14th Winter Olympic Games :: RP Thread

[Vilitan Union]

Opening Ceremonies, Lirai Asku Castle, Yeaddin, Vilita ::The scenic Lirai Asku Castle was the site of the Opening Ceremonies of the XIV Olympic Winter Games Yeaddin and athletes competing in Nine different disciplines joined together in representing their nations entering into the stadium. There was a large contingent on hand for the festivities partially due to the fact that the Ice Hockey competition was not scheduled to start prior to the Opening Ceremony as had been done in prior games. While some Women's teams based outside of Yeaddin with morning games on Day 1 may have opted to skip the ceremony, many others were on hand to pack the home of one of Vilita's most successful sporting franchises the Yeaddin Owls of the Vilitan Stellar Division. From the outside, the venue was an historic fortified colonial Vilitan structure that now has a special status for conservation requiring the venue's tenant, the Yeaddin Owls, to maintain its authenticity regardless of any improvements made to support their sporting franchise inside the structure. However, once inside the history of the venue combines with its modern improvements. A Walk down champions alley at the front of the park includes some of the great sporting moments from the Venue's history including World Cup and UICA Final competitions, its tenant the Yeaddin Owls winning the first ever Vilitan Stellar Division title in the venue as well as becoming the only two-time winner of the NS Champions League. Now, a new generation of athletes entered the Lirai Asku Castle with aspiration of adding their names to champions alley as Gold Medalists at the first ever Olympic Games in Vilita.

Of course, the opening ceremony included some brief comic relief during the Artistic Program as athletes in full Hockey Gear tried to shoot a puck on a float containing sand imported from the Vilitan coast with Palm Trees acting as the Goalposts while a bobsled was shown on wheels traveling down the mountainsides in the Morata Valley. Another moment that brought laughter was a sketch showing a Turorian Cocoabo looking very out of place in the snow with a little scarf the only thing to keep it warm as it searched for some explanation for its Wintery predicament. In reality, however, it was a cooler than average night in Yeaddin which, located in Vilita's North and exposed to the cooler Quebecois Airstream from the North North East, tended to have the coolest climates among Vilita's major cities. It was even possible that there would be Snow at the games with the Parra Kala Sliding Centre being located at elevation on the Parra Kala Mountainside.

While the Parra Kala Area is the most friendly to traditional outdoor winter sports in the Tropics of Vilita, one indoor Winter Sport has grown quite popular in Vilita and Turori - Ice Hockey. With no requirement for cool temperatures outside, Ice Hockey arenas have popped up throughout the Vilitan Cove and the Vilitan Hockey Championship now has 14 Established teams each with its own dedicated Ice Hockey venue. Some of those Venues will be put to use during the Olympic Winter Games as 28 teams representing all but three of the competing delegations will contest the Ice Hockey Competition. Even by converting the Lirai Asku Castle to an outdoor Ice Hockey venue for the games there were not enough Ice Sheets in Yeaddin itself to accommodate the entirety of the Men's and Women's tournaments. As a result some group stage matches would be based in other nearby cities including Eelandii, Turori - the purpose built 'sportropolis' in the Island Emirate just across the Turviliki Sea from Yeaddin. Eelandii was the runner-up to Yeaddin in the Vilitan Union Olympic bidding process and likely only lost the bid due to its more temperate climate and lack of an established Sliding Center. Eelandii will also serve as a hub for the Bandy Demonstration competition group stages. Athletes whose competition is partly based outside of Yeaddin will still have access to the Yeaddin Olympic Village.

As for the Athletes competing for the Union of the Affiliated Lands of Vilitan Origin, as the host nation they would enter the Castle Grounds last. While the Vilitan Union delegation had a unified outfit from shoulders to ankles, the athletes had a little touch to identify their home country with Vilitan athletes wearing Jungle Teal shoes, Turorian Athletes wearing Eelskin Brown shoes and the Tropicorp based competitors sporting bright orange kicks to set them apart from the crowd.

When the ceremonies concluded, many athletes returned to the Yeaddin Olympic Village located between the Yeaddin Ice Centre and the Kolósaio Vóreios. In addition to the Olympic Village in downtown Yeaddin, athletes participating in the Sliding events could opt to stay on location at the Parra Kala Sliding Complex in the newly constructed Chateau Olympique. At the conclusion of their Sliding events they would be welcome to either remain in Parra Kala or return to the Yeaddin Olympic Village to enjoy the remainder of the games. Twice-Hourly shuttle services between Parra Kala and Yeaddin would be available to Athletes and Fans throughout the games.

The focus was ready to shift for the athletes of the multiverse as they prepared to compete for the ultimate prize in their discipline, Olympic Gold. Of course, for Athletes of the Vilitan Union, the pressure was perhaps a little bit higher. While many athletes around the multiverse will have family or friends attending these games to watch them compete, athletes from the Vilitan Union would have the eyes of their entire nation on them as they look to meet the expectations of their delegation by putting together a best-ever Winter Olympic Games performance in their home events.

[Mattijana]

Mattijana Make Dramatic Ice Hockey U-turn

MFO SPORT



The Mattijanan Department of Sport has announced it will be sending men's and women's Ice Hockey teams to the Winter Olympics for the first time in 4 editions of the games after revoking part of the legislation banning professional Ice Hockey in Mattijana.

The 10th Winter Olympics in Electrum and New Gelderland was the last tournament in which Mattijanan teams took part, with both going out in the group stages, but their return will be welcomed by those who still play the sport in Mattijana, albeit at an amateur level. Making personal or organisational profit out of the sport has been illegal since the EisHockey act was brought in after those games, amidst concerns that the ice-based form of the game could replace (Field) Hockey, Mattijana's national sport. The bill also banned any ice hockey team from representing Mattijana at international tournaments, excluding the country from the Olympic games despite efforts to field Mattijanan athletes under the Olympic flag. That's until now...

Mattijana will send both men's and women's teams to the 14th Winter Games, jointly held between Yeaddin, Vilita and Neverend, Liventia. Kaia Vranj, unveiled by the MattijanaEisHockeyBand (Mattijanan Ice Hockey Board) as the womens' team captain just an hour after the Department of Sport's statement, was delighted at the decision.

"It's finally the opportunity we've been looking for to grow our sport and participate at the highest level. Some of the girls in the squad can't even remember the last time a national team was at the Olympics, so it's clearly been a long time coming. We're all really excited at the prospect of playing our first international matches and representing our country."

Jan SchmalBerg, an electrical engineer in his professional life, was simultaneously revealed as men's captain. He said that although his team had to balance work or studies with their training, they would still be up for the challenge.

"We'll be up against the best teams in the world - players who have committed their entire lives to the sport and getting to this stage. We've sacrificed a lot to be here as well, so we'll be up for the fight. We want to do everything we can to get our sport some increased recognition having been in the dark for so long. It's the world's biggest stage and we want to make the most of it."

The addition of teams to Mattijana's official delegation mean that the Ice Hockey teams receive funding for the games in line with that given to every other athlete and team's allocation, a situation that hasn't been the same in recent times.

"We've often had to pay for our own transport and training costs, which has meant a lot of crowdfunding", said president of the MattijanaEisHockeyBand Tomas Lingaard. To have our own flights, accommodation and facilities payed for by the Department of Sport and the host nations is a real luxury that we haven't had the privilege of for the last 16 years. It'll hopefully make our teams feel part of the Olympic team and be even sharper on the days they're playing. It would be incredible if we were able to get some results off the top tier nations, but we'll have to wait and see what the draw sends our way.

Ice Hockey is a game played mainly in the north and west of the country, typically the Nordic and Germanic areas of the country, and Lingaard said that he was glad the largely Slavic central government had finally seen sense.

"As well as our sport, it's a great opportunity to show off our culture, but also get more people from other backgrounds involved. Hopefully our presence at a major tournament will enable more people from our regions to play the game and maybe even make a living out of it one day."

[Unified Beretania]

Albavona Capitol Sentinel

Athlete Bios: Von Best, Zach Williams, Ludwig Wörner

After Unified Beretania's unflattering and uninspired showing at the 13th Winter Olympics, nearly costing Unified Beretania National Olympic Comittee President Anita Haney her job, Beretania's best and brightest winter athletes look posied to once again make a loud statement on the international stage. Today we look at the top three mens athletes to watch. Without further ado, here's the top three mens Olympians from the Unified Beretania delegation to watch and why:

1. Von Best
mens speed skating

Newcomer Von Best finds himself amid a sea of talented Beretanian speed skating stars like Fritz von Reitzenstein, Ed Reinhold and Ace Hsu. It's a tall order to distinguish himself from his fellow Beretanians.

Best (@Number1Von) is a product of the expansive cash infusion the Unified Beretania National Olympic Committee made into the fledgling Olympic short track and speed skating programs to develop fresh talent. Patiently making his way through the ranks, studying technique under the tutelage of Beretanian legend Wyatt Goff. A strong work ethic has kept Best training as much as thirteen hours a day. Tireless hours spent refining his skill, pushing the boundaries further and further.

"I've come a long way. It's great to know the Olympic Committee is behind us and believes in our goals. Every morning, I wake up and the first thing I ask myself is, 'How much do you want this?' And every day, I'm more and more ready to do this. I'm psyched," Best told the Capitol Sentinel.
When the UBNOC made the controversial decision to drop participating in team events in the Winter Olympics favor of developing individual athletes, the fan reaction was overwhelmingly negative. Best has a very real opportunity to prove that the UBNOC made the right decision and show that the investment has begun to yield tangible returns.

The UBNOC won't say how much money they are spending annually to develop new short track and speed skating talent, but note that they have a failry large staff of recruiters who scour the country looking for new athletes on the regular.

Best was recruited from Parmentier, a small town approximately forty miles outside the city of Talmadge in Erickson County. It demonstrates the great lengths the UBNOC is going to leave no rock unturned. The UBNOC paid to relocate the entire Best family to Albavona, and to assign a seventeen year old Von to train with Goff.

"They saw potential in me and they worked hard to get me to the next level. All the top tier tracks are in the capital and I've been blessed to train on them. Working with Wyatt is the highlight of my career so far," noted Best.

Best was raw in every sense, just needing to become refined and polished. All the while, he always remained humble, acknowledging his place on the totem pole, below von Reitzenstein, Reinhold and Hsu. And as Best gradually rose in the national rankings, eventually qualifying for the Olympics, he earned the respect from those above him.

"He's a great kid. He's the future of Beretanian speed skating. All the fresh blood that's coming into the sport in Beretania is what we've needed for so long, and it will keep us competitive at the Olympic level," von Reitzenstein said.

Say what you will about the UBNOC dropping hockey and curling in favor of expanding the short track and speed skating programs, but small town heros like Best can prove that it was the right thing to do. That's a compelling reason to watch and cheer him on.



2. Zach Williams
mens alpine skiing
Zach Williams is an exhilarating and electrifying skiier to watch. He won gold in the mens downhill event at the 13th Winter Olympics in one of the few bright spots from the last delegation. He certainly has the opportunity to medal this time round as well.

