A flashy titles sequence starts up along with screeching guitars and percussive drum beats. Images of past Mytanar sporting glories cross the screen: Yolanda Savic setting an Olympic record in the pole vault in Lasft and then incredibly doubling up to get a bronze in the high jump; Wes van der Stijnen – possibly the greatest road cyclist ever – winning back-to-back Island Tours; Zuzana Spevakova, the country’s best ever swimmer, climbing to the top step of the podium twice for the 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley before also getting a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay in Lasft before going on to win 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze at the Rushmori Games. The images then move inside, boxers Arni Tukaldev and Katrina Ujeva winning their golds in the ring, before one of their punches causes the images to shatter and the words ‘Standing On The Shoulders of Giants’ complete the sequence.Narrator: Mytanija has produced some fantastic sportspeople over the years, a number of record-breakers and serial winners in different disciplines. Now we chronicle the experiences of the athletes which are looking to follow in the footsteps of those that have come before them and reached the pinnacle of their sports. This series will provide full coverage and insight in the run-up to, during and after the Terranean Coast/Bunjil Olympic Games. We will see what boxers, cyclists, pole vaulters, swimmers and several other Olympians go through in order to prepare for competitions; all the trials and tribulations of the Games; and see how they react to both successes and failures.
Standing On The Shoulders of Giants is a series which is designed to give viewers an insider’s view to the efforts and emotions Mytanar athletes will experience and cover all the highs and lows of the Olympic Games hosted on the other side of our region in the land of our Rushmori neighbours, Electrum.
Dealing with Disappointment
Narrator: Disappointment is a natural part of sport. Athletes cannot win all the time, even if they are the greatest in their craft, at some point their powers will wane or they will be beaten by a wily opponent. The best deal with disappointment well and utilise it as motivation for the future. They turn their defeat, their disappointment, into fuel for their successes. That makes learning to deal with disappointment an important part of the lives of sportspeople. Will they allow their disappointment to crush them? Will they allow it to stop them from achieving whatever it might be they want to achieve? Or will they use it productively? Will it become that motivation they need to go on and prove the doubters wrong?
In this episode we will look at three different sports, two which have a rich history of Mytanar success and a third which is a little less storied. Mytanar cycling has produced Wes van der Stijnen, arguably the greatest stage racer of all time, but he never managed to achieve Olympic glory in his impressive career. Mytanar swimming has produced the so called ‘Fab Four’ which dominated the pool at the Rushmori Games and was headlined by the two-time Olympic gold medallist Zuzana Spevakova. Those in the pool this time would be following in illustrious footsteps if they could step onto the podium. Then we move onto judo, a sport which does not have too much history on Mytanar soil and is probably better known for being a sport which the Krytenians excel at than anything else. Zehida Plavec, only 19 years old, competes in the women’s 48kg category and is trying to put judo on the map in Mytanija and we chart her story at the Olympic Games.
***
Mytanar cyclists have a tough task to follow, failure to live up to the standard set by the likes of Wes van der Stijnen and Preben Kvaal means they will be heavily criticised by the media and the public. It can make international competition a thankless task for the riders involved. Cycling draws a lot of impassioned views and people hark back to a bygone era and the grit and panache displayed by champion cyclists of the past whenever they can. Many current cyclists feel it is almost a stick to beat them with, the domestic racing scene is as competitive as ever with lots of stage races ranging from the famous three-day event Three Steps of Ebena to the ten-day Tur Mytanija. The one-day races always draw crowds too and the big three of Cieszin-Prizren; Thessia-Thessia; and Zavolja-Sigurno are some of the most talked about sporting events of the year. Mytanar cyclists do not get the opportunity to test themselves abroad quite as often as they once did, although the GS SuperSports+ Road Cycling World Series has provided them with a chance to impress of late.
