Games of the XV Olympiad — roleplaying thread

[Pemecutan]

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Friday, 6 August 2021 (Sukra Wage Wuku Wayang, Pawukon 1781)

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Heading to Electrum

Pemecutan Puri - The hype for Olympic is rising again in the country after United Pemecutan Olympic Committee (UPOC) confirmed the country participation in the upcoming event of XV Summer Olympics. A total of 457 athletes will be competing in 18 sports. These numbers are an increase from their previous and first participation in Liventia & Banija which is 380 athletes in 13 sports. Before the athletes are heading to Electrum for their first day, Ratu Hawir Bhuja (High King) Mangu X invite them last night to the Palace. The Gala Dinner was held at Gajayana Sabha, the outer hall of Tegeh Kori Palace which is the resident of King Mangu X throughout His term in office.

Gajayana Sabha Building

Aside from the High King, King Karsiyuha II of Soracana Islands and Sovereign Prince Semara X of Batubulan are also attending the Gala Dinner together with Minister of Tourism, Youth and Sports, Ngurah Agung Adi Prabawa. Several sports associations directors and MPs are also attending. In the gathering, Appreciation and support are given by the government, parliament and monarch for the success of the athletes. In their first participation, the country managed to grab 12 medals in total below the more established nation in the region, Eraman, which collected a total of 18 medals. Although, the country manage to win more gold than Eraman. Eraman result in XIV Summer Olympics is better in total medal count than their first participation in XIII Games. But their gold winning was worst than their first participation.

We are very proud of what have been accomplished by all of our athletes in the previous Games and we hope this time we can do better. All of the support we give to the athletes for your ultimate success in the Games ahead. Glory for Pemecutan. Glory to our sports!

-- Ngurah Agung Adi Prabawa
Minister of Tourism, Youth and Sports

The gathering is fill with music and dance show to give encouragement and spirit for the athletes. In the middle of the event, Mr. Minister is giving the athletes a pin which depict the symbol of double whip and torch flame. Minister Prabawa placed the pin himself to selected athletes. They are Dewa Ayu Wiranti (2 times Olympic medals), Ngurah Putra Muliawan (Pemecutan flag bearer), Eka Warsidi (the oldest athlete in the delegation) and Weda Putri Purnami (the youngest athlete). While the rest of the athletes are given the pin at their table. The song "Ku Berjanji" become the closing of the gathering last night. The song is performed by Rani Purwani which is also the official anthem for I Games of Melayu Olympiad which was co-hosted by Pemecutan.

Dewa Ayu Wiranti during I Games of the Melayu Olympiad

With gaining 5 medals, athletics seems to still become the backbone of Pemecutan medal gainer in this Summer Olympics. Although the result was quite shocking by some as the country at first focusing on water based sports such as Aquatics, Rowing and Canoeing. Some of the sports also give the country medals. Aquatics give 2 medals in Artistic Swimming and Swimming. Canoeing give 3 medals while Surfing give 1 medal. Despite having 3 final numbers, Rowing was failed to win any medal in the previous Games. Similar things happened in Sailing which get 4 final numbers. But the eye of Pemecutan sports fan might be locking into Dewa Ayu Wiranti. This athletics athletes successfully won 2 medals in the previous Summer Olympics. One was her individual medal in Women's 100 m while a gold medal was shared with the other 3 runners for Women's 4 x 400 m Relay. Her success have give a spirit towards semi professional and amateur athletics athletes in the country despite not being a popular sports.

Officially, UPOC or the Minister doesn't give any medal goals for this Olympic edition. They are realize that the country previous accomplishment was a little surprise for a newcomer in a multiverse multi-sports event. Nevertheless, getting the same footing as the previous edition is what are they targeting for. In each associations, Rowing and Sailing become the hardest working. Both associations expected at least a medal from their athletes. Sailing start early this time, with 4 numbers will begin their races in Day 0. Panca Darmawan and Widya Ayu Jayanti will start in the day in Men's and Women's One-Person Dinghy events. While Rowing will begin their schedule in the second day of the Games together with Archery. Speaking of Archery, Pemecutanian archer were being an online talk after their success in the Olympic warm-up competition, Black Arrow Classic. Although it was a small event but the result show how Pemecutanian archer can compete well in international stage. The mix pair, Gede Artha Wiguna and Diah Ayu Panjali won a silver in the competition. While Eka Warsidi have to lost in the Bronze medal match against Olly Weber of Srednjaci.

The whole Summer Olympics events will be broadcast by 3 broadcasters. The main broadcaster is GBC (Giri Broadcasting Company) which will broadcast the event from their GBC-Sports Channel. The other 2 broadcasters are Yuhansa Radio & Television Network (YRTN) which will be broadcast the show for Soracana Islands area. And Surya Broadcasting Service (SBS) which broadcast the event for Kanginan area. While Pemecutanian who live in Tandeg Suci and also for Tandegarians, both can watch the course of event via satellite and relay broadcast which is provided by TBS (Tandeg Broadcasting Service). For the travel, Pemecutan delegation will be fly to Electrum in 2 contingents. The first is due to depart today which including athletes which will be compete in the earlier days. This includes athletes in Sailing, Badminton, Swimming, Archery and Rowing. Ngurah Putra Muliawan as the flag bearer is also includes in the first contingent. The second contingent is due to depart tomorrow. This setting is use so all athletes are ready for parade of nations at the opening ceremony which will be held in 8 August.

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Other News

• PTA is being criticize after naming Duwanisarga Yajamaja in Men's Single list instead of choosing semi-professional player which can be see by their PTA Tour result.
• Manager of Pemecutan National Football Team, Agung Suryanantha, have a high confidence in his selected players.
• Arya Tungga Wijaya makes a shocking moved into SC. Tabeira becoming the fourth football national team players to playing abroad.
• PAF officials is in the talks to establishing national athletics competition.
• STAP is considering to bid for the host of 2nd Sepak Takraw World Cup.

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[Feifnia]

The Feifnian Olympic Team (Gwthoyld siwrth Feifnia) has ventured out on a mysterious journey across time and space to join strange peoples from stranger lands in the Games of the XV Olympiad.

The team practiced together in the Burg of Trolach, downstream the Alhuwai River from the royal capitol of Mnyif. While there, the greatest artists from all Feifnia gathered to painstakingly create THE TROLACH TAPESTRY.

The tapestry celebrates the archers, swimmers, wrestlers, and sailors who are competing in the Games of the XV Olympiad as well as the emperor's grand-nephew, Pled siwrth Mnyif, who will bear the flag for the team.



Will these brave men and women ever return from their mystical interstellar adventure? It's not likely. May their glory shine forever.

[Nightom]

In the run-up to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Electrum, an ABEN organised concert which is taking place in Electrum - set up jointly by ABEN television networks - is taking place with some members of the athletes who are unable/unwilling to go to the Opening Ceremony - most notably athletes who are participating in Day 1's events (which is quite a lot of them!) and the athletes who are too tired after their events to go to the Ceremony which is expected to last longer than 4 hours. The event, which has been sponsored by ELEGAMMENT - who not only sponsors the ABEN Delegation uniform but also the official Olympic apparel - will last for four hours and will have some of the ABEN's most famous performers. This event will only last two hours and will be hosted by Evangeline Hope - one of Britonisea's most famous personalities.

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Abbie Lindström - "Until The End"
Tune: NEONI - Where We Rise

Abbie Lindström: She will be singing "Until The End" at the pre-Olympic Ceremony ABEN Concert in Camp ABEN tonight...

The official song for Nightom at the Olympic Games was firstly performed at the 60th World Hit Festival in Aronyk, Britonisea, performed by Abbie Lindström. The song, "Until The End" was written by James Token, Gail Willington, George Kingsley-Smith and Dorian Featherham and was not a song made for the World Hit Festival - it wasn't supposed to be a competitive song. However, when approached to do the World Hit Festival, Abbie Lindström thought that it could be a good idea to get her song out there to the masses even if the song doesn't end up doing well in the results. It would also give the Nightomese television network the chance to work with BVC for the effects that they wanted to do at the concert. Nightom hadn't participated in the Olympic Games as much as Britonisea or Estogium has - previously having sent a few athletes to the Games. Whilst Nightom's delegation is in no way huge compared to its neighbours, Nightom was offered a portion of the ABEN Delegation that was around proportional to their population in ABEN and so took Estogium and Britonisea up on that offer. They knew that their neighbours would be making official music for the Olympic Games - it was customary - and so KVC (the broadcaster for the Games in Nightom) made a call for songwriters to register their interest to make the official song by giving the broadcaster previous music that they have done. James Token was chosen from tens of submissions, with two other songwriters - none of them ever named - being put on standby in case Token's final song wasn't deemed good enough. Token said that he was going to work with three other songwriters; Gail Willington, George Kingsley-Smith and Dorian Featherham to make sure that Token's song would be one that RVC couldn't refuse. As "Until The End" came about, Nightom's broadcaster thought that actually it was the perfect song for the Games and they believed it met the criteria that were set out by the broadcaster and with the set of lyrics that they had prepared, they just needed the perfect person to sing the song.

Nightom, similarly to other ABEN broadcasters, has a roster of singers that, if the opportunity comes up, would want to be selected to be on a demo track or selected for a national (or international) singing competition. Nightom sorted through the list of singers that they had, deciding whether it would be a male or a female who would singing "Until The End". The decision came down to two people - both names who are known to the Nightomese public. Charlie Brookes, a popular Nightomese singer, and Abbie Lindström who would go on to sing "Until The End". Both of the singers performed the song in front of an internal selection of 49 people who picked between the two performances, with Abbie's version of the song winning by just under 80% of the vote. People commented that while Charlie Brookes was in no way a bad singer, Abbie would have benefited more from this opportunity, but in terms of her singing, she gave off more of a convincing emotional performance which they thought would be great for both the music video and the concert in the late afternoon of the Opening Ceremony. Abbie was contacted by KVC to come in for a meeting in which they discussed their plans ahead of the live performance in Electrum and to speak about how they were going to stage it. Abbie had big plans which took some of the KVC directors by surprise. KVC brought up the fact that Britonisea would be hosting World Hit Festival and they could ask to use their facilities to see whether it worked, to which Abbie interrupted, "Yes, I would love to compete!" which also took the directors by surprise.

Nightom isn't necessarily known for its prowess in the international music scene, but KVC thought "Why not, what's the worst that could happen?". Abbie Lindström arrived in Aronyk - Britonisea's new booming city, home to just over a million people along the Brito-Wolfrenian channel. With temperatures nearing 30 degrees, it was quite a shock to the system for the Nightomiton who is used to sub-20-degree temperatures in the height of summer. Close to heatstroke, Abbie had to remain focused as she wasn't just here to perform her song for the World Hit Festival, but also make sure that he performance was perfect for the pre-Opening Ceremony ABEN concert. What were the plans that Abbie and KVC had in place? They wanted to use augmented reality in the performance, which in Aronyk would come at a cost. The Nightomese weren't too happy about spending money in places where they didn't feel as though it was necessary but they were following Abbie into this - trusting her decision. They wanted to also use projections on a huge skirt that she would be wearing - but this wasn't brought to Aronyk to save costs and also because KVC were confident they knew what they were doing on that front. After practising, it became apparent that Abbie's plan had worked and looked great. In Electrum, this performance would pop and would certainly trump the performances of the other ABEN nations. This performance happened on the 7th August 2021 with Nightom performing 5th in a 21-nation Grand Final. Arena Aronyk hosted the competition with Abbie performing to over 20,000 people who all loved her performance.

As soon as the World Hit Festival had finished, Abbie rushed on an aeroplane and jetted to Electrum on a swanky AirTerranea flight, assumedly had increased the number of flights due to many Britons wanting to travel over to Electrum for the Games. It was the day of the Opening Ceremony. Some of the events had already gone underway such as Water Polo, Badminton and Rugby Sevens - all sports that could see some ABEN medals. Abbie was ignoring the growing crowds around Electrum in order to get to her destination. With only a couple of hours to spare, an exhausted and exasperated (mostly Britonish) production team at the pre-Olympic Ceremony ABEN concert grabbed Abbie and told her that she only had two shots to make sure her performance was right. She was already two hours late after the tour bus went the wrong way, heading towards Centralis instead of the rest of the coast. "Sorry, alright, I'll get ready! Just give me five!" she shouted back to the Briton. Exactly five minutes later, she came out ready to rehearse. After doing two rehearsals, she felt ready to don her makeup and prepare herself for the big performance at the concert later on. It was time for her to shine.

Evangeline Hope was looking as glamourous as ever. Evangeline was doing a great job hosting the concert, but it was time for Abbie to take to the stage. She was very nervous, but she held her composure. To set the scene, it was held outdoors with the centre bit covered, just adjacent Camp ABEN - a place where athletes stayed over the course of the Games to both relax and train. She was metres up into the air and had a huge white dress on. As the lights went down, you couldn't see anything, however, but her face. Similarly to her World Hit Festival performance, Abbie had a hood on which she unveiled to reveal her face during the start of the song. The audience cheered before there was nothing but silence filling the outdoor concert space. You could hear Abbie humming into the microphone as the cameras all focused on Abbie's moment - her time to rectify the disappointment of the World Hit Festival and to show ABEN her worth. As the sun was setting in Electrum ahead of the ceremony, it provided enough darkness to make the performance seem as though it was indoors.

Hmmmm, mmmm, mmmmm
Soldiers arm your weapons, get for the war,
Judgement day is coming, there's no backing out,
There's no backing out.

Throughout the first verse of the song, we were focused on her eyes glistening amongst the lights that were focusing on her face. She looked deep into the lens of the camera, almost emotionless. As she sang her way through the verse, we could now see the whole dress and her standing metres up into the air. She lifted her hands up before we could see a shot of the dress she was wearing changing colours. The picture that was being projected onto Abbie's dress looked like stormy weather, with flickers of lightning being seen ever so often around her dress. When singing "Don't let our foes take all", she lowered her hands with a finger still up, with the camera focusing on her finger, fading out of focus as we moved onto the next line. As she repeated the line "Stand strong and make us proud", you could see the words of the song projected onto her dress (in similar font of the LEDs in Aronyk). Abbie let off a small smile as she moved onto the next part of her performance, with it getting much more interesting now.

