Games of the XVI Olympiad - RP Thread

[Ioudaia]

ITV Olympic Round-up

Today's big news was the completion of the men's decathlon. While Periandros, Shiraz, and Leonidas didn't bring home any medals, they contested them with skill and heart, giving their best shots despite the unlikelihood of victory.

Periandros had an excellent performance running the 110 hurdles, finishing third, just .05 seconds behind New Gelderland's Stuart Brooke, who won the event. Periandros combined a fast start, actually getting off the blocks the fastest of all the competitors, with an incredible sprint to the line.

While Shiraz doesn't have the fastest running speed, he made the last six hurdles look easy, like he'd be born a gazelle. He finished 40th, one of his best outings of the day. Shiraz also did well in the throwing events, showing a clean, practiced form in both discus and javelin. His form couldn't make up for a lack of arm strength, though.

In the pole vault, Periandros used his raw foot speed to his advantage, finishing eleventh, just 20 cm short of the leader. He did have some problems with the swing-up, especially at the higher bar heights. But by contrast, Leonidas had good form on the vault, but struggled with consistent foot placement during the approach, varying between eighteen and twenty steps. He got away with it at first, but at 4.6m, his problems caught up with him. Still, a valiant attempt, and something that he can work to improve.

He had his best finish of the day in the 1500, the only time today he broke 60th place. His overall time is nothing to write home about, but he had a steady pace, and he timed his kick well, moving up seven places in the final lap.

ITV spoke to Ioudaia's decathletes after the event. Periandros was the most up-beat. "Eight overall is my best performance. I think my trajectory is positive, and I'm really looking forward to the next Summer Games. I was right with the leaders in the high jump and the hurdles, and I felt good about most of my other placements. Well, except the javelin; that's my brother's sport, and he never lets me forget it."

"I was disappointed, actually," began Shiraz, "I scratched twice with the long jump, once with the shot put, and once in the javelin. That really hurt me in the long jump. I should have those basics down, y'know? But I'll be back, and my goal for the next Olympics is finishing in the top half. That's a big improvement, but a good target: a man's reach should exceed his grasp."

Leonidas emphasized his youth. "I can do this year after year, slowly getting better. Now, I'm just a beginner, but I've got the core skills, so next Games, I'll work on my weaknesses. That's the decathlon strategy: get good enough at your best to win them outright, and bring up your weaknesses to the point where they don't kill your score. It's kinda like a team sport: win lots at home, break even on the road, and get into the playoffs."

In other athletics news, the women's 4x100 relay team made the finals, with an overall third place finish. They cut almost an entire second off their preliminary time. They did that mainly with sharper passing, completing all three passes in the first half of the box. That gave the three receivers plenty of time to accelerate, so they shaved time off of each of their last three legs. Rona Timandra, running third, got the most advantage, knocking .52 seconds off her time, and putting Ioudaia far in the lead of their heat by the time Tzafit bat Psyche started her anchor leg. Tzafit didn't rest on her laurels, though, cutting a quarter second off her previous time, and extending the team's lead.

So, tomorrow, they'll be in excellent shape for the final. ITV wishes them the best of luck, but it doesn't look like they're going to need it. Also up tomorrow: Lahat bat Euodias, who ran a stunning 400 yesterday, finishing first on the day. She had a strong start, and while she started to fade at about 250m, she recovered, and zoomed her way into the finish. She also looks good for tomorrow.

So tune in then, or watch the live stream on ITV.iou!

[Vilitan Union]

Boxing: Fans Frenzy as Beane Takes Gold in the Ring
Football: Techn-Eel Kitties will face Banija in Men's Football Final

Somersville Stadium, Somer, Electrum ::

 Vilitan Union 2 - 0 Eura	
	Vilitan Union Goals:	:: 82' Lutara Makakio:: 83' Trenian Omalizo             
	Stats :: Vilitan Union 	:: Possession: 58%:: Shots: 6:: Corners: 2 :: Eura :: Possession: 42%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 2
	Vilitan Union Lineup :: 	Hanauma Ranbomahi, Karek Edgeli (Lumlao Noauryua 67'), Kunala Jyvaiij (Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao 45'), H’munao Cagomia, Jakku’u Naboyavi, Fyin Miateal, Letirpsi Vulitn (Trenian Omalizo 67'), Lentali Purama, Antiviv Davaflei, Lutara Makakio, Clarana Refiami

Fan Favorite Beane: "Life Accomplished" after first career Gold Medal

Before Kay Beane came onto the scene, there was no such thing as combat sports in the Vilitan Union. The focus had always been on team sports, speed sports and pure strategy endeavours. Then came "The Big Beane". The oversized one-on-one competition athlete gained a cult following within the Vilitan Cove region after breaking onto the scene during the XI Summer Olympic Games in Aeropag. It was there that the larger-than-average athlete embarked on a strange Olympic Path - entering both the Judo and Men's Boxing events. While Judo was Beane's speciality, when they arrived at their debut Olympic Games the Vilitan Delegation had no athlete entered in the Men's Super-Heavyweight boxing class as it was not a weight level they could regularly fill with trained athletes in the Vilitan Cove. Beane was at the time a little known Judo specialist from Obabaoi, a smaller town tucked away from the big cities on Turoki Island - itself a landmass separated quite a distance from the Vilitan mainland. It didn't take long for Beane to make an impression in Aeropag, however.

The plus sized Vilitan looked somewhat out of place in their march to the Over 100kg Men's Judo Final and attracted a following within Vilitan Social and Media circles as everyone wanted to know more about this "Athlete" from Obabaoi. Beane nearly stunned them all but was finally dropped in the Judo Finale against Xavier de Santigo of the Avissian Union. Soon Beane became aware of the fanbase he had accrued back home - helping to make the Men's Boxing competition at the XI Summer Olympiad the most watched Boxing event in the history of the Vilitan Cove.

With minimal prior training and experience, Beane sliced through the competition on the strength not only of their size and the literal poundage packing behind each punch they delivered, but also of the scores of fans urging them on not only back at home but also in the arena in Aeropag. Beane's magical run would come to an end in the Semi-Final at the Aeropag Olympic Tower, losing 3-0 to Serbian boxer Kyrill Markov who would go on to win the Gold Medal. Despite the defeat, the little-known overweight sport fighter from a little town on Turoki Island had, effectively overnight, become the face of not only the Vilitan Judo Programme, but Vilitan Boxing and the Olympic Delegation in general. Beane quickly got a number of endorsement deals as a result of not only their performance but also their popularity among the citizens of the Vilitan Cove region.

Beane vowed to invest all of their endorsements back into the sport and the people. They would open up invest in an underground fight club and eatery back in Obabaoi and would regularly re-live their double-medal performance in Aeropag in commercials and appearances for the business. Beane would also inspire a new generation of overweight athletes to have the conviction to never give up on their dreams - regardless of where their physical build might take them. There was much anticipation for Beane's participation at the XII Olympic Summer Games in Novonaya and Provinsk - with hopes that the fan favorite could do one better and claim their first career Gold Medal. Ultimately it was not to be. The magic that had followed Beane into the boxing ring at the Olympic Tower had faded off and their lack of technical discipline would ultimately result in an elimination prior to the medal rounds. It was looking grim in Judo as well after Beane was defeated in the Quarter Finals by Gualadnis nos Cerlmaet - but Beane would raise their 'Never Give Up' attitude and use it to lift them back through the repechage to a rematch with Cerlmaet - this time getting revenge on their prior foe to claim their second career Bronze Medal and third overall Olympic Medal.

Beane worked hard in the offseason and made no secret in the fact that they had set a new life goal: Olympic Gold. While Beane remained personable and relatable in public, they embarked on a rigorous training program through the underground fight club in Obabaoi to ensure maximum preparation for the XIII Summer Olympiad in Republica. Beane travelled to the Free Republics having felt in the best shape of their life - though naturally still well over the minimum weight for the Super Heavyweight classes of competition. An early defeat in Boxing was certainly disappointing not only for Beane but for the enter Beane Brigade of fans who travelled to Republica in support of Beane's quest for Gold - but it did free up the Vilitan's schedule and workload as they focused on their ultimately goal of Judo Gold.

Unfortunately, for the second consecutive games, Beane was upset by Dae-Nam Kim of Electrum and forced once more to enter the Repechage. Disappointment may have briefly turned to Anger, but the fan favorite righted their headspace and once again locked on to the task at hand, sweeping matches against Brimskill Dagbarssen and Robert Strong to secure yet another Bronze medal.

There had been rumors that Beane was considering retirement after the disappointment of missing out on Gold once more in the Republica games. Ultimately, the "Big Beane" decided to press on and keep fighting towards that life goal. Still, Beane's fanbase may have impacted their performance in an indirect way. Not looking to alienate their Boxing fans, Beane opted against dropping their participation in Boxing to focus on their stronger Judo skillset, but also went one step further and reduced training and preparation in Judo to focus on improving their technical skillset in Boxing ahead of the Men's Super Heavyweight Competition in Orean and Istria. It certainly paid off on the Boxing side, as Beane went on a solid run through that was only halted after a controversial decision against Uzuri Baret of Astograth in the Men's Super Heavyweight Quarter Finals. The lack of a thorough Judo preparation routine, however, cost Beane dearly. The Vilitan Union's own "Face of Judo" was stunned in their very first bout of the XIV Olympic Games, being ousted in the Round of 32 and force to leave the games without a medal at all - a long way from their targeted Olympic Gold.

One of the side effects of Beane's investment back into the non-traditional sporting community on Turoki Island was that, eventually, one of Beane's trainees would eventually out-duel the master for the lone Over 100kg Judo slot on the Vilitan Union olympic roster. That moment came in the buildup to Prescott when Ankijo Roraaa defeated Beane for the right to represent the Vilitan Union in the Terranean Coast / Bunji Electrum. Beane was filled with equal parts disappointment and pride. Their life's goal had been to win an Olympic Gold Medal - and their best chance to do it was slipping away without being able to compete in the Judo. However, Beane was still uncontested as the best Super Heavyweight Boxer in the Vilitan Union and so the Turoki Islander focused all their efforts and preparation into the Ring.

In the Terranean Coast, Beane was dropped by Quebecois boxer Hwang Gwang-Woo in the Round of 16 but it was as disappointing of a defeat as those suffered in Orean and Istria. Beane was just starting down the road as a full-time single sport athlete and was coming into their own form in the Ring.

Vilitan Kay Beane had the better of big Faustino Sandoval in the final of the Men’s Super-Heavyweight Boxing. Fast forward to Prescott and Twin-Cities where things got off to a shaky start for Beane in a hotly contested matchup with Lieutenant Hamilton. Beane narrowly survived to advance to the Round of 16 - the same Round they had been ousted in at the last games. This time, The Sarian boxer Adam Winton was no match for Beane who was still sloppy but pound for pound packed a mean punch. After defeating Luke Ryan in the Quarter Finals in one of the most evenly matched affairs the Beane Brigade was out in force to support their man. Though they hadn't been clean victories, they were victories none the less.

For the first time since the XII Games in Kelssek and Vekaiyu, Kay Beane found themselves in the Men's Super Heavyweight Semi-Finals. Their opponent was the Banijan Malaw Kunate. Of all the athletes competing in the Semi-Finals, Beane was the only one that had failed to win a bout cleanly during any of the preliminary rounds. That would change as Beane overwhelmingly bested Kunate to advance to their first ever Gold Medal Bout.

The final matchup would come against a new foe, Faustina Sandoval of Sargossa. Between the two of them, Sandoval had shown more poise and technical expertise than Beane throughout the tournament. However, as finals go, raw strength was a major component. Beane absorbed every blow that Sandoval through at him as one might expect for a man his size. While, once again, it was not a clean victory, it was clear enough that when the bout was over, there was no doubt that the goal had been achieved.

After four near misses and countless cycles of preparation and trying, long-time fan favorite Kay Beane had finally become an Olympic Gold Medalist.

---

[New Gelderland]

Jack of all trades, master of none? An interview with Henry London

After Sally Rowbotton's surprise gold medal in the discus throw, Henry London has won the second gold medal in the athletics competition in the decathlon: an event where athletes compete in ten separate events, in both track (sprints and middle-distance races and hurdles) and field (long jump, high jump, shot put, discus, pole vault, and javelin). Indeed, the winner of the decathlon can be considered the best athlete in the world — and not only did London win the event, he set a new record, albeit by only four points. We sat down with London for an interview after his historic win.

First of all, Henry, how do you feel about setting the Olympic record in this event?
I mean, I beat the current world record by like, four points? So in my book, it's not the biggest win in the history of big wins. It's like a second or two on the 100m, for instance, or a few centimeters in one of the jumps. A marginal improvement at best. But, hey, my name will be in the history books, at least until someone else comes around and beats my record again by a marginal amount. And it was definitely really rewarding to video-chat with my folks back in Nassau Bay and say, "Look, your son set an Olympic record!" I think I was more happy vicariously through them than I was happy with myself at Northcote Oval, really.

Why did you decide to compete in the decathlon instead of, say, the long jump, your best event?
I think decathlon gives you a bit of delayed gratification, right? Since you're not looking at the points calculation at every move. That would be totally counterproductive, I think. For me, I always try to actively avoid the score monitors, actually. Anyway, I won't know if I win or if I lose until the final event, until the 1,500 meters. And that means that I can enjoy the thrill of competing. Really, the delayed gratification enhances the adrenaline rush that I get from running, and throwing, and jumping. I really do like all of those things, and I can compete but also have fun at the same time when I'm not always worried about winning.

What do you think it takes to be a great decathlon athlete, and how is that different from being a great athlete in other sports?
I mean, you have to be built a certain way to be really good at the throws. If you look at the discus competitors and the shot put throwers, they are really, really beefy guys. They have a lot of muscles in their upper bodies, a longer wingspan. As you can see by just looking at me, I don't have a lot of muscles in my upper body, so the throws are my weaker events. That's why I'm surprised that I did so well in the discus, actually. I got fourth place, and I would consider the discus to be one of my weaker events.

Conversely, I think a lot of the other events are more similar than you might think. The long jump and javelin, to a lesser extent, really synchronize well with the sprints and the mid-distance races since you need bursts of speed to do well in those events. It's surprising, again, that I did so well in the long jump and not so well in the 100 meters. But sometime the decathlon, like life, takes you in wild directions that you can't anticipate.

Where do you land in the discussion about the world's greatest athlete? Would it be the winner of the decathlon or someone else?
Well, I wouldn't say that I'm the world's greatest athlete. That would be totally presumptuous of me, especially when athletes in other sports are constantly breaking barriers in other events. As far as I know, at least three Olympic records were broken in these Games, although only incrementally, not by leaps and bounds. But the records are being broken, and we decathletes are not even close. For example, in the men's 100m, even the 8th place finalist ran a faster time than I did in the decathlon. I ran in, what, eleven seconds, and even the last place finisher in the 100 meter final ran it in less than ten seconds. So we're jacks of all trades and masters of none.

But I do see the other side of the coin: Who do you pick as the world's best athlete if you don't consider decathletes? I would argue you shouldn't default automatically to the sprinters, just because the sprints get so much time and attention in the media. Maybe they would get the title of "most likely to whip up a media frenzy" but that's not really a qualification for "best athlete." And in the same vein, you can't really pick and choose an event that you like.

For me, I would say that Camila Garcia from Costa de Ouro is the world's best athlete. A third gold in the triple jump at these Games and a bronze in the long jump to boot? She's carrying their delegation at these Games, for God's sakes. I really can't name anyone who's had a better record than that, although I'm sure there's a Sargossan or a Krytenian who's a contender.

How do you see the Gelderlish athletics program faring for the rest of the tournament?
I'm not the most qualified sports commentator or pundit in the world, but I'll take a shot. It seems to me, based on my admittedly cursory attention span devoted to other events, that we have a good shot at one medal, hopefully a gold, among the remaining events. We have Tessa Forgrave in the 400 meter final, for instance, and a relay team in the 4x400 final as well, and we've consistently had finalists in the field events. So while I don't think that we're going to get a medal in everything that remains standing on the calendar, I do think that New Gelderland will be able to muster up at least one athletics medal.

