AOlympic Games: Team Challenge | Rosters, RP & Scores

[Saint Kanye]

ST. KANYE TO FACE ABOVELAND FOR AOMC GOLD

by Deverly Finch

EELANDII - The Glorious Free Republic of Saint Kanye. The Federal Nordic Union of Aboveland. The two finalists in the Atlantian Oceania Motorsports Championship turn out to be two of the countries in the region that are most obsessed with racing (albeit of different disciplines, the Kanyeans mainly following the NSSCRA stock car scene and the Abovians preferring WSRC rallies, among others). It's a matchup that the entire motorsports world has been looking forward to, but it's also of interest to take a look back at how they got there.

First, the Yeezies' road to the finals, no pun intended. The NSSCRA Multiversal Cup Series trio of Jeremiah Brooke, Thea Alvarez and Sage Caldwell won two of the nine preliminary rounds and took runner-up honors in three more, finishing second in the points with 153 (behind only Vilita's 192).

The playoff rounds, held at the Eelandii Stadium Course here in Turori, would be of a head to head/relay style. First, the lead drivers of the competing teams would simultaneously go one lap around the stadium course, and upon completing it, the secondary drivers would run a lap of their own, the pair with the shorter combined time being the winner. In the quarterfinals, Brooke beat Pacitalian lead driver Rado Semarche by just over 0.4 second, but Alvarez increased that lead, finishing her lap faster than Semih Turkicen by nearly three seconds. St. Kanye's semifinals opponent would be fellow NSSCRA and AOCAR participant country Aji No Moto. Brooke opened up an almost 1.7 second lead on Kyoko Fujisaki, and despite Chiemi Hino putting up a time about half a second faster than Alvarez, she was still unable to close the gap and the Yeezies would still take the victory.

Now for Aboveland, represented by open wheel legend Terho Talvela, Per-Gunnar Kristiansen and Taavi Kiirejäävõisteja. The Abovians were fourth in the points with 122, finishing second in two rounds and third in two more. They faced Turori in the quarters, edging them by just 0.14 second; Talvela and WGPC teammate iBen Toralmintii ended their laps in a photo finish with the former barely a nose ahead. Next was the semis, against the other half of the VTM juggernaut in the NSSCRA, Vilita. Talvela outran River Suzgar by a second and change, and Kristiansen finished the job against R.L. Cruisin for a cumulative winning margin of 1.295 seconds.

Brooke shared with Vroom.stk his thoughts on the upcoming finals showdown. "I think this finals will be a treat for all NSSCRA, WSRC, WGPC fans everywhere. Come to think of it, even the bronze medal match is a huge one. Vilita, Turori, united or not, they're a big name in international motorsports." He also had a message for his Abovian counterpart: "Terho, I know you're a great guy on and off the track. I hope the battle between us two, and our teams, will be just as great." Alvarez, meanwhile, talked about Kristiansen. "He isn't known much in the international stage before this tournament, but his performance in the preliminary rounds have shown the world his worth and proved that he's no pushover. I'm definitely excited to go head to head with him."

[Milchama]

Karakorum Florin-Post-Gazette-Chronicle-Mercury-Times-News-Report-Inquirer-Answerer

Sports Section

Milchama Ties for First at AOSwim!

One of the most bedeviling part of the Olympics is figuring out how to understand which nation did the best. There are several valid theories; do you count gold medals as most important? I.e. what's most important is the number of events you won. Do you count number of medals as most important? I.e. what's most important is that you got a medal, color be damned. Do you use some combo of that system? I.e. something like a points system where gold/silver/bronze medals are worth a certain number of points. Each of these systems has their benefits and drawbacks. Let's go through them and talk about it.

The gold medal system, used by most of the multiverse, seems to discount silver and bronze medals and honestly getting a silver or bronze medal is still an incredible achievement. Yes, obviously victory is better, but being only the second fastest runner or swimmer in the world is still an incredible feat that we should be proud of as a nation. However, the goal is to win and counting victories should be the goal. Obviously, when looking at team sports we don't really talk about the second place teams as much as the winners. While some of you could name MBL or MFL MVPs none of you could name the second place choices every year. So why not the gold medal? In general, I agree with the first set of arguments about being second, especially in an individual Olympic context, to be very good and should be rewarded equally so I don't like the gold medal system.