Our existence is threatened unless we fight back,
Don't let our foes take all,
Stand strong 'till the end, stand strong 'til the end
Stand strong and make us proud
Stand strong and make us proud

The use of Augmented Reality came in much sooner than the performance at the World Hit Festival, but KVC were happy with how it went in Britonisea and so that to increase the use of it here. Of all the disciplines happening in Electrum, you could see a member from the ABEN Delegation doing their sport with the AR having the athletes appearing from either side of Abbie Lindstrom who was in the middle, lit up by the projection. The names of the 600+ Britonish and Estogian athletes were projected onto the dress of Abbie in either orange (for Britonisea) or purple (for Estogium). Bright lights appeared in front of her which she looked up to as the camera went further back as the holographic athletes came from behind Abbie with rapid speed.

Prepare for blood, sweat and tears,
Put to bed all your fears,
Even though the end is near,
Stand strong 'till the end, stand strong 'til the end
Stand strong 'till the end, stand strong 'til the end
Stand strong and make us proud

During the climax of the song, the projection of the dress saw a volcanic eruption of some sort, with red lights filling the space around her. While Abbie couldn't move much because the huge dress that she had on was restricting her, she was still able to move her hands, flickering her long hair from side to side and veins in her neck popped out as she belted out the final chorus of the song. It was the home straight for her as pyrotechnics fell behind her. The Nightomese wanted to make a show-stopping performance and with this performance being the last of the evening before coverage switched to the Opening Ceremony, they wanted to make it count. The names of Nightomese athletes competing in the Games appeared on the dress now in Nightomese blue which you could see as the performance came to an end.

This journey has been long (stand strong 'til the end),
Treacherous and painful (stand strong 'til the end),
This is your time to shine,
Show no mercy now! Go and fight
Stand strong and make us proud

The space turned dark, with the orange hue of the sunset in the background settling in. The audience and athletes that were there started applauding as the Nightomese names stayed projected on her dress. Evangeline came onto the stage as Abbie came out of the dress using a ladder at the back of it.

Evangeline Hope: Wow! What a brilliant performance, Abbie! That, Ladies and Gentlemen, was the Nightomese song for these Games - how fantastic was that! Don't forget to stream "Until The End" on all of the popular music streaming platforms! How did that feel, Abbie?

Abbie Lindström: Honestly, I've performed that song so many times over the past couple of weeks and boy, that was my best performance yet! I'm so happy to close tonight's show and I am so excited for the Opening Ceremony!

Evangeline Hope: Thank you, Abbie! (To the camera) We know Electrum does good Opening Ceremonies. Throwback to when I had the opportunity to perform at the Winter Games Opening Ceremony all those years ago! To be honest, I think that was the best performance of any singer at an Opening Ceremony!! Well, I kid - maybe...but the Ceremony is about to get underway in the Somersville Stadium in, you guessed it, Somer! We're gonna head over to our legendary commentary team - Jake Bachelor, Nicky Samuels and Helena Ehuang. Hope you enjoy and good luck to Britonisea!

The feed then went to Jake Bachelor, Nicky Samuels and Helena Ehuang who would provide commentary for the whole of the ABEN Union. The Athletes at Camp ABEN and the fans who were at the pre-Olympic Games ABEN concert all got to watch the Opening Ceremony on huge screens put up for the event.

[Malta Comino Gozo]

Malta Comino Gozo debut at the XV Olympiad. The island nation will compete in the following sports. 9 individual athletes plus the national football team with 11 more substitutes. The nation is looking to perform well in football with the National team being mostly made of Valletta's City F.C players who won the first IBAFCL and also badminton.

BADMINTON
Men’s Singles (2)
Tim Abela
Lucas Johnson

FOOTBALL
Men’s (1 team)
Malta Comino Gozo

ATHLETICS
Women’s 100 m (3)
Victoria Scicluna
Kate Cauchi

SHOOTING
Women’s 25 m Pistol (2)
Emma Bezzina

SWIMMING
Men’s 100 m Freestyle (2)
Andrew Borg
Mark GattMCG
Women’s 800 m Freestyle (2)
Louise Zammit
Alexandra Cummings

Good luck to all our athletes competing in the sports.

[Adab]

A Dance with Football
Snapshots of the lives of the people involved in Adabian football and those associated with them
For a full list of chapters click here. To read all the chapters in one go click here
For an (incomplete) list of major/prominent characters in this story click here and scroll down to the ‘Football’ section

Chapter 26: Olympic Dreams

July 2034
Adab City

Saad Kaykali solemnly walked past the front door of his house and towards the waiting car, the deep rrrrr-rrrr-rrr sound of its engine blaring across the environs. Old Walid bade him farewell at the door, though it would only be a short parting – maybe three hours, at most. A short meeting at the Adab Football Association headquarters with AFA President Naram-Sin Araqasdah, almost a formality, just to iron out some details regarding the football team’s participation in the coming Olympics.

As he got into the car, Saad reminded himself to find a new housekeeper. Walid was eighty-four; he might want to spend the rest of his life in his boss’ house and had nowhere else to go, but he couldn’t possibly keep on working forever.

They rode out the gate and onto the street. Salim the driver leaned slightly to his boss. “Boss,” he began, “I know some folks back in my town who’d love to come to the city. I think you can employ one of them as the new housekeeper. I can give you their names if you want to, Boss.”

“Thank you, Salim.” Saad nodded and smiled, his eyes halfway between his driver and the road ahead. Throughout the journey, names swirled around in his head. The Association had finally agreed to provide the team with substitutes. It would be a mixture of rising U18 and U21 stars, as well as some old veterans. The latter were included at Saad’s insistence, though which veterans would specifically be named to the Olympics squad had not yet been finalized. Araqasdah, that old fool, wanted to have “younger” veterans, so that the squad – in his own words – would not be “skewed too much towards the elderly”.

Skewed too much towards the elderly, hah! If they’re elderly then you’re a fossil. You old fossil.

But after meditating on the subject for the last few days, Saad was sure that he knew which veterans to include in the squad. He had always had a soft spot for his World Cup 81 men. The first Adabians to seriously participate in the World Cup. Teens they were back then, then came the thirteen-year suspension from international competition, and now they were getting up there in age. Mohammed, Eni, Taymour, and Ephraim had already been included in the starting lineup ever since IAC 12. Now with substitutes allowed, there would be even more space for the old lions from that era. They deserved one last shot at international glory.

He couldn’t include them all; he had to make room for younger talent. But of the veterans, he knew which of them would best serve the Olympic squad.

Adanirari, Shamsu, Salman. Those three names repeated over and over again in his head like a spell. His eyes grew blank. Adanirari, Shamsu, Salman. They will do.

Then suddenly that spell broke. Saad’s eyes rapidly grew wide and he shook his head, his eyes dancing towards Salim the driver, then across the front window to the one by his side, then back again.

The car slowed down slightly as it negotiated a busy street. Salman turned to his passenger. “Is there anything wrong, Boss?”

Saad ran his hand over his head and cleared his throat. “No, no, I’m fine, it’s alright.” Leaning down, he pulled the phone out of his pocket, the morning talk show abruptly cut off as Saad connected the phone to the radio. The car came to a halt. The traffic light at the other hand of the street was apparently stuck in red and quite the long line had piled up. A policeman had rushed to the middle of the intersection, his arms waving and his body rotating in all directions as he regulated the flow of vehicles. The voice of "Mama" Cass Elliot came through the speakers.

Nobody can tell ya
There’s only one song worth singing

“Well, let’s just hope we’re not going to be late to the meeting,” Saad chuckled, watching the cars in front of him barely make any progress.

They may try and sell ya
‘Cause it hangs them up
To see someone like you

“I don’t think we’ll be late, Boss,” Salman replied, hands on the steering wheel. “That policeman is doing a good job with this mess.” At the end of the horizon the policeman was gesturing towards the vehicles in their lane to get moving.

But you’ve gotta make your own kind of music
Sing your own special song

“No,” Saad affirmed, looking squarely to the front, his lips maintaining a warm smile, his voice calm and sure, “we’re not going to be late.” One by one the cars rolled on, and Salman followed, his passenger leaning back on the seat.

Make your own kind of music
Even if nobody else sings along

[Tumbra]

SPORT: Tumbra's Olympic Debut: How To Watch The Games, And What To Expect

SOMER - Welcome, everybody, to the Tumbran Broadcasting Corporation and the Couno Herald's joint coverage of the fifteenth Summer Olympic Games! This unprecedented partnership was made possible by the efforts of both sides, with the aim of providing the most comprehensive coverage of the Olympics in Tumbra and beyond. The opening ceremony might not be far away, but our correspondent team — comprised of the best sports correspondents from both the TBC and the Herald are all ready in each of the five cities hosting the twenty-eight sports. We'll be bringing you the latest action, daily — and here's how.

How To Follow The Olympics In Tumbra

Television
We're pleased to announce that Olympics coverage will be on free-to-air television, for the duration of the tournament. Fourteen dedicated channels will be operated by the TBC, and be available for viewing online with a TBC ePlayer account. It's free to sign up^*, and is the best way to watch the games on demand. The opening and closing ceremonies, of course, will be broadcast on TBC One — and, if any Tumbrans happen to make it through to the medal races, their competitions will be broadcast there, too.

Daily roundups will be held after the Nine O'Clock News — focusing on Tumbran athletes' exploits throughout the day. With a full complement of athletes from Tumbra heading to the Games, coverage will continue throughout — and it's our promise to bring you the latest and greatest of Tumbran athletes. And hopefully, we'll be able to highlight some of their stories as well.

^*If you are not a resident of Tumbra or an Esportivan nation which the TBC has an agreement with, you may unfortunately not sign up for an ePlayer account. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Radio
The TBC will be broadcasting radio commentary of selected events on TBC Radio Five — don't miss out! Much of the content on television will also be present on radio, too.

Online
Both the TBC and the Couno Herald will be running a joint website — located at http://www.fifteentholympiadcoverage.com.tmb, correspondents from the Five Cities as well as back home will be bringing you the latest news in text, as well as deeper analyses, there. It's the place to be online to follow the Olympics — and there'll be a bit of fun as well, with quizzes and more. Be sure to catch our Daily Liveblog for on-the-go coverage of the Games. The Sports section of the Couno Herald's website will also be free-to-access for the duration of the Games, just to ensure that everyone has access to top-quality coverage and journalism for the Games.

Print
Of course, the Couno Herald will be publishing daily recaps of the Games — with an extended Sports Section for the duration of the Games, displaying the Games and their highlights in full. For more in-depth writeups, too, look towards there for some of the Herald's best sports writers providing their best analyses of the Games' goings-on.

The must-watch event of the summer is here — make sure you don't miss out!

What To Expect

The Olympics will be held across five cities along Electrum's Terranean Coast — known as Bunjil to the indigenous population. Somer is the biggest — and also will serve as home base for both the Tumbran Olympic delegation and the joint TBC-Herald effort. The full Tumbran delegation will be moving in soon; and with the theme of the bids being environmental sustainability, Tumbra will be staying in renovated high-rise blocks which will be used as social housing after the Games.

As for medal hopes, Tumbra's first foray into the Olympics means that the Tumbran team is a relative unknown. While there have already been some names who have been identified as possible medal challengers — Timothy Veltman, the King of the Swim, at age 27, is always a challenger, while his counterpart, Jennifer Freeman, the Queen of the Swim, will also be looked towards to bring home some medals. Both the men and women's football team, too, will be looked towards to bring home some medals — and possibly break out of the funk that the Tumbran senior national team has found itself in.

Football is the last sport that has yet to officially release its 18-man roster; while the sport is integrated at all levels, now, and women are gradually seeping into the traditionally male-dominated arena, the number of women as compared to men in the sport is still largely disproportionately male-dominated, which may explain the delay in releasing rosters. The fact that the tournaments for the Under-18 and Under-21 World Cup are also ongoing alongside the Olympic football tournament means that quite a lot of the talent has been redirected there; as a consequence, Peter Gabriel, the Tumbran national team's assistant manager, will be in charge of the squad for this tournament, while Toby Barton, manager of the Under-18 side, will take charge of the women's national team once the Under-18 World Cup in Xanneria and Starcom has wrapped up.

The Tumbran Olympic Committee has not indicated any kind of medal target — but they have indicated that at least "some" medals would be key if they were to return in four years time for the XVI Olympiad. At the same time, however, they indicated that merely "taking part" was "more important than winning", and that Tumbra "would be proud" of the athletes, no matter where they finished.

The Correspondents

Each of the five cities has a team of correspondents which specialise in a particular sport — plus one Chief Correspondent per city. Somer, of course, will be home to the headquarters of the Tumbran Olympic Broadcasting Unit. Handpicked and with a wealth of experience, they include journalists with former experience in the sport they will be reporting on — which makes their own stories even more gripping to listen to.

