Games of the V Olympiad - RP thread

[Ferkas]

Day 17

Republic Sport Magazine

Early action in Outineu has been limited on this, day 17 of the Olympic Games. Breshawn Waslet ran in the heats of the Mens 110M High Hurdles, finishing in 85th place with a time of 14.15. Frederic Xian ran in the heats of the Womens 200M Dash and finished in 80th place with a time of 23.99. The final event of the day was Hannah Elzt-MoClaster lost 9-4 to Inga Irranofar of (BRS) in Womens Boxing Middleweight.

[Kelssek]

Day 17B

[Zwangzug]

"Nice going!" said Leslie.

"Shut up," hissed Tim.

"Hey, you didn't get overlapped. That's an achievement."

"Oh, like you could have done any better," said Orel.

"We could've qualified, anyway," said Mariah.

"Sure you could've."

"We could!" she repeated petulantly, before realizing the kind of gazes she was getting. "Well, you guys were lucky to get fifth."

"Calm down," said Daniel. "It's the Olympics, let's make the most of it."

"Huh?" asked Pakpao.

"There's this great little bagel shop..." Daniel began, and Tim would have rolled his eyes except it really was great.

*****

"I have the easier race," said Jeremy. "Well, for one thing, I have two of them...oh come on, no, seriously."

"Okay, yeah, having to do something twice doesn't make it easier."

"No, but they get to take the best one, right? And, whatever happens, it's just for seeding."

"Yeah, okay," said Mason, "but I have a partner to race with."

"How does that help?"

"I have someone to blame when we lose!"

Jeremy rolled his eyes.

"Oh, it must be time. Okay, good luck."

"Yeah, you too."

And the Hash cousins split up to begin their day.

*****

Samantha dismounted from her bike in a half-stumble, half-slump of relief. She wandered over somewhere where the course wasn't, and eventually became dimly conscious of the sound of "Well, it's not gonna count."

Samantha turned and blinked at Hannah.

"And you're still beating me," the latter offered.

"You've still got your name spelled correctly."

"You have a rebuttal if anyone wants to criticize your performance."

Samantha thought for a moment. "Point," she conceded. "And there I was getting mad at my unnecessarily-progressive parents."

[Somewhereistonia]

Somesport.som

Quietly Brilliant in Kelssek

Whilst Somewhereistonia is busy hosting and watching the latest Rugby League World Cup, the Olympic delegation is quietly doing wonders in Outinaeu or as the frenchie Kelssekians like to call us, Somewhereistonie. So, how good are we doing? Well, this Candelaria And Marquez being all silly and insular and not entering tournaments at the moment, we are (by a hell of a long way) top of the ladder as far as Rushmori nations are concerned - having almost as many medals as the next Rushmori rivals (Virabia and Sargossa) combined - 7 more gold medals than the rest of Rushmore combined. This is probably due, in part, to the small number of Rushmori nations taking part [this has nothing to do with Rushmori being 109.3% puppet nations].

So, we are the best in Rushmore, what else? Well, we stand at 5th in the table with a sturdy 35 medals. Not a huge amount, but enough, and crucially, enough gold medals to keep us up there. The consistency of our team's medals in our sports puts us right a the very top in those sports, whilst elsewhere we suffer. We are right up there in rowing, sailing and other boating stuff as well as cycling and our favourite, shooting. We get pretty much all of our medals in these events, with some others in things like archery and fencing (not that we have some sort of addiction to weapons or anything). Elsewhere we suffer, badly; aquatics, equestrian and athletic events we are atrocious at, we have a few good individuals but overall, our team is just this side of bloody awful. Still, it doesn't cost a great deal to send them there and a large delegation is always good, just it seems we need to get better at a few events here and there. A bit more training, a bit more focus, besides, the BSA are bringing in enough money from the Olympics from various sources, so they can afford to put back in a bit.

So, back to the silence over there in Kelssek - the team have been well hidden in the Olympic village over in Kelssek, with plenty of day trips out of the city for the team members not too busy; the idea being to keep the team away from the media, not to be insular, but to be focused. Outside distractions are kept to a minimum, hence the lack of presence in Outineau (where they'd be expected to be seen). Whilst the team get to see the fans, they are kept away from too much media input, keeping the focus on the team and the team's events, not on the tabloid stories. It seems to be working, and we hope our waterboys can continue their success during the next few days to nudge us back up a bit. We can still do better.

[Bears Armed]

"Heyyah, a Raven has just got here from Outineau, and she says that she's got TODAYs' results!"

"Urrrah! That means we've got more than just speculation to put on the front page of the 'Sports' section after all: Quick, tell me the highlights so that I can decide which of our writers it would be best to assign to these stories..."

"Hokay:
"Silver medal for Serreenar West in the Female's Discus Throw, Ilga o March had also qualified for that event's final but onlt ened up in eighth place out of eight-and-four: the Gold went to Dagan Randy Bowers... What a name, eh?
"In Boxing, James Jones through the first round of the Males' Middleweight contest with an 11-7 win over Qazox's entrant, and Inga Irranofnar through the Females' version 9-4 over the entrant from wherever the letters 'RFK' stand for.
"There's a Silver medal from the Cycle Track, too, Varrdar Bad-News & Skarron Bad-News managed second place in the Males' Madison race and ALMOST beat the Krytenian team into first place instead, it was a verrry close result.
"Ilda got as far as the 'Bronze medal matches' stage in the Females' Freestyle Wrestling (63kg), but in the next weight-class up in that event -- '72kg' -- Elga got the GOLD with a 3-0 triumph over Akbarabad's Imrana Sharmin..."

"Those furless Akbarabaddies! They won a load of the Weightlifting medals, beat our entrants in a lot of the Wrestling events until this one, and even outdid us in the Male's 20km Walk: Are we absolutely SURE that they aren't really disguised Ursines rather than only Humans... ?!?"