The Mytanar team for the Olympics is made-up of Jasar Izetbegovic and Miroslav Grbesa (both of Guinec-Kultura); Drazenko Buhic (Air Rauchnya Cycling); and Marin Svetlicic and Luka Petrusic (both Agrokomerc-Kafa). The quintet seem to have built decent relationships in their preparation for the Olympics, although being cordial hasn’t always been their experience of one another with Grbesa and Svetlicic in particular having had disagreements due to events at a previous race. Svetlicic won the Tur Magevskaya thanks to his daring descending, descending which caused a Grbesa error and subsequent crash. They’re led by Velichko Lausevic, the acting
directeur sportif for the men’s road team. He’s a controversial character in Mytanar cycling, renowned for his extreme training methods and for pushing his riders to their limits. He believes making training as difficult as possible is the best way to make actual racing simple. Some riders aren’t too fond of that approach.
The hilly Olympics road race route was one which the team looked at and relished. They were mostly decent climbers or even general classification contenders. It was a team built for the war of attrition that the race was likely to be. Their international results hadn’t really matched-up with this view and the media let them know about it at every opportunity. Luka Petrusic had stolen a march on everybody in the flat Háttmark–Laafjörður classic, attacking late on and taking advantage of a fortunate tailwind in the final kilometres to stay away. The crosswinds earlier on had broken the field apart and Petrusic, Grbesa and Buhic – all on different teams – had found themselves in the lead group. The Mytanars found themselves having to work together, a sign of what was to come with the Olympics team selection and it was Petrusic that profited with his late attack and Grbesa held on with the others to finish inside the top ten. It was a fantastic win for Luka Petrusic, but as Gazeta Sporta pointed out in their Olympics preview, it wasn’t a parcours which told us anything about his ability to win at the Olympics road race.
Miroslav Grbesa – riding for Guinec-Kultura – took a leaf out of his compatriot’s book at the Kriterium von Schutzenphalia, his late attack in the closing kilometre enough to see off the competition and shock the field on another flat course meant more for strongmen than skinny climbers. Grbesa is a good time trialist, as you’d expect from most GC contenders and he used his ‘engine’ to good effect to ride off the front and leave the peloton behind. It looked as if the race had been heading for a sprint but it was an audacious tactic and Grbesa got what he deserved as he used a bit of road furniture and a narrowing of the course to his advantage. Craft racing for sure, but not on a course which told us much about his ability to win at the Olympics road race, something Gazeta Sporta were quick to point out.
Grbesa’s big rival Marin Svetlicic tasted success at the Coral Coast Classic. This course did tell us a bit more about Svetlicic’s ability to do well at the Olympics, with some steep ramps on the Green Mountain. Svetlicic attacked again and again, relentless in his appetite to see off his rivals and eventually this snapped the elastic and he was away. The 24 year old did tire on the flat run in towards the end and the gap was narrowed to his rivals, including Grbesa who ended up in third, but he held them off and got another famous victory on foreign soil for Agrokomerc-Kafa to go alongside Luka Petrusic’s at Háttmark–Laafjörður. Gazeta Sporta was a bit more buoyant on this success, suggesting that it was a ‘good omen’ for the Olympics.
Those results raised expectations among fans and with the Olympics on the horizon it has piled pressure onto the five-man squad who will carry the nation’s hopes in the men’s road race, with road cycling being the only sport alongside pole vault which can cause the whole nation to stop and watch events unfold. Mytanar riders rode cleverly with their trade teams during the World Series and with three wins in the eight events belief has skyrocketed. There might well be a winning squad from the current crop after all… As long as they can put their inter-team rivalries aside and ride for Mytanija in the Olympics road race. That might prove the most difficult part given the notorious rivalry between Mytanija’s ‘big three’ cycling teams: Guinec-Kultura, Air Rauchnya Cycling and Agrokomerc-Kafa. They have the best riders and usually duke it out for the wins on the domestic circuit whilst simultaneously fighting a constant battle against one another off the roads as they look to gain advantages through cycling technology, sponsorships or getting opponents thrown off races for minor infringements. That can create tension.