SOMER
Chief Correspondent, Overall-In-Charge: Janice Headey
Chief Correspondent, Somer - Brian Watkins
Correspondent, Badminton - John Walker
Correspondent, Table Tennis - Cheryl Manning
Correspondent, Aquatics & Surfing - Rebecca Skerrett, Sarah Schafer, Kevin Henderson
Correspondent, Beach Volleyball - Sarah Schafer
Correspondent, Tennis - Adam Brody
Correspondent, Water Polo - Kevin Henderson
Correspondent, BMX Cycling - Stuart Gulliver
Correspondent, Basketball - William Perkins
Correspondent, Canoeing - Peter Cross
Correspondent, Skateboarding & Sport Climbing - Tammy Appleby

KALE
Chief Correspondent, Kale - Liam Godfrey
Correspondent, Canoeing & Rowing - Oliver Wilson, Catherine Wilson
Correspondent, Baseball & Softball - Caroline Barlow
Correspondent, Cycling - Chloe Jowett, Ben Willis

PORT GRENVILLE
Chief Correspondent, Port Grenville - Amanda McCabe
Correspondent, Sailing - Derek Montgomery
Correspondent, Judo, Karate & Taekwondo - Michael Yang
Correspondent, Cycling - Lelsey Kerr, Francis Harman
Correspondent, Golf - Victoria Hartley
Correspondent, Gymnastics - Alan Loughrey

AGRI
Chief Correspondent, Agri - William Enfield
Correspondent, Athletics - Tanya Hall, William Shepard, Michael Mitchell
Correspondent, Fencing - Wynne Rodgers
Correspondent, Equestrian - Emma Hunter
Correspondent, Archery - Michael Gorman
Correspondent, Shooting - Kelly Collins
Correspondent, Sailing - Dennis Gleeson

FARLEIGH-WARBURTON
Chief Correspondent, Fairleigh-Warburton - Christine Holloway
Correspondent, Hockey - Graeme Harvey
Correspondent, Weightlifting - Matthew Ahern
Correspondent, Wrestling - Anne Daniels
Correspondent, Cycling - John Wainwright
Correspondent, Boxing - Eleanor Moran
Correspondent, Basketball - Joan Mitchell
Correspondent, Volleyball - Charles Frost
Correspondent, Handball - Brian Cox

FOOTBALL
Correspondent, Men's Football - Colin Voorhis
Correspondent, Women's Football - Jason Barham

[A Kea]

KTV

Adamantine, 6th of August, 2021

Two days ahead of the opening ceremony of the 15th Summer Olympics, set to be held in Electrum, the Kean delegation has departed flying to the host country, ready to mark the debut of our nation in the Olympic history. The newly elected president, Martina Marakis, whose first task was to assemble our olympic comittee and mark this historical moment in our country's athletic history wished the athletes good luck in the airport and said:

It has been a hard task for me to try to assemble the Kean Olympic Comittee in such a short notice, less than 2 months after being elected, but I am really glad to see that it all came together in the end. These great athletes are all going to represent our nation in the international stage in the best way possible, they are going to show us the results of their hard work and the sacrifices they all made to make it to this point. We all saw the lack of support from the old governing party towards athletes. This just makes it harder for all these talented young men and women who have trained under the previous administration, to reach this level. I am going to try my best to promote sport and athletic culture in A Kea in my term, and I am hopeful that the achievements and the performance of these amazing people in the Olympics will inspire the younger generation to get engaged with sports. We want our athletes, professional and amateur, to feel our support and have the opportunity to reach their peak potential. These Olympics are just the start of this new era of A Kea.

A total of 141 athletes in 99 events will be flying the Kean flag in Electrum. Some of them spoke to Nefeli Markou, the reporter in charge of covering this big competition, who'll introduce us to some Kean hopefulls.
"It's a big honour and even greater responsibility for me to be one of the two Kean women competing in athletics" said the runner Lila Kofa set to compete in women's 100, 200 and 400 meters, "Competing in 3 events is both an advantage since I have more chances to get to the podium, but obviously it can have the opposite effect to my performance if I have more than one races in a short time period.". The sprinter is our biggest hope for a medal in athletics.
Siblings Simeon and Sylvia, who will be competing in 3 sailing events each said "It will be tough, we'll have to endure so much and have an almost impossible performance, but we're gonna do our best. We knew the risks of such a superhuman task, but we chose to go ahead and try to represent our country in as many events as we can endure. We've been training like crazy to improve even more and hopefully make our nation proud". Simeon and Sylvia aren't the only siblings in the Kean delegation, Andre and Layla Justine, who will be representing out country in triathlon, also talked to our reporter. "This feels like vindication.", they said, "Representing our homeland, the country where we were born and raised in, despite all the racism we faced makes us feel so proud.", said the twins, who are part of the black minority of A Kea, making up less than 1% of the population, "We went through many tough years, but now making our country proud and proving that we are worth it, despite what bullies said. It just makes me tear up.", said 22 year old Layla.
Next up, Nefeli spoke with two of our biggest medal hopefuls. 26 year-old Djiva Trudeau, who will also be our flag bearer for the oppening ceremony will be competing in two Table Tennis events (Women's Singles and Mixed Doubles alongside Andreas Paraschos), "I have no words to express how happy I am. To be the very first flagbearer of my country in the Olympics means a lot to me. I will surely give my 100% to bring this medal to my homeland. This is such a big opportunity and I'll try to make the best of it. I really hope that Kean people will enjoy these games and that, as Ms Marakis said, young people will be inspired by us to pursue a career in the Olympics. I am looking forward to making this big step for Kean sport in the international stage.". The 19 year-old skater Andrew Gryffin Fields, one of the top skaters worldiwide, will also get in the fight for a medal. As he said: "As thrilled as I am for this opportunity, I'm trying to be as down to earth as I can be, I need to enter this competition being reasonable and on point, knowing I'll give my 100%. I have to stay focused.". When asked why he chose to represent A Kea, he said:

As much as I love Electrum, the country that has raised me since I was 14, my heart is in A Kea. Competing in home soil is obviously an advantage not many other acts have. Had I stayed in A Kea, I doubt that I'd have been in such a great shape now, Electrum and their love for sports of all kinds gave me the perfect environment and facilities to improve and get to this point. I considered representing them internationally but, it doesn't feel right. Skateboard isn't a popular sport in A Kea, and I'm hoping that through my potential success in the games, let's not take anything for granted now since it all depends on that moment, skate will be taken more seriously in the future. My main goal is to inspire young people and, hopefully, not be the only skater in the Kean delegation for the following Olympics.

Another name that many Keans are talking about is the triathlete Peter Yosef Papadopoulos Junior, the son of the former president of the country Peter Yosef Papadopoulos, who lost the elections to Martina Marakis two months ago. "I don't want to be associated with my father", stated the young triathlete, "People need to learn how to keep politics out of sport. I am so glad that the Olympic Comittee gave me this opportunity despite my father being of an opposite political spectrum. People need to follow that example. I am not another politician, nor will I ever try to get involved in politics, triathlon won me over.".

You will have the chance to see our delegation again in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics of the XV Olympiad on the 8th of August, live from Electrum. KTV (Kean Television) will be broadcasting the ceremony and the olympic events live, so stay tuned.

[Krytenia]

Madison prepares for hard road ahead

Krytenia's reigning Olympic women's singles champion Rowena Madison has admitted that retaining her title will be a difficult ask as she prepares for the round-robin stage.

"There are a lot of women up for this," she said, "not least Chelsea [Tang-Hudson], she'll want to trade up from her silver. Nindethana and Raven Munoz will have the home crowd behind them, and the pair from Eura - well, they're a bit of an unknown quantity, but I've seen them practicing and they both look dangerous."

Madison starts her campaign on the morning of the Opening Ceremony, alongside fellow Krytenian Gloria Stephenson, who'll be looking to recover from her heartbreaking defeat in the bronze medal match at the last Games.




Tough test for sevens side

The Krytenia men's sevens team will face one of the pre-tournament favourites as they hope to upset the applecart and take a medal in Agri.

The likes of Chromatika and Tikariot will likely provide stern tests, though it's Neu Engollon who many people are tipping not only to win the group, but also potentially take the gold. The men in cyan will take them on in their second game, and will hope to catch them somewhat cold; before that, though, there's the small matter of playing Diarcesia in their opener. A win there will likely offset a poor result against Neu Engollon, what with four sides from the group advancing to the knockout stages.



Inspired to try sevens? Information on how to get involved is available at kbs.kt/sportforall

Watch all the action from Electrum at home with sixteen dedicated streams on KBS Interactive, or on the go from your device at kbs.kt/smartview or on the SmartView app.

[San Ortelio]

Excerpts from 'San Ortelio - Road to the Olympics' - a booklet written and published by Rino D'Alpesi which barely sold a hundred copies - but which was recognized at the time of the 83th Olympiad as a meaningful historical source.

Rugby

Due to its diminutive size, it is often forgotten that San Ortelio itself is made up of five regional entities. Whilst all five confirm their allegiance to the republic and no (serious) attempts of a breakaway are known in the last century, they each take pride in their local specialities and identity. Furthermore, the regional level forms a judicial and political cornerstone in the administrative structure of the country. For example, there are five police, peace and social courts and there is a regional council with a strong say on cultural and economical matters. As such, it was not surprising that in sports organisations, the regional level often made its mark. The scope of that usually depended on the sociocultural allegiances of the founding fathers of that respective sport and tells us something about the way a sport transcended within the society.

For sports which are considered as more elite, take for example tennis or sailing, no regional level is defined. The frontrunners in their organisation were part of the higher echelons of the state - national tennis association founder Pietro Mazzucho became a minister - and had their eye on San Ortelio as a whole. A few others, such as cycling and basketball, have a regional subdivision, but these are nothing more than an administrative subentity within the organisation without distinctive agency. Two of the most popular sports, however, saw first the baptism of the regional structure - and these have lasted up until today. The rapidly increasing professionalisation within football has eroded the local FA's but within rugby, these five still stand as they were founded in the forties, when through the ports, rugby made its way to the nation. Fast and vibrant, it gained popularity with the lower middle class, whose allegiance and inner circle was far more local, hence the still existing structure.

As rugby is still an amateur sport, the national federation operates under the command of the five regions and not the other way around. Seeing the popularity (and revenue streams) of the football, basket and even waterpolo competitions, this earned the rugby federation quite some criticism: the domestic competition is unbalanced, needlessly convoluted and depressingly shattered. And still, rugby owns one of the landmark sports events of the nation. In the last quarter of the year, La Cinqua is contested between five regional selections as a single round-robin competition. Whilst Gianni Public rarely identifies by his or her region, this is the time to fly your local flag. The atmosphere is friendly but intense between them, matching the core values of the sport. Ten weeks long, this is what dominates the headlines and brings the crowds to the stadium and bars.

Due to its symbolic value, all rugby activity bows in the shadow of La Cinqua - top players often see their club as practice for the main tournament. The Olympic Sevens variation used to be treated similarly, as an enjoyable digestive to the season but nothing more. But it did offer a chance for the federal level to gain more ground on the regional structures. During the last two years, they have send a selection of the fastest La Cinqua stars to international competitions and with result: during the sixth and last R7 World Cup, San Ortelio triumphed in the Plate final to take home a very respectable ninth place. Although puritans had foreseen that the regional rifts would tear apart any national line-up, it became clear that gathering the best forces only molded an improving side to fly the blue and white colors.

With that in mind, the ruggers aim to escape the group stage at Walkers Stadium: not an easy task with Qasden, Asteran, the GVH and most notably the reigning champion The Hannasean Union as their adversaries. Ironically, for a national line-up, but unintendedly, the squad visually seems to have been constructed by pasting the best parts of La Cinqua sides together. The forwards all stem from San Pancrazio, spearheaded by the formidable Gianluca Bottarelli - quite a tank to Sevens norms. San Servazio, the reigning La Cinqua champion, sees two or their sons line up with Stefano Di Basco (whose nephew is also in the selection) as key man. Fast and steadfast, the electrical engineer often makes the decisive run. Behind him, a San Bonifazio duo calls the shots: Ercole Pagnin has a history filled with questionable stories and bizarre mood swings, but on his day, he's a sprint bomb with tactical insight. Veteran wing Daniele Carcano slowly but surely starts to lose that speed but he makes that up with intelligence and impact.

Sailing

It must not be surprising that the very act of sailing is considered as a valuable skill within a small, coastal nation - especially one which (by some nationalists, ad nauseum) traces back its roots to a few fleets of seafaring merchants with a penchant for trade opportunities and a healthy dose of disinterest in domestic taxing. Up to this day, many of San Ortelio's key industries are navally based: there is a decent canning industry based on local fishermen, whilst the various ports such as Catrallo, Redoccio and Pesari form regional transport hubs. But the days when these vessels travelled the seven seas through wind power are far behind us, even the most impoverished of fishermen now relies on a small diesel engine. Nonetheless, there is an above average number of people out there who know how to navigate a sailing ship - with its proximity to the sea, there is something utterly romantic about sailing the Baia and seeing the city lights light up along the coast.

Then again, this unfortunately does not result in a marvellous and rich breeding ground for sport sailors. In general, three reasons for that are identified. Purists will point to the fact that managing a sailboat is considered more as a skill, an art form, rather than a competition. Being able to guide the dinghy with minimal effort is lauded far more than bringing it from point A to B in the shortest time. The more practical people will note that San Ortelio and its surroundings are not the best training ground for the sport: the Baia itself is usually fairly calm, protected by the coastline and cliffs - the right amount of knots is rarely reached - whilst being fairly crowded with large transport ships. However, the ocean is meteorologically its reverse and for small boats, they are treacherous and even downright dangerous waters. And last, but not least, it is fair to point to the high entry cost to the sport. Whilst a good number of Ortelians possess a small boat for fun, these are often family treasures which have gone through wear and tear. Only the happy few have a new, competitive and regulation-size boat to compete with.

As such, the delegation from San Ortelio to conquer Black Stone Marina is limited to a single contestant, Alessandra Pisanecchi, with modest ambitions. Only twenty-two years old, Pisanecchi will definitely stand out amongst the field. She stems from a long line of judicial and political heavyweights, a family heritage which resulted in the title of viscount for her father Eugenio Pisanecchi, a former minister. Alessandra is the love child of the viscount and his thirty years younger third wife Angelica Valazzi - a noted jetset figure in her day. Based upon the looks, one would assume that Alessandra would follow the footsteps of her mother and she doesn’t shy away from an act-de-presence at the prestigious Marina Dances. But don’t put her away as a spoiled brat who emptied daddy’s wallet for her own ship. Initially, there had been scepticism when she arrived for training with fake lashes and coloured nails, but Pisanecchi gained respect over her stamina, cunning and gusto to make a left-field choice when out on sea.

[Kaldtfjell]

At the Lin Stables in the city of Agri on the Terranean Coast of Electrum, a distinctive man had just entered the venue, with a plan in mind.

He was distinctive in two ways. The first was his physical appearance. He was an imposing man, towering above six feet in height, with a broad, muscular form that brought to mind an athlete, though he looked to be in his mid-to-late 40s. His face drew attention too, though it was questionable whether the moustache and gold-rimmed sunglasses reminded people of a military officer, a policeman, or an adult film star. The second was his sense of dress. He was decked out, head to toe, in a tracksuit in the colours and pattern of the flag of Kaldtfjell.

That, in itself, was not out of the ordinary. After all, it was mere days from the beginning of the Games of the XV Olympiad, and the Lin Stables were hosting the equestrian events, along with acting as a home to the variety of horses that would randomly be assigned to competitors in the modern pentathlon event that would take place in the city on the 8th and 9th days of competition. The Kaldtfjellers would be competing in those events, with one of the small mountain nation’s major medal hopes, Hjalmar Hjalmarsson, aiming for gold in the men’s event.

Thanks to all that, there were no questions asked of the man as he entered the stables, dressed in the colours of his nation’s Olympic delegation. Plenty of athletes, coaches, and officials were milling around in the area, caring for their horses, mucking out, or simply talking through strategies for the variety of events that would take place here and at the Walkers Stadium. A stablehand may have looked to the Kaldtfjeller man and chuckled at his appearance, but no eyebrows were raised at his purpose in the stables. Perhaps there should have been.

