Games of the XIX Olympiad – RP Thread

[Bhumi Matawis Empire]

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Warta > Sports > Olympics

Will the Swimmers Swims Away?
By Aryani Pradnyanita

CENIAL/KAYO (24 Sept) - It is Day 5 of the 19th Summer Olympics and almost half of the events in Swimming have been finished. Aside from the two medals won in the earlier days, no more medals are won by Bhumish athletes. They were either have a good starting but bad finishing in the final or having a nearly medal position. Just like Malik Ibrahim Alam. Competing this noon in 200m butterfly event, Alam finished 4th with only 0.02 second slower than the bronze medal winner. And the Almost Medal Syndrome Meme resurface again in the internet. The question is what happen to our athletes?

Swimming can be said as a regular things in the Empire. It is added to the school curriculum as part of physical and health science study. Even one of our tribe is adapt to holding their breath longer while diving under the sea. But that might be advantages for diving, right? Nevertheless, with the closeness of our citizen with this sport, could we really become expert from it? Former swimmer, Agung Hariyanto said that the lack of proper training might be the main reason why our swimmers are failing. We can't stay away from the fact that this large country have only a few Olympic-size pool. He also notice that the sport has become more of a hobby instead of some career. That's why despite there are a lot of swimming courses, not much of the participants leveling up their skills if they already can do one or two of the styles. Lack of local level competition also become another hindrance in developing a proper swimming athletes in this country.

Catch up in an interview, Swimming Deputy Delegation, Prima Sucipto Aji agreed with Agung Hariyanto statement. He do realize that we are lacking a proper competition especially in local level. "Yes, we do have student level competition and it happened once a year. And also state and national championship. But again, it's all held once a year which is I believe less effective for the swimmers who wants to compete internationally. And we can see how they are now here," he commented. Aji add that besides the skills, the athletes also have to build up their mentality. "Big stage sometimes makes you feels like a dwarf," he said.

But despite all the hardship and lacking here and there, our athletes still shows the best performance that they can give. We've seen many of them reaching the final although only a few can come out as the triumphant. So, what's really missing here? Well, maybe we just need a little luck as the back up plan.

Edited by Joko Suparyanto

Suggested topics : Olympics

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Copyright WartaBhumi @2026

[Juvencus]

AND THE RACE FOR GOLD IS ON

The medal-winning is maintained in the blood of the Juven olympians, day 5 saw an appropriate amount of 5 medals earnt. With two silvers and three bronze to add up to a medal tally of 20 total, Juvencus sees itself in the top 4 for medals total. However, with the lack of gold medalists, a total amounting to 2, onlookers have been curious, why is there a lack of gold medalists? Despite surpassing the total amount of medals of the previous entry to the Olympics, which was 16, that delegation had 4 golds. However, there are clear reaasons for that.

FOCUS ON TEAM SPORTS: While sports of every kind have varying degrees of love and appreciation, team sports are at the forefront. Football, basketball and handball among others have always been more popular and have as such produced more high-level athletes. Ignoring the shock elimination of the women's football team, Juven teams are at or near the top of their groups in the majority of the team sports thus far. This is giving them an air of confidence with the aura of being the favorites. Women's softball has the nation directly in the quarter-finals after being the best of the best in the groups. Men's handball dominance is not to be underestimated. Men's football is also on a good path and let us not forget that both indoor volleyball teams are not just topping their groups but defeating strong competition along the way. The majority of those team sports are not done and it is almost certain that at least a couple of golden medal podium finishes will come from such games.

ATHLETICS NOT HAPPENING YET: Juven players across a variety of sports are known for their athleticism. Usually this comes at the form of their running speed and explosivity. This comes in handy in short distance sprinting events like the 100m, 200m and 100/110m hurdles. Previously mentioned is Raffaele Costa, one of the biggest prospects in sprinting since 200m bronze medalist Yves Tosi. However, it is not just him, Marco Bellamy and Gabriele Varela are more than capable to contend or even capture a podium finish. That is just for the men's events. How about the women's events? With Flavia Carvajal and Gabriela Lemos being clear favorites to compete and event capture a medal at the 400m or 800m events. We shall not forget the triple jumping events with athletes such as Quintina Ferronetti and Petronella Cavallini. Those are numerous events and athletes that are more than capable of bringing in and racking up gold medals for Juvencus in the future. Hope is not lost yet.

HOPE THROUGH CANOEING: The duos of Gael Corvazzi and Lucian Feroschi as well as Clementina Marovelli and Rosenda Bellariso have just added up to the canoeing craze of Juvencus. With a silver and bronze medal finish respectively, they haveput their own brick in the rapid spike and sudden increase in popularity of the sport back at home. While not social media viral in the same way as Montelongo and Branciforte, the explosion in their own social media accounts is prevalent due to their podium finishes. Rosenda Bellariso was quoted as saying "Canoeing is more than just padding around, it is a way of life and I am glad that Clementina and I have managed to give even a semblance of pride back at home."

MORE SHOOTING LESS LOOTING: Another bronze medal finish at the shooting events proving just how pivotal the right and PRIVILEGE to arms is in Juven society. Aurora Marvenique was a competitive menace at the Women's Trap final. The only attribution she gave following her bronze medal finish was a direct devotion of the medal to God followed by a sign of the cross. The pride she gave back at home and especially her ancestal homeland of Serone, is immense.

THE REAL EQUESTRIA GIRLS ARE HERE: Wonderful team efforts by Valderisse, Castavente and Brivoné in the women's equestrian team event. The average of this women was on par with the top of the leaderboard through the entire way and a silver medal was awarded to them. A gold medal was not reached by mere hairs of a point, however this unprecedented silver medal finish has never felt sweeter for these women.

Day 6 is a real treat. Among the most important events to look out for are the men's handball quarter-finals on which our nation is participating on against a very lucky Indusse as well as the men's rugby sevens round of 12(against arch-nemesis in these Olympics Drawkland) and quarter-finals. With the impressive table tennis showing across both men and women slowly starting to culminate as well as the days go. Will Juven athletes be able to rise up to the occasion? AVE JUVENCUS!

[Liventia]

Swimming's new poster boy Fraser: "I have many more years left in me" after fourth career gold
KAYO— As he sits down for this interview, Declan Fraser makes an off-hand remark that catches everyone by surprise.

"It's not something I'm really used to yet," the 24-year-old says of media commitments — odd for a four-time Olympic champion who, with six medals to his name already, is Liventia's most-decorated Olympic swimmer in history.

As a 22-year-old, Fraser won four medals last time out in home waters in Schimpol, taking double gold in the men's 50m and 100m freestyle races as well as bronze in the 4x100m freestyle relay and silver in the 4x200m freestyle relay. In Kayo this year, he has already added golds in the 4x100 free as well as defended his Olympic title in the blue-riband 100m free, with the defence of his 50m title and the 4x200 relay still to follow.

So, after four golds and six total medals, and in his second Games, Fraser is still not used to the media?

"For a swimmer, I'm fairly introverted I think. I've never been that guy yelling in the pool. It's not like I don't like doing interviews or anything, it's just not something that's in my nature, to talk a lot and open up."

But this is a man who's fast becoming the poster boy of Liventian swimming. Liventia won eight medals (two golds) in the sport up to and including the 17th Summer Olympics; since then and including the first five days in Kayo, the nation has won 17, including nine golds. Fraser has contributed a fair number of those, including two in the most high-profile event of them all in the pool.

"Really, I have to thank Swimming Liventia for the huge investment they've put into growing the sport since the Games came back to Schimpol, and I think you're seeing it in action now. Not just the huge haul we got from Schimpol but even here in Drawkland," the Folenisa native says.

"My coaches at the Folenisa Aquatics Club, but also the in national set-up in Orean, everything. That investment has trickled down back to the clubs and we're definitely enjoying a huge boost."

Still only 24, Fraser could potentially compete at another four Games while remaining at his peak, becoming one of the all-time greats globally, not just in Liventia.

"Oh, for sure I have many more years left in me," he says. "Often I think we see athletes don't medal at a Games and they get dropped from the high-performance programme and I really hope we see some changes in that going forward, we need time to let people build up their competition experience.

"I've been very lucky with the trust shown in me by the national team and by my coaches and I'm definitely looking forward to many more Games."

So, perhaps by the end, he'll be used to the media attention?

"I learn from every interview I do," Fraser says. "I don't think it will ever come naturally to me, but I know I'm the face of the sport now and I'm definitely ready for everything that brings."

[Waisnor]

Going for another gold in known pastures

Another day of the Olympic competitions passed, and with it, came another medal of Waisnorian delegation, this time finally a gold one, coming in a sport where this medal was, honestly, expected anyways. Besides that, there were of course good results in other sports too:

The medals in canoeing are right know looking like something of a given for Waisnorians to get. They tend to be quite good in this sport, proving this with numerous high spots in international tournaments, counting the Olympics too, even the current one with the silver of Laburenko and Egorova following their gold at last Olympics. But unlike them, Arciom Haravalaŭ and Prochar Radkievič only waited to earn their first medals, since they were pretty new to the scene of Waisnorian canoeing, only debuting coulpe of years ago and maturing at a pretty good place until now, when they finally got awarded their place at the Olympics. But their performance in quarterfinal heats wasn't looking like the performance of someone about to fight for the medals - they only finished 4th in their heat, swiftly beating only the pair in 5th place. But still, 4th place still gave them a place in the next round, so Arciom and Prochar still had the chance to show themselves. But even in semifinals, their performance wasn't that different from their heats showing - even if they still held themselves nicely compared to the other athletes, they placed only 3rd in their semifinal, looking quite a bit to the athletes in first and second. Still, 3rd place was good enough for a spot in the finale, and it turned out that that's where Haravalaŭ and Radkievič have decided to pull out all the stops. Performing not at their peak force in heats and semifinals allowed them to conserve quite a bit of energy for the main event, and ever since their great start in the final, they were now a force to be reckoned with. Getting over the pair of Gael Corvazzi and Lucian Feroschi from Juvencus in the middle of the distance, Arciom and Prochar were just working on growing their lead over the rest of the competition, and when the pair came to the finish line, they were 0.32 seconds over the second place and with the 3rd gold medal of Waisnor at their Olympics. Over being asked about their strategy after the victory, Haravalaŭ and Radkievič said that they wanted to make their final performance as flashy as possible to send a clear message to all of their competitors.

Going to the sport which isn't typically said to be a Waisnorian specialty, cycling. There, Waisnorian medals are pretty few, but even then, there are some shining examples of sporting excellence. For example, Igor Parechin, representing Waisnor in men's BMX racing. He made a name for himself at the last Olympics, where he was pretty close to earning the medal, and it seems that he hadn't lost his spirit in the time between Olympics, winning the first round of qualifications at these Olympics. And now, it was time for quarterfinals, where Igor would have to participate in 3 races, results of which would decide the status of his further participation. And judging by the 1st race, he was still vying for that missed opportunity to earn the medal, since he was able to win it quite nicely. Even if there were still 2 more races to go, that was a pretty solid foundation on which Parechin could now confidently stand. In race 2, Igor now got himself some fierce opponents, which managed to push him off to the 3rd place overall, but if Waisnorian cyclist would keep up with results like this, his place in the next stage was all but guaranteed. And even if his results were still great, Igor was still composed, knowing that to truly snow himself as being capable once again, he had to perform good in all of his races. And the 3rd race would happily provide on this front: even though he again didn't win the race, he still finished 3rd, and according to the sum of his results, Parechin placed 2nd overall, comfortably getting into the next stage of the competitions, looking like one of the main challengers for the gold.

Other Waisnorian results:
Waisnorian women's handball team won their second match in the group stage with Magnus Phoenicia with the score of 22-21
In men's 90kg tournament in judo, Makar Davidovič reached quarterfinals and first repechage stage, losing there to Chip Henryson of Drawkland
Lydia Lemeshevskaya lost to Laura Breunsteiner from Calgasia in women's 70kg tournament
In men's single sculls quarterfinals in rowing, Bogdan Barsukov finished last in his quarterfinal
Tanya Kolontaeva and Marjana Varyckaja also finished last in their heat in women's coxless pairs
In women's singles tournament, Vasilisa Filimonchik defeated Kika Dovan from Afanc Strait
Ruslan Chernichenko and Alexander Zaretsky were beaten by Espen Løseth and Adam Jørgensen from Valanora in men's doubles
Victoria Kakhovskaya placed 11th in women's 3m springboard qualification in diving, qualifying to the next round
In men's 200m backstroke heats in swimming, Vitaly Streltsov placed 35th overall
Sofia Kuzubova reached semifinals in women's 200m breaststroke, but placed last in her semifinal
In women's individual tournament, Raisa Antakova defeated Ana Villanueva from Magnus Phoenicia
In men's lightweight tournament in boxing, Jury Charoška was beaten by Yosua Daud Yerichko from Bhumi Matawis Empire
Larisa Groholskaya and Julia Gutor reached the final in women's C-2 500m, but placed last in the final
After 12 races, Irina Zhirova places 19th in women's windsurfer tournament in sailing
Both Waisnorians failed to qualify to the final in men's 50m rifle 3 positions - Alexander Baranov placed 21st, Stanislaŭ Palynin finished 23rd

[Zenic]

"Where are we now?"

The Chef de Mission, Heung Soo-min, was laying back on one of the couches with a wet towel on his forehead. "We are 6th in the total standings with 15 medals. But I believe the final rankings are based on Gold medals so we're actually 5th after winning some tiebreakers with A kea and Liventia," one of the workers at the desk setups confirmed. "Who is directly above us?," asked the curious Heung. "The Vanorians, sir." Groans of various levels of exasperation could be heard throughout the room. "Is there anything they AREN'T good at?," exclaimed someone in the room.

