[RP thread] Games of the XIV Olympiad

[Tikariot]

The four anchors of the Olympics team of TSG TV (Short for Tikariot Sports Gazette TV) are in the studio with the huge screen behind them showing live picture from the street of Istria.

Damian Caravalo: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen and welcome to our first newscast from the Olympic Summer Games, more precisely from Banija, where the first events have gone underway late yesterday. From a Tikariotian perspective we have seen four athletes and teams in action and first on the menu was water polo, so right over to Mina Soroka and Angelina Volkova.

The picture cuts to the Loyola-Busukuma Water Sports Center in Busukuma, National Capitol Region, where Mina and Angelina are standing next to the pool.

Mina Soroka: Thank you Damian! It feels exciting to be the first team to kick off the actual coverage. Anyways. Welcome to Busukuma, where the women's team was the first one in action, as the gents had a bye today and will be entering the competition on match day 2. So the draw brought us together with Taeshan, New Waldensia, Jeckland, The Jovannic, Ioudaia and Siovanija and Teusland, with today's opponent being The Jovannic.

Angelina Volkova: The game was, and I apologize for what is a horrible platitude, game of two halves and not just literally, but also literally, and yes, I am aware of the fact that it's four quarters.

Mina has a hard time keeping a straight face as her colleague is taking a deep breath.

Volkova: Tikariot came off to a great start, scoring three times in the first quarter Sharon Horn scoring twice and Kayana Prosser once. The second quarter added three more, courtesy of Martina Lomax, Estelle St-Outard and again Sharon Horn, allowing only one goal by The Jovannic. Unfortunately the team could not keep up this strong showing in the second half and only managed three more goals courtesy of Horn, St-Outard and Lomax, but conceding a whopping eight goals, handing The Jovannic a completely unnecessary point as the match ended 9 apiece.

Soroka: Seeing how we had a more than comfortable lead, it is very disappointing to see us drop a point here, but sometimes a team or athlete needs kind of a wake-up call at the beginning to get them into the right mindframe, so let's hope they will be able to right this wrong in the second coming. Back to the studio

Julian Sovran: Thank you, ladies. And today was ladies' day for Tikariot, as the softball team also had its first game of the group stage, over to Sara, Angelo and Kenneth over in Kosactus.

Angelo Mori: Thanks Julian. Hello from Kosactus, which I honest to God had first mistaken for a kind of cactus, but thankfully this city in Moravica is a lot less painful.

Kenneth Burgess: Definitely a lot less painful than your humour...

Mori: Haha, very funny. Anyways, as Julian already said, it was the ladies in action here, as the gents are going to join into the action up in Herzegovina City tomorrow. And here we embrace the company of Renzynistan, Mattijana, Nagore, Krytenia and Npc West Florida, with Nagore being the first opponent.

Sara Ladle: And what a start to the Olympics it was, giving the opposition a great first impression as to what to expect from our ladies here. 10-2 was the result in a magnificent showing that makes hopes for more. The top players without a doubt were starting pitcher Karissa Speers, who managed to go through six innings without allowing even a hit, and the duo of Seraphina Jackson and Ashley Canales, both of who hit two home runs each, with Jackson even driving home a rare grand slam in the fourth inning.

Kenneth Burgess: Stephanie Tsikronis and Madeline Welch allowed one run each before Jade Gonzalez steered the ship across the finish line for a commanding win that is a huge boost for the whole team, hopefully setting the mood for the Olympics on day one already. Aaaand right over to Aissa, where our trusted football trio infernale of Alistair McIntosh, Duncan Haldane and Martin Seagrave are waiting with their report on how our ladies' team did in their first group match.

Martin Seagrave: Hidy-ho, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the football events, where Tikariot faced Britonisea, also in the group are Renzynistan, like in softball, Lovisa and Megistos, in match one. And unfortunately the result was far less pleasing than in softball as Britonisea managed to shut us out 1-0. Despite showing great spirit after conceding the first, and in the end only, goal after only 14 minutes, the Tikariotian ladies put up a great fight, led especially by midfielder Kasey Ashton and right winger Danielle Sinclair, but that's the thing with football, you can have as much possession and scoring chances as you want, if you can't put the round thing into the rectangular thing, you simply cannot win a game.

Duncan Haldane: Yes, it is an unfortunate start to the Olympics and since we are in a 5-team group, only the winner and three of the nine best runners-up will qualify for the knockout round, so the next games count even more than already before as we went off on the wrong foot, but even though we lost this battle, the war is still in full swing.

Alistair McIntosh: The men, just to throw that in there, have been drawn into group 9 with Ioudaia, Græntfjall and Vekaiyu, playing in the northeastern town of Askatasuna, a few days from now, so nothing urgent from there just yet. Back to the studio.

Lisa Carr: Thanks gents. This leaves one more discipline where Tikariotian ladies were on the court today, namely tennis, where the preliminary round was held and two of our athletes had been drawn here, Aidana Fielding and Sarina Bradd. So how did they fare, Julius?

Julius Lidre: Well, looking at the results of the day so far, we had the good and the bad, so what is missing? Exactly, the ugly. Aidana Fielding was first to go on and was facing Maria Sophia Lubis from PCU and lost the first set 5-7, recovered in the second one 7-5, but too many unforced errors saw Lubis break Fielding first thing in the third set and then comfortably brought the match home 6-3. Where things turned ugly, though, was when Sarina Bradd stepped on the court. She was the clear favourite against Krytenian Georgia Bassett and took the first set 6-3 without any problems, but then the second set was an absolute nightmare for Bradd, completely going under 6-0 and in the last set it showed that her confidence had taken a serious hit, losing 6-4 and thus ending her first Olympic experience very prematurely.

Matt Novak: Thank you Julius and I liked the analogy of the good, the bad, the ugly. So across the board vastly varying results on the first day of the Olympics, even though they technically have not even begun. So let's have a look at day -1, if you want, and what we can expect here. Match days 2 for water polo, softball and football for the ladies, Tikariot entering the men's water polo as well, the first day of baseball and play-in matches and bouts for badminton and boxing. Also the preliminary round in men's tennis and finally the play-in match for the 3x3 basketball events for both ladies and gentlemen, everything in Istria with Orean only coming into play the day after when they kick off with the rowing heats.

Carovalo: So I hope that we will have more of the good and less of the ugly to report tomorrow, until then stay cool, stay safe!

[Mattijana]

Athletes Village, Orean, Liventia

As Dominika Lisicki closed her curtains on another day in Istria, Vesna Furlan was opening hers in Orean. The time difference between the two host cities made keeping an eye on the action from Banija tricky unless she pulled a late night, but given her events weren't going to be for a little while, that was something she didn't mind doing up to a point.
The focus on the first preliminary day of the games (or day -2 in it's snappier guise) was tennis. The women's singles got underway at the Kisangara Club and Mattijana had one athlete to get behind. Fortunately, Maria Julenic didn't put the point at which Vesna would have just 'sodded it' and gone to bed into question. The match was competitive, but wrapped up in straight sets by the 22 year-old, her Liventian opponent Carol Macleod no match for the clean hitting and occasional snippets of skill coming from the other side of the net.
According to fellow climber Ivan Kovačič, who was considerably more into his tennis than Vesna ever would be, said that the random allocations for the qualifying round had forced some big(ish) names from the NSTT into action earlier than they might have expected. The Laut siblings from Eramen, Maria Sophia Lubis and Luh Putu Yundari from Pemecutan, as well as the Neu Engollese duo of Felice Mareux and Karina Gerard were some of the players that had been mentioned.

Looking at the rest of the day's results, attached to a match report of Julenic's victory, she saw that all of those names had managed to make it through to the main draw, although not without a fight. She felt pretty lucky to be in a sport that currently didn't have enough popularity - or a big enough entry list - for athletes to be knocked out before the flame had even made it into town.

Julenic could have been one of those, and with no fall-back tournament in the doubles, she would have been packing her bags too. Ivan had said she had been out of form in the NSTT, dropping down the rankings. In that regard, it might have helped her to have a relatively easy match out of the way before one of the big guns rocked up in the first round. Anyhow, she had handled the pressure pretty well, even during a tense first set that had the climbers on the edge of their seats before the Mattijanan broke serve late on to take the lead.
The second set was fortunately a more straightforward affair for the tiring audience in Liventia. Julenic broke early on with an expertly disguised dropshot before getting another shortly afterwards. Macleod nicked a break back before the Petrovijankan could serve out, but she eventually managed to finish it off much to her own, and her fans' delight.

The football was next up, but the athletes couldn't mess up their sleep cycles that much and Vesna saw that the match with Kriegiersien wasn't worth staying up for anyway. Mattijana had gone down 1-0 in a game that probably would have sent her to sleep anyway.

It looked like it was going to be another belter in the semi-desert, with the sun already getting high and the temperatures forecast to make it into the late 20s by mid-afternoon. Whilst not too different to parts of Mattijana during summer, Vesna was still relieved her event, and most of the training for it, were happening indoors.

Taking a moment to look at the same team outfit that Dominika had yesterday, she too turned her attention to some gymwear and set off for the walls of the giant shed that formed the urban sports arena. The competition walls were off-limits until the official training runs, but some had been set up in a separate training area to help get the athletes into shape before then. Placing her water bottle next to one of the tamer obstacles, she started her now familiar stretching routine. Today was going to need some graft.

[Kelssek]

WATER POLO (M)
Kelssek takes win in Olympic opener

KELSSEK – 11
Tetsu (3), Frolík (2), Ó Connail (2)
Cavendish, Dubé, Sponner,
Gerzhaen-Charbon
MAIN NATION MINISTRY – 8
{missingName!;@#$!!}
(3-1, 3-2, 2-2, 2-3)

Aguri Tetsu scored on every shot he took and Kelssek led from start to finish in their opening match of the 14th Olympics in Istria to get its quest for the gold in the men’s water polo competition to a winning start against Main Nation Ministry.

While the team is in something of a transition since winning two straight golds in Aeropag and Provinsk, clear progression is expected after a disappointing exit in the eighth-finals at the 13th Olympics in Republica. While the gold may be a tough ask, many pundits see a place on the podium as the minimum requirement.

“The players know what the goal is, and obviously for Kelssek every match we go in with people expecting a win on our backs. The bronze at the World Championships showed that we’re on track. We have to keep our focus on winning one quarter at a time, one match at a time. There’s enough pressure from outside the team, what I demand is that players are committed to the process,” said head coach Martin Hosster.

Kelssek came out with intensity in the match at the Albert III Aquatics Centre, scoring on their first two possessions of the game. Eamon Ó Connail won a powerplay opportunity in the hole right from the swim-off and Nate Cavendish found the net from the left wing. Kelssek then counter-attacked after Main Nation Ministry hit the post, with Harry Sponner shooting off a pass from Raïf Gerzhaen-Charbon to make the most of a 3-on-2 rush.

As MNM sought to clamp down on the hole set, Kelssek switched tactics and relied more on the drive in the second quarter. Aguri Tetsu’s elusiveness created chaos in the defence with a couple of smart drives to create space for the shooters, and grabbed a goal himself as a rebound fell in his favour. Kelssek enjoyed four powerplay opportunities, as MNM found it hard to cope with the movement, and converted two of their chances with the man advantage to help themselves to a 6-3 lead at half time.

MNM managed to play a much cleaner game in the second half but simply could not close the gap. While Trey Faulkner let in a couple of goals the Marlins goalkeeper would’ve liked to have back, the response on offence made sure the match was kept out of reach. Eamon Ó Connail scored the pick of the goals as he sloughed out of the hole position to whip a backhand skip shot from five metres out.

“There’s a lot of positives, we controlled the game well, we made the plays we wanted, and we executed well. Aguri brought a lot of energy, we had some good physicality from Eamon in the hole, we’ve got to clean up the mistakes on defence and communicate better. But it’s been a good start for us,” said captain Nathan Cavendish.