"Humans, it seems... Anyhows:
"Berranna Beorninga and Elsa Sunblessed both qualified for the 'medal round' in the Female's Javelin Throw, second and eight-and-one'th respectively out of the usual eight-and-four finalists, but Gwenyrr up Owarr up Efforra "only" ended up at eight-and-six'th so she'll miss out on the chance her colleagues have to bring home some more metalware.
"Domnar Westwoods did very well in the Quarter-finals of the Males' 400m race, qualifying for the next round in third place out of fourEights and only a tiny sliver of time before either of the two people who got in ahead of him, so we could well be looking at another medal THERE in a couple of races' time... and Elga Pawstrong came second in the Semi-finals for the Females' version of that event, by just as close a margin, so maybe her too!
Some more Freestyle Wrestling later on in the day, Antony Bosanquet won two consecutive matches in the Males' 55kgchallenge, 3-1 both times, and so is through to the Semi-finals; and in the next weight-class up, '60kg', Hammar o BlackHills was given a 'bye' through the first round and then beat the host's entrant Joseph Garver 3-0 in a 'Quarter-Final' so reasonable hopes for us now in THAT field I think...
Those are just about all of the "Good News" results, for us, I think."

"Hrrright, got it. And the overall position for 'Team BA' in the tables now?"

"Eight-and-one'th again, on eight, eight-and-four, and twoEights-and-two for the grades of medal: Just a single 'Gold' more would have raised us up by yet another place, but I'd say that being in the top eighth as we are is still a a pretty respectable level considering how small a population we have to recruit entrants from compared to some of the other nations concerned..."

"Agreed, agreed."

[Delaclava]

The phone rang, awaking Darren Giles with a start. It took a few more rings before Giles became aware of his surroundings and finally picked up the phone beside his bed. "'Lo?" he said lazily.

"Good morning, this is the Carmen Inn front desk. This is the wake-up call that you requested at 6:15 AM. Have a nice day." Click.

"I didn't request a phone call," Giles said, but not into the phone. He turned the lights on and saw the poster of Rocco Davis. "Of course," he muttered. It was all coming back to him; the conversation with Davis and David Polley, the doctor's appointment with Dr. Clayton. He hadn't even told his wife and three kids. So after showering and dressing, he left a message: "Hey, Sarah, it's me, Darren. Just scheduled an appointment with Dr. Clayton, a doctor here in Quinniville. If you could come, it might be something serious. No need to bring the kids, just have David take care of the other two. See you soon."

He hung up just as he heard a knock on the door, and he opened it to let in Rocco Davis and David Polley. "Hey Darren, how you doing?" Rocco asked.

"Not bad. David?" David didn't respond. Eyebrow raised, he was eyeing the poster of himself on the wall. Finally he looked back at Darren, who smiled and said, "It's a long story. Well, we should probably get breakfast."

They took the elevator down to the first floor. While in the elevator, Giles asked, "Rocco, what was up with you in your match against Renard?"

"Couldn't focus," Davis replied. "Too much in my head." He looked significantly back at Giles who, uncharacteristically, did not respond.

The three of them were definitely getting a lot of stares and a lot of offers for autographs, and Polley no less than the other two, which seemed to surprise him some. At 8:00, they took the monorail over to the doctor's office. At 8:15, a tall, dark-haired woman called, "Darren Giles?" That definitely raised several heads in the lobby, but the three of them just followed her into a room. She introduced herself, "Doctor Minerva Clayton," shaking hands with all of them.

"Darren Giles," Giles said. "This is Rocco Davis and David Polley."

"No need to tell me," Dr. Clayton said, smiling. "My family and I are all big fans, especially my oldest son. He was at all of the matches at the Carpet Championships." Then she got a bit more serious. "David, you're the one who called me first?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Well, let's get started," Dr. Clayton replied. "Darren, why are you here?" she asked as she flipped a page on her notepad and got poised to write.

Giles took a deep breath and began. "I've been feeling very tired, very fatigued the past few weeks. I feel a bit weak and I think I'm losing a bit of muscle control."

Dr. Clayton looked up, seeming indifferent. "Darren, you've been playing in both the Carpet Championships and the Olympics. And you're 37 years old. Are you expecting not to feel tired?"

Polley interjected. "Doctor, I've played against Darren enough times to know when he's fatigued and when there's something more. What I've seen in the Scott Cup is fatigue. Every single one of his matches in the Carpet Championships, it's seemed like more than that. He's even looked bad after straight-set matches when the opponent's not even worth breaking a sweat over."

Davis added, "I've seen him in the Olympics, and I played him in the semifinals of Outineau. He was going against some easy opponents and came out of those matches each time looking bad. After our match he looked dead on his feet."

Giles couldn't even make a case that this part was an over-exaggeration, because it was most likely true. Clayton nodded and scribbled some things down. "Darren, when did you start experiencing this?"

"Four years ago."

Everyone looked at him. "It was very minor then, not even noticeable. At that point I could have and did chalk it up to older age. But thinking about it now it seems that what's going on now developed from that."

Dr. Clayton then said, "Okay, we're going to do some tests, take your blood, see what may be going on now. Right now I have a few ideas of what it might be, need to narrow it down and rule everything out."

So Clayton and a few other people began testing blood, an EMG, an NCV, and an MRI. A few hours later, Clayton and the three tennis players were sitting when a technician walked in with a few papers. Clayton flipped through them and said, "Hmm. Darren, blood's clean."

"Is that a good thing?" Davis asked.

"Considering what you've told me? I have no idea." She turned to Giles and said, "I've pulled your medical file-"

The technician walked again and gave some diagrams and more papers to Clayton, who looked over them and said quietly, "No. It can't be." She walked out with the technician, leaving Giles, Davis, and Polley bemused.

A tall brunette woman suddenly walked, and Darren stood up to give her a hug. "Sarah, good to see you," he muttered. "Sarah, you know Rocco. That's David Polley, the Sarzonian player I've faced many times. David, my wife Sarah."

Sarah and David shook hands, and Sarah said, "So good to finally meet you." Turning to her husband, she said. "I needed to get Mrs. Casey to drive Claire to skating practice, David's taking care of Forrest. What's going on?"

Before Darren could answer, Dr. Clayton walked in again. "Mrs. Giles, I'm Dr. Clayton. David here called me to set up an appointment, and Darren's been telling me about his fatigue and weakness problems, so we did some tests. Ready to hear the results?"

