Games of the XV Olympiad — roleplaying thread

by **Hannasea** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 8:34 pm

Excerpts from Radio Free Hannasea live coverage. The relative timings here are my own invention and should not be assumed to be canon.

Several minutes of contemplative silence.

say

More existential silence.

Harsh buzzing sound.

Waza-ari

waza-ari

balls

will

Several minutes of silence while they try to remember what other Olympic sports there even are.

* Probably not his actual nickname but would be cool if it were.

by **Graintfjall** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:00 pm

Selection of articles from the GS SuperSports+ website.

Fourth Wall Fracturing Meta Commentary: Gjermundsdóttir calls for overhaul of Olympic gymnasts judging

x

k

o

r

a

n

a

t

e

Mechanistic Results Regurgitation: Cycling continues to be strongest sport

by **Natanians and Nosts** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:30 pm

Natanians and Nosts wins first gold medal

Natanians and Nosts won its first medal this Olympic Games,and it also happened to be the nation's fist gold medal in history.
Iúlia dos Santos lifted 223 kg today,which is 13 kg more than what she did on the Xth Olympics (then competing at the 53kg ctegory and now at 55kg category) for 9th place.

—Oh well,I am here with our Olympic medalist and record breaker,Iúlia dos Santos.Hi Iúlia,good night.
—Good night!
—How are you feeling,after winning not only our first medal [at these Olympics],but also our first gold medal.
—I am really glad and honoured to be able to do this.I always dreamt of this happening,but I still can't believe this is happening!
—Also,not only you won an inedit golden medal,you also broke Olympic records.
—Yes,I have now the total and clean and jerk records.I just can't explain it.I was feeling pretty confident and thought I could risk some,since only taking part here,again after five years in Centralis when I managed to lift 210kg,any result would be alredy good,and then my coach set it to 129,and I was like,okay at least I had already made a good mark.I was the last and the previous girl,Stauche,had already broken a record and when I did it I just could not believe!I still can't believe it.
—Well,we are all thankful for your effort and doings.Do you wish to send any message?
—Yes.Mum,dad,I love you!Family I miss you all.Thank you to everyone who believed me and I am reaaly glad that you helped me get to here and win this beautiful medal!
—And that was Iúlia dos Santos,Natanians and Nosts' first gold medalist!

Joy as Natanians and Nosts wins gold,record

Iúlia dos Santos wins Natanians and Nosts' first gold medal.And not only this,as she also broke the olympic record in weightlifting for her category.
She lifted 94kg in the snatch and an extraordinary 129 on the clean and jerk,setting a new Olympic record.Giving a 223 total,which was another Olympic record.

by **Scornerse** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 10:40 pm

Scornerse at the XV Olympiad

Scornerse's Martial Women: Episode 4

Day 3, unfortunately, saw a continuation of disappointment for Sconerse's Martial Women. Despite her best efforts in archery, Estella Aguilar wasn't not able to successful pull out a medal for her women's team in archery, though they did make it to the quarterfinals. None the less, Estella still has the mixed team archery to potentially compete for a medal, never mind the start of individual rounds for women in archery in day after that.

Things weren't any better on the fencing from, either, a disappointment which began with the lesser know, though still Olympic in talent, Sancha Fernandez, registering the third loss in a row for Scornerse Kriegiersien fencer, this time with it being Queeny Waggtoggle in the first round of women's sabers, with Carissa Aguilar falling further yet from her fourth place Épée performance, also getting eliminated in the first round, in her bout, to Uchenna Chinweike of Banija, a nation who's name that's recognized with increasing the disdain from Team Scornerse that had been originally limited to Kriegiersien. Additionally, it appears that a consequences of forming around Socnerse's Fencing analysts, that Carissa had become a victim of the partial success of her aggressive tactics. After the high profile drama of her bout with Sarah Porthos, it appears that referees have taken a closer look at her tactics, giving her far less room to work with than she had in the first place. Carissa made comments larger to that effect:

Carissa Aguilar

"Fine, I admit, a large degree of my success as a fencer comes down to my assertive style, while is rather reliant on how tight or loose a referee decides to call a bout. It appears that the whining of a sore loser had if nothing else a subconscious effect on the refereeing of my bouts. However I won't give excuses and still have team fencing to go through."

Estella's performance was significantly better than Carissa, but she, too started struggling in the Round of 32 before being defeated in the round of 16. She, however, did not feel like commenting on her future in fencing.

Estella Aguilar

"Look, this last loss, was my best loss and while being top 16 in the Olympiad isn't terrible, given my previous eliminations occurring only a round earlier, I don't think there's much I can say, from here on where I should focus when it becomes to fencing, particularly since there are still team events ahead."

As for the next day, Scornerse will finally get to see it's women's boxers in action, in the flyweight, lightweight and heavyweight classes, represented by Irma Palmer, Tracy Lopez and Celia Ramirez respectively. We talked we asked each of them to give a little summary into the boxing styles:

Irma Palmer

"I suppose that I'm an more all around boxer, but I do put a very heavy emphasis on my counter punches. If I can hit my opponent after they've had their moment stopped by blocking, or after having whiffed a punch, I can land one good blow, if not a set of them while they're in a vulnerable position. If that's not enough to knock them out, it's certainly a way to express dominance in a round for the judges to appreciate."

Tracy Lopez

"I'm on the shorter end for my weight class, but I'm fast and good about taking punches. I'd say I'm a swarmer. I get my opponents up close. I love facing out-boxers, particularly lanky ones. First, they get so flustered having to deal with someone who refuses to stay neatly around the edge of their range, next they get overwhelmed by the steady steam of pain. I win mostly by looking in control of the action round after round, never mind the fact that I put myself in a good position to land repeated hits to my opponent's heads. While I can't always land knockouts, being able to do repeated damage to someone's head while they're too dazed to protect themselves is a good way to force stoppages."

Celia Ramirez

"I like to see myself as more skilled than I am often given credit for, but I accept the description I'm given for the fear it instills, as one might guess from my sizeable physique and my comments from my previous interview, I'm a slugger. I thrive on the brutality of this sport, namely, the brutality I visit on my opponents. When I'm not winning matches by flat knockouts, I also win by technical knockouts, by the virtue of the damage my punches do. I'Il admit, it's satisfying nailing an in-fighter who's trying to overwhelm you, or an out-boxer that's been forced into a corner. I pride myself on being a clean fighter, but I'm merciless otherwise, my responsibility lays in following the rules, after that, I only care for what brings me closer to victory."

by **The Jovannic** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:31 pm

The Jovannic at The Olympics! Day 3: Jindi Miski for the Sliver!

Overview of other events:
• Joshua Lang fails to qualify in Climbing
•The Jovannic defeat Vekaiyu 3-2 in Mens Football
•Jovannic Hockey squeeze past Dotivija 2-1

Jovannic Commentary for the 100m Backstroke final

I'm Pormeden McDavies commentating from Electrum! It's now the Women's 100m backstroke final and we have one of our very own athletes, Jindi Miski, starting in lane 7. Favourites Ikrisia Sulevire and Isabella Sålvø will be starting in the golden lanes today. The ladies are all ready......And they're off! Jindi Miski looks fastest off the mark, but looks like Georgia Juan of Hopal has overtaken her! Here comes Ikrisia and Jindi Miski's about half a body length behind Georgia Juan, who's widening her lead!We're reaching the halfway point in this race, and Jindi and Ikrisia are in a furious battle for second spot! Georgia comes off the wall cleanly here and... Looks like Jindi's got a 0.003 lead coming off the wall against Ikrisia! Kilie Britton in Lane 3 looks sharp coming off the wall in fourth place, Isabella Sålvø is back in 7th, she'd not having the quickest of runs. Kilie is surging past Ikrisia! Jindi is still half a body length behind Georgia Juan, but she's having a late surge! Oh my! She's only a quarter body length behind Georgia! This is going to be...Georgia takes gold for Hopal! Jindi takes Sliver by a margin of 0.007! And it looks like Kilie has Snatched the bronze from Ikrisa Sulevire! What a finish! It's the first medal for The Jovannic this Olympics and it's the first Swimming gold ever!

"I'm really happy with my performances today. I'm proud to be The Jovannic's first medallist in Swimming and I hope to give spirit and happiness to the aspiring swimmers in The Jovannic" She said in a press conference.

She would then achieve another first for the Jovannic; first in the heats of the 209m individual medley. Unfortunately, she would fail to qualify for the finals, with a disappointing 2 mins and 12 secnods, which put her 11 overall and not enough. Still, Jindi has had a great run and thus may be a sign of things to improve for the Jovannican Swimming delegation.

Men's and Women's Doubles both succeed!

Hoo Leng Sheet/Iosak Gisaloci (JOV) 21 19 21
Raul Barker/Julius Diaz (AME) 16 21 19

The Badminton men of the Jovannic continued their undefeated streak, beating the pair of Raul Barker and Julius Diaz. Hoo Leng Sheet wasn't in the best of form, but managed to pull off some devastating smashes at critical moments, as Iosak controlled the court pretty well. Iosak has had a run of great form we would like to see him continue this. Closer to the net, Iosak has had a 93 percent return ratio, exceptional even for an experienced player.

Ezela Werion/Transipé Quwer (JOV) 21 19 21 Q
Ula Lekaroz/Bioti Larraz (MRT) 16 21 18

The Women of The Jovannic representing Badminton has not has the best of starts, with not even a single victory from both Ezela and Transipé. However, this victory should uplift their spirits a little. It wasn't the cleanest of victories, with both Transipé and Ezela making unforced errors, and the definitely were quite uneasy taking spikes and edge shots. However, they still managed a squeeze out a victory, suffocating the opponent pair with nice backhand slices by Ezela and Transipé's orthodox drop shot style.

Heartbreak for both Men's and Women's Singles, Mixed Doubles fight to advance

Bai Tu/Lin Lin Zhi (JOV) 11 8 8 11 11 8 11
Midri Molsk/Kristina Agilsond (CMT) 8 11 11 5 7 11 1

While Bai Tu and Lin Lin Zhi both lost against lower seeded opponents in their respective singles events, The mixed doubles would bode better for the pair, as they fought to win against The pair of Midri and Kristina. It was a close match between the two, as both pairs had wonderful attacking plays, and long rallies were common. The Jovannic Pair eventually triumphed in the most anticlimactic way possible, as their opponents looked fatigued and the Jovannic Pair would wipe the board with them, only allowing the opponents to get a single point in. This pair will be the last hope for a Jovannic medal in Table Tennis and we wish them the best!

We will be taking a short commercial break, but stay with us, as we will be analysing The Jovannic Baseball and Handball games!

All Hail The Jovannic!

Miloval, The Jovannic's preferred malt drink! Savour the goodness of malt and milk, now with 60% less sugar and extra buckwheat! Get yours today!

by **Nuevas Hesperides** » Sat Aug 14, 2021 11:38 pm

OOC: I also know nothing about judo, so all errors are entirely my own.

The ippon strikes back: Why hasn't Nuevas Hespérides won any judo medals so far?

At the famed Grenville Guildhall, the historic trading post that serves as home to the Games of the XV Olympiad's judo competition, Hesperidian judo competitors have gotten a better view of the beautifully inlaid murals of Electrum's venerated goddess of randomness, Margaret, than they would like. Instead of finding themselves on top of the medal heap, they've instead found themselves staring at the ceiling after being subjected to an ippon (a decisive throw) or a waza-ari, a less decisive (but sill impressive) throw.

Their sanseis have probably gotten too much of a view of the Margaret murals as well. Instead of watching their trainees win medals, they've been looking up in the air in desperation — and perhaps prayer — after Nuevas Hespérides has failed to produce a single judo medal in these games.

In the men's 60kg category, Nicolau Puig found himself on the wrong end of the mat almost immediately as Elmedin Stjepanovic — a judoka from Mytanija, a country where boxing has superseded judo as the most prominent martial art — took advantage of Puig's shaky stance with a okuriashi harai. In essence, Stjepanovic took Puig right off his feet with a sweeping underkick — not a great start for the country.

In the men's 66kg, meanwhile, Oliver Belmonte — a widely touted, 21-year-old prospect from Playa Tiburón — thought he had Britonisea's Florencio Del Cid on the ropes. He had just caught Del Cid with a ko uchi gari move, essentially undermining Del Cid with his right heel and beginning to throw him on the floor. But Del Cid, thinking quickly, caught Belmonte as he was falling down with a tomoe nagi — a circle kick. Things had indeed gone full circle for Del Cid, and the judges awarded the Britonisean competitor an ippon.

In the men's 73kg category, Mateo Borja lost in a similar fashion. Clocking in near the weight limit, Borja had expected to dominate his matches. He used sheer power to pull off a tai otoshi (body drop) against Mark Washington in the Round of 16, but Sid Lozano of Grearia had other ideas. Lozano let Borja almost drop him to the floor, but then used a osoto makikomi — a major outer wraparound — to turn things on their head. Like Belmonte, Borja's opponent used his own momentum against him.

The women had better success than the men, with Noémi Álvarez and Carmina Arechavaleta entering into medal contention. Arechavaleta had made it all the way to the quarterfinals as one of Nuevas Hespérides' least seasoned competitors, but she met her match in defending champion Margaret Churchill of Diarcesia. She somehow survived Churchill's coordinated attacks, and delayed the bout longer: To award an ippon, a competitor must use an established judo technique with force, speed, and control. Arechavaleta was fighting all the way down, so the referees awarded Churchill only a waza-ari. The bout continued.

But Churchill managed to get a second waza-ari, this time with a poorly executed Seoi Nage (shoulder throw). But a second waza-ari was enough to award Churchill the bout and send her through to successfully defend her gold medal. Arechavaleta would get sent into the repechage, where she lost to Quebec's Enomoto Mayu with another ippon scored against her.

Noemi Álvarez made it all the way to the bronze medal match after losing to eventual gold medalist Lieah Kann of the Sarian, a seasoned Olympic competitor who won Bronze in last year's games in Orean. In the bronze medal match, Álvarez faced Polly Gennaro of Krytenia, another seasoned competitor who had ironically lost to Kann in last year's bronze medal match.

Gennaro was most certainly gunning for a medal. After all, Krytenia also had medal hopes in the judo after a disappointing games in Orean as well; Gennaro was one of their most highly touted prospects. As KBS Sport put it, "Gennaro had four years of anger to take out on whoever was standing in her way," and Álvarez happened to be standing in her way. Gennaro took out Álvarez with a classic judo throw, the uchi mata — the inner high throw.

And so Álvarez, like her compatriots, was also looking at the Margaret murals on the Grenville Guildhall.

Where did Nuevas Hespérides' competitors go wrong in that series of unfortunate events? In the men's events, Nuevas Hespérides' judokas emphasized sheer power over creativity, and they paid the price. After all, judo is not about pure strength. It is about "maximum efficiency" and "mutual welfare and benefit," as the discipline's founding tenets state. It is about using just the right amount of force for one's purpose. Overconfidence in one's abilities betrays the principles of judo, and Nuevas Hespérides' male competitors found this lesson the hard way.

As a side note, "Scornerse's martial women," who will participate in the judo competition along with seemingly every other martial sport contested at this Olympics, could also learn this lesson as well. I implore them not to bring their particularly violent and aggressive brand of competition that they have demonstrated in the fencing competition to the judo mat. After all, judo is the "gentle way," and as our own experience has shown, other judoka can easily exploit overconfidence.

While the women's competitors have remembered not to be overconfident, they simply faced superior opposition. Álvarez and Arechavaleta ended up facing internationally decorated judoka, judoka who have much more experience competing on the international stage. This is not something to be ashamed of: Judokas bow to each other at every bout to thank them for the opportunity to practice their technique, and by facing off with more experienced competitors, our judokas learn how to hone and perfect their technique.

Of course, the judo competition at the Games of the XV Olympiad has not yet concluded. Our competitors still have the chance to learn from their compatriots' mistakes and to embrace the principles of judo before competing. And, of course, they still have the opportunity to win a medal.

This article was written by Jair Oriol, the sansei of the Oriol Dojo in Pontevedra. Oriol is one of the most decorated sansei in the nation.

by **Rhim Flavezztowland** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:00 am

FTV homepage / Sports / Games of the XV Olympiad /
The Olympic Report - August 15, 2021
Your latest updates on Rhim Flavezztowland's progress in the Games of the XV Olympiad, brought to you by FTV.com's in-house sports team

Days 2 and 3
REVIEW: Team Rhim Flavezztowland loses to the Licentian Isles in second matchday of women's water polo event; Rica dos Santos falls from broken bike and sprains knee in women's road race event, making her a DNF participant; Flavezztowlander weightlifters all fail to get medals on Day 2, 3 weightlifting events
ELECTRUM - Team Rhim Flavezztowland was defeated by the team from the Licentian Isles in the second-matchday women's water polo event on Day 2 by a 9-5 margin, which is something someone can expect from a newcomer to the Olympics.

Meanwhile, in the women's road race event, 5 cyclists from Rhim Flavezztowland participated; while four of them managed to do the race from start to finish, one of them did not: Rica dos Santos, whose bike broke a few minutes into the event while in the border town of Geldectrum and caused her knee to be sprained.

