Games of the XIII Olympiad RP Thread

[West Phoenicia]

Tristan Rhodes had been lucky to secure the role of the Head of West Phoenicia Olympic Security.
He had previously served as a 2nd Lieutenant officer in the Imperial Royal Guard as part of the Ordnance Corp. His main job function had been
supply chain management, warehousing and issuing all the Imperial Royal Guard equipment.
He had decided to leave after serving his initial minimum period service of 6 years after he was aware he would never be transferred to the official royal protection detail.
Through a friends in the service he had been able to interview for the role of Head of Security for the West Phoenician Olympic Delegation. He had been successful in getting the role which appointed him in charge of a large security force whose goal was to protect the athletes and support staff. At 30 he was happy with the role that enabled him to travel and came with a very generous pay cheque.

The previous Head of Security who had been appointed for the previous Olympics had told him the job was very cushy. Tristan was finding that this was not the case for these games.
An aide to Baroness Flora Freeman had rudely banged at his door an hour ago. Baroness Freeman wanted him in her makeshift office immediately.
Baroness Freeman had been booked into a four-year hotel room. Two rooms had been booked, one of her official residence, the other as her office while she was at the Games.

The room was immaculate, Baroness Freeman sat behind a beautiful polished mahogany desk, while Helena Antonius, Head of PR & Communications and two of her PR staff looking like perfect
sycophants stood nearby. The joyous smile the Baroness had planted on her face in public for the last 10 days was missing.
An aide ushered him into the room and he was about to sit down when the Baroness shook her head.

“Don't sit. You have been doing too much of that at these games, no wonder We are in the shit we are in.”

“I don't quite understand,” Tristan responded. “Security has been doing an amazing job, especially with those spat of Amuaplye bombings, we have been extra vigilant in the protection of all West Phoenicians.”

“An amazing job?”

If looks could kill, he knew he would be dead from the death state she was evoking.

“A family member of one of our Equestrian riders received a brutal beating from an animal rights terrorist group. That same Equestrian rider is friends with female archer Lady Violet Hungary II, whose mother leads the West Phoenician Green Party. Usually those kooks all work together, but no one can justify violence. It's not a pretty sight when a West Phoenician Green is issuing a joint statement with the Conservative Party. The group, whose name escapes me…”

“Centaur Club,” Helena Antonius piped up.

“Yes, this group has also been responsible for a plot to kidnap our gold Demonstration event horse winner Lady Greensleves and has dumped horse manure over another teams Equestrian support staff and been calling our other riders giving them death threats. The West Phoenician Equestrian Federation has said if this is not cleared up, they will boycott any future Olympic Games. We are very close to winning our very first Equestrian Olympic Medal, we do not want to fuck that up!”

“We are working very closely with the Free Republics police force to apprehending these thugs. We will find them.”

“I want it done yesterday.”

“I'm guessing that is all you needed to tell me today Baroness,” Tristan said on the verge of leaving.

“Did I say you were dismissed. No, you and your security detail have been fucking up all over the complex. Female gymnast Clare Tan who was run down in a hit and run died a few hours ago. Doctors said there was too much internal damage. And Pole Vaulter Jeremiah True decided to do a Swan dive off the top of the Garden of Eden Club. “

“We can't be everywhere, I only have a certain amount of men and women at my disposal,”Tristan fired back. This is turning into a nightmare,”

“And we are not even sure it was suicide with Mr True, there are rumours circulating that he was lured to the rooftop and pushed, but drunk witnesses are bad witnesses. But we are pushing the suicide angle to the media,” Ms Antonius said. She was one of the best PR women in the business but even this was turning messy.

“We better hope and pray it was a suicide, that is awful in itself, but it looks better than some wack job attacking members of our delegation. We already have the Minotaur Club..”

“Centaur Club,” one of the PR aides responded.

“I don't care about their name. I want them arrested and I want better protection for all West Phoenician athletes. These games are promising to be our best. I don't want any negative shit putting a damper on our success, you hear me?”

“Yes,” Tristan replied deflated.

“Anything else happens and it's your job Mr Rhodes, you are easily replaceable. And Ms Antonius, release a statement for both Clare Tan and Jeremiah True, ask for any witness to come forward. Say we are doing our best in the face of these tragedies to find answers and encourage everyone to keep doing their best to honour our two lost athletes. They would want us to keep succeeding at these Games, let us not disrespect them by stumbling now.”

[Todd McCloud]

A (Not So Easy) Record for the Taking
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

REPUBLICA - When one sees an athlete competing in shooting events, they almost always seem to be affiliated with their nation's military to some degree. After all, what better way to showcase discipline and soldier acumen than enroll members of the fighting force in the competition. Well, as Vekaiyu learned early on during the fifth and sixth summer games, shooting, as far as Olympic competition is concerned, is a poor metric for such things and at times can prove disastrous results. Indeed, in the days of dictator Selvala McEva, the Olympics were meant to be a demonstration of the vulpine talents. And they were... if you consider swimming as your only qualifier.

Vekaiyu won no shooting medals in that Olympiad. Next year, when the Vekaiyun Olympic Council opened slots for competitive shooting, it paid dividends in the form of four medals - one gold, two silver, and one bronze. The national team would continue to shed and accept new members until it reached a crescendo of five medals in the Eighth Summer Olympiad in Emberton. Since then, Vekaiyu has been a formidable force in shooting events. Well, except for Novonaya during the last games, where the team failed to nab a single medal. Nevertheless, delegations can and do grow and change, especially to fit the ever-changing event lists. Such was the case of this year's event list. For the first time ever, mixed competitions were open for shooting. Not to disappoint, Vekaiyu shuffled their deck once more and ensured their pair would bring about stiff competition.

Enter the team of Yeromo Reslaveru and Ikleva Husheri, both who hail from the province of Soveri. Here in this partially-forested land is where the two shooters practiced their skills. But skills are a bit more than sport here - not military-related, but in hunting.

"If you live in rural Soveri, especially in the southern part of the province, you likely hunt," Yeromo Reslaveru remarked prior to embarking for Republica while speaking to one of our reporters on assignment. "It's more than just taking down bushnus or those larger animals. I've seen the so-called 'tactical gear' available in some nations, you know, the ones that have one dressed in camouflage with all the best weapons, the vision enhancers, and so on. It's kind of cheapens the whole experience. They have those perches you can buy and people will sit there for hours and wait for a passing herbivore. Almost like it's less for food and more for sport."

Reslaveru took the reporter to his back yard to demonstrate some poses common in Soveri. "Most around here do stomach-hunting. You get real low on the ground like so, especially if you're around higher elevation, then you back up to a nearby larger object, because they're going to be looking at that more than you. If you're good and calm, you'll get your kill. That's about as boring as it gets." He stood up with a grin. "Course, that's kind of useless for trap shooting. We usually use bottles of Eskola for practicing that. They come in clear and brown bottles. The clear ones are kind of hard to see, but if you fill them with water, you know you've made a hit. You can make a launcher out of PVC piping, or get it from someone else in town. It's pretty easy, and if you get a good model, it can shoot pretty quick and pretty far."

The pair entered their first Olympiad and immediately impressed, reaching second with a rather crowded tie competition filled with five other entrants. The delegation from South Covello held the top spot with a stellar but not perfect routine.

"The machines here are great," Ikleva Husheri said after their second place showing. "Very smooth deliveries, no wobble, definitely high quality, and you can really see the targets as they shoot. They're kind of a brighter orange than we compete with in Vekaiyu."

The final round started off with concern as the team fell behind the pack with an off-shoot. But, as luck would have it, the pair quickly found their bearings and clawed their way to a tie for second place after both they and the team from West Phoenicia missed their final shots in the final round. Since they were tied, a shootoff was needed, with the combined efforts of Yeromo Reslaveru and Ikleva Husheri outlasting their competitors through three sets.

"I didn't really consider the gap," Ikleva Husheri said after surviving into the final two rounds. "Yeah, we were one shot behind them, but we couldn't really control what they did. But I do think the shootoff survival honed in my skills a bit. Adrenaline is a powerful thing!"

As luck would have it, the almost foregone conclusion was cut short as the team from Kriegiersien's lead evaporated in the final round. A perfect score from the Vekaiyun pair ensured another shootoff was needed. Through a vigorous eleven-round shootoff, the bike horn was sounded when Phil Kelnoky missed his called shot, awarding the Vekaiyun team gold.

"I almost felt cold water run through my stomach when it happened," Yeromo Reslaveru commented as he remembered the moment of victory. "When you fight like that, you kind of start to know your opponent a bit. And while it was great for us, I definitely felt it for them. But we never gave up - we just kept doing what we do best."

As the flag raised for the pair and the Olympic record for the final round (albeit tied) was secured, Vekaiyu won its second gold of the day, with the other one nabbed by all-around athlete Sisani Reystraveru in the Women's Heptathlon event. It was a bit of a bittersweet moment for the athlete, and it certainly felt like a "passing of the torch" in comparison to the veteran, Ika Uleveri, and her score of sixteenth place.

"She's been an inspiration," Reystraveru said after the event, the Vekaiyun flag draped over her back as she seemed bursting with pride. "And it was a privilege to compete on the same field as her. She's shown the world that a vulpine can do just as much as a human, all things considered."

The seven-staged event has netted four medals for Ika Uleveri - two golds and two bronzes - though her last medal was awarded in the Ninth Summer Olympiad.

"Why's everyone acting like I'm going to retire?" she asked after the closing of the event. "I'm happy to represent my nation to the best of my ability, but I'm definitely not dead! Give it another Olympiad with different circumstances and the points could be completely different. That should not detract from Sisani [Reystraveru], of course, but any athlete knows this event in particular is a marathon, and one has to not only be fit but has to have a sort of flair to keep up the momentum. And you either have it or you don't. And it can switch on and off like a light!"

Evidently, if Uleveri had her druthers, she would certainly find a way to continue competing despite being a staple to the Vekaiyun delegation since the Fifth Summer Olympiad. That being said, the two gold medals place Vekaiyu at the front-door of the top ten as they advance up to fourteenth place. The vulpine-dominant nation will look to increase their position tomorrow, especially after a number of swimmers seemed to finally perform to their capabilities. Will they rise to the occasion, or sink like a rock? Of course, we are hoping for the former.

[Diarcesia]

Olympics Day 10: The Highlights

The men's and women's tennis chapter of Diarcesia in the Olympics is brought to a somber conclusion after first round defeats despite their best efforts. While Ingemar Deniaud bested the celebrated Julian Slazic of Mattijana in their individual meet, he and his partner Aurel Grosso bowed out in what would prove to be his retirement match, following his earlier announcement on exiting the tennis scene. Given his age, this may prove to be a temporary break.

After the dust of the first two fencing rounds settled down, foil fencer Polyhymny Antonis managed to be the sole Diarcesian to advance to the Round of 16. After a close call against Teresa Lloyd of Electrum, she gave a more decisive showing in the next bout by limiting the Neu Engollian Julianne Oesterdein to five points. She will next face Mysie Shafiqa of the Main Nation Ministry. Should Antonis fail to medal, the next opportunities for a top three finish for Diarcesia in its traditionally well-performing sports will be in the tennis mixed doubles and the team fencing events.

Other Highlights:
- The Rugby Sevens team is off to a good start after a 38-12 pouncing of the Kytler Peninsulae. An interesting tidbit is that all of the losing teams in Group B have 12 points.
- Judokas Martin Maji and Sarah Jones lost their respective match-ups but hung on for a shot at the bronze medal in the upcoming repechage.
- Despite losing to the Free Republics 29-6 to settle for second place, Korfball's exposure to the Monarchy will almost certainly increase after the highly-televized finals.

What to Watch Tomorrow:
- Women's Gymnastics Team All-Around Final: Will the surprising performance of the team continue and land a medal for the Monarchy?
- The repechage and potential bronze medal matches for Martin Maji and/or Sarah Jones
- Voleyball: While they struggled with an overall mediocre ranking vis-a-vis their peers, they still have a chance to break out and pull some unexpected positive results with two more group stages to go.

[Ioudaia]

Venicio Piazza Memorial Arena

“This is Isadora Eliana, with Champion Network. We've just watched Team Ioudaia do the impossible: win gymnastics gold as a rookie team. This is only the third time this Olympic Games we're heard the Ioudaian Anthem played, and and the first time for any non-swimming event.

“Now that our champions are leaving the podium, we're going to talk to-- Who the--” Isadora's sound crew killed her mic before she swore into it, but they were equally furious that somebody beat them to the punch. Isadora pointed out a shortish, bald man near the gymnastics team “Him.” She led her camera crew to intercept him.

Raising her microphone back to her lips, she went on as though nothing had happened. “We're going to talk to Tzochar ben Xanthos, head coach of Ioudaia's gymnatic team.” She stepped towards him, and waited for him to turn partway to the camera. “Coach Tzochar, congratulations on your team's victory. Team Ioudaia didn't just win, but dominated the match in two of the six events, vault and parallel bars. What do you think was the most important factor the team doing that?”

“Consistency. For the last two years, we've emphasized Tsukahara and Yurchenko vaults. In fact, we haven't trained anybody in anything else. So if the team pulled them all off nearly flawlessly, it was because they were all working on the same two things, and all the trainers could help them master them. We've had more flexibility on the bars, but we've still focused on a small group of skills, and the same for the other events. Perhaps all of our routines look alike, but we're judged on difficulty and execution, not originality.”

Isadora nodded as she tried to think of a next question. “And are there any athletes you'd like to call out as key to the victory?”

“The emphasis on consistency means that nobody's key. I know that sounds odd for an olympic team, but that's the way we train: all of our gymnasts are key. I will, however, name two men who had astounding performances, Anaxagoras Raam and Yotam ben Gnipho. Both of them earned nearly perfect scores on the vault, and each had another solid event. I recommend everybody watch and rewatch the replays to see how it's done.”

“Thank you, Coach Tzochar. Let's go to those replays. Coach, if you'd be willing to help us out seeing what we should see...” And the camera cut to recorded video as Tzochar narrated, until the end of the interview.

The man who beat Isadora to the gymnastic team interview punch was Yosi Glaukos, who walked up to the team with unusual familiarity as he started his interview. “I'm Yosi Glaukos, and I'm here with Ioudaia's newest winners, our gymnasts and -- I'm with ITV, right – and I'd like to--”

Anaxagoras Raam grabbed him in an immense bearhug. “Glaukos! Good to see you! You missed the cut, so now you're on the other side of the mic?”

“Well, I uh--”

“How's that working out for your?”

“It's... Hey, I'm supposed to be interviewing you guys!” Several of the gold medalists laughed – chuckles to belly-laughs, depending on how funny they thought it was – and Yosi momentarily looked embarrassed and uncertain. He recovered and forged ahead. “Nice full planche, Anaxagoras! And the rest of your rings routine wasn't half bad either. What would you like to tell our viewers about it/?”

“Thanks! The planche was the core of the routine, and I was rock-steady doing it, which made the handstands afterwards easy. And I completely nailed my dismount; that was probably the best double-layout dismount I've ever done.”