Historically, the mens downhill has been a successful event for Unified Beretania, and the nation's first ever Winter Olympics medal winner was Alexandros Vasilikos, who took bronze in the event. Given this, the pressure on Williams to repeat is intense. Of all the money allocated by the UBNOC to the mens alpine skiing program, the bulk is utilized for the downhill event.

Williams (@RealZachWilliams) is coming off a mens alpine skiing national title he won just prior to Olympic qualifiers, and he's currently the top ranked mens alpine skier in the nation. Add his gold medal from four years ago, and he's got quite the resume.

"I feel primed. I can do it again and I've been on the top of the world before. I know how to reach that peak," a poised and confident Williams told us.

It wasn't always easy for Williams. He grew up in Jaw Lake, a large city in East Bend County, best known for its ghost stories stemming from the areas haunted past including the nation's first civil war and the forced relocation of the Wikipo peoples from the area. His family was from modest means, mum Rachel a barista in a local coffee shop, and pop Johnathan a miner.

Jaw Lake is a gem of the north country, with decent skiing a thirty minute drive to the east. With little else to do, Williams would spend every weekend all winter long atop Mt. Whiteham, skiing. He would imagine that he was in the Olympics, going for gold. He dreamed of going pro, but his family just didn't have the funds to make his dreams a reality.

That was until William's mum made an impulsive buy at Ken's Fuel Stop on the corner of Parson Street and Lakeside Drive. She had bought a lottery ticket from the Beretanian national lotto. She didn't expect it to win and forgot about it. It wasn't until three weeks later, when word spread round the city that someone had won the lotto that she decided to check her ticket. When she realized that she had won, she collapsed on the spot.

After taxes, the Williams family took in over twenty five million dollars. The lump sum payment they selected allowed Rachel and Johnathan to quit their jobs. They moved to Albavona, and they helped their son to pursue his Olympic dream. The Williams family relocated to Albavona. Now Zach found himself hitting the slopes on Mt. Guardian, made famous by sisters and Beretanian Olympic skiers Becky and Vicky Stevens.

On those sacred and hallowed slopes that have produced numerous Beretanian Olympic skiers, Williams developed into the awe inspiring skiier he is today. His family's windfall afforded him the best equipment and he quickly broke into the national rankings.

"The elite of the elite train on Mt. Guardian. That's just how it is, and that's how you get noticed. If you do good on Guardian consistently, you'll almost guaranteed get nationally ranked," Williams said.

Year after year, Williams improved. He rose up the ranks. His confidence grew. Then he cracked the top ten. The top five next. Suddenly it seemed his dreams of making the Olympics could very well become a reality. Then came his Olympic gold in the event that the UBNOC and Beretanian National Alpine Skiing Association hold above all other events. It was a defining moment in his career and a testament to the hard work he put in, with a little help from a lottery ticket back in Jaw Lake.

"I honestly don't think that I'd be here right now if my mom hadn't picked up that ticket, because my crappy hand me down skis on Whiteham wouldn't have gotten me anywhere. This is all about taking full advantage of an opportunity and getting results," Williams said.


3. Ludwig Wörner
mens snowboarding

Ludwig Wörner (@LudwigW) has been the face of mens snowboarding in Beretania for almost two decades. Though he'll be retiring after these Olympics, he'll leave behind a respectable legacy, that inclues six national titles and three Olympic appearances. Part of that legacy is the family he's built around the sport.

Wife Storm Wörner (@StormKlouds) is a three time Olympian as well, and daughters Europa, Olympia and Atlantis Capri are following in their parents footsteps. It's a snowboarding dynasty in the making.

It was a fateful missed train on a late January evening that brought Ludwig and Storm together. Ludwig was supposed to take the 6:10 Mt. Guardian to Albavona-Thurgood Station train. Missing his train by ten minutes, he was forced to wait for the 7:35 train. As fate would have it, he took a seat on that train next to Storm Hammond, a blue haired, vivacious outdoor enthusiast.

Hammond noticed Ludwig's snowboard and struck up a conversation. It turned out that Storm was a snowboarder too, and a pretty good one at that. There was an instant connection between the two and soon enough, they were hitting Mt. Guardian every opportunity they got.

"I am eternally grateful that I missed that train, and I thank the Universe every day for what happened. It's led to incredible experiences that will always be with me and to be on this journey with the best woman in the world, I ma the luckiest man alive," Ludwig told the Capitol Sentinel.

Within two years, both Wörner and Hammond had gone pro. Together, they shared the ups and down of a pro career. Another two years later, both Wörner and Hammond qualified for the 12th Winter Olympics. In Prescott, Electrum, Wörner won gold in the men's slopestyle event, while Hammond came away almost empty handed.

Almost, because in the athlete's village during the 12th Winter Olympics, gold medal around his neck, Ludwig Wörner got one on knee and proposed to Storm Hammond. She said yes. Beretania's powerhouse snowboarding couple was official.

The Wörner dynasty shows no sign of slowing down. It will still be a few Olympic cycles before the Wörner girls have their shot, but mum and pop have Atlantis Capri, Europa and Olympia on the slopes every available opportunity, and Storm says they are taking to snowboarding with ease.

"It's just come natural to them. I will be shocked and a bit disappointed if they don't make the Olympics in the future. Snowboarding is becoming as much of a passion for them as it is for us," Storm said.

Two generations of Olympians in the same family are extremely rare in Beretania, with the only examples being rowing gold medalist Sheena Jacqueline Baker and daughter Serenity Jewel Baker and son Shaun Jamal Baker, and gymnast Anastasia Kostrikova and daughter Ykaterina Kostrikova, a figure skater in these Olympics. With parents like Ludwig and Storm, it's almost a guarantee that the Wörner legacy will continue for quite some time.

Ludwig Wörner's final Olympic showing is worth watching for many reasons, but passing the torch from an Olympic gold medalist to his daughters makes for a compelling and emotional ride.

[The Transmondian Commonwealth]

Darien Ogunquit was in awe of just about everything in Yeaddin.

He was from a world that had suffered some kind of catastrophe -- possibly a nuclear war -- which left it such a shell-shocked shambles, it was hard for people of his generation, those born after the collapse of civilization, to even understand what had happened. Most people had lost so much of their history, they didn't even remember their family names. Ogunquit wasn't a proper name. It was the place where his grandfather had been fished out of the rubble.

Darien had never seen a structure like Lirai Asku Castle before, or such a large and colorful crowd. He enjoyed the spectacle the Vilitans had created at the opening ceremonies. It was his first time seeing palm trees or cocoabo.

He had learned how to skate because there wasn't much else to do back home. He didn't have a TV or internet access, and he didn't read well enough to do it for fun. He knew a couple people that had TVs or computers since the Transmondians had begun bringing in otherworldly technology, but he didn't have access to them very often. The frozen pond behind his neighbor's house, on the other hand... He had access to that for a couple months every winter. People had noticed his talent and he got invited to work with a skating coach from the Home States.

The ice dancers from the Dark States, Hector Jay and Veronica Bourdeaux, had a similar story, and Darien immediately took a liking to them. They sat together in the audience as the first skating events, which they were not competing in, got underway. They were not used to seeing so many world-class skaters in one place, one after the other. They were impressed by the athleticism of the jumps and the drama of the music and costumes. Bob Sloan and Julia Braxton's performance in the pairs short program especially stood out -- but maybe there was a touch of patriotic bias that made them focus on that instead of the individual program.

[Liventia]

Day 1 cutoff

Results from the Neverend section, including the first medals, available here

[Amuaplye]

Government House
Sydney, Amuaplye
March 2, 2019

Ring, ring! Ring, ring! Ring, ring!

Schmidt woke up from his long-awaited slumber to the phone ringing. He picked it up off of the nightstand next to him, and answered it. "Hello, this is Prime Minister Jacob Schmidt, who am I talking to?"

"Hello, hello! This is Viktor Antonov, head of the AIA. I've been trying to reach you for an hour and an half. Anyway, there's rumors going about that they're doing Parliamentary meetings and that to them, they've voted to oust you in a vote of no confidence. What is your opinion on this?"

"Shut it down. Shut the whole bloody affair down. Seal the exits, I don't care if you have to kill somebody or burn the whole place down because of it. Arrest the ones behind it, we are in a time of emergency, we don't need those bureaucrats getting in the way of this, and they need to know that their power is false. They can't, and won't oust me just yet."

"That's rather dictatorial of you. I like it. Reminds me of what my father used to do far away from here. What a shame that people here don't tolerate that."

"What a shame too. It's good to consolidate your power in a crisis like this one. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Please do this immediately. If not, I will fine someone who will."

"Will do. Goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Click.

---

Parliament
Sydney, Amuaplye
March 3, 2019

Jonathan Greer walked up to the entrance of the House of Commons. His footsteps were incredibly loud, leaving echoes as he approached. They were planning on striking down Schmidt's Order and unseating Schmidt in Parliament, in fact, they had voted to do both yesterday, though this time, they were just going to make it final. He was approached by 2 guards as soon as he made it to the entrance.

"Hey, you. AIA. What are you doing here? This is a restricted area." One of them said, who flashed their badge. His name was Terrence Nunez.

"I am a Member of Parliament. I am merely attending work, Officer."

"Haven't you realized that Parliament has been shut down since the 28th? There is no Parliament."

"Yes, there is."

"No, there hasn't. Impersonation of an MP is a federal offense, sir. Please, come with me. I'll take you to the station."

"I am a completely legitimate official. I will prove it. My name is-"

"Get in the car, or we will tack on resisting arrest too." The other man said, almost like a robot. He knew something was fishy, but, he must do what they had to do. After all, he could merely just explain his way out of it.

He walked towards to the car, and sat in the back seat, as the 2 officers sped off with him inside.

---

Olympic Village
Yeaddin, Vilitia
October 18, 2019

Bryant Mann was sitting on the couch in his room, flipping through channels, completely bored as nothing but useless political stuff was on the main Amuaplyean channels.

Then, there was a knock at his door. "Hello? It's Frankie Bradley. Our athletes have returned, and I think it'll be nice if we throw a party for the Olympics."

He got up, turning off the TV, and left the room, going downstairs, into the tiny communal living room that they all share. There, he discovered the rest of the delegation, packed into the place like sardines. They were all having conversations, the commotion being so loud, it would probably wake the dead all the way in Sydney.

The loudness was interrupted by the clinking of a butter knife against an empty glass soda bottle. "Everyone! We shall do a toast!" Frankie shouted, as cans of soda were distributed among the athletes (alcohol was strictly banned by the Amuaplye National Olympic Committee).

After everyone got a glass, Frankie stood up. "To health, to safety, and to Amuaplye!" He raised his can, as the rest of the athletes shouted with him.

After a good half an hour, the singing of "For auld lang syne, my jo/for auld lang syne,/we'll tak' a cup o' kindness yet,/for auld lang syne." permeated the eardrums of every Amuaplyean athlete in the Village, plus any foreigner that wished to listen.