Heung decided to keep the conversation moving. "Who else do we trail in the final table?" The staff members took a second to look over the table before answering. "Magnus Phoenicia, The Afanc Strait, and Drawkland stand above Valanora and us. If you're looking at the total table, you can also add Juvencus to that group after their 5 medal day." That last one made Heung remove the wet towel and sit up on the couch. "Juvencus?! You're telling me they had a five medal day without any of us noticing?" A few people nodded their heads in confirmation. "Good on them," Heung said with a bit of surprise and joy. "I mean, not great for us as that adds ANOTHER nation that we have to battle with for top 5 in the total medal category but credit is to be given when it is due."

"Alright folks, what's our main focus for today?," Heung asked as he stood up from the couch and fixed his clothing. "Men's Futbol is one to focus on. If we beat Ko-oren, we win Group H. If we draw, we can still win the group as long as Darmen doesn't obliterate Britonisea. Winning that group will be vital for a chance at a gold medal to add to their Copa Rushmori." Another interjected. "If we're on the topic of team events, the Men's Handball team faces Electrum in the Quarterfinals. Bragging rights over a fellow Rushmori nation is always huge." A few head nods could be seen throughout the room. "I got a newer event I believe we should focus on: Men's Rugby Sevens. Finished second in our group and now we've got a Round of 16 matchup with A Kea. If we beat them, we have a Quarterfinals face off with Kelssek. Even with a close loss to A Kea, it could mean a huge push into rugby for the Empire. Making the top 8 of Rugby Sevens in the Olympics, which is effectively the de facto World Championships for this version of rugby? I can't even fathom what the push would be like." A bunch of murmurs could be heard as everyone began to speculate about it amongst themselves.

"If I may," rang out a voice. "I think we should put a decent amount of focus on Judo, specifically the Men's 100kg event. Mr. Inaba has a chance at winning his second straight gold medal so any help he can get would be huge. Heung nodded ferociously. "Absolutely. We'll get some more help for him ASAP. Anything else?" One final hand rose up. "Rowing should have some additional attention as most of our Olympians currently are in the semifinals or have an upcoming chance to make the semifinals of their respective events."

"Very good. Anything else here?" No further hands or voices were raised. "Okay, we know Correia will handle whatever they need over in Kayo. We know what we need to focus on over here. We are NOT forgetting about any of our Olympians but we know strategically which events to focus on."

"Best of luck out there and Gods bless us all."

[Banija]

Let's take a look- why do Banijans always bomb out in aquatics at the Olympics?

KAYO, DRAWKLAND- Swimming is probably the most medal heavy discipline at the entire XIX Summer Olympiad. We're not sure exactly, we didn't do a count- but there are so many different strokes, at so many different distances, that if you want to top the medal table, you've got have at least a halfway decent performance in these Olympic sized pools(or kiddie pools if you're a full grown Drawk adult). So Banija's goals to lead the medal table, and our inability to put together a halfway decent swimming delegation, no matter what we try, simply don't seem to jive. After five full days of swimming, and honestly probably with only 3 or so swimming days left, we only have one medal in the water. Yes, one. Alanyo Zervos got a bronze on the first day, and since then, it may as well have been "signora, adios" for the rest of the Banijan swim delegation.

Athletics has always been our strength, yes- but does that mean we have to suck at swimming? We've got five shooting medals, for crying out loud- and yet, only one swimming medal? We're a warm weather country, with coastline, for crying out loud- we should be able to produce at least more than one Olympic level medal winner. The 17th Summer Olympiad, we only had two medalists in the water. The 18th, we have had two as well. And while the 19th overall is going much better, we're on pace for the 2 we had last time.

So- what gives?

#1 College swimming is not popular

In Banija, college sports is a critical pipeline for developing Olympic athletes. We don't necessarily need to have extensive Olympic development programs, when college sports is so big here. For target sports, the Olympic Committee gives cash to the BCSG, and the member schools will generally pursue them. And, of course, pursue what they want to pursue. The college sports that are big in Banija, are pretty much what you'd expect. College gridiron, naturally, is far and away the #1 collegiate sport in Banija. If you follow the NSCF, you've heard of Northern Moravica University, and the University of Loyola-Istria. Massive teams with international followings, consistently performing.

College basketball, also naturally, is next. The NSCAA competitions help. We've won those three times- the aforementioned Loyola-Istria, the University of Moravica, and Aksum State University all have titles in that competition. It gets real intense in Banija, the BCSG Playoffs- well watched and well attended, we've had so many classic moments.

But beyond hoops, you've got popularity in other places. Track & Field/Athletics, truly, is probably the next most popular collegiate spectator sport. A huge reason why Banijans are so good- there are so many college athletes, who are on scholarship to run and do whatever else. National championships are generally held at the Istria Olympic Stadium, although Olympic qualifiers are held at their historic site of the Hawabark Olympic Stadium(which, of course, has never hosted an Olympics). And beyond that, other sports. Baseball. A little bit of college soccer. Lacrosse.

Swimming? Well... Nobody really invests in college swimming. There are 70+ division one schools in the Banijan system, including the Islamic University of Busoga. How many of them sponsor a swim program? That's right, just 12 schools have varsity swimming- although a further 20 have club teams. Put your money elsewhere. Without a big push to have a much stronger domestic college swimming scene, well, at this level of competition, the Banijans will simply have no shot.

#2 Pool access in Banija is limited

It's not that there aren't pools in Banija- there are plenty of pools, and they have public access as well. But- the number of public pools in the country is pretty slim, and having pools at people's homes generally doesn't happen a ton, as part of a water conservation strategy in Banija. There is roughly one public pool per 110,000 people in Banija- a shockingly low number. And these pools, while popular, are crowded. Not great places to learn how to swim laps, and train to be an Olympic level swimmer. Just a place to take your kids, or your friends, and have a fun day to get away from the heat.

Banija has a large number of lakes, truly, and people frequent there, as well as the coastlines. But if you can't swim... well, once again, these are bad places to really swim laps and train. You need consistent pool access. But if there is very little college swimming, that means the ability to swim in high school is also limited- it's expensive for most high schools to have pools. So, no pool access, a limited selection of athletes, who really can't get better because the competition is subpar- and that's how you have poor Olympic performances in the water, cycle after cycle.

Hell, Patrick Zervos has three of his grandchildren here, for the second cycle in a row, trying to see if that athletic prowress in their blood can put them over the top. It has not- Alanyo Zervos did get his bronze, and without it, Banijan swimming would have 0 medals across 5 days. But- the Zervos trio, for the second straight cycle, seem like a failure.

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ABSM Overview: Short synopses of team Banijan on Day 5 of the XIX Summer Olympiad

Women's Soccer: The Banijan ladies have made it three wins from 3 played, as the Lady Kadongo Kamu had a tight, 1-0 victory over Kriegiersien to close out the group stage with 9 points from 9. It was Istria City FC starter, Nakissa Muwanga, who scored the lone goal. She's got some experience playing in Drawkland, as she scored here in Istria City's dominating victory in the Outbox Cup Final. "I've lifted silverware here in Drawkland before, but now- our ambitions our high." She told reporters. "Gold medals are at stake here, and I likely won't have another opportunity like this for my country again. So we've got to take advantage." Baniija's leading ladies will take on Sargossa in the Round of 16.

Golden Judo moment: Janko Mbye won the gold medal in the 90 kg judo weight class competition, sparring his way to his country's fourth gold medal overall- and his own first. He's got a hell of a story. Banija had a sprawling qualifying competition, where you had to win at all sorts of events, to reach the final 16- the qualifier for which was held in Aissa. He was ranked just 12th going into that, and qualified only due to winning his conference title in college.

But once there, he stepped up his game- beating the athletes ranked 5th, 4th, 1st, and 2nd, en route to qualify for the Olympics from this weight class. But he didn't stop there- hiring those four that he beat to train with him for the 3 months leading up to the Games(on Olympic Committee payroll, of course). It was a strategy that paid off- as constantly going up against Banija's best helped him here at the actual competition, where he rolled with four straight 10-0 victories.

[Anewkansas]

SWIMMING - No miracles in the pool

As a sports journalist, it’s always far more enjoyable if the one you’re interviewing is feeling strongly. But when you are talking with someone who finished last, you expect him to be down, disappointed or (if you’re really lucky) devastated. Nothing of that kind with Kobe Glover, whose toothpaste smile and joy filled the living rooms at home as he talked us through his final race in the freestyle. “I cannot remember if I ever started faster. Maybe for a fifty meters race but yeah… This one is twice as far, of course.” That’s the least you can say as Glover went full-out from the starting block on, turning in third. The only problem was that four guys continued that effort to the finish while Glover fell flat, seeing the rest of the field surpass him in the last ten meters. At the sharp end of the race, all medalists broke the Olympic record while Declan Fraser prolonged his title from Schimpol with a blistering 46.51. “A smarter man would have finished fifth,” Glover admitted, “but… If life taught me one thing, it is that tomorrow can be different. I had one chance to have an Olympic medal and to get there I needed to go faster than ever. I can live with having tried and failed, instead of settling for ‘just being there’.”

Not as inspirational but at least as positive was the explanation from Amaya Olsen after being eliminated in the semifinals of the 200m butterfly. In the morning, she had qualified with a certain ease but she could not improve on her time in the evening and never was in contention in a heat where Ko-oren’s Majuko Kithun carefully put on the ‘favorite’ label. “That heat was the first time I felt good again in the water,” Olsen explained as a serious cold hit her last week. “I’m not at the level yet to perform in three races in one day and maybe I should have let go of the breaststroke earlier on. But with this I can build up for the next races.” With the 800m freestyle and her favorite event, the 200m medley, still to come, Olsen feels the best is yet to come. “I came to Kayo with a final on my mind and that hasn’t changed.” Who already got that final was Noemi Mueller but the 18-year-old could not double up, landing in the middle of the group in her butterfly heat. “The sensation in the pool was good but I must say I didn't sleep well the night after the final. Maybe that costs me.” When questioned whether her sleepless night was based on adrenaline of the final or a night out in the University Quarter (as there are claims of Anewkansan fans spotting the youngster in a club), she signed something we could not translate.


VOLLEYBALL - Confidence in money time pays off

Of the seven teams that have started their tournament already (the lacrosse bro’s are eagerly awaiting their turn), only one is still unbeaten and it is the Longspurs who look more than ready to continue that streak against beating Kriegiersien. It’s hard to put your finger on what is winning the day for them and maybe that is the strength. Ahead of the tournament, much was expected from ‘Jo’ Rabayrat and Helena Pierce, who have been the leading ladies in the sport for almost a decade and whose rivalry got volleyball on the front pages. The two make a great duo together on the court and simply ooze an enthusiasm to shine for this team, but even if they have an important contribution, there’s so much more. Marianna Goncalves played a crucial role in the opening set, making a few miraculous blocks to send it to overtime and excellent serving from Ana Galindo dragged the second over the line. The final set was as close as all before, but that did not stop manager Hawkins from putting Ines Carr on the field. The junior of the selection (she turned 18 in the build-up to the Olympics) even scored the winning point. “The mix works really well. Helena and Josephine give us a lot of support but don’t try to solve everything themselves. At first, that was hard. Now we all know that we can’t just look at them but have to go out there and try it ourselves,” a happy Carr shared. The play-offs are not locked in yet, but the Longspurs can look to the Zenic and A Kea games with firm believe in themselves.


BOXING - Dominant or by a hair, a medal fight is a medal fight

With not one but two medals assured, the Anewkansan delegation could jump up the medal tally - unless we keep it nicely alphabetically as is, where we seemingly have cemented the third place. The Queen’s Exposition Center was the arena for two very different yet equally successful fights which confirm a strong generation and tradition in the sport. With those successes, the boxers are currently batt(l)ing ten for ten, an amazing result that could never be achieved by random number generation. The first triumph came with Chase Brennan who still bore the marks of his destructive fight against Qureshi in the previous round: the stitching around his left eye makes the always cleanly shaven Brennan look a lot more daunting. But Matts Brunelle from Kelssek apparently could not be held back by a few scars and took it away early in the fight. With a medal on the line, both fighters understood that the first blow is half the battle. That made it quite hard for the judges to tell apart the two boxers. By the numbers, the opening round went to Brennan and the second to Brunelle, but neither managed to dominate their adversary. In the decisive round, both had their moments. Early in the round, Matts Brunelle found the stomach of Brennan. “It was still a bit sore from the Qureshi fight, so yeah, I’ll leave out the details,” Brennan shared after the game. But in the last minute, Brennan found a hole in the defense and delivered a majestic uppercut that swayed just enough judges. “Each fight gets harder,” a visibly spent Brennan admitted, “I don’t want to think about Yerichko right now, to be honest.”

With that in mind, Zara Wolfe sounds far more combative for her semi-final. “Sparhawk? She’s good. Of course, she’s good. But Duffy almost got her to her knees, then it is my task to go one further. That’s just what I got to do.” It was warranted confidence with which Wolfe looks forward to a crucial bout, even if Afanc Strait’s Mira Sparhawk is seen by many as the favorite for the title with four competitors remaining. But she will not get it for free from Wolfe. Against Nihahsah Ibrahim, there never was a doubt about the outcome. Wolfe attacked her Banijan opponent from the opening second and there seemed to be some impact from the previous bout on Ibrahim. With a few quick jabs at the end of the first round, Wolfe got the judges definitively on her side. Ibrahim tried her best to change their preference, but both defensively and in attack, Wolfe seemed unbeatable today. “Ahead of the tournaments, there was some doubt, I think that’s normal. What’s the level? But after the round of sixteen, I knew I did not need to be afraid of anyone.”


BASKETBALL - Bobcats force an all-or-nothing game with win against host nation

One man only carries the Bobcats and it’s Kason Blackwell. Known as a prolific scorer, he once more put in the stats against Afanc Strait with 26 points. Scoring four in six from the three point line, it was Blackwell who stood up when things became tough. Coach Roberts recognized the weakness. “At the moment, my options to rotate are limited. We need more points off the bench but it’s difficult.” It showed in the game in which Anewkansas ruled the first quarter with a clear 22-14 gap, but the Bobcats failed to break the spirit of the opponent. With ten minutes left, they were back in the game with just three points between the teams. Back with the starting five on the floor, the defense became more effective again and Blackwell added ten more points to his statline. Kason Blackwell can be ranked as a late bloomer, only breaking into the line-up of the modest Perkins Petroleros at 23. But one season later, his scoring jumped up and now he’s the leading man for not just the Petroleros but also the NT. “As a kid, I was playing too much. It’s all in the repetition and that’s not always fun. But if it pays off like this, it’s worth it.” There is only one game left, a de facto round of 32 match against Magnus Phoenicia. Isaiah Stephens, who has been underwhelming so far admitted, “it is time to put in an extra shift.”