They all nodded. Dr. Clayton said, "Blood came back clean, and we did several neurological and muscular tests. I couldn't believe it at first, so we double-checked. At the moment, I can't be 100% sure, but I'm fairly certain."

"What is it?" Giles asked quietly.

Clayton said, "Darren, you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, ALS."

Everyone was stunned. Polley whispered, "Lou Gehrig's disease."

[Sarzonia]

The diagnosis hit Polley hard. In that moment, Darren Giles was no longer a rival, no longer merely someone whom he'd competed with and against on the tennis court. Now, Giles was a friend in need, someone who was in his hour of vulnerability.

There were so many thoughts running through Polley's head. One of them was a realisation that Darren's and Sarah Giles's heads were spinning. Another was incredulity. Here Polley was, sitting with someone he only previously knew from tennis competitions across the court from him and now finding out something so incredibly personal, so private about him.

Polley looked over at the wall for a pamphlet, anything that had some information about the diagnosis, the treatment, any way he could provide Darren and Sarah the comfort they were seeking. He looked over and saw Rocco sitting stunned. He saw Darren and Sarah both looking dejected. Instinctively, David stood up and walked to the space between Darren and Sarah, putting one arm around each one's shoulder.

Rocco looked at Dr. Clayton as if looking for answers to the cruel joke life had just played on his mentor.

"Is there a cure?"

"There are treatments available," Clayton said. "Unfortunately, there is no cure." Lowering her voice and looking as sympathetic as possible, she said in a stage whisper, "we're looking at possibly five years."

"Five years for what?" Davis asked. "Life expectancy?"

Clayton nodded her head. "Yes."

Polley tightened his arm around Darren and Sarah a bit before he stood up to let the two of them comfort each other. He walked over to Davis and saw he had his head down and was closing his eyes. He sat next to Davis and put his arm around him.

"I'll be there for you," Polley said. "All of you."

[Sargossa]

The Island Chronicle



Track & Failed


Oh dear. Maria Vigil aside, the Sargossan athletics performance has been a little, well, rubbish. It's not so much the lack of medals that hurts but rather the total absence of any of the Archipelago's so-called finest from even the later stages of these events. So bad has it been that Sports Minister Rubén Soriano has felt it necessary to act. In a live interview on SargoSport One's Olympics Tonight Soriano announced the creation of the Azure League, a professional athletics league that will pitch the nation's track and field competitors in a whole series of events spread across the entire nation as well as overseas territories Costa Azula and Santazuela. The hope being that introducing a more professional structure will stand Sargossa well come the sixth summer Olympiad. Fat chance i'm sure.

But, in a rather scatter-gun fashion, the medals have been trickling in. And it's been a case of so near but yet so far as silver seems to be the Sargossan colour of choice during these games. Of the nation's sixteen medals ten of them are silver. Ten chances to claim a gold that slipped agonisingly away. We did gain one more gold, Cristian Obolo and Ivan Bolanos with a cracking win in the final of the men's tennis doubles, but it's been pretty much silver all the way since then. There was even a medal in the pool as Eduardo Barrón achieved the almost impossible in the 50m freestyle. And if that was a surprise it's nothing compared to the reaction of those several people who are possibly watching the equestrian events. The equestrian team are only here thanks to a large 'donation' paid to the Olympic Association by a group of Sargossa's elite who wanted their spoilt offspring at the games. Who knew they'd be quite good? The horsey folk have bagged themselves five, five, medals. Three silver and two bronze have been added to the nation's tally thanks to the socialites.

In more manly news Pedro Ibero's lift of 459kg in the men's over 105kg weightlifting for a time was a new Olympic record before he was overhauled by The Landau Institute's Professor Romário Trabuco and Quodite Pétur Eyvindur Þórirsson but it was still good enough to get him a bronze. In much less manly news Tia Blanco took silver in the women's bouncing.

Prior to the games the Olympic Association set a target of thirty medals and a top twenty place in the rankings. Now if you ask them they'll insist they said twenty five medals but we're still nine shy of that. Sargossa is just about hanging on in the top twenty but the major diapointment is just how far we sit behind fellow Rushmoris Virabia and Somewhereistonia. Another gold or three would really be rather nice right about now but where exactly are they going to be coming from? There's a couple of feint hopes in the field events and a handful of useful boxers who could be the ones to look out for. Marcos Cañadas is well placed to sneak a medal in the windsurfing but alas they'll be no repeat of Aeropag's diving double. The best bet for a gold remains the team of Maria Vega and Alda Montero in the beach volleyball. The girls have been the school boy's favourites back home for a while but they can play a bit too, advancing from their group with a perfect record, the only duo not to drop a single set. After getting so close last time out the girls are desperate to have another crack at Cafundéu and take the gold.

[Somewhereistonia]

MY TEAM IS AWESOME

Obviously my team is awesome, no matter what anyone else says, my team is the best! It's like awesome at running and jumping and stuff! Look at me, I can copy the results for my team out and write like 3 lines about them! Wooooooooooooo! Fuck yeah! Look, my guy won X event, he's like uber brilliant at excellent and can't be beaten at everything. Oh wait, he didn't win! It must be a fix, no other thing could account for my random imaginary character not winning everything I enter them into, it's like some sort of conspiracy! D:

Anyway, we have a rivalry with some other nation for some random reason, so we're going to rant about them in every rp because we have a rivalry with them, grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Woooooooooooooooooooooooo! Rivalry! Wooooooooooooogrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! Yeah, we need to mention our rivals all the time because we have a rivalry, we need to talk about our results all the time as well, and also some random stuff about our team that nobody is interested in reading. It will only lead to mild depression on the part of the host so it's 'k.

[OOC: This isn't directed at any particular person, I'm just randomly rambling whilst drunk. Still, be nice to Kelssek, our sexy host and make things interesting.]