Yosi glanced around, trying to come up with another question. “Oh, and, what about your vault?”

“It's just a Zamolodchikova, but it turned out really well, especially the transition to the salto and landing.” He shrugged. “It looks a lot like everybody else's.”

“But not mine!” Yotam ben Gnipho grabbed Yosi by both shoulders; Yosi tried to return the embrace, nearly dropping his mic in the process. “Glaukos! I bet you want to know about my vault, right? I've got the routine the coaches haven't beaten all the creativity out of. It's a strict Luconi, the most difficult one the team does. But I made it work! Judges loved it! Hey, do you guys have slo-mo of it?

Yosi asked his camera man, “Do we?”

After several agonizing seconds of dead air, the video feed cult to Yotam's vault, which he narrated. “OK, so the round-off was really smooth, the twist was silken, but watch my tuck! Yeah, right there! Not many guys can manage that. It's usually a women's move, but that looks good, right?”

“Yeah! That's way better than I can do! Anyway, uh, thanks guys! It was great talking to-- interviewing you. And I'm Yosi Glaukos, ITV.” When the camera cut away, Yosi sagged. Better to be a gymnast than a journalist.

[The Sherpa Empire]

----‭֎-‬---

Tshering of Fuzhou could teleport, but he couldn't be in two places at once. Since Subedi took what felt like forever to shut up about his beef with Kai Qiang, Tshering had to wait what felt like forever to get to the Garden of Eden. The crowd had thinned and there wasn't much left to see for those who didn't have spiritual powers, but the auras were still there -- the traces of True's aura, the person who'd killed him, and hundreds of other people that had been in and out of the club. Tshering wished he had brought his quidditch broom so he could get a better look at the rooftop without teleporting up there or talking his way past the cops. He got dizzy if he teleported too much, and he didn't think he could talk his way past the cops without making them suspicious. It crossed his mind that they might already think he was suspicious if they noticed he had been at both crime scenes shortly after the crimes.

If only he had been there when True was thrown from the roof, he could have teleported him safely to the ground... He felt like he should be doing more, but it wasn't his job. There were so many problems that his powers could solve if he was in the right place at the right time, but he couldn't be everywhere at once. That was the most frustrating thing about having hereditary magic: you were always seeing things that you had the power to fix, but you never had the time and the stamina to actually fix all of them. There weren't enough hours in the day, and magicians had to rest same as anyone else.

Putting magically-gifted people into desk jobs, religious work, or political leadership only meant they had less time to do things that actually required blood magic. Tshering's father liked having him do nice safe paper-pushing that would teach him the organizational skills he'd need later if he went into politics, but it was driving Tshering up the wall being distracted by a bunch of bureaucratic crap and logistical arrangements and race car drivers' personal feuds when he could be out saving lives -- whether by thwarting Amuaplye's "Olympiad Bomber," protecting West Phoenicia's athletes, fighting terrorism back home in the Sherpa Empire, doing disaster rescue... There were so many ways he could be using his powers for good, and instead, he had a job that any well-organized person could handle without any need for magic.

He returned to his room -- by taxi rather than teleportation because he didn't want to tire himself out -- and began texting, emailing, and calling various people. He asked his boss at the Sports Department if they could get any extra security people, and he asked his old teammates from the national quidditch team if they or any of their relatives had time to help out. He decided to wait until morning to contact the Republica police or West Phoenician security people. It was late, he was tired, and waiting until morning would allow time for his boss and his friends to reply to his messages and give him a better idea of how much help they could offer.

----‭֎-‬---

"Those people in Indusse sure take their religion seriously," Kalden He commented. He and Huan Yao were at a sports bar celebrating their win over Kriegiersien with a couple beers and a hearty serving of greasy pub food.

"What do you mean?" Yao asked.

"This 'RP' stuff," said He. "They believe our lives are stories being written by someone on a higher plane of existence, and the more our patron gods 'RP,' the more successful we become. I still don't quite understand what 'RP' is, but they sure take it seriously. I mean, I sometimes feel like we're all the supporting cast in a story about Raheem Tan and Hua Hu Srihatta..."

"Oh, god, imagine if they got married..."

"I think the gravitational pull from having that much trashiness in one place would cause reality to collapse in on itself and the world would get sucked into a black hole. But this 'RP' thing... they write about it in their news like it's a known fact, and they've got some way to figure out which gods have 'RP'ed and which haven't... It says here the patron god of Indusse is busy with exams and doesn't have time to RP. How would you even know that? I mean, if the stock market crashes in the Sherpa Empire, does that mean Chomolungma had to study for exams and she couldn't 'RP'?"

"I don't think Chomolungma has to take exams."

"Okay, but how would you know?"

"Because she's Chomolungma..."

"Right, but why does the god of Indusse have exams and Chomolungma doesn't?"

"Because she lives on a friggin' mountain and there aren't any schools up there?"

----‭֎-‬---

[Main Nation Ministry]

Dereliction: Stuck in Red

Emmanuel Jones managed to get himself to another room within the basement. He recognized it to a room a floor directly below the main hall, seeing the layout. He needed to sit down or stop moving his body or something! He knelled on the ground, letting his left sleeve soaked with blood drip to the floor, while he tried to work out what happened in that lounge. "Alright. I was there. That grenade must have been a powerful one. Whole room made it a pressure chamber. Everyone got caught in the blast. I got up. My men were dead. There were still Steinberg's men trying to kill, even if their limbs were gone. I had to use that fire ax to mercy kill them. Dear goodness..I gone into madness, hadn't I? No! The cameras must have still been operational." Jones was thinking, as he got up. His left arm hurts like a bitch, but it was able to heal on it's own. He walked over with his fire axe to where the staff elevators were. Usually, they would require a keycard, but Jones could clearly see that someone had hacked into them with a scrambler, as they were unlocked. "Alright, I need to figure out where she went.." Jones said to himself, calling the elevator. He waited a bit, till they opened. "Where could she have gone?" he read the directory near the buttons, where he saw something that stood out. "Broadcasting? There is a restaurant, office, and vault, but what kind of company would need broadcasting?" Jones thought, as he pressed the button to get to Broadcasting.

However, while the elevator was traveling up the shaft, the elevator suddenly stopped 3/4 of the way up. "Oh come on!" Jones said, annoyed as he tried to get the elevator doors open. Getting the doors open, he saw he was in a mini presentation room, after walking out of the elevator and going down a hallway. He eventually needed to get a better weapon, though. But Steinberg's squad could be already trying to get to the top.

Agent Dragon: The Start of the Trials

"Alright, the elevators are down for the public, but's it's possible to enter another set of staff elevators on the east wing. You might need to take some more stairs to get to where I can unlock them." Truman explained through the walkie-talkie, as Keller ran up the stairs. "Check the feeds. Is she still visible?" Keller radioed him back. "The monitor I checked that she was on was around the 66th floor of the building. The upper floors belong to a news agency owned by the Ministry. She might be trying to get to the top of the building, though." Truman explained. "Is there any signs that she is trying to get to the top?" Keller said, bursting open a door to run through the main hall, where she briefly went to the railing and looked down. Below, several soldiers can be seen rushing around the bottom of the main hall. "There is some staff elevators at the other side of the building, accessed by going around the main hall you're at. You need to hurry, though! I'm the only one in the security room and they might start storming the room and start asking questions!"

"Just make sure to smash the walkie-talkie, if they enter the room!" Keller said, as she rushed to the other side of the main hall. "The squads look like they are using the glass elevators, but though are extremely unstable. Several helicopters are trying to get to the rooftop, but the weather is making it difficult. Get to the top, as soon as possible!" Keller found the staff elevators, where they were unlocked by Truman from the security room. "Alright, Keller. That bitch might try to flash us again. Just don't hesitate to stab her and we save the nation. Or perhaps the multiverse sorta." the parasite said in her mind, as Keller entered the elevator, pressing the button for the 66th floor. "What is the demiurge even doing on the 66th floor? She has the poison, doesn't she?" Keller asked the parasite. "Something doesn't feel right. Get that knife out though." Keller got out her knife, as the elevator doors were opened.

The room led out to several offices, which were not suspicious at first glance due to being untouched, but there was still the feeling of someone still being here. Keller went to check for a map of the floor, until she noticed something that was left on the floor in the hallway. "What's that? Is this a sword?" Keller said it on the floor, as it was covered with a red velvet plastic sheath. "You know this?" the parasite asked her. "I think I remember this? It's weird, because I remember having this as a kid? What's is it doing here?" Keller thought, as she grabbed it with her other hand. "I'm going to take this with me, just in case."

"Now where is she?"

The Familiar Stranger: You're Fired. Now Get Out

Jasper Soderman was busy trying to give the best orders to each of the agents, as the cascade was currently happening outside. "Protect relief there! Make sure things are secured over there! Just.. Just! Damnit! Where is the Leader when you need him?!" Soderman asked, as the Leader just so happened to get his plane landed at the airport. "Alright! We need to get to my office! Send a distress signal if necessary! Find Jones! And immediately get Steinberg, unless he surrenders!" The Leader stated to the soldiers, as he exited the plane. "Alright, get a car and drive me to my office. I'm going to need a pistol, as well!"

Driving in an electric jeep, the soldiers managed to drive through the crowd of panicking people, where the Leader hopped out to get inside his office. Pushing past several double doors, he managed to get into his office, so he can activate his intercom. "I have you men promoted for keeping my office neat, while I was gone. Now how to get it operational...Ah, there we go! Attention! Attention! Is this thing on? Good!" The Leader said, preparing a speech, as he got the intercom working, so everyone in Victory Square can hear him. "Men, women and children of Main Nation Ministry. Do not be alarmed at this calamity. We are currently in the midst of getting it under control. I have officially returned after the vile scum have attempted to use a loophole against him to force me off my position as Leader. I ask upon the public to keep an eye out of the threats that attempt to eliminate or weaken me. For which they are the ones who are to blame, as they are trying to prevent progress for being made!"

Upon getting word that the Leader had returned, Jasper Soberman immediately headed to Victory Square, just as the Leader was making orders to his men. Bursting into his office, the Leader raised an eyebrow upon seeing Soberman. "Do I know you?" "Leader! Thank the many moons, you're here! Please tell me you know how what's happening with Harrington..I mean Agent Dragon, I mean-"
"Agent Dragon? What are you talking about?" The Leader said confused, where Soberman looked more worried. "Leader! I'm sorry if you don't know this, but Keller Harrington is being possessed by some sort of science experiment from the Ministry of Science! Or from Northwest! I'm going with Northwest here."
"Wait, how did she get possessed?"
"Steinberg was testing out to see if it's possible to harness the bond between what the "vessels" had and place them in a more adult host."
"So you're trying to tell me that she managed to be possessed by a parasite by Steinberg? How did he even manage to do that? And when?!"

"Sir..Steinberg himself told me he wanted to do it. This all started a day after you had Keller placed in the special corps."

"And you let him do it!?" The Leader said, visibly angry. Soberman tried to leave the office, but several soldiers grabbed him from leaving. "I! I thought he gotten a permit from the Ministry of Science and from you! I was too naive!" Soberman explained, as the Leader marched up to him. "All you know have done was just tell me! Had I been involved, she wouldn't have been in real danger! And you contributed to it! Now, tell me what happened and where she is!"
"Ok ok! But I don't want to get executed for this!"
"I can't guarantee it, unless you talk!"
"I had her on a mission to investigate an explosion at FishBurger! She was paired up with Agent Shell! They found some leads to where there was something happening outside in the region. We couldn't find much information since when we found Keller, she was covered in blood where there were dead bodies everywhere! She keeps claiming that there is some sort of demiurge a murk, but Steinberg and me don't believe it, due to her state."
"I just took note of something. Three of us had been responsible to what had happened to her. Isn't that fun to realize that you're one of the reasons a schoolgirl is now a murdering demon-possessed killing machine?" the Leader turning his back to Soberman. "Sad. Surely, I will take some responsibility on her current condition, but I will make sure she throws a punch that can give me some damage."

"What is your deal with Harrington, Leader?" Soberman said to him, where he didn't even flinch, as he only put his hands back at ease. "I know about Winston, but I know you have this interest with her! Yet, it's not of hatred. I know this, because you would have just killed her already. You're probably-"
"Not another word."
"I see. Is it jealously?" Soberman said, where the Leader immediately turned around with a rather frighting expression on his face. The Leader immediately delivered a punch into Soberman's gut.

"Maybe your execution could be taken up several notches early, Soberman! You forgotten that I'm the only one that is above the ignorance that you have, along with Steinburg! Now that you seem like you want to die, I may have to give you no change, but to put you through-"
"She's at Catharsis Plaza!"
"..."
"...Just fire me, please."

"Fine. You're fired. Now get out." The Leader said, where his expression changed to simple cold calmness, where Soberman immediately ran out of the office, when he was let go. "Men. Send out the distress signal. I'm heading there to find Keller. Send in everyone there! We need to get this thing under control!" the Leader demanded.
When the Leader got there with reinforcements, he had them storm the bottom of the main hall to secure the first floor. Eventually, they found Truman in the security room, where he immediately bended backward, spilling the beans on what happened, while revealing that he hated Steinberg's idea from the start. "Truman, shut up and get me Keller's position!"

[Cocoabo Forest]

Republica Motor Speedway, Republica, Free Republics :: The two Cocoabo Drivers arrived at the Republica Motor Speedway for their first ever appearance in Olympic Action with Auto Racing having been added to the docket for the XIII Olympic Summer Games in Republica as a Demonstration event. The course itself certainly was not the most modern of venues and seemed as if it could use some investment at points. Perhaps it would be a good opportunity for the CoCoCo to expand its reach throughout the Free Republics, having already brought their corporate funding to New City and the fully modernized CoCoCo Stadium in Orlandiana which recently hosted the Final of World Cup 81.

Cocoabo #28 Revealed their Olympic Selection at the NSSCRA Finale

The competition will be split into two events, a Mens and a Womens session with Qualifying to determine which drivers will compete for the top positions in the race event. The Cocoabo Forest delegation has put forth two of its best trained automobile operators for the competition, Cocoabo #23 and Cocoabo #28. With the almost rectangular shape of the track there may be an advantage for a driver like Cocoabo #28 who has most recently competed on the NSSCRA circuit with a number of traditional oval style courses with turns in just one direction around the track. However, Cocoabo #28's major international competition experience comes in those Full Bodied stock cars which are heavy and difficult to turn in comparison with the lighter weight open wheel machines that will be used during the Olympic Demonstration. It is the vehicle type that may lend itself to the skills of Cocoabo #23 who has previously been competing at the second level of the World Grand Prix racing pyramid. Both Cocoabo #23 and Cocoabo #28 have been competing for Team Tropicorp as part of Tropicorp's unique relationship at the Cocoabo Park inside the Cocoabo Forest.

