Games of the IX Olympiad: RP/IC

by **Democratic States of Fenbar** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:38 am

For all the latest sports news and results

DS of Fenbar competitors perform well on first day of preliminary competition

Women's Water Polo
by Luc DuChateau at Kytlerian Sporting College

The Women's water polo team were the first Fenbarric athletes to appear at the games, playing Renzynistan in the pool stage, and coming out 11-7 victors in a close fought match to top the Group E table after the first round of games. Taking a 3-0 lead after the first quarter after two well worked team goals, both finished off by Lucy Hodge, and a screamer from Kate Fraser, they had reason to feel confident. However, at the end of the 1st half, they trailed 5-4, after a shocking keeping display from Delia Jones. Jane Pickwell was sent in in her place, and Susie Farthing replaced Hodge. The decisions payed off, as Farthing scored 6 goals, and only two more were conceded in the 2nd half. The match was finished off superbly by another screamer from Fraser.
Farthing - 6
Hodge - 3
Fraser - 2

Badminton
by Gordon Ying at the Jamison Expo Centre

Democratic States of Fenbar had a brilliant day at the Badminton, winning 4 out of 5 matches, and also receiving a bye. The first match was a fairly comfortable victory by Jasmine Hirst and Kelly Broker over the Darmen pair in the Women's doubles 1st round, as they ran out 21-15, 21-17 winners. There was a bit of a scare when Jasmine Hirst went over on her ankle early on in the second set, but she managed to recover well enough to help her teammate to victory. Barbara Oliver and Yasmine Rooney had a bit more difficulty in their match in the same competition, losing the 1st set 21-15. They recovered well to win the 2nd by the same scoreline, but the fitness of their opponents from Cosumar told, as the Fenbarric pair soon tired, and lost the 3rd set by 5 points. As the #1 ranked pair, Nigella Deio and Zanna Mickey received a bye into the second round, which will mean they that can stay fresh until the games start proper. Barbara Oliver went straight from her Women's match to the Mixed Doubles, where she paired up with Mike Wynall. Again, she showed a certain level of tiredness as the pair lost the 1st set 21-16, but seemed to find a new lease of life to win the 2nd and 3rd sets and qualify for the 2nd round, meaning that twice in one day a DSF pair had beaten a Darmeni pair. It was not going to stop there either, as Zanna Mickey and David Christopher came up against Frank and Favre from Darmen in one of the closest fought matches in the Badminton so far. Despite going down 8-0 in the 1st set, the Fenbarric pair managed to fight back to 20-20, and eventually claim a 23-21 victory. However, in the second set they again immediately dropped to a 6-0 deficit, and were never really able to recover, slipping to a 21-19 defeat. In the 3rd set they came out determined not to start badly, and soon built up a 9-2 lead, after some brilliant play from the back of the court from Christopher. The Darmeni pair managed to fight back to 11-11, but that almost broke them, and Mickey and Christopher won the next 10 points to claim the match 2-1. However, if they are to live up to their billing as one of the favourites in the competition, then they will have to start games better than they did today. We then go from a close match to an annihilation, as Leo Jaffa and Nigella Deio walloped a pairing from Reynzinistan 21-8 21-14 to qualify for the second round. Overall I feel it was a great day for the Fenbarric Badminton team, and with the single's tournaments yet to kick off, I can only imagine there will be more in store!

Basketball
by Nigel Adefuyi at the Hangar

It was a mixed day at the Basketball for DS of Fenbar. The men's team exceeded expectations by pulling off a brilliant 94-68 victory over um.. Vyktory. This puts them in a fantastic position, as they top their group after the first round of matches. The game didn't start off that well for them, as they dropped to a 21-7 deficit, but they soon managed to get into their rhythm, and create more and more chance, the majority of which they took. Halfway through the match they led 39-34, a tense game looking on the cards. However, during the second half they were on top of their game and soon pulled away leaving Vyktory in their wake. The much more celebrated women's team had a much more torrid time of things, as they fell to a 89-66 defeat to Peruvian Highlands. They looked a little rusty to me, and they never really looked in control of proceedings, meaning that a much more well oiled Highlands team taught them a lesson they won't forget in a hurry. If they are to get anywhere at these games, they will need to buck their ideas up, although I believe that they can beat at least one of Wilfred Test and Kalosia.

Day 1 Preview
by Jamie Partridge in The Kytler Peninsula

The Men's Water Polo competition kicks off tomorrow, and if they can continue in the same vein as the Women's team today, then I will expect them to go far. Watch out especially for young Henry Frome, who can do a lot of damage, especially late in the game when others are tiring. The Archery ranking rounds start off tomorrow as well, in both Men and Women's, and I would advise to watch out particularly for David Rent in the Men's, and his wife Katie in the Women's. At 53 and 51 respectively they are two of our oldest competitors, but I wouldn't bet against either of them winning a medal at these games. It was also revealed today that the lucky athlete who will be bearing our beloved flag at tomorrow night's opening ceremony will be long distance runner Megan Hill, who will be competing in the 5,000m, 10,000m and the 3,000m steeplechase. Many expected it to be swimmer Finn Hastings, but he is competing the day after, and will need a good night's sleep.

Reaction:
Get involved in the debate by emailing us at DSFsports.com@outlook.dsf

Tim Young:          Great win for the Ladies today in the Polo. Hope they can go all the way!

Raj Dhonit5:        Can't believe Finn Hastings isn't gonna be the flag-bearer. #robbed

GreedyGretel94:     Can't wait for the #openingceremony tomoz. Gonna be cray!

by **The Sarian** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:38 am

Chippenham, The Sarian

Alf Alienus was on edge, he couldn't believe the message he had just received, encoded from Felix. He knew it couldn't be forged, the code that Corvidae nations used to communicate was nye-on impossible to forge, but what if the Guayabayans had discovered it, he shook the thought out of his mind - he knew he was looking for any excuse not to believe it. And besides, it had the personal signature of Lazzaro Passerini on it, there was no way that could be forged.

Alf felt oddly empty, he knew he should go and tell Fredrik, the Chief Executive, but he knew that he couldn't, Fredrik didn't understand 'don't shoot the messenger', but at the same time, he knew he must, and face up to Fredriks rath.

He cleared his throat, and made his way to the Chief Executive private quarters, which was saturated with guards, all of which could be used on the front line. "I'm assuming he's in his office?" Alf asked one of the guards, who looked at him with a cold glance.

"The Chief Executive does not want to be disturbed." Alf was expecting this, ever since the Florican Day parade he had seldom been seen out of his office; the rumour was that he was going insane. Alf knew it not to be true, Fredrik had always been insane.

"I am the Foreign Executive, and childhood friend of the Chief Executive, I think you can make an exception." Alf spoke with a light and cheery tone, but the threat wasn't disguised. The guard seemed to detect this, as he moved aside.

"On your head be it, Foreign Executive."

***

"Fredrik, what is this?"

Fredrik looked up from his desk, he smiled when he saw it was Alf in the doorway, "Alf, good to see you." Alf stepped into the office, and tried to make sense of all the computer readings. Maybe Fredrik already knew? No, he wouldn't be so cheerful if he did.

"You've not been at the Executive Council for over two weeks, Fredrik. Your assistant said you were unwell, not taking any meetings at all...

Fredrik looked down at something on his computer screen, "I've been busy Alf, very busy."

"I can see that," he replied, shaking his head with a bemused look on his rat like face, "What are you working on now?"

Fredrik answered the question with a dismissive shrug.

Alf stepped a little closer, ducking beneath a loop of power cables. "There is a backlog of papers for you to sign Fredrik. Important occurrences that need discussing. I received a encoded telegram from Felix earlier. "

"Felix who?" replied the Chief Executive, distracted.

Alf squeezed past a box full of papers to join Frederik at his "The country, they report that The Inevitable Syndicate has fallen and is now controlled by Mertange."

Fredrik continued scribbling in silence.

"Fredrik? This is an issue that could very quickly become serious. We don't have the manpower anymore to deal with a anti-corvidae forces insurgency. We would need at least three or four times more men if they came for us."

Fredrik's eyes continued to be fixated on his computer. "Do what you feel is necessary, Alf. I am busy, I don't have time for this."

Alf studied him carefully, he has not been listening to me. Frustrated, he reached across and put a hand on Fredriks arm. "Fredrik, you mus-"

Fredrik looked up at him sharply, grabbing his hand tightly and pushing it off of him, "You forget Alf that I am your leader!"

"I'm sorry... I only meant to -"

"Shut up."

Alf flinched, he met Fredriks eye's and realised there was a hardness there, an iron stiff resolve, none of the warmth of friendship he'd grown accustomed to over the years. Frederik began to say something, then irritably shook his head. His gaze dropper impatiently back to the papers splayed across his workbench.

Alf remained standing stiffly to attention, waiting to be formally dismissed from the room. As he waited he looked around, this office was Fredriks thinking space - it was normally as tidy as the Chief Executive's mind, a place of order and clam. But not it had the look of a troubled mind, there was a teacup on the desk half full, cold and growing a skin of congealed cream. Alf followed a loop of cables running along the floor and finally saw a computer screen he recognized. He had a terrible sensation, like he was falling from the sky.

"My god... is that the Nuclear Launch Pad?

Fredrik muttered something in response.

"Why? I thought we had it deactivated?"

"No, Alf, all missiles are primed and ready for use. "

"You understand... you understand how dangerous it is to have this. The whole world would condemn us to hell, we wouldn't last a week."

Fredrik's smile was cold and lifeless, but worse than that he had a vacant look in his eyes. Alf felt his leader - his friend - was looking through him, beyond him, not at him.He eyes looked deep, hooded and dark from lack of sleep.

"Fredrik, what is wrong? Will you tell me what is going on here?"

Fredrik's eyes seemed to focus back on him, "My friend, I believe it is over for us."

"Over? What is over?"

"Us. This country, the movement, our legacy."

"Fredrik, are you going to launch this missiles?"

Fredrik nodded, "One day. Soon."

"I have no choice then." Alf's hand shot into his holster and with one fluid sweep pulled out his pistol. He aimed it at Fredrik, the gun was steady, his voice wasn't. "Fredrik... I'm s-sorry. You must understand I can't let you destroy everything."

Fredrik remained calm, his eyes on the gun. He smiled, not unkindly. "I'm afraid it's something I have to do." He calmly reached for the intercom on his desk.

"Fredrik, stop! I will shoot! Please!"

"I don't believe you will, old friend." said Fredrik softly as he thumbed a button on the intercom "Security detail, to my private office on the double please." Fredrik looked up at him, "I hoped we could face this together, Alf. After all we've been through."

"Do you not see? You're not well. You're tired. You're not seeing things clearly. Send the guards away and you and I can talk." Alf could already hear the clatter of boots outside the office. "Call them off, this is madness."

There was a rap on the door, and a muffled voice, which Alf recognised as the guard who tried to deny him entrance. "Security detail, sir!"

"Enter!"

Alf quickly lowered his gun. The guards would shoot even him, if they saw a weapon raised at their beloved Chief Executive. The door swung open and five guards entered. The Lieutenant-Guardsman leading them glanced at Alf, the pistol held loosley in his hand now pointing at the ground.

"Chief Executive? Is everything alright?"

Fredrik sighed, his shoulders sagging. "I'm so very sorry, Alf." He stepped across the nest of cables towards his friend, gently easing the pistol out of his hand and placing it on the desk.

"Fredrik, you must listen-"

Fredrik put a finger to his lips, hushing him. He reached out and clasped his shoulder. "I consider you my oldest and closest friend... perhaps my only real friend. But this is too important." Fredrik took a step forward, "Trust me," he said softly. "This is a kindness for you."

"Lieutenant, execute Foreign Executive Alienus." The young officer's eyes widened in confusion. "Do it right now please."

"Can't you see he's mad?" It was a last attempt from Alf, he tried to put everything in his voice.

Fredrik was turning round to make it back to his desk, contented that the job would be done when two precisely aimed bullets ended his life and scattered blood around his messy desk.

And Alf stood in the silence, realising what had just happened.

by **Electrum** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:54 am

Olympic Highlights - Day 0

Sam Pace and Ed McCoy: Hey, and welcome back to our rolling live coverage in our Olympic studio in Kytler Peninsulae.