A field of over 240 riders would make the road race very difficult to control at the best of times and alliances would have to be made and broken on the day to try and win the race. It would be a cut-throat business and the Mytanars’ reputation will precede them. That will make working together even more important and if the Mytanar team cannot do it then their chances will go out the window pretty early on. Velichko Lausevic has quite the job on his hands not only to ensure the team are suitably prepared for the physical aspects of the race, but also for them to work as a team and not work against one another as they are so used to doing normally. Here is an insight into how their race panned out:
The camera shows an enormous peloton roll out at the start of the Olympics road race, skipping between different shots of the group as they set out on their 6 hour journey to what every rider will hope is Olympic glory. The first 10-15 kilometres are carried out at a relaxed pace as the riders roll out and find their legs, waiting for the flag to drop and the official racing to begin. Once that occurs Luka Petrusic is off like a shot, dropping into his biggest gear and clambering out of the saddle and all over his bike to try and get off the front of the peloton and into a break. Several riders follow his green jersey, white, orange and charcoal stripes resplendent down its sides. Allowing a rider as strong as Petrusic up the road could prove costly, but with the weight of attacks and number of riders trying to go off the front the peloton have to relent eventually and allow them to go. Petrusic has his gap and Mytanija are happy.
“Brilliant! He’s gone!” Velichko Lausevic says, sitting back in the team car. A dashboard camera keeps track of everything that is said from his perspective, alongside the two mechanics who would be there and ready in the event of a bike or wheel change. The next six hours would be gruelling for all involved and they wouldn’t even be cycling! They had wanted to get Petrusic up the road from the gun. He was a climber, but he was a very strong all-round rider and he could cause major problems for a peloton which gave him (and a strong group) too much time up the road. Lausevic couldn’t quite tell who else had made it into the break, but in a race with so many competitors the chances of there being some other strong riders alongside Petrusic were pretty high. Jasar Izetbegovic, Miroslav Grbesa, Marin Svetlicic and Drazenko Buhic were sat back in the bunch, a colony of green among a swirling mass of different coloured jerseys. They had gotten the start they wanted and they would now have to wait to see what happened over the next few hours
[…]
“Fuck!” Velichko Lausevic bangs the steering wheel of the team’s Vatasva Skala. “Miroslav’s gone down! Get him a new bike!” One of the mechanics springs into life, running out towards the stricken Miroslav Grbesa. The bunch had been rolling along serenely. They had seemed happy with the configuration of the break up ahead and the Mytanar riders did not have to work at all with Luka Petrusic up there in that. Lausevic and the mechanics hadn’t been able to see what had happened to Grbesa, but it was evident he had gone down pretty hard. He was holding his arm awkwardly and grimacing, Velichko could see pretty clearly from the car.
Eventually Miroslav gingerly stands up. His legs and lower arms are cut and scuffed. There is a particularly sore looking bit of road rash visible through a gaping hole in his jersey. The peloton hadn’t been going that fast, but all it takes in that situation is a touch of wheels and somebody can end up with a bad injury. The mechanic says something to Miroslav and he shakes his head, pain etched across his face. Velichko holds his head in his hands as the mechanic and rider walk back to the car, the former supporting the latter as he walks a little unsteadily.
“Race done?” Velichko asks in a cold tone, peering through his fingers at the mechanic. The mechanic nods his head solemnly. Just like that Mytanija are down to four riders from five. One of their potential contenders out of the race.
“I think my collarbone is broken,” Miroslav says, uncomfortably hopping into the team car. “I touched wheels with Drazenko and the next thing I knew I was on the deck.”
“Don’t worry about it son,” Velichko replies, hitting the accelerator as soon as Miroslav and the mechanic are in the car. “Happens to the best of us.”
[…]
Things had started to get interesting, with lesser riders dropping off the peloton as the course got more difficult and the breakaway group thinning down at a similar rate. Petrusic was positioned well to help Izetbegovic and Svetlicic if the main group caught up to the break, whilst Drazenko Buhic’s day was done. He was swept up by the broom wagon after a long day of carrying bottles up and down from the team car. He had done his bit for the team, even if an inadvertent touch of wheels had done for Miroslav Grbesa’s day entirely. As apologetic as Buhic was each time he came back to the car for another raft of bottles, it wasn’t really his fault. It was the sort of incident which could happen at any time in a bike race.