The "count all the medals equally system" is used by certain USAian parts of the multiverse. The idea is that each medal should count equally instead of gold counting more. It's pretty obvious what the benefits of this system are, which is that gold, silver, and bronze are all considered good medals and there's no reason for one medal type to be considered more important than other types. However, the drawbacks are also pretty clear. We want to know about WINNERS who taste VICTORY and not about the people finishing in second and third place but like I wrote before finishing in second is still really really good. We should be celebrating those people! So that means of course counting them all equally. I think this is the fairest method of distribution.

Finally, we have the "give people points" method. This is generally used in debate competitions or other individual events that have a team component. The idea here is that each place is worth a certain amount of points. Then you add up the number of points to see who won. In AOSwim there has been a table of 3 points per gold, 2 ponits per silver, and 1 point per bronze. This is a fine system but doesn't quite work for the Olympics. In debates obviously you go back to octos or double octos to know who won and this type of system with only three places is too limiting. If they started after the breaks in finals with 8 points per gold medal etc. it would be a better system so it doesn't quite work here.

Therefore, it's clear that the "count every medal equally" is the best method and in a shocking coincidence Milchama tied for first! We had 8 medals across all of AOSwim tied with Siovanija and Teusland who also had 8. That means we are the best swim team in Atlantian Oceania! Nothing can stop us! Wooo!!! Victory! It's great that an event that we proposed we ended up doing so well in. It's a cool thing and something we are very happy about! Come on You Warriors! Let's Go Milchama!

[Squornshelous]

Six Swimming Successes, Curling get Bent, Quidditch Qontroversy

The SwimAO competition, hastily organized and hosted by a regime whose moral standing is questionable at best, has nonetheless seen a good showing by Squornshelan swimmers, who have secured six medals so far, two of each type, and have a chance to add one more.

Starting strong on the first day of competition, Squornshelous's Torbjorn Grahn took the very first gold of the meet in the men's 100m freestyle, winning the final comfortably by just over two tenths. Isak Saarinen hoped to make it two for two in the 100 backstroke, but finished sixth, while female swimmers Mikkeline Orlov and Allochka Zelenko missed qualification for the semis in those events. Later in the day, Pilvi Nyqvist got her ambitious quest for six medals (200 and 400 IM, 100 breaststroke, women's 4x100 freestyle and medley relays, and mixed medley relay) off to a good start, taking bronze in the 200 IM. She very nearly missed the final, perhaps rationing her efforts a bit too much, but brought out her a-game to pass the field by on her way to the podium. In the men's race, Terentiy Aalto made the final, but was the slowest finisher there for 8th place. The final event of the day was the 400m freestyle, which saw two more medals added to the Squornshelan tally. Vera Skeggestad took bronze in the women's race, which was highlighted by Katarina Buchtel's dominant performance to take home gold for Siovanija and Teusland, winning by over a second and a half. The men's race was quite a bit closer, but Vassily Vassyluk held off Dave Merton of Baker Park to win gold.

The second day dawned on the sprinters. Or rather, it should have. Instead, the day dawned on an elderly ladies' aquarobics class, and the 50m freestyl races were delayed. After missing out on the 100 free semifinals the day before, Mikkeline Orlov qualified in a dead heat with Lorelei Friemark of Baker Park, the two just one hundredth off the pace set in the other semifinal. In the end though, Friemark did just the little bit extra needed to earn Bronze, and Orlov finished tied for fourth in her second heartbreak of the games. From there, the day took a decidedly sour turn for the Squornshelans. Jannick Holgerson was only the ninth fastest swimmer in the semifinals of the 100m breaststroke, failing to make the final. Pilvi Nyqvist, on the other hand, saw her ambitious medal hopes take a big hit, as she failed to even make the semis in the women's 100 breaststroke. She still had 4 more chances, but with so many events the same day, fatigue was definitely going to take a toll on day three. The 100 butterfly didn't go much better, with Terentiy Aalto missing the semis on the men's side, and Anzhela Dahl making it, but finishing 11th overall. The evening's distance events saw some better results, but no medals. Pelle Breiner in the men's 1500m free and Vera Skjeggestad in the women's 800m both finished in fifth.