While the Cocoabo Forest itself is a vast land where Cocoabo flocks are allowed to roam free, at Cocoabo Park visitors from around the multiverse are treated to intimate tours, close encounters and educational experiences all with the Cocoabo at the center. In addition to the commercially driven aspect of the Park is the hub for the team of Scientists and Researchers from both the Cocoabo Preservation Society and Tropicorp many of whom reside full time at the park. While the Cocoabo Preservation Society led efforts are more focused on passive studying and preservation, the Tropicorp team lead the CEEP - the Cocoabo Enrichment & Enhancement Project out of the Park. Beyond just researching and understanding the Cocoabo Genome, the CEEP team are tasked with focused training and enrichment activities to hyper-focus Cocoabo to hone their talents and skills and bring them to the forefront. One of the most popular enclosures on a tour of Cocoabo Park is the CEEP's sporting enclosure where Cocoabo can be found participating in activities such as Footsport and even on a lucky day, Motorsport.

It is this Motorsport Training Program of the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project at the Cocoabo Park that has initially produced the skilled Cocoabo #23 - otherwise known as "Fast Cocoabo" and Cocoabo #28. Cocoabo #23, the Cocoabo Forest's entrant into the Male Auto Racing event, was the first graduate of the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project's Auto Racing Program and was thrust into the VTM Tropicorp Engineering World Grand Prix 2 team when the World Grand Prix 2 circuit resumed operations. During the inaugural season, 'Fast Cocoabo' narrowly missed out on the Championship finishing Runner-Up and demonstrating to the World that Cocoabo were in motorsport as far more than just a publicity stunt - they could seriously compete. Cocoabo #23 would struggle in the point standings during the second World Grand Prix 2 season, failing to finish three of the last four races to drop from the points lead down outside the Top 3. Despite the poor finish to the season, Fast Cocoabo still had two victories on the season to lead all drivers with most trips to victory lane, including a dominating performance to win from the pole at the Cocoabo Preservation Grand Prix in the Cocoabo Forest.

Cocoabo #28 only recently graduated from the Cocoabo Enrichment and Enhancement Project's Auto Racing Program and gained some of their final experience racing on the NSSCRA circuit for Team Tropicorp. From the start of their NSSCRA rookie season, Cocoabo #28 was the top performing driver for Team Tropicorp which included another Cocoabo driver, Cocoabo #78, and a Tropicorp Employee, Euroli Islander. However, a scary accident at the Toys '4' All 500 in Lonngeylin, Vilita derailed Cocoabo #28's season missing fourteen of the next fifteen events on the series schedule recovering from those injuries. Upon return, Cocoabo #28 seemed to lack the cutting edge on the track and was not able to outperform their teammates the same way they had at the start of the season until finally besting them with a 25th place finish in the series penultimate race in South Stead, Vangaziland. With the momentum boost from a strong performance in Vangaziland, Cocoaobo #28 rolled into the series finale in Newmanistan with a special paint scheme on the #28 Cocoabo Preservation Society Dart which included the Cocoabo Forest Delegations Olympic Logo on the hood and trunk of the car in coordination with the announcement that Cocoabo #28 would be heading to Republica to compete in the Olympic Auto Racing demonstration. While Cocoabo #78, with four Top 10 finishes, was certainly the Cocoabo Forests's most decorated Female Auto Racing driver, the CEEP program leaders felt that Cocoabo #78 could use a rest after competing in the full NSSCRA season while Cocoabo #28, having missed a large portion of the season, would greatly benefit from the increase international competition as well as the chance to demonstrate their skills in an open wheel race car, potentially learning a thing or two from Cocoabo #23 during their time shared together in Republica.

[APOC Coalition]

Gaelic Gamers
Presents...

The Olympic Opinions
with Graham O'Doherty, David Norton, Aisling Keane, Denis Avtushenko, and Ibrahim Ahmadinejad

FROM REPUBLICA, THE FREE REPUBLICS - Here comes yet another Olympic Opinions from the Gamer Gang (and friends!). Enough faffing about; let's plunge straight in.

Women's Baseball Game Four: APOC Coalition vs. Free Republics (Ibrahim)
Well, isn't this a bit surprising? APOC Coalition leading the group in women's baseball! Never thought I'd see the day. And yet here we are. APOC Coalition women's baseball team topping Group A. At the very least, it looks like they're already through to the next stage. And wouldn't that be an achievement? I really can't say the same for our men's team; no, I really can't. The men's team are sitting rock bottom of their group and it doesn't look like they're going to climb up anywhere higher anytime soon.

So how did we get up there, by any chance? Well, I'd say it all starts with the starting pitcher. Annie Wigan, of Releinthi Statesmen fame, finally gets to pitch in an Olympic game for the first time ever in her career. Might not be the last time too depending on what happens moving forward. I mean, we should all give her some credit. She lasted six innings against the host nation and only gave up three runs! Of course, she had some help from her teammates as well, but still, she put up a very good pitching game given the circumstances, and given that she's not really the flash type of pitcher, you know what I mean? And it probably helped her that APOC drew first blood with Natalia Tikhvinskaya. And we all thought that that three-run homer by Angelica Ambrosio would be enough to see off the game. Then, slowly, Free Republics began to claw their way back into the game. Annie giving up two runs should have alerted us of what was coming. Well, I think we were alerted, but we didn't do a good enough job of halting their advance until it was almost too late. Good thing for those two runs in the top of the ninth from Ulrika Zimmermann and Julie He, eh? When are we going to be able to see similar games from the men's team? I'm definitely not holding my breath for it, if you know what I mean.

Men's Basketball Game Three: APOC Coalition vs. Santaclausisgodistan (Davey)
Basketball time! And now I have decided to just report on the full basketball games because I don't rate 3x3 anymore, ever since we lost almost every game that we've played. I'm focusing on full 5x5 basketball from now, and that's all that I'm going to say about the subject.

Now then, APOC v Santaclausisgodistan. I mean, everyone by now should already be used to the sight of this delegation playing games and doing almost everything conceivable in Santa Claus costumes, but I have to be honest and say I'm still not used to it. Still not. Probably never will. I'll tell you what though. I'm very much surprised that these Santa Clice not only played an absolute banger in their costumes, but that they also managed to keep it close with the Coalition like they did. I mean, just look at it. You've never seen Santaclausisgodistan in an IBC tournament, have you? And almost everybody on this Coalition basketball team has had experience in the IBC. Jazz Higgs and Fotij Nochevski, anyone?

Anyway, this game was intense. It was close. Those Santa Clice got post game. They're very deadly in both the paint and beyond the arc. Good thing our boys were also firing on all cylinders or else this game could have very easily gone the other way. APOC barely got past the Santa Clice in peak condition; how much could the Santa Clice have won if they had had the upper hand against the Coalition? Jazz Higgs and Fotij Nochevski are really beginning to show us why they deserve to be starters not only for the Coalition but also for their respective IBC teams. They were both the biggest contributors to APOC's post game, pulling down a combined 14 rebounds and shooting for 36 points combined to keep up the pace with Santaclausisgodistan. I hate to think of what could have happened if either one of these guys got injured before or in this game itself. But they're not, so we can think happy thoughts for what's up next! Don't know exactly who we're going up against next matchday but as things stand, we are in a good position. Whether we can hang on to it is an entirely different question, and one that I shall refuse to answer in either the positive or the negative. I don't want that kind of bad vibes messing up my mojo now.

Men's Football Game Five: Darmen vs. APOC Coalition (Graham)

           DARMEN 1 - 0 APOC COALITION
LUCANUS (79' pen)

MATCH STATISTICS
Possession
Darmen: 55%
APOC Coalition: 45%
Shots
Darmen: 5 (2 on target)
APOC Coalition: 4 (0 on target)
Corners
Darmen: 2
APOC Coalition: 1
Fouls
Darmen: 10
APOC Coalition: 22

I think it's fair to say that the football gods had decided to listen to my prayer of making Peter Schermer lose his shooting boots at probably the worst possible moment. Every time I pray to them for Big Peter to lose it against Markovsky, they never listen. But once I'm praying that he doesn't lose his shooting boots at all for the Coalition, the football gods are like "Oh, your first prayer just came in! Let us take care of that before we take care of your other prayers!" They're trolls, I'm telling you. I'm getting trolled. We're getting trolled!

After the game, the Darmeni staff were talking about how this schedule was tiring for the players. There was mention of fatigue and stuff and how it was unmanageable. Scathing talk, considering it was coming from the defending gold medalists of the event. I have to say though, if they were playing to conserve energy, then Darmen damned well did it. They limited the APOC's opportunities and forced us to play the game that they want to play. The stats don't lie. I've never seen this APOC team so stifled like it was at that moment. Gone was the team that could fire off a couple of shots at goal seemingly at will. Darmen stifled us well and good, is what I'm trying to say here. And we played right into their hands with that one.

Sometimes I feel like we need more creative players in this side. Mauro Magnanelli and Rory Edwards are good enough creative outlets on the pitch, but when they're off it, ugh! Much different story from the Coalition point of view. Mauro couldn't play this game because of some accumulated yellow card bollocks, and the creativity switch for this APOC team was essentially turned off once Rory was subbed off. Dario Frigo isn't meant to pass the ball forward or even lob it hopefully (or hopelessly if you're that kind of guy) into the final third; he's the ball-winner. Weyverley and Suwaba Bumata are not central attacking mids and never will be. They are wingers, plain and simple. And don't get me started on Peter Schermer the deep-lying striker! That is simply not his best position, period. He is not meant to collect the ball from midfield and advance it. He is meant to stand around in or near the box and wait for the ball to come to him. Coaches, are you taking notes?

The frustration was inevitable. It was there, clear as day, visible to anyone who was willing to look and see. And it finally materialized in the form of Wilton Kaba sliding into Nataniel Herschel after the latter had tried one too many tricks in front of the young lad. Both teams were content with the 0-0 draw. Wilton didn't have to do what he did. And even with the weight of recent history upon him, Felix Lucanus didn't miss. He couldn't miss. And that is the story of how APOC blew the chance to take top spot outright from Vakolicci Haven and Celeria, who were also defeated in Togonistan on this matchday and therefore gave us the chance (which he didn't take!) of going up to the top of the group. So sad when teams, players, and people in general don't take their chances.

Women's Gridiron Game Two: APOC Coalition vs. Vilitan Union (Denis)

APOC Coalition      7  6  3  7  23
Vilitan Union       0  3  7  8  18

Hello there, friends, comrades, and fellow fans in gridiron. I am back after a somewhat long break, but only because the APOC Coalition women's gridiron team hasn't seen a lot of action in the past few days. But now they are back in action, and surprisingly they have managed to win! If you want to see a more in-depth analysis of this game then go ahead and check out my blog. If you want something that is quick and somewhat to the point then read on.

Vilitan Union won the toss and deferred, and the APOC women's gridiron team made effective use of their opening possession by consuming over ten minutes during the drive before finally capping it off with a Camilla Fielding touchdown. Vilitan Union then wasted their opening drive by going three-and-out, giving the ball right back to the Coalition. Vilitan Union managed to tighten down on defense but still gave up a field goal before scoring an FG of their own once they got the ball back. APOC then scored another field goal to close out the first half, and then VIlitan Union had another three-and-out to open the second half, but the best that the Coaltion could muster up from that possession was yet another field goal. It was beginning to look like a penalty shootout, as I like to call it.

And then things got... interesting. Vilitan Union scored a touchdown to narrow the Coalition's advantage to just six points. This was then followed by a brief ten minutes or so period in which Kelly Profit appeared to have forgotten how to throw a football, let alone play gridiron. This resulted in the ball going back to the Vilitans, and they took their sweet time moving up the field before finally punching through to the end zone and scoring only their second ever touchdown in the game. Not like APOC were doing any better, but the Vilitans decided that they wanted to spice up this contest by going for two, an attempt in which they surprisingly succeeded. With the two-minute warning coming up, Vilitan Union knew that they needed to hold their ground if they wanted to win this game, but during the break, Kelly Profit finally remembered how to play gridiron and proceeded to execute one of the finest two-minute drills that this gridiron blogger has seen in a very long time. Almost every pass going beyond the numbers for an easy sidestep out of bounds after a completed pass, and sometimes monster gains if the only play to be made is inside the numbers. Thus, with 55 seconds still left to play in the fourth quarter, Kelly threw a pass to Rostislava Yefremova inside the end zone for the Kesselburger Kestrels wide receiver's first touchdown reception in the Olympics and give Vilitan Union only a few seconds to ponder how they would go about regaining the lead. But they never did, and in large part that can be attributed to Anne Roberts-Strachan's sack of the Vilitan Union quarterback with 30 seconds on the clock. That really moved the Vilitans back and didn't allow them to get that first down that they needed. You do have to wonder though what could have happened if ARS didn't get that late late sack. For more discussion into that topic and many others relating to this game, check out my blog, and feel free to drop any comments over there.

Men's Lacrosse Game Four: Vilitan Union vs. APOC Coalition (Aisling)
I just had a cheeky look at the men's lacrosse standings in the Olympics. And this is how I felt after I had that cheeky look.

All the hope, all the dreams, all the expectations, they all slowly faded away, like the old soldier... I should be used to this by now but I'm not. Is there something wrong with me? At least I'm not the last one in line this time, but how long is that gonna last?

Men's Rugby Sevens Game One: APOC Coalition vs. Polynesia (Graham)

APOC Coalition (27)
Try: Honele 1' c
Kasugna 4' c
Partridge 10' c
Con: Mahout (3/3)
Pen: Mahout 5', 12'

Polynesia (17)
Try: 7' c
13' c
Con: (2/2)
Pen: 9'

Ah, finally, back to some proper rugby! Not to say that women's rugby isn't proper rugby; what I mean to say is that we're finally back with some rugby sevens where we the APOC Coalition actually has a chance to finally win more than just one game! I love my girls Anika, Lauri and Rosenda, I really do, but they all really are still not yet on the same level as that of the likes of Adam Sforza, Banunu Honele, and Paul Partridge. And that Brad Votaw chap looks good from here too! Anyway, after that mess that was women's rugby sevens and the rugby league nines thing, normal service has finally resumed with the Coalition men's rugby sevens team racking up their first Olympic victory. But whether this can be sustained or if this is just a flash in the pan like the women's rugby sevens team is still up for debate. But I really, really, really hope that the lads can string together some wins because God knows that the Coalition needs some more morale boosting. Well, I definitely need morale boosting.

And this is how this edition of the Olympic Opinions ends. Always more where this came from but for now, XOXO from Graham; goodbye from Davey; До свидания to my friends, comrades, and fellow fans in gridiron; and a ciao, peace from the Armored Dinner Jacket. Go catch all of us in the next post.

[Greater vakolicci haven]

Samuel Tensel's response to Atwater: we feel fine

Dear mr. Atwater;
I would like to reassure you, on behalf of the Havenic Football Federation and our team, that I feel absolutely fine and am not struggling with fatigue. I have heard about the issues facing your players, and we held a vote in the hotel following the previous game on whether to go easy on you: unfortunately for you we decided against it.
I would recommend that your players invest in Remsinol; the ultimate tiredness-reducing drug that is not on the list of banned substances and can be used to keep athletes in perfect health and conditioning for the next game. Facing a team as dedecated and skilful as the one containing me and my good friends is something that your players should suffer with absolute readiness and alertness: under what other circumstances should they witness their own destruction? If your athletes are given this drug, they will be in with at least a slim chance of victory over the Havenic team, and can face us as if they were our equals (hint: they're not.)
Your reserve goalkeeper needs looking at though, getting tired after his lazy arse has only featured in one game is concerning. Don't make him play against the Haven, it won't be pretty for you or him and if your most recent message is anything to go by you might end up crying.