He made his way towards an area where the horses were not wearing the colours of any particular nation. These would be the horses assigned to pentathletes, and the ones that the man was here to see. He pulled out a pair of binoculars from his pack, and spent some time watching over the horses, paying particular attention to the horses going over the gallops in the distance. He took some notes in a small notepad, writing in a language that would not be legible to others in the paddock. Eventually, he had picked out his target. He glanced around, looking to grab the attention of someone important. He saw someone dressed in uniform, and shouted over to them in broken English.

“You there!” His booming voice drew the uniformed person’s attention, and they sprinted over, at which point the Kaldtfjeller saw a teenage boy; surely not important, but no matter. “What is that one’s name?” He pointed in the direction of the horse he had identified, now making its way from the gallops to the stables.

“Um…”, the boy paused, straining his eyes to pick out the horse being indicated. “That one is Bubbles!” There was a hint of excitement in his voice, his passion for these horses clear.

“Bubbles will do.” The Kaldtfjeller remained as gruff as ever. He reached into his bag, pulling out a stack of Electrumite money: he could not remember the names, or how much it was worth, but he imagined it was more than this boy had ever seen. “You make sure Hjalmar Hjalmarsson gets Bubbles. Yes?” He offered the money in the direction of the boy, who seemed confused.

“Sir?” This voice came not from the boy, but from behind the Kaldtfjeller, so he spun around quickly. In front of him, he saw two burly looking men in the uniform of security guards standing in front of him.

“Hello gentlemen. Are you in charge here?” He was now offering the money in the direction of the guards, as the boy scampered off in the other direction.

“I think you should leave sir.”

“What are you talking about? I am doing nothing wrong, only offering this boy money.” He was gesturing in the direction of the boy who was no longer next to him. At that, the guards nodded to each other and grabbed each arm of the Kaldtfjeller, dragging him towards the exit, as he shouted and screamed all the way. As he landed, face first, in the street outside the stables, he stood up and looked back towards the guards.

“What is this? I am Arnfinn Steinarsson, the Hovding of Kaldtfjell! How dare you!”

[Lisander]

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Club culture in Lisander and how it has created a false 'sense of wealth' for national sport
Notes for an article by Larissa Senra, Lisander Hockey Olympian for the Games of the XV Olympiad, pursuing the grade of Master of Sciences in Cultural History, Universitas Algravia alumni.

It's a good time for sports! The Rector' s office has again considered returning the University to the ranks of the National Academic League, just at the time when the eyes of the world are on the Terranean Coast in Electrum, where the XV Olympiad Games will be held. This time, we will have an Algravia Old Girl participating in an event. Larissa Senra from the national women's hockey team. To celebrate and support our veteran, we have decided to republish some initial notes from her dissertation for her Master's degree, which studies sports culture in Lisander, its agents and its social facts.

Culture of Clubs
Over 62% of people in Lisander are associated with some sports association or club, and it is estimated that there are over 900 sports associations or clubs affiliated to sports federations linked to the CND (National Sports Confederation), these figures do not count federations that are not part of the CND, such as Lacrosse and Gridiron Football. Etymologically, the difference is that to be considered as "clubs", associations need legal registration and their own premises with minimum conditions for sporting activity.

From small sports associations established in neighbourhoods, districts and schools, such as the Venard District Local Girls' School Athletics (The Valkyries of Venard, a district in the west of Soria, are just one team participating in the Communal U-16 Hockey Championship. They wear uniforms with horizontal white and violet stripes) to big multi-sport clubs like the mighty Club Sparta (Sparta has more than 120 years since its foundation, 19 national football titles, two headquarters of its own, one of which is a complete multi-sport facility, and two arenas for thousands of people, the Sparta Stadium and the Palaestra, plus teams in every professional league and hundreds of amateur players participating at weekends, as well as the countless young people in its affiliated academies and clubs), through to university athletic departments and motorsport construction teams or privateers, the association of people around the sport is as commonplace as trade unions and trade associations. It is even common for unions themselves to have sports associations.

Of course, of those 62%, only a minority are athletes who compete at a high level. Most people who join clubs and sports associations are ordinary people. Teachers, secretaries, engineers, bankers, salesmen, civil servants, et cetera. They have much more modest aims. They can use the gym, the swimming pool or the games room at the club's headquarters, get discounts on tickets for team games, or even participate in friendly competitions between members themselves or between friendly clubs. A curious example is that the professionalisation of Women's Hockey with the Metropolitan League ended up indirectly popularising Mom's Hockey: Mothers (usually non-athletes) would take their girls to train hockey at the "rich clubs" of Soria, such as Linville Athletic, the Victorian Club, Saint Helens, Morian, Escrime and Elysium. At some point, at one of these clubs, the bored mothers who were waiting for their children's training to end, started training themselves to pass the time.

Elite Sports vs People's Sports
An interesting social fact, and one that still explains a lot about sports in Lisander is the financial conditions of its practitioners. Let us start by considering the fact that a football serves 22 practitioners for a very low price compared to a complete kit of clothes and weapon for fencing or a small sailing boat. Until about thirty years ago, when the country still experienced some socio-economic inequality, Sports Associations were the majority in team sports, while a considerable number of Clubs were geared towards individual sports. For a team to become a Club in the strict sense was a truly great thing. The "rich clubs" of Soria, for instance, avoided "popular" sports and kept only the traditional rugby for boys and hockey for ladies as team sports. Apart from this, members could represent the club in individual sports with "presumed aristocratic origins" , such as rowing, fencing, tennis, golf, yachting or polo. Eventually, Cricket, played when people from Alice Bay were present.

The so-called "rich people's sports" bring the best chances of medals to Lisander simply because they have had about eighty years more to develop a better structure. In time, better by our standards, because only the Olympics will show at what level we are compared to other nations. These athletes, usually "amateurs" with plenty of money to sponsor themselves, still have great influence in the Olympic Committee's management circles. Lisander's uniform for the Opening Ceremony is one example.

Not a "sign of domination", but maybe a "sign of illusion". Image Credit: Lisander Olympic Committee

A green blazer with the Olympic Team crest (a modification of the national arms with the Olympic star) embroidered on the chest is not very different from the uniform of the Equestrian team, captained by Kevna Casterwill (Baroness of an extremely traditional family and personal friend of Their Highnesses). Even though all the other pieces of clothing, such as riding trousers and boots, are different, the view will be quite similar. For "popular" players, in team sports, among which I modestly include myself, who are generally professionals or semi-professionals, and who dress in sweaters and T-shirts, it will be quite a contrast. It is important that they can see this symbolism in a positive way, but avoiding illusion. Only with continued investment will the culture of "popular" sports be as valued as that of "elite" sports.

Tagged under: Sports | Culture | Article Resumes | Olympics | History

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Follow the Lisander Team — Day 0

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Water Polo — Women
Somer Olympic Natatorium, Somer, Electrum
Lisander — Coconut Isle

Handball — Men
Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton, Electrum
Lisander — Coconut Isle

Sailing — Men's One-Person Dinghy
Black Stone Marina,Port Grenville, Electrum
Nemo Neville

Sailing — Women's One-Person Dinghy
Black Stone Marina,Port Grenville, Electrum
Larissa Rugeroni

[Kriegiersien]

The Schoenwetter Herald

Sport – Olympics

The Olympics in Electrum will soon start. What can we expect from the opening ceremony? And what can we expect from our athletes? Who are the biggest names?

The Team Sports played with a ball:

From Waterkillerball (called Water Polo here) where the women are Gold medallists, Rugby, the Sport Kriegiersien loves, even though it is only played with 7 here, to men’s football a medal is craved for.

Soccer or Association Football has the young men’s team hoping for a medal at senior level. Kriegiersien has won medals in youth and old men tournaments, but never at ‘real’ tournaments.
The female Handball players want to return on the throne.
Basketball and Baseball created hope for winning a medal after strong showings in the World Cup tournaments. Softball has the biggest name, Sarah Strongarm, a newcomer who has already won titles in Cassadaigua and is a leading player of the Baseball team. She decided to help the women’s softball team to win a medal. She is also the flag bearer.

The (mostly) individual sports:

Most athletes who participated at the last Olympics in Liventia return. All medal winners got a wild card and so most names are known. How good these athletes can perform again will be seen.
All the athletes in fighting sports are again seen as medal hopes. Shooting counts as fighting sport here.

In Swimming the siblings Swimtop are participating again, but for the first time without a staff looking over them and as they call it: Voluntary. Both are living outside Kriegiersien in Zombistan and the Lands of Lazy Cowards, mostly travelling the world. Will they still perform?

The Equestrians (who are all sentient Ponies) and Gymnast are as always looking for the Top.


In the most other sports Kriegiersien is participating but only exceptions show hope for a medal. Many teams are dated and the athletes declared as too old. The rejuvenation of these disciplines would be urgent. Table Tennis, Tennis, Badminton have these problems.
Weightlifting is still dominated by obsolete Zombiebots, a combination of a Zombies and Robot.

After the guideline that every athlete has to fulfil a certain level of skill was dropped, a few athletes who have really no realistic chance to reach the next round in their sport are competing for Kriegiersien.


Can this roster repeat the success of the last Olympics? Debatable. The goal of the President remains: The first place in the medal table, but that can change during the first days.


Coming soon:
The Dogman comic for the Olympics, about our greatest Superhero:

[Mytanija]

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.

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The squeak of disc brakes and unclicking of cleats from pedals gives advance warning of the group of cyclists’ arrival. One by one they pull into the car park outside the hotel in the Thessian mountains, the group provide two clues as to the exertion that they have just put themselves through. The visible clouds of breath and occasional gasps for air rather give the game away. A couple of seconds after a shiny new Vatasva Skala rolls into the car park behind them, its exterior clean aside from a few flecks of mud along the car’s side panels and the condensation all over the windows. Steam rises from under the bonnet, the engine a lot warmer than the car’s surroundings. A couple of cyclists mutter to one another, or let out a small cough or wheeze as the passenger side door of the car whips open. A man hops out, dressed in a warm woollen hat and a padded gilet over what appears to be about four different jumpers. He has certainly come dressed for the conditions. This is Velichko Lausevic, the acting directeur sportif for the Mytanar road cyclists at the Terranean Coast/Bunjil Olympics.

“Not a bad effort out there today everyone,” Lausevic starts. “What happened on the descent there Miroslav? Did you have a problem with your equipment or something?”

“Ah, fuck.” Miroslav says, still breathing heavily. “It’s alright for you to criticise from there in the car in your five layers! I think I had a problem with my right cleat, I’m not sure the bolts were tightened enough but it’s nothing a hex key won’t sort out.”

“I’m only trying to get to the bottom of it, Miroslav.” Lausevic says. Cyclists can be a touchy bunch at the best of times, but especially after big training rides. The training camp had been organised just after the Tur Magevskaya and Miroslav Grbesa had had a small crash on a descent at that race, losing time on Marin Svetlicic – now a team mate of his for the Olympics road race – and ending up behind him in the general classification as a result. Lausevic has to be sure that there is no lingering doubt in Grbesa’s mind on the descents. There is plenty of climbing and descending on the route between Fairleigh and Nassau Bay and whilst Mytanija’s team has many potential leaders Lausevic wants to be sure that Grbesa can fulfil his role as one or he will put him in a supporting role.

“I know, but it’s an equipment issue, I’ll get it sorted.” Miroslav replies, now squeezing his water bottle to get the last droplets of water down his throat. The training ride had been the hardest they had done, two ascents of the tough Bioceva Pass at over 2,500 metres. It is one of the highest paved roads in Mytanija and it would usually only be crossed during the Tur Mytanija. Lausevic is determined to get his team into the best shape of their lives ahead of the Olympics though and he had insisted that their training camp be concluded with this ride beforehand. His aim for his team is simple: to do what Wes van der Stijnen had not been able to do and get an Olympic medal.

The riders begin to walk over to the hotel door one by one, greeted by some of the women’s team with sympathetic glances and steaming mugs of coffee. The click-clacking of cycling shoes on the uneven tarmac of the car park brings kids outside too, with the team suddenly being pestered for autographs as the children look to get a memento of meeting their heroes. Lausevic is not impressed.

“I’m sorry boys,” He says as he jogs over. “I need to get these lads inside into the warm as quickly as possible. If you wait down in the lobby I’ll get someone to bring some autographs down to you off all the team, okay? We just need them in top form and can’t be having them getting ill now can we?”

A half-hearted ‘yeah, I guess’ and an ‘oh, alright then’ came back by way of response and the kids filter away, falling into brief conversation with one of the women’s team – Solumija Karadaglic –before heading off. The cyclists step inside, bringing their bikes with them and propping them up against a wall. A couple of mechanics and hotel staff immediately arrive to whisk the bikes away to be cleaned. The Mytanar cycling federation has tried to pull out all the stops with the support team ahead of the Olympics, giving mechanics from the rider’s trade teams short term contracts to ensure that the riders have familiar staff working around them. They have hired out a whole wing of this hotel in the Thessian mountains for the training camp, with every member of the men’s and women’s road cycling squads given their own room and a special cordoned off area created for the mechanics to work on the bikes in private.

“How are you feeling after that?” Solumija Karadaglic asks the group as Lausevic disappears with Miroslav Grbesa’s mechanic.

“Lausevic is a real slave-driver,” Luka Petrusic says. “I’m not used to all this climbing at the speeds these guys can go.” He laughs. Petrusic is usually a domestique on Marin Svetlicic’s Team Agrokomerc-Kafa. He’s not a bad climber in his own right, but the 24 year old is usually tasked with a support role and falls away from the front to the latter end of races after setting-up Svetlicic or Tose Dimushev for the win. Dimushev has narrowly missed out on the team for the Olympics but is on stand-by should any of them suffer an unfortunate injury.

“We might be sending Luka up the road, Solumija.” Jasar Izetbegovic explains. Izetbegovic is probably the five-man squad’s designated leader should everything go right in Electrum. He has general classification wins at both the Tur Mytanija and Three Steps of Ebena this season, as well as a one-day victory in the climber’s classic Zavolja-Sigurno. “Obviously nothing is decided yet but Luka’s great in breaks and if they get enough time he could go for the win himself or at the very least it allows us to rest up in the bunch and makes the others chase.”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what I’ve signed-up to now if I’m honest Solumija.” Luka grins.