It was relay day at the pool, but first, a chance for Terentiy Aalto in his signature event after a bad finish in the 200 IM final, and the last individual event for Pilvi Nyqvist. Nyqvist's dream of piling up medals took another hit though, as again she failed to make the 400 IM final. Aalto's performance was much better at the greater distance though, and he claimed the first silver at the pool for Squornshelous. As the relays began, Torbjorn Grahn's strong anchor leg was not enough to get the men into a semifinal for the 4x100m freestyle, but the women performed better. In the end they came up a bit short, finishing fifth, another result just off the podium for Mikkeline Orlov. It gets worse for her though, as the women's medley relay was more of the same. The Squornshelans were right in the thick of it, trailing slightly after the opening leg, but steadily closing in on the leaders. Orlov gave it all she had on the anchor leg, but was flagging slightly in the final 20 meters or so, and the team finished fourth. "It does feel a little like I'm cursed," she told reporters afterward. "I don't second guess entering so many events, but it really is frustrating to come so close and leave with nothing."

The men's team looked like definite favorites, along with a strong team from the Busoga Islands, led out by Tayser Aybar, the 100m backstroke gold medalist from day 1. As predicted, Aybar had the Islanders out in front after the first leg, with a tight pack of Squornshelous, Sarzonia, Pluvia and the Saxean Isles, and Milchama following. The Islanders' second leg was just as strong, again no surprise there with another gold medalist in the pool, and they widened their lead a bit more, with the four chasers still keeping close to one another. It was on the third, butterfly leg that the lead began to narrow, with the challengers closing in, and an unheralded team from Qasden making a move on the far outside to join the pack. On the anchor leg though, it was all about Torbjorn Grahn pouring it on. It wasn't quite enough to take gold away from the Islanders after they lead they'd built over the first two legs, but the Squornshelans will happily take silver, the second medals of the games for Aalto and Grahn.

Grahn ought to have taken to the pool once more in the evening, but the event was postponed. Eventually, it came to light that the reason for the delay was a personal whim of the Kijani President, Chane Njuguna. Wishing to attend the meet's final event, but detained at a state dinner, the President apparently ordered that the mixed medley relay be pushed to tomorrow. It is extremely troubling that this request was made, and even more so that it was granted. The interference of a government in international sporting events in this manner sets a poor precedent, and one would certainly hope at the very least for a strongly worded response from the AOlympic Committee. The relay, when it does occur, will see Grahn and Nyqvist each try to add to their medal count, while Anzhela Dahl and Isak Saarinen both hope for their first.

Meanwhile, in the last two team sports of the games, the Squornshelan delegation will earn at least one more medal, and possibly two. The Curling team finally met defeat in their rematch with Baker Park. It was a match where possession of the hammer decided nearly every end, with the sheet giving very little curl, and leading to a fair number of misplaced, poorly weighted shots. It was not the finest display of the sport by any stretch, and one end concluded with no stones at all left on the sheet. An ugly loss, but let's hope the team can bounce back and put up a good effort for bronze against Valanora.

Finally, the sport that has become the focus of the games for all the wrong reasons, quidditch. The scrappy, gyrocycle-riding team from Squornshelous have battled their way all the way to the gold medal match where they will meet the team from St. Kanye. Like the Squornshelans, the Kanyean team are a non-magical team, using striker units mounted to their legs to fly and hover. This has led to no small amount of consternation among the quidditch watching community, particularly magical communities who feel their sport has been cheapened by the introduction of "muggle" technology, over traditional, magical means of flight. Some have even gone so far as to suggest the gold medal final is somehow invalid, a notion the AOlympic Committee has thankfully rejected. Further complicating the issue, the team from Verceola, who finished a very creditable fourth place, are now under threat of retaliation for their practice of magic from their own government.