[Ioudaia]

National Biathlon Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 1, Women's 7.5km Sprint, Finish

200 meters. I got this. Pace, pace... Kyra Glezos skied smoothly and steadily, closing the distance to the finish line. Blue and green! Our flag! Let's go, go! Behind her, the swishing and hissing of another skier grew louder and closer. Kyra sped up her rhythm, trying to hold the distance. For a moment, the sounds behind her seemed to steady.

"No! No!" Panting, she could barely even hear herself as her competitor drew even with her. She crept ahead. 100 meters! Let's go! She dug with all her remaining strength. But it wasn't enough. A hoarse whisper, "No!" The woman pulled away from her. No way to catch her now. She glanced over her shoulder. Better hold second.

At 50 meters, she could make out a crowd of people waving Ioudaian flags. Chaya bat Meiri's energetic jumping up and down was unmistakeable, and the tall guy must be... Too tired to remember his name. Peneleos', uh, gunner... machine-gunner. Gotta focus. Hold. Hold. Pace.

25... 10... Got it! "GOT IT!" She would have raised her arms in triumph, but she couldn't lift them any longer. She turned towards the edge of the track, aiming for the cheering crowd with the blue and green flags.

As she cleared the track, she was mobbed. Two of the guys hoisted her into the air, cheering and shouting at the tops of their lungs. When they set her down, Chaya practically leapt into a bear hug. The freestyler let her go after trying to hug the breath out of her, then beamed at her. "Two medals! You've got two medals!"

And as her teammates crossed the finish, they joined the enthusiastic mob around her. The group was more than just the biathlon teams and Chaya. She found herself looking at Peneleos. "Is everybody here??"

His grin nearly split his face. "Everybody but the skaters, Xantippe, Phyllis, and Matan. We, er, made some strident claims to..." Kyra was surprised to see the old soldier looked embarrassed for a moment. "To... some people that you'd pick up another medal."

It was Kyra's turn to blush. "You didn't. You did." She started to tear up. "You guys!" Peneleos reached over to her, and for a second she thought the reserved man would give her a hug. But no, he was turning her towards Tamid ben Ebron, who shook her hand and gave hasty congratulations, before directing her the olympic official behind him: it was time for the medal ceremony, and Kyra had to go.


National Biathlon Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 1, Women's 15 km skiathlon, Finish

Xantippe blinked her eyes against the grey haze filling the edges of her vision, and looked around. Where'd everybody go? She tried to catch her breath, didn't quite succeed, and took another look. Just her, a quarter klick behind me. How did I...? She pushed the thought from her mind: the finish line was just visible in the distance, and she locked her vision on it.

End of race strategy? Forgotten; Xantippe's goal was to stay upright and finish. The grey seemed to close in around the finish line as she drew closer to it. She's getting closer. Focus on the sounds, the pacing... … … No, she can't catch up. I'm too close.

There was a blur, suddenly turning into a mass of people around her, and then three news crews with cameras, mics, and questions.

"How do I feel? Exhausted." Xantippe took a couple of deep breaths; her head cleared a little. "Thrilled!" Her face lit like somebody had flipped a switch. "Our first winter gold medal? I... I'm never going to forget this moment, even if all I can remember is the exhaustion." Half the crowd chuckled and nodded: the other distance skiers, they understood.

Chaya bat Meiri bounced up and down on her toes nearby. Xantippe playfully reached over and touched her on the tip of her nose. "Recharge me! I need some of that energy!" She realized too late that the sportscasters would immortalize that gesture, even if she and the rest of the Ioudaian team laughed at her joke.

Minutes later, recharged, though not from Chaya, she stood tall on the podium as the Ioudaian anthem played.


Ski Jump Area, Ferrandieu Ski Sports Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 1

As Matan ben Utz's skis touched the snow, he hissed to himself, "I'm dead. Completely, totally dead." He held his form until he was out of the landing area, and then gracefully pivoted in the out-run to look at his score. 116 is not gonna do it, not today, not against these guys.

The rest of the scores came in. "I get one more try. Let's make this best of this." He set his face in a mask of determination. Another run, another landing: Better, better, but is it enough? He turned to check his distance and grimaced. "Nope."

Matan pushed off for the locker room, looking for Myron Daniels. Despite circling the crowd gathered to watch, there was no sign of him, no sign of any of the Ioudaian sports crews. Strange. You'd think Champion would have somebody here, if only to record the scores, or interview the winner if there was a new record. Maybe they left after the first jump.

In the locker room, Matan pulled on his street-clothes pants, then dug his phone out of the pocket. "Ooooh! That would be why. Nobody wants to talk to a loser when they've got a winner to interview." He sent Xantippe congratulations, even though he hardly knew her.


National Biathlon Centre, Neverend, Liventia
Day 2, Men's 10km sprint, Start

At precisely ten minutes until the first racer would start, Peneleos addressed his team. "Men, the women set the bar high yesterday. Let's show Ioudaia we're up to the challenge as well. Let's show the world!" He got back a cheer that blended into a battle cry. Good! "We're ready! Let's get set!"

[Kelssek]

“Oh yeah? That’s cool. I’m from a town called Berlynn, which is a little bit outside of Kirkenes. Don’t know if you know places in Kelssek.”

“No one knows Berlynn,” interjected Lesley Peterson, piss-takingly. It was however true that few outside of Noua Cymru could’ve placed the industrial town’s thirty thousand people on a map.

Bronwyn forged ahead. “Though now I live in Langlois, cause I play for Olympique. Which is a pretty big city, but people are still nice. I like it though, I’ve got a nice apartment and I can kinda see the ocean from my window.”

“We’ve got it pretty good though,” said Lesley. “It’s a professional league and all.”

“And it’s stable,” added Briana, whose career had begun during an era when that was not the case, and players had to cobble together university hockey, amateur play, and hope to be selected as a national team prospect if they wanted to be able to devote themselves full-time to the sport.

“Sports that don’t have pro leagues have to rely on government funding...” explained Bronwyn. “Yeah, if you look at the Summer Olympics, I find it kinda impressive they’re able to make it work in sports like cycling, or field hockey.”

---

Mackay looking forward, not back
GERRY HOWARD in Neverend, Liventia

The return of the Olympics to Neverend’s Ferrandieu ski resort brings back good memories for the alpine skiing team. The 7th Winter Olympics remains Kelssek’s most successful tilt around the gates, with the racers bringing home six medals. It was also where Evan Mackay won the first of his two Olympic golds. Retirement speculation surrounds the 35-year old as he joins the national ski team again for the trip to the Olympics. In this interview, Mackay opens up about his brush with death and the future ahead for him.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.

Tell me about what set you on this journey. Was it your goal from when you were a kid to be an Olympic skier?
Maybe, I’m honestly not sure. I started skiing young, in Wenerdere it’s something that practically everyone does. My parents put me in ski lessons that looking back on were really just on-mountain daycare. But the ski club’s way of doing things was like, well you’re done level 1, move on to level 2, level 3, and it leads into their competitive program. And they’d have the older kids skiing brushes past us on the bunny hill, right when you start learning to do the snow-plow, so it was like, “hey, look how awesome this is, you want to do this”.

Brushes?
They’re like the most basic slalom drill, you have brushes instead of gates. Kids start training with those but we still do them cause it helps you focus on your carving technique and rhythm. Don’t have to worry about poles hitting you in the face.

When did the Olympics become a real goal for you, then?
Not really until I was 16 or 17. I got invited to the development team after I won the giant slalom in the Mount Loudon Cup, that’s the biggest junior race in the country. It’s only then I realized this was really something that I could do.

How much longer do you think you can go? And what’s keeping you going?
I’ve been very lucky that I’ve been relatively injury-free. It’s not a given in this sport. I want to keep skiing as much as possible, at as high a level as possible. The avalanche, and losing Jean-Luc, really put things into perspective. It’s the kind of experience I wouldn’t wish on anybody. But it also made me realize that I’m doing this because I love it, and it’s a privilege I want to hold on to for as long as I can.

After going that, you went to Prescott anyway.
That was actually a really bad decision. I should’ve taken the rest of that year off. Firstly, I had a ligament strain that was mostly recovered by the time the Olympics came, but the timeline was pushing it and it was still something that could’ve led to something worse if I’d caught an edge or something. I told myself it wasn’t a big deal, I could still ski. Really, I wanted to go because I could ignore the grief by putting my mind on something else. And that was the main thing really, my head was in completely the wrong place. I did a horrible downhill at that Olympics, I was like 35th or something. You need to be completely focused and committed in the speed disciplines, and I was in no shape mentally to be racing downhill at the Olympics.

There wasn’t any effort to check on your mental state?
Oh, Alpine Kelssek were on the ball with that, but I just said everything was fine. And they weren’t going to stop me if I insisted, which I did. But I was having nightmares and waking up in a cold sweat, and my roommate told me I was yelling stuff in my sleep some nights. They ended up insisting that I get professional counselling. Now I’ve had more time to process... I think I’m on the other side of all that.

Did you ever feel that you were doing this for him, or...
No, no, you hear some people say things like that about people close to them when they've had something tragic happen. Jean-Luc was a good friend, and you know, I keep in touch with his family. It hasn't been easy for any of them. They're the ones who get to say stuff like that. And his legacy in sports, it speaks for itself. He's the most successful winter Olympian from this country, I think the most successful skier as well? He doesn't need anyone's help to polish that.

The last time you went to Neverend for the Olympics, you won gold in the giant slalom. What would be a successful Olympics for you?
I think I have a great shot at a medal in both the slalom and the GS [giant slalom]. But it's going to be very competitive, as it always is. I'm not going to be disappointed as long as I feel good about the run I've had and that it was really the best I could do. It only really gets at me if I made a mistake or think I could've done better.

[West Phoenicia]

Television station West Phoenicia Sports 1 (WPS1) is already smiling like a Cheshire Cat. Not only is the World Baseball Classic, which will have many Confederate baseball fans tuning in to support their favourite team from their sofas, but the Winter Olympics is now upon us.

Network executives believe just as it was with the Summer Olympic Games in The Free Republics they will again take out the highest share in viewership for the next two weeks.

And to show that this the case. the station has been inundated with businesses looking to advertise during the two weeks.


The Opening Ceremonies at Neverend, Liventia and Yeaddin, Vilita will prove to draw in a huge West Phoenician audience. As viewers tune in for stunning opening performances from both nations as well as the March of the nation's.
There is nothing more entertaining than watching the host Nations display a spectacular performance of history storytelling, firework displays entwined with the Olympic values of Excellence, Friendship and Respect.
Yeaddin's opening ceremony live from Lirai Asku Castle, while many West Phoenicians oohed at the fireworks display and chuckled during the Artistic program, liking the little pokes the nation gave.

For others who were into architecture, the fortified colonial Vilitan structure was a beautiful sight, a monolith structure of days gone by. And was a perfect scene for a number of reporters to use as a backdrop during their interviews.

The Opening Ceremonies would definitely bring in enough viewers to push it to first place as most watched program that night. Numbers would dwindle when the time came for individual events, but they would dominate over the competition.

A number of stations, have waved the white flag in defeat. Allowing WPS1 to take the bigger share of viewership for the fortnight. Instead of attempting to compete, some are airing reruns, or watered down content.