Izetbegovic and Svetlicic rode for different trade teams but actually got on pretty well. They were the same age and had come up the youth ranks together. They would work together and Velichko Lausevic was quietly thankful that it was those two who had ended up within striking distance. The break looked doomed, although you could never quite tell if an attack from it would breathe new life into it. There were Tumbrans, Græntfjallers, Quebecois, Mertagnians and Lisanderian riders all present. They could be in for a big finish. Petrusic would be able to help for a bit, but would surely be fatigued from his efforts both in the break and to get into it in the first place. His presence would also cause other teams to look at the Mytanars to ride on the front.
[…]
“Right, here we go.” Velichko says. The race was coming back together. A few teams had worked hard on the front and had eaten into the gap the breakaway had up ahead. Luka Petrusic hadn’t been working for a while, he’d ride through and soft pedal as the break rotated who was on the front before dropping off a few seconds later. He knew his role was to wait up for the peloton if the breakaway appeared to be futile. It wasn’t the best approach for building alliances and Luka received the odd complaint from some of the other competitors, they wanted him to work and try to stay away, but he had his team orders. Thankfully languages had never been his strong suit at school, he didn’t have a clue what they were saying to him.
“I wonder how long Luka can contribute,” Miroslav says from the back seat. “I’d be done if I’d spent as long as he has up the road.”
“That’s why you’re a protected rider, Miroslav.” Velichko grins. “They’ll never have you doing the donkey work will they?” It wasn’t often Lausevic shared a joke, but Miroslav appreciated it. He had had a hard fall and had chosen to remain in the team car to see how things panned out. He could have hopped out to get medical treatment but one of the mechanics had patched him up and given him a towel to wipe away the sweat and a set of team kit to uncomfortably change into whilst sat in the car. Miroslav was still holding his arm awkwardly of course, but he had broken his collarbone a few times, it came with the territory as a cyclist.
“Look!” One of the mechanics shout. Jasar Izetbegovic and Marin Svetlicic are finding their way up to Luka Petrusic’s wheel and the trio are in conversation. Other teams look at the three Mytanars. Having numbers is usually an advantage, but not in a race with such small teams. The burden falls to those with the most riders to make the efforts and Petrusic already looked to be pedalling squares.
“Well at least they have found one another.” Velichko says. “That’s something at least. I think Luka is cooked though.”
“Yeah,” Miroslav grimaces, possibly because of the race situation. More likely to be because of his broken collarbone.
[…]
Petrusic had managed a creditable couple of kilometres on the front, raising the pace of the peloton before wheeling off to the side of the road and almost going backwards. He would eventually finish almost three minutes down on the winner. That left it to Izetbegovic and Svetlicic to decide what to do, they were in the lead group with some strong riders and were one of a few teams with multiple riders left near the front. The Quebecois had three, the Græntfjallers had a pair too, other teams would probably expect those teams to do the most work to stay away and prevent others from coming back into contention. Pairs of riders could only do so much, it wasn’t a number which could dominate a race.
Suddenly waves of attacks began to shoot off the front as the group began to approach the finish, a Tumbran went off in search of the win, closely followed by a string of others in different jerseys. From the team car it was unclear if either Jasar Izetbegovic or Marin Svetlicic had managed to go with them. A lack of team radios meant that there wasn’t any communication to find out for sure. They were in the dark. Marin Svetlicic didn’t have the legs to follow those up ahead, whilst Jasar Izetbegovic did – at least initially. The kilometres in the legs had the effect of deadening them and eventually Izetbegovic could not follow either, the leaders had their gap and even when he looked around for help it was not forthcoming. Few would want to help drag Izetbegovic back up to the front and he did not particularly want to help them either, he was stuck shaking his head and muttering obscenities in the vague direction of the others. He rolled in in 18th, Mytanija’s best finisher and 21 seconds down on the Tumbran gold medallist Bill Bonnington.