'Adjusting' to hotel rooms can be a very daunting task I know, however I will provide for your players this handy guide, I hope it helps.

• The big comfortable thing is called the 'bed,' and it is where you sleep.
• Your hotel room might include a slightly less comfortable thing, called a 'chair.' They are less good for sleeping on but are well-suited to sitting.
• Your hotel room might include a thing that's the same shape as the bed, but higher and not comfortable. This is what we call a 'table,' and you don't sit or sleep on it. Instead, you put things on the table, like your drink or your computer.
• The hotel room will probably include little holes in the wall. These are plug sockets, used to charge up your electrical items.
• You do not shit in your hotel room. Their is almost certainly another door which leads off to a 'bathroom,' where this is done.
• You do not shit in the bath. Despite its name, the bathroom contains other things than just the bath: In fact, it might not contain a bath at all! Popular fixtures inside a bathroom include showers, sinks and toilets. The toilet is the low rounded thing with a flush handle on it: this is where you shit. Nowhere else.
• To get in or out of your hotel room, use the door provided. If it does not open, try unlocking it. If it still does not open, call reception. If they are not helpful then kick it down.
• Do not exit your hotel room using the window. Exiting your hotel room via the window is likely to leave you looking like a West Phoenician pole vaulter.

I hope you found my advice helpful, and will circulate it to your players.
Yours sincerely, -
Samuel J. Tensel,
Captain of the Havenic Olympic football team.

[Mattijana]

The Olympic review: Day 10

MFO SPORT

By Katarina Markovic, comedienne and sports writer

We're now 10 days into these Olympic games and whilst this is a milestone of no significance whatsoever, Mattijana have had a good couple of days.

The biggest news is that Matej Grinsko got vindication for his disappointing performance in the 100m breastroke by upgrading his silver medal from the last Olympiad to a gold in the 200m event. Grinsko won by over a second from Kriegiersien's Alf Swimtob, which was itself an impressive performance given that he was probably made of metal.
Grinsko's swim was in fact only 36 hundredths off the Olympic record, a sign of how awesome a swim it was. His gold was Mattijana's third of the games in the pool after the men's 4x200 relay ensured that these games would be the most successful yet for Mattijanan swimming.

Road cycling is always a lottery, but Matej Birjkemann bought home the nation's second ever medal in the sport with silver in the men's time trial. Incidentally, the first was Petre Lara's bronze in the road race back in Electrum, the first Olympic medal ever won by a Mattijanan.

The long course favoured those with stamina over speed and Birjkemann certainly fits that bill. The 28 year old is not the most rapid in a bunch sprint or breakaway, but can slug it out in the long haul as he proved today.

The HOCKEY! is getting to the business end of the group stage and Mattijana's men guaranteed their progress to the round of 16 with a thrilling 6-6 draw against the APOC Coalition.

This match really needs a whole page to do it justice, which I'm sure it's got somewhere, but I can recap. Giorgio Lamanovic opened the scoring after just 5 minutes with a sharp deflected strike before doubling his tally late in the first quarter by snaffling the rebound from a penalty corner.

Despite Mattijana being on top in the first quarter, the second was the APOC coalition's chance to hit back. 23 year old Pridnestrovian Yevdokim Fomichyov drilled in a penalty corner before Rahul Abbas made the most of some sloppy Mattijanan defending to flick in a shot at the near post from a cross. Mattijana got hold of things to keep things all square until half-time.

The first two quarters had both seen one team on top, but the third would be much more even. Mattijana took the lead once more as Mika Loranovic clobbered home a penalty corner into the bottom corner, but the APOC Coalition would again strike back when Fomichyov deflected a loose shot from Ananda Chitanis into the bottom corner of Handanovic's goal.

The pendulum swung again when Loranovic had a penalty corner deflected in via the stick of APOC defender Arun Vaknis. That ended the third quarter with things at 4-3 to Mattijana, but if the match hadn't been crazy enough already, there was plenty more to come.

Mattijana at first seemed to have claimed all three points when winger Sami Turnakiov drove a low shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the D, but once again the coalition would stage a comeback with three goals in just 7 minutes. Substitute Janko Munk got the first with a neat finish when clean on goal before Fomichyov got his hat-trick with a brave diving defelction that would have looked outrageously stupid if the ball had bounced off his stick into his face.

Munk looked to have got the winner when he smashed in a loose ball from a narrow angle, but with just a minute left on the clock, Mattijana scrambled a penalty stroke when APOC goalkeeper Andrij Chaban brought down Turnakiov as he tried to go around the goalkeeper with the goal gaping.
Captain Philip Mensah took responsibility for the stroke and tucked it away neatly into the bottom corner to ensure that Mattijana scrambled the draw.

Mattijana probably would have gone through even if they had lost, but the result ensured they would progress top of the group despite South Covello's 3-1 win against Polkopia. Mattijana will face Laeral in the round of 16 with a potential quarter-final against West Phoencia to come if they win.

There was more history in the Karate as Toni Simonic won the inaugeral men's Kata bronze with victory over Vangaziland's Markus Frankersson. The 22 year old comes from a family of dedicated fighters with older sister Alize, who was knocked of the female Kata in the quarter finals. That means it's Toni who will have the family bragging rights and based on my experience of younger brothers, he will be making the most of them.

Mattijana's men secured a big victory in their opening Rugby sevens match, beating Vekaiyu 17-21. The win puts them comfortably top of the group by virtue of the fact that no-one else in the group managed to win a game thanks to not just one improbable draw, but two.

The final piece of good news for Mattijana came in the mixed multihull as Dominika Kurciĉ and Edvard Craz just about secured gold despite finishing last of the finishers in the medal race. The medal is Mattijana's first gold in a sailing boat, albeit not the first in the sport as a whole after Naomi Windbrandt's gold in the women's windsurfing two Olympics ago.

So that's all the stuff I have to tell you out of the way. What about the fun, but slightly less athletic happenings from Republica?

Katarina's handy guide to: Indusse

Well today's bastion of bizarreness was the often heard, but rarely cared-about nation of Indusse, from the region of India. A media outlet from the country (normally we're good journos and tell you which particular media outlet this was, but the article literally had no title, or date, or anything. It was your school English teacher's worst nightmare) raved about the football team's 2-0 loss to Electrum, which was not particularly unexpected.
It wasn't the dire grammar, lack of titular features or questionable spelling that raised eyebrows however, because we've become used to it by now. No, what got people talking was (for once) the content.

That's because the writer (also unknown) talked about the mysterious concept of 'RP'. This is believed to be the idea that sporting results are determined not only by who is better, but which nation has 'RPd' more.

I appreciate this is a confusing concept for anyone with multiple brain cells and what 'RP' means is also up for debate. Is this the idea that there is some kind of deity who is secretly writing about us and when they're too busy to, our teams lose? If so this is pretty creepy.

Is it the idea that the media somehow have power over the nation they represent? I knew we had more power now than we used to, but I wasn't quite prepared for this. Luckily the idea is quite counter-intuitive and the example of Mattijana proves this. Our delegation has had a pretty good time of things so far despite me writing this dross.

Maybe there's more to it? The Indusseans have some way of telling how much the powers behind other nations (whatever they are) have been doing the 'RP'. Electrum have apparently not been 'RPing' much, but if my media theory was along the right lines, the Turnip's absolutely inspired articles would have done the job.

Then there's the other complication to this. The article claimed that the lack of grammatically coherent news coming out of Indusse was due to the lack of RP being because of exams. If there is some kind of deity involved, do they have to pump out the odd essay to prove they can still write? This must be rubbish as if it were true, Indussean news articles would simply not exist.

Personally, I think it's all bollocks.

[Free Republics]

Day 11 Cutoff

[West Phoenicia]

West Phoenicia has always acknowledged their history of seafaring. The original Phoenicians had travelled by sea. The Greater Phoenician Empire had been created from this colonisation. Years later West Phoenicia after they broke away from the tyrannical Greater Phoenicia they never forgot their roots.
Roccio Salvador has been hailed as one of the best West Phoenician athletes in the event of sailing.

Back at the Summer Olympics Games in Aeropag she pulled in an amazing silver win in the women's Sailboard, after being at the top of the pack for the entire race only to be beaten by Naomi Windbrandt of Mattijana.
She returned for the Olympic Games in Kelssek and Vekaiyu and won the gold in the same event after yet again being at the head of the pack.
Wen-Lee Cell also joined the sailing elite in Kelssek and Vekaiyu by pulling in a bronze medal in the Women’s One-Person Dinghy.

West Phoenicia wanted Sailing to be a sport that the nation dominated to respect their traditions and history. And these games had shown West Phoenicia move a little further in cementing their nation as a top Sailing nation.

With the retirement of Roccio Salvador the task of winning the Women's Windsurfer fell to Lady Tryphaena Ptolemy, not as internationally known and not as competitive as Miss Salvador there was concern that while she was at the top of the pack, she wasn't as fierce as her predecessor. That turned out true as we lost back to back gold and had to settle for bronze.
Wen-Lee was back for the One-Person Dinghy, a powerhouse from the first race, you could see in her eyes she wanted more. And she did not let us down, improving on her last performance she pulled in a good win.

Alan Anton who narrowly missed pulling in a medal at the last Olmpics showed his competitors he was not going to miss out again as he sailed hard and also flawlessly. He was in a cosy second place at the end of race 12 and finished with a silver medal in the final race, losing by a mere 4 points against Bashir Shishani of the Free Republics. With such a close finish, he has really showed the people back home he has extraordinary talent and would be a big contender for pulling in a gold medal at future Olympic Games.

Yael Israel pulled in a bronze medal in the Heavyweight Dinghy and Lord Diodotus Dundas pulled in a silver in the Men's Heavyweight Dinghy. Both are veterans in the sport and had been for games in the past.
The West Phoenician Sailing Federation decision to keep sailing athletes around even after loses in past Olympics and work with them to weed out possible faults has been a brilliant move on their part, seasoned players are more attuned to their surroundings and having been through the experience before. It certainly paid off with West Phoenicia earning 5 medals just in sailing!

The West Phoenician Sailing Federation need hurdle is too look at keeping the great sailors they have and building on their medal pull by investing and investigating the events of Mixed Multihull and Men and Women's Skiff were the athletes performed poorly. These are there events that West Phoenicia is looking to improve on, in their pursuit of toppling Electrum sailors who are one of West Phoenicia’s biggest competitors in the field of sailing.

[Kelssek]

"WE ARE BEING LIED TO": SOCIAL MEDIA SAYS AMUAPLYE BOMBER WAS AN INSIDE JOB!

Are the bombs being mailed throughout Amuapyle and its Olympic delegation the work of a determined terrorist, or a government conspiracy? A growing number of professional YourTube commenters are uncovering evidence that it is actually a false flag operation.

"A false flag is when you use a flag that's not your real one," explained food service technician Martin Noel, who is an administrator of the group Fire Memes for Pyromaniac Teens and was recently named employee of the week at the Manatolin Centre food court for mopping up the poop of a wailing 4-year old child.

Another fact is that despite early reports of Father Christmas stamps being used on the packages, this detail has been completely left out of more recent incidents. "It's obvious that Santaclausisgodistan was unhappy about this and sent their agents to tell them to stop," said Noel.

Electrical wiring professional Hannah Lumlin is also skeptical because bombs are not easy to find and are prohibited from being sent through the mail. "Every time you send a package, they always ask you if there are any liquids, perishables, or dangerous goods. Bombs are really dangerous, so if you said you had a bomb inside, they just wouldn't let you mail it. This clearly means some people are deliberately looking the other way."

Lumlin, who has studied chemistry before, is also convinced by hidden photographs of the cargo planes damaged by the bombs that the official story cannot account for the vast amounts of jet fuel leaking onto the airport's steel fencing.

Online forum users are also tireless in their search for answers after a photos of an office supposedly destroyed by a bomb showed the wreckage of a light aircraft. The photo was then hastily pulled down with the mainstream media unconvincingly explaining that it was a "mistake".

"You can't trust journalists but they simply don't make mistakes like that. Clearly the secret services threatened to drag their childrens' intestines out with rusty hooks if they didn't fall into line with the deep state", read one surprisingly articulate comment.

According to military aviation expert PM_ME_PARAKEETS, it was clearly a "kamikaze" mission to kill someone who knew too much, a tactic commonly used by the Empire of Japan, a fictional nation from the popular Earthworlds alternate history series. "That person was killed by a plane flying into a building, not some ridiculous thermite bomb sent by Expresspost. Can anyone find the tracking number? Didn't think so."

Indeed, for these self-proclaimed "Truthers", the mantra has become: "Steel beams can't melt jet fuel". Enthusiasts can purchase these stickers from our online shop for only τ3.99 plus shipping.

Others have resorted to more conventional detective techniques, with talk radio host Jones Smith devoting his entire two-hour syndicated program to the issue yesterday.

"When you look him up in the phone book - yes, I'm surprised we still have those but there you go - Sergei Volkov lives in a northeastern suburb of Ulyanof, and you can see when you search that he is a dental hygienist, definitely not a mail bomber. So who is this person supposedly sending bombs to the Olympics? There's something we're not being told here," he told his listeners.

Smith also dismissed the mainstream media's timeline of events following news of another mail bomb at a television station in Amuapyle.

"So the bomb goes off at 8:08. The emergency services show up at 8:11. How did the fire department get there so quickly? You ever set your house on fire? You're lucky if these lazy government slobs... and we need to drain the swamp of these parasites, by the way. You're lucky if they get there before the ammunition cache in your bomb shelter explodes. And WHAT HAPPENS AT 8:09?"

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[Vangaziland]

Racing | Track Life | Off Grid | Fast Women

Auto Racing Vangaziland

The story of Vannish Motors Racing begins with the chassis. 'VM33' is the codename of the award winning body of the Auto Racing Vangaziland car. It utilizes the latest in aerodynamic design, including a small tail fin that rises above the chassis. It helps refine the car's handling, though it is limited from extreme angles. A twin-turbo V8 built to WGPC specifications powers the car. An adjustable suspension will be tuned specifically for the high speed conditions at Republica Motor Speedway.

Vannish Motors' race cars are known for their vibrant sound. The new V8 engines do not wail in as many high notes as the older V10s. VM33's engines rev high for the class, bringing more sound. The indigo and red cars are some of the loudest on the track, especially with the acoustics of the enclosed speedway. The echoes of Vannish engines bounce high off the rafters of the 500,000 seat stadium, screaming to announce each shift with a brief break in howling.