She was taken to a hospital in Geldectrum and is currently receiving treatment there for her knee sprain; investigations are still ongoing into why her bike broke as at the time of writing, but another Flavezztowlander cyclist who participated in the women's road race event - Kimberley Heathrow (who finished in 19th place in the event and took 3 hours, 32 minutes, and 39 seconds to reach the other side of the event route in Fairleigh) - said she hoped that Rica gets well soon when interviewed by an FTV Olympics correspondent in Electrum.

And last but not least, Oprah Butarbutar and Chimaki Hirano were both defeated by Nina Kirkpatrick and Diana Richmond from Tumbra in the first-matchday women's beach volleyball event, while four Flavezztowlander weightlifters all failed to get any medals in their respective weightlifting events on days 2 and 3.

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO INTERVIEW: Yenny Ryang (from the women's beach volleyball event, 25 years old) on her personal life, professional career, and upcoming second-matchday volleyball event

Interviewee Yenny Ryang in a 2020 smartphone photo

This is the transcript of an FTV Exclusive Video Interview that was broadcast live on the FTV24 sports magazine show iSport with Benjamin Burnett last night at 10:30pm, meaning you'll now need to go onto either the Videos section of FTV.com or the FTV24 section of tvALL to reexperience it in video form.

Benjamin Burnett: (from the iSport studio) ...and you're Yenny Ryang, age 25, participating in the women's beach volleyball event at the Games of the XV Olympiad in Electrum, is that correct?

Yenny Ryang: (from her room in the athletes' village in Somer via Reistar Allo*) Yeah.

Burnett: Okay, so how long have you been playing volleyball for?

Ryang: Quite a while! For your info, I started playing volleyball when I was a high school student, and I took part in quite a lot of school volleyball tournaments at home. It was great, wasn't it? After I graduated from high school, I decided to start a career in volleyball with an amateur team and, well, I just became a professional volleyball player for my country's national volleyball squad a few months ago!

Burnett: Thank you for telling me. Anyway... What've you been up to lately?

Ryang: Well, I've been following my beach volleyball practice schedule ever since a few days before I went to Electrum for the Olympics, but it was only after I arrived here that I began practicing on the beaches of Ridgeway Bay with my teammate - before that, I was practicing on the beaches of Helmont*** with someone else.

Burnett: Okay... How are you hoping to perform in the upcoming second-matchday women's beach volleyball event, then?

Ryang: I hope to do rather well, since I've been practicing quite. A. Lot. Anyway, without further ado, thanks for interviewing me!

Burnett: Thank you.

On the next Olympic Report: how Rhim Flavezztowland performs on Day 4, and an exclusive video interview with Flavezztowlander female flagbearer and women's steeplechase participant Pauline Hessel.

The Games of the XV Olympiad can be viewed in Rhim Flavezztowland live on FTV1 (channel 1 on DigiTV/Mingtel Play, channel 101 on Cablenet/Reistar TV/Primesat) and on demand through the tvALL website and mobile app.

PERMALINK: ftv.com/sports/xvolympiad/report

by **Srednjaci** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:24 am

AMAZING RUNS FOR RONA SEROTIĆ AND BOŠA DRVENIK

Wonderful news from sailing. In compettion of Women's two-person dinghy in third and fourth race our girls make a huge step forward. In third run, Rona Serotić and Boša Drvenik were on eight position on the half of run.
But after turning they tuch Eura team ( Charlotte Marsden and Amy Francis) so our girls have to run penalty run. In the end they finished on 18th position.
But in fourth run , they show all the talent they have and won that race. From the start they shown knowlege how to sailing on the left side wind. Other girls have a lots of problems with that wind.
Now they are in the medal fighting position. Congratulations girls. That was amazing runs!

RONA SEROTIĆ : " Žao mi je zbog tog trećeg plova. Bile smo preblizu ekipi Eura i dogodilo se to da smo ih dodirnule i dobile smo naravno kaznu. Međutim sve smo ispravile u slijedećem plovu i ovo je naša prva pobjeda u regati."
"I'm sorry about that third race. We were too close to the Eura team and it happened that we touched them and we got a penalty of course. However we corrected everything in the next race and this is our first victory in the regatta."

SAILING — Women's two-person dinghy — race 3 and 4
Race 3-4					R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Total
Glenda Walsh/Dixie Keller (AME)			5	1	7	29							13
Charlotte Marsden/Amy Francis (EUR)		7	2	13	6							15
Mabel O'Brien/Jane Boston (TMB)			DNF	23	2	2							27
Rona Serotić/Boša Drvenik (SRE)			34	8	18	1							27
The Bučić brothers have really good day. In the third race they make error on the start. Wind blow them to far on right and they loose to much time to come back. But in the end they finished on 29th position, that wasn't too bad at all.
In next race , the Bučić brothers sailes much more better. They didn't make an huge error. So they have really good run. At one moment they were on fourth position but in the end they droped on seventh.
This is the best run for them. If the Bučić brother made two top 5 runs , they have a great chance for medal position.

SAILING — Men's two-person dinghy — race 3 and 4

Race 3-4						R1	R2	R3	R4	R5	R6	R7	R8	R9	R10	Total
Panca Darmawan/Darma Widartha (PCU)			41	5	1	1							7
John Olivier/Jacob Shirley (ETM)			2	18	10	3							15
Leading Seaman Davenport/Able Seaman Dixon (HMS)	11	20	3	2							16
Retho Léosson/Noah Brynjólfursson (GRÆ)			13	3	5	23							21
Fotê Ndiche/Kylian Ndiche (BNJ)				10	10	8	6							24
Bruno Lauder/Matias Lauder (LIS)			3	15	9	15							27
Carter Schardt/Peter Brown (CRT)			5	9	14	14							28
Javier Franco/Javier del Río (NHE)			14	2	15	36							31
Mukhlis Safar/Khaled Kasperovich (ALE)			17	12	2	29							31
Mikkal Meint/Ogden Elwes (TSA)				6	4	28	38							38
Andre Cinq-Mars/Igot Kvaltanov (QUE)			42	13	22	5							40
Bramley Castro/Ricky Thomas (SCR)			16	7	19	32							42
Clarence Hughes/Mike Rudgers (HOP)			37	8	17	17							42
Ibrahim Kassab/Yaakoub Atwan (GRG)			33	1	26	16							43
Tyrone Bell/Emre Ciser (KSK)				32	21	4	20							45
Simeon Kalousis/Evristhenis Kalousis (AKE)		24	22	16	10							48
Callum Pratt/Louie Hunter (EUR)				30	11	32	9							50
Šime Bučić/Duško Bučić (SRE)				35	14	29	7							50

HANDBALL — Women's — matchday 2

Group E
Srednjaci (SRE) 31–20 Vilitan Union (VLT)

Our hanball players in women's competiton came out in hall for the first time on this Olympic tournament. Opponent was Vilitan Union. Oru players shown the quallity and they are just far way much better team than opponents was.
From the begining of the match in front of 3 000 Srednjacian supporters our team made 8:0 lead. Until the end of the first half that result was build on + 10, 18:8.
Second half was also in one way road. Player of the match was Antonija Ružić with 14 goals scored.

ANTONIJA RUŽIĆ : " Čestitam curama na pobjedi. Jako je bitno krenuti u turnir sa pobjedom. Ovo je bila sjajna prilika da isprobamo neke od kombinacijai da uigramo ostatak ekipe. Jako sam zadovoljna sa organizacijom ovdje u Electrum. Smještaj je vrhunski."

"Congratulations to the girls on winning. It's very important to start the tournament with a win. This was a great opportunity to try some of the combinations and play the rest of the team. I'm very satisfied with the organization here at Electrum. The accommodation is top notch."
Group E                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Srednjaci                        1   1  0  0   31  20 +11    2
2 Electrum                         1   0  1  0   31  31   0    1
3 Vilitan Union                    2   0  1  1   51  62 −11    1

DANIJEL JUTAR IN THE FINALS, BAD DAY FOR ADALIJA AND VANTA

AQUATICS — SWIMMING — Men's 200 m butterfly

Danijel Jutar made a placemment in to the finals with third time in semies. Danijel swam time 1:54.09 whitch is little bit a weaker of his best time 1:53:16.
This is good news becouse Danijel have a much reserve in his body for the finals

Overall ranking
1 Malachai Morgenstern (TKT)    1:53.57
 2 Hong Woo-Rahm (QUE)           1:54.08
 3 Danijel Jutar (SRE)           1:54.09
 4 Kieran Beahan (HAN)           1:54.30
 5 Fabio Masalis (FSS)           1:54.31
 6 Peter Reddick (AST)           1:54.37
 7 Aleki Voslenastre (VEK)       1:54.44
 8 Ilham Nugroho (PCU)           1:54.60
Bad news for us by Adalija Julić and Vanta Ana Margetić. Both swimmers have a really bad day in pool today. None of them made thrue the semies.
Adalija swam 1:58.02 and that is way bellow time of her's best. And Vanta Ana Margetić also was bad with 1:59.56.

43 Adalija Julić (SRE) 1:58.02
71 Vanta Ana Margetić (SRE) 1:59.56

ADALIJA JULIĆ

by **San Ortelio** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:43 am

Waterpolo

When one walks along the Baia, visiting the various small fishing towns which are constructed against the cliffs, one will quite often find two waterpolo goals, held in place at sea with firm cables. From this, one could derive that the sport is massively popular across the nation, but a closer inspection of the infrastructure will learn you that for quite a few of those, rust has taken over. It is fair to say that, despite a current recovery, the scene of this sport has seen more popular days. In itself, waterpolo touched ground in San Ortelio in the early seventies, not coincidentally the first period when a first wave of tourists from across the region discovered the mediterranean climate, the charming beaches and the local cuisine - although they mainly stuck to the bigger tourist hubs.

With them, they brought waterpolo and the game grew in popularity, mainly in the impoverished coastal towns. In that period, raised international presence inspired wealth for some but the fishermen, often not ready to revert to other employment, lived dire times as import squeezed the industry out of the market. Poverty rates in those regions grew frighteningly. Amidst this, the rough and hardened game found a new audience in young men, with limited job opportunities and an abundance of time to kill. Within a few years, a series of dire derby games caught on, matches which for the external observer would appear extremely dirty and unruly. Openly hitting and dragging down the opponent was no rarity and more than one game ended bloodied and bruised.

In a way, the stakes were high - not only because waterpolo success was often the last possession of those towns, but also due to some money doing the rounds: a fine player could earn as much as he would do from a measly day job, raising the pressure but ironically, also the interest. Things took a turn for the worst when a few incidents shook the public opinion. Within three months, two games ended in nothing less than manslaughter. Especially the drowning of Giulio Nannetti, a 17-year old with a difficult past and little to strive for but his sport, led to outrage. Nannetti was kept under water by his direct opponents till the point where he no longer resurfaced, something only noticed at the end of the quarter. Financial backers quickly withdrew their support, the press retreated and two years after, the semi-pro competition folded without as much as a peep.

Although now far from the limelights, the sport did not completely disappear. In the hamlets deepest in the Baia, the game itself remained intact. After all, even if the money and fanfare was gone, this remained an important element of social cohesion in these towns where the outside world seemed to have sped up and left them behind. More recently, the sport also gained a new, more urban, audience who connect through it to their roots and previous generation. Whilst some compete at sea, others have taken to the pools. Six years ago, a new nation wide ten-team competition was founded. It is, both in popularity and financial means, far from the peak days, but it has allowed the community to finally shed off the dark blanket hanging over their sport and to look forward.

With that in mind, the Ortelian selection forms a fine mix between the newcomers and the more traditional, sea-based clubs. In a way, these Olympics are not just about the sport for them but form a key litmus test on the potential of the domestic competition. Lots of eyes in that sense are on Stanzo and Paolo Beretti who are a personification of the schism in styles which went with the history of the sport in our nation - one a more physical player who is used to playing at sea, the other a technically gifted attacker and figurehead of Pesari Pescadores, last years' surprise national champs. Also worth to note: goalkeeper Gabriele Carletti who had a history in football as Robur goalie and our most dangerous scorer Fabio Quinzi, notably shy when it comes to the press but a menace in the pool with a brilliant aim. However, Quinzi struggled in the first two confrontations to convert - both Amuaplye and Raspotochje held him away from the goal. The final match against Tikariot might not change their elimination, but a close battle against the regional rival is desired to polish up the record.

Basketball

It is fair to say that modern team sports rooted and grew from the forties onwards in San Ortelio. A wave of them swept the country and blossomed, but it must be added that they met a country which was culturally in a different place. With catholic ethos and values still taking center stage, the sports got no chance to take the whole society by storm. They were considered too rowdy, too dangerous for girls - a view now seen as backward but back then as mainstream. And as such, whilst football clubs were founded left and right, these remained restricted to men. The chance, slightly surprisingly, came from within the catholic framework itself.

As were various pillars of civil society, the educational system got a strong dominant catholic force. Within it, a group grew which focussed on the 'mens sana in corpore sano'. This expressed itself in pastoral walks but also in attention to team sports. This was harder to organize for girls, but indoors, out of sight of the village elders, there were options. As a consequence, basketball and volleyball became coded as female dominated sports, with a whole generation of girls getting introduced to the sport. This is not to say that men don't throw some hoops, but even after the laicisation of society, basketball grew strongest with women. Especially in the north, a highly competitive scene developed, quite often with clubs rooted in high schools or universities who thrived on a core of players that formed a unit for over a decade.

From this background, a semi-professional league developed over twenty years ago, the first in its kind in San Ortelio. Especially the play-off games of the SOAB (San Ortelio Association Basketball) make headlines and the finals are a key event on the agenda. This year's clash between Calypso Catrallo and Stampano Squali dominated the news for two weeks, with the former winning their seventh title, equalling the record of Pesari Cerchi. No wonder that from this blooming scene, a national formation needed to be sent to Electrum. However, selecting such a group was seen as a gargantuan task and discussions on who should be in or not became heated. Part of the reason for this is the high antagonism between the various clubs, with deep-rooted rivalries.

Players tend to stick to one club, with a transfer from a starting five member being a rarity. After much squabbling, twelve members were chosen but that still struggle to gel together got evidenced at the Genia Cup, where the Ortelians left empty-handed after a series of losses. Still, that Srednjaci with star player Belulovic needed extra time to knock out the girls in the last game shows that there is progress and hope that they can stand their ground against the Abovian Union, Coconut Isle and Scotatrova. A pivotal figure in that will be Ina Gavazzi, an experienced center who is fairly small for her position, but still a rebound machine. With six titles and three MVP trophies on her mantle, "La Bulldog'' will surely be looked at when times get rough. Her energetic style is not always admired by the purists, but she can drag a game over the line whilst annoying the hell out of the opposition. With Donadoni, Bozzolo and Presti also in the selection, the characteristic Catrallo full court press is a tactical option.

But there's more than the Calypso. The new upcoming star of the domestic scene is Xenia Dall'Antonia, only 18 years old but with an uncanny speed of execution. She's used as coming off the bench usually, but can become more than that in due time, although starter Donadoni is strong as well. Xenia, as is written on her shirt, notably does not come through the scholar system, the royal purveyor when it comes to talent, but caught attention through the street scene on one of the many small courts which were erected in the nineties to battle urban pauperisation. More than twice her age, Carla Polanti forms the secret weapon. She's physically past the point to handle forty minutes, but her experience and passing skills make her a second in command to the coach and an excellent option to bring on in crunch time. If this selection can stick together before the end of the group stage, a nice trajectory might be written here, but it will require everyone at their very best to navigate their way past the Abovian Union and Scotatrova, even after a strong opening victory against Coconut Isle.

TeleUno Sport

Hours provided in Catrallo time, not in local Endemien time

08h30 - Buongiorno Bunjil            TALKSHOW   With Angelo Rapaldo
09h00 - Swimming                SOR  LIVE       Morning session heats with men’s 100m freestyle (Alafacci) and men’s 800m freestyle (Di Iesi)
10h00 - Rowing                       LIVE       Heats women’s single sculls
10h40 - Rugby                   SOR  LIVE       Men’s MD4 vs Vekaiyu
11h00 - Swimming                SOR  LIVE       Morning session heats with women’s 200m butterfly (Callovi) and men’s 200m breaststroke (Di Iesi)
12h00 - TuttiSport                   TALKSHOW   With Enzo Morrici
12h30 - Rowing                  SOR  LIVE       Heats men’s single sculls (with Missaglia)
13h40 - Mountainbiking          SOR  LIVE       Women’s race (with Zugno & Castrucco)
15h00 - Sailing                 SOR  SUMMARY    Women’s one-person dinghy, race 7 and 8 (Pisanecchi)
15h30 - Tennis                  SOR  LIVE       Women’s round of 128 (Fiori)
16h45 - Rowing                  SOR  SUMMARY    Heats double sculls women (with Dabesi/Carrara)
17h15 - Rugby                   SOR  LIVE       Men’s MD5 vs The Hannasean Federation
17h35 - Tennis                       SUMMARY    Women’s round of 128
18h45 - La Giornata Olimpico         NEWS SHOW  With Cathalina Lombardi
19h00 - Gymnastics                   HIGHLIGHTS Women’s team final all-around
19h20 - Rugby                        SUMMARY    Men’s Group C other games
19h40 - Volleyball              SOR  LIVE       Women’s MD2, Mascelli/Bates-Nugent vs Vieira/Saari
20h30 - Swimming                SOR  SUMMARY    Evening session with five finals, among which 1500m freestyle (with L. Algisi)
21h15 - Fencing                      HIGHLIGHTS Women’s team épée
21h35 - Tennis                       HIGHLIGHTS Women’s round of 128
22h00 - Notte di Cinque Anelli       TALKSHOW   With Elisa Pardini, Rodolfo Quaranta & guests

by **Tumbra** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:45 am

SPORT: XV SUMMER OLYMPICS — DAY THREE RECAP
Tumbra Hits Third Gold As Tumbran Athelets Prove Mettle On World Stage

SOMER - Day Three saw Tumbra clinch another gold medal in the pool to bring their total games tally up to three — and in so doing, moving themselves into fourth in the medal table behind hosts Electrum, established powerhouses Quebec & Shingoryeo, and fellow newcomers Nuevas Hesprides. With just the three gold medals to their name, though, Tumbra cuts a stark figure in the medal table — one of two nations in the top ten with just three medals.