BASKETBALL - Did Juvencus crack the code?

Mylah Chong seemed to pick it up right where she had left it, as the dominant force on the half court. Going into the arena against the basket admiring Banijans got the attention, managing to keep them on a leash even more so. From the start, Chong guided her trio to an early 8-2 gap. The Banijan trio demonstrated they’re better than that, with Sina Kalle bringing the defense in trouble more than a few times. But the damage was done and Anewkansas went into the afternoon with three out of three. There awaited Juvencus and well, that was something different. The Juven team did not let themselves get lured into the 1-on-1 our girls like the previous opponents. Solvire and Fonterra shared duties on guarding Chong while the presence of Viretta under the ring posed an issue for Hudson, who saw three of her attempts blocked. Juvencus quickly took a three-point lead and a panicked swap, to bring Charli Ring, did not have the result hoped for. Chong seemed unphased, “I don’t know why people believed we would win every game. It’s the Olympics, it’s the top class.” When asked whether Juvencus had cracked the code, she shrugged. “Knowing how to beat us is one thing. Executing something else. And we learn as well.”


SOFTBALL - A for effort but no result

The writing had been on the wall for a while already, as from the other fields trickled down that Valanora and Whispinia were doing their bit to preserve their play-off position. But when another pitch from Lia Rosas got hit deep by Sargossa’s Alexia Yepes for the opening point, the Olympic dream of the Red Lightning was over. To their credit, they made us dream. At the start of the group phase, this seemed to be just a good learning experience to find out if there was potential for the future. This young, enthusiastic group did a bit more, giving the opposition a run for their money and coming closer than anyone had expected. Shortstop Ainhoa Koch, one of the few veteran players in the line-up, summarized it well. “We came for business, not to play.” Their story has given plenty of young girls the desire to pick up the bat and strengthen their core and that’s a better mission accomplished than possible. That should not obscure for the naked figures that show a solid but not exceptional pitching rotation (even if Frances Li made her mark as a big talent). Even more room for improvement is in the batting order, where only Skylar Bradford managed to obtain a decent run rate. There is potential to put the bar higher next time and that’s a compliment.


BASEBALL - Play-off qualification despite forgetting to bat

The lightning won’t strike again but the Red Thunder will roar at least once more. Playing group underdog Zenic, our Anewkansan team managed an early lead and then played it to the finish. Not a very exuberant display of talent but a business-like victory. To save up Correa and Shaw for what was to follow, Omar Murdock stepped up to the plate and the Hazeldale Jets player brought that consistency for which he was last-second added to the selection (due to the illness of Bobby Rowland). Add to that a homerun effort from Braylon Abbott in the second inning and you get the recipe for a win like this. With the win settled, hands were shook and a celebration had but it tells you something about the desire to go deep that that was quite calm. “This was a target, but not the end game,” Callahan Alvarez shared. However, with everyone back in the ballhouse, someone noted it was a shame the last half-inning had been abandoned. Yes, the win was assured but Banija suffered a surprising loss to Dexterra: as such Anewkansas still ranks in second but was only three runs short. As such, Valanora will be faced for a spot in the quarterfinals. The Queen’s Jewelbox could see a very tight match, third baseman Sloan Chen predicts. “Details will determine the day.”


ROWING - Smooth sailing (well, rowing, well, you know)

Two boats on the water and two qualifications to the next round and so yesterday’s debacle for the Vu sisters was pushed into the history books. Talking about history books, it seems as if Harrison Moses’ presence in them will be a short entry. From the sharp times, one can tell that the winds are favorable on Lake Cenial and the outside lane that brought such luck for Moses got a new occupant in Banijan Banja Condeh who took another second off. Moses himself seemed unbothered by that and remarked that “bests are to be bested”. It helped that the strongman could look back at a successful quarterfinal himself. In the first run, he and Britonisean Örjan Peyton darted off to amass a four-second cushion under the halfway flags. Behind them, a battle for third ensued but Moses stayed out of trouble and could even ease up a little in the last hundred. His ambitions were not thwarted by his record loss: “Both of my runs confirm that the final is definitely possible. Now a good rest and in 48 hours, it’s D-Day.”

A good hour later, Dyer and Rapatsky took to water. It’s only the second season now that young Lukas Rapatsky sits in front of the herculean Brixton Dyer but one can’t tell from their cooperation. “The moment he stepped in, it was as if he had always been here. There are other guys with power but this kid is a natural,” Dyer shared to the press. The story is well-known: his former teammate Stefan Rapatsky passed away after a short, devastating illness. Amid the heartbreak, Dyer considered his departure from the sport. “I could not believe it would be the same without Stefan.” Two weeks after the funeral, younger nephew Lukas knocked on his door at six in the morning. “He just stood there, with two oars in his hand. I actually don’t think either of us ever popped the question but from the first second, it felt right.” As one could tell from the postrace interview, it’s Brixton Dyer who does the talking for the duo. “We’re not the fastest starters”, Dyer shared, “so when we took the lead after 500m already, we knew we were going well. I think the Calgasians tried to follow us for a bit but we had the right stroke rate to power through to the finish.” With result, as Dyer and Rapatsky not only won the heat to give themselves a four-day rest but also posted the best time across the field. “It’s not something we had in mind, but it’s a nice extra.” Lukas Rapatsky only commented once, when asked whether he had thought about Stefan during the heat. “He’s always in the boat with us.”


FOOTBALL - Kno questions, kno doubt! Knock-outs for the Red Knots

While ahead of the Olympics, Joseph Dean tried to play down the ambitions of our national teams (“we’re a small nation after all”), they have turned into the pepper and salt of the collective Olympic adventure. The softball team might be out, but two play-off spots have been clinched and a few more still are possible. Among them, no one has been such an eyeopener as the women’s football team. Allowing them into the delegation had been seen as almost child minding, a consolation prize for being de facto second rate footballers within the nation. Some even said off the record that ‘a few losses would put them in their place’. But the Red Knots felt little for that scenario and showed that there is an awful lot of untapped potential in the female half of our population. After holding the home side to a draw and their stunning upset of Juvencus, Emilia Pearson’s team sealed the deal with a highly professional victory over Darkmania.

In the opening, Anewkansas controlled possession, patiently waiting for the opportunities to come. Halfway to the break, it was Felicity Novak (back in the team after her tactical benching two days ago) who found a weakness to guide Bella Wallace through the center. In the two games so far, the key forward had not found the net yet, a personal blemish on a strong track record. But Wallace cleaned that up with a thundering strike in the closest top corner, leaving the goalie without a chance. “A striker’s only happy when she scores,” Wallace admitted but she refused to explain the rather singular celebration in which Leia Mathis waved Wallace’s shoes to the crowd whilst sitting on the back of Singh. “You know how inside jokes work, they’re only funny inside.” In the lead, the Red Knots leaned back a little but without letting Darkmania too close to Van Helden: the goalie only made a single save. When Pearson was asked whether hunting for a second goal had not been better with an eye on the tiebreaker against Afanc Strait, she said she did not care for it. “My only target was the win: who knew what scenario would play out elsewhere?” As a consequence, Anewkansas now Bhumi Matawis Empire instead of the Kytler Peninsulae. Not an easy opponent, as they are unbeaten and Dinda Ayu Puspita managed three consecutive clean sheets. “I’ll have to study their Calgasia game up close,” Pearson shared, “but from what I’ve seen so far, we can balance out one another. Let’s see who can bring that one performance that tilts it in our favor.”

[Ko-oren]

Season one of the cycling calendar couldn't have taken place without the help of our Constellation partners. There's not a shortage of cyclists in Ko-oren, but looking at the amount of cyclists who could stay on during a full season and offer a challenge for the better teams and cyclists on the list, the thread wears thin. That's why the four Ko-orenite teams first considered more teams with Ko-orenite cyclists, then considered Ko-orenite sponsors to contract Constellation cyclists, and eventually simply settled for a more 'inclusive' option - also the more lucrative option - Constellation teams with Constellation athletes.

Adrahna-Bohakem is one of three major ISPs of the Ko-orenite mainland. It's the 'standard' one in that it connects by far the most households and offers plenty of corporate options as well, even if it's not the best, cheapest, or most reliable abroad. With limited options to slap your name on something sports-related, they've opted to set up the cycling team. The team's headed by Turrimbee, who's a fine athlete but not a frontrunner for most categories. Most eyes will be on sprinter Grinehuten or on spinter/all-rounder Gridhwilethen, who's rumoured to take over as team lead should it be necessary. Originally they would've been called one of the bigger teams in the competition, but they've been overtaken in several categories by the very specialised (or simply far better) Constellation leaders.

Kjandar is a supermarket chain with coverage throughout the nation but a near stranglehold on the eastern islands. Their recruiting started there but they soon pivoted to the rest of the country, putting together a pair of sprinters to back up team lead Njakiden that'll seriously test the rest of the field. Take the Amahjarau Horseshoe, the biggest event of the year at eight stages: Aesisoma takes third in the general classification, ahead of Njakiden (4th) and Tseidausein (5th). Aesisoma also tends to win a stage here or there, Tseidausein not so much but she's rarely far behind. In return, the team doesn't really seem to do that well in mountain stages and races.

Dahrgem-Fandar is another general supplier of internet, mobile service, and other IT functions, and couldn't stay behind when Adrahna-Bohakem was all in. It looks like the IT sector of the northeast is looking to spruce up its image and make sure that the company names are known far and wide - again, because most other sports don't like the idea of including sponsor names in club names, stadium names, and so on. The odd 'Tehlegen Half Time Report' is there, but that's as far as that seems to go. This team has Runjonen as the team lead, also with two impressive sprinters behind him in Nothiten and Aerumelin. Runjonen hasn't won as many stages but has kept things close in various general classifications, the same goes for the other two.

Mulahil-Wilshan is a major insurer and a bit of an odd one out in that they're an age-old company that seems better than to tie their good name down to an unproven cycling team. Then again, they have Ko-oren's best climber in Sishaziden and a scary all-round leader in Srathirithigun. Lezishen is - on a good day - the best time trialist as well, so the team as a whole pivoted away from leaders and sprinters and go the more unique route with a far more mountain-ready team. That means that they'll struggle during large parts of the season but hopefully excel on the days that are made for them, such as when Sishaziden finished second overall in the Tarrashalli Arc, the most mountainous of the three big events. In the biggest elevation-only event - Ahungoren's Day Out - they did well with Srathirithigun in 4th, but they did let Adrahna-Bohakem's Thlithsakhaten win the race...

And then the four teams, as well as Cycling Ko-oren, looked for teams to round out the peloton.

Taloreni Aslan was the first name on the list. The team, semi-nationalised by the Taloreni government, takes a chunk of the massive soft power budget of the burgeoning Constellation state - they want to show that they're not just big in area, but also that they're a trustworthy partner and a potential leader of the organisation. They recruited aggressively and came up with probably the best two climbers in the peloton with Tömörbaatar - a local from Taloren - and Rastegar. Tömörbaatar won two one-day races and also took home outright the Kauzadhal-Hobathin stages - winning both and running away with the general classification as a result - as well as winning four separate mountain classifications for multi-stage events.

Universidad Catolica from Isidoren, a newer member state, was next, as a territory that was so quick to adopt the sporting framework of the Constellation with an excellent football team, a rugby team that can hold their own, and now a cycling team too. They've looked for locals as well as a few others that were close to signing contracts with other teams - but with all of their recruitment, they ended up with a bit of an all-round team that doesn't look too threatening across an entire multi-stage event. Yet, all of that foreshadowing came to naught when Tenorio won the very first event, the Lejana Spring Classic, Tenorio winning the general classification for the Southeastern Corner, and so on... yes, they're unlikely to win a stage by themselves, but they'll keep each other in the running across multiple days. They're not having singular great days, but they're avoiding the worst days as well.

Lyansaka-Kigogazi Superconductors is the team with the biggest hype, being from Ndugutisaoren, the territory with the deepest pockets, but they seemingly didn't put all of their eggs in the cycling basket. There are strong individuals with Wanyoike as a climber, and Wangeci should compete for the general classification, but outside of their own Ndugutisaorenians, there's not too much there. The second half of the season, after the hottest days of summer had past, Wangeci won two multi-stage events - not a bad haul at all.

Sint-Servaas Staatsmijnen, ai.perloop, Stellogistics, and Sioo Glasfaser are four teams to round out the field. Each of them has contracted at least one absolute top target: ai.perloop has yWrchach from Galnoren as a prime sprinter as well as potentially the best runner of all in leader Nicholson. Stellogistics are an even more sprint-only team than most Ko-orenite teams with Arxe, Qaderi, and Zannopoulou, to the point where they're hardly focused on their leader and the riders try to stay in races all by themselves in picking strategic groups to jump out to leads with. Sioo Glasfaser have two fantastic climbers, yRhagafon (also from Galnoren) and Meng. So while the territory of Galnoren don't have a team of their own, they do have a few of the most interesting specimens in the peloton...

[Valanora]

Two more days of electric competition have transpired in Ceni and Drawkland and Vanorian athletes continue to surprise and perform quite admirably, the results of years of hard work and dedication paying off for several individual athletes as well as teams who have performed well. For the hundreds of athletes of who have made it to these games and fulfilled for many what would have been a life long dream to represent their nation at an Olympiad, simply being here is an achievement unto itself. Competing with the best in the world is a gift that can not be adequately described, the feeling of validation and vindication that all the work, the days and weeks and hours and months and even years doing the training to get to be at this point was all worth it in the end. You get to have your moment in the sun, get to have your moment where you are among the very best at what you are doing and are among your peers. Success at this stage can only be a cherry on top of all that swell of emotion and the feelings that come with having made it in the first place, a feeling that can be treasured whether you wind up on a podium or last place.