Interviewed on the subject, emerging sensation Berta Koller, both seeker and mechanic for the team, didn't mince words. "I don't see what the big deal is. If you think about it, there isn't really much difference between me and the people making brooms for the wizarding teams, is there? I think this is all being stirred up by people sitting at home with more time on their hands for thinking than is good for them." She also had thoughts on the Verceolan government's statements and actions against its team. "It's awful the way the government is treating them. We just had a revolution about that kind of thing here, maybe Verceola needs one too. Maybe I'll just paint my apartment green and invite the Flying Witches for lunch." Keeper Axel Troelsen was in agreement with Koller about the uproar over non-magical participation. "Take the Sarzonians for example. We played a close, hard fought match, and we ended up winning, but you didn't see their manager out whining about us not playing proper quidditch. They weren't ready for us, but they'll learn from it and be better next time because they're a great team. We have a lot of admiration for them and what they've accomplished, and the way they took the loss really shows their class." Whatever your position on the place of non-magical teams in quidditch, the final promises to be an exciting contest between two teams bringing fresh ideas and energy to the sport.

[Aboveland]

Silver Secured as Team Aboveland Advances to AOMC Final

Despite the cautious outlook going into the semifinal duel with points leaders Vilita, Team Aboveland commanded a strong victory over Team Vilita in the first of two AOMC semi-final races, securing the chance to fight for AOlympic gold against fellow finalists Team Saint Kanye.

---

EELANDII - Terho Talvela and Per-Gunnar Kristiansen continued their strong performances at the Eelandii Stadium Course with a safe victory over AOMC points leaders and direct semifinal qualifiers Vilita. The rival team, spearheaded by NSSCRA legend River "Shark" Suzgar and WGPC mainstay RL Cruisin, squared off against Talvela and Kristiansen respectively to battle for the chance of a shot at gold. With Suzgar and Talvela being the first pair off the line, the Abovian this time starting on the inside of the Möbius course, the battle between the drivers quickly took the form of a showdown between NSSCRA and WGPC skills on equal footing. After the first loop of the stadium crossover track, Talvela found himself on the back foot going into the extended exterior track, but quickly regained superiority at the third turn, a sharp left leading into another square right. With a measured approach around Suzgar's right, Talvela took the left on the outside before holidng his inside line for the upcoming right hand corner. Gaining superior traction with a slower entry, the Abovian pulled away from the apex faster than the NSSCRA star and quickly shut the door before the technical section, where he managed to pull further away to secure victory in the first half by just over a second.

Launching off the line for the second half, an inspired RL Cruisin took the initial lead, with Kristiansen following closely behind, but the Abovian asphalt expert managed to claw back lost time against the grand prix driver to enter the long course equal on time to Cruisin. The chase was firmly in Cruisin's hands by the time the technical section of the outer circuit had passed, but a botched exit from the final right hand corner of the external track allowed Kristiansen to zoom past with a minimal, controlled slide, keeping his lead through the closing oval section to secure victory once more with a time of 5:47.940, 1.295 seconds ahead of the dominant Team Vilita squad.

The central Abovian Talvela/Kristiansen duo will see themselves facing Saint Kanye’s own Jeremiah Brooke and Thea Alvarez, respectively NSSCRA champion and runner-up (and former one-off teammates of Talvela), in the highly anticipated AOMC final, with the winner clinching a hard fought gold medal for their home nation. Speaking to Ælunder Nyttispalvelu, Kristiansen, increasingly known affectionately as ‘P-G’, was realistically optimistic about their chances.

“I’m nervous—of course I’m nervous,” laughed the Ayariish man, “but that’s only natural going into such a big final, and especially for me. I’d not have imagined myself standing here three months ago.”

He then revealed, empirically, where his hopes lay. “If you look at our results, we ended up a couple places below the Yeezies on points, but that was in a mixed format season. You look at the results of this knockout stage so far, and I think that we can remain fearful yet knowing what we’re capable of. Both in the quarter finals and the semis, we set the quickest time out of all the teams on the same track. Surely, our chances are good.”

Talvela shared his thoughts as well, and was both happy, and eager, to face off against his short-lived NSSCRA teammates.

“I did pretty s**t last time we were together,” he chuckled. “I’m very eager to race against Jeremiah and Thea again, for sure, and even more now that we’re—basically—pitting WGPC against NSSCRA in a straight fight. I’ve got immense respect for both of them, and they’ve done an amazing job all throughout this AOMC season, but I can’t say I wish them all the best—that would mean less than the best for us!”

