible bachelor in Saint Mark, "Saint Marc", has earned a reputation as a goody-goody because of his relatively chaste lifestyle and his many philanthropic efforts. "The Iron Lady", as we all know, is beloved for her persistent sunny disposition despite having had to overcome several serious hardships, including the loss of both of her parents and a battle with cancer. Could this be Saint Mark's new Golden Couple? This reporter is certainly hoping so!

[Electrum]

This is your Day 11 cut-off.

Will your athletes be backed into a corner?