“You’ll be grand Luka!” Solumija laughs. “Lausevic can’t be that bad anyway, not when we’ve got Anisya Polyakova as our coach! She has bloody high standards let me tell you.”

Polyakova is a coach now but in her heyday she was a fantastic cyclist as well, taking out some big races and striking gold at the 1st Rushmori Games in Aels in the women’s time trial. She is part of the coaching staff that the Mytanar cycling federation have put together for the Olympics and despite being a lot older and supposedly calmer now she is still a fierce competitor and expects the same from her riders. The women’s team are in a similar predicament to the men, with a few potential leaders and even less certainty on who will be the one to lead if push comes to shove.

“You’re always going to get high standards with a winner like that.” Miroslav Grbesa chips in. “I’m absolutely beat after that ride. Did you two see my fucking foot coming out of the pedal on that fast section the second time we came down the Bioceva Pass?”

“Yeah it got a bit sketchy out there didn’t it?” Jasar grimaced.

“Oh no! Really Miroslav? That sounds terrible.” Solumija sympathises with him. “After Magevskaya too…”

“Aye, we don’t talk about that too much.” Miroslav responds. “I don’t want to relive that get down too often.”

“Ah, sorry!” Solumija says, sharing a knowing glance with Jasar Izetbegovic. “Anyway, Luka, if it makes you feel any better I’m probably going to be sent up the road too. I think we’re working for Amina and Ines.”

“You know what Solumija?” Luka smiles as he tries to lighten the mood. “That actually does make me feel a bit better. It’s always the fun ones with a sense of humour that get sent out on a long, joyless and ultimately thankless breakaway isn’t it? These bores sit back there in the bunch crunching their numbers to work out how they can win and we’re out there riding like Wes van der Stijnen with a bit of panache.”

“Here he is,” Jasar smirks. “The Wes van der Stijnen comparisons eh?”

“Don’t mention him around Anisya, she doesn’t want to hear his name. Says she has to deal with him most of the year at home so she doesn’t want to hear about him at work.” Solumija says, sending the group into a fit of laughter. “I’m being serious!”

“You’re a laugh Solumija,” Drazenko Buhic finally contributes, sipping from his mug of coffee. He is the elder statesman of the men’s road race team at the ripe old age of 27. Buhic is the team’s road captain and will call the shots out on the road during the race. “Surely Anisya knows that we’ve all dreamt of being Wes van der Stijnen as children though? She can’t ban us from talking about him just because he’s her husband.”

“You’ve clearly not met Anisya before Drazenko!” Solumija replies, laughing again.

They had all dreamt of being Wes van der Stijnen as kids. His legacy in Mytanar (and possibly multiversal) cycling is unsurpassed. A double Island Tour winner to go with wins at The Three Steps of Ebena and Kytlerian BW tour. Initially a puncheur who turned into the greatest stage racer of his – and perhaps any – generation. They all absolutely had dreamt of being Wes van der Stijnen when they were kids, but he never managed to medal at an Olympic Games and they all now have a chance to do exactly that. The team want to do what he couldn’t on the Terranean Coast.

“Just a thought, what is Anisya going to do when the newspapers start coming out with the ‘new van der Stijnen’ headlines if one of us actually manages to win this thing?” Luka asks quizzically as the others fall into another round of laughter.

[Hopal]

The Olympic Show on HBC: The Preview

"Hello there, and welcome back to the show, if you're just joining us this the Olympic Show on HBC and I'm your host Martini Feits as we preview our athletes going to Electrum.

While our athletes may not be favourites for medals by any means, that doesn't mean there isn't any hope for Hopalians on podium, and we will retain hope as our national motto says 'Hope guides the Way'. So let's look at our olympic athletes and our best shots at medals in order of how they're listed on our olympic roster.

First up Diving where we have the Leslie brothers, Jared and Jacob both competing individually and as a team in the Men's 3 Metre Springboard these two have been inseparable since Jacob's birth and they've always competed together as the story goes and they make each other better, unfortunately they don't seem to be much of a hope for a medal, but they will be interesting to watch. Another diver is the up and coming Michelle Davu, making her name in domestic diving competitions, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to look like it is her Olympics to win medals this time around, perhaps she'll be in contention in the next olympics.

In Swimming Hopal's hopes at a medal lie in George McAlpine in his best event the Men's 200 Metre Individual medley, though he might make himself a contender in the 200 Metre Butterfly, the 31 year old veteran who has previously worked in the Department of Immigration and served briefly in the Navy looks to be at the peak of his career, when those of others might be winding down. Another person to look out for on the Men's side in David Yuan who is looking strong in the 200 Metre Backstroke with his brother Fred, neither of them are likely to a medal, but they will be interesting to watch. Another person definitely worth mentioning is Nate Scaleses who is entering into an astounding 9 individual events as well as 2 more relay events including the 200 Metre Butterfly and 200 Metre IM with George McAlpine, but his strongest event seems to be the 200 Metre Freestyle where he dominated domestic events and in school, though he does look quite strong in the 100 Metre Freestyle, he isn't very likely to win any medals, but he will certainly be one to watch. The Men's 4 by 200 Metre Freestyle Relay should another event to watch, the Hopalians aren't slated to win any medal, but they should be quite strong. On the Woman's side Helena Konstand seems to be Hopal's best chance at a medal, she's made waves at junior events in 200 Metre Butterfly, but this will be her first senior competition, and she's untested in senior events, so she will be one to watch. Georgia Juan is also in the 200 Metre Butterfly, she looks quite strong too, that seems to her strongest among her 4 individual events, but she might prove to be competitive in the 200 Metre Backstroke where has consistently done well domestically. Hopal has teams in both the Men's and Women's sides in Water Polo, though neither of the team look to be very competitive, though they should make for some entertaining games, and we'll bring you to them live here on HBC.

Onto Athletics where Hopal's best chance at a medal lies in Joe Lighthardt, competing in both the 10000 and 5000 Metre, both events in which he dominated the domestic competition and which he looks strong, though the former seems to be his stronger event. His family moved from Germany in search of new opportunity and Joe certainly got that meeting coaches and various other individuals who would help him along his Olympic journey to get him here today. He seems to Hopal's best chance at a medal at these Olympics. Another person worth mentioning is Mark Garrison, the son of unsuccessful merchants has a chance to make to the finals in 400 Metre on the biggest stage in the multiverse, and that isn't even to mention that he's entered the 200, 800, and 1500 Metre events as well as the 4 by 400 Metre Relay. Speaking of that, let's take a look at the 4 by 400 Metre Mixed Relay where Mark Garrison, Joe Lighthardt, Sarah Vanecek, and Maud Hicks some of Hopal best middle distance runners are all competing together, this team looks quite strong and might make a push for the finals. Now on the Women's side we already mentioned Maud Hicks who is Hopal's best chance at a medal on the Women's side, she's competing in both the 800 and 1500 Metre, though the former seems to be her stronger event, she's made a name for herself at some international competitions. And she's worked her entire life for this, she got into athletics as a child, developing a competitive nature and she always pushed onwards and has only gotten better over the year and she is here today competing at the Olympics. Hopal doesn't seem to be competitive in Baseball or Softball, Hopalian teams in general don't seem to be very strong at these Olympics, but they will again make for entertaining games.

Next up Cycling where all of Hopal's entries are in the Road Race on both the Men's and Women's side and where Hopal has some strong contenders. On the Men's side Justin Yuriyama and Garret Munson have raced against each other for years, and arguments in Hopal ensue as to who is the better cyclist, but in the end they are quite similar in terms of strength and the arguments could be made for both athletes, Munson having the speed endurance that Yuriyama doesn't have, and Yuriyama having the speed and flair that Munson doesn't. On the Women's side Helen Hernandez, Freda Young, and Lina Obraua all look quite strong, but Hernandez one of Hopal's flagbearers this year looks the strongest. It will be a tough journey for these women to win a medal, but they've all faced adversity before, they've all faced injury before, but they've always gotten through, they train together, they're good friend, they support each other and they make each other better. The Women's Road Race is certainly a must watch for Hopalians these Olympics. In Football, like in the other team sports Hopal doesn't seem to look very competitive on either the Men's or Women's side, and the Hopalian teams have caused mild controversy by breaking with tradition sending its full team to the Olympics instead the tradition of sending its U23 Team with only a few over 23 Players. But it isn't expected to matter as Hopal is not slated to be competitive at all. Hopal only really has one competitive athlete in Golf and that is Helen Cheri a woman born into moderate wealth, she has played golf since she was a child, perfecting her craft over the years, but she isn't expected to win any medals, and this just doesn't seem to look like her Olympics.

Onto the water now where in Rowing Mack Roy seems to be Hopal's only real chance at a medal he is competing in the Single Sculls where he looks to be competitive, might even win a medal, and he's competing in the double sculls with Gary Hents, where they look to be competitive as well, though not as much as Mack alone. Mack of course is the other Hopalian Flagbearer for the Opening Ceremony at these Olympics, he was born into poverty and didn't have the chance pick up a paddle until a school trip when he was 9, and he fell instantly in love with the sport showing a unique talent that none of the other kids had. His parents doted on him and tried to give him an opportunity to row, but given their situation Mack had to drop the sport when he was 13. That was until he met Gary Hents when he was 20 at University and his coach Henry Jules and they became a team, and Mack was given the opportunity to showcase, and here he is at age 28 going to the Olympics. Alright, Sailing, Hopal doesn't any major contenders in this sport but there Gerry Gonzalez and Layla Lee who both look like they could be contenders for medals at future Olympics, they're both rising stars and this Olympic experience will be important for them, we'll have more on Sailing in a bit. In Surfing Hopal doesn't have any athletes that look very compeitive.

Onto Table Tennis where we might just have an athlete who will at least be competitive for a medal, Terri Moran played table tennis as a hobby when she was young, never intending for it to be a something she'd pursue as a career that was until Karina Jefferies noticed her at playing table tennis at school and they would they would a partnership with Karina as Terri's coach, and the rest is history. Terri Moran is one of the most eminent rising stars in both table tennis and Hopalian sports, and while she may not win a medal here there will be many more chances. Now onto Tennis where we're watching Jumal Huyluer and Kyrsten Fletcher, who now believe or not are the seasoned veterans of this tennis team. They've both competed together at some international events and have been stellar together domestically. Fletcher is the stronger of the two in singles she's played tennis her whole life, she was born into wealth and plays at the aristocratic Port Hope Tennis Club. Huyluer is descended from the Indigenous Peoples of Hopal and incorporates strategies used by the peoples of his tribe when they played similar sports. None of them are expected to win any medals, but Hopal will be watching them closely. Finally to our last event Triathlon where we have Lia King, probably Hopal's best chance at a medal, though Hopal isn't expected to win any medals in Triathlon. She's a good all around athlete, she's spend years perfecting all three of the components of triathlon; swimming, running, and cycling. She has stamina and can carry on when things get gritty. The triathlon events will certainly be ones to watch, but one event that will certainly be interesting to watch is the Mixed Team Relay, where we have some of our best triathletes competing on a team, they aren't expected to be very competitive, but they will be interesting to watch.

And there you have it Hopal, a run through of all of our Olympic sports and our chances at medals. We will have all of the Olympic coverage live here on HBC, and we hope you'll be watching, there will certainly be some interesting stories. But let's have a look now at our events on Day 0."

---

Team Hopal Events - Day 0

Sailing - Men's Windsurfer
Gerry Gonzalez

Sailing - Women's One Person Dinghy
Layla Lee

Sailing - Women's Windsurfer
Layla Lee

Water Polo - Women's Matchday
Hopal vs. Victoria

[Ostankin]

4th Ostankin Channel. Program "A Hour about Sport". 7.8.1993. 14:01.

Welcome, dear viewers of the Fourth Channel! It's another hour about sport with Vlasiy Mychalkin and Denis Savelyev. As 15th Olympics become closer and closer, we continue to interview the best of our athletes. Today we will have a talk with our best shooter, the shooting star!
Meet one of the most promising Olympic athletes, trap shooter Tikhon Kirmir!

Name: Tikhon Dmitrievich Kirmir
Birth: 5 February 1966 (age 27)
Place of birth: Smolniki, Telecenter Commisariat, Ostankin 
Height: 172 cm
Weight: 64 kg
Sport: Trap shooting

This interview was brought to you by Vladimir Kvadratov (VK). Again.

VK: Good morning, Tikhon! I'm Vladimir Kvadratov from the 4th Ostankin Channel, and I'm going to interview you. So, how are you doing?
TK: I'm doing fine, thanks.
VK: So, can I ask several questions to you?
TK: Of course, you may. It's really honorable to get interviewed from our TV.
VK: Alright, the first question: How long have you been participating in trap shooting competitions?
TK: From the age of seven. When I was a little child, i loved everything about weapons. When I was five, my father brought me to the shooting range for the first time. It was really breathtaking experience. And when I turned six, my father gave me my first shotgun. Soon I started to participate in some shooting tournaments.
VK: So, I can say, that you already had 20 years of hard practice?
TK: Ehh... Right. Many years of the hard work and practice made me a really great athlete in this discipline, you can see.
VK: Well, after a long and hard practice session you definitely need to rest. So, how do you spend your free time? What hobbies do you have?
TK: Uhh... Well, I like to draw, and I'm personally think, that I'm quite decent at drawing.
VK: That sounds interesting. Maybe, you can show us some of your paintings?
TK: Of course. Here I have several photos of my works.

T. Kirmir — Smolniki village in the winter. 1992.

VK: Oh my God! That's really impressive! Tikhon, you are really talented person!
TK: This is not a talent. It's just a combination of hard work, many hours of practice and strong willpower.
VK: I see. So, a strong person like you will definite have a life motto. Tikhon, the last question for you, do you have it?
TK: Umm... I never thought about it, but I think, my motto is something like... Well, can you give me some time?
VK: That's quite good motto.
TK: No, I'm just asking you to give me time for thinking!
VK: Oh, I'm sorry!
one minute later
TK: Well, now I can definitely say, that my life motto is JUST WORK HARD AND DON'T BE LAZY.
VK: Alright, Tikhon, Thank you for the interview, Wish you a good day!
TK: Bye, Vladimir.

VK: Vladimir Kvadratov brought this interview to you. Next time, I will see you at the Olympic Games. Goodbye, and remember, do not turn off your TV!