I actually think that New Gelderland is like a decathlete in this instance: we're jacks of all trades, masters of only few. That's enough to get a few medals here and there, but not really enough to be the world's athletic powerhouse.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Here is the Day 16 Cutoff.

The next cutoff will be in two days' time.

[West Phoenicia]

West Phoenician psychedelic artist Snow Flower Kutsuki says she was inspired by the deity Goddess Mergyp-Cuddtina, a primordial deity who symbolises unity, strength and life to take the path to Prescott; Electrum & Twin Cities; Quebec and Shingoryeo for inspiration for her next collection of art.

Hailing from the Province of Fragrance in the city-state of Olympia Hills, a province known for its eccentric citizens, street art and performances and the idle rich.
Snow Flower Kutsuki runs and operates the Peace, Love and Harmony Art Gallery. She describes herself as a multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, peace activist and empathetic.

"I was undertaking my morning routine of nude meditation just as a new morning sun arose when an inner guide instructed me to travel to those Olympic cities. I was puzzled in the beginning, art is my forte, and sport has never attracted my interest, even in a sports-obsessed country like West Phoenicia.

As a pacifist, I found Boxing, Wrestling, shooting rugby and even fencing to have violent attributes attached to them. Little more than blood sports designed to whip up the crowds into a frenzy like some bygone Roman Colosseum where animals and Gladiators fought for the entertainment of the unwashed masses. I found those sports barbaric.

As for sports like Basketball, softball and baseball, I never understood why people would pay money to watch someone chase or hit a ball. Cats and dogs chase balls daily and no one sells tickets to see that. I recall West Phoenicia holding a parade for our baseball team because they won a World Baseball Classic title. A parade because some men who toss a ball, try to hit the ball with a thin bat and scratch themselves in-between innings won a championship.
Yet my good friend Ross Mckai went without a shower for a year to raise funds and awareness of drought-stricken countries and he received no such parade. It's rather upsetting who we hail as heroes.

My Saturday lover Vincenzo told me to not be so hostile, that while sports may not be my forte there may be something I can take from it, that will take me to new heights with my creative juices. I was looking for a new angle for my art, so maybe he was right, maybe it would lead me down a new path. When I prayed about it, Goddess Mergyp-Cuddtina filled my heart with the same answer my Saturday lover gave.
My Tuesday lover on the other hand disagreed, they were my least favourite of my seven lovers. I don't like to boast but I have one for every day of the week.
Tuesday was always a flatterer which I detest. So I'm now looking for a Tuesday replacement.

Before the Olympic Games commenced I researched the Olympic values, and words like friendship, respect, excellence, equality, determination, inspiration, and courage sprang out. They were the same values I instilled in myself. The Universe was showing me I needed to explore these values more, maybe my prejudice toward sports had blinded me from taking the next step in my artistic journey.

My first stop on my Olympic journey was the Electrum city of Prescott. Where I drew my first Artistic creation which I titled "Prescott"

My Ajna, my third eye chakra made me aware that Prescott screamed cosmopolitan; a vibrant mix of cultures, emotions and natural beauty which are displayed inside each circle, the stories in the circles promote harmony, unity and inclusion.
It's the deep respect this city holds for the Games, especially since they have hosted them several times. Their citizens continually open their arms, welcoming athletes of our earth to compete.
The space, stars and galaxies around the circles, pays homage to the cooler climate and the Wilderness Mountain Ranges that protect Prescott. Just like space can be cold, its vastness is also a protector. Space is bigger than we expect, ver-ending, much like the hospitality of this city.
The circles of blue represent the cities, Blue District, a welcoming district of active night-life and flowing alcohol that wets the driest throats.
I took a day trip to the local vineyards, sampling the wine born and created from the fertile soil that nourishes the ground.
I lay prostrate in the fertile soil, absorbing its life force, amazed at how something so abundant can create sustenance for mankind in the form of plants to shade, grain to feed us and wine to hydrate us.
The fiery circle with the eye watching symbolises the fiery passion every athlete has upon arrival, hungry to succeed. It's attached by DNA strands, showing we are all the same on earth, all filled with the same Passions and desires as these athletes. While not all of us are athletes, we too are chasing our glories and medals in life.

I ignored the throng of crowds heading to and from Power Street Mall, believing consumerism is a sin if one wants to connect with this world on a more spiritual level. But I did enjoy its rich coffee blend and while I am not a big meat eater, valuing my animal friends as equal, I did engage in a democracy sausage while watching a Sailing event known as Women's heavyweight dinghy in the seaside city known as Port Grenville, being in a seaside city, brought back memories of my childhood where my parents would take us all to the seaside, and where my love of using sand in art first bloomed.
After the race, a group of West Phoenicians I bumped into, invited me to sample some of the beverages at the local taverns.
Due to these bonds of kindness, these strangers showed me by inviting me to a tavern crawl, I added a rainbow to my picture to symbolize friendship.
With my first picture complete, a perfect replica of my time in the blissful city of Prescott.
The next day I departed for Quebec and Shingoryeo where I would spend the other half of the Olympics

My arrival at Twin Cities, Quebec and Shingoryeo came with a childlike innocence when one enters a location, one has not been to before. Twin Cities was no Prescott, it held its regal beauty, history and culture. Two entirely different cities and nations, yet both linked by their passion for sports.
An abundance of familiar smells swirled through my mind and senses, as I explored the next morning after my arrival to gain inspiration for the next artistic work I've titled "Quebec and Shingoryeo."

I smelt the familiar tingle of marijuana, an illegal substance in West Phoenicia, yet obtained here via Cannabiscorp establishment. It was like a magic genie swirling below my nostrils.
The fragrance was perfectly represented by the smoky haze of the woman in my artwork. Five facial reactions, and how such a herbal delicacy can bring an inner peace that transcends from the face to the body and one's aura. The five faces also depict the whirlwind of emotions these people can display from talkative, celebratory and even blunt and to the point. All separate reactions, but in the end all belong to the same face. This spoke to me during my sketching. Some people can be affronted with such personas, I call it being a true human and being true to yourself.
I was compelled to include the three butterflies to symbolise the three official languages English, French and Korean drifting into a colourful air, mixing and in harmony with one another. I also respect and acknowledge the local indigenous languages without them, such a nation would never have bore fruit.
I included the pulsating heart to display the hearts of the people of the Twin Cities. Especially towards tourists who are trying to find sporting venues or a local eatery.

The food and alcohol scene in Twin Cities is abundant. Throw out those skinny jeans, you are certainly going to need something with an elastic waistband. The city Is known for its spices and its spicy unique food like moose. The rainbow colours shooting up into the sky pay reverence to this. Spices can make the blandest dish Super intriguing and tasty. It can take a dish from a plate and elevate it to the stars with the right spices. I really must let my foodie friends back home know, that they need to travel to Twin Cities to sample this cuisine.

While Twin Cities has a lot on the Olympic program, I was more led by its vast art and entertainment experiences that went on around the Games.
I added the salute in the picture to display this, while it is Olympic time and the focus should be on the Games, entertainment and culture should not suffer. It's a brilliant time to showcase what your culture has to offer. The salute respects both aspects.
Most of my time was spent in the Habpo Commons. I took my creative tools and would draw and paint taking in the surroundings that talked to my heart.
I conversed with people all day and into the evening as artists interacted with the public via concerts, street performances and street art.
It was like I was back home. The atmosphere was glowing and full of respect, love and tolerance.
I also had the opportunity to check out the National Gallery of Art, Campbell Art Gallery and the Regina Phillips Theatre. It is always a pleasure to cross paths with other artists and art lovers. I must say I only allowed myself one day of sports viewing where I took in the Women's Artistic swimming, which was more beautiful than a bank of white swans on a crystal blue river. It was also good timing, as one of the duets was performed by two West Phoenician ladies, whose artistic work in the water, was breathtaking and unique.
I believe my picture sums up all the atmosphere and experiences I felt during my time in Twin Cities.

The last picture I worked on, combines both Prescott and Twin Cities.
Perfect unison and perfect harmony, co-existing together in the image of a strong Goddess who brought two nations together to host a wonderful sporting event like the Olympics.
She breathes out a breath of life that fills people with the passion to play or cheer for their favourite athlete. The vast array of colours depicts all the different cultures and countries that have come together to compete. The bright sun at the top shows the warmth and hope these Games can instil in athletes and the public to promote the core values of friendship, respect, excellence, equality, determination, inspiration, and courage.

While I am not sold out on sport, I can see the passion, the love, the friendships and the artistry that sports can weave into people's lives. I feel all judgement has fled my body and I am now filled with these same core values, which will make me a better artist than I already am.

[HMS Onslaught]

[Waisnor]

Calm after the storm

After the incredible previous day with 3 gold medals this day was looking pretty bad with no medals whatsoever, even though there were some chances for them. Thankfully, there would be something to write about in any case, especially since one gold medalist from previous day was left unnoticed:

In men's lightweight boxing tournament, Alexey Matyush already guaranteed no less than silver to his name, but the final certainly wasn't the time he needed to stop and relax with it. Because even though silver is a good medal, gold is even better one, and Matyush really wanted to go all the way to get the first place. He needed to defeat Jandiyuha Targaroha from Pemecutan to win the gold medal, and so, he once again used his new tactic - watching previous bouts of Jandiyuha, learning about his moves and figuring out ways to defeat him. And when Matyush went into the boxing ring, he knew exactly what to do with Pemecutan boxer.
As Alexey already expected for himself, he took the lead in this battle for the very beginning of it, showing some incredible boxing prowess and pulling off combinations that were pretty hard for any other boxer. But it seemed that Matyush knew how do to it all from the get-go, perfectly predicting any attacks of Targaroha and deflecting them easily. In return, Alexey was unleashing a whole slew of punches at Pemecutan boxer, but he was still holding on, perhaps waiting for his time to strike. But even when Jandiyuha managed to get a nice strike at Waisnorian, Alexey was standing still, probably, unfased by all this punches directed at him. Looking at all this, it would seem as a miracle of Jandiyuha would somehow win this fight, considering the overwhelming dominance of Alexey right now.
But that wonder wasn't seemed to materialise, and as there was getting less and less time, Matyush was still holding strong, getting his punches at Targaroha with great success. And so, when the time passed fully, pretty much everybody knew that Alexey would be named as the winner and new owner of the gold medal in men's boxing lightweight. Now judges only needed to verigy this outcome. And they did so resoundingly - every judge voted for Matyush. And so, Waisnor got their 3rd gold medal in one day, fully setting this day as the best day in Waisnorian olympic history and probably the best in Waisnorian sports history.

Going to the events of the current day, we have Daria Zhuravleva participating in the final of women's javelin throw. After getting to the final in qualification round, Zhuravleva was hoping to perform in full swing after placing 9th in the qualification. Even though that result wasn't looking like the one which could guarantee Daria place in top 3, it could be said that she didn't really give her strongest performance, keeping some forces for the final, where she definitely would show what she's capable of.
And the first attempt was looking really good for Daria - she certainly was going to start off strong with 66.53 metres throw. That result was placing her provisionally third, and that couldn't be a bad thing for Waisnorians and Zhuravleva - if she could keep up with this result, Daria certainly would place herself as one of the favorites for medal or even gold. But nonetheless, Waisnorian athlete wasn't looking very well in the second attempt. Due to Daria stepping over the line, her result was now invalid. And so, she needed to pull off some nice result to stay in the competitions for the medals.
She, and Waisnorians to boot, were getting pretty nervous, and so, her concentration was getting pretty feeble, and, as we probably know by this point, such emotions could screw everything up pretty fast. And this time would be another representation of this - due to stress, Daria managed only 59.65 metres and was left with her first attempt result. But due to other athletes results, Zhuravleva was pushed away to 9th place and was knocked out after 3 attempts. After this event Daria said that she wasn't fully satisfied with her result and that she would try to get better result in further competitions.

OTHER RESULTS
In men's 50 km walk, Pavel Bushunov placed 32nd, Ivan Sipyagin took 56th
In golf, Roman Lashkarev placed 48th in third round and provisionally is 55th
Petr Tukhachevsky lost in repechages to Bobby Stone from Liventia in karate men's 75 kg
Dmitry Duboenko placed 52nd in men's 10m platform diving preliminaries
In men's 10 km open water swimming, Denis Skvarchevsky placed 59th
Gleb Ashanin lost to Fidenziano Manfredonia from Macbon in wrestling men's 86 kg freestyle

Random Waisnor things: First parliamentary elections of Waisnor
When Waisnor became an independent state, they started their move towards democracy. And so, elections were necessary for making this democracy and keeping it alive, which was one of main conserns of Waisnor. In August of 1991, first presidential elections were held, which were won by Ivan Gudaev, one of the leaders of independence movement for Waisnor. After becoming president, Gudaev was thinking about introducing parliament to Waisnor, and pretty soon State Assembly, now National Assembly was established. Elections were slated to be held in January of 1992, and pretty soon election campaign has begun.
Soon after Waisnorian independence, many parties popped out seemingly out of nowhere, most notable one being Waisnor Democratic Party, made up from many people participating in Waisnorian independence movement. They were already seen as the leaders in race for the parliament seats, but they still were making their political campaign, promising Waisnorians that they will bring Waisnor to democracy and economic prosperity. But it wasn't the only party in the contest for State Assembly seats - Waisnor for Justice and Party of Progress were established in fall of '91, and they were putting out some contest to WDP. The only party which didn't even dream of winning this election was Communist Party of Waisnor - reformed Waisnorian wing of CPSU, which was the only party actively vilified in the papers, even though CPW was claiming they were supporting perestroika ideals.
On January 15th, 1992, first parliamentary elections were held to State Assembly, using FPTP system, which is used to this day. Of course, Waisnor Democratic Party was dominating this elections, but nobody expected such devastating victory - out of 160 seats WDP won 135 seats. Closest party in terms of won seats would be WFJ with 15 seats. Even though CPW was pretty much hated by many people at this time, they managed to won 8 seats, and PP clawed out remaining 2 seats. WDP would become a dominant party in Waisnorian politics for the next 16 years, until 2008 elections when they lost to Social-Democratic Party of Waisnor, reformed Communist Party. Their 1992 result, after Parliament Act of 2018 and reduction of parliament to 130 seats, had become an eternal record.

[StrayaRoos]

Karate: our Karate campaign is over and it's mildly successful with a Bronze and Fourth place coming yesterday in the Kumite after two failures in the Kata and Alana Hiua Brings home medal Number 4 for StrayaRoos this Olympics and Hamish Trael joins a long list of Close calls
Golf: Threatening not to let him home did wonders for Eden Bale's Performances yesterday, Hitting 6 Under Par and Winning the Round now he's one over par and 19th overall ,so he needs to hit under 67 to win Bronze and Under 66 for gold, depending on how much the top 3 score.
Aquatics: a very disappointing last place in the Women's Team with 79.0667,19 whole points off the lead,the girls are going to try and use a decent song in the free routine to try and win it

[Pemecutan]

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Soma Pon Wuku Matal, Pawukon 1783

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Sanctioned, Banned and Resignation

Pemecutan Puri - We all know that the sports news nowadays are full with recent news about how our athletes progressing in the currently happening XVI Summer Olympics. But what's happening back home is rather shattering. After the final Mandalanusa Cup incident, CMFA as the regional body for football in Mandalanusa officially banned Pemecutanian supporters to watch their team playing in CMFA sanctioned competition. This including CMFA Mandalanusa Cup and CMFA Champions League. The banned is applies for the knockout stage (quarter, semifinal and final). While PFA is fined for the damage caused by the incident. Komang Astajaya, leader of Serdadu Tridatu, Pemecutan largest football supporters club, regret the banning decision but he try to understand and compromise. He hopes that the banning will make the supporters become more mature when they are facing the same situation again. He is also relieve that the banned is only applies to the knockout stage even though the banning applied for the next 3 upcoming competitions. On the other hand, PFA President, Putu Ayu Kusumawardani, agreed with the fined and will immediately solved it. She is also in contact with EFA President about the possibility to help them renovate the damaged stadium.