However a number of stations have decided to put up a fight attempting to claw away at the sports channels viewership.

WP Muse, a Music channel targeting 12-30 year olds. Filled with current music video hits and musical programs and reality shows plans to air an exclusive interview with West Phoenician pop singer Magdalene, where she will be singing a number of new songs from her new album.
In addition WP Muse has pushed forward its new season of West Phoenician Pop Idol, wannabe singers from across the nation have descended upon the nation's capital like a flock of hungry seagulls fighting for a hot chip. Each holding the dream they will be selected during qualifications and have beginner hope that day will outlast the competition and become the next West Phoenician pop Idol.

Another TV station not lying down but fighting for ratings during the Winter Olympics period is Channel One: Soap; a 24hr channel dedicated to all daytime soap operas and serials as well as daytime talk shows.
Popular hospital soap opera Metropolitan Hospital has advertised that this week a secret lesbian kiss will be shared between a long standing matrirical character and a biker girl from across the tracks.
While over on 'As Lives Entwine' fan favourites Angel Barr and Glenton Towers have had a lot of ups and downs in their quest for love. They have finally made it to the church altar for marriage, however Angel's presumed dead husband Alan Moods, who was thought dead in a plane crash has appeared in town. The television channel is urging viewers not to miss these bombshell moments in soap opera history.

Over on Channel 14: Reality Now, the station will air tonight and tomorrow two new shows. The first, Do you wanna be a Polygamist? Throws a male contestant into a house of 5 women who will be his wives for the duration of the show. Viewers will get to see every detail of this man's struggle into the world of polygamy. Love, hate, tantrums and tears have been promoted, and that's just the first episode.
The second new show Temptation. Will see a number of contestants be transported into a makeshift world where they will face oppression and dangerous temptations as each deals with a sin they have had trouble controlling. Throughout this journey they will face challenges, temptations and rewards. The one who can avoid caving to the temptations trusted upon them will be the winner.


The rating wars have clearly started with rival television stations doing all they can to stop WPS1 from luring in too many viewers and sponsors to boost their ratings. Who will win this ratings war?

Only the numbers will tell!

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Olympic Actions Live: Follow Day 1 at Neverend and Yeaddin!

8:00 - Welcome from Neverend!
Good morning Savojarna, and welcome to the first day of the 14th Winter Olympics! My name is Jonathan Lundström, and I am welcoming you live from the Press Centre in Neverend, Liventia. I will guide you through the day on SavojarSports.sj's live ticker, making sure you don't miss any of the action here. Later tonight, we'll be joined by my colleague Hanna Peravainen from Yeaddin, who will cover the Vilitan half of events. But as you may know, it's only 3 am in Vilita right now, so give the poor girl some sleep. I am up early for you as we await the slopestyle qualifications that will kick off events today, but don't worry, I had a brilliant night of sleep and am ready to give you all the action LIVE! With me is also our social media representative Andrea Hansen, who will keep you up to date on the rumours from the Olympic Village. Feel free to follow her own Social Media Ticker here if you want all the gossip.

8:05 - Highlights of the Day
In just a few moments we'll get lots of spectacle as the Slopestyle qualifications kick off with the first group. However, the top favourites will take to the course later in the second group - expected in about one and a half hours - with the three Savojars Jonas Rydmark, Valtteri Martanen and Kevin Lappari. The third group will take the course at around eleven, featuring Pavel Zivkov, but we'll have plenty of stuff before that - the first in about an hour, when Jonas Skarsgard and Helena Berger need to win their game against Nibhanupudi/Alonso in the Mixed Doubles Curling. At 10, we start the first medal event of those games with the Women's 7.5 km biathlon, where Nilla Johansson will try to get a good position to defend her title in the Pursuit; and about half an hour later we'll also see the women's skiathlon with Carina Polve and Laura Mikan start. These two are probably the biggest chances at Savojar medals. In the afternoon, we'll have the ski jumping final on the normal hill at four, where Robert Jotansson hopes for an upset, and another curling match going off at five.

8:12 - We're off!
The hosts get the honour of kicking off the first real day of the Olympics. Branden Clayton starts in the slopestyle, but failed to bring down a run as he crashed on the first jump off a rail. He'll have to give us a much better second run - as always in snowboard, only the best run counts. The best four athletes of every heat qualify for the final.

8:41 - Difficult slopestyle park keeps claiming victims
The first few runs all saw major mistakes in the slopestyle. One of the only real clean runs so far was shown by Unified Beretania's Keenan Webb, but he'll face some serious challenges with 77.4 points. Bailey, Dirk and Becdelièvre are still up and might also show some decent runs.

9:05 - First qualifiers known
Tara and Cambray, Kriegiersien, Tropicorp and Unified Beretania secure the first four places in the slopestyle final. It's clear that the athletes are still holding back a bit, and the difficult course has claimed quite a few victims already, leading to Webb's 77.4 actually being enough to make the cut at 4th place. The second heat with three Savojars will start in a few minutes.

9:19 - Berger/Skarsgard in trouble
After a loss and a bye yesterday, the Savojar mixed doubles team needs a good score today against Xabia's Sean Chase and Chikako Satou. They're off to a bad start, however, with Skarsgard's last stone just narrowly managing to score one point and giving away the hammer very cheap. Chase/Satou play a very aggressive game, making things hard for the Savojars so far.

9:47 - Rydmark makes a statement
Jonas Rydmark stands a spectacular first run. After a slightly uncreative rail section he shows a beautiful performance on the kickers, but doesn't bring out his best jumps. He stands all his tries amazingly, and his 86.6 should be enough to see him through.

9:53 - Martanen and Lappari stumble on the second kicker
After a good rail section, the Savojar touches the snow and loses a lot of speed, leading to an underwhelming third jump. He's punished harshly with 61.4, but will have a second run to make amends. Lappari starts right after him and properly falls on the same kicker, he will now definitely have to improve on the second attempt.

10:08 - Yovkova is on her way
As the first Savojar woman in the biathlon sprint, Yovkova has begun her competition. She's not among the favourites, and will hope for the best - we're mainly looking for Nilla Johansson here.

10:12 - Curlers manage to pull ahead in seventh
Skarsgard/Berger come to new life and enter the final end on a tight 5-4 lead. The Xabian duo takes the last stone and the power play, they now need to reverse the score. Things look good for the Savojars!

10:34 - Surprising upset by Xabian curlers!
An offensive final end and a slight mistake by Jonas Skarsgard leads to a three-pointer for Xabia and a 5-7 loss to the Savojar mixed doubles team, which has therefore still not won a match.

10:36 - Yovkova without luck
Two shooting errors and a mediocre running performance means no luck for Ekatarina Yovkova in the biathlon. Johansson is on her way as well and managed a clean sheet on the first shooting.

10:39 - Rydmark wins qualification, Finns are out
Jonas Rydmark's second run fails to score, but the first is enough. The Savojar wins the qualification ahead of Inbilavru, Majpycha and Akivak. Martanen and Lappari improve their second runs, but don't manage a clean run and will not progress. Pavel Zivkov's heat will take off in a few minutes.

10:48 - Vallden goes to the ground
Lena Vallden falls in the skiathlon and needs to do some serious catchup work now. At the top, Polve and Mikan are going strong together with a group of seventeen skiers.

10:56 - Savojar biathletes held back by waxing errors
The Savojars seem to struggle with the conditions. Johansson, despite a decent shooting effort, is losing heavily on the track, as does Valtrinen. Yovkova has mentioned problematic conditions in her post-race interview, and the Savojars clearly struggle with the snow in Liventia.

11:09 - Decisive attack in the skiathlon
Xantippe Adamit of Ioudaia has attacked out of the top group and is pulling ahead. Out of the favourites, Yoon Il-Sook has reacted and gone for the chase, the rest have decided to wait it out and stay together. Mikan has now taken initiative and is leading the pack onto the final kilometres.

11:13 - We have a medalist!
Xabian Minoru Kyo wins the women's biathlon sprint clearly ahead of Kyra Glezos (Ioudaia) and takes home the first gold of the Games. Bilehelde Irons from Tara and Cambray wins bronze 1.1 seconds ahead of Valanora's Natalia Horst. Johansson loses almost a minute and comes in 29th as the best Savojar.

11:15 - CARINA POLVE SPRINTS TO BRONZE
We have a medal to celebrate! Adamit and Yoon were out of reach and collected the gold and silver in the skiathlon in this order, but in the sprint of the field Polve edged out Heidi Jerjysek from Kelssek by half a second to take home bronze. Mikan takes fifth place behind the two, and stated in the post-race interview that she had lead the charge for Polve and could no longer contest in the finale.

11:35 - Zivkov can't stand risky final jump
Pavel Zivkov does not hold back in the slopestyle, but fails to stand his spectacular Switch 1620 on the last kicker and therefore lands in the middle of the pack. He'll try again on the second run, as there was only a tiny bit missing.

12:10 - Only one Savojar in Slopestyle finals
Zivkov's second attempt fails as well, leading to only Jonas Rydmark qualifying for Savojarna. However, as he qualifies with the highest score of the pack he will be the biggest favourite of the final. With this, we are saying bye-bye for now and will welcome you back in about one and a half hours with the action from Vilita, where we'll have luge, skating and ice hockey!

[Kriegiersien]

+++ Olympic telegram +++

Hanz Lummerjager Junior, winner of the Three Hill Classic, missed to win a medal, like his father in Saugeais once in the normal hill ski jump.

Being third after the first jump, he failed in the second, ending with the 9th place.

Insulting winner Inflite Aerosala as “pet” and laughing about Matan ben Utz as “sorry loser”, before the second round, didn’t make him friends and earned him critic even from Jean-Francois Arzel, who had jumped with his father in Saugeais.

“He is like his father. Always an arrogant jerk. He called me too old”, said his teammate Arzel, who had failed to qualify for the final.

++


The Kriegiersien ice hockey ladies started with a 4–2 against Main Nation Ministry. An important victory to survive in a group with Savojarna und Ko-oren.

In the mid of the game the Kriegiersien team confirmed the reputation as 'bad girls', starting several brutal brawls.

“You have to understand that. The Olympics are the most important event for them. And especially our defenders from the Muhr Beavers, who failed the play-offs in the Kriegiersien League had to blow off steam and frustration from the bad season at home”, defended their coach the rude playing style.

++

In Biathlon no medals were won from the highly praised biathletes, even so all four qualified for the pursuit and Diana Desnudo is in range of the medals as 6th with 7 seconds to the third place.

Nelly Nackt ending on place 33 said she still wasn’t accustomed to the jerseys, like all biathletes from Kriegiersien here normally running naked.
Here colleague Nicole Nu blamed her bad shooting for the average result (17th).

++


In Women's moguls Imoen needed a second round to qualify for the final. She didn’t show the magic we expected from her.

“A real champ knows when to speed up”, she said mysteriously.

++

Otherwise only Jon Bailey surprised as underdog with the qualification in the Men's slopestyle.