[Qazox]

<<<QBC.com/The Games of the Vth Summer Olympiad>>>

Qazoxian Day Seventeen Results:

Men’s Basketball

Qazox   17 16 20 27  80
Cosumar 24 18 16 20  78

One day after a buzzer-beater cost the women's team, a missed one saved the men's team as Cosumar' final shot bounced off the back rim, sending Qazox into the medlal round. 26 points and 14 rebounds from Erik Chaidez. Julian Crumbee had 15 points off the bench, including the eventual game winning 3-pointer with 5.1 seconds left.

Boxing- Men’s Middleweight—First Round
Mark Westin Lost to James Jones (Bears Armed) 7-11 decision. Despite winnign teh first round and darwing the 2nd and 3rd rounds, Mark Westin lost a 11-7 decision to James Jones of Bears Armed. Jones pounded Westin in the 4th round, and only the bell saved it from being a TKO.

Women's Beach Volleyball
Karen St. John and Marsha Brooke lost to Emily Woodby/Cat Esquivel (Cosumar) 21-23, 25-27. After being eliminated the other day, St. John & Brooke lost two tough sets to the Cosumarian Duo.

[Kelssek]

Day 18 A

[The Babbage Islands]

Scott: Heartbreak in handball and football . . .
Bryn: . . . and more medals in equestrian. I'm a heartbroken Bryndis Óskarsdóttir,
Scott: And I'm Scott Clinton, we're BS all the time coming to you from the Outineau Olympic Games.

Bryn: Two more medals makes five, and three gold is already our national best.
Scott: Retired Aerocorps captain Don Wild put together two flawless rides on his horse Sky Pilot to win the gold medal in individual show jumping.
Bryn: That's four perfect rides out of five for the competition. Do you think he was tired of jumpoffs?
Scott: Maybe. He lost a medal by jumpoff in this very event in Aeropag, then went through another jumpoff on the way to our team gold here.
Bryn: Joy Koploy didn't manage to avoid a jumpoff. But she won out anyway in the four way tie and collected an individual bronze as well.
Scott: Three medals in show jumping is exceeding all expectations, for sure.
Bryn: We only sent an equestrian team in jumping. What are the prospects for a bigger entry next Olympics?
Scott: I think it rides on money, no pun intended. All our Olympic teams depend on uncertain financing. But gold medals help. Mine certainly got better funding for shooting, and you gals winning the handball worlds gave that sport a boost.
Bryn: Boost, yeah, but no medal this time. I'm not one to complain about officials, but whatever happened to letting the players play? When's the last time we were held to 21 goals?
Scott: You have a point. I saw that match, and it never really flowed. Stop for this, stop for that. You were playing Quintessence of Dust, though.
Bryn: Yes. They have a solid lineage in handball and are having a huge overall Olympics. Still, I'm looking for another shot at 'em.
Scott: Sooner or later.
Bryn: Tough loss for the football team, penalty kicks are a nasty way to go.
Scott: Always. Still, full marks to Pierre Rouleau in particular for taking this young eleven a long way and reversing our Aeropag disappointment.
Bryn: He's a fairly young manager, too, with an overseas professional job. Look for him to be around a while.

Until our next conversation, remember, we're BS all the time!

[Delaclava]

DNBSports.com

Olympics: DOC's Making A Difference Program, update

At the beginning of the Outineau Olympics, the Delaclava Olympic Committee formed their Making A Difference Program, which sought to give back to the community.

The first part involved only the DOC itself. They are currently forming a shortlist of foundations based on nominations made by citizens online. Based on an online vote, the third-placed foundation will receive a donation of 500,000 Karsikas, the second-placed foundation will receive a donation of 750,000 Karsikas, and the top vote-getting cause will be granted one million Karsikas. Each shortlisted foundation will still get 100,000 Karsikas, and each foundation that has received both a nomination and a second will receive 50,000 Karsikas.

The second part involved the athletes. Each athlete and team has picked a cause that they will donate to. For each bronze medal an athlete or team wins, their corresponding foundation will receive 250,000 Karsikas; for each silver medal, the corresponding cause will get 375,000 Karsikas; and for each gold medal, the champion will get 500,000 Karsikas for the charity of their choice.

The athletes have risen magnificently to the occasion so far. They have collected 9 gold medals, 3 silver, and 9 bronze for a total of 21. That already exceeds their gold haul from Aeropag, and they are only one short of their total from Aeropag with still a lot of competition to go. Here's a look at all the medal winners and see which foundations they chose.

Paula Biederlieu/Naomi Lester/Catherine DeSouza/Gabriela Santos Sandoval - aquatics (swimming), women's 4x100m freestyle relay - Operation Safehouse
Matthew Daniltsin - athletics, men's 100m - Scarlet Eagle Foundation
Scott Hamul, Daniel Cancellara, Ales Taav - cycling (track), men's team sprint - National Cancer Foundation
Simon Sepulveda - gymnastics, men's rings - Delaclava Armed Forces
Tyler England - athletics, men's 20km walk - Children's Hospital
Daniel Cancellara - cycling (track), men's Keirin - Breaking Boundaries
Daniel Cancellara - cycling (track), men's points race - Breaking Boundaries
Bob Shoefucker - triathlon, men's - Sprout
Daniel Cancellara - cycling (track), men's sprint - Breaking Boundaries

SILVER
Rocco Davis - tennis, men's singles - Scarlet Eagle Foundation
Janine Koran - wrestling (freestyle), women's 55kg - Kidnapping Victims Foundation
Malia Guena - athletics, women's 400m - Operation Safehouse

BRONZE
Ales Taav - cycling (road), men's mass start - Delaclava-Sarzonia Border Patrol
Dovikyo Sarlos - aquatics (swimming), men's 100m butterfly - Community Fit
Gail Debussy - athletics, women's heptathlon - Children's Hospital
Darren Giles - tennis, men's singles - Scarlet Eagle Foundation
Jay Clemons - athletics, men's 3000m steeplechase - Sprout
Dominic Vargas - athletics, men's 400m hurdles - Rebirth Foundation
Scott Hamul, Daniel Cancellara - cycling (track), men's Madison - National Cancer Foundation
Budi Licius - wrestling (freestyle), women's 72kg - Operation Safehouse
Sinibou Caelticon - athletics, women's 100m hurdles - Operation Safehouse

So here's the total so far for the various charities!