Another shocking news came from the team itself. This morning, the senior team manager, Surya Agung Pramana announced his resignation from the managering the national team. In his speech, he mentioned about his failure to bring the team to their success. The reaction of his resignation is harmonious. Most of the comments regret his decision and hope that he will comeback again. Pramana is the team's manager when they were success to reached the World Cup final. An accomplishment that they achieved in their second time qualified to the main event. When asking about his future plan, Pramana said that he might considering to manage a club or another national team. But his resignation means that PFA is in search for a new manager for their senior national team. And who will they be? The President, Putu Ayu Kusumawardani hasn't have a clue yet as she is still gathering data about potential replacement. But likewise, sport critics and fans always become the first to response. Several names are circulating at the moment. These includes former manager of Pesetih Titih, Agus Putra Yudana and Nilayam United manager, Duwaniyuha Hantabala. While foreign manager is still a big question. The replacement have to be select immediately as the team is in preparation for the 92nd World Cup qualifying campaign.

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Other News

• ARTISTIC SWIMMING, Pemecutan eyeing for the second medal as the women's team lead in the technical routine
• ATHLETICS, Several near medal placements were overshadowed by Gading Mahesa Putra gold and Olympic records success.
• DIVING, Ngurah Agung Yudana become the new medal hope after qualify for final in 10m platform.
• CYCLING, Septiani Putri quarterfinal spot give hope for possible medal
• GYMNASTICS, Men's rhythmic team making its way to the final after scoring the highest qualification points. Can they add another medal?
• TENNIS, All eyes to the tennis final as Antari/Andreawati once again meet Leone Na/Abi Forrest in the repeated final women's double match. While Dewa Putu Adrian Putra eyeing for a bronze medal.

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Honorable Mention Day 16
Putu Diah Chandrawati
Finalist - Women's Individual all-around (Gymnastics rhythmic)
Herawati
Finalist - Women's 400m (Athletics)
Canakuri Padurmoha
Finalist - Women's 400m (Athletics)
Putu Diah Padmayanti
Finalist - Women's 1500m (Athletics)
Rika Lestari
Finalist - Women's Javelin Throw (Athletics)
Dini Atmawijaya
Finalist - Women's Javelin Throw (Athletics)
Yudha Aryawan
Finalist - Men's C-1 1000m (Canoeing)
Ayu Weda Ningsih/Kadek Ayu Lastri
Finalist - Women's C-2 500m (Canoeing)
Leona Anindya
Repechage - Women's 61kg (Karate)

[Ko-oren]

Iwelu Honigiri - Day Fifteen - Dag Vijfien - Quinzième Journée - 十五日目

Aquatics Big news! More water events come through for the team with a gold in men's artistic swimming, and straight after, a solo gold for Van Genehof! It's been a long time coming for her on the 10m platform. With most of our olympic academies situated on the water, it makes more sense to invest in sports that take place there - something that was the policy of the Ministry of Sport (and other departments) but it's clear that is what must have gone down in planning meetings. Athletics haven't showed up in the list of good finishes despite the sheer amount of events - but anything water-related has been our thing.

Swimming Pure swimming isn't the same as other water sports, and we haven't excelled in them, unfortunately. Cressy did come close (6th) in the 10km open water for women, which could have been our first medal in it, after Privot's close shave on day one on the 400m individual medley.

Hockey Drawing Ko-orenites to TVs more and more, the men's team has beaten New Gelderland 6-3 in the semifinals! Hockey has been a growing sport for a while, with extra interest in the national team for the Field Hockey World Cup hosted on home soil a while ago and the rumours around a Hockey Nation's League straight after, and that interest translated into an interesting domestic structure, consisting of two leagues. One half of the year we have the club leagues running, with the highest level having the 12 Intermare clubs, and the other half is a regional league where the entire country is divided into 12 teams - where most of the country is condensed into three teams and Intermare alone has about 7-8 teams, actually balancing the teams quite well - and that has drawn in players that would have slipped through the cracks in non-Intermarean towns and cities. And look at us now! What a success! We're taking on the Licentian Isles in the final. As in previous games, finding, drawing, and then finishing penalty corners is the name of our game - call it cheap, call it boring, we call it winning - and we scored two more of them in this game. The rest came from open play with crowded semi-circles, backhands putting balls around the 'top bins' out of reach of the goalie.

Iwelu Shalugiri - Day Sixteen - Dag Zestien - Seizième Journée - 十六日目

Athletics Like the story yesterday, we haven't been lucky enough in athletics. In the walks, both genders, we had Ko-orenites come in 6th, however. Not enough to make our list of top 5 finishes, but deserving of a mention: it's not like the athletics have been complete write-offs, but as far as medals go, it's not our thing. Maugengenten was seventh in the women's javelin event as well - don't think that Ko-oren is that terrible!

Canoeing More canoeing events! Merhart has had two great days, but maybe fatigue set in, finishing fifth in both his events today and yesterday - only the top four advanced. Veersnip and Dulbridge managed sixth in the C2 500 metre event, it's all so close! Too bad for any medals, but if anything it highlights how canoeing has somehow become our golden event and we should probably see more of it in the next games. Medal, Knecht, Troncoso (5th, 200 m K1), and Miramontes (bronze, C1 200 m) finished fourth as a team - with Miramontes coming so close to being the first Ko-orenite with multiple medals.

Swimming It's been a while, but our first swimming gold is in! Yarleaf takes the gold in the 10km open water for men, and if this is how swimming finally appears on our list, this is definitely a way to do it! It's a golden pair of days.

Hockey The women have joined the men in the final! Defeating our ODI Cricket partners Brookstation in the semis after extra time (1-1, then 1-2) we meet the Hannasean Federation. We were so close to two Ko-oren - Licentian Isles finals, but their women's team were the losers to Hannasea (2-1). What more could you wish, if you're green and blue?

NAME          SPORT         EVENT  G S B 4 5 DAY
Tinzokugennen Skateboarding Street       x     1
Privot        Swimming      400 IM       x     1
Slotels       Fencing       M Sabr     x       1
[team]        Archery       M team   x         2
Lindenlin     Skateboarding Street x           2
[team]        Aquatics      W S 3m     x       2
Drago         Judo          W 52kg     x       2
[team]        Gymnastics    M Art          x   3
Mosent'zekdrn Judo          W 57kg x           3
[team]        Archery       W team       x     3
Mitsuula      Canoeing      W K1 S       x     3
yGaethinion   Cycling       M r tt     x       5
Northallow    Cycling       W r tt   x         5
Amlake        Climbing      M      x           5
[team]        Fencing       M sabr       x     5
Brownwold     Judo          W 70kg       x     5
[team]        Fencing       W foil     x       6
[team]        Fencing       W sabr   x         8
[team]        Rugby 7s      M          x       8
[team]        Rugby 7s      W      x           8
Bournival     Gymnastics    M poml       x     9
Pion/Duskdrow Sailing       W skif   x         9
Sathonorura   Gymnastics    M hor  x           11
yWrchwern     Cycling       W BMXr       x     11
Lavelle       Canoeing      M kmK1         x   12
Troncoso      Canoeing      W 2mK1         x   12
yThwrwchis    Taekwondo     M 80kg   x         12
[team]        Cycling       W purs   x         13
Nisato        Canoeing      M 2mK1       x     14
Miramontes    Canoeing      W 2mC1     x       14
Twinehallow   Pentathlon    W        x         15
[team]        Aquatics      M Arti x           16
Van Genehof   Aquatics      W 10m  x           16
[team]        Canoeing      W 5mK4       x     16
Yarleaf       Swimming      M 10k  x           16

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Stage 6: Marluire-Arlerou (flat, 178 km) via Étouille, Granon, Oai, across Aurore river, past Setier lake, Épitières

It's the second-last stage already! And it's a quick one! Mere minutes between first and last. Strap yourself in, this is the Ko-orenite Board for Tourism propaganda stage. From Marluire we go southeast along the coast through a region fittingly called 'Eden', through the cities of Étouille and Granon, across the Aurore river through Oai, we turn south up the river, and then we circle lake Setier to finish in Épitières. The weather is typically good here, and it doesn't disappoint today, showering the onlookers in sunshine looking down on the peloton coursing through Étouille and Granon's streets from the cafés and rooftop gardens. "If it doesn't grow here, it's not worth growing" is the motto, with vines casting shadow on the audience and cyclists, shielding them at least until they reach city limits. Oai is a major tourism hub, between rolling hills, the most beautiful scenery, and some adventure to be had in southern Amandine - which we'll see on day seven.

Aldana escapes for the win, and it's a sprint for the rest.

Harkaitz Aldana (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.     4:03:24
Anthony Glenton (TKT) - Ravenstone                  4:04:54
Bengt Solo (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.          4:04:54
Bolton Trevelay (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson           4:04:54
Cadoc Langlois (KOR) - Galbecran                    4:04:54
David Johnson (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling   4:04:54
Dechen Cadsu-Aidem (ZWZ) - Dictine                  4:04:54
Esther van Diemen (TKT) - Ravenstone                4:04:54
Ghazi Karim (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers           4:04:54
Gideon Brightroot (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson         4:04:54
Graeme Hinchcliffe (TKT) - Ravenstone               4:04:54
Lynn Delaney (ZWZ) - Dictine                        4:04:54
Max Rice (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers              4:04:54
Nane Tenjanodhen (KOR) - Dictine                    4:04:54
Robert Long (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling     4:04:54
Sanghun Gim (ZWZ) - Dictine                         4:04:54
Symon Hoogkornuit (KOR) - Galbecran                 4:04:54
Tarmo Larsson (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.       4:04:54
Toby Hunt (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers             4:04:54
Travis Ruan (ZWZ) - Dictine                         4:04:54
Veronica Gamlengard (TKT) - Ravenstone              4:04:54
John Soye (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling       4:05:40
Brian Cacavas (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling   4:06:05
Joël Galle (KOR) - Galbecran                        4:06:30
Stuart McLeigh (TKT) - Ravenstone                   4:06:57
Govert van Sterrenwolde (KOR) - Galbecran           4:07:09
Hilgrim Nieuwbes (KOR) - Galbecran                  4:07:49
Levi Anglins (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson              4:07:49
Abby Easlebury (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson            4:07:58
Christopher Harrod (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers    4:08:00
Hariss Khatri (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers         4:08:00
Joseph Barworth (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson           4:08:00
Julie Delaine (KOR) - Galbecran                     4:08:00
Koldo Larsson (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.       4:08:00
Martin Buriskais (TKT) - Ravenstone                 4:08:00
Leander Grant (TKT) - Ravenstone                    4:08:37
Sigurd Dahlman (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.      4:08:37
Gillis Henriksson (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.   4:09:06
Jamie Kelly (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers           4:09:16
Steve Bramble (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling   4:09:16
Carla Sauvageau (KOR) - Galbecran                   4:09:38
Gorka Tjäder (GTK) - Amestapop Recording Co.        4:09:38
Josh Munsterman (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling 4:09:38
Kaleb Barber (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling    4:09:38
Kazunari Orihara (KOR) - Dictine                    4:09:38
Tabitha Grassborough (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson      4:09:38
Terrance Schmid (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers       4:09:38
Trevor Rochestone (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson         4:09:38
Tyson Forgal-Moon (ZWZ) - Dictine                   4:09:38

It's pretty much a done deal, with Rice getting the win across seven stages as long as nothing major goes wrong on the last day, with Sauvageau taking second. Third place is probably for Van Diemen. Fourth and below is completely open!

Max Rice (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers              25:28:36
Carla Sauvageau (KOR) - Galbecran                   25:36:53
Esther van Diemen (TKT) - Ravenstone                25:46:55
Graeme Hinchcliffe (TKT) - Ravenstone               25:51:50
Brian Cacavas (SFD) - FNCB Schultz Ny-Ede Cycling   25:53:11
Govert van Sterrenwolde (KOR) - Galbecran           25:53:19
Travis Ruan (ZWZ) - Dictine                         25:55:02
Hariss Khatri (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers         25:56:38
Gideon Brightroot (KOR) - Chossey-Hakansson         25:56:38
Christopher Harrod (FLA) - Buzzin Vespia Tourers    25:56:39

[Britonisea]

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OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT (MEN'S TENNIS SEMI-FINAL: VALERIO v NASHERIDZE)

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Live At The Games
Games of the XV Olympiad
Day Fifteen

At The Games: Live will be on BVC One for most of the day, where television viewers will be able to watch sports that Britonisea is expected to do well in. During the show, there will be an on-screen indicator of the Britonish medal table and what position we are in. There will also be a notification if we have won a medal and it wasn't shown on BVC One - with it being announced by one of our hosts when we go live into the studio. People will know Jake Bachelor as a Saturday night television presenter. Jake will have an international audience too after his recent hosting of the 60th World Hit Festival in Aronyk, which had 13 million households in Britonisea alone watching the event. Jake will be leading the coverage of the Games, appearing during the evening session of the Games as well as commentating at both the Opening and Closing ceremony of the Games. Jake will also appear during some of the Afternoon sessions too on BVC Two. Rakesh Hayre has had some recent experience as well as he was the online host for the aforementioned 60th World Hit Festival in Aronyk. He will be joined by Alex Hampstead who is known for presenting Today At The Games with Nicky Bachelor last year. They will be joined by an entirely new team - Adriano Acosta, Lisa Kaur and aquatics commentator, Charley Roman. As previously mentioned, Jake Bachelor will pop in sometimes during the Afternoon sessions to help them on their way. We expect that the 10-hour coverage will be watched by up to 80% of television viewers in the country across the Games. The hosts will be joined by pundits from each of the sports to join the commentators.

The studios of At The Games: Today is in Doportedas.

The national sport of Britonisea, tennis, is coming to a dramatic conclusion. At the end of Day 14, Britonisea had its finger in every single pie in the tennis competition. On Day 13, Lukas Valerio beat his Waisnorian opponent, Ivan Belosorochko - currently ranked 53rd in the world in straight sets, including a bagel in the second set to qualify to the semi-final. Meanwhile, in the women's doubles, reigning Olympic Champions, Abi Forrest and Leone Na beat Sonya Gredello and Rosa Levinsky of the home nation, who at the most recent Grand Slam in Recuecn was ranked 11th. Elizbaeth Quehall made it to yet another finals in the women's singles, though was joined by Kirsten Hart of Kelssek instead of Aaliyah de Leon from Britonisea. Jaguar and Zeke narrowly missed out qualifying to the final with Marcus Hathwar and Jake Ho from Electrum beating them to it to play against Mark Southgate and Andrew Lamar from New Gelderland in what is expected to be a fantastic gold medal match. The mixed doubles began, with Ricardo Toli springing into action with Elizabeth Quehall - with them winning their match against their match with the Alezian Union's pair which included Nasheridze, who played Lukas Valerio on Day 15 of the Olympic Games. The match was one of the most watched events of the year and it turned out to be a great match. Here are the results of the match...

Adriano Acosta: It is time for some tennis! Britonisea is currently doing a fantastic job on the court but faces stiff competition from the hosts, Electrum, New Gelderland and other NSTT giants such as Pemecutan and Waisnor. However, Alezian Union is also doing pretty well for themselves, with their top guy Sakhalin Nasheridze now playing against Lukas Valerio in the semi-finals of the men's singles competition.

Alex Hampstead: Neither Nasheridze or Valerio are in the NSTT, but we have had confirmation that Valerio, the Briton, has been signed up for the Tabeira International where he will make his debut. It's too close to call who's going to win, but there is huge expectation that Britonish players will make a few finals and challenge for those top medals - we will have to wait and see, however as the Olympics loves to provide a shock or two.