Sam Pace: Now, onto the basketball highlights with Scott Brown, former coach of the Electrum basketball team.

Scott Brown: Thank you Sam. The Olympics seems to be an excellent place to start training for the International Basketball Championships which is set to happen in a few weeks time. Anyways, the men's team, coached by the legendary Warren Jefferson has gone off to an excellent start, defeating Chiata 95-72 in a blowout match.

Electrum being the fourth ranked team in the world for basketball will be looking to show their prowess and despite their debut to the IBC just a few months ago, they have seen massive improvements, coming runner up in the recent IBC and also winning the 2nd World Hoops Showcase. As genders are split in the Olympics, the team has been abbreviated to a core of 9 players, constantly rotating around. Captain Tyrone Mirza is the default Points Guard, Saki Paes has been shifted over to SF alongside Wally Le, Michael Marshall and Luke Master are on SG, Hanescu and Rogers are on PF and Zimmerman and Appleby on C.

Every game is a must win, with each win representing a step closer to Olympic glory. The first quarter saw a shaky start for Electrum with Chiata getting to an early lead. Electrum's initial defence strategy of man to man failed with the height advantage of the Chiatans managing to knock the Electrumites off balance. Chiata scored some excellent three pointers to remain in the lead, with one scored during the shot clock was ticking down its final seconds from halfway through the court. Chiata was leading 20-26.

The second quarter was where Electrum pulled out all of its stops to win. Warren Jefferson put the original team of Le, Mirza, Marshall, Hanescu and Zimmerman on the field. These five's teamwork were second to none as they dominated. Switching from a man-to-man to a zone defense strategy paid dividends for Electrum as they managed to score those crucial turnovers to turn the match around. Le's crushing speed combined with Zimmerman's quick movements made this pair formidable. Zimmerman is known for his inside-out strategy as Electrum wrestled back the lead with three minutes left on the clock. Half-time came about 52-48.

Ten minutes into the third quarter was when the Chiatan team called for a time out. Seizing the opportunity, Jefferson rested some of the key five players in an effort to get inexperienced players, such as Paes, to have a go on the court. With a huge lead opened up from the beginning of the quarter, it looked all over for Chiata. Their coach simply tried to throw every strategy at the Electrum team to force them to make errors, including junk defences, but to no avail. The team stayed resolute, and the half-inexperienced team got some game time, building on the lead from the last quarter to 80-64.

Finally, in a relatively low scoring quarter in the entire match, the Chiatan team found a way to arrest the moment Electrum had been gaining. The natural weak point of the team, Paes, started to tire out with fatigue. Of course true to fashion, Coach Jefferson stuck to his guns, saying that Paes needed more experience on the court if he wanted to improve. Chiata started on a box-and-one which bore fruit as Paes just couldn't do anything. This let the opposing side focus on four players, not five, plying them out one by one. But in the end, it was too late with the final scoreline at 95-72. This was an average performance. We haven't seen the true strength of the Electrum team yet, but once we get through the pool stages, I hope that the team plays a bit more seriously and with purpose. Back to you Sam.

Sam Pace: Thank you Scott Brown for that review. Although retired from professional basketball coaching, he has returned this time to coach the Electrum's Women's Basketball team. Featuring some main players in the IBC including vice captain (now captain for the women's team) Jane Greiner, as well as Susan Fintona, Eliza Berry, Yoon Park as well as their netballer friends, they hope to make a huge impact on the world stage.

Ed McCoy: Yes. Scott Brown used to be the defensive coach for the Electrum team. It's interesting to note that all five basketball coaches at the IBC are here in the Olympics in one way or another.

Sam Pace: That's right. As you heard, Jefferson is the head coach of the national team and the men's team. But, Jack Allen, of whom Scott Brown is not fond with, is the assistant coach of the men's team. Meanwhile, Scott Brown is the coach of the women's team, and Paula Hobson, the counsellor is assistant coach.

Ed McCoy: But I thought there were five coaches of the national team?

Sam Pace: Ah yes. Arthur Carroll, a connoisseur of cheerleading has also resigned from coaching the basketball team, instead going to be the head coach for the Gymnastics instead.

Ed McCoy: Ah. I see. And for those who have just joined us, we have a quick update of the Electrumite results at the end of day Zero of the Olympics. Here's Jennifer Byrne, Social Media Correspondent and Co-Host with more.

Jennifer Byrne: Yes, won't be talking about social media now, but here are some results. The women's water polo team lost to Antornas 8-10. Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles of badminton, Peter Rushall/Winona Ally lost in a tight three setter 21-9, 19-21, 21-19 to a pair from Wray. Although a setback for the badminton team, they hope to make an impact instead in their respective doubles teams as well as in the singles. As you heard before, the men's basketball team defeated Chiata 95-72. In the football and the U-21 team lost to Benjamin Mark 2-1 to fail qualification into the event.

In table tennis, Li Jiping won a tough four setter against Anton Baanders to secure entry into the main draw. Finally in the women's volleyball, Electrum lost to Sargossa in four sets. It's a tough day for Electrum, but we still haven't gone through the other sports Electrum is good at yet. Back to you Sam.

Sam Pace: Thank you, and now a live cross to Christina Rodriguez at the Zube Olympic Stadium for updates on the Opening Ceremony.

Christina Rodriguez: Yes I am here at the Zube Olympic Stadium for the preparations of the Opening Ceremony. It promises to be a bang with a lot of features which we can't talk about just yet, but I can tell you it's going to be exciting. They're going through dress rehearsals right now for the big event tomorrow, and we're excited. It an interesting twist, it seems like the main part of the ceremony will happen here, but an extra part will also happen at the Carva Beach Arena. Although we're unsure as to what will happen there, the organisers definitely do have something up their sleeves.

Tomorrow I will be commentating live at the Carva Beach Arena for the Bay City part of the opening ceremony, but special guests extraordinaire William Kay and Dee Marquez, popular in Electrum will be commentating live in the Arena I'm standing in right now. Of course, you will be able to watch this action live and exclusive on Network ENN at 8PM tomorrow, so don't be late! Back to you Sam.

Sam Pace: And that's all for today's live coverage of the Olympics. Don't forget, there's still a ton of action before the Opening Ceremony. For those of you who don't know, tomorrow morning will be the start of the men's water polo and volleyball and the archery ranking rounds. Later on will be the ceremony, with Tyrone Mirza (men's basketball captain) being chosen as the flag bearer for Electrum. Tyrone has had an extraordinary year this year, captaining an unranked team through to the finals of the last International Basketball Championships as well as winning the World Hoops Showcase at home in Electrum. He's made our country proud, and for that he has been chosen by the ENOC as the first flagbearer for Electrum in the Summer Olympiad. Until next time, good night.

Our Team (not an exhaustive list)
Sam Pace: Host
Ed McCoy: Host
Christina Rodriguez: Roving Reporter
Jennifer Byrne: Co-Host/Social Media Correspondent
William Kay: Commentator
Dee Marquez: Commentator

by **The greater Vakolicci Haven** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 5:45 am

((ooc: This is a series of roleplays detailing the past domestic achievements of my greatest athletes. I will be posting more of these as the games continue.))
Esturda Dal Moni, Celeria

President Ronan W. O'clane was seriously regretting coming here: in fact, he wanted nothing more than to leave...but he knew he couldn't. The Alna competitions were, after all, a traddition: and even President O'clane couldn't doubt that what was being comemorated was in fact one of the proudest moments of the Haven's existance.

For it was on this very date, 139 years ago, that Celeria surrendered to the Greater Vakolicci Haven after a war of almost 8 years. The haven, both atempting to look like a kindly benificiary to a peoples who, for good reason, hated them, and atempting to show how they were better than Celeria at every aspect, had organised a set of anual games to take place to comemorate the Celari surrender.

The competitions covered a range of different subjects: art, music, poetry, sport and combat. All had been handpicked exactly 139 years ago as being things that the Haven was particularly good at, or that Celeria was particularly bad it.
For ronan O'clane, however, it appeared that things had changed. The Haven had racked up 3 wins out of the 21 competitions, the least they had collected against its most rebellious province.

At the moment, fencing had just begun, and it was clear that it was another farsical event. Usually, at the start of a competition, both sides would select weaker combatants, to build the crowd up to the grand finalli. From hear, however, it was clear that the Celari wanted to get things over with.

The first Vakolicci opponent entered the arena, and waited for his combatent from Celeria. He was not expecting to win the entire competition, but he did feel he could beat Celeria's weakest selected combatant. What he would receive, however, was nothing like had expected.

Mornata De La Bluc entered the arena and faced the man, her long hair allowed to flow long around her enchanting face. The Lady, as she was known, was Celeria's greatest champion in this fencing event. Mornata was a trained assassin, a member of the fabled, and feared, 'knives in the night.' She was a well-trained swordswoman, and she wasted no time in showing the Vakolicci who was in charge of this.

Twirling and diving in a mesmorising whirl of activity, Mornata went left, right, and shied away of hitting her opponent. As the match progressed, it became clear to the shocked Vakolicci and Celari audience that De La Bluc was doing the least honourable thing possible: she was toying with an obviously inferior opponent.
5 times she could have struck the man, 5 times she leaped aside, until after only 3 minutes of action her dulled fencing blade thrust into the mans chest.

The blow, although not accompanied by a sharp blade, was of sufficient strength to wind the man and send him staggering back onto his behind.
De La bluc observed her work with the cool eye of an artist: the man would be dead if this were a real fight.

Competetor after competetor fell to the lady, until one thing became astonishingly clear: the crowds were witnessing a world-class athlete in action.

The next day, spectators took their seats once more for the athletics events of the Alna.
Celari fans, egos inflated by the previous days achievments, would be happy to see it all again. They would not be disappointed.

The 100 metres sprint was the first event on the bill, and it started with more dishonourable play by the Celari.
"Please name your champion," the anouncer called to the large Celari delegation to await Max Vrosk already on the starting line.
The stocky Vrarnastachti Tyrrhenian was Vakolicci all over. He was also the fastest man in the Haven.
"Mr. Pilioni believes that this man is unfit to challenge him," called Crown Prince Blacksen of Celeria to a hum of boos and geers from Vakolicci supporters, and laughter from thousands of exhaulted Celari.
"I shall face him," he finished, standing.

This decision was not expected in the slightest. It was common for the undisputest finest finest competetor from each nation to represent them. For one to refuse the challenge was unheard of: for the Crown Prince to take his place put the Prince in danger of public relations suicide.
However, this changed nothing as Crown Prince Blacksen of Celeria, captain of the Vakolicci international soccer team, took the second lane beside his opponent.

The starters pistol boomed and they were off: 2 large bodies thundering down the track to the roar of jubilation and hatred from the asembled crowds.
After 50 metres, they were even, and Max Vrosk was the first to flag. Taking full advantage of his opponents lack of speed, the Prince spurted ahead, winning in 9.72 seconds.

by **Barunia** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 6:29 am

(Across the screen flashes the logo for the IX Olympiad, as well as the message "Channel Four. Your 24-hour live Olympic coverage. The scene then cuts to the Channel Four Bay City Studio. Presenter Mary Tyler is sitting on a couch with another woman. The camera focuses on Mary, who looks directly into the lens.)

Mary Tyler: The opening ceremony may be in a few hours time, but already Barunian athletes have been in action. I'm joined now in our Bay City studio by the captain of the women's water polo team, Tondra Adorinda. Welcome.

Tondra Adorinda: Thanks Mary.

MT: First of all, congratulations on the win. 11-4 must be a good feeling.

TA: Yeah, it's always nice to get that first game under your belt. Look we were a little shaky in the third period, just a bit sloppy in defence and let the Windsor Isles get back in the game, but dealt with any issues in the fourth period and came away with the win.

MT: Absolutely, as we said 11-4 the final score, with six goals coming for the team in the final quarter. On a personal level you scored six goals yourself; how does that feel in your first game?

TA: It's a pretty good feeling. I think the thing that I'll take, and the team will take out of this match is the confidence. We'll know that we can score eleven goals in a match, and we can shutdown the opposition and prevent them from scoring. We'll take that knowledge into the next game.

MT: Now I understand you have a train to catch, so I'll let you go.

AT: That's right Mary, looking to get down to Zube for the athlete's march tonight. Thankfully the women get the next couple of days off so we can march; the boys aren't so lucky.