That may soon change, however, as Tumbran athletes from all around making waves in the Olympics — and we'll be bringing you the recaps of Day Three here.

Tumbra's Third Gold Sees Renewed Interest In Diving; GooseGooseGo Trends Spike Immediately After

SOMER — Finishing eighth might have been a reward and a half for the women's 3m springboard team, but the men's 10m platform team surpassed all expectations to finish top of the standings by a whopping three points — and in so doing, clinching Tumbra's third gold of the games. The unexpected victory — courtesy of Ben Rutherford and Alex Beattie, who are also students of the University of Kingsbury's famous aquatics programme — managed to re-spur interest in the sport of diving as a whole — with search engine GooseGooseGo reporting a 493% increase in diving-related terms during the final and immediately after.

"It's great to know that, well, what you're doing up there can inspire people to go and follow in your footsteps," Rutherford said after the medal ceremony. "Diving became a passion of mine during university, though like many of us who are here diving today. I don't think we knew much about diving before we went to university. I hope what we've done here, today, will...well, we hope it'll inspire many young Tumbrans to try and pick up diving, too. It's a sport that combines the grace and athleticism of gymnastics and dancing with the pure physical power of swimming."

Rutherford, 24, is taking a Masters in Sports Science at the aforementioned University of Kingsbury. A big part of why the Tumbrans were said to have performed as well as they did was because of the extremely low levels of splash they generated when they hit the water — which, by no means essential, does provide a nice boost to the score, almost akin to an exclamation mark at the end of a finely crafted sentence. It must be said, however, that their dives, too, were ranked rather high on the difficulty scale...

Read more...

Tumbra 3-0 Omerica; Galbraith Back To Blistering Best As Black Eagles Sweep Past Incorrigibles

Tumbra 3-0 Omerica

TMB (4-3-3): 1 - Addison; 2 - Harman, 4 - Legget, 5 - Hussein (18 - Krabb, 72'), 3 - Crozier (16 - Blather, 65'); 17 - Browne, 8 - Robertson, 10 - Kearney; 7 - Mycroft, 9 - Galbraith; 11 - Nolan (15 - Wilson, 83')

TMB scorers: Daniel Galbraith (43', 71'), Bruce Nolan (51')

Player of the Match: Daniel Galbraith (TMB)

ELECTRUM - Tumbra's men national team — probably the most eagerly-awaited of all the Olympian squads — lay down a strong marker in its showing for Olympic gold in its opening match, where they swept past the Omerican national team 3-0. The match was also remarkable for the return of Daniel Galbraith to the Tumbran national team fold, the old captain once again donning the black shirt of the Tumbran national team and leading them onto the pitch.

It would be a dominating performance by the thirty-six year old, who plays for Perce Town in Quebec; scoring two goals and nabbing the Player of the Match award; Galbraith would later remark that this was a "dream return" to the Tumbran national team for him, and that "he'd missed" banging in the goals in the black shirt of Tumbra. The Omericans would have no response to the Tumbran offence, and their own offence was easily beaten by the same hands of Louis Addison, along with the young — but solid — defence of Albert Legget, Almar Hussein and Thomas Krabb, all of whom played in Tumbra's Di Bradini Cup campaign, which held solid to deny the Omericans many opportunities on goal.

Gabraith infamously declared his retirement from the Tumbran national team at the age of 31 after disagreements with the TFF became public; but the recent upheaval and change in the TFF's leadership saw a reconciliation of the TFF and Galbraith, resulting in this unprecedented return to the national team for the veteran right winger. And denying claims that he was "past it", the right winger was back to his bruising, blistering best; and the first signs of twilight on an impressive career, which Galbraith has spoken about frankly on occasion.

"I'm thirty-six. There's not much more left in the tank for me, to be honest; and playing in Quebec feels like the best way to wind down a long, long career. And if I can win a medal for Tumbra while doing so, all the better. No, I'm not revealing any of my plans yet — retirement? I'll go along with it as long as I want to — and as long as my wife lets me."

Read more...

Impressive Results In Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles Raise Hope On How Far Paddlers Will Go

Table tennis. It's a simple sport — a small ball, two paddles and, appropriately, a table — is all that's needed for an afternoon of fun. Primary schoolers up and down the country will instead tell you that the small ball isn't a table tennis ball, but rather an "all-purpose ball". Just eighty cents can buy you one of these, and you can do anything you want with them as far as the imagination permits. (Mostly, as is tradition, they're used for lunchtime kickabouts rather than the intended purpose of table tennis, however).

But the enduring symbol of the table tennis ball as part of Tumbran childhoods has inspired some to take up the sport instead — and with impressive results across the board so far for both male paddlers taking part in the Olympics, it's now looked upon as a medal hope for Tumbra.

Tom Phillips beat his Liventian opponent Aneurin Stark 4-3, while Clarence Everard beat his Tikariotian opponent Gig Henderson by the same scoreline to send both of them through to the round of 16 — while in the mixed doubles, Everard teamed up with female paddler Philipa Rafferty to beat their West Phoenician duo 4-1.

The two have captured the imagination throughout the Olympics; Philips' gruff stoicism contrasted with Everard's outgoing personality and friendship with Rafferty have caught the eyes of many a Tumbran throughout the games; and similarly to diving, interest in the sport has skyrocketed.

"Well, like many of my teammates, we all began playing with table tennis balls in primary school. It's just that a few of us decided to take things up a notch and actually play table tennis instead of kicking them around. Me? I was never any good at kicking them around. But give me a paddle and I'd become a different person," said Everard, 28, after the match.

Read more...

Two Tumbrans In Men's Sport Climbing Finals; Strong Results In Speed Climbing Help Rogers and Carver Through

It might be a relatively new sport introduced for the Olympics and probably the most niche of the twenty-eight sports contested in the Olympics in Tumbra, but Tumbra's two speed climbers exceeded all expectations — helped by exceptionally strong results in the speed climbing segment, where Marc Rogers hit the top of the 15m wall in 5.858 seconds; and John Carver hit his mark in 5.870 seconds to finish second and third in that segment respectively. Sixteenth and eighteenth in the bouldering section was enough to see the two mercurial Tumbrans through to the final; even as Carver came very close to missing out due to a sixty-fourth placed finish in the lead section.

"Yeah, most climbing in Tumbra's focused on speed climbing," said Carver after learning he was through to the final. "I'm not pleased that speed climbing's not a separate event, to be honest — there are some of us, me, for example, that would prefer to be able to compete in different disciplines without having to be bogged down by the other two."

The overwhelming favourite for the gold medal looks set to be Liventian Jean-Michel Villette, whose combined score of 48 — taken by multiplying the finishing positions in each of the three disciplines together — was three times smaller than the second-placed finisher, Gil Rosario of Nuevas Hesprides, highlighting his dominance in the competition so far.

While there are said to be plans on the Olympics' part to introduce the three parts of sport climbing as separate disciplines for the Olympics, it remains to be seen whether there will be any actual movement on the matter. Carver and Rogers, however, will go down in history as possibly being trailblazers for the sport of sport climbing in Tumbra — as many other have done so at this Olympics.

Read more...

Day Three of the Olympics sees hosts Electrum continue to ride high above the medal tables, while strong showings in fencing and weightlifting see Quebec & Shingoryeo continue to fly high in second place. Tumbra's third gold medal puts them fourth, but the lack of medals of other colours marks them out as special amongst the top 5; for only having won medals of a particular colour.

View the full medal table here.

by **Todlichebujoku** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 12:52 am

VRToivonen
I don't really watch races but pretty much my entire family is obsessed so I have to live with that

Lagoanoia
Well you should.

tarpkatinskingimda
hey guys have you heard about the olympics?

NaiAvnačotsia
no

Mevakedsi_Montenhuvem
No

Imellom
no

Tappio
no

Tekata-šauti
no

Lagoanoia
No.

VRToivonen
uhhh no?

CaniguoseLaisvē
No

tarpkatinskingimda
no

Tekata-šauti
stfu bitchface whatchu "no"ing at.

Lagoanoia
LOL RIGHT

tarpkatinskingimda
ok PLEASE
I'll explain them

VRToivonen
Please do

tarpkatinskingimda
Okay so basically, they are the Ścharacains games for the outworld, a big international athletics event where the top three athletes win medals
Tödlichebujoku is the first Jemes nation to compete, and, um, well, with the Ścharacains happening at the same time, the athletes competing are basically ones that didn't go to Keletiföövaar this year

Tappio
ok

Imellom
Huh

Tekata-šauti
So basically the discount Ścharacains.

tarpkatinskingimda
NO

Lagoanoia
?

tarpkatinskingimda
Well, at least for the rest of the outworld it is the premier sporting competition
For Tödlichebujoku maybe not
At least not yet

Mevakedsi_Montenhuvem
So who have we sent, then?

tarpkatinskingimda
Um... no one that I recognize tbhhh :oops:

Tekata-šauti
PLEASE that's not helping your case :!:

Imellom

Tappio
omg that reminds me of that one etch I saw yesterday that was like, what if regular people got sent to compete at the ścharacains

tarpkatinskingimda
NOOOOO

Tekata-šauti
RIGHT HAHAHA

tarpkatinskingimda
Okay but seriously it's still going to be cool to watch, I think it's being shown on TÖBUK and US like real late night
tbhhh you're kinda right, they are really doing these games dirty with the airing times but trust me just watch

Lagoanoia

Tekata-šauti
Ok sure lol I'm a night owl anyway

Imellom
huh sounds interesting

Tappio
Might as well watch something while I get wasted!!

NaiAvnačotsia
Another Tappio drunk messaging night? I'm down

CaniguoseLaisvē
I have to work

Tekata-šauti
rip

VRToivonen
right like I'll be in class then

Lagoanoia
Okay so don't be in class.

VRToivonen
.
I'm not joining you in your underworld demon orgy

Lagoanoia
?????

tarpkatinskingimda
Okay!!!

moving on!!!

Etch a message...

by **Quebec and Shingoryeo** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:16 am

OOC: I would like to thank Krytenia, Chromatika and Bollonich for their permissions and information in advance.

Jin Chang-Wook's Adventure of A Lifetime

Part 5

Dreams work in weird manners, just like how it had turned out for olympians Jin Chang-Wook and Yang Soo-Gyeong. It was hard for them to believe that they had made it all the way here, especially after having seen the likes of Yi Joon-Cheol (1) and Kim Yu-Jin (2) play their last legs while they were still in primary and middle school. Growing up under the CSKA Quebec system, they could remember the years of gradual transition that had followed the professional ranks, noticing how the players from the generation of talent that had won the Quebecois men's silver and women's gold in Novonaya-Provinsk, also symbolised by pins Kayana Jang and Elizaveta Sokolova on women, and setter Bae Yeong-Hoo and opposite Daniel Thibault on the men, was slowly moving to the pages of history books.

Back then, all those players had meant a lot to them, for they had carried the certain allure. They would come watch these heroes with a few friends also from the CSKA teams, but for most part it would be these two who would try to catch the glimpses of professional game at the back row of the arena. Even as they had long moved on from those days, and have found themselves on the opposing sides of the world, those two friends would still remember how short and nervous they were as fifteen year olds.

It was around then that both of them, being too short to play a position other than setter or libero, had started to find further potential in their game. All the years of practice they had spent on perfecting techniques, being alert and quick on feet, had started to bear fruit, and no sooner than later both of them caught attention by a scholarship committee. At the time, they weren't exactly sure on what this had meant, and receiving an award on its first year did feel quite unique for them. Everything had to start from somewhere after all...

Quebec City, 5 years ago

'So tell me a bit about this bursary scheme, and why we may be receiving it.' asked Chang-Wook as he and Yang Soo-Gyeong were having breakfast on the table of their mess hall at the CSKA Complex alongside fifty of fellow student-athletes of high school age. 'It's certainly not the RQVF one, and doesn't even seem like a volleyball one, so I don't get how you and I will be getting it.'

'Well, because it is not, and different people will be giving it,' Soo-Gyeong answered back as she, with limited eyesight thanks to how early in the morning it was for, took a bite of the apple. 'Apparently it will be the Heo Family Foundation giving the bursaries to twenty people in five different sports, and for three years. Essentially building a small family of those whose potentials should draw interest to the future of Quebecois sports, so to say forth.' They were both wearing a simple tee-shirt and pants, topping it off with messy hair and slow feet. 'Of course volleyball's there, and we happen to be two of the foursome receiving it this year.'

'Oh right.' was what Chang-Wook responded, as the reminder of the most famous sportsman in all of Quebecois sports just registered in his brain. In his left hand, he was holding a small cup of Oolong tea, which was hot enough to keep his grip shaky and unstable. 'Yeah, everybody knows the siblings. His wife was the setter you told me a while ago right? The unlucky setter (비운의 세터) they said...'

'Yeah, it's truly tragic how Naomi Goldbloom's career was taken away from her like that.' Soo-Gyeong responded with a particular tristesse. 'Everybody was ready for her, and you know she was brilliant all along. College, rookie season, being nominated for MVP. Like all at 23...then had to give up because of Marfan's. Like it's common among volley players, but let's be honest, none of us would wanna suffer that.'

'Certainly not.' Chang-Wook nodded, as he placed the cup back in the table. There was no point trying to drink the tea that he was not going to swallow the fluids without trouble. And the topic in hand was no joke either- he remembered hearing about the retirement everywhere he checked on social media, and how everybody felt so heartbroken over the retirement. Will people miss me if I fall short after coming close to the top at that age? he wondered back then, as tearful Goldbloom announced retirement over the QBC news that's played over the large television set at his grandparents' place. 'This makes me wonder, now that you have told me of world-class. Have you ever thought of playing abroad?' Chang-Wook asked. 'Like somewhere big.'

'We all do, let's be honest.' Soo-Gyeong said, as they heard a line of middle-schoolers enter. The younger ones, being slightly shorter but by all means more boisterous, were more than enough to fill the mess hall with their groans. 'You know, if it were up to me, I'd be heading to Cassadaigua or HUElavia or wherever it takes me. I know it's easy to just say and stay home, but else how are we going to face the opponents on the VWE or the Olympics?'

'True, that's a good point.' Chang-Wook answered back. 'I feel like there just aren't a lot of places to go though.' This was true- when the return of Volleyball World Expo, the sporting Multiverse's most prestigious competition besides the Olympics (3), was announced to return with the ninth edition to be held in Cassadaigua in this September, the wave of possibilities followed up with everybody else. In what's previously viewed as closed windows for those of this sport, the windows were now starting to open and possibilities were being taken seriously. 'Like you won't see a Quebecois going to an inferior league, let's be clear, and there simply aren't a lot of options on men's game. Vekaiyu and Taeshan have inferior leagues with no money to be made, and really the only place I could see myself going would be Gatchingerrak Superliga.'

'But you are still willing to go somewhere though.' Soo-Gyeong raised her eyebrows. 'And this really isn't because QOVO doesn't provide money. Like what other league would provide 500k a salary for either of us? Let's be honest here. We should actually consider going abroad- you and me- both off to somewhere in Rushmore.'

'Yeah. That would actually not be a bad idea- you in Cassadaigua and me maybe in Gatchingerrak Union.' Chang-Wook said. 'I probably won't be going until after college though- grandparents really want me to get a degree first and whatnot, you know? Just finished freshman year and now I already have to think about my life after Bac. (4)'

'If you do go, where do you think of heading?'

'Queen's College is one. Dad went there and of course, they really want me to come. Saguenay, Cali and Labrador State too. All the schools with good reputation for setters to be honest.'

'So you have options then, which is always good.' Soo-Gyeong continued to speak at a slower tempo. 'Like, you know, it would make sense for you to go anywhere there. The Heos would certainly love you to go there, let's be honest. Sure, it's good they are giving us this bursary and keeping us hunting, but we are talking about the family whose dad won two fencing nationals while there, the daughter won two on basketball, and well, so did the unlucky setter Goldbloom.'

'That's true. The world we live in is small and perhaps too closely-knitted to be true.' he answered. 'Honestly though, man, it's too early to say anything. I'm just happy few schools want to offer me something, even though the earliest won't be until end of my sophomore year. (5).' Then they, being joined by a friend on the shooting club, shifted the chat to schoolwork, and then headed back to their dorm rooms.