[Kriegiersien]

++Olympic telegram++

Waterpolo men

Græntfjall (GRÆ) 11–10 Kriegiersien (KGS)
With a loss against Græntfjall the men’s team started with a deep fall. Coach Anita Waterfall was especially angry about the aggressions of her players, that gave the team many penalties, even more than in their last friendly in fall.
“The men still have problems to understand that you are not allowed to injure or even kill your opponent openly here. This is not Waterkillerball. If you like action and blood in the water, ok. But this is not the way to win it.”

Orcish player Kaci Gaines would have loved to do that with an opponents head

Soccer women

Mattijana (MTJ) 0–1 Kriegiersien (KGS)
Geraldine Di Bradini, daughter of clone Simeone Di Bradini9, scored the first and only goal in an uneventful match. Her father, who was one of the 5 clones in the stadium, was very proud with tears in his eyes when his daughter shouted into his direction after scoring with a free-kick.
“This could have been an important victory to survive the group stage”, mumbled Coach Otto Hippo while eating a candy bar, who hadn't left his seat and seemingly dozed off during the game.

Tennis

Amanda Acemonster, tennischamp, won her first qualification round with big problems in three sets, shivering in the breaks between games. With her biggest weapon, her service, she has still an on-off relationship.

[Trolleborg]

Greetings, compatriots! It’s TTV from XIV Olympics!

Right now games already began, and first results – rather predictably – is not very promising for us. Our water polo players were the first to enter the fight, and managed to defeat the Eraman national team 11 to 8. As we all know, water sports are by no means the strong point of our citizens, with all their diversity, so this victory is doubly pleasant. The women's team was not convincing, and lost in the first game to the Megistos team, which due to certain whim of fate recently accompanying ours in almost all sports. Our ladies-of-football had the hardest part of all three teams entering gauntlet at the first day: they had to fight with Banija, the grandeur of world football, and the hosts of the championship. The ladies did what they could and lost with a minimum score. Our country did not exhibit a tennis team, so we watch this sport with purely sporting interest, trying to understand how interesting it would be to cultivate it in our country.

We devote the second part of the broadcast to the first story about our cultural presence at the Olympiad. Let's start with Banija, since that's where the competition started. Everyone knows that until recently our country organized large “hospitality camps” with interactive programs, traditional entertainment and cuisine at all tournaments. Banija probably still remembers those from the days of the Cup of Harmony. This time, our organizers decided to make the same on a larger scale, arranging a something like a real theme park. Its main objects are located in a circle and are connected by a common theme of sport in the history of Trolleborg. First, there is a so-called prehistoric or cave period, with fully reproduced, up to the climate, conditions of the caves and their surroundings in the Central Mountains, with very primitive games, mainly competitions in speed, strength and dexterity. The guests of the complex are not only tested for compliance with the qualities of an average cave troll, but are also fed with the appropriate quality dishes cooked on bonfires and in the hot springs, and are entertained with folklore performances. The next is the Middle Ages, in which team games were already practiced. We will tell you more about this pavilion the next time we turn it on.

[Nagore]

Can Celese Summers Take The Heat?
Bianca Porter || NagoreSports.nag

Borro Falls native Celese Summers made waves in Nagore's surfing community three years ago, after she became the first female surfer to complete the Perfect Diamond. In other words, Summers successfully nabbed a first place finish in the nation's top four surfing competitions (The Caymana Classic, The Sifuentes Memorial Tournament, The Corporia Classic, and The Battle at Requin Bay). However, in the years following Summers' historic win, it appears as though swimming took a backseat to other important ventures in Summers' life. Two years ago, Celese gave birth to her daughter Siren. A year ago, Celese lost her mother to ovarian cancer. Because of these events, Celese's presence on the national circuit has been considerably smaller, choosing to only show her face at more important competitions. Regardless, the publicly recently got a taste for what Celese is still able to do out in the ocean, after she took home a first place finish at the Corporia Classic.

Despite Celese's recent strong performances, she is not without her critics. Sports commentator Moses Channing recently was the subject of much public controversy after making the claim that Summers' absence from the national circuit has less to do with her extremely busy personal life, and more to do with the fact that she simply views competing in lower level competitions "beneath her."

"She has time to launch a swimwear line, and time to be a guest judge on every reality tv show under the sun, but she can't trot her ass out to Oceanside for a tournament? Give me a break," Channing said on a recent broadcast.

Even those that are avid fans of Summer still can't help but wonder if her absence from the national circuit will harm her in the upcoming Olympics, even if they understand why she's decided to take a step back from the national stage. While many individuals are still of the opinion that Summers is one of the country's best shots at bringing home an Olympic medal, other people have started to look at Amerie Allenwood: Nagore's other representative in women's surfing. Allenwood recently placed second behind Celese in the Corporia Classic, but rose to the ranks to become Nagore's #1 ranked female surfer during Celese's maternity leave, and subsequent bereavement leave. While Summers is perhaps the most prolific, and accomplished female surfer that Nagore has, as of late, she isn't battle tested. Allenwood, on the other hand, is possibly the most active member on the circuit, irrespective of gender. As the Olympic face-off draws near, it is becoming exceedingly clear that these women are not just fighting for medals. They are fighting to be the national face of women's surfing.

[Ioudaia]

Istria City College Aquatics Center
Istria, Banija

When Tamar bat Periboea casually deflected the last Jeckland shot on goal, Avivi bat Phaedre pumped her fists and leapt onto Negoha Kobra. "She did it! We held on!"

"We did it," Negoha corrected. "You didn't do half bad yourself."

"Yeah, I got one in, but--"

"I agree with Negoha." Perse bat Shira's no-nonsense voice carried over the exuberant cheering and congratulating of the gathering team. "You played marvelously!"

"Maybe better than usual." Avivi looked thoughtful. "OK, that was definitely in my top ten games."

Perse flashed a grin. "Better." She turned to the girl just swimming up beside her, Shana Thelma bat Latona Sisi, the baby of the team, a full three years younger than the next youngest. "You really were rocking today."

She looked away as she started to blush, before turning back to Perse and the others. "Oh, yeah. There's no way I should have gotten two points off these guys. No way. They should have crushed us."

"I might have had something to do with that." Perse shook her head: Uma bat Nausicaa was never shy. "I kept Tamar from having to do too much work."

"Yeah," added Negoha, "I think that set the tone for the game. But still, Jeckland should have blown us away."

Perse simply shook her head. "We'll have to check the video to see what we did right, but we'll have to cut the celebrations short to move our heads on to tomorrow's game."

[North Alezia]

OLYMPICS SPORTSNEWS!
FIRST GAME FOR NORTH ALEZIAN WOMEN FOOTBALL TEAM, NOT GOING SO WELL

(North Alezian Women Team Goalkeeper, Rizma Hararina)

Hello and welcome to ABA's very first coverage in this edition's Summer Olympics. Today, we'll be seeing our Women Football team playing in Kabonero III Stadium in Istria! Our female team are showing their best, and we can see that! Their play are way better than what we see on other times the women's team got to go out internationally on their previous matches. What a fantastic game they just showed to us on ABA Channel 1.

(ABA Channel 3 have World Hit Festival and Worldvision Song Contest on later on this month or next month! Be sure to watch it)

Group 8
Vilita & Turori (VLT) 1–1 Farfadillis (FFD)
North Alezia (NAZ) 0–3 Hapilopper and Wreckeria (HNW)

Group 8 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Hapilopper and Wreckeria 1 1 0 0 3 0 +3 3
2 Farfadillis 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
3 Vilita & Turori 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
4 North Alezia 1 0 0 1 0 3 −3 0

On first match, we have Vilita and Turori having to enjoy, or be mad at, a tie against Farfadillis. They're both equally strong if you saw their game.

On the second match today, we have North Alezia agains Hapilopper and Wreckeria! And.... Our team lost 0-3 against them. We put up our best fight. But it's still not hard enough to beat the opponent. But there's still two matches to go! Will we have a win on this match? We hope so.

STAY TUNED FOR MORE OLYMPICS SPORTSNEWS TO COME!
WATCH THE SUMMER OLYMPICS BY ABA CHANNEL 1, ABA INTERACTIVE, or livestreaming at www.ABA.co.az/livestreaming/Olympiad.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

OOC : I will be continuing the second series within my megaseries into the olympics, which weaves nicely into the storyline given that there are 5 national team athletes who were alumni of the certain school right below. While this RP was posted earlier in the World Cup of Hockey XL, I did not grade such RP (as the host of the said competition) as the transition to the Olympics was planned before that.

---

'The Wanderer's Guide To Somewhere' is Royal Kingdom of Quebec's OOC project that stretches over a year long phase, from mid-2020 to mid-2021 or later. The Wanderer's Guide consists of several series about the life of Asher Lundrigan, a certain journalist, whose adventure and stories will bring him to various parts of his twenty-two to twenty-six years of life, as well as various parts of the NS Sports Multiverse from the Quebecois Commonwealth to wherever else he goes and of course, you. His journey is also going to be accompanied with a love story, where the past returns to him like a magic and he has to capture the feeling back to him.

First of the series, 'Childhood, Traces', introduces us to the complicated creature that is Asher Lundrigan. Born as a son of a diplomat-turned-Labour politician and a Vdaran royal (second daughter of the monarch, to be specific), he grew up in the RL-verse before returning to Quebec, where he had lived in Kingston until the university years brought him to Quebec City. In this series, he recalls various episodes of his past life and how he views the things as such, but does not limit himself from doing so. For example, Asher goes beyond on Part 5, 'Water Under the Bridge', where he talks about a certain beloved uncle of his, Brock Andreas Lundrigan who has taken a minor act of resistance to make a point about his alma mater's problems with athletics administration when he was an athlete.

That said, the most important stories of Asher do involve the protagonist. To him, life is about the complications, leading into all the harsh beauty and wonders that come from it, and that's something that he lightly brings forth in his story of a childhood love, somewhere in Red Deer Lake District, Baker Park, where his family used to vacation. Of course, the recording sessions that he was holding with his colleague, Mike, is interrupted by his work supervisor.

Turns out, such would come back to somewhat bite him in the ass, when a post-MD38 orgy in Porto Nowi, ZRH, causes Asher to take on an unexpected task- to go on an interview with a well-known musician who also happens to be his ex-girlfriend of high school days past. Asher tries to persuade his supervisor at Landslide International, music and sports magazine based in both Grearia and Quebec, but that's the only option available in order to not get fired. So Asher flies to Montreal, where he meets his ex for the first time in five years (when they had broken up in awful fashion)...

---

Auld Lang Syne
PART 1 (12) Closer

Perhaps too perfect of a day.

The interview went very well. Perhaps too well, as Asher thought to himself. After how awkward they greeted for the first time in five years, and how both sides briefly tried to make things formal (with little success), things went as expectedly so. Eileen, or should we say Plongeon in this case, said to him that this album, titled Summerlea, was a 16-track album that she had been working on for past four years, and had hoped that this album’s going to culminate in a good balancing point between various genres of interest, from indie pop and indie folk to country and slight elements of traditional Quebecois music.

Could be a smash hit or just a minor whimper that gets remembered as an underrated album of the decade when we all get old. Asher thought, as he wrote it out.

After the interview, and the dinner at a nearby restaurant, it was already seven in the evening. Eileen wanted him to walk back to her place and spend few days in the city as friends, but he had to decline. He knew he had to go, stay in his hotel, and then head back to Quebec City either saturday or sunday. Instead, they decided to take a walk along the old Port, and just let the feeling slowly seep into the night.

So they walked, walked and walked like in the old days, ‘til they could barely do so. The next thing they saw, they were right at the lakeshore, separated by several levels of the breakwater structures that had been around in various forms since the 1600s. Located at the heart of Downtown Montreal, the old Pier was somewhat packed for a Maytime evening, but just enough to the point where Eileen and Asher could just get by fine enough without ending up on a tabloid. Even so, Asher made sure to wear a dark mask, with his right arm tied with her left arm. They were smiling, half tired, half delightful, as they just enjoyed the view of the Fleuve Saint-Henri along the Old Port. The night was cool and charming enough, with every other tree shining with night lights installed by the Port Authority of Montreal. They were just smiling along, enjoying each other’s presence as if nothing had happened before.

