NationStates Jolt Archive

Post RP details about the opening ceremony here. I'll leave it up to you to RP it as you'll do better than me, and plus it's my bedtime. Hope to see a neat RP overnight - it'll give a bonus for your athletes from day one :)

The only OOC details I've left for the ceremony:

* It's held in the 120,000-seater Progressair Stadium, Kaza: it seats just under 117,000 in athletics guise but for this ceremony the sliding seats over the track are in position to be seated at, as it was for the World Cup final.
* The stadium is notable for its 'wings' that curve up and out behind each 'goal' end (around the bends on an athletics track) and the Olympic flame will be lit by football/soccer legend Faiwe Irafma, now 63, atop one of these ends (be creative how).
* Most of the usual protocols with flags and suchlike exist. Be creative with how the Progressans provide the celebratory colourful procedures - note that the nation's main creative interest is singing and music rather than dancing or art, so a strong vocal and musical component to the ceremony will exist.

And that's it.

This will be an RP thread for the Games from now until the end on October 31. Enjoy the ride.

Check the site on www.kaza2008.tk for scheduling for days one and two. Good luck.

THE CELESTIA TIMES

~------------------Sports News------------------~


The Celestia Times Kaza 2008 Special

Everything is ready,for years the citizens of Kaze Progressa have waited for this moment.
Kazien people still remember the fight 8 years ago against Beijing and Rome for the hosting of the Olympic Games.
After the win Kaza has been literally transformed,new buildings and state-of-the-art sport facilities,spending the amazing sum of 40 million dollars (Athens spent 35).
And now the moment of truth has arrived for Kaza,who is actually being invaded by athletes from all over the world.
The Olympic Village is more of a 5 star hotel rather than a common sports village.
Every room is furnished with everything that an athlete needs,with flatbed plasma tv,air conditioner and many other technological stuff of Kazian manifacture.
The Esthian team,one of the biggest delegation of this Olympics,will be participating in this kind of event for the first time ever.
"We may lack experience but every single athlete will put all of his effort to obtain the best result" says the Esthian Minister of Sports "Thanks to the government funds we managed to prepare and send athletes for all the disciplines. We expect to win at least one medal!" concludes laughing during an interview in Roceds Hotel in Pana Dis.
Esthian Olympic delegation reached Kaza two weeks before the beginning of the games;in the Olympic village they are placed between the Bedistan team and the Latin Union team.
"They are nice and cheerful people" says Philippa Oxinos,Hammer Throw contestant "it's really great to be here,not also you get to represent your country but you also have the chance to exchange opinions with other athletes from all over the world".
It is almost impossible not to recognize the Esthian team HQ,every balcony is decorated with Esthian flags,banners and writings.
For the Opening ceremony some of the athletes will be absent "some of the athletes have to participate in various events the day after the ceremony,we cannot afford to let them tire uselessly"; the flag bearers will be two,a man,Roberto Fabien Castello and a woman,Kythioa Papathanassiou.
"We decided to use two flag bearers because we think that if the flag is brought by a man and a woman it will bring us luck" says Kièm Asdè,head of the Esthian delegation.
For the ceremony parade men will be dressed with a white and light blue suit while women will wear a white toga with a light blue scarf going around the waist.
First day schedule will be a very exciting one:

ARCHERY - mens and womens individual ranking round
BADMINTON - mens singles, mens doubles, womens singles first round
BEACH VOLLEYBALL - womens first round
BOXING - 69-75kg, 75-81kg, 91+kg first round
CYCLING - mens road race
DIVING - mens synchronised diving 10m platform; womens synchronised diving 3m springboard
GYMNASTICS - mens qualification
HANDBALL - womens first round
JUDO - womens <60kg and mens <48kg competitions
ROWING - womens single sculls, mens single sculls, womens pair, mens pair, womens double sculls, mens double sculls and mens four heats
SAILING - Mens/womens 470, Finn, Yngling - races 1/2
SHOOTING - Mens trap qualifying day 1, womens 10m air rifle, mens 10m air pistol
SOFTBALL - first round games 1-4
SWIMMING - Mens/womens 400m individual medley, womens 4x100m freestyle relay, mens 400m freestyle (heats and final), womens 100m butterfly, mens 100m breaststroke (heats and semis)
TABLE TENNIS - mens singles and womens singles first round
VOLLEYBALL - womens first round
WEIGHTLIFTING - womens <48kg

Going past the first rounds/win a medal in Weighlifting,Sailing,Rowing and Handball is quite tough for the Esthian athletes participating in those events,while in Gymnastics Nicodemus Tornikos,Baanes Diogenes and Manuel Melissenus won't have any trouble going to the next round; same thing will be for the Softball team.

-page 1-

The Celestia Times Kaza 2008 Special

The list off all the Esthian Athletes in KAZA 2008

Archery:
Men's individual Bojan Nejedly / Raffaele Galvanoni
Women's individual Giulietta Ross / Guo Fang Yin
Men's team Esth
Women's team Esth

Athletics:
Men's100m Gary Baker / Jaap Winkel / Aleksandr Prokhorov
Men's 200m Gary Baker / Dion Thanou / Nikodemos Zisimides
Men's 400m Vasos Papasotiriou / Vasilios Palamas / Gerwazy Zielinski
Men's 800m Vasos Papasotiriou / Einhardt Schreiber / Liang Chen
Men's 1500m : Oleos Gutierrez / Gaspar Mora / Mounafes Shouaa
Men's 5000m : Bard Al-Asmari / Bertil Magnusson / Kenjiro Sasaki
Men's 10000m : Corrado Fiorelli / Morgan Roon / Mishe Loginov
Men's Marathon : Fausto Lotti / Labib Hijaz / Warren Briggs
Men's 110 Hurdles : Eftemie Mihai / Ximenes Saez / Carlos Almeida Rodgrigues
Men's 400 Hurdles : Manoel Pereira Carvalho / Thomas Goldberg / Gershom Eisenstein
Men's 3000m steeplechase Bertrande Monet / Tesfai Bereket / Kaya Aydin
Men's 4x100m Relay : Yes ( Gary Baker / Jaap Winkel / Aleksandr Prokhorov / Zbigniew Zlim)
Men's 4x400m Relay : Yes ( Vasos Papasotiriou / Vasilios Palamas / Gerwazy Zielinski / Ye Long )
Men's Javelin : Finian McCaigue / Padriag Cannan
Men's Discus : Yasuo Wakamura / Geert Kuipers
Men's Hammer Throw: Sen Hayashi / Damaneskos Merukides
Men's Shot-Put : Roberto Di Angeli / Pietro Rigamonte
Men's Long Jump : Wendell Pfaff / Boleslav Kwasnicki
Men's Triple Jump : Liang Long / Kolya Zhuralev
Men's High Jump : Gustav Bengtsson / Verner Olofsson
Men's Pole Vault : Brendan Watters / Fabiano Masaccio
Woman's100m : Yuki Yamamoto / Oriana Abruzzi / Fedora Kakoulli
Woman's 200m : Lin Zi / Hoshiko Tanaka / Tierra Ramirez
Woman's 400m : Lin Zi / Maria de Souza Ramalho / Agata Bathyany
Woman's 800m : Choban Forgats / Concetta Semitecolo / Carmela Ponti
Woman's 1500m : Bianca Dumitrescu / Cynthia Swindell / Aigneis McTier
Woman's 5000m : Wu Zhen Juan / Barrieh Doka / Zenislava Markova
Woman's 10000m : Dirayat Alam / Sun Xiu / Isa Ostermann
Woman's Marathon : Iantha Sarakatsani / Ghariba Anwar / Anita Campisi
Woman's 110 Hurdles : Juanita Marquez / Yukino Matsumoto / Francisca Sanz de Mora
Woman's 400 Hurdles : Guo Li Qin / Sebastiani Abineri / Yalenchka Vladyina
Woman's 4x100m Relay : Yes (Yuki Yamamoto / Oriana Abruzzi / Fedora Kakoulli / Li Bo)
Woman's 4x400m Relay : Yes (Lin Zi / Maria de Souza Ramalho / Agata Bathyany / Toireasa Parish)
Woman's Javelin : Lage Olofsson / Patia Redondo
Woman's Discus : Delfina Vouris / Eirene Panayiotopoulos
Woman's Hammer Throw : Philippa Oxinos / Mariposa Gimenez
Woman's Shot-Put : Carla Gagliardi / Riet De Graaf
Woman's Long Jump : Kyoko Kato / Lu Mei
Woman's Triple Jump : Lin Shuang / Betje Mertens
Woman's High Jump : Rozamond Jacobs / Angela Pierozzi
Woman's Pole Vault : Chiko Kimura / Corrinne Delivoras

Badminton:
Men's singles : Dimitrios Kanellopoulos
Men's doubles : Dimitrios Kanellopoulos / Adriano Busto
Women's singles : Lin Xia He
Women's doubles : Lin Xia He / Masako Sato
Mixed doubles : Adriano Busto / Masako Sato

Baseball Esth

Basketball:
Men's: Esth
Woman's : Esth

Boxing (Maximum of 5 Boxers):
Men's under 48kg : Hototaro Oyagi
Men's 57-60kg : Iason Zandilis
Men's 60-64kg : Michele Pierpaoli
Men's 64-69kg : Nikolaus Sarus
Men's over 91kg : Harold Hoekstra

Canoeing:
Men's C-1 1000m flatwater : Esteban Roman
Men's C-1 500m flatwater : Riccardo Ferrero
Men's C-2 1000m flatwater : Lu Lei
Men's C-2 500m flatwater : Theo Jansen
Men's K-1 500m flatwater : Keonraad De Jong
Men's K-1 1000m flatwater : Stefanos Kotaridou
Men's K-2 500m flatwater : Aldo Geccerelli
Men's K-2 1000m flatwater : Emanuele Cavalleri
Men's K-4 500m flatwater : Tomoyuki Taguchi
Men's K-4 1000m flatwater : Masaki Taguchi
Women's K-1 500m flatwater : Naoko Heija
Women's K-2 500m flatwater : Grazia Pisani
Men's C-1 slalom : Benedictos Varvasseros
Men's C-2 slalom : Karel Claes
Men's K-1 slalom : Theo De Smet
Women's K-1 slalom : Yoshino Nakamura

Cycling:
Men's individual time-trial cycling : Kuan-Tai Zeng / Nicolas Grovald
Men's road race cycling : Koenred De Smet / Nikki Ito
Women's individual time-trial cycling : Katsue Konoe / Izumi Kanto
Women's road race cycling : Benedetta Fanizza / He-Suk Ho
Men's 1 km time trial cycling : Toshio Oka / Pierferdinando Casini
Men's individual pursuit cycling : Alberto Macuzza / Eiji Minase
Men's keirin cycling : Young-Su Han / Henrick Van De Moose
Men's madison cycling : Jilt Wouters / Pietro Gasparri
Men's points race cycling : Gianmaria Somma / Takeshi Yoshikawa
Men's sprint cycling : Akio Kondo / Masashi Konoe
Men's team pursuit cycling : Christiano Korais / Nicodemus Polychroniu
Men's team sprint cycling : Ciro Anella / Hierynos Mardas
Women's 500m time trial cycling : Dorea Stasi / Kimiko Sotomura
Women's individual pursuit cycling : Zerlina Ramirez / Mandy Carrasco
Women's points race cycling : Ramona Cano / Paola Vicinini
Women's sprint cycling : Jun Matsuki / Saskia De Graf
Men's cross-country mountain bike : Eizo Katsumi / Rogelio Ruiz
Women's cross-country mountain bike : Melosa Gomez / Dorcea Militis

Equestrian:
Mixed individual dressage : Davide Prottini (on Mandrake) / Sadayoshi Honda (on White Star)
Mixed individual eventing : Misako Gojo (on Dynamite Prot) / Takeichi Kuronaga (on Fence Eater)
Mixed individual show jumping : Takeichi Kuronaga (on Fence Eater) / Davide Prottini (on Mandrake)
Mixed team dressage: Davide Prottini (on Mandrake) / Sadayoshi Honda (on White Star)
Mixed team eventing : Misako Gojo (on Dynamite Prot) / Takeichi Kuronaga (on Fence Eater)
Mixed team show jumping : Takeichi Kuronaga (on Fence Eater) / Davide Prottini (on Mandrake)

Football:[/u]
Men's :
Roster:
*Goalkeepers:
(1)Andrea Zollino
(22)Anton Vahdettin
(12)Kim Nelson
*Defenders:
(2)Ditemke Matumba
(3)Bill Gissane
(4)Ruud Jan Westerhof
(5)Armand Custerman
(13)Oki Inoue
(16)Kim Som Jul
*Midfielders:
(6)Dimitri Garceau
(7)Emil Husodo
(8)Lambros Mikopolis
(9)Marco Lidri
(30)Claudio Santos
(33)Sunan Ivakdalam
*Attackers:
(10)Wayne Tompkins
(11)Roberto Fabien Castello
(15)Clinton Discroll
(25)Gumprecht Unger
(50)Vilars Christsteen
(73)Koji Takawa

Woman's
*Goalkeepers:
(1)Magdalen Davignon
(22)Asako Yokoyama
(12)Anne-Therese Devereaux
*Defenders:
(2)Masako Hiragetsu
(3)Temeka Dahman
(4)Yue Qin Ma
(5)Francesca Bottiglieschi
(27)Syung-Soon Ahn
(34)Nasheeta Ismail
*Midfielders:
(6)Toshiko Nakagawa
(7)Yoko Nakagawa
(8)Derisa Barriault
(9)Wilhelmina De Vries
(26)Elina Zographas
(54)Helena Andersson
*Attackers:
(10)Assunta Paga
(11)Carie Pedez
(15)Janette Holzmiller
(21)Cressida Kostanopoulos
(25)Sonia Denisovna
(60)Hoshiko Kobayashi

Gymnastics:[/u]
Men's artistic gymnastics floor exercise Nicodemus Tornikos / Baanes Diogenes / Manuel Melissenus
Men's artistic gymnastics horizontal bar Eizo Yamawaki / Gianni Masini / Abejundio Bravo
Men's artistic gymnastics horse vault : Toyokazu Jimyoin / Hyong-Kim Jeung / Lieh Hou
Men's artistic gymnastics Individual all-round : Ti Ning / Fan Yu / Ho Xiaopeng
Men's artistic gymnastics parallel bars : Giorgio Guicciardini / Edoardo De Lucia / Abramo Basili
Men's artistic gymnastics pommel horse : Kuroda Fumio / Thanou Sakellari / Zorba Bekatoru
Men's artistic gymnastics rings : Iokeo Tsomos / Hosokoawa Masayoshiako / Egiodeo Coldumaro
Men's artistic gymnastics team : Esth
Women's artistic gymnastics asymmetric bars : Masako Ooka / Sasiko Yamamura / Imma Clerico
Women's artistic gymnastics balance beam : Sophia Patsou / Effrosini Bekatoru / Satomi Nomiya
Women's artistic gymnastics floor exercise : Ai Nomura / Hiroko Motoshi / Giulia Recanati
Women's artistic gymnastics horse vault : Mayako Kamachi / Theodora Bazignos / Monique Ghita
Women's artistic gymnastics Individual all-round : Mariana Gheorge / Juana Vasile / Li Qiao
Women's artistic gymnastics team : Esth
Women's rhythmic gymnastics group competition : Esth
Women's rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around : Raluca Florea / Giuseppina Loti / Ye Zhi
Men's trampoline : Baren Van Diepen / Goot Groenelveld / Galterio Rea
Women's trampoline : Miwako Anenokoji / Rozamond Philler / Annalisa Venezia

Hockey:
Men's hockey :[/u]Esth
Women's hockey:[/u]Esth

Martial Arts:
Men's - 60kg judo : Maurizio Davidoni / Alessandro Albini
Men's 60-66kg judo : Alekos Savvides / Elok Rottemdalem
Men's 66-73kg judo : Nectarios Savydis / Mauro Koryzis
Men's 73-81kg judo : Sorin Constantin / Costantino Vitagliano
Men's 81-90kg judo : Alfredo Parri / Makarios Mangakis
Men's 90-100kg judo : Piet Clastrum / Alfred Wooters
Men's Over 100kg judo : Hobert Baecker / Sigwalt Fleischer
Women's - 48kg judo : Fujiko Aburakoji / Kythioa Papathanassiou
Women's 48-52kg judo : Mariangela Ponzi / Kunie Shigenoi
Women's 52-57kg judo : Rikako Okamura / Philippa Karahi
Women's 57-63kg judo : Hatsuyo Tawaka / Ryoko Igarashi
Women's 63-70kg judo : Evgenia Kairis / Valentina Timoni
Women's 70-78kg judo : Hesperia Duvis / Betje Van Der Berg
Women's over 78kg judo : Arabella De Hong / Wilhelmina Bert Mauer
Men's - 58kg taekwondo : Baek-Kon Song
Men's over 80kg taekwondo : Jan Wanhofer
Women's - 49kg taekwondo : Kumiko Shibuki
Women's 57-67kg taekwondo : Agnese Piaceri

Modern Quadathlon (No Fencing):
Men's modern quadathlon : Generoso Bocchino / Shuji Kono
Women's modern quadathlon : Isabella Sborra Favaretto / Harumi Tarida

Rowing:
Men's coxless four : Esth (Panos Khadjikyriakos / Mirco Larri / Tashiro Ichijo / Lysander Eliades)
Men's coxless pair : Esth (Sandros Tsigakou / Alfredo Caciotta )
Men's double sculls : Esth (Luis Corrazo / Guibaldo Maria Semenzara)
Men's lightweight double sculls : Esth (Marco Filini / Dario Fò)
Men's eight : Esth (Tajo Lopez / Aleandro Mendez / Chale Duran / Ximen Andres / Koji Morioka / Marco Voiella / Masashi Fukushima / Ruut De Van Hoos)
Men's quadruple sculls : Esth (Ciodaru Ene / Gabi Radu / Sergio Grillati / Iason Panayi)
Men's single sculls : Nikolos Tsakolov
Men's lightweight four : Stefanos Mitrou
Women's coxless pair : Esth (Mitsuko Usami / Arcadia Mataluis)
Women's double sculls : Esth (Cochiti Machachura / Dulcinea Santos)
Women's eight : Esth (Machiko Nishimura / Alessandra Madassi / Megumi Konishi / Camelia Popa / Draguta Dasil / Siska Meijvogel / Edda Bahn / Sun Xiang)
Women's quadruple sculls : Esth (Xu Hui Ying / Hild Baader / Leopoldine Wechsel / Ladislava Zubaty)
Women's single sculls : Natsumi Tsuji
Women's lightweight double sculls: Esth (Angela Piera Sasutti / Fumiko Koni)

Sailing:
Men's 470 : Piran Feliu / Pasco Feliu
Men's Finn : Phampilos Mnason
Men's mistral (board) : Quim Enric
Men's Star : Mark Guifre' / Velimir Nebojsa
Mixed 49er : Bojan Vjeco / Carolina Noce
Mixed Laser: Jozo Mladen
Mixed Tornado : Mirko Pavao / Marco Pero
Women's 470 : Lucija Zora / Noemi Imelda
Women's Europe : Graziella Riccardi
Women's mistral (board) : Acantha Euphrosyne
Women's Yngling : Lidia Emiliani / Barbara Haruko / Lidia Hotaru

Shooting:
Men's 10m air pistol (60 shots): Jotaro Hachisuka / Mattia Marcolateri
Men's 10m air rifle (60 shots): Michio Ukita / Florentin Barbi
Men's 10m running target (30+30 shots): Mirco Levapoti / Xu Park
Men's 25m rapid fire pistol (60 shots): Liu Kuan-Yin / Sihr Al-Jurr
Men's 50m free pistol (60 shots): Makkir Madani / Mark Piitsens
Men's 50m free rifle 3 positions (3x40 shots): Petrus Kochkramer / Hans Van Dyke
Men's 50m free rifle prone (60 shots): Nico Schaff / Krelis Van Ringe
Men's double trap (150 targets): Wilhelmus Van Batenburg / Helmar Van den Bonck
Men's skeet (125 targets): Krelis Cloppels / Berthold Van Ahss
Men's trap (125 targets) : Luigi Menelli / Hermannus Van Goer
Women's 10m air pistol (40 shots): Leida Baerbajk / Fytie Munken
Women's 10m air rifle (40 shots) : Wu Zhi / Caterina Iaccunzi
Women's 25m sport pistol (30+30 shots): Atlantja Bottenbrouck / Famke Ondergrond
Women's 50m standard rifle 3 positions (3x20 shots): Karel Van der Pihp / Elecktra Van Longwijk
Women's double trap (120 targets) : Fifi Munken / Taniko Shiomi
Women's Skeet (75 targets) : Roberta Tunigallia / Nana Masachika
Women's trap (75 targets) : Ignazia Dumon / Norie Chiba