As has been the case throughout the knockout stage, Talvela and Brooke will be the first pairing out on the Möbius circuit, before Kristiansen and Alvarez take over the reins for the last lap shoot-out.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

BP take Rugby Crown
by Rory Gerlinger
The Guardian

The Commonwealth National Rugby 7's side held off top seeded Busoga Islands 26-24, in an action packed final at Barnitz Stadium in Middletown to claim their first major title in the sport, and enter the record book as the first ever Atlantian Oceania Rugby Champion.

The Sunday night session featuring the medal finals and the consolation final for the Linus Inniscragthie Memorial Plate, which was donated by Middletown RFC to mark the 125th birthday of the man who captained the club to their first two Challenge Cup wins; the Euran Oceania Territories, currently in a political debate as to whether they should remain in Atlantian Oceania or join the Foxchester Declaration nations, defeated Pacitalia 29-19 in the opener.

Valanora and Siovanija & Teusland were up next for the Bronze Medal, and the Marauders came through with a 26-12 victory, which left only the Gold Medal match between Busoga & Baker Park.

The Commonwealth Rugby Union have exceeded their expected attendance goals throughout the three day competition, and nearly 17,000 were on hand for the trio of matches under the lights; this was the first meeting between the nations in oval ball play, and from the start it was a close fought battle with plenty of free flowing action from both sides.

The Busogans had the ball inside of the 5 meter line with a chance to win the match, but a penalty for a knock-on ended the contest, and the Grays & Blues were the Gold Medalist.

[AOlympics]

Matchday 14

---

:: AOMC :: Auto Racing

Format: Semi Finals :: Head to Head Hybrid Split/Shared Course. First Driver will start and make one full circuit of the Mobius Course (Two times past S/F Line). After Completing Mobius Course, Second Driver will stage in Start Zone while First Driver proceeds to complete outer Stadium Circuit. When First Driver crosses Finish Line, Second Driver will receive Green Light to begin their laps. First team to reach the Finish Line Wins/Advances.

:: BRONZE MEDAL RACE ::

[RL-2] Vilita              2:53.634
[RS-1] Vilita              2:55.312
-----------------------------------
  Team Vilita              5:48.946 +0.000


[CH-2] Aji No Moto         2:54.390
[KF-1] Aji No Moto         2:54.772
-----------------------------------
  Team Aji No Moto         5:49.162 -0.216s

:: GOLD MEDAL RACE ::

[TT-1] Aboveland           2:53.019
[PK-2] Aboveland           2:55.140
-----------------------------------
  Team Aboveland           5:48.159 +0.000


[JB-1] Saint Kanye         2:54.048
[TA-2] Saint Kanye         2:54.255
-----------------------------------
  Team Saint Kanye         5:48.303 -0.144s

Final Medal Standings:

Final Results:

  GOLD: Team Aboveland
SILVER: Team Saint Kanye
BRONZE: Team Vilita 

:: SwimAO :: Swimming

Day 1 Results
Day 2 Results
Day 3 Results

1 - [STL] - 16 Points :: (3G, 2S, 3B)
2 - [BUS] - 14 Points :: (4G, 1S, 0B)
- - [MIL] - 14 Points :: (2G, 2S, 4B)
4 - [SRZ] - 13 Points :: (3G, 1S, 2B)
5 - [CBP] - 12 Points :: (2G, 2S, 2B)
- - [SQU] - 12 Points :: (2G, 2S, 2B)
7 - [PSI] - 10 Points :: (3G, 0S, 1B)
8 - [VAL] -  9 Points :: (0G, 3S, 3B)
9 - [BNJ] -  8 Points :: (1G, 2S, 1B)
10 - [HAP] - 6 Points :: (1G, 0S, 3B)
-- - [TOR] - 6 Points :: (1G, 1S, 1B)
12 - [GSF] - 5 Points :: (1G, 1S, 0B)
13 - [QAD] - 4 Points :: (1G, 0S, 1B)

[pre]MIXED Mixed Medley Relay
--SF1
Milchama
Pluvia and The Saxean Isles
Mlima Kijani
Misrantis
Torisakia
Vilita and Turori
Romsten
Tropicorp

--SF2
Siovanija and Teusland
Qasden
Busoga Islands 
Geisenfried
Sarzonia
Hapilopper
Valanora
I.A. Squornshelous