This is comforting, however soon I have to wake up from it… He thought, as they decided to sit on a bench. Facing against the water, and with all the nerves in the world, he slowly inhaled. By this point, he had long let go of all the restraints and the medicaments he had held until the previous night. The entire evening, all he could try to get himself to think was to push himself to man up, to kiss her. He knew the thought itself shouldn’t be too hard, especially with how many times he had kissed her before, and then lots of other girls too. He knew that only the past and his present non-committal were the only ones drawing him back from it all, and so were a little bit of alcohol that they both had over dinner.

Right next to Asher, Eileen was somewhat thinking along the same lines. But then, there too stood nerves for her, as too was coming from an unfamiliar situation. What if I fuck it up? was something that she had in mind, as she just looked at him, somewhat fatter and lot bleaker since they had first met in high school. Growing up in her country town, on famed Coxwell Park and its estates, she had been trying to find her own self and directions within a career. A minor breakup after a couple of years dating had been on her mind. It was somewhat of a factor, and they were both feeling tired, but she could hear the buzz in the sky. Like a swallow gliding down the sky, it progressively grew louder, louder and louder until she closed her eyes and he kissed her.

Oh no…

What am I doing?

That’s what both sides thought, as they closed their eyes trying not to look at one another. As with any kiss involving two ex-partners who had a little bit of alcohol two hours earlier, it started awkwardly on a bench. Then they, ignoring the presence of bystanders, just went along and tasted the alcohol and the tears of years apart. Slowly struggling to find the right angle, they just went along with however awkward the situation they were in was, before they realised that they should leave.

---

I wish I could stay…

Now, they were standing in front of Eileen’s flat, located just north of St-Laurent station and south of the Koreana West District that had been known as the artisans’ workplaces and homes, but since been taken up by art businesses along with the booming economy in the 1990s and 2000s. There, Asher and Eileen had one last minute to themselves before he was to head back to his hotel room for the night.

‘Stay safe, Eileen.’ He said, looking into her eyes as they stood two metres apart from each other. ‘Don’t worry about the cover story. I’ll send you a copy when I’m home.’

‘It’s all good! Please text me when you get home, Ash.’ Eileen said, trying to remind him not to forget. One of the downsides in being busy professionals off to their own thing in their lives is that people forget when to text, when to call and when to just think of one another. ‘Sleep well before you head back home.’ Eileen said with a small grin on a Friday night.

Asher thought for a second, before gathering his thoughts together. He was unsure but couldn’t bear to just head back. ‘I’m sorry...about that.’ He said, before slowing down. ‘I know I shouldn’t have kissed you, when we are on the pier-’

‘No, it’s all good.’ She responded. ‘We get affected by a place or where we are and sometimes, it happens like that.’ Then she opened the door to her flat, trying to signal him to go back to the hotel and sleep it off for the night. ‘Sleep well.’

Don’t go...Don’t go...Don’t Go…

Then like that, she was out of his life again, and Asher started to walk back.

---

Asher Lundrigan looked out the window of his hotel room, his mind transfixed upon what had just happened today. On the surface, he was happy to be back in Montreal, and his conversations, which were safely transcribed to his interview piece for next edition's cover, and now all's going to be more than just fine. He had done the job that his boss at Landslide International had asked, was going to get an extra few thousands for all the pain he had gone through to do the interview, and gonna have a happy walk to the bank in a month's time.

With everything coming along as expectedly so, and with him not really telling people why he was heading back, he had the rest of the night and early tomorrow to spare, before he was to head back to Quebec City. At least this had meant that he would be having a bit of gentler sleep, hopefully filled with loftier and sweeter dreams, as if they were made of cotton candy.

But then, what had happened inside him did strike clearly enough. In such a short time, he had gone from just denying the fifteen months Eileen had spent inside his heart, bent on not seeing her again, to breaking down inside his hotel room thinking about the kiss.

How did this all happen?

He thought of how they had first met, and found himself thinking back to the very afternoon they had met once again. It was on a magical Friday afternoon, where the nation's capital was struck with an odd dose of freezing March rain. For the city that's known for its words of snow and ice, it was an unusual occurrence, where everything just felt eerie, freezing and, all in all, out of sync. The famous words, to quote dozens of royal historians across the multiverse, say that this was around when Jacques IX, whose monarchical strength was largely spent in the military glories of his twenties, caught a severe cold from a night of polo. That escalated quickly into pneumonia followed by a series of serious illnesses that limited the late monarch's life for much of the last 5 yrs of his reign. But to Asher, this was the spring they had first met, almost as if they themselves were the symbol of a new age. The Catherinian Era that would be remembered in the future as the era of neo-romanticism, and the elegance and passion that came up with each other.

[Teremaran Olympics Delegation]

“Good afternoon, gentlemen.”

A handful of dark-suited men, all reeking of cigarette smoke, shuffled into the fluorescent-lit room and took their places around the meeting table. The man at the head of the table--the presenter, no doubt--watched as they sat, stepping forward once everyone was seated to check his notes. He flipped through the papers, then turned to his laptop, which was sitting on the desk and projected a slideshow presentation onto the wall behind him.

“Here we are again,” the man said, fiddling with his clicker, “Olympics.” He flipped to the next slide, “You all know me, of course. Mehmed Al-Duhabi. This year is a bit different compared to years past, since our training facilities in the southern part of the nation are no longer accessible to us. As a result, the acclimation training for our athletes that would normally be performed in Mahadid has instead been completed in Al-Huyafir.”

One man raised a finger at the back of the room. “Is this the meeting for the GRITS Annual Rollerskating Competition?”

Al-Duhabi shook his head, “No, that’s next door.”

The man nodded, gathered his papers, and made his exit with as much composure as he could maintain.

“Anyway,” Al-Duhabi said, clicking to the next slide, “These are our budget projections for the next three years, accounting for the lost revenue due to South Gragastavian independence. And…” he clicked again, showing a pie chart of the budget breakdown, “We have enough to keep our funding at current percentages, as the capital maintenance expenditures have also decreased due to the lack of facilities.”

Another finger rose at the back of the room. “Is this the meeting for the 2021-2022 Camel Prospectus?”

“No,” Al-Duhabi said, “This is the meeting for the revised budget proposal for the forthcoming fiscal year.”

As soon as he said those words, half the room got up and left. Six people remained seated at the front. One of them looked at Al-Duhabi and asked, “For what organization is this?”

“The Olympic Commission.”

Immediately, the remaining six people stood and made their way to the exit.

He was silent for a moment, dumbfounded by the sudden departure of the remainder of his audience. Quickly, he reached into his pocket for his smartphone and found the email announcing the meeting. The same date and time as it was at that very moment. Slipping his mobile back into his pocket, he shrugged and continued with his presentation.

“It is the opinion of the budget office that our current level of training and athlete production can be continued at its current levels for three years until we would incur a budgeting shortfall, provided no more funds are allocated to our commission. Our revenue beyond those three years is uncertain. We have been given no indication from Congress or the Office of the President regarding future funding of the commission.”

Al-Duhabi looked out over the empty room as he clicked to the next slide, “Now, here is what the budget looks like for this upcoming Olympic season on the micro scale. 50% goes to salaries, no surprise there.” He pointed to a section of the pie chart that was now being displayed, “We have this much, 35%, for accommodations, room and board, travel expenses--personnel costs in a nutshell. The remaining 15% is split between training and equipment costs…”

His presentation was broken by someone opening the door and poking their head in. “Mehmed,” the person said, before glancing around the room in confusion, “You’re talking to an empty room.”

“Yes,” Al-Duhabi said, “I’m being paid to give this presentation, so I am.”

“But there’s no one here.”

“I’m not sure what your point is.”

“There’s no one here. No one is going to learn anything.”

Al-Duhabi shrugged. “If they wanted me to think about that, they should pay me more money,” he said.

“What are you going to say when the commissioner asks why he wasn’t informed about the budget?”

“I’ll tell him that he should have been at the meeting.” Al-Duhabi frowned, “Really, you’re taking this too far.”

The man stepped further into the room. “I’m taking this too far? You’re the one who’s talking to an empty room!”

“I’m giving my presentation,” Al-Duhabi said, “Whether there are other people in this room to listen or not is inconsequential.”

“You’re a looney,” the man said, sighing.

“You’re incompetent,” Al-Duhabi responded.

The man shook his head and headed for the door. “Whatever. Your funeral.”

Al-Duhabi cleared his throat after the man left and returned to his presentation. “Pardon that interruption, gentlemen.” He scoffed, “Some people have no sense of duty.” Al-Duhabi then clicked the clicker to bring a new slide, “But, unlike him, the nation that is hosting this year is full of duty… as can be seen in this slideshow of our athletes! Normally, I’d talk about each of them and discuss the breakdown of their budgetary requirements, but seeing as I’m the only one in here, I don’t think I need to bother.”

He paused and looked at the floor, “No, I really ought to. It is my job.”

RP Contributed for the Teremaran Unified Delegation by Gragastavia

[Banija]

Bang the Drum a little louder as Day 0 approaches, right?

Aka, Day -1 cutoff has arrived!

[Main Nation Ministry]

The Cold: Harsh Climate

It was a middle of a strange land. The limits of the multiverse were interesting, nonetheless. While it was somewhat flat plains covered in snow and grass, the landscape was starting to end up becoming hilly and mountainous. Wearing a special high-tech research suit that he borrowed from the Northwest, the Leader checked his supplies. While he made sure the pouch was secure on his back, he only had a climbing hook, a spare ice axe, and some small notes on the Auric Chaser that the scientists will mainly forget. He hasn't been hungry, since he camped out in the flat plains. Now, he was walking along a narrow ledge, where in one end, there was nothing but a chasm that most likely will lead to death.

He didn't have a map, only the notes that he has. From what he gathered, the path was among multiple outdoor obstacles, but there would be a major challenge at the end, that he would need to face. The path wasn't so bad. He just needed to stay to the right, where the cliff wall was and he didn't have to worry about falling in. However, it wasn't until he heard a strange sound of rock being chipped away above him was when he looked up. Several people, who looked like mercenaries almost, were climbing down the top of the mountain, where the Leader stayed on his guard as it appeared they already are aware of the Leader's presence. The Leader can spied on their backs some assault rifles. These people were trained to the bone.

"Who the hell are you?" one of the climbers that rappeled down said to the Leader, as the Leader made sure his helmet was on, so his identify wasn't revealed. "Me? I'm just a traveler, off to explore!" the Leader tried to put up a happy-go-lucky voice to fool the mercs, as they were directly rappeling from behind him. He isn't going to return back now. "Hey, Grant! This guy is trying to get to the temple, also!" one of the mercs said to what appeared to be a high-ranking one, as he was the last to come down the rope. "Well! We seem to have some company, guys!" Grant said, as he examined the Leader, who was still disguised in his suit.

"Who the hell are you, guys?"
"Us? Well, we know where you're going. You heading to that temple, aren't you? Snagging some gold or diamonds or shit, when you get there, I bet."
"Who sent you? I came by myself, but I know that you have your own motive."
"There's a bit of a polite oil baron back in Fauntenheddo, who knew about the temple from some eggheads. William Samuel still pays us handsomely for our hard work."
"I don't fare well with the rich.."

"Well, pal." Grant placed some emphasis in "pal" to act somewhat mighty towards the Leader. Shit. He should have brought a gun, but he was out in the middle of nowhere, so it was still likely that all of the mercenaries were bound to die, anyways. "If you know so much about the temple, since you seem to be heading the right way, why don't you share us some stuff. Huh?" Grant walked up to the Leader, making sure he didn't rip his helmet off. He can't lose to these guys. They might want the Auric Chaser and do worse. "Temple? I don't know anything about it. For all I know, it could have been at that marsh miles back. It could be there for all I know. I heard the mountains up here look beautiful, so I figured a nice selfie here would look lovely for the shelf!" the Leader said, where Grant pulled out a pistol. "Maybe I can put the bullet casing on my shelf, then. Drop the act. I know you're heading to the temple. So just cut the act and have us follow you."
"I don't think so." The Leader said, as suddenly just before Grant had a chance to take a shot at him, the Leader bolted off running further on the ledge.