MT: Well we wouldn't want you to miss that, so thank you for your time. Well as you just heard, the women's water polo team with a win over the Windsor Isles in their first pool game. As Adorinda said, the men won't be marching in the opening ceremony, as they start their olympic campaign on the morning of day two of the Games of the IX Olympiad.

(A short highlights reel plays, featuring Barunian competition in the water polo game and the badminton and basketball. The clip is only a few minutes, then we cut back to the studio)

MT: Highlights of Day Zero here at the games. We saw some of the badminton there, and good news for Jacob Spencer and Perpetua Gobnata Abano, who are through to the next round of the mixed doubles, but the other Barunian couple of Derek McKinley and Jocelyn Massaud will not be joining them after losing in straight sets. In basketball the men's team came close to upsetting 95X, but were defeated by seven points in the first match of the pool stage.
Well, we're now going to cross to Zube, where Alex McGee will take you through the opening ceremony. Thanks for joining me.

(Again the logo flashes across the screen, before cutting to the Channel Four Zube Studio. Alex McGee is seated at the desk.)

Alex McGee: Hello, and thank you for joining us as we count down to the opening ceremony. One man who will play a special part in that ceremony will be our flagbearer Karl Sexton, and I caught up with him earlier. Take a look.

(A pre-recorded interview appears. Alex is standing in front of the stadium, holding a microphone. In the background people are going about their business, and to the left of screen, Karl's arm can just be seen in shot.)

AM: I'm here with Karl Sexton, who will carry the Barunian flag into the stadium behind me in just a few hours time. Karl, you must be thrilled at the honour.

KS: Yeah, well I didn't actually expect it. You think, bronze at Orean, probably one of the gold medallists more likely, but no they picked me. I thought, me? You're crazy. Then I went shit, it's actually for real, I better start taking it seriously.

AM: How are the nerves? Any butterflies in the stomach?

KS: Nah, not really. I mean walking out in front of that many people was a little daunting at Orean, but I think it's kind of cool, because our sport doesn't attract that large a crowd. You sort of feel like it's for you, you know, not because you're a judoka or Barunian, but because your an Olympian.

AM: Turning to the competition itself, are you feeling confident?

KS: Look, it's a tough sport, one mistake and you can be on your back and it's all over red rover. But yeah, another medal would be nice, and I think with the training I've done and all the prep work I can certainly do it.

AM: Let's hope it is another medal, and that it's gold. I'll let you go now; once again congratulations.

KS: I just want to say hello to Maria and Antonio and to my daughter Annetta, love you, but if your watching this, daddy says it's way past your bedtime!

AM: Thanks Karl, enjoy yourself out there and knock them dead, big fella.

(The screen cuts back to the studi, where Alex is seated behind the desk)

AM: Karl Sexton not far away in the opening ceremony, but for now, we're going to show you a replay of the women's water polo match between Barunia and the Windsor Isles. This is the first match of the pool stage, and was played yesterday. We take up the action at the Kytlerian Sporting College here in Zube.

by **Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 6:45 am

Selection of articles from Der Nordschutzenphalenglaubreiterfluchtschlamterkrötische Flümederthelweiderverlautzällegerwißmeinschlaftsörbschlimmelbeobachter.

Mechanistic Results Regurgitation: Badminton players win first round matches

SBC website draws mixed reception

sbc.swr/olympics

SBC One will carry live coverage of the Olympic Ceremony from 11pm this evening.

Obligatory Lazy Careless Google Image Search Rip-Off

Christina Eisenhauer gives a thumbs up after winning her first round mixed doubles badminton match

Correction

by **Britonisea** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:12 am

Interview with Lance Mance- Flag Barer

G= Hello. I am G. And welcome to The Games of The 9th Olympiad 2014. The opening ceremony is going to be broadcasted in Britonisea's North Britonisea at 19:00 (+2) and Doportedas in 18:00 (+1) Meaning the games are live on television in three hours. Unfortunately Westenders will not be on until the morning of The 23rd. Anyway, right now I have Lance Mance in the house. He is voted Britonisea's best man.

[45 second clip of charity work that Lance Mance does]

L= Hello. It is great to be here.
G= So how where you picked to be the flag barer. At our first summer games?
L= Well I started to do a charity. Or charities, including one who helped people with Cechitoritis. Inflimaion of the ... Anyway, I tought disabled children to play tennis and this helped me best man. The leader of our NOC , Ricques Listuraxe had a chat with me and said to me that I should do the job as I am the most inspirational.
G= Great. Are you excited to be in the stadium in Zube?
L= Yes very.
G = Are you scared?
L= Lance Mance is not scared. I was in The Doportedas Olympic Stadium the other day and I was really happy. Not sad, not scared. I am used to it. The only thing I am worried about is the reception that we will get from the people of Ktyler bay and Zube. I am quite scared
G= But why? They are nice people.
L- This is our first ever Summer Games and we are not known so we might have a bad reception. Not a loud reception is what I am thinking. We will get a bad one. Well we will say ay.
G= Yes thanks for being on the show. Bye. The ceremony will start soon so you betta get ready ay.
L= You are right.
G= We are going to take you live to Zube and Kytler Bay
[THEME TUNE AND LOGO ON SCREEN. ALSO THE LIVE Sport STARTS]

by **Wray** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 8:21 am

Pool Play: The Golden Era of Wray Swimming

The pool at Brackpark Aquatics Club, home to Brendan Matthews, Marie Stokes and Hugh Foster

In a country famed for it's rugged and varied landscape, a country that might lend itself more to cycling or athletics, it comes as a surprise that swimming has proved to be the strongest sport for Wray in the Olympic Games. Wray made it's international breakthrough in the Orean Games, when Wray's debut delegation took home an unexpected 24 medals, a third of which came in the pool. Normal Wrayian pursuits such as rowing and canoeing fared well, but the performances of those athletes were overshadowed completely by those of the swimmers.

The meet in the Grovers Park Aquatics Centre saw Wray take home 8 medals, second only to Sargossa and Vekaiyu, two traditional swimming powerhouses. Brendan Matthews himself took four medals in both individual events and as part of the relay teams. His crowning achievement came during the Men's 100m Freestyle, overthrowing Vekaiyu's champion Vinsent Ivere and taking Gold with an Olympic Record, thus cementing his name in the Olympic Record Book in just his first meet. But how did a country, normally associated with Cricket and other team sports, cause such a splash in the pool?

The Aquatics Club at Brackpark, an outer suburb of Albion seems like any other municipal sports club: slightly dilapidated on the outside, and as you pull up into the car park, only a single exposed bulb above the entrance, and the sign 'Brackpark Aquatics Club are indicators that this building is still alive. But inside offers a very different story: a state-of-the-art Olympic sized swimming pool, as well as a diving pool, glisten in all their pristine splendour. Two club swimmers make their way idly up and down the lanes, the pool clock's coloured hands constantly rotating measuring lap times. I'm informed by the Club Manager, Alex Santora, that the two in the pool are doing the standard long-distance swimming training exercise: 100 freestyle laps plus 40 minutes on the treadmill. That's over 3 times longer than the longest pool race: 1500m. Santora is a sprightly figure, despite his 62 years. Years of swimming have toned his body into the perfect physical shape, although a weak hip meant his swimming career never elevated above Club swimming, which, despite never meeting the ultimate competitiveness of International swimming, is still intense enough with regular Sunday meets and monthly nationwide Galas. Santora is a regional hero, having taken a record haul for his District: 24 Gala medals across 14 years for Albion City Aquatics Club. 'The Albion Eel' he was called, dominating the Freestyle and Backstroke scenes for years and earning himself a place in the South-West Regional Squad for the National Championships the following year, 1976. An injury during the off-season limited his training abilities, and a fourth-place finish in the Men's 100m Freestyle was the best he could attain.

Since retirement Santora has dedicated himself to improving the next generation of swimmers. Taking over as a coach in Brackpark Aquatics Club in 1991, the squad saw a marked improvement in results, culminating in a South-West Gala victory in 1999, and four members of the squad being selected in the National Squad. Today, Santora continues his work, and says the effort of the last 20 years has paid off with the very best crop of Swimmers Wray has ever seen.

It was really big for us going into the Olympics at Orean, because we had two athletes from our squad representing Wray; Brendan [Matthews] and Hugh [Foster]. They'd both been in electric form in the Domestic circuit, so we all had high hopes for the pair. We were all gathered around in the Common room at about 10, 11[pm] when Brendan came through and broke the Olympic record - we went nuts and I was so proud. Also to see Brendan and Hugh take silver in the 4x100 Medley Relay together was a massive moment.
~Alex Santora speaking last year

Since Orean, Santora was hired by the Wray Swimming Organisation (WSO) as a Performance Advisor, alongside his management at Brackpark. When asked what the secret was to the country's success in the pool, Santora simply shrugged. He was phenomenally humble for a man who has masterminded arguably the greatest sporting dynasty in the country's history. Every spring Santora, and a number of other Performance Advisors and coaches accompany 60 of the country's finest swimmers to Cartersburg, and the National Aquatic Centre for a two-week training camp before the season begins in the Summer in a programme called Swimming Development and Advancement Programme (SDAP). Santora points towards the development of young swimmers as one of the key reasons behind Wray's success, as 20 of the 60 swimmers taken are under 20 years of age.

The SDAP programme now has been running for 7 years and we began to see the results in Orean. The SDAP programme produced names like Grace Spencer, Brendan [Matthews], Holly White, as well as about 90% of the delegation at one point or another. Matthews has attended every SDAP camp, whilst Grace was breakthrough star two years before Orean. This year Jess Madigan would be my pick - she is absolutley outstanding in the backstroke, clocking some of the fastest times of the year and generally looking like a world-beater. She's got a near-flawless technique, and her temperament is perfect. She knows the pool and most importantly, she knows how to race. Tom Symonds, who went to the Saintland Memorial Games, is another young talent who will compete for a medal - it's just a shame he has to beat Brendan to get there! *laughs*. Helen Taylor and August Everett will both be very competitive also.
~Santora speaking before the Zube & Bay City Games.

Santora will be part of the 8-man Coaching set-up which will travel to the Kytler Peninsulae hoping to match the performance of the team in Orean. The WSO has set a tentative medal target of six, acknowledging the heady levels of competition in this year's meet. Santora travelled extensively in Sargossa and Vekaiyu before being taken up by the WSO, studying coaching methods and how athletes train, and he knows all too well how strong their respective delegations will be. But come the Games, Santora, like the rest of us, will only be able to sit and watch as Matthews leads Wray's medal charge.

by **95X** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:00 am

With an opening serve by Trisha Onehundredfifth and a quick return that led to a kill by Ai Onefortythird, 95X set the pace for their first Women's Volleyball win against Britonisea, three games to one. Ai Onefortythird would lead the team in points and assists, while Danielle Onefiftyeighth's presence and stepped-up play in the third game gave 95X match point in a 31-29 contest.

In other news, Anthony Wellesley led the 95X Men's Basketball Team with 26 points and Mark Sprague dealt 10 assists as 95X defeated Barunia 75-68. Jeremy Browne stole the show with a huge slam dunk in the second half that brought the crowd to their feet.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:01 am

Cut-off for day 1.

The opening ceremony RP will follow the scorination for day 1.

by **The Serbian Empire** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 11:44 am

A Letter to Lord Almighty Gregory

I am Minister of Sport Vlade Drinac and I have to admit that we have placed armed security around our athletes in the event of enemy crushers trying to kill our athletes. Go ahead and try to defeat us without killing our athletes otherwise I will have to tell Peorth herself that sanctions on Gregoryisgodistan will be necessary due to the actions of your own athletes. And you don't want to mess with an actual goddess like Peorth. She's killed an entire crime family of Albanian Mafiosi with her divine wrath. On top of that, the Navy has told me about they've just constructed thirty naval destroyers in the last five years based on the design of the Japanese WWII era destroyer Shimakaze with a rated horsepower design of 79,000 horsepower instead of the original 75,000 and a ram-raider ship with a modern Wartsila-Sulzer RTA-96 with unspecified dimensions. It's rumored to be an armored aircraft carrier and hull reinforcements capable of reaching a relatively sluggish 24 knots.