[Vilitan Union]

Vilitan Union Earn First Medals of XIV Winter Games

Ferrandieu Ski Sports Centre, Neverend, Liventia :: While the eyes of the Vilitan Cove were focused on Yeaddin as athletes from the Vilitan Union competed on home soil for the first time ever in an Olympic Games, it was an athlete in Liventia who picked up the Union's first medal of the competition. Vilitan Ski Jumper Inflite Aerosala put together the run of their career in the Men's Individual Normal Hill with a 132.5 second jump to overtake all opponents for their first Gold Medal. Competing in their third consecutive winter games, Aerosala claimed their second gold after winning the same competition at Prescott XII. During the Prescott XIII games, Aerosala had a similarly strong first jump but a poor second jump left the Vilitan 10 points out in 14th place on the final standings board.

It had been a shaky start for the Vilitan ski jumping team as competition favorite and team lead Muunflii Lunara was disqualified in the qualification round while Aerosala was nearly too conservative advancing with just the 36th best score. On a blustery day Aerosala seemed to manage the environment better than anyone else being the only competitor to beat a score of 130 on both of their jumps to claim the gold over Taeshan's Michale Shasterman and Sindre Lerum of Fujai. Aerosala's Amazore Tileafa, the Bronze Medalist from Prescott XII, placed 6th while Kakorema Oceanivi posted a personal best in 8th. Anders Brzinski of Glisandia, the silver medalist from Prescott XII failed to advance from the qualification round.

Back in Yeaddin, the Vilitan Union would claim a medal in the very first Medal event to be held in the Men's 1500m Short Track Speed Skating event, but it would be from an unlikely source. The Vilitan Union's top speed skater Emnbagi Trivaka was eliminated in the Semi-Finals in a controversial heat which saw Harry Soto of Amuaplye penalized but no advancements. Trivaka ended up third behind a pair of Mattijanan athletes and would have to settle for the B-Final. Trivaka would save the best for last delighting the fans at the Yeaddin Ice Palace by breaking the Olympic Record that had been set earlier in the day by Ko-oren's Joel Stokes.

In the final, the locals would be cheering for Turori's Tumara O’ao’oaooali’a who had advanced twice as third place finisher including from Stoke's earlier record setting heat. O’ao’oaooali’a had already considered themselves lucky to have advanced to the Semi-Finals but seemed to have found their stride behind the home supporters having competed just after Trivaka's elimination. The Turorian claimed their first heat win in the Semi-Finals beating out Liventia's Brandon Roberts and the duo would finish together in the final as well taking home the Silver and Bronze medals for each country's first of the games behind Diarcesia's Stamenelas Megals who took gold.

While the fans in Yeaddin would have to wait to hear their anthem it was a strong start to the games for the Vilitan Union who picked up two medals on the opening day of competition to equal the performances of the delegations from Diarcesia and Ioudaia.

---

Bandy Competition kicks off at Eelandii Hub

Olympic Bandy Demonstration Hub, Eelandii, Turori :: While most of the olympic delegations and athletes competing in the XIV Winter Olympic Games in Vilita are competing in the host city of Yeaddin, there are a few small pockets of events taking place outside of the somewhat isolated Vilitan North in other areas of the country with suitable venues. For at least two locations, the purpose built Eelandii in Turori and the former capital of Lopinka in Vilita, it was also a moment of reflection as they were two of the main contending cities during the host selection process by the Vilitan Union Commitee of Olympics. In the end it was a battle between Yeaddin and Eelandii which Yeaddin ultimately won out in a close fight likely due to the existence of the Parra Kala Sliding Complex and the lack of a need for new construction as would have been needed in Eelandii which otherwise had the superior infrastructure.

There would, however, be a consolation prize for Turorian Contingent as Eelandii was named the Hub of the Bandy Demonstration competition. Three venues in Eelandii along with one in Lopinka, Vilita would be used to contest the group stages of the Bandy tournament before the top teams advance to center stage for the Demonstration Final in the Olympic host city, Yeaddin.

About Eelandii :: Eelandii is a purpose built "Sportropolis" built midway between Turori's two largest cities, Almintora and Cednia. Almintoria, Eelandii and Cednia are proximally located to Yeaddin separated by the Turviliki Sea as the closest Vilita-Turori city connection. As the Eelandii Sporting Village is not an officially populated city or community, all security within the "Sportropolis" is private in nature with company and independently hired security patrolling the region. However, law enforcement officials from both Almintora and Cednia have jurisdiction within Eelandii if they were otherwise in the area. For the Olympic games private security would be increased as well as the scheduling of regular posting from public safety officers from nearby communities. The weather in Eelandii is mostly temperate with the chance of temperatures permitting naturally occurring snow considered as highly unlikely.

Transportation- Travelers from outside Atlantian Oceania who wish to come direct to Eelandii should note it is accessible by air through the Almintora Internationstatal Skyport (AIS). There is public transportation between Almintora, Eelandii and Cednia. 4x Daily Ferry service connects Cednia and Yeaddin on the Vilitan mainland while an experimental autonomous tunnel system connecting Nusira Lionta, Vilita and Cendia, Turori is available for use by anyone also willing to sign the appropriate waivers.

Accomodations- Athletes, Staff and Family members identified by the delegation can be housed on site in Eelandii while Media and other Fans would have the option of staying either in Almintora, the Capital City of Turori, or Cednia.

Dining & Nightlife- Eelandii has a number of restaurants, shops and amenities which typically are only open on match days as well as a smaller selection of local eateries that are open on a daily basis to serve the towns full time employees and visitors which include Football Association of Turori, Eagle's Club as well as visitors to the Race Eelandii! Racing School and Driving Experience at the Eelandii Grand Prix Course.

Venues- While temperatures conducive to Winter Sports activity do not naturally occur with frequency in the Eelandii designated zone, three of the four venues in Eelandii are fully enclosed, climate controlled arenas and stadiums. Eagle's Club Pitch #1 is not enclosed but will be using an experimental Warm-Weather Ice Sheet technique developed by the engineers and scientists at Tropicorp for the event. Each venue is just a short walk away from the other and the Olympic Hub at the center of Eelandii where sponsors and vendors will be set up for the duration of competition.

Eelandii Multi-Purpose Arena
- - Men's Bandy Group 1
- - Women's Bandy Group 1
- - Men's/Women's 3rd Place Games
The Multi-Purpose Arena is one of the newest venues in the Sportropolis of Eelandii and was a by-product of the discussions surrounding the construction of the Eelandii IcePlex and whether or not that facility would gain enough use year-round to justify its construction. One of the alternative proposals to the dedicated Ice Hockey arena was a multi-purpose arena that had an adjustable configuration of which one of the configurations would be the Ice Hockey configuration required for Eelandii to host a Vilitan Hockey League franchise. In the end, Eelandii planners decided there was enough justification for the stand-alone IcePlex but enjoyed the idea of the Multi-Purpose venue so much they eventually built that too. The "Empa" as it is affectionately called was designed to be used for a wide variety of purposes by adjusting the two movable stands on either rounded side of the arena to create a seating configurations optimized for the size and shape of the activity required. In its most flexible configuration, the EMPA can hold over 12,000 fans with a Long Track Speed Skating track enclosing two full size Ice Sheets to be used for Ice Hockey, Figure Skating or Short Track Speed Skating. However the EMPA will be configured only for Bandy during the games.

Eels Park
- - Men's Bandy - Select Games
- - Women's Bandy Group 2
- - Men's Bandy Semi-Finals
Constructed by the Football Association of Turori, The Eels Park site was a critical component of the successful World Cup 63 host bid for Aguazul and Turori which eventually resulted in the World Cup returning to Turori for the first time since World Cup 19. Once the Eels Park site was complete, the Football Association of Turori packed their things and moved out of their offices at the Almintora National Stadium. The Arena has since hosted matches during the 26th Di Bradini Cup and due to its moderate size is one of the most atmospheric venues in all of Turori. Turorian National Team matches not being held in Cednia have also been held at Eels Park instead of Almintora National Stadium. Located equidistantly between the cities of Almintora and Cednia - the two largest cities in the Island Emirate, round the clock public transportation can take guests from Eelandii to either city center. Eels Park would be scheduled to host the Opening & Closing Ceremonies as well as a selection of Medal Ceremonies during the games.

Eagle's Club Pitch #1
- - Men's Bandy Group 2
The main pitch at the Eagle's Club has only one permanent grand stand which sits directly over the facility entrance at the south end of the stadium behind the goal with a capacity of about 8,000. The main pitch is available as a practice facility for any Eagle's Club member, permanent or cyclic honorary members, when visiting Atlantian Oceania or Turori whether they are contesting an International Match or just holding a tour practice. The Eagle's Club is utilizing a new Ice Sheet layering technology developed by Tropicorp to convert Pitch #1 in support of the XIV Olympic Winter Games Yeaddin Bandy Demonstration.
There are additional pitches and sport facilities on the complex typically accessible only to Eagle's Club members that will be available to the Olympic Athletes.Temporary grandstands are constructed along the two long sides of the pitch and are physically separated from the pitch by a Brick promenade covered in vine overgrowth. The venue has historically served as the site of the Eagle's Cup Third-Place Playoff match as well as the Eagle's Club Champions and Induction ceremonies.

Eelandii IcePlex
- - Men's Ice Hockey Group 1
- - Women's Ice Hockey Group 1
The Eelandii Iceplex was the first purpose built Ice Hockey facility in the Island Emirate of Turori where the Ice Sheet was intentionally designed as the primary surface of the arena with embedded cooling and Ice Making equipment opposed to Ice Sheets being added on a temporary basis for skating shows and other events. The Iceplex is the home of the Eelandii Explorers Ice Hockey team in the Vilitan Hockey Championship. The team have improved since their inaugural season having finished as high as second place during Vilitan Hockey Season 7. In addition to the primary rink there is also a smaller Iceplex Bubble outside the main arena which can be used for warmups or open public skating. The Iceplex would be used as the exclusive host for Ice Hockey competition.

---

[Diarcesia]

Day One of Winter Games Concludes With First Medals For Diarcesia

The atmosphere in the Eelandii Multi-Purpose Arena became heated with excited (no pun intended) as the Eucarian native Stamenelas Megalus crossed the finish line to earn Diarcesia its first winter gold medal (something that no tropical nation - in Gaea, at least - has done before), completing the 1500 m short track at a time of 2:11.150. He shared the podium with Tumara O’ao’oaooali’a and Brandon Roberts of the joint hosts for the silver and bronze, respectively. "The important part is consistency and keeping your routine," Megalus said, "I have try to keep the best paths and minimize mistakes by keeping a buffer from other competitors at the same time." This served him well especially in the preliminary rounds as the pack proved to be collision-prone, putting a couple of skaters out of contention or otherwise slowing them by precious seconds.

Shortly after, Emnbagi Trivaka of Vilita gave spectators of all countries a treat in the B Finals where he went to break the Olympic Record set just earlier in the competition by Joel Stokes of Ko-oren.