Adriano Acosta: Britonisea had won two gold medals at the previous games, but the last time a Britonish player won a gold medal in the men's doubles or men's singles was back at the X Games in the doubles with Peter P Larry alongside Jason Gordon who only now is making a name for himself in the NSTT as he broke into the top 20 for the first time ever. In the men's singles, Leo Garry, former Britonish Number 1, won a gold medal at the XI Games.

Alex Hampstead: So this will be a major thing for Britonisea if they make it to the finals or can even win at bronze in the unfortunate event that Valerio doesn't make it. Though, enough of the speculation - it's time to go over to the tennis arena for some action. Your commentators for the semi-final are Badminton doubles champion and former tennis medallist, Peter P Larry alongside former Britonish number 1, Lance Mance!

As Alex and Adriano looked into the camera and smiled, we headed over to the courts in Electrum where we could see the Briton Valerio and Nasheridze practising together on the court. With so many different events happening in the Olympic Games, BVC decided not to focus on the bit running up to the match including the coin toss etc but rather as they were about to finish their practise so we can get straight into the match.

Lance Mance: Thanks guys back in Doportedas...You heard the difference in the introduction there - the Olympic medallist and all round extraordinaire, Larry and who's the bloke again Mance haha!

Peter P Larry: Oh stop it haha! You mustn't forget, Lance that when you were at the prime it was before the days of the NSTT and only when they started up all proper, you decided to take a step back from international tennis!

Lance Mance: Well, I can't argue with that - that's the truth. To be honest, when I look back at my spreadsheet, only Jason Gordon has been ranked at the end of each season since Season 1.

Peter P Larry: Yeah I mean when you and I were about and were the number 2 and 3 in Britonisea, Jason was kind of starting off wasn't he? Broke into the top 100 round about season 3 and has been in it since season 5. I know Ricardo came back and he's absolutely bossing it, but I do think Jason Gordon is going to be the Britonish Number 1 one day.

Lance Mance: And maybe even the World Number 1?

Peter P Larry: I don't think we've ever had a Number 1 at the end of the year before! About 40 Britonish players have been in the NSTT since Season 1 and none has ranked number 1...or top three really.

Lance Mance: But it's possible...at the 5th Electrum Slam, Leo Garry was ranked number 1 going into the tournament and there's no reason why that can't happen again in the coming years.

Peter P Larry: And the reason we're talking about this Ladies and Gentlemen is because Lukas Valerio has made it into the semi-finals of the Olympic Games men's draw and while he isn't in the tour at the moment, he's looking to become the first champion from Britonisea since Leo Garry. What do you think of the Briton?

Lance Mance: Well, I think that he's an incredibly fit opponent and he's done very well here. In a tournament which should've seen Ralph Newkarn and Jason Gordon really excel, especially after the season they've both had, it was quite disappointing neither of them made it this far to the men's singles. However, Lukas is here - he's in with a chance of getting a medal and I honestly do believe he can do it, you?

Peter P Larry: Lukas Valerio is an incredibly strong player who out of nowhere can play very competitively on such a huge stage such as this one. We've seen that he can beat NSTT players - so I look forward to seeing him at the Tier 2 tournament where he can further prove himself there. I think he's an awesome player and I'm sure that regardless of the result here, he can be happy that he's made a name for himself.

Lance Mance: Valerio, he's the son of Scotatrovan immigrants who came to Britonisea quite some time ago. Valerio himself was born in Britonisea, and he's certainly repping his country very well. Lives in the megacity that is Doportedas.

Peter P Larry: I heard that Valerio, he's the talk of the town back at home in Britonisea. People will be watching him. But he's going to have to fight against the five Britonish men that currently occupy the top 100 in the NSTT.

Lance Mance: I know, Britonisea is making a comeback. How fantastic. Sakhalin Nasheridze from Alezia, his coin-toss was in his favour, he wanted to serve first. How do you think he's going to play today?

Peter P Larry: Well, I know virtually nothing about Nasheridze apart from the fact that he's from the Alezian Union. He hasn't played anyone particularly interesting...sorry, well known, on the journey here so I'm unsure as to how he's going to play against Valerio. Valerio is also unknown and I'm not sure how he's going to cope with the pressure in front of a large Electrumite audience. Who do you think the audience will be backing today?

Lance Mance: I hope Valerio, I mean Electrumites are used to seeing Britonish success on their courts, whether that's in their Grand Slam or at the Olympic Games so I think there will be huge support for Valerio to make the final... against Marcus Hathwar from Electrum who had beaten Pemecutan player Dewa Putu Adrian Putra - ranked eleventh in the world. Marcus is the 6th best Electrumite, ranked 86th...

Peter P Larry: Oh dear Dewa! Anyway, they're about to play now! We have the chair umpire, Ilya Nazarbayev (QUE) - not many umpires from different nationalities at these Olympic Games, it seems!

Lance Mance: It doesn't seem to be that way, a lot of Quebecois, Electrumites and Britons umpiring these tennis matches.

BREAKDOWN OF VALERIO v NASHERIDZE

The match starts off calmly with Nasheridze serving first. The first three games are won by the player who is serving but as we reach the fourth game of the set - which was Valerio's serve. Valerio won the first point of his game, but the Alezian was keeping with him, drawing level with 15-15. Valerio tried to edge forward when the scores were 30-15 but Nasheridze kept with him at 30-30. Trying to win the next point by running towards the net, the Briton hoped that this tactic would be a cheeky way to give him the edge. However, he soon learnt that doing cheeky shots like that comes with huge risk the ball hit the net and didn't go over. It meant that Nasheridze now how 30-40, the first threat of a break point in the match so far. We join the commentators at this exciting moment...

Early Break Point: The Alezian breaks Valerio of Britonisea in an unexpected turn of events...

Peter P Larry: Oh, what was he thinking with that ball? You can tell that he wasn't happy whatsoever with that shot. He suddenly seems like he wants to get on the first plane home, doesn't he?

Lance Mance: Yeah and to be honest I'm not sure why he thought being cheeky was the way there. Nasheridze was on the other side of the court, he could've done any shot to finish that rally perfectly but, well he didn't.

Peter P Larry: I think shots like that really separate amateurs from elite. Valerio will be going into the NSTT starting at the bottom, and it might shock him. At the Olympic Games, a lot of these tennis players aren't NSTT players and they don't play like they are. He'll need to buckle up his ideas for that. Right, he's serving to stop his Alezian opponent from getting that break point.

Lance Mance: ....well that was a good serve, 120 miles per hour - Nasheridze's return was superb though, I'm surprised Valerio managed to keep the ball in the play.

Peter P Larry: Very good forehand from Valerio to keep the ball in play but Nasheridze has the advantage in this rally...

LINESPERSON: OUT!

ILYA NAZARBAYEV (Umpire): "GAME NASHERIDZE. NASHERIDZE LEADS THREE GAMES TO ONE. FIRST SET."

Lance Mance: Oh okay, that..that isn't the best news I've heard all day. I am surprised that Valerio lost that game to be honest, he will be hitting himself over that shot that he did earlier, right?

Peter P Larry: Yeah, definitely...I mean I certainly would if I was in his shoes! It's fine though, we're only four games into this semi-final. One thing for sure, Nasheridze is playing particularly well, he's playing like this is the finals!

We move on a couple of games to what could have been Nasheridze's final game of the set. He was 5-2 up on the Briton but it was now the time for the Briton to serve. Nasheridze won the first point of the game, much to the delight of the Electrumite audience who were cheering loudly for the Alezian. Lukas managed to lash out, winning the next two points to be 30-15 up on Nasheridze. The Alezian wanted to stay as close as possible to Valerio and so reacted by returning his serve very sharply, causing the Briton to go flying across the baseline. The next point, if won by Nasheridze, would be set point and the Briton knew that he wouldn't be able to mentally handle that. He needed to win the next point. We join the action at this crucial moment...

One Hundred and Thirty-Nine: Valerio hits a banger to prevent a set point for Nasheridze...

Peter P Larry: It's 5-2 to Nasheridze and 30-30, the next point could be set point, it could be time for Lukas to make a comeback...I don't know! Let's find out.

Lance Mance: Oh, an ace! Nice, 40-30 to Valerio.

ILYA NAZARBAYEV (Umpire): 40-30, VALERIO.

Lance Mance: It's game point. Lukas is trying to look as calm as possible here even though you and I probably know that he's freaking out here. He's three games down and it means he needs to break back twice in order to even have a chance at winning this set.

Peter P Larry: And then also win his own service too. I don't think this set is going Valerio's way whatsoever but we'll keep the faith for his sake.

Lance Mance: He can be a big server when he wants to be, though...Valerio that is. Let's see if he gives us another big one.

Peter P Larry: ...and he does! Look at that 139 miles per hour - did you hear that? I think I just heard a sonic boooooom as that ball ripped through the air!

ILYA NAZARBAYEV (Umpire): GAME VALERIO, NASHERIDZE LEADS FIVE GAMES TO THREE. FIRST SET.

Peter P Larry: It's now Rasheridze's chance to get the first set under his belt. It's his serve and Valerio will need to really dig deep to come back now. Let's get to it though...

Unfortunately for the Britons winning the competition, Nasheridze goes on to win the set after winning 4 of the next five points - with Valerio only managing to win 15 in the final game. As the pair sat down, we could see Valerio eating his banana lost in thought. It was a pretty convincing win for the Alezian over him and he was thinking about what to do next. Can he get to that Men's singles final? He was first to serve in the next set. As the second set begins, Valerio won his service. He started of pretty strongly in the second game - on the Alezian's serve. It was 40-40, or deuce, which is where we go back to the commentators.

Fighting back?: Valerio breaks Nasheridze to take the second game in the second set...

Peter P Larry: Well, this set is looking a lot better for the Briton, I think. He's up a game and we're at 40-40, this is what we want to see. We need the Briton to push Nasheridze right to the bitter end, he needs to tire him out. At the moment, Nasheridze has complete control of Valerio and our man is looking very tired already. Nasheridze doesn't even need to move up and down the court, Valerio is doing all of his dirty work for him.

Lance Mance: Oh, absolutely, I agree with you completely.

ILYA NAZARBAYEV (Umpire): ADVANTAGE, VALERIO.

Peter P Larry: Right, so we're at the first break point for the Briton - this is good. The question is...will he actually get the break or not? He seems to be playing well and he's good at springing into action when he needs to.

Lance Mance: Naheridze is taking a bit long to bounce that ball isn't he...time is running out Mr. Alezian Union!

Peter P Larry: Oh, he's composing himself because he knows that he's going to lose this game.

Lance Mance: Do you have a crystal ball, Larry?! We don't know that, let's not jinx it.

Peter P Larry: Well, let's have a look!

Lance Mance: Okay, he's finally served, and a great fast return by Valerio.

Peter P Larry: He's coming to the net again. Let's see if Valerio can finish this one off...and YES!

Lance Mance: Listen to that CROWD! Valerio has won the break! This is going fantastic!

ILYA NAZARBAYEV (Umpire): GAME, VALERIO. VALERIO LEADS TWO GAMES TO ZERO. SECOND SET.

Not all was how it seemed, however. Eventhough Valerio was two games up, it was time for him to serve again. Nasheridze kept up with Valerio throughout the game before going to deuce where the pair would battle through four rounds of deuce and advantage. 2 of the times, Valerio had won the deuce point to take advantage, but Nasheridze wasn't having it either time. Valerio saved a break point, but during the fourth and final deuce/advantage, Valerio double-faulted with Nasheridze breaking back. It was 2-1 until Nasheridze thundered back by winning on his serve, with two aces giving him a certain level of superiority that even the Briton on the other side of the court was gushing over. After 2-2, for the next six games, they won each of their service games until 5-5. The Briton's serve was next and he knew that there was only three outcomes at this point: Either he wins the next two games and we move to a decider at 7-5, the same...but Nasheridze wins the next two games or we go to 6-6 for a tiebreak. During his serve, Nasheridze won the break point making it 5-6, with the Alezian set to serve. A little SERVING FOR THE MATCH icon showed up on the screen with a frame of the sweating Valerio being shown during that image. The crowd roared as the Alezian walked up to the line, choosing which ball to thrash Valerio with... It's the final point of the game and second round of deuce/advantage. The first advantage was in favour of Valerio who wanted to force the Alezian to go a tiebreaker, but Nasheridze won that point back, and won the next. Could he win a third point in a row to win the match?

Alezian Union is guaranteed a medal!: Nasheridze of Alezia beats Lukas Valerio 2 sets to nil in exciting semi-final...

Peter P Larry: Well, Valerio has tried his hardest to win this match but the Alezian is on top form. He's lost against Britons in the shape of Ricardo Toli and Elizabeth Quehall the other day and he just wasn't going to lose again, was he?

Lance Mance: The Briton looks exhausted, bless him. He could still win this set, but I'm honestly not sure if he wants to continue.

Peter P Larry: Yep, i think he's had enough! But yes, let's have a look and see how Nasheridze will respond. Match point for the Alezian.

ILYA NAZARBAYEV (Umpire): GAME, SET, MATCH NASHERIDZE. NASHERIDZE WINS 6-3, 7-5!

Peter P Larry: And there we go, Nasheridze will play Marcus Hathwar of Electrum in the men's final for the gold medal of the Olympic Games while Lukas has a tough match on his hands for the bronze against world number 11, from Pemecutan, Dewa Putu Adrian Putra. What a fantastic match that will be and we will see it live on BVC One in a couple of days time.

Lance Mance: A fantastic match. It was a sad ending for Britonish fans out there, but Lukas has done a great job and he should be well proud of himself. We most definitely will see him again in the future!

Peter P Larry: Indeed. Now, I'm feeling a bit flexible after that match and so we're going head back to our studio in Doportedas where we will be watching the action from Quebec and Shingoryeo as the women's individual all-around qualification in gymnastics takes place and Suzette Renaud of Estogium is hoping to win another gold for ABEN. Will she do it? Back to you guys in in Dopor.

~~

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Olympics



History Repeated



Blanco Borrayo reports from Prescott;


In Bunjil, four years ago, the athletics team produced some amazing displays and won some pretty impressive medalage to go with them. The highlight of which was arguably victory in the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay. Because there’s something just a little bit special about the relays. And, usually, something goes catastrophically wrong for the team sporting the black, white and blue. So when it goes right, it's memorable. Four years on and that experienced team of Arturo Viadero, José Romero, Rolando Arnal and Sebastían Gallo have since hung up their respective boots. Although Romero now works on the coaching team and Gallo is in town as a member of SargoSport’s commentary contingent.

Four years on and a new team had to be assembled from the fastest men in the domestic Azul League. Raúl Fonseca, Óscar López and Tito Vivar had been the three top performers in recent years and there was little surprise when they made up the top three in the 100m at the trials. And the individual event at Prescott’s Northcote Oval started well for the Sargossan contingent, with all three ranked among the top eleven competitors to advance from the preliminaries. It was then that the wheels fell off somewhat, with Vivar and López, statistically the stronger two, found wanting in the first round of the event. Fonseca clung on just a little longer, before finishing bottom of his semi-final heat. So perhaps a point was there to be proven. Certainly the three, with Osvaldo Bailen added to the mix too, looked like a team with something to prove in the relay semi-final. Only the quartet from Tjorl were faster. Then came the evening of the final itself, an evening where everything seemed to go right. Raúl Fonseca got the team off the a great start. Bailen held his own. López, on a high after a surprise medal in the individual 200m, kept the team in front. And Tito Vivar brought them home for the nation’s second successive glorious gold in the event. The fact that nearest rival’s Tjorl failed to get the baton around was probably a help too.