A Hour of Sport studio. 14:24.

VM: So, another perspective athlete was interviewed just now. I think, we made wonderful job, visiting many of our olympic athletes.
DS: What the hell, Vlasiy? Wonderful job? Many athletes? We only visited two of them, are you crazy or what?!
VM: What did you say? Are you OK? We're live! On the state channel of the best media in our country! The TV!!! Millions of people are watching us now! And you are allowing yourself to scream and insult me? How do you behave, you bastard?!
DS: How do you called me?! I'm going to beat you now for calling me a bastard!
VM: COME HERE, YOU MORON! I'M GOING TO BEAT YOU FIR....

Several minutes later...

The broadcast has been resumed and severely beaten Vlasiy Mychalkin again appears on the TV screen:
VM: H... h-hello... our dear... viewers... It's still... Vlasiy Mychalkin... in the program "A hour about sport"... For now... we are saying goodbye to you... But soon... we will return again... D-dont... turn off your TV... in the name of Mighty Sower... S-s... Sator...

The live broadcast is still going, but Vlasiy thinks that the program is over and in front of the millions of people he has a mental breakdown:
VM: Oh no.... What have I.... done... For 19 years... we haven't had... such a mess... on our perfect state TV... And I ruined... everything... Don't fire me... please!!!... Great and Almighty... Sower... please... don't send me... to the severe military town of Chelyabinsk XIX..... Spare... me!!!... I will do better!!!!! *starts sobbing*

[Hannasea]

The Games of the XV Olympiad kick off tomorrow in full force with a range of huge events from the first medals in the Natatorium to the men’s cycling road race and the men’s gymnastics qualifying rounds. But technically, the Games will already have got underway later today, on ‘Day 0’, with a few early events getting a jump. That includes the Hamsters, Hannasea’s gold medal defending rugby sevens team, looking to recover from four bitter years of disappointment at international level by proving they still have it. And it also includes a start to the sailing events. Given how little coverage sailing generally receives, many of our viewers may be a little unfamiliar with the different types of boat involved, so here’s a quick guide to the various events that will be taking place in the Black Stone Marina.

RS:X: ‘X’ marks the spot! In this case, it clearly marks the spot where some precious ‘Rs’ (rupees? rubies? some new cryptocurrency whose blockchain value derives from buried beneath sand?) have been hidden. Whatever the mysterious prize, sailors set off in search of it armed only with a trusty spade and of course the tattered map. Brandon Cooper will be competing for Hannasea; four years in Orean he finished 18th, having repeatedly sailed off course subject to the luring calls of mysterious sirens, who turned out to be a couple of seabirds choking on trash thrown away by spectators.

Laser: Pew pew pew! The most demanding and intense of all Olympic sailing disciplines sees sailors take to the choppy seas armed with laser weapons, which they can aim at each other in attempt to cause their opponents to sail off course or even inflict some hilarious injuries!

Finn: Finn’s uncle owns a boat and he’s away for the weekend and there’s totes going to be a massive party omg goals I am going to get so drunk and post a bunch of selfies on InstaSnap #yachtlife #wavebitch omg Finn’s uncle is back and he is so pissed quick everyone bail!

Nacra: I got nothin’.

49er: The Olympic Village is famous for its clean living, hard training athletes, realizing their dreams of competing for the world’s highest prize. Years of training, dedication and sacrifice, all decided on a short stretch of running course or swimming lane or velodrome track, a dive off a high board or flip along a balance, a fight or bout or contest that might be over in seconds. Lots of nerves. Lots of adrenaline. Lots of intensity. So… yeah, also lots of sex. Pack a few thousand ridiculously good looking young people in their athletic prime, inject a few thousand gallons of hormones, and leave to simmer. It’s not surprising the Olympic Village has become known as a veritable hive of frenzied sexual contortions. Sailors are a particularly rowdy bunch, and haven’t been content to leave it at the humble ‘69’, instead inventing a whole new position, the ‘49er’, which involves the man twisting his body into the shape of a 4 and then being rushed to the ER so he can be given pain medication to ease the suffering during the brutal last few moments of his life.

470: The average approximate TV viewing audience of a sailing race. Globally. Sailing is a noble sport, with a storied Olympic history, and its competitors battle the elements in a way perhaps no other Olympians have to. They are warriors fully deserving of every plaudit, whether they finish on the podium, or do so badly that even the Hannaseans somehow manage to beat them. But their sport is absolutely not made for television. In what will be the first and last time these words are ever uttered: you’d honestly be better off watching the badminton.

[Graintfjall]

Article posted on the In Brief section of the GS SuperSports+ website. Note that GS SuperSports+ covers both Græntfjaller and Hannasean sports.

Generic Athlete Profile Bandwagon: Maximiliansdóttir named flagbearer

Naomi Maximiliansdóttir, the sole Græntfjaller medallist in athletics from the 14th Summer Olympics, will lead out the delegation at the Opening Ceremony of the 15th Summer Games in Somer, Electrum. Maximiliansdóttir, three-time winner of Græntfjall’s national shot put championship and two-time winner of the no less prestigious Thiccest Thighs Award from uWu mommy magazine, the publication for the discerning fetishist, set a national record in Istria, Banija as she earned a silver medal in the women’s shot put, the lone high point in an otherwise disappointing athletics performance. Her selection as flagbearer suggests Ólympíusamband Græntfjalls are keen to emphasize a bigger role – and stronger performance – for the track and field this time.

Eight years ago,* Græntfjall’s most successful sport was cycling, with three golds, two silvers, a bronze, and an Olympic Record in the men’s track pursuit; there were also three golds in fencing, and three in shooting, all won by rifle shooter Jvars Börkursson. But the highly competitive nature of those three sports at the Olympics means repeating the success is a steep task. For Maximiliansdóttir, the job is rather simpler: putting a heavy metal ball through the air. “There’s so many complex Olympic sports full of esoteric rules and complicated strategies,” she says, “And then there’s me just trying to launch a ball as far as I can!” The Altendalur-based Maximiliansdóttir, who requires two seats when travelling by commercial airline, is nonetheless “honored” to bear the blue-and-white** at the Opening Ceremony.

“Athletics doesn’t start until much later, so there’s a bit of a nervous wait,” she says; her qualification event begins on Day 9, giving her over a week to get her bearings in the Olympic Village and around the Terranean Coast before heading up to Agri, the poor cousin of the Electrumite cities involved in hosting the Games but lucky recipient of the athletics events. “I haven’t seen the stadium in Agri yet, but I’m looking forward to it,” says Maximiliansdóttir, speaking around mouthfuls – her bulk requires a daily intake of in excess of 8,000 calories to maintain. And of her chances of retaining her medal, or going one better? “Winning the medal was literally the best moment of my life,” she says. “I’d love to experience that again, but even if I don’t, nothing I do here can take that away from me, so I feel I can compete with a bit more freedom now.”

* In what people are calling “total bullshit”, the Olympics happened 4 years ago for Hannasea but 8 years ago for us.
** Mystifyingly and infuriatingly, Græntfjallers refer to their flag as ‘the blue-and-white’ despite there being a giant red stripe right there in the middle.

[Chromatika]

By: Min Do-Hyun, Olympic Correspondent

Welcome to The Rebel's coverage of the fifteenth Summer Olympics, held in the Terranean Coast/Bunjil of Electrum! For those of you who don't know too much about Chromatik athletes in non-major sports, here's the primer as for what you should look for in these Olympics to come:

Total from 14th Summer Olympics: 7 gold, 8 silver, 8 bronze

Aquatics
Diving - History: 1 Gold Medal
Chromatika's Jacqueline Briggs-Thompson and Letitia Briggs-Thompson are the defending gold medalists in the 3m Springboard event, though the pair of Anastasie Marie-Jones and Mikaelie Pont are more known domestically given their presence in social media. For the Briggs-Thompson sisters, who are twenty-six year old twins and say they'll be diving into their thirties, it's a good chance to show that the medals in the last games wasn't a fluke. On the men's side, the best medal hopeful is Jerry Gillard on the springboard, though it'll be a challenge; all the rest of the divers are mostly here for the experience.

Swimming - History: No Medals
Despite being a country surrounded by water, Chromatiks aren't very good at swimming as a sport due to the fact that the Chromatik Party never really spent a lot of resources into it. Most aquatics programs are less than ten years old, and the COC aren't really into investing into any specific sport. Chromatika's strength is in distance swimming. For the men, look for Eduard Pontiff, the twenty-one year old from Myana in the Men's 1500, and the duo of Ivan Piotrowski and Sylvester Sierzant, in the Men's 10k Marathon. On the women's side, it's Nanami Lefevre and Jody Moreno in both the Women's 800m Freestyle and 1500 Freestyle. Lefevre and Moreno are teammates at University of Myana, and the Vipers are trying to make a splash in the world stage. Joining them as medal favorites are Jodi Marquez and Julie Richarsdon in the Women's Marathon. Richardson is 32 and a mother of three while Richardson is only 23 and in her second Olympic games. They both had subpar Olympics the last time around, but will have the eyes of the country on them in Electrum.

Artistic Swimming - History: No Medals
The duo of Jeramy Clarke and Pablo Leonard are outside hopefuls, but this is a new program in Chromatika with lots of room to grow.

Water Polo - History: No Medals
As Yo-Han Tan and Sharapova Fyodora Vasilievna would state themselves, Chromatiks are underdogs in this sport, but they love playing it and hope to garner more interest in the sport.

Archery - History: No Medals
Chromatiks love archery. They did all right in the Black Arrow Classic leading in, and still view their failures in the 14th Olympics to be a travesty. Frederick von Marshall and Sofia Blackinesz are national stars, and the fact that the two of them lost the Bronze Medal match in the last Games is a point of national suffering. Chromatika is aware that there are lots of other nations with a great archery tradition, but if they were to leave Electrum without a medal, it may be the last Olympics for some of them.

Frederick von Marshall is 31, Isaak Kristoffer 28, Hugo de Vries 23. The women are a bit younger - Sofia Blackinesz 24, Franz Cedostera 20, and Nedira Anderstef is only 19 and in her second Games. Perhaps, the change to set play will yield better results?

Athletics - History: 1 Gold, 1 Silver
It's a mixed bag when it comes to athletics. Chromatika isn't good at sprints - don't expect much from those athletes. Where Chromatika has a shot is in distance running. Xiyi Li is the defending Silver Medalist in the Men's 10,000, while teammate Hwang-Myeong Kim will be hoping to make a splash. In the marathon, the trio of Jericho Cotts, Einstein Paulie, and Nero Miles will be hoping to stick with the pack. On the Women's side, keep your eyes on the 1500, where defending Gold Medalist Moragne Elison and her rivals in Allise Straza and Zarina Parlova get set to take the world by storm. Mizuki Kitagawa will have a chance in the 20km Walk, awhile Sora Shimizu, the 23 year old who finished twelfth in Banija, will be hoping to hit the top ten.

Men's high jump is another place where Chromatika may see a medal, as 27 year old Ellsworth Haas tries to do better than his fourth place finish, while Annouk Bonnay will be hoping that her recent injuries will not hold her back from trying to improve on the fourth placed finish in the Triple Jump. Lastly, don't forget Leon Christianson, Marin Novikov, and Albert Pavlov in the Men's Decathlon - trying to get over a rough Olympics last time around - Ulyana Jean hoping for the same.

Badminton - History: No Medals
Another sport that's relatively new to Chromatika - don't expect much here. Makayla Lovisan does carry some fame due to her upbringing as part of the ROYG community who's a community activist.

Baksetball - History: No Medals
You take apart the Penguins and what do you get? A subpar Men's squad and an above-average Women's squad. Perhaps the Women's team can make a bit of a run, but don't expect too much from them. Park and Lia will be fun to watch, regardless.

In the 3xe team competitions, the squads are rather green.

Baseball/Softball - History: No Medals
Splitting the WBC squad, these two teams are decent but not very good.

Boxing - History: 1 Silver Medal
Last Olympics, Pierrot Thuvalie surprised everyone by taking Silver. He's back, and the 24 year old from Z'ai'ai is hungry for more. "I was one bout away, and I'm going for that gold," he's been quoted as saying. Jusmon Nicholas, Cahteline Boss, and Emma Illius complete a list of athletes who won't be favorites to win any Medals, but who cannot be counted out of the competition.

Canoe
Slalom - History: 1 Gold Medal
Baha Kimani is the big name here. The Chromatik, hailing from Tihon, won the Gold Medal in the Women's K-1 Slalom last time around; she's stated this will be her last Olympics as she's 34 years old. It'll mean the world to her if she were to medal again.
Sprint - History: No Medals
Perry Jones in the Men's K-1 1000m is the one to watch here.

Cycling
BMX - History: 2 Bronze Medals
Both Drew Liott and Xena Ian have medaled in this discipline, getting Bronze Medals; Benson Pollard and Myaka Cull are ranked ahead of them domestically, and will be looking to make a splash. Don't count out Tyoko Yorashi either in the racing. It'll be fun to watch.
Mountain Biking - History: No Medals
Frederico Kashova and Kiara Joss are the most likely to medal here, but don't expect them to. Kashova is from Omnio and took up the sport just five years ago, while Joss is a twelve-year veteran.
Road - History: No Medals
Why is Chromatika not very good at this discipline? Lack of facility.

Equestrian - History: No Medals
Dressage
Edward Kyung has a huge social media following and could make a run.

Eventing
Lana Ceff is the best hope for Chromatika here, but it isn't likely.

Jumping
Rilas Sill and his mare, Prudence, will make a run.

Fencing -History: 1 Gold, 3 Silver, 1 Bronze
Fencing has been a great sport for Chromatika in their only Olympics. They utterly handled Women's Individual Sabre, with Sara Hoyashimi handling Gina Carth in the finals. They did lose in the team event by a point in the Round of Sixteen, and will be trying to do better.

In the Team Epée competition, Chromatika lost to only one nation: Quebec. Quebec handed the women's team the Silver Medal, while the men's team ran into Quebec too early to medal. Juriah Sands and Carrie-Ann Stewart, the captains of those squads, got medals in the individual events.

The only discipline that Chromatika didn't event in was foil - and they'll be trying to change that this time around.

Football - History: No Medals
Chromatika has never split their football teams by gender; these teams will not be used to playing with each other, but do feature three Fillars and some of the better young players. They'll be fun to track at least.