Breaking Boundaries - 3 golds, 1,500,000 Karsikas
Operation Safehouse - 1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronzes, 1,375,000 Karsikas
Scarlet Eagle Foundation - 1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze, 1,125,000 Karsikas
National Cancer Foundation - 1 gold, 1 bronze, 750,000 Karsikas
Children's Hospital - 1 gold, 1 bronze, 750,000 Karsikas
Sprout - 1 gold, 1 bronze, 750,000 Karsikas
Delaclava Armed Forces - 1 gold, 500,000 Karsikas
Kidnapping Victims Foundation - 1 silver, 375,000 Karsikas
Delaclava-Sarzonia Border Patrol - 1 bronze, 250,000 Karsikas
Community Fit - 1 bronze, 250,000 Karsikas
Rebirth Foundation - 1 bronze, 250,000 Karsikas

But these totals aren't final! There's still plenty more games to be played, and there's also a few days left for you to nominate your favorite charity! Most of all, just cheer on our athletes as they compete for medals, glory, and national pride! Go PHOENIXES!

[Kelssek]

Day 18 B

[Zwangzug]

The Kerlagrad Courier
Regional Olympics "unlikely" after parliamentary dismissal

The Parliament has voted down a proposal to host the Starways Congress Olympics despite some strong performances from Zwangzug cyclists at the "only one that actually matters" (Henry Huxley, V-Vordex) in Outineau. Despite the hypothetical event being touted as "much-coveted", our intrepid journalists have so far failed to find anybody that actually coveted it at all, and pundits predict that any such competition would simply be replaced by Zwangzug's Olympic trials (assuming somebody actually wants to take charge of putting a delegation together for the next games).

In addition to criticisms of wasting money on a regional Olympics, some sources feel that it "wouldn't really be fair". Even members of the delegation in Kelssek seem ambivalent. "Wait, we could have had a regional Olympics?" asks mountain biker Maxwell Nimh. "Cool, then I'd have gotten to race against..."

"Um. Who would I have gotten to race against?" asked Nimh, staring into space.

Organized athletics appears to be here to stay, with Jeremy Stosen-Hash arguably an upset qualifier for the semifinals of the BMX races, but Starways Congress as a region lacks any sort of sports structure. "What kind of stuff even takes place on a regional level anyway?" challenged Vanessa Lante (LC-Ervimnal). "Soccer tournaments or something? It's not like even we'd field much of a team, although I do concede that the costs in that case wouldn't need to be much."

The Parliament was then treated to Cornelius Stumpney (PT-Omephaw)'s harangue about what "soccer" was called back in his day, whereupon Ellen Whaley (LC-Utekee) reminded her fellow representatives that they were talking about something that had to do with an ongoing international, reoccurring sports event. Upon realizing the full implications of this, Secretary Chadwick very nervously called for a vote. The Olympics were voted down, and the Parliament hastily attempted to hide this meeting from the public. Never fear, brave citizens, we at the Courier shall strive to fight this censorship and bring you news of the utmost accuracy!

[Qazox]

<<<QBC.com/The Games of the Vth Summer Olympiad>>>

Qazoxian Day Eighteen Results:

Women’s Basketball

Qazox   18 20 21 17  76
Kosovoe 30 22 21 20  93

Kosovoe started on a 14-0 run to begin the game, and the Qazoxian women could not make any dent into that lead, though they did close to within 8 at one point in the 3rd quarter (44-52). Odessa Heaps lead the way for Qazox with 19 points, but the most successful showing by this team has ended.

Boxing- Men’s Welterweight— Quarterfinals
Nathan Marquez defeated Ian Donald (Asteran) 9-3 decision. After a tied first round, Marquez dominated the 2nd and 4th rounds to advance to the semifinals. Marquez almost lost the match in the 3rd round when Donald kocked him down, and Marquez appeared to struggle to get back up. He managed to get up at the 8-count and knocked Donald down just before the end of the 3rd round.

Boxing- Men’s Heavyweight— Quarterfinals
Charles Corbin defeated William Kenworthy (Unified Beretania) 10-3 decision. Corbin took the first 3 rounds of the fight easily but struggled in the 4th, being knocked down with just 20 seconds left in the match. Corbin managed to get up before the final bell could ring.

With Marquez and Corbin advancing to the semifinals, Qazox has not had a better chance for a Man to win a gold medal for this nation.

[Kelssek]

Day 19 A

[Sorthern Northland]

The Sports Pink
Sorthern Northland's Olympic paper

Footballers through to quarter-finals following victory over decadent capitalists

Sorthern Northland's men's football team remain on course for the best performance by a Sorthern football team at the Olympic Games following a 3-1 second round victory over Sibirsky.

With Sibirsky known for it's devotion to capitalism the victory marked not only progress to the last eight but also a victory of political ideals. The match however got off to a bad start for the Sorthern side however with Zydrunas Guskias opening the scoring after twelve minutes with a goal that was no doubt the result of some form of cheating by Sibirsky's team.

Sorthern Northland however would rally to a valiant comeback, with Dermot Wolfetone continuing his fantastic form at these Games by scoring his seventh goal in six games to level the scores on thrity-eight minutes. A second goal for the Sortherners would come shortly afterwards with Will Hooper bundling home a Baral Qaavigaaq corner two minutes into first-half stoppage time.

Progress to the quarter-finals was secured in the seventy-sixth minute as substitute Adrian Connolly headed home from another Qaavigaaq corner for Sorthern Northland's third goal.

The run to the quarter-finals matches that of the Sorthern women's team's run to the same stage at the Fourth Summer Olympics which currently stands as the best performance by a Sorthern football team at the Olympic Games.

Cyclist admits Sorthern Northland no longer clearly best cycling nation

With only the mountain biking and BMX disciplines of cycling remaining at these Olympics Sorthern Northland managed to win just four medals in the now completed road and track cycling disciplines, with not a single of those medals being of the golden variety.