The time-gap was understandable and considering the course by no means unusual, even if they had imagined they would be able to achieve a top ten at the very least. There would be no inquest among those involved – riders, coaches, mechanics etc – that was just how road racing went sometimes. The inquest would come in the media. Mytanar cycling would be declared on its deathbed, incapable of placing a rider in the top ten and sullying the legacies of greats of the past.
“Look, that’s just how races go sometimes.” Jasar Izetbegovic explains forlornly afterwards. “I didn’t have the legs to go with them. It was a tough course and I think everybody was on the limit, those lads just had that little extra in the tank to get it over the line. We did a solid race and were unlucky with Miroslav having to drop out so early, but these things happen. We’re disappointed for sure, but we’ve all raced for a long time and we know you can’t win them all, particularly if nobody else wants to help to chase. We’ll try again next time.”
***
Miljusa Kavaric has always believed that she could one day follow in the footsteps of Mytanar swimming’s ‘Fab Four’. If the Mytanar system had produced those women then surely it could push her onto international success too. Kavaric is highly skilled in breaststroke and butterfly, but she also competes in the individual medley and that is where her Olympics begin. A strong performance in her heat gets her through to the finals in relative safety, she finishes in 5th and her friend Mia Oreskovic isn’t too far off qualification for the final either in 11th. Kavaric’s time of 4:35.05 is strong, although around half a second off the time of the fastest qualifier Sofia Antonis. Oreskovic ends up a mere five-hundredths of a second out a qualifying spot.
“I’m so frustrated with that,” Mia explains. “That’s my personal best, so I obviously can’t do much better, but to end up just outside the qualifying times with a PB hurts. I’m disappointed, but obviously so excited for Miljusa at the same time. Hopefully she can go on and win it for us in the final.”
A lovely sentiment and one which is illustrative of the great friendships between Mytanar swimmers, something which follows a lineage all the way back to the ‘Fab Four’ in the pool during the Rushmori Games. The Mytanar swimming programme had a little bit more of a human face at coaching level now, even if the friendships between athletes had never changed. The departure of legendary coach Jovana Krsmanovic had been a huge loss to the programme at a technical level, although some were quietly quite pleased that she had left. Too many had been on the receiving end of her thunderous glare and it was never an enjoyable experience. Without her the approach might end up a little less results-driven. Nobody was quite sure if that was a good thing or not. Everybody wanted to win after all.
This new generation of swimmers hadn’t been coached by her, Miljusa Kavaric included, and they would find out if her expertise made a difference over the course of the Games. Krsmanovic’s departure was the sort of thing which would make the author of a spy-thriller blush, a defection to Sargossa sounded like something that happened during the Mytanar Conflict and it meant that many of those left behind wanted to get one over on Krsmanovic during the Olympics. At the end they wanted to show they didn’t miss her. As things got started in the pool younger athletes would sneak glances at the legendary coach, always deep in thought among the Sargossan contingent. Older heads would ignore her presence entirely, whilst others would fix a stare on her until she looked back. She always looked back with the same cold, detached look across her face. She didn’t care what they thought, but they wanted to lock eyes with her anyway. For posterity almost.
In the end the opening day would be a disappointment for Mytanija and for Krsmanovic and the Sargossans. Miljusa Kavaric improved on her performance in the 400m individual medley heat, going over four seconds faster and ending up a place higher. A 4th placed finish was the one result nobody wanted at an Olympic Games and the frustration was clear to see across Miljusa’s face as she offered congratulations to the medallists whilst still in the water. A good sport until the end, even if the eight-hundredths of a second which prevented her from sneaking onto the podium would perhaps haunt her for a while.
“Yeah, it’s a difficult one to take at this point.” Miljusa says sheepishly. “Hard to process right now but I’ve got so many more events to focus on and really try to make up for this. Hopefully I can do that and get a medal, it’ll make me feel a lot better.”
It might have been a difficult one to take for Kavaric, her coaches and the Mytanar swimming programme more widely. At least Krsmanovic didn’t mastermind a success for the Sargossans though. Her 4x100m freestyle relay squad qualified for the finals with the second-fastest time and looked in excellent form. A disqualification did for their plans, a botched change meaning her opening day ended as disappointingly as Kavaric’s did. The two sides will resume battle on day two.