Secondly, only athletes who express interest in defecting or threatened with death will be considered for Operation Saoirse. That being said, we will not even consider taking your wife Cleffie from you, Gregory. It is very clear that she loves you a lot and that you love her if you were to promote her from gruel eating slave to your wife and thus Goddess. That is because the Serbian Empire's athletes have no desire in breaking up your family. Concubines without a marriage vow on the other hand are fair game as are run of the mill slaves. They are more or less the targeted defection targets. If you want to avoid defections in the future. I hope that you either ban slaves and concubines from competing as to deter our athletes from wanting to free them from the yoke or ban the practices which make them desire to defect in the first place.

What do you mean that every citizen would willing be a slave as to be ritualized sacrificed? That sounds like some sort of irrational behavior and cult of personality. And what's about this... If anyone tries to deny God his Olympic medal, I will have them executed. Are you seriously going to kill people for losing? I wonder, would you claim diplomatic immunity if you killed someone in The Kytler Peninsula?

A Letter To Sports Media

Our feud with Gregoryisgodistan has resulted in both nations having archer contenders. I'd love to see both of our nations win medals. Ideally with our Serbian ladies winning a better medal, but I'll accept a medal winning effort whether it's gold, silver, or bronze. We've got a good chance to win more than just one this year, maybe even more than one out of women's archery although it's unlikely to be more than two. As for the individual matches in archery, Lidija Kovic faces Umeko Muriel of Al-Mumtaz with a 20 point advantage despite only one more perfect shot than her opponent. The other matches of interest are Marika Gaboric facing Samantha Alexander of Wray and Kira Marcinko battles Nicole Colby from Chiata. As a team, Liventia is the foe as we're the 3 seed battling the 14 seed.

As for the men, only Miroslav Pavlovic advanced and the team finished 30th. Miroslav is overjoyed just to have made the round of 64 battling 12th place finish Charles Carpenter of the Kytler Peninsula on Carpenter's home turf. A win there would be a major upset. Interestingly, all of our ladies actually shot better than Miroslav did in points, but none of them could best his 11 perfects. His overall accuracy was less as Marika had the fewest number of 9s and bested him by three shots there. I believe that this finding might actually allow our archers to improve their performances in future Olympiads.

Tomorrow's schedule has the defectors from Gregoryisgodistan making their debuts under the Serbian colors and the cyclists running their time trials. Tomasz Radnicki and Bledar Ahmedsovic are viable medal contenders while Gabriela Mirkovic and Mirela Blagojevic are effectively midfield competitors hoping to maybe produce a top 20 finish with little hope of medaling in tomorrow's event. The swimming group might be very tense if Serbian and Gregoryisgodistani swimmers are in the same heat. Tense enough that The Serbian Empire is willing to pay for extra security if that happens.

by **Costa de Ouro** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:07 pm

Airline Competition Heats Up in Sporting Regions
Wednesday, August 13
Story by Marcos Cardozo

Montreal, Royal Kingdom of Quebec : The airline industry in the big three sporting regions has been in a shakeup lately, with several crashes due to the efforts of Corvidae agents. After a particularly bad financial quarter due to the effects of these crashes, it appeared that the competition within Esportiva, Rushmore, and Atlantian Oceania would be decreasing, with a merger between Norrehavnese Airlines and Aeroquebec, two of the sporting regions' giants. It appeared that Spiritair would be the only airline large enough to contest their dominance, but today's announcement that Ceniana, via its subsidiary, Javelin Airways, would make Montreal one of its hubs will change that.

It will be an uphill climb for Ceniana, says aviation analyst Vivianne Simon. "Both Spiritair and the combined Aeroquebec-Norrehavnese group have large market shares and large destination lists in the three regions," she says. "Currently, Ceniana only has a dozen or so. It will be hard for Ceniana to compete against these entrenched powers."

However, analyst Gabriel Larue disagrees. "While the two airlines which are its main competition have a large route base, yes, it is also easier for Ceniana to take people where they want to go." He said that Ceniana's service model is different from that of the other major airlines, which have a hub and spoke method, and Ceniana uses more of a point-to-point method in the sporting regions, allowing passengers to bypass crowded hubs and long layovers. "Ceniana has a lot of things going for it. Passengers are receptive to Ceniana's business model, and they will choose Ceniana over other carriers."

Javelin Airways spokesperson Conav Tylavee said that his carrier was up to the challenge. "We have been successful in the face of adversity in the past," he told VVC in an interview. "There is no reason to believe that we will just throw up our hands and give up. We will survive our challenges and grow the better because of them."

Ceniana was lured to Montreal International Airport in particular because of incentives by the Quebecois government, including tax breaks, and its geographic location. The nature of flights across the three regions are such that it requires stopovers to refuel due to the long distances. "The position of the Royal Kingdom of Quebec was such that it was centrally located among the three regions, with easy access to all of Atlantian Oceania, Esportiva, and Rushmore," Tylavee said.

Analyst Simon agreed with Tylavee's assessment. "It's a big plus for Ceniana is they can get the middle of the market and use it wisely." She said that even though the other big carriers are also using this route, "if Ceniana can link this hub to destinations in all three regions, it can outmove the other carriers by offering its hub as a great spot to connect between regions. The other carriers are just using this airport as a hub, the middle of the wheel. Ceniana can use this airport as a keystone in an arch to connect its point-to-point routes, with great success. "

Ceniana said it was planning new routes from their new base, including a direct route to the Olympics, as well as routes to the other nations Ceniana has rights in, including Electrum, San Jose Guayabal, Yttribia, the Sarian, New Drakonika, and Northern Sunrise Islands, as well as routes outside the three regions. Ceniana said it would keep Mardi, Northern Sunrise Islands, and San Salvador, San Jose Guayabal, as secondary hubs, given their locations and high traffic. Ceniana plans to use new Monteluci A360s, but it still needs to gauge demand before deciding where its A360's on order will be located.

Ceniana has its eyes on other nations in the sporting world to expand its services to. Tylavee told "citizens of Eura, Valladares, Vilita, and Felix" to watch out because "Ceniana will be bringing award-winning service and lower prices shortly." Tylavee also said that Ceniana was planning on expanding "rapidly" throughout the three regions. "This will not only benefit Ceniana, but also consumers and businesses," he opined.

Routes within the three sporting regions are both extremely crowded and lucrative. Aeroquebec is currently flying Boeing 747-8's on the Montreal-San Salvador trunk route several times a day, evidence of the popularity of the route as well as inter-regional travel as well. "All of these nations are connected by sport and are extremely sport-driven," said analyst Larue. "Therefore, flights connecting these regions are extremely popular as sporting events are held in the various nations."

Other world airlines are not as quick to pick up on the trend, Larue said. "These regions are tightly interwoven - but only with themselves. They are not as connected with other world regions, such as Astyria, and other major carriers, such as Royal Kingtonian and ViZionair. This is not only because of the long distances involved but also because the three sporting regions have been developing relationships with each other, not the rest of the world."

Airline travel in the rest of the world is dominated by the ViZionair group, including Royal Kingtonian Airways, and Volatus Group, a group including Ceniana as well as Arklay Airways, Air Liberte, Destiny Airlines, and several other carriers. These carriers dominate more than 90% of the market outside the three sporting regions.

Ceniana, as part of Volatus, hopes to extend that dominance into the three sporting regions as well. "We know we have a long way to go, but we will go there," said spokesperson Tylavee. "We are committed to going the distance." He further reasoned that Volatus could get an edge on ViZionair if they could tap the sporting market. "The 'normal' trunk routes have a lot of competition already," Tylavee said. "The trunk routes here in the three sporting regions have less competition and are as profitable, if not more."

A new carrier in the area would be good for passengers as well. "This increases competition and lowers ticket prices for passengers," said analyst Simon. Passengers are happy about the new carrier. "High prices and bad service are what we could expect from the carriers before," said Guy Dupont, a Montreal electrician. "The carriers before thought they had free reign to jack up prices. Now they have to lower prices in order to compete against Ceniana. I'm looking forward to this new move shaving hundreds of dollars off my bill and bringing new standards to the fore."

by **Zwangzug** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 12:52 pm

The Spenson Star
Demonstrative Cases

What exactly has been taking place at Zwangzug's Olympic headquarters, we're not sure. The athletes are there, a slightly smaller official delegation than last time around, with the usual contenders in cycling and, on account of its being awesome, slalom canoe/kayak, one presumes. A handful of efforts in track and field, as well as swimming.

Then there's the judo contingent. Yes, judo, the "gentle way" has apparently been declassified from the list of unacceptable combat sports (never mind the badminton...), whether spurred on by local heroes back from Belpub or some other reason (whoever knows what's trendy in the FTC these days?). But anyway, it's back. And that's not the strangest thing.

The strangest thing is the presence of individuals--athletes and coaches yes, but the officiators!--in the demonstration events that will be taking place in Zube, Kytler Bay City, and beyond. There's barely a sport in which our presence won't raise a few eyebrows. Golf? Okay, yes, golf. We had some golfers participate at the demonstration events in Lasft; Austin Fauden won gold there. Apparently, that's enough for another delegation.

And, apparently, that's enough to allow us to enter teams in every other competition, too. There's the rugby sevens teams, who are supposedly Zwangzug's very best rugby sevens players and will have basically nobody watching back home who understands what they are doing. There are the lacrosse teams, who are as tradition primarily drawn from here in Spenson, with a shoutout to those few in Belpub who give their best and those others from around the country who sort of care. Yes, teams, plural. Men's and women's. Even if we're not really allowed to have segregated teams in real sports, and our entries to the actual medal events reflect as much, apparently we can for sports that don't really matter?

Or don't really matter anymore.

The Third Summer Olympics, in Columbia, were the last time baseball was contested as a medal event. For both men and women, naturally. The male Zebras won gold, and the women took bronze, while the main national team was off at WBC8. Men's and women's softball competitions were held, as well, but Zwangzug did not participate, having no real team in either--the men's softball team, the "Quaggas," never really being fit enough for international level. (Their coach made her mark on the Olympic scene, in the end. But that's another story.)

Since then, Zwangzug has ignored the demonstration events in baseball entirely. Makes sense in its own twisted way--if there's only going to be a men's competition while women have to play softball, might as well ignore it and go out on top as the last "real" winners. But, no. Apparently they're here. These are the players that couldn't make the full team at WBC31...most of whom went 1-7 to crash out of the WBC30 group stage...and are so bad that they're still doing a five-person rotation. (No word on what innovations the male Zebras, or the softball team--are they going to reclaim the "Quagga" nickname once and for all?--have in mind.)

Oh, and then there's the chess boxing. Which we're entering. In every sex and weight class. Instead of ignoring how immature and ridiculous we were, those first tentative steps into the world stage. Out of everything Zwangzug has brought to the international community, in the end perhaps our national legacy was forged in Querzakhi. And perhaps, even more surprisingly, nobody will mind that.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:34 pm

Day 1 results are now posted.

by **Kelssek** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 1:43 pm

“It's the same thing all the time really. We get the rosters, and other teams have only 7 players on it. Are they actually playing Olympic water polo with no subs, or did they not release the names of the rest of the squad? Sometimes they mark positions. Well, sure, I know I always want my left-handed shooters on the right side of the offense, and I know who I usually want to guard the hole, and have a quick swimmer defending the perimeter for counter-attacks, blah blah blah. But defenders? The hell does that mean? Any suggestions, Bown?”

Bown was a new addition to the Water Polo Kelssek front office, brought in to develop analytics for the national team. He'd done plenty of brief consulting stints with various clubs and had a day job behind the scenes at the SportVu cable network, and despite being initially bewildered by the idea that you might in many circumstances want to commit minor fouls, had managed to jerry-rig some kind of framework together from his knowledge of other sports. After about two weeks he gave a presentation to the men's and women's coaching staff, who were suitably skeptical but ultimately approving of insights such as “...so we can see that the exclusion foul situation increases the probability of a goal being scored by 0.294, over the baseline probability of any other time in the match on average. So that means increasing the odds by a factor of... well, in other words, about four times more likely to score on the man advantage. Of course this is only based on six years of KWPL data when this stat started being tracked, so the sample could be better.”