Last moments of the Bronze Medal Match, Women's Individual Sabre
QBC Commentator Crew: Marin Dugriescu (Colour by colour, Gold Medalist- Men's Team Sabre, X and XI Olympics) and Irene Gallant-Klein (Play-by-play)

'Attaque simultanee, rien. There's no point scored, as both sabreuses had lunged at the same time, Irene.'

'Indeed it is the case, Marin. And now Boden is tying her shoelace, of her dominant foot on the right side.

'Good time management by Boden. The Krytenian veteran, who has fenced half her life on the national team and is on her third olympics, has a mountain to climb with Alice Cantuary only needing one point to score. It is tough to say, as someone who has known Honey for long time, but there's that bronze medal looking into the Lisanderian's eyes.'

'And now they are heading back into the en garde line. Here we go...Boden's approaching.'

'Boden will have to score, there you go....careful steps forward, one after another...Attack goes wide! The contre-attaque is good, only one light's on and that's it! And Alice Cantuary has won the bronze medal for Lisander! Look at her joy, and how beautiful it is!

'Absolutely! We've had a lot of surprises all day long, for both men's foil and women's sabre today, but two of the top 4 seeds, the third-seeded Alice Cantuary has done it for the powerhouse in Lisander, and the second-seeded Coralie Gelinas, who fell short on quarterfinals last olympics, will be winning individual women's sabre medal for the first time since Isabelle Park thirty years ago in Nassau Bay.'

'It is indeed a historic moment for many nations out here today in Agri. Now Cantuary and Boden salute the crowd, shake hands and then it's time for Cantuary to celebrate what has been an excellent day for her all along! It's Lisander's third medal in fencing this olympics, as the nation continues to show their strength in fencing, and they have one more to fight for, right in the men's foil gold match with Fernando Alas.'

'And on the other side stands a true veteran. For Honey Boden, it has also been a special day for her. Since fifteen she has represented Krytenia, and it has not been an easy road along the way. As sixteen year old she showed exceptional promise when she placed fourth in Republica...then at age twenty-two fell just short when she had faced the eventual silver medal winner, Gina Carth of Chromatika in what was an excellent tournament for Chromatik sabreuses. This time, at twenty-eight years of age, she has once again come back to the top, but has unfortunately fallen short at fourth place as well...'

On the Stands, after Women's Sabre bronze match

'I have to admit that, being someone whose father used to play there, it's hard to watch this sport at times.' sighed Chang-Wook as he watched both fencers leave the piste, to be replaced by Kingston's very own Helmut Joekisch and the Electrumite Bret O'Connor for the Men's Foil medal match (X). Filled with enough nerves of his own, especially with the Quebecois men still yet to figure out their condition after an unexpected bye, Chang-Wook tried not to sound too nervous while wearing a formal suit with black ties. 'Regardless, I have to say that it's an honour to be here with my friend for the medals match, especially seeing you two again, Madame Heo.' He went on, trying to not bore the basketballer. 'Without your support, I don't think I would have ended up where I am right now, and it is all thanks to your and the CSKA club's faith in me.'

'No, no, no. Don't thank any of us on this,' said Myeong-Yoon, who gave out all the hand gestures to suggest that she was very happy to see the recipient of the initial bursary class again. 'You know, it is me who has to thank you for having developed into the man you are. I have a two year old son who's with his grandpa, and he says the young Nicolas loves watching you play whenever on TV. As you may have known for a while, my father was also a sabreur many years ago.' It is said that the Dr. Heo Dong-Soo, the Jacques IX Professor of History and Comparative Literature at Universite St. Croix's Seonggyungwan University College, and also former Queen's College and national team sabreur, was too busy watching his three grandchildren to do any academic work.

'Yes, ma'am...' Chang-Wook nervously responded. 'I am very happy he's...not...disappointed. It's certainly not easy to meet the expectations, having been at the school where they know my father and you and of course, Ms. Goldbloom after all.' If anything, this may have gotten even more into his head than he had imagined. 'I have to admit that with the way my fellow fencers have been playing, it does motivate me in an odd manner, though my partner, who does not represent the country, has fallen short of facing Honey Boden, an auntie of mine (6). I had hoped for a quarterfinals matchup, of course..'

'Well, that's sometimes life works.' Myeong-Yoon responded, trying not to get too much into the match. If anything, she had not paid a lot of attention to fencing all her life- neither his father nor mother, the late Maureen Turner (1992-2039) who doubled as choreographer and barrister, insisted their children dance or fence, and their children went into team sports fairly early on. 'We don't always get what we want, and can't control things like a tough tableau-of-128.' She then rolled her shoulders forward twice. 'But we could control, we should maintain a firm grip. This I wasn't going to ask, but have you ever thought of going abroad or declare early?'

Intermission - Bronze Medal Match, Men's Individual Foil
TV1 Korean-language Commentary Crew: Jean-Ian Pyo (Play-by-Play) and Kang Mina (Colour commentator - Bronze Medalist, Women's Team Foil, XII Olympiad)

'So we are heading into the extra time. It is quite impressive to see how it has all turned around....and now we have the chance to see how the third period has turned out for both fencers.'

'It has certainly been very defensive three periods for both Helmut Joekisch and Bret O'Connor, who have entered this match coming off one point losses both ways. Both guys are, of course, known to be very good with bladework, and we've already seen that with Joekisch's 15-2 demolition of Christopher Lincoln of Eura. Unfortunately they both fell short on the matches that could have gone either way in the end, where a couple of brilliant parry and riposte have decided the outcome, and carried all their fire into this match as well.'

'Certainly. We had a close match all along, with neither fencer gaining more than a two point lead, and now it will come down to one last point.....Here we hear a round of applause by the home crowd, who certainly love the way O'Connor has fenced all day long..Along the way he has upset Kriegiersien's Mijou Rink, the third seed in Sigve Storøy of Valanora, and Viktor Asimov of Chromatika, and will have one more to upset the ninth-seeded, defending champion, in Helmut Joekisch.'

'And here we go. Bronze medal. The yellow light goes to O'Connor, so Joekisch will have to score this time, else a full minute spent will win that Bret O'Connor will win it, for the home country...'

Chang-Wook cleared his throat, trying not to sound overwhelmed. 'I have, ma'am.' he replied, before resuming, as the lights on the audience once again turned off in time for the bronze medal match. 'And this is where I am still up in the air about...'

Myeong-Yoon smiled back at him, and then nodded twice. 'You know, that's what you should be expecting.' The point guard then took of sip of the bobba bottle. 'You know, declaring early is never easy, and it will never be. You have to think about how to complete school in case life doesn't work out, and you always have to be out protecting your rights, and get what you should be getting.' She then asked again. 'Is there anywhere you are thinking of going?'

'It's still up in the air, if I have to be honest with you,' Chang-Wook responded, not guaranteeing anything certain. 'I know both BVL and Gatchingerrak Superliga have few clubs interested in signing, and club officials have asked me while out on the village.'

'Well that's a good way to start anything.' she fixed her sunglasses. It was a bad habit Myeong-Yoon had learned from her father. 'Neither leagues are no jokes, and there aren't as many options for anybody to go in terms of men's leagues. New Gelderland hasn't had an internationally active league in sometime, Taeshani league's not even around anyway, and nowadays you'd probably have a few but not a lot. Darmeni league will take a while to develop, and them not participating RQVF isn't going to help you in terms of national team spots. Oh right, and don't forget about Chromatika. I heard from Naomi that they actually have a pretty good league.'

'Yes, that's what I am thinking as well.' Chang-Wook nodded, scratching his right chin. 'I feel like it's never easy to find men's leagues unless at home, so it does affect me a bit on whether I should declare early or stay a bit longer.' By this point, the extra minute seemed like an extra hour to Chang-Wook. 'Maybe how the tournament goes will help me decide.'

'Right.' Then she gestured her head once to the right. 'And with that, we should cheer for our fencer, don't we?' Myeong-Yoon raised the small Quebecois flag she had on her left hand. 'GO JOEKISCH! LET'S DO THIS!'

At this point, the Quebecois contingent of Agri Town Hall shouted with massive buzz, which reverberated all over it. It would go on for a solid minute, and would once again rise when the final bell rang, as Helmut Joekisch, 10 seconds into the period, went for a simple, septieme, parry riposte, to score the winning point.

Last moments - Gold Medal Match, Women's Individual Sabre

Beep. (QUE 14-14 CMT)

'14-14! And Coralie Gelinas ties the game, as we head into the do-or-die moment of the Women's sabre final! What a brilliant comeback by the veteran, as she is putting every bit of her energy in her final individual match here, in Agri Town Hall.'

'This wasn't an easy point for Coralie Gelinas. She wasn't sure when going forward on the initial steps...it was actually Sara Hoyashimi who tried to close the gap and go for the riposte. But it was Gelinas who ended up landing the point on Hoyashimi's left arm, and she has come back from a 12-14 deficit.'

'So, the reigning olympic champion at age twenty-one, on the right. And the second-seed, at age thirty-three on the left....and the veteran has done it! CORALIE GELINAS HAS DONE IT! First women's individual medal in sabre, for the first time in thirty years, and it will be a gold for Coralie Gelinas!'

'Phenomenal! And what a tournament for her. In the tournament that's been filled with upsets after upsets, Gelinas has had ups and downs, but has fenced consistently all day long, and now she gets to walk off with the gold....both fencers did have a couple of close calls along the way, with Sara Hoyashimi beating Quebec's Kang Youn-Mi in what was a brilliant comeback from 6-11 down to a 15-13 win on the round of sixteen, (7) and Coralie Gelinas had survived a close comeback attempt from Lydia McPherson of Eura on the thirty-twos.'

'And Hoyashimi was ahead early on and it seemed like she was going to win it, but Gelinas showed the power of a veteran, and now we have a brand, new, olympic champion in women's sabre!'

'It is amazing indeed. They now salute, shake hands, and then have a bow...they have put on what may have been the match to remember for many out there, and for years to come...'

Notes
(1) Yi Joon-Cheol was the Quebecois outside hitter who made his name known across the Multiverse when he, as a 19 year old, was the primary offensive option of the silver-medal winning Quebecois national team back in Novonaya-Provinsk Games. He then returned to the olympics fourteen years later as the Quebecois flagbearer, and played a more defensive role as the second outside hitter on the team that made quarterfinals.
(2) Kim Yu-Jin's the current Quebecois women's national team head coach. She was more famously known as the MVP of the Novonyaya-Provinsk Games's women's volleyball tournament, when she had led the Quebecois in a performance of her lifetime (even more impressive as setter!) to their gold medal finish. After a long way on the coaching circuit as U19 team coach, she has managed the senior team for past 8 years.
(3) It is still in debate internationally, on whether to prioritise Volleyball World Expo or Olympics for women's volleyball. For those more prominently featuring in the volleyball scene, the inclination has been to value VWE more than Olympics, but this isn't always the case. For the Quebecois, however, this has been the case.
(4) Baccalaureat Quebecois, one of three high school examinations the Quebecois secondary students take. In Quebec City and its surrounding regions, the Bac is taken for those graduating from academic streams of their respective high schools.
(5) Per the QIS regulations, college coaches are not allowed to offer a scholarship to a prospective student until after their sophomore year of school.
(6) Not a literal auntie, as you may have figured out from earlier chapter. Of course, Vicki isn't happy about the use of said term, which makes sense..
(7) The very comeback by Hoyashimi over Kang on R16 was inspired by Kim Ji-Yeon's semifinals victory over two-time defending champion Mariel Zagunis back in London 2012.

by **Sylestone** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:33 am

The Sylestonean > Sport > Olympics > 15th Summer Olympics

DAY TWO — WHAT SYLESTONE DID:
CHARLESTON CONSISTENCY CRACKS OPEN MEDAL OPPORTUNITY

Today’s Events @ Somer Olympic Natatorium, Somer:

Men's 200 m Butterfly (Heats and Semifinals)
Women's 200 m Freestyle (Heats and Semifinals)
Women's 1500 m Freestyle (Heats)
Women’s 200 m Individual Medley (Heats and Semifinals)

Men’s 200 m Butterfly

SOMER, ELECTRUM — Nicholas Gentile, Sylestone’s lone butterfly swimmer, has failed to impress in the men’s 200 metre butterfly, finishing in 37th position out of 106 participants. His time, 1:56.01, is certainly somewhat respectable, but expectations were higher, despite only having an outside chance at the semifinals. Yet, he still was only just over half a second off from making it and at the halfway mark, was actually first in his heat. Yet, he dropped back to third in the final 50 and ultimately, that was what cost the Sylestonean a place in the semifinals.

Women’s 200 m Freestyle

Alice Charleston’s unnerving consistency has earned her a spot in the final after finishing second overall in both the heats and the semifinals. In the heats, Charleston led hers right from the outset, despite continuous pressure throughout the first 100 from fellow Sylestonean Emily Scurry. In the end, though, Charleston’s stamina led to her finishing with the time of 1:55.92, well over a second and a half from Scurry, her closest competitor, followed by the rest of the crowd. Yet, despite the swim from Charleston, it still was not enough to net herself first place overall, with Sargossan swimmer Ariadna Martí finishing a full 20 milliseconds ahead of her and taking a distinct advantage into the semifinals.

After the best time in the first semifinal was spot on a minute and 56 seconds, Charleston went into the pool knowing that a swim of the calibre of her one in the heats would be sufficient in making it through to the final as one of the favourites for a medal. But she was in a difficult heat, drawn with the likes of Martí alongside Tumbran Jennifer Freeman and the fourth-placed Nova Swimtob, both of whom had the capability to really give the Sylestonean a run for her money.

Only Freeman did. Martí fell behind from the get-go, as Swimtob's stamina failed her on the third lap of the pool. But Charleston and Freeman remained neck-and-neck for the entire swim, with the Tumbran only just pipping her regional counterparts by 22 milliseconds in the final 25 minutes. The two of them finished with times of 1:55.37 and 1:55.39 respectively, and were a good three-quarters of a second ahead of the rest of the competition for the majority of the time, as Mytanar Mia Oreskovic came in for third place with a time of 1:56.17 and finished fourth overall out of the 16, while Freeman and Charleston were one and two, respectively. Across two swims, Charleston had finished second in the heats and then second once again in the semifinal. Can she go one better in the final and take out the gold?

Women’s 1500 m Freestyle

Like Gentile in the men’s 200 metre butterfly, Elanor Raleigh has, somewhat surprisingly, failed to impress in the women’s 1500 metre freestyle despite being a heavy favourite to make it to the final. Right from the block, she looked out of her depth, with sloppy strokes and everything as she fell behind her competitors. She never really looked in with a chance, finishing in 60th place out of 100 participants, a good 17 seconds off qualification for the final and a whopping 38 seconds off Eline Maats of the Alezian Union and Tania De Costa of West Phoenicia, who both broke the olympic record by more than a second. And despite being one of the favourites for a Sylestonean medal at these Olympics, Raleigh was letting her nerves get the better of her. She had to turn that around, and quickly. Can she?

Women’s 200 m Individual Medley

Raleigh, though, performed somewhat better in the 200 metre individual medley, though. Out of 100 athletes, she finished equal 31st with Alexis Heart of Palmani with a time of 2:12.44, exactly half a second off Jennifer Freeman of Tumbra and Anyango Akombo of Banija, who held onto a spot in the semifinals. Alannah Fairbarn also participated in the event and came 42nd overall, finishing 31 milliseconds behind Raleigh as both finished well inside the top half. A respectable performance from Sylestone’s athletes, but far from strong.

Women's Matchday One:
Sylestone - Apox @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton

Sylestone Starting V: Larkin (PG) - Pearse (SG) - Kippax (C) - Temple (SF) - Sutton (PF)

Apox Starting V: Unknown

FAIRLEIGH-WARBURTON, ELECTRUM — Despite being a pot 3 side playing against a pot 2 side, Sylestone’s national women’s basketball team were easily good enough to hand former sporting powerhouse Apox a good old beating.

Despite a little blip at the start that saw Apox notch up 10 points within the first few minutes to Sylestone’s five, the Hawthorns were able to thoroughly dominate for the remainder of the game. At the first break, they were up, 20-18, and the lead only increased from there. Despite a spirited fightback from Apox in the final quarter, it was far from enough as Sylestone romped to a 94-68 victory to give themselves a primary chance of progression.

Schedule:

MD1: Apox 68-94 Sylestone @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton
MD2: The Licentian Isles - Sylestone @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton
MD3: Sylestone - Qasden @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton

Men’s Cross Country @ South Gully National Park, Kale

KALE, ELECTRUM — Adam Coningham has made amends for his DNF in the men’s road race with a strong performance in the cross country mountain biking in South Gully National Park, Kale. He may have never been at the front or really challenging a medal position, but out of the 87 who finished, he still managed to finish in 21st place and four-and-a-half minutes behind the gold medallist, Clemens Karstensson from Græntfjall. Angus Stace did nowhere near as well, finishing in 71st with a time of 2:05:05 compared to Karstensson’s 1:56:04. Not ideal, but at least he finished. Ethan Porteus couldn’t say the same, although his instance was unfortunate as he received a tyre puncture on the fifth lap when he was around the middle of the pack. A disappointing and unfair demise, but sometimes that’s just what life gives you.