Softball nEsth

Swimming:
Men's 50m freestyle : Arnoldus Van Ringe / Marco Parlonati
Men's 100m backstroke : Nico Offvanschafter / Sumio Tsukawaki
Men's 100m breaststroke : Boenen Van Batenburg / Rosswald Von Gottingen
Men's 100m butterfly : Theodoros Petrosi / Anargyros Leonidas
Men's 100m freestyle : Piermaria Perri / Gianni Ottimismo
Men's 1500m freestyle : Theodoros Petrosi / Rosswald Von Gottingen
Men's 200m backstroke : Boenen Van Batenburg / Nico Offvanschafter
Men's 200m breaststroke : Boenen Van Batenburg / Rosswald Von Gottingen
Men's 200m butterfly : Theodoros Petrosi / Anargyros Leonidas
Men's 200m freestyle : Piermaria Perri / Gianni Ottimismo
Men's 200m medley : Eiichi Ono / Liu Cong
Men's 400m medley : Eiichi Ono / Liu Cong
Men's 400m freestyle : Theodoros Petrosi / Anargyros Leonidas
Men's 4 x 100m freestyle : Yes (Arnoldus Van Ringe / Marco Parlonati / Nico Offvanschafter / Sumio Tsukawaki)
Men's 4 x 100m medley : Yes (Eiichi Ono / Liu Cong / Piermaria Perri / Gianni Ottimismo)
Men's 4 x 200m freestyle : Yes (Piermaria Perri / Gianni Ottimismo / Theodoros Petrosi / Anargyros Leonidas)
Women's 50m freestyle: Florentina Cassia / Constancia Severino
Women's 100m backstroke : Miela Luksa / Saqui Tamaya
Women's 100m breaststroke : Beatriu Remei / Itziar Aintzane
Women's 100m butterfly : Ekaterina Elisaveti / Decima Drusilla
Women's 100m freestyle : Xanthippe Alexandros / Thais Cleopatros
Women's 200m backstroke : Lucia Di Gennari / Aurelia Strada
Women's 200m breaststroke : Fausta Saturnina / Beatriu Remei
Women's 200m freestyle : Khalilah Gauhar / Thais Cleopatros
Women's 200m medley : Wafiya Karam / Ziba Nilofer
Women's 200m butterfly : Ekaterina Elisaveti / Laia Monserrat
Women's 400m freestyle : Anais Monserrat / Usoa Miren
Women's 400m medley : Wafiya Karam / Ziba Nilofer
Women's 800m freestyle : Heike Inka / Eleonara Munken
Women's 4 x 100m freestyle : Yes (Florentina Cassia / Constancia Severino / Beatriu Remei / Itziar Aintzane)
Women's 4 x 100m medley : Yes (Wafiya Karam / Ziba Nilofer / Heike Inka / Eleonara Munken)
Women's 4 x 200m freestyle : Yes (Khalilah Gauhar / Thais Cleopatros / Anais Monserrat / Usoa Miren)
Men's 10m platform diving : Noritoshi Askikaga / Akinori Kuga
Men's 3m springboard diving : Livio Fedrari / Mamoru Kuki
Men's synchronized diving 10m platform : Melchiorre Cipriano / Hans Van Ringe
Men's synchronized diving 3m springboard : Hermannus Van der Boobje / Ah Bao Lee
Women's 10m platform diving : Nami Imaidegawa / Imma Chierico
Women's 3m springboard diving : Teodora Kotohiki / Jianping Hu
Women's synchronize diving 10m platform : Lijuan Ho / Jung Llora
Women's synchronized diving 3m springboard : Neus Mireia / Laia Salut
Women's synchronised swimming duet : Kyung-Soon Montserrat / Eulalia Assumpcio
Men's water polo : Esth
Women's water polo : Esth

Table tennis:
Men's singles : Kotaro Kajiyama
Men's doubles : Kotaro Kajiyama / Manfredo Galli
Women's singles : Hatsui Kaminaga
Women's doubles : Hatsui Kaminaga / Hilaria Justinas

Tennis:
Tennis men's singles : Esteve Donat
Tennis men's doubles : Esteve Donat / Akihiko Rokujochigusa
Tennis women's singles : Yekaterina Bronislava
Tennis women's doubles : Fabia Kunthea / Yekaterina Bronislava

Triathlon:
Men's triathlon : Kenji Shiowaka / Stephanos Yiorgos / Andries Heendrikk / Gino Le-Portaie
Women's triathlon : Tokiyo Shirasu / Varvara Chara / Atlantja Van Bonckewaerde / Hugo Gilberto

Volleyball:
Men's volleyball : Esth
Women's volleyball : Esth
Men's beach volleyball : Agustin Cayetano / Hermolaos Iennikos
Women's beach volleyball : Chrysanthe Anastasi / Reiko Matsuki

Weightlifting:
Men's 56-62kg weightlifting : Sawao Kono
Men's 56kg weightlifting : Heracleitus Haristides
Men's 62-69kg weightlifting : Rigaberto Fonicelli
Men's 69-77kg weightlifting : Daniele Culattazzi
Men's 77-85kg weightlifting : Mikael Bjoern
Men's 85-94kg weightlifting : Henk Aloysius
Men's 94-105kg weightlifting Coby Xander
Men's over 105kg weightlifting Hugo Kees

Wrestling:
Men's 55-60kg freestyle wrestling : Gerolt Joopens
Men's 60-66kg freestyle wrestling : Jovan Gerrit
Men's 66-74kg freestyle wrestling : Theunius Faas
Men's 74-84kg freestyle wrestling : Joos Stijn
Men's 84-96kg freestyle wrestling : Bram Jacobus
Men's 96-120k freestyle wrestling : Stamatios Crescentius
Men's 55kg freestyle wrestling: Athanasios Avitus
Men's 55kg greco-roman wrestling : Septimus Fotis
Men's 55-60kg greco-roman wrestling : Gus Ianisos
Men's 60-66kg greco-roman wrestling : Gall Nicolaos
Men's 66-74kg greco-roman wrestling : Andreas Dimosthenis
Men's 74-84kg greco-roman wrestling : Agapios Stamatis
Men's 84-96kg greco-roman wrestling : Donato Isidoro
Men's 96-120kg greco-roman wrestling : Feliu Ladislao

-page 2-

The Bedistan Sports Digest
Kaza Olympics Supplement

KAZA, Kaze Progressa -- An unknown number of Bedistani athletes proudly wore the green and blue of their nation's flag in the Olympic opening ceremonies tonight. Actually, the number isn't really unknown, it's just too large to count, as Bedistan has entered an estimated 500 athletes in 27 of the 28 disciplines (everything except handball), making them possibly the largest contingent of all the participating nations.

"It is a glorious day for sport, here in Kaze Progressa, back home in Bedistan, from Audioslavia to Esth and everywhere in between," remarked swimmer Scott Spitzer, who will be participating in a total of eight events at these Games. He was chosen by the BOC to hold the highest honor of carrying our nation's brand-new green and blue flag.

The nation has high expectations of Spitzer and the rest of its swimmers, but perhaps the most supported athletes are Bedistan's football team, regarded as one of the two best in all NationStates by the World Cup Committee. After a disappointing second-round exit in World Cup XVII, the fans back home are hoping that the team can avenge itself by bringing home an Olympic medal. Many fans have forgotten, of course, that it's not the same team, but rather the under-23 team. But that's a good sign too, as our under-21s won the last championship in Total n Utter Insanity.

"I'm very confident about the whole thing," said under-23 coach Henry Thoreau, normally coach of the under-21 squad but temporarily promoted for the Olympics.

Of course, we'll bring you all the news from Kaza as fast as possible. Be sure to check for constant updates at our website, www.sportsdigest.bd. [OOC: not a real website]

Excerpt from the Starblaydi Combined Broadcasting: Sports Channel

The '30s but still gorgeous' newsreader looked up and into the camera as she continued onto the next Big Story of the evening. Speaking with her usual cut-glass accent, the words 'Kaza Opening Ceremony' scrolled across the screen.

"...and as those aforementioned power cuts across Starblaydia disrupted the viewing of the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Kaza, we now bring you a special report from 'Scoop' Ragnarsson, who was at last night's ceremony in Kaza for SCB Sports."

We see the Progressair Stadium from above, at night. Fireworks light our view, bathing the Stadium in a spectacular glow.

'The music, the lights, the spectacle and the glory. All of these were present in the enormous Progressair Stadium in Kaza as the first attempt at a truly global Olympic Games was officially opened in Kaza, Kaze Progressa.'

From inside the stadium we see cheering fans and the parade through the Ages of Kaze Progressa.

'We were treated to a tour through Progressan history from the earliest known records through to the present day. All the while a two-thousand strong choir gave us the narrative to the ceremony, both awesome and melodic at the same time.'

The massed ranks of the heavenly choir stand in national dress, each with large books to sing from, telling of the past as history came to life.

'With each era came a different aural tone as speakers in the stadium assualted and soothed the sell-out one hundred and twenty thousand crowd of expectant sports fans in equal measure.'

A riot of color and movement, mixed perfectly with a soundtrack that a mere TV camera couldn't hope to replicate,such was the effect within the stadium. Small figures in brightly-coloured costumes whirl around in the centre of the stadium.

'Even the children, from schools all over Kaze Progressa, helped tell the story as they danced and sung along to the music, all in an atmosphere of sporting celebration.'

A mass rank of athletes stride out into the stadium to walk round the track. The ones we focus in on, of course, are the proud Team Starblaydia, numbering nearly two hundred athletes who have travelled to Kaza to try and bring Gold for Starblaydia.

'The Starblaydi Team in their purple jackets, white shirts and black trousers strode out confidently, being very popular with the crowd and getting a large cheer. Super-Heavyweight Boxer Godwin Ezeobi led the team out, carrying the Black-Purple-White flag of Starblaydia aloft in a single hand, high and proud for all to see.

More pictures of the athletes, many themselves taking pictures of the stadium with still and video cameras. Some even tryin to talk into their mobile phones. We see such stars as Lambros Choutos and Anestis Tsitsonis, the coxless pairs who took Starblaydia's only Gold at the short-lived Atlantian Oceania Regional Olympic Games. We also see the footballing superstar that is Simeone Di Bradini, registered as an over-age player in the Football Tournament.

'With such a popular welcome, it's hard to see how Starblaydia won't walk away with at least a handful of Gold Medals in their collection., such is the support they have won in Kaza from travelling fans and locals alike.

'This is 'Scoop' Rangarsson, for SCB Sports in Kaza.'

OLYMPICS OPEN IN KAZA
LATIN TEAM PREPARES FOR GAMES
By Orlando Vasco, Olympic Correspondent

(Latin Olympic Flag (https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/michelas/www/latin_olympic_flag.bmp) )
Flag of the Latin Olympic Team and Committee

KAZA, KAZE PROGRESSA - The 2008 Olympic Games in Kaze Progressa, the first ever worldwide Olympic event, opened to a packed crowd of well over the 120,000-seat limit of the stadium. Teams from anywhere and everywhere marched around the stadium to breathtaking music sung by a choir of 2000 Progressans, following an intricate song-and-dance illustration of Progressan history.

The Latin Olympic Team, modestly sized with 159 members, filed out into the stadium proudly, their white, patriotically-decorated uniforms gleaming in the stadium lighting. At their head was swimmer/pole vaulter Maria-Aria Cumenez, bearing the flag of the Union as she smiled with that brilliance that has had her image plastered all over several fashion magazines in the past year. Among the team was the Olympic Men's Football Team, culled together by Coach Sofronio Rojo from the best teams in Latin football, as well as the relatively unknown Latin Olympic Hockey Team. The famous cycling trio of Roberto, Stefano, and Antonio Michelassi were there, as well as table tennis legend Francisco Gutierrez-Igrienda. Rounding out the stars of Latin athletics were national women's swimming champion Laetitia Belém, honored boxer and wrestler Arturo Escobedo, and immigrant archery diva Sandra Beckens.

(Uniform Picture (https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/michelas/www/latin_olympic_uniform.bmp))
Uniform of the Latin Olympic Team as seen during the Opening Ceremonies

Tomorrow as the Games open, the Union will see many of its athletes put to the test. Women's Beach Volleyball teamates Luz Tirienda and Gabriela Salazar will play their first round, as will the Latin Olympic Softball Team. Francisco Gutierrez-Igrienda will face his first challenge in the Mens Table Tennis Singles first round, and Latin swimmers Lazaro Jímenez and Aldo Pannoni will have their chance to win the Mens 400m Freestyle Swim, as well as advance to the finals of the Mens 100m Breaststroke, and compete in the 400m individual medley along with female swimmers Laetitia Belém and Estella Cobrón. Belém and Cobrón will also compete in the Womens 100m Butterfly. In the gymnastics corner Fernando Alvarez, Sancho Erenice, and Pablo Potenza will compete in the qualifiers, and on the cycling track we'll see two of the three Michelassis compete, as brothers Roberto and Stefano attempt to make their nation proud.

In all, it will prove to be an exciting and spectacular month ahead of us.

The Weegie Star - Olympics Special

Weegies Hopeful for Olympic Success by Ciadhra Fallon.

With the Olympics in Kaza only moments away from their actual start, the Star thought it would be best to outline our thoughts as to who out of our various atheletes could have a good chance to win a medal in the most prestigious of sporting events - although, Star football pundit Gary McNeill has claimed that "no amount of poxy runners and squat hairy weightlifters could possibly call itself greater than the magnificent spectacle that is the World Cup, not that I ever get a chance to get there." However, competition is going to be fierce, and we'll need all our wits about us if we are to snatch a medal. After all, we are a small nation compared to many of the others, but the Star contends that we can beat at least someone to something.

Our five favourites for Olympic medals:

Thomas Peppard: Fiery, lanky, and with a turn of speed that would make your average Thistle Celtic winger seem like a leaden tortoise, Peppard is seen as the major hope in the main focus of the Olympics, the track sprints, in which Peppard is taking part. At the age of 21, Thomas Peppard was originally hoping to follow a career in his beloved Carlsson Rangers, but found that his short bursts of speed were better suited to the track than to the pitch. Since then, he's been the three-times champion at the Weegie Athletics Meet, and is coming to Kaza with very high morale. "Peppery" Peppard's determination and grit mean that he is unlikely to give up even if he fails to qualify for one of the other races, and if we see him at his best in the Progressair Stadium, Peppard may leave the other sprinters coughing in his dust as he "explodes" down the track.

Owen McPhail: The "Bruiser from Chiarain'tusca" has had a good year so far, beating David McLintock to the Weegie Boxing Championship and keeping it for 10 fights now. Short, tough, and deeply passionate about his chosen sport, McPhail shows again why Weegies are better known for their tackling than their sharp shooting in the World Cups. The Lylian southpaw will be hoping for a successful time at the Games, especially if he finds the form he had in his earlier Championship matches.

Mark Cox: Cycling is always overlooked as a sport in the Weegies, having to compete with football, hockey, and other ball sports, which is a shame because many of the Weegie cyclists aren't too bad at their chosen dicipline. Mark Cox, an all-rounder with a slight edge in sprinting, has our eye for medal success if not just because of his marvellous sprint at the end of the Buchanan-Mackintosh road race to clinch it by a clear wheel.

The Hockey Squads: Weegies are good at hockey in a way that they aren't in football. A record of two Hockey World Cup Finals speaks for itself, and recently the women's squad has been showing itself up as a real threat to the international stage. Can we see if they shall live up to that threat? We'll see.

The Football Squads: Ok, I was being harsh on the footballers. Despite our continual frustration, they are a committed and excellent bunch of characters, and despite their continued insistence to fail to qualify for the World Cup, we might see tham pull out something special, even against such well known footballing sides that are taking part in this Olympics, like Bedistan. Never to be underestimated, but always unpredictable, our footballing side will at least have the distinction of only being one of a number of things that could be a potential heartbreak to us.

Ciadhra Fallon is only one of a new set of journalists to start work at the Star! See the full line up either in page 3, or at http://www.theweegiestar.org.wg/our_team.html

Commentator: And here comes the delegation from Big Pimento! Big Pimento is a tropical nation located in the West Pacific with a population of about 173 million, known for their civil and political freedoms and disdain for private corporations.

A decent sized Pimento delegation takes to the track at Progressair Stadium. Leading the group with Big Pimento flag in hand is a diminutive woman, looking more like a girl than a woman. She smiles from ear to ear as she timidly waves to the crowd.

Commentator: There’s Florentina Jovovich, heading the Big Pimento delegation. She’s a talented and versatile sixteen year old gymnast who will be participating in all artistic gymnastic events. Her best events are the balance beam and the floor exercises and she should definitely have her eye on the all-around prize. She’ll be the most promising hope for Olympic gold on a very strong Big Pimento gymnastic team.

The camera pans across the Big Pimento group, wearing red track suits with green sleeves. Three white stirpes go across the chest, with the national crest embroidered over those stripes on the left breast. The delegation is wearing white pants, with two red stripes sandwiching a green one. They’re clearly wearing an Adidas get-up. The crowd are smiling and waving to the crowd, some with video recorders in hand to try to capture the awe inspiring atmosphere. The camera stops and fixates on a tall, slender, blond woman, blowing kisses to the crowd.

Commentator: Big Pimento have begun to make waves in international swimming. Their best hopes for a medal rest on the shoulders of this woman, Svetlana Moskova. Moskova had a brilliant World Championships last year, walking away from the event with bronzes in the 100m and 200m events respectively.

The camera goes to a quick shot of a small section of Big Pimento fans who made the trip to Kaze Progressa before putting the camera back on the athletes. The massive choir in the North stands continue to belt out Progressan hymns. The camera goes back to the athletes and soon after, zoom in on a relatively short man who’s quite thick in the upper body.

Commentator: There’s Scott Von Trapp, one of the most talented flatwater canoemen in the world. He’ll be racing in four sprint events and should contend for a medal in every one. His starts are world class and his favourite distance is the 500m. Whether he’s overcharged his work schedule for this regatta remains to be seen. Big Pimento are quite strong in the flatwater canoe/kayak events and will be looking to pull a solid medal total from Bilkitoniz Lake.

The camera pans back towards a slender man with dark hair, leaning his head over to someone else’s mouth to try to make out what they’re saying. The man looks very young, but appears to be in great shape.

Commentator: Big Pimento have been one of the rising nations in international football over the last few years, and here’s one of the bright stars they’re hoping will carry them to the next level. Bong Jong-Il is just eighteen but has already left a lasting impression on his club side on Jacoby United and the Pimento Primera League. The Pimentos should be outgunned yet again on this level, but he might just bring the offensive punch needed to power the Pimentos past the opposition, in an event which may serve as a stepping stone to push Big Pimento to the next level in football.

The camera scrolls back to the entry tunnel where a new delegation is coming out to the stadium.

Commentator: And here comes the delegation representing Bogans and Boozers!

OOC: I'm impressed with the RP. Great start to these Games, especially the choir idea from Starblaydia.

IC: results can be found at www.kaza2008.tk as they're simmed. That will probably mean 'liberally spread through the day' which is a great excuse to keep checking.

As the last delegation exit the tunnel, the legion of Maserrat athletes begin their parade of the stadium. Although they are one of the smaller delegations in the games, they have high hopes in the football and hockey tournaments, and expect to do reasonably in the racket sports too. As they begin to traipse out, clasping miniature flags and waving at imaginary people in the audience, the country name, Maserrat, is read out in 15 different languages, all of which sound remarkably the same...

"Maserrat!" (in English)
"Maserrat!" (in German)
"Maserrat!" (in French)
"Maserrat!" (in Spanish)
"Maserrat!" (in Italian)
"Maserrat!" (in Swedish)
"Maserrat!" (in Portuguese)
"Maserrat!" (in Russian)
"Maserrat!" (in Turkish)

"Do you think this could possibly be the Maserrat team coming out now?" [Maserrat's commentator for the games, Rostu Makilov, is reknowned for his sarcasm].

"Maserrat!" (in Tagalog)

"Yes, there it is for all those Filipinos who might be watching this evening. Oh, I think they're done now, thank Christ for that. I'll be hearing that in my sleep tonight. So...who's here in the audience...well, Mr. Gresko's over there. He seems to be a waving a miniature flag...of Starblaydia!?! Somebody's given him the wrong flag! He's finally noticed and is now...beating his assistant with the flag - my, he must be covered in cuts and bruises now!"

The Maserrat athletes finish their parade of the stadium, and go to stand in the centre with the other teams.

"Luckily they're about halfway through the ceremony - they might only have to stand there for an hour or so. Pity the team that came out first!"

A few hours later, all the teams are out, and the stadium is plunged into darkness.

"I wonder which has-been pop star is going to sing for us now. Hopefully it won't be Bjork again - that was just poor!"

Several songs later,a bunch of acrobats enter and begin some kind of sordid routine.

"You know what would really jazz this up? If one of those acrobats broke their leg...a minor dislocation might not go amiss either...Well they're finally finished. Are we going to get around to the flame now, so that I can get back to my hotel room - I'm missing my favourite program!"

An elderly woman (or man - it's difficult to tell in the poor light) begins to fly through the air. It seems that they are trying to get them to light the flame, but they cannot quite reach...

"Can this get any worse? They could have just got Diana Ross to miss a completely open goal in her high heels, but no...they had to perform this little masquerade. I don't know, some people! If they don't get it in a minute I'm off!"

A few minutes later...

"That's it, I'm leaving! I'll see you all tomorrow. Ugh, I need a drink..."

Commentator: "Next up comes Kelssek, the legendary swimmer Jean Boisvert their flagbearer."

"Yes, only 27 and already one of the best swimmers out there, he announced that he was looking for 5 gold medals in the pool, setting a pretty high goal for himself but if anyone can achieve that, it'll be this man."

"The women are going to be formidable in the pool too, let me tell you that, Pauline Ovfevre has great stamina, recently she picked up a silver at the international distance championships, she's also looking for some medals here.And their relay team is a good bet to pick up at least a medal, the young Virginia Dunston will be swimming in the relay and she'll look good on the podium."

"That's right, there was a bit of a furore recently when she did a naked photo shoot for Swell magazine back home, but hey, she's hot, let her show it off."

"And now we can see some of the fans from Kelssek, and some of them are already taking off their tops!"

"Wow, that's a lot of bodypaint, Jim, some very passionate fans in Kelssek. Obviously, given their climate they do a lot better at the Winter Games, but that doesn't mean we won't see some good performances from them here."

"Also, greetings to the fans from Kelssek watching us on NSN, the National Sports Network, the first choice for sports."

"And the big guy you see waving that big banner is Luc Perrault, a big boxer, East Pacific 91kg champion, that guy's built like a tank and he'll also be looking for a good performance at these games."