---

:: AOCC :: Curling

:: BRONZE MEDAL MATCH ::

I.A. Squornshelous 5–7 Valanora
@ Eelandii Multi Purpose Arena, Eelandii, Turori

:: GOLD MEDAL MATCH ::

Baker Park 6–8 Milchama
@ Eelandii Multi Purpose Arena, Eelandii, Turori

---

:: AOWL :: Quidditch

:: AO WIZARDING LEAGUE ::
@ The Eagle's Club, Eelandii, Turori

:: GOLD MEDAL MATCH :: A.K.A: AOWL Non-Magical Final or "The Sham"

St. Kanye 20-170s I.A. Squornshelous

---

Note: There will be a "Matchday 15" update with a Final Medals Table and Overall Champions along with the Closing Ceremonies!

TEAM: G  S  B : T  ::        OVERALL : T  
[ABL] 1  -  - : 1  ::  [ABL]  1  2  2  5
[ANM] -  -  - : 0  ::  [ANM]  2  1  1  4
[CBP] 1  1  - : 2  ::  [CBP]  4  8  6  18
[BNJ] 4  1  - : 5  ::  [BNJ] 12  5  4  21
[BHJ] -  -  - : 0  ::  [BHJ]  -  -  -  0
[BUS] -  1  2 : 3  ::  [BUS]  7  6  4  17
[DEL] -  -  1 : 1  ::  [DEL]  3  3  3  9
[EQS] -  -  - : 0  ::  [EQS]  -  -  1  1
[EOT] -  1  - : 1  ::  [EOT]  1  1  -  2
[GSF] -  -  - : 0  ::  [GSF]  1  1  1  3
[GKI] -  -  - : 0  ::  [GKI]  -  -  -  0
[HAP] -  -  - : 0  ::  [HAP]  1  -  3  4
[MRL] -  -  - : 0  ::  [MRL]  -  -  -  0
[MIL] 2  -  - : 2  ::  [MIL]  5  3  4  12
[MSR] -  -  - : 0  ::  [MSR]  -  2  -  2
[MLK] -  -  - : 0  ::  [MLK]  -  -  -  0
[PAC] -  -  - : 0  ::  [PAC]  -  1  -  1
[PSI] -  1  - : 1  ::  [PSI]  3  1  1  5
[QAD] -  -  1 : 1  ::  [QAD]  1  -  2  3
[ACA] -  -  - : 0  ::  [ACA]  -  -  -  0
[RMT] -  -  - : 0  ::  [RMT]  -  -  -  0
[SRZ] -  -  1 : 1  ::  [SRZ]  3  1  3  7
[STL] -  1  1 : 2  ::  [STL]  3  3  4  10
[SQU] 1  -  - : 1  ::  [SQU]  6  3  5  14
[STK] -  2  - : 2  ::  [STK]  2  5  -  7
[OOZ] -  -  1 : 1  ::  [OOZ]  -  -  1  1
[JOV] -  -  - : 0  ::  [JOV]  -  -  -  0
[TOR] -  -  - : 0  ::  [TOR]  1  1  1  3
[TRP] -  -  - : 0  ::  [TRP]  1  1  -  2
[VAL] 2  3  2 : 7  ::  [VAL]  4  11 10 25
[VER] -  -  - : 0  ::  [VER]  -  -  -  0
[V&T] -  -  2 : 2  ::  [V&T]  2  2  7  11
-TUR- 0  0  0 : 0  ::  -TUR-  2  0  1  3
-VIL- 0  0  1 : 1  ::  -VIL-  2  2  3  7

[Mlima Kijani]

The organizers wish to thank Electrumite Olympic officials for technical assistance in setting up the mixed relay, and local volunteers for helping clear the dead horses out of the pool after the morning's exhibition water polo match.