Men’s Matchday One:
Sylestone - Vdara @ Auras Oval, Auras

Sylestone (3-1-3-1-2): Cal Holmes; Davis - Manga (▮ 34’) (▮ 80’) - Clarke; Seekamp (Weiss 59’); Cay Holmes - Baker (Blair 86’) - Wells (▮ 51’); Love; Keyes - Gilchrist (Umbridge 79’)

Vdara: Unknown

AURAS, ELECTRUM — Sylestone’s men’s under-23 football team, playing their first game together, held Vdara to a draw at Auras Oval in Auras as part of the 15th Summer Olympics. Both sides appeared rusty, with neither gaining any true advantage over the other. And at some points, despite Sylestone’s naturally aggressive play under manager Augusto Rinaldi from Savigliane, neither side really looked like they wanted to score.

Yet, despite this, Sylestone were, overall, the better of the two teams on the day. They had two close chances at goal to Vdara’s zero, with one in each half. The first came in the 18th minute when Cameron Keyes launched a shot from the edge of the box after receiving a pass from naturalised Ethanian Lucas Baker, firing it in towards the left post. The ball clipped the goalkeeper’s glove, hit the post and fell back into the field of play, where a defender was ready to gobble it up and break down the attack.

The second occurred in the 80th minute, when a good cross from Jamie Wells was nearly deflected in by Capital FC’s Oscar Umbridge, with only a last gasp attempt saving the shot at goal from Sylestone’s substitute. To make matters worse, centre-back Ralph Manga was red-carded a sole minute later as the Hawthorns kept the Vdarans at bay until full-time, where the anticlimactic 0-0 result was confirmed.

SYLESTONE - 0
-no scorers-

VDARA - 0
-no scorers-

Schedule:

MD1: Sylestone 0-0 Vdara @ Auras Oval, Auras
MD2: Sylestone - Qasden @ Auras Oval, Auras
MD3: The ABEN Union - Sylestone @ Auras Oval, Auras

Women’s Matchday Two:
Sylestone - Free Swiss States @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton

Sylestone Starting V: Gotch; Bailey - McCartney - Strezlecki; Raven - James - McKean

Free Swiss States Starting V: Unknown

FAIRLEIGH-WARBURTON, ELECTRUM — After Sylestone’s men’s team shit the bed against Saltstead on matchday two of their handball competition, the women refound hope amongst the handball supporters of the nation with a solid 29-24 beating of the Free Swiss States, ensuring their opponent’s demise and sending the Hawthorns through to the knockouts. Already.

After taking an early 6-3 lead in the first quarter, the Free Swiss States began to challenge the Hawthorns’ defence, continuously pushing them back and putting Bianca Gotch under pressure. By the end of the second quarter, Sylestone’s opposition were just a mere two points behind and catching up fast.

But through Isla McCartney’s determined defence, Sylestone held on. They won the third quarter, eight goals to six, to put themselves four points in the lead. And despite a late burst from their opponents, Sylestone held on for a 29-24 victory in a far from perfect performance, but still one that would be considered acceptable. Now, all they needed to do was beat Coconut Isles, and first place in the group was theirs.

Goals:

Sylestone:
James - 10
McKean - 7
McCartney - 5
Raven - 5
Rasen - 1
Strezlecki - 1

Free Swiss States:
Unknown

Schedule:

MD2: Sylestone 29-24 Free Swiss States @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton, Electrum
MD3: Coconut Isle - Sylestone @ Warburton University, Fairleigh-Warburton, Electrum

Men’s Combined - Qualification @ Somer Urban Park, Somer

SOMER, ELECTRUM — Neither Anthony Provan nor Mason Scullin were able to successfully qualify for the final of the men’s combined climbing, with neither impressing in the speed, bouldering nor lead climbing, although Provan did finish a respectable 22nd in the bouldering, much to a fair number of people’s surprise.

The speed climbing was the first event, with the 94 athletes fighting it out for just eight places in the combined final. Provan somewhat impressed, finishing in 31st position with a best run of 6.444, while Scullin finished right down with the bottom few, scoring a best of 7.375 and essentially ending his qualification hopes with a score like that.

As mentioned before, Provan continued to keep his slim hopes alive with a 22nd-placed finish in the bouldering, while Scullin’s hopes ended with yet another poor performance, finishing in 72nd overall in a run filled with mistakes. Yet, it was still good enough to keep himself well off the bottom, with Reese Pitts of the Grearish Union taking out that unenviable spot despite finishing a tad better than the Sylestonean in the speed climbing.

Provan knew that to qualify for the final, he would have to come within the top five in the final event, lead climbing, to qualify for the final. And despite making a strong start, he eventually succumbed to the pressure, finishing below Scullin, who took out 49th place in a vastly improved performance and ending up in 56th, far from where he would have liked to be. It meant that both of Sylestone’s representatives finished around the middle to bottom of the final table, with both with heaps of room to improve. Can they fix that in the next Olympics?

Men’s Round of 32 @ Brewster Hall, Somer

SOMER, ELECTRUM — After overcoming a tough challenge from Midri Molsk in the round of 32, Adam Cho cut a swathe through Qasden’s Tim School in an outrageous 4-1 beating to really assert himself as a medal contender. The first set was surprisingly intense, with a lot of back and forth point, with the score at one point being tied 7-7 after a series of mistakes from Cho, which is something you don’t often see. But he kept his head, ensuring that he kept his country alive in singles table tennis, for both Kevin Barrington and Sophie Forsyth had been knocked out.

The next two sets were nowhere near as close. Cho took them both out, 11-5 and 11-4 respectively and never let School have a look in. And while you should never release the pressure in a sports match when you’re on the cusp of victory, Cho could be excused of letting the next set slip, 11-5, to keep the game still alive. But Cho only needed one more win in three sets, and School’s chances were still unimaginably slim.

School tried. He took a lead for the majority of the fifth set, but in the end, the Sylestonean was just too good for him as he broke down the man from Qasden’s defences, assuring himself of the victory. The result means that Cho will be facing Quebecois Tafumi Yata in the round of 16, where a victory could really liven up Sylestone’s hopes of a second medal. If Alice Charleston doesn’t beat him to it, that is.

Men’s singles - first half of bracket
Men’s singles - second half of bracket

Women’s singles - first half of bracket
Women’s singles - second half of bracket

Mixed Doubles Round of 32 @ Brewster Hall, Somer

Fresh off a victory in the men’s singles round of 32, Adam Cho came into his mixed doubles match with the eliminated Sophie Forsyth brimming with confidence. But sometimes, this confidence doesn’t always work your way, especially early on. This was evident here, with Cho’s carefree play costing Sylestone’s only doubles pairing a few too many issues in the first set as Greater Vakolicci Haven pair Kuna Melt and Bono Lon grabbed an 11-8 victory.

But following this, Cho did not tarry one bit over the next two sets, with Forsyth providing competent support for the men’s medal favourite as the two of them bounced back from a 1-0 deficit to take a 2-1 lead with a maximum of four sets to go.

But Cho was tiring, the game affecting him mentally. The next two games were won by the pair from Greater Vakolicci Haven as Cho and Forsyth dropped back to a deficit and put their hopes of progression right on the line. And despite taking Melt and Lon to deuce on the sixth set, the Sylestoneans could not seal the victory. Now, all hopes were resting on Adam Cho as he looked to take out Sylestone’s only remaining opportunity of a medal in table tennis. He’s got a hard road ahead, but he is more than capable of countering it. But the question is, can he? Or will he fall short?

Mixed doubles bracket

DAY FOUR: SYLESTONE’S REPRESENTATIVES

AQUATICS — SWIMMING — Men's 100 m Freestyle (Heats and Semifinals): Fergus Farrel, Flynn Kellerman
AQUATICS — SWIMMING — Men's 800 m Freestyle (Heats): Steve Thomas, Jonathan Drake
AQUATICS — SWIMMING — Men's 200 m Breaststroke (Heats and Semifinals): Jonathan Drake
AQUATICS — SWIMMING — Women's 200 m Freestyle (MEDAL): Alice Charleston
AQUATICS — SWIMMING — Women's 200 m Butterfly (Heats and Semifinals): Alannah Fairbarn
BASKETBALL — Men's (Matchday Two): Sylestone vs Hispinas
CYCLING — MOUNTAIN BIKING — Women's cross-country (MEDAL): Amelie Fink, Gabriella Herington
FOOTBALL — Women's (Matchday One): Sylestone vs The Hannasean Federation
HANDBALL — Women’s (Matchday Two): Sylestone vs Krytenia
HOCKEY — Women's (Matchday Two): Sylestone vs Omerica
SPORT CLIMBING — Women's (Qualification): Emma Burnage, Natasha Namlyn
TABLE TENNIS — Men’s Singles (Round of 16): Adam Cho vs Tafumi Yata (QUE)

by **Vilitan Union** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 1:57 am

Olympic Eel-Cat's Off to a Winning Start

Matchday 1

Vilitan Union: 2
Acastanha: 1

Sailors Stadium, Port Grenville, Electrum :: The Vilitan Union Men's team stepped out onto the field at the Sailor's Stadium in Port Grenville with a long road ahead of them in their quest to defend the Gold Medal that the team had earned in the Free Republics. Less than half of the Vilitan Union roster had been part of that Gold Medal team though with recent success for the Vilita and Turori Under 21 Squad as winners of the 50th Di Bradini Cup as well as the Turori National Team as winners of World Cup 88 ensured that much of the squad was already familiar with the pressures associated with competing for a championship in a major tournament.

Just two players entered the tournament having never earned a major tournament championship. 16 year old Midfielder Fyin Miatel of the Crosaibi Locals was expected to join the Vilita and Turori squad in the 51st Di Bradini Cup but due to scheduling conflicts will now be making their debut for the Vilitan Union at the Olympic Games. The other was backup goalkeeper Ukamai Talingri who recently made the switch to Monmouth Park in the Commonwealth of Baker Park after being trained in the relative obscurity of Obaobaio. Talingri however worked with a shrewd negotiator and leveraged their pre-existing call to the Di Bradini Cup side to negotiate a professional transfer to Baker Park.

While it was no surprise that the 16 year old first-time competitor Miatel was no where to be found in the Vilitan Union lineup for the opening match of the Group Stage against Acastanha, it was perhaps a surprise to not only see goalkeeper Ukamai Talingri on the team sheet - but walking out of the tunnel with the gloves on to make their first ever start at the Olympic Games. The Vilitan Union's expected starter Derizi Amatopa, a recent World Cup Champion with Turori, was out of the lineup entirely with Talingri getting the start and Eastal Lunar FC's Zelkki Milake Jr. on the bench.

If there were any nerves on the debut for the Baker Park based netminder they were likely eased due to the support they received from their teammates on the pitch. A mid-first half flurry saw the Vilitan Union grab a pair of goals which allowed them to take a 2-0 lead into the half time break. The first came after a shot from Lutara Makakio was turned aside by Sporting Arrachai goalkeeper Santiago Karba. Karba and the Acastanha team would not be as lucky on the resulting corner kick which was delivered by Lentali Purama and headed home by Cuoabaza Orani’aoa at the back post giving the Vilitan Union a 1-0 lead.

It would be less than five minutes from then when the Vilitan Union would double their advantage through one of their three overage players as the veteran Marine Coast United utility player Enzoril Alabonni scored their first ever Olympic Games goal after being set up on the cross from the left by Trezisi Rokopolis. The Vilitan Union would retain the 2-0 lead through half time.

While the Vilitan Union had the majority of the possession in the first half Acastanha were getting their fair share of chances as well. In fact, while the Vilitan Union would win the overall possession battle on the day, both sides would end up recording a total of five quality scoring chances on the day and Acastanha would ultimately end the match with one additional corner kick opportunity than the Vilitan Union had. One of those chances came in the 63rd minute when substitute Bruno Dillakar was on the fortunate end of a corner kick that ended up only being half cleared and bouncing around the box before the 24 year old could poke it home and inject some life back into the match, cutting his team's deficit to just one goal.

Fortunately for the Vilitan Union, that would be the end of the scoring for the match. From there, they would slow the game down introducing Utility player Loala Inkabu and midfielders Naraiza Ruaplal and Khrusan Mlianko into the match at spaced intervals, re-claiming the possession advantage and shutting down the goalscoring opportunities on both sides, allowing the game to play out and securing the 2-1 victory on the opening matchday.

 Vilitan Union [2] - [1] Acastanha
				
	GOALS:	 Vilitan Union 	:: 27' Cuoabaza Orani’aoa:: 30' Enzoril Alabonni             		
	STATS:	 Vilitan Union 	:: Possession: 57%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 5	Acastanha 	:: Possession: 43%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 6
	Lineup:	[GK] Ukamai Talingri, [D.] Jirak Trikala, [D.] Narri Sebapilo, [D.] Karek Edgeli, [ML]  Trezisi Rokopolis, [MC]  Limu Katarakhna, [MC] Lentali Purama, [MR]  Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [FC]  Tyoasi Klipark, [FC] Enzoril Alabonni, [FC] Lutara Makakio			
	Bench:	[FC] Treasvo Tlikara, [FC] Clarana Refiami, [M] Khrusan Mlianko, [M] Naraiza Ruaplal, [U ] Loala Inkabu, [D] Planio’o Nrujsa, [GK] Zelkki Milake Jr.

by **Eura** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 2:05 am

ebc.eur/sport/olympics/cuttings_from_centralis

EBC Sport has taken the top stories from the 15th Summer Olympics, as reported by a variety of the Euran press.

The Spartan (Spartangrad)
MAGNIFICENT MARTIN MASTERS MEDAL!

Spartangrad-born shooter Christine Martin has become the firest Euran gold medallist of the 15th Summer Olympics in Electrum! Our girl Electrumified the crowds at Agri’s Mallow Park by pulling off a stunning gold heist in the final. After a qualifying session that Martin eventually topped, finishing on a near perfect shot, Martin misfired in the first round of the final as experienced Diarcesian Giovanna DiGiorno among others made a strong start, with Martin slightly behind. But Martin hit her target in subsequent rounds leading into the two best shots of the final – a 21 and 21.2, the only 21 shots in the medal event. She hit her stride just at the right time as the field narrowed down to three, guaranteeing her. DiGiorno and fellow Euran Eve Webb a shot at gold.

In the penultimate round, Martin almost bottled it with a poor shot. Webb was on target, but went out first as her score was narrowly inferior to that of Martin and DiGiorno – she would have to settle for silver after shooting for gold. In the final round the dominant top two would duel for top spot, with DiGiorno needing to overhaul a thin 0.3 margin. The Diarcesian, who won silver in the 25m Pistol at the last Olympics, shot a 20, but our bullseye Martin recorded a 20.6 to win the gold! After her win, the young hotshot spoke to the Spartan: ‘Really, it was a great contest and I started slow in qualifying and the final, but it just goes to show that if you save your momentum to gather late on it can still work out.’

The Capital Herald (Bastion)
UNPATRIOTIC SAMMIE SWINE DISRESPECT OUR FLAG AFTER PITIFUL FAILURES

In an OUTRAGEOUS act of SEPERATIST DISLOYALTY, two CONNIVING cyclists on Team Eura SABOTAGED their country in the recent Road Race events. Normally we would not use such strong words against our nation’s representatives, but it can be no coincidence that these IRREDEEMABLE FAILURES were Sameban. That’s right, we’re talking about Mateo Polla and Penne Lavella. The latter might not have been a favourite in the Women’s Road Race, but she still STOLE her spot from a GOOD HONEST EURANS who might well have been victorious if it wasn’t for the IDIOT BARBARIAN who competed instead.

Polla was a different story. Polla, who this paper understands once cheered for the TERRORISTS known as the Sameban national football team, was fancied for a medal in the Men’s event but instead CHOKED, after taking the taxpayer pounds of EVEN MORE GOOD HONEST EURANS in funding to get there in the first place. It was no surprise when, after both races, neither athlete chose to position themselves with our GLORIOUS BANNER, instead engaging in SEDITIOUS alternative activities such as PROVIDING INTERVIEWS and DRINKING WATER AFTER COMPETING IN A TOP-LEVEL SPORTING EVENT. Our question is simple – if these UNGRATEFUL TURDS don’t want to fly our flag, why should they have flown to Electrum at all?

The Eastern Eagle (Falourr)
EURAN FOOTBALLERS EDGE LIVENTIA IN SPELLBINDING ONE GOAL THRILLER

In what will no doubt be remembered as possibly the most interesting game in the history of Euran football, the Men’s Football team at this summer’s bumper Olympic games recorded an unbelievable 1-0 victory over Liventia. The Men’s team were gold medal winners at the 9th Olympics, and look strong this tournament despite being artificially constrained by the traditional under-23 limits plus three over-23’s that don’t currently apply, and was tested repeatedly in an end to end contest that generated a remarkable three shots on target in ninety minutes. Veteran Euran international Kevin Belgrave, the captain and one of the over-23’s along with Brian Bond and Stanley Burns, was forced to use all of his skill and experience to bend over slightly and stop a shot down the middle of the goal just before half time, making the greatest save of his entire career.