"And the Kelssekians are now forming up with the other delegations, here come the next nation..."

8pm news

Jameson: “Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. I’m Adèle Jameson, and you’re watching the eight o’clock news. Let’s start with the main event of the day, and that’s of course the beginning of the eagerly awaited Olympic Games in Kaza. The Games began in style last night with the Opening Ceremony. Estimates suggest well over two billion Ariddians watched the ceremony live, and were treated to a spectacular show held in Progressair Stadium; a historical re-enactment through music rather than words, later hailed by Professor Adam Mentez of Rêvane University as ‘a bold form of artistic expression that magnificently explored some of the many facets of song and music.’

But for many viewers the highlight was the athletes’ entry into the stadium. Ariddian chests everywhere swelled with hope and pride as the Ariddian delegation was the first to enter the stadium, due to alphabetical classification. Ariddia’s is a modest delegation, in terms of size, since only 84 athletes are competing, and not all of them took part in last night’s ceremony. Badminton player Terry Spirits, divers Vince Reed and Anton Dyonov, gymnasts Phillip Donaghue and George Andrewson, and Patricia Blake for judo all opted for a full night’s sleep to be at the best of their form for the following day’s events.

But still the black, red and green Ariddian flag was carried forth proudly by Lucy Diamond, better known as ‘Tiny Red’, who will be entering the marathon event with high hopes for a medal. Diamond waved the flag cheerfully as the crowd cheered the various national teams. The Ariddian athletes were of course dressed in their black tracksuits striped with red, the national colours, and seemed truly excited to be there.

Most Ariddians will have recognised the final torch bearer, a legend in international football, Faiwe Irafma. He carried the Flame to a large globe, depicting the Earth, which he set alight, then motioned a kick which sent it soaring – along an invisible track – up towards the stars, no doubt the most spectacular kick in his career. Of course, it reached the Olympic Flame receptacle. . . and with that, and a stirring speech by the president of the Kaze Progressan Olympic Committee, the Games truly were underway.

And now for the day’s events so far in Kaza. . .”

Elin Ri: Hejida listeners, it's me again, Sirake Tekim and I am still in Kaze Progressa. After the World Cup, I was asked to do reports of the olympics for RejisCAST. And hey, Kaze Progressa is a good country for holidays, so I accepted and interrupt my holidays for the occasional broadcast!

Sirake Tekim (in the studio in KaMaRi kali): Not quite the most convincing explanation.

ER: Well, it is like this. We are not in Commerce Heights here where the alternatives would be do it or find another job.

ST: In Commerce Heights, you'd be fired for such a remark.

ER: In Rejistania it increases the number of listeners!

ST: True...

ER: But you might already know the dilemma I am facing today: How to report about something that is koleni'sis

ST: We have english listeners, don't use rejistanian

ER: You translate it, I can't.

ST: koleni'sis means 'out of compare'.

ER: It simply is not possible to describe the beauty of the ceremony, I mean. we can hear the music, but the dances, the colors, the light, the atmosphere, that can not be transmitted via radio or television.

ST: You sound as if you are sponsored by the Kaza tourist office.

ER: I sound as if I am deeply impressed.

ST: Also possible.

ER: I remain silent now so you can at least enjoy the music. (he does so)

I have a proposal.

coud You writting all countries who start in Kaza2008 with his code.
(in www.kaza2008.tk , and/or in this forum)
for example:

Lovisa - LOV
Kaze Progressa - KZP
etc.

because I dont know other countries codes, and it will be easy form me, becase I will be know where from is my opponent. ok?

good job :)

EBRS Kaza 2008 Midday News

After the initial 30 sec animation with the Kaza 2008 logo showing up a man,in his fourties,began his speech

"Good Morning,this is Rambert Becker in Studio n.8 here in Kaza.
The games have already began and our country is already obtaning great results."

he turns around facing another camera

"In Archery Raffaele Galvanoni arrived 25th scoring 597..."
highlights of the Archery round are shown were Galvanoni and Nejedly try to score points,the commentator continues to speak
"...and qualifies for the next round;he will be facing Quartz of Boogans and Boozers,but let's now hear an interview of Galvanoni after the match"

a woman started asking questions to the athlete

"Galvanoni,How did you feel during the first moments of the match?"

"I was very excited,my hands were shaking too much and i couldn't concentrate enough,fortunately in the second round I managed to catch up all the lost points;too bad Nejedly didn't make it"

"you will be facing Quartz who arrived 8th,predictions of this match?"

"Well,I hate making predictions but if I play like I did in the second round it will be a tough match"

Becker continues his speech

"Well let's hope he goes further in this event,meanwhile in the Womens Archery Guo Fang Yin and Giulietta Ross grab the last positions and advance to the next round,in Men's Badminton Kannellopolous beats Stine 15-10 11-15 14-16 16-14 15-10 while Xia He in Womens Badminton beats Akins 16-14 15-10 15-9;but let's take a look at men's boxing where Harold Hoekstra in the 90+ kg category is facing one of this event's favourites,Johns of Sportland;Mike,what news from the match?"

a Boxing match is being viewed live where Hoekstra dressed in red is attacking fiercely Johns

"Yes,Hi,you are just tuned in at the Olympic Boxing Stadium and you surely are in for a big surprise,right now Hoekstra is beating 28-18 Johns,one of this event's favourites;only one minute remaining,Johns reacts with jab punches but Hoekstra manages to defend easily and.... nice countermove of Hoekstra and scores another point!,29-18 the score! Hoekstra's coach is already celebrating,only 15 seconds remaining,Johns tries desperately to gain points but it's over!it's over! what a major upset ladies and gentlemen,Hoekstra wins 29-18 and advances to the next round! He cannot believe his eyes,what an outstanding victory"

Becker interrupts the live match and continues speaking

"Yes,an amazing victory,Esth is surely obtaning wonderful results this morning; and we have word that the duo Anastasti/Matsuki have just beaten Tyler/Rickman 16-21 21-17 15-1,this is all from this mornings Olympics update,now the time for the National Newscast,we will be back with live comments of the Olympics at 3.00 p.m"

excerpt from the CELESTIA TIMES KAZA 2008 SPECIAL

SOFTBALL:

Esthian Women’s Softball team head coach Gary Montardier says a spot in the podium is the team’s goal for this Olympic Games.

"That means that firstly we have to beat the home team,Kaze Progressa at least" Montardier said.

He said Sportland, Bedistan and Kaze Progressa are the toughest teams to beat.

Montardier described the Bedistan and Sportland as the elite teams in the field and he said Kaze Progressa, with a good batting lineup and the home factor,would be difficult to beat.

Montardier, from Ihriae,has coached many club teams before this event,
He has been coach of the Esthian team since July 2003.
The coach was pleased with the way the team has come together while preparing for the Olympic Games.

"I do not consider myself as an authoritarian coach. I like my players to have roles and responsibilities. The players like that"
He believes pitching is a strength of the team and is going to be key to Esth’s success.

Pitcher Carlotta Idiniri said she was not nervous, despite being just days away from her first Olympic Games experience.

"I will probably be more excited and have more emotion flowing once we get out there and start playing," she said.

Kaza '08 Olympic Games Underway
Mixed Performances for Starblaydia on Day One So Far
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg
"Hello and a Big Warm Welcome to Day One of our Olympic Coverage of the Kaza Games here on SCB:Sports as we broadcast all across Starblaydia and Nova Britannicus. Now, a lot has happened already today on Day One, they get up early in this part of the world. So here's the full run-down of what's been happening across Kaza today, and how our athletes have faired..."

The Screen Changes to recent footage of Starblaydia's Athletes, with news a ticker across the bottom and the presenter's voice over the top. We see a large black man with shaved head and dyed-blond beard, wearing Blue this time, pummelling the Troll in Red with a flurry of swift punches.

"Starblaydi Flag-Bearer Godwin Ezeobi looked the true class of the Super-Heavyweight Above-ninety-one kilogram Division as he clocked up forty points against 'S.C.' Carbide of Cockbill Street. It was the highest points total of the division today and we can finally say that we've beaten the Streetians at something, as Ezeobi's trademark left-jab was working well. In the lower Division, Heishman lost but Dicks won as Starblaydia's hope for Boxing Gold goes on."

The scene changes to close-ups of Starblaydi Archers and their targets.

"All four Starblaydis, Men and Women, performed well in the Archery today, with the men moving into 7th and 13th, with the women in 7th and 9th. They'll now face-off against the less-well-performing archers who scored in the mid-20s. 13th-place Max Pruden scored a massive 3-4-6 in the first half of shots but dropped to just 2-8-3 in the second as he lost his composure."

Now we see the ducking and diving of Badminton as men with 'Starblaydia' on their backs leap around, swatting at the shuttlecock.

"Bad news for Desmond Roman as he lost his opening matches in both the Men's Singles and Doubles, despite leading 2 sets to 1 in both matches. The three-time Starblaydi Champion will be looking to do better in the Mixed-Doubles, where he teams up with Eleanor Swan, who's Women's doubles partner Carly Hager won today, the only Badminton Success.

We then see the lean, tanned forms of Women's Beach Volleyballers leaping around the sand in the sun. The two we focus on are wearing the Purple and Black costumes.

"Success in the Beach Volleyball for the Ladies as Ward and McClure defeated Volchenkova and Calder of Big Pimento in the two games. A very popular sport with the men, it seems, even during the Timeouts where we're treated to cutting-edge Progressan Pop Music and Dancing Girls..."

Back we go to the studio, with the Kaza Skyline and Progressair Stadium visible out of the window in the background, bathed in the bright midday Sun.

"Can't be bad, eh? Now, for our first live sport that most people will be awake for, its Cycling, and the Men's Road Race, the first Medals of the Games will be decided. Do Starblaydia have a chance? Let's go live to Alphonso Carmacho, who's our commentator for today."

Now the over-head shot of the beyond-200km Road Race, and we focus in on the pair of riders, side-by-side, in black shirts and purple shorts, in the 'chasing' group of 20-or-so riders.

"Juan Svoboda and Philip Greenfield are being clever here, riding together in the chasing pack, though they've not got much chance of catching the leaders who are a good minute ahead of them as we go into the final few thousand metres.

"Everyone's looking at each other, saving their strength, waiting for the first one to start the sprint and... they they go! Its Benitez of Liverpool England who's tried to break away but the others are catching him as the field is spreading out now, there's still over a kilometer to go and the medals are all but decided but they're racing for pride now.

"And there it is, Starblaydia's cyclists finish in 14th and 15th palce, just four seconds apart Juan Svoboda and Philip Greenfield have performed excellently for their country, coming in the top half of this event. A good performance but congratulations to the two medallists from The Latin Union, and the single Esth Silver-Medallist."

Back to the Studio we go.

"And who said five-hour cycling races weren't exciting?"

Ankh-Morpork C-mail

Little Success For Streetians
Only Handball Results Were Promising...Well, Not-Abysmali

Streetian mediocrity in international sports continued today at the first day of the NationStates Olympics, which began in Kaza today. World athletes flocked to the championships, where few Streetian athletes competed on the first morning - the most famous ones being Matt Buzzard and Bjorn Golddevourer, who were two of 36 athletes in the cycling road race.

The Latin Union Michelassi brothers had a great day in the Kaze Progressan capital, taking advantage of a poorly organised peloton to break away with only two kilometres to go. Buzzard and Golddevourer was in the very front of the peloton, but failed to finish in podium places, Paul Kitchens of Liverpool England winning the main peloton sprint but finishing in fourth place.

In the archery arena, there was heartbreak for Einari Glodsson, the lesser-known brother of Olaf, as he was beaten by Maserrat archer Gretsko Drefgo. Despite a good first round, where he scored 308 and outscored his brother by 32 points, Einari collapsed in better conditions and made only 278 out of 350 in the second round. His last three shots yielded only seven, six and seven, and denied him of the four points he needed to beat Drefgo. Olaf Glodsson shot a magnificent 344 in the second round, finishing joint third with Kirstirieran athlete Michael Postler. Olaf will now face the more consistent, but less brilliant, Peabody (yes, the nation is called Mr Peabody) athlete Ralph Diwitizaer, who made 610 points in total in the qualifying.

Silicaceous carbide, the troll who was the Street's only hope in the boxing competition, lost out grimly to the Starblaydian flag-bearer Godwin Ezeobi, who is apparently a big star in Starblaydia. Nothing much could be done against his left jab, who scored him 40 points in the four rounds, and despite having Ezeobi in the nets twice, S.C. failed to finish the job, losing by eleven points.

There was one positive to be taken from the day, though. Cockbill Street's women handballers, led by play-maker Erika Johansson who made ten goals, beat Deansvilla 36-32 in the first round of the handball championship. With thirteen teams competing, it's a bit hard to work out what the Kazan organisers have thought of, but we believe there is two groups - one of seven teams and one of six. The Streetians seem to have avoided many of the former handball greats such as Rejistania and Kaze Progressa, but face the commentator-feared Lovisa in the group stages.

The Streetians, though, are believed to have more chances in sports to come later. The most famous names to come are probably Sten-Åke Waldner, the ageing table tennis player who is expected to play in his last tournament after winning eight Streetian Championships in a row, Lloyd Baugh and Tim Cottey's qualifying charge in the gymnastics. Several high-profile rowers make their debuts in the heats, including Vic Hatfield and Steve Buts in the coxless pair, and Jenny Maskvik and Lena Lagerkvist in the double sculls, and the sailing kicks off with 470, where the Streetians are believed to be in with a shout.

Arguably the most awaited events, though, is the swimming and the volleyball. The volleyball women face Deansvilla (again! well, I'm sure the women will have some tips), and Johanna Nystedt's side will have a tough, but not impossible, charge against a Deansvillan side who makes their international debut. Their sign-up indicated that they would only have three players, but that was surely an oversight, and most Streetians believe a six-woman team will face them in the Indoor International Arena. Meanwhile, the swimmers Even Halvorsen and Robert Tonge make their debut in the 400 metres freestyle, and the Streetian four who have been entered for the 4 x 100 m relay heats should have an interesting time, being drawn in lane 2. Britt Lium, who was expected to swim the second stage, thought that "we have a good chance of making the final - though I think there are many good teams around. I was very impressed when we went in the pool and trained yesterday, there were some real world stars out there who went real fast and we'll have to do our best to beat them."

BSTV Sports This Morning
with Rebecca Reed

[Theme music plays. The BSTV Sports (insert time of day) music has recently been revamped. Something like... "daa-da da da da daa-da da da da daa-da" for a little while, followed by "daaaaa daaa daa da-da daa-daaaaaaaa", music that reminds people of local evening news broadcasts.]

"Good morning, Bedistan. Let's get straight to our top story: the Olympics are underway in Kaza. Many Bedistani athletes are reportedly confused by signs everywhere reading 'Kaza 2008', as it is presently the year 2054 by Bedistani reckoning. That doesn't seem to be affecting their performance, though, as we have results from several events that happened overnight. Let's go to Mike Michaels in our Kaza studio for the update. Mike?"

[The Kaza studio looks much like the one back home in Sonoma City. "World Cup 17 - Kaze Progressa & Vilita" banners strung around have recently been replaced by "Kaza 2008" logos.]

"Thanks, Rebecca. People here in Kaza get up pretty early, as there's already been action in events ranging from archery to judo. Or in cases like mine, they don't get up because they never went to sleep in the first place.

"Anyway, let's start with archery. In the men's individual ranking rounds, out of the 48 competitors, the top 32 get to move on to the elimination rounds. Anibal Cucvas posted an impressive 344 in the first round, but dropped off to a 271 in the second round. Still enough for 17th place, though, and he will face Klam Dorsem of Kleem, who finished 16th. Ricky Matheney was not so lucky, and finished 42nd. In the women's individual ranking rounds, Elanor Portratz managed a spectacular third-place finish with a 669 total. She faces #30 Giulietta Ross of Esth next. Valeri Kenfield got a slow start with a 267 in the first round, but an impressive follow-up of 337 secured 16th place. She faces Christianne Sunderer of Kirstiriera.

"It's also a lovely day for badminton, as all of our competitors won their first-round matches. In the men's singles, Glodowski started off confidently with a 15-6 over Pini of the Belmore Family. The second match was much closer, and Pini actually won the third match 15-8. Glodowski found his form, though, and finished Pini off with one last 15-11 victory. In the men's doubles, DeSort and Howlin successfully defeated Buarzi and Larpo from the host nation in five. The women's singles were much closer, except for a freakish second match where Boyum beat Phillips of Gehenna Tartarus 15-3. Boyum would take the victory in five.

"The, er, highly entertaining sport of beach volleyball produced a decisive victory for the Bedistani pair of Olivos and Vecchione. They beat Deansvilla's Luck and Hope 21-9 in the first game, then utterly demolished them 21-1 the second time to move on to the second round.

"Then came the first medal event, the men's road race in cycling. Cary Candill posted a highly impressive 5:48:07 for a sixth-place finish, while Rex Weger finished some three minutes behind him in 32nd. Great showing by the Latin Union here, as they took the gold and bronze medals; Esth won a silver.

"Finally, we come to judo. Bedistan has never been noted for judo in the past, but that could be changing now. In the men's under-sixty-kilogram (that's under 132 pounds) competition, Darragh was taken out in the first round by Catucci of Maldunia. Passaretti, on the other hand, had a much better day. He beat Davidoni of Esth in the first round and then took out Ariddia's Dusentier in the quarterfinals. Lovisa's Harada would get the better hand in the semis, sending Passaretti to the bronze medal match, where he defeated another Esthian, Albini, to win Bedistan's first medal at these Olympics. In the women's under-48-kilogram, or under-105-pound, competition, Eayrs beat Adcock of the Lowland Clans in the first round only to fall to Papathanassiou from Esth in the second round. Kathman got a bye to the second round, and she beat Krytenia's Kalou and Kaze Progressa's Niarnak to reach the final match guaranteed of a medal. A yuko win over Papathanassiou both avenged her fellow Bedistani and secured the gold medal. So a good day so far for Bedistan in these Olympics. Back to you, Rebecca."

"Thanks, Mike. Looking at the medal tally, Bedistan is tied for the lead with the Latin Union, as each have a gold and a bronze. Esth has two silver medals, Lovisa a gold, Maldunia a silver, and hosts Kaze Progressa have won a bronze. We'll be bringing you updates throughout the next two weeks, but for now let's head back to Kaze Progressa for live coverage of the men's 470 sailing competition..."

Audioslavia's Olympic Squad for Kaza 2008:

Men's names first, Women's names underneath (if any)

Athletics
100m
Men: Danny Powell, 20, Cornellby
Gregor McClane, 30, Caylerden
Abdul Pioneer, 28, Soundgardia

Women: Jane Logan, 29, Fellenham
Jenny Hughes, 26, Fatherham
Linda Farley, 20, Caylerden

200m
Gregor McClane, 30, Caylerden
William Grant, 24, Fatherham
Jason Neiland, 27, Cornellby

Jane Logan, 29, Fellenham
Linda Farley, 20, Caylerden
Jessica Wisely, 16, Rotherford

400m
Daniel O`Laughlin, 19, Cornellby
Ben Campbell, 29, Forrest Hauls
Jason Neiland, 27, Cornellby

Roberta Briggs, 17, Tetney
Leslie Holloway, 29, Wallingham
Phillipa Sanderson, 21, Cornellby

800m
Frederick Benjamin, 32, Machinegrad
Ben Harrogate, 24, Tetney
Richard Phillips, 32, Holloway

May Feldermann, 19, Machinegrad
Jamie Trollope, 33, Cornellby
Josey Jenneson, 19, Raiden

1500m
Joel Loch, 20, Machinegrad
Kerry Keeley, 20, Machinegrad

Marathon
Les Barnock, 23, Caylerden
Lyndon Farrelly, 28, Machinegrad

Josey Jenneson, 19, Raiden
Katie Toseland, 23, Caylerden

Sprint Hurdles
Derrick Hughes, 24, Machinegrad
Abdul Pioneer, 28, Soundgardia
Jerry Lavitte, 30, Machinegrad

Mary Greason, 20, Fellane
Jane Thompson, 24, Tetney

400m Hurdles
Jimmie Sykes, 31, Wallingham
Neville Toseland, 19, Fatherham
Paul White, 30, Cornellby

Berry Jenkins, 35, Raddockshuns
Fiona Bannockburn, 19, Caylerden

4x100m Relay Team
Danny Powell, William Grant, Derrick Hughes, Gregor McClane

Jane Logan, Linda Farley, Jenny Hughes, Jane Thompson

4x400m Relay Teams
Ben Campbell, Aiden Williams, Jason Neiland, Daniel O`Laughlin

Berry Jenkins, Fiona Bannockburn, Phillipa Sanderson, Leslie Holloway

Javelin
Phillip Neilson, 34, Raddickton
Adrian Wisely, 21, Machinegrad

Long Jump
Xander Merrit, 19, Machinegrad
Sean Fettis, 20, Cornellby

Triple Jump
Colin Blackwell, 25, Cornellby
Robert Stone, 19, Fedderby

High Jump
Jack Narey, Daniel Campkin

Badminton Singles
John Currie, 38, Wallingham

Aimee Morris, 17, Deresford

Badminton Doubles
Chris Tessem, 27, Holloway
Lance Stadler, 31, Machinegrad

Aimee Morris, 17, Deresford
Jen Smith, 21, Fatherham

Badminton Mixed doubles
Aimee Morris, John Currie

Men's 11-man Basketball Squad
10: Derren Morris, 20, Caylerden
21: Kyle Ferris, 18, Caylerden
29: David McCauley, 37, Cayerden
40: Bob Hayles, 24, Tetney
42: Kerrelly Jeaning, 21, Caylerden
61: Sean Mallinson, 32, Caylerden
70: Ronan Jeaning, 25, Caylerden
71: Daniel Thompson, 30, Cornellby
84: Jack Fairbrother, 17, Wallingham
93: Phillip Marks, 34, Barrellham
99: Michael Oran, 21, Caylerden

