Games of the XVIII Olympiad - roleplaying thread

[Kelssek]

SURFING
‘Stoked’ Tremblay rides to bronze

Jade Tremblay has played a patient waiting game all Olympics, looking for the right wave on which to register a big score. It can be both overly safe by hanging on to the priority to ride an upcoming wave, and risky by leaving a surfer with less options as time runs down.

It was a strategy that had to go out the window in the semifinal when Mia Miller rode a huge barrel flawlessly for a score of 8.09 early on, forcing Tremblay to be less selective and try to wring points out of more possible waves. It didn’t help in the end, as Tremblay flubbed her chance with the big one she managed to find midway through the semifinal, and ultimately ended with a total score of 7.03 from her two best waves.

Maybe that was playing her mind in the bronze medal final, but her willingness to go for it was much higher in the bronze medal final, and the wave selection turned out to be the right one. A score of 7.03 registered just seven minutes in turned out to be decisive and put the pressure on her opponent Brenda Hayes.

“It’s absolutely wonderful to have reached the podium here. It’s been a dream of a competition and I can’t complain about how any of it has gone,” said Tremblay.

“You have to be aware of that part of the scoring, but in the end it’s all about whether you can stomp down on it, the strategy’s not what wins these in the end. It means nothing if you’re not able to make it count”.

[Da Cunha]

THE 18TH SUMMER OLYMPICS DAY 13 STREAM HIGHLIGHTS
Posted 55 minutes ago ---------- 30,455 views
CANÁL GOLÑUČÁVCA SÉSTRU

----

[i]I: "Good morning chat!" Innozénza says, beaming as the stream opens. "We're projecting slow day, so we're moving around in the messaging in the background, trying to arrange for a few cameos maybe. Not expecting a whole lot from the athletics, but we are getting a lot of crunch games in the team events, so we'll be watching that for sure. Everyone excited?"

She looks at the chat rolling by, then rolls her eyes.

I: "No... That does not mean I'm trying to invite any supposed 'girlfriend' to come over. My romantic life is irrelevant to this stream entirely."

P (Dropping into view, startling her sister out of the sunbed): "Damn right it ain't. It's time for SPORTSBALL!"

----

P: "And Géjić' shot is saved, and... That's gonna be that. Kelssek in no rush to go up field, and time is ticking and going. It'll be the bronze match for Da Cunha in the women's water polo, and it's hard to not be a bit disappointed, even though they've done incredibly well."

I: "And we'll be up against the StrayaRoos team, who had a disappointing exit of their own about an hour ago. So get reading up on your roo facts, I suppose. Ahhh... Dang. I was really hoping."

P: "Yep. Down to a 50/50 for a medal instead of a certainty."

I: "Pick ourselves up, I guess. Dang. I really wanted that final."

----

I: "And... Nooooo... It'll NOT be gold! Sídran and Mixić will have to settle for silver behind Carpentier and Greene, and I suppose after beating both their handball teams in the quarter finals, Liventia deserves some home success here. We'd best not make ourselves too unpopular."

P: "First medal of the day then is a silver, and it's one for the tally, where we're still hanging on to 3rd in total medals, but 7th in the weighted measures. Some gold would be real helpful."

I: "Not a lot of obvious chances today, though..."

P: "Indeed there isn't, but we'll take them all. Been some wild games! Wild, wild games!"

----

P: "Okay, so how does this Pentathlon scoring actually work?"

I: "No clue, but apparently, Dubrávcqavić is also in the final. I mean, we'll take it, I suppose?"

----

I: "Well... That was a bucket of cold water. What... I mean... We get to have revenge on Drawkland in the women's semifinals, I suppose, but I... I am not sure I can take more semifinal losses today, Phátima."

P: "Well there aren't any more, so good for you."

I: "Bronze match for Da Cunha in the men's handball too, and we gotta ask... Should we maybe fund men's handball equal to the women's?"

----

I: "And Muzángu will finish 3rd, just ahead of Macduff in the last race. Macduff 8 points ahead, and no one else even close. Muzángu will need... Well, she'll need to finish at least 4 places ahead. 4 ahead and it'll tie, but I think Muzángu will win that on the full total. 5 or more, and Muzángu takes it outright. Less, and it'll be silver. A medal is guaranteed, though. For tomorrow's math homework, you will all-"

----

P: "And another silver behind a Liventian today, but I don't thin Brájlavić will care. No chance with that 1st run from Moores. Just gotta applaud that. Rock on, Tájmur. Silver for Da Cunha! Tubular, I guess."

I: "Okay, but when I use outdated language, I'm 72 years old, am I?"

----

P: "And as we watch the long jump with baited breath, we're getting the men's hurdles with Árnel Bóscović representing!"

I: "On the outer lane you'll see him, with the oversized man-bun."

P: "Real mature, Zenzi!"

I: "What? People might not've seen him before."

P: "And you don't have to give your opinion on his appearaaaaand as we speak, they're off! Good start!"

I: "Oh hello! Something to cheer about?!"

P: "Kambaye is FAR ahead, but it'll be... Silver for Bóscović! Wow! Now there's a surprise!"

I: "It's the man-bun. Very aerodynamic at that size, little know fact."

P: "Real nice save there, sis..."

----

I: "And we're heading into the last round of jumps. It's Glámočacq going first, because she was the lowest qualifier to the last 8 and the extra 3 jumps, and she has not improved."

P: "Apjatélhović is still there and cheering her on, but it's do or die now."

I: "Here she comes down the lane. Needs 8 centimeters for a medal."

Quiet.

I: "That's long! Is that... That's ahead! Is that gonna count?!"

P: "It's... It's gonna count! Túzja Glámočacq! Out of nowhere! It's... 7.15! Olympic record! Now comes the nerves, because there are 7 still to go, but 8 cm on top of the Olympic record!?"

I: "Miraculous! Phantom jump from the Qeremíca native. Where did THAT come from?!"

----

I: "And now only Ouattara left. Leading after three, improving past 7 meters on her 4th... Needing 11 cm to take back the lead she has held from the beginning."

P: "Amping up the crowd. Fingers and toes crossed!"

I: "Here she comes...!"

P: "Jump... and... Oooh... That's... I can't tell! That's very long as well!"

I: "Flag is up, though?"

P: "Flag is... Flag is up! It won't count! It won't count! Fireworks right at the death of the day! Gold for Túzja Glámočacq in the long jump! Wowzers! Hey now!"

----

Last clip is earlier in the day, cutting abruptly from the long jump madness to Innozénza, lounging lazily, half reclined.

I: "Alright! Match point to Cápsić and Arabnia. Half of our four pairs in the B-Volley into the semis is still disappointing, but we're getting both out of the quarters at least."

She glances over at the chat, getting caught up in some discussion as Callísto appears in the background.

I: "What, no. What I said earlier was that we're looking at... Well, 3 medals more, minimum, from the boxers who've already qualified for the finals. That was number 3 earlier! Stop with the shushing emoji! What's gotten into- EEk!"

Innozénza's cry of surprise comes as Callísto, having snuck up close, makes her presence known by simply jumping right onto Innozénza, settling on the same sunbed as Innozénza clutches at her heart.

C: "Hey."

I: "You almost gave me a heart attack! What the hell, Callísto!"

C: "Sorry, it was too funny not to. How didn't you hear me?!"

She shuffles around so that she's sitting leaned back against Innozénza.

C: "Just thought I'd come hang. You've got far better accommodations than we get in the village. I mean, it's nice, but it ain't a penthouse."

Phátima returns from wherever she'd gone to, sitting down across from Innozénza and Callísto.

C: "Hey Phátima."

P: "Oh hey." She looks over with an expression of bemused annoyance.

I: "Tima, help!"

P (Raising her eyebrow): "Just don't break any community guidelines over there. I don't wanna get our channel suspended again, like after the soy sauce incident."

I: "That was never proven!"

[Tero al Disco]

Celebrations in town after Iribarren local Enzo Palau wins diving gold in the Olympics

There was much excitement in Tero al Disco as a whole, as the country had gained their third gold medal in Electrum and Liventia. However, Enzo Palau's victory in the 3 meters springboard resonated particulrly within the population of Iribarren, his hometown, because well, "our kid just won the gold". Despite not coming to the Games with a specific dream, the 25-year-old Enzo managed to strike gold in the finals held at the Lox Land Swimming Centre in Schimpol, Liventia.

Enzo Palau started off in the preliminary rounds, where he didn't necessarily blow the opposition out, but he did get inside the top 18, the threshold to qualify for the next round. He did not come in as a favourite by any means (although he was one of the best divers in the seven-man Terense diving team), and in the first few dives he struggled a bit, but by the end he brushened up and qualified to the semifinals.

In the semis, he did "decent enough" by most accounts. Although he had tried to moderate his dives more just to not crash out of the competition, in his last attempt he tried to do 4 and a half somersaults, a very risky dive. Although it was not particularly flawless, his very noble attempt wowed the spectators present. And with he'd move on to the final for gold, which he'd later win. In an interview with ABCD Deportes he said, "It was all, or mostly, about perfecting the tried and tested dives as much as possible, 'cause you can't screw up here. This is like having a penalty kick to score in the World Cup final, and missing it. You can't allow that to happen."

There is expected to be a hero's welcome for the diver after he returns from the Games throughout the Iribarren main square, as well as a meeting between the mayor of the town, Josué Joseantonio, and Palau. Enzo also said that, "so yeah, the President just called me recently. Before that it was my mum, then the mayor, then also my childhood coach, Nazareno...whew, this is clearly the greatest of my life, thank you all...". Meanwhile, Nazareno Maldonado, the "childhood coach" Enzo was referring to when he trained for at Sportivo Iribarren in his youth, also spoke out about the future of diving: "when you look at it, the aquatics team in general - swimming, diving, etc. - sent to the Olympics has very good, and although they (particularly the swimmers) haven't performed as expected, or, they haven't won a crapton of medals, this clearly shows a foundation for the future Terense sportsmen, who will be more accustomed to dreaming of and performing in the international stage, in the Olympics. Just think of the possibilites, as they say..."

---

Disclaimer: sort of a ripoff from Doubeia's RP about child participation in sports rising due to the Olympics.

---

POPULARITY FOR TENNIS AND WOMEN'S RUGBY SOAR AFTER HISTORIC OLYMPIC PERFORMANCES

by JUSTO PONENTE. SEPTEMBER 28th, 2024.

---

On one hand, you have Salvador Arrieta's fourth-place finish in men's tennis, losing out for bronze to Xander Foyner-Evatee. On the other, there's the women's rugby sevens team being the Cinderellas in the women's rugby sevens, getting in the top four much like nations with a hell of a lot more established, such as Lisander or Quebec & Shingoryeo (to a lesser extent). Both of them have captivated the country, and thus it means a rebirth for one of them, while for the other it means a birth from near-total nonexistence.

As we've seen in these past few days, both sports have taken center discourse among the media and the Terense public. First, as I explained in the introduction, Salvador Arrieta's shock performance in the qualifiers, who despite struggling heavily in the NSTT circuit, he's managed to reach as far as the semifinals in Hamilton. Perhaps the clay courts have benefitted him heavily, which NSTT enthusiasts might have also observed from the Terense clay specialists, in a time when, while the clay has been taken advantage of by the Terenses to go far in the circuit's tournament (seemingly without effort), the grass has made it much more complicated from them.

Anyhow, Arrieta's semifinal against Phoenician Mehretab Ahmed, lost in three sets, and more importantly the bronze medal match against Foyner-Evatee where he lost in two sets, have had enormous TV ratings, and officials are suspecting there to be a bit of a "tennis fever" after Arrieta's performance. According to the legendary ex-tennis player, Pedro Venezia, "Arrieta's shown everything that Terense tennis has in store for the rest of the world", also partially talking about his attacking playstyle, "with a natural hunger for winning", which has been sort of what characterised his stint in the NSTT. The president of the Capital tennis association, Enrique Moralez, also said, "from what I've been seeing, now kids are starting to want to go to tennis classes, and I emphasise this because I'm saying it, maybe four days after the bronze match. Like, take for example my grand-nephew, he's sitting in front of his computer all day. But right after Arrieta played that...excellent match, he started talking about how he wanted to take up tennis...So that is definitely a plus."

Staying in Hamilton, meanwhile the national women's rugby sevens team also suffered the same fate as they were blown out by Estogium 35-5 in the semifinals, and then lost the match for bronze with Quebec and Shingoryeo by 24-12, putting a very good fight. Their performance made all the rounds particularly in social media, and as the president of the Terense rugby union, Diego Garrido, said, [i]"in a context where this sport, women's rugby, is practically nonexistent here in Tero al Disco. It's been a gigantic leap forward from these women to have nearly gotten a medal out of the Olympics.[i]" The semifinals and third place match, although they happened at the same day as the Arrieta vs. Foyner-Evatee playoff, had also huge ratings being shown on TLT. The Teros might have scraped in the group stages, only advancing over Polkopia by point difference, in the quarter-finals they routed Chromatika. In the semifinals, as has already been said before, they lost by 30 points to an Estogium side who, although not world-class by any means, were clear favourites to defeat them. For the bronze playoff, spearheaded by veteran Claudia Roncesvalles they'd take a 7-0 lead quickly, but the Quebecois side would turn it around by the start of the second half, winning one out of the many medals that the Quebecois delegation have won so far.

[Drawkland]

MORNING, DAY 12
Phase One had gone relatively well for Elias Keys. The previous afternoon, prior to the football semifinal, he'd used a self-made gadget attached to his phone to check for any radio or digital signals being sent from any of the Elite's rooms. The usual suspects like their cell phones were obvious, but Elias was checking for anything out of the ordinary. He was especially careful to check in the room of Dominic Southers, who was the subject of the tabloid article that caused this commotion in the first place.

Searching Dominic's room proved to be more difficult than Elias was hoping. Dom's roommate for the Games was fellow Elite member Mike Rodney, who was present in the room when Elias knocked. Eli was trying to keep this whole investigation on the down low, to prevent the rest of the Elite from worrying or trying to join in on a mission that would require a little more subtlety. He had to provide some evasive maneuvers when Mike answered the door. To make matters more awkward, Mike's girlfriend and Kick Corps member Nicole Warren was in the room too.

"Uh, hey ..." Elias said, sensing that Nicole was in the room before he saw her. "Am I interrupting anything?"