Eura actually fielded a slightly rotated side, with Bond and Burns rested, meaning the opportunity came for Charles Barber of Unioneers to score a mesmerising winner, shinning home from six yards after Robert Freeman’s limp cross somehow evaded the entire Liventian defence. Silas Duff had to bravely make a standing tackle with no physical contact in the 73rd minute to save the game for Eura, after a Liventian player gained possession 40 yards from goal. There was time for substitute Ed Clarke, Barber’s club teammate, to test the Liventian ‘keeper with a piledriver from all of 10 yards that went narrowly wide (by another 10 yards). In the end it didn’t matter – Eura held on. And yes, if you haven’t noticed it yet, both this headline and article are incredibly sarcastic, because the original writer jumped off a bridge after being forced to watch this dreary, mind numbing excuse for a football match.

by **Electrum** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 2:09 am

Day 4 Cutoff

The next cutoff will be tomorrow (24 hours from now).

Cutoff music: Chrono Trigger: Secret of the Forest

by **West Phoenicia** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:49 am

WP||The West Phoenicia Times

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

Glory Nietzsche

Is it time for a Merman revival in the pool?

The fans want it! The nation hopes for it! Is the team strong enough to bring home a medal?

Do the Mermen need a birthday wish? A younger fan asked on the Merman's Vibr Gold social media fan page. A comment that at the time of publishing this article has reached 600 comments.

Light a candle on a cake, make a wish and blow it out. Don't speak the wish aloud as it won't come true, but everyone knows what wish was asked for.

For several years, fans recalled the golden age of West Phoenician polo. The Mermen trophy case filled with its wonderful achievements. Endorsements, parades, ceremonies; clubs exploded with new members and new talent. The party was in full swing.

I'm sure all readers recall;

First Place: Water Polo International Championships I
First Place: Water Polo International Championships II
Gold medal Games of the I FCN Olympiad
Silver medal XIII Summer Olympics, Republica; The Free Republics
Bronze World Aquatics Championships

Then it appears the party ended, the champagne stopped flowing, we stopped placing first and second and started to lose against countries that were once easily beatable.
It was as if overnight the Mermen came down with a serious case of Aquaphobia sprinkled with Achievemephobia or success anxiety.

While the men's water polo sank beneath the waves faster than Atlantis, our biggest competition became unstoppable gods in the pool.
Attending the Olympics went from an honour, to nail biting stress of losing and having to face the upset of fans.

Men's Head Coach, Paul Heavenwood has one last chance voiced by the West Phoenician Water Polo Federation President, Donovan Harris.
'Improve the performance of the team or resign'.

In a recent interview with WP News 1,
Paul Heavenwood stated;
'I understand the frustration of the Water Polo Federation. We were once a winning team and we have sunk quicker than the Titanic. They want to see drastic changes to make the team competitive again. I fully agree with them changing coaches if I fail to perform as the buck stops with me.'

Over the last 12 months Paul Heavenwood has worked on recruiting a new golden team, replacing several retired veterans choosing not to contest the next Olympics and strengthening those who jumped on board since the XIV Olympics.

Captain Bastian Alexandre remains the last veteran on the team, having debuted at the XIl Olympics.

Will a fresh new squad revive the Mermen. Will it be the life preserver the squad needs tossed at them to survive the crashing waves.

The new Mermen squad consists of the following;

Name: Jeremiah Craven
Age: 24
Position: GK
Birth PlaceJacksonia
Club: Jacksonia Splashes
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes: Morning jogs, Tattoos, Summers at the beach, church, Strawberry milkshakes

Name:Sidd Sharma
Age: 21
Position:GK
Birth PlaceSt Mary's
Club:St Mary's Saints
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes:His pet dog Gladiator, Fixing up old cars, skateboarding, Salt & Vinegar potato chips, painting

Name:Nathaniel Angelos
Age:24
Position:C
Birth PlaceJacksonia
Club:Jacksonia Splashes
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes: Country Music, sushi, cardio at the gym, online dating, Red and Green coloured food.

Name:Daniel Cortez
Age:25
Position: C
Birth PlaceUpper West Phoenicia
Club:New Tudor Stingrays
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes: Fast cars, nightclubs, whiskey, weightlifting, carrot cake

Name:Aztec Hernandez
Age:20
Position:C
Birth PlaceAcappella Testament Valley
Club:Deception Bay Central Fins
First Olympic Appearances:XIV Olympics
Likes:His girlfriend Cheyenne, ancient history, sailing, picnics in the park, volunteering at an animal shelter

Name:Michael Van Cooke
Age:22
Position:Attack
Birth PlaceFantasi Cluella
Club:Fantasi Cluella Orcas
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes: Old movies, new hairstyles, football, beer, momma's cooking

Name:Bastian Alexandre
Age:35
Position:Attack
Birth PlaceJacksonia
Club:New Tudor Stingrays
First Olympic Appearances:XIl Olympics
Likes:His wife Joni, Folk Music, fitness, Punk rock, Pineapple upside down cake

Name:Dillon Franks
Age:19
Position: Attack
Birth PlaceNeo Australis
Club:Yule Island Seahorses
First Olympic Appearances:XIV Olympics
Likes:Spaghetti, His boyfriend Travis, Reading classics, Sword & Sorcery Movies, Social media

Name:Tutakamun Stephens
Age:25
Position:Attack
Birth PlaceNova Aegyptus
Club:St Mary's Saints
First Olympic Appearances:XIV Olympics
Likes: His cat Prudence, cycling, mathematics, classic rock, Fried chicken & mashed potato

Name:David Ngyuen
Age:18
Position:Defender
Birth PlaceScarlett Orient Isles
Club:Tallahassee Raindrops
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes:Thai Green Curry, Romantic Comedy Movies, Swimming, Blueberry Yoghurt, karaoke

Name:Manpreet Sindhu
Age:19
Position:Defender
Birth PlaceTitania
Club:Tallahassee Raindrops
First Olympic Appearances:XIV Olympics
Likes:Poodles, hitting the gym, puppets, studying medicine, Lasagne

Name:Mo Saini
Age:26
Position:Defender
Birth PlacePtolemaic Haven
Club:Jacksonia Splashes
First Olympic Appearances:XV Summer Olympic Games
Likes:Cheese fondue, games nights, Sci-fi movies, Darts, swimming

Name:Cain Vincent
Age:22
Position:Defender
Birth PlaceJacksonia
Club:Deception Bay Central Fins
First Olympic Appearances:XIV Olympics
Likes:Aerobics, learning to fly a plane, camping, marshmallow cook outs, toffee apples

The Mermens' first test as to whether the new squad would sink or swim, did not have long to wait.
Day 1 sees West Phoenicia in the pool against Northwest Kalactin at Somer Olympic Natatorium in the Electrum city of Somer.
Arriving on a beautiful sunny day in Somer, was first seen as a positive sign, until an official announced Somer is well known for their sunny days.
Shrugging off the comments, the Mermen were as shiny as a Somer sunshine headed to the venue to confront Northwest Kalactin.

If the name rings a bell it should, we have played off against them in Twenty20 cricket, a nation we list as a cricket rival alongside Liventia and Ko-oren.

It was not a nation we associate with water polo. That assumption led to the Mermen in typical fashion underestimating their opponents; a common mistake they appear to make time and time again. One wonders why Coach Heavenwood would allow such an error of thinking to pollute the mindset of the squad.
Let us pray once the players hit the pool, all assumptions are left in the locker room.

Breathing in the surroundings of the venue, the Mermen may no longer hover at the top of any international tournament ranking tally, but the team can still fill a stadium. Somer Olympic Natatorium was filled with fans who still strongly support the Mermen, and who will not abandon them due to a few bad seasons
.
Placed in a pool alongside Vekaiyu, who were renowned for their water polo, team West Phoenicia are aware they need to come out strong on the attack for both matches to deliver as many goals as possible.
Coach Heaevnwood was cited going into these Games, that Sharma and Craven had not experienced an international game as goalkeepers.
Defence would thus be the weaker of the two positions.

Veteran Bastian Alexandre as centre-forward needs to work overtime with the assistance of the drivers to disrupt their opposition before they have the opportunity to score. If anyone can do it, it is Bastian Alexandre who has the strength, agility and accuracy while the experience in zoning in on gaps in the opposition's defence and his strength in firing off the ball into the goalkeepers net.

Will the Mermen overcome Northwest Kalactin?
Well fans tune in to find out.

by **Mytanija** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 7:06 am

A flashy titles sequence starts up along with screeching guitars and percussive drum beats. Images of past Mytanar sporting glories cross the screen: Yolanda Savic setting an Olympic record in the pole vault in Lasft and then incredibly doubling up to get a bronze in the high jump; Wes van der Stijnen – possibly the greatest road cyclist ever – winning back-to-back Island Tours; Zuzana Spevakova, the country’s best ever swimmer, climbing to the top step of the podium twice for the 200m freestyle and 400m individual medley before also getting a bronze in the 4x100m medley relay in Lasft before going on to win 3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze at the Rushmori Games. The images then move inside, boxers Arni Tukaldev and Katrina Ujeva winning their golds in the ring, before one of their punches causes the images to shatter and the words ‘Standing On The Shoulders of Giants’ complete the sequence.

Narrator: Mytanija has produced some fantastic sportspeople over the years, a number of record-breakers and serial winners in different disciplines. Now we chronicle the experiences of the athletes which are looking to follow in the footsteps of those that have come before them and reached the pinnacle of their sports. This series will provide full coverage and insight in the run-up to, during and after the Terranean Coast/Bunjil Olympic Games. We will see what boxers, cyclists, pole vaulters, swimmers and several other Olympians go through in order to prepare for competitions; all the trials and tribulations of the Games; and see how they react to both successes and failures. Standing On The Shoulders of Giants is a series which is designed to give viewers an insider’s view to the efforts and emotions Mytanar athletes will experience and cover all the highs and lows of the Olympic Games hosted on the other side of our region in the land of our Rushmori neighbours, Electrum.

Sometimes mountain biking is regarded as the less attractive cousin of road and track cycling in Mytanija. That in itself is a little strange given how many successful road riders start their career on the mountain bike, often becoming some of the best bike-handlers in the peloton when they do finally transition across to the road. It is perhaps because mountain biking doesn’t quite have the same level of fanfare that follows it around the country as the road and track disciplines do. In road races the race caravan passes through before the race itself to hand out goods from sponsors to local crowds and there isn’t a capacity crowd roaring the riders along a mountain bike trail like inside a velodrome. Instead mountain bike (and cyclo-cross) races are usually held out in lumpy bits of semi-rural land to provide competitors with a stern test of their bike-handling skills. It’s more unfashionable and a lot muddier, those two things are probably linked. You have to be prepared to get your hands dirty if you want to race a mountain bike.

It’s also perhaps why these riders cope so well with some of the cobbled classics on the road like Cieszin-Prizren, where the quality of roads is perhaps more like a cross-country mountain bike trail and the natural elements can conspire to leave you sodden, with mud sprayed across your face. Even despite being the less attractive cousin there is a lot of crossover. Alja Pisek is a young rider who there are high hopes for in both disciplines. The 20 year old is very highly-regarded within Mytanar cycling circles, she started out on the mountain bike and in recent times has been appearing in some mid-level road races with her trade team. She hails from Rauchnya, Mytanija’s smallest region and one which has some of the worst experiences to tell from the Mytanar Conflict. Pisek is part of a new generation of youngsters who want to firmly put that in the past and form an integral part of the new Mytanija.

“You can see older people are still pretty badly affected by the Conflict,” She explains. “But my friends and I don’t want it to affect how our lives go. And we don’t want it to affect how the rest of Mytanija sees us either. We don’t want to be ‘those poor Rauchiks’ anymore, we want people to see us as Mytanars and value us as part of what that means. We’re the same as them, just from a different region of the country.”

Pisek is right. For a long time the Rauchik people have been regarded as downtrodden and stuck in the past. Some of that is down to the effects of the Mytanar Conflict, with Natella Kalinina’s regime persecuting the Rauchiks alongside other groups she deemed undesirable such as the Thessians and Visoravs. Some of it is just down to outdated views of Rauchnya, with the stereotypes not comparing well to the modern-day reality of life in the region. Most importantly a majority of young people from the region feel as Mytanar as they do Rauchik, demonstrating a changing sense of attachment as we move away from the Mytanar Conflict.

Pisek is a brilliant racer too and a fantastic ambassador for her home region whilst competing. Both Rauchik and Mytanar flags are visible on her equipment: both her bike and her helmet. She is proud of where she comes from and she wants to put Rauchnya on the map internationally. With her prowess across cycling disciplines, both on the road and currently on the mountain bike, you wouldn’t bet against her doing exactly that.

Visnja Lenaric is Pisek’s colleague. The 26 year old is a little more experienced and more honed in on her first love, the mountain bike. She too has dabbled across cycling disciplines, but she always finds herself coming back to mountain biking:

“I’ve not done terribly out on the road, there’s been a couple of decent results, but I just enjoy mountain biking more! There’s so much more risk and reward, it punishes mistakes and it means you have to be focused in throughout every race. There’s no down days like you might have in a stage race on the road, no days where you can sit in the bunch and just get towed around because it’s going to end up in a sprint. I just prefer the constant jeopardy… I’m not sure what that says about me as a person!” Visnja laughs.

Lenaric is from the Vojovitican city Prizren, which perhaps makes her a bit of an anomaly in mountain biking because it is where one of Mytanija’s most famous road races ends, Cieszin-Prizren. She explains:

“Most people in Prizren like one of two sports, either football or cycling. When I say cycling here I obviously mean road cycling though. Mountain biking doesn’t really come into the equation. I first tried mountain biking when I was like 14 after a few years of riding with a road club. It was at some little trail about an hour away from Prizren and I absolutely fell in love with the sport. It was different and people were competitive but it also had this atmosphere around it which was like one great big family. It was just different to road cycling, where everything is always so serious and dominated by the media once you get to a certain level.”

Both Lenaric and Pisek have been in good form during the season, with excellent preparation in their last competitive race prior to the Olympics, both finishing in the top five of the GS SuperSports+ MTB World Series Grand Finals held in Pintook, Hannasea. Lenaric dominated the race, winning it by nearly a whole minute ahead of the Licentian Rose Strachan. Pisek rolled in in 5th place, around a minute-and-a-half down on Lenaric. The pair were truly buoyant after the race:

“This is what we’ve worked hard for all year!” Visnja yells with delight, the video cutting back in time to the pair in a half-embrace as they debrief in front of the cameras. It then moves forward to the two completing their post-race interviews.

“We’re just absolutely buzzed with these results!” Alja says, wiping a mud splatter from her cheeks. “To both finish in the top five shows where we’re at ahead of the Olympics and I think we can repeat this there as long as we keep working hard.”

The images fast-forward to the present-day and we join the action towards the latter stages of the women’s mountain biking cross-country race at the Olympics. Visnja Lenaric is leading in a small group of contenders, joined by the rhyming couplet of Mary Kryze and Lily Bryce as well as the Quebecois rider Grace Summerlea-Sippert, Dido Reynoldi and the Licentian Ava Gibb. Lenaric was familiar with Gibb from the World Series. The camera changes to further down the race and finds Alja Pisek, struggling along in around 26th with Urszula Engilbertsdottir.

“Pisek has had some mechanical issues during this race and it has left her well out of medal contention!” The commentator Branko Nedeljic’s voice is laced with disappointment. “Lenaric might well repeat her 1st place from the World Series Grand Finals, but for now it looks like Pisek’s hopes are over.”

“Yeah, it’s been hard luck for Alja, she’s a great racer but she started this race badly and it left her way down the field and she has then had mechanical issues to deal with. She did well to get round to the pit area to work on that and remain in the race to be honest.” The co-commentator, Yulia Tymoshenko, adds. Tymoshenko is a veteran of the domestic mountain biking circuit and now works in coaching some of Mytanija’s most promising prospects.

“You’re right Yulia, Alja has had horrible luck here but Visnja Lenaric is well and truly in contention as we move to around the halfway point of this penultimate lap, we will have to see what she has left in the tank here. She leads the race but there are five others still in contention, we don’t know what they have left either, everybody is looking tired after such a long race.” Branko continues.

“I think Visnja will attack on this uphill section coming up, Branko. She loves an uphill attack and it will put the others into the red and then she can trust her bike-handling on the downhill section to try and eke out a larger gap.” Yulia explains.

“Well, let’s see now Yulia, here we go. Visnja Lenaric approaches the uphill section of the course and she has five on her wheel, she will want to ride them off it because she hasn’t got the best sprint should it come down to that.” Branko says, his voice quickening. “And here we go! Lenaric attacks! She is out of the saddle and pouring on the pain as they go uphill and the others cannot match her here! This is fantastic racing from Visnja Lenaric! The others cannot follow and she has a gap!”

“This is absolutely brilliant racing from Visnja!” Yulia exclaims. “She picked the narrowest part of the climb and slowed the pace and then when she attacked Kryze could not follow her and she has held up those behind her. They couldn’t get around Kryze and it means Visnja has opened up this gap we are now seeing! She has to keep going now!”