Boxing
81-91kg:
Kingston Keane, 20, Machinegrad
Titus Watts, 27, Machinegrad
54-57kg:
Chris Moore, 29, Cornellby
69-75kg:
Vernon Dannesfield, 31, Cornellby
Lay Tucker, 24, Machinegrad

22-man Football Squad
1: GK: Gareth Yates
2: RB: Brendan Wyatt
3: LB: Jackie Farrelly
4: CM: Adrian Cassidy
5: CB: Roan Hogan
6: CB: Alexander Hetfield
7: RW: Benny McLlroy
8: CM: William Kennedy
9: CF: Kerry Hunter
10:CF: Dale Fox
11:LW: Jason Noughth
12:RB: Jools McCaulden
13:LB: Rob Huntingdon
14:LW: Gregor Branagh
15:CB: Paul White
16:CB: Derry Oldman
17:RW: Casey O`Hara
18:CM: James Stott
19:CF: Robert Howells
20:CF: Lyndon Hayles
21:CM: Lee Darby
22:GK: Harvey Osman

Men's 18-man Hockey Squad
1: (gk) James Toseland
2: Henry Sallingham
3: Josh Redfearne
4: Kerry Matthews
5: Scott Darby
6: Edwin Trent
7: Daniel Thatcher
8: Paul Whittingham
9: William Hughes
10: Kevin Brackerby
11: Don Orr
12: (gk) Thomas McBride
13: Eddie Keeley
14: Donavan Fitzgerald
15: James Sanderson
16: Kestrel Brady
17: James Webster
18: Scott McKinnes


Rowing
Men's Coxless Four
Adam Garland, 30, Soundgardia
Ray Giles, 21, Tetney
Matthew Fenton, 26, Tetney
Brien Fogharty, 31, Tetney

Men's coxless pair
James Nieland, 31, Tetney
Gregor McHunt, 36, Wallingham

Men's double sculls
Harold Phines, 28, Tetney
Wallace McArthur, 37, Tetney

Men's lightweight double sculls
Robert Harley, 21, Tetney
Kevin Knight, 35, Wallingham

Men's eight
Adam Garland
James McKintass
Graeme Highland
Terry Fenwick
Robert London
Bruce Tyler
Ray Giles
James Nieland

19-Woman Softball Squad
Jane Allens P
Megan Drake OF
Katie Wetherhall C
Kirsty Corcoran INF/OF
Megan Couper INF/P
Ashleigh Wattson INF
Jenna Davenport C/OF
Ashleigh Wallingham INF/OF
Florence Matthews INF
Henrietta Dannes INF
Amber Tristan INF
Amy Hughes P
Kirstie Watts C
Emma Jaines INF
Jessica Raddick OF
Amber Revaley C/INF
Paris Jaynes P
Jenna Ford OF
Kirsten Wake P

Swimming
50m freestyle
Nicky Grayson, 32, Wallingham
Elliot McFarland, 21, Cornellby

100m backstroke
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Nicky Grayson, 32, Wallingham

100m breaststroke
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Adrian Hughes, 25, Cornellby

100m butterfly
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Ricardo Farelli, 24, Machinegrad

100m freestyle
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Edward Richardson, 34, Cornellby

1500m freestyle
Gerald Nevens, 17, Raiden
Peter Thorwick, 21, Soungardia

200m backstroke
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Terry Sutcliffe, 31, Cornellby

200m breaststroke
James Barrie, 29, Cornellby
Lionel Dennisov, 30, Phoenix

200m butterfly
Ricardo Farelli, 24, Machinegrad
Peter Thorwick, 21, Soungardia

200m freestyle
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Edward Richardson, 34, Cornellby

200m medley
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Nicky Grayson, 32, Wallingham

400m medley
Sanderson Delahunt, 29, Wattisham
Peter Thorwick, 21, Soungardia

400m freestyle
Terence Hall, 21, Forrest Hauls
Edward Richardson, 34, Cornellby

Men's 4 x 100m freestyle
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Edward Richardson, 34, Cornellby
Nicky Grayson, 32, Wallingham
Elliot McFarland, 21, Cornellby

Men's 4 x 100m medley
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Nicky Grayson, 32, Wallingham
Adrian Hughes, 25, Cornellby
Edward Richardson, 34, Cornellby

Men's 4 x 200m freestyle
Danny Battle, 18, Raiden
Edward Richardson, 34, Cornellby
Terence Hall, 21, Forrest Hauls
Elliot McFarland, 21, Cornellby

Women's 10m platform diving
Rachael Adams, 19, Cornellby
Veronica Redfearn, 17, Caylerden

Women's 3m springboard diving
Faye Logan, 16, Caylerden
Jenny Logan, 18, Caylerden

Tennis Singles
Ben Jame, 25, Cornellby

Siobahn Migson, 29, Caylerden

Tennis Doubles
William Wilkins, 20, Tetney
Ben Jame, 25, Cornellby

Triathlon
Robert Powell, 30, Cornellby
Harrington Sayer, 29, Machinegrad
Michael Greaves, 29, Soundgardia

Daniela Hayes, 19, Cornellby
Veronica Eavis, 21, Cornellby

Audioslavia's Athletics Kit: Claret shirts with green stripes down the sides. White shorts with the colours of the Audioslavian flag (claret, black and green) down the sides.

Audioslavia's Basketball Kit: Claret shirts with green trim, black shorts with claret trim, green socks with claret trim. Away kit is all white with claret trim

Audioslavia's Olympic Football Kit: Same as the proffessional team's kit. Claret and green stripes with white trim, white shorts with claret and green trim, white shorts, Away shirt is all white with claret and green trim, black shorts, white socks.

Audioslavia's swimmers wear all white with the Audioslavian flag on the back and the chest.

Kaza 2008 gets underway
Audioslavia's boxers finally allowed in

After years of waiting, the 2008 olympics are finally underway, amid a little controversy with Audioslavia's boxers.

The heavyweight and light-heavyweight boxers were disqualified a few months ago after allegations of fighting professionally. The team disputed this until it saw Hamilton McMillan strut into the room wearing enough bling to dazzle a sun.

Along with regulations about the amount of boxers any one team can have, this leaves Audioslavia with just five boxers stretched over only three weight categories.

Vernon Dannesfield and Lay Tucker both go in the cruiserweight division, with Chris Moore, Titus Watts and Kingston Keane in the lower weights.

Despite the blow, Audioslavia's boxers are the most expected to get medals, along with a sprinters and possibly the football team. Audioslavia's football team contains no professionals, and instead recruited it's members from the top sides' youth schemes. Ex-Audioslavian international William Kennedy is a part of the side too, thanks to being dismissed by his team for allegations of drug-taking. Kennedy however was discovered to be clean on inclusion into the side.

The first Audioslavian to compete in the olympics was badminton players John Currie and Aimee Morris. Currie unfortunately was beaten by Ariddia's Spirits, whilst Morris enjoyed victory over Deansvillain's New. The doubles saw a clash between old foes Audioslavia and The Belmore Family where Tessem/Sadler beat Handly/Pini in four sets, 15-9 10-15 16-14 15-5.

There is some confusion about what events Audioslavia will be competing in tommorow, with no word yet on whether the KOOC will allow the Audioslavian boxers into the competition. Also, Audioslavia's softball team appears to have been left out of the fixtures for round 1. We'll be back with more news later

G'nite bitches.

http://members.optusnet.com.au/rythan/IRGbulletin.jpg

4:30 Bulletin


"Yes, the hype is finally over," announces anchorwoman Sal Cohan. "The 2008 Kaze Olympic Opening Ceremony is under way. Now we cross to Jirn Redforn at Progressair Stadium, Kaza for a special report."

On screen appears a stocky male, yelling over the roar of Progressair Stadium behind him.

"Well Sal, the opening ceremony has been absolutely breathtaking so far. The citizens of Kaze Progressa have really put on a show for the world. We've been treated to a string of performances feature the greats of Progressan Music."

The camera cuts away to the stadium's main enterance.

"Here they are! The Irigrium Olympic Team is entering the stadium! Leading them out is Pelorn Liazom, the cycling champion. He's set himself the ambitious task of 5 golds in these games, so we'll see how that turns out in the coming days."

The camera zooms in on the flag bearer, waving vigorously.

"This is the culmination of 6 years of blood, sweat and tears for Pelorn, who lost his sister in a freak cycling accident in 2002. He really is carrying the Irigrii flag with pride. Following him are twenty-five more athletes representing Irigrium at this year's Olympic Games. This is our biggest team ever, with fourteen cyclists, nine runners and three triathletes."

The camera scans along the line of athletes.

"That's it from me for now Sal, be sure to tune in at 6:00 for the full Opening Ceremony Telecast, only on ITV."





OOC: This is my first real RP, so be gentle :)

"Now why have we devoted nearly 24 hours a day of coverage to the olympics?" Those were the thoughts of the chief of programming at PBC, the federally-owned Pimento Broadcast Corporation. With only one performance from the local team in the first half of the first day, the PBC would have to dive in the all-too-familiar realm of reporting news when there's nothing to report.

The olympics kicked off today and it's been a bit of a slow start for the Pimento delegation, having seen action in only one event so far, that being on the chemically-engineered sand of Bilkitoniz Lake.

The camera pans across the Bilkitoniz Lake artificial beach venue, with sparkling water to the left and mountains to the right. About 2/3rds of the 11,000 capacity outdoor arena's seats are full; not a bad turn out for an early morning qualification game. A montage of highlights appears on the screen.

Maria Volchenkova and Kim Calder put up a valiant effort against a stingy Starblaydian side, but ended up losing in straight sets, 21-13, 21-17. Unfortunately, most of the attention of the male audience was not directed towards the field of play, but rather the “Progressan Fungirls”, who came on the sidelines to entertain during timeouts and commercial stoppages. It appears as though Volckenkova and Calder’s chances of advancing are quite slim, since the Bedistani duo of Olivos/Vecchione put the screws to the Dennish pair 21-9, 21-1. Olivos and Vecchione were being heralded as pre-tournament favorites and have been true to form.

Camera goes back to studio.

Qualification for Men’s Gymnastics are just underway at the Indoor International Arena.
Chris Valicevic and Tomas Radivojovic will be heading a very strong Pimento gymnastics team. Barring any major slip-ups, a group final should definitely be in reach, Valicevic and Radivojovic should both qualify for the all-around final and a host of other Pimentos should make it into the individual event finals. On paper, this side is very strong, but we know how probable slip-ups can be in the world of gymnastics, so expect your fair share of surprises.

Big Pimento’s rowing team will also see their first action, sending their boats down the clear, smooth waters of Bilkitoniz Lake. The foursome of Terry Tyson, Adam Sanchez, Ronaldo Aguiar and Kirill Souliamanov will hit the water with medal hopes in hand. They’ll definitely want to win their heat so they can proceed directly to the finals. Other Pimentos seeing action will be Giselle Perrier and Jason Riviera in the single sculls, Jane Houston and Emilie McTavish in the women’s pair, Terry Tyson and Adam Sanchez again in the men’s pair and Kim Nevin and Andrea Nastasio in the women’s double sculls.

Later on tonight, we’ll have Mike Martineau performing in both the 400m IM and 400m Freestyle. A bad draw for Mike as his two favorite events have been drawn on the same night, but he feels he can handle both, so we’ll see how that pans out. Staying in the pool, the Women’s 4x100m relay will be taking place, an event where every member will have to swim their best to qualify for the finals. Sveltana Moskova will be swimming the anchor leg, and should do so in World Class time, but the much deeper nations may have already put the race out of reach. Sandra dos Santos and Sandro Teves will be debuting in heats for the 100m Butterfly and Breaststroke respectively.

That was what to look forward to later on today, but let’s look at what’s happening right now, as we hop over to the Indoor International Arena to see what’s going on with Men’s Gymnastics Qualifying…

8pm news
Adèle Jameson: “And with the first day of events in Kaza, good news overall for team Ariddia! We’re joined by Xavier Lange, live from Kaza. Xavier?”

Xavier Lange: “Yes, Adèle, quite. Good evening. Well, as far as the Ariddian athletes were concerned, the excitement started with badminton, with Terry Spirits the only male player defending the red and black colours. He was up against Currie, from Audioslavia. As you can see on this replay, it began with both players very evenly matched, and a lot of suspense for Ariddian and Audioslavian supporters. Currie snatched victory in the first set by 16-14. Spirits evened that out 15-12, before a nasty set. . . you can see the replay, there, that’s the game point. . . and 15-4 for Currie.

The match wasn’t won until the fifth game – that’s what you’re seeing now. Match point. Spirits serving now. . . it’s being played fast. . . and it’s just out of reach for Currie! That’s 15-7, and Spirits will go forward to the next round.

We also had some judo, with Jérémie Dusentier and Luc Nguyen both representing Ariddia in the men’s under 60kg. Here too we were able to enjoy a good start, with Dusentier dispatching Linikizpa from Kaze Progressa, as you can see on your screen. . . Victory by points, with a kuka lead. The Ariddian supporters were of course outnumbered by the home crowd, but they made themselves heard all the same, I can tell you! And Nguyen defeated Lively from, uh. . . from Maldunia. A waza-ari lead at time-out.

They both advanced to the quarter finals, and there sadly a defeat by yuko for each, Albini from Esth besting Nguyen, and Dusentier going out to Passarretti from Bedistan. Passarretti went on to win the bronze medal; a very skilled athlete. So, no medals for Ariddia in judo, but a solid performance by both our guys.”

Jameson: “Well, yes, they can be proud of their performances today. We’ll see if we can talk to them later when we bring you updates on more of the events. Just quickly, Xavier, an overview so far?”

Lange: “Well, the gold in judo was taken by Harada from Lovisa, and we also had some women’s judo, for athletes under 48kg. No Ariddians there; Patricia Blake will be competing in the 52-57kgs. Anyway, gold was taken by Kathman, from Bedistan, so a really good day in judo for Bedistan. Quite an impressive win in cycling, men’s road race, by Roberto Michelassi, from. . . uh, from a country whose code is ILU. 22 seconds ahead of his competitor from Esth, Ito. And the ILU country also took bronze in that event, with Stefano Michelassi. . . Roberto’s brother, I assume. So, they both got on the podium, which is nice. Oh, and today also marked the start of beach volleyball, always very popular, and we saw some nice playing there so these Games really are off with a bang!”

Jameson: “Thank you, Xavier. A few more headlines, and we’ll be back in Kaza. Here in Rêvane, a giant screen has been set up on the outside of Progress Tower, showing live, continuous coverage of the Games. You can also switch to channel two for coverage right now. The other headlines tonight. . .”

OOC: This is my first real RP, so be gentle :)
OOC: Thats a real good start, keep it up and you'll get along just great.
IC:

Starblaydia Mining for Double Football Gold
Successful Under-21s plus 'SDB' wanting to take home a medal, Women in on the act too
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg

"With the Football Compeition kicking off tomorrow with Starblaydia facing Kelssek, The Starblaydi Olympic Squad of 23 is almost-exclusively drawn from the Team that made it to the Quarter-Final of the 6th Under-21 World Cup, with a few notable additions. Overage players Simeone Di Bradini, Karl Robertson and Ceri Salisbury will be adding some vital experience and steel to the proceedings, With Starblaydia hoping to make it through for a medal in a sport they love.

"With the Kit similar to previous years, the squad list and Starting Eleven looks like this:"

http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/WC17_Shirt.gif

Goalkeepers
1 Markus Cragg, GK, 23, Basian Valley (B)
Notes: A brilliant young 'keeper, Markus will want to use this oppurtunity to prove himself
12 Gavin Thornley, GK, 20, Jinal Cove FC (V Declasse)
Notes: Still very young, Thornley may be the future
19 Fernando De Marco, GK, 17, Corinthian Spirits (A)
Notes: The best teen goalie in the country, perhaps even the world

Defenders
2 Ceri Salisbury, R/CB, 27, Iskara Daii (A)
Notes: Chosen as an over-age player ahead of young Rigoberto, Ceri is dangerous down the flank or from free-kicks
3 Paulo Bachchan, C/LB, 17, Jhanna City (B)
Notes: The best teen defender in the country, he'll soon be making a mark on the full international team
5 Jean-Pierre Durand (Captain), SW, 21, Iskara Daii (A)
Notes: Captain of the Under-21s and now for the Olympic Team, J-P is a fine sweeper and all-round defender
6 Jamie Majeed, CB, 17, Iskara Daii (A)
Notes: Another soon-to-be top defender for club and country, Jamie is another one to look out for
11 Vladimir Tsarev, LB, 23, Internashionale (A)
Notes: Pressed into service as a midfielder, Vlad will be up and down the left-flank like a rocket
13 Tommas Piper, CB, 18, Hallad Reavers (A)
Notes: Just not quite good enough, Tommas is a worthy back-up to any team
21 Giorgos Kasiouras, CB, 16, Veles (C)
Notes: Stuck in the Gamma Division, Giorgos can but try to make his mark
22 Rigoberto, RWB, 17, Jhanna United (B)
Notes: Too inexperienced and attackminded for this team, Rigoberto
23 Vengelis Koentas, LB, 17, Hecia (C)
Notes: Another future-star, this time at left-back

Midfielders
4 Jerome Montefalcon, D/CM, 18, Floral FC (Bedi)
Notes: Probably propping up the midifeld of Starblaydia for the next decade, Jerome is a classy player
7 Roberto Di Bradini, R/DM/B, 22, PARANOiA UNiTED (D2R)
Notes: A £20M price tag hasn't affected his play, as Robb moves a little wider to the right than usual
8 Tetsuo Naoki, C/AM, 18, Floral FC (Bedi)
Notes: There's no-one else we'd rather have in this position, Tetsuo will be a god of the modern game
14 Daniel Scott, DM, 23, Vecchio Victors (A)
Notes: We expect Daniel to be losing out to Jerome for a place for many years to come
16 Jose Tirado, LM, 15, Forest Hill FC (Bedi)
Notes: Just a little too young to earn a starting place, Jose's silky skills are a match for anyone
17 Geraint Evans, RM ,16, Hallad Reavers (A)
Notes: With a Five-man midfield, the half-Druidish player probably would have started, but the midfield four has no place for him in the XI
18 Giannis Berisha, AM/SC, 23, Articala Inlet (V Declasse)
Notes: Probably more of a striker than a midfielder, no-one can tell as we can't get Declasse Footage in Starblaydia

Forwards
9 Jakkinho, SC, 20, Darwin Springs FC (Bedi)
Notes: Best young striker in the country. Jakkinho will be exepected to step up in this tournament
10 Simeone Di Bradini, SC, 29, Alan City (TBF)
Notes: How could the premier sporting event be without SDB? In as an overage player
15 Karl Robertson, SC, 28, Tuncastle Rovers (A)
Notes: Another Overage Striker, the lack of young Starblaydi scoring talent may be a probelm for the future
20 Marco Del Blanco, AM/CF, 15, Iskara Daii (A)
Notes: Very young but still very good, Marco may not even get a game, let alone a goal



1
Cragg

*2* 6 5 3
Salisbury Majeed Durand Bachchan

7 4 8 11
R. Di Bradini Montefalcon Naoki Tsarev

*10* 9
S. Di Bradini Jakkinho


"Starblaydia's Ladies team is also out in force to prove themselves as good as the men, and now we move to the fairer sex and tell you all about the Eleven Girls Going for Gold.

"Playing professionally in the Starblaydi Women's League, these are the best we have to offer, blessed with skill and determination, this is the perfect stage for them to show off the women's game."

Gaolkeeper
1 Sophia Papin, GK, 21, Lightbringers
Notes: Originally a Netballer, Sophia is excellent on crosses and not a bad shot-stopper either

Defenders
2 Tabitha Keayl, RB, 22 Lightbringers
Notes: Dependable at Right-Back, Keayl's sister nearly made it into the squad too
3 Malandra Sanchez, L/CB, 18 Daii Raiders
Notes: Usually flying down the left flank for the Raiders, her and Keayl's lack of height could be a problem
5 Natalia Rudenshtein, CB, 23 Hallad Globes
Notes: Strong and Tough, she'll have to be the one dealing with the high crosses.