Starting on Cenial, Milan Andreassen and Ulrik Rygg both have done exceptionally well, winning their Round of 32 matches in Badminton in three sets each. Neither was particularly favored to get very far in the competition but have shown surprising resilience and that little bit of vigor that certain Vanorian athletes get here at the games and perform much better than anyone would have expected from them. Playing up to their expectations were the men's Marauders who shook off the first matchday draw with the Kytler Peninsulae to race out to a three to nil trouncing of Kronbia. Markus Jaeger lead the way with a brace, showing a lot of the talent that have many people comparing him to a human version of Laborious Hawk, while Mathis Hovland scored between the two Jaeger goals. With the Kytler side edging out Darmania in a one to nothing encounter, the side knows they simply have to get a draw against their opposition to secure passage out of the group. Julius Miljeteig is expected to make quite a few changes to the line up to try and rest the players legs but if the situation calls for it do not be surprised if the stars are out there late if the team is chasing a goal to advance.

Despite losing both of their last two games, the women's handball team has managed to advance out of their group and will take on Britonisea in the Round of Twelve. It is an unusual showing for the team but getting out of the group is quite the accomplishment and now that they are there, no reason they could not go on to pull a few upsets. Also turning a few heads was Vårin Moen, who was competing in the Women's TAEKWONDO over 67kg event, as Vanorians are not particularly known for showing well in the martial arts competitions. Despite that, Moen was able to earn a bronze medal, adding to the early tally for the delegation and showing that once more you can get medals where you least expect them. Speaking of unexpected medal, Gabriel Bjørklund's silver in Men's individual all-around gymnastics is a giant shock, as gymnastics have routinely been one of the places that Vanorians have struggled with at the games. Gabriel will be quite proud of the accomplishment and will for sure have plenty of coaching opportunities back at home as others will look to learn from his experience for future games.

The women's football team today finished their perfect record in the group stage, thrashing Electrum four to nil despite a heavy amount of rotation from manager Matheo Dybvik, Veteran striker Klara Holmberg managed to get a first half hattrick to make things quite easy for the team, before second half substitute Iracema Tórrez finished off the scoring with a twenty yard screamer from just outside the box. The team earned the first seed and now play StrayaRoos who finished third in their group with four points. With how dominant the team has played through the group stage, it is getting harder to see anyway the team doesn't come away with some sort of medal if they can keep up this momentous form they are in.

Heading over to the Drawkland side of things for the last few days and there have been tons of struggles in the pool for Vanorian athletes once they get to the semifinal meets. While they have that quality to rise above the pack, they lack that elite talent to truly compete with the world's best, often finishing seventh or last in their semifinal heats, even if they had finished first in the qualifying heats. It is an area where although there has been plenty of investment both in facilities and coaching, something seems to be missing to truly be at the elite level, bar one or two exceptions.

After struggling through the first few archery events, both the men and women's individual competitions have started well for the Vanorian representatives with all three individuals on both sides having advanced out of the first round. The competition has been surprisingly stiff and some competition has come from unexpected places or from nations who are completely new to the games. Mathias Øverås, who served as the flag bearer for the delegation during the opening ceremony for the Empire, is considered the best among the entire group of competitors from the Empire and it should come as no surprise as he had the easiest time in his first round. He looks to set the example for the rest of the Vanorians to follow on both the men's and women's side and despite the early struggles, there is still plenty of hope for a full slate of medals on both sides of this competition should the draw prove kind and each individual having learned from how the team events played out.

The women's Dragons, the basketball team, are in a spot of bother after losing in a close encounter with Kelssek in the first game of group play, seventy-three to seventy-five. The hard court has been a bit of an issue as the three by three teams are also struggling to find their footing in the competition, with the players seemingly having a hard time adjusting from the usual five on five play that is prevalent in the Empire. The loss against Kelssek erases any margin of error that the team has if they wish to advance out and keep up the hope of medaling there, as both the men and women were expected to be in that competition. Equinox Auraterra win heavily over Orgstan in the other first game and knowing that the latter is a decent basketball nation gives a bit of nerves. Head coach Tiril Westrum is going to have to find a way to keep her team's heads from sogging down and to fire them up to ensure they can grab two wins and force their way into the knockout rounds and keep up that medal hope alive.

The team of Nadia Mykland, Eira Vatn, and Malene Hovland continued to showcase Vanorian excellence at fencing, earning another gold in the women's team Épée. It has been an exhibition of excellence and a showcase of some Vanorian culture with the way that all of our fencing competitors has faced off against their competition and have for the most part been on the podium and have contributed the most amount of medals to the delegation's impressive tally. While the absence of Quebec and Chromatika has definitely has made the competition a bit easier, it can not take away from simply how excellent each and every member of the fencing portion of the delegation has been and looks to continue to be. They are truly the stars of the delegation thus far as they had been advertised to be, alongside the archery contestants. Especially as the following day the team of Nikolai Sørensen, Arian Bergh, and Anders Stene achieved gold in the men's team sabre, despite going against the team from Drawkland in the gold medal match and the crowd clearly cheering against them. One last high note was the setting of a new Olympic record by a Vanorian athlete as William Kjøsnes supplanted fellow Vanorian Aleksander Liland's record in the Men's 50m Rifle 3 Positions by three points, five hundred ninety-six over five hundred ninety-three. Unfortunately it was only during the qualifying round and William still has work to do to earn a medal but his name will go in the record the books regardless of what happens in the medal rounds!

[A Kea]

Olympic Nights

by KTV

Athanasia: A very big day for the Kean colours, as we've already equalized the gold medal tally of last year in just 5 days of competition.
Iordanis: First up, Ayman El Wadidi, in his first Olympic final has broken the Olympic record and brought us our very first gold in swimming ensuring that A Kea remains in the podium of 200m breaststroke after Kontostavlos' silver last year. Tatiani is in Kayo to interview him.

Tatiani: So Ayman, you said you were honoured to finally reach the Olympic final after 5 participations. Did you see this coming? Gold and new Olympic record?
Ayman: As I said yesterday, everything can happen in sport. My only goal was to enjoy the race, which I did, I felt good and swam fast, I definitely didn't have an olympic record, or even the gold in my plans but I guess this is what can happen when you're in a very good day and feel perfectly good. Everything was perfect, the strokes, the turns, I've never had a race go that smoothly for me before so I'm just very happy that it happened to be the final one, the most important one of the season.
T: When you first made the team 5 years ago people weren't very welcoming, mean racist comments were unfortunately abundant, as Keans got to know you though their perception changed, and now you offered us the biggest distinction in Kean swimming ever. It's been quite a journey right?
A: Definitely. I hope I helped our mostly homogenous nation accept immigrants, I was born and raised in Adamantine, I feel Kean, that's all I knew growing up. I may not look Kean but I am inside, and to me that's all that matters. We got the olympic record, and we got a historic gold in swimming.
T: An impressive way to end your 5th Olympic appearence, sadly no relays this time but maybe next year?
A: Well, I don't rule it out, Johnny did better times last season and he was picked for breaststroke but with this gold, I may be back next year. My main focus though is my individual events, unlike the previous times, now I have a title to defend.

I: And this wasn't all, as women's trap brought us our very first shooting medal in these games, not only that it also gave us our very first shooting gold after constant appearences in the podium since our debut in the 15th games.
A: And most importantly, Kean shooters dominated as Eliso Farkeli and Emma Irakli achieved the first and second places in the final, first time ever with two Keans in the same podium. Tatiani is ready to interview the girls.

T: What an astonishing performance, after a worrisome drought in shooting medals, you gave our nation a very deserved distinction. Emma, after a 4th place last year and an Olympic record in the qualifying round, you were the big favourite in the final, and yet Eliso, who was completely off the radar in her Olympic debut managed to snatch the gold. Tell us more about your experience.
Emma: Yes I was ready to get the gold, I can't lie I feel slightly disappointed but I'm glad Eliso is the one that beat me out of the lineup. Unfortunately my 4/5 3rd round almost cost me going further. The final was very close so just one miss could cost you everything. Thankfully I managed to pull off 5/5s in both the 7th and 8th rounds so I secured a spot in the top 2, the gap with Eliso was too big to realistically catch up so I reached as far as I could, I'll be back next year for the gold but I'm glad to improve my performance from last year.
Eliso: I can't believe this happened. Even after qualifying all the attention fell to Emma, understandably so since she's the bigger name, I'm just a 19 year old girl in my first appearence, but going from barely a footnote in the end of the articles to gold feels like vindication.
Em: That's true, I understand media focusing on me after what happened in the qualifying round but it is unfair to totally ignore achievements from less known athletes just because a big name is also there. That's another reason why I'm glad Eliso was the one to beat me, a gold for my country and an underrated athlete getting some well deserved recognition. How did you even pull off all these 5/5 in the first shots? You did like 5 in a row?
El: No clue, I was just locked in. My first participation, my first final, I wanted to ignore everything and everyone around me and focus on the task at hand, like dissociating. Especially after the media reaction yesterday I had to stop thinking about it all otherwise we'd be talking about a totally different situation. But hey, at least you'd have won the gold.
T: We are very proud of this unique situation. How did it feel being together on the podium? Hearing our anthem for the both of you?
El: Unreal, being there, having Emma next to me, seeing two of our flags waving, this was unreal.
Em: I agree, even though the anthem didn't play for me necessarily it felt like it did, like it honoured us both. Two young girls from a small island on the top of the world.

I: Unforeseen moments of pride for our country, with 5 out of our 9 medals being gold so far, and two more guaranteed as Fourlis and Orfanou have qualified for the semifinals of boxing, these games have already started in a very positive way for A Kea.
A: See you tomorrow for even more action, and hopefully more moments of pride for our country.

[Dexterra]

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25 September 2025



served to you by the Dexter Cultural Bureau

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Thanks For Reading ★ Est. 19 November 2021 ★ Event LXII Round VII (archive)

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A perfect day at the Olympics

Beagles sweep the women's singles, men's doubles round of 32





Day five at the XIX Olympiad was a perfect one for the Dexterra Beagles. Amongst three women's singles athletes and two men's doubles teams, the Beagles won all five matches to advance to the sweet sixteen.

The perfect day began with Scarlett Dyer's typically controversial 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 win over Wanjiru Waitherero of Banija, in which she was docked a point by the umpire while facing set point for repeatedly cursing during the match. While she wisely did not curse the rest of the match, Dyer came storming back to convert five of eleven break points in the second and third sets and win the match with a bagel.

Then there was Camille Fletcher's 6-2, 6-4 ousting of hometowner Margaret Pendersword of the Afanc Strait, who is a rising star on the NationStates Tennis Tour. Fletcher bombed fourteen aces, a new personal best, and faced zero break point chances during the match.

Finally for women's singles there was Esmeralda Serrano's 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 triumph over Caroline Olsen of Valanora, in which Serrano twice won six straight games to come back from down 0-2, and saved eight break point chances while only losing one.

In men's doubles, Jonathan Powell Jr./Lyndon Lowery won 6-2, 6-2 over Alistair McGee/Frederick Noble of Hanalia, maintaining a first serve percentage of a staggering 85% and a second serve percentage of 62%, one of their highest recorded serve percentages to date.

Finally, Dusty Workman/Joe Striker were victorious 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 over David Antonius Lesmana/Rifqi Fitriananda of Bhumi Matawis Empire, a rather odd match in which Workman/Striker came back in the second set from down 5-1 to nearly tie it at 5-4 only to lose serve on the next game, but the Wildcats proceeded to ball out in the third set like they did the first and won 6-2.

Up next for tennis at the XIX Olympiad is the men's singles and women's doubles round of 32. Michael Loy, Tristan Armstrong, Lionel Baird, Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead and Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya are at bat. Julian Hull, who was eliminated in the previous round, is out exploring the National Mall. Will the Beagles have another perfect day, or will someone soon join Hull?

Live coverage of the XIX Olympiad is provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau.

---

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[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Olympics



Unlikely Heroes


Raquel Solana writes;

It was little surprise that the day five headlines were centred on the Brinsen Natatorium and Aquatic Center, where Sargossa added two further medals to the nation’s total. Breaststroke has always been a national strength. Manual Moya won the nation’s first ever Olympic gold in the 200m event way back at the fourth Games in Aeropag. Olympic greats Marc ‘The Shark Sarasola and Adriana Abarca both include breaststroke golds among their personal tallies. Elina Lastra is the women’s record holder over 100m. And Jesús Seco would have been the same over 200m on the men’s side, had Ayman El Wadidi not beaten him to the wall in a final in which the top three equalled or bettered the previous Olympic record.

There was a record broken too in the men’s 200m butterfly event. Juan Diego Gallo went for Sargossa in the final, bringing plenty of tournament experience as a former champion in the event. An inspired Dennis Hamilton was too much for everyone, but a fine final length saw Gallo hold off the chasing pack and finish with a well-earned bronze. All eyes will now turn to the women’s event in which both María José Sarmiento and Luisa Alcocer will contest tomorrow night’s final.

But the joy of the Olympics is not just found in the crucible of elite competition, in which the nation’s best can compete at the highest level. But also, in those areas where it can’t. There is no baseball pedigree in Sargossa. None whatsoever. But we’re a big nation with a multitude of tastes and enough people are interested enough to keep the sport alive. It doesn’t resonate in the national consciousness. That is, until we hit an Olympic year. Suddenly people are watching, suddenly there’s interest. Suddenly the side are on national telly ending their campaign with a win over Kronbia. For softball the situation is nigh on identical, and the ladies treated the viewers back home to a final day victory over Anewkansas. Both sides are coming home, but they ended in style.