It was the second athletics gold of the day for Sargossa, after Ricardo Capellan perambulated his way to victory in the final of the 50k Walk. Meaning, on the Men’s side of things, Sargossa had achieved a walking double that will certainly be the envy of all other nations represented at these Summer Games. Back to relays and, while the individual 400m events have been hugely disappointing, both teams are still alive in the 400m relays. But the Men’s team pushed it mightily close, after finishing fourth in their semi-final. Fortunately it was a pretty quick semi and they got the lower case ‘q’. Perhaps not the marker we’d like to have laid down but they are where they need to be.

It was a quiet day for the female members of the athletics squad, with just one lone competitor in action for Sargossa. That was Ysabel Anzures, in the final of the Javelin. And it was agonising. She faulted her first two attempts before, while staring down the barrel of a premature exit, nearly hitting the seventy metre mark with effort number three. Not only did that keep Anzures in the contest it also briefly put her on the podium. That was until Eeva Ellestad’s third round distance knocked everyone down a position. Anzures found herself in fourth place and that was, agonisingly, where she stayed.

From the Northcore Oval to Landry's Arena, where Team Sargossa are continuing to not look out of place in their first ever Track Cycling meet. The team of Candela Leoz and Ángela Correa finished a creditable twelfth in the Women’s Madison before Génesis Garrido impressed in the Sprint. Garrido finished the heats in twentieth place to qualify for the head-to-head stages. Here she lived every Sargossan’s dream by besting a Euran (Sarah Fraser) and then a Mytanar (Aja Polsjak) and advancing to the quarter final.

From Landry’s Arena to Kingsford Farm Country Club, where the third round of the Men’s tournament concluded. This one has been a devil to predict and looks like a competition that nobody really wants to win. Javier Fontan, who’s had a tough opening two days, looks to have got his eye in after hitting seven birdies in his round of 69. While Camilo Carreras went in the other direction, finishing four over par for the day. But Sal Galicia remained the pick of the bunch. A very steady seventy two, alongside tough days for his closest rivals, saw the Sargossan take a one shot lead going into the final round. Although he will probably lose a bit of sleep over the double bogey on the fourteenth that prevented his lead being that much greater.

And from Prescott to Twin Cities where the nation’s finest are really going above and beyond. Lilian Agramonte clearly draw upon the enthusiasm of a knowledgeable Quebecois crowd, finding the confidence to really strut her stuff in the Individual All-Around in the Rhythmic Gymnastics. Her hoop work may have let her down just a little but with both ball and clubs she was majestic. She wasn’t too shabby with a ribbon in her hand either, topping the standings and taking a quite magnificent gold from the 101st Regiment Armoury. A little to the south, Habpo Commons potentially may not see a Sargossan gold but there will definitely be a medal. The Men have always played second fiddle to the Women when it comes to Volleyball but the team of Santiago Alcabú and Isaac Aguayo have gone where no Sargossan man has gone before, to the final of the Beach Volleyball. They needed a deciding set to dispose of the Coconut Isle duo of Ash Zhao and Max Papekura but through they went. They now face Andrew Green and Alan Wilcox of New Gelderland, a nation that is enjoying a quite magnificent debut Summer Games. And at the Yongma College Aquatics Centre in Daehakro, where so much of the early attention was focused, another of the nation’s divers delivered a bit of magic. In fact Tomás Carro pretty much pulled a damp rabbit from a soggy hat, reaching the final of the Men’s 10m Platform in scintillating form.

Three medals won on the day, all of them gold, takes the overall tally up to thirty-six. A record-breaking tally of forty-two is perhaps out of reach now, with just two days remaining. But that ever-present ambition of finishing in the top ten of the medal table is now very much on. Those medals won on Day 16 moved Sargossa up to eighth place in the standings.

[Kriegiersien]

Kriegiersien team running out of steam?

The Olympics are coming slowly to an end.

Julie Aubergine won Gold in Boxing — Women's flyweight, getting the Boxers their wished Gold. Further bronze medals in Wrestling, Baseball and Karate followed, but for the most athletes the long weeks seem to get to even the best.

The exhaustion slowly creeps up to all of them.

The Volleyball team won their first set against Quebec, before they faltered and lost. Mistakes and missing concentration added until they couldn’t stand up to the pressure of their opponent. Against Mytanija they need to get the rest of their energy reserves together to get bronze.

In both Gridiron and Lacrosse the Kriegiersien teams lost the final.

“We are dwarfs, we don’t surrender, we are not exhausted. To drain us from our power it needs more…”, started Footballplayer Orurum Stormbrewer an angry speech in an interview, before suddenly tumbling over because of his massive head-wound.

Guy Hirn, Zombie player of the Lacrosse team also didn’t remember any fatigue.
“Maybe we lost a bit of focus in the first 80 minutes of the game, but then… we had already lost, just when we got into the right rhythm. If the game just had been some hours longer I am sure we would have..”
“..collapsed”, ended midfielder Gale Astarion his sentence while drowning himself with icewater.


Two more days will show how much energy is left in the athletes and even coaches who ruined their voices with shouting.

[Brookstation]

IN FOCUS: BASKETBALL

by Jeremiah Rhodes

THE GREAT GIG IN QUEBEC
THE STORY OF HOW A COMPLETELY UNKNOWN BASKETBALL TEAM SET UP THEIR GREATEST ENCOUNTER AGAINST HOSTS QUEBEC IN THE FINALS OF THE OLYMPICS

What are team sports ? If any Brook sports enthusiast who has been closely following the 16th Summer Olympics in Prescott and Twin Cities were to answer this question, they would pretty much summarize the answer within one word-"disaster". Team sports have never been Brookstation's speciality and thus it was pretty obvious that all our teams sent as part of the Brook delegation would end up failing in misery. One of the reasons why the Olympics holds a special value in Brookstation is due to the fact that it serves as an opportunity for athletes to display their individual talents and bring laurels for the nation. Of the 32 medals already achieved by the nation, not a single have come in any team sport and none was expected to come either. However one team that proved us all wrong and managed to make it to the final, ensuring Brookstation their 33rd medal is the women's national basketball team.

Basketball is not a popular name in the nation of Brookstation. Several attempts were made to popularize this sport within the nation but unfortunately all ended in failures and after a disastrous campaign in the International Basketball Championship, Brookstation pretty much gave up the sport. However the upcoming Olympics provided an opportunity for the revival of the sport as the Sports Federation aimed to send a full Olympic delegation this time. Even if there were some hopes on the men's team, the women's team were complete underdogs who were just supposed to be there for the sake of participation. With 41 entries in the women's basketball event, Brookstation was placed in Group 7 with prominent nations like Eura, The Sarian and the hosts Electrum themselves. It seemed at a certain point that overcoming this group stage itself would be an achievement for the team. Brookstation's first opponent in the campaign would be the hosts Electrum. An unexperienced side, Brookstation would struggle with the match since the very beginning whilst the Electrumite team enjoyed a smooth advantage over the veteran side. The team led by Marta Nguyen would dominate the first quarter completely with a difference of nearly 15 points. Briana Nash and Piper Adamson contributed a lot to the Electrum side whereas the Brook defense comprising of Clara Barbara and Rachel Seifert could merely manage to stop them. Captain Jeevika Roy knew that she had to change the outcomes of the game and along with her teammates, Jeevika shifted the focus of the team towards the attack. Attacks after attacks failed but repeated attempts did lead to success at intervals. Within a matter of time, the possession of the game completely shifted from the hands of Nguyen and her team to the Brook team and after a closely fought game with Electrum, Jeevika's last moment rebound saw Brookstation snatch the game away from Electrum at the last minute.

Perhaps Brookstation had been accompanied by luck for the first time but that didn't imply that luck was going to remain on Brookstation's side for the rest of the tournament. The Brook women team's faceoff against the strong Sarian side would end up as what would be termed as "One of the best displays of bad luck in the history of Brookstation." by the great sports journalist, Robert Hayden himself. There is not much that happened in the game however. The team looked way more confident on their second attempt and the team enjoyed a tough competition with the Sarian side. The match was supposed to end on Brookstation's side by a difference of one point had it not been for Fieke Kindvanguustaaf's last second two pointer which would immediately snatch the game from Brookstation's hands. This just meant that Brookstation were up for some real challenge and considering that Brookstation had come this close to defeating a team like the Sarian meant that the team was ready to take up the challenge in the best spirit.

The third game would be the turning point of the group stages as the veteran team would afford themselves a 37 point win over Rushmori nation Eura after just surpassing the 100 point mark. This would be one of the biggest win of the nation in the history of team sports and especially considering the fact that it came from a nation which had no prior feats in the sport added more weight to the achievement. The last two matches for Brookstation wouldn't be much difficult for the team compared to the team's initial fixtures and after a much relatively easier set of wins.

Moving to the qualifying rounds, Brookstation's opponents would be Huron League, another nation which didn't have that big a name in the sport and thus again the odds were in favour of Brookstation. The match was undoubtedly easy for Brookstation but Huron League did provide quite a stiff competition for the team although Brookstation prevailed in the long run. Again luck might have been on our side by providing us an easy opponent but our next draw would be against New Gelderland, a nation that is currently dominating all events in the Olympics. This was undoubtedly going to be Brookstation's biggest test and failing to pass this test would mean that the team's efforts would get unnoticed thereafter. The team very well knew what the team was up for but at the same time, they knew that winning might seem improbable but not impossible. New Gelderland unlike the other teams would play the game in a comprehensive manner. The Gelderish team would neither attack straightforward nor let the defense off guard. Facing this style of play was quite complicated but Jeevika and her crew knew that they had only 60 minutes to fame. The scoring was pretty less with both teams trying to score on their first attempts. The third half would however see Brookstation revolutionize the game with yet another offensive approach to the game.Jeevika and Sophie's forward duo is worthy of a lot of appreciation as it wouldn't have been possible for the team to reach such heights without the scoring exploits of the two childhood friends. Coming back to the point, the offensive approach worked once again. We no doubt did concede a lot of points but on the long run, Clara, Jeevika and Sophie knew what they were doing and thus after an hour of play, the Brookstation team had broken the deadlock along with the women's hockey team to manage themselves to the semi finals, greatly increasing the prospects of a medal in a team sport.

Brookstation's match with Tjorl was going to be of utmost importance. It was a battle of two veteran teams, each aiming to shine on their first opportunity and one setback could cause a problem for either of the team. Brookstation as always won huge with every player on the court scoring atleast 10 points. It was an oddly distributed match but the scoring feats of Brookstation continued. Rachel Seifert's erstwhile injury ruled her out of the semi final game and Seifert who had always played the crucial role of the centre had an important part in the team. Shally Ambrose was Seifert's replacement and the team had no other choice but to be dependent on the 19 year old girl from Essidise to perform the tasks of Seifert. Ambrose did a brilliant job, scoring 12 points herself and mainly assisting all the players of the team. Brookstation's teamwork had paid off yet again and the team had achieved the impossible. There's just one more hurdle to pass and the rest is destiny.

With only 2 more days left in the Olympics, all of us would definitely like to see Brookstation finish with atleast 10 golds and 35 medals in total to reach a suitable figure but at the same time Brookstation's chances of a medal has narrowed down with the last few days including mainly team sports and other track events. Thus it is safe to say that the Brook women's basketball team is in the best position to bring Brookstation their 10th gold. Irrespective of whether Brookstation manages to win the final or not, this fairy tale journey of the women's team will always be remembered by the nation. Although Quebec might seem as too big an opponent and winning against them at their very home might seem as nothing but an impossibility, the women have always produced miracles and thus can't we show the world one last miracle ?

[Eura]

ebc.eur/sport/olympics

GODFREY RETAINS TITLE
Second consecutive title for boxer, James silver in the ring, and Jackson silver in walk mark highlights of Day 16

Hank Godfrey was back in the ring on Day 16 to mount his long awaited men’s featherweight title defence. The bout came fresh off a double Euran gold success the day before from two women and today it would be two men trying to do the same, Godfrey and Fred James. Godfrey, the 30-year-old who made himself a poster boy of Team Eura at the previous Games with his gold medal win, was facing West Phoenicia’s Christian Magdeburg. He had a tough start, taking a couple of glancing hits to the head as Madgeburg mounted a serious challenge for his belt.

Eura’s fleet footed featherweight has never been one you could call conventional, especially not on the Euran boxing scene. He no doubt had his coach and trainers sweating as he darted about the ring, apparently losing but acting like he didn’t have a care in a world, all when he was apparently losing. But then from nowhere he had Madgeburg staggering with a brutal uppercut, followed by a few more strikes; the West Phoenician was on the back foot.

Within moments he would be on the ropes. Godfrey drove home his advantage right to the bell, after which there seemed to be little doubt about who would win gold. Godfrey was awarded it on a 4-1 decision and another Euran boxing legend was instantly made. James, competing in the light heavyweight class, was up next. He battled well with Loic Delacroix but struggled to make an impact on the Krytenian and was nearly floored by a heavy blow right at the end.

The gold went to Delacroix by unanimous decision without complaint from James, who will have to look towards the next Games to try and win gold at the third attempt. But despite this slightly tainted end note, it has been another fantastic Olympics for Euran boxing. Eura have won six boxing medals including three golds, one silver and two bronzes, going one gold medal better than the tally from the 15th Olympiad.

-----

Day 16 would mark the finals of some of the key athletics events and Euran eyes were firmly glued to screens around the country for them. Much of that interest was focused on the final of the men’s 5000 m where Victor Hartson was competing with gold his target. His race did not go to plan. A slow start distanced him from the advance peloton and he spent most of the race struggling to merge with the upper group. Whenever a breakaway came, he was too far back to get involved.

In the end, as Pemecutan’s Gading Mahesa Putra crossed the line to secure gold and an Olympic record time, Hartson was near the back of the group and finished 13th out of 15. While Euran stewed on this they would watch two relays go by without Euran involvement. However, while all of this was going on, the men’s 50 km walk was delivering.

A younger Ken Jackson won bronze in the 20 km event at the last Olympics but finished a disappointing 31st in that event this time around. He was out to prove himself in the 50 km event and set himself well on course to do so with a fantastic performance over the stetch of the race. It eventually became a two horse race between himself and Sargossa’s Ricardo Capellan. On a golden day for Sargossa, Capellan triumphed by two minutes, while Jackson strolled home in second.

There was one final opportunity on the day for an athletics medal in the women’s 4 x 100 m relay final. But the Eurans didn’t take it – Kerry Pinewood, Jules Howland and Alena Wade were all off the pace, leaving Amber Keane too much to do in the final sprint home, and Eura were edged out into fourth.

Another athletics medal for Eura, then – but still without a track gold, a development that is remarkable considering how virtually every other nation in the upper echelons of the medal table has one or even several golds on the track, and especially so given that Eura is well known for its track prowess. Sources at the EOC suggest an inquiry into this is already underway even though the overall medal tally has improved from the 15th Olympiad.

-----

On the topic of Team Eura sub-teams facing scrutiny, Euran badminton’s poor Olympics has come to an end with another disappointment as Cara Bryant lost her bronze medal match with Quebec and Shingoryeo’s Hannah Joo. Bryant lost a tight first set 18-21 but started the second set well, looking likely to take the match to a third decider. Instead, she dropped off and ended up losing 15-21, competing a miserable Games overall for the Euran badminton team. There will likely be a significant inquest after their failure to win any medals, after winning two silvers at the 15th Games.

In contrast, Eura’s canoeists have had a good Olympics but there was some heartbreak to bear on Day 16 in the men’s K-4 500m sprint. The quartet of Steven Andrews, Quentin Elliot, Ray Hobson, Bryan Craig raced superbly in their semi-final two finish second, with only a wafer thing margin separating them from the Kelssek crew in front of them. Disaster then struck in the final as they were disqualified after drifting outside of the boundary of the course, denying them a chance at another medal.