Midfielders
4 Dana Ngobe CM, 24 Daii Raiders
Notes: More defence-minded than the other midfielders, Dana's long limbs are perfect for retreiving and distributing the ball
6 Veronica Kelly (Captain), CM, 22, Phraen All-Stars
Notes: Famous for a long-range shot, Captain Kelly knows how to run a game
7 Felicia Jennings, RW, 22, Tabeck Lightning
Notes: Super-fast down the wing, Flic is hard for any defence to handle
8 Lucia Montenegro, CM, 26, Daii Raiders
Notes: the most experienced of the group, having been in the original Season of the SWL
11 Carla Verlaine, LM, 20, Huntress United
Notes: A small left-sider with plenty of skill

Forwards
9 Kyra Stoker, CF, 21, Starlight Hammers
Notes: The best female striker in the land, Krya is good in the air with a stinging shot
10 Nyah Maestri, SC, 19, Daii Raiders
Notes: Inspiration for the next generation of young girls, Nyah's speed and skill is second to none


1
Papin

2 5 3
Keayl Rudenshtein Sanchez

7 6 4 8 11
Jennings Kelly Ngobe Montenegro Verlaine

10 9
Maestri Stoker

THE CELESTIA TIMES

~------------------Sports News------------------~

KAZA 2008 OLYMPICS

FIRST MEDAL IS SILVER:
-Kaza,Kaze Progressa
Nikki Ito enters history in Esthian sports by winning the first ever medal for Esth.
"A silver medal that tasted like gold" says Ito after the medal ceremony, "I still can't believe I made it,being here for me was already a huge victory but this medal beats all".
Ito's Coach says "All the efforts he has put during the last years have finally repaid him,I'm sure he will win the gold medal in the next edition,let's remember that he arrived between the two Michelassi brothers,the favourites of the event".
Ito has arrived second with 5 hours,46 minutes and 22 seconds,while R.Michelassi at 5h 46m "In the last metres I couldn't keep up with his sprint,he was simply too fast and behind me his brother was catching up,luckily I managed to defend my 2nd position".
His team mate,Koenrad De Smet arrived 9th "I'm happy with my result even if I didn't win any medal" and regarding Ito's silver medal he replies "I'm very happy for him,he trained really really hard to achieve such result,he deserved it".
But Ito's medal wasn't the only Esth's achievement of day 1;In Boxing Harold Hoekstra obtains an important victory against one of the gold medal possible winners of the 91 kg category,Johns of Sportland.
"Everyone predicted my adversary's victory,they weren't expecting this" says Hoekstra in an interview just after going out of the ring "It was like winning a National Championship final",unfortunately this was only the first round,but his victory won't pass unnoticed in front of the over boxers.
In the late evening,flag bearer Papathanassiou manages to arrive at the Women's <48kjg Judo final after battling her way against Eayrs[BED] and Zemla-Krajewska[LOV].
The final was against Kathman[BED] who defeats the Esthian after a tight match with a Yuko thus letting Papathanassiou leave the ring in tears for the gold medal miss.
"She believed until the last second of the last minute that she could make it to reach the final victory,unfortunately the odds weren't in her favor and she was clearly disappointed" says Judo manager Anthion Mideas.
More unlunky was Aburakoji who got eliminated in the first round by Kalou[KRY] by waza-ari.
In the men's Judo <60kg Albini nearly reaches the bronze medal,only to be crushed by Passaretti[BED] in the bronze medal final.
In the Women's Beach volleyball the duo Anastasti/Matsuki crush 3-0 Tyler/Rickman[GHT].
So,to make it short,this Day 1 of the Kaza 2008 olympics was a day filled with excellent results that give hope to all the other Esthian athletes.
Day 2 promises to be more exciting than the first one:
-In Archery Galvanoni,Fang Yin and Ross will battle in the knockout series.
-In Baseball Olympic debut for the "Bat Boys"
-In Men's Beach volleyball it'll be Agustin Cayetano/Hermolaos Iennikos turn to advance in this tournament
-In the Individual dressage Davide Prottini (on Mandrake) and Sadayoshi Honda (on White Star)
-In Swimming Esthian athletes will find a tough competition.
-In Football Men's and Women's teams will debut
-In Gymnastic the Esthian women will participate at the qualification round

Welcome, good evening, or whatever time of day it might be in your part of the world... You're listening of course to Radio Offshore... and here's our sports' update! The Olympic Games are underway in Kaze Progressa, with a symbolic delegation from Offshore taking part. We can't provide you with images, of course, but the opening ceremony was truly breathtaking... And the crowd cheered on the smallest delegation as much as any other. Abdel Altarez bore the Offshore flag with dignity, walking with fellow athlete Miranda Seaman. The two have yet to compete, as the Games are in their earliest stages, but Radio Offshore will of course keep you up to date on their performances! Until then, back to the regular programme schedule...

http://www.biezanow.net/~dominik/TVLovun/tvlovunsport-other.gif
Kaza 2008, NationStates Olimpic Games

DAY 1

Gold medal in judo

Mikumi Harada is a first lovisan gold medalist in Kaze2008.
He win with Catucci [MLD] by ippon in final Mens <60kg.

this is a road to gold:
Mens <60kg first round:
Harada [LOV] defeated Hoffmeister [TLC] by yuko

quarter-finals:
Harada [LOV] defeated Rempe [TLC] by yuko

semi-finals:
Harada [LOV] defeated Passaretti by ippon

the brozne have Passaretti [BED] which defeated Albini [EST] by ippon.

the second lovisan Tagumi Sato in first round defeated Holmgren [KRY] by ippon, but in quater-final lose with silver-medalist Catucci [MLD] by ippon

[b]other final

JUDO: Womens <48kg
1. Kathman
2. Papathanassiou [EST]
3. Niarnak [KZP]
4. Anna Zemla-Krajewska

Anna start in second round ,when win with Quazintok [KZP] by ippon
and in quater-final lose with silver-medalist Papathanassiou [EST] by ippon.
the socond Lovisan Aleksandra Parzyszek lose in first round with Niarnak [KZP] by ippon.

[b]CYCLING: mens road race

1 Roberto Michelassi ILU 5 hours 46 minutes 0 seconds
2 Nikki Ito EST 5 hours 46 minutes 22 seconds
3 Stefano Michelassi ILU 5 hours 47 minutes 29 seconds
.....
12 Tomasz Brozyna LOV 5 hours 48 minutes 47 seconds
35 Slawonir Kohut LOV 5 hours 51 minutes 44 seconds


eliminations:

ARCHERY: mens

1st half second half total
1 Krzyzstof Pange [LOV] 335 345 680
2 Corey Belzer [CHR] 328 343 671
3 Forest Gwopan [WE] 312 349 661
4 Marcel Niemela [CH] 330 318 648
5 Matthew Grabill [DEM] 305 342 647
6 Dehenny R'hebo [VAS] 312 331 643
7 Ashley Katon [STB] 324 318 642
8 Markus Quartz [BGB] 342 298 640
9 Stan Low [DSV] 312 325 637
10 Khamil al-Aqu'ua [VAS] 298 337 635
...
39 Jacek Proc [LOV] 254 313 567


top32 go to next round.
Krzyzstof Pange [LOV] play with Gretsko Drefgo [MAS]
Jacek Proc - out

ARCHERY: womens

1st half second half total
1 Edna Millay [VAS] 346 344 690
2 Sarah Collymoore [DSV] 337 340 677
3 Elanor Portratz [BED] 347 322 669
4 Penelope Skillman [GHT] 338 319 657
5 Michelle Urquhart [KRY] 327 322 649
6 Tarie Berkitozka [KZP] 299 344 643
7 Alana Benbow [STB] 323 318 641
8 Marissa DiMarco [CHR] 327 307 634
9 Clare Yadao [STB] 322 310 632
10 Seeny Dorsem [KLE] 299 330 629
...
25 Justyna Mospinek [LOV] 252 334 586
28 Iwona Marcinkiewicz [LOV] 309 264 573

top 32 go to next round.
Justyna Mospinek play with Marissa DiMarco [CHR]
Iwona MArcinkiewicz play with Michelle Urquhart [KRY]

BADMINTON: mens singles:
Wacha [LOV] beat Laugh [DSV] 9-15 12-15 15-10 15-10 16-14

BADMINTON: mens doubles:
Stine/Walling [LE] beat Logosz/Wacha [LOV] 15-8 15-8 15-12

BADMINTON: womens singles:
Parker [KSK] beat Kostiuczyk [LOV] 15-12 10-15 13-15 15-8 15-10

BEACH VOLLEYBALL: womens first round:
Bukiet/Pacinska [LOV] beat Leister/Lafleur [LE] 21-16 21-4

HANDBALL: womens first round
Maldunia 26 Lovisa 22

SAILING

Yngling:
Place Race1 Place Race 2
STB 3 9
GHT 1 2
KZP 4 7
EST 2 1
LOV 6 6
KRY 7 5
TBF 5 8
TWG 9 4
BED 8 3

Mens 470:
Place Race1 Place Race 2
GHT 9 8
KZP 7 7
EST 8 2
LOV 2 6
KRY 6 1
TBF 5 9
TWG 3 5
CS 1 3
BED 4 4

Womens 470:
Place Race1 Place Race 2
TLC 5 10
GHT 2 5
KZP 1 6
EST 7 7
LOV 10 2
KRY 9 8
TBF 3 4
TWG 8 3
CS 6 9
BED 4 1


SWIMMING: womens 100m backstroke


HEAT TWO
Melani Monas BED 61.42 Q
Bonnie Armstrong CS 65.10 Q
Alison Ruelas LE 65.17 Q
Louise Renton TWG 66.05
Kamila Stoch LOV 66.71
Alison Morris GHT 67.29


HEAT THREE
Stephanie Truegon KSK 61.71 Q
Yolonda Guecho BED 64.32 Q
Saqui Tamaya EST 64.33 Q
Julianna Dawidowska LOV 65.22 Q
Quatia Quarbiag KZP 65.39
Laetitia Belém ILU 65.44

SWIMMING: Womans 400m Individual Medly
Name Time Nation Place Qualification
Florence Sainier 281.85 Lovisa 5
Otylia Jedrzejczak 273.5939 Lovisa 1 AQ

Live Swimming
Men's 400 Metre Individual Medley Heat 1 and Final
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg

"And now we're going to take you to the Kaza Wave Aquatic Centre for the Men's 400 Metre individual Medley, and the first heat in which both Starblaydia's competitor's were, and we join the race with just fifty metres to go..."

The picture cuts to the standard view of a swimming pool with the race in progress, and cheering coming from the crowds, one swimmer is in the lead by a long way.

'... and it's Jonathon Neville of Eskrador, he's a mile in front of everybody else, surely a qualifying time for him. But back we look and there's Eugene Overstreet, for Starblaydia, making the turn now, he's in a great position to overtake the Bedistani, Salvador Boateng, with fifty metres to go.

'Overstreet, in lane five, he's pushing, pushing, but Boateng's holding him off, Boateng's second, Eugene Overstreet third just as he's held off the swimmer for the The Latin Union. We think that might be a qualifying time for the final, but we're not sure.at this stage, with three other heats to go. Danny Blumenthal was fifth, but a long way back, and looks almost certain to miss out on qualification for the final.'

Back to the studio we go.

"Eugene Overstreet's time was just good enough to qualify for the final, albeit with the slowest time of the day. Still, its an Olympic Final, and anything could happen. Now, we'll hand you over to the Wave Aquatic Centre and the Men's fourhundred metre individual medley..."

The athletes step out to the Kaza Olympics' Theme Music, loosening up, the man we at SCB:Sports wish to focus on leads the group out, as he is in Lane Eight. Starblaydi Swimmer Eugene Overstreet dispenses with his tracksuit and stands in the purple-and-white hydrodynamically-designed swimming shorts, ready for the beep.

'And they're off, the line-up once more from lane one to eight is Henry, Borbo, Neville, Boisvert, Thorwick, Boateng, Graft and Overstreet, nearest the Camera. Eugene is near the leading pack who aren't really breaking away at the moment.'

Later...

'All looks lost for Eugene Overstreet, he's trying desperately to get back into this race but he's still squabbling with Belmorian Lucas Henry and Eskrador Swimmer Jonathon Neville. Boateng and Graft have stormed ahead...'

A little later still...

'Eighth, its eighth place for Eugene Overstreet in the fourhundred metres Individual Medley with a gutsy performance, well done to Eugene for getting this far, but he has to look to other events for a medal. He and Blumenthal both go in the four-hundred freestyle and the fifteen-hundred events, and they'll be doing their best there, with Eugene's stamina hopefully helping him in those.'

Kaza 2008 Special

By James Whittingham
Reporting from Kaza, Kaze Progressa

Mark Remilliard finished 30th overall in the Men's Archery competition, with a combined score of 590. Lovisan Krzyzstof Pange won gold. In the Women's category, Patty Merriman finished 26th with a score of 585. In the Badminton singles, Victor Stine fell to his Esthian opponent 10-15 15-11 16-14 14-16 10-15, but he and Raymond Walling managed to beat Lovisan doubles pairing in straight sets.

Annette Akins fell in the female category, 14-16 10-15 9-15, and the female doubles also lost. In the female beach volleyball competition, Kay Leister/Debra Lafleur fell to a Lovisan pairing. The nation's closest attempt at a medal came in the cycling, the Men's Road Race saw Paul Kitchens finish 4th, just 15 seconds behind bronze place man Stefano Michelassi. Counterpart Thomas Benitez finished in 16th.

In the Women's 100m Backstroke heats, both Liverpool England participants qualified. In the 400m Individual Medley, Alice Nottingham qualified for the finals.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

"...can see, even the Prime Minister has got in on the act, Alan Kerk is a big hockey fan and if the lockout goes on much longer we might see some government involvement."

"Thank you very much, Bill Jeffries, former GM of the Kirkenes Dragons. Now we turn to the Olympics."

*Olympics title sequence with over-momentuous orchestral music*

"Mixed performances in the pool, Carbaugh is through and boxers get a pounding, good evening I'm Jason Matthews with a round-up of Day One action at Kaze 2008. First we'll take a look at our own athletes' performances.

Ethel Satterwhite and Steph Truegon both placed first in their heats for the women's 100m backstroke, with times of 62.00 and 61.71 respectively, and will be going to the next round. There was some disappointment for Pauline Ovfevre and Virginia Dunston. Ovfevre missed qualification in the womens' individual medley by 0.13 of a second."

Ovefvre: "Obviously I'm disappointed, in fact I was pretty gutted. It's not a good feeling, but I've got other medals to win and I'll just have to put it behind me."

"In the men's, Jean Boisvert was the top qualifier for the mens' 400m IM with a time of 277.51, beating out Audioslavia's Peter Thorwick by 0.12 seconds.

In archery, Alex Carbaugh is through to the elimination rounds, placing 20th in the qualification round. In the boxing ring, Luc Perrault's coach is also reportedly unhappy about the officiating in his one-point defeat to Kleem's Hank Murgen, but so far no official complaint has been filed."

Perrault's coach: "I don't like the decision but Luc said he wanted to respect it, so I'll go along with him."

"Andrew Buhck was also beaten on points 35-33 in his match against Jimmy Dicks from Starblaydia."

"Andrew Mclean lost his match in the first round of badminton competition, he was beaten by Gehenna Tartarus's David Roman 8-15 15-6 15-9 15-11. Nickie Parker won her match in a comeback victory over Lovisa's Nadiezda Kostiuczyk 15-12 10-15 13-15 15-8 15-10. Don't forget to catch NSN's complete coverage of all the events on the NSN network, right here on NSN 1 and NSN 2 as well as The Hockey Channel.

Now on to news from the rest of the competition. Lovisa won gold in judo with Mikumi Harada's..."

WTVN Sportsview

Kaza Olympics Roundup, Day 1

Paul Mullins: Hi, and welcome to our Olympic roundup here in Kaza, on the First Day of the Olympics. If you've been watching the events aired on WTVN One throughout the day, you'll have seen some of our Weegie athletes participate, in Boxing, the Men's Cycling Road Race, Sailing, and Swimming.

First, to Boxing, where over 91kg hopeful Johnny O'Sullivan...

*pictures of the fight being shown, Syi dancing away from O'Sullivan and then overwhelming him in punches*

PM:...was beaten easily in the first round by Syi of Rejistania 37-28. Over to Jenny McDonald, who is ringside with O'Sullivan.

*Picture flicks by the ring, where a fairly tall brown haired woman is with a perspiring, muscly man with a thick-set jaw.*

JM: So, Johnny, anything that you can take from that match?

JO'S: Well, y'know, I was beaten fair and square back there by Syi, man's very fast on his feet n'all, and I think even though I've only been in for one day I have definitely taken something from this; I've fought in the Olympics, and that's probably the highest honour most sportsmen can hope for, y'know?

JM: What do you feel was the reason Syi beat you?

JO'S: You can't put an exact reason on it, y'know, the guy was just better than me during the match and that's the only thing that matters in this kind of a match-up.

JM: You mentioned something about speed, though.

JO'S: Well, yeah, the guy's light on his feet for our weight class, and I think he was able to use that to his advantage to just make me come for him and exhaust me. It was a good strategy, and obviously it worked well.

JM: So, will you be sticking around?

JO'S: Aye, of course. I'm waiting to see what Owen can pull of, you know, I hope his match is going to be an exciting one.

JM: Thanks, Johnny.

*Back to the studio*

PM: And so we move to our next event of the day, the road race, where our bright hope Mark Cox fell just short of the medals, ending his race ina very good 5th place, at a time of 5:48:01.

*Pictures from an overhead camera, noting a group of racers below.*

PM: The peloton stuck close together for a large amount of the race, with the leaders changing hands every so often as people tried to break away, catching up with them with relative ease and absorbing them back into the fold.

*Camera shows four men breaking away from near the front of the peloton*

PM: Cox himself tried a breakaway with 12km left to go in the race, along with Benitez of Liverpool England, Buzzard of Cockbill Street and Neely of the Lowland Clans, but that only lasted for a struggle of around 10km before they, too were absorbed back into the fold, the peloton being led by the Michelassi brothers of the Latin Union. With the chaos of the absorption of the small breakaway pack, however, the two brothers along with Ito, began a desperate break from the pack which was still trying to reassert itself. Despite a valiant effort from the front of the peloton, they did not catch the group.

*Camera shows Michelassi crossing line, and then flicks to peleton sprint*

PM: Cox almost got ahead of Kitchens of Liverpool England to claim the peleton sprint, but Kitchens won the day in that case to take a deseved 4th place.

*Pictures flick to sailboats*

PM: The Sailing crews had a mixed bag of results today. In the Yngling class, the crews of Gehenna Tartarus and Esth were way ahead of the rest of the pack in terms of results, with a first and a second place between them in each race, whilst the other teams had both good and bad races. At the moment, it seems as if the battle for gold is little more than a two-horse race, although the race for bronze is a little more exciting, with all the other teams having only two points seperating them.

*Picture flicks to different sailboats*

PM: In the Men's 470, McGinnis and Raleigh kept Weegie hopes of a medal in sailing alive with decent performances in both races which leave them joint third with Bedistan and Lovisa. Krytenia is one point ahead, and Cockbill Street has a good lead after the first two races after a win and a 3rd place in the races.

*Picture flicks to the last load of sailboats*

PM: In the Women's 470, the Weegie boats gave a fair performance to leave them in 5th place on 11 points, whilst joint 2nd on 7 points are The Belmore Family, Kaze Progressa and Gehenna Tartarus. Currently in the lead on 5 points is the Bedistan team.

*Picture changes to show swimmers in a pool*

PM: Finally, there was disappointment for the female swimmers in the 100m backstroke as neither White nor Renton managed to qualify for the next round of the event. White came sixth, far behind 5th placed qualifier Nottingham with a time two seconds off the pace of the Liverpool England swimmer. Satterwhite won that heat.

*Picture changes - yep, more swimmers in a pool*

PM: And in Heat Two, a slightly better performance for Renton still leaving her in fourth behind Ruelas of Liverpool England, but lagging behind any chance of a qualifying spot. The winner of that heat was Monas of Bedistan with the fastest time in the heats. Possibly one to watch come the final? Well that's our round up for justnow, and we'll be reporting on the next set of events soon. Now, here's Frank Pollard at the pool, as I've heard there's more swimming to come...

Pimento Poolside Update

The Pimentos swimming program has begun something of a renaissance the past few years, and although expectations were modest for the 2008 olympics, the Pimento Olympic Committee were hoping to see baby steps and progress from this event.

The first Pimento to hit the pool was Ginger Prinz in the 100m backstroke. She was in heat four and well aware of what needed to be done to advance in the semi-finals. Ginger got off the block very well, striding away confidently to a lead after 50m. Prinz benefitted from a strong kick off the wall and continued onwards towards the finish. Prinz seemed to fade a bit on the backstretch, as she was reeled in and passed by a surging Estella Coben at the wall. Prinz's time was still a stellar 63.30, good enough for sixth in the heats, a time that will easily put her through to the semis.

Next event was the 400m individual medley, where Nanette N'Gbora would make her olympic debut. She got an average start on the butterfly, hitting the 100m mark in fourth spot. Afterwards, she stayed true to form in the backstroke, looking like a cat thrown in water and falling to sixth. In traditional N'Gbora fashion, she recovered magnificently on her favorite leg, the breaststroke, inching her way up to third. Nanette hammered it home on the back leg, but Otylia Jedrezjcak and Quatia Quarbiag were too far ahead, leaving N'Gbora in third. When the results were tabulated, N'Gbora finished in tenth, just two spots out of the finals but a strong result nonetheless.

The final event of the night was the men's 400 IM heats, where Mike Martineau would make his first of three appearances of these games. Martineau was in disappointing form tonight, lagging behind for much of the race and clearly outclassed by the rest of the heat. His stamina served him well on the final leg though, as a good freestyle powered him past Scott Clair of Liverpool England to give Mike a sixth place finish in the heat and 15th overall. Mike will be hoping to put in better performances in his other two events, the 400 and 1500m freestyles later in the games.

Excerpt from The Sporland Daily:

There has been an excited air in Sportland since the beginning of the Kaza 2008 Olympic Games. Although we have not yet won any medals, there have been several success stories in qualification.

Although our men fell a little short of qualification, our female archers, Jane Smith and Milicent Bradcock, qualified 15th and 19th respectively into the knockout round. Smith was ecstatic to record her personal best score of 618. As archery is not one of the most popular sports in Sportland, this is an excellent result.

It has been victory all the way for our strong badminton team. Nathan Batty and Serena Stevenson won close matches, while Li Duxiu and Sun Shikai also qualified in a close encounter.

Our promising heavyweight (91kg+) boxer Lennox Carnera defeated John Ling of Deansvilla 32-27. Carnera said after the fight he was disappointed that he could not record his tenth career knockout as an amateur boxer, but was at least happy he won. However, compatriot Paul Johns was beaten by Harold Hoekstra of Esth 29-18. Highly favoured twins Timmy Boxing and Tommy Boxing are yet to compete.

Sisters Sue and Sarah Swimmer were unable to qualify for the 400m IM final. However, they both have six more events to compete in, and both are aiming for at least one gold.