It marks a departure from the Third Summer Games in which of Sorthern Northland's fourteen medals eleven were won in cycling events and the Fourth Summer Games where cycling made up eight of Sorthern Northland's final total of thirteen medals.

For Maitiú Ó hAodha though, who lost to Somewhereistonia's Georg Kaljuste in the individual pursuit bronze medal race at these Games the ever lowering number of Sorthern cyclists making it to onto the medal podiums doesn't mark a decline in Sorthern cycling, but an improvement in world cycling.

“We were utterly dominant in Columbia, but I think if you look back at it we were the only nation to put the level of resources into cycling that we did then. By the time Aeropag came around there were quite a few nations at our level, which saw them taking medals we won in Columbia. And then here in Outineau I think there's more nations than at either of the last two games with top level cyclists.”

“For me, Sorthern cycling and Sorthern cyclists are just as good, if not better, than they were in either Columbia or Aeropag. It's just that cycling in other nations, and cyclists from other nations have also improved massively in that time.”

“It might not be good for Sorthern medal counts, but I think it's certainly good for the sport as a whole.”

With the BMX events now under way, Sorthern Northland look well placed to do well in the less traditional cycling discipline within the Olympics. Of the six Sorthern BMXers entered into the Olympics, Seosamh Ó Peatáin, Sam Atkinson, Vicky North and Laura Monaghan have all qualified for the semi-finals.

Of the two not to have qualified Kuaku Akrobettoe completed the men's seeding time trial in the fifth fastest time overall but failed to finish in the first round after suffering serious injuries in a collision with Jasĭyun's Gim Ji-hûn, who was able to remount his bike and finish in seventh place.

In the women's event Úna Úi Dhónaill was knocked out at the quarter-final stage after finishing in last place in her heat. She had previously won heat 6 of the first round as well as setting the sixth fastest time in women's seeding.

Canoeist withdraws from event in order to spend night on the piss

Entered by the Olympic Committee of Sorthern Northland (OCSN) into seven different events Kate Anvers looked likely to among Sorthern Northland better chances of a surprise results in the canoeing and kayaking events. For those within the nation it was something of a surprise to see Kate Anvers completely absent from the women's K-1 500 m event when they tuned into it. Especially as that particular event is supposedly her strongest.

As the likes of Olga Gurenko, Dawn Murrell and Professor Cíntia Yakubin raced their ways to victories in the event's heats it was suggested that Anvers perhaps was simply late in turning out and would simply be one of the last competitors to go. It would later emerge however that Anvers had withdrawn from the event, though no explanation was forthcoming.

The Sports Pink however was able to track a bleary eyed Anvers down the next morning and she was more than happy to offer a reason to her sudden withdrawel.

“It was a busy day at the Complexe sportif nautique d'Outineau and some dodgy weather – the water was too choppy, or it was too windy, or the grass on the banks was being blown in the wrong direction or something – had meant that the events had overrun slightly and by the time the K-1 came around it was getting fairly late.”

“I'd promised the women's hockey team that I'd go out on the lash with them that night as well and if I'd stayed to compete in the K-1 it would've delayed me enough to have to pay an extra couple of dollars to get into the club we were going to.”

“It was therefore decided that perhaps it'd be best to withdraw from the K-1 to save myself from other events whilst also giving me the chance to neck a few more drinks. In hindsight I think the correct decision was taking. We had an awesome night out, the hockey girls really are a lively bunch.”

[Kelssek]

Men's team into water polo quarterfinals as women's team searches for answers
FRIDAY, JULY 30, 2010 | SPORTS | by James Wilcox


Kelssek's Dusko Djordijic gently fends off an opponent during Kelssek's second round victory over Andossa Se Mitrin Vega.

The destiny narrative is still partially on track as Kelssek's men's water polo team beat Andossa Se Mitrin Vega 7-5 to move into the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament in Outineau. Luke Warrener and Pierre Lacousteau each scored two goals to lead the charge and while Kelssek could have been better defensively there was no holding back the offensive potency of the side and Kelssek were excellent at punishing mistakes, going a perfect 3-for-3 on man-up opportunities.

Head coach James Byles, however, felt the scoreline was unnecessarily flattering to the opposition, and singled out Dmitri Stefanovic as one player who had been poor defensively. Stefanovic was consigned to the bench midway through the third quarter after turning over the ball in the hole and allowing Andossa Se Mitrin Vega to score, bringing the scores level at 4-4.

Luke Warrener scored his second right from the fourth quarter swim-off, putting a delicious lob beyond the keeper. Andossa Se Mitrin Vega drew one back with Marc-André Therien excluded for holding back an opponent, but Kelssek went ahead again on a breakout play with Pablo Raglán intercepting a poor pass. With Andossa Se Mtirin Vega a man down Pierre Lacosteau then put the result beyond question with a spectacular backhanded shot off a pass into the hole from Colin Chilliad on the point.

Water polo is perhaps the sport at the Olympics where the most serious pressure and expectation is being placed on Kelssekian athletes, with accompanying agony ensuing when, as has happened in Columbia and Aeropag, things do not go quite as planned. However, confidence is high in the camp ahead of the match against Nation of FSM, and while there are concerns that divine noodliness may in fact bless their opponents, the coaching staff feel the players' minds are in the right place.

"There is no question we have the talent, ability and the experience to go all the way," said Byles. "The problem is one of focus and performing to our potential."

Meanwhile, fans are coming to terms, or trying to, with another Olympic water polo defeat following the women's 8-6 loss against Toiletdonia which put them out of the tournament at the round of 16 stage. Some analysts suggest that unconventional tactics deployed by some other national teams may have put Kelssekians at a disadvantage.

One such unconventional tactic is specifying set positions for players, a ploy Nation of FSM is known to use and something that has prompted a mixture of bemusement and puzzlement from the Kelssekian tactical brain trust.

"I'm not sure why so many teams at the Olympics seem to specifically assign positions to their players. It makes them very predictable and rigid, and they miss so many opportunities when the players don't respond to game situations because they're probably thinking of playing their 'position', which I've seen happen a few times. Specifying some players as 'drivers' is a little misleading, too, because every player should be looking for a good opportunity to drive towards the goal or just to create movement, anyway. I'm surprised it works at all, but when they do things that unexpected it seems to confuse opposing players used to more conventional tactics, especially when our players have day jobs in a highly competitive professional league." Byles commented.