"No, no." Mike shook his head earnestly, trying to play things cool. "What's up, Elias?"

"Bored." Elias said vaguely. "Could I chill here for a bit?"

"Sure, man." Mike opened the door the rest of the way. "It's Eli," he added for Nicole's benefit, even though she already knew who was coming in.

"Hey!" Nicole smiled. She had dated Mike on-and-off for a few years, which served as the impetus for her achieving immortality alongside some friends. She was also friendly with Elias and a few others in the Elite. "What's going on?"

"Nothing much," Elias shrugged. He tried to pull out his phone as nonchalantly as possible, searching for any weird signals coming from the room. Anything that could be sending information. "Trying to not worry too much about the match tonight."

"Of course." Nicole flattened her lips a bit as Mike took a seat next to her on his bed. "Lucky you, right?"

"Oh, yeah." Elias remembered that Nicole and the Kick Corps had been eliminated from the women's football tournament just a couple days prior. "Guess we got the one-up on you this time, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah, rub it in." Nicole nodded, putting on a face of mock indignation.

"Hey, what do the kids say nowadays? Get good?" Elias stuck out his tongue, while shooting another quick look at his phone. He noticed an abnormal signal coming from the direction of Mike's duffel bag on the floor. It wasn't a phone signal, it was clearly something else. Eli made a show of looking around the room before landing on Mike's bag, trying to see if there was anything he didn't recognize on it. Fortunately, there was something noticeable on top of a pile of clothes. "Hey, what's that?"

"Huh?" Mike looked over at his bag, eyeing the souvenir Elias was pointing at. "Oh, that. Yeah, I dunno, it's this handmade Team DRK pin that a fan gave me last week. I think it was when I was walking through the concourse before one of Sep's sabre rounds."

"Pin? That thing is huge," Nicole replied.

"Haha, true." Mike walked over and pulled it fully out of his band, turning it in his hands. "It's more like a coaster, really. I dunno, it's nice. Kinda weighty. Dunno what I'll do with it, though. Already have enough crap knocking around my room at home."

"You've got that right," Nicole muttered.

"Lemme see that," Elias said innocently, holding out his hand.

"Sure." Mike handed it over without a second thought. When he sat next to Nicole, something occurred to him. "You know, you can keep it if you want. Like I said, I've got enough junk. Don't want to throw it out, though, since a fan made it and all."

"Right ..." Elias trailed off, looking carefully at the souvenir. Mike was right, it was almost like a coaster, thick and weighty. Elias could see some sort of seam on the side, though. He looked at his phone again. This was definitely the item giving off some kind of signal. "Sure, I'll keep it. Maybe put it on the coffee table in the Complex lobby or something."

"That'd be cute!" Nicole replied immediately, hoping to confirm the exchange. Elias knew she just wanted to keep Mike's room 1% less cluttered.

"So ... do you guys hang out in here often?" Elias asked, changing gears when something occurred to him. "Uh, you don't have to be really specific about it, I'm just curious. Haven't seen you guys around a whole lot."

"Nahh, not really." Mike shook his head. "It's a little cramped in here. I think we hung out here and talked last week but we've mostly been out and about trying to enjoy Hamilton. Dominic hasn't spent a lot of time in here either."

"Makes sense, I've seen Dom in the lounges mostly." Elias rapidly scraped the top of whatever Mike and Nicole were thinking, hoping for any more clues. At the mention of Dominic, Nicole's mind lit up with something faint about farming. Recalling a recent conversation, perhaps. That was exactly what Elias was looking for. He had a potential cause of the leak, and the potential source for it. Now it was time for the exit strategy.

Elias spent another 10 or 15 minutes talking lightly with Nicole and Mike, before politely deciding to leave them to their own activities without him. It was time to see exactly where the signal from this mystery device was going.

---

AFTERNOON, DAY 13
Eli's search had led him to a motel less than half a mile off the perimeter of the Athlete's Village in the Flameworks cluster. As it was getting dangerously close to report time for the semifinal match, and Elias had nobody with him, it was time to bail and wait for the next day.

Now it was time for Phase Two. Elias decided he had to respect Jaxon's wishes and bring somebody with him, but he still felt uncomfortable bringing along any of the other Elite. They'd won that semifinal against Slavo-Baltia and were now set to play in the gold medal final against Reginalida. He didn't want to bother any of his teammates. The only exception would be his normal partner in crime Ross, but Ross was busy with his preparatory routines for the marathon in a few days. Anybody outside the Elite would be a security risk and an awkward ask all-around ... besides their fellow immortals.

Cam Cross, Nicole Warren, and Sarah Arrowsword were all options, but Elias didn't want to get them involved in case something dangerous was afoot. Ellzidan would be the natural choice for such an endeavor, but trying to track down The Elf on purpose would be like trying to locate a particular speck of dust in a basement with the lights off. That left Elias with three options, and two of them didn't seem realistic. Reluctantly, Elias left his room and approached the end of their hallway. He meant to poke inside the room of Jack Hoy and Leo Cross, but the door was shut. The room next door, which was assigned to Lerocav and Jaxon Madison (though Jaxon was off in Schimpol doing his preparations for the pentathlon final), had the door ajar.

Elias poked his head in. To his relief, Leo Cross was in there. To make matters difficult, Leo was sitting around the small table across from Lerocav, the son of Drawkland's founder Iarocav. Elias wasn't sure if he wanted to reveal the potential immortal security breach to the son of the guy that managed the organization of Drawkland's immortal residents, but he had no choice. Time could be of the essence.

"Hey." Leo said when he saw Elias pop in around the doorframe.

"Sup." Elias fully entered the room, walking carefully to the table.

"Not much, clearly." Lerocav replied, not even bothering to look up from his phone.

"Where's Jack?" Elias asked, partly to stay casual but also partially curious.

"I managed to put him to bed for a nap," Leo grinned. "Figure it'll give me a couple quiet hours."

"Nice, nice." Elias drummed his fingers on the table, then decided he wasn't going to bother waiting around any longer. "Leo, do you mind if I ask your help with something?"

"What is it?" Leo asked, furrowing his brow. He had no clue what this could be, and Eli didn't blame him.

"There's, um, something I need to check out," Elias said, casting a sidelong glance at Lerocav, who kept his facade of disinterest up. "I don't want to bother any of the Elite since we've got the game in a few days, so I don't want to distract any of us. But this may be time sensitive, so I need someone to come with me."

"Time sensitive?" Leo narrowed his eyes. "What, is there an event going on?"

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, there's this bar I want to check out. It's a little bit off the village though, so I didn't want to go alone. Just in case I get recognized, don't want to be stuck solo." Elias cringed internally. His bluffing was terrible, and he could hear alarm bells ringing in Lerocav's brain, though the Drawkionel's Son didn't react outwardly.

"You're afraid of getting recognized," Leo repeated, "so you want me to come with?" He looked down at his torso, which was the most conspicuous 'enormous Drawkian athlete' build on the planet. "I'm not sure you're thinking this through."

"Okay, maybe stealth isn't really the goal." Elias said sheepishly. "Just, y'know, Ross is busy prepping for the marathon. I'd usually take him."

"I'm not buying it." Leo shook his head. "I'm interesting in getting out tonight, but I need to know what I'm signing up for."

"Fine." Elias sighed to collect himself. How much could he reveal without drawing Lerocav's ire? "I think some crazy fan stole some of our stuff during one of our matches. I'm trying to track it down, and I may need backup."

"That's an interesting reversal." Leo leaned back in his chair, but he had a slight smirk on his face. "You said you were going off the village? You already know where the culprit is?"

"Uh, mostly." Elias clenched and unclenched his hands apprehensively. "I believe I managed to find a trail that leads to a motel a half mile from the perimeter. I don't have specifics, though, so we might have to do some on-site forensics."

"Beats following Jack around all night." Leo stood up from his seat. "I'm in."

"Alright, fine, I'm coming too." Lerocav sighed, almost in irritation.

"Oh, that's okay, you don't have to," Elias said immediately, perhaps a little too quickly. "I'm sure you have better stuff to do with your time."

"Wrong on both counts." Lerocav folded his arms, making eye contact with Eli for the first time since he entered the room. "You said that this alleged thief could be keeping Elite property in a motel. Say you're able to pin down the exact room, which I'm skeptical about. How are you going to get in? Knocking and asking nicely?"

"Well ..." Elias hesitated. He hadn't thought that part out. "I guess that's a place to start?"

"I could maybe break down a cheap motel window if I got a running start," Leo suggested, "but I don't think that's going to be a very good option if you're looking for stealth."

"Exactly." Lerocav nodded at Leo in agreement.

"And what does that have to do with you?" Elias asked before he thought to pick Lerocav's mind. "What great idea do you have?"

"It has everything to do with me." Lerocav slapped his phone facedown on the table, and opened a hatch on the back of the protective case. For most people, this is where they'd have a couple credit or ID cards in place of a wallet. When Elias and Leo looked closer, they instead saw a small set of rudimentary lockpicks.

"You know how to lockpick?" Elias asked incredulously.

"Why not?" Lerocav asked with a smirk, closing the hatch and placing his phone back in his pocket. "If you're doing covert operations, you need to have a wide range of skills. You never know what will come in handy."

"You did covert operations?" Elias said in an equally stunned voice.

"Of course I have. Do you kids ever read your textbooks?" Lerocav shook his head, then corrected himself. "Actually, they probably wouldn't write about anything I did in public documents. Never mind."

"Yeah, also I dropped out of high school and that was 500 years ago," Elias muttered. "Okay, I guess you can come along."

"You actually didn't have a choice!" Lerocav put on an obviously fake smile as he stood up from his chair. "Immortal security breach, that's something that concerns me. In fact, that's one of the only jobs my dad hasn't fired me from yet."

"I wouldn't really call it a security breach," Elias replied quickly, wondering if he gave too much away in his vague recounting of the situation. "Just some petty theft I'm trying to solve-"

"I may not be a mind reader, Elias." Lerocav looked directly at Eli, words chosen with great intent. "But I do have intuition. And if we're going to come along on this operation, I'm going to expect a little more honesty from you."

"Fair enough," Elias muttered. "I'll give you the full rundown on the way there. Let's go."

[Quebec and Shingoryeo]

It was all but clear that Brooke Angelhart-Milner's run the last race of her career, both for Quebec and Shingoryeo, and for herself. At thirty-one, she was at a major crossroad of her career, that is to whether keep running for another Olympic cycle or to retire while on her peak. While Brooke knew that she wasn't at a particularly advanced age, especially for a mid-distance runner, but was also aware that you, as a professional athlete heading for a certain goal, never knew how much you really left in the gas. It's just as plausible for someone to fall off the pace and subsequently the career takes a nosedive. She, after all, had seen way too many cases where an extended drive for what would prove to be fool's good gone wrong, and didn't want that.

And it may have also been that her country would likely want such a downfall to happen had she stayed. The aftermath of the push had no doubt been severe on her, and the simple sight of being booed on the stage while receiving Olympic gold medal, and by her own countrymen, only added to the hurt she had felt. Maybe that's what's needed to move her on from a career, one that regardless of all that's happened over last few days, ended on the right note. She could retire now, move onto a modest, high-paying job as consultant that she's earned her Yoseo-Montevicio degree for, and not worry about the pressure no more.

She kept watching as more and more people left, until it had come to the point where there was only her and maybe about half a dosen people left in the venue. Feeling a bit more relieved now that she's able to think about the next chapter of her life, she wanted to have a run. Just a run for a hundred metres, just to let out the frustration and in relief that it's over. But then, she knew she couldn't, for it would have run major risk of being reframed for her actions and the summation of everything that had gone in the last few days. So she held off, instead to wait a few minutes more, just to think about the life and the first things she would do once back home. Would she just buy a seaside cottage outside of her hometown and retire off to there? Perhaps, but the roads were always too slippery and frozen in that part of the country, and that's without factoring all the frozen ice on the water. Would she just move to somewhere warmer, like how she did when studying at Yoseo-Montevicio? Montevicio was always nice year-round, but autumns were usually at their best since it wouldn't have the heat and the humidity of the summers, as well as tourists and vacationgoers from other parts of the country looking to find solace in the rare pocket of southwestern sun.

It was at that moment when Brooke noticed a short figure approaching her. She walked in a certain way that resembled a former athlete - that of slight awkwardness on her pacing of walking steps - but it was clear to Brooke that with the way she dressed, it was impossible to ignore who she was.

With a slightly stunned look on her face, right as she saw the way the other person had looked back at her, Brooke walked towards the figure, who happened to be Maisie Dreyfus-Milliken, the current Team Quebec chef de mission, former football player and current Milliken Sports and Entertainment Group owner, and husband of a rising NPD politician Ji Gyeong-Wan.

'Sorry about that, the traffic hasn't been the most pleasant in this part of the day,' said Maisie, as she quickly approached Brooke to suggest her delight in the reception. This part was somewhat true, something that had almost always happened with Summer Olympics, but
Hamilton's geography as a city with the compact centres also had to do with it. 'First, my deepest congratulations over the history you had made, and for marking what is to be a good start for our athletes. We know we couldn't have done this without you and Ophelie, who I intend to congratulate at a separate point later tonight.'

'Why, thank you, Ms. Milliken,' said Brooke, a slight dose of humility had come into her. It was a rare moment of gratitude, especially from another Quebecois, that she had received all day. 'I am happy to walk off on a high note, especially with so much more to approach in life.'

Maisie gave a generous smile. If there's one thing that Dreyfus-Milliken had previously learned from her earlier life as a teenage pageant and briefly professional model, the former Ms. Abitibi 2043 exactly twenty-five years ago, it was to know when to smile, and with certain time given. 'Of course, what else could we say?' she said, as she looked at Brooke, who was about her height. 'Time will heal everything, and eventually people will forgive you. We all make mistakes sometimes, especially on a spur of decisions made, and people could absolutely lose it in the heat of the moment. It's just happened to be in the Olympics.'

'Indeed,' Brooke answered, before drawing a small sigh. 'So how could I help you, Ms. Milliken? I would like to know why my presence has been requested this late in the night.'

Then they started walking their way out of the stadium. They walked silently, with very little signs raised in between, but at some point the silence was broken when a car drove past them in front. Finding this to be the right timing, Maisie then opened her mouth to resume their conversation. 'So, it's about your travel back to Quebec,' said Maisie, as the blonde woman looked back at her brown-haired counterpart. Her voice had changed from that of a friendlier manner to that of more instructive, authoritative one. 'I would personally advise you not to worry about your way back. We will have that covered, all the way up to the security details, and nobody will hurt you under any circumstances.'