They weren’t alone either, as Sargossa’s men scored an overtime win over Kordavia in the basketball. While the ladies triumphed for a second time in their water polo group, this time d(r)owning mighty Kelssek. And then there are the rowers. Our dear, sweet rowers. Certainly rowing is taken incredibly seriously in some small communities in the countryside. Very seriously indeed. But for most it’s an odd pastime indulged in by strange river folk. But, by God, those strange riverfolk will be cheered when they pull on the darker blue at an Olympics. For them success is simply being there. Not coming last is merely a bonus. Such were the celebrations in those communities when Morena Obregón and Elisa Nores placed third in their coxless pairs heat that you’d be forgiven for thinking they’d won the gold. When the men’s eights beat a rival Rushmori team from The Kytler Peninsulae the river folk roared themselves hoarse.

Because heroes come in all shapes and sizes. From the elite athlete to the plucky amateur to the once in a generation talent. Talents like Roxana Macri, whose natural gift with a bow instantly made her the best archer ever produced by the Greater Republic. Throw in a competitor poached from a nation with a much more established archery programme and you have a potent mix. Macri and Santiago Park Borja, a former gold medal winning mixed team, both advanced into the last-32 of their respective individual events.

Under normal circumstances the likes of archery, baseball or rowing wouldn’t get a look in. But this is the Olympics, where the unlikeliest of heroes can be crowned.

[Archalit]

OOC: taking a mental break from plot writing, enjoy the newsletter!

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Archalit Women Face Brutal Reality in Olympic Volleyball After Third Consecutive Loss

The Archalit women's volleyball team have not quite been having the breakout season that the men have been having over the course of the Olympics. After a remarkably close win against Darmen in game one followed by a clean sweep against the Kriegiersien players, the Archalitian men sit undefeated in their group.

Unfortunately for Archalit's women's team, this reality couldn't be further from the truth. Following their 0-3 loss to Sargossa followed by a heartbreaking reverse sweep by the Ko-oren team, the Archalitian women already went into this game at the bottom of their group. Their third game against Indusse was promised to be their chance to begin making a comeback run in this tournament and put themselves back into position to qualify for the knockout rounds.

This wouldn't happen. The two teams traded sets in the opening stages of the match, with Indusse opening the game with an 18-25 before the Archalitian side pulled back with consecutive sets of 25-22 and 25-17. The team was once again tantalizingly close to the victory with just one set from their first win. However, Indusse took the fourth set with 18-25 before barely coming out ahead in the final set, scoring 12-15.

This marks the third loss for the Archalitian women who have yet to break ground, not the ideal season for the women's team and essentially the opposite from the men who are currently in prime position to qualify for the final. However, it is still early days. Miracles can happen, and with four out of six teams set to qualify for the knockout stages, it is still possible for the women to claw their way back if only they can pull off wins against Valanora and Liventia, the two other nations sitting at the bottom of the group at this time.

[Hanalia]

Satire, memes and funsies from Enther Technical College

National Racquet Centre, Cenial, Ceni
Games of the XIX Olympiad

GLORY AND HONOUR! GLORY AND HONOUR! ETC students bring GLORY AND HONOUR upon HANALIA. Long held back by the entrenched bureaucrats of the elitist and anti-individualist state, tennis has gone unrecognised as a sport worthy of recognition. So I, at great personal risk, have gone deep undercover deep within the deep bowels of the deeply corrupt regime and finally shone a deep light on the deep plight of Hanalian tennis for the multiverse to see. Far and wide and deep they will all see.

The apparent 'administrative error' that allowed some our ETC tennis club players to be entered into the Hanalian Olympic delegation was no error at all. It was a subversive act designed to showcase to the world the oppression that tennis players in Hanalia have been subjected to for generations. After infiltrating the shady TORCH, I covertly extracted the application forms and routed them, in the cover of darkness, to the tennis club. Whereby we met in secret to commit ourselves to the overthrow of the nefarious regime.

After gathering together the band of brothers and sisters in racquets who would risk it all and identify themselves as the team. The forms were returned to the belly of the beast and entered covertly into the mechanisms of 'the system'. This was the moment of greatest jeopardy. The moment of highest risk of detection. The moment when I most needed to relieve myself. And yet all went smoothly, it was only a number one. One eyelid was batted but feigned incompetence saved discovery of the plot.

So we waited. And waited. For the fraudulent TORCH to deny tennis once again. And for us to rise up in response. Yet the denial never came and so when the time came for the team to travel to the games, the tennis players went. Surely now they would be denied. A security incident at the airport to throw further light on a situation TORCH would like to keep in the dark. But for the first time in the history of the sport, bureaucracy worked in tennis' favour. Everything was in order, tennis was part of the delegation and there was nothing stopping them boarding the plane.

While the mission may have failed in its initial objectives to expose the institutional nets blocking the way to tennis, the mission failed upwards. There are now Hanalian olympic tennis players, from this fine college no less, that are taking on the best. Occasionally they've managed to put up a decent fight while they're at it. At this stage in the games Shania Nixon has managed to win three matches and can argue she is one of the best sixteen players in the women's singles game as she prepares for a match against Fuller of the co-hosts, Drawkland.

The only man left standing at the back of the court is Hayden Parks with partner Mildred Bruce courtesy of the fact the mixed doubles event is yet to commence. The Kelsseks racqueted away a pair each in the men's and women's doubles events. While the co-hosts, in the form of Wilson (DRK) and Navsal (AFC), ganged up and double team knocked out the remaining men's singles O'Neill and Mayers in the round of 64. Rojas and Lawson have Calgasia's Raabs and Chevlová up next in the remaining Hanalian interest in the women's doubles.

Where next for this great sport? Well GLORY AND HONOUR it shall be.

{Name redacted for personal security}, Emeritus Editor-in-Chief

Edit: changing imgur links

[Hopal]

Part 6 of Rivalry in the Pool: The Jenny Juan Story

Rivalry in the Pool Article
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

Three and a Half Years Ago

After her aunt’s post-Olympic debrief, Jenny Juan and the rest of the Hopalian swim team crowded out into the hall from the conference room at the Hopal National Aquatics Centre. After the humiliation dished from her aunt and coach Georgia, Jenny was feeling a little down.

It had been a stunning dressing down of her performance from the Olympic legend, coach, and her aunt following her disappointing Olympic performance. It was a treatment that Georgia had given to almost every member of the team, but her critique of Jenny’s performance felt particularly stinging.

Jenny was still feeling the incredible heartburn of disappointment following the closing of the Olympics, just under six months prior. She had come into those Olympics carrying the hopes and dreams of Olympic glory held since childhood. They had all been dashed under the weight and pressure of the Olympic spotlight. She had fallen in each of her races, never quite contending for a medal, in each of the finals she had reached, crumbling under pressure. She had been tearing herself up about it ever since, replaying every race a thousand times in her head and pointing out every inflection point where she could have made more of an impact, everything she could have done to inch closer to that Olympic glory, a medal that she had dreamed of for so long.

Her aunt’s dressing down of her performance hurt, but what hurt more was that her archrival Jessie Martens had achieved the success, well at least some of the success which Jenny had so craved. Earning a silver medal, Jessie had been hailed as the great new Hopalian swimming talent, successor to Georgia Juan over Jenny. Jessie had received a similar, albeit more praising critique from Georgia, but that had been forgotten in Jenny’s mind, replaced by the sting of Georgia’s critiques of her own performance.

Jenny had sat there in stunned silence through the rest of Georgia’s debrief, contemplating her own, what she viewed as a terrible performance. She was among the last to leave the conference room, her aunt Georgia having quickly made her exit much earlier without so much as a glance back at her stunned niece. Her other mentor Jessie Duclaire, who had just been announced as the assistant coach for the swim team gave Jenny a small little supportive smile before she made her own exit.

Jenny walked out into a fairly crowded hall, as many of the team’s members stuck around to discuss their coach’s debrief. There was a buzz around the fairly new building as the team members discussed the latest critical competition.

However, above the hubbub, Jenny could hear one voice rising above the rest. Her rival, Jessie Martens.

“Oh my god, did you hear Georgia call out Jenny like that? That was so embarrassing for her. Her own aunt! I mean I guess that performance in general was kind of embarrassing. Imagine being her.”

Jessie was talking to a few of her friends that Jenny couldn’t make out. But hearing that, on top of everything else that had been going through her since the closing of the Olympics snapped something within her. She stormed over to Jessie’s position.

“Hey Jessie!”

Jessie and her crowd turned to look at Jenny stunned.

“You have something to say, come say it to my face!”

The crowd behind Jessie began to cower away. Jenny had caught the attention of a bit of a bigger crowd as more athletes in the room turned to face the commotion.

“Oh Jenny. Uh, I, uh…”

One person who heard this whole commotion was Jessie Duclaire, the newly appointed assistant coach of the swim team, who quickly rushed over getting between the feuding teammates.

“Alright enough of this. You two are teammates. No matter how you like it, we are all on one team. You should start acting like it. We might all get some more success.”

The assistant coach sighs.

“Now Jessie, apologize to Jenny.”

As Jessie opened her mouth, Jenny began to cut her off.

“No need. We all know where she stands.”

At this Jenny turned on her heel and stormed off in the other direction. She would get better, she pledged, she’d prove Jessie and all who doubted her wrong, she’d train, and she’d achieve that Olympic glory.

---

Present Day

Team Hopal’s practice pool was dark, with about half of the lights on and dimmed. It was fairly late at night and most of the team had long clocked out to rest for competition. But there was one lone figure in the pool, out in the front crawl position, pushing and pushing herself further and longer for as long as she could go.

Jenny Juan had taken her aunt’s criticism of her previous Olympic performance to heart and stuck true to the pledge that she had made to herself three and a half years ago. She was in and out of the pool almost everyday working on pushing her limits, taking the mistakes of Schimpol and revising to get tangible results and she had seen results, her times were getting faster and faster. She had gone back to basics as her aunt had suggested, getting her technique down, getting longer strokes, faster kicks, and importantly getting those turns, which had derailed her last Olympic run, just right.

She wasn’t about to stop that progress now that she had reached the actual games here in Kayo. No, she was still at it in the pool, much later than any other of her teammates, at least that she knew of.

She pushed, get that arm further, hold that breath for longer, and kick, kick, kick.

Finally she reached the end of the pool and serenely emerged above the water. Looking back across the pool, which was dimmed just as she liked it, she felt the bright lights were too much of a glare impeding her performance, underperforming under pressure was an issue she had done much work. But she reflected as she prepared to face a critical stretch of competition.

Was the work that she put in going to be enough? She wondered.

Her rivalry with Jessie Martens was still ongoing and as cold as ever. Before the opening of the games, Jessie Duclaire had taken the team out to explore the old city of Kayo before the pressure of competition. They explored the old cobble streets, winding through the beautiful historic buildings of the old quarter, and gazed up upon the towering picturesque skyline. They had gone to a little club afterward to celebrate the beginning of a new games, overall it was a fun night out for the team before they had to lock in. However, the entire night Jenny had found herself next to her rival Jessie Martens, and as they travelled past the city, they played an awkward game of trying to avoid each other, much to the discomfort of the rest of the team and especially their old mentor.

But it couldn’t be helped, Jenny thought to herself. Jessie just had it out for her, right from the very beginning. That was what she told herself. And she told herself that she would best Jessie at these Olympics or at least achieve enough glory to prove her and all the haters wrong.

[Ceni]

This is your Day Six cutoff.

[Magnus Phoenicia]

WP||Magnus Phoenicia Global News Corp

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

Off The Record

Kim Chin-Sun

Gossip is like a great cup of coffee. Both get you going in the morning.

And there is nothing better than a cup from EchoBrew Coffee, a national Magnus Phoenician chain that locally sources its beans from the best coffee plantations in the northern regions of our empire.
While they are not officially sponsors of our delegation like their tea competitors Tudor Teas ,maybe this shameless plug will get CEO Frida Cárdenas to sponsor future Olympic teams.

I am honoured to have the privilege of attending the Olympic Games and travelling between Ceni and Drawkland to get all the tea.

I am not alone in these endeavours, as I compete with fellow gossip columnists Norma Mansfield and Eunice Culpepper. But trust me when I say, you definitely need to be reading my articles first, as I will have the most exclusive content.

Wedding Bells In The Air

Magnus Phoenicia has a top notch Equestrian Team. Pulling in several gold and silver medals over their last few appearances. Unfortunately during this appearance the Evening Team has not done so well, and the Dressage team is not performing to the best of their ability. However, away from the judges and spectators love has blossomed. I adore a good love story.

“I know it's a cliche but it was love at first sight,”Marc-Antoine Jomphe of the Eventing team said.

"We may be part of the same Equestrian team but we don't always get to interact with the other disciplines as they are busy preparing for their own events. But two months ago I stayed behind to watch the Dressage team. It's when I noticed Portia de Monti and her horse Diamond Lady. It was love at first sight between her horse Diamond Lady and my horse Daisy Chain.”

Yes readers, you heard me right. The two horses have been practically inseparable since they first met in the training arenas. Both rides recognised the signs of love.

“Who are we to stand in the way of love,” Portia de Monti told me in a brief phone call.

“A lot of people are going to think we are freaks. I'm sure other nations will shake their heads and mutter to themselves. Only in Magnus Phoenicia would they celebrate a lesbian love relationship between horses and organise a wedding once the Olympics are over."

Marc-Antoine Jomphe confirmed it will be a short nuptials.

“Upon returning to Magnus Phoenicia we will begin planning a wedding with a pink and gold theme held at Portia de Monti farm which has a tree-lined avenue of Magnolia trees which both horses enjoyed during a weekend break before we prepared to head to Ceni to participate.

I definitely wish the best of luck and eternal happiness. As after all, love is love.



Bunny Attack


Surfers it is not safe to go back in the water. I repeat it's not safe to return to the water.
This is not a warning of some horror film shark terrorising the residents of some Drawkland coastal community. No it's far worse, former Olympic surfer turned coaching assistant Bunny St Clair is on the scene.