"Get the guns!" Grant yelled, as the mercs got their guns ready. The Leader was trying not to slip, as he kept running on the ledge, only to see that the ledge to get down was getting smaller. The Leader had to shimmy with his back to the wall, as he realized that the boots weren't going to be of good help. "Come on, come on!" the Leader was starting to curse under his breath, as he was trying not to fall forward. However, Grant and his men already caught up with the Leader, as he was trying to reach the end. "Heh! You're already target practice, asswipe!" Grant said, as he aimed his pistol.

Suddenly, the boots that led the Leader some height buckled. The small ledge he was on was crumbling beyond his feet, where the Leader immediately felt nothing he was standing on afterwards. Before Grant and the others eyes, the Leader fell from the ledge, as his body was falling into the chasm, where Grant let out a laugh.

For the Leader, the mountain wall behind him was starting to go at an angle, turning the wall into a slide. Due to the weather, the walls were like ice, as the Leader felt his body suddenly move forward, as he went sliding onto the ground, where like a naturally made ramp, some rocks in front of him sent him flying, due to the speed he was heading down. "Ohhhhhh shit! AHH-" the Leader panicked, as after he was sent airborne, gravity took a hold, where he ended up plummeting towards what looked like a rock wall.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

(Opening theme and introduction to the Commonwealth Broadcasting Corporation's Olympic telecast for coverage from Istria & Orean)

Michael Banford: "Welcome to the International Broadcast Center in Istria City, in the Kingdom of Banija, for the beginning of nearly 300 hours coverage of the Fourteenth Summer Olympic Games, co-hosted in Istria and Orean, the capital of the Republic of Liventia. I'm Michael Banford and I will be here on the weekdays between noon and 6pm to cover the action here in Banija.
The next two afternoons, we'll be covering the preliminary action ahead of the Opening Ceremony at the Istria Olympic Stadium, starting with Women's Soccer, as the Under-23 squad will open group stage play at a venue familiar to many in the Commonwealth--the BCEL Stadium in Jinja City.
Mark Tolbert & Craig Snyder will have the call of the match in about 25 minutes from now. In the meantime, we'll speak with a few others who'll you be seeing on a regular basis, starting with the Lead Commentator for the Opening Ceremonies, & the Hostess of our Primetime coverage for the second straight Olympics, joining us from the Istria Olympic Stadium--hello, Leslie Van Horn".

Leslie Van Horn: "Hello Michael, it's an honor to be invited once again to host the Olympics for the CBC. As we prepare for Friday night's festivities, the biggest news for the viewers at home regards the announcement that Commonwealth delegation have been chosen by the Olympic Committee of Banija to lead the Parade of Nations. A meeting of the team captains from the 13 delegations who are represented here elected Lucius Crawford, the Super Heavyweight boxer who will be ending his amateur career at these Games, to lead the way as the flag bearer. Crawford accepted the honor with the stipulation that the other team captains make up the first row of the rest of the delegation who will march."

MB: "You've been observing the rehearsals for the ceremonies, is there anything you can share ahead of the presentation on Friday?"

LVH: "I don't think anyone will fall off their couch at home when I say that the Banijans do spectacle and pageantry on an unprecedented scale; it will be visually impressive, cover the history of the Kingdom, along with the cultural, social and sporting influences that represent the population. I will be extremely excited to describe all of the festivities to our viewers across the Commonwealth and beyond."

MB: "Les, we're looking forward to Friday, where you'll be joined for the call of the Opening Ceremonies by Leanne King, and your good friend Gary Sexton."

LVH: (rolls her eyes and turns away from the camera) "Yeah. Can't wait...for that." (background laughter)

[obviously, this is clear sarcasm, as Van Horn & Sexton are a team as co-hosts on the National Radio, and King is a colleague they like & respect]

MB: "Let's take a break and we'll come back with a report from Orean. Stay tuned."
(:60 Commercial for National Bank of the Commonwealth--Official Olympic Partner
:60 Commercial for Commonwealth Airways--Official Olympic Carrier)

MB: "Welcome back to Istria. There will also be competition in these Summer Games taking place in Orean, the capital of the Rushmori nation of Liventia; we'll have over 60 hours of live coverage of events, with Ian Zimmerman & Frieda Bledsoe presenting the late night action. They join us from the Broadcast Center in Orean, and hello to both of you. What's the overall mood there?"

[Kriegiersien]

Olsen Spartakus was sitting with a beer in the hand in a sports bar, watching the Olympics on a big TV.
Soccer was shown and he nearly exploded in laughter, when he saw how these players seemingly behaved as if they died when touched. First he though that was part of an act, like in show wrestling, but they really seemed to be made out of paper. He had thought that Water Polo players were sissies, but that really did it. Society was going softer than ice cream in the sun.

He had become the most violent player in Waterkillerball (or Killerwaterball - the scene was divided), proud, celebrated, before starting in off season playing water polo in a small club to prepare for the Olympics. The payment was very small compared to Waterkillerball, even though he was the best paid in the club by far, but he became the topscorer of the club and most unfair player of the region. He later found out that that wasn’t seen as a positive title.

That all shook him. Water polo was so tame. All the rules not to kill and cripple people. To be able to travel, see the Olympics and other nations, he had adopted, but it was hard. He respected the national coach of the Waterpolo team, Anita Waterfall, a legend, a woman who knew how to pierce a point at your body and to intimidate you with her glance and voice. He understood why people admired her.
He understood that you had to behave here and respected that the president told anyone who wouldn’t honor the rules of the home nation and make problems for team and country would be deported and all of his family killed. That was an unexpected clear move.

But he still had problems with this society. He couldn’t stand the conformism and weakness, that wasn’t his Kriegiersien anymore. You couldn’t call a Bigtopian what he was and break his nose if he came for you, without getting called out for it.
He had to leave the capital as often as he could to spend his time in the stolen lands with his orcish friends. There he could behave like in the old days. And they didn’t mind that he was human. Appreciating hard work, hard fights, adventures outdoor.


Suddenly a hand landed smashing on his shoulders. Brodie Kay, one of the three orcs (Half-Orc) in the team, sat down beside him, ordering the hardest beverage to be found.
“Hey, I have found a wool shop here. Best wool from an animal I haven’t heard of before. How about we knit some socks for the poor kids in the cold north after training?”, he said.
Olsen nodded. Good hard work. “I have some needles from home taken with me and a new idea for a design. Let’s rock this.”
They fistbumbed so hard that he nearly smashed their knuckles.

[Welcomzia]

Athlete's Village, Orean

Luca Rojas put his feet up in his lavish hotel room. It had been another intense day of training in preparation for the men's road race. Today he'd cycled along the route that'll be used for the race, taking note of its intricacies and visualising the race in his mind. It was a gruelling ride, 240km long with several massive climbs that seemed to go on forever, including the intimidating Mount Konshua. But Rojas cycled with a smile on his face, he was known for his climbing and descending skills, this course suited him down to the ground. The sun was shining and he was sure to take in the beautiful Liventia scenery. He'd be much too focused on the race to take in his surroundings next time out. His cycle took him past huge mountains, stunning rivers and then in to the city centre, where he marvelled at some of the Liventia architecture. By the time he got back to the Olympic village it was getting late. He fixed himself yet another meal of pasta, chicken and vegetables before sitting down to watch his compatriots in the day's preliminary rounds.

The time difference between Liventia and Banija meant he was able to catch most of Arthur Malone's convincing 6-2, 6-3 win in the men's tennis singles. Malone, a veteran champion with 14 grand slam titles effortlessly swept aside Michael Dubrovnik while barely breaking a sweat. He felt sorry for Malone's opponent. Imagine having to play a preliminary game against one of the favourites to win the whole thing, he had to pack his bags before the opening ceremony. His Olympic dream over on day -1. Rojas switched channels to watch Damion Bennett's TKO welterweight win over Daan Boute. It brought a smile to his face. He'd met Bennett a few days before in the canteen. He was very young, just 19 years old, but he looked a lot younger than that. He was a shy, timid boy, not what you'd expect from a boxer. Rojas had given him plenty words of encouragement and advice. He looked like a different person in the ring, dodging and weaving with confidence before pounding his chest with pride when the win was announced. Rojas didn't know much about boxing but had been told that Welcomzia have an excellent batch of fighters this year, with many planning on turning pro after their shot at Olympic glory. He flicked the channel once more, the women's football team were playing against Vekaiyu in the group stage. It was a drab and uninspiring 1-1 draw that made Rojas extremely drowsy, he decided to get some sleep.

He stumbled his way in to bed, where his mind started drifting to the opening ceremony. He'd been chosen as the flag bearer at the Liventia ceremony, with swimmer Max Stevens carrying out the flag in Banija. Carrying out his country's flag was a huge honour. Granted, he'd have to wait a rather long time on the night itself due to Welcomzia's alphabetical placement, but Rojas didn't particularly care. This was the crowning moment in his illustrious career, a moment of huge pride. No matter what happened, nobody could take this away from him. It was the reward after years and years of hard work and sacrifice, and he was going to saviour every moment of it. Rojas fell asleep dreaming of the opening ceremony. The day so many have been waiting for was drawing ever nearer.

[West Phoenicia]

WP||The West Phoenicia Times

Sports || Health || Technology || Gossip || Domestic Politics || International Politics || Entertainment || World || Religion || Weather

Before the Games...

Mississippi Waters, Jackson; The Empire of West Phoenicia

Known for its beautiful foggy mornings, where the thick flog floats over the four main rivers of the province until early morning and it's toffee apples that come in 20 unique flavours, such as strawberry sundae, keylime pie and rum and coke.
Mississippi Waters is often overlooked by tourists who ignored this province and it's natural beauty of rivers, caves and nature reserves in the city-state of Jackson preferring to flock to the nation's concrete jungle capital, Melbourne-Haven which was also located in the same city-state.

West Phoenicians archery fans of all ages flocked to the Mississippi Waters National Archery Park to partake in the National Olympic Archery qualifiers.
The venue with a seating capacity of 3000 was half-filled.
Buttered popcorn and hot dogs slathered in mustard, tomato sauce and caramelized onions permeated the air. Giggling children popped open cans of fizzy drinks while their parents sipped on sweet tea or flutes of white wine.

Supporters, out in force to cheer on the next archers who would rise to the challenge and qualify for the West Phoenician Olympic Delegation.
A highly desirable prize to win.
The stands may not have been jammed packed as one would expect for swimming and tennis events; however, archery enjoyed their loyal supporters.

WP Sports Two was on hand filming the event and interviewing hopefuls that would later air on Purple & Gold.

Feelings of shock and disappointment had run through the West Phoenician archery world over the last few months when both Lady Amelia Defence-Heywood and Pete Long, both declined to return to the delegation or take part in tryouts.

It was rumoured the West Phoenician Archery Federation President had a mild meltdown. Archery contributed a lot to overall medal tallies. It was a position of importance they wanted to keep as it ensured extra funding and drove dozens of new hopefuls into the sport.

Amelia and Pete are multi-medal winners and important assets of the team. Between the individual and team events with both of these leaders at the helm West Phoenicia had pulled in 3 Gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze at an Olympic level, and a slew of medals at NS Archery Opens.

Fans had flocked to West Phoenicia most popular and used social media app, Vibr for answers.

Pete Long dedicated a video post to his fans on Vibr, explaining his reasoning.
"I've decided to take a step back from participating, I've reached the top of my class. There was nowhere to go but down."

Pete Long surprised his fans with additional news that made up for him not competing Pete would be at the Olympic Games, having accepted a coaching role, helping to mould the next generation of archers.