That's more suspicious than anything else, Brooke thought, feeling slightly suspicious. It sounded as if she was being involved under a plan, not directly but possibly as a chess piece. What could this be? and could I trust her on this?

'That said, there are some things to follow here,' Maisie continued, ignoring a look of mild concern that had appeared in Brooke's voice. 'Your personal flight will be ready in Centralis in two days, but in order to get there you will have to help us on something. One that involves a special company, whom you might or might not have noticed on your own races as well. Could you promise us on that?'

'Yes, sure,' was what came out of Brooke's mouth, feeling slightly more relieved.

Maisie sighed, before stopping. Dry, red wind were blowing all over them in middle of the street. They were about halfway between the Flameworks and City clusters, and with not as many people on this road that connected the Olympic Village and the downtown, the atmosphere here felt somewhat secluded even mid-olympics. 'Tomorrow, there will be two vans that will pick up you and your company in front of you respective building at noon,' she said. 'They will head straight to the railway station, where a full carriage will be booked for the four-hour HSR ride to Centralis, but before that, we will have to stop halfway and pick up additional passengers.'

'And who would they be?' Brooke asked. 'This seems urgent, but less so on my end and rather on the others too, if I may say your honour.'

'Correct. Because what we are about to do is to secure safe pathway for another Olympian who wishes to request asylum but is simply under too much risk to wait until after the Olympics have ended,' said Maisie. 'I'm sure you've heard of Larisa Kravtseeva from Polkopia, after all. She did race in 800m, yes, but may as well say is better known for taking a bold stand on the state of her own country.'

I see she's going around with her words, Brooke thought to herself. It was well known that the Dreyfus-Millikens, whose businesses had split between their old province of rural Saguenay and the current seat of power in Anju, were social conservatives. They have almost always been noted on news and in circles, never even an open secret, for being among more prominent donors to the Moogoongwha Party, especially the Lankaist faction. This was very much the reason why when Maisie, whose political lines were not known, married Gyeong-Wan, a beloved nephew of prominent Privy Councilor and academician Dr. Heo Dong-Soo, it had drawn minor murmurs and further notice from people who did not expect her to marry a man who's not only nine years older, but was of long-known NPD colours. Nevermind the fact that it was Maisie, who had met her husband at an RQOC event, who had approached him to start with. 'Yes, though I believe she was one of the other heats at the time,' Brooke answered.

'So what we will be doing is to bring two vehicles - one with you and your company, and the other with hers - and then we'll be continuing our way to Centralis. Afterwards, you will be transported to a hotel, a full floor with all your needs and wants met, while she will be able to make her way to the Quebecois Embassy,' she then continued. 'Then, after taking necessary steps, the government will be securing a special flight, one that's rarely but still done from time to time, and then head home. You are more than welcome to head home, while our special guest will be able to choose a place she wishes to move, whether it be in Quebec or elsewhere, at all times. Whatever you need and want, we could get you, provided it's within reason, of course.'

'I see,' Brooke answered. 'So I'm basically becoming a company, but also decoy in some ways, is that correct?'

'Precisely,' was what Maisie said. 'But in doing so, I'm sure that history will remember you in a more positive light, one who's helped a Polkopian runner from risk on her life, and into safe asylum. We don't know where she'll be heading, and if anything you don't even have to like her, but that doesn't matter in a grand scheme of things is it?'

[Chromatika]

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE XVIII OLYMPIAD
Day 13

LEIF OHLIN

How did they let this happen? Winning the first two sets by seven and five points, Ohlin had the Chromatik Men's Volleyball team running on all cylinders. The set plays were working, the serves were hitting, and it looked like Tero al Disco was floundering. Then, their opponents started to put things together, winning the next two to take all the momentum. It would come down to a winner-take-all fifth set.

Artemio Fiorditi was the problem in the fifth set, scoring six of Tero al Disco's points as Chromatika could only watch helplessly. Tied at ten. Tied at twelve. Tied at fourteen.

An unforced error on a missed pass.

A killer spike in an empty zone.

Ohlin's team had allowed a two-set comeback.

Natanians and Nosts will stand in the way of a Bronze Medal - and if they don't win that, this amazing tournament will rightly be viewed as a failure.

---

SIERT LEVIE & MICHELE ETOILE

As promised earlier in the day, the two remaining duos of Chromatik Beach Volleyball met each other at one of the Chromatik team's lounges after their matches. Both Siert Levie and Aleksi Salo and Michelle Etoile and Charisma Lariott had overcome their opponents in three sets; both overcoming a loss on the second set to win the third.

"We did promise to meet here as victors," started Levie, "And I'm so happy that we were able to do so. Looks like you had a heck of a fight, though."

"The standards here are far higher than back home," answered Etoile, "But as the competition gets better, so do we; our best game is still ahead."

"One more win and a medal, right? Ready to finish things off?" inquired Levie.

"Make sure you come through on your end," responded Etoile cheekily, "Don't want to be the ones standing on that podium."

They spent the next half hour watching tape of their opposition - providing feedback that people that didn't play the sport simply could not provide.

Chromatika - not any other nation with warm, pristine beaches, but Chromatika - had a chance to land two medals in Beach Volleyball. These four people were a symbol of that, and they weren't going to let the opportunity go to waste.

---

JONATHAN MAURICE

Jonathan Maurice's run at the Men's 200M in these Olympic had started off with a disaster.

A split second late on getting off the starting block, he finished with a 20.98. Thankfully, the Repechage was available, and he prevailed there; but he managed to only post the sixth best time to make it to the Final. Sure, he was the first Chromatik to ever do so, and Chromatika had never won a medal in Athletics in short distance running, but it didn't look good for Maurice.

'I have nothing to lose,' Maurice told himself at the starting blocks, "Just pour everything into it."

His start wasn't the best, but by the time he was through 120 Meters, he kicked into gear. The result was a stunning win by more than three-tenths of a second - beating his own Chromatik Olympic Record set in the Semifinals and winning a stunning Gold Medal.

A flabbergasting result.

[Liventia]

DAY 14 CUTOFF

A reminder that the next cutoff is at 10:00 UTC on Monday 30 September, or 33.5 hours from now. Users in the Americas will have no scorination on Sunday local time.

[Panay Islands and Guimaras]

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to..

(English translation: Olympic Recap)
Where we will cover the Panayense athletes' performance in one recap!

ROBERTA EOM IN HER FIRST ATTEMPT FOR THE GLORY
Roberta Eom, a provincial #1 in wrestling for Capiz, took her first shot at the medal. It started strong on her first match against Naomi Timmermans, where she won by a single point. She wanna try the same thing she did against Waya Starfox, but it didn't work out as planned, making her debut gone into the second round. She hoped that she could go on and win next Olympics

MARCELA GOT TOO CLOSE FOR A WIN
Marcela Lim got also a shot for a medal, it started well on her first match against Alesya Surdalin of Kanmer, and also against Belanna Kim-Mosley of Quebec and Shingoryeo. But not for long as she got eliminated by Sara Francis of Liventia. She also hoped that next Olympics, she will shine and bring home the medal.

That's all for today's Resumen Olímpico, goodbye!

[Natanians and Nosts]

[...]
-Natanians and Nosts has one more medal chance;the men's 100m sprint relay quartet advanced to the final,which will happen tomorrow.And I am here with them,Acinonício,Acinônico,Mihai and Márcus.First of all,congratulations guys.Acinonício,how do you feel,after all these years,arriving at an olympic final?
-Thanks!Yeah,It's good,it's really good,but we must be ready and run better tomorrow.We have the worst time among the finalists and there were two equips that did better than us and failed to qualify,showing this is a really tough year.We hope to bring a medal,and it will be a special one,but being realist,just racing tomorrow and completing it will be enough.
-Thanks.Acicônico,how has the preparation been to arrive here?
-Thanks!And,well,it's been a battle,we've been battling and preparing for years,and have been concentrating for days,not just for relay racing,but also for the single races.It's really good being amongst the best in our sport,but we must not lose humblety and focus,and we must prepare,mentally and physically,so we can represent our nation as it deserves.
-Mihai,are you anxious for tomorrow?
-Thanks.I am really nervous,but all of us must keep in check and try to focus on just running,not to let anything bother us,it's just another race after all.Thanks to God we managed to have a good result today,and without Him we would have never made anywhere;but it's just one more race,from many more we will have on our lives.
-Márcus,how are you planning to commemorate in case you win gold tomorrow?
-Thanks!I am not really thinking of this,I just want to run,not to disappoint my teammates,and to represent my country.I'm just glad I'll be with my family regardless of the results,so there's nothing planned at all.We must focus,because there's hardly a chance for a medal.
-Thank you so much gentlemen!And now I'm passing to Mihai Ion.
-Yeah,and unfortunatelly,the women's quartet did not qualify for the final.Márcia da Silva suffered an injury and was not able to finish the race.Thanks to God she received treatment immediately and the news is that seemingly everything is going to be okay.We do send our thanks for the girls who were making a good race,and our wishes for a safe,fast and speedy recovery for Márcia;who later will be giving us an interview,alongside her teammates.And now I pass to Mihai Carolus.
[...]

[Magnus Phoenicia]

Chef-de-mission Statement

Good evening Magnus Phoenician athletes, coaches, support staff and fans

As Day 14 concludes, the XVIII Summer Olympics nears its finale with just two days of competition remaining.

The nation sits on 28 medals. Made up of 7 gold, 8 silver, 13 bronze.
The results have been a disappointment to many, with a medal tally lower than we’ve seen since our debut at the XI Summer Olympics, where we brought home just 8 medals. Our second-lowest count was at the XV Summer Olympic Games, where we finished with 31 medals. Sports analysts are now predicting that we may end up tying with that total from the XV Summer Olympics.

Though far below what we are truly capable of, this performance still deserves applause and recognition. Our athletes have shown incredible dedication and a "never give up" spirit that we can all be proud of.

Keep in mind the competition is far from over. Artistic swimming, boxing, athletics, wrestling, sailing, cycling, canoeing, sports climbing and breaking still have our athletes competing for a chance on the medal podium.
With female Bantamweight boxer Valentina do Rosário being a shoo in for either gold or silver in her upcoming bout against Katerina Draganov of Polkopia, the nation is just three medals away from securing a respectable finish.

All eyes are on these final moments of competition, with my fingers crossed and many prayers reaching our deitiee ears for the last two days.

WellIt has been a rollercoaster experience, amazing highs, upsetting lows and a few twists in between to keep us on our toes. But it is what makes the Olympic Games such a thrilling and heart stopping event.

Let us take a moment to applaud the incredible professionalism of our host nations. As Chef-de-mission, I had the privilege of visiting both countries and their vibrant, fun and clean cities that hosted this noble sporting event.

Spending time in Hamilton, I had the pleasure of taking in a football match, a boxing match, athletics and rhythmic gymnastics. It was very heart breaking to watch the finals of rhythmic gymnasticsand not see a Magnus Phoenician place, it is a popular sport and one we are very competitive in.

I did get to experience the national food of Electrum in the form of what is called a democracy sausage. There was quite a line, but the smell of frying onions kept me from wandering.

I had forgotten about the digital currency of Electrum in the form of the Synergy. I am so glad my personal assistant was around to remember the protocols of these two nations. She had the hindsight to ensure her digital currency was topped up. There was some odd looks when I squirted both tomato sauce and barbecue sauce onto my democracy sausage, but each to their own I say.

The high 30 degree days were also not my favourite. Hailing from the east coast of Magnus Phoenicia, my body is used to milder summers without the heat and dry wind brought on by the courtesy of the desert. But the city has quite remarkable urban planning for being on the edge of a desert. If you are a fan of the warmer weather, I encourage athletes who are still remaining to enjoy the warmer weather, just don't forget to slip, slop and slap.

Over in Liventia, I had the opportunity to sit in the Schimpol International Aquatics Centre to watch some of the heats and finals. While we failed to win any medals in swimming, the love shown with the waving of purple and gold flags showed our fighting spirit.

I was fortunate to have excellent seating at the Island Cricket Arena for the opening ceremony, offering a great view of our nation proudly marching in.
The artistry and entertainment that lead up to the parade of nations was equally spectacular and enchanting capturing the attention of millions. With record numbers tuning in from home, the event dominated the viewing time slot, truly winning the audience’s hearts.

It’s almost hard to believe that the Island Cricket Arena once served as an open-air temporary rink for Women’s Bandy during the XVI Winter Olympic Games—a sport in which we traditionally don’t excel.
To our surprise, the women’s team didn’t finish last.

While I didn’t have the chance to try Liventia’s sausage like I did in Electrum, I did explore the many bars, cafés, and restaurants nearby that offer a great taste of Liventian cuisine. The only downside is that Liventia is more progressive than Magnus Phoenicia, enforcing a smoking ban outside these hospitality venues. It can be a bit disappointing when you're eager to light up after a delicious meal.

Overall my appearance in both cities during these Games has made me proud to be Magnus Phoenician. Yes we are very competitive and driven, but these Games I have also seen the playful side and the applauding of competitiors even during our own defeat.

I look forward to see what these last two days offer.


Kim Na-gil; Chef-de-mission

[Da Cunha]

THE 18TH SUMMER OLYMPICS DAY 14 LIVE STREAM
Started streaming 101 minutes ago ---------- 10,043 watching now
CANÁL GOLÑUČÁVCA SÉSTRU

----

[i]I: "...So yeah, Tima has gone out to the boxing finals today. Callísto'll fill in at some point, so there'll be two of us here, but hopefully, Tima can go get a live reaction immediately after from Penelope Haldane. Whichever medal she gets."

Innozénza sighs, giving a frowny face to the camera.

I: "And honestly chat, we felt we needed to do something for today, because it's a VERY slow day for us from Da Cunha otherwise. Handball team semi final is the second most hype thing, and honestly... We're gonna be vamping quite a bit, I guess!"

----

I: "So, do you martial arts people hang out with the wrestlers and boxers as well?"

C: "A bit. I mean, we can talk about getting up close and stuff, but obviously, it's very different things. I know a couple of my friends hang out with some wrestlers and watch sumo stuff occasionally, but that's mainly for the crossover value, y'know."