In the women's 3000 m short track, Sociatick Stephanid, after a somewhat rocky start, picked up her pace after a few laps and worked to catch up the ladder until finishing just behind Mwanajuma Elena, the lone entry of the Main Nation Ministry in the event, to win the silver. The other Diarcesians, Cas Matthews and Zaharinka Daly, failed to land the podium but finished at the respectable 10^th and 23^rd positions.

---

Earlier in the year, just after the Summer Games

"I think we did well, though I can identify opportunities for improvement."

"Such as?"

"I know you're not surprised that our tennis players and fencers expressed their disappointment with their outcomes. They flamed out early. On the other hand, some of the other sports were relatively overlooked but did well."

"Yes, these are valuable lessons that we learned."

"So, this document here outlines proposed action points that we can deliberate and implement. The low hanging fruit. We can make these done in time for the next Winter Games."

"We are at such a time crunch here, don't you think? I envy the Gaeans a little. They kept the ancients' traditions and hold games every four years."

[Taeshan]

A Team and a Dream: The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

The 14th Winter Olympics has gotten underway in Yeaddin, Vilita and Neverend, Liventia and one day into competition and the first medal of the Olympiad has already come the way of a young Taeshani. In the Normal Hill Ski Jumping, Michale Shasterman showed his skill in the early rounds with some strong jumps and in the end was able to end up on the podium. It marked the 353rd overall medal in Taeshan Olympic history, and the Ski Jumping team's 6th, and 4th on the Mens side. The first Normal Hill medal in 9 olympics. The Taeshan winter olympic team having a rough run of it in the last few games. The last winter Olympiad saw only 4 medals for the icy country, and hopefully this first day medal shows a sign of things to come.

Elsewhere the double's curling began with Mariah Griffin and Abel Hernandez 9th after 4 days of the Swiss style draw. They next face James Barret and Abigail Weekes with a chance to move up the table slightly. In other news on the luge track Aramis Ashante has gotten his olympics off to an impressive start. The Gold medalist from the 1st Prescott games in Doubles is looking to earn a singles medal and sits .03 behind Vilita's own Osterrazi Onalinto looking to earn a gold for his home country. Ashante goes into the final two runs hoping to earn his second medal in what is likely his last olympics and could well do so if he keeps an impressive form up from pre-olympic tournaments.

[Liventia]

Liventia eye team final in figure skating
YEADDIN— The finals of the team event in figure skating begin today, with the top ten teams after tonight's ladies' short program moving on to the pairs free skate, and Liventia hope to be among them.

The co-hosts got off to a strong start on the opening day of competition when Chris Coombes landed both his quad jumps in the men's short program — a quadruple Lutz and a quad Loop-triple Toeloop combination — cleanly to finish sixth on 92.77 points.

While Dennis Clayton and Jocelyne du Toit struggled in the pairs short program and could only finish 15th, outside the points-scoring positions, hopes are high for both ice dancers Austin Richmond and Olivia Spencer and Liventia's ladies' singles representative Sydney Austin.

Should Liventia qualify for the team final, with the pairs coming first of the four free routines, there is a chance for the Red-and-Gold to finish strongly.

"Yeah, we know we're probably not the strongest pair in the world at the moment," du Toit admitted after the short program. "But really our aim as a team is to make the cut, make the top 10.

"Then we go out first and we'll definitely score points if we're in the free skate, and Chris and Sydney and Austin and Olivia can do what we all know they can do and who knows then?"

Elsewhere, Geoff Watson qualified for the snowboard slopestyle final after recording the third-best score in his heat. Despite falling on a backside double cork 1080 on his second run attempting to improve on a 79.9 from his first run, that score — best of all 18 snowboarders in the first run — held up to seal qualification.

Defending champion Caleb Stevens is well-placed to clinch another medal in the men's singles luge, sitting about 12-hundredths off halfway leader Osterrazi Onalinto of co-hosts Vilita. Stevens, who has been struggling with a minor cold, has played down the effects of his illness on his performance.

"Look, it is what it is," Stevens said through sniffles after his second run. "It's all small gains and losses, at the end of the day it's about whether I take the turns on the track correctly. I don't think a cold is going to affect my concentration too badly as long as I get the correct rest I need."

Kylie Jacobs, Julia Benson, Carmen Gordon and Martha Gibson — whose name was left off the official results by accident — qualified for the semi-finals in the women's short-track relay, with Jacobs also qualifying for the 500m semi-finals. Brandon Roberts won Liventia's first medal of the Games by taking bronze in the men's 1500m.

[Mattijana]

Relay Record Smashed as Men's Ice Hockey Earn Battling Draw: Day 1 Roundup

MFO SPORT


Mattijana's Katija Lumana completes the home leg of Mattijana's Olympic record breaking run in the heats of the 3000m relay

Mattijana endured a mixed start to their Winter Olympics in Neverend and Yeaddin as the women's short-track relay team set the pace - and a new Olympic record - in their heats, but Dan Kamatz and Matej Žiri both narrowly missed out on a medal.

Away from the short-track arena, the women's Ice Hockey team earnt a battling 0-0 draw with Amuaplye whilst the mixed curling team of Matej Donilovic and Marika Sava overcame their first defeat of the games to stay in the top 5 of the pool stage table. We'll round up the action from across the venues, and the two host nations.

Short-Track programme off to a bang

Yeaddin, Vilitan Union

Short-track speed skating is one of the most popular Winter Sports in Mattijana and an area the Department of Sport have targeted for success over the course of the games following a successful medal haul last time out. Katija Lumana was the headliner from Prescott, picking up a sensational gold in the women's' 1000m, whilst Dan Kamatz also returned with a silver in the men's 1000m.

The relay teams fared less well however, the women getting dumped out of the 3000m in the quarter-finals and the men heading out of the 5000m at the same stage. With both events fairly new to the Olympic stage, the relays have been earmarked as races in which Mattijana can fare well, something that has prompted a boost in training schedules and funding.

Four years later, the improvement in preparation appears to be paying early dividends. The women stepped out in the heat aiming primarily to get safely through to the quarter-finals. They left the ice after not just qualifying, but setting a time of 4:03.451, a new Olympic record. Pushed hard by the Teremaran delegation, they stepped up to the challenge and Katija Lumana skated the final 750m, a distance close to the one she won individual gold in, looking like she had a point to prove.

Over in the men's 1500m, things also looked good for Mattijana. Dan Kamatz and emerging star Matej Žiri breezed fairly painlessly through the heats with both taking part in a 6-man final. Jérôme Gauthier's early crash made the chances of a medal even more likely, but the two were edged out by the finish, crossing the line in 4th and 5th without a medal. They were expected to fare better in the shorter events however and their competitiveness in the 1500m certainly bodes well for the future.

Women take hard-earned point from Ice Hockey return

Lonngeylin, Vilitan Union

Mattijana also made their long-awaited Ice Hockey return today. The women took to the rink to play Amuaplye, a team that despite not being fancied for silverware, would prove a handful.

A well-drilled defensive performance followed from the pucking marmots, preventing Amuaplye from building up rhythm and turning the match into a fairly scrappy encounter. Daniella Handanovic made several good saves when Amuaplye did get into good positions, most notably flicking the puck over the angle of post and bar when it was flashed goalward towards the end of the first half.
Mattijana had a couple of their own chances, Magdalena KruischBerg forcing a good save from the Amuaplye goalkeeper when forcing her way into a good position. Naomi Katjanovic also flicked narrowly wide as she tried to force a deflection into the bottom corner.

Generally though, it was Amuaplye who had the most of possession and Kaia Vranj will be happy to lead her team into the next match with a point and no damage done to the scoreboard. Taeshan are next up having lost 4-2 to the Vilitan Union in their first match and Mattijana will be targeting the match as a must win if they are to realise their ambitions of qualifying for the knockout stages with hosts Vilita one of the favourites not just for the group, but the gold medal.

Day 1 Insight: Andreas Santz

Andreas Santz is a former Olympic Short-Track skater for Mattijana who retired after the most recent games in Prescott.

As someone who has taken part in Olympic Games before, I've experienced first-hand the meticulous planning and gruelling preparation that comes in the games' fallow years. I also know that ultimately, all those hours of training boil down to just a few minutes on the ice.

It is not how many seconds you spend back home that determines how you are remembered though, but how few you take completing your race. Yet having said that, the performance that the 3000m relay team produced earlier today had clearly spent a long time in the pipeline.

The disappointment when both relay teams exited the last games at the quarter-final stage was really noticeable around the short-track squad. Mattijana have sent squads with a high depth of good-quality athletes for the last few games and the relays were a great platform to show that off.
Unfortunately when it came to the races, we were second-best. Our athletes weren't the worst out there, but the changeovers were messy and the race tactics hadn't really been thought out in the level of detail required for an Olympic event.

Over the last few years, the MattijanaKurzeRinkBand have gone back to the drawing board when it comes to how we go about the relay events. Coaches took extra time from their schedules to study what the successful teams were doing well, implementing that during training, and then spending the time on the ice perfecting those tactics. A fast start was a must, as was finding the right speed before the changeover that allowed the skater starting to build up enough momentum, whilst also allowing them to get an advantage from the push of the one finishing their run.

All that work came to the foreground in the race this morning. The changeovers were beautifully orchestrated and in using the fast-starting Ameli Kunarova to kick things off, Mattijanan skaters could take the shorter, faster inside line and stay out of the trouble that so-often characterises short-track races. The four skaters walked on to the ice looking to get through painlessly, they left it having laid down a new Olympic Record and arguably more importantly, a huge statement to their rivals.
One of those sets of rivals was the team from the Teremaran delegation. They were the other reason the Mattijanans were able to produce such a quick race.

The Teremarans produced a time that would have been the quickest of anyone in qualifying by quite some distance if it hadn't been for the Mattijanans. They put intense pressure on the Marmot's start and kept it there for most of the race, meaning that Mattijana had to find an extra gear they otherwise wouldn't have been forced to use.

The challenge now for Lumana, Kunarova, Alzerov and Kunarov is to stay in that gear right up until the end of the tournament, something that many before them have found a challenge, particularly given their involvement in the individual events. The responsibility for that comes down to not just the athletes, but the coaching team that got them into this position to start with. The lead relay coach, Lena Julencic, is someone who should be able to focus the team on next time. In my opinion, she is the best person in the coaching team for balancing meticulous analysis and preparation with the ability to sit back and let her athletes race when they are in good form. She will see things the team could yet improve on, but also try and avoid saturating them with new information at the risk of jeopardising what they have already developed.

It is an attitude like that which has earnt Mattijana the Olympic Record. Whether it has also caused the team to peak too early remains to be seen, but if the form shown by the Marmots is already ominous for the rest of the field.

[Kelssek]

CROSS-COUNTRY SKIING
Jerjysek comes up fourth in final scramble

There’s nothing like a dramatic finish and spectators were treated to one in the women’s 15km skiathlon. With Xantippe Adamit on course for the gold medal well ahead of Yoon Il-Sook, attention turned to the battle for bronze as Heidi Jerjysek struggled to get ahead of Savorjarnans Carina Polve and Laura Mikan.