Asked for comment the Burnaby Thunderbirds's Colin Chilliad, playing in his third Olympics, referred reporters to two T-shirts from his secondary school and junior club teams which read "Water polo players do it in every position" and "We penetrate deep when we drive".

[Akbarabad]

Wrestling medal streak broken.

(Akbarabad Press, AP): Mohammed Arif became the first Akbarabadi wrestler at these games to fail to win a medal after he lost both his semifinal and Bronze medal matches in the Freestyle Men’s 74 kg event. An Akbarabadi wrestler had won at least one medal in each of the previous 18 wrestling events and Arif's failure served only to spoil the unprecedented and unique feat of winning medals in all wrestling events. Some Quodite statsmonger (from that blog hes an holocaust or whatever) is better suited to check, but we believe that it has never been achieved. It would have left Akbarabad's mark on this event, especially with us failing to set many new Olympic records with only shooter Salim Akbar setting any new ones in these games.

Looks like we will have to concentrate on winning the overall gold medal count to make up for it bu there are problems in this area too. In a very crowded and competitive field, our athletes are finding it very difficult to pull out gold medal wins in the track and field events. The AOF will have to evaluate whether the massive investment in swimming and athletics is ultimately worth all the trouble. Both sports combined have produced only four gold medals or exactly 18% our total gold tally, while sucking up nearly 40% of all Olympic related investment. Along with archery which is certain to get all it's funding cut, there will have to be a serious reevaluation of our priorities.

[Ferkas]

Track Heats

Republic Sport Magazine

Most of the action today was on the track, and in distance events none the less!

First up was the heats of the Mens 800M. Three Ferkian athletes competed. First across the line was a huge surprise, Oliver Pershing, the last man to qualify for the Olympic team in this event, crossing the line in 1:46.58, which was good for 28th place and an advancement to the next round. He finished ahead of Andrew Peters, the recent 1500M Gold Medalist, who ran a 1:46.74, taking 32nd place and an advancement. Also running was Charles Escabar, who ran a 1:49.62, which was only good enough for 86th place, so he will not be advancing.

The next event was the Mens 5000M Heats. Bernard Ulster-Sherman was the first Ferkian across the line, with a time of 13:41.01, which puts him in 15th place. Next was Lyndon Merlorter with a time of 13:44.54, which gave him 25th place. The final Ferkian across the line, in 45th place was Zakery Jaco with a time of 13:53.12. In a strong Ferkian showing all three men will advance to the next round.

The final bit of action so far today was in boxing, and was a nice surprise. Roger Mel defeated Jose Pinedo (SRG) in the Mens Light Flyweight Division with a score of 11-8. Mel is one of the few decent Ferkian athletes who is not competing on the track, although he did get his athletic start running sprints at the junior club level. He is advancing to the next round,

[Ariddia]

OOC: Sorry for the delay. I was without Internet access from the end of July, and I’m still rather busy.

IC:
Ariddia: Olympics continue, as do talks of the future
The Press Association

Pierre eclipsed; Sissoko flickers; gymnasts shine bronze

There has been relatively little excitement for Ariddians over the past days in Outineau – but some interesting results nonetheless.

In swimming, Claude Kim, who had provided a pleasant surprise by qualifying for the semi-finals of the men’s 50m freestyle, lost out on a place in the final by five hundredths of a second. His tenth place was, however, yet another improvement for the Kelssekian in the red and black swimsuit, who may be rightly proud of an unexpectedly good record at these Games. His Kelssekian compatriot and role model Jason Conroy, who swam in the same semi, qualified for the final in third place, with distinct hopes for a medal.

In athletics, Ariddian reporter Lucy Yamamura, a local Kelssek correspondent turned long distance runner for the Olympics, completed the women’s 10 000 metre race, crossing the finish line 57th out of 79 – in a photo finish with Delaclava’s Dara Solez. She was fewer than three minutes behind winner Kristine Becker of Akbarabad, the only athlete to run the race within less than half an hour. Yamamura quickly retrieved her press card and, breathless, hurried over to catch Becker in a surprise interview.

The men’s ten kilometre race, a little later, saw lone West Ariddian Martin Abdulamjid eliminated in the heats, finishing twenty-eighth. Ariddian Matiu Esho was 43rd.

Elsewhere in athletics, Matiu Esho, again, was 79th (of 89) in the men’s 1500 metres. “I was aiming to be in the top forty or forty-five,” he said afterwards. “This was my first experience of a race against the world’s top runners, and I think I can build on this experience for the future. Though I don’t think I’ll be at the Olympics again.”

Then Lucy Yamamura was back on the go, this time for the marathon. Although showing signs of approaching exhaustion, she maintained a steady pace, and completed the run in just over two and a half hours, in 34th place. This time, she was too tired to interview any of her fellow runners.

“It wasn’t my first marathon,” she said later, “but it was my fastest. I sort of adapted my pace to everyone else’s, and that took a lot out of me. I always finish these things telling myself ‘never again’, but then of course I know I’m going to do it all over again.”


Lucy Yamamura (second row, in the red top, behind the athlete in the blue top) in the marathon

In the men’s 200 metres, Ariddian John Fables picked up a qualifying spot in 59th place, to his unconcealed delight. The second round saw him improve to 40th place – too slow, however, to advance any further. After that, it was straight on to the 400 metres, with little time to recuperate ; an 83rd place meant Fables went out in the first round.

In the women’s 200 metres, visually impaired sprinter Priscillia Sissoko won her heat in 22.91 seconds – a feat to inspire headlines, outrunning ninety opponents to finish sixth overall. She also won her race in the second round, improving her time to 22.64s – and her rank to third overall. A potential bronze medal performance. A slower run in the quarter-finals saw her edge her way through to the semis in sixteenth place – reminding her that medals of any colour would have to be fought hard for. Ariddians hold their breath as they wait for the semi-finals, to watch the young woman who may yet be these Games’ Paralympic and Olympic star.