I: "Never wanted to try out boxing?"

C: "Eh... I mean, honestly, to me it always felt a bit like playing into stereotypes. I already looked different from my classmates. Didn't feel like giving them more excuses to say my name was fake."

I: "Nice shot there from Haldane... Cagey match so far... They really said your name was fake?"

C: "Well, I mean, my mom and dad gave me a Cunhanese first name, and obviously my dad is Cunhanese, but you can't really tell, y'know. I got a real 'gets sunburnt on overcast days' kind of vibe. So sometimes yeah, they'd say 'I bet your name is actually some Scots thing'."

I: "That's pretty mean."

C: "Kids are mean. Eventually, they stopped once they got scared I'd beat them up, so you know... Their loss."

----

I: "And there goes the bell. Hooo boy..."

C: "Close. Pretty even in terms of the shots made."

I: "If this was Judo, who'd you give it to?"

C: "I mean, you cannot compare it... I mean, I think Penny got the edge, but eh... It's so tough to say with boxing judges."

I: "Well, we're getting the results in to the umpire now, it looks like..."

C: "Imagine dressing like an ice cream parlor attendee as an ump, by the way."

I: *giggles* "Well, the ice cream parlor man is here for the results. On the left is Shannon Moore of Diarcesia. On the right is Penelope Haldane of Da Cunha. For the gold medal..."

...

I: "It'll be... Haldane! Gold for Da Cunha! Yes, baby!"

C: "Great work Penny!"

I: "By a... 3-2 margin. An incredibly split decision there, but it goes the way of Penelope Haldane, and we WILL hear the national anthem today!"

----

C: "Well one out of two ain't bad?"

I: "I mean... Look, Da Cunha goes into every Olympics demanding all of our Beach Volley players get to the semi-final. 1 out of 4 did this time, and it's the best pair, but... I was just expecting more."

C: "You care too much about this."

----

I: "I mean, this has gotten a bit ugly now... Foot is clearly off the gas, and Crpostran still just can't do anything. We will get a final against Drawkland for revenge for the men's semi-final loss. But..."

C: "Starting to feel bad for them."

I: "And... 25-12. We are entering humiliation territory, and we've got 10 minutes left still. Um... I mean, good to get the starters a rest... Ho boy..."

----

C: "Hádçi Jácubić has done very well to get here, I must say. He's a great guy, really deserves this."

I: "His opponent, Marín, you know him well?"

C: "Not at all. I mean, he's been just about as dominant as Hádçi has been up till now, so this will either be a slugfest or a slow burn, and I cannot tell which one it will be."

----

C: "20 seconds on the clock."

I (Standing on a chair like a pirate in a barrel): "4-2 still, just need to avoid something disastrous."

C: "Marín is grappling and reaching, but nothing doing..."

I: "10 seconds... 5 seconds... Marín tries one more time... NO! Time! Gold for Da Cunha and for Hádçi Jácubić. My... You weren't lying about a slow burn, Callísto."

[Waisnor]

All this silver

After that elusive silver medal finally got into hands of Waisnor, Waisnorian fans calmed down. But there were still more days of Olympics to go, and so, more chances for Waisnorian athletes to get another gold. But this proved to be tough this day, even if Waisnorians were close to the gold two times:

One of those times was with Anna Golubtsova in women's shot put in athletics. For Waisnor, to leave Olympics without any field athletics medals would be quite a blow, regardless of the other medals in other disciplines, since Waisnorians take their field athletics pretty close to heart. Several big blows first in qualifications, and now in the Olympics proper dealt some damage to Waisnorian chances in this field, but there was still hope in some athletes, like Anna Golubtsova, who already set herself up as a pretty big threat in the qualifications, not to mention her previous international performances. But Anna's first throw wasn't that enticing, since she stepped over the circle and thus her try would not be counted. But thankfully in the 2nd throw Golubtsova fully redeemed herself, getting a shot for 20.39 metres, instantly putting herself 4th, and so, she needed to push herself just a little bit further to get that medal. And even if her 3rd throw was a bit worse with the result of 19.85 metres, she was still 4th with her goals still the same. But in the second part of the final with only 8 competitors now, things didn't look up good for Anna, with her 4th throw of 19.98 still leaving her where she was standing, and her 5th throw not being counted all together due to another case of stepping over the circle. But thankfully, her competitors also didn't change their best results, and so, a lucky 6th throw could change everything. And change it did: after a pretty intense spin, Golubtsova sent the shot for 20.51 metres, sending her from 4th straight to 2nd place, just 4 cm behind the gold medalist. But now, Anna was the silver medalist, accomplishing the goal for Waisnorian athletics.

Perhaps the Waisnorian athlete who was even closer to the gold medal was Vasilisa Siman in women's 57kg freestyle wrestling. These were not the first Olympics for Vasilisa - she also competed at two last ones, where she also won herself medals, getting two bronze medals in a row. And so, Siman came to these Olympics hoping to go one step further and to secure herself another medal, since after these Olympics goes fully into other tournaments and preparations for Los Angeles Games. But with this background, her first bout with Fatima Barrueco from Sargossa looked uncharacteristically hard with Barrueco getting Siman pretty hard resistance with full time ending with 1-1 tie. But initially, victory was awarded to Vasilisa, letting her progress into the next round, where against Palmira Mondy of Britonisea she didn't let her to gain the same advantage as Fatima did, getting herself an advantage right from the start, and in the end, getting the win with the score of 4-2. In quarterfinals, Ordóña Elmetdínević from Da Cunha Islands was awaiting him, and it was another pretty tough match for Vasilisa with both athletes getting points on each other right after the other. But in the end, Siman scored another point and won the match with the score of 3-2, progressing herself into the semifinals. There, Waisnorian had to face Margot Recherche from Electrum, and this battle proved to be possibly the easiest for her, since Siman was able to crack the defenses of Margot almost instantly and easily won with the score of 9-3, finally pushing past the bronze medal in the Olympics. And finally, to win the gold, Vasilisa needed to defeat Helena Gerasimova from Doubeia, but that proved to be a tough nut to crack, since she wasn't able to even score a point on her. But neither did Helena, leading the judges to make a difficult decision. Eventually, Gerasimova was awarded the gold thanks to her more refined technique, but Siman, even after losing, was left satisfied with herself adding a silver medal to her 2 bronzes.

Other Waisnorian results:
In women's duet in artistic swimming, Antonina Guryeva and Nadezhda Stolypina placed 13th in technical routine
Anatoly Skopin placed 12th in men's 10m platform qualification in diving
In women's C-2 500m, Larisa Groholskaya and Julia Gutor finished 5th in their semifinal and after that, 6th in Final B and 14th overall
Ekaterina Egorova lost to Fleur Maury from Ko-oren in women's sprint round 2 in cycling
Waisnorian women's handball team lost to Drawkland in the semifinal with the score of 27-30
After 16 races in sailing's men's kiteboard, Mikhail Pugach placed 21st
In women's speed in sport climbing, Yana Borkova was seeded 16th and lost to Trisha Yulianti from United Mandaran States in qualification
In men's 87kg greco-roman wrestling, Dmitry Borovsky reached the quarterfinals, was picked for repechages and defeated there by Aaron Rush from Magnus Phoenicia

Random Waisnorian tweets about Olympics:

[Libesia]

Expected competitors on Day 15:

Salekany Temo, men’s 800 m final
Isabella Schiele, women’s javelin throw final
Jasmin Meissner and Hannah Kogler, women’s golf day 4

“…and Molwantwa Loago now handing over to Lefika Khumoetsile with Libesia in a really strong position here, but wait, there’s someone coming past on the outside, it’s…!”

…

“…a great back straight by Folami and now as the stagger starts to unwind she’s in with a chance, but wait, there’s someone coming past on the inside, it’s…!”

…

“…three laps to go and Wambui still leads a stretched out field, can she run everyone else off her, but wait, there’s someone coming past on the *̸̙͙̖͚͈̎͊̇́̎̋͛̈͌̒̾̊̀̓͋͐̈́̄͘̚͝*̷̡̗͎̣͚͖͖̯̙͍̦͓̘̙̮̳͉̊͛͐̇̅̽̃̈́̂̈́̑̊̒̅̐̈́͗́͜ͅͅ*̶̡̧̥̳̝̺͉̼̹̺͙͑͛͆͆͂̓̽̀͌̉̓̇̏͊͌́̐͗̄͘͘͝͝͝͝ͅ*̶̨̡̛̖̮̘̭̦̟̭͎̬̪̬̟̠͚̱̩͚̞̣̖̀͑̌̋͛͗̃̐̽̈̀́̅̃̕͠͝͠ͅside, it’s…!”

---

The Olympics are reaching the business end, with big finals and long competitions reaching their dramatic climax. But limited Libesian involvement in many of these events means it will be an exceptionally light day of competition, with just four athletes in action: Salekany Temo runs in the men’s 800 m to try to put a gloss on what has been a disappointing middle distance performance from Team Libesia, but Chromatik pair Morimoto Ryunosuke and Han Do-Hyuk will start as favourites; on current form Isabella Schiele is an unlikely medal hope in the women’s javelin throw, but this has been a good Olympics for women’s field events – in fact, Libesia’s women on the field have outperformed their higher profile track teammates – so there is always hope. Wait, two Drawkian javelin throwers qualified for the final. Scratch that, there is no hope. And Jasmin Meissner currently lies in bronze medal position after posting a strong third round in a topsy-turvy golf competition that has seen her teammate Hannah Kogler hit a hole-in-one on a par 5 for, we don’t even know what kind of bird that is. A “condor” apparently?? TF??? Whatever it’s called we’d better get used to as no fewer than 5 other golfers “condored” the par 5 13th on the third day.

Though Libesian involvement may be limited, there is still the potential for some highlights on day 15, with exciting events like the men’s keirin, women’s volleyball finals, breaking, and watching Barkhastanis get punched in the face. But the big draw will be the men’s football final featuring Reginalida and…

oh no.

[Crpostran]

---

[*]OOC Note: All images are from real-life events, credits to photographers & athletes. Using these for the time being as AI-image gen credits are over lol . A big shoutout to Lisander for the pictograms! Viva la Crpostran!

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Olympics



De La Double


Raquel Solana writes;

The athletics on show at these Games have been of a staggering quality. The Hamilton Multi-Purpose Venue may have the worst title of any Olympic arena, but the action on show has belied the stadium’s dull moniker. Sargossa’s athletics delegation are on the cusp of their worst showing at a Games since Republica, but sometimes you just have to put your hands up and appreciate the strength of the opposition. Day fourteen saw a further eight Olympic records tumble, at a Games that has been no respecter of the landmarks of the past. Our women’s 4 x 400m record, held since Istria, was one of those to fall. As was Humberto De la Vega’s record-breaking mark in the triple jump, one he secured four years ago. Fortunately, the man to break it here was none other than Humberto De la Vega himself. He broke his own record with his very first attempt in the final. And he needed it too, with an astonishing eleven of the thirteen men in the final bettering the previous record mark. In the end just a centimetre separated De la Vega from the Mandaran duo of Lukman Trisman and Kevin Mulyanto. Such are the margins in world class athletics.

In the women’s heptathlon a real battle was brewing. Yesterday, the Afanc Strait’s Abby Oliver-Linden had shown herself to be the class act in the event, with victory in both the 100m hurdles and the high jump, and then third places in the shot put and 200m. Her overnight points tally of 4328 was formidable. But 188 points behind her in second place was our own Candelaria Peguero. Event five really cranked up the pressure, as Peguero finished third in the long jump while Oliver-Linden could only manage twentieth. Cutting her lead to 51 points. Peguero would follow that with an eighth place in the javelin, Oliver-Linden was twentieth again. That lead of nearly 200 points overnight was suddenly down to just over 20, with one event to go. But the heptathlon is a harsh mistress, and both athletes had already given so much to it. Two laps of the track were all that was left to decide the medals. And both ladies looked utterly spent. Laila Vatenfall won it, to lift herself onto the podium right at the death. Abby Oliver-Linden finished in twenty-second overall. While an exhausted Candelaria Peguero was twenty-eighth. It was a well-deserved gold for the Afanc athlete and a well-fought silver for Peguero. And there was great camaraderie on show amongst all the competitors at the conclusion of what is traditionally one of the Games most gruelling contests.

Elsewhere in the evening session, neither Priscila Luque nor Alexis Mariano troubled the medallists in the shot-put final. Asunción Amengual and Eva Franco exited the 100m hurdles at the semi-final stage, Iris Montes was well towards the back of the field and Candela Moruga was forced to limp off in the final of the 10,000m and the 4 x 400m relay time endured a messy heat which left them a long way shy of qualification. On the men’s side, Isaac Barrios finished fifth in the 400m hurdles. But there is some good news from the track, as the 4 x 400m team won their qualification heat to advance to tomorrow night’s final. These Games have been a continuation of the troubling times in the relay events and have been a troubling time out on the track just in general. So that result was particularly well received. Marathons aside, there’s now just one further day of athletics action at these Games. Can the team end on a high? Luis Escribano will contest the final of the 5,000m. Gabriel Gálvez will do the same in the high jump and the 4 x 400m team will feature in tomorrow night’s big finish.

Over in Schimpol, the divers continued their strong showing at the Lox Land Swimming Centre. Michelle Pareja’s fourth place in the 3m springboard would have stung, but after the fact she’ll look back on it with pride I’m sure. Both Felix Gutiérrez and Mauricio Miralles qualified for the semis of the 10m platform. Over at the Island Cricket Arena, Catalina Campos finished fifth in the individual dressage. Fourth and fifth places have been popular among the Sargossan delegation at these Games. But there will be no such finish in the men’s breaking, with our debut B-boys, Raul Ruiz and Manuel Palau, beaten in their preliminary battles. Back in Hamilton, at the Jane Bryson Memorial Arena, there was disappointment in the gymnastics as the nation’s women failed to make the final of the team all-around. But at Hamilton Tennis Park we were a whisker away from the strangest medal of the Games. Arturo Espina, Tobías Saavedra and Nico Villa may have lost their bronze medal matchup to Crpostran in the men’s table tennis team event, but they went deeper into the table tennis contest than any Sargossan for decades. And have earned the sport a few extra fans in the process.