Ultimately it was the charts breaking down different aspects of performance during the scrimmage sessions at selection camp that had won them over. Especially when it came down to making the final cuts, when the players had all been whittled down to the point that leaving some out in favour of others was necessarily arbitrary. It was comforting to have numbers to keep the terrifying uncertainty at bay.

"Well, we've done all we can to reduce the uncertainty by scouting their matches. As the tournament progresses the unknowns will reduce exponentially, when you go from one to two observations for instance. Go with... the least risky approach?"

Ronan Dragicevic tilted his head slightly, as if thinking, yeah, like I couldn't have come up with that on my own.

"We should actually be able to better predict the teams with more experience at this level." Bown added. "So we can actually be more strategic against them."

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 2:17 pm

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good evening, ladies, gentlemen, and slaves. I am speaking via satellite from The Kytler Peninsulae, where I led the Gregoryisgodistani team into the Olympic Stadium, carrying the glorious flag of this Glorious and Holy nation. It was truly spectacular to lead the team in with all the fans cheering us loudly. It is good to know the world supports us.

"However, I must talk about other matters. At these Olympics, we have received threats from a heathen nation known only as The Serbian Empire. The Serbian Empire has threatened to kidnap our slaves and my concubines and "liberate" them. They do not question whether these slaves want to be liberated. Slavery is a duty all Gregoryisgodistanis long for. As our national anthem says, 'Some of us are slaves to this nation, some of us just wish we were.' Clearly it is the dream of every Gregoryisgodistani to become a slave and serve this great nation even further. Our slaves do not want to defect. My concubines do not want to defect. They love me and I love them. Any attempt to tamper with our slaves or concubines will be met with force. Violent force. Our security guards will shoot and kill anyone who attempts to lead a defection effort, even if they are a foreign athlete.

"But that is not enough sanction. We must punish that entire wicked nation. I am announcing tonight that The Serbian Empire has been added to our Enemy List. This means that we have declared The Serbian Empire an enemy of Gregoryisgodistan, an enemy to the True Lord, and an enemy to true believers and followers of the True Lord. I, of course, am that True Lord. Additionally, the killing of any citizen of The Serbian Empire within Gregoryisgodistan is now legal and will result in a 1 million greggygodbuck reward to the killer. Furthermore, the reward will even apply to kills outside Gregoryisgodistan. While this does not apply to athletes, who may not be killed, it will apply to athletes acting in capacities other than athletes. This means that if athletes attempt to encourage slaves, concubines, or anyone else to defect, and a brave, noble Gregoryisgodistani kills them, the hero will receive a 1 million greggygodbuck reward for each heathen slain. We cannot allow this travesty to continue. The Serbian Empire must die. Death to The Serbian Empire! Death to Costa Luna! Death to Middleton Valley! Death to Saintland! Death to the Free Republics! Death to San Jose Guayabal! Death to Alianza Albos! Death to Hicana! Death to The Greater Vakolicci Haven! Death to Patistan! Death to Jeckland! Death to Estenia! Death to Nexxus Drako, who I have already destroyed in my infinite glory! Death to New Wolfopolis! Death to The Royal Barangay! Death to Berk Island! Death to The Archregimancy! Death to The Royal Kingdom of Quebec! But most of all, Death to The Serbian Empire! To quote a famous song, 'My friends and my slaves, the heathens never learn. That's why the heathens need to burn." If we have to, we will drop firebombs on The Serbian Empire to punish them for kidnapping our slaves and concubines. Then that heathen nation will burn. However, I hope it does not come down to that. I'll say it one more time - DEATH TO THE SERBIAN EMPIRE!"

Gregoryisgodistan dominates archery

Gregoryisgodistan dominated both the men's and women's archery preliminary round, finishing first in each team event and earning the #1 seed in that competition. The women's team shot a combined 2004 points, coming within three points of an Olympic record. They were led by Lady Soldier PXJJAH13 and Lady Soldier CLAMPASI, who finished 1-2 with 673 points each. They will earn the top spots in the individual competition, which is single elimination. Lady Soldier USJJAJHSHS finished 25th with a score of 658 and will also qualify for the knockout stage of the individual competition.

The men's team came within two points of an Olympic record, shooting a 2036. They were led by Soldier 7SZBHAHD, who finished third with a score of 680 points. Soldier VBAUXUJA came in fifth with a score of 679, and Soldier ULA9139A came in seventh with a score of 677. All will qualify for the individual knockout stage and all will be favorites to contend for a medal.

The women's team knockout rounds will be held tomorrow, which could result in Gregoryisgodistan's first medal of the Games. They also have legitimate medal chances in two shooting events, the men's 10 m air pistol and the women's 10 m air rifle. Gregoryisgodistan could very well wind up on top of the medal standings at the end of the day with two, three, four or even five medals. As always, you can watch whiparound coverage on Sports TV, Sports TV 2, and the three Overflow networks, or stream any event you choose at GGSOlympics.gs.

by **Britonisea** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 2:37 pm

Mr Sir Lord Almighty Gregory doesn't wish death to the Britonisean commonwealth

Fine, commonwealth is pushing the gravy boat but Greg (I mean Mr Lord Almighty Gregory sir) actually doesn't hate The Grand British Kingdom and North Britonisea. What a relief. It is probably because if WorldVision. He really like Britonisea's act but he called it and 'in the middle of the road' performance. Garange L'Iwes was angry but after spending a few nights in Gregoryisgodistan, he said that he wants a Gregoryisagodistani passport and citizenship. The guys at the passport home office started laughing but then he started to sing the anthem of Gregoryisgodistan. The Home office guy asked him what he is doing and after Garange finished, he replied that he worshiped Greg. Right that us the 52nd case we have had...today. We need to sort it out. As you can tell, Gregoryisgodistan and The Grand British Kingdom are different but we have got to sort it. North Britonisea will get on just fine with Gregoryisgodistan.

LIFE TO THE GRAND BRITISH KINGDOM AND DEATH TO THE OTHER COUNTRIES THAT MR GREGORY LORD SIR ALMIGHTY SAID SIMONTANEOUSLY. YAY.

report by Josh Josh. He supports Greg Sir Almight of God Mister.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 2:45 pm

Carva Beach Arena, Bay City Olympic Park

19:59 IsT

The beach volleyball venue in Carva Dock, a 21,093-seat open-air venue comprised of eight steep-sided temporary stands in an octagonal arrangement, oval floodlights pointing out of chrome-effect poles above, stood proudly on the shoreline of Kytler Bay, the sea views interrupted only by the long jutting strips of land – one of them now home to the Olympic Village, or to be more exact one of them - that surrounded what was now an artificial lake for rowing and sprint canoeing races. To the east loomed Kytler Bay City itself, the largest and most densely populated city in the Kytler Peninsulae, with over a million people squeezed into its city limits and at least another million in dormitory towns to the east. To the south, the seashell-shaped Aquatic Centre, its exterior now illuminated with 109,300 LEDs as the sky turned purple with the setting sun. The bridge to the new Bay City Olympic maglev station was visible here, almost 11m wide, and known as the Margaret Bridge – that LED count was not coincidence, and nor was the capacity of the Carva Beach Arena. (Especially when considering the Aquatics Centre capacity: 19,840, echoing another spiritually significant number in the sporting multiverse.)

Every one of those 21,093 seats was full; every one was exposed to any unfavourable weather, but none was present. Not on this night. How could there be? And now, as the clock ticked to 8pm, a large number 9 appeared on the LED screens above each corner stand. Nine minutes to go until the Games of the IX Olympiad began. Sort of. There'd already been action yesterday in various team and racquet sports, and earlier today in the temporary archery venue on the far side of Zube Olympic Park.

The sand in the middle of the Carva Beach Arena – that gave it its name and purpose - was largely covered by a large expanse of modular staging. A blue tarpaulin hung over one end, the western end closest to the shore, extending approximately to where the baseline will soon be seen again. It began to flutter, just barely, as a sea breeze picked up.

Inside a tunnel built into one of the stands, an array of costume-clad dancers – many of them white, young, willowy cisgender women, but by no means all – shuffled impatiently. Tens of thousands were in the Kytlerian Eastern Corridor with the same expectation – to perform. Not all of them were doing so in the pursuit of sporting glory.

20:08 IST

A large, yellow “60” within a dark blue square appeared on the screens. Quickly, it became a 59, then 58, and so it counted down. Seconds to go. Just seconds.

A few of the crowd started counting down from about 46. Good luck keeping the rhythm for that. By about 15, enough were counting to be clearly heard over the portentous strings playing from the public address system. And soon, you could hear nothing else but “TEN! NINE! EIGHT! SEVEN! SIX! FIVE! FOUR! THREE! TWO! ONE!” And then the official logo of the Games appeared on the screen, the music stopped, the crowd roared.

A bearded man in some form of nautical attire stepped out onto the tarpaulin, and thence onto the stage, which was now revealed to contain LED screens and accordingly were showing, of all things, sand. Surely there would be better uses for this technology than revealing the ground beneath. Surely. Only this sand was apparently blowing around, and the speakers were now producing some howling sound. And now he spoke out in foreboding blank verse, over the top of some combination of this howling and a 'cello played well enough to sound like it was being played badly.

“There is no greater pleasure than to find
A sheltered harbour in amongst the storm!
As much as we explorers chase a risk
There's good fortune in safety all the same
'Tis not quite clear why nothing's made of this
When all around are hills and rocky shore;
An isolated primitive at most
But buildings hardly visible for miles
And how can one resist a chance to stay;
To make this accidental jewel ours?
'Tis nothing there for anyone to lose;
'Tis scarcely anyone whose loss it is.
Our journey's end is found, this sheltered bay;
We have our land, ahoy! A place to stay!”

Thus began a stylised representation of the Kytlerian colonisation – as begun by James Kytler, the seafaring explorer represented by that terrifying reading of a terrifying sonnet - through the medium of interpretative dance. The programme notes may or may not have made this clearer, but they did elucidate on why this Opening Ceremony was not held in one venue alone. The section in Bay City – the former colonial capital, the birthplace of the country – represented the past, the colonial history of these lands. The section in Zube – the purpose-built capital, built to the north of the now-famous Jamison Farmhouse where the Zube Agreement, founding document of the modern Kytlerian nation, was signed – represented the country's present and future, the modern Kytlerian nation and all that was good about it.

Of course, those at one venue would get to see the activity in the other on the big screens, meaning this was actually a rather canny way of adding 21,093 to the number of people who could watch the opening ceremony, as well as a way of burying a few colonial ghosts nice and easily. And it was made abundantly clear that the colonial occupiers were pretty ghastly people, and that the old Bay City economy ran mostly on illicit trading activities.

20:25 IsT

“WHY ARE THE MAKERS OF THIS NATION BEING CALLED THE BREAKERS OF THIS NATION? #OlympicHippies #OlympicRacists”

That was posted on Blatter by one conservative talk radio host in Bay City in response to the historical slant taken by the opening ceremony. Though generally a liberal city, it remains home to most of the country's right-wing talk stations, notably the already internationally infamous RTX Radio, whose most infamous “shock jock” - the late Robert Felton – openly accused Kytlerian sprinter Ocilla Dotos, a black woman of Vephra origin, of doping after her 100m gold medal in Lasft.

Ah, yes, Vephras. The other group who can claim with some sincerity “we built this nation.” With the collapse of the southern Atlantian Oceanian nation of Vircais, itself barely formed from a merger of the island's two former nations Kura-Pelland and Vephrall, the brightest and best of the country's population fled to greener pastures. And, with some abstract aboriginal-slaying reenactment still going on in the Carva Dock Arena, another nautically-clad man emerged, this time of quite different appearance. And wearing orange.

Sadly, he went and read dodgy blank verse too.

“'Twas many years ago my fathers marched
To find a thriving city in their midst;
Whilst marking out the land they thought was theirs
Upon their eyes, another land was there.
'Tis much the same experience as then
That now befalls my younger eyes again;
And knowing how my people suffer on
I tell them – you are more than welcome here.”