Queen of Archery, Amelia Defence-Heywood, who is famous for not only her archery skills but the drama off the field has confirmed via her public relation assistant, she would not be attending these games.
The queen of archery is expecting and will be devoting her time to hiring a governess and preparing to give birth to her baby in a few months.
Amelia has not ruled out a return in the future.

Branded by media critics as the witch of West Phoenicia. The same critics have done a 360 in regards to her current behaviour. Many voicing marriage and a pregnancy has softened her entitled witchy ways.

By pulling in a gold medal at the First Federation of Conservative Nations Olympiad, Baron Jedidah Gryphon and Lazarus Doherty have automatically qualified, they are on the hunt for a talented third.
A third that will make them a powerful trio at the Olympics.
"We want to show archery fans that men's archery can continue to thrive without Pete Long. You need to invest in all players and refrain from putting all your eggs in one basket."

Women's team members Serena Tong and Lady Violet Hungary II who obtained a silver at the First Federation of Conservative Nations Olympiad and a bronze medal at the Summer Olympic Games in The Free Republics as a team failed to meet instant qualifier status and will be taking part at the Mississippi Waters National Archery Park alongside other hopefuls.

With the morning cloudless and vibrant azure skies beckoning, ten men and ten women prepared to battle for those golden opportunity spots.
Whilst in the crowd, West Phoenician Archery Federation members and coaching staff sized up the competition.

Eligibility to participate in the Olympic Games for West Phoenicia relied on archers achieving the minimum qualification score in the first round;
*Men: 70m round of 640
* Women: 70m round of 605

Each round, archers needed to meet the minimum requirements or face elimination. After two rounds the scores would be combined.
One man would join the men's team and three spots were open to women.
The men's competition was extremely fierce, each competitor knowing there was only one spot left, each desiring that position of honour and prestige.

"It feels like Robin Hood interviewing for his Merry Men," a WP Sports Two reporter commented in a voice just above a whisper to those watching at home as a flurry of arrows sailed out into the sky towards the archery targets.

The men's competition lasted for an hour. The crowds oohing and ahhing as they chose their favourite archer who they hoped would progress.
The crowds were on their best behaviour. Only one had to be told off by security after James Hilton complained he was slurping his fizzy drink too loud.

Nerves got the better of a number of competitors. A nervous jitter, a quick breeze and sweat running into their eyes were a number of challenges the hopefuls faced.
After a lengthy battle on the field, Guru Indi gained the advantage over the rest of the competition.
However only narrowly defeated second seed Othello Burns, by 1 point.
His heart which had been pounding only moments earlier, terrified of messing up, returned to a soft rhythmic beat.
The win has been approved by the West Phoenician Archery Federation who were happy to announce Guru Indi as the newest team member.

The finals results displayed were as follows;

Name                       Round One Results:              Round Two Results:             
Guru Indi                          673                            670
Othello Burns                      672                            670
Montgomery Greene                  671                            669
James Hilton                       670                            664
Hyunjoon Pak                       666                            660
Minseok Rhee                       662                            659
Blake Bianchi                      658                            658
Conrad Donovan                     652                            639
Eelis Hämäläinen                   641                            630
Ricky Dahl                         634

During the break, before the women took their turn a shirt bio was released announcing the winner across Vibr and sporting platforms.


Name: Guru Indi
Age: 20
Location: Acapella, West Phoenicia
Bio: Born in Chandigarh, Punjab, India. Guru and his parents emigrated to West Phoenicia for a better life. His father is a spice merchant and his mother, an interior designer.
The family moved to Acapella which is one of three city-states that possess moderate number of adherents to Sikhism.
Growing up he excelled in Football but found the sport to be very competitive and he didn't want to continue with a sport that was so physical on his body.
He took to lawn bowls and archery which both started up as hobbies. Soon after he found he enjoyed archery and began to focus more on that sport.
He discovered a club and was quickly appointed to the under 16's team and Under 18's team. He currently plays for the Senior Team for his club.

Othello Burns was approached by the West Phoenician Archery Federation in the hopes of snapping up more talent. He has been hired as an alternate and will work alongside the Olympic team.

The women's competition was up next and was as fierce as the men's.

Name:                          Round One Results:          Round Two Results:
Serena Tong:                       669                         668
Artemis Duvall                     666                         660
Lady Zipporah Lestat               660                         664
Lady Violet Hungary II             661                         658
Diana Vargas                       657                         650
Latonya Willis                     645                         650
Carol Davies                       626                         648
Paige Norwood                      622                         603
Seo-Yoon Lee                       603
Jamalia Antar                      600

In a shocker performance in the women's qualifications, Lady Violet Hungary II; failed to place in the top three.
A distraught Violet who broke down in tears after the loss, was offered the alternate role which she accepted and vowed to return to the official team after the next Olympics when she will have another chance to compete for a spot.

Serena Tong led the pack for the whole competition and has been named team captain.
Joining Serena Tong for the Olympics was awarded to Artemis Duvall and Lady Zipporah Lestat

Name: Artemis Duvall
Age: 21
Location: Outlaw Valley, Old Westernia Frontier; West Phoenicia
Bio: Born in the pagan city-state of Selene Valley her mother was a priestess to Goddess Artemis. From a young age, she was trained in all manners of hunting and became a skilled archer by the time she was 8.
After relocating to Old Westernia Frontier she also took up competitive shooting. She created an archery team at her high school where the team was the best in that city-state and went on to perform exceedingly well in nationals. She went onto university where she studied Sports Medicine and also formed a University Archery Team that dominated the University level archery tournaments.

Name: Lady Zipporah Lestat
Age: 24
Location: Morning Dawn, Polytheisa Heaven; West Phoenicia
Bio: At the age of 24, Lady Zipporah is the oldest member of the team. Her parents are members of the aristocratic class in Polytheia Heaven. She was homeschooled by a number of tutors and took on archery as her summer sports activity and biathlon as her winter sport, both of which were taught by private coaches.
She attended a few city-state archery tournaments but this event was her first major tournament. Her goal is to one day run for the West Phoenician Senate for the Aristocracy Party of West Phoenicia.

With Archery performing excellently at an Olympic Games level, the West Phoenician Olympic Committee is expecting the next generation to perform just as good as their predecessors.

The West Phoenician Archery teams will march in the Opening Ceremony in Istria, Banija at the Istria Olympic Stadium, before heading over to the Rukunbi Shooting Range over the first few days to start the official competiton.

The archers will be joined by a pretty strong line up of support staff who have helped all our archers reaxh the level they are at and who will contijue to support during thd duration of the Games.
Their delegation include;

Head Coach: Harrison Archer
Assistant Coach: Pete Long
Trainer: Jacob Munguia
Archery PR: Odette Le'Tangie
Priestess of Artemis: Agrotera
Priest of Apollo: Phoebus
Personal Attendant: Lady Ruby Mali
Personal Attendant: Lady Ivy O'Seely
Personal Attendant: Augustus Bloom

To send your love and support to the West Phoenician Archery Teams, head over to the Official WP Olympic Archery page on Vibr and create a post with the hashtag #feelthelove letting the team know you support them in their crusade.

[Waisnor]

Olympic Diary

OK: Oleg Kalugin is with you again with the latest news from the Olympic Games. Yesterday the first athlete from Waisnor to take part in this Olympics was tennis player Alexei Pustozerov. Marina Mastovich will tell you about the results of the match.
MM: Hello Oleg. Well, the first match for our athletes was not very successful - our Alexei Pustozerov lost the qualifying match to Dominik Lintner from Mattijana. The fact that the match failed for Pustozerov became clear already in the first set, where our compatriot lost 3-6. In the second set, Pustozerov tried to oppose something to Lintner, but again lost, already with a score of 4-6, and thus flew out of the tournament. From other matches, it is worth highlighting the meeting of Kobe Van Alphen from People's Republic of Xabia and Oka Sulastra from Pemecutan, where a tense struggle took place in each set, and as a result, Oka won the match - 6-4, 4-6, 8-6.
OK: Thanks for the information, Marina. The fact that Alexei lost is not scary, we still have many athletes. Boxing competitions also started today, where Vladimir Khnykov is watching the fights.
VK: Thank you, Oleg, now I will tell you about the most interesting fights. Only one fighter managed to knock out an opponent - Gene Poole from Renzynistan, who thus defeated Aleki Uresistre from Vekaiyu. It was more interesting to watch battles in middleweight - the fights there were just incredible, but one fight overshadows them all - Reko Livistere again from Vekaiyu versus Blessing Logan from The Grearish Union. There it was not completely clear who would be the winner, the initiative passed from one to another, but in the end, Blessing snatched the victory with a score of 14-13. As for women's fights, the duel of Valentina O'Connor from the host country of Liventia and Kristen Gazel from Benjamin Mark stands out there. The meeting ended in a 3-3 draw, but at the end it was decided that Kristen should go further.
OK: Thank you, Vladimir. Now I will tell you what awaits us today. Firstly, it is, of course, the opening ceremonies in Istria and Orean. From the competition, the beginning of the archery competition stands out, where Ilya Bibik and Andrey Bagaev will start the competition for men, and Angelina Kozyreva for women. There will also be qualifying rounds in rowing, where the most promising athletes are the pair of Dmitry Aleshenko and Grigory Andreev. By the way, the rowing competition will be the first to be held in Liventia. On this I say goodbye to you, we'll meet tomorrow.

[Electrum]

The Turnip: Wow! Five Stunning Facts about the Games of the XIV Olympiad!
by Jim Snakeoil

As the finest purveyors of non-satirical content on the interwebs, only the Turnip can be trusted to deliver 100% accurate coverage of the Games of the Fourteenth Olympiad in Istria and Orean. Therefore, please peruse and memorise these five facts below to impress your friends at the next dinner party! Remember, we have a track record of bringing to you only the most correct facts. Our evidence? We stated that the last Olympic Games was going to have a thirty minute belly dancing session in the opening ceremony and then it actually happened! Obviously it was going to happen, because we are always correct, but that's just a testament of how correct we are. Have we used "correct" too many times now for it to lose its meaning? We don't know, but let's find out.

1. The old name of Liventia was Liverwort Engine
Back when Liventia, the modern republic, was founded, the country was in the midst of a famine. But one Liventian had the bright idea of licking stones that were covered with non-vascular land plants called liverwort. The entire country was saved by this one weird trick that they don't want you to know about. Soon, all the stones that liverwort was growing on were picked clean and Liventia was no longer hungry, which allowed them to form the modern republic we know today. The liverwort filled the engines (the stomachs) of their people, which is where we get the name of Liv-en-tia. What a truly inspiring story.

2. The Orean railway system can be described as being gross
This one's for all you rail fans here! The Orean railway system has exactly 144 stations, which is what we call a gross amount of stations. Oh, did you think we meant gross as in the other meaning of gross? You are sorely mistaken. Get your mind out the gutter. Honestly, how dare you.

3. Banija is an aptly named country
Now, the etymology of the country of Liventia was a bit hard to piece together, but for Banija, it was dead easy. As many of you will know, Banija follows the Puritan Mormonism tradition. One of the three hundred and seventeen main tenets of Puritan Mormonism is one prohibiting contact with the dead through te ouija board. Ban ouija, Banija. It's just easier to say Banija without those pesky vowel sounds in the middle. By the way, we're not surprised that communing with the dead is illegal - ghosts scare the heebie jeebies out of anyone. Why I remember this one time where during a ouija board session, I asked if a ghost wanted to phase through me, and the ghost said yes, and it did. Problem was that once the ghost had entered my fleshy body, it rather liked the warmth and stayed there. For a week I had the strength of both a human being and an incorporeal being. It stayed inside me until I passed it out the other end. It took some straining, but that experience has haunted me for the rest of my life, so it's quite right that Banija is named after banning ouija boards.