“Absolutely Yulia and she still has a long way to go! They’re all trying to get around one another behind to try and get on the chase but Lenaric seems to be gone now! She has snapped the elastic which was keeping the lead group together and she is using her handling skills to negotiate this tricky downhill section! Let’s see if we can get a time-gap here once she gets down…”

“Nine seconds already!” Yulia Tymoshenko yelps with excitement.

“And what an attack from Visnja Lenaric! She has put a big question to her rivals and thus far they are not able to answer! We still have a lap to go though and Visnja will have to stay away for that whole time if she is to seal Olympic gold.”

“Yes absolutely Branko but Visnja is experienced, she’s not a youngster green to the sport anymore, she’s 26 and she’s come into good form at the right time. She’s timed this attack perfectly and I don’t think the others will be able to come back to her now!”

“That win in the World Series Grand Finals seems to have catapulted Lenaric onto a new level, Yulia, all the talk had been about young Alja Pisek all season and Visnja Lenaric seems to have gone about her business quietly and looks to be delivering here.”

“She has and I think suits Visnja to be honest Branko. Although without the start and mechanical issues there’s no reason why Alja Pisek wouldn’t have been up there competing too, but she’s still young enough to come to the Olympics again on the mountain bike if that’s what she wants to do.”

“Absolutely Yulia. Well, Lenaric appears to be in great nick here and I would be surprised if anybody comes back to her, if she can avoid a mechanical and stay upright then it looks like she might be Olympic champion!”

The remainder of the race does in fact go without issue, albeit with one particularly hairy moment where Visnja Lenaric seems to slightly misjudge a drop from one section to another and has to rescue it with a fantastically subtle piece of bike-handling. Most viewers wouldn’t have known the difference, but to the trained eye it is a move which ensures she stays ahead. As she rounds the final bend a helper has the flag of Mytanija ready to hand over the barriers to her and she snatches it out of the air, comfortable with an extended gap of 15 seconds and she lifts the flag behind her as she pedals towards the finish line hands-free. The green, white and orange of the Mytanar flag are resplendent with the rose popping colourfully in the top left corner. A broad smile erupts across Visnja Lenaric’s face and as she crosses the line she punches the air with one hand whilst the other grips the flag. A moment in Mytanar sporting history which will be replayed again and again.

***

Josana Popovic is old in top-level competitive swimming terms. At 31 you might not be considered very old in most walks of life, but swimming has always been a young person’s game and that is clear in much of Mytanar swimming history too. Most Mytanar medallists start their careers fast, hit their prime somewhere between 17 and 24 and then fade away from the sport by the time they’re 25 or 26. Popovic has shown great longevity in the sport and has been one of the best long distance freestyle swimmers for the past ten to twelve years. She races in the 1,500 metres freestyle and whilst she wasn’t considered a huge medal hopeful coming into the Olympic Games Josana herself wanted to show people that the older athlete could still very much hold their own against the young pretenders.

“They’re always calling me ‘the old lady of Mytanar swimming’ when we’re training at the Mytanski Institut za Sport. They’re only messing, really, but I’d like to show them what the ‘old lady’ can do at the Olympic Games!” Josana says in a clip prior to the Games. It seems like she can see the funny side at least.

During the heats for the 1,500 metres freestyle Josana put in her best ever effort in the discipline. It wasn’t a bad time for it to come, either, qualifying her to an Olympic final which she hadn’t really expected to be taking part in. The time of 15:55.87 smashed her own personal best and even put her into medal contention for the final, it was the fourth best time overall. The video shows Popovic finishing the race, gulping for air and holding onto the lane marker before her mouth fell open a little more widely when she realised the time she had put in. She even has to take her goggles off to make sure her eyes on playing tricks on her.

“I saw that time and I was in a real state of disbelief! To go under 16 minutes is something I’ve been wanting to do for years and I shaved off a big chunk from by personal best! I wasn’t expecting to beat Lidija [Iloska] in terms of my time either, but to do that and end up in the final at the age of 31… Well, maybe I was right about showing everybody what the ‘old lady’ can do!” She laughs.

It rolls around to finals time and the Mytanar coaching staff have to watch a Sargossan medallist in the women’s 200 metres freestyle just before. Jovana Krsmanovic’s first golden success of the Games as Ariadna Martí edges out the Tumbran Jennifer Freeman to seize the top step of the podium for herself. Mia Oreskovic, the Mytanar hope in the same final, could only do enough for 5th. Mytanija’s day had been so promising, with Popovic in a final and Oreskovic in hers. The men’s 4x200 metres freestyle relay team had been comfortable in qualifying for their final too, but they could only manage 6th in a very competitive final. Popovic was the last hope for some redemption in the pool and the 31 year old showed a little bit of nervousness before the race, fidgeting with her swim cap and goggles, jumping up and down to try and rid herself of nervous energy and finally muttering a prayer whilst looking to the Natatorium roof.

She perhaps shouldn’t have worried so much. After another fifteen minutes of racing she smashed her personal best once again, this time by another six seconds. The time of 15:49.84 is enough for the 31 year old to secure a bronze medal in what is almost definitely her final Olympic Games. The Alezian Union’s Eline Maats and Electrum’s Kieu Nguyen finish comfortably ahead of Popovic, Maats even matching the Olympic record in the event. But they weren’t really who Popovic was competing with. She hadn’t expected to even get to the final. Her tears of joy in the pool said so much, she had definitely shown everybody what ‘the old lady of Mytanar swimming’ could do.

by **Asteran** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 7:58 am

Four days, one medal: Asteran’s golden dreams turning into nightmares
Carrie Stroll for independent.as
Published 10:00 15 August

A difficult start for Asteran’s Olympic team has left the country’s largest-ever delegation nearly empty-handed

The disappointment in Lewis Richland’s voice was unmistakable. Following the third fourth-place finish in the pool for an Asteri swimmer, the ABC’s veteran swimming commentator could scarcely hide his emotion at what has been a wildly disappointing Olympics for Asteran.

Despite effusive praise from the AOC and predictions of dozens of medals for ‘the best team in years,’ there’s no denying that things have not gone well for Asteran in the first four days. Indeed, the single bronze medal in the first four days of competition equals the team’s worst start in an Olympics, when the team at the 8th Olympics also opened the first four days with a single bronze.

So what the heck’s happened? How did this team, with all it’s high hopes and high skills, falter so badly in the opening days of the Games?

It seems like nobody’s had any constructive answers to the team’s poor start. Some corners of the press have tried to lay the blame on government funding of sports clubs or claims that the national championships are too open to lower-skilled competitors. Certain darker corners have pushed the bizarre claim that a ‘woke agenda’ led to the team not taking the best competitors to Electrum.

More reputable outlets have pointed out that the pre-Games expectations were far too high, and that the team’s relative international inexperience has appeared at the worst time. Richard Turner, writing in the Times, pointed out that the media’s push of crowning ‘the best team in years’ quickly collapsed after the first couple days, and now everybody is creating a new narrative to explain the early issues.

Even the Prime Minister doesn’t have an answer. Her interview on the ABC’s Olympics Today show following the collapse of the men’s gymnastics team was somewhat unexpected in how honest it was, with the PM giving a truthful assessment of the entire Olympic team’s difficult start. When asked by Hanna Baker what the solution is, the PM admitted that there’s little more the government can do that they haven’t already been doing.

What’s unfortunate about this is the athletes who have given their all in the first four days have been the targets of endless speculation and criticism, with their accomplishments completely ignored. It’s caused a great deal of friction between the media and the AOC, who have become increasingly combative with certain parts of the media.

The next week of competition will determine if this is just a fluke bad run, or if it’s indicative of deeper issues within the team. Only time will tell if the Blue Lions can come roaring back with wins, or if the collapse will continue deep into the Games.

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
Kayla Holland: How the media got it so wrong
Giselle Cortez: ‘It stopped being fun’: Gymnasts recount miserable day

by **Chartistan** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 9:14 am

The Juniper Project
Part 4 - Edging Closer to Terranean Gold

The role of the Chartistani government on these Olympic Games and the Juniper Project is murky. One could expect less from Billboard and the government of the country, always wrapped up in drivel that they couldn't bother to get anything done on a normal day. They could've just pretended that the Project wasn't there and moved on even if other Olympic committees complained about the clones of the Juniper Project and saying they weren't real athletes and it was a powergrab for Chartistan. One could just stop here, but where would the money to clone and modify a single person into tens of Olympic athletes come from otherwise? No rich person from the nation could just step in and foot the bill in private, in case the whole operation was blown over. Some Chartistani conspirators think that the government was funding the Juniper Project, but that, like most things surrounding it, wasn't proven just yet.

What was proven was the development of Chartistan's stars on all fronts of the Olympic game. In the pool, for instance, Chloe Kurzmann was .24 seconds away from reaching the Semi-Finals of the 200 meter Butterfly event, as she finished 22nd, Chartistan's highest heat finish for swimming so far these Games, with only Kimmy Vico in the 200 meter Breaststroke Doireann MacClellan and Paderau Thompson in the 50 and 100 meter Freestyle respectively left for swimming. Even though Julianne Lachapelle fell to Banijan Agutu Muga on the final matchday of her Badminton group, she qualified for the next round on a tiebreaker - Christy Igarat lost to her on Matchday 2, sending the Mertagnian home. They even improved on the bikes, as Hitomi Boyko showed with a 53rd place finish in the mountain biking event.

But it was on the boat where Chartistan's hopes of advancing were amplified. 10 seconds behind Estogium's Wander Banner, Jillian Schulz finished 2nd in her heat of the single sculls event, being placed into the first Quarter-Final against Jennifer Lockett of Lanesolde, Ostanke's Lucia Stasik, Tumbra's Anna Logan, Muriel McDonald of Amuaplye and Tessa Freeman, the Heat 8 winning rower from Bollonich. Out of the 6 entrants to the first Quarter-Final, here's how their heat times would stack up against each other:

This is just a comparison of the heat times, not the actual times of the Quarter-Final

  Quarter-Final 1 Heat Times
1 Anna Logan (TMB)             7:29.42
2 Tessa Freeman (BOL)          7:35.17
3 Jennifer Lockett (LNS)       7:36.55
4 Jillian Schulz (CHA)         7:41.86
5 Muriel McDonald (AME)        7:46.46
6 Lucia Stasik (OST)           7:55.24

Comparing these times, it's clear that Anna Logan has an advantage over the other 5 athletes, with Lucia Stasik dead last if we just compare the heat times alone. Ultimately it may come down to Freeman, Lockett and Schulz for the final 2 Semi-Final spots, with the Chartistani acting as the 3rd wheel needing luck to contend for an Olympic medal.

With Carlene Lawrence destined to end up at the bottom 5 for the one-person dinghy event, eyes turned to Antonina Martinez and the sport climbing event to see how she would do. To ease the pain of all of this, we have to go over her event rankings - 83rd in speed climbing with 2 10.497 times, 78th in bouldering, 54th in lead climbing. A score of 349,596 in the sport climbing world is a terrible score, as each rank is multiplied to produce a final score, the lower the score, the better. In other words, she finished 81st.

Avalon Hartley, Chartistan's best chance for Olympic gold, would step up to the clay court of the Somer Country Club for her Round of 128 tie against Sophie Bellavie of Neu Engollon. Hartley decimated her opponent on the clay, winning in 2 sets - A 6-love first set and a slightly more competitive 6-4 second set to advance to the last 64 to play Maraali Anpocacizisipara of the Vilitan Union. In volleyball, however, the chance of a medal is impossible Adams and Alonso, even though they won, in 3 sets, against Romina Feio and Lola Pousa of Scotatrova. They sit on a 1-1 record heading into their final matchday, and with Lisander's combination of Vieira and Saari 2 and 0 heading in, even a loss by them and a win for the Chartistanis against Valentina Mascelli and Danielle Bates-Nugent of San Ortelio would mean that the Lisander duo would end up in the Round of 32 no matter what.

The next day of Olympic competition would be a slow but crucial day for the Chartistanis - The aforementioned Thompson and Vico will end up in the pool, while Wallis and Carson will end their Badminton doubles group whilst Mieke Duffy will hit up the time trial event in cycling. Lilianna Parish will go golfing in the first round of the event at the Port Grenville Country Club. Oh yeah, and Lawrence will be there too hoping not to finish in the bottom 5.

by **Togonistan** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:01 am

Roberto Matula goes through the first round of Olympic Men's Super Heavyweight Boxing

Roberto Matula celebrating his win against Eddie Simon

The 4th day of Olympic Games in Electrum has come to an end. Today, two athletes from Togonistan started their competition in the games. First, it was Roberto Matula starting his journey in the Men's Super Heavyweight Boxing, facing the Chromatik boxer Eddie Simon in the first round. ''It feels good to be back at the Olympics again. After my injury last year, I've been training hard to get myself back in shape and now we will see if it has paid off. Things haven't gone that well in the past games for me, so I'm hoping to make up for it here and now,'' Matula said in an interview to Ultrasports this morning.

Matula's match started tough, with Simon starting the first round aggressively, forcing Matula into defense early on and gaining an upper hand in the match. However, after the initial shock, Matula seemed to gather himself and go on a series of attacks of his own. After a close match between the two, Matula eventually emerged victorious, with the judges awarding him a 3-2 victory against the Chromatik. ''It was a difficult start for me. Eddie managed to gain an upper hand early on and from there on, it was recovery game for me. Some might have thought it would be an easy win for me, but he made it anything but,'' Matula commented on the match afterwards.

With the victory, Matula advances to the round of 16, with his next opponent yet to be announced. Being undeniably the best Togonistani boxer to date, Matula is also one of Togonistani medal hopes these games. While the Togonistani boxer hasn't had much luck in the games previously, we will see if he'll be able to finally break his Olympic Curse here in Electrum.

In addition to Matula, weightlifter Fatu Fuima also started his competition today. Unable to snatch his opening weight, Fuima was forced to retire from the competition early on due to back pain kicking in.

READ MORE OLYMPIC NEWS:
Weightlifter Fatu Fuima under medical surveillance after his forced retirement due to back pains.
Electrum still leading the Olympic medal tally after day 4.''
Olympics day 5 preview: Can Angelina Lopez redeem herself in Women's Cycling Time Trial?

by **Waisnor** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:09 am

And here is our first gold!

Waisnorian fans definitely had their reasons to be happy - in qualifications Waisnorian athletes had pretty good results and most of them advanced to the next round, but the climax happened on weightlifting tournament:

For several years Konstantin Kirichenko has been considered the best weightlifter in Waisnor, regardless of weight categories. He managed to take several prestigious awards at the European Championships, attend the World Championships, but, as he himself said, he lacked participation in the Olympics. And now he was given a chance to visit NS Olympics, and in his first participation here, he clearly did not disappoint Waisnorian fans.
His peculiarity is that he does clean & jerk better than snatch. This could be seen immediately - although Kirichenko gradually lifted the weight by 2 kilograms on the first attempt, reaching 168 kg, this was clearly not the best result. After the snatch Konstantin was only 6th, the best was Mark Boone from Eura. But on the clean & jerk, in which he could catch up with the lag, problems began, the first attempt at 204 kilograms ended in failure. However, for the second attempt, Kirichenko did not change the weight and, again trying to lift such a weight, nevertheless completed the task. There was only one last try that would decide everything.
For the third attempt, he decided to put on some weight, up to 206 kg. Konstantin already understood that if he lifted this weight, victory would be practically assured for him - those who worked better in the snatch did not perform so well in the clean and jerk, without lifting the scales that would leave Kirichenko behind. Konstantin stood a little before making a dash, quickly took the barbell and was able to withstand the weight, having realized the attempt. At this moment, Konstantin was fistpumping the air and was almost jumping from happiness, and WBC commentators almost went crazy:
Little part from commentary:
"Well, don't strain us... The bar is taken... Well, come on! Hold on a little longer! Hold! Hold! YEEEES! He did it! Konstantin Kirichenko lifted 206kg! It's a new NS Olympics record and we guaranteed ourselves a medal! My God, this is incredible... I would wish to say that we have gold, but Danny Speight and Naftali Grossman still can raise their bar for the last try... Let's see if they do this"
But Speight and Grossman decided to keep their weights at 207kg, thereby Kirichenko earned the first gold medal in the history of Waisnor at the Summer NS Olympics. When the time came for the award ceremony, Kirichenko, he said, could hardly restrain himself from crying. And after he was awarded a medal, for the first time those who watched the Summer NS Olympic Games were able to hear the anthem of the Republic of Waisnor.