At least it didn't hit sonnet length. It used some creative license that historians quickly remarked upon – Angufams Taklik, the Vephra explorer who was represented in this poem, was indeed a descendant of the gold-mining explorer who stumbled across the Kura-Pellani city of Prangren whilst mapping what he thought was his own land, but did not know of the collapsing economy at this point, and hence the Vephra colonisation would not begin for some years. But the anglophone colonisation to the north continued apace, the trickle of Vephra arrivals to the south became a flood, and Vephra geologists who arrived in this first wave discovered that the soil in the south was likely to be rich in uranium. There followed a massacre of aboriginal tribes – this bit of Kytlerian history is decidedly bloody – in the dash for reserves, and international concern was raised over public safety across the region given the potential for the uranium to be seized for bomb-making. This was depicted by a short film, set in the hypothetical where this happened, entitled “What If?” and depicting a post-apocalyptic Kytler Bay City. It was anticipated that some broadcasters would take a commercial break over this.

There was then one further segment, depicting the law enforcement raids on the Bay City docks as concern grew in neighbouring Albundania over the widespread use of illegal drugs believed – correctly – to have come from Bay City. The overall scene at this point, emphasised by the dimming of the LED floodlights and the now-navy skies above, was of a country in chaos.

The lights then turned off altogether for two seconds, before slowly being turned on again, with no other light bar the inevitable flicker of smartphone screen (there's always some) and message on the arena big screens: “From chaos and darkness... let light emerge.”

The Olympic torch was carried into the arena by a barefooted aboriginal dancer, who then circumnavigated the sandy perimeter around the staging – the tarpaulin had been swiftly removed as the lights went down – before passing the torch to Cruz d'Cruze. The Kytlerian weightlifter was competing in Bay City tomorrow, so would not have been wise to partake in the parade of athletes in Zube later, but was quite happy to have a little early-evening cameo here – the defending men's 56kg champion from Orean receiving the torch to a deafening reception, then climbing the stairs at the western end to a raised platform above a giant screen.

At this point, the programme notes emphasise, “this is not the final lighting of the Olympic Flame, but a secondary lighting that symbolises that, in these unique jointly hosted Games, it would be inappropriate were the flame not present in some form in both cities.” The torch lit up a small flame – at least by the standards of these things – as a Navy helicopter hovered over the arena. A skydiver jumped out of the helicopter, landing around 3m away from Cruz and the flame; he picked up the torch, and was then airlifted back into the helicopter. The Olympic torch was now on its way to Zube; the “secondary” flame was burning in the Bay City night.

Zube Olympic Stadium, Zube Olympic Park

20:47 IsT

There are many ways to begin an Olympic opening ceremony. Or to continue it, in this unique instance. Showing an intense board gaming session is not one that many would suggest.

But it is the one that the producers of this ceremony went for, in one of the strangest VT segments you will ever see.

“I'm going to play... NUCLEAR SECURITY VISIT,” declares one of the players, leaving the other sighing. “Sorry, sorry... roll a die, subtract 1 for every failed assessment you have already had. On a roll of 4-6, nothing happens. Otherwise, remove 2 influence points from Varn.” There were a few knowing giggles from the Kytlerians in the crowd at this point.

“Are you kidding me... surely there's a better way to do this than the roll of a die.”

“Precisely, my friend. We can sort out our country's problems constructively with talk, and not have to worry about where the fates take us. We have our future in our own hands, if we only take hold of it.”

They were playing a Kytlerian board game called “Dawn of a Nation,” based on the negotiations that led to the Zube Agreement. There are few good ways, let's face it, to present the story of diplomatic negotiations in the style that fits the opening ceremony, and yet there really was no choice if the Kytlerian history was to be told. Anyway, a nice little reference to the growing Kytlerian love of board games fitted the bill less badly than most alternatives, and this led to a multi-minute song and dance about freedom and unity, because that is in the style that fits the opening ceremony. The music was largely in the symphonic pop style that is often seen as symbolic of Kytlerian popular music.

20:58 IsT

With that over and done with, other aspects of Kytlerian culture were celebrated – though if the costumes were anything to go by, it must be sincerely hoped fashion was not one of them – with a succession of other short dance-led interludes. There was a short segment devoted to the Hispanic minority and their largely traditional customs – siestas and all – in Santa Mordana, which will host football semi-finals at the newly-built Estadio Esarra Stadium, or the Estadio Santa Mordana as it is known for the purposes of these Games. Then another, for which a strobe warning was required, celebrating the clubbing scene in the coastal resorts, particularly the trance music of Ceuran on the south coast; genderqueer Ceuran star DJ Viddy O. Snap was responsible for the music for that. It would not be their last involvement tonight. Then, a change of pace for a section on the genteel Northern Downs, where cricket is still the national summer sport.

21:14 IsT

The helicopter with the Olympic torch flew over the Cluitt Bridge, the main road link over the eastern fringes of Kytler Bay that has reduced the journey distance from Zube to Bay City by over 4km since it was constructed; the bridge's pillars was lit up in the colours of the Olympic trifoil (black being represented by no light at all), and we saw this on the big screens at the Olympic Stadium. Then another camera shot, of the Jamison Farmhouse, birthplace of a nation as we knew it; the helicopter approached rapidly, for it was only around 1.5km from the end of the Cluitt Bridge, members of the Carmina Orchestra providing a rousing entrance and/or filling the time while the helicopter arrived by playing a movement from the Margaret Symphony (with its reknowned four-note motif: C, a step down to B, a leap of a tenth to D, then a drop of a seventh to E) by the Vephra-Kytlerian composer Juchona Rirvymoles.

The skydiver came bearing a torch-shaped gift for Stephanie Edwards, the Kytlerian schools champion at 5,000m and 3,000m steeplechase (and a thin white teenager – blonde hair and all! - in a vest and shorts for the conservative misogynistic crowd to inappropriately drool over in between making racist remarks on social media), to take on her way. Several more teenage athletes would carry the torch to the Olympic Park, none of whom would be on camera.

In the meantime, there was a faintly ridiculous “ode to Margaret” sung by Kytlerian musical theatre star Sophie Edwards, before one last painful dance segment, themed around Zube's nickname as “Snowflake City” owing to its eco-friendly white roofs and pale road surfaces, which led to the stadium being covered in fake paper snowflakes. “This had better have been made of recycled paper or I'm painting my roof black #OlympicHippies” was the reply from a Zube-based conservative blogger.

Finally, that bit was done. Good bit was coming.

21:26 IsT

There was verbiage to come, of course. There always is. In this case, in the form of the head of the Committee Organising the Kytlerian Olympics (COKO), Martin Bartlett.

“We now recognise the immense contribution to the Olympic movement made in recent times by the nation of Liventia. The challenges of hosting the Olympics once are significant enough, but Liventia staged two consecutive Winter Games in separate cities: Neverend for the Seventh Winter Games, City Centre for the Eighth Winter Games – and then staged the Games of the VIII Olympiad in Orean. Their administrative role has remained, and will remain, pivotal in the support of the Olympic movement. And that is epitomised by the Liventian who holds the single greatest influence in maintaining it. It is my pleasure to introduce to you the President of the Olympic Council, Royston French.”

The sound of 70,000 people applauding but not shouting is something that you only ever really hear in situations like these.

"Your royal highnesses, excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, and athletes. It has been a long slog towards this moment for us all. The Olympic Council has had the meticulous task of inspecting the bid, and once it was approved the local organising committee had the arduous challenge of logistics and building. In that time the athletes gathered here today have been hard at work, training to ensure they will perform at the best of their abilities.

"We call on all athletes to unite in the spirit of friendship and respect. Not just mutual respect for one another, but respect for nations, and respect for the Olympic code of peace. We, the Olympic Council, expect the Olympic truce to be observed. We also call on athletes to reject all forms of cheating. Doping and fixing are punishable by long, even permanent, suspensions from the Olympic Games and ultimately only casts shame and doubt on the athletes and nations caught.

"I wish you all a very good Games."

With those formalities completed, the moment everyone was waiting for. “There would be no Olympics without Olympians.” Cheers. “These are the Olympians!”

Electronic effects spluttered away for a few unnerving seconds before giving way to pounding beats at approximately 130bpm - Viddy O. Snap would continue playing a mix at this tempo throughout the parade, the intention being to ensure that the athletes would move more quickly. That parade began with Liventia – they had been given the honour in reciprocation of them providing it to the Kytlerians in Neverend (owing to the stadium being designed by Kytlerian architects), and as a mark of respect for the nation's contribution to the Olympic movement.

“Where's the torch?” might have been the question the multiverse asked at this point. It was almost at the Olympic Park...

“Al-Mumtaz!” Every delegation was cheered. “Ancharmunn!” The small size of the delegation almost got “aww” reactions – the near-neighbours apparently content to jet into Bay City and Zube with the spectators, an extraordinary commute. And on the names rolled on.

22:25 IsT

“Gregoryisgodistan!” An hour of cheering and clapping came to an abrupt halt at the announcement of the notorious dictatorship – led into the arena by Lord Almighty Gregory himself. If ever there were a pariah state in the sporting multiverse, this would be it. Frankly, Lord Almighty Gregory – a tennis player of some considerable talent – seems to revel in the idea of this. Water off a duck's back, and at least the athletes didn't have weapons on them even if they used them in their sport. “Globus!” They wouldn't get this much of a cheer in any other circumstance, and the boos that blurred it slightly came from the fans that Gregory and his subjects were passing.

23:34 IsT

“A Non-Descript Puppet Nation!” Little coos of laughter and sympathy for the smallest delegation at the Games. “North Britonisea!” By number of entries, this was even smaller, but they were both football teams, so there were at least a few dozen to get through. “Northern Inertia!” They were on a roll now.

00:20 IsT

“Windsor Islands!” The “are we nearly there yet?” feeling must have been growing at this point for those awaiting the Kytlerians. The TV commentators on the host broadcaster, NBO, had already assured viewers after Legendardisch that “you haven't missed us, we're at the end,” and did so again at this point. “Wray!” Two more to go. This lot were without their best medal hopes, due to the swimming being ten hours and 50km away from here. “Zwangzug!” It's becoming increasingly traditional for them to get a big roar, because the home crowd know that their heroes will surely follow immediately afterwards.

Sure enough - “The Kytler Peninsulae!”

Out stepped Joke Ter Haar – the most decorated summer Olympian in Kytlerian history, a gold medal away from dropping the qualifying “summer” from that already impressive distinction – and, behind her, hundreds and hundreds of her fellow Kytlerians in dark blue waistcoats and trousers with green shirts and yellow shoes. Did it look ridiculous? Did they care? Nobody in the crowd sounded like they cared.

“Where's the flame?”

The stadium screens cut to an old man on his bi – hang on, that was Gideon Veidt, the first Kytlerian Olympic champion in history! And he was catching up on a running man... “THERE'S THE FLAME!” And they were heading through the Olympic Park! Past The Hangar, heading for the stadium, in through the tunnel by the 110m hurdles start line where the athletes had just passed earlier, the flame was here! He completed a lap of the stadium, and as he entered the back straight, in came another Kytlerian Olympic legend – Ocilla Dotos. The shock 100m champion from Lasft, who spent the twilight of her career as a Babbageball star who helped increase the popularity of the game in black and Vephra communities, was running into the stadium, and as Veidt rounded the bend, Dotos was ready to receive the torch off his outstretched right arm. Dotos picked the torch up, sprinted down the home as if it were one of the relay batons that will be carried in the final event here before the closing ceremony, and clambered up the steps of the lower tier of this newly-extended four-tier bowl.

The iconic gap between the first and third tiers around each bend have been retained – the supporting pillars are specifically listed as a national landmark – but temporary seating has been placed between those pillars around the top bend. At this end, however, there was only space for the ninety-two flags of each Olympic delegation, a ninety-third for the trefoil, and a cauldron beneath them all, to which Ocilla made a beeline. Waiting at the top was Allora Vidiri, weightlifting gold medallist in Lasft, but now unrecognisable as a result of motor neurone disease – frail, fragile, uncomfortable. She received the torch, nervously holding on, guided as a precaution by her fellow Lasft medal-winning weightlifter Thug Whaariny. The flames tickled the cauldron, Vidiri's grip began to loosen, and Whaariny held on to the torch with her to keep it in place to finally light the Olympic cauldron. There were teary eyes in every camera shot that followed on television.

The celebratory mood could only be recaptured when President Andrea Eppler – whose role in the constitution is essentially defined as the country's international figurehead, with domestic policy led by the Prime Minister (Peter Muirhead, who was in the audience) – stepped out onto the same platform.