4. The Banijans have recruited their 3x3 teams from their pubs
The phrase "You wanna three on three?" was used in Banija to recruit its 3x3 teams. The Banijans, who are well known for drinking merrily in pubs (this trait may have been inherited from the Banijan's Quebecois roots), tend to get in a lot of fights. Luckily, the Olympic Games decided last edition that to appeal to the yoof culture, they would introduce new sports such as skateboarding, rock climbing and three-on-three fights in seedy alleyways. Therefore, the Banijans have gotten some of the roughest drunkards who can take thousands of knocks to take part in these Olympics. This year's three-on-three event will be held in the side access road of the Istria Olympic Village, under the lights at 8pm sharp. Some athletes are reportedly bringing rocket launchers - after all, it is the last team standing which will win the gold medal.

5. Certain liquids are illegal in Banija and some are not and it's a bit weird as to why some are OK and some are not OK
Coffee, a stimulant, is illegal in Banija. However, alcohol, a depressant, is not illegal. What's the conclusion? All stimulants are banned in Banija, despite the fact that alcohol has killed a lot more people compared to coffee. Other stimulants that are banned as soon as you enter the country include Cocoa-bo, turnip juice, and honey soy sauce. Make sure you don't pack these things before you visit Banija!

So there are some five new facts about the Olympic hosts! Which facts did you find most interesting? Comment, like and subscribe to The Turnip for more fun content!

[The Jovannic]

Olympics Matchday -1 --- Baseball, Women's Football win as The Jovannic make strides in respective group stages.

Hello all and welcome back to Olympics Matchday!

Today we have two matches to review. Baseball, and Women's football.

First, Baseball. Nice match. It was basically decided in the first inning. 5 quick runs from the emperors, noting much to say about them, a very clean and tidy sweeping of a weak Sargossa team.

Next, a 3-0 trashing of Siovanija and Teusland in Women's football.

Kinda unexpected of them, they really went for every ball and the results showed, clearly.

Loisa Dotova scored a brace in the dominant performance, running circles around the opponent defence. Fi Su the goalkeeper was good too, keeping up her rock solid form in the league and bringing it to the world stage with 2 amazing saves to prevent an opponent goal.

Lerence Mclar also performed well today, with her usual wall like defensive style pushing away opponent defenders. Really, these girls are on fire!

agreed.

We received this article from an angry fan yesterday. It comes from Tikarot and states that the point the Women's water polo team earned was undeserved.

I feel that is not true. The Jovannic dominated the late proceedings, we totally deserved a point or three. These Tikariot people don't know what they are even saying.

Tomorrow is the Opening Ceremony. The Jovannic has kept their ceremony plans largely secret. We will see what the Jovannic has planned.

See you tomorrow on...

Olympics Matchday!

[Kelssek]

TOP KEK
8 INCREDIBLE USES FOR EMPTY OLYMPIC VILLAGE ROOMS YOU HAVE TO TRY RIGHT NOW

The Royal Kingdom of Quebec is putting their athletes on a cruise ship for security reasons, because nothing says safety like having all your people on vessels best known for sinking with the loss of all hands and debilitating norovirus outbreaks. Or maybe they’re planning to bomb the Olympic village and kill all of us plebs while they cackle evilly. But the rest of us can definitely have more fun without those stuck up imperialists wandering around, which leaves the question, what to do with their empty rooms?

So you have temporary access to a bunch of empty rooms in a restricted access area in a prime location. We’ve got a bunch of ideas to make the most of them. If the organizing committee are scratching their heads for what to do with the unused RKQ rooms, we’ve got the solutions right here! No need to thank us, just cut us a share.

1. CRYPTO MINING
A secure location with reliable power supply is all you need to mine crypto and take down the fiat currency establishment. And the wifi in a university is usually pretty good, too. Not only could this help to fund the Olympics themselves, if anyone gets an electricity bill it’s RKQ. Everyone wins!

2. START-UP INCUBATOR
Access is restricted to athletes and key officials, but clearly not all of them are going to dedicate their careers to their sport, and many of them have other stuff going on. What they need is a space that connects them with fellow professionals and has free kombucha, where they can develop their clothing lines, code their apps, and do all their other side gigs. No, this clearly isn’t co-working space, that’s a real estate scheme to scam money out of venture capitalists who jump at anything that seems “tech”. This is an innovative technology focused centralized hub for ideas. Key difference.

3. ALPACA FARM
Competing at the highest level is stressful. Sure, the Athletes Village has plenty of rec room space, but beanbag chairs, foosball, and video games can’t compare to the stress relief of petting an alpaca. And you can shear them to make some sweaters in time for the Winter Olympics too.

4. HYDROPONIC GROW-OP
Urban farming is the way to a more sustainable future, I read that on a tote bag once. This could also provide a supply of illicit plant-derived substances like coffee – strictly for in-village consumption only of course. Wink wink nudge nudge.

5. LASER TAG DEMONSTRATION EVENT
A bunch of empty rooms in a residential block is the perfect setup for an assault-style laser tag match. Surely many of the athletes already at the Olympics will be keen on some extra fun. Referees can also pose as hostages needing rescue. Counter-terrorists win!

article continues after advertisement

[Northwest Kalactin]

As Day 0 Approaches, What Do We Need To Win A Medal?
Well, we are now so close to the opening ceremony of the XIV Olympiad, hosted in Liventia and Banija. This will be one of the biggest ones ever, rivaling many previous large Olympiad’s in terms of size. With more competitions though, comes more competition for medals, so what exactly do the Kalactanians need to win one?

Good Triathlon Luck
Triathlon is probably the best event for the Kalactanians, with 4 world class athletes in this event ready to go out there and represent our nation. Triathlon isn’t necessarily contested as hard as the sprinting events are, but it will still be a hard event to medal in, with fierce competition coming from many nations. The event, which will take place at the Royal Banijan Air Force Base, has 3 Kalactanians competing in the individual event, along with a world class mixed team relay team, who will look to finish in one of the top spots in that event. Jason Ramirez may be the best out of all of the boys out there, and he was the first to qualify out of the Kalactanian Triathlon Championships, where he won by a large margin and took Gold there for a second year in a row. Michael Barnes is also one of our top athletes, but he is a long shot for the medal, and doesn’t have the Cycling prowess that Ramirez handles. As far as the mixed team relay goes, nobody can predict that event. The men’s medal race will be taking place on day 3, so it will be the first event we can look the medal in.

3x3 Team to Come Through
When the NKOC assembled the 3x3 team, it was clear they where looking for the best young players in the country, and trying to get them experience for the National Team. But now when we look at it, we may have one of the highest skill 3x3 teams out there. Joe Green, out of St. Mikes High School in Gold Coast, will be the highlight athlete to watch, with all of his star power that he brings to the table. Knox Blythe was a long shot to make the team at first, but with his performance in the NKBL, he was able to earn the position of Starting Forward for the team. The 3s will be playing in a relatively tough group, with Electrum challenging them for the top spot in the group, only the group winners will make the QFs, so it will be interesting to see how this group plays out, being one of the strongest groups in the Olympiad.

Good Marathon
On the last day of the Olympiad, the Marathon will be taking place in Banija, this event is a very highly contested event, so it will be fun to see how we fare against the Worlds best. Tim Diaz and Dennis Coz will be our top athletes in this event, each having some of the best times in the Gold Coast Marathon this last year, and finishing in the top 2 during Olympic Qualifying. The will be a lot of completion for a medal here though, as many athletes in this event bring it down to wire. Kalactanians have some of the best distance running in the world, but it will be hard to challenge the times that have been put up. The best time ever was set by Damien Norris, who put up a 2:06:53 at the Zube Olympiad. At Republica, we didn’t even enter in this event, due to our best Marathon runners being paid, and not allowed to compete by the NKOC. That restriction has been slashed this year, so it will be much fun to watch how it ends up going.

[Izmedu]

Thank you so much to Banija for giving me this RP opportunity! Banija has invited me to send a singer of mine to perform for his opening ceremony and I've sent a former WV runner-up of mine here. I hope you all enjoy the performance This post is also liable to change. Ideally, I might be able to add a poster. But if not, this is the RP post in full.

Of all the people that were expected to be contacted by RTI when it came time to organize Izmedu's appearance Games of the XIV Olympiad's Opening Ceremonies in Banija, Dijana Jurina didn't expect to be the one person to get the nod from her label and her channel. Though Izmeduan artists have gone on to perform in events hosted by Banija (with Luka Brekalo, Olga Vrbic, and Duje Simunic all reprising their winning songs), the occasion for this particular Olympics didn't match with either a win either the WorldVision Song Contest or World Hit Festival. Thus, it was time for one of Izmedu's many runners-up to be bestowed the honor of performing in Banija. Though RTI had many options when it came to contemplating who precisely Izmedu should be sending to the Olympics performance, there was one name that stood out from the crowd. Dijana, of course, was that name.

For WorldVision fans, she needs no introduction. She was a two-time WorldVision runner-up (having achieved this feat for WV65 and WV79) and dance-pop princess. She also holds the honor of being one of the few artists to have ever represented her country twice in WorldVision, with both attempts gaining a fair bit of hype from pundits, fans, and general audiences. Outside of her two appearances in WorldVision, Dijana Jurina is the definition of straight-up, no-frills Izmeduan dance-pop. Indeed, she remains one of its oldest, most stalwart names in the Izmeduan music industry, being one of the last holdouts of an older pop model that priortized pop artists' development in terms of image, sound, and brand instead of songwriting. One of her claims to fame were songs that could easily be remixed in nightclubs and bars. She also had quite the artistic flair to the way she approached dance-pop as well, always being cognizant of the way her songs also informed her fashion choices, brand, and general image. Dijana could either be a threatening mistress or your cloying lover, but what she always enjoyed was playing those parts and having the audience right by her fingertips.

This flowed through the she constructed her two WorldVision entries. "Zakljucan," her WV65 effort, was dark dance-pop in its purest form. The lyrics were mysterious and pleading, with the visual motifs suitably ethereal and surreal. The whole production itself had an apocalyptic tone and visual, which was something she wanted as consistent as possible when she was contemplating how to stage the song for the big night. Her WV79 song, "No Air," was a more straight-up offering. It was written and pitched as a summer-ready dance bop, ready to fill the airwaves for people wanting to go out into the beaches in the long and sprawling Izmeduan coast. Of course, it would eventually fulfill that role, but what it was more known nowadays is indeed the very song that nearly won the WorldVision Song Contest, giving Dijana her second 2nd place.

Thus, when it came time to plan for an Olympics opening ceremony performance, Dijana seemed like the fairly obvious choice when RTI were planning for their segment. The amount of viable non-winner candidates were staggering, but the choice was made to select her over some fan-favorite runners-up from editions past. Planning immediately started when Dijana was notified of the role. Many plans were spitballed throughout the creative process. The very intent of the show was to showcase the two songs that put Dijana into the international limelight, that namely being Zakljucan and No Air. Performing each of those songs individually was a no-go, considering the creative producers and heads behind the olympics performance project wanted to keep the performance at a reasonable length. There were plans to remix the songs into one, but early attempts were less than satisfactory. The challenge of trying to mix both songs into one resulted due to the very way the two songs were almost polar opposites of each other. One was a dark dance track, the other was a summer dance number.

Dijana's vision for the whole show? She figured the one way to resolve the differences between her two WorldVision songs was to simply perform truncated versions and try to gracefully follow them up with one another. She knew there wasn't going to be a coherent narrative in terms of the lyrical content or even the theme, but what Dijana had hoped for was that she was able to express two moods in 3 and a half minutes, and be able to convicingly pull it off. When that idea was put to test, the resulting product looked promising to Dijana, RTI, and the team behind them. There were ways to reasonably split the songs into minute and a half segments, and be able to express Dijana's WV catalogue without overstaying her welcome on the stage. With that set, it was now time to actually set up and prepare for the performance itself...