Over at the velodrome Eura’s Kiera Hopkins and Sarah Fraser have got themselves in the running for the women’s sprint, starting with strong runs in the heats to finish 3rd and 5th overall. Both then lost their initial round of 24 ties but bounced back to win their repechage races. This got them into the round of 16 where Fraser beat the fastest cyclist in the heats, Liventia’s Hollie Woods, by a quarter of a second. Hopkins lost to Chromatika’s Mera Vekstoff by a thinner margin but then won yet another repechage, ensuring both will compete in the quarterfinals.

Eura have enjoyed some decent successes in demonstration events at the Games and there’s another one to keep an eye on in men’s goalball. Another sport that is unfamiliar to most Eurans, those competing are all amateur enthusiasts, and they have every right to be delighted with themselves after beating Electrum 7-4 in the semi-finals to reach the men’s goalball final.

Somehow, though, we return to golf, and the remarkable trajectory Eura’s golfers have taken at these Games. Julian McCord’s campaign in the men’s event has taken another extraordinary turn. He finished down in joint 22nd with numerous others in the third round, only making par after a double bogey on the penultimate hole. This could have cost him a shot at a medal.

Yet this performance has actually proven beneficial overall as his main rivals did even worse – former leader, Banijan Isaka Jawara, shot nine over par. After the second round McCord was joint seventh and seven shots off the leader; now he is joint fourth in a narrowed field, only two shots behind new Sargossan leader Sal Galicia, and goes into the fourth and final round with every chance of crashing the podium party.

Eura’s medallists so far in full:

DAY 0:
No medals.

DAY 1:
Women’s 10 m Air Rifle [Shooting] – Sophia Rice – Silver

DAY 2:
No medals.

DAY 3:
Women’s 100 m backstroke [Swimming] – Amy Ellis – Silver

DAY 4:
Women’s 63 kg [Judo] - Eve Schoring-Peters – Gold

DAY 5:
Men’s 800 m freestyle [Swimming] – Steve Lawrence – Gold
Men’s team sabre [Fencing] - Isaac Bell/Aaron Bardsley/Reece Phillpott – Silver
Women’s 70 kg [Judo] – Suranne Lawrence – Silver

DAY 6:
Women’s 100 m freestyle [Swimming] – Taylor Varsen – Silver
Women’s team foil [Fencing] – Rita Jackson/Fran Stewart/Alison Hayward – Gold

DAY 7:
Men’s BMX freestyle [Cycling] – Eden Johnson – Silver

DAY 8:
Women’s golf [Golf] – Leona Stewson – Gold
Women’s 50 m rifle 3 positions [Shooting] – Sophia Rice – Gold
Mixed trap team [Shooting] – Tom Partridge/Hollie Newton – Bronze

DAY 9:
Women’s uneven bars [Gymnastics – artistic] – Madeline Kane – Bronze
Women’s skiff [Sailing] – Jasmine Palmer/Katherine Bell – Gold

DAY 10:
Men’s discus throw [Athletics] – Matty Coates – Silver
Mixed 4 x 400 m relay [Athletics] – Kieran Ashton, Jules Howland, Bradley King, Amber Keane – Bronze
Men’s 25 m rapid fire pistol [Shooting] – Preston Rodgers – Bronze
Women’s 57 kg [Taekwondo] – Shannon Hart – Gold
Women’s 76kg freestyle [Wrestling] – Poppy Davies – Gold

DAY 11:
Men’s 77kg greco-roman [Wrestling] – Leon Gray – Bronze

DAY 12:
Women’s discus throw [Athletics] – Rosa Gray – Bronze
Women’s K-1 200 m [Canoeing – Sprint] – Clara Steele – Gold
Women’s K-2 500 m [Canoeing – Sprint] – Clara Steele/Amy Symes – Bronze
Men’s +80kg [Taekwondo] – Andy Nile – Bronze

DAY 13:
Women’s duet [Artistic swimming] – Corinne Kingsley/Tia Hayter – Bronze
Men’s 97kg greco-roman [Wrestling] – Jacob Garrett – Bronze
Men’s 400 m hurdles [Athletics] – Frank Totton – Bronze
Men’s pole vault [Athletics] – Benza Zito – Gold
Women’s 800 m [Athletics] – Mary Shaw – Silver
Women’s hammer throw [Athletics] – Charlotte Renby – Gold
Women’s light heavyweight [Boxing] – Lyla Wright – Bronze
Men’s modern pentathlon [Modern Pentathlon] – Joel Rowan – Bronze

DAY 14:
Men’s 125kg freestyle [Wrestling] – Scott Russell – Silver
Men’s hammer throw [Athletics] – Karl Miller – Silver
Women’s 200 m [Athletics] – Kerry Pinewood – Silver
Women’s super heavyweight [Boxing] – Amy Pickers – Bronze
Women’s kata [Karate] – Rebecca Young – Bronze
Women’s modern pentathlon [Modern Pentathlon] – Rosie Donnelley – Bronze

DAY 15:
Men’s 400 m [Athletics] – Nathaniel Clementine – Silver
Women’s lightweight [Boxing] – Karen Petrie – Gold
Women’s heavyweight [Boxing] – Jess Day – Gold
Men’s omnium [Cycling] – Finley Holding – Silver

DAY 16:
Men’s 50 km walk [Athletics] – Ken Jackson – Silver
Men’s featherweight [Boxing] – Hank Godfrey – Gold
Men’s light heavyweight [Boxing] – Fred James - Silver

Euran medal tally by sport:
Artistic swimming – 1 medal (1 bronze)
Athletics – 11 medals (2 gold, 6 silver, 3 bronze)
Boxing – 6 medals (3 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
Canoeing – 2 medals (1 gold, 1 bronze)
Cycling – 2 medals (2 silver)
Fencing – 2 medals (1 gold, 1 silver)
Golf – 1 medal (1 gold)
Gymnastics – 1 medal (1 bronze)
Judo – 2 medals (1 gold, 1 silver)
Karate – 1 medal (1 bronze)
Modern pentathlon – 2 medals (2 bronze)
Sailing – 1 medal (1 gold)
Shooting – 4 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)
Swimming – 3 medals (1 gold, 2 silver)
Taekwondo – 2 medals (1 gold, 1 bronze)
Wrestling – 4 medals (1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze)

[Diarcesia]

Jennifer Exley reached the quarter finals where she met Alana Hiua of StrayaRoos.

"I was looking ahead to a possible three-peat when I found myself in the quarterfinals. I gave a good fight, but I fell short. Given that, it's my duty to present good sportsmanship on our side. My greatest congratulations to Miss Hiua for besting me," said Exley.

In another matter, Rhaemon Onoro pressed onward with his new mixed doubles partner, Sheila Mai. The pair had a great run at the domestic tennis circuit and vaulted their stock all the way to the Olympics. However, their competitive stay as a pair there was brief because they lost in the preliminary round. Now, they have to realize that their practice have to go even further than what they have done before. Winning does not come that easily.

"We were trounced. I'll be the first to admit with humility: our loss is simply a player skill issue. We needed to be more careful and precise in our play and tactics. Our shot decision-making needed to be more careful. We were too impatient to wait for the right opportunities to strike. Our opponents read us very easily with our all-out attack style," Sheila Mai explained.

Onoro and Mai shared that once they return to Diarcesia, they will return to the domestic circuit and resume their friendly rivalry with Estel Nieuwenhuizen from Tredgate. Nieuwenhuizen is one of the rising names in tennis and is touted as the next great Diarcesian Olympian in that sport—a gap filled with the departure of Eutaur Jordaniscus from competitive tennis.

[Banija]

"Start the (Medal) Count"- How, seemingly out of nowhere, Banija has turned into an Olympic volleyball powerhouse

LES TWIN CITIES, QUEBEC & SHINGORYEO- As promised. For the first time in Banijan Olympic history, there will be a sporting event at the Olympics where both the gold and silver medalists are Banijan. When XIV Summer Olympiad Gold medalists Joma Badijye/Kunda Kama take on the International Beach Tour champions Youdit Brehane/Selam Bekele, the beach volleyball final at these Games will have their first (and quite likely, last ever) all-Banijan affair. The question that remains, then, is this- how did this happen?

Golden generations in so many sport. And it goes beyond women's beach volleyball. We won a pair of golds on home soil, of course, with our indoor women's team having the success there, alongside women's beach volleyball. While beach volleyball carried the torch with another gold at Bunjil, things really reached their peak at these Olympic Games. Quarterfinalists in all four Olympic events. And, of course, guaranteed at least 3 medals- both gold and silver in women's beach volleyball, as well as gold or silver in women's team volleyball, where we'll go up against the Quebecois on their own home soil. And finally, our men's volleyball program, after so many years of neglect, has finally broken out and flourished, with the men's team falling in 5 sets to the Quebecois, and reaching the bronze medal game.

So what happened?

Home Soil Run inspires a generation

To really understand this, we first have to understand an interesting quirk of Banijan law. Between the ages of 8 and 13(Government allows regions, if they wish, to interpret that as 3rd-8th grades, all-inclusive), all able-bodied children in Banija are required to play some sort of organized sport. The only exception, of course, is a serious physical or mental disability that would obviously prevent you from doing so. While the law was written in order to improve health outcomes for Banijan children, what it functionally turns out as is a massive boon to Banijan sporting organizations further up the chain. You have kids playing sports for a few years entering high school, and obviously while many children quit when they become teenagers- many don't. Creates ultra competitive sporting environments, and many say those are the bedrock of high Banijan sporting standards, with this country known for success across a variety of sports- being just a World Cup of Hockey away from a Dagan Grand Slam.

So with well over 90% of children playing and participating in organized sports, there are plenty of kids to go around. But of course, then the women's volleyball team, on home soil, caught fire. Not just the indoor team- but the beach volleyball team, as well. Participation, especially for girls within the country, exploded in volleyball after Banija took home two golds from the Istria Olympiad in volleyball. Girls were switching into the sport, 8 year olds were signing up for the sport, and even grew in popularity on the boys side (although at a much slower pace).

"I am glad that we were a core part of the sport's development in Banija." Said XIV Summer Olympic gold medalist, Joma Badijye. "It is always good to ensure that we can pay this kind of thing forward."

Professionalization

Like basketball, volleyball authorities in Banija could not agree on how to establish one national league- at least on the hardwood. And so they did what Banijans tend to do- create a pair of rival, top tier volleyball leagues. They are no closer to combining today than they were yesterday, and frankly, the Olympic Committee of Banija seems to be in no rush to try and combine the indoor leagues. The result? A chaotic scene, yes, but a ton of competitiveness to bring in players, bring in coaches, and develop players in order to entice them to stay within their league.

And for beach, of course, enough qualification and exhibition events allowed many of the players to earn legitimate income through the sport. Allowed players, both on sand and on hardwood, to make this their full-time job. How does that change things? While obviously there the college aspect is important, being able to sustain this into your athletic prime, into your 20s and maybe even your 30s, is the only thing we can get the experience to truly compete with the elite of this sport- the Quebecs, the Mytanijas, and the Bollonichs of the world.

Reap the Rewards

OF course, while there was success in women's volleyball in Bunjil, there wasn't much, if any at all, on the men's side at either Istria or Bunjil. Were we just going to leave men's volleyball behind? Fortunately, basically out of nowhere, the men's volleyball team finally was able to have all that investment catch up. Those two pro leagues we mentioned, of course, are women's leagues. So the men are basically based off of the college game- which has seen mens' volleyball grow rapidly over the past few years. And look at the rewards. We took Quebec the distance, on their court, in an Olympic semifinal. While they could not pull it off, things are certainly looking up.

And obviously we see the success on the women's side. While the two beach teams are happy, the fact that the gold medal matchup is an all-Banijan affair hasn't dampered the intensity- in fact, it may have dialed the levels up. "Obviously, we won a gold 12 years ago in Istria, and we are looking to do so again here in Quebec. I think anything is possible." Kunda Kama said. "They think we can't do it anymore because we're old- just because we're 'old', doesn't mean we still aren't the best in the world. What a way to close out our careers, wouldn't you think?" Both members of the Joma Badijye/Kunda Kama pairing are now 33 years old.

And yet, we have the young upstarts, the IBT champions, Youdit Brehane & Selam Bekele, feeling nothing but confidence. Brehane is 24 and Bekele is 23. "Of course, I have the greatest respect for Badijye and Kama, for what they've done in the past." Selam Bekele told reporters. "But key words- in the past. Their win 12 years ago was inspirational. However, the clock does not rewind- time only moves forward. We are the volleyball pairing that is the future. We beat both sets of Banijan gold medalists on the Tour (referencing the International Beach Tour) to win a world title, and now we will have our crowning achievement, showing ourselves firmly on the top of the beach volleyball world. We've got great respect for them- but they are old news. It's a young woman's game, and we have come to take our rightful prize."

Of course, there is the women's indoor team as well. Back in the final, after a stunning upset victory over tournament favorites, and the defending gold medalists, Mytanija. Head Coach Omega Obote has taken a team with mixed levels of experience, back to the gold medal match. "Obviously, beating a team like Mytanija, in a major tournament in the late knockout stages, is a huge accomplishment. They, alongside Quebec, are the true class of the sport, and we have shown now, that Banijan volleball can compete alongside the best of the best." This will be one of the final Banijan teams in competition, as the gold medal match for women's indoor volleyball is on the final Day of the Olympiad.

What a ride. Will these Games be the crowning achievement for Banijan women's volleyball?

[Darmen]

Jasper Mac Ruaidhrí Within Striking Range Heading Into Final Round

KINGSFORD FARM, ELECTRUM - Darmeni golfer Jasper Mac Ruaidhrí is two under following three rounds of the Men's Olympic Golf competition and only three strokes behind current leader Sal Galicia, of Sargossa. The final round of the competition at Kingsford Farm Country Club will be held over the course of this afternoon and evening.

Mac Ruaidhrí is representing Darmen in golf for the third time in the Olympics. Mac Ruaidhrí finished 58th in the 14th Olympics and 52nd at the 15th Games, finishing with a four round score of 318 both times. "I would have to shoot 104 in the final round to equal my scores from the previous two Olympics, so I feel pretty happy that I won't be repeating that," commented Mac Ruaidhrí after finishing the third round. "I'll be honest, I'm a little surprised that I'm as high up the leaderboard as I am, but it's good to be here and have this chance."

Jasper Mac Ruaidhrí (DAR)
Hole   1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18  Tot
Par    4  5  3  5  4  4  3  4  4  4  4  3  5  4  4  4  4  4   72
1st R  5  6  3  6  4  3  3  5  5  5  3  3  5  4  5  4  4  3   76 +4
2nd R  4  5  3  5  3  4  3  2  4  5  3  2  4  5  4  3  4  5   68 -4
3rd R  5  4  2  4  4  3  1  4  4  3  5  4  6  4  5  4  5  3   70 -2

Eagle                    1  1                                  2
Birdie    1  1  1  1  2           1  2  1  1        1     2   14
Par    1  1  2  1  2  1  2  1  2        1  1  2  1  2  2      22
Bogey  2  1     1           1  1  2  1  1  1  1  2     1  1   16

The 31 year old Mac Ruaidhrí, who resides in Hugh Town, has tended to fare better on the front nine and in particular has done very well on hole seven, where his hole in one in the third round drew raucous support from the fans gathered at Kingsford Farm. "Ten of my sixteen bogeys have been on the back nine, so that's definitely where I need to improve in the final round," stated Mac Ruaidhrí. "But boy, that hole in one, that was really something. It's my first hole in one ever and to have it happen at the Olympics is really special."

If Mac Ruaidhrí is able to improve his position on the leaderboard and finish in the top three, he would join Ivor Attwood, who won gold in the first official Olympic Golf tournament and Moira Monroe (bronze at the 13th Games) as Darmeni medalists in the sport of golf. "Attwood is a good friend of mine. I've played with him at the two previous Olympics. To have my name along side his as an Olympic medal winner would be a great honor."