“To every Olympian across the multiverse who is here tonight – and to all of those who are right now tucked up in bed ready for action tomorrow, or looking at the time, today...” There was laughter; Eppler's sense of humour had always made her popular as politicians go. “It is a pleasure to welcome you here in The Kytler Peninsulae. These are, of course, unique Games – historically a single city has played host to as many events as it has the facilities for, but here, with our two largest cities coming together as one, we have a setting that will never be forgotten. The diversity of our nation will truly be showcased over the next three weeks, and it is you, the Olympians, who are the reason we can do so.” Applause.

“And accordingly, it is my greatest pleasure to declare the Games of the Ninth Olympiad open!”

And into the sky flew a bunch of fireworks – because that's the done thing – and a bunch of lasers, because these Games are different.

by **North Britonisea** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 3:24 pm

Wonderfull performance, Say hey to Smallest amount of entry nation.

North Britonisea was just about to finish the live broadcaat of The Opening Ceremony of the ninth Olympiad when the speakers at Zube said "North Britonisea" to that the broadcaster said that we have the smallest amount of entries yet we don't have the smallest delegation. Amazing that it. Aside from that, Zube and Kytler Bay city put on a top notch performance and was probably the best Olympic Games opening Ceremony to be broadcasted in Britonisea. Out of Liventia (twice), Saugeais and present hosts Kytler Peninsulae. Sorry to Liventia and Saugeais. The ceremony feature past, present and a bit of future. The two torches was a nice touch as well. And at the end of it all, the skyline was lit up by fireworks. You could see it miles away. What a great performance. Respect to Kytler Peninsulae. If Britonisea hosted an Olympics we would do the Olympic flame bit at the end before they say "Games officialy open" but that is not right. That is the Brit's way. North Britonisea is not expecting any medals. We are here for the experience. Wish us luck.

by **Windsor Islands** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 4:35 pm

Crown Chronicle I SPORT

Windsorian Athletes Struggle to Deliver on Second Day of Games
by Roger Blythe

ZUBE: The second day of competition took place today with athletes competing in water polo, archery, and indoor volleyball. The Windsor Islands men's water polo team was in action at the Kytlerian Sporting College in Kytler Bay City. There, they played their first match of the pool phase of the men's competition, which sees 56 teams divided into 6 groups of 6 teams and 4 groups of 5 teams, with the top two teams from the first 6 groups and the group winners of the last 4 groups moving on to the knockout stages. In Group E, the Windsor Islands took on the team from Bears Armed. The team from Bears Armed dominated for most of the game, with a plethora of goals being scored from left, right, and center. At halftime, the score was 7-1. The one Windsorian goal scored by team captain, Hank Putnam, looked like it was going to be the last one scored by the Windsors in the whole game. However, in the second half, the Windsorians started to fight back. The third quarter was an exciting one, with both teams capitalizing on each other's mistakes, especially the Windsors, who scored 3 goals in the quarter to cut the Bears Armed lead to just 3. However, in the fourth and final quarter, the Bears Armed team kept their lead, scoring 6 goals, while the Windsors scored 2 more goals to finish the game. The match finished with Bears Armed winning against the Windsor Islands, 13-6. The other games in Group E between Kannap and Felix and Ciqi and Wray finished with Kannap winning agaisnst Felix, 11-8, while Ciqi won against Wray, 7-5. This puts Bears Armed on top of the group, with Kannap in second, Ciqi in third, Wray in fourth, Felix in fifth, and the Windsor Islands at the bottom of the group. With four more pool matches left to play, the next match in Group E for the Windsorians will be against Ciqi.

The men's and women's individual and team archery competitions took place at the Donaldson Surrounds. The men's and women's individual competitions both started with the ranking round, which determines the 64 players in both competitions that will be moving on to the knockout stage, while the men's and women's team competitions will have 16 teams move on to the knockout stages. In the Men's Individual ranking round, we saw Windsorian archers, Reamann Althaus, Wilfried Ray, and Dieter Tupper, compete for 64 spots in the knockout stage. Unfortunately, none of the three archers were able to secure a spot in the knockout stages. Reamann Althaus finished the highest out of all the Windsor archers, placing 72nd out of 184 archers, while Wilfried Ray and Dieter Tupper finished with scores of 656 and 654, placing in 78th and 94th place, respectively. In the Men's Team event, the Windsors narrowly missed out on a chance to the knockout stages, finishing with a score of 1968 and placing 20th out of 54 teams. In the Women's Individual ranking round, Morgana Forney, Nancy Mann, and Bebhinn Cunningham all represented the Windsor Islands. However, only one archer managed to book a place in the knockout stages. Morgana Forney finished with a score of 653, placing 37th out of 172 archers. Nancy Mann and Bebhinn Cunningham finished with scores of 643 and 641, placing these two archers in 70th and 86th place, respectively. In the Women's Team event, we also narrowly missed out on a place in the knockout stages, with our team finishing with a score of 1937, which placed us in 17th place out of 51 teams.

Tomorrow, we will see a full day of action with athletes competing in swimming, archery, badminton, cycling, football, handball, hockey, judo, rowing, table tennis, volleyball, weightlifting. We will see Kyran Baker in the Men's 1500 m freestyle heats as the swimming competition begins at the Aquatic Centre in Kytler Bay City. We will also see Justus Jang and Malcolm Irwin compete in the Men's 100 m breaststroke, while Justus will also compete in the Men's 400 m individual medley. Reena Merrickson will compete in the Women's 100 m backstroke, Alexa Duff will compete in the Women's 100 m Butterfly, Hanna Thatcher will compete in the Women's 400 m individual medley, and the Windsor Islands 4x100 m relay freestyle relay team will be in action tomorrow also in swimming. In the badminton competition at Jamison Expo Centre in Zube, we will see star badminton player Thomas Wu compete in the Men's Singles First Round along with Iqbal Bunker and Kodey Zhu, while in the Women's Singles First Round we will see star players Sashi Nakimura and Karin Zhang compete along with Michelle Reed. The Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles competitions will also kick off tomorrow. The men's and women's cycling competition will begin with both the Men's and Women's time trial where we will see Christian Lee, Guy Engel, Elisabeth Brocke, and Bernie Garrett race from Zube to Bay City. You will also see the Men's and Women's football teams tomorrow, as they will begin the pool phases of their respective tournaments tomorrow. The men's team will be facing off in Group A against Britonisea, while the women's team will be facing off against Schottia in Group D. The women's handball team will also be in action tomorrow as they will face the host nation, The Kytler Peninsulae in Group E as the women's handball pool phase kicks off at Zube Olympic Park in Zube. Also, the women's hockey team will be facing Eura in Group A of the women's hockey pool phase at the Renaissance Centre in Kytler Bay City. We will be seeing Windsorian judoka, Gwalter Meindel, tomorrow as he competes in the Men's 60 kg competition, while Breanna Loritz will be competing in the women's 48 kg competition also at the Renaissance Centre in Kytler Bay City. Finally, the rowing events will begin tomorrow at Carva Lake in Kytler Bay City, where we will see Winston Hart compete in the Men's Single Sculls and also in the Men's Double Sculls, where he will pair up with Bryan Midgeley. Also, the Windsors will also be competing in the Men's Eights competition. In the Women's events, we will see Hailey Hintzen compete in the Women's Single Sculls and also in the Women's Quadruple Sculls, where she will be rowing with Esme Bell, Melicent Daniels, and Hildegard Eaton.

As you can see, a day of Olympic competition will take place tomorrow, where the whole world will be watching many athletes try their hand at winning an Olympic medal. Don't forget to watch all the live coverage of the Games of the IX Olympiad on the WSN family of channels, WSN, WSN1, and WSN2. That's all for me. Until tomorrow, it's night here in Zube.

by **Benjamin Mark** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 6:55 pm

Kelly - Good evening, I'm Josh Kelly

Zhang - I'm Jessica Zhang, thunderous applauses came today as the opening ceremony was held today in Zube for the IX Summer Olympics. Angie Cameron is in Zube with the latest, Angie?

Cameron - Hello! The Opening Ceremony was stupendous, fill of joy, especially when the Markian delegation came through with honors from the crowd. Today though, was fair. In Men's Water Polo we won 10-9 against Sargossa. In Men's Archery, it went as expected with Kailesh Ram in 61st place passing through qualifications with Michael Hemingway & Tom Veer not passing. Men's Team Archery was 33rd, expected for the Men's. In Women's archery Sunny Ram and Khristen Quittleman passed through, while Reyna Gonzales did not pass. Women's team archery did not pass at 26th place either. In Women's Volleyball it was tremendous we won against Quakmybush. In Zube, Angie Cameron, BMNS News.

by **Taeshan** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 7:16 pm

http://chirb.it/2q3LvI

by **Todd McCloud** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:06 pm

Has Vekaiyu Really Changed? What the Viewership Tells Us
Reporting for V3 News Services, Rin Slakori

BAY CITY - Yes, Vekaiyun men and women won their first water polo matches by identical scores of 8-5 over Globus and Paradystopia, respectively. Both matches were riveting, but for different reasons, as the Vekaiyun populace found out earlier in the day, especially if they decided to watch after the Opening Ceremony. After all, it's not every day that right winger Selvala Useveli nets five goals in a single match. And it's not every day that one must thank their bench for scoring the most points in the pool as the men's team found out.

Yes, it's less than 24 hours away until we finally see the Vekaiyun swimmers take to the pool. Their strong team should prove very formidable as they look to improve upon their 2013 campaign of five gold medals and thirteen medals in total. The anticipation has been quite riveting. After all, V3 did an admirable job attributing to the build-up by showcasing the roster and highlighting some of the achievements and perhaps little-known facts of these swimmers, totaling around 20 members, who will represent a nation of roughly 266 million.

Yes, V3's broadcasts were played across the Vekaiyun state, certain Listonian stations, within the occupied cities in Dveria for Vekaiyun servicemen and women, and across the nation's several colonies, still intact since the days of Max Venavle. Families gathered around the television in anticipation of the first Vekaiyun matches. Soldiers gathered what information they could during their momentary respites. Listonians, who have never been able to muster a delegation in time for the games, forced themselves to follow the large nation to the west's delegation once again.

Yes, Vekaiyu's storied athletes walked, between Urain and Vettrera. The men with their black suits and red trim and the women with their black, yellow, and red dresses characteristic of Vekaiyun peasantry worn over simple white shirts admirably represented our nation well. Riyna McAves, our flag bearer this year, waved our banner proudly in a foreign land with a smile on her face. Scarves with "Vekaiyu!" spelled out in Unonian dominated cameras and video recorders held by the athletes. Maybe we did walk a little slower than their musician wanted us to with his high-tempo trance, but for a few moments, Vekaiyu Olympians had the attention of the world.

If you saw the broadcast, you already know this. We hope you've enjoyed day one of what should be a very exciting round of coverage. Up until this point, however, we at V3 News did not know exactly how the populace would take the Opening Ceremonies. Would they simply watch their countrymen walk across Zube Olympic Stadium and admire them from afar? Or would they take the time to watch the ceremony in its entirety - absorbing another nation's culture for just a brief moment. Would they challenge themselves and look at some of the more controversial subjects, like colonization, racism, and the fear of a nuclear apocalypse?

To be fair, it is difficult for a nation such as ours to understand some of these concepts. Racism, for example, has often been brushed aside as a non-issue by the Vekaiyun populace. A Vekaiyun vulpine might ask how can an entire species can fight amongst themselves when there are other species roaming about the world? The Vekaiyun-prevalent "southern vulpine" species subgroup don't fight the "northern vulpine" species subgroup found in Vulshain solely on the fact that they southern variant generally are smaller with less dense fur. More or less, it's the duty of a particular species, perhaps innate duty, to work for the betterment of their particular species. It is nature's way (and I am not a scientist). But us, blessed by the Almighty with awareness of our limitations and humbled by those around us, seem to realize these different species compliment one another. Of course, there's always that famous quote by former Premier Selvala McEva where she glibly proclaimed, "The hands of the civilized world are covered with fur." But, one can counter with a more current quote from Vekaiyun leadership, Premier Ikrisia Levinile: "I think it's very clear that the Almighty didn't create a master species that excels at everything. We are not all the same."

After all, I believe the Olympics are a strong testament to that.