There was performing in arenas, that much Dijana was used to. Hell, she even performed for some outdoor venues in smaller Izmeduan cities like Gralicna. However, Dijana's domestic star power did wane throughout the years, and her WorldVision clout never quite amounted to being able to perform in Izmedu's lone stadium. When she got the nod about this opportunity, she could barely believe what she was hearing when her audience size was going to be about 80,000 people. Of course, there was the difference between performing in an arena of about 15,000 Izmeduans to 80,000 composed of many different countries, of which many weren't even currently participating in the current WorldVision. Even though she may not have been competing for a song contest trophy, she knew what this opportunity presented. It was 3 and a half minutes to not only make a name for herself, but to also brighten and expose her music to as many as possible. The eyes may have been on the athletes, but she wanted to make damn sure that she would leave an impact.

And besides, she knew that she was performing in just Banija's Opening Ceremony (and she had to admit, were people that participated in these events were catching on that she would be the third Izmeduan act to do so?). Despite that, the opportunity itself was still an immense honor. It was already tough enough back home and back at the WorldVision Song Contest to attain international opportunities to bring their music to a wider audience. Even if she was just a mere footnote to the celebrations, she wanted that moment to matter.

It truly hit her the massive scale of it all when the time for rehearsals were over.

Dijana Jurina and her dancers were in position. The cameras were trained on her as the stadium darkened slightly for her performance.

It was showtime.

---

DIJANA JURINA - ZAKLJUCAN
Translation: Locked Up
Tune: Tamta - Unloved
[RPed portions are 0:00-1:31)
Original WorldVision Performance

At the start of this opening ceremony performance, the cameras would first focus on aerial shot of the Istria Olympic Stadium, showing its full extent and 80,000 strong capacity to the viewers at home just shortly before the focus would turn on the singer herself. There was a brief pause as any effects on the arena were briefly paused and as white lights flashed down to the middle of the stage, the whole thing beginning as if it were an Izmeduan entry to the WorldVision Song Contest. Once those short introductions were completed, a familiar series of guitar plucks would begin. The stadium began to be coated in a series of purple lights that flashed to those guitar notes, with the camera now fading to a closer view of the stage that was built for these opening ceremony performances. A silhouette of Dijana posing could now be faintly seen through those flashing purple lights. She had one hand on her hips, her body swayed slightly as if she was ready to bust a move at a moment's notice. The lights would gradually brighten as the introduction neared its end, revealing Dijana to not just the audience, but to the viewers back at home watching the Banijan Opening Ceremonies. Dijana would flash a coy smile towards the camera as her name would appear on a banner on the lower half of the screen. She would begin to take a few steps forward, just in time for her to start singing the first verse itself...

Mi amar baud, damnoćen jamno
Neviđen pol, o ardari me
Molim slobodi me, oslobodi me
Ovaj fuma, ovaj strast sentirem
Nemoj me pustiti, trebam te čaike
Molim slobodi me, oslobodi me

The first verse began with the song's trademark 'ahs,' vocalized by the background singers themselves. Dijana then began the song in earnest, her smile fading quickly to play the part of a heartbroken lover who desires for someone to be there. It was an almost deliberate dissonace with her almost confident and diva-esque moments she pulled as she each individual line. Her vocals were controlled, indicating only a barest hint of emotion that was either non-existence or was holding back. The Istria Olympic Stadium was now fully coated in those purple lights, with the stage floor's LED screen also beginning to reflect that kind of dark aesthetic. The first half of this verse would see the focus remaining just on Dijana herself, her eyes smoldering with pain and her deliberately playing that emotion to the camera despite her voice remaining somewhat cold and distant. There was a brief pause after the third line, one where the camera would pan slightly to a larger view of the stage itself. At the start of the fourth line, Dijana's vocals would intensify as she would begin to dance slightly. Now, the emotions behind the song were a bit more apparent, her vocals becoming just a bit more stronger and more pleading. The way she moved evoked a latent desire to find someone, with the camera views sometimes trying to accentuate just how lonely she looked in the rather large and sprawling venue. The stage effects would also begin to intensify as well, with Dijana looking like she was dancing on dark clouds. The camera would cut to a close view of her at the final line, a desperate expression on her face that marked the very ending of the first verse. There was no time to take a breather as the song immediately jumped to its chorus.

Postojim u tišikare
Sam slomjen, sam slomjen, sam zaključan
Postojim zaključano
Sam slomjen, sam slomjen, sam zaključan

The camera would cut to a more distanced view of Dijana, while ensuring that she was kept in the center. The Istria Olympic Stadium would be coated a brilliant flash of white light before settling down. Dijana would turn her eyes away from the camera, singing at first to the ceiling as she would sway her body slightly at the first two lines (especially doing so when she would sing 'sam slomjen'). Her vocals indicated both a contemplation and tentativeness, as if Dijana were trying out these words for the first time. Indeed, her feeling of uncertainty lasted long into the third line of this chorus, which was where she would gaze into the camera view with an uncertain expression. She would step back once, look down on the floor, and begin to look panicked as if there were a literal wall that was about to close in on her. As she would end this first half of the chorus, eagle-eyed viewers could see silhouettes of a eight-person dance troupe begin to descend upon her position. There were not spotlights on these performers, being only illuminated by the stage effects on the LED screens.

Ne mogu živjeti u pol
Sam slomjen, sam slomjen, sam zaključan
Postojim u tišikare
Sam slomjen, sam slomjen, sam zaključan
Sam zaključan

Now this half of the chorus was where things really began to ramp-up. Not only was there far more to the song's electronic production, Dijana's vocals and emotions also intensified throughout this part as well. Gone was the cloying girl trying to keep an old and emotional distance. Here she was, belting these vocals out as if her life dependened on it, all the while still looking ready to dance. It was also at this part was where the stage effects truly began to come to life. As if affected by Dijana's vocals, the LED stage floor transformed from a series of clouds to ones that they looked like they were about to erupt into a thunderstorm. The 'storms' on the stage floor's screen were timed to Dijana's more passionate vocals. Dijana would also keep arching her body forwards, her face glancing at the stage floor and her expression screaming terror. The dancers would get into formation, surrounding Dijana but taking care to make sure that they weren't so close to her that the cameras would lose focus. As the chorus reached closer to its end, Dijana looked ready to engage in the routine that marked the song's original WorldVision staging. She would gaze at the camera with that same desperate expression, her body swayed with both hands to her sides. All it took was one 'sam zakljucan' to end the chorus and begin the song's drop.

With a burst of light, the vortex on the stage floor began to dangerously swirl. That stage effect was timed to the song's dance drop, which would see Dijana and her dancers engage in some quick, light-footed, and intricate choreography. They would aggressively step forward, making some quick movements to the song's now-fast rhythm that looked like they were punching an enemy right in front of them, before quickly moving to the side as if they were trying to punch their way out. Dijana would then take a brief from those punching movements to gyrate her body to the production, moving her body to those fast beats and stepping back. The dark dance drop continued to intensify the as the vortexes began to get more intense, with Dijana slowly beginning to to get into her knees while still maintaining those intense body movements.

Sam zaključan

She would sing the song's refrain one more time as the drop entered its second half. This was where Dijana was well and truly on her knees. The camera would make a brief aerial shot of the vortex looking like it was about to consume the entire troupe. However, special post-production effects were added especially for those watching at home. As the dance break continued, the camera would flash to a close view of Dijana's shock-stricken face looking as if she was undergoing some sort of ritual. Her face would sway as motion blur and slow-mo were applied all at once as her hands pounded on the floor and the beats intensified those effects. At the tail-end of the dance break, the camera would suddenly be engulfed in a flash of white as this segment of the opening ceremony performance looked to have an ended. The song seemed to have concluded at the halfway mark, with Dijana slowly rising up from the stage as the dancers around looked to have been frozen a la a mannequin challenge.

"Banija!!!" She would say to her microphone, removing her performance persona from "Zakljucan" as she smiled at the crowd.

My bitter voice, damaged soul
Unseen pain, it burns me
Please set me free, set me free

This hunger, this desire I feel
Don't let me go, I need you here
Please set me free, set me free

I exist in silence
I'm broken, I'm broken, I'm locked up
I exist in pain
I'm broken, I'm broken, I'm locked up

I can't live in pain
I'm broken, I'm broken, I'm locked up
I exist in silence
I'm broken, I'm broken, I'm locked up
I'm locked up

I'm locked up

DIJANA JURINA - NO AIR
Tune: Tamta - Replay
[RPed portions are 0:06-1:11 and 2:08-2:55]
Original WorldVision Performance

"We got one more for you, if you don't mind. Now, hit it!"

It wasn't the most graceful transition, but it got the job done. Right on cue, the production for the second song started to kick in through the speakers. If there were any WorldVision fans in the audience, they would certainly cheer for this one. This was the song that very nearly won the 79th WorldVision Song Contest. Already, it marked quite a different mood from the previous song. The production had a summer feel. Appropriately, the lights around the Istria Olympic Stadium trasitioned from those purple lights from Zakljucan to lights tinged with yellow and white. Dijana would get into the position she always utilized whenever she would perform this song. Body to the sides, hips jutting out, and with an easy smile on her face. Timed to the intro, she would change positions and suggestively moved her body slightly, but took care not to make things a little bit too suggestive. Like clockwork, she would start off the first verse with a wink, presenting a much different Dijana to the audience.

Baby I’m wanting, no one’s here but you and I
I see that look in your eyes, yeah
I’m not playing your fool
So tell me what you really want
Don’t play coy and string me along

Dijana largely carried this first verse on her own, with the dancers shuffling into a somewhat messy and uncoordinated formation in the background. To cover this, the spotlights would mostly focus on Dijana, as the stage surround her and the dancers began to evoke the feel and mood of a summer dance party. The LED stage screen began to glow in a blue light, with faint images of oceanic water beginning to display on where Dijana was standing on. The cameras, however, remained close on Dijana as she sang this first verse. In comparison to the dramatics of Zakljucan, Dijana was far more coy and playful in this verse. Her eyes teasingly played with and gazed at the camera, her free hand reaching out with her fingers visibly curling. The camera was the stand-in for the person she was singing this to, and it showed with the way she was eating up the camera with her vocals and her movements. She would move forward with a couple of struts, amplified by footstep sounds timed with them. By the end of the first verse, the camera would cut to slightly wider views as the dancers were now ready to get into position, with a troupe of four beginning to walk behind Dijana.

Hands on my body, hands on my body
Don’t leave me hanging here
You’re all I wanna see, You’re all I wanna have
You’re leaving me breathless
Right at the tip of my tongue
Is what I really want
You, getting too hard to breathe
Around you I got no air

The camera would undertake a slight aerial overhead view when the chorus began. When those flashes disappeared, Dijana could be seen leaning into the dancers around her as she held her arms out. The whole vibe and mood of the song shifted to one that was clearly preparing and building up to an eventual drop. The first half of this chorus would see Dijana leaning in slightly to her left, trusting that her dancers would be there to help steady her in case she took that leaning too far. Midway through that first half, Dijana would then lean to her right. By the time second half of the chorus got around, Dijana would nod to her dancers to break this current formation and move forward. She now looked properly ready to lead a dance routine, with Dijana once more making figurative love to the cameras. In preparation for the drop, the cameras would give each dancer their own special focus for a few seconds. These brief focus flashes went in sequence and ended with Dijana finishing off the chorus for its final line, with her doing so with a wink. It was there that the song immediately went into its dance break, one where the stage flashed with hues of yellow and blue. The water on the LED stage screen began to flow and splash to the beat, roughly 'splashing' where the dancers would be.

No air, no air, no air, yeah
Around you I got no air
No air, no air, no air, yeah

For this dance break, Dijana and her dancers would perform a somewhat modified version of the routine from its original WorldVision performance. Of course, there were still the body sways that marked the first two bouts of the song's drop, as well as the shoulder thrusts she would do when she sang the song's refrain. While dancing, she took great care not to intensify her vocals too much, making sure that the balance between breathing control and movement was still there. It was after those particular parts was where she modified the choreography slight for the Olympics performance. Instead of slinking back and doing gradual movements, she would interact with her dancers with a far more active and even borderline suggestive gait, at times even singing some of the lines back at them. Her movements were far more animated and she looked far more alive for this performance, relishing in the moment and not feeling the pressure of needing to deliver a good result or to represent her country. Once this particular drop was done, the song would skip directly to its final moment. The lights would dim down slightly as the cameras returned back to a close view of Dijana, with the dancers around her freezing in place once again. However, only one dancer kept moving, which was the one she would primarily interact with during the cut to the song's bridge.