[New Gelderland]

Terranean Broadcasting Company

---

New Afanc Strait Olympic Committee faces many critical decisions in months ahead

By Beatrice Allaway
TBC Sport in Nassau Bay, New Gelderland

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With the creation of the new Afanc Strait Olympic Committee to unify New Gelderland and Ceni's Olympic efforts together, Cenian athletes may finally compete in the Olympic Games under their own nation's banner.

But while the ASOC exists on paper, actually getting the organization off the ground may prove more challenging.

To start, the committee has the very bureaucratic step of actually constituting a committee. Alexander Lennox will assume the presidency and therefore New Gelderland will have an initial majority on the committee; the four other Gelderlish members of the New Gelderland Olympic Committee will also continue their roles on the reconstituted committee.

But who will take the four spots allocated to Cenian representatives? Given that Ceni currently participates only in tennis and football, it seems likely that the tennis and football federations will nominate their own candidates for a spot on the committee. That leaves two spots open for other federations, but given Cenian lack of participation in other international sports, those federations have either been disbanded, inactive, or nonexistent.

"I strongly hope that Ceni chooses nontraditional figures in sports governance, perhaps a sports journalist or former athlete," said Mara Arak-Pellaeon, lead journalist at the Cenian sports media organization Cenisport. "Not to toot my own horn or to push my own candidacy, of course, but I think that governance like this looks better when you have different kinds of stakeholders involved in the process, beyond your typical paper-pusher or penny-pincher. And when you have a new creation like the ASOC, you have the opportunity to really break from the mold."

Lennox, the current NGOC president, refused to comment specifically on the issue of choosing Cenian representatives for the ASOC. "I think we'll leave that up to their sovereign internal processes, and not comment on specific candidates or ideas at this time," said Lennox.

Once the ASOC actually gets constituted, its first order of business will be to determine how both countries select their athletes for upcoming Olympic Games that the ASOC may participate in. The priority will be looking into an equitable distribution for the next Winter Games, said Lennox. "We know Ceni hasn't ever participated in a Winter Games, even as New Gelderland has poached a few Cenian athletes to represent New Gelderland, so to speak," he stated. "So the questions of equity in a political sense and equity in a sporting sense are two different questions, and we'll need to navigate between those conflicting desires."

"Are we going to institute a crash course in winter sports for Cenian sportspeople?" Lennox wondered. "Are we going to need to come up with some sort of systems for Olympic trials to handle the sportspeople who come out of the woodwork desirous of representing Ceni, or are we going to need to further poach dual nationals and things like that from other countries?"

"I hope the only poaching going on here involves eggs," said Arak-Pellaeon, the sports journalist. "I believe that Ceni has enough winter sportspeople that it can mount a decent campaign in the next Winter Olympics, even if New Gelderland initially outnumbers Cenian athletes in the first few go-rounds."

"But now that we can send athletes to the Olympics, there's going to be that much more interest, and we can have enough people trained up to qualifying standards by the 17th Games," two games from now, she added.

An additional matter to discuss relating to the Winter Games will be a proposed New Gelderlish bid with the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, said Lennox. The TBC previously reported a Gelderlish exploratory committee had been formed to discuss three potential options to host the Winter Games, which Lennox denied strongly at the time; this is therefore the first time that Lennox has confirmed on the record that an exploratory committee exists. But he also noted that nothing was set in stone and that with the creation of the ASOC, the full committee would have the opportunity to vote on the bid. "I can confirm the committee has prepared reports evaluating the pros and cons of each of the three potential candidate cities, and we'll submit them to the full ASOC to make a final decision," said Lennox.

"And, of course, we can't confirm or deny the potential involvement of another Olympic committee in the bid," he added.

The Summer Games might get more competitive in terms of athlete selection, said Arak-Pellaeaon. "We know that Ceni is really strong at racquet sports — tennis, badminton, table tennis — and we also saw how strong New Gelderland was, especially in table tennis at these games."

"Maybe an injection of Cenian talent into the tennis will help the Afanc Strait region do better in tennis, especially when compared to countries like Britonisea," Arak-Pellaeaon speculated. "But some sort of Olympic trials would definitely be necessary in sports like tennis."

And above all, a central question facing the delegation: whether to enter as a unified delegation a la the ABEN Union (which Arak-Pellaeaon and many others at TBC refer to by its metonym and largest component country, Britonisea) with separate flagbearers and NOC codes for New Gelderland and Ceni, or as one combined delegation. "I actually don't have many thoughts on this issue, but it's sure to be thorny, and one where the thoughts of the entire committee will be critical," said Lennox.

"Regardless of how these questions are resolved," he added, "I have a feeling that the ASOC will be an extremely successful organization, a melding of the minds between the best athletes and administrators of both of our nations.

"We'll get through these questions and get to our bread and butter: competing in sports," Lennox continued. "It will be a difficult feat to do better than we've been doing at the Olympics in Prescott and Twin Cities, but I think the ASC will be able to do that. That's how much faith I have in this organization."

[Vilitan Union]

Football: "V" will stand for "Victory" in Football Final
Vilitan Union will look to add a Gold Medal against Valanora in Prescott

Somersville Stadium, Somer, Electrum :: The Vilitan Union had their toughest fight yet in the Men's Football Semi-Finals going up against a Euran side whom was among the heavy favorites to take the gold medal in Electrum. It would be the first of two Football Semi-Final matchups to be contested between Eura and the Vilitan Union over the course of two matchdays in the Olympic Summer Games as the two sides would meet again just one day later at the Hamilton Multi-Purpose Venue for the Women's Football Semi-Finals.

Once again the keys to the kingdom were handed to Tropicorper Hanauma Ranbomahi, entrusted as the starting goalkeeper and without question competing at the highest level of their career. On the field the focus for the Vilitan Union was certain to be Clarana Refiami, the Eura League based Vilitan attacker - the player with the highest all-time goals scored for the National Team among those on the Vilitan Union Olympic Roster and an all-star on the World Stage looking to get the best of a number of teammates and foes from the domestic circuit to claim Olympic Gold.

Of course it would be no surprise that the match did not immediately open up for either side, and a rather uneventful first half would play out with no goals scored on either side. The Vilitan Union would make one change at half time with Tsinuzpa Rana'aiao coming on in place of Surf Jettica's 18 year old defender Kunala Jyvaiij. From the start of the second half it was Eura who looked the most likely to get on the scoreboard with a number of promising attacks in the first ten minutes of play in the second half. Unfortunately for the team from Eura none of their promising attacks would lead to a shot on goal - the closest coming on a corner kick in the 53rd minute where Makosile FC defender Kingsley Mills headed an Owen James delivery just inches wide of the near post.

In the end, that would be the Euran's best opportunity of the game. Just as it looked like the match was destined to play out a stalemate and be decided through spot kicks, the Vilitan Union kicked into gear. Thanks to fresh legs added after the hour mark in the form of Lumlao Noauryua and Trenian Omalizo, the Tech-neel Kitties sprung to life and began to control more and more of the possession and attacking chances. Over the final ten minutes of play the Vilitan Union fired four quality chances at Tom Hammond converting on two of them. The first goal of the game came in the 82nd minute when Noauryua lofted a ball over the top that Jungle Strike FC attacker Lutara Makakio was able to just barely get a foot on, changing its path slightly around Tom Hammond's line then side-footing into the goal to give the Vilitan Union the lead. From the kick off, Eura were caught in two minds as their coaching staff looked to deliver new orders, allowing an aware Clarana Refiami to steal the ball that was carelessly passed blindly backwards toward the Euran goal. In a panic, the defense began to collapse on the always-threatening Refiami but the Spartangrad attacker spotted the forward-rushing Trenian Omalizo and played the ball into the space Omalizo was about to occupy. With a simple touch then a confident strike, Omalizo doubled the TechnEel Kitties advantage and within less than 90 second of play a match that seemed destined to end goalless was now all but out of reach for the Eurans. They would pour everything forward trying to get back into the match and would challenge Ranbomahi once more before the full time whistle but it was not enough as the Vilitan Union secured their place in the Men's Football Gold Medal Final.

 Vilitan Union 2 - 0 Eura	
	Vilitan Union Goals:	:: 82' Lutara Makakio:: 83' Trenian Omalizo             
	Stats :: Vilitan Union 	:: Possession: 52%:: Shots: 6:: Corners: 2 :: Eura :: Possession: 48%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 2
	Vilitan Union Lineup :: 	Hanauma Ranbomahi, Karek Edgeli (Lumlao Noauryua 67'), Kunala Jyvaiij (Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao 45'), H’munao Cagomia, Jakku’u Naboyavi, Fyin Miateal, Letirpsi Vulitn (Trenian Omalizo 67'), Lentali Purama, Antiviv Davaflei, Lutara Makakio, Clarana Refiami

While many were anticipating the possibility that the Vilitan Union would have a chance to square off against the Kodongu Kamu of Banija in a second consecutive championship fixture, the Banijan's came out as the big losers in a glorious semi-final fixture between two South-Western Atlantian Oceania Nations. The 2-1 result would see Banija fall to Valanora enabling the Vanorians to advance to their second Summer Olympic Men's Football Gold Medal Game. The result denied the Vilitan Union fanbase a chance at a quick revenge after Banija defeated Vilita and Turori in the AOCAF 67 Final - ironically a match that was recently contested at the Battleground in Raynor City, Valanora.

Elsewhere in Twin Cities and Prescott, after the thrill of fan-favorite Kay Beane claiming their first ever Olympic Gold Medal on Matchday 15, it was a far more even-kiltered affair on Matchday 16 with only a handful of Vilitan Union athletes and teams in competition. Perhaps the highest hopes for the Athletic Vilitan's was coming from the Women's 4x100m Relay. Vilitan Union athletes have struggled thus far on the track in Prescott failing to secure any gold medals in raw speed events. The trend would continue as the Vilitan Union relay team faltered late on and finished 5th in the Women's 4x100m Relay final in a race that was won to much fan-fare by the home team in Electrum. Vilitan Union athletes were not completely shut out at the Northcote Oval where Evumia Mirate put in a stunning first throw in the Javelin competition that was ultimately good enough for a silver medal. Only Eeva Ellestad of Aboveland would eventually best Mirate's score of 71.17 - a personal best throw for an athlete who narrowly qualified as the last athlete into the final - and doing so with a throw that was nearly 10m shorter than her final performance. Mirate made their Olympic Debut in the Terranean Coast at the Games of the XV Olympiad and also previously participated in the Vilitan Mountain Games, representing Vilita in the Spears for Distance competition where she finished 17th of 21 competitors.

It was also a case of close but no cigar in Cycling during the Women's Madison event where Tuguli Mimi and Konajula Poibara finished in 4th place, just off the medal podium. It was very nearly the first ever cycling medal for the Vilitan Union on track in Women's madison, an event where the delegation has only previously had one single medal overall - a Men's Bronze during the XIV Summer Olympic Games for Tenlup Minia and Joka Yutamora.

Vilitan Union Water Polo Team Take Gold Medal :: While it was nearly a milestone moment in Women's Cycling for the Vilitan Union, it was actually a milestone in Women's Water Polo. The matchup was the 'one that got away' for the Vilitan Union in the Terranean Coast / Bunjil. Having advanced to the Semi-Finals in Women's Water Polo for the first time, the Vilitan Union Women's Water Polo team were defeated 10-5 by The Licentian Isles, denying them the opportunity to face Kelssek for the title and instead forcing a Bronze Medal matchup against Scornerse - which the Vilitan Union Women were able to win to claim the delegations first ever Water Polo medal. Fast forward to Twin Cities and the Water Polo Gold Medal Matchup at the Mipo Aquatics Centre and the Vilitan Union would get the chance to face off against Kelssek for that Gold Medal they missed out on one cycle prior. By a 10-6 scoreline, the Vilitan Union would come out on top, taking the first ever Water Polo Gold Medal in Vilitan Cove history and establishing themselves as the best team in the sport, proving that their podium performances in the XV Games was no fluke.

Beyond the Men's Football Final there will be a number of key events to follow throughout the Vilitan Cove on Day 17 of the games including one unlikely competition - the Rhythmic Gymnastics Men's Team All Around Final where the Vilitan Union defied expectations to qualify through among the top 8 and into the Final. There will also be three Wrestling medals available while on the track Mavipa Cino'amura will have the weight of the Cove on her feet as she hopes to pick up the Vilitan Union's first Athletic Gold of the games in the Women's 10,000m Final.

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

Here is the Day 17 Cutoff.

The next cutoff will be in two days' time.

[Waisnor]

Random Waisnor things: How the constituion was adopted
As I previously said in my other snippets of Waisnorian lore here, when Waisnor became an independent country, they were working pretty hard to establish a working democracy in their country. And so, making a constitution was among the prime concerns for Waisnorian government. After presidential and parliamentary elections there were people who could authorise this constitution, and now, there were baswically no excuses on not working with it now. State Assembly clearly understood that, because after swearing in of the deputies they immediately began working on Constitution of Waisnor.
But there was a catch to this process - they weren't making the constitution in full, instead of this they were making it piece by piece, or more appropriately, chapter by chapter. That process went something like this - at first a draft of chapter was read out as deputies were asked if they have any objections to it. If not, vote would be held for adoption of this piece into constitution. But actually, that situation didn't happen, and deputies always had questions about some articles in this chapters. And when this objection were heard as discussed, a vote into their inclusion to the constitution was held. By the way, during one such objection, a suggestion to cut presidential term time to 3 years down from initial 4 years was voiced, and after some talks, this suggestion was included in constitution, thus making Waisnor the only nation usind 3 years as their presidential term time and one of very few nations to do 3 year terms in politics at all.
And so, chapter by chapter, Waisnorian Constitution was soon stitched together from this adopted chapters. Now it was time to fully adopt this Constitution, and after one last ask for any objections, on March 3rd, 1992, this Constitution was voted into existence. Now Waisnor had their own Constitution, meaning that Waisnor now was having a full set of things that were required to become a country. At this moment, Republic of Waisnor finally became a real country, averting the fate of Waisnorian People's Republic once and for all. The next day marked the second inauguration of Ivan Gudaev, now on Constitution of Waisnor. This constitution would be amended 4 times in the future:
In 1997, Waisnor became a neutral country and abolished consciption
In 2003, Russian was recognised as second official language of Waisnor on par with Belarussian
In 2010, Waisnor was transformed from presidential to semi-presidential republic
In 2018, State Assembly was renamed as National Assembly and number of seats was reduced from 160 to 130

All in all, Constitution became the basis of Waisnorian law and one of corner stones of Waisnorian history, which sure had a lot of weird, beautiful, happy, scary, just interesting moments in last 30 years of Waisnorian independence. And Waisnorians know - next years will be no less interesting.

Ok, that last part was pretty emotional for me)
Now it's time to finish off with epic return of...
Waisnorian slander (in pictures)

[West Phoenicia]

"I sat down and cried,"

Inga Horne laments loss in Canoeing-Sprint Women's C-2 500 m while teammate Priscilla Cappalodocia soothed the grieving woman.

Inga Horne's canoeing journey has come a long way since she won her first medal; a bronze in the Women’s C-1 200 m at the XII Summer Olympics.

By the time the XIV Summer Games came around, she had transformed from a solo canoeist to pairs.
Inga cited she had grown tired of competing on her own and wanted to experience new challenges. A new coach and trainer helped transform her from a solo canoeist to one that could work in pairs and even a team of four.
Several posts by fans wondered if she was still licking her wounds from a 5th place final finish at the XIII Summer Olympics.

"My trainer worked alongside a Dietician and Nutritionist, formulating a plan to build me up to my best potential. I had never lifted so many weights in my life, but it was encouraged to improve my upper body strength."

The 36-year-old was paired with 24-year-old Priscilla Cappalodocia, a very fit and ambitious canoeist who was looking to make her own name in the sport. Priscilla spent the last few years jumping between different pair partners, trying to find her fit. From their first session together both knew it was a perfect match.

Months of hard work, long gym sessions and a balanced diet certainly worked as the two pulled off a gold medal win at the XIV Summer Games with a time of 1:56.933. A first for a West Phoenician women's pair in the sport where Canoeing is seen as Rowing's slower cousin.