A little earlier than Kirichenko's gold, Nadezhda Shunina took another step towards victory in table tennis, having already surpassed all expectations, but still continuing to go further along the tournament grid. Now Shunina had to fight with Hilda Thomsen from Abovian Union and she was clearly determined to win.
The fact that the match would turn out to be tense could already be seen in the first game, where from the very beginning both rivals did not let go of each other and always reduced the gap to zero, if any. In such a fight, Hilda was able to take the upper hand with a score of 12-10. For Shunina, this was the first time she did not win the first game and had to be catching up. However, this state of affairs did not last long - Nadezhda immediately took the initiative in the match and crushingly won the second game 11-2, and then the third, already with a score of 11-8.
However, Hilda did not sit idly by, again taking the lead and winning the fourth game with a score of 11-6 and leveling the score for the games won. Shunina was able to answer this by winning the fifth game with the same score, 11-6. However, despite a slight advantage in games, both rivals had great chances of winning.
Soon the fact that it was impossible to name the unambiguous winner of the fight was confirmed in the sixth game, where both rivals did not want to miss a victory, which for Nadezhda would mean a victory in the match, and for Thomson - equalizing the score. And again in a game where it was necessary to go beyond the usual 11 points to win the game, again with a score of 12-10, Thomson won, bringing the game to the decisive seventh game.
And again the game was extremely fierce, and since now participation in the quarter-final was at stake, both rivals were not going to concede - the stakes were too high. In such a situation, Shunina was able at some point to turn the tide in her favor and win the last game with a score of 12-10. After Nadezhda secured her place among the top 8 tennis players, she said that she was happy with her current achievements, but wants to do more.

OTHER WAISNORIAN RESULTS
Sergey Aleksandrov failed to qualify to semi-finals in men's 100m freestyle, placing 92nd
Alexander Poleshuk also stopped in the heats, placing 49th in qualification for men's 800m freestyle final
Alexey Matyush won over Charles Mitchell from Bollonich 3-2 in men's lightweight round of 32; Yuri Plechistik lost to Loic Delacroix from Krytenia in the same round in men's light heavyweight
Waisnorian basketball team made first victory in group stage, beating A Kea 83-75
Rowers Nikolay Radyukevich in men's single sculls and Valentin Subbotin & Maxim Lunko in men's double sculls advanced to quarterfinals; Vera Veselova in women's single sculls and Victoria Tolstik & Alina Martinovich in women's double sculs didn't advance
Tennis players Evgeny Kondratenko and Oleg Vlasov won over Grayson Norris and Atlas Dominguez from The Grearish Union (6-4;6-3) in men's doubles preliminary round

And a little addition to RP:
Stories of Waisnorian television: "Kalinovsky" and "Fathers and Sons": How 2013 became year of miniseries
In 2013, "Fun 2010's" were already firmly established as new era of Waisnorian history and one of main parts of this era was fascination of Waisnor with TV series. Several home-made products like "The Great Leader and Teacher" and imported series like "Generator Rex", "Doctor Who" and "Game of Thrones" were very successful in Waisnor, but mini-series were still an unknown land for Waisnorian TV. But in 2013, two mini-series managed to capture attention of the whole nation.
First of them was "Kalinovsky", focused on life of Konstantin Kalinovsky, leader of Third Uprising for Independence and has status of a national hero. 2013 was also the year of 150th anniversary of this uprising, so there couldn't be a better time to do a mini-series like this.
Many persons, who worked on this series, especially writers, were somewhat worried that if they mess this up, Waisnorians will be quite angry with the results. So they put their best at this, detailing life, troubles, doubts and decisions of Kalinovsky. This worked out very well, because every episode had very good ratings and was unrivaled in rating charts. Last episode, even though every Waisnorian knew that he would be hanged, got 1.500.000 people watching it. This was enough to put it as the most watched episode of TV series in history of Waisnorian television, a record which stays to this day.
NTV, main rival of WBC for ratings, saw the success of "Kalinovsky" and decided to do mini-series of their own. They went with an adaptation of "Fathers and Sons" by Ivan Turgenev. But there was an interesting twist in who was to play Bazarov - Sergey Morozenko, previously known for voicing Rex in "Generator Rex" and Jack Frost in "Rise of the Guardians", so seeing him to play nihilist was pretty strange for some viewers. As he said, he wanted to try something new with this role.
This series too enjoyed critical and rating success, also showing pretty strong numbers. Many were saying that Morozenko put a very good performance as Bazarov, but so did other actors too. Overall, both series wrote their name in history of Waisnorian television.

by **Sargossa** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:19 am

“At the turn it’s still Martí who leads, from Charleston, Franchitti and Freeman. Ariadna Martí, each stroke dragging her a little closer to her goal. The champion holds on. But here comes Freeman. The Tumbran is accelerating, how much did she leave in the tank? Tremendous atmosphere here in the Natatorium, the home fans still electrified from that gold in the diving. Twenty five meters to go. Franchitti’s fading. Oreskovic, the Mytanar is finishing strong. She was out of it at the turn but is closing down the Tikariotian. But at the front it’s still Martí and Freeman. Charleston hanging in there too. Martí and Freeman! It’s so close! And she’s done it! For vindication. For gold. Ariadna Martí retains her title. A shriek of delight and, you have to believe, so much relief. All the pressure was piled on her shoulders. And it looked to be affecting her, based on that shaky semi-final performance. But on the big day she delivers as only a champion can. Relief too among the coaching staff, even Jovana Krsmanovic crack’s a smile. That’s a first medal in the pool and a first gold of the Games for Sargossa. And it’s come thanks to Ariadna Martí.”

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Olympics

Relay Bad to Really Good

Blanco Borrayo reports;

What a difference three days have made for Ariadna Martí. The swimmer from the sleepy (if weirdly expensive) coastal town of Aguacaté is widely considered to be one of the most popular members of Sargossa’s aquatics squad. And on the evening of day one even the most cold hearted of critics must have surely felt for the freestyle specialist, an Olympic champion we shouldn’t forget, as she broke down on national television while discussing her error that lead to the 4 x 100m Relay team’s disqualification from the final of that event. A stark reminder that these athletes, while capable of amazing physical feats, are still very much human.

The spotlight on Martí had only grown following that interview, due to the nightmarish personal meet currently being endured by the other returning champion Naomí Alarcón. The double gold medallist from Orean and Istria followed up a dreadful defence of her Butterfly title with a disappointing seventh place finish in the semis of the Breaststroke. Which left Martí as the biggest gun amongst the delegation. The pressure looked to be telling as she struggled into the 200m Freestyle final, finishing fifth in what was fortunately much the quicker of the two semis. But on the night itself she led the final from beginning to end. Jennifer Freeman of Tumbra, the quickest qualifier into the final pushed her so very close but by two hundredths of a second Ariadna Martí retained her gold. With Alice Charleston of Sylestone taking bronze.

It was a gold medal that earned Ariadna Martí a place in the history books. Perhaps surprisingly, given the calibre of swimmers this nation has produced in the past, which includes the two greatest Sargossan Olympians of all time, she has become the first Sargossan to retain a title in the pool. Marc ‘the Shark’ Sarasola’s five golds all came in different disciplines. The closest he came was a silver and then gold in the 100m Breaststoke. A feat repeated by Adriana Abarca in the 200m Breaststroke. Abarca also claimed a gold and two silvers as part of the 4 x 200 Freestyle Relay team. So Martí becomes the only swimming representative in a club that includes the brilliant middle-distance runner Jordi Amat, Discus thrower extraordinaire Antonio Bartra and fastest man in the sportiverse Matías Almeida.

With swimming a particularly well-funded part of the delegation there is always a tension in the air surrounding the team prior to that first medal. But with that monkey off their back there is a hope now that Sargossa’s finest will be able to swim with a little less pressure for the remaining five nights in the Natatorium. Starting with Serena Sáenz in the final of the 200m Butterfly and Javier Vázquez in the 200m Breaststroke. Later on Martí will go again in the 100m Freestyle and Asia Navarro, a two time bronze medallist, will be hoping for a last hurrah in the 200m Backstroke. Although there’s a suspicion that they’re really going to have to go some to meet the OAS’s target of eight medals.

The combined medal target of thirty is looking a little dicey, even at this early stage. With a slow start in the pool and several days until the athletics begin the delegation’s executives will be searching high and low for medal hopes. Fencing has already played its part, and the Women’s Epee Team continued the impressive showing with a run to the quarter finals of their event. Normal service would appear to have resumed in the Sailing, although both Adriano Mano and Materia De Toro have qualified for the medal races of their respective Wind Surfing Events. Early exits in Badminton and Table Tennis are tradition at this point but Tennis is always a hope. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most hotly contested events of the whole Games. The Men have had a struggle thus far, losing half their participants in the preliminaries of the individual event. Although Gabriel Gallardo and Borja Ramos dusted themselves off after their exits and picked up a win in the Doubles event. On the Women’s side Daniela Palacio, Paloma Ureña and Ximena Manzanedo all moved safely through into the next round.

And then there’s the football. Oh my, the football. The Women’s side now carry far more respect since their silver medal winning heroics way back at the Eighth Games in Orean. A tame defeat to the Abovian Union was a thoroughly disappointing start to their campaign. It doesn't get much easier either, with another Sargossa/Mytanija clash laying in their immediate future. Then there’s the Men. The draw was not kind, giving the Corsairs a repeat of the semi-final of four years ago against reigning champions the Vilitan Union, alongside two new boys on the world stage. So naturally, ahead of taking on the Eel Cat Things, Eduardo Larrea’s team of Copa Rushmori winners and Campeonato Rushmori Juvenil finalists lost to unheralded A Kea in their opening match. Putting their entire campaign on something of a knife edge right from the outset.

That result prompted acres of column inches and hours of on-air time back home. So imagine what the reaction must have been like back in A Kea. Their team, who had never kicked a ball in anger at international level before, had just turned over the four time and reigning champions of Rushmore, a former Cup of Harmony winner and thirty-eight-time World Cup competitor with more than one thousand senior international fixtures to its name. Imagine the scenes. Their reaction? A one sentence review of a ‘rather uneventful game’. Perhaps they’re not big on emotion over in A Kea.

And in Handball, Sargossa’s Men somehow contrived to beat The Grearish Union in their final fixture and advance beyond the group stages. They now face Mertagne in the last thirty-two. If this success continues much further Handball is likely to be promoted to Football.

by **Kriegiersien** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:20 am

++ Olympic telegram ++

ARCHERY — Mixed team
Marcelino Brown/Estella Aguilar (SCR) 5–1 Leglaf Loverboy/Brie (KGS)
In the quarter-final Leglaf Loverboy and Brie lost their match against later winners Marcelino Brown and Estella Aguilar from Scornerse.
“I had a bit of a hang over from the party before. Sorry”, said Brie while holding her head. In the duel between Scornerse and Kriegiersien in the ‘Fighting Sports’ it was the first upset of the day.
“If we count as fighting sport, why aren’t we shooting at the enemy, I mean.. opponent then? That would have been more fun today”, said a fretted Leglaf, looking over to the celebrating Scornerse.

++

FENCING — Women's team épée
Bronze medal match
Lina Thorn/Matilda Inglis/Elizabeth Lappenberg (LIS) 44–39 Julie Aubergine/Sarah Porthos/Ariane Athos (KGS)

This time it wasn’t Scornerse that thwarted the medal, but Lisander, where Julie Aubergine, Sarah Portos and Ariane Arthos weren’t up to the task in the bronze medal bout. Especially for Sarah Porthos the missed chance for a medal was a big downer that she processed by braking her épée.

++

GYMNASTICS — ARTISTIC — Women's — team all-around
In the GS SuperSports Competitions before the Olympics Niau Batur Women’s won the All Around in Old Blopping, Hannasea and Chris Cross got in second in Uberwienerschnitzelstadt, beating the hosts athletes.
With that in mind the team felt prepared for a further medal in Electrum, but it was the team from Hannasea that would get a bronze medal, the Kriegiersien team ending only on 6th place.
“We worked so hard, but especially at the beam I had some slip-ups, I am so sorry for the team”, said Chris Cross crying.

++

The judokas saved the day again and a big final showdown between Kriegiersien and Scornerse in the Women's 63 kg final ending fast:

JUDO — Men's 81 kg
Cam Taylor (ETM) 0–10 Skull Dodgery (KGS)

After Bronze the last time, Skull Dodgery won his second Gold in Judo at the Olympics. The mysterious fighter won all his last matches without breaking a sweat. Literally.
It is said, who tries to interview him three times, will die a terrible death. That is hard to disprove, as no one interviewed him even once.

JUDO — Women's 63 kg
Estella Aguilar (SCR) 10–0 Gesa Golem (KGS)

Gesa Golem lost her final fight against Estella Aquilar from Scornerse, but was satisfied with her second silver in a row.
In difference to the fencers and their feud with Scornese and the family Aguilar, she was contend to have won a medal.

„Yes, I heard from the trouble here the fencer have with Scornerse. And I know that some expected Gold from me, but I am just happy to have made it to the final again.“
While the fencers, who watched it from the stands, looked very upset, when an Ippon ended the big fight in mere seconds, Gesa took the loss with modesty.

++

SHOOTING — Mixed 10 m air pistol team

Kampf (only called K.) Teddy and Jahna Heira started the qualification with a first place and an so Olympic record (as there was none before). For former multiple medallist Teddy this seemed to be the return to the big scene, but in the next round a lost shoot-out for fourth place against Gerald Butler and Christine Wong from Electrum meant the end of all medal dreams and place 5 after stage 2.

Both K. and Jana than blamed each other for the loss, Teddy accused Heira for having no nerves in the deciding moments at the end, while she remembered him of the worse hit ratio from his side.

++

Table and Tennis

Amanda Acemonster showed more nerves in her first round in women's tennis, winning her first match.
Even though a big talent, her missing mental stability has been in her way many times, preventing the women with the by far best service in Kriegiersien to reach for more until know. Maybe this is finally the year of Amanda.

In Table Tennis Esther Ada and Rainer Claas went on to the round of 8 in singles and in mixed together.
Only Esther Ada had to fight till the end against Han Thi Messault from Gaul and fend of several match points in a seven set drama, winning the last set with 13:11, after that being exhausted and ignoring every interview request.

Counter

The battle for Electrum medals between Kriegiersien and Scornerse

Adversary                       Gold    Silver  Bronze  Overall
Kriegiersien (KGS)		2	4	1	7
Scornerse (SCR)                 2       0       2       4

by **A Kea** » Sun Aug 15, 2021 10:34 am

KTV

As the days pass, A Kea's initial success of day 1 with our silver medal is slowly fading away. Day 4 of the event was pretty uneventfull with another bad performance of our swimming hopefuls who, once again, got massacred in the heats. Nikiforos Papastavros, our biggest hope in men's swimming, could only get up to the 24th place, missing out on the qualification in his final individual event. The Kean diving debut at women's synchronized 10m platform brought our nation up to the 33rd place after a decent performance from Mariantha Hatzistavros, who'll return for the individual equivalent, and Hariklia Minos. Aquatics ended with the women's water polo team who suffered their first loss to Srednajci after a close and thrilling game, which thankfully didn't cost them the qualification as 2nd in their group. We'll see our girls again in the round of 32 against Diarcesia.

Today saw the debut of a big medal hopeful, the Kean men's volleyball team played their first match against the Jovannic. The game was really tight with the kean team putting up a fight and winning the first two sets, but then falling victim of the Jovannic's expert defence in the following two, thankfully in a thrilling 5th set our men won the match and secured the first Kean points in our group. Our team's captain, Alexander Williams-Andreou, said:

We were determined, we know how important a second medal is for our nation and we really need to start off our campaign well in order to achieve it. The Jovannic's team was much tougher than we anticipated, their defense was perfect, especially in the 3rd and 4th sets. We had to really give the best we had to defeat them. Obviously them having already played a game before was an advantage since we're just newcomers. We're glad we achieved this outcome and are ready to return to the court in two days to play against the Vilitan Union. We hope to make you all proud once again.

Οur shooting medalist couldn't unfortunately repeat his air pistol success in the mixed rifle event, where he and his teammate Kassandra Enas reached only the 30th place and didn't proceed to the final. Konstantinos will return to A Kea with one silver medal, and so far the only for our country.

On a positive side, Simeon Kalousis managed to improve even more his sailing result, now being 4th in the one person dinghy and 5th in the two person dinghy, where he is joined by his 16 year old brother Evristhenis. Simeon didn't want to give any statements before concluding his 10 initial races before the medal final, but we spoke to his brother.

Honestly, Simeon didn't want to do this initialy, he wanted to focus in the one person dinghy and the mixed multihul events. He's just doing me a favor. I'm young and inexperienced but I really couldn't wait for the next Olympics to make my debut. I'm not good enough to participate in an individual event, my goal is to be in one in the next Olympics. This is my introduction to the competitive sport world as I'm just an amateur. I'm so glad my brother had been my mentor in this journey and I really can't believe we actually won our final race of today, coming here for the experience and being 5th overall is something beyond any expectations I had.

Lastly, bad news reached A Kea after our medal hopeful in table tennis, Djiva Trudeau, failed to beat her Quebecois opponent Seo Ye-Bin in the round of 16. She played really badly in the first three sets, giving Seo a big advantage, by the time she bounced back it was already too late. Thankfully, after a messy start in the doubles, she and her teammate Andreas Paraschos showed a really different side in this game against the Hopalian duo of Moran and Mar. The disoriented team that we saw yesterday had a perfect collaboration by the time the second set started today, with a much improved technique and collaboration they made it to the quarterfinals, where they're facing the Electrumite duo of Gertrude Pullman and Zhuo Jang, who have the host advantage. It's surely going to be a tough game for our athletes but our support is with them.

Games of the XV Olympiad — roleplaying thread

XV Olympics - Mens Football MD1

Who is online