Bunny St Clair attended the Olympics on a number of occasions being one of the highest ranked female surfers in the Magnus Phoenician Empire. Unfortunately she failed to live up to her standard back home where she appeared to live and breathe barrels, Alley-Oops and Air Reverses. However once she was at the Olympics her courage and bravery fled her, resulting in her choking the closest she progressed towards the final. It even became a popular term during some Olympics where athletes who were in medal contention flopped, earning them the nickname the Bunny choke.

Free from competition, Bunny St Clair wasted no time announcing her new life plan: 25% helping the nation’s surfers, 75% racking up a different kind of scorecard. Let’s just say her surfboard isn’t the only thing she’s waxing, and every carved notch on her surfboard will tell a story that would never make the Olympic highlights.

“Cove Anderson and Jung Woo-seok can ride my wave anytime. I like to think a kiss from Bunny will bring anyone good luck.”

I’m not against promiscuity in any shape or form , in fact, Magnus Phoenicia probably needs to screw around a bit more. Because let’s face it, after wiping out at every Olympic surfing event and never bringing home a medal, the only thing our surfers are riding successfully is each other. At this point, maybe a good bang is the only wave they’re ever gonna catch! Bang for Gold you athletes of the sea.

Spirituality 101


Lakshmi 108, Head of the New Age Delegation, declared that the Spiritual and New Age Services are out in full force at these Games. As always, Magnus Phoenicia has brought along its team of chaplains, tarot readers, mediums, angel intuitives, dream interpreters, chakra realigners, and one guy who just stares mysteriously at his dazzling crystals until they “hum” and “send him visions”

Magnus Phoenicia is famously religious and gloriously superstitious. They have more deities than there are playboy bunnies at the mansion.
Sources say athletes are encouraged to have their palms read before heats, their chakras cleansed after wipeouts, and their horoscopes updated daily just in case Mercury decides to retrograde before finals.

Rumours have the delegation importing an emergency shaman in case the surfing team finally makes it past the semifinals. However, from what I heard the other night in the Olympic village, the shaman spends most of his time doing love spells for the coaches.

And with that, I leave you to sip your lattes and clutch your pearls until the next scandal breaks at these Olympics. You won't have to wait long, I bet my career on it.

Remember when I'm around, secrets don’t stay buried, they are whispered to me over cocktails where I feel it's my duty to report their indiscretions.

Until next time, stay glamorous and remember it's un-Magnus Phoenician not to support our team win or lose.

[Juvencus]

TO TEAM OR NOT TO TEAM?

Day 6 was a difficult day to be a Juven solo athlete. One bronze medal amassed, many finals where there was an opprtunity for a podium finish only for it not to be it. However, with several team sports on the run to the podiums, today is all but unproductive and many events are far from over.

FENCING GLORY: Juvencus' only medal for day 6 came in women's team foil in fencing. Despite having to start in a preliminary round match, the trio of Cecilia Montavani, Aurora Quintela and Isabella Rinaldi made an upset run all the way to the semi-final where they would lose to eventual gold medalists of Brevik, Lundemo and Solheim. Despite that, the ladies quickly picked up their pieces and won in the bronze medal final to bring home yet anothe medal for the nation and maintain the beautiful streak that has persisted since the first day of the olympics.

VOLLEYBALL HOT STREAK: The men's indoor volleyball team is on a roll. With 3 wins, all of which were shutouts, Juvencus is sitting on top of group B. This time cruising past a Kelssek team that, while passionate, looked to be on the chase to even equalise in the majority of the game. With multiple big runs, however, the men managed to get a comfortable victory against an otherwise hard opponent. Enrico Valleca, while content with the victory, seemed to be wanting even more from his players in the games to come.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL THRILL: A party like no other for matchday 2 of women's basketball as the Juven team would DEMOLISH Whispinia with 110 points to 79. Maria Silveiro's team was strict on its plan and with Alquim, Rivolti and Monteras on incredible showing each the win was anything but a surprise. Slowly establishing itself as one of the favorites for a podium finish, the women's team is facing Indusse on the final matchday to see who will top the group and get at least a -perceived- better draw in the knockout stages.

MEN'S GLI ATTACCANTI ESCAPE PAST SARGOSSA: Sargossa entered the pitch with the need to get the win for a shot at finishing in second place and thus entering the knockout stages. Juvencus, while already having the first place at hand wanted to solidify its lead. The Rushmori powerhouses entered in a more commanding way and got the lead early on with a devastating Agramonte strike. Following an unrecognisable first half for a gli attaccanti team, pushed back and with no solutions, Martell's half-time pep talk would change everything. A lineup change from 4-4-2 to a more traditional 3-4-3, with Corsan as a libero was the correct choice for this particular game. Fed by his crosses, Dumaresq was able to dribble past the right side of the Sargossan defence and deliver Campana with the tap-in to make it 1-1. With the tide of the game now leaning towards the Juven side, the pressure was on and the hero to help the team get out of harm's way would turn out to be none other than Joao Peres with a well-weight finesse shot, leaving Campos unable to react. 3 out of 3 and now Juvencus has Kelssek to face in the round of 16 in a battle of the giants and perhaps the biggest game in this part of the competition.

HANDBALL TRIUMPH WITHIN ARM'S REACH: Purely phenomenal performance against Indusse by the ORIGINAL gli attaccanti. Fabraux's team was covering the whole pitch against Indusse and got a rightful 30-22 victory over Indusse. With the team's first ever semi-finals for a handball competition since the team's debut in Handball World Cup 18 in Drawkland, where gli attaccanti finished 4th, excitement is surrounding Juven fans among various groups regarding the men's team success. Could this be the time that the men's handball team manage to clinch a medal for handball?

THE REVODA CURSE IS OVER: So far in the Olympics, including group stages matches for rugby sevens across both genders, Juvencus seemed to be struggling against Drawkland in every sport. With losses ALL across the board from individual to team sports, the teams' meetup in the round of 12 saw the Unified Juven team get revenge for the group stages loss. A triumphant 26-14 victory in a tight match and with the Drawkian players entering with an air of confidence on the field, it was bound to be difficult. Despite the physical advantadge of Drawkian players, the Juven players managed to use their superior speed to win this fight and punch a spot for the rugby sevens quarter-finals. With the hardest part now gone, getting a victory over Equinox Auraterra seemed much easier despite the closeness of that tie as well and the men's rugby sevens team did what the women could not do and that was to clinch a spot in the final 4 of the competition. With the impressive Vanorians next, Jeremejeff's task is to maintain the winningful performances and get a certain finish in the podium.

With various athletics events to start, all eyes are on the athletes in the stadiums now. Day 7 also has more Judo and Gymnastics medal events while the team dressage is also underway. Will the Juven athletes manage to rise up and bring home more pride and medals? AVE JUVENCUS!

[Waisnor]

Judo gifts keep on coming

With another day of the Olympics now in history books, same thing happens with results of Waisnorian athletes. And the great streak of Waisnorian athletes gaining medals still continued, from the athlete for whom a medal was a pretty expected result. But besides him, there were still pretty good results from Waisnorians:

The one athlete thanks to whom the streak is still going strong is Vladimir Zabolotsky, the judoka representing the country in men's 100kg tournament, and his biography talks for himself by this point. Besides a lot of national and international trophies in his category, Vladimir was a known man in NS Olympics, having participated in two previous Olympic Games, and earning first a silver medal, and then a bronze, with only the elusive gold medal left from completing the podium. And of course, when he arrived in Cenial, gold was the medal he was gunning for. And his initial battle with Fedya Stanley of Equinox Auraterra proved that he was out for blood (metaphorically, at the very least, don't worry) - his style of judo was more aggressive than in his previous tournaments, and Fedya was soon on the floor, with an ippon scored on him and Vladimir already walking out towards the next fight. And in the quarterfinals, Esteban Domínguez from Magnus Phoenicia was waiting for him, and he was actually able to put some resistance against the Waisnorian, holding off his attacks with very good defence while attempting to get at him too. But Zabolotsky was ready for it, training for a fair bit on his defence too, and towards the end of regular time, Vladimir was able to catch Esteban off-guard, putting him towards the mats and scoring an ippon on him, landing himself a place in the semifinals. And interestingly enough, his semifinal against Cal Solborne from Afanc Strait was looking somewhat easier than his quarterfinal bout - Cal was also able to perform some nice attacks, and Vladimir was simply able to repel them, catch a moment to strike, act fast and score an immediate ippon in the middle of the bout. With that, Zabolotsky guaranteed himself at least a silver medal by participating in the final, but he wanted only a gold medal to go out with a bang. But to achieve that, he needed to beat one more opponent - Inaba Yosuke of Zenic. And immediately, problems arose with him - Inaba simply seemed to possess more energy than Vladimir, who was somewhat worn down from his previous bouts, and Yosuke was able to use this advantage, asserting himself as the leading judoka in the bout. Soon enough, even though Vladimir was attempting to fight back, Inaba took him in a hold, leading him to fall into an ippon for Yosuke and a defeat for Zabolotsky. Even though he gained another silver of Waisnorian team, he wasn't fully satisfied with his performance, feeling that this time he was ready to finally win the gold medal.

Moving towards the sport which we haven't covered yet in the Olympics coverage, boxing, and there we have Kirill Zhebrik, the sole Waisnorian in men's welterweight competitions. Kirill was another athletes who had already proven himself in past Olympics, winning a silver medal in the last one. And so, him returning to the next Olympics to have another shot at the gold medal was really a no-brainer. More than that, Kirill also wanted to earn himself another medal, preferrably a gold one, and so, he was getting over the first rounds of qualifications with relative ease. And with this, Zhebrik came to the quarterifinals, and since the winner of a quarterfinal would be guaranteed at least a bronze medal, stakes were definitely high there. And the opponent for him to beat there was Aki Vanukar of Afanc Strait. Kirill knew that this battle would have serious ramifications in the grand scheme of things for this tournament, and so, he needed to pull all the stops there. And so, he began his bout with Aki by going into the attack mode on him almost immediately. Kirill, unleashing his hurricane of punches on Vanukar, showed himself to be the dominant boxer on the arena already. Even if Aki was about to answer this with his own attacks, Kirill was also a pretty good at defending, and so, many of his attacks were simply deflected. As the rounds came and went, one things stayed the same - Kirill was definitely the better boxer out of these two, and any number of attacks attempted by Vanukar couldn't draw attention from this one simple fact. And so, when the time came for juries to announce the official winner of the bout, it wasn't a particularly different decision: all five juries gave the victory to Zhebrik, sending him to the semifinals and having him already earn at least a bronze. After the bout, Kirill himself said, that it's early for him to celebrate and that he needs to concentrate on his next bouts.

Other Waisnorian results:
In women's single sculls competitions in rowing, Yulia Bogomolova placed 4th in her semifinal
Lydia Sopova and Taisija Rymarovič qualified for the final in women's double sculls semifinal, placing 3rd
In men's singles in tennis, Anton Yarovikov was defeated by Hadrian Wilson of Drawkland
Same fate befell Maria Mironova and Ksenia Baylukova, who were beaten by Jana Arkinn and Myria Primarch from Afanc Strait
In men's 3m springboard preliminaries in diving, Yakov Safronov placed 22nd
By placing 2nd in the semifinals, Victoria Kakhovskaya qualified to the final in women's 3m platform
In men's 50m freestyle heats in swimming, Gavriil Mosalev finished 17th overall and Gennady Babikov placed 37th
Lieanid Šyloŭski placed 33rd in heats in men's 200m individual medley
Kanstancin Aksinovič defeated Kirkor Kevorkian from A Kea in men's individual tournament in archery
In the same tournament among women, Raisa Antakova had beaten Astoria Baas of Beaver River
In women's K-1 500m in canoeing, Aryna Kraŭčanka places 6th in her semifinal
Igor Parechin placed 12th overall in the semifinal of men's BMX racing in cycling
After the women's windsurfer competitions in sailing came to a close, Irina Zhirova finished at 20th
In women's 50m rifle 3 positions qualification, Maryna Parchačova finished 9th
Lilia Malyugina placed 30th in women's triathlon

[Archalit]

Running Discussion Forum - ArchRun

https://www.archrun.arc/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=572926

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Archalit Multiversal Track and Field Discussion Thread

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Page 636 of 636

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Site Moderator UncleTrout #12701

Reopening the thread due to the team recently announcing their reintroduction to international competition in the 19th Olympics. Please keep discussion on topic, this forum is about international competition, not national trials.

Boulder #12702

I'll start with a couple questions then. Where are all the Archalitian sprinters? Sabir Derrida broke 10 seconds this season, surely he would be a better candidate for the Olympics than most of these distance runners. What do you guys think about the marathon with Landen MacMillan training basically the whole Bear River University team to sweep Ironpeak Marathon a couple months back? Excited to see the boys (and girls) out on the track again, but not really sure why the team is so small now (compared to the full roster a few years back).

Nagast #12703

Where are all the Archalitian sprinters? p sure they made this team last second so not surprised they didn't fill the roster. What do you guys think about the marathon with Landen MacMillan training basically the whole Bear River University team to sweep Ironpeak Marathon a couple months back? theyre probably gonna be good but macmillan has been yapping about medals already. ill see it when i see it

kanaloaReal #12704

theyre probably gonna be good but macmillan has been yapping about medals already. ill see it when i see it I honestly see them taking at least bronze in the marathon this season. It's a big hurdle and international running has been going crazy if anyone has watched recently, but all three of the men and at least Shericka Lee are probably all good enough to hang with the top group to the end.

Oshela #12705

I think they still shouldve put some sprinters and field guys on the team, they must have a few cnadidates for the team at least.

Boulder #12706

I think they still shouldve put some sprinters and field guys on the team, they must have a few cnadidates for the team at least. Seconded. No reason they couldn't have thrown a few guys on. They should've done more to get a full team on, there wasn't even a swimming team (except Waffles in the tri if you even count that).

Kalxen #12707

I honestly see them taking at least bronze in the marathon this season. Not happening. They haven't ran against any international opponents and there's no proof they're hanging on anything past the 30K mark. Would love to be proven wrong but I doubt it.

TheLandenMacMillan #12708

Well I think there's a chance.