Golf - History: No Medals
Chromatika only has three golf courses in the entire nation. That shows just how much they will struggle here.

Gymnastic - History: No Medals
Artistic
Another sport that's suffered due to lack of facilities, retired footballers are starting to change that. Rachel Hellion has funded a few gyms in Chromia, and gymnasts are starting to flock there. Owana Pikale and Sevin Mu will the the medal hopefuls.

Rhythmic
Not much to say here - hopefully they won't just embarrass themselves.

Trampoline
Pollard Heights and Miles Silven are fun to watch. The two Women being sent here - Miles Silven and James Suvi - have had to deal with their names being masculine their whole lives; they love showing that names aren't everything.

Handball - History: 1 Silver Medal
The Women's team shocked everyone by getting a Silver Medal. Then, two of their starters retired. This time around, it'll be much harder for them to medal here.

Hockey - History: No Medals
Next.

Judo - History: No Medals
Shi-Hyuk Park and Puma Jekert both lost Bronze Medal bouts and will be looking to wash that taste out of their mouths. There are a lot of athletes going that will be tested but have a shot at a medal if things go their way.

Karate - History: No Medals
Kata
Oren Nyung and Whitney Pan will be the ones to watch in this interesting event.

Kumite
Man-Sae Lee will have a shot.

Modern Pentathlon - History: 1 Gold Medal, 1 Silver Medal
Chromatika is very good at this sport, having both the Men's Silver Medalist in Dimitrioff Friberg and the Women's Gold Medalist in So-Ran Dae. There will be pressure for them to repeat, they welcome the challenge.

Rowing - History: 1 Bronze Medal
Taki Sumahail and Kama Byuri won the Bronze Medal last time around, but all eyes will be on Bella Coxx in the Women's Single Sculls and Sara Bora and Ann Borales in the Women's Double Sculls.

Rugby Sevens - History: No Medals
Next.

Sailing - History: 2 Bronze Medals
Filo and Mario Anders won the bronze in the Two-Person Dinghy, while Do-Eun Jung and Byun-Shik Park did the same at the Women's side. Keep an eye on Cameron Dash of Lhor and Asher Sindt of Pria in this event.

Shooting - History: 1 Silver Medal, 1 Bronze Medal
The team being sent are pretty stacked. Mark Sung an dVictoire Sulli will be trying to go for the Gold Medal in the Mixed Pistol Team, while Laria Myun will try to upgrade from the Bronze. Mark Sung of Chromia and Morgan Issai of Lanar are some other names to watch, but Chromatika will be hoping for multiple medals from this sport.

Skateboarding - History: Gold Medal, Bronze Medal
Simon Paro dramatically won the Gold Medal in the Men's Park after the field leader flopped on the last run in the last Olypmics, while Sera Alkenstamp won the Bronze in the Women's Street. Paro is only 25 and the face of Chromatik Skateboarding; he'll be a treat to watch.

Sport Climbing - History: 1 Gold Medal
Hyo-Jung Kim won the Gold Medal last time around on the Women's side, but it's Jang-Hyee Park that is the favorite this time around. Throw in Myung-Hyun Park on the Men's side, and Chromatiks have a formidable side in sport climbing, with some walls in multiple locations.

Surfing - History: No Medals
Why is Chromatika not very good in surfing despite having cities like Myana, Tihon, and Urrheddiao? The answer is, once again, infrastructure. Those three cities have promised to do better on that moving forward, but for these Olympics, Chromatika will suffer.

Table Tennis - History: No Medals
Next.

Taekwondo - History: No Medals
Damon Isan made history with his run last time, but has been underperforming as of late. Don't expect much here.

Tennis - History: No Medals
There are only about twenty tennis courts in Chromatika. The sport has a long way to go before it's mainstream.

Triathlon - History: No Medals
Cycling and swimming need to catch up before Chromatika has a chance in the triathlon.

Volleyball - History: No Medals
Beach
Michelle Etoile and Charisma Lariott, of Eyrods, are the only pair worth following in this sport as they go for a Medal.

Indoor
Take a mediocre team and split them apart. Good luck, volleyball.

Weightlifting - History: No Medals
Chromatiks are typically more lean and fast than strong.

Wrestling - History: No Medals
Freestyle
Gorgo Demitrios fell just short last time around, but has been struggling with a knee injury this time around. None of the rest of the field really don't have a shot.

Greco-Roman
Yeah.

[Nuevas Hesperides]

OOC note: El Siglo de Los Ángeles is the capital city of Nuevas Hespérides' major newspaper. It styles itself as an objective source of information, but has center-right leanings that place it squarely on the side of NH's conservative opposition.

Editorial: Nuevas Hespérides' oversized Olympic squad squanders resources, has dubious chance of making medal goal in competitive field

In a couple days' time, more than 400 hesperidianos will compete in the Games of the XV Olympiad held on the Terranean Coast of Electrum at much expense and at much strain on the nation's limited sporting infrastructure. In our view, this move by President América San Nicolás' administration is yet another example of irresponsible Socialist spending on vanity projects and power plays that will yield few results, especially in comparison with the resources that they expend.

Simply put, the Hesperidian Olympic Committee (COH) has certainly bitten off more than it can chew with its entry list. Three hundred and ninety-six entries without context would not be objectionable, but Nuevas Hespérides is a country with only 14 million people spread across four wild and jungle-covered islands. So if the country does not have enough world-class athletes to put together such an extensive entry list, then where did the additional entries come from? The answer is simple: The COH put anybody who showed up into the trials into the entry list in many sports.

Take badminton, for example. Badminton is not exactly the most popular sport on the islands. There is only one club in the islands, located here in Los Ángeles, and there are no professional badminton players of any caliber who have competed internationally at any level. Yet the COH managed to find four badminton players here, perhaps enticed by a free trip to Electrum, who they could enter in the Olympics. Look to road cycling as well: Nuevas Hespérides has entered five riders in both the men's and women's road race events. Do Hesperidian athletes have a hope of medaling in this sport? Perhaps Sofía Loyola has a hope, however slim, in the women's event. But otherwise, the COH seemingly stuck anybody who knew how to ride a bike into the competition.

The pesos add up for a bloated delegation. The COH has to pay for feeding its athletes, clothing them, and transporting them to the games. Of course, pooh-bahs and panjandrums must accompany the delegation, and the COH must billet them as well.

Unfortunately, the logistical costs are not the only costs that Nuevas Hespérides' Ministry of Sports, Culture, and Arts has incurred to support its wildly extravagant Olympic dream. Although the San Nicolás administration has the rather admirable goal of expanding participation in sport to all segments of Hesperidian society, it has fallen short of this goal — without sparing any expense. It has focused on the grassroots level — building pitches and facilities for every imaginable sport, funding training for coaches at the community level, and campaigning for more young people to take up sports at an early age. While all of these things are admirable, the Hesperidian government has simply spent too much on this initiative. We don't need football pitches and taekwondo dojang at every turn, and we worry that the focus on building, building, building has created white elephants.

Of course, it is understandable that San Nicolás is spending money on an oversized Olympic delegation: She wants to show off that her expansive (and expensive) sport development program has, in fact, produced results. But it's clear that in many sports — like badminton and road cycling — that strategy has already failed, leaving the COH to throw in athletes to make it appear that it has.

But with 94 delegations competing, including some of the multiverse's heavy hitters, this Olympics will be one of the most competitive multiversal multi-sport events in history — not just in recent memory in the sporting world, but in history. There are 183 entries in the men's 100 meter sprint, for instance — so many entries that the Electrumite hosts have added a preliminary round to weed out two thirds of the competing athletes before the "proper" first round. And after all 183 entrants have competed, only three will sprint away with medals. The stories are the same in event after event after event.

While these sobering statistics may present a compelling argument for reining in the Olympics' bloatedness as a whole, they also should remind us that winning a medal in the Olympics, in any sport, is not guaranteed, even in the "off-beat" sports that the COH has invested significantly in. We must admit, we're not sporting analysts, and we don't presume to get into the thick and thin of sporting analysis. (We'll leave that to our Olympics correspondents posted to Bunjil.) But we do think that the COH's medal expectation of 25 total medals smacks of counting their chickens before they hatch.

While we hope that Nuevas Hespérides does get the highest amount of medals possible, we also recognize that as a debuting nation, hopes should remain low. We cannot expect to burst onto the international scene with medal after medal after medal, as the COH seems to expect. Similarly, we recognize that the Games will most definitely have a political outcome: If Team NHE gets its overly ambitious 25 medals, América San Nicolás can celebrate with the COH in the Benalcázar Palace. But if they do not, then the COH will have to come up with some answers, and good ones, at that.

[Todlichebujoku]

Opening Words

Welcome to our shard!

KALTEKASAI- We are proud to announce our inaugural delegation to an outworld event called "the Olympic Games", or alternatively, "the Olympiad". You may have heard of it through outworld media sources, but in case you are unfamiliar with it, let us explain the premise. It is, in function very similar to the Ścharacains Games here on Jemaa, an international athletics competition where the nations of the world compete in sports events for medals. These games, of course, are just as big an event as the Ścharacains, and attract a huge amount of international press and attention when they occur. So it is with great excitement that we are sending some of our finer athletes, who did not find their way to the festivities in Keletiföövaar, to participate in the Olympics in the Bunjil region of Electrum. You might be familiar with Electrum from the WorldVisions of times long past, a nation with one of the most successful debut entries of all time back in WorldVision 35, placing on the podium just prior to our second win on home soil - Seppo Takala's "Take Me Away" in Müllkasane. So it is clear that the Electrumites know what they are doing, and if one looks into Olympic history, the nation of Electrum certainly features prominently there as well. We can expect a sleekly and professionally run event on par with that of the Ścharacains in Naforâchia, and are absolutely confident in the safety and security of our loved ones as they step into the warmth and sunshine, making use of the nation's remarkable network of portals as they travel to their destinations.

We wish the best of luck to our dearest men and women in Electrum, may the powers above bless them abundantly as they represent Tödlichebujoku in the realm of outworld sport. The first of our events will be the Archery ranking rounds, held in the Mallow Park of Agri, along with the Men's Road Race on the Fairleigh-Warburton course, and will be broadcast on TÖBUK not long after the late night shows - an appropriate refractory period as we head into the wee hours of the morning. Keep a nice pot of tea brewing with your prayers as you tune in, and follow us on the crystallomatrix as we live-etch on our official shard!

- Tsiatsan Kivistö, Regent of the Tödlichebujoku Olympic Committee

[Alezian Union]

SYNOPSIS
Members of the Alezian Union predict how much medals they'll got in this edition's olympics. And they predict what sports will their country excel in. South had an optimistic measure, Mosin-Nagan had a realistic measure, Pantabang Islands tried being edgy and being "pessimistic" (liar. Look at his medal prediction.) and North Alezia who was traumatized after failing to get anything last edition bounced back to the Olympics, ready with a target- Holy, North Alezia, chill down oh my goodness.

FACTS
1. South Alezia is really a capital of shooting and weightlifting in the Alezian Union. Most of the famous athletes of those two sports came from South Alezia!

2. Mosin-Nagan is right, Irina Elinova was just declared as the Alezians' best athlete of the year. Participating in various tennis tournaments, and is currently the highest ranked Alezian Tennis player. She's famous for her spin attack (which was difficult to do, and sometimes cost her a point she could've earned if she didn't miss the ball...)

3. Pantabang Islands is the region with the highest amount of tweets sent per capita in the Alezian Union. Pantabang Islands is very small especially compared to the big two (North and South Alezia). So this is a crazy feat.

4. North Alezia is the only region who had participated in the Olympics previously (he even hold Mosin-Nagan and (northern) Pantabang Islands' hands all the way). He failed to get anything...

SYNOPSIS
Pantabang Islands noticed someone's phone ringing... Emitting a very... what the heck have I experienced here ringtone. It annoyed him so much that he started pointing fingers.

FACT NO.1
This one is so massive it needs its own fact. Each members of the Alezian Union got their own ringtones. Usually it resembled their preferences of music.
SOUTH ALEZIA - a random airpod dying meme video that he converted to a sound file. (Music Preferences: Pop and Rock he also have some love for KPOP)
(Pantabang Islands forced him to change it to something more tolerable later. South picked Maneskin - Zitti E Buoni

PANTABANG ISLANDS - Mayre - La Reina De La Noche (Music Preferences: 2000s Latino Pop)

MOSIN-NAGAN - Taylor Swift - Look What You Made Me Do (Music Preferences: Usually it's JPOP, but this one made her feel like a queen.)

NORTH ALEZIA - Amaury Vasili - Sognu (Music Preferences: Ballad, especially "uptempo" Ballad)

REMAINING FACTS
1. Pantabang Islands has the largest amount of sunglasses wearing people per capita in the Alezian Union. It's kinda somewhat natural considering that his place is pretty known for its pseudo-tropical weather. (Think Okinawa)

2. Mosin-Nagan has the highest amount of skaters per capita in the Alezian Union. And according to a survey in the Alezian Union, there are apparently more female skaters than male skaters. That's why the Alezian delegate only sent ladies to the skateboarding competition for the olympics. They're sending out the best before they send the rest.

3. North Alezia currently holds the position as the leader of the Alezian Union until the next Premiership Election, where the position will go to South Alezia. Although no matter who'll lead, North will still have a big job because he's basically the economical power and the mouthpiece of the Union.

4. According to a social survey done last month, it was found that South Alezians like to fold their sleeves more compared than any other Alezians. It might have something to do with the warmer weather compared to the others. This is why South Alezia likes his outfit short-sleeved or have it sleeves folded upwards.

5. ARICO is currently the highest-profiting Alezian State Company. Making phones, computers, and bendable LCD and LED screens, ARICO continued to be the number one trusted Alezian company by Alezians. ARICO haven't tried to go international, though... Maybe one day it will... One day...

[Tumbra]

OOC: The timing of this news article takes place some time before the Opening Ceremony itself.

SPORT: Of Flagbearers And Football
Team Tumbra's Flagbearers Named, Football Rosters As Country Ramps Up Preparations

Janice Headey and Brian Watkins

SOMER — Tumbra's Olympic delegation today nominated their two flagbearers for the Olympic Opening Ceremony in Somer — on the same day that the football rosters for the Tumbran football team were released. Stephanie McKenzie, 24, who will compete in the cycling road race, will be the female representative for the Tumbran team — while Timothy Veltman, 27, the King of the Swim, will be the male representative.