The duo returned for the XV Summer Olympic Games; riding high from their previous appearance. Both women were strongly confident of a repeat. Practice sessions at home had them pulling the same times which won them the gold.
The pair finished with a time of 1:57.806 earning them a bronze medal. A vast decline from their previous performance. And strong words from their coach that they needed to work on going hard from the beginning and not play catch up, as that just allows other teams the edge to get ahead. And in a sport like this, a few seconds can make a huge difference to the result.

It would also be the first time they crossed paths with Eve Holmes and Summer Armocida of Electrum.
The pair snagged the silver medal, and even beat the women's gold-winning time. And Natalia Sturgess and Madeline Semenov of Kelssek won the gold.

The current Games saw Inga Horne and Priscilla Cappalodocia up against surprise, surprise, the two teams that landed them in the bronze spot at the last Games.
The West Phoenician Olympic Committee had high hopes these women would add to the medal tally score, they were still in top form and they were one of the higher-ranked pairs there.
All three teams gracefully progressed from the preliminaries and the quarterfinals.
Come to the semi-finals Priscilla was in top form while Inga felt a cold may be emerging.
The two West Phoenician women outdid both other teams in the semi-finals, with a time of 1:57.535. Not their greatest timing, but certainly better than the bronze result previously. Both women quietly confident redemption was on the books and they can return to their number one spot.

The final was a disaster. With Inga Horne and Priscilla Cappalodocia placing 6th, their worst time at an Olympics with 2:00.600. Inga Horne collapsed after crossing the line from exhaustion.
Far ahead they witnessed a role reversal with Eve Holmes and Summer Armocida smashing home in first place with a time of 1:56.754, a time that outdid their own golden performance. To add insult to the wounds Natalia Sturgess and Madeline Semenov crossed the line in second place with a time of 1:56.947, just a tweak higher than West Phoenicia's best time.

"I sat down and cried,"

Both women congratulated the winners but grieved the loss. Inga collapsed to the ground in defeat. The loss heavy on her shoulders as if boulders had taken up residence, weighing her down. It was not the result she envisioned.
Her body was starting to show signs of wear and tear.
There was only so much protein she could eat and weights she could lift. She was losing her competitive edge and felt the more she did to improve the slower she got. Two steps forward, three steps back.

"It's hurtful and embarrassing to have won two medals then return for another try and just fail," Inga commented. "I am a little under the weather, but I guess my age is a huge factor. I can't keep up with the young fit women as I used to."

Priscilla Cappalodocia was more optimistic with her response. "We made finals which is an amazing achievement. The worst scenario would have been to bomb the preliminary heats."

When asked if both would return for the next Games, which would see several former champions return, women choose not to comment. " We need to regroup, study our performance and see where we went wrong. Worm without Coach and trainers to see if there is room for improvement. It's not a no, but maybe one of us will return or maybe both. It's too far in the future to make that call. Right now we just want to relax, have a few weeks off and head back into training."

West Phoenicia Canoeing Federation President Billy Nguyen has praised the Canoeing achievements of all its athletes which saw the nation pick up gold and bronze.

In addition to Inga and Priscilla who placed 6th.
Mary Zarbardi, Rachel Ghosti, Svetlana Dedic and Casey Johns finished 8th in the women's K-4 500 m and Barry Khatun finished 7th, behind some very strong canoeing nations. With three other events having West Phoenicians in the finals was a huge boost for the Federation. Mr Billy Nguyen has suggested with extra funding and staff, Sprint could bring home huge medal hauls over the next few Olympics.
Billy will recommend a stronger focus on Sprint over Canoe- Slalom.

"Of the two, we need to invest where we have the best opportunities, and that looks like in Sprint events.

---

Boxing Bonanza

The West Phoenician Boxing Federation President Di El-Alda has hailed these a medal shower for Boxing. West Phoenicia scored 1 Silver and 4 Bronze.
With Candy Ricardo still to box against Yuliana Pavlova of Chromatika in the Women's middleweight which could earn a gold or another silver.
Di El-Alda, a former welterweight title holder, is proud the sport has revived after the last appearance which saw only Ronnette Davidson pick up a silver.
"We had a little stumble at the last two Games, but seeing such excellent results across a number of categories, is a shining moment we should all be proud of.

"Once the Games are done and dusted we need to reflect on the wins and study the losses. We would love to see champions arise in every category, and that means funding, facilities, training, commitment and the right people stepping up to represent the nation.
We have a large number of boxers who are on the Boxing circuit, unfortunately a lot of those professionals turn up their nose at the thought, choosing to let the amateur run those gauntlets. Less rounds, risk of injury that could end their careers and no big cash prizes appears to turn off those professionals.
Our goal is to snag some talented amateurs, promote patriotism and a desire to represent their nation. Once they have completed an appearance they can join the professional circuit and start making their thousands or millions per fight. Shooting, Athletics, sailing and Judo seem to be at the top of the list of medal earners. Over the years Boxing has received a bad reputation, many people still say it's too dangerous a sport and not only shouldn't we be sending athletes to the Olympics to beat each other up, but it also should be banned from the nation. Boxing is a beautiful sport and like all sports there is a dangerous element, but that comes with the territory. It doesn't need to be banned, it just needs more safety and guidelines. It is not the blood sport some people rave on about. Banning Boxing would be an injustice. The Olympic Committee needs to hone in on this sport, it has great potential and deserves to be up there with the other medal earning sports that Sports West Phoenicia throws money at."

---

The piranha circling for Cedric Wyatt's job may now need to disperse…for the moment. The XVI Summer Olympic Games have been hailed as a success by the Olympic Committee and the media. Team West Phoenicia has knocked the medal tally out of the park, outdoing their last two Summer Olympics appearances with a current standing of 50 medals.

Cedric Wyatt was quick to shower Team West Phoenicia with praise, alerting them to the fact they were the heroes not him. A grand parade in their honour would be planned next month in the nation's capital.
Cedric Wyatt knew the achievement helped his reputation, that his first involvement in an Olympic Games had seen the team victorious. A scattering of political party members from within his own party who coveted the role, voiced their congratulations while stepping back into the shadows to bide their time.
The Ministry of Sports is a popular role that many seek due to the nation's love of sports. The role also promotes the Sports Minister to the position of West Phoenicia Olympic Committee President, which includes additional perks like an extra salary, personal car and chauffeur and the ability to travel the world to observe Sporting Competitions in the lead up to the Games. Included in the perks is a front row seat at the Olympics where you are introduced to the world, hotel stays, and the final authority on funding for the Sports West Phoenicia, West Phoenician Institute of Sport and the Sporting Federations which wields a lot of powers.
It's a role which grants the person in leadership an opportunity to rub shoulders and make a lot of contacts in the private industry sector.

[Kelssek]

“Well, it’s good news. We’ve selected your city’s proposal and we’re ready to announce tomorrow... say, is everything alright there?”

Daniela looked around. Focused on listening the call, she realized she’d tuned out a screaming argument in the community garden she was walking past.

“You could’ve asked, and not just decide to dig up plants you think there’s too many of!”

“Well if you’d prune the tomatoes so they don’t strangle my rosemary, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. You young punks are choking the whole patch with your tropical...”

“Tomatoes? Tropical?”

“Whatever! I’ve been using this patch for thirty-six years, young lady!”

“Don’t you dare ‘young lady’ me!”

“Well I’m old enough to be your mother, so I think I know a thing or two about fertilizer content...”

Daniela strode quickly past. “Yes, just walking to lunch. You know agricultural policy can get contentious.”

“Oh my. Well, as I was saying, we’re pleased to nominate Mazinaw as our next candidate city for the Winter Olympics, as and when you get everything lined up on your end. And that’s valid for the next two cycles, after which the process reopens. So if your office could just add a little statement for the press release, we’ll plan to hold a press conference at 10 tomorrow morning. Coastal time, that is.”

---

Distances are a lot bigger than they seem in water polo. A basketball or soccer player caught out of position can often recover by sprinting quickly to the right place, before the other team can spot and capitalize on the opportunity. Compared to how quickly a ball can be thrown, it takes too much time to switch up or get across the ‘field’ when you have to swim through it. Being able to read the play and anticipate are thus hugely important.

Consequently, nothing fills a water polo player with dread like being on defence and having no idea where your opposing check is. This often happens defending a counter-attack because things get into crisis-fighting mode and pre-planned defensive assignments get scrambled, creating uncertainty about who’s doing what and who’s going where. This happened to Kelssek several times in the first quarter.

Jean-Francois Treppannier knew he had to fight the doubt in the back of the team’s mind about how big a mountain there now was to climb with a three-goal deficit against a very strong opponent. At the quarter-time break, he told them to focus on winning each of the next three quarters. They drew the second quarter. There was a bit more hope when they came out of the third quarter having narrowed the gap to 5-7. But when they failed to score on a powerplay, gave up a penalty shot on the ensuing powerplay, and saw the gap extend again to three goals, the belief seemed to go out of the team as Vilitan Union moved to a smothering defence-first mindset to see out the final quarter.

Jean-Francois moved to speak to his players after the final buzzer but held back when he saw that the captain Emma Davies had already gathered the team around her. He’d address the team later.

Emma was direct. It wasn't about cheering her teammates up, because competitive athletes just don't want to be cheered up after a brutal loss. It was more of channelling that emotion in the right way. “It fucking sucks right now. We said we’d come here again and take the gold. I’m so angry and frustrated. But I’m proud of each and every one of you. I am proud. Don’t think it wasn’t enough, because it was and I know we all did as well as we could have. Whatever happens next, be proud of what we’ve done here because it’s never in vain. Never.”

VILITAN UNION 10
Err 336: ‘caffieenee’ not found
KELSSEK 6
Torche (3), Wang, Davies, Rust
(4-1, 2-2, 1-2, 3-1)

[Aboveland]

Abovians Prevail in Redemption Tales, but Funding Frustrations Furrow Faces

Maiden gold medals for Åsa Pesälä, diving duo Pärvänder and Halvorsen, and women's javelin thrower Eeva Ellestad defined a low-profile second Summer Olympics for Team Abovian Union — but with the Abovian Olympic Committee shifting focus to winter sports after a "spectacularly successful" Games in Liventia, the team's previous medalists are not entirely content.

---

TWIN CITIES - Over a year ago, Malminovski native Åsa Pesälä endured one of the biggest disappointments of her career. Despite showing big promise in domestic cycling championships — at one point, the most popular human-sport in the Abovian Union, the run-up to her Olympics debut in Somer was nothing short of disastrous, with only a handful of finishes across domestic Græntfjaller events to her name. Come her olympic debut, a lackluster 37th was all she could muster on the roads of the Terranean coast.

Pentti Pärvänder and Felix Halvorsen were among the biggest names tipped for success going into Team Abovian Union's maiden olympics in diving. However, while Nina Nord and Hilja Revsen shone with second place in synchronized springboard, and 3m duo Tyko Tokkela and Leo Knutsen stole the spotlight in the tabloids for their alleged rendezvous with a member of the speedskating delegation, Pentti and Felix were but footnotes in the end-of-day reports across the multiverse, with Felix' advancement past the preliminary round of individual 10m diving a distant memory.

Already dwelling in the shadow of flag bearer Tero Sørensen, Eeva Ellestad had high hopes for her debut in women's javelin throw in Agri. "I trained harder than I ever had — and that I ever thought I could," she admitted. "And I really came away frustrated with my performance." Two sub-60 meter throws underlined her best marks a trickle over 60, and though all of her throws were valid, none would make a dent in the overall top 10. Her hopes of (out)shining her more celebrated practice partner had ended with a whimper.

Fast forward one year, and all four athletes' legacies have changed. Pesälä dominated the rest of the field alongside an energized Amina Mehmedbasic throughout the women's road race, edging out the Mytanar cyclist by the thinnest possible margin — the two finishing on equal times to the hundredth, with gold going to the navy blue and moss green athlete. Pesälä's "felt like I was 17 years old again" as the tones of the Samisyyttansång echoed above her during the medal ceremony, and she wrote her name into the history books as the team's first gold medallist of the games. The success stories of Pentti and Felix were also a cause for celebration, no less as the successes of Nord and Revsen had seemingly set off a diving revolution in the Abovian capital of Vankkavalta a year prior; their gold was the first for Team Abovian Union in any diving discipline: "we can be promiscuous and successful, too!" Halvorsen joked, referencing the rumors surrounding his springboard partners. As for Eeva Ellestad, her dreams of standing out in her discipline and "making Aboveland a javelin powerhouse", she hopes, have been fulfilled.

The newly-united team's successes — that is, competing as Team Abovian Union once again, after a tense 16th Winter Olympics in which the delegation competed as Aboveland and Nykipiflugpuu as per the Tugiketorkkanvaartisaarto agreement ― greatly pleased Abovian Olympic Committee president Arne Kuadonvaara. "We are immensely proud of the work which [Kyrmy] Kyrmynen [Nykipish administrator] and [Kaisla] Saari [president of Aboveland] have done together to bring back Team Abovian Union to the Olympics; our athletes have proven that Abovians and Nykipiks are resilient, determined, and most of all, united."

Newly-elected and returning president Kaisla Saari echoed Kuadonvaara's statements — his first since his media ban following the Global Athletics Tour. "The Abovian Union must regain the trust of the internationally community as much as Nykipiflugpuu must regain the trust of Aboveland — through sporting achievements like these, we are taking the first steps towards reconciliation, and the new Abovian Union."

Nevertheless, not all were pleased with the state of affairs. The Abovian Olympic Committee's focus on winter sports is no secret, and it comes as no surprise after the resounding success of Abovian athletes in Liventia, in landmark events such as speedskating and, perhaps most importantly, figure skating. This shift in priorities, accuses Bunjil K-1 sprint gold medallist Tyra Ferrell, has brought with it a sharp decline in the delegation's chances for summer success.

"We had no budget compared to last year," she claimed. "Our practice days were cut by half before the Games and we had more physical training than actual trials on the water. It's not the same, and in my opinion, it's disrespectful to have such marked priorities. Where do we [summer athletes] stand, at the bottom of the pyramid?" She also lamented the loss of Team Abovian Union's Olympic record in 4x100 mixed medley relay, and the "far cry" in performance of the delegation's aquatics athletes. "It's through no fault of their own," Ferrell assured, "but it's a damn shame that the "swimming revolution" we were promised now wears ice skates and flowy dresses."

Nykipish quadruple sculls rower Irmeli Keskitalo, alleged silver medalist in Bunjil's highly documented shadow podium, was more critical of the AOC's direction — and lashed out at new president Saari for not pushing the Committee to increase the proportion of Nykipish athletes on the team's roster. "Aboveland and Nykipiflugpuu Olympic Team had a marked increase in number of Nykipish athletes," she said; "it was a small but important move forwards. But our summer delegation this year is the same as last year: no change in the number or proportion of Nykipiks competing for a team that should represent all citizens of Aboveland and Nykipiflugpuu together." She also claimed that Saari has so far not been the "shining beacon of unity" which Abovians had thought she would be — even though Keskitalo reveals neither her nor her fellow Nykipiks believed she would be.

"Nykipiflugpuu is occupied because of this woman in the first place," Keskitalo lambasted. "I had hoped that she would at least pertain to the integration policy that had seemed to be coming in the Winter Games. I am angry, but not surprised, that this was not the case."

While making no remark on the athlete's comments, President Kaisla Saari praised Team Abovian Union's performances in the XVI Summer Olympics, celebrating the delegation's three gold medals in addition to Sami Lundstrøm's silver in K-1 slalom. "Proud of our athletes putting the Abovian Union in the spotlight of sporting's highest echelon! Successes like these are just one tiny part of what should make Abovians and Nykipiks prideful to be one Union! #TeamAbovianUnion #SummerXVI", she expressed on twii.tur, just before the final day of competition.