We still have much more opportunity to come for medals. Our specialist tennis, table tennis and athletics teams have not yet begun their campaigns. We wish our entire team the best of luck.

Bedistan currently tops the medal tally with 2 gold and one bronze, with Lovisia and The Latin Union hot on their heels.

Anyone interested may view www.kaza2008.tk for more information. Sportland has been given the code SLD.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

LIVE Mens 400m Individual Medley

"...and that's a very sloppy turn from Boisvert... in fact that is going to cost him dearly! Boateng shoots in front... now Borbo, and Graft... Jean Boisvert looked like a winner and he's let it go to pieces!... Boisvert drops to fifth and meanwhile Boateng has a good lead ahead of David Graft in second place. Here they go now for the final turn, it looks like Boateng has the gold under wraps... Boisvert makes a clean one but it won't save him, here comes Boateng! David Graft fighting to close the gap... but it's just too wide, and it is Salvador Boateng of Bedistan with the gold in a time of 270.13 seconds, David Graft of Gehenna Tartarus is second, and the home crowd here in Kaze Progressa will be happy with the bronze going to Bulino Borbo... Jean Boisvert, the number one qualifier can only manage fifth place and he's just smiling, but inside he's got to be hurting, a simple, critical mistake he shouldn't have made and he lost a medal."

"Well, Boisvert has some other events today so he's got to put it behind him and maybe this might help him if he can channel that fustration to fuel himself forward..."

(The afternoon news program ends, and after a brief moment of darkness, a trumpeting fanfare of the Olympic Anthem plays, with the computer-animated logo of the Kaza 2008 Olympics fading onto the screen. The camera zooms through the center ring and the title "KAZA 2008" fades up, with the lines "Alternate language simulcasts: Español - Ch. 5, Français - Ch. 6, Italiano - Ch. 10, Português - Ch. 2, English - Ch. 34" displayed below it. Depending on the channel tuned, the following program is dubbed into that language. But it's originally recorded in Latin. The camera zooms through one of the zeros in 2008 and transitions to a well-groomed reporter behind a desk. Behind him is a large sculpture of the Olympic symbol attached to a pleasingly blue wall. He looks up from his notes at the camera.)

Sanchez: Good afternoon and welcome to the Olympic Report. I am Guillermo Sanchez. The first day of the 2008 Olympic Games in Kaza is nearing its end, so let's take a look at what happened with the Latin athletes today. First off, in Women's Beach Volleyball...

(A logo representing Women's Beach Volleyball flies across the screen, transitioning to footage of the Latin Union - Lowland Clans match.)

Sanchez: ...which played the first round of games today, Latin hopefuls Luz Tirienda and Gabriela Salazar were defeated by the Zwolinski/Osler team from the Lowland Clans, 21-11 in the first game, 21-6 in the disheartening second. But that disappointing start did not spell ill for the rest of the day, as we go to the Men's Road Race...

(A logo representing the Men's Road Race flies across the screen, transitioning to footage of the leaders from many alternate angles.)

Sanchez: ...where the Michelassi brothers performed excellently and both made it to the podium, Roberto placing first and Stefano placing third.

(The footage cuts to a close-up of Roberto Michelassi crossing the finish line, sitting up in his seat and raising both his hands in jubilation, a broad smile on his face.)

Sanchez: Roberto was a full twenty-two seconds ahead of the second place rider, Nikki Ito of Esth...

(The footage cuts to a montage of mid-shots and approaching shots of Ito and Stefano Michelassi passing each other over and over, casting frantic glances back at each other.)

Sanchez: ...who was battling with Stefano for the silver medal, and pulled seven seconds ahead as the older man began to lose steam. But Stefano was already celebrating his brother's capture of the gold medal.

(The footage cuts to an image of Stefano Michelassi ditching his bike to charge his brother and clutch him in a teary-eyed bear hug. It then cuts to footage of the two brothers being interviewed. Their original language is Italian, but it is subtitled in Latin.)

Stefano: We always play catch-up with each other. Today I tried to catch him. It was beautiful to see him cross that finish line.

Roberto: I am proud to represent my nation and get our first gold medal! YEAH!! (he and Stefano lock hands in a celebratory power-grip)

(The footage cuts to an image of Latin fans dangling a Union flag over the side of the track.)

Sanchez: The two brothers will remain in Kaza to watch Roberto's son, Antonio, compete in the Men's Cross-Country Mountain Biking event, along with Antonio's childhood friend Alessandro Piedessone. Moving on to Swimming...

(A logo representing Swimming flies across the screen, transitioning to footage of the start of the Men's 400m Individual Medley, with the flags of each nation superimposed on the water. Two Latin Union flags are seen among them.)

Sanchez: In the Men's 400m Individual Medley, both Lazaro Jímenez and Aldo Pannoni failed to qualify for the finals...

(Montage of footage of the Latin swimmers falling behind in the race.)

Sanchez: ...placing fourth and sixth, respectively, in their heat.

(Close-up of the Jímenez's face as he reads that he placed fourth - he seems to shrug it off.)

Sanchez: That didn't dampen their spirits, though. They have plenty more races to compete in.

(A quick shot of Jímenez and Pannoni clapping each other on the back as they walk into the locker rooms to towel off is transitioned by a flying Olympic logo into footage of the Women's 400m Individual Medley final, with two Latin flags superimposed on the water among the other nations again.)

Sanchez: In Women's Swimming, however, both Laetitia Belém and Estella Cobrón qualified for the final of the Women's 400m Individual Medley, placing first and third in their mutual qualifier before moving on to Belém capturing the bronze medal from a close race with Otylia Jedrzejczak of Lovisa and Naomi Ashton of Gehenna Tartarus.

(Some quick footage of the three-way tie slowly breaking into a definite lead by Jedrzejczak followed closely by Ashton. Then a quick shot of Belém pumping her fist in the air on seeing her results and hugging Keisha Locher in an adjacent lane.)

Sanchez: Cobrón took sixth in that final, but she reassured herself by placing first in her heat in the Women's 100m Backstroke and qualifying for the finals. Belém placed last in her heat.

(The footage returns to the newsroom. Sanchez looks into the camera.)

Sanchez: Later today we will release the results of the Men's Gymnastics Qualifiers, where Latin gymnasts Fernando Alvarez, Sancho Erenice, and Pablo Potenza will seek to gain a place in the competition. Later today we will also see the results of the first round of Men's Table Tennis, where the legendary national champion Francisco Gutierrez-Igrienda will face his first challenge. Until then, however, you can see continual coverage of the Games on the Latin Sports Network.

(The camera zooms out as the studio lights dim and the Olympic Anthem fades up. Another logo flies across the screen and transitions to a montage of the iconic shots for the day so far: Roberto Michelassi celebrating his win with his brother, Laetitia Belém pumping her fist and hugging other swimmers, Estella Cobrón winning first in her heat. Then a commercial for some fabric softener cuts in.)

Late night Olympics news - From Kaza:

In a surprise turn of events, the Streetian 470 have turned out as favourites after some good sailing on day one. Well out of the starting, they were found in third place at the first mark, trailing the Weegie and Lovisan boat by just ten seconds. However, Jørn Ljøkelsøy and Steinar Horn sailed well throughout, and took good use of the headwinds on the way downcourse. When they passed the fourth mark, Ljøkelsøy and Horn had gained the lead, and they never let anyone touch it. Winning the first race by twenty-four seconds, they had placed themselves well before the second race.

Despite a poor start, the Streetian boat again sailed well downcourse, though the Esthians and Krytenians were hopelessly far ahead on the first two marks. However, in the group fight for third, the Streetians edged past the Bedistani boat on the last downcourse, taking third place by just seconds. Thus, Ljøkelsøy and Horn take first place in the 470 before day two, and look well set for the Streetians' first medal of the Olympics. The women's 470, Linda Sundby and Jannike Leivset, had a dismal start, finishing sixth and ninth in their two races and being well off the pack, led by Bedistan's sailors.

470 Men Standings:
1. Cockbill Street 4 (Ljøkelsøy/Horn)
2. Krytenia 7 (Suleyman/Gomez)
3. Lovisa 8
4. The Weegies 8 (McGinnis/Raleigh)
5. Bedistan 8 (Hoegheem/Beek)
6. Esth 10 (Feliu/Feliu)
7. The Belmore Family 14 (Harris/Smilt)
8. Kaze Progressa 14
9. Gehenna Tartarus 17

470 Women Standings:
1. Bedistan 5
2. Kaze Progressa 7
3. Gehenna Tartarus 7
4. The Belmore Family 7
5. The Weegies 11
6. Lovisa 12
7. Esth 14
8. The Lowland Clans 15
9. Cockbill Street 15 (Sundby/Leivset)
10.Krytenia 17

Bonnie Armstrong managed to squeeze through from the heats of the 100 m backstroke competition, finishing in a reasonably good time of 1.05,10, six tenths off her personal best. Her time was the fourteenth best in the competition, and she qualified with twenty-nine hundredths to spare to number seventeen, Quatia Quarbiag. Armstrong made a poor start, being over three seconds behind the Bedistani athlete Monas' pace, but somehow managed to pass Ruelas of Liverpool England and Renton of The Weegies to finish second in the heat. Some improvement is required for the semi-final, though, as the eighth athlete in the heats finished in 1.04,06 (Amelia Derlecker of Kirstiriera).

The 400 m medley was a less uplifting affair for the Streetians, with Debbie Cotterill looking visibly tired in her first race in these Olympics. Starting from lane 3, she took too much effort into the butterfly part (her specialty), and fell away on the backstroke and breaststroke, where she lost too much time to eventual winner Keisha Locher. She finished in sixth place, well off the pace, with a final time of 3.45,07 - seven seconds off a final place. She said afterwards that "400 metres really was too much for me, but I hope to come strongly back in the 200 m competitions." However, one has to question whether she really gave it all in the last hundred freestyle metres, knowing that she has three more gruelling competitions to enter in the coming days. Chris Drake also competed in medley, but in a poor heat he finisehd fourth in a time of 3.56,43 - well out of a final place, as he was twenty-second overall out of only 27 competitors.

First Medal For Starblaydia!
Overstreet Wins Silver in 400m Freestyle
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg

"Hello everyone, you join us on a great day for Starblaydi sport as swimmer Eugene Overstreet has claimed Starblaydia's first medal of the Games, catapulting him to 'Best Starblaydi Swimmer Ever' and 'Olympic Hero' status.

Eugene won his Silver medal in the Four-hundreed metre Freestyle and, I'm pleased to say, he joins me here i nthe studio. Eugene, welcome to SCB:Sports"

'Thanks, its great to be here.'

"Just what does it mean to you, to be the first ever Starblaydi to win an Olympic medal?"

'Its crazy, I don't think its quite sunk in yet, even though I've got the silver round my neck right now.'

"Yes, its a beauty. You'd already raced in the four-hundred medley final, did that help you in the free?"

'I think it did, as coming last in the medley was a real blow, and I knew I didn't want to feel like that again, so I tried my hardest.'

"You own your heat quite comfortably, then a slightly faster time meant you scraped into the final."

'Yeah that was a bit silly, as I got a bad Lane for the Final, in fact I nearly missed out on the final.'

"That surely must have been the Swim of your life?"

'Definitely, it was a PB, so that's all I could ask of myself, luckily it landed me on the podium.'

"Thankyou, Eugene, and congratulations on behalf of the nation."

'Thankyou'

Tartarian Sports Network

Kaza Olympics

Opening credits roll, showing a montage of various sports, overplayed by a dramatic piece or orchestral music, upbeat with a rock feel to give it more of a young persons feel, to appeal to all ages of the Tartarian populace. The music builds into a crescendo, as more and more images flash across the screen, until with a final beat it stops, and the images freeze, slowly replaced by ‘Kaza Olympics’ symbol. That slowly fades to reveal a studio, occupied by a man and a woman, sitting on comfortable chairs, in front of a window overlooking the stadium.

The camera pans into a close up of the two announcers, famous ex-sports people, now turned sports anchor crew. Imposed over their images is their names, Tanya Livingstone and Kurt Dresner.

Kurt Dresner: Welcome to the Kaza Olympics. Behind us is the glorious 120,000-seater Progressair Stadium, the scene of yesterday’s breathtaking opening ceremony.

As he speaks, another montage fills the screen, showing the highlights of the opening ceremony, overplayed with various bits of music, interspersed with facts and figures about Kaza, the stadium, and the games in general. This continues for ten minutes before the image returns back to the studio, and this time a close up of Tanya, who is smiling brightly at the camera.

Tanya Livingstone: A totally stunning opening ceremony, that has got us all in the mood for the games, which are kicking off today. Among the sports featured today, we will be covering the Archery, Badminton, and Handball first rounds.

Kurt: And we will also see the start of the Volleyball, Boxing, Cycling and Judo, keeping you up to date on all the results the medals, and of course, a chance to talk to some of our boys and girls, who are hoping to bring a few Golds, Silvers and Bronzes back to Tartarus.

Tanya: That sure would be a good day for us, but we have stiff competition, with countries all around the world competing, in this our first Olympic games. Let’s hope that we can hold our heads up at the end.

Kurt: Indeed. Now we are going over live to see the archery action. Cory Hammond is there to bring us all the news.

Scene changes to an outside view, in the background there are contestants milling around. The camera remains fixed on this venue, capturing the action as it happens in the first round, The commentator fills the time speaking about each of the contestants as they step up and take their shot, and analyses each one in several slow motion replays, until the arrow has been watched from all sides. As the competition finished, the camera closes in on Cory, who is standing beside one of the Tartarian archery team.

Cory: Following a tough competition, Penelope Skillman is still up there in the running. What do you think of your chances for a medal?

Penelope: I’m going to give it my best shot, Cory. That’s really all I can do, and hope that I have a bit of luck on my side.

Scene changes to coverage of the badminton competition, and again the camera picks up the coverage of the games, showing snips of various matches, focusing on Tartarian players, and following the action throughout the day, interspersed with other sports, but returning to each major event as the results come in for the day.

Kate Fisher: It’s been a mix of results here in the badminton competition, which has seen David Roman go through in both his rounds, taking Kyle Miles with him in the Men’s Doubles. Lindsay Phillips was not so lucky in the Women’s singles, but she still has a chance in the Doubles when she teams up with Beverly Trip. Let’s hope she can keep her hopes and the shuttlecock up.

Another scene shift, this time the background is filled with Beach Volleyball, the area surrounded by scantily clad ladies, all showing lots of flesh for the camera. The lucky announcer Dan Reavis, for the Tartarian sports news crew, seems to have his eyeballs on stalks as he keeps his eyes on the action, and not necessarily that of the volleyball ball. The camera details highlights of the action, until a breathless Dan turns and speaks.

Dan: And what an exciting and totally riveting set of matches we had there. I’m so looking forward to the next round. He grins cheekily. Unfortunately we will not be seeing Simone Tyler and Candice Rickman any more, as they were beaten down by Anastasti/Matsuki [EST] in the first round. For anyone who missed the action here live, there is a highlight show later on tonight.

Scene shifts back to the main studio, where Kurt and Tanya are smiling ready for the camera to close up on them.

Kurt: Thank you, Dan. And in other events…

Background window is replaced by a computer imposed effect which fills with various pictures containing the different sports as they are spoken about.

Kurt: In Boxing, Leo Fender has gone through to the next round in the Over 91kg category, beating Tiny [DLZ] 36 to 25. This is good news, and hopefully he can knock us all out bring home a Medal.

Tanya: In Women’s Handball, the Tartarian team suffered a defeat by Rejistania, when they lost 20-25. The ladies put up a good effort to get us into the next round, but it wasn’t enough, and the team left for an early shower. Highlights of this event can be seen in Late Night Olympics.

Computer imagery goes, and leaves the view of the stadium behind the two announcers, the camera panning into Kurt, but flicking between the two as they speak.

Kurt: Not a bad start, some chances of medals looking possible. If you missed any of the action here today, you can catch up with the highlights later on tonight.

Tanya: We’ll be back tomorrow with all the latest news and results from the Kaza Olympics. See you then.

Studio fades into images of the day, a montage of the ups and downs to the events so far, as the end credits roll, and the catch tune that played the programme in, now plays it out, ending in a rising crescendo, and a bang, as the screen fades to black.

--round up reposted to be at end of day one--

OOC: it's likely we'll fall behind with so many events, but fortunately we've got some other result generators. Plus, I'll be on half-term holiday next week, which will help.

Medal in Sight?
Pimento Ladies’ 4x100 Freestyle Team Turn In Shocking Performance

The foursome of Nanette N’Gbora, Kaylee Bilson, Jane Cardozo and Svetlana Moskova turned in the swim of their lives in Heat 1 of the 4x100 relay. The ladies’ posted a solid 277.73, bettering their own national record of 282.22 by nearly four and a half seconds.

Nanette N’Gbora, fresh off a strong performance in the 400 IM, was the first to take off. She paddled confidently and steadily, made a solid turn at the wall and reach the end of her 100m in fourth place.

It was then 16 year old Kaylee Bilson’s turn, who made a real splash by cutting the relay awful close. That gamble, paired with her notoriously powerful dolphin kick, saw her come out from underwater in second. Bilson showed great form, even reeling in the first placed Kelessek swimmer a bit. A brilliant turn along with that gracious dolphin kick saw her trim the margin even further. By the end of her leg, she posted a 62.40, a personal best and fastest of all Pimentos today, reducing Kelessek’s lead to 0.8 seconds in the process.

However, the depth of the mighty Kelessek team showed on the third leg, as their swimmer hit the water and re-established the sizeable lead. Jane Cardozo put in a decent swim, though fading a bit over the final 20m, to leave Big Pimento in a comfortable second.

Star swimmer Svetlana Moskova held the anchor leg and took it pretty easy. She hit the water a full two seconds behind the Kelessek swimmer, but way ahead of the competition. Moskova showed off her trademark smooth, flowing style, cutting through the water as if she was almost hovering over it. Moskova cruised in to a second place finish, and had time to enjoy a cup of tea before the rest of the field reached the wall.

The waiting game then awaited Big Pimento, as it remained to be seen whether that swim would be good enough for a birth in the finals. The Pimento girls huddled around a television set backstage as Heat 2 came underway. Big Pimento’s time had to hold up against six other teams, and it became clear after the first leg, that a berth in the finals was their’s. What remained unclear was what kind of lane the girls would get. Dreams of inside lanes danced in their heads, and after the third leg, it was clear that they would become a reality. Liverpool England won the heat and posted a modest 282.86, a full five seconds back of the Pimentos.

So Big Pimento will start the Women’s 400m Freestyle event in lane five with the second best qualification time, with nearly four second separating them and the third placed team, Kiristeria.

“Our goal coming in was just to make the finals,” said Bilson after the race, “We’re ecstatic with where we are, but it’s time to re-evaluate our goals. There are plenty of good teams out there, who are still saving their best swim for the finals, but that race served as a confidence booster and we think we can contend. We definitely have our sights on a medal now.”

“There’s still room for improvement,” said Moskova in a post-race press conference, “We’ve still got a few tricks up our sleeves. Kiristeria, Bedistan, Kelessek and Lovisa are all great teams, but if we duplicate the effort we put out tonight, I see no reason why we couldn’t walk away with a medal.”

The ladies 400m Fresstyle final will take place tonight.

In other news…
Mike Martineau struggled once again in the 400m Freestyle tonight, managing a sixth place finish in the heat, 25th overall. He will be rueing that decision to participate in both the 400 IM and the 400 Free in the same night for days to come. Hopefully he’ll be able to pull it together for the 1500m Freestyle, an event which has traditionally been the best of the three.

http://www.biezanow.net/~dominik/TVLovun/tvlovunsport-other.gif
Kaza 2008, NationStates Olimpic Games

DAY 2

2 Gold medals for Lovisa

Otylia have Gold medal in final 400m Individual medley.
She was a big lovisan hope to gold and Otylia has not convened us. We are very happy.

SWIMMING: Woman's 400m Individual Medly Final

Lane Name Time Nation Place
Lane 5 Otylia Jedrzejczak 247.08 Lovisa 1
Lane 8 Naomi Ashton 248.83 Gehenna Tartarus 2
Lane 3 Laetitia Belém 249.67 The Latin Union 3
Lane 6 Quatia Quarbiag 249.73 Kaze Progressa 4
Lane 4 Keisha Locher 249.92 The Lowland Clans 5
Lane 7 Estella Cobrón 252.97 The Latin Union 6
Lane 2 Alice Nottingham 254.25 LE 7
Lane 1 Kata Tiatahi 255.45 Kaze Progressa 8


But the second gold medal was amaizing. Grazyna Piecha win in weightlifting in categry <48 kg beating Olympic record. They was amaizing. Grazyna was very good condition, but Nobody believed on hall that record will be. Thank You Grazyna,. this is 3 medals for Lovisa, and 3rd gold. excellent.