The current medal tally sits at thirty-five, but that will certainly become thirty-six tomorrow. As Aleta Boda, reigning women’s heavyweight champion, defends her boxing crown against the Alezian Union’s Ilma Rasyidah. Although that is merely the starter, before a very tasty looking final day bout in the women’s lightweight category. Radana Velimirović, who was a product of the Mytanar system before donning the dark blue of Sargossa, goes toe-to-toe with her former teammate Hafiza Avdagic, with the gold medal itself on the line. It’s not just boxing fans who are getting very excited about that one.

[Chromatika]

KEY MOMENTS FROM THE XVIII OLYMPIAD
Day 14

DAE SO-RAN

According to her Mother, Dae So-Ran was named that because of just how much she moved around before she was born. So-Ran in Korean can be roughly translated to "a ruckus, a conundrum, a lot of noise" - and apparently, she had done so much of that to deserve the moniker. It was to nobody's surprise that So-Ran became an athlete, and it became very clear immediately that she was way too distracted to just play one sport. Living in her family's ranch in Anfanhar, So-Ran grew up around horses. She also was an avid fencer, took up shooting, and was rather quick at running, too.

It was in her Freshman year of High School that she learned about the sport of Modern Pentathlon - where you fence, ride, shoot, swim, and run. It was the perfect blend of chaos and order that she needed so badly in her life. She devoted to the sport in a hurry - and it was obvious that she was very good at it. Fencing was her favorite, but she excelled at all disciplines - and she qualified for the Olympics at age seventeen.

She won a Gold Medal in those first Olympics, setting an Olympic Record. The next two Olympics saw her not even sniff the podium, and with Chromatika missing the Seventeenth Games, there was some discussion about whether So-Ran's time of dominance was over.

Now at twenty-seven years of age, So-Ran approached these Olympics with a bit of urgency. She flew through to the finals, beating her own Olympic Record in the process, and approached the Final with the same precision and passion.

A perfect score in Riding was the best start, her time with horses from childhood coming in the clutch. She placed second in Fencing, barely losing out to Krystal Bass. She was middle of the pack in Swimming, arguably her weakest event.

Which left the laser run. She knew that Krystal Bass wasn't going to be easily beat, so she really pressed the pedal to the medal.

When the dust settled, she had a score of 1478 - good for another Olympic Record, and another Gold Medal.

Washed? Never. Moment too big for her? Absolutely not. Done for good? Not on her watch. This was her event, and she had reasserted her dominance on it.

---

SIERT LEVIE & MICHELLE ETOILE

First goal? Accomplished. Two medals secured for Chromatik Beach Volleyball - the first two in history.

Only one match would now stand between the two Chromatik duos and two Olympic Gold Medals. Siert Levie and Aleksi Salo had come back from a heartbreaking defeat on the first set to take the second before dominating the third; Michelle Etoile and Charisma Lariott, on the other hand, never let the duo of Rosemary Peacock and Nikita Konrad breathe, winning 21-14 and 21-11.

It would not be easy to win this final match, but they were just playing with house money at this point. To compete in Beach Volleyball as a Chromatik meant traveling out of country for the majority of the year due to the harsh weather climates that didn't support playing outside nine months out of the year; though the country did help with this, a lot of it was from their own pockets.

With two medals, potentially Gold, a lot of the narrative around this sport could change - and they were very well aware of it.

---

JONATHAN MAURICE

"What's it like to be a Gold Medalist?" Felis Gilges had asked Jonathan this morning, Ilda Takanibu and Ryan Milcent looking on with rapt interest. Jonathan had elevated himself to be a bit of a celebrity among his teammates, and as they prepared for the Men's 4x100M Relay final, he could tell that he had a chance to impact his teammates before their big race. 38.13 had helped them to the Final, but they knew there was a lot of work to be done - especially with how smooth they could make their handoffs.

"It's a surreal feeling," he responded, "But you remember all the time that you spent to get to that point. We can get there, too."

They looked at each other meaningfully, taking in his words.

Later that evening, by the time that Ryan Milcent handed the baton off to Jonathan, he had a lead. It was a bit contentious that Maurice, who was more of a 200M sprinter than a 100M, was the anchor; the logic was that he was better in the latter 100M than the first 100.

Maurice responded with his best split as part of the 4x100M team this Olympics, helping anchor the team to a Gold Medal that made him the first two-time Gold Medalist in Chromatik Athletics history.

As he joined his teammates on the podium, he could hardly believe how much his life had changed in the last two days.

[North Oharan Valley Union]

Timestamp: 29 September 2024 - 21h11
Tags: Games of the XVIII Olympiad, Mission Olympica

---

Five to watch today

Levan Iosava * Athletics * A remarkably relaxed Levan Iosava shook hands with the journalists who decided to take time for one of our last athletics aces. The 32-year old had already announced that this would be his last competition on the track, as he aspires to make a name for himself in the street circuit and dreams of challenging for trophies in the marathon later on. But first, he wants to see how far he can reach in an Olympic final. In his semifinal, we saw a relaxed Iosava as the Mteborian kept up with the top runners without much problem. When asked for his tactics for this final, he refused to go into detail. “There is little use in wisening up the opposition. I am not a believer of following a pace plan to the centimeter: sometimes feeling the rhythm of the race is more important as this one is about the medals, not the time.” If he stays true to his usual recipe, we can expect a Iosava who prefers a hard race rather than strolling towards a last-lap sprint.

Andrij Tymchuk * Athletics * Apparently, yesterday was ‘stunning Cherpahorian on the 800m Day’. The tall heptathlete Nelya Kravchuk showed it first in the final event of her competition. With a, characteristically, excellent display at the long jump and a personal best on the javelin, the former basketball player had crawled her way up to eleventh after an average opening day. The 800m usually incites fear in her heart but not here in Hamilton. Teammate and close friend Hanna Morozova, who could not repeat her splendid preliminaries in the final, sacrificed herself to defend the position of Kravchuk with a good pacesetting. Kravchuk outdid herself to go beyond 2:10, managing to finish strong despite cramping up just by the end.

A smile on the face of Tymchuk as he just grabbed a surprising spot for the final.

Ample minutes later, Andrij Tymchuk appeared for his fifth race of the Olympics. The blond 21-year old has been our sole middle-distance runner at level and with his guts and confidence, he won quite some hearts with the fans. Tymchuk always quips a good quote and gets the ladies swooning. But in his fast semi-final, no one was paying attention to the lad in the yellow shirt who was hanging by the back. When Nais and Morgan, who battled for the lead, lost their pace a little at 200m, home favorite Jasper Li rushed to the front. Only Tymchuk could react to the Electrumite and he earned himself a final position. A medal is out of the question for the man who has blossomed these last two weeks, but so far (apart from the Moynihan medal) our best finishing spot has been the seventh of Revita Romanovske. Could Tymchuk, who has the ‘race mindset’ to fight for position, manage to do better?

Avedissian & Pakradouni * Canoeing * It is K-1 day! There has been a lot of turmoil around our kayaking stars but when all is said and done, the individual event never lies and our two stars will have to prove it. Julia Pakradouni arrives at Motson Lake in a relaxed fashion. The early elimination of the K-2 was a blessing in disguise in that way, with only her own event left to focus on. In her bubbly vlogs, she appears quite modest and even a little out of focus but you can be sure that Pakradouni has a burning ambition to make the final (and even a bit more). The same goes for her male counterpart, the experienced 31-year old Khatchadour Avedissian. If all goes well, he will have to stomach eight races in five days, not the perfect recipe. When it comes to the mental front, the situation seems a bit hazy. The K-4 line-up could not deliver: after the fact, most people point to youngster Sirants but overall the chemistry was lacking. That chemistry appeared just in time with Robin O’Casey in the K-2. As previously reported, neither was happy to be placed together in one boat but in Schimpol, they found a good rhythm. They left the Olympics with an Olympic best to their name but without a medal: in the final, they lost the rhythm in the ultimate end, allowing Quebecois Goh/Wallenberg to scoop the bronze. Is this an Avedissian eager for revenge or has the stress and exhaustion of his previous appearances caught up with him?

Einarts Voicis * Speed Climbing * As our boulder and lead specialists managed a unique harvest during these Olympics, winning four of the six medals available (with the other two going to the home favorites from Liventia), few people have bothered to watch the speed climbing so far. It is a peculiar event, approximately the shortest one on the agenda, as the athletes tackle the height spiderlike. Within the North Oharan Valley Union, speed climbing is barely represented with only two walls resembling the Olympic requirements. One of those is in Ruivi, the other one in Cesuldene, at the outskirts of the de facto capital of Vilarme. Our two representatives in this discipline, Voicis and Krievina, both hail from the club around the latter wall. Their escape from the qualification round already was a success, coming within one victorious heat from that coveted top eight is already beyond the expectations. His win over Darmeni Jewell in the opening round was not flawless but good enough to battle it out with Aitan Van Den Berg. The latter’s best at Harley Square so far was 4.96, a time that Voicis has bested thrice already. It opens up possibilities to join the group with an Olympic diploma for Voicis and to get his peculiar discipline on the map.

Voicis, pictured here at the Cesuldene Climbing Arena, has already exceeded the expectations.

Pictures are AI generated and should not be considered for grading.

[Ko-oren]

Gymnastics - Rhythmic
Meet 1 - Monrama

*  National Preliminaries         Hoop    Ball   Clubs  Ribbon     Total
 1 Aositi Agcinia (m)           26.400  28.675  28.475  28.650   112.200
 2 Sebastien Abbe (m)           28.325  26.975  28.625  28.000   111.925
 3 Parthena Howbrook (f)        27.275  28.300  27.775  28.525   111.875
 4 Darguk Mebsendin (m)         26.175  28.150  28.250  28.650   111.225
 5 Aed yCardwenon (f)           25.925  27.975  28.450  28.675   111.025
 6 Ozhorana Thisheshen (f)      26.650  28.550  28.575  26.675   110.450
 7 Agemi Aoreise (f)            27.400  26.625  27.725  28.600   110.350
 8 Gaby Khjeuten (f)            28.275  26.550  27.750  27.400   109.975
 9 Angelique Lithen (f)         28.675  27.200  25.850  27.575   109.300
10 Grace Zhehbogun (f)          28.500  25.225  27.500  27.725   108.950
11 Roedolf Voludwizethen (m)    27.875  27.275  28.150  25.525   108.825
12 Thohzhu Duhligun (m)         26.375  25.100  28.675  28.475   108.625
13 Sandra Kjoigun (f)           26.075  28.325  25.850  28.250   108.500
14 Vatjogauek Saladin (m)       26.875  27.550  26.125  27.600   108.150
15 Jessamy Hadhwiloten (f)      26.800  28.550  26.400  26.350   108.100
16 Shunpei Zatjouzen (m)        27.775  26.525  27.525  25.500   107.325
17 Lucile Shweughin (f)         26.125  27.600  27.150  26.450   107.325
18 Bwoino Kaiden (m)            25.550  27.700  28.175  25.875   107.300
19 Ghiselin Ralwejevufan (m)    26.325  24.625  27.500  28.150   106.600
20 Matheo Nobert (m)            25.700  25.750  26.500  27.525   105.475
21 Shizuko Tsautsautein (f)     24.250  26.875  28.125  26.125   105.375
22 Egavu Abivu (m)              26.400  25.925  26.775  25.500   104.600

Four big names that we expect the absolute most from in their Olympic qualification attempts: Darguk Mebsendin, Parthena Howbrook, Agemi Aoreise, and Ozhorana Thisheshen. In the first meet, in the southwest, for the most part everyone's in midseason form. The meet is won by someone outside of the four, however: Aositi Agcinia comes out with not the best hoop routine, but makes up for it and then some in the remaining four events to just edge out over Sebastien Abbe, also a relative surprise up there, who could have won it given a slightly better score on the ball - maybe should've trained with Aminey CS or Tanques AOE a bit more. At three and four we find the big two, with Howbrook scoring 27+ in every event, and Darguk setting very high scores on everything except the hoop, but nothing that can't be fixed by the second and third meets. In six and seven we find the other two, behind a much improved Aed yCardwenon.

Meet 2 - Sathtonoru

*  National Preliminaries         Hoop    Ball   Clubs  Ribbon     Total
 1 Parthena Howbrook (f)        28.200  28.725  28.600  28.525   114.050
 2 Darguk Mebsendin (m)         28.675  28.100  28.375  28.400   113.550
 3 Aositi Agcinia (m)           28.175  27.625  28.700  27.850   112.350
 4 Vatjogauek Saladin (m)       26.800  28.100  28.300  28.225   111.425
 5 Egavu Abivu (m)              28.175  27.750  28.125  26.850   110.900
 6 Sebastien Abbe (m)           28.400  26.925  27.775  27.575   110.675
 7 Thohzhu Duhligun (m)         28.650  26.425  27.650  27.850   110.575
 8 Matheo Nobert (m)            27.500  27.700  26.875  28.500   110.575
 9 Angelique Lithen (f)         27.250  27.725  28.650  26.625   110.250
10 Roedolf Voludwizethen (m)    26.850  27.325  28.250  27.625   110.050
11 Agemi Aoreise (f)            25.475  28.000  28.525  27.800   109.800
12 Shizuko Tsautsautein (f)     27.025  27.775  26.675  28.225   109.700
13 Gaby Khjeuten (f)            28.300  27.150  27.175  26.950   109.575
14 Aed yCardwenon (f)           28.150  27.900  25.725  27.650   109.425
15 Ghiselin Ralwejevufan (m)    26.700  27.175  27.300  27.800   108.975
16 Ozhorana Thisheshen (f)      28.700  26.675  26.100  27.350   108.825
17 Shunpei Zatjouzen (m)        26.350  27.850  27.675  26.800   108.675
18 Jessamy Hadhwiloten (f)      27.500  28.675  26.200  25.250   107.625
19 Lucile Shweughin (f)         26.550  26.975  27.975  25.850   107.350
20 Bwoino Kaiden (m)            28.325  26.125  26.175  25.850   106.475
21 Grace Zhehbogun (f)          26.075  25.325  27.750  26.400   105.550
22 Sandra Kjoigun (f)           25.925  24.200  28.425  24.975   103.525

Howbrook and Mebsendin float to the top in the much improved second meet. And Agcinia keeps up with the top two very nicely as well! From the first meet to the second, there's more of a focus on musicality - the basics should be all taken care of by now, and this is where fundamentals and individuality meet. It's here where the different music choices really come to the forefront: classical tracks from the eastern and southwestern courts for some - yes, it's still here after all these years - but modern tracks and video game music is absolutely on the table these days. Anything with dynamics, some loud, some soft, to punctuate slower or more intense parts of the routine.