Day 4

Semi Final 1

1 Milchama                       3:43.29 Q
2 Tropicorp                      3:43.41 Q
3 Vilita and Turori              3:44.32 Q
4 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles    3:50.06
5 Misrantis                      4:02.16
6 Mlima Kijani                   4:09.98
7 Romsten                        4:15.57
8 Torisakia                      4:48.74
— Baker Park                         DSQ

Semi Final 2

1 Siovanija and Teusland         3:44.56 Q
2 Qasden                         3:44.64 Q
3 Sarzonia                       3:46.31 Q
4 Busoga Islands                 3:48.22 q
5 Geisenfried                    3:48.83 q
6 Banija                         3:52.58
7 Hapilopper                     3:57.67
8 Valanora                       4:04.99
9 I.A. Squornshelous             4:12.72

Final

1 Milchama                  3:39.12   Gold
2 Geisenfried               3:39.27   Silver
3 Busoga Islands            3:39.38   Bronze
4 Sarzonia                  3:39.49
5 Tropicorp                 3:40.24
6 Qasden                    3:40.29
7 Siovanija and Teusland    3:44.43
— Vilita and Turori             DSQ

Medals table                  G   S   B
Busoga Islands                4   1   1
Milchama                      3   2   4
Siovanija and Teusland        3   2   3
Sarzonia                      3   1   2
Pluvia and the Saxean Isles   3   0   1
Baker Park                    2   2   2
I.A. Squornshelous            2   2   2
Banija                        1   2   1
Geisenfried                   1   2   0
Torisakia                     1   1   1
Hapilopper                    1   0   3
Qasden                        1   0   1
Valanora                      0   3   3
Misrantis                     0   2   0
Tropicorp                     0   1   0

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

AOlympics result called "overwhelming success"
by Rory Gerlinger
The Guardian

With the just Closing Ceremony left, the various organizations in the Commonwealth that sent representatives to compete in Atlantian Oceania's celebration of sports held alongside the AOCAF Cup in Equestria have nearly been unanimous in their praise of the overall showing of Team BP; performances either met the expectations or surpassed the most optimistic projections.

A brief review of results from competitions that were still in progress from the last update:

Track & Field—Kay Murphy won the 200 meters and the long jump in the heptathlon, but finished 7th overall, setting a new Commonwealth record at 6566; in the marathon, Coolville's Pat Goldsmith, Squornselous's Bernt Engberg and Vilita & Turori's Liisito Juralii broke away from the field late, trading spots in the front before finally crossing the finish line 3-2-1, just 12 seconds covering the medalists; and Byron Garfield & Patrice Schuman completed the BP sweep of the silver in the archery competiton after dropping a 146-140 decision to Valanora.

Motor Racing—The trio of Jason Crowe, Nick Unger, and Sammi Carter finished 5th in the preliminary phase of the AOMC series, advancing to the semi-final race where they were beaten by Aji No Moto by 0.355 seconds.

Swimming--despite being kept out of most of the relay events, where the expectation was high for success, the team managed to collect medals in nearly 25% of the individual events; BP earned a pair of every precious medal, with Jessi Voreczch in the 800m freestyle and Aiden Harris in the 100m Breaststroke setting AO and Commonwealth records in winning their respective events; Gary DiAngelo in the 400m freestyle and Gina Bronson in the 400m individual medley taking home the silver; and Lorelei Friemark in the 50m freestyle taking bronze along with Dave Merton in the 1500m freestyle.

Curling—Stephanie & Mike Douglas and Beth & Peter Holloran avenged their only loss in pool play against the Squornshelan team in the Semi-Final and faced Milchama for the Gold Medal. While the playing condition of the ice had been a story throughout the tournament, it seemed to have been mitigated by the shift of the medal rounds to an early evening time ahead of the AOMC medal races, with the AOWL Final preceding both.
The 8-6 victory by Milchama was a display of mastery in the sport by the champs, although the Douglas/Holloran team certainly brought the profile of the sport in the Commonwealth up several notches during the event.

Overall, Baker Park finished with 18 total medals, behind only Valanora with 25 and Banija with 21; Head of State Timothy Wentworth is expect to have a reception for all of medalists at St John's Palace in the coming days.