John Fables reached the second round in the 200 metres

In wrestling, poetry student Teddy Brunt –Ariddia’s first ever Olympic wrestler–
surprised himself by defeating Quodite Fabien Laprise, before going on to lose his semi-final and the repêchage.

In diving, there were high hopes for nineteen year-old Sandra Pierre, a Kelssekian representing Ariddia. In the preliminary stage of the women’s 3m springboard event, the Olympic debutante revealed her talent to a world audience, finishing second out of sixty-one competitors, with a series of near-flawless dives. With a score of 361.25, she was outshone only by Cassadaigua’s excellent Rachel Goodwin.

Some imperfections in the semi-finals saw her drop to fifth, with a score of 343.75, while many of her opponents improved on their previous performance. Rachel Goodwin dropped to sixth, but Kylie Kawasaki of Unified Beretania and Caroline North of Bergnovinania improved quite significantly to take the top spots with over 380 points. The final was shaping up to be a very competitive event.

And so it turned out to be. Cassadaigua took gold – not through Goodwin, who remained sixth, but through the magnificent Tricia Gillson, up from seventh place. Totalling over 382 points, she was soon leagues ahead of her competitors, taking a deserved gold medal. North finished third, while Quodite diver Qiong Chen, who had clinched the twelfth and lowest qualifying spot, made a dramatic comeback to win silver. Faced with such brilliant opponents, Sandra Pierre was twenty points off the podium – but just managed to seize fourth place, by two tenths of a point.

To some extent, it was a disappointment – compounded by a subsequent first round elimination in the 10 metre event, after a number of errors. The young Kelssekian diver –whose mother was born in Ariddia– was clearly upset at finishing the Games without a medal; her talent had stirred high hopes in her mother’s country of origin. But she has been a revelation nonetheless, and it would be difficult to imagine these being her only Olympic Games.

Of course, for Ariddian spectators, there was still the artistic gymnastics, whose final events were always going to be watched closely. Despite a very good performance earlier, Shu Iul finished only fifth in the final of the men’s rings, but his compatriot François Terreau added a bronze to the Ariddian tally in the vault. The parallel bars yielded yet another bronze medal –Ariddia’s fourth in gymnastics at these Games–, won by Marcel Olawale.


A Kelssekian future for Ariddian Olympics?

The Kelssek Institute for Sport has announced it would be providing facilities for Ariddian athletes in preparation for future Olympic Games, as part of an agreement with Ariddian sports authorities. Marc Grandval, President of the Comité olympique ariddien, has expressed warm thanks to all Kelssekian institutions and individuals involved, and has spoken of the “close friendship and cooperation” between the peoples of the two countries. The C.O.A. has confirmed that Kelssekian athletes would be offered free holidays in Ariddia in return for Ariddian athletes’ access to Kelssekian facilities. As noted in the Kelssekian press, Ariddia has no adequate facilities for skiing events, but Ariddians have also been absent from such summer sports as sailing or canoeing – or even handball and basketball, which remain underdeveloped at grassroots level.

“Though we’re very grateful, we don’t intend this to be a one-sided partnership where we do all taking and no giving,” Grandval said. “We’re hoping athletes from both countries can train together and gain experience from one another. We also have very good training staff in sports such as gymnastics, judo or football, who would be very happy to help train Kelssekian athletes too.”

It is thought that the deal will extend to Paralympic sports. Ariddia already has trained Paralympic athletes and coaching staffs, in advance of many other countries – but faces a shortage of adapted training facilities and equipment. This is a field in which any agreement could prove mutually beneficial.

Meanwhile, Kelssekian diver Sandra Pierre, who finished fourth in the 3m platform event while representing Ariddia, has been asked by reporters whether she would like to represent Kelssek in future.

“Yes,” the young athlete said. “Emphatically yes. That would be a great honour, and there’s no doubt in my mind there.”

The C.O.A. has said it fully understands Miss Pierre wishing to represent her own country at future Games, but that she is likely to be invited to enter the Ariddian delegation for the next Games, if she is not taken up by her home nation.


Berthier: Towers twins are not my clones

Former Ariddian Olympic gymnast Sandrine Berthier, who has been living and working on a communal farm on one of the country’s smaller islands, was the unexpected focus of a recent article in a minor newspaper in Quintessence of Dust, Cleethorpes Clarion, which suggested that current gymnastics twins Sophie and Emily Towers are her “clones”. Speaking to a local island newspaper, Berthier admitted that there was a “striking physical likeness” between the twins and the way she had looked at their age. “But they’re not my clones,” she said, amused. “If I’d been cloned after my last Olympics, then they’d be too young right now to compete.”

The local paper published a photograph of Sandrine Berthier as she is now, along with pictures of the Towers twins and their parents. A somewhat unnecessary clarification, perhaps. Ariddia, after all, has no cloning technology.

[Kelssek]

Day 19 B

[Ferkas]

What Is Going On?
Sub-Par Showings on the Track

Republic Sport Magazine

Day 19 continued in Outineau today, with several Ferkian athletes competing, but generally at a very poor level.

In the Mens 800M Run, neither Andrew Peters or Oliver Pershing advanced out of the Quarterfinals. Peters, the 1500M Bronze medalist, only managed a 1:47.17 and Pershing managed a 1:47.82.

Two Ferkian women took to the track for the heats of the Womens 1500M Run, Brenda Jerstons who ran a 4:14.21 for a 58th place and Annabelle Blanch who ran 4:15.51 for 63rd place. Neither of them will advance to the next round.

Of the three women in the 5000M Heats only one, Natalie Westbo, will be advancing to the next round. Her time of 15:20.00 was good enough for a 27th place ranking. The other two women, Sara Losvte and Lindsey Osters ran 16:46.95 and 16:58.97 respectivly.

The final event of the day was the Womens 20km walk. Jillian Sevlats finished in 36th place with a time of 1:35.15.

This string of poor performances have lead to many ferkians questioning the NOC and its training programs leading up to these games. An official statement is expected later.

[Kelssek]

Please see my next post.