Meet 3 - Hellegahrug

*  National Preliminaries         Hoop    Ball   Clubs  Ribbon     Total
 1 Gaby Khjeuten (f)            28.350  28.700  28.350  28.400   113.800
 2 Parthena Howbrook (f)        28.575  26.850  28.650  28.400   112.475
 3 Darguk Mebsendin (m)         28.675  26.700  28.700  27.775   111.850
 4 Shunpei Zatjouzen (m)        27.575  28.600  28.500  26.600   111.275
 5 Ozhorana Thisheshen (f)      28.650  25.500  28.675  28.300   111.125
 6 Egavu Abivu (m)              28.375  26.800  27.550  28.400   111.125
 7 Matheo Nobert (m)            28.100  28.150  26.950  27.500   110.700
 8 Agemi Aoreise (f)            28.150  27.050  26.475  28.700   110.375
 9 Aed yCardwenon (f)           28.375  27.475  26.950  27.075   109.875
10 Sandra Kjoigun (f)           28.600  27.725  26.075  26.775   109.175
11 Bwoino Kaiden (m)            27.550  27.600  26.650  27.325   109.125
12 Aositi Agcinia (m)           27.625  25.475  27.075  28.650   108.825
13 Jessamy Hadhwiloten (f)      26.000  27.225  27.925  27.325   108.475
14 Ghiselin Ralwejevufan (m)    27.100  28.550  26.400  26.100   108.150
15 Grace Zhehbogun (f)          25.625  27.375  28.600  26.525   108.125
16 Vatjogauek Saladin (m)       27.275  26.550  28.600  25.300   107.725
17 Roedolf Voludwizethen (m)    25.825  26.050  27.425  27.500   106.800
18 Shizuko Tsautsautein (f)     26.600  26.800  26.525  26.850   106.775
19 Angelique Lithen (f)         26.200  25.225  26.700  27.050   105.175
20 Lucile Shweughin (f)         25.725  26.625  26.150  26.325   104.825
21 Sebastien Abbe (m)           25.775  26.650  25.575  26.500   104.500
22 Thohzhu Duhligun (m)         25.125  27.000  26.425  25.875   104.425

For the final meet of the season, Howbrook and Mebsendin are still near the top, but the overall third best score of the season was set by a new athlete. Khjeuten manages 28+ on every apparatus and deserves a massive 113.8. For Thisheshen, it's a season that leaves her with a couple of lessons to learn: she wasn't rewarded by the judges on her difficulty score, no matter how flawless the routine. For the fourth big name, Aoreise, there's even more to take away, with her highest ranking being seventh (in meet one). A few mistakes contributed to the poor score. Lapses of focus, on top of little recognition for the interplay between the music and the movements. Other athletes were rewarded on and off for good moments, changing a few things here and there and going all-in with a handful of risky manoeuvres and coming out lucky: Khjeuten in meet three, of course, but Abbe's luck going the other way after meet two to end up in 21st, for instance.

[Britonisea]

Sports News
Brityunik Vefecosoin Cairkovoin
http://www.bvc.com/news

---

Day 14

---

Britonisea enjoys its most successful day at the Games with 3 golds...

Britonisea is currently sitting in fifth place in the medal table, which would be the nation's best performance competing as an independent NOC - but there are still two days to go until the final table is revealed...

Britonisea is having a fantastic Games, truth be told. While the nation is projected to fall short of the whopping 21 golds and 50 overall medals won at the previous Games, at a larger Olympics with more nations competing, the results are astounding and shows that the quality of the Britonish system is still very high. Britonisea has won a medal in 18 different sports so far (by the end of the Games last time, the nation won a medal in 20), with impressive improvements shown in wrestling which has more than doubled its medal haul from the previous Olympics - with a couple more wrestlers missing out on medals in the repechage rounds. Today, a stunning three gold medals were added to Britonisea's overall medal count:

GOLD - CANOEING - Men's K2 500m - Tion Nottingham/Usnavi Manana

The slightly shorter distance was great for Tion Nottingham and Usnavi Manana who usually are able to get out pretty fast. The pairing won a bronze and gold medal in the K2 1000m over the past two Olympics and wanted to retain their K2 title coming into these Games. While they did enough to qualify as the Britonish choice for the K2 500m, the men did not make it to the final at the Saintlake Regatta, whereas the likes of Lee Tanner and Fastulf Hanson from Darmen and Francisco Santucho/Gonzalo dos Santos from Tero al Disco did. Tion and Usnavi were up against those two pairings and knew that they would be on their top form. At the Saintlake Regatta, the pair clocked a time of 1:29.558 and knew that they would have to go much faster if they were in for a chance at the Olympics. That is exactly what they did, but the team from Darmen did give them a run for their money, sticking with them and even taking the lead at certain points of the race. It was a truly extraordinary fight to the bitter end.

GOLD - EQUESTRIAN - Dressage - Niall Dorsey

Despite Britonisea's love affair with horses, a medal in equestrian for the most part has eluded the nation. A gold medal was one a couple of Olympics ago, but real success was missing even at these Games. An example of this was the jumping team event when Britonisea was the highest placed nation in the qualifying - by far. The nation looked dead certain to win the gold, but mishaps done by Miesha Bunting and Keisha Eugene unfortunately cost the team the chance of a gold medal which would've been that group's second. Along comes Niall Dorsey - overlooked, especially after his arguably poor performance in the dressage team event. Out of nowhere, the Briton won the gold, meaning that the country would gain its first equestrian medals since the XV Games. Niall was shocked himself when he learnt that it was him that won the gold, calling it his "greatest achievement ever."

GOLD - GYMNASTICS - Rhythmic - Women's Individual - Ria Preston

After the disappointment of artistic gymnastics and the men's rhythmic gymnastics, there was a chance that despite winning four gold medals at the previous Games, Britonisea could go home with zero at these Games. Ria Preston, however, had something to say about that. Poised and perfect, Ria reminded the multiverse who was in charge, with her impressive clubs and ribbons routine putting her in the lead. She ended up with a total of 141.250 points, a clear victory which came to a relieffor her as at the last Games, she was tied with second place Lilian Agramonte from Sargossa, who didn't seem to make the cut at these Games. Ria Preston also made it through to the women's team event finals in second place with her fellow gymnasts. They will need to defeat strong competition from Crpostran who finished qualifiers in first place, alongside Team Diarcesian and Liventia - the bronze and silver medallists from the last Games. You can't count out Alezian Union, Polkopia and the hosts Electrum either...it will be a rough final.

Day 14 also saw success in greco-roman wrestling as Rocky Marín made it to the final, but just missed out on victory and potentially Britonisea's second male greco-gold. Laila Vatenfall has finally won a medal in the women's heptathlon after years of trying while her sister, Helena Vatenfall placed 9th in the end. Helena did medal in the women's 4x100m relay. While the team did win gold at the previous Games, the silver medal will come as a relief. Aside from the Britonish girls, the women's 4x100m was rather shambolic, with half of the field not finishing - only four teams crossed the finish line in a race that will probably go down in history...

[Polkopia]

..The Silent Protest..

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

---

The train to Centralis had been as slow and torturous as Larisa Kravtsyeva had imagined. While four hours seemed short on paper, the reality of the situation was that each passing minute felt like an eternity. The tightness in her chest didn’t ease, and she gripped the armrest beside her so hard that her knuckles turned white. She knew she had no reason to trust anyone, not even the Quebecois officials arranging her escape, but it was too late to turn back now.

Her thoughts drifted to the events that had brought her here. Larisa had been uneasy ever since that race, since that fateful moment she’d dared to make a statement against the new Polkopian president. The cheers of the crowd, the flash of cameras... all of it had all felt so surreal. And now? Now, she was a target. The moment she’d crossed her arms over her chest, the nation had crossed her off their list of patriots. A traitor, an enemy to be silenced. She knew what that meant. In Polkopia, that was a death sentence.

But it wasn’t the lingering fear of arrest that had kept her on edge during the train ride. No, it was the unknown. She felt like she was being watched, like every passenger on the train could be an agent of the Polkopian secret police, sent to drag her back across the border before she could reach safety. And as the train moved through the countryside, she tried to act natural, to blend in, but paranoia clung to her and threatened to suffocate her with every passing moment.

The small passenger car she was assigned to felt just as suffocating. Though the Quebecois authorities had promised her security, every stranger who walked past seemed to be eyeing her too closely. She mentally took note of each one. The elderly man in the wool cap who’d sat too long in the dining car. The young woman a few rows ahead who had adjusted her seat several times, glancing over her shoulder as if checking for something. Even the conductor... did he recognize her? Was he looking at her too intently? Every small gesture seemed suspicious.

She turned slightly to her left, peering through the narrow window of her compartment. There was a tall, well-dressed man standing in the corridor. He had dark hair slicked back neatly, and his face was serious as he scanned the rows. Larisa’s heart rate quickened. She had seen men like him before - clean-cut, serious, all business. That was the kind of look Polkopian agents were trained to wear. He glanced in her direction, and she stiffened, feigning sleep as he stepped closer. Was he coming for her?

But just as quickly as the man’s gaze had settled on her, he turned and moved away. Larisa released a shaky breath, but the anxiety didn’t fade. What if he was simply waiting? What if he was making a mental note of her position, planning something for when they reached Centralis?

In the back of her mind, she kept replaying her meeting with the Quebecois ambassador. His words had been comforting enough, the assurance of a new life somewhere far from Polkopia. But what if this was a trap? She knew how complicated geopolitics could be. What if the Quebecois were planning to use her as leverage, or worse, to hand her over to her enemies? She had no reason to trust them. They were, after all, strangers with their own agenda. They weren't obligated to help her, so why were they?

The minutes dragged on, and she forced herself to look casual, glancing out the window occasionally as if taking in the scenery. But her eyes kept darting to the reflection in the glass, scanning for any unusual movement. That tall man hadn’t reappeared, but now there was a new presence—a blonde woman in a business suit who had just entered the car. Larisa tensed, watching as the woman lingered by the door, her gaze sweeping across the compartment. Was she another agent? Or just another unlucky traveler caught up in the chaos of Larisa’s paranoia?

Her stomach churned as the woman moved closer, stopping a few rows away. She reached into her pocket, and Larisa flinched, gripping the armrest again as if it were the only thing anchoring her to this fragile reality. But the woman simply pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at her forehead, as if the summer heat had gotten to her.

Larisa forced herself to breathe. Calm down. Not everyone is after you. Not everyone is an enemy. But the mantra did little to ease her racing thoughts. She’d seen the photos of Polkopian dissidents under the regime of Malcolm Polk who’d tried to escape before. Most of them never made it out of their city, let alone the country. And even those who did often found themselves hunted down years later, “disappeared” without a trace. Much like the oppressive governments of Polkopia's past, the Vasić regime didn’t forgive traitors. They erased them.

The train jerked slightly as it slowed, and a voice crackled over the intercom, announcing an unscheduled stop. Larisa’s pulse spiked. Unscheduled stops were never good. Had something gone wrong? She craned her neck, trying to see past the rows of seats. Outside, the platform was deserted except for a single figure—a woman, dark-haired, wearing a Quebecois uniform. The door to the train slid open, and the woman stepped aboard.

Larisa shrank back into her seat as the woman scanned the compartment, her eyes lingering briefly on Larisa before moving on. The dark-haired woman took out a small device and murmured something into it, then nodded slightly. A moment later, a second figure appeared at the door, and Larisa’s heart nearly stopped.

The man who stepped in was tall, with dark hair slicked back neatly, his face set in a serious expression.

It was the same man from before.

Panic shot through her. She fought the urge to bolt from her seat, forcing herself to remain still, to stay calm. The man and the woman exchanged a few words in hushed tones, and then, as if sensing her gaze, the man turned his head, locking eyes with her.

For a long, terrifying moment, they stared at each other. Then the man smiled - a brief and distinguishable curl of his lips.

Larisa’s blood turned to ice.

The man’s smile faded, replaced by a hard, unreadable stare. She knew that look. It was the look of a predator assessing his prey. Had they been found out already? Had someone in Quebec leaked her location, or was it someone else on the train who’d recognized her?

The dark-haired woman beside him whispered something into her headset, and the tall man shifted his weight. He wasn’t moving toward her yet, but every nerve in Larisa’s body screamed that she needed to run. But where would she go? There was no escape from this train. She was trapped.

Then, as if on cue, the intercom crackled again, announcing their arrival at Centralis Station in fifteen minutes. The moment the message ended, the woman stepped forward, gesturing to the man with a quick flick of her wrist. Larisa watched, frozen, as they moved purposefully through the aisle. They were closing in. She could feel it.

Just then, a sharp knock on her compartment door made her flinch. She turned sharply, eyes wide, only to see a familiar face - a young woman with dark hair tied back in a tight bun, wearing a Quebecois uniform. It was her contact.

“Miss Kravtsyeva,” the woman said quietly, her accent crisp and professional. “It’s time.”

Larisa’s breath came out in a shuddering exhale. Relief mingled with the terror that still gripped her. She nodded jerkily, forcing her legs to cooperate as she rose from her seat. The young woman - her name was Céline, or something like that - glanced back down the aisle, her gaze flicking briefly to the two figures and then back to Larisa.

“They’re not with us,” Céline murmured under her breath. “We have to move. Now.”

“Who are they?” Larisa whispered, her voice barely audible.

“Polkopian agents, most likely,” Céline replied grimly. “They must have picked up on your trail sooner than expected. Come.”

Without waiting for an answer, Céline grabbed Larisa’s arm and tugged her toward the narrow aisle. Heart hammering, Larisa followed, keeping her head down as they navigated through the small, cramped space. The other passengers seemed oblivious, most of them engrossed in their books or napping quietly as the train sped toward Centralis Station.

“Don’t look back,” Céline warned softly, her grip firm on Larisa’s arm. “Just keep moving.”

But Larisa couldn’t help it. She stole a quick glance over her shoulder—and immediately wished she hadn’t. The man and the woman had changed direction and were following them, their expressions calm and focused. Her pulse quickened, and a fresh wave of panic washed over her.

“Wh-what do we do?” she stammered, struggling to keep her voice steady.