Auto Racing Vangaziland drivers trained at Vannish Motors Racing Headquarters in South Stead, VNG. The open, sweeping course provided good preparation for the fast track Olympiad XIII will host. Republica Motor Speedway is described as a flat 2.5 mile course. It has been compared to great open wheel oval tracks of the past.

Skills of both stock and open wheel drivers can come into play on the fast course. Qualifying for the women's race took place on Day 11. Vangaziland entered four drivers. Three would qualify. One would exit in spectacular fashion.

#33 Karli Schmitt - Pole Position
Placing first in a qualifying session is known as a pole position. Tracks give out awards in many series for this honor. Drivers covet the result for best starting placement and bragging rights alike. The XIII Olympiad would be no different. Karli Schmitt won the pole with a blistering time of 39.096. Only two other drivers qualified under 40 seconds. The ARV #33 was clearly dialed into Republica.

"It was electric", Schmitt told reporters. "The sound of so many fans around the track was just... Stunning."

Karli Schmitt earned her international 'cred' in WGP2 II. The series is a developmental league by design. It must be said that serious talent exists in the league, with WGP2 graduates like Jang Xiaopeng finishing in the higher leagues top 5. Karli didn't just win the driver's title. She led VMR to the team championship as well. The end of her season saw her in a bitter fight to win her first titles.

Her rival for the Constructors' Championship (team title) was VTM Tropicorp Engineering. Imperial Motorsports readers will identify the team as the biggest race product out of Vilita. The rivalry between VTM and VMR makes the Olympic spat between VNG and KWP look smol (sic). The same Cocoabo #23 praised by the Vilitan press crashed out of the season's last race, along with Oceanic title hopes. Karli fought to a clutch third place finish at Revinka, Mattijana.

Karli's machine did well because the settings were set well for the course. Many teams would still have to adjust throughout the race. The ARV #33 prepared great aerodynamics and gear ratios. She looked extremely motivated in her fastest laps, putting up a time the pack would not catch.

#40 Jenna Vandersen - 3rd
Baroness Jenna Vandersen put up a speedy session of her own. Her time was also under 40 seconds. She would start 3rd, separated from teammate Karli Schmitt by Eastfield Lodge racer Dahlia Dahl. Dahl was also known for racing in the WGPO. Baroness Vandersen's pit crew prepared a fast car in the #40. Each Vannish car worked independently to prepare their settings. By tradition, there was only so much cross talk between the ARV cars before a race.

Jenna started racing internationally in WGP2 I. She drove alongside a Vannish teammate to help win the Constructors Championship. Her teammate Jang Xiaopeng won the Drivers Championship. The Baroness paid her way onto the WGP2 team in a role the sport calls a 'pay driver'. It is not uncommon for wealthy drivers to purchase a seat on a race team. Jenna's success with her team earned her an Olympic spot.

The Baroness was excited as she crossed the finish line. She pumped her fist in the air to the cheers of the Vannish fans in attendance. At the time, Vandersen sat just below Schmitt. Dahl later put up a faster time than Jenna to slide into the 2nd starting spot.

"This is such a great stage to compete on", Baroness Vandersen said after her qualifying run. "All of us drivers should thank the Free Republics for this chance to be a part of the Olympiad. Just being here is a dream." An Olympic win would add a lot to Jenna's career, which has a team championship, but no driver's title.

"Every driver can be proud to represent their nation, no matter where they finish", said the Baroness.

#50 Ellie Lindskog - 29th
Ellie drives stock cars for NSSCRA. Her best finish in the series was 3rd place. In a series based around postseason elimination, Ellie progressed to the Championship Race. Open wheel racing proved to be a challenge for the youngest Auto Racing Vangaziland driver. Ellie put up a few laps fast enough to see her qualify. She often looked shaky on her line, as simple as it was.

"The confidence just wasn't there", Ellie said about her qualifying effort. "The perspective is so much different in an open wheel car. It's something I'm trying to get used to. The handling is also different to me. It kind of feels twitchy. I'll need to work on adjustments throughout the race."

A 29th place start could discourage many drivers. Towards the ends of NSSCRA 7's Chase, Ellie staved off elimination by fighting back from poor qualifying starts. Her flaw from the end of NSSCRA seemed to have followed her to the Olympiad. Lindskog was able to fight back into the top 10 often enough to finish NSSCRA 7 in the top 3. The precedent was there. Olympic competition might prove harder, especially with the nature of open wheel race cars. It is much harder to draft off cars used in the Olympiad compared to the stock cars Ellie is familiar with. The tactic helped allow Ellie to make up time in her Royal Imperial Brewery stock car. It might not work here.

It would take an amazing effort for Ellie to make any headway from her start. She still gets the pleasure of competing in the Olympic race. All ARV racers would not get this honor.

#25 Jessica Franssen - DNQ
Miss Franssen entered Olympiad XIII as one of the most highly touted drivers on the list. Much has been said about her championships in the WGPC and CRC. Jess wasn't just the team's designated captain. She carried the flag for the opening ceremony. Jess is one of the biggest celebrities on the Vannish team.

Her qualifying run would end in spectacular fashion. It was still early in her session, before her had tires warmed up. This meant her times were slower when 'it' happened. With the cost of bringing machines to the Olympiad, corners were cut. Jess Franssen was given an older chassis. She drove a car with many of the same VM33 components of Karli Schmitt's WGP2 car. This was a machine that had been driven hard over a great deal of miles.

The engine was also rebuilt to WGPC specifications. The 'red light of doom' lit on Jessica's dash as she sped around turn 3. She noticed she was losing engine pressure. There was a blast of acrid, black smoke. Bits of the engine were hurled from the car's exhaust in an explosion. Jess had to coast to the inside of the track to roll to a stop in the runoff lane. Her engine was smoking, so she didn't want to stay in the car. She popped off the harness as the smoke began to pick up.

As Jess climbed out and jogged away, flames spread across the bright chassis.

Firefighters arrived on the scene as the smoke and flames rose high. Karli Schmitt's WGP2 winning chassis had just burned up at the XIII Olympiad under Jessica's control. Onlookers were shocked as Jessica hopped onto the recovery vehicle to ride away from her burning title hopes. "This kind of thing happens in racing", Jess said with a half smile after her race. Those who know Jess know she is great at taking bad news. She often has time to make up for poor results during a long season. She would get no such chance at the Olympiad. Jess still took it in stride.

"If one of us was going to have engine problems, I would rather have it be me", Jess said. "I wouldn't want anyone else to be in danger of that fire. I don't want to sit out the big race, but there will be many races in my career." Jessica's Olympic run would be known more for fireworks than any success.

The Field
Cocoabo #28 sits on the tail of Jenna Vandersen. The lady bird is starting 4th. Cocoabo comes off a NSSCRA season which saw her compete against Ellie Lindskog and two of Vangaziland's male Olympic drivers. The racing team under the sponsorship of CoCoCo had plenty of ups and downs. So-called 'enriched' Cocoabo drivers have made headlines in the racing world for successful runs.

Both Jenna Vandersen and Karli Schmitt raced against a different Cocoabo in #23. The sight of #28 in their mirror from the start will be an ominous sight. These birds are known to push relentlessly towards victory. Cocoabo #28 will likely have an impact on the final standings.

Vanessa Adelaide drives for West Phoenicia. Although the Confederate Empire has had absolutely little impact on the world of international motorsports, they brought fast cars to the Olympiad. Adelaide showed herself a capable racer by qualifying 5th. She is certainly in good position to make a run at the title. It will take a major defensive effort to keep Vanessa from victory lane.

Brittany Gillian and Rachel Crowell are two drivers that cannot be underestimated. Both women hail from Cassadaigua.Their countrywoman Stacey Houston won the NSSCRA 7 Championship. She beat rivals from places like Vilitia & Turori, the Sherpa Empire and Saint Kanye. Besides bringing talented drivers, the Dagans proved they could build an award winning car. Both drivers will hope to capitalize from top 10 starts.

Jasmin Kranjska is another name familiar to WGPO fans. The Mattijanan has raced for several teams. She has enough experience to make the most from a start outside of the top 10. Mattijana is just north of Vangaziland's Esportivan colony and across the Hollander Sea. The countries are rivals in sports, with MRT keeping the team title from VMR in WGPC 16. A recent poll showed more Vangazi view Mattijana as an ally rather than a rival. Voting numbers won't stop Kranjska from attempting to snatch Olympic victory from the pole sitter.

There is also the chance for outlyers like Tyche Burke from Diarcesia to win. Many drivers have not been scouted by Vannish analysts. One of them may very well catch the scent of triumph on a fast, open track. Eyes of the Multiverse's motorsport fans are tuned into Republica Motor Speedway.

[West Phoenicia]

Dedicated to the One I hate...

Bang, Bang (My baby shot me down)

Glaphyra Cappadocia walked into the room she shared with Doris Judah, Livia Rush and Marianne Haddassian, three other women of the West Phoenician Camogie team.
It really had been an honour to travel to these games and take part in and compete against other nations.
Back in West Phoenicia, Camogie was only played at a university level. As goalkeeper and captain of the team she would have been happy with just one win. But the group had performed better than even their coach Rita St Clair could imagine. They had somehow worked as a tight knit group and made it as far as the quarter-finals where they had lost to Amuaplye 18-23.
Could they have done more? Of course there is always room to do more. They just didn't seize the opportunity.

Vangaziland had taken out the Gold Demonstration medal for the event. Job well done for a sport that hadn't been played at this level before.
Glaphyra had attended the finals match and wished the girls good luck. While many in the West Phoenician delegation would have encouraged the Vangazi team to break a leg literally, she and most of her other squad members had avoided the rivalry. Her room mate Doris Judah who played right corner back was the only one to cheer against the Vangazi team by sitting with members of
Vilitan Union. She had to be reminded that we didn't much like them either. But she saw it as supporting the lesser of the two evils.
A quarter of the team had returned home, the remainder were enjoying watching other events and waiting for the Closing Ceremony.


Glaphyra let out a small shriek as she entered the room. She thought she would have the place to herself. Doris was on a hot date with her boyfriend Cooper Ng, who played right corner back on the Men's Hurling Team. While Livia and Mariamne were down at the Garden of Eden Club for Casino Night. She had promised them she would make an appearance, she just didn't feel up to it.
Her room mate Livia shrieked back equally as loud.
“What are you doing here? Glaphyra asked.

“This is my room to you know! Livia shot back, she was seated at the vanity table applying blush.

“I didn't mean it like that. I meant I didn't expect you here. Aren't you going to Casino Night?”

“Still am. I'm still getting ready. Nearly done. She placed the blush brush down and picked up the small jar of lip gloss. You still coming?”

“Maybe,”

“Any chance I could borrow the car you rented. Save me having to wait for the bus,” Livia smiled sheepishly as she smiled at her room mate through the mirror.

“Sure, just don't damage it.”

Glaphyra was still planning on heading out of Republica and check out some of the surrounding towns and points of interest.

“Can I borrow your gorgeous jacket, it will go so well with this outfit. Livia stood up and did a small twirl in her short red dress with thin spaghetti straps that hugged her figure in all the right places.”

As both girls were the same height and body size, Livia had borrowed a lot of Glaphyra’s outfits.

“Yes, but bring it back unspoiled.”

The jacket had cost her a small fortune.

“I will, cross my heart and hope to die.”

It didn't take Livia long to get ready. “You sure you don't want to come. If you change your mind just call me and I'll come to pick you up.” Livia said smas she ran a hand through her brunette hair.

Livia strutted towards the door than stopped “oh an envelope arrived for you while you were out.” She indicated towards the desk.

“Who dropped it off?”

“Security I think. Seen alot more security today.”

“Probably due to what happened to Jeremiah True.”

“It's a shame. Why kill yourself just because you loss. It's really sad,”

“So it was suicide?”

“That or he was drunk and toppled off. Inga, the bathroom attendant believes it was suicide. And you know the hired help always have the best ins for gossip. Toodles love,” Livia said as she waved goodbye.

Glaphyra decided she would stay in. Pop some popcorn and watch a movie down in the recreational room. She waltzed over to the table and examined the manilla envelope.

Who would send her a letter. Most people just posted on social media in this day of age. She ripped open the envelope and out popped an iPod nano and a sheet of paper. “I dedicate this song to you, signed Your number 1 fan.”

Glaphyra face grew red. How sweet a fan letter. She slipped the ear buds in her ear and pressed play. The song began to play as Nancy Sinatra low voice drew out the words to “Bang, bang, (my baby shot me down)
It was not a song she would normally listen too, she pulled the ear buds out and tossed the mini iPod to her bed. She stout over to the window, as a cool breeze was causing goosebumps to appear on her arms.

She reached the window and could just make out Livia walking to the car she had rented. Dusk had fallen and a number of the light's in the Carpark had yet to switch on. There were at least a dozen people milling about outside.

That was when the first bang sounded. It was like a loud clap of thunder, that nearly had Glaphyra jump out of her skin. Two more loud bangs rang out in quick succession. She dropped to the floor in terror, it didn't sound like thunder.
Loud voices and screams began to pop up from downstairs, she pulled herself up to peer out the window. Her eyes once again adjusted to the night sky as she looked down towards the Carpark. Someone was lying near her car and suddenly people began to rush over from all directions.

“She's been shot,” a male voice rang out. “Someone call an ambulance,”

Livia was near her car! The blood started to drain from Glaphyra brain, she felt herself grow light headed. As the car park lights grew brighter, she could make out her jacket, long legs in a red dress laying on the ground. “Oh my god,”

Glaphyra fainted.

[Laeral]

Le Laeralien

---

Vol. 37 Num. 18

Saturday, January 19, 2018

International Edition

---

Kemal Wins Bronze; First Laeralian Olympic Medal
By Xie Tao, Athletic Correspondent

Tatiana Kemal after her victory in the Round of 16
Tatiana Kemal, the controversial fencer who was catapulted to fame after calling the West Phoenician delegation "spoiled brats", has won an Olympic medal and a place in Laeralian sports history as the first-ever Laeralian athlete to win a medal at the Summer Olympics. Kemal, a talented swordswoman, immigrated to Laeral with her family as a toddler. Today, in a rapid series of matches watched by dozens of Laeralites who had made the trip to Republica, Kemal won the bronze medal in the women's individual sabre fencing event.

Kemal's first match today was in the round of 16. She swiftly dispatched Free Republics's Madina Ryzaev, 15-9 (fencing matches go until one fencer scores a hit on their opponent fifteen times). In the quarterfinals, she faced Diarcesia's Christabel Ambrosi. Displaying her characteristic speed and grace, Kemal moved almost casually, knocking aside Ambrosi's attacks and displaying a truly masterful riposte, allowing her to win 15-8. Kemal was tired after that round, but still mustered up her trademark grin for the reporters, and flashed a 'V-for-victory' sign.

It was in the semifinals, against New Saria's Chelsea Merry, that Kemal finally slowed. The match was close-fought, but Merry's superior footwork won out, and Kemal was defeated 15-13. Kemal walked off the strip in high spirits, and next went to the consolation match for the bronze medal.