Kalxen #12709

Well I think there's a chance. Didn't expect to see you here. Again, I'd love to be proven wrong, but run a few more international races first and then I'll believe it.

kanaloaReal #12710

Well I think there's a chance. Good luck ! It'll be fun to watch a race where there's no one person to root for, but the whole team going at it. Super excited to see you guys throw down in a few weeks!!!

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[Dexterra]

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26 September 2025



served to you by the Dexter Cultural Bureau

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Thanks For Reading ★ Est. 19 November 2021 ★ Event LXII Round VIII (archive)

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Another perfect day at the Olympics

A day after sweeping two rounds, Beagles sweep the men's singles, women's doubles round of 32





The Dexterra Beagles had another perfect day at the XIX Olympiad tennis event, although it was not without stiff challenges from the world's best. Through five matches in the men's singles round of 32 and the women's doubles round of 32, the Beagles won all five matches and advanced to the sweet sixteen, making this ten straight matches that the Beagles won.

The toughest match, surprisingly, was Michael Loy's 7-6, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Christian Simamora of Bhumi Matawis Empire, despite Loy being fresh off a double bagel victory that suggested he was more than capable of rebounding from his loss in the 2025 autumn slam final. Loy saved set point against Simamora in a tight fourteen point tiebreak to start the match, after being up a break in the set (which he eventually lost). Things did not look good for Diamond Mike when he was broken twice in the second set, but he broke serve early in the third and never let go. The match lasted nearly three hours, the complete opposite of Loy's first match here at the XIX Olympiad. Interestingly, Loy's victory puts him on a collision course with Dioro Hansil of the Afanc Strait, with whom Loy has a storied history: just this year, Loy defeated Hansil twice on the international tour, three years after Loy lost to Hansil in a grand slam final. Could this be where Loy's Olympic run comes to an end?

The second-toughest match was Lionel Baird's 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 triumph over Harris Branson of Darmen. Despite starting out strong with a twenty-six minute breadstick, Baird was eventually broken in the second set, although Baird repaid Branson the favor by breaking him while up 4-3 in the third. The King of the Jungle hit twenty-seven winners, one of his highest recorded number of winners to date.

Then there was Tristan Armstrong's 6-3, 6-2 win over Koda Tyler of Anewkansas, a straightforward match in which Armstrong converted six of ten break chances and hit thirteen forehand winners. Rhyme Dime is now Dexterra's only singles athlete to have not dropped a set so far, but will that change against Tim Gunne Baardsen of Zenic, a rising star on the international tour? Betting markets say it's highly likely.

Both the women's doubles matches were won in straight sets, but the hardest-fought was likely Marquita McClendon/Cordelia Natalya's 6-1, 7-5 ousting of Indusse's Nithya Raj/Fathima Nazreen. A similar scoreline to that of their first title on the national tour, McClendon/Natalya came out firing on all cylinders and won with a breadstick in twenty-two minutes, but then found themselves ensnarled in a slugfest in the second set from which they barely escaped by breaking serve in the last game.

Much like their top-seeded men's doubles counterparts, Hillary Dunn/Ellen Whitehead won 6-2, 6-2 over Katherine Mac Brataich/Angela Andrews of Kelssek. Dunn/Whitehead hit fifteen aces along with fourteen winners, including an incredible down-the-line backhand by Dunn to seal the first set. Indeed, it was a dominating, one-sided affair in which Dunn/Whitehead converted every break chance that came their way.

Next up for tennis at the XIX Olympiad is the women's singles round of 16 and the men's doubles round of 16. Camille Fletcher, Esmeralda Serrano, Scarlett Dyer, Jonathan Powell Jr./Lyndon Lowery and Dusty Workman/Joe Striker will take a swing. Haleigh M. Hartman, who was eliminated in the second round, is out enjoying a play by the Royal Shakespearian Theatre Company. Will anyone soon join her, or will the Beagles' run at perfection somehow continue?

Live coverage of the XIX Olympiad is provided courtesy of Dextennis, a subsidiary of the Dexter Cultural Bureau.

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[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Olympics



Swim When You’re Winning


Raquel Solana writes;

Fans lucky enough to score tickets to day five at the Brinsen Natatorium and Aquatic Center were treated to quite the day. The heats across the morning session saw plenty of opportunities to see some of the nation’s finest practitioners of the aquatic arts. Bojan Ignjatović, one of Jovana Krsmanovic’s earliest athletes poached from the swimming programme of her former homeland, is one of them. But, despite six medals to his name, the Mytanar-born freestyle specialist doesn’t often get put in the same bracket as some of the greats who have come before. A seventh medal might change that, putting him level with the practically deified at this point Adriana Abarca. The 50m is his last chance of an individual medal, and he safely reached the semis as the fifth fastest qualifier.

María José Sarmiento has been tipped for stardom for a while and came into these Games with two medals, courtesy of her butterfly legs of both the women’s and mixed medley relays four years ago. Butterfly has always been her stroke of choice, and she is no doubt eyeing up an individual gong to add to her resumé. She looked confident enough, comfortable even, advancing through the heats of the 200m backstroke. Where she was joined by teammate Sofija Kostić, another member of that bronze medal winning women’s medley team from the last Games.

The freestylers also took a bronze medal from those Games, in the 200m women’s event. And the team were back to contest the medals again, albeit by scrapping into the final as the seventh fastest qualifier. And in the men’s 200m medley Jesús Seco, drained after his efforts in the breaststroke final, faltered in his heat. But Gabriel Rouco has no such issue, easing into the evening’s semi-final in fifth place overall.

In between the swimming sessions ticket holders at the pool were treated to two rounds of action from the diving. The diving team have been steadily improving over the years and have already seen some near misses in the medal hunt here in Drawkland. But while neither Joaquin Villa or the veteran Gonzalo Perez advanced in the 3m springboard, Ivanna Villacrés put in a solid catalogue of dives in her semi-final to earn a shot at the podium in the 3m platform.

The evening session started in suitably raucous fashion, with two home favourites in the first semi-final of the men’s 50m. In a much more sedate second semi, Bojan Ignjatović won the one length shootout, tied for first with Phoenician Aquarius Reeves. María José Sarmiento was pulling double duty on the night but was the picture of confidence with a win in her backstroke semi-final. Sofija Kostić had a much less comfortable time, but her fourth place in the faster second semi proved good enough for a place in the final too.

The first final of the night to feature Sargossan representation was a good one. Gabriel Rouco was having a busy day but showed no signs of fatigue in the 200m backstroke final, holding off a late challenge from Phoenician Oliver Costello to take the nation’s first gold of these Games. Kasey Wade caused the roar of the night, the home favourite taking gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke, tying the Olympic record to boot. Barely was Rouco out of the pool before he was back in, contesting the 200m medley semis. Here fatigue did play its part, with the swimmer managing just twelfth place overall. María José Sarmiento enjoyed a longer break between races, which probably played a huge part in her thrilling 200m butterfly final. The top three all bettered the previous Olympic medal mark, with Sarmiento second behind Zenic’s brand new record holder Orquídea Hernandez.

The night ended with the final of the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay, in which the presence of Drawkland guaranteed a cracking atmosphere. But the hosts were left stunned as Team Ko-oren, the slowest of the eight finalists, pulled off the race of their lives. The Ko-orenites left everyone else behind, shaving more than a second of the Olympic record to take a glorious gold. The hosts made do with the consolation of silver and Team Sargossa, bronze medallists four years ago, repeated the feat this time around. Doubling the contingent’s medals from the pool in a single night.

Elsewhere, the growth in popularity of badminton across the Greater Republic seems to now be resonating at the very highest level. A recent poll showed that badminton had eclipsed tennis as the nation’s racquet sport of choice and in Cenial the nation’s finest are putting on a show. Paula Carballo and Linda Moruga edged a nerve-racking final set decider to edge passed the Gunawan sisters representing the Bhumi Matawis Empire. While Gabriela Águila and Luciana Bienvenida blitzed their final set against the Equinox Auraterra duo. Meaning a quarter of the women’s doubles quarterfinal draw will be in the darker blue of Sargossa. Offering a potential route to a first badminton medal in nearly six decades.

Santiago Park Borja and Roxana Macri, the nation’s only ever archery medallists, advanced to the last sixteen of their respective individual events. The team of Eva Aparicio and Bianca Franco secured a second successive group win in the beach volleyball. But there was a setback for former champion Yessenia Paz and her new partner Catalina Pinto, as they lost their third match to the Banijan duo of Azmera Legesse and Lishan Yitay. And there was delight for the women’s three aside basketball team, as they enjoyed a rare win, 20-16 against Calgasia.

[Anewkansas]

GYMNASTICS - Bronze Boyd shines, Ramirez missed out on medal chance

In all honesty, it was not the strongest-level gymnastics in history but that does not mean it didn't get everyone on the edge of their seats. As it stands, there are a good number of gymnasts who meet the highest standard: on the right day that is. What separates the very good from the truly great is their capacity to perform those routines under the pressure of the whole world, the knowledge that this is the time of the Olympic final. Only two women managed to keep that cool and scored consistent enough to amass over 62 points. The equivalent of the top sixteen in the qualifiers but when the heat was really on, only Banija’s Aisa Ceesay and Gina Hanna from Electrum could bring that, resulting in a merited gold and silver. But there is one more medal to distribute and that is where the Anewkansan duo came in.

The bonafide underdog of them was Avalynn Ramirez. The youngster, just seventeen and a bit the mascot of the national delegation with her eternal smile and joyful presence, had scraped by in the qualifiers. “Just enjoy it,” teammate Boyd had said and Ramirez took that attitude the right way. Due to her placing, she started on the floor and Ramirez performed an unseen routine capped off with a triple-twisting double tuck. “I had done it once in training and failed it a million times. But this morning, I told my coach, let’s try it,” a disarming Ramirez smiled. The 16.300 score was the first one of the evening but would be not just the highest scored floor exercise of the day but also of the Olympics so far. It suddenly placed all spotlights on the astonished Ramirez. When she brought a more than decent jump on the vault as well, suddenly medal hopes came to the surface ahead of her favorite uneven bars. “If I considered a medal? Maybe for a second, until then,” an honest Ramirez shared. And then came a sloppy routine, with some difficulties to stay in balance over the top and a very large step after landing, a far cry from her qualifiers performance.

The pressure had gotten to her, at last. To Ramirez’ credit, she managed to rebound sufficiently on the balance beam to land in an unexpected, splendid eighth final spot. That mental capacity confirms that, with a few more years of experience, Avalynn Ramirez can return to the Olympics with a medal on her mind. But reeling that in takes consistency, the capacity to avoid a bad moment at all costs. While Ramirez jumped out of the starting blocks, McKenzie Boyd went with good but not exceptional. A 15.200 on the uneven bars is a more than solid performance, brilliant on a national level, but it does not turn a lot of heads in this company. Neither did the balance beam routine, even if her perfectly executed Onodi mount and triple Wolf turn deserved it: the result was not necessarily in the complexity of the exercises but in the elegance and the E-score. Boyd slowly worked her way up the rankings with a clean floor exercise. None of it so far had been ‘top of the world’ but the consistency across her seven routines that far was stunning: nothing under 15.150. “It’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon,” Boyd shared afterwards. After three rotations, the tables focused us on Ramirez (in fifth) and not on McKenzie Boyd in eleventh. But she had one trick up her sleeve to turn things around: a Yurchenko two-and-a-half twist. From some, it would be a desperate move. From Boyd, it was a well-thought out plan with a gracious execution and a perfect landing. While around her, the opponents one by one struggled to perform, Boyd darted up the ranks. Ko-orenite Peggy Oldorchid, winner of the qualifiers, earned the right to conclude the competition on the floor but faltered. As such, it happened: the cameras could zoom in on a stunned Boyd. Everyone’s favorite girl-next-door had done it: a bronze medal that makes one of the most brilliant moments in national sports history.


ROWING - Final without pushing deep for McFarland

“We all got out of the starting blocks quite fast, maybe a bit too fast, but in a way, that works for me.” That is the least you can say about the opening semifinal for Adaline McFarland. The six rowers took a flying start but everyone could see that someone would have to pay for that. Hind and Ahmed had to give at the 500m mark and when Juvencus’ Adelina Brisavelli could not keep up as well, the race was done. Home star Myria Illen entertained the crowd with an attempt on the Olympic best but from 1500m onwards, Maccie could put her focus on the final already. “It never gets easy but it’s best that I did not need to push till the line. Now on to the final, to bring the best version of myself.” That will be necessary, not just for the gold but also for the medal as it is a stacked field that will compete in the single sculls. Most eyes are on Schimpol bronze Myria Illen who seems to be beaming, but there will be plenty of competition to go around: Christine Salvakou dominated her semifinal, Caron Brown is a dangerous outsider and Sona Jawo has been consistent. “I know I can compete with them all, but that doesn’t guarantee a thing,” MacFarland confirmed.


TENNIS - No bagel but all Beagle: Koda Tyler now really coming to an end

There is a lot you can say about Koda Tyler. He’s confident, beyond the border with cockiness. He’s no stranger to a bit of gamesmanship. He’s rarely friendly to the ballboys. But he does make an honest analysis after the game that gives journalists something to report with. “I stepped into the Center with the confidence that I could beat him. And then I played someone who was just that little step faster, that little bit more precise. At some point, it was like playing against a wall and then my only focus was on not getting humiliated.” Ahead of the match, Tyler had tried to play his opponent psychologically but Rhyme Dime was unimpressed and showed the game gets played on the court. Two early breaks put Tyler behind immediately. Breaking back offered a bit of hope for what was to come, but that was the only thing that the Dexterran ace would give to Tyler tonight. In the second set, Armstrong immediately ran away to 4-0 again and with some excellent service play, all Tyler could do was wait for the final score. Our national ace will return for the mixed doubles with Vasquez in a few days, taking on a duo from Beaverriver for a spot in the round of sixteen. So far, these Olympics have been a confrontation with a different, higher, level for our two tennis aces: the days of rest and mental regrouping might be welcome.