“Stay close,” Céline instructed. “Brooke’s team is waiting on the platform. We’ll transfer you to another car, then get you out of here.”

Who was Brooke? None of this was making any sense. But more importantly, would they make it in time?

The train shuddered as it began to slow, and Larisa’s heart pounded in sync with each clank of the brakes. They were almost at Centralis. If they could just reach the platform before...

“There!” a voice shouted behind them, sharp and authoritative.

Larisa’s heart dropped. She didn’t need to turn around to know that it was the man from before. They were running out of time. Céline cursed softly under her breath, then tightened her grip on Larisa’s arm.

“Run.”

The word sliced through the tension like a knife. Larisa didn’t hesitate. She bolted down the narrow aisle, weaving around startled passengers as Céline led the way. The compartment door slammed open as they burst into the next car, sprinting past confused onlookers. She could hear the agents behind them, each of their footsteps growing louder and louder with every step.

They tore through two more cars, the interior of the train blurring around her, until finally, mercifully, the train ground to a stop. The sudden deceleration nearly sent Larisa stumbling, but Céline yanked her upright, shoving her toward the exit.

“Go!” Céline shouted. “Get to the platform!”

Without hesitation, Larisa leaped out of the train and onto the platform. The station was a dizzying blur of activity - commuters and officials going about their business, train conductors shouting, the smell of diesel and iron in the air. But all of that faded into the background as her eyes locked onto the familiar figure of Brooke Angelhart-Milner, the Quebecois runner.

Brooke was waiting just a few yards away, flanked by two burly men in suits. She raised a hand, beckoning urgently. Larisa ran toward her, her breath hitching as she darted through the throng of people.

But before she could reach them, a hand clamped down on her shoulder, yanking her backward.

“Not so fast,” a low voice murmured in her ear.

Larisa twisted violently, terror flooding her veins. It was the man - the Polkopian agent. He had caught up. Panic surged through her as she struggled against his iron grip, but he was too strong, dragging her away from Brooke’s group.

“No!” she cried, flailing desperately. “Let me go!”

“Larisa!” Brooke’s voice rang out.

“Let her go,” one of Brooke’s guards barked, advancing on the Polkopian agent.

But the man merely tightened his grip, a cruel smile twisting his lips. “You’re not going anywhere, Kravtsyeva,” he hissed.

And then, everything happened at once. Brooke’s guards lunged, and the Polkopian agent swung Larisa around, using her as a human shield. People screamed, stumbling back as chaos erupted on the platform.

“Get down!” Céline shouted, appearing out of nowhere. She slammed into the agent’s side, knocking him off balance just enough for Larisa to wrench free.

She stumbled, gasping, and a pair of strong hands caught her, pulling her to safety. Brooke.

“Get her in the car!” A voice commanded, and Larisa found herself thrown in the backseat of an unmarked black van parked just outside of the station. The driver sped off, leaving the commotion of the recent altercation behind.

Larisa collapsed against the seat, trembling uncontrollably. They had made it. But for how long?

[Diarcesia]

DCS vs. DCU (Note: DCS is not "Da Cunha Series", just like DCU isn't "Diarcesian Cinematic Universe"—although you would think specialist historian buffs watch movies belonging to it, akin to Chinese films on the Three Kingdoms

)

Everything was decided thanks to one judge favoring DCU's Penelope Haldane. It could have gotten either way. It is perhaps one of the more entertaining matches in this Olympics's boxing, as if it's a titanic civil war between superhero factions.

It is said that winning silver is more painful than bronze, despite the former's higher rank. It held true for Shannon Moore representing the DCS trigram. An eagle-eyed watcher in the internet or TV could replay the milliseconds from the announcement and descry the telltale microscopic signs of disappointment and grief in Moore's face. It was only for a moment: Miss Moore's composure stayed and she appeared to brush it off on record while ACTO's interviewers queried her state of body and mind during and after the Middleweight Finals that she took part in.

Team Diarcesian Lady Rhythmic Gymnasts Enter Finals

Silver in XIII

Gold in XV

Bronze in XVII

Though Britonisea swept the rhythmic golds in XVII and also are fired up to keep their women's team championship, the gymnasts of Diarcesia here are no slouches and have the experience to back it up and are eager to break their even-numbered Olympics curse. And the other members of the Exalted Eight are illustrious in their own right. The defending silver medalists Liventia are sure to be hungry on converting it to a gold, and the home crowd in Electrum would lend their utmost support to their representatives. Kelssek's team returned to top form as they seek redemption in their first appearance in a women's final since the V Games. The Alezian Union failed to medal in XVII, and revenge and resurgence is likely to be the name of their game, to prove the established players wrong and show that they are the best. Polkopia wants to dazzle viewers with performances that would bring the audience to the very best of WorldVision. How about Crpostran? It seems that even if the gymnasts were not directly affected, they directed their frustration on their country being disqualified from the earlier Winter Games and showed to the veterans in qualifying that they belong in the finals in convincing fashion.

This competition will be one for the history books. And in Diarcesia, this event probably will garner the highest streaming and TV ratings.

[Alezian Union]

---

DIARIES OF A CHAIR-REGION

30th of September 2024
Hotel Room in Hamilton, Electrum

---

I have that lingering feeling that there's going to be disappointment that we might not surpass our past medal count this Olympiad. I might have to explain myself in front of the Cabinet and the Premier next month about why we failed to atleast equal our last records. We might not have expectations, but this still required governmental explanation. Rumours have it that apparently, we're going to fight for a lot of medals today. It's very nerve-wrecking to be honest. Badminton and tennis are over, and other sports that we relied on to succeed are over too.

Today's nervewrecking because potentially, this might make or break the Alezian Union's Olympiad journey. Sure, 23 medals are fantastic, but once again, that fear of falling behind other countries my size are upon me. Countries like Britonisea, Crpostran, and what I would call "the Naturals": Liventia, Electrum, Quebec and Shingoryeo. Sure, I can beat them in singing competitions anytime, but in sports, I admit, they are the great powerhouses. Speaking of those countries, I'm VERY glad that PI hasn't pissed Liventia off with constant barge of questioning and talking back that he would do with us. Probably because South is in Schimpol along with PI so South can act as the actual spokeperson. To be honest, PI really needs to take it down a notch.

Meanwhile, here I am with MN going through stuff in Electrum. Thanks to the technological advances in Electrum, I've decided to potentially try and develop a digital currency in the Alezian Union. But to catch up with Electrum might take time. Here too, me and MN are checking on the athletes who are going to compete today. While there are some athletes that are feeling unwell, we helped them get better while we also met with other countries there, including Malta Comino Gozo, who in a dramatic fashion, beats me to the gold in men's single badminton. While I wanted "Oh, my Alezia!" to play up on the podium, the fact that it's MCG's first gold medal this Olympiad kind of eased that salty pain and actually made me quite proud of him.

Personally, while it's a bummer that I "may" not surpass or equal my records last Olympics, atleast I actually fared equally to how I did in the previous Olympics since I competed along with the others as a reunified country for the first in the 15th Summer Olympiad in the Terranean Coast and Bunjil (no the one before that was me competing separately as North Alezia). Plus, I have to keep reminding myself that medals aren't everything and it's not over yet. And additionally, I gained so much experience and learning point today. But I'm not going to talk about that just yet because today's not the last day just yet.

Alright, time to work. There's a lot of issues that I need to address even during the Olympics including concerns that South Alezia might be subject to flooding due to poor environmental management pre-reunification, so I'm going to draft a policy about flood prevention first. Although, like anything else relating to South, I'd have to ask him and his input first.

[Kelssek]

WATER POLO
Men’s semifinal win gives Kelssek chance for golden double

The Kelssek men’s team was able to hold off a late comeback effort by a Liventia side, boosted by the home support at the Lox Land Swimming Centre, to book their spot in the gold medal match. After seemingly having the match in hand when Aguri Tetsu’s skip shot gave Kelssek a 8-3 lead wit 4:33 left in the third quarter, Liventia scored four unanswered goals to set up a tense finale.

A crucial penalty kill situation in the fourth quarter could have allowed the hosts to equalize the scores at eight apiece, but as Marko Goodman turned past the post defender to get a one-on-one chance against the goalkeeper, Erkka Dhomgnuill came up big to block the shot. The rebound was pounced on by Aguri Tetsu whose 30-metre pass across the pool set up Artemios Boughton and Benjamin Monchamp for a two-on-one counter-attack. Everyone knew Boughton’s pass for a one-time shot by Monchamp was coming but there was nothing the Liventians could do about it, and while Liventia managed to get a goal back to 9-8 Kelssek were able to kill off the possession against desperate pressure with 27 seconds to go.

That ninth goal was one of five that Kelssek scored on the break, and counter-attacking tactics have been a notable feature introduced by coach Neil Sarkey this cycle. Despite chatter among fans about their effectiveness – or lack thereof – in the lacklustre pre-Olympic showing at an international tournament in Britonisea, it’s clearly come together at the right time.

“Our counter-attack was really solid and when you’re able to execute those well, it gives the other side something to think about because they’ve got to hold back a bit on their attack as well. We’ve always had the identity of a physical team but we’ve added a new dimension when we’ve been able to use our speed well in this tournament,” said Kelssek’s Tristan Young.

Only two teams have gone unbeaten through the men’s water polo tournament and fittingly, they will both meet in the final. Kelssek’s opponents will be Britonisea, who are looking to defend the Olympic title they won in Ceni and stop Kelssek from securing its seventh men’s Olympic gold. Most would agree Kelssek had a poor showing in the lead-up to the Olympics and are nursing disappointment over the key semifinal mistakes that tossed them into the bronze medal match. Undoubtedly, Britonisea will be a formidable challenge in the final, but the widespread feeling always tends to be that Kelssek should win, justified or not.

Asked if it’s a challenge to manage expectations, head coach Neil Sarkey said, “Many supporters feel that we somehow deserve this because we definitely have a culture around water polo in Kelssek, large numbers who play and watch the sport and have opinions about the changes to the two-metre rule and everything, but that doesn’t matter here. When you’re playing it’s just the seven players in the water, and it all comes down to whether you can beat the other seven.”

“Britonisea, remember, won both the men’s and women’s golds in Ceni. This is a powerhouse we are up against.”

Women’s final preview

But first, the Kelssek women’s team are keen to grab their chance at history as they face Hopal in the gold medal match for the chance to stand alone as the most successful women’s team at the Olympics. Dating back to the era of the battles between Kelssek and Vekaiyu, where both water polo titles went Kelssek’s way on hostile ground in Provinsk, the two countries are both tied on two Olympic titles each. Having already beaten Hopal in the group stage, you can see why optimism is the flavour of the day in the Kelssek camp.

Anticipation is thus probably even higher for the women’s final given what’s at stake as they hope to put a recent painful history of final losses behind them. They’ve recently had the chance for the third gold against Licentian Isles and then Vilitan Union, but both times suffered painful defeats in the final as they struggled to perform in the decisive match.

Although this will be the fourth consecutive Olympics the women’s team has been on the podium, only gold is going to be celebrated.

“On an individual level, I hope each of the players can find pride in what they’ve achieved to be on this team and to have made it this far. As a team we know what the objective is, and it would be nonsense for me to pretend to be happy with anything less than that,” says head coach Ashton McCann.

“We made it hard for ourselves last time with a poor start in the group stage match. If we can start stronger, and bring the same determination and levels of play we did, I think it’ll set the tone we want.”

KBC Music - @KBC_Music
Exclusive live streaming from Kelssek Olympic House as OZZAMpick is ready to slim you right down with her brand of intense high energy EDM, followed by some post-hardcore headbangers from Ask Your Doctor. The dance floor/mosh pit is getting amped as more Olympians are done with their events. We’re always proud that it’s the place to be for #OlympicAfterparty

Moonbeam Infantino - @MoonbeamInfantino
Do not worry, friends! I am NOT being held hostage. How ridiculous a rumor! #Disinformation I am just thinking that Bear Diet is much easier with Bear Supplements from @BearGrowlls which are easily shipped worldwide without hassle by meddling food and drug inspectors!

[United Mandaran States]

Home > Sports > Olympics

Big Day with 6 Medals Although Minus the Gold
29th September 2028

Scimpol & Hamilton(AMP) - Day 14 have become the big day for UMS' delegation after the athlete's success to collected 6 medals on the day. Splitting evenly between both host cities. It surpassed the result achieved on Day 9 where the delegation got 5 medals. The downturn is no gold was win today.

In Schimpol, the first medal was won by Ayu Weda Ningsih/Kadek Ayu Lestari in women's C-2 500m Canoeing event. Starting from lane 6, the pair race ahead to the top 4. Midway through the finish line they surpass Aline/Kim Jeppsen of Electrum to chase the second place Raymond/Collins of Liventia. However, Raymond/Collins seems to be harder to catch while they have to maintain their speed as Aline/Kim were chasing them from behind. It then become a battle for the third place between Ningsih/Lestari and Aline/Kim Jeppsen. Fortunately, Ningsih/Lestari reached the finish line 0.29 second ahead of Aline/Kim Jeppsen where they claim the bronze medal.

Their success was not followed by Yudha Aryawan who only finished 7th in the men's C-1 1000m event. Started from lane 3, Aryawan seems to make an awful start. He was far behind from the start and unable to catch up. He tried to passed Henry Adams who's in the 6th position. And their race was quite intense. It was ended with Adams victory as he passed the finish line first while Aryawan followed 0.16 second later. His time was far slower than his semifinal race where he booked more than 2 minutes slower time. While racing solo, Ayu Weda Ningsih failed to defend her gold medal when she got stopped at the semifinal. She finished 7th in her semifinal race group with more than 2 seconds slower time than the top 4 who qualify for final place.

The other 2 medals in Schimpol were silver. The first was received by Ilham Wiguna who success to add another medal in Equestrian. This time in Dressage event. He was quite lucky as the point between the silver and bronze medalist were quite close. With his success, the Equestrian team achieve their target of 2 medals. The second silver was achieved by Rangga/Ginanti in Mixed Multihull Sailing event. It was an intense race. However, Rangga/Ginanti failed to secure their position in the top half of the finalists. They ended up passing the finish line at 6th position behind the eventual gold medalist, Brosseau/Ashbridge of Liventia. The result surpasses the target made by the Mandaran Sailing for their Olympic contingent as they only targeted 1 medal in the Olympic.