The consolation match was against Honey Boden, of Krytenia. Boden, an experienced fencer, was nevertheless caught off guard by Kemal's dynamic attack, and Kemal won a clean victory, 15-7. Brianna Kovarik, of Cassadaigua, ultimately won the gold medal, while Chelsea Merry, who defeated Kemal in the semi-finals, won silver.

As Tatiana Kemal took to the medal podium with her new Olympic medal, she looked stoically forward, although sharp-eyed observers noted a single tear of joy pooling in the corner of her eye. Kemal was presented with a bouquet of flowers by the Laeralian Olympic Council upon leaving the podium, as Laeralian news media swarmed her.

Well-wishers took to social media to express their congratulations, while Kemal herself posted a picture to Setsuzoku of the bed at her hotel room covered with presents, bouquets, and cards. In an interview after her victory, she said that she was grateful to "my coach, my family, [fellow fencer Wen] Lingxin, and of course all of Laeral, for taking in my family and giving me the opportunity to develop my skills". Kemal's victory made the front page of Aujourd'hui, the popular daily lifestyle newspaper, and President Brennan himself took the step of congratulation Kemal on Setsuzoku, saying "Ms. Kemal's efforts, and those of all our athletes at the #Olympics, are worthy of great praise". Brennan had previously tweeted a picture of himself watching Kemal on television.

In other sports:
Women's Football: Coming off of two draws, the Laeralian women lost to Sirian 2-0, bringing their overall record to two draws and one loss. The Laeralian women are now in fifth place in their group, in danger of not making it into the knockout rounds. Eva Yeoh, striker and team captain, has vowed that her team "will deliver a victory for Laeral", punctuating the remark with a grin.
Women's Handball: In a match against regional neighbor Sanctaria, the only other IDU nation in the Olympics, Laeral won 28-26. The match was well-played on both sides and marked by good sportsmanship, with many team members exchanging jerseys after the match. Laeral is now second in the group of six.
Women's Basketball: Despite having been placed in a 'group of death' with such sporting powerhouses as Vangaziland, Amuapyle, and Main Nation Ministry, Laeral is thriving. Laeral defeated Main Nation Ministry, a totalitarian dictatorship, 78-69, and is now second in the group, behind Vangaziland.
Women's Archery: Noemie Kwan was eliminated in the Round of 16; no more Laeralites remain in the women's individual archery event.
Women's Water Polo: Laeral defeated Taeshan 11-5 in their opening match. Laeral is now at the top of the group.
Men's 3x3 Basketball: Laeral narrowly defeated Kelssek, 18-17.
Women's Hockey: Laeral defeated Titaniumland 3-1, keeping Laeral at the top of the group.
Men's Baseball: Laeral lost to New Saria, 10-7. With two consecutive losses, Laeral is in fifth place in the group of six.
Women's Softball: The Laeralian women defeated Darmen in a closely-fought match, 8-7, elevating Laeral to the top of the group.
Women's Dodgeball: Laeral smashed Togonistan 9-2 to move to the top of the group.
Men's Chess: Of Laeral's three male chess players, one won, one drew, and one lost.

[The Sherpa Empire]

----‭֎-‬---

Tshering would have thought that Subedi might have something better to do besides complain now that the auto racing events were getting under way. Even if it was just the women's qualifying today, didn't Subedi have any interest in watching that? Or going over his preparations for his own race? Or practicing when the women cleared the track? Apparently not. He was still railing about how Kai Qiang set a bad example for all the impressionable children that might look up to him after watching the Olympics. He was so persistent that Tshering eventually had to shoo him out. There was a difference between being a resource for the athletes if they had problems or concerns and being an audience for irrelevant political diatribes.

With Subedi out of his hair, Tshering managed to assemble some reporters and camera crews for a press conference. "The Olympics are supposed to be a time when we put our differences aside and come together in peace and good sportsmanship, with respect for our competitors," he said. "Our athletes -- and I mean all of our athletes, from every nation, not only from the Sherpa Empire... Our athletes should be able to compete here without fearing for their safety. Instead, three West Phoenician athletes have been murdered and it seems like every day there is another bombing in Amuaplye. I am not a security professional. I don't have any special training to deal with these kinds of problems, and I don't want to tell anybody how to do their jobs, but there are certain people in the Sherpa Empire who have spiritual powers which might be useful in apprehending the culprits behind these crimes, or providing protection for athletes. I have a group of volunteers who are available to assist the Republica police or any Olympic committee that needs some extra help keeping your athletes safe. If any individual believes they are in danger, and would like my volunteers to protect you, regardless of nationality, my door is open."

"Says the guy that slammed the door in my face this morning!" Karma Subedi yelled sarcastically from somewhere in the crowd.

"That man's not on a hitlist; he's just a homophobe," Tshering explained to the reporters.

After the press conference broke up, Tshering teleported over to the hotel where Baroness Flora Freeman was staying and left a note urging her to take advantage of his offer and let Kenchi Ihawa assist the West Phoenician delegation with security.

(Kenchi Ihawa is a retiree in her 80s who has a talent for magic. People from nations that compete in the World Baseball Classic might know her as Jamling Ihawa's mom.)

Meanwhile, Kai Qiang (who had returned to Republica late the night before) and Vijay Tripathi were both out at the race track to see the women's qualifying session. Like sensible motorsport enthusiasts. Neither of them had ever figured out what the point was in having separate races for men and women, but since they were not the ones organizing the Olympics, they just had to roll with it.

Tripathi felt sorry for Jessica Franssen, whose car caught fire. He wanted to take her out for a beer and try to make her feel better, but he didn't know enough English to ask. He looked around for Qiang, who did know some English, even if he spoke it with broken grammar and a thick accent. Qiang was saying hi to Ellie Lindskog, who he knew from NSSCRA, even if they weren't all that close. Tripathi came over and tapped him on the shoulder and explained that he needed help asking Franssen out for a beer. "What are you going to do if she says yes?" Qiang asked. "You're supposed to talk to people when you take them out for a beer." They were speaking Sherpa, which was not either man's first language, but was the only one they had in common.

"I'll buy you a beer too," said Tripathi. "Come on."

"You didn't ask if I want one!"

"Come on, I'm offering you free beer," said Tripathi. "Let's go!"

Qiang hastily excused himself from his conversation with Lindskog as Tripathi grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.

----‭֎-‬---

[Cocoabo Forest]

Cocoabo #28 heads out onto the track for their Qualifying Run at Republica Motor Speedway

Republica Motor Speedway, Republica, Free Republics :: After spending the better part of the season piloting full-bodied Stock Cars, Cocoabo #28 got their first chance to take the track in open wheel competition as the Auto Racing demonstration kicked off at the Republica Motor Speedway in the Free Republics. After the practice sessions were complete it would be on to Qualifying in the Women's event which featured such names as Vangaziland's Jessica Franssen and Jenna Vandersen, Dalia Dahl of Eastfield Lodge and even Ellie Lindskog, one of Cocoabo #28's competitors on the NSSCRA circuit.

When it come time for Qualifying there were 46 drivers competing for 33 spots in the race and Cocoabo #28 passed the test with flying colors posting the fourth fastest time setting themselves up to start the race on the inside of the second row right behind the pole winner Karli Schmitt of Vangaziland. The Top 4 drivers are all well familiar to the fans of major racing series although there are some other strong performances in the pack from drivers who have not competed in the spotlight of the inter-multiversal competitions but have instead proven their talents and earned their olympic berths through performances within their home country. One driver who will not be amongst the field of 33 will be highly touted Vannish driver Jessica Franssen who had made headlines in her home country by trading in the open cockpit for the cozy comfort of the full bodied stock car even winning a pole position as a part-time competitor on the NSSCRA circuit. Franssen, however, would be the slowest of the 46 drivers at the Republica Motor Speedway. Franssen, who had carried the Vangaziland flag during the Opening Ceremony of these games, would have only that highlight to take away from the Free Republics as their qualifying chances literally went up in smoke and with no time to repair the vehicle or get Franssen back out before the end of the session the Vannish captain would be heading home early.

Elsewhere at the games it was a bittersweet for Cocoabo #62 in the Women's Marathon as the Cocoabo was able to post a personal best time and all-time female Cocoabo Record of 2:27:35 but fell just short of the Medal Podium as the 4th runner to cross the line, fifteen seconds behind the Bronze medal winner Ranka Verbnjak of the host nation Free Republics. Still it was a major leap forward for Cocoabo #62 and the entire Cocoabo Athletics Program having improved their time from the last Olympic Games by nearly 6 minutes and almost shocking the world yet again in one of the Olympic Games signature discipline.

Of course, even an upset win in the Marathon wouldn't quite come close to the excitement - and perhaps controversy - surrounding Cocoabo #54's victory in the other most prominent Women's event on the Track and Field schedule, the 100m Final. For the second straight olympic games Cocoabo #54 - the fastest female Cocoabo at the games other than perhaps Cocoabo #28 who has the aide of a few hundred horsepower in a racing machine, advanced to the 100m Final. During Cocoabo #54's only previous international appearance they had impressed with a fifth place run in the final working throughout the competition to improve their time increasing their personal best by four tenths of a second from the start to finish of the competition. This time around, there was a buzz surrounding the Cocoabo that was seen by many as one of the Cocoabo to beat and potentially the Cocoabo Forests best shot for a Gold Medal at the games, along with the Football Squad and a handful of the Cocoabo Forests accomplished boxing talents such as Cocoabo #90. While Things certainly did not go well for Cocoabo #90, Cocoabo #54 did not disappoint and supporters of the Cocoabo Preservation Society rejoiced as she crossed the line in 10.73 seconds, blistering the field to shatter her personal best time, set a new Cocoabo Record for Female 100m sprint to take the Gold medal over Vangaziland's Stacy Iona. Cocoabo #54 nearly put their name in the record books just one beaklength shy of an Olympic Record, a time of 10.71 which was set by Lacey Millican at Zube and Nassau Bay. While Cocoabo #54's victory was not without some controversy - Dagan runner Hannah Sutherland, clearly and visible upset at missing out on the medals, said some things in the heat of the finish that she may regret in hindsight, criticizing Cocoabo #54's figure including her rotund hind quarters that were accused of crowding Hannah out and the Cassadaiguan athlete went on to suggest that the Cocoabo didn't belong on the track with her. While acceptance of the Cocoabo has grown a long way since the formation of the Cocoabo Preservation Society, incidents like Ms. Sutherlands post event interview emphasize that there is always more work to be done for the Cocoabo Preservation Society.

[Vangaziland]

Although the Vangazi were mostly staying on a rather plain campus, it had its charm. It was similar to sports camps in some ways. Most Olympians were familiar with this, making it comfortable. It also reminded some of those old enough to have served as conscripts of their time in the military. The athletes were forced to bond. There were plenty of get togethers and partiers. The Quad blasted music until 10 PM every night. People milled about afterwards, but had to keep down noise for those sleeping.

Jenna Vandersen and Liz Marsden had been hanging out in a way that annoyed Jess. She kept showing up to exchange stories or share a laugh. Jess wanted Jenna to herself, without these interruptions. Both drivers had their qualifying run earlier in the day. She sat at a desk on her laptop as Jenna and Liz talked.

"So tell me", Liz said. "I show you my favorite gossip rags all the time. What are yours?"

Jenna thought for a moment. "Gossip rags? I don't know. Like some UFO mag?"

"No", Liz replied. "Some propaganda machine put out by your competitors just to try swaying public opinion. You know, like Norma Mansfield."

"Oh!" Jenna leaned forward at her desk to grab a large tablet. "That's easy. Check this out." Without a second thought, she pulled up the latest article from a particular line of Vilitan publishers. She picked the latest Olympiad piece from a Tropicorp publisher.

Liz took the tablet and read, scrolling with her finger. "They're poking fun at Jess carrying the flag", Liz said with a giggle. Jenna took the tablet and read that part.

"Who says burning up a car in grand fashion isn't a highlight?" Jenna was in laughing spirits as she joking replied to the article. Jess turned to shoot Jenna a glaring look. Jenna continued. "It said Jessica's only highlight would be carrying the flag. People will be internet searching Jessica's fire for years. No press is bad press."

"This IS a propaganda mag", Liz said. "It picks at the Vannish again. Bringing up Stacy Iona? That was days ago."

Jenna laughed as she adjusted her curly hair. It kept falling in front of her face. "This is tame", Jenna said. "There was a major controversy in the last NSSCRA season. The same Cocoabo I raced against here was hurt. Some say Tropicorp media was part of a plan to exaggerate the injury."

"Why would they do that?" Liz looked confused as she asked the question. She adjusted the scrunchie that held her golden hair back.

"Many reasons", Jenna said. "Vilita and Tropicorp worked together to flood the field with their cars and sponsors. There was a particular car they wanted to swap in. They were trying to pump the brand. Maybe his car was running faster. But it was clear their big wigs wanted Cocoabo out." The stock car league featured 'charters'. The number of cars competing for teams each week varied for each race. Each track featured one open spot teams could compete for.

Savvy Vilitans attempted to add additional charters to VTM and Tropicorp projects. They tried to stack the odds in their favor by asking Margaret for more chances. Stacie Houston of Cassadaigua took Season 7's title, preventing the exta cars from having an impact. Another Vannish Olympian, Ellie Lindskog finished 3rd.

It was said that Ellie was most nervous after her race. She knew what she had done in NSSCRA.

"I don't think it's legit that a Cocoabo can compete against humans in track and field", said Liz. "They should give Stacy the gold, since she was the fastest human."

"The company just makes me worry", Jenna said. "The Cocoabo Enrichment Program? I hope they don't hurt and experiment on those poor birds. What about the Cocoabo? Do they want to be doing this? Or are they trained? I feel like I should use my Royal platform to speak out."

Liz giggled as she chewed her neon yellow-green bubble gum. The bubble gum brand 'Tubular' sponsored the Vannish cheer team. Their investment cut into the cost for the Vannish delegation to add the demonstration event to the roster. Many would have Tubular gum to blame for the entire Vannish cheer situation. "There has been some odd news", Liz said as she leaned back in a plush chair. "Some Vilitans and Phoenicians have been seen together. They appear to be forming an unholy alliance."

"Now Liz", Jenna said with a shaky voice. "You have to be nice." The Baroness couldn't help but let a rumbling laugh escape.

Jessica Franssen finally cut into the conversation. "How do you know?" Jess twisted in her spinning chair to stare down Liz.

"I've got scouts", Liz said. "Ew", Liz added as she thought about people from the Vilitian Union and the Confederate Empire hanging out. She shuddered at the thought.

Jess let herself smile. She didn't dislike the cheerleaders as much as even she thought she did. They were just the byproduct of part of Imperial Society. "I hope the Vilitans know", Jess said with deviously lowered eyelids. "I never technically lost at the Olympiad. Bit of car trouble", Jess said jokingly. "I could have won."

"MMMmmhmm. Right Jess", Liz replied sarcastically. Jenna put her hand over her mouth as a laugh escaped her closed mouth.