The endurance race turned into a gruelling sprint as Mikan fell off the pace with less than 900 metres to go, leaving Jerjysek and Polve neck-and-neck in their fight for third. As they threw themselves towards the finish Polve crossed the line half a second before Jerjysek as the pair crumpled to the ground.

“It was crazy. Strategy just goes out the window when that happens. I just don’t know what to say when you miss out after something like that”, said a disappointed Jerjysek afterwards.

Jerjysek's effort was the closet Kelssek got to a medal on the opening day of competition.

OLYMPIC NOTES

• The opening ceremonies held at Lirai Asku Castle in Yeaddin, a historic fortified colonial structure, featured sand, palm trees, and a puzzled Cocoabo with a scarf.
• Olympic records were broken five times in one day in short track speed skating. Emnbagi Trivaka (Vilita) emerged as the men's 1500m short track record holder, set in the B final, the Mattijana women's relay team set a new record in the preliminaries, and so did Lisa Ebkalvero (Vekaiyu) in the women's 500m.
• Tropical nation Diarcesia won its first Winter Olympics gold medal with Stamenelas Megalus winning in short track men’s 1500m.
• Jérôme Gauthier was incensed after crashing on the final lap in the men's short track 1500m, with his complaints about being illegally blocked off dismissed by officials.

[Recuecn]

Madeleine LeCerf strolled through the Olympic Village in Neverend. It was quite something. A strange, electric atmosphere pervaded the whole place. Some parts would be empty all day, while athletes were out competing, but in some houses there were others who were waiting... training, hanging out with other members of the delegation, throwing parties...

There had been a pretty wild after-party the night of the opening ceremony. The ceremony had been beautiful--Madeleine had shed a tear as the Reçuecian anthem had played. But when the fireworks began to go off for the last time, the night had just been beginning for a lot of people.

The Reçuecian snowboarders had been a big part of the party that night (and their attitude had been displayed in their lousy results). They didn't hang out much with the rest of the Reçuecian delegation, preferring to keep to themselves--a bunch of them were already friends before the games. It seemed rather than practice their snowboarding they would rather get drunk with athletes from other countries. To be fair, the olympic village--a whole city full of young athletic types--sort of seemed like the kind of place that you might expect to become a haven of debauchery.

Madeleine, however, had left early that night. She wasn't here to party. It was day 2 now, which meant she had 10 more days before her moment. She would have one event, and that was it. Her only chance for success. So she had to be practicing.

Already she had hit up the slopes. The athletes only had a certain number of times they were allowed to practice on the hills that would be used for the events themselves, but she was finding other places to go so that she could keep skiing. There was no rest for her; her eyes were on the goal.

[Liventia]

Day 2 cutoff
Neverend section results

[Fujai]

Bronze in Fujai!
By Valhildur Hammaren for Fujansk Idrottsforbund (FIF) and Kai Svensdal for Fujansk Utsending (FJU)
19 October, 1420 SM, Neverend, Liventia.

Fujai's first Olympic medal has been won in Neverend! Veteran ski jumper Sindre Lerum won bronze in Men's individual normal hill on day one of the 14th Winter Games. After a lacklustre qualifying jump of 111.5 m that left him in 33rd place, he came back with two stellar jumps of 123 and 130 m on day two. We caught up with Sindre earlier today to find out how he feels about it all.

Valhildur: Hej there Sindre, congratulations on your bronze medal!
Sindre: Thanks Valhildur, and thanks Kai, I appreciate it!
Kai: I'm sure you've been seeing the news back home, you're a bit of a national hero right now, after all. How did you feel when you saw the results?
S: I sure have, it's unreal being here in the first place, but this is a whole other level of incredible. I really didn't believe the results when they came in. I was with my partner at the time after the jump and he had to pinch me so I knew I wasn't dreaming.
V: Aw, that's so cute, you and Espen will surely be the sweethearts of the nation for a while!
S: Ha! I'm sure he'll enjoy that!
K: To get back on topic, you two, how are you and the team preparing for the next few events, Sindre?
S: The most important thing is to get lots of sleep. It can be a party in the Olympic Village sometimes, especially after an exciting medal day, but it’s really important to get enough rest. Can’t carry the weight of a nation’s hopes without a full night’s sleep, after all.
K: Has the pressure been difficult to manage, then?
S: Oh for sure, ski jumping is the national sport and all, and this is our first multiversal Olympics, so the pressure is incredible on all of us. Thankfully our captains Aina and Hildegunn have done a great job in keeping us down to earth. Without them, none of this would be possible, really.
V: And we’ll all be rooting for Aina, Kiri, and Renée in their event tomorrow!
K: Indeed! The ski jumping team has been working incredibly well together the last couple years. I think there are more medals for you folks in the future.
S: We’re a bit more modest, but I think you might be right.
V: Oh don’t sell yourselves short. We’ll let you get going, there’s lots of celebrating and sleeping to be done before tomorrow.
K: Have a great night!
S: Thanks! I can’t wait to talk again!

The other two medalists for Men’s individual normal hill were Michale Shasterman of Taeshan with silver, and Inflite Aerosala, of the host, Vilita, with the gold. Tomorrow’s events will include finals for five events with Fujansk participants, so there’ll be plenty of news to cover then. See you on the slopes!

[The Transmondian Commonwealth]

In most of the Transmondian Commonwealth, if people talked about "the Olympics," they meant games being held in their own world, or the Home Olympics, which were being held in Haiti.

In the Liberated Reich, it was a different story. They had sent their best athletes to compete at the Olympics in Liventia and Vilita, and the LBC (Liberation Broadcast Company) had TV crews on the ground in both Neverend and Yeaddin to cover the games. They filmed all the events New England was competing in, as well as running human interest stories about the athletes from the Reich.

The Liberated Reich was one of the only places in the Commonwealth that had been annexed by force. It was under Nazi occupation when the first Transmondian scouts discovered it. The scouts were offended by the conditions they found at a concentration camp in New Hampshire, and the Commonwealth came in with guns blazing. The Olympic athletes from the Reich were all old enough to have vague memories of the Nazis, but young enough that their high school civics class included lessons on democratic institutions and the importance of voting.

When LBC talked to them about their personal journeys that had brought them to the Olympics, they talked about their athletic training, but they also talked about the experience of liberation and reconstruction. "I grew up near the American border, and my parents owned a hunting and camping shop," Alfred Oakley recalled. "They used to get in these big shipments of machine guns and ammo, like the ammo boxes would fill the whole back room of the store, and then one guy would come in and buy it all at once, clean out the whole room. Then the next month he'd come back for more. Of course, now I know he was buying them for the Resistance in New York, but back then I didn't think about it. I just thought that was normal."

The Oakleys used their profits from the gun trade to buy a nice house and help Alfred pursue his dream of becoming a figure skater.

Carina Jung's story came from the other side. "People gave me a hard time because I was German," she told an LBC interviewer who she had agreed to talk to over dinner. "I didn't really understand the politics, what it was all about. My parents were members of the Nazi Party, but they weren't political. They just joined because it was expected, you know? I'm not going to tell anyone we need to bring back Nazism, but if someone doesn't know me, then they shouldn't judge just because I'm German or my parents were in the Nazi party."

LBC managed to get both Mike Biggs English and Mike Biggs Reich to sit down for a shared interview. The two men looked like identical twins and they were amused by how often they would both start talking, only to realize they were saying the same thing in unison completely unplanned. They had different accents, and Mike Biggs English let his sideburns grow a little farther down onto his jaw, but otherwise it was hard to tell them apart. Mike Biggs Reich recalled how he'd been discovered: "I had just started doing a few snowboarding competitions in Liberated Vermont, and one day, this guy from the Black States comes up to me after a competition and he asks me if I know I have a doppelganger that's a famous snowboarder."

"He means me," Mike Biggs English chimed in helpfully, even though most people could probably figure it out on their own.

"Yeah, so this guy from the Black States --his name is Frank -- he starts trying to get me into more competitions, and he wants to introduce me to him," Biggs Reich pointed to Biggs English and they exchanged glances as if there was some inside joke that only they were in on.

"I thought it was pretty cool when I found out I had a doppelganger," said Biggs English. "I never would have visited the Reich or got into these Olympics if I hadn't met him."

"Yeah, but lemme tell the rest of the story," Biggs Reich said. "So I have this neighbor that's, like, a HUGE Nazi. I mean, the police have to stand in this guy's yard every Liberation Day to make sure he doesn't threaten anyone with his shotgun when the parade comes by. And he starts telling me I shouldn't be talking to Frank because he's from the Black States. I mean, Frank's not even black. He's a white guy from Black Barre. But my neighbor starts telling me he's probably half-Jewish or something because of all the race-mixing in the Black States, and then he starts going on about all this Aryan Master Race crap. So I tell my neighbor if he's so genetically superior, why doesn't he learn to snowboard. Then he asks me if I'll make a deal with him. I'm training for this competition and he wants to make a deal: if he can beat me, I'll stop talking to Frank. So I say okay. We've got, like, two weeks to practice. So I don't think Nazi guy is going to be great, but I figure he'll practice and he'll at least have some idea how to snowboard. I practice a lot because I know I need to do my best, and I'm hitting all my spins and nailing all the landings. Then Nazi guy comes up and goes right off the side of the course and snowboards smack into a tree. The paramedics have carry him off on a stretched and me and Frank are watching all this laughing our asses off. But yeah, after that, Frank helped me find sponsors so I could travel around to competitions in different worlds, and the rest is history. You know, once I got going, I never looked back. And once I met him--" he pointed at his doppelganger "--then I knew this is what I was meant to do with my life."

"Once I heard he was trying out to get into these Olympics, that's how I knew I had to be here too," Biggs English said. "I can't let him have all the glory without me!"

On LBC's Olympics coverage, footage from the interviews was edited together with voiceovers, footage of the athletes training, old home video that showed them as little kids, scenes of their hometowns, and snippets of footage from the Liberation -- and these vignettes were sprinkled between live coverage of the events in Neverend and Yeaddin.

[Teremaran Olympics Delegation]

Ekaterine, Falkasia
Several Months Prior

“This is it.” Dimitri admitted. “I’m at a point in my life where I’ve done everything I wanted to do. And quite frankly... I’m tired.”

The harsh studio lights reflected off of his head made-up forehead. What remained of his hair added looked like a salt-and-pepper dusting, doing little to conceal the growing liver spots on his scalp.

“I’ve been involved in so many different Olympics. And I’ve seen much and done much. But the one thing I haven’t done in such a long time is nothing. I haven’t relaxed. I’m ready for that. To do nothing.”

He chuckled a bit. His smile escaped the otherwise emotionless confines of his lips.

“One might think I’ve forgotten how to relax. With this Olympics organization, it’s always one meeting to event to meeting to event. And on and on and on.” His finger twirled to emphasize the point.

Opposite him, Svetlana sat silently and listened intently. Her cold outward expression didn’t suggest whether she cared at all for what Dimitri had to say, but her stoic professionalism necessitated the constant scribbling of his right hand within a composition book.

“What comes next?” She asked without warning, interrupting his self-deprecating monologue.

“I’m sorry?” He replied in kind, stumbling a bit over the words.