In Hamilton, all 3 medals coming from Athletics. The first silver was won by Dwi Arya Palguna in 400m hurdles. Throughout the race, he was edge to edge with Banijan runner, Gunjur Kuja. Fortunately, Palguna finished the race 0.07 second faster than Kuja and claim the silver medal. While Kuja had to satisfied with bronze medal. Two other medals were won in men's triple jump where 3 UMS' athletes competing. Despite leading in the preliminary round, Trisman was slow to catch up with the other finalists. He got back to medal contenders only after his third attempt. While Sargossan jumper had led the event right from the start. Trisman finally get his best jump in the fourth attempt while achieving a second-best jump with only 0.01-meter difference than his best. He ended getting the silver medal below Sargossan jumper, Humberto de la Vega who won by 0.01 meter than Trisman. The bronze medal was won by another UMS' athlete, Kevin Mulyanto who success to booked 17.85-meter jump, the same as Trisman. However, he had a lower second-best jump which makes him get the bronze. 17.78 meter against 17.84 meter. These results made the Athletics contingent achieve the same result as their XVI edition result.

Despite the huge amount of medal receives by the athletes, it is worth notifying that no gold medal has been receive by the delegation from Day 10. The last gold medal was achieved by Ilham Jayadi in men's hammer throw at Day 9. While with additional 6 medals, the delegation receives a total of 24 medals which surpassing their first target bar of 20 medals.

---

---

Related News

---

---

Hope is on Bronze now
29th September 2028
Facing Krytenian beach volleyball pair in the semifinal of men's beach volleyball event, Laksana/Gumintang feels overwhelmed at the start. They played under the shadow of Micchice and Holt for the first half of the first set. They were able to break free and start chasing their points. But it was too far apart. They had to accept their loss of 21-15 in the first set. The second set, the match become intense with UMS' pair have got their rhythm. They were able to play at par of the Krytenian pair. The match become more intense after they get into the 20-20 deuce point. At this crucial point however, the UMS' pair seems to loss their focus which makes Micchice/Holt win the set and claim their place in final.
In the interview after their match, Laksana/Gumintang apologize to all of their fans and supporter. They promise that they will do better in the bronze medal match. They will face Da Cunha's pair, Rádić/Dçulhiélmavić. This will be their second meeting after previously met during the qualifying group. At the time, they won the match against Rádić/Dçulhiélmavić in a tight 3 sets match.

---

The 4x100m relay teams were failed to impress
29th September 2028
It was a bad day for the athletics relay team after both the men's and women's team failed to produce a medal. The most disappointment came from the men's team as in the previous edition under Pemecutan delegation, the men's team success to win a gold medal. However, they were only able to finish last this edition. Although it can be said that the rivalry was quite intense this edition as the time difference between the finalists were quite close. While the women's team failed to catch up the Crpostran relay team and end up finished 4th with 0.27 second slower than bronze medalist, the Crpostran team. On the other note, the women's relay event was filled with half of the finalists end up failed to finish their run because of various reasons.

---

Leading in Technical Routine, the artistic swimming women's duet aimed for medal
29th September 2028
After falling hard in the team event, the artistic swimming women's duet, Yudantini/Ariani success to performed better than expected to lead the technical routine of the event. It seems that they use all of their efforts to make up the failure made during the team event. However, it will be a hard task for them to stay on their performance with the close differences of the points between the top 5. They are still unsafe, but they promise all their best to be on the top 3.

---

Kayajangga advance to final as Dian Krisna Pratiwi shows a mediocre performance
29th September 2028
Kayajangga made quite a crowd following his performance in the 10m platform of diving event. Kayajangga is one out of 2 UMS' diver participate in the event. The other being his senior, Ngurah Agus Yudana. Kayajangga outperform his senior and even able to score almost 100 more total points than Yudana. "I think we already find our next generation," comment Yudana after the final announcement. Kayajangga place 6th overall and advance to final.
On the other hand, Dian Krisna Pratiwi was success to performed better than her preliminary performance. However, her performance was still far from the medal contender. Pratiwi booked 312.90 points or up around 15 points from her preliminary. With that point, she ended up at 9th from 12 divers at the final. "I've done my best but it's still not enough. If ever I qualify for the next Olympic, I'll make up my failure," she promises herself.

---

Women's speed advance from first round
29th September 2028
The speed event of sport climbing is started with the women's event. Both of our athletes competing with a target of 1 medal base on the contingent performance last edition. The event starts with a good performance from Novia Putri and Trisha Yulianti who both successes to defeat their first opponent and advance to the second round. It is still a long way to go for both of them.

---

---

All-Mandaran Press

Home   Video   Gallery   Current Issue

Cookies  Terms of Use  Privacy   About Us  Site Feedback
@ 2028 AMP. All rights reserved

[Drawkland]

EVENING, DAY 13
Against the better judgement of Elias Keys, he explained the entire situation to Lerocav and Leo Cross on their way out of the athlete's village in Hamilton. Even though it was in a tabloid, an opinion article from an unnamed writer had extremely advanced information about Elite Eleven member Dominic Southers. Not only did it include information about his old past as a farmer, but it referenced the little perk powers that immortals from the maze get along with their invulnerability.

The organization known as the Immortals Accords, led by Drawkland's founder Iarocav, was a secret group of all Drawkland's residents who made their way to immortality one way or another. A majority of them reached this status by completing the quest through the maze as the Drawkionels, the Elite Eleven, and their friends did. Lerocav was the rare exception, as he was the firstborn to two immortals and thus blessed with the same longevity. The Accords provided secrecy and security for immortals that wished for it in exchange for the promise of loyalty and even availability to fight if some incredible conflict called for it. Any compromising information about immortals in the Accords had to be limited for security reasons.

The information about Dominic's past and nature of his power being public, even in a tabloid article disregarded by most, presents an Accords security risk.

"You should've come to me immediately," Lerocav muttered. "This is the exact kind of shit I have to try and deal with."

"I was hoping that wouldn't be necessary," Elias admitted sheepishly.

"It's not about whether you can fix it yourself." Lerocav shook his head. "It's about knowing where potential breaches are coming from."

Elias explained about the coaster-like keepsake that Mike had obtained the previous week, which Elias believed was actually a sort of recording device. He obviously left it back in his room to prevent whoever's receiving the signal from growing suspicious. Eli's gadget attached to his phone had pinpointed the receiving point of the device's signal already, so he didn't need to bring it with him anyway.

"I think that Mike had it in the room when he was talking about Dominic to Nicole." Elias explained as the trio approached the motel where the signal ended. "Whoever was listening in clearly got that info and posted it in their article."

"If they're up to no good," Leo asked, "then why would they post that information in a public space? Wouldn't that just draw attention to themselves? I suppose it already did, given what we're doing."

"That just makes the situation worse," Lerocav grumbled. "If this is part of something bigger, that means they're either stupid or confident enough to flaunt what they've figured out."

"Here it is," Elias said suddenly, motioning to the motel across the street as discreetly as he could. "I think the signal is coming from the second floor."

"It's about dinner time," Lerocav said, checking his watch. "If we're lucky, the occupants may be out and about right now. Certainly they wouldn't expect to be hearing anything interesting from their mic since you guys are usually away from the village around this hour."

"Do you know which room it is?" Leo asked, eyeing the windows on the upper floor to see how many seemed to have the lights on in the evening gloom of Hamilton.

"We'll have to get closer." Elias motioned for the trio to cross the street.

They quietly trundled up the outdoor staircase of the motel, Elias checking his phone screen every few steps once they got to the second floor corridor. They reached the end of the corridor, and Elias held up his hand.

"Gotta be this one," he whispered. All three Drawkians examined the window of the room. The blinds were drawn, and there didn't appear to be any light shining from behind them. Elias paused and held very still. "I don't hear anybody in there."

"You sure? I definitely hear voices inside." Leo had his ear pressed against the door.

"Could be the TV." Lerocav gave a sidelong glance in Eli's direction. "I'll trust Eli's judgement. Try the door, Leo."

"Locked." Leo gave the knob a solid twist, then looked down at the mechanism. "Are you planning to pick it? There's not exactly a lock."

"Of course." Lerocav eyed the door mechanism, which used your typical hotel keycard system. "Well, this is a little less cool, but I can work with it." Lerocav pulled a blank card from his wallet with two magstripes on the back, one on either end, placing it in the keycard holder and sliding it back out quickly.

"That didn't work," Elias hissed, seeing the light blink red on the lock.

"Thank you, detective. Couldn't have cracked the case without you." Lerocav slid the card into a slot on the back of his phone and held it in for a second. He made a few taps, removed the card, flipped it, and inserted it again for a few seconds.

"Is that proprietary?" Leo asked, watching Lerocav's process curiously.

"Custom." Lerocav answered simply. He pulled the card out, then brought it back to the door. "Ready?"

Elias and Leo both nodded apprehensively. It occurred to Elias quite quickly that he wasn't really prepared for whatever they were going to do next. He didn't think he heard any thoughts behind the door, but he couldn't be sure. What if Lerocav was right? What if this was a vastly prepared conspiracy? What if they knew what they were up against? What if they knew how to truly hurt the immortals? There was no time to consider these potential dangers now.

Lerocav nodded, then carefully slipped the card back into the key slot. To the others' surprise, the light blinked green, and they heard the lock click. Lerocav silently turned the knob, and slowly opened the door.

---

AFTERNOON, DAY 14 (THE GLASSHOUSE)
The time had come. Nine of the Elite Eleven had tried and failed to capture gold in their individual events. Quite honestly, most of them didn't even come close to the podium. Among all the Elite, the biggest but softest-speaking was the one that had made it the furthest. The one that had been quite literally fighting for the entire Games was the one that would be fighting for gold towards the very end.

Dominic Southers was stepping into the ring. All the members of the Elite plus some of their friends were ringside, eager to watch their beloved teammate take on Karson Darksword of the Afanc Strait. Though he often received a healthy serving of ribbing from his teammates for his passive attitude off the field and penchant for growing plants, Dominic was nothing but a competitor once he was on the field, court, or ring. It was not going to be an easy matchup, but Dominic was fired up for that very reason. If he was going to win gold, he wanted to really, truly earn it.

All Dom had to do was win three rounds. He wasn't worried about getting knocked out, and he wasn't worried about showing enough competitive spirit. The chances of being knocked out by a shorter competitor like Darksword were slim, and Dominic had been fighting with fire throughout the Games. The only key now would be landing blows and making it obvious who the winner is.

The first round began, and Dominic came out swinging. He knew he had an imposing and intimidating figure, so he did his best to ensure Darksword would give him the respect he deserved. For a Drawkian boxer against a human, a lot of shots end up around the head or upper body. It's rare for a Drawkian to go low unless they're prepping for an uppercut, and it's rare for them to bring the dukes up fully. The name of the game is holding your arms low and making accurate shots from there. For the first couple minutes of the round, Dominic was doing exactly that. The issue is that the lower body is very exposed. Darksword, like most humans against a Drawkian, was getting easy lower body shots, though the challenge was ensuring he didn't accidentally stray below the belt. It's an adjustment period for both men, though Dominic clearly had a better idea of how to attack, having navigated through four bouts against humans already in this tournament.

After that first round, it was clear that Dominic was in the lead, though Darksword got reasonable nods from the judges for his performance. The pressure had to stay on.

The second round came, and after some consultation with his coach, Karson Darksword had a much better plan of attack. Dominic continued with his typical routine of upper body and headshots, where he could get them in, while Darksword started playing a much more evasive game, forcing Dominic to keep moving. Dominic is a gifted athlete, but one of his biggest weaknesses comes in the agility department. With Dominic twisting around to keep up, Darksword managed to get a few upper body shots, cutting up underneath and from the side to score some solid shots. Still, Dominic landed some nice shots on the head, and he was never in danger of going down.

The scoring was a little murkier following the second round. Some believed that Darksword may have won the round outright, but Dominic was likely still in the lead thanks to his good performance in the first round. No matter the case, it was clear that the final round was going to be crucial for both fighters.

The third and final round was upon them. With the Elite on the edges of their seats (along with the rest of The Glasshouse in Hamilton), Dominic trotted back out to take care of business. Gold was on the line. Not only was his team counting on him, but Dominic allowed himself the desire for glory. It was time to seal the deal. Darksword once again went for his shiftier strategy to keep Dominic moving, but you have to keep in mind that this is the heaviest weight class. Darksword himself wasn't the most agile fighter, and it was clear that a minute into the round he was starting to lag. Dominic sensed the more sluggish movement and pounced, forcing Darksword on the defensive and cornering him in the ring. With gold on the line, Darksword fought his heart out, but Dominic had him quite literally on the ropes. Darksword hammered away at Dominic's midsection, but Dom tanked the hits and used the opportunity to send more shots at Darksword's head. Eventually Darksword managed to duck out of the corner and turn Dominic around, but it was late in the round. With the seconds ticking away, Dominic caught back up and put in a nice flurry of blows, bending his knees and dropping down to Darksword's level to unleash a particularly nasty combo. He finished with a solid uppercut, straightening his knees and elevating back to his full height to put a little extra power on the blow. The bell rang a few moments later, and that was that.

Then came the final scoring. Dominic felt very confident about his performance, but Darksword had landed a lot of hits on his midsection. The location wasn't as good, but the pure volume might be enough to tip the scales in his favor. With bated breath, Dominic and his Elite waited for the final score announcements.

Judge 1 ruled in Dominic's favor.
Judge 2 ruled in Dominic's favor.
Judge 3 had it listed as a tie, 10-9 Dom in the first, 10-8 Darksword in the second, 10-9 Dom in the third. There were a few murmurs in the crowd when those scores were announced.
Judge 4 ruled in Dominic's favor too, and now the result was known.
Judge 5 ruled in Dominic's favor, but their score announcement was just a matter of course. It was a 4-0 decision.

Dominic Southers was an Olympic gold medalist, and the particularly large Drawkian contingent at The Glasshouse (basically everyone that didn't care for athletics or actually liked the Elite Eleven) roared in excitement as the result was officially announced. The Elite in particular were making fools of themselves, hooting and hollering and jumping around as Dominic raised his gloved fist in triumph.

For the third time that day (but only the sixth overall), the Drawkian anthem played over the venue speakers. Dominic was normally a pretty stoic guy, but as the closing chords of The Grand Pentad played out, the cameras could see a little tear accompanying a big smile on his face.