WEIGHTLIFTING:Womans <48kg

Posistion Competitor Nation Score
1st Grazyna Piecha Lovisa 210 OR
2nd Clizie Baurbia Kaze Progressa 207.5
3rd Lu Maschak Bedistan 170
4th Deonna Zerba Commerce Heights 162.5


other final

SWIMMING: Men's 400m Individual Medly Final

Lane Name Time Nationality Place
Lane 6 Salvador Boateng 270.13 Bedistan 1
Lane 7 David Graft 271.89 Gehenna Tartarus 2
Lane 2 Bulino Borbo 273.47 Kaze Progressa 3
Lane 5 Peter Thorwick 275.48 Audioslavia 4
Lane 4 Jean Boisvert 277.95 Kelssek 5
Lane 1 Lucas Henry 279.69 The Belmore Family 6
Lane 3 Jonathon Neville 280.47 Eskrador 7
Lane 8 Eugene Overstreet 280.94 Starblaydia 8

SWIMMING: Men's 400m Freestyle Semi-Men's 400m Freestyle Final

Lane Name Nation Time Place
Lane 5 Anargyros Leonidas Esth 221.45 1
Lane 2 Eugene Overstreet Starblaydia 224.10 2
Lane 3 David Graft Gehenna Tartarus 224.95 3
Lane 6 Stihue Binkai Kaze Progressa 225.25 4
Lane 4 Danny Battle Audioslavia 227.63 5
Lane 1 Sam Tagg The Lowland Clans 229.69 6
Lane 7 Lukasz Drzewinski Lovisa 231.15 7
Lane 8 Theodoros Petrosi Esth 231.89 8

Lukasz was a 7th in final.


eliminations:

GYMNASTICS: mens team qualifying:
EST 232.197 Q
GHT 229.424 Q
KZP 227.912 Q
ILU 227.161 Q
LOV 227.112 Q
BP 226.706 Q
TLC 225.551 Q
DSV 224.952 Q
BED 223.838
CH 222.934
TBF 221.697
BGB 221.384

Lovisa go to the final

SAILING

Finn:
Place Race1 Place Race 2
STB 7 9
GHT 4 10
KZP 10 5
EST 5 7
LOV 9 3
KRY 8 1
TBF 11 11
MID 6 2
BED 1 8
DSV 3 4
KRS 2 6


SWIMMING: Men's 400m Men Individual Medly Qualification
Heat 1

Lane Name Time Nation Place Qualification?
Lane 1 Danny Blumenthal 289.79 Starblaydia 5
Lane 2 Salvador Boateng 278.06 Bedistan 2 Q
Lane 3 Aldo Pannoni 295.51 The Latin Union 6
Lane 4 Jonathon Neville 277.98 Eskrador 1 Q
Lane 5 Eugene Overstreet 281.48 Starblaydia 3 Q
Lane 6 Lazaro Jímenez 282.45 The Latin Union 4
Lane 7 Przemyslaw Stanczyk 299.70 Lovisa 7

Heat 3

Lane 1 Bulino Borbo 279.88 Kaze Progressa 1 Q
Lane 2 Ziba Nilofer 286.29 Esth 4
Lane 3 Adam Mania 286.90 Lovisa 5
Lane 4 Scott Clair 293.20 Liverpool England 7
Lane 5 Lucas Henry 281.42 The Belmore Family 3 Q
Lane 6 Mike Martineau 289.60 Big Pimento 6
Lane 7 David Graft 280.91 Gehenna Tartarus 2 Q

Przemyslaw Stanczyk and Adam Mania not go to next round.

SWIMMING: Woman's 4x100m Freestyle Relay First Round
heat 1

Lane Nation Times Place Qualified?
Lane 1 Lovisa 285.59 6 Q
Lane 2 Big Pimento 277.73 2 Q
Lane 3 Gehenna 287.46 7
Lane 4 Kistiriera 281.61 3 Q
Lane 5 Kelssek 275.24 1 Q
Lane 6 The Belmore Family 282.71 4 Q
Lane 7 Cockbill Street 285.49 5 Q


Lovisa go to the final in eith time.

SWIMMING: Men's 400m Freestyle First Round
heat 3

Lane 1 Stihue Binkai Kaze Progressa 234.35 3 Q
Lane 2 Przemyslaw Stanczyk Lovisa 231.84 1 Q
Lane 3 Jack Finch Gehenna Tartarus 232.95 2 Q
Lane 4 Ahn Wen Joo Kelssek 244.09 7
Lane 5 Aldo Pannoni The Latin Union 240.68 5
Lane 6 Robert Tonge Cockbill Street 242.35 6
Lane 7 Lukasz Drzewinski Lovisa 239.16 4 Q

Przemyslaw Stanczyk and Lukasz Drzewinski go to the semi-final

SWIMMING: Men's 400m Freestyle Semi-Finals
heat 1

Lane Name Nation Time Place Qualified?
Lane 1 Jean Boisvert Kelssek 231.00 6
Lane 2 Gregory Slater Liverpool England 231.26 7
Lane 3 Przemyslaw Stanczyk Lovisa 239.92 8
Lane 4 Sam Tagg The Lowland Clans 229.74 3 Q
Lane 5 Chris Sport Sportland 230.30 5
Lane 6 Danny Battle Audioslavia 225.88 1 Q
Lane 7 Stihue Binkai Kaze Progressa 227.87 2 Q
Lane 8 Theodoros Petrosi Esth 229.99 4 Q
heat 2
Lane 1 Anargyros Leonidas Esth 226.89 1 Q
Lane 2 Jack Finch Gehenna Tartarus 233.02 6
Lane 3 Shane Wolcott Kiristeria 236.40 8
Lane 4 Eugene Overstreet Starblaydia 228.02 3 Q
Lane 5 George Troupe Bedistan 231.92 5
Lane 6 David Graft Gehenna Tartarus 227.65 2 Q
Lane 7 Even Halvorsen Cockbill Street 233.23 7
Lane 8 Lukasz Drzewinski Lovisa 228.12 4 Q

Lukasz Drzewinski go to the final, but Przemyslaw Stanczyk out.

Live Clacks Coverage - The Olympic Games - Kaza 1730 (year changed to fit Streetian timelines):

Announcer: And we now go live to the swimming pool in Kaza, where the women's four - Thompson, Lium, Erskog and Cotterill - are ready for the first heat of two in the four by 100 freestyle. The eight best times proceed to the final, and we're probably looking at around 3.45 here, Johnny?

Johnny Overend, commentator in the Kaza Wave Aquatic Centre: Aye, Rob, we are - there are some fearsome teams here, with Lovisa and The Belmore Family, along with Gehenna Tartarus, as probably the most dangerous competitors. The Streetian girls are on lane 7, with Cathryn Thompson ready to swim the first stage - interestingly, the Streeters' coach Wayne Chatterham has decided to put our best swimmer out first. Then Ida Erskog will swim the second stage - expect her to lose out in the first fifty metres, she's a slow starter, Ida - and Debbie Cotterill swims the third, I really do hope she didn't go too hard in the 400 medley race, because we're gonna need her fit. She's definitely the second best freestyle swimmer in the Street when she puts her mind to it, but she's concentrated on other competitions this year. And finally, it is Britt Lium, the 20-year-old rising star who already has four junior gold medals in Streetian Championships. Let's cross our fingers - the starter has them lined up, it's Lovisa in lane 1, Big Pimento in lane 2, Gehenna Tartarus in lane 3, and...they're off! Thompson has a very good underwater start, she heads the pack I think, no wait, it's Kelssek in lane 5, ahead of the Kirstireran in four, the Belmorian in six, and then it's Thompson, thirty-five metres down now, she's looking good up to the turn, does that one well and she's in third, only three tenths off the pace, let's hope she keeps it going, she usually slows down at the end and that's probably why she's in the first stage, come on Cathryn!

Up to seventy-five metres now, Thompson still in third, impressive swimming from the Lovisan now who is right into this, four swimmers within half a second surely, Thompson is on the side of the Kelssek swimmer now, passes her, she still has good timing but I think the strokes are lacking some power, she's losing again now, ten metres to go, the Kelssek and Lovisan passes her and she's fourth, still ahead of the Belmorian, and she's fourth at the exchange with only nine tenths up to the Belmorian in the lead! Kelssek number two, Lovisa three, and now it's Ida Erskog in fifth, cos the Pimento has passed her in fourth and the Kirstieran in sixth, and the Tartarian is hopelessly behind already.

Ida is losing ground underwater, she doesn't like to swim the first fifty metres, the Pimento girl is swimming very fast and has already overtaken two! Hopefully she hasn't burnt all her energy in the first twenty metres. Anyway, Kelssek lead the pack comfortably still, Erskog in fifth or sixth, can't really tell from here, but she's going as usual - slow, gritty, but controlled, and she's gonna come on a mighty finish, I know it! Here they are, turning around now, Kelssek well over a second ahead, looks as though Big Pimento have followed up and does well, their athlete is now in second place ahead of the Belmorian, there Erskog clocks in, she's four seconds off the pace in sixth, only ahead of the Tartarian, who seems to be hopelessly lost at the outset. Now let's hope for a classic Erskog finish, she's coming up to seventy-five metres now, well behind the leaders of course, but she's going in the same tempo as fifty metres ago whereas the Lovisan girl is looking visibly tired! Still, think Erskog should do better, final ten metres now, here's the Kelssek girl first and the exchange goes there, was that a false start? Doubt it, looks like a very good change-over to me, anyway Kelssek leads by a second and a half, Big Pimento has broken away and is a second ahead of The Belmore Family in third, Kirstiriera in fourth, Lovisa in fifth and there is Erskog, four and a half seconds behind, but she took over a second on the Lovisan, an OK finish, but you can do much better than that in the final, Ida!

Here's Deborah Cotterill now, she's looking much more sparkling than in the medley earlier this morning, possibly some of her morning tiredness showing through, but she's still not catching the leaders, in fact she's losing ground! Don't know why, her strokes look excellently timed, perhaps it's just that she's had too little training for these big events here with the class of the world present? The Streeters still in sixth place, though she's not losing more to the Lovisan, I don't know what's up with the Lovisan, she looked absolutely marvellous in the pool yesterday, but tonight she's just not getting her potential out, she's looking all kinds of nervy, and Debbie stares ahead and realises that there's nothing she can do with the top four. Kelssek doing extremely well in the lead, heading the pack by well over two metres, they've been professional all the way through and the turn-about is there for them, Kelssek in the lead well ahead of nothing, and nothing, and then over three seconds behind the Big Pimento girl, and then more nothing - this is a very staggered heat, I can tell ya, The Belmorian and the Kirstirieran fighting for third, Kirstiriera it is, third with over four seconds behind Kelssek, and only a tenth ahead of The Belmores, and here's Cotterill, she's fighting with the Lovisan and there! Five point seven seconds behind Kelssek, but who cares, Debbie is in fifth place and still has an outside shout of qualification, but it's gonna be tough anyway, and Debbie is tired, very tired, five hundred metres of gruelling swimming is getting to her, I reckon, up to seventy metres now! But still, she's fighting with the Lovisan who looks equally tired, surely she's losing ground, yes, she is, it's more than a length now, maybe even three metres for Cotterill, she's well ahead but still far behind the medal aspirants Kelssek, who clock in there! Magnificent swimming by the first three, they're so far two seconds ahead of Big Pimento, and they've swum well too, meaning that the others have come far behind and they're still not there yet, there we are, Kirstiriera have increased their lead to three tenths of a second over the Belmore Family, and then Debbie Cotterill swims in, she's there! eight point nine seconds off Kelssek, she's the one who has lost the most, but she isn't a freestyle specialist and she's ooohh so tired, can barely get out of the water here Debbie!

Anyway, it's Britt Lium who's gotta hold on to that lead over Lovisa here, I doubt they'll get through if they finish below fifth, and even fifth will be a challenge, but then again, the Belmorians are so far ahead that there isn't an alternative. Kelssek still heading the pack, about fifteen metres ahead of Lium, and she's swimming just as well as the other girls, we're gonna have a cracking time here, that's why I think the girls are still in with a shout with fifth, because this heat is clearly superior to the other one. Lium is not looking up to her best either, losing ground quickly, even behind the Lovisan now, let's hope she was picked for her fabulous finish, she has those winning guts that are so important in Olympic Games, it is rumoured, but she's gotta dig deep into the coalmine to find those last bits of energy. Kelssek turning around for the last time, leading by about one and a half seconds, key here now is not to get frustrated by the leaders, because you can't do anything with them. Coming up now, only about, ooh...seven metres left for Britt, she's determined not to get the Lovisan too far away from her, there the Lovisan is , nine point four seconds off the leader, and Britt is...nine point six behind, clocking 27.40 for the outswim, let's hope she can take those 22 hundredths off the Lovisan, looks like she's got a good position, she's taking in with every little tiny stroke, aye! She's coming right up on the side now, I think she's got a chance, twenty metres left as Kelssek win the heat in 3.35,24, absolutely amazing, but let's return to the fight between the Street and Lovisa, Britt Lium still fighting, ten metres to go, I think the finish will be crucial, they're almost neck on neck, but I think Britt is better positioned for the finish, five metres left, they're fighting for fifth place and perhaps a final spot, who knows, there! YES! I think Lium did it, finishing in fifth place, it looked as though she was...AYE! She's done it, she's ten hundredths of a second ahead of Lovisa, the girls hug each other, let's hope that it is enough!

Robert Swibbles, announcer: And as it turned out, Cockbill Street's time was seventh in the heats, but with Esth and Kaze Progressa both finishing within a quarter of a second behind them. Still, the field is very uneven, and I would be very surprised if the Streeter girls had any chance of a medal. Our 400 metre swimmers certainly don't - Even Halvorsen swum well in the heats to make the time 3.55,29, finishing eleventh, and well ahead of Robert Tonge who was knocked out in the heats. Still, Halvorsen was well out of the final, beaten by just over three seconds and finishing a disappointing fourteenth overall. Anargyros Leonidas of Esth, who had won the heat with Halvorsen in, continued into the final which he won by well over two seconds, giving Esth their first gold medal of these Olympics. We now go to the swimming hall again, where Alan Berkham has a chat with Debbie Cotterill.

AB: Well, Debbie, that was a surprise after the other poor swimming stuff - are you really ready for the world stage yet?

DC: That's the kinda question you ask after we qualified?!

AB: By a quarter of a second...

DC: I mean, I was expecting, like, how do you feel, like, and stuff...

AB: Look, I came here from the politics section of the paper. I try to catch people off guard.

DC: But that's just...not the way it's done!

AB: Oh, sorry. Would you please answer my question, miss? I bet the readers would like another view for a change - just not the Streetians are great whatever they do.

DC: Well, I...I don't really know...I suppose we didn't do too well here...

AB: Nope, you didn't. No chance of a medal in anything, as far as I can see.

DC: There's still Nathan in the 200 backstroke...he's got a class time this year

AB: The fact that you're mentioning him has nothing to do with him being your boyfriend?

DC: Course not! He's a good swimmer, honestly! I betcha he's gonna come good in the heats, just you watch him, ske...skep... (she breaks down, unable to perform the cognitive tasks required for polysyllabic words)

AB: Skeptic?

DC: That one. Hey, how come you do it?

AB: I'm not, unlike my fellow sport journalists, several eggs short of a full basket.

DC: And what's that supposed to mean?

AB: For crying out loud...why am I here after all? *Berkham is seen running away, demanding to take the first zeppelin back to Vimesbairn, the House of Apes (a term for the parliament) - and, as he says, "sanity"*

THE CELESTIA TIMES

~------------------Sports News------------------~

KAZA 2008 OLYMPICS

AND IT IS FINALLY GOLD:
-Kaza,Kaze Progressa

They say that the first victory is the unforgettable one,it'll be probably be the same thing that Anargyros Leonidas is thinking right now.
A 23 year old from that sunny,coastal and quiet city called Pana Dis is now in the top of the "Olympus" conquering the first-ever gold medal in Esthian sport History.
An unexcepted one,as no one of the Esthian swimmers were the favourites in this day 2 Swimming events.
It seemed like yesterday when he won the first youth Swimming championship,then the problems with his right leg,the results that weren't coming and then back against but this time as National Champion and then Olympic gold medal winner.
Barely qualified in the First round he changed shift and arrived,in front of an astonished crowd in the Olympic Pool,first in the Semi-finals.
Toghever with another Esthian,Theodoros Petrosi, he literally "flew away" in the pool blowing away all the opposition arriving in first place with an amazing 221.45.
No one has ever reached such time during all this event,which makes Leonidas's victory more special.
The entire city of Pana Dis exploded in a huge choir applauding and celebrating their fellow citizen's victory:banners with his name,fireworks,cars jamming every road of the city honking madly.
Such a celebration was seen last time during the declaration of indipendence and I'm sure every reader will agree with me that such celebrations for this athlete are well deserved.
The Mayor is already ordering a construction of his statue while others proposed to rename a road with his name,but due to Esthian laws,roads can only be named with deceased people's name.
"This is one of the greatest moments of my life,I still can't believe I made it;After the first round I promised to myself that would give all the best of me to make it but I never thought I could accomplish such result"
And regarding his native city celebrations he says:
"It's because of them that I have arrived here,with this gold medal on my neck;they have always supported me,even during my leg injury,I'll never forget them for all the affection they are giving to me".
The other finalist,Theodoros Petrosi comments his race "I arrived last but I'm proud of myself of what I have achieved,especially being in the same pool where Leonidas won,we both won't forget this moment".
In the other Swimming races the other Esthian where more unlucky:
Miela Luksa in the womens 100m backstroke arrived last in Heat 4 with 67.10
;a disastrous performance during the Womans 400m Individual Medly Qualification where Eiichi Ono and Liu Cong weren't even close to qualification: "After one lap I simply couldn't keep up with the other contestants,my legs were hurting to much for the fatigue;it's really disappointing" says Ono after the race.
In the Men's 400m Men Individual Medly Qualification Ziba Nilofer and Wafiya Karam barely reach the qualification,same thing for Florentina Cassia/Constancia Severino/Beatriu Remei/Itziar Aintzane in the Woman's 4x100m Freestyle Relay.

SOFTBALL
A win with a thrill:
The Esthian Softball team had quite a scare against the home team,Kaze Progressa in thsi first direct k.o round.
With the starting pitcher,Carlotta Idiniri, everything started in favour of the Esthians,five strike outs,3 stolen bases,15 fairs and 4 points scored in 4 Innings.
Things started to turn sour when Kaze Progressa substitued their pitcher with a DH at bat in the 5° Inning;with 2 bases occupied the DH slammed the ball outside the park scoring a three-point homer that literally crippled the Esthian team's morale.
With the entire stadium chanting for their home team,coach Montardier called a pitching change by putting the closing pitcher Yuki Misako on the mount.
The last two innings were hell for the Esthian defenders,trying to block the Progressian "Heavy Bat Artillery" they are so know of.
The last inning was the most frantic,with the home crowd simply going frenzy for every fair ball the Progressian women scored.
In the last action Esth concludes the match with an excellent double-play leaving the team and the crowd speechless.
Immacolata Vincenzi,2B who scored an RBI triple in the first innings says "We started really good,everything worked perfectly until the 5° inning where Idiniri was already feeling tired and the adversaries were preparing the Heavy Fodder; that home run nearly killed our morale despite Ichimura's effort to catch it,thankfully we managed to resist in the last two innings.".
Team coach Montardier,happy of his girls performance replies "Even if we have one of the most professional teams in Olympic Softball we must admit that Kaze Progressa was an extremely hard adversary to beat,anyway I still honestly think that this team is capable of winning a medal,they demostrated their strenght and they will next match".

Scoring By Innings ----- Final score:
EST 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 ----- 4
KRS 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 ----- 3

Double Plays:
EST 1
KRS 2
Errors:
EST 2
KRS 5
Hits:
EST 19
KRS 10
Triple Play: None


Occ: someone please tell me if my English is understandable enough,ty

Starblaydi Medal Prospects
Much more to come than a Swimming Medal
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg

"As we have a short lull in the Olympic proceeds here on SCB:Sports, we thought we'd take a little time-out to focus in on some of our Medal hopefuls who are shaping up to take their places on the podium."

The VT rolls and a classical Starblaydi scene of rolling plains and mountains in the background. The sign that says 'Starblaydi Equestrian Centre' also gives it away, for the non-Starblaydis watching. Various people on horses trot by, making the small practice-jumps with ease.

'Starblaydia's Equestrian Team haven't been taking the limelight recently, which has been reserved for super-star footballers and random pugellists. The Men and Women on horseback, in the only sport in which Men and Women compete equally, are certainly some of the finest in the world. The team of four, three women and a single man, will be carrying the flag for Starblaydia in their black blazers.'

Now we change to the rowing centre, with teams and individuals rowing their way across the still water in sleek boats.

'Not forgotten are the Atlantian Oceania Regional Olympic Champions Lambros Choutos and Anestis Tsitsonis who took the Gold in the Coxless Pairs, before the event was bombed from the air and cancelled. They are the spearhead of an immensely strong Men's Team, though the only female competitors are in the Double Sculls.'

A few slam dunks signal the presence of the Starblaydi Basketball team of tall, lean, tough men.

'Team Starblaydia will have no fear of anyone in the Basketball tournament, as our reputation for tall Sportsmen goes on. 'Smuuve', 'Ice', 'Lightning' and a few other nicknames will be sure to rack up the points against all and sundry.

'Then we come to the track. But, we'll save that one for later as its the most hotly-anticipated athletic event of the entire games. Sorry to keep you waiting, but we can't use up all our good material now, can we?'

olympics2054.bd - Bedistan's Olympic News Site
The latest Kaza '54 news and results!
[OOC: Like CS, changed year to fit Bedistani timeline]

Gymnastics
Bedistan's men's gymnastics team has unfortunately missed out on qualifying, finishing in ninth place out of the twelve teams. The top eight qualified for the final round, with Esth, Gehenna Tartarus, and Kaze Progressa having the three best qualifying scores.

Sailing
Bedistan's sailing teams are enjoying moderate success, with the yngling team sitting in joint third place with Kaze Progressa. The men's 470 team is in a three-way tie for third with the Weegies and Lovisa, while the women's 470 team is sitting pretty at the top of the leaderboard on five points. The finn team is tied for fourth with Krytenia.

Softball
Pitching was the key in Bedistan's first softball match against Sportland, with Sarah Atkins allowing just three hits. Hannah Douglas and Yolanda Rodriguez each brought in runs in the fifth inning to give team Bedistan a 2-0 victory.