***
Where cycling and swimming might hold a huge place in Mytanar sporting history, judo might not even hold a footnote. A 19 year old from Severyan is trying to change all that. Zehida Plavec competes in the women’s 48kg category and is something of a prodigy, winning senior national titles at the age of 17 and not losing ever since on the domestic circuit. Judo isn’t a sport which is widely popular in Mytanija, when it comes to the fight game there is really only one answer and that is boxing. Plavec enjoyed boxing as a child too, but when she discovered judo she really fell in love.
“I just loved the physicality of it,” The 19 year old says excitably. “I have never been the biggest, always been quite skinny, but they were teaching me techniques which I could use against much bigger kids and once I perfected them I was able to hold my own even despite the size difference. I just loved that, it was quite empowering in a way.”
Plavec found she was able to compete against boys and girls and once her coaches recognised her ability she was given more focused training. She learned new hip-throws and how to grapple more manipulatively. Her parents, a Rauchik father and a Thessian mother, ferried her to national tournaments all over the country and Plavec quickly rose up the junior ranks. A shock loss at under-14 level nearly knocked her of course, but she continued with the sport after a break and has never looked back since.
“That really was a blow. My confidence was so low afterwards, I really wasn’t used to losing at all and it was the first time I had to learn from that. Once I got over it I used it to move forward, thought about all the things I could do to improve and it actually made me more determined. I doubt I’d have still been doing it today without that loss, I could have become too laidback and relied on my ability rather than constant improvement. It made me learn that losing isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Had I just kept rolling through people I think a loss at like 16 or 17 might have seen me call it a day.” Zehida explains, she is prepared to speak at length about her craft, her face beaming as she gets to talk about some of her contests.
Her deceptive strength is one of her major assets, able to utilise her wiry frame to good effect and pin opponents speedily before then applying the pressure to achieve an
ippon. At the Olympics her first three contests are all decided in this way. In the Round of 32 she comes up against Lana Fire, making short work of her opponent and using her shoulders to obstruct Fire from extricating herself from the pin. Plavec has fantastic stamina but she prefers to get contests ended as soon as she can, the control she demonstrates whilst pinning Lana Fire makes the twenty seconds feel as if they fly by. Similar results come against Chromatika’s Camille DuPont and Banijan Nomabhongo Dikana. A submission finish against the latter providing one for Plavec’s highlight reel.
A more competitive battle comes in the semi-final against Krytenia’s Polly Gennaro. Plavec knows she will compete for a medal no matter what the result, but the 19 year old’s hunger for success means she is determined to make it a gold medal contest. Plavec scores early, using her speed and reflexes to counter-throw and secure
waza-ari. Gennaro pressures and harries Plavec for the remainder of the contest, but the Krytenian cannot best her youthful counterpart and Plavec roars her approval when the contest ends. Her coaches embrace her and people across Mytanija yell at their television screens in support. She will be in the gold medal contest after all.
The Sarian’s Lieah Kann held the exact same record as Plavec coming into the final, three wins by
ippon and one by
waza-ari on her route to the gold medal contest. The pair had been the competition’s top judokas and deserved their chance to fight for the greatest prize. Unfortunately for Plavec she would be coming home with a silver medal, Kann just too crafty and gaining the upper-hand towards the latter end of a gruelling contest to secure a win by
ippon. Plavec rolls over onto her front before kneeling up, hands on her thighs. The emotions pour out of her as she is met by her coaches.
“I just couldn’t stop crying!” Plavec laughs afterwards. “I was so frustrated to get to the final and to fall just short but then this was combined with being so proud for achieving this at the same time. A first ever Mytanar medal in judo and it’s me that has done it! I’m disappointed it was silver rather than gold but I’m able to come back next time around and give it another go, I’ll only be 23 and hopefully I can use this to spur me on to go one step up the podium. It wouldn’t be bad to have a silver
and a gold, after all.”