This is not to say Vekaiyuns have suddenly been enlightened, or that they have a better understanding of the world around them. We, too, have had a history of violence stemming from differences in looks, makeup, and abilities. One can always point out the Nugalan Empire (later Dveria) was the primary aggressor that enslaved our nation for over three hundred years in ancient times. But, we were not innocent either. Indeed, many Vekaiyun children are taught the heroic stories of Fevunik, a Kral Commodore from the 15th century who invaded Dveria to reclaim Vekaiyun lands. They conveniently leave out that Fevunik would put the heads of his enemies and sometimes civilians on spikes prior to leaving a contest. Of course, they were human, and that's where the term leatherhead originated: the human skin would dry in the daylight over a period of time. Such a term was used quite often during the reign of Max Venavle, if we want to remember those times. Luckily, we've slowly moved away from those ungodly sentiments.

How can I write this with confidence? All one must do is compare and contrast polls, news stories, opinions, and even governmental statements from 2009 and 2014. We as a nation learned a lot through these Olympics. First, we learned that there is much to be proud of as a people. We have emerged as a dominating group in aquatics and gymnastics, sports where having a vulpine form is an advantage. Second, we have also learned humility and realized that we are not good at everything. While this Olympics is a small sample size, it is nevertheless clear that we just aren't built to adequately compete at certain levels in certain sports. But, third, we've learned to be okay with that. This is especially evident in Premier Levinile's speech about sacking the Dverian Capital several months ago. She had her critics, but I believe it was a battlecry we as a nation needed to hear: "We cannot obtain peace by reciprocated hate. We must rise above anger, not lower to its level. Only then can we achieve long-lasting victory."

And tonight, with these tough concepts broadcast to millions of Unonian-speaking Vekaiyun homes, we examine the viewership of our people. Yes, of course there was a spike when our nation walked. But there's something else: people actually tuned in. They watched. They did not, for the most part, change the channel or walk away. They watched. From the tremendous amounts of LED lights, to the perhaps poorly-translated soliloquies of bearded seafaring men, to odd scenes of nuclear board games, all the way to the parade of nations leading up to the final remarks and fireworks. Not only that, but Vekaiyuns took to the social media with generally positive comments. Yes, there was the 'why don't they use chemical warfare and not nuclear warfare' rhetoric, and the whole 'thorium is safer, cleaner, and more efficient than uranium' shtick. But in general, it seems many Vekaiyuns responded positively to the opening events. We can breathe a sign of relief.

My dear countrymen, we are now confident of our own culture, comfortable in our own skin. Consequently, we're now curious. Not because we are seeking change; instead, we simply want to know the world around us. As a reporter, I could not say that five years ago. Today, however, I can. And that, to me, is perhaps the most remarkable thing about these Olympics. That is something new worth talking about.

by **Titaniumland** » Fri Aug 22, 2014 10:40 pm

Day 0-1 Highlight

Archery - Our two archer, Alli Simpson and Rya Mya competed in women's. They were failed to advanced to next rounds, after placing under-64 in ranking round. Alli placed 83rd of total 172 women archer, with 642 points, fourteen 10s and four xs. Rya placed 135th, with 628 points, thirteen 10s and three xs, while the lady soldiers from Gregorygodistan led the ranking rounds. Lady Soldier PXJJAH13 led the women's ranking rounds.

Results
  1 Lady Soldier PXJJAH13 (GGS)        673   34   16
  2 Lady Soldier CLAMPASI (GGS)        673   30    8
  3 Doris Fields (ETM)                 672   30   14
  4 Shayna MacFarlane (SAR)            668   30   11
  5 Nicole Perry (PSC)                 667   29    6
  6 Cecilia Blanchard-Sweet (KYP)      667   25   11
  7 Lidija Kovic (SRB)                 666   29    9
  8 Michelle McIntyre (LEN)            666   21    4
  9 Ashma Ksirmaalurevik (HZA)         665   28   13
 10 Lillie Lee (KYP)                   665   28   10
 ...
 83 Alli Simpson (TTM)                 642   14    4
135 Rya Mya (TTM)                      628   13    3

Volleyball - We have sent men volleyball team and it is placed in group B along with Globus, Britonisea, Kalosia, The Royal Barangay and Saugeais. Our first match is against Kalosia. We won 3-1 against Kalosia. Below is the results of group B at the first day.

Results
Globus (GLO)                         25  18  20  24
Britonisea (GBK)                     16  25  25  26

Titaniumland (TTM)                   25  29  23  25
Kalosia (KLS)                        19  27  25  15

The Royal Barangay (TRB)             26  25  25
Saugeais (SAU)                       24  19  23


  Group B                           Pld   W  L   PF  PA  PD 
1 The Royal Barangay                  1   1  0    3   0  +3
2 Britonisea                          1   1  0    3   1  +2
  Titaniumland                        1   1  0    3   1  +2
4 Globus                              1   0  1    1   3  −2
  Kalosia                             1   0  1    1   3  −2
6 Saugeais                            1   0  1    0   3  −3

by **Electrum** » Sat Aug 23, 2014 1:20 am

Network ENN - Olympics Coverage - Day 1

Christina Rodriguez: Thank you for those watching for staying up so late to watch the Opening Ceremony in Kytler Peninsulae. Although it's nearing 10pm now in Electrum in the Endemien Timezone, we are about to approach 8pm in Bay City for the start of the Ceremony. It's picture perfect weather here in Kytler Bay City, and it seems like the stars have aligned to what promises to be a fantastic show. The ceremony will start in a few minutes time, so sit around and enjoy the panoramas and vista, courtesy of the local camera crew.

I guess now is a fantastic time to spruik Kytler Bay City... KBC was formerly a haven for the drugs trade, but don't let their history fool you. These proud Bay City residents would now like to show you the new KBC, one filled with a contemporary mixed martial arts scene and one of urban renewal and regeneration. The Olympics have brought this city back on the map, and it's time for us to get there and enjoy what's new! Just look at the new venues! Get down here and have some fun. And with that, the ceremony is about to start. Join us in with the countdown.

A short time later...

Now we move on from that sonnet to the history of Kytler Peninsulae. Of course, for those of you who are at home unfamiliar of the history of KP, Kytler Bay City was once the capital city of the whole nation before the capital was moved North to Zube as a result of the Zube Agreement. What a fantastic insight and history lesson we are getting right now. Never have I seen interpretive dancing quite like it, and it's such a wonderful representation of how history links us all together. They are just hammering the point that the Past, Present and Future are all inextricably linked together, and we must always acknowledge the past to move onto the future.

A country formerly in chaos, now united as one, truly symbolic stuff. A clean up of drugs too, a problem which is virtually non-existent in Electrum after the Drug Enabling Act, finally legalising a majority of drugs to the masses.

“From chaos and darkness... let light emerge.”

And here it is! The Olympic Flame! Of course, as this is a jointly run Olympics between two cities, Kytler Bay City will be receiving a small representation of the Olympic Flame. The flame, originally from the birthplace of the Olympics is now here. An Indigenous Kyterian is now running around the arena, and just at the other end is Cruz d'Cruze, one of the nine gold medallists at the last Olympic Games in Orean, Liventia. He won the gold at the Men's 56kg Weightlifting event, lifting a total of 281kg to secure victory.

And with that, the secondary Olympic torch is lit. We note that Cruz is actually lifting tomorrow, so we wish him the best of luck. Now a skydiver is retrieving the torch where it will now be passed onto Zube. And with the passing of the torch, I will now hand over coverage to two of our fantastic socialites from Electrum, William Kay and Dee Marquez in Zube....

William Kay: Thank you Christina for the coverage in Kytler Bay City. Dee and I are just remarking on the movie that's playing now -- seems to be a board game based on the founding of the Kytler Peninsulae, “Dawn of a Nation.”

Dee Marquez: Hey all! And yes, how befitting a nation of board game lovers show us one of their popular board games. Though, I'm a bit confused as to how it works. I mean, what is a Varn?

William Kay: I don't know... but I need to get me all the influence I can get! You know Dee, Kytler Peninsulae is such a unique nation too. I've never seen anything quite like it. It has it all.

Dee Marquez: Yes, I think we can say that they've had their share of problems in the past, but now is the celebration of the fact that they are now a united nation. I mean the board games, and their love for the unique style of symphonic pop, or if you're unaware classical pop, is a wonderful consequence of their history and culture. And full marks for their cultural scene as well.

William Kay: That's right Dee. We'll take a quick break for now. Stay tuned for more, and of course, after that will be the Parade of Nations.

22:58 EnT

Dee Marquez: Welcome back. Right now we are going through the different regions with the Ceuran DJ Viddy O and his groovy music.

William Kay: You would not want to be on crack right now, am I right Dee?

Dee Marquez: Oh stop it you, Will! The lights are so shiny... so pretty. I just love the feel of the whole thing. Anyways, their choice of using DF Viddy O for the Opening Ceremony is interesting.

William Kay: In what way, Dee?

Dee Marquez: They're genderqueer. I think it's a testament of the open society of acceptance the Kytler Peninsulae has.

William Kay: That's right. You know, there are a lot of similarities between Electrum and the Kytler Peninsulae, and yeah. I get what you mean by that. I also like they're name too. Viddy O. Sounds like Video. Get it? Haha...

Dee Marquez: OK Will, I'm not going to say anymore, because you might embarrass yourself. Anyways, we cross to live coverage to the helicopter bringing the flame from Kyler Bay City from before and it is now on its way here to Zube. And look! A skydiver has just landed safely -- organisers must be relieved.

William Kay: Yes, the sky diver is passing the torch onto Stephanie Edwards who is a champion in the high school steeplechase competition they have in Kytler Peninsulae.

Dee Marquez: Back to Zube and we've reached the end of the final song.

William Kay: Martin Bartlett, the head of the committee organising the Olympiad is now here. Following him will be Royston French, the President of the Olympic Council.

A short while after both speeches...

Dee Marquez: Onto the parade of athletes! We have a long list to go through, I think there are a several dozen delegations, so don't doze off! At least wait for Electrum to arrive in just a few minutes time.

William Kay: We start with Liventia, of course recognised for the Olympic spirit and the administrative support they have given to all hosts and Olympics, including this one. Next, onto Al-Mumtaz.

Electrum: And Electrum has arrived in town! A few hundred strong delegation arrives, with their oversized yellow and silver uniforms with massive lapels. Flagbearer Tyrone Mirza is here, captain of the basketball team. He hopes to continue Electrum's winning form this year after coming second in the International Basketball Championships and first in the World Hoops Showcase. He would want nothing less but a gold medal around him and his team. What an enormous honour to be bestowed onto him.

Gregoryisgodistan: Hm, looks like the cheering stopped for this strange and kooky nation. This nation of 75 million worships their one true god, Lord Almighty Gregory who is participating in the tennis. He's expected to make a big impact.

Kytler Pensinsulae: And the Kytlerians are here! There's a massive roar in the stadium as Joke Ter Haar enters the stadium as flagbearer. She is defending two titles -- the individual and team sprints with Muller. As they make their lap...

Dee Marquez: Will, I wonder where the flame is?

Willliam Kay: It is coming right now, as you can see in the live footage, the flame is weaving through the stadium... and it's on the track! There's Gideon Veidt, the first Olympiad Champion for the Kytler Pensinulae in Lasft, Cafundeu in the Men's Road Race. Ocilla Dotos now with the torch...

Dee Marquez: Passing it on Allora Vidiri who is suffering from a motor neurone disease, poor Allora... with Thug Whaariny by her side. Thug and Allora were both gold medallists in Lasft, Cafundeu for the Weightlifting. And together -- now they...

William Kay: The Olympiad has officially commenced! The flame has been lit! For a few weeks of competition, this torch will stay shining bright and lit up for competition. What a wonderful symbol for international competition and kinship. There's PM Muirhead, and President Eppler will now speak --

“And accordingly, it is my greatest pleasure to declare the Games of the Ninth Olympiad open!”

Our Team (not an exhaustive list)
Sam Pace: Host
Ed McCoy: Host
Christina Rodriguez: Roving Reporter
Jennifer Byrne: Co-Host/Social Media Correspondent
William Kay: Commentator
Dee Marquez: Commentator

Games of the IX Olympiad: RP/IC

95X IX Olympiad MD0 RP

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