The team's uniforms for the opening ceremony were also revealed — Tumbra will be entering in dark blue suits and pants with the Olympic Committee of Tumbra logo on the left breast, while footwear will be up to the individual athletes. Designed by renowned fashionista Marcus van Buren, the outfits have already gotten criticism for being "boring" — but Tumbra's Chef de Mission, Philip Masters, defended the sartorial choices by van Buren — saying that for Tumbra's debut at the Olympics, a "simple, understated feel" would make a "great impact" at the Olympics.

Preparations for the Olympics ramped up, with several Olympic athletes departing Tumbra for the eastern Rushmori nation of Electrum today — chief amongst them Veltman, amongst most of the aquatics squad, while Duncan Harrison — who will be partaking in the Equestrian event with his equine companion Hope — also began making the long journey to Electrum. Veltman, in a short interview conducted at Straton International Airport, said that he was "very optimistic" about Tumbra's chances at the Olympics, and said that while he hadn't interacted with most of the rest of Team Tumbra, he did say that there was a "very good feeling" about the Tumbran camp, and that Olympics participation had "created a buzz" which would "add to Tumbra's long-term sporting culture."

The Ministry of Culture also revealed the official nickname of Team Tumbra — and to absolutely nobody's surprise, they will be called the Black Eagles. Separate nicknames, though, exist for some teams in the Olympic delegation — the water polo team is called the Blue Lions, continuing with their traditional nickname. The all-amateur Rugby Sevens team, despite not having had much experience internationally, will be called the Golden Deer — which is also traditional, dating back to the foundation of the sport in Iswilyn in the 1920s. The handball team will, meanwhile, break with the rest of the Tumbran Olympic delegation and not play in black — rather, they will play in gray — taking after their nicknames, the Ashen Wolves.



Men's And Female's Football Squads Named — Heralding The Return Of A Legend
Colin Voorhis and Jason Barham

Fresh off his third place at the Under-18 World Cup, manager Toby Barton today presented his squad alongside Tumbran national team assistant manager Peter Gabriel. The former will be managing the female team, where he will reunite with players from the U18 World Cup that recently concluded, and certain players who have gone abroad. While success would be appreciated for the team, most will note that the team is generally relatively young, lacking the presence of a true leader — Lakewood City refused to let their new signing Charlotte Henshaw, who served as captain during the U18WC, go for the Olympics. The other possible choice for a leader, Chromatik's Trudy Harrison, is already occupied at the Di Bradini Cup in Valanora — hence creating a bit of a void in leadership.

No such qualms were had for Peter Gabriel's men's team, though his lineup went for a slightly more off-kilter national team selection. All that, however, was ignored — because the announcement that one Daniel Francis Galbraith will put on the black shirts of the Black Eagles once more — and lead the national team into the Olympics football tournament.

Who Is Daniel Galbraith?

The name Daniel Galbraith is known to most Tumbran football fans as the Straton Football Club and national team stalwart. Though officially he has zero caps — the TFF reset cap numberings after they announced their debut in a WCC-affliated competition, and by then Galbraith had retired from the national team, over a dispute about managerial choice and tactics — Galbraith has pulled on the black shirt of the Tumbran national team over a hundred times, and netted fifty-seven times for the national team.

The young striker made his debut for Straton in 2005 - and never looked back. Fast-tracked through the Straton academy system due to his skill on the ball and versatility, Galbraith quickly established himself as a regular starter in the team. His debut season saw Straton lift the Tumbran Premier Division trophy for the seventh time in 2006 — and quickly followed that up with two more titles in 2008/09 and 2009/10, all while playing across the front line — but establishing a new niche for himself on the right.

But that was where success would end. Despite his best efforts, Galbraith would not win another league title with Straton — increasingly being frustrated with having to play with teammates who weren't on the same level as him. Despite his personal, private frustrations which would not become public until he left Straton at the end of the 2019/20 season, he never displayed it on the pitch — serving as Straton and Tumbran national team captain until his retirement from the latter.

His return marks the end of a cold war between him and the TFF — with the Football Federation's change in administration presumably going a long way to ease tensions between the mercurial winger and the sport's governing body in the country. Now playing for Perce Town in Quebec, the taciturn winger has lost a bit of his physicality — as most players do at the age of 36 — but has noticeably grown happier in Quebec & Shingoryeo, presumably away from the media that hounded his every move while in Straton. His mentorship with fellow Tumbran Julie Hardaker at Perce — who has inherited quite a bit of Galbraith's flair, decision-making skills and style of play — has also been looked to as a sign that Galbraith just was not happy while at Straton, particularly in the later part of his career.

That, however, has now passed — and many a football fan in Tumbra will be looking eagerly at Galbraith as he pulls on the black kit of the Black Eagles.

Medal Hopes?

Football, being Tumbra's favourite sports, has been identified as a possible medal hope — and the men's team in particular, with Galbraith, former national team midfielder Keenan Pollard and Lakewood United's main goalkeeper Louis Addison will be one of Tumbra's main medal hopefuls. The women's team is also looked upon with promise — but in the absence of a strong leadership figure, success will be less expected of them.

The men's team will find themselves in a group with Krytenia, Kriegiersien and either Omerica and Caryton; while the women's team finds themselves in a group with Benjamin Mark, Raspotochje and one of Victoria or Quebec and Shingoryeo. The men's team in particular will have to excise demons of a loss against Krytenia — though with approximately zero of the eighteen members of the squad having played in that 2-0 loss to the Cyans in Emberton, however, perhaps memories of that loss will not be that prescient.

[San Ortelio]

After carefully reading the production details of her Terembev Citrus Crisp, Alessandra slowly peels the label off. Old habits die hard and the gesture takes her back home, sitting in that ridiculously large living room of her parental mansion near Astello. By putting all her focus on it, she could filter out the clutter of noise produced by her mother. Only thing is that she is no longer eight years old and she's not in San Ortelio, but in a sympathetic bar which overlooks Bittern Bay. The only thing which hasn't changed…


"Seriously, Alessandra, think for a second. It is a unique event, the opening ceremony of an Olympics! Knowing the Electrumite, they'll put up a great show and you are going to be in your little hotel room, wondering about wind directions?"


The label, moist from the refrigerator water, nearly comes off perfectly. Nearly. The tiniest corner stubbornly resists the laws of physics and clings on to the bottle, snapping Alessandra Pisanecchi back to the here and the now.


"It's in Somer…" she tries.

"Which is just around the corner," Angelica Valazzi cuts her short, audibly annoyed that after all those years, her daughter still goes against all her good advice, "You could try one of those wormholes?"

"And be nauseous the day after, no thanks."

"You're used to sitting on a sailing boat, how bad could it be," Angelica lifts her shoulders.


Despite them sitting in the shadows, her mother puts on her sunglasses - of course a model with a gold rim and the logo of a designer brand. Forty-eight years old, but the waiter did stutter when taking their order and asked her, not Alessandra, whether everything was fine. Twice. It would have gotten to Alessandra if she wasn't used to it.


And, still, it ticks her off a little. Back home, it happened as well. But there, the glances also knew the backstory and would, with the slightest of looks, recognise 'signora Pisanecchi'. But here in Port Grenville, at the eve of the Olympics, they were on Alessandra's turf and still, once more, her mother had to own the place - a bad habit she had when entering anywhere. Do you get used to those stares at the playground by those other mums and dads, especially the dads? Probably not.


"And besides, it can't harm you to mingle a bit."

"It's not a Ballo Cavaliere, mum, where the beau monde tries to win the gold medal for boot licking. This is serious top level sports."

"And that shouldn't halt you from meeting some of those stellar boys from the country club, the golfers. Although," Angelica dreamed away, "I've seen a few judo guys practice at the Guildhall and mmm… If I was your age, well,..."

"Mum!"

"I'm just saying…"

"I'm not like you, who just wants to find some man to…" Alessandra hesitated.

"To… To what?"


The elephant in the room coughed awkwardly.


It has been ten months now since father passed away. His death had inspired the press to rerun the whole story again, a story from which Alessandra was the unknowing subject, a story from which they had shielded her.


The story of a smart and talented politician, with the right background and connections for a meteoric rise to the highest title. And of a woman, thirty years younger, with whom he fell madly in love. And married (or according to some reruns, had to marry to keep the scandal limited for the firstborn). No one said it with those words, but viscount Eugenio Pisanecchi never became prime minister afterwards for that reason. He remained with some minor positions, some frustrations and - in the words of a tabloid which felt that after his passing nuance was no longer needed - a gold digger that worked her way through the family heritage.


"To… Nothing."


Alessandra knew there was more to the story. She knew that, despite her big mouth, flirtations and wide gestures, her mother had remained loyal and took care of him during the difficult last years.


As they both reflected on the words after the 'to', Angelica nipped on her Tudor Tea. After all those years, she was used to people forming, out of her earshot 'to use up all his money' at the end of that sentence. But it didn't hurt less if it came from her daughter.


"I'm just trying to say… There is more to life than ropes and sails and… ties per hour," After all these years, the terminology remained vague for Angelica.

"There is… But not this week, this week only one thing matters," Alessandra insisted.

"Honey, I'm not expecting you to go wild, dance on the bars and snort cocaine out of an Electrumite flag. Just, don't let the biggest event of your life go by for… what? A 37th place?"


At that, the scoreline was one each - two own goals. They both knew that at least one newspaper completely ignored her existence and had limited its headline to 'Rugby squad kicks off Olympics'. And those who saved up some space for her had their narrative carved out already: rich girl gets boats as play toys from wealthy daddy, bankrolls her way into the Olympics.


A calm, collected third party might have remarked that they now both knew how it felt when your picture was painted by someone else.


But the third seat at the table was empty, as it had been for ten months now.


"I'm glad you've got my back," Alessandra snides and before an answer could be formulated, she smashes her Terembev Citrus Crisp on the table and walks out. "And it's 'knots', like a mother would know by now."

---

TeleUno Sport


Hours provided in Catrallo time, not in local Endemien time


12h00 - TuttiSport, show with Enzo Morrici

12h35 - Sailing, women's one-person dinghy, first race [SOR]

13h25 - Waterpolo, women's Saltstead - Græntfjall (highlights)

13h35 - Sailing, women's one-person dinghy, second race [SOR]

14h25 - Basketball, women's 3x3, various

15h15 - Rugby sevens, men, Group C [SOR]

16h30 - Rugby sevens, men, other groups, highlights

17h00 - Waterpolo, women's Tikariot - Electrum

18h00 - Badminton, highlights

18h20 - Rugby sevens, men, other groups, highlights

18h45 - La Giornata Olimpico, show with Cathalina Lombardi

19h00 - Opening ceremony

23h00 - Notte di Cinque Anelli, show with Elisa Pardini & Rodolfo Quaranta

[Lisander]

---

♥ 43 liked
nemo.neville The day finally come, dear father. Wherever you are, I hope you're checking the winds for
me. #loveyouforeverdad #sailingfamily #sailing #olympics

Black Stone Marina,Port Grenville, Electrum. Some minutes before first races of One-Person Dinghy.

"Boo!" - Larissa Rugeroni jumped at her Laser partner, as he was entertained looking at the phone. "The time has come, Nemo. I'm pretty sure your father is proud of you today. I hope he reminds me when looking at the wind too. He was always gentle with me. I remind when we started to compete. I was only 14 and my boat started to creak with a lot of loose parts. That one was a L$500 sailboat, and he was helping me to fix it together with my father. I was in tears, thinking "We shouldn't have accepted this piece of crap, I should have used my savings and bought a better one!'. Thanks to him I was able to finish that regatta. It's thanks to him that I'm here if you think carefully about it." - she gave him a big smile and then started to check her apparel for the last time.

That little chat seemed to have been able to dispel the nervousness of both of them.

"It's nice to know my father is your hero too, Larissa. Thank you. So let's go there and make him proud." - Nemo said, wiping away some slightly irritating tears that insisted on appearing whenever he remembered his father, and standing up to go to the sailboat.

[Valanora]

Vanorian athletes and fans are making their way to Electrum to try and bring back Olympic Gold to the Eternal Empire. While the Empire has routinely sent teams to the Olympics, the results have been very mixed to somewhat disappointing, though this is most often accredited to the fact that the Vanorian sporting mindset does not focus on individual achievement but rather that of the team. Team sports have always been the front and center for the Empire when it has come to their sporting mindset and this has been especially highlighted in the recent AOlympics, where the Vanorian athletes and teams were able to put in a very good performance thanks to the heightened focus on team sports over individual events during those games. With the amount of success that the nation had in those games, there is a certain level of excitement within the Empire as well as the athletes making their way that is not usually associated with these sort of games. Whether that will eventually turn out to be a false sense of optimism or the start of something greater looks to be seen in the coming days and weeks, but I want to believe it is an omen that Vanorian excellence might shine through in a very similar way as it did in the regional games.

Where is the Empire expecting those good performances though and how are they going to be able to handle the multitudes of opponents that they are going to compete with for the honor of winning those coveted medals, especially the gold medals? As previously mentioned, team sports are where Vanorians tend to excel, and the fact that the Empire has twice won gold in the women's football is a good indicator of exactly where the delegation has its strengths, as the team sports are the most likely to result in gold. The football teams in particular are quite loaded with young, well trained talent that will be looking to continue Vanorian legacy when it comes to that sport, while the basketball teams are also expected to perform fairly well, and the archery teams are thought to be among the top candidates to medal in their respective events. Outside the team sports, the most likely discipline to bring success back to the Empire will be fencing, as the long standing history of fencing and swordplay in the Empire having lead to multiple high caliber participants. There are a few sheer athletic greats among the delegation but the track and field portion of the games is almost, if not more competitive than the Football based on history, so it is possible but unlikely to see some success there.

For a good amount of the delegation though that is participating in individual events, they are mostly happy to be here and looking instead not to come up with a medal but to improve upon their personal bests in their respective events. While this does not mean that they are not going to give it their all to try and pull out an unlikely medal, they also know the reality of the situation and that they will enter the Games as outsiders to take home a medal in their events. However with that being the case, if their is some unexpected success, it makes it all that much sweeter for the participants and will definitely be welcomed with open arms and plenty of cheer back in the Eternal Empire. Representing the nation well is something almost all the delegation looks to do and all the sporting council and their families can ask for, though the hunger for success will have each and every participant in the delegation looking to give their all and show that Vanorians can compete at an elite level in these events on a global level and not just at the regional level.