Just one look from you and I’m caught
You move that body of yours
And I’m too weak to resist you
Hands on my body, hands on my body

The production would hang back and the attention was all on Dijana and that lone dancer. The stadium itself would go dark, with even the LED floor effects disappearing. At the bridge's start, Dijana would first caress the dancer's face, her vocals somewhat sultry and yet steady. She would toe the line between an innocent kind of suggestiveness to one that went outright, but she took care to make sure not to cross any sort of lines. Her eyes and expression were the ones that communicated most of her inner deisres, beckoning the dancer to get closer to her. She could feel the dancer place one hand her on side, a hand that she was more than happy to reciprocate and take. At the final line, she would wink at the dancer as the troupe behind her would return immediately back to formation. Once there, she had enough breathing room and space to belt out that final line, acting as the glory note of the song. The camera would fly by past her as she sang that final line, creating aerial shots of the Istria Olympic Stadium. The stage effects would come back as the stadium once more was coming back to life with a grand mixture of yellow, blue, and white lights. Once the production came back, it was time for Dijana to leave an impact for the performance's final minute...

Hands on my body, hands on my body
Don’t leave me hanging here
You’re all I wanna see, You’re all I wanna have
You’re leaving me breathless
Right at the tip of my tongue
Is what I really want
You, getting too hard to breathe
Around you I got no air

The chorus would begin in a staccato-esque nature for its beats, with the stage unleashing sparklers out into the air timed to those beats. The dancers would make sudden motions to those special effects being added, which quite literally started this chorus off with a bang. The stadium was well and truly lit up, yellow lights not only being added but with the many screens in the stadium having that same color palette being added. The whole vibe of the final chorus was a large summer party, with more dancers being added to create the feel of one. These dancers would be performing slight variations of the choreography, just enough to look coordinated but also unique enough where it wasn't a massive stream of people all doing the same thing. Dijana would lead the charge in terms of her movements and vocals, with her even setting up for a glory note at the chorus' latter half. The camera would maintain a mixture between wide aerial views and shots of Dijana singing the chorus, with her holding her free hand up high and wanting to pump the audience in the stadium. By the end of this chorus and heading into the beat, she and her dancers would get into formation once more.

(‘Round you I got) no air, no air, no air, yeah
Yeah, yeah
Around you I got no air

Dijana once more repeated the same choreography she had for the dance break. Of course, she would add some minor modifications, with all of them freestyling even more than usual and letting the mood of the song take them to where they needed to be. The camera view would add a slow-mo effect as Dijana would sang each line, creating an almost surreal effect where each movements, whether that be a hip sway or a body roll, was almost exaggerated for the viewers back at home. These effects nearly made following the choreography somewhat difficult, but the effects would cease once the song neared completion. It would end with Dijana singing the titular lyric with a wink in her eye.

Sure, she could call it another performance done and dusted, but she knew opportunities like this didn't just come falling from the sky everyday.

As the audience in the stadium cheered, she basked in the glow of the stadium's lights around her. She would shout her thanks in both Izmeduan and English, feeling the same kind of relief she was more than familiar with following her WorldVision performances. She had no idea if this performance would make any impact, but was it fun being able to do it?

Absolutely. Even if she did just become an inevitable footnote, she was not about to forget tonight. You don't just perform to 80,000 people and excise that from memory.

The focus will be on the athletes from here on out, but if she was able to leave an impression on someone, then that was all she needed.

[Sargossa]

‘30-40’

Xavi barely heard the Krytenian umpire or the brief murmur that ran through the crowd. Instead he glared at the bright yellow orb that was suddenly snatched away by a sprinting ball girl. Significantly it was snatched away on his side of the net.

There were Olympic dreams and then there was whatever the hell this reality was. Xavi Valdés was the highest ranked of Sargossa’s men’s tennis delegation. For him the preliminary round was something that happened to other people. Something that happened while he would be lounging back at Istria’a athlete’s village. Instead he was schlepping around one of the outlaying courts at the Kisangara Tennis Club, while his Olympic hopes slipped away.

The ignominy of having to feature in the preliminaries could have been lessened if the opponent had at least has the good grace to be awful. But North Alezia’s Razaq Mazarim was far from that. He was still bouncing on his baseline, ready to receive serve again. Xavi bounced the ball once before launching it into the air. His back arched as he went through the serving motion, which ended with the ball thudding into the net just below the tape. The tightness in the technique betraying the pressure of the moment.

Xavi bounced the second ball. For longer this time. His teeth were gritted as he rather hoped the ground would open up and swallow him whole. It really hadn’t meant to be this way. He sent the serve out wide. Mazarim met it. A brief baseline rally began, ending when the North Alezian throw in a slice and followed in behind it. It lacked the width he had probably been hoping for and sat up nicely for Xavi. The permutations ran through his mind. A backhand opportunity had gone but he could either launch a forehand straight at his opponent or look for the angle and hopefully find a clean winner. Perhaps that was the problem. Back home on the Pro-Tour he’d simply have won the point without thinking. He went for the angled cross court forehand.

The angle was fine, beating Mazarim’s outstretched racquet with ease. But as soon as the ball left his own racquet Xavi felt a sudden sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach. The angle was good but he knew he’d overegged it. It flew just beyond the far baseline.

‘Game, set and match Mazarim. Two sets to one. Six-Three, Five-Seven, Six-Four.’

It was an empty feeling indeed, as Xavi forced his legs to move him to the net to shake the hand of his conqueror. Tennis was always one of the Games’ most competitive battlegrounds but if Sargossa were to add to its six prior medals in the discipline they would have to do so without their leading man. For him the Olympics was over, literally before it had even started.

[Terre Septentrionale]

Tonight is the opening ceremony for the XIV Olympiads

Istria, Banija - Terre Septentrionale is sending between 300 and 250 athletes in the Olympiads, with 10 of them playing tennis and the rest are playing a team sport and all of these athletes will be ccompeting in Banija. The Istria opening ceremony is sheduled for this night and will be broadcated live in Terre Septentrionale in French, Polish, English and Croat.

Official Olympic broadcasters

French        Télé-Septentrionale (TS)
Polish        Telewizja Polnocna (TPO)
English       Northern TV (NTV)
Croat         Sjeverna radiotelevizija (SRT)

Tomorrow's shedule (day 0)

Since Terre Septentrionale has no athletes in archery, boxing and rowing, only the opening ceremonies will be shown on our networks on day 0. The Banija ceremony will start first, around 7 p.m. local time or 1 a.m. Septentrional time. All of our athletes will parade at this ceremony. Then five hours later, at 6 a.m. Septentrional time, the Liventian ceremony will start. None of our athletes will be at this ceremony but it will still be shown on our tv networks. Then right after the Liventian ceremony, our networks will show a rerun of the Banijan ceremony for those who were sleeping when it was shown live. Competitions will start around 6 or 7 a.m. Banijan time and probably ends at midnight Liventian time. Terre Septentrionale is 6 hours ahead of Banija and 11 hours ahead of Liventia, wich means competitions will be held from Noon to 11 a.m. on the following day at our time, which means we'll have competitions 24 hours on 24. However our athletes only competes in Banija, from noon to 6 a.m. Septentrional time.

Note: Time is subject to the hosts discretion. It they decide to start events at 8 a.m., it will be at 8 a.m. Or if they decide to end events at 10 p.m., it will be at 10 p.m.

Opening Ceremony

We have some information from the Comité olympique Septentrional (COS) that our athletes will comemorate the Patriotes who fought the British occupational troops in the 18th and 19th centuries and kicked them from Terre Septentrionale for good. Athletes will be dressed as a Patriote, they will wear a hat, a pipe, a ceinture flechée and traditional 19th century clothes. Half of them athletes (about 100 or 150) will also carry non loaded muskets as part of their attire. It's time to show the superiority of Terre Septentrionale over the British commonwealth! I'd like to remind athletes from other delegations at the ceremony that our muskets will not be loaded, so there's no need to worry if you see an athlete carrying a musket next to you!

Day -2 and -1 results

Competitions have already started in some sports, let's see what happened.

Water Polo

The Comité olympique Septentrional (COS) actually forgot to send teams in Water Polo, so the competition started without us. They already played matchday 2 in both men and women.

Men's Baseball

Terre Septentrionale lost 3-1 against Jeckland. Bogusław Krzyszkowiak batted in our lone run in the 5th inning. Travis O'Rear (0-1) is the losing pitcher.

Women's Softball

What a great start! The Nordiques won the first game 9-1 against Québec. Mieczyslawa Szczutkowska hitted a 3 runs homerun in the 4th inning and we took a 3-0 lead. Katarina Radovnikovic and Urska Trstenjak also hitted homeruns later in the game and we won 9-1. Marie-Annne Galarraga (1-0) was the winning pitcher. Game 2 was a little harder, we lost 1-0 against The Hannasean Federation. Julija-Ana Sršen (0-1) was the losing pitcher despite allowing one run in 8 innings.

Women's Association Football

We already played 2 matchdays, however Terre Septentrionale had a bye on day one so they only played one game. That game ended by a disappointing 2-2 draw against a team we don't know. Katarina Kristic (38th minute) and Krystyna Walczykiewicz (71st minute) were the goalscorers for the Reprezentacja Nordycki.

Men and Women's Tennis

First, we had women tennis. Luca Gaspar won her first matchup 6-3 and 6-3 against Gerlanmujo nos Ikurnalin from Greater Vakolicci Haven. However, our best tenniswoman, Melanie O'Malley lost 6-1 and 7-5 against Christine Nam from New Waldensia. Maude Bergeron didn't play and advanced to the next round along with Gaspar.

Patrice Carlson lost 6-3 5-7 and 7-5. Both Włodzisław Grzejszczak and Yoann Médard didn't play and advanced to the next round. Grzejszczak is expected to win at least one matchup while Médard will probably lose right away and go home.

Jean-François McGrath,
Olympiad writer,
La tribune Septentrionale

[Diarcesia]

Erle Avery, at second base of the Pirates Olympic baseball team of Diarcesia, was in no condition to play today. He was not even sure if he can leave the dugout.

He was playing in the eighth inning after being called up by manager Oliver Luck. He held much respect for him; he's a great manager this year, especially during the past few weeks. He brought in players like Sujay Vinković and Atlantes Voldemort. Many fans praised him. Some hated him.

*BAM*

"Are you all right?" Luck yelled from afar.

It was a hit by pitch. The opposing player from the Greater Vakolicci Haven could not have expected that Avery would not react at all to the incoming projectile. He was hurt, and tired. He had to rest. Too bad, he really wanted to help bring a medal to Diarcesia. He was playing for the love of the game.

It was his second time out on the mound. Usually he had a great at bat. Not this time. He was struggling to maintain his form in the third inning.

Luck bade him back to the dugout. "Damn, you're quite in a rough spot, Avery. Rest in the village once we look after you."

"You're right, Oliver. I have burned out myself here, what with forcing to play while dealing with this migraine," Avery told the manager, as he was being helped up from his bench.

Luck smiled, "I know that you've got a good shot at making it big in the Olympics. Think of all the fans you've met. You've even helped Hekkitsowe get some silverware. I know you are a tough competitor. We saw how tough you are. You have more than done your part here."

"I love my teammates, Oliver. I'm going to do everything I can to help them."

"Thank you, Mr. Avery. I wish you the best in a quick recovery. I know you are getting ready to run tomorrow."

"I will. I will help us bring home a medal. Then maybe we can hang out after the games."

"Good luck with that, Avery. Now go. We have games to win in the next few days."