[Kriegiersien]

Olympic stories

Chef de Mission Llywelyn Rose enters the room, smashing the door of the head of the gymnastic delegation open.

“Skinner!”

“What?”
“The women's gymnastic. A disaster.”
“I can’t explain.”
“Not one even close to qualifying. Not one! In one of our most successful disciplines.”
“I really can’t explain. They were all in top form. World Class. Talented. Like their parents. Trained by their parents, who won so many medals. They should be better.”
“They are missing real manliness.”
“Of course. They are women. The men didn’t do that bad.”
“La-di-da. Women should be manly too. The new generation is weak. Weak I say. I told the president to invest in manly sports. Fighting, weightlifting, fencing, athletics. Now he will believe me.”
“The athletes haven’t won that much despite the new blood. Very tough, virile barbarians. But until now..”
“Shut up. The country is in crisis. The shares have fallen, the war with Brasilistan has cost us and the silly investments in Calvinball. Time to change things. To make Kriegiersien great again.“

He hands over a sabre.
„I have to switch to the fencing team?“
„Heavens, no. We want them to win. You know what to do?“
„I need to do some sort of seppuku?”
“Don’t be stupid. You are not a cook, either. You will be seconded to the Mounted Melee Guard, to fight against the rebels in Brasilistan. To be fair, that is pretty close to a suicide commando.”
“Well, still a better chance to win there as a medal in the Olympics. I wonder how many other nations have conquered parts of Brasilistan?”
“I don’t care. Spin yourself out.”


Swimming
Mixed 4x100 m Medley Relay - Final

Alf Swimtob/Nora Swimtob/Gary Peterson/Rhon Wen. Bronze.

When Rhon Wen somehow managed to reach the finish line, her teammates celebrated, after rooting for her with as much shouting as they could. Bronze. What a sensation, a Wonder. Two ill underdogs had somehow saved enough of the lead the two androids had given them to get a medal. They had again survived. Even Alf and Nova had participated in the shouting and they had never felt more happy. The others hugged them.
“Did we do good?”, asked Alf.
“Of course. And tonight we will party!”, said Gary, his pale face twitching in agony of the exhaustion.
“We have to train.”
“Life is too short for always training, we will party now.”
The two Swimtobs looked at each other and to the coaches in the stands.
“Oh, come on, Rhonny, help me out here.”
“If you accompany us, even I will come. Not drinking, but we can take an afternoon just for us. Only we four. We deserve that”, Rhon Wen endorsed.
“See?”
“Ok”, both androids answered shy.




FENCING - Women's Individual Foil (MEDAL)
Round of 8

Octavia Ricepudding came into the New Legislative Building and was shocked to see her opponent Chermaine Nakken already fighting on the piste.

“What is going on, I should fight here?”, she asked an official.
“You are?”
“Octavia. Ricepudding.”
“I am not a waiter. You can order food at the canteen. Well, it seems you are already fighting.”
“I can see that someone is fighting my quarter final. But that is not me.”
“Octavia is fighting. You can take form A38 and register your complaint here.”

“Oh, I will!
What is a captcha? Why do you need the name of my pets and the birthday of my parents for that?”
“To check your identity.”
“That did work well before, right?”



SHOOTING - Mixed Trap Team

Phil Kelnoky and Mrs. Codsworth.

“Sir, you missed.”
“Welp, that was it for the gold medal. But we won silver.”
“You have unlocked another achievement, Sir.”
“Give me a high five. And stop calling me Sir.”
“As you wish.”
“You did a great job. I didn’t thought you could do so well, after the training.”
“It seems I had a lucky dice.”
“Can’t you.. well, you are a robot..”
“A Cyborg.”
“But couldn’t you do much better as artificial being?”
“As explained I am a cyborg. My human parts, so to speak, hold me back to reach the full capacity of what the technology could achieve.”
“Fascinating. So, that makes you fallible. But you still were able to exceed yourself. That is great and you should hold on to this site. It gives you the freedom to do what you want and makes you human.”
“Thank you.”
“And now catch me a coffee and some sort of bagel, or how they call that here.”
“Yes, Sir.”




A nerdy interview

Bonjwa Goat, you are in the final of E-Sports.

Semifinal in the Men's RTS. Yes.

How do you feel now?

I did good. I am happy.

Can you explain a bit about your game for the viewers who don’t know anything about it?

Err.. it is a game where you have to destroy your opponent. Normally with 3 route attacks and with Heavy Inf in the new meta. But that changes. Mostly you just blow things up and frag faster as the other guy. Today I won because my opponent had a terrible micro and defense at the ramp on his Expo on the last map.

Uh-Huh. So you are pleased with your match today?

I had some problems in the beginning and then my computer lagged and we had to pause and I missed his scouts and that he used the glitch at the trees, but ok, if they don’t patch that out people will use it.

I see. You are still living in your parents cellar?

No. My uncles. My parents got bombed to death, while I was safe in the bunker.

Oh. Hm...how long do you train?

10 to 15 hours a day, more when I don’t have to go to school.

There are people who say that such games are no real sport and make the people violent.

It is not more violent than Boxing or Cycling. And my fingers are trained so much that I can crack a walnut with my little finger. Look.

Wooh. That was the most fascinating thing today. Err, thanks for the interview.




And here we have a gold and a silver medal winner in Judo. Tatjana Zangief-Valetta and Freddy Durin.
While Tatjana comes from a family of Wrestlers and has an aunt winning a medal here, Freddys uncle was not only winner of Bronze in Judo, but also bodyguard of the Kriegiersien president. There are rumours that he had an affair with his wife. And that Tatjana hunts bears in the tundra together with her father and wrestles them barehanded.
More gossip tells us that the two are now a pair, having been seen eating together and talking. Even holding hands has been reported. Maybe there have soon been more names added to Tatjana’s.




In other short news:

Journalist from Indusse winning Publitre-Price for 'Biggest letters in a single very short article'
66,66 % of the athletes from Mattijana think that their Kriegiersien opponents are out of metal
Identity of Amuapyle bomber revealed? It is possibly a plumber from Kelssek, who was splashed by a turnip farmer from Electrum and continuously confuses the post code of the two countries.
Stock Cars from Cocoabo Forest with a wing down

[Cassadaigua]

Coming Up: Auto Racing, and other news
by Hannah Marshall, Olympic Correspondent

The addition of open wheel auto racing to the Olympics is pleasant news to many people, even if it is only a demonstration event. Stock car racing was not included, with rumors being that the overly complex way of recording results, and the scoring of cars, overall, had something to do with it. We still will get to have open wheel racing, and with reports in the air that Cassadaigua will join the WGPC on the next upcoming season, it would seem like a good way to get going.

NSSCRA 7 Champion Stacie Houston was on hand in Republica to give some advice to drivers Brittany Gillian and Rachel Crowell, each of whom are starting inside the top 10 in the women’s race. There is a men’s race as well, seemingly making sense since female drivers have proven to be superior to men lately, when considering three of the four drivers in the NSSCRA being female, and Vangaziland’s Jessica Franssen becoming a WGPC champion. Oddly, Franssen failed to qualify for this event, as she sustained a mechanical failure. Stacie told us that, “They reached out for me to come here, so it was cool to be with the Olympians. It’s pretty cool that people like Ellie (Lindskog) are running in this too, even after the long NSSCRA season. Brittany and Rachel know what its like to drive an open wheel car, obviously it is not something I have worthwhile experience with. I am not going to get in to all of the advice that was given, but they are ready to go.” Crowell knows that this could be a bit of an audition for Cassadaigua’s assumed WGPC debut. “A good run here is critical. I don’t think anyone is sure how many drivers we will ultimately send to the WGPC, so as Cassadagans, we are battling each other, and want to show that we can compete against the best. There are champions here. Don’t forget the men, either!” We won’t forget the men, and know that they need to put on a good show, too.

In other news, Hannah Sutherland offered an apology to Cocoabo #54 on the manner in which she expressed her disappointment. “It was not appropriate for me to call them, ‘things’”, she said, “they are athletes who have trained hard to get where they are. On that note, I apologize to the Cocoabo. Still frustrated to lose in that manner. You train hard for years, and only get one chance at a medal unless you can get back here. To have reached the final, and run a poor time like that due to the circumstances is a major letdown.” Kelsey Holland, who also ran the 100m but did not make the final said, “The Cocoabo Enrichment Program does a great thing, but the 100m comes down to the hundredth of a second. Is it scientifically proven that the Cocoabo is at a point where they are the exact equivalent of a human in order to be considered an absolute equal to us, to be competing in the 100m against us? In wrestling, or things like that, as long as the weight is the same, its fine. It’s a catch-22, because they have the right to compete, but I do kind of agree with what Hannah said about timing them separately. It’s over with now.”

In gymnastics, Stacie Morrow was visibly upset with teammate Jaymie Huff after the group failed to get a medal. Huff fell on two separate occasions, lowering the team score. Shannon Kaiser also fell once, ruining what was seen as perfection by both Stacie Morrow and Cara Clements, at least in the eyes of Cassadagan experts. While Kaiser was quick to console Huff, Morrow and Clements were separated from them, with hands on hips, and Morrow caught on tape rolling her eyes over it, before reaching for some Tubular gum that they have recently gotten a liking too. Eventually, they got together and seemed like one happy family, but most observers don’t think that is truly the case. In an interview, Morrow started by saying, “It’s tough to compete on the world stage. I thought I did well, but to win a medal in this event, everything has to be flawless. That was not the case today, but I have to say that it just as easily could have been any of us who had the off day.” Cara Clements was her usual sharp shooting self with the media, “Jaymie needs to pick it up. I know she is depressed, but we all know why our scores are what they are.”

As the Olympics go on, it can be easy to overlook a sport, and that was the case as I scrolled through all of these events, day after day, and missing Meghan Baker’s silver medal in individual tennis. So much activity takes place, and some events have such large fields of data to look at, that when scrolling through it, you can easily scroll past a small section, as was the case with this tennis event. Meghan, a few days ago, was defeated in the gold medal match, but is still pleased to win the silver. Tennis is a sport that we have not competed in much at all, but is well respected throughout the country. Baker joked at first with me, saying, “I thought you were mad at me or something, so I was never going to get that interview!” After that she said of the silver, “It is a medal. You want gold, obviously, but I dreamed of getting a medal, and I was able to get one. I was able to play for a gold, it went five sets, and I lost to someone who was just a little better then me a couple days ago. I could not have asked for anything more. It was a good battle.” Doubles have begun, but we are not expected to be as good in that. Doubles tennis just has not caught on much in Cassadaigua, as compared to singles. I asked Baker about that, and she said, “I’m used to covering my whole end. The transition to doubles is not as easy as it might seem. You don’t just say, you have a teammate now, but you have to be able to agree on a system on the balls that are yours, and the ones that are not. I am not good at that. I want to go after everything.”

The women’s lacrosse team scored a 17-13 victory over the nation with bomber problems to compete perfect 4-0 group stage. After successfully hosting the 30th World Lacrosse Championships and making it to the playoffs, some in Cassadaigua felt upstage by the fact that the nation of Cheergirls actually performed better. Cassadaigua did get revenge on Baker Park in the group stage, the nation that eliminated them in the WLC. Baker Park was not themselves, going 0-4. Cassadaigua will play Ethane next, and a showdown with Vangaziland potentially looms. We can’t look forward to that, because Ethane still needs to be beaten. Vangaziland ripped apart Cosumar, 28-4 in their head to head match. Holy crap!

We look forward to seeing what the next day holds!

[Mattijana]

The Olympic Review: Day 11

MFO SPORT

By Katarina Markovic, comedienne and sports writer.

Hello once more Mattijana! I've returned like that annoying spot that you can't quite get rid of in order to deliver you all the news, results and quirky happenings from Republica (well, some of it anyway).

Now us Mattijanans aren't renowned for being shallow people with a lust for shiny things, but I'm sure you want to know whether our wonderful athletes have actually won anything today. Happily the answer is yes.

Mattijana's swimmers continued their most successful games to date by swimming to gold in the first ever Olympic mixed medley relay. The team of Max Kranj, Andreas Weiss, Jelena Laramazic and Mareid Gallaka demonstrated the country's strength in depth by pipping the team from the Greater Vakolicci Haven and Celeria by just 3 tenths of a second, which over a race lasting over 3 and a half minutes, isn't a lot. The team also smashed the Olympic record by nearly 20 seconds. As the event is making its debut at the games, this is a slightly less impressive feat than breaking a record in a sport that's been going as long as the Olympics, but it's still pretty good and the demolition of the previous record suggests that it might stick around for a bit.

Mattijana actually have a pretty decent track record of winning inaugeral events after the female rugby sevens team won gold back in Aeropag. The team are yet to get anywhere near repeating that feat, but maybe the swimmers can do better?

Over to the fencing where Samir Svital nearly launched an inspired run to gold only to have his hopes dashed by Stenli Abarawolv from Vilita and Turori in the final. The fencers haven't had the best time of things so far with medal hopefuls Samira Julenki and Helena Neumanic both eliminated in the early rounds, but Svital found a bit extra to earn himself a first Olympic medal.

Mika Illicic went one better than Svital in the men's 90kg Judo however. The 30 year old beat home favourite and eventual bronze medallist Milan Densa in the semis before overcoming Kriegiersien's Freddy Durin in the final, using a brilliant shoulder throw to finally finish off his opponent. I was going to write about how throwing a metal bot over your shoulder would be quite impressive, but apparently, the bulk of Kriegiersien's delegation are actually made of normal fleshy stuff.

In other very important news, Mattijana beat Vangaziland 3-0 in the women's Hockey to seal their progress into the round of 16.They ultimately had to settle for second after losing 3-1 to Kelssek earlier in the group stage but it's good enough for now. The team play Eastfield Lodge in the first knockout round, with a potential match up against West Phoenicia or the Greater Vakolicci Haven and Celeria to come if they win.

Julian Slazic and Rikard Kampl came through another tough match in the second round of the men's doubles tennis, beating Kriegiersien duo Tim Tim and Basti Falk 6-4, 6-7, 8-6. A brilliant reflex volley from Kampl would ultimately seal a crucial break of serve in the final set and Slazic served out the match to send the two into a tie against Taeshan's Tyler Budweiser and Ender Smyth. Any questions about the two teams not being on a level playing field due to fatigue are fortunately out of the question as the Taeshanis came through their second round game by exactly the same scoreline.


That's the important medal event covered, but there was eagerly anticipated action in a non-medal event earlier as qualifying or the auto racing got going.
Of course it was great to see many stars from the WGPC back on the track before the new season, what was not so great was the venue for the event, the Republica Motor Speedway.

Even the name sounds incredibly unispiring. It doesn't strike fear into a driver's heart or raise the hairs on the back of every fan's neck like the Kopylov InternazionRing or Crossbay circuit can. Some circuits might not have the most inspiring names, but deliver when it comes to track layout. The Republica Motor Speedway is not one of those either. It is a great big ovulur oval.