AO Swimming Regional Records

Men's 50M Freestyle	21.30*	Pluvia and The Saxean Isles
Men's 100M Freestyyle	47.05	Torbjorn Grahn (Squornshelous)
Men's 100M Backstroke	52.55	Taser Aybar (Busoga Islands)
Men's 100M Breastroke	58.94	Aiden Harris (Baker Park) & Busoga Islands
Men's 100M Butterfly	50.76	Pluvia & The Saxean Isles
Men's 400M Freestyle   3:41.76	Vassily Vassyluk (Sqornshelous)
Men's 1500M Freestyle  14:39.12*  Misrantis
Men's 200M IM	        1:54.05  Maynor Lanson (Qasden)
Men's 400M IM		4:04.18	Busoga Islands
Men's 4X100M Freestyle Relay  3:08.86  Milchama
Men's 4x100M Medley Relay  3:29.34  Busoga Islands

Women's 50M Freestyle	24.09	Pluvia & The Saxean Isles
Women's 100M Freestyle	53.20	Torisakia & Sarzonia
Women's 100M Backstoke	58.74	Sarzonia
Women's 100M Breastroke 1:06.06*  Vilita & Turori
Women's 100M Butterfly	56.95	Hapilopper
Women's 400M Freestyle   4:02.85  Katerina Buchtel (Siovanija & Teusland)
Women's 800M Freestyle   8:18.87  Jessi Voreczch (Baker Park)
Women's 200M IM	      2:08.63	Milchama
Women's 400M IM		4:29.62	Siovanija & Teusland
Women's 4x100M Freestyle Relay  3:34.05  Geisenfried
Women's 4x100M Medley Relay 3:53.00  Pluvia & The Saxean Isles

Mixed 4x100M Medley Relay   3:39.12 Milchama

* indicates time set in qualifying

[Squornshelous]

OOC: this post a week late because a Quidditch match just takes that long to play sometimes.

To say that it was not a very traditional quidditch final was something of an understatement. The two teams involved weren't much for traditional quidditch, so it was left to those at home to make up their minds as to whether that was a good thing, a bad thing, or just a thing. A crowd of protesters, smallish but quite noisy thanks to some magical amplification of their chants, made their feelings on the matter clear, but were generally ignored by those in attendance. The dressing room where the Squornshelan team gathered before the match was a tent, striped in bright colors, that somehow contained a larger space than it appeared to occupy, along with running water, automatic lights and other amenities. The news that had just arrived had caused quite a stir, and at just the wrong time.

"Will we still be able to compete in the match?" wondered chaser Marija Randrup.

"I'd like to see them try to stop us. This doesn't change anything," beater Zhanna Beck pounded a gloved first into her open palm.

"Calm down everyone," backup keeper Jan Engwall-Kozlov had been the one to break the news. "Yes, we can still compete, and no Zhanna, no one's going to try to stop us. This doesn't change anything just at the moment. These things take a lot of time, years even."

"So we're not part of another country now, Janni?" seeker Berta Koller was confused. "Why did you come in all worked up then?"

"Because it's exciting, but it also means big changes, and that this is probably going to be our only chance to compete like this. If Santraginus joins the Confederacy, we'd be under their authority, and I don't think they even have any Quidditch governing body."

"We don't have any Quidditch governing body either, Janni. What's your point?"

"We're competing under special dispensation this time around, I doubt anyone'll grant it a second time, especially if we're politically part of a nation that actually has a functional government by then."

"So the Urban District has really applied for Confederate statehood then?" Zhanna had made the transition from combative to pensive unusually quickly.

"Yes, it's all over twii.tur. My phone exploded with notifications as soon as I got beyond the range of the magic field they've got around the venue here."

"Guess we'll have to leave it all out on the pitch then, druz'ya."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

In the end, it was not a pretty match, whatever side of the magical/non-magical issue you fell on. Minutes, hours, and eventually days passed between goals scored. The mechanical means that both teams used to fly meant required maintenance and fuel, which meant that beyond the first few hours, it was rarer and rarer for each team to have its full complement of seven players actually airborne. At one point, and agreement reached between the team captains, Zhanna Beck and Dwight Edwards, saw both teams settle to the ground entirely. They passed the next six hours of "play" either asleep or engaged in frantic repairs and tuneups on their gyrodrones and striker units. In the end, as in the last two matches the Squornshelans had played, it was Koller, seizing the snitch at range with the score level to end the match and clinch a decisive win. That hand of hers might lead to some new rules being drafted by the AOWL, but for the time being there's nothing against it in the laws of the game, and what looks like the only I.A. Squornshelous quidditch team there will ever be has taken home the gold in a marathon match, capping off a tournament that won't soon be forgotten by wizards and muggles both.