BASEBALL - Eliminated, but with compliments from the jury

As the players took their well-earned applause from the Drawkland crowd, there was one man still sitting at the mound, with his head against his knees. Aron Di Pacce, the closer for the Red Thunder still tried to process what had happened in the eleventh inning of a thrilling confrontation. Facing Valanora had been, as anticipated, a close and difficult game to play but when Sloan Chen hit it over the fence in the eighth inning, things were looking better than ever. “I don’t think anyone was thinking about the champagne yet,” veteran Callahan Alvarez claims, “but we were playing solid.” In came Di Pacce, a bit earlier than expected despite a more than solid game by Correa. But rather than putting down the game, he had to allow Valanora two runs to bring the score even again. “It wasn’t lucky for Aron, but that’s how it goes sometimes,” Alvarez tried to protect his teammate. The manager was left with a difficult decision but rather than bring Shah out of the bullpen, he stuck with Di Pacce through to scoreless innings. At the top of the eleventh, Anewkansas got an, admittedly lucky, lead when Calum Pittman hit a fastball straight through the middle but the outfielders fumbled it, allowing him a double. Two good hits later, Pittman got around the diamond and all Anewkansas had to do was stop Valanora from a run. And then came the homerun, with two bases loaded. It was a poor pitch but more importantly, it was a perfect hit from Daniel Bakke. It was one which Di Pacce will be playing over and over in his head. “That’s how it goes,” Alvarez tried, but we all know it didn’t need to go that way. The dream of the Red Thunder is over: going into overtime for the quarterfinals is beyond any expectations but the agony of hope will linger for a while.


BASKETBALL - Play-offs guaranteed, but worries for Hudson

As was correctly remarked by Mylah Chong after the Juvencus loss: knowing a weakness is one thing, making use of it something different. In our only confrontation of the day, the Zenic team clearly had been taking notes but copying the Juven homework was not that easy. Aiza and Noa did their best to stop Mylah Chong from directing the play as usual but Teagan Deleon made better use of the space that came from that tactic. In the starting trio, Deleon often is the least covered player: she lacks the obvious greatness of Chong or the spectacular speed of Hudson. But there is a reason why those two are adamant about having their silent force on board. When given the time and space, Deleon is not just a solid teammate and dedicated defender, but also knows how to get those baskets in. Nine points from her lead the Red Pandas to a firm 9-18 lead. A perfect day seemed in the making as this win sealed the playoff spot, until a seemingly innocent collision between Laylani Hudson and Margrethe Ingrid Lahti saw the former sit to the ground. Hudson could not continue and had to be replaced by Charli Ring. A mentally shaken team scrambled to victory, but it went a lot less comfortable than before. “We needed to adapt,” Chong admitted, “and I think we were all a bit shocked. From what we know now, Hudson will not play for the last two group matches. If she can return afterwards, we’ll see. Let’s take it from the sunny side, it will give Charli some playing time and improving that line-up will make us better for the play-offs, with or without Laylani.”


BOXING - Medal for the Kid takes attention away from Lepantic tantrum

It was not easy, it was not pretty but it was, in a way, the evolution of the Kid into a Man. Kyle Pennington earned his nickname by being an exciting boxer already at nineteen, whose fast legs and cheeky grin entertained the audience. But in his quarterfinal against Chhabra, he showed he is no longer that little punk who likes to wave to some fly girl in the crowd in between punches. The Pennington of last year would have gone out in this round. Not without a fight, of course, but when things would get too gritty, the Indussian heavyweight would have mopped the floor with his pretty face. Not with this Pennington anymore. In the opening round, the advantage was for the Anewkansan with a nice right hook in the dying seconds to convince the judges. But Chhabra replied in the next round, not with fancy footwork but by bringing out the hammer. Many believed that Pennington would buckle now but he stood tall and re-emerged in the third round. It wasn’t neat and the referee had his hands full, but both fighters went to the edge (and a little beyond) to assert their dominance. What got three of them on Pennington’s side? Hard to tell, but the rough yet effective punches in the stomach did what they had to do. Can he do it again against Moatalu? Hard to tell, but with this new version of Pennington, it is hard to tell where his limits are. And maybe that’s where he will grow beyond Darian Lepantic. It wasn’t a bad bout of his against Manny Krause, but the Electrumite took his punches smarter and let Lepantic swing the air every once and a while. Could you give the second round to Lepantic? Sure, but little more and the full jury agreed. Everyone in the arena agreed… But Lepantic, who had to be guided off the stage whilst he was insulting the jurors and everyone involved. An ugly ending for a trajectory that could have gone much further for Lepantic.


FLAG FOOTBALL - The Avalanche grabs last chance by both hands

Two days ago, we bored entertained our readers with a long explanation decrying how difficult it would be for our national flag football team to make the play-offs. And then they walk out and manage a solid victory over Liventia that turns everything back upside down. The game itself was, by all measures, the best we have seen from our squad so far. In defense, the return of Gunnar Bass was very welcome as the powerful defensive back links up so well with Kyng Clayton. Rather than running rings around us, the Liventians ran right into the trap with Josh Royer struggling to find an available teammate. This contrasted heavily with the options presented to Fuentes, who found Uriel Richmond as the open man more often than not. With three touchdowns, Richmond confirmed his status as top scorer and followed up on a strong Britonisea match. “We’ve did what we could,” quarterback Fuentes confirmed after the 6-27 triumph, “now let’s hope the others do as well.” And with the others, Fuentes means Britonisea who can qualify the Avalanche by winning their last matchday. Otherwise, we’ll have to hope Liventia wins over Ko-oren without demolishing the Fireflies. It will be a nailbiter, but that’s better than anticipated.

[Hanalia]

The Crown Commands for the Constitution

10 Ashgrove Drive, Grant

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As the light faded from the sky, darkness descended too in Woody Jensen's kitchen. He was sat at the solitary chair at the small round table crammed into the corner of the room having just finished the tomato soup and cheese he'd had for dinner. He had treated himself to the cheese in an small effort to put a good spin on the day but all he could think about now was the fact he'd have to have a butter sandwich later in the week when the cheese ran out.

The forlorn figure sat hunched over, head in hand with the elbow resting beside the empty bowl. His thoughts at dinner had tread the familiar path of his planned expenditure until the money ran out or he would get the next deposit from the social protection net. It had been going on 11 months since the engineering works he had spent his life in had closed down and he lost his job.

Any semblance of a life went with it. He'd got an apprenticeship there before finishing school and never bothered with education since. He'd loved that job and it loved him back. There was always comradery and comedy amongst the colleagues, oftentimes with Woody at the centre of it all. Colleagues is a bad description, even friends wouldn't do it justice. That place was Woody's family. Through all of life's ups and downs the family at Callery's Fabrication was there for each other.

But now it was all gone. In the beginning Woddy had grieved his loss. It wasn't unexpected, the writing had been on the wall for Calery's for many years, that much was plain for all to see. As different staff left for other jobs they weren't replaced. Drips at first and slowly, little by little the frequency with which "so-and-so's leaving drinks" filled the calendar started to ramp up. Those that were left behind, unwilling, or maybe even unable, to acknowledge the truth of the matter for it was physically too difficult, becoming more so with each passing leaving 'do'.

Woody had tried to find other employment, really tried. Six months in he started applying for things he had no business applying too, after nine he literally applied for everything. Each time, "We thank-you for your interest in this position but...", "We are sorry to inform you ...", "Unfortunately on this occasion ...". Always different wording but always the same answer. No. Occasionally Woody would find himself putting on the smart clothes and heading out for an interview here or there but these instances were rarer and rarer these days. After all who in their right mind looks at a man, three years from retirement, with absolutley no qualifications to speak of and having only ever done one job and thinks, " Yes, they're just the man for the job".

He was sifting through the stack of envelopes, all of which had some sort of red final warning message plastered on the outside. Until there was one that wasn't. Opening that one, below his address it read "YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED TO SERVE AT CROWN COMMAND. READ THE DETAILS IN THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RESPOND." "That'll be interesting" Woody thought, "something to do for a day at least."

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Courts and Legal Services Administration
Customer Services Team
Nailforth House
Lei
Mr W. JensenNA LI 03Q
10 Ashgrove Drivecustomer.enquiry@CLSA.gov.hn
Grant
LA GT 52J

YOU HAVE BEEN SUMMONED TO SERVE AT CROWN COMMAND.
READ THE DETAILS IN THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY AS YOU ARE REQUIRED TO RESPOND.

Your name has been drawn as a panelist from which members of the Crown Command will be selected. You are
now required to fill out the attached form and return it to the address above. Alternatively the form can be
returned via email to returns@CLSA.gov.hn as detailed on the form. Failure to respond or making false
representations is an offence and you may be subject to the associated penalties.

This summons is for:

The Crown Command for the Constitution Examination

I command of the nation to be amassed, persons, including
the young, that they, in cordial conversation with one and
other, shall seek to consult and endorse a draft Constitution.
They will have all such necessary access to witnesses,
testimony and evidence as may be required. On finding a
draft complete and agreeable to three quarters of their
number, they shall endorse the draft to the nation.

Appendix B lists the location, dates and times for panelist sessions. Please select at least three (3) from this list
for inclusion on your response form that you will be willing and able to attend. Further communications will issue
to you in advance of the session you have been assigned to including what to expect on the day and items you
should bring with you.

Please see the attached list, Appendix C, if you wish to claim exemption from this summons and submit the
relevant evidence alongside your form.

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previous editions in this RP series available in the RP compendium

[Banija]

Group stage success in soccer on both sides- can Banijans medal?

CENIAL, CENI- It is still early stages- well, sort of. We're onto day 7, and both men's and women's soccer have completed their group stages. And in what has to be at least somewhat of a surprise for Banijan fans of soccer, both the men's and women's teams have not only made the knockout stages in their respective competitions- but have done so in excellent form and swashbuckling fashion. Both teams are playing a fun brand of football, and took 9 points from 9 possible. There's nothing more random than the Olympics, however ,so group stage success guarantees nothing- but hey, both teams gotta be considered favorites to medal, yes?

Not many senior NT players on either side, if we're being fair- but let's take a deep dive into what is working for these teams, as they hunt for silverware.

Men's Soccer

Let's start with the men first- it's been a busy summer for them. It's the same core of the team that had a rough DBC/U21 World Cup, going out in the group stages of that tournament. But they bounced back on the regional level, getting third place at the U21 Arrosia Regional championships. Not the exact same team, of course- Olympic men's soccer is U23 + 3, not U21. And you can only carry 18 players, not a full squad. So interesting decisions to make.

The team ended up calling up only one overage player of three possible- Araba Fanja, a former starter for the NT, getting his swan song as the starting central midfielder, and kind of getting his swan song with the NT. He's not really being picked for the senior side anymore, but he's got important history- and so, for him, it's a retirement tournament. Get to wear the armband, and help mentor the next generation. And he's been critical in the team's performances.

He got man of the match in Banija's 2-0 win in the opening match against Liventia. The veteran was all over the pitch- making tackles, making critical passes, just he and his partner, Toma Darte, giving an exhibition on how to control a match from the center of the pitch. He set up the first of Chibuzo Chibueze's two goals on the day beautifully- with a perfect through ball that got him one on one with the keeper, who had no chance.

While that game the defense came to play, the next two games, it would be about chaos and scoring. Which makes sense- in a tournament like the Olympics, these players don't play together that much. Scouting is minimal, everyone's trying to impress, so you just kinda go out there and go balls to the wall. And they did that in both of their remaining group games- with the Banijans winning 5-4 against Riandera, and then 4-3 against the host nation, the Afanc Strait.

All sorts of dudes were impressing. Biku Kituuma helped Istria City FC win the league last season, even though he came off the bench, and the winger seems to be demanding some sort of starting role with performances like these. He's got 3 assists in Banija's three games so far, and seems to be hitting a sensational run of form. Right at the right time, too- although we'll see if it holds up in the knockout stages of the Olympics.

Can they advance? They get Indusse in the round of 16, but if they win, they'd like be underdogs against either Juvencus or Kelssek. But, hey- what a time it would be to get Banija's first ever gold medal in Olympic soccer, yes?

Women's Soccer

Women's soccer is far from the high point of development that it was maybe 10ish World Cup cycles ago. It wasn't that long ago that Sarafina Ikpeazu captained Banija to back to back World Cups- and yet, it seems as if all the time, the game is become less and less integrated gender wise, at least at the professional levels. But, you know- it's still there, and this team, who are, frankly, mostly semipros with a sprinkling of S-FPL talent, might be the surprise of the tournament.

This is a team with serious, legitimate levels of grit. After a nice, 3-1 victory on their opening matchday, they bunkered down for two 1-0 victories in a row- against Ko-oren and Kriegiersien, respectively, to reach the knockout stages of the Olympics with an unblemished record. "Nobody believes in us right now- and we're turning heads." Said the team captain, Kristina Lobondo. "The people are going to see exactly what's important, which is that women's football in this country needs a renaissance."

They've got two S-FPL players- both starters for the two best league teams in Banija. Kristina Lobondo, of course, is a high level RB for the national team. And Nakissa Muwanga, while she doesn't player for the senior NT, was a starting striker on an Istria City FC team that won a(not *the*) league cup double. Shango-Fogoa Premier League champion, Outbox Cup champion. This is a team that is trying to push themselves to new heights, and she's a key part of what they're doing.

Ultimately, these two need to be absolutely unreal for this team to even have a shot- and they have been. An anchor in the back and in the front, they have shown that they can compete, legitimately, at this level. But the real tests will come with the knockout stages. Sargossa is next, and if they get past that- it's a date with Drawkland for a place in the semifinals in the Afanc Strait. A mouthwatering possibility, one that would certainly increase what is an extremely strong, multi-sporting rivalry between Banija and Drawkland.

If either team medals? It would not only be a hell of a day for them- but it would even force Trischuk to maybe expand his search for players for the senior NT squad, when World Cup 100 Qualifying kicks off.