This was revealed much to the dismay of Mattijanan fans, who don't really get the point of driving round in actual circles (or elipses, for the pedants out there) for hours at a time, but can definitely get on board with driving around a variety of proper corners, mixed in with ups and downs and the odd banana skin being thrown at you out of nowhere (ok, the last one's made up).

Unfortunately circles will have to do for now. Vangaziland's WGP2 champion Karli Schmitt turns out to be pretty handy at driving round them, taking pole position for the race tomorrow, whilst another WGP2 competitor in Eastfield Lodge's Dahlia Dahl took second. They were followed by Jenna Vanderson, who I didn't even know drove cars, and a Cocoabo that's been specially trained to drive very fast (in circles). Then came a bunch of people I've never heard of before our very own Jasmin Kranjska popped up in 13th.

I've been told by the petrolheads that our car is better on highly technical circuits due to its cornering prowess and slight deficiency in the grunt department. It's therefore not great for the speedway, so I reckon Jasmina's done a pretty good job there.

There was a big surprise at the bottom of the pile however, which is because that's exactly where WGPC champion Jessica Fransson was. Her VMR machine inexplicably started belching out some acrid smelling smoke (which even to my untrained eye, isn't great) and she was forced to retire from the session with only a painfully slow sighter lap on the board.

Any person in her position would have been reasonably expected to hurl the steering wheel as far as possible in an impromptu and rage-fuelled attempt to set a new discus world record. Fransson is a pretty cool character and didn't do that, although she was probably more concerned about not being burned to a crisp at the time.

With (arguably) the world's best driver sidelined, the race has been more open then it already was. Karli Schmitt is probably favourite due to being at the front already, which I can imagine is an advantage, and being in a decent car. I've been told overtaking around an oval circuit is pretty easy, which is just as well for us fans as it would be insomnia-inducing otherwise, so it wouldn't be out of the question for anyone around the top half of the grid to get up the leaderboard.

Another interesting observation after qualifying was the poll reported in Vannish publication Imperial Motorsports that stated that the majority of Vangaziland's people saw Mattijana as an ally instead of a rival. Given that most nations with geographical proximity and a histroy of sporting duels hate each other's guts, this was an interesting result.

This attitude towards our country may in fact be found in the early days of Vannish involvement in the WGPC. Struggling in their debut season, MRT made the left-field move of sacking (admittedly useless) Oisinistani Oliver Bachmann and signing young rookie Jessika Franssen. Franssen rose to fourth in the table in just half the season's races, picking up a race victroy along the way. The rest, as they say, is history.
Without MRT's snap decision, one of the greatest drivers ever to grace the WGPC may never have been given her chance. The Vannish domination of the WGPO top tiers last season, in which the nation's team and drivers won 3 out of 4 available titles, may have been a figment of Fransson, Vanderson and Schmitt's imaginations.

Going that far is perhaps a little extreme. These drivers clearly had talent and would probably have been picked up the next season, or by their own VMR team when it joined the WGPC fray, but you never know.

Another reason is that the sports in which the Vannish are strongest other than the WGPC, basketball, stock car racing and baseball, are a no-go for Mattijana whilst Hockey, football and Cricket, strong sports in Mattijana, are less popular in Vangaziland. This means that outside the WGPC, there haven't been a great deal of sporting clashes between the two nations and even if there have, they haven't been grudge matches between two equally-matched teams.

Maybe we'll do our own poll of what Mattijanans think of Vangaziland, I'll get back to you when the results are in.

[Liventia]

From: Javier Rosario <chefdemission.republica@olympicassoc.len>
To: LOA.ALL.REPUBLICA <all.republica@olympicassoc.len>
CC: Pearline Jones <pjones.chair@olympicassoc.len>; Terry Reynolds <treynolds.press@olympicassoc.len>; LOA.ACCRED.MEDIA <media.accredited@olympicassoc.len>
Subject: [URGENT HIGH PRIORITY] A sombre note

Dear All,
I'm very sorry to have to be writing this message to you today.

Unfortunately, I have to report the sad passing of skateboard athlete Frank Nelson this afternoon. Frank was found unresponsive in his room by his roommate Bénédict Joubert, who immediately alerted the skateboard team leader Yasmine Randall and myself. Team medics were on scene in three minutes, but were unable to resuscitate Frank.

As you will appreciate, this matter is now under investigation by the Association, local law enforcement agencies, and Liventian police. Therefore I would appreciate everyone following the appropriate protocol, including making no comments that could prejudice any investigation. If you have any information to share, please approach your sport team leader or me in person. Do not send any information electronically.

Frank was 22 years old and a budding talent. He had only been skateboarding for three years but had done well enough to earn selection for these Games. This news is a terrible shock to all of us.

Bénédict and other athletes who have interacted with Frank recently are all receiving specialist support from our teams. Everyone else is also welcome to avail themselves of these services if so required.

Finally, I cannot stress enough that a mental health liaison officer is available for you to speak to at any time of day. Tom Delaney can be emailed in confidence at <tdelaney.mh@olympicassoc.len> or approached personally. Alternatively, if you have any concerns, you can also approach Liventia Talks and other mental health support services available back home.

I will update all of you on further news and what memorial arrangements we will make in respect to Frank. In the meantime, I encourage all athletes to continue training and competing. Do it for Frank.

Yours,
Javier

Javier Rosario
Chef-de-Mission, Liventia Olympic Association

Note: This email has also been carbon copied to all Liventian media accredited by the LOA.

---

Tragedy hits Liventian Olympic team as skateboarder found dead
REPUBLICA— Skateboarder Frank Nelson has been found dead in his room at the Republica Games, the Liventia Olympic Association has announced.

The 22-year-old, from Boister, was found by roommate and fellow skateboarder Bénédict Joubert, who competed alongside Nelson in the men's street event in which the pair finished 37th and 27th respectively.

Liventia's Olympic chef-de-mission Javier Rosario confirmed the shock news in a short statement released to the media at the Main Press Centre in Republica, and did not elaborate on details except to say Joubert and other athletes in neighbouring rooms were being given specialist counselling provided by the LOA.

Liventian athletes are being housed in student digs at local colleges in Republica as the local organising committee has not provided an Olympic Village.

Reports suggest that Nelson had been "aloof and appearing downbeat" after his performance, in which his top score was a 4.5 and he finished eighth from last. It has been speculated by online commentators that the cause of death was a drug overdose, although with hard drugs banned in Republica, this appears unlikely.

The statement read out by Rosario confirmed that mental health help was, and remains, available to the entire Liventian delegation.

Anyone needing help with the issues raised in this report should approach Liventia Talks or other health charities, which can be done anonymously.

[Ioudaia]

Runcast

This is Runcast, and I'm your host, Gabi Charis. This is Edition 9.24 of my video podcast, for Day 11 of the XIII Olympiad. There hasn't been a lot of activity for Ioudaia's runners today. The only event they were in was the marathon, and they didn't do very well. But I'd like to talk about the marathon anyway, because Odele bat Aikaterine showed the kind of sportsmanship all runners and running fans want to see.

Let's pick up the race at kilometer 33. Odele is in 41st place, just a little behind Tsofnat Laodameia. There's no official race video of Odele at this point in the race, but Tebaeus ben Dexios, a spectator, caught her on his phone. So, a shoutout to Tebaeus, and an apology for the video quality. Odele is running along, and *boom!*, she goes down hard! It's hard to tell what happened, but she grabbed her ankle, rubbed it, then she got up with a limp.

But look at this! She tries to return to her pace! She gets about 500m before she has to drop to one knee and rub her ankle again. It's hard to tell from the back, but she seems to be in pain. Anyway, she tries again to get back into the race, starting out at a jog.

A little after kilometer 34, an official camera starts to follow Odele. Somebody's noticed. All the other marathoners are passing her, and she's rapidly falling to the back of the pack. Odele keeps up her jog until about kilometer 35, but then she suddenly stops, and her face shows how much pain she's in. She spends almost a minute rubbing her ankle, now in dead last, and then starts walking forward. That's pretty amazing; most other people would just give up at that point.

She walks until the kilometer 36 marker, where she stops. That's it, she's done her part for Ioudaia!

I caught up with her after the race; I was watching it from near the finish line, and wondered what happened when she didn't finish with the rest of the team. This is my first time interviewing an olympian, and I was using my camera phone, so another sorry for the sad shape of this clip:

“Odele, that was incredible dedication to the sport!”

Odele was surprised by a stranger talking to her. “Oh, thanks! I'm, uh... glad there are Ioudaian fans here.”

“Oh, I'm Gabi Charis, the running podcaster.”

A faint flicker of recognition reached Odele's face. “Oh, yeah, I've heard of you. One of the guys on the team, um, Polymedes, said you talked about-- right-right, you said good things about him. He says thanks.”

“Tell him he's welcome. If you don't mind me asking, what happened out there today.”

“I'm not exactly sure. I think my shoe caught on something on the course. But whatever it was, I've got two hairline fractures in my ankle. I'll be fine just with rest.”

“Wow, running on a broken ankle! Lemme change what I said before: that's epic dedication to the sport!”

“Thanks again. I thought that if I could get to lucky 36km, I might be able to finish the race, and say I ran a whole olympic marathon. Only nine more km. But my ankle started hurting really badly, and I was worried I had a worse break.”

“Yeah. Well, thanks for the interview!”

Wow, just epic sportsmanship, real heroism! I hope our other runners show those qualities in tomorrow's races. And until then,

Keep on runnin'!


University of Republica Aquatics Center

Alon Megakales caught up with Tamir Euenus as he was toweling off after his race. “Tamir! How'd you like to do another interview?”

Tamir continued to dry himself in silence for a few seconds. “Why?”

“Tomorrow, you could be the first Ioudaian to win two gold medals.”

Tamir stopped toweling and thought about it, then grinned at the reporter. “OK, let's do it.” He tossed the towel on a nearby chair, and took his place next to Alon.

They faced into the camera, and the cameraman gave them the countdown. “I'm Alon Megakales, ITV Sport, here with Tamir Euenus. Tamir's already won one gold medal in men's medley swimming, and in tomorrow's final, he could win another.

Alon turned to the swimmer. “Tamir, how'd today's race go?”

Expecting a longer question, Tamir took a moment to realize he should answer. “Pretty good. I finished fourth, right ahead of Peritas, and just 1.3 seconds off the leader. I don't think I'm as strong at the 200 as the 400, but in the 200, my breaststroke is my powerhouse leg. I made up a lot of ground during that leg. Went from fifth in my heat to third.”

“What do you think about tomorrow?”

After a second, Tamir broke into a big smile. “Eight swimmers, three medals. So I'd say my chances of picking up another medal are about 50-50. OK, maybe a little better than that.

“With Peritas in the race, it'll be more like the nationals. Sure, it's the race, but with a friend in the race, they'll be no chance of letting the pressure get to me. I'll be ready.”

“All of Ioudaia wishes you good luck.” Alon looked straight into the camera. “Now, let's go to live coverage of the women's 4-by-200m freestyle relay, after this short break.” The cameraman cut the feed, and Alon started to hurry to the press box. Tamir asked if he could go with him, having never seen that view. Alon agreed, and he picked up his phone to call ahead to see about a “guest pass”.

* * *

“After the first leg Ioudaia is in third, behind Cassadaigua and Kelssek. Bat Shahar Halie's swimming now.” Alon's voice was steady, professional. He'd been doing play-by-play for all of Ioudaia's olympic swimming, so it was getting routine. “She's starting to gain on Anikka Niemi. … Bat Shahar is still gaining, catching up to Anikka.

“At the second touch, Ioudaia's still in third, Shmaria Briseis got off to a good start... She's really motoring along! She's caught up to Kelssek's Maryanne Donahue... She's pulling ahead of her! Shamaria's swimming like she was born in the water, look at her go! She's gaining on the leader!

“Last leg! Gabi bat Nemerte's Ioudaia's anchor, and... and she's showing why! Wow, look at her gain! Neck and neck with Cassadaigua's Erika Stanton! Gabi's pulling ahead! She's picking up the pace! She's got her second wind, going even faster; her split time was--! Gabi's closing in on a new olympic record! This is going to be close!

“She's done it! Ioudaia's done it! A new olympic record for Ioudaia's rookie 4-by-200m freestyle team! Oh, wow! Praise all the gods, they've done it! They've done it! A new record and olympic gold!”

* * *

As King Zamir Eumenes stood in his private box to salute Ioudaia's newest champions, his phone pinged for a new message. He continued to wave and smile at the women's relay team until they stepped backwards and left to the congratulations of their teammates, then he retreated from the window and checked his phone. He glanced at the message, and turned to his chamberlain. “Avi, we've got a pair of winners in riflery. Women, silver and bronze. With them and the swimmers, that's ten medals and eighteen medalists. Eighteen's a good number... Please, arrange a meal for me with them.”

Avi Theodotus accepted his orders and started sending texts.

(OOC - “ I thought that if I could get to lucky 36km, I might be able to finish the race” and “Eighteen's a good number...”: Ioudaia has six kings, so six and multiples of six are lucky numbers to Ioudaians. 36 is very lucky, because it's six sixes.)

[Kriegiersien]

An informative interview

Ah, Dr. Frankenstein? Jeckyll Frankenstein?

Yes, can I help you? Oh, you are from the press?

I have some questions for my newspaper. There is a big confusion about how the Kriegiesien delegation looks like. Could you spare a moment? As the head physician you should be the perfect source to explain it to me.

Of course. Ask. There are no secrets.

Thank you. As far as I understand it you have robots in your delegation?

No, no robots! We have two Androids, who are perfect copies of humans. Nova and Alf Swimtob. Both Swimmer. Made out of synthetic tissue. They are just like humans, 99,99 % the same, only made in the test tube and programmed.

And that is it?

Next there are cyborgs. Two old models, Mrs. Codsworth and Mr. Handy. They look the most like Service robots and are most different from humanoids. They have an alloy that looks like metals, but have human brains and some organs. So you might think of them as robots as much as you would think of chocobos as birds.

Are there more.. Cyborgs?

The Zombiebots are cyborgs, too. Undead from the Zombieapocalypse you may have heard of. Easy to spot. They look like humans, just a bit more rotten and with again hidden technical enhancements. But these generation is not very effective, more to fill up the delegation. And they have a Zombie in the name.

And that sums it up?

Yes. The rest of the delegation are humans.
Except the Ponies of course.

The 'Equestrians', right?

Correct, these are intelligent, talking Ponies. But now we have it, the rest are humans. And Dr. Hubertus Schimmel.

A colleague of yours?

No, he is not such a doctor. He is a chess player. And a sentient strawberry.

Pardon?

A living strawberry, a bit over 4 feet tall.

A.. living.. fruit.. But that’s it?

Yes, the rest of the delegation are normal humans, like you and me. Sure, some may be a bit mutated from radiation or experiments, a few have elven or Orcblood in their veins, but we don’t differentiate that any more. The times were we had half demons, Water Nymphs, Killer robots and Superhumans in our ranks is over. For now.

So, that finally is it? The most of them are some sort of or downright humans. No wizards or something?

Wizards? Don’t be silly. Magic doesn’t exist.

Magic doesn’t exist.