Svetlana resituated in her chair, recrossing her legs and folding them underneath herself. They both were seated in over-sized armchairs, installed on a soundstage.

“What comes next?” She stated again, equally as forceful as before.

Dimitri opened his mouth to speak, but closed it instantly. His eyes narrowed. Svetlana didn’t so much as flinch.

“That’s a fair question,” he began, measuring his speech to come across even tone.

He didn’t even understand why the question bothered him so much. It was simple; innocent event. But he knew her, and she, like all journalists, had an angle.

“’Retire’, I like to think. Whatever that means. But just hang up my bobsledder cleats, and hang up my coach whistle, and hang up my boardroom presentations and frequent flyer card. Like I said, I’ve been doing this for almost forty years now. I think it’s time to let someone younger take this ordeal over.”

He unconsciously gestured to his chest.

“Running a delegation IS very much a young man’s game. I’m afraid to say it’s taken its toll on me. Especially when the odds are stacked against us in terms of competition. It’s never easy on the mind or body when your career success lies as much in the hands of fate as it does in the hands of those trying to defeat you.”

She nodded, narrowing her own insightful eyes in-kind. Her hand made a quick flicking motion, just below the sightline of the camera.

“Dimitri, are you having health issues?” She declared; not asking. “This is completely off the record by the way. The cameras are cut.”

The camera tech nodded affirmatively.

“Yes. Yes I am.” Dimitri flatly and coldly replied, pushing himself up and out of the chair. “And that is all I’d like to share on the matter Miss. Please excuse me.”

RP courtesy of Falkasia.

[West Phoenicia]

Neverend, Liventia.

West Phoenicians were not strangers to Neverend. The II Winter Paralympics Olympics had been hosted there.. So it was always a pleasure returning to a city who loved sport.
The Stade Grande Olympique was a breathtaking stadium and perfect for any opening ceremony. Both opening ceremonies came off as a success in the minds of West Phoenicians.

One of the first events to take place was the; Biathlon—Women's 7.5 km sprint.

West Phoenicians never had an issue with shooting. Many West Phoenicians had taken out medals in shooting in the Summer Games and citizens were free to carry guns for safety in a number of the city-states.
However the ultra lightweight of the Biathlon rifle was strange to handle at first but one soon began to master it with enough practise and skill. It was the skiing tapped onto the event that had many aspiring winter Olympians struggling.

It was not a sport many West Phoenician gravitated towards due to its difficulty it was almost a military event.. And out of those the only ones to have any international success was
Davina Lowe/Laura Lice/Tanya Summers/Misty Thornton winning silver in Biathlon in the Women’s 4×6 km Relay at the XII Winter Olympics in Prescott, Electrum.

For now it was Biathlon—Women's 7.5 km sprint. Day one right in your face. Only Trisha Goodard had opted to attend the opening ceremony. The other two entries choose to stay back at the village and conserve their energy.
Trisha Goodard, Lea Lowe and Do Nguyen-Wang would be among some of the first to step out and represent their nation in a medal earning event.

Lea Lowe of the city-state of Debney Bay was the most experienced of the three for these games. Bringing in some terrific times with few shooting errors during training at the Drum March Hollow In Valhalla Ports, a province of Western Norse Territory.
But amazing practise runs and scenarios don't always translate correct on the day.

Do Nguyen-Wang could attest to this, she qualified for the Winter Olympics, after competing in the same event at the previous games where she placed 66th. "It's a huge shock going from one of the best in your own nation, to then place low on the international stage. You soon realise being the nations best, means nothing, however it gives you new desire to win."

There was a lot of competition today...a lot of great competition who were not going to settle for second best.
The three women knew they were going to have to give it their all!

"Alas, they may not have medal placed today, but West Phoenicia is vastly improving in areas where 10 years ago they were non existent and had no chance of every breaking the top 20," Vangi Goodblood, head coach of the women's Biathlon cited during the post event interview with WPS1 reporter.

Of the three Trisha Goodard placed 5th and Lea Lowe 9th. It was not the medal win they had hoped for. But the results were wildly popular for their coaches. Who saw two of the three finish in the top 10.

" The Ministry of Sports has been so generous in injecting a sizable amount of funding into new training venues and coaches. The investment may not pay itself back these games, but with continued training it won't be long before West Phoenicia dominates a number of these winter sports. At the moment we favour Figure Skating as our top Winter Olympics sport, but with women like these training and than passing on their knowledge, we will have an unstoppable team in the future. It is amazing to imagine what strong females the next generation will bring."

Lea Lowe still has a chance to bring home a medal for West Phoenicia which would be a great honour for her resume. She is also registered for the Women's 4x6 km Relay and the Mixed Relay 2x6 km+2x7.5 km.

While the dream is over for Trisha Goodard and Do Nguyen-Wang both ladies plan to go out and support their fellow team mates in the other upcoming Biathlon events.

[Gryphonian Alliance]

GRYPHONIAN ALLIANCE SUFFERS THROUGH POOR PERFORMANCES IN XIV WINTER OLYMPICS

THE GRYPHONIC DELEGATION SAW SOME MIXED RANKINGS IN DAY 1 AND 2 EVENTS.
--by Sebba Ingle from Neverend--

Firstly, let's start off with an addition to our report on Day 0. In the Yeaddin section of this year's Winter Olympics, Kurero Tsukoo, who represented the nation in Men's Short Individual Team Figure Skating, placed 13th out of 20 competitors with a score of 79.56, a placement that was not enough to garner points to contribute towards the team's score overall in Team Trophy Figure Skating. Our Pairs Short duo, Sabase Vanna and Kuma Wasmeshutow, performed even more poorly, placing eighteenth out of twenty with a score of 57.24, giving the delegation a grand total score of 0; granted, none of these athletes were expected to place extremely high to begin with, taking their records into account.

Heading onto Day 1, on the Neverend side of the Olympics we saw Ellen Jobbins tying for 63rd place with a time of 23:52.4 minutes in Women's 7.5 km sprint, and Shika Rodini at 67th, finishing at 24:07, and finally Bisse Lursa and Okasa Namure in 81st and 83rd places, respectively, out of 85 total competitors. (For comparison, the winning sprint finished at 21:28.7.)

We saw disappointing results in Men's Individual Normal Hill Ski Jump Finals as well, with Lastu Minuette and Nyarlo Hothong placing 44th and 49th respectively, out of 50 competitors. Moving on to the Yeaddin section of the Olympics, there were somewhat better results in Men's singles Luge, with Prudent Gaffy placing 21st by finishing with a combined time of 1:44, and Jimmy Longburger finishing just 0.47 seconds later to come in at 28th, out of 56 competitors.

In Women's Ice Hockey we saw a 3-0 loss to West Phoenicia. In Women's 3000m relay preliminaries Short track speed skating, our team placed last out of our grouping, and in the 500m prelims for the same, but non-relay event, Masswe Quilport, Sue Ghierje and Bulta Falcom all placed 3rd out of the four in their respective groupings, meaning that none of our athletes qual'ed in these events.

There was a bit of an upturn in the 1500m version of the male counterpart of the latter event. Kagat Sugerain did place last in his group, and Enten Wotchins came in 4th, but Karthon Chalamdra came in 3rd in his prelims bracket. Karthon enjoyed continued success in the next round, coming in third in his grouping there, and continued to semifinals, where he placed fourth and was put in Group B for finals. Unfortunately, he came in last for Finals B. While he might not have achieved the hoped amount of success, his journey was a treat to follow for many proud Griffins.

In Women's Speed Skating 3000m finals, Quilla Lexingburg ended up at 31st, while Ginge Maykwerst finished in 44th; Lowale Andso crashed multiple times and was DQ'ed. Gryphonic athletes didn't do so well in women's bandy either, with the GA team facing a 5-2 loss to Kelssek.

Moving on to Day 2 in Neverend, Men's 10 km sprint Biathlon finals saw Chakloin Norrykie and Muhme Aburuve coming in at 32nd and 33rd place respectively. Jottur Hostur ended at 49th, and Josephin Brobbe finished 74th out of 86 competitors.

Coming into Day 2 on the Yeaddin side, there was another highlight in Ice Rhythm Dance Figure Skating, where Yusk Mullate/Curaly Drammoth placed third. On the other hand, Tochina Tiranar placed last in Ladies' short program Figure Skating. Sliding over to back
to Men's singles, we saw an admirable perfomance by Prudent Gaffy who placed 17th, advancing him to the final round, while Jimmy Longburger ended at 27th and unfortunately did not pass. Prudent finished his event with a placement of 17th in the final.

Moving on to men's ice hockey the Gryphonian team performed well against Valanora but ended in a tie game. In Men's 5000m speed skating finals, Gene Verity placed 20th, Sotaio Masuty placed 29th and Aswakanoc Blythe placed 43rd out of 58. The men team was unfortunately stomped by Ko-oren in a 9-2 game of bandy.

That's all for today. Don't forget to tune in for tomorrow's report!

[Ko-oren]

Opinion piece by Therguil Jadheshugithen

Finding a sponsor for the Ko-orenite delegation. Shouldn't be this hard. Most delegations, including ours, can get by without a sponsor. It's not a necessary thing: for every one of our athletes, it will always say KOR for Ko-oren before their name, not something like GJY to denote they're being sponsored by national airline Greenjay. But something you do tend to see is that loads of companies see the Olympics and think that there's something to get out of that. Supermarkets run specials and give away collectibles to encourage customers to come back and complete the set before we're out of events in Yeaddin and Neverend.

There's something else at play in Ko-oren that should make this a lot more approachable. We have the Corporate Responsibility bill, which has passed, mind you, which means that every company should give back to the community. As impossible as it is to check whether companies actually live up to the points in the Corporate Responsibility bill, they still have an obligation to comply. I personally think the bill is so impossible to control, that it might as well not be there in the first place. Just some points from the bill:
- Any company (that is allowed to make a profit) should appoint the role of Responsibility Officer, which can take any form from (Chief) Green Officer, (Chief) Environmental Commitment Officer, to (Chief) Sustainability Officer or (Chief) Responsibility Officer.
- A part of the profit (percentages depend on a company's branch) should be returned to the community.

Especially that second one will sound odd. Pretty much every other country that has a system like this, either nationalises everything to make it non-profit, and sometimes even calls itself socialist. There's nothing wrong with that. The thing is that companies in Ko-oren had the choice between the Corporate Responsibility bill, or a tax at the subdivision level, and all the money raised by that would be put in use by a government agency. The free advertising and fear of taxes won out, and so the bill was passed instead of added taxes. And there's a lot of profit made by Ko-orenite companies, or companies in Ko-oren, and so there should be a lot of money that must be spent on these programmes.

I expected a boom in festivals, sports events, expositions, and so on. I don't exactly know what we got instead. Certainly not that. And in a time where the country, and the government, are pretty pro-profit, it's odd that there isn't more in the news about this bill. Shouldn't those companies jump at the opportunity to spend that money in such a way they get free advertising out of it? Or what is this money put towards?

I just want to know why our Olympics programme is so underfunded when there should be millions of Koronas out there that must be spent on something... like the Olympics.