Swimming
Melani Monas and Yolanda Güecho both turned in fine performances in the women's 100m backstroke qualifying, with Monas clocking in at 1:01.42 and Güecho just three seconds slower. Results in the women's 400m individual medley, however, were disastrous, with neither Wagenaar nor Agena coming anywhere near qualifying. The 4x100 freestyle relay went better, however, with the Bedistani women's team turning the second fastest time in their heat and qualifying.

In the first round of the men's 400m freestyle, crowd favorite Scott Spitzer sputtered to a last-place finish in his heat in 4:06.71. George Troupe, on the other hand, fared much better with a 3:48.74. Troupe went on to finish fifth out of eight in his semifinal heat, just short of qualifying for the final.

Finally, in the men's 400m individual medley, Len Marzili's third-place finish in his qualifying heat was not enough to make the final. With a time of 3:38.06, however, Salvador Boateng did manage to qualify, and he really turned up the heat in the final, besting that time by nearly eight seconds to lock up Bedistan's second gold medal at these Games.

Medal Update
Lovisa remains at the top of the medal table with three gold medals, though Bedistan is close behind with two gold and two bronze. Esth and the Latin Union have a gold each, with Esth's two silvers to the Latin Union's two bronzes. Gehenna Tartarus, Kaze Progressa, Starblaydia, and Maldunia are also on the medal board, though without any gold medals as yet.

Sirake Tekim: Hejida listeners, here is radio RejisCAST, I am Sirake Tekim and we are broadcasting live from Kaza in our

Jingle: RejisCAST Olympic Update!

ST: Yeah, someone had too much free time and made a jingle! Now Elin Ri, Tell me how's things in Kaze Progressa.

ER: More or less. As I have heard there was a rather unpleasant situation for the athletes last evening.

ST: As in?

ER: Kansu Syku tried to get drunk on Progressan beer. Hopeless attempt, that is.

ST: I heard about that.

ER: Well, it has no alcohol, but you still need to visit a certain place very often... Kansu Syku didn't manage to do it in time once.

ST: ewww, Do you always find out the strangest stories?

ER: That's what journalism means to me.

ST: Elin, don't tell that revealing stories here. We might broadcast in english but are still rejistanian. It is enough that you ruined Myk Linkosa's hopes to become national coach in World Cup 18.

ER: This thing about him and her?

ST: exactly!

ER: Well, I saw him in the audience of that friendly of the U19s of Kaze Progressa and Rejistania, you know the match with the Faiwe Irafma clones.

ST: I know that match. It caused a huge controversy despite the Linkosa affair because it was assumed to be cheating at least to send players to Giant Zucchini to prevent them from aging.

ER: Well, who cares about U19 friendlies? Let the progressans enjoy there 23 Faiwe Irafmas some more.

ST: You are slightly off-topic again.

ER: I always am.

ST: Well, anyways. You ought to be a bit more discrete than at that time. telling that Myk Linkosa is at the match with the wife of Teke Daran... You caused an awful lot of trouble.

ER: Ve...

ST: Keep it limited, please.

ER: Ve...

ST: okay. No tell me scores not scandals.

ER: 37-28

ST: err, what?

ER: That's the amount of points Syi'he "Tihrana" defeated "The Weegie" O'Sulivan'he.

ST: ah, you're talking about boxing?

ER: I do. Hiju "The Tux" Siari defeated Konstantinos'he too in the first round so for the rejistani boxers, things were successfull.

ST: Great

ER: Even more great: the Orange-whites are back!

ST: Handball?

ER: Yeppers!

ST: Tell me about their first match.

ER: Well, first match was against Gehenna Tartarus, the Orange-Whites were at the beginning too disorganized, the marking was abysmal. But Sono Jetta gave them slightly changed tactical orders in a timeout. That greatly improved things. Especially in the second half, the Orange-Whites were clearly dominating. at the end they won 25:20.

ST: Nice. Any more disciplines with rejistani participation?

ER: Nilha!

ST: Strange. Do you know why?

ER: To limit the work for the reporters (you can hear that he is grinning)

ST: Well, then let's limit work for you and call it a report?

ER: okay, this was Elin Ri, back to KaMaRi kali

============
Soccer (men)
Goalkeepers:
Miki Haxeri, 19, Soru Salan
(Nivu Sika, 18, Elixi Kamex)
(Jesil Makil, 20, Rilakil Ynu)

Defenders:
Syku Kansu, 18, Venike Kalesa Kaletri
Kansu Syku, 16, Najajara Ynu
Syly Kansu, 21, Jinhes Junis
Dini Y, 34, Karela Lines
(Sayiji Hija, 18, Hetkali Hetrika)
(Ji Jen, 19, Hanin Sekhika)
(Esri Rija-Jesa, 20, Riandu Redy)
(Jese Eti~l, 19, Siril Salan)

Midfielders:
Mekin Saeri, 19, Na~ovi Nanti
Ili I Li, 22, Hetkali Hetrika
Nxeni Venu, 32, Acosta Browns, Melmond
Majam Mese, 19, Sikane Salan
(Atiju Kvanu, 15, Xykianara Ynu-Lines)
(Ita Lyia, 22, Sikiti Sekhika)
(Kajil Liik, 21, Rilakil Veran)
(Meiydakera Laiynajany, 16, Sijitalatirikimidateme Sekhika)

Forwards:
Ji Y, 22, Matix Ynu
Syku Lyku, 30, Hades Lavamje
(Isra Jei, 18, I Jesejil Kaletri)
(Ha~e La~n, 17, Jara~ove Hetaki)


Soccer (women)
Goalkeepers:
Syku Jaji, 20, Vaje~n Viki
(Herija Lejan, 19, Na~ovi Hetaki)
(Mata Koleni, 19, Sike Suriki)

Defenders:
Xeseja Kyka, 20, Desnike Xkora
Nana Aliju, 17, Matix My
Ky I Y, 22, DesRi Lavamje
Silju Hsen, 27, Sen-La-Sa~o Redy
Jiale Iki~n, 16, Najajara Veran
(Niju Sila, 18, Hetaki hetkali)
(Murui Xete, 19, Sike Sekhika)
(Kansu Lyku, 20, Kalisimu Kamex)
(Dini Y, 20, Karela Lines)
(Xianji Jiru, 22, Soru Sekhika)

Midfielders:
Ajui Rii, 21, Jinhes Sydi
Kamy Lyx, 21, KaMaRi Kamex
Syku I Y, 22, Hanin Han'il
Kansu Ji, 19, Maiju Tihrana'ny
(Junu Haxy, 17, Desnike Xkora)
(Etiya Lanave-Sirare, 21, Najajara Xalki)
(Syku Lyku, 21, Mikedi Mujil)
(Kansu Syku, 19, Sike Sekhika)

Forwards:
Lyku I Kansu, 25, Karela Lines
(Kajajurilatele Etasijakamakanxa, 28, Sijitalatirikimidateme Sekhika)


Hockey (men):
Main team:
1. Eta Kori (gk)
2. Demu Veti
3. Ky He~l
4. Hatva Kansu
5. Siy Kansu
6. Lyku Ji
7. Venu Hja
8. Leja Hsida
9. Kiku Jaji
10. Namidi Y
11. Kansu Siki
Subs:
Inihatisaruretela Hetikiliserekasa (gk)
Lyku Ju
Hansalda Ra~o
Kija Daki
Iki Sesu
Syku Hana
Sumiti Kane

Hockey (women):
Main team:
1. Itiu Ma~e (gk)
2. Jajeri Ky
3. Hana Sune
4. Eti Kasa~n
5. Venu Nue
6. Jingid Tyi
7. Leai Iaieli
8. Milu Juve
9. Mila~n Haji
10. Kijo Ena
11. Nanija Ha~e
Subs:
Nina Vera (gk)
Syku La~o
Kemi Mina
Vetu Neje
Hata Syku
Lani Syku
Syku Lii~n

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

"...so the key is just to relax. If you start tensing up, that's when you get in trouble and make mistakes. When you're up there it's mental game really. Training is physical, competing is mental, that's how it's been for me."

"Thank you Cassie, best of luck tomorrow."

"Thanks."

"And that was David Fitzworth with Cassie Smith, who will be competing in the gynmastics competition in day 2. It's been quite a day so far, here is more of the latest news from the Olympics.

Huuna/Zurikazka of Kaze Progressa won the host nation's first gold with a score of 315 in the men's 10m synchronised diving event, beating the team of Reed/Dyonov from Ariddia. Liu/Dawson of Cockbill Street took the bronze.

Cockbill Street also took a gold in the women's 3m springboard event, Lindkvist/Stensen won with a score of 327.54 points. The silver went to Narain/Almarza of Bedistan and Mireia/Salut won a bronze for Esth. The men's team qualifiying for the gymnastics event also has just been completed, and it's Esth the top qualifier, Gehenna Tartarus and Kaze Progressa coming first and second respectively.

Now for those on NSN 1 it's back to the indoor arena for the shooting competition getting underway, on NSN 2 you can tune in to some tennis, and on The Hockey Channel we have a delayed telecast of the softball match between Bedistan and Sportland."

OOC: Out of curiosity... where did you get those results? When I go to the Kaza 2008 site, the latest results are women's weightlifting...

They're in alphabetical order... I think you're just going right to the bottom and assuming there's no more.

"Hello everyone, this is Jonah Falston reporting for Fox Sports News (ooc: on the Sportland version of Foxtel). Just a quick update on the Kaza 2008 Olympics. Still no medals on day 1, but Chris Sport successfully qualified for the semi finals of the mens 400m freestyle with an excellent time of 3:49.60, which was the third fastest time in the heats. Unfortunately he was eliminated in the semi finals, missing out on a place in the final by less than half a second. Anargyros Leonidas of Esth won the final with a nearly world record beating time of 3:41.45. Another update after two more hours of the cricket."

STREETIANS STRIKE GOLD!
Hands Up Those Who Heard of Hanna and Ingrid

After a rather dismal start to the Olympic games by Streetian athletes, being way out of the podium in most sports, Hanna Lindkvist and Ingrid Stensen today landed what must be the surprise of the Games. They were ranked fourth before the competition started, well behind Narain and Almarza from Bedistan and home favourites Bairvan and Gabu. But a risky programme by Lindkvist and Stensen paid off. They started relatively easily, with a reverse double somersault that had been poor in the practice sessions, but both girls performed well enough to score nines with the referees. 61 points and in second place, behind Esthians Mireia and Salut who had decided to go tough first up, scoring 80 points off an exquisite two and a half somersault with twist.

Then the second dive. Lindkvist and Stensen were third up, and after Bairvan and Gabu had both crashed almost on their stomachs in a reverse double somersault, still taking them into the lead, but one of their most difficult dives had backfired. The girls had decided to take it easy here, doing a one and a half somersault forward, which they did well enough but without distinction. Thanks to their good first round score, however, they took the lead, finishing with 102 points after two rounds but being 23 points behind Mireia and Salut.

What was deciding today was the immense amounts of training these girls have done together. Lindkvist and Stensen are almost the entire Streetian diving team - there is platform diver Tien Lie, but she is very reclusive and only turns up in Streetian championships - and as a result, they cheer each other on a lot, they train about two hours a day together, and are generally the best of mates. In the third dive, they showed that - scoring nines and nine-and-a-halfs for synchro in what was otherwise a very simple dive - reverse somersault with pike - which they took 59 points for, the best in the round only equalled by the Lovisan pair Lopes-Gainer and Luong. Mireia and Salut disappointed the crowd by crashing in a double forward somersault, still taking 51 points and leading the Streetian pair by fifteen.

The few Streetians who had bothered to bring the yellow and red colours to the Aquatic Park eyed something as Lindkvist and Stensen made ready for their fourth dive. They had chosen a difficult one - two and a half inward somersault with pike - but they somehow managed their best dive of the competition yet, getting massive bounce off the springboard before turning around like a cogwheel. It was an impressive sight - the referees agreed, giving them high eights and low nines for the performance - and it gave them 81 points, by far the best in the round. Their most dangerous competitors, Mireia and Salut, were last in the round with the same dive, but Salut failed dismally with her somersaults and ended up almost on her stomach - splashing a lot of water - and resulting in poor marks both for synchro and for her dive. The Esthians ended up scoring 56 points and were suddenly well behind Lindkvist and Stensen in the race for gold, which looked like this:

LINDKVIST/STENSEN CS 243.06
MIREIA/SALUT EST 232.95
NARAIN/ALMARZA BED 220.47
BAIRVAN/GABU KZP 220.20

In other words, Lindkvist and Stensen had an almost impenetrable lead, and only the Esthians were some kind of danger. When Bairvan got a slight overhit and landed at an angle, which made severe splash and cost them quite a fair bit of points - they got marks of low sevens, which gave them 67 points - that meant Lindkvist and Stensen would probably win if they made more than 80 points, unless Mireia and Salut perfected a difficult reverse triple somersault. Instead, a back two and a half somersault for the Streeters - which was by no means perfect, but enough to give them eights and high sevens - almost secured the victory, as they received their highest points so far in the competition with 84.48. Despite the Bedistani pair Narain and Almarza scoring well over 90 with a fantastic dive, they were well behind, and only Mireia and Salut could threaten. Again, a slight overpitch from Mireia cost them the silver medal, as they could only scrape 70 points and finish third.

The coach, Steven Chatham, said that he had "never expected the girls to do so well - we hoped to finish on the podium, given the feeble competition, but we never expected a gold medal. The girls were very consistent throughout and stuck to their programme very well - much better than in training - and I think that gold medal feeling will sip through the whole team and maybe more medals are up for the divers."

Hanna Lindkvist was "overjoyed, it's such a wonderful feeling to have be the first diving champion of the Olympics - have to say thanks to Ingrid, she was great during the whole competition and really backed me up, and we worked as a team today - I wanna say thanks to the whole support team as well, they've been really professional and they've had such a big part in this gold medal.

Final results - women's synchronized 3m springboard:
Gold: Lindkvist/Stensen (Cockbill Street) 327.54; Silver: Narain/Almarza (Bedistan) 312.63; Bronze: Mireia/Salut (Esth) 303.03; 4th: Lopes-Gainer/Luong (Lovisa) 299.01; 5th: Bairvan/Gabu (Kaze Progressa) 287.40; 6th: Volten/Chance (Gehenna Tartarus) 284.94; 7th: Tinsley/Cobbs (Liverpool England) 283.71

The second medal of the day came in the 10m platform diving, where Xiang Liu and Rob Dawson looked completely out of it but for a brilliant last dive which gave them 93 points and saw them sneak past four competitors from seventh to third place. Another surprise from the divers, then, who has still got the 3m springboard and 10m platform - both women and men, plus the synchronized events that was np - to look forward to later in these Olympics.

Madlunia Sports Network - Daily Olympic Coverage

Day One Results

Todays Medals:

Silver in Judo

Total Medal Count

Gold: 0 Silver: 1 Bronze: 0

Todays Results

Archery
Men’s Rankings
James Flagg 28th
Joshua Andrews 48th
Women’s Rankings
Elizabeth Kaminski 16th
Ruth Barnes 24th
Handball
Women’s First Round
Maldunia 26 – 22 Lovisa
Judo
Men’s <60kg
First Round
Catucci [MLD] defeated Darragh by ippon [by 2x waza-ari]
Nguyen [ARI] defeated Lively [MLD] by waza-ari
[B]Quarter-final
Catucci [MLD] defeated Sato [LOV] by ippon
Semi-final
Catucci [MLD] defeated Albini [EST] by waza-ari
Gold Medal Match
Harada [LOV] defeated Catucci [MLD] by ippon
Volleyball
Maldunia v Bedistan
Results not reported

OOC: Thanks, Kelssek. . .


IC:
8pm news

Adèle Jameson: “. . . and for coverage of the Olympic Games, we take you back to the action earlier today, with diving for men and women both. No Ariddian women competing today; No Roay will be going for Ariddia in a later event, the women’s 10m diving. Roay who’s only just recently celebrated her sixteenth birthday, and is the youngest Ariddian athlete in these Games. Anyway, we have Dave Tcellid commenting today’s action. Dave?”

Dave Tcellid: “Yes, good evening, Adèle! It’s been quite a day here in Kaza. I won’t spoil it for those who weren’t able to watch live, but of course we had Vince Reed and Anton Dyonov going in the men’s 10m synchronised diving. There was some stiff competition here on the diving board. After the first dive, our guys were in third place. There, you can see here Cipriano and Van Ringe from Esth on their first dive. . . Beautiful synchronisation, a pretty high level of difficulty too, and that put them temporarily in the lead, four points ahead of Easton and Price from Gehenne Tartarus. . . on your screen now. And there’s the first dive by Reed and Dyonov. Nice style, well synchronised. . . The judges like it, the crowd likes it, and as they’re getting out of the water there they’re probably telling themselves they’re in with a chance to get onto the podium!

Anyhow, their second and third dives were good; a bit of a disappointment on the fourth, with a little but costly lapse in concentration. . . as you can see there in the replay. But a superb dive for the fifth and final try. . . I’ll just let you enjoy it. . . there, and that was a steady lead over most of their competitors for that dive. Well, as you watch the replay again, that put Reed and Dyonov in second place overall, ahead of Liu and Dawson from Cockbill Street – that’s them you can see, their last dive, on your screen. They took bronze. And the gold went to the host nation, Huuna and Zurikazka – you’re seeing their fourth dive here, and they were consistently good overall. So, a silver medal for Ariddia as the Kaze Progressan anthem plays to the delight of the home supporters. . . and quite a few Ariddian flags being waved in the crowd! Ariddia have a medal, and it’s a silver!”

Jameson: “I suppose you were able to talk to Reed and Dyonov afterwards?”

Tcellid: “Yes, well, they were very pleased; of course. Reed said he was proud to have the first medal, though he’d have been even happier if it hadn’t been Ariddia’s first. . . But hey, we’ve got nothing to complain about here! By the way, we’ll be seeing them both again, as they go against each other, this time, in individual 10m diving. So, a lot of hopes resting on them there.”

Jameson: “Yes, definitely something to look forward to! What about the other events of the day?”

Tcellid: “Well, as you said, there were other medals earned today in diving. Cockbill Street added a gold in women’s diving to their bronze earned by the men, thanks to Lindkvist and Stenson. . . on your screen now. Esth, Gehenne Tartarus and Kaze Progressa are in the lead so far in men’s teams’ gymnastics. And we’ve also had some swimming, with golds each for Lovisa, Bedistan and Esth.”

Jameson: “All right, we’ll leave it at that for now, as we show you again the medal ceremony, and a silver for Vince Reed and Anton Dyonov of Ariddia. Remember you can watch live coverage of the Games, but we’ll be providing continuous updates. Now, a reminder of today’s headlines. . .”

Battle Scarred
Swimmer Danny Battle Suffers Setback in Kaza
Peter Thorwick misses out on medal

For a while on that sunny sunday in Kaze Progressa, it looked like Audioslavia's swimmers were going to take Audioslavia's first medals of the olympics.

Danny Battle defeated all-comers in the heats for the Mens 400m Freestyle. The first round saw him qualifty comfortably in first ahead of Cockbill Street's Even Halvorsen. The same heat saw Edward Richardson finish just outside of the qualification spots in fourth place.

After these heats came the 400m Medley with Peter Thorwick and Sanderson Delahunt representing Audioslavia. Although Delahunt finished down in fifth in his heat, Thorwick was brilliant, getting the second best time of all the qualifiers behind Kelssek's impressive Jean Boisvert.

With both Audioslavia's swimming enterants enjoying plenty of success, Audioslavian eyes started turning to the medals. Battle stormed through his semi-final in the freestyle in first place again, recording the fastest time by far at 225.88 seconds. The scene was set for the final.

Thorwick's final came first. All eyes were on the two fastest qualifiers in lanes four and five. Kelssek's Jean Boisvert and Audioslavia's Peter Thorwick. Both men started strongly and by the first 100m had gained themselves a lead of three lengths over the opposition. On 150m, Boisvert had got ahead of Thorwick. The two men exchanged the lead going up to 200m but then it appeared as if something was going wrong. Thorwick and Boisvert looked tired after going out so hard and David Graft of Gehenna Tartarus and Salvador Boateng of Bedistan had started to pull back. By 250m they were ahead and pulling away, with Thorwick trying to go with them and Boisvert falling away badly. On the final stretch from 350m to 400m it was GT vs Bedistan all the way, with Bedistan's Boateng out-pacing Graft to win by one and a half seconds. Graft was second, but Thorwick was cruelly beaten into fourth place and out of the medals by Kaze Progressa's Bulino Borbo, who pegged Thorwick back to beat him by a whole two seconds.

So Audioslavia turned to the man Danny Battle. Entered into most of the swimming events, Battle was by far the best swimmer Audioslavia had. It was well known that he wasnt quite up there with the world's best. Battle started well in lane four but by 100m he wasnt in the running at all. Battle lost a private battle with Kaze Progressa's Stihue Binkai for fourth place, with Esth's Anargyros Leonidas taking gold.

Rowing Squad 'Peaked'
'No better opportunity for medals' say Team
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg

"Day One hold plenty of medal prospects for Starblaydi Rowers, and we take a short focus on them now. The team Coaches have been telling us that the athletes have peaked this week, and there's no better time for them to have a crack at the Rowing Medals than right now. Here's our rundown on the men and women pulling the oars for Starblaydia."

Men's Single Sculls
Mitch Conley is first out on the water for Starblaydia, and he'll be trying to overcome his ten competitors, most noteably from Cockbill Street, Big Pimento and Lovisa.

Women's Pair
Vicky Frizzell and Joy Sawicki are the fine, well-drilled team hoping to be first in the field of twelve.

Men's Pair
As we've said many times before, Lambros Choutos and Anestis Tsitsonis are already Gold Medal-Winners in the Atlantian Oceania Region for this event, and they'll be hoping to double their collection.

Men's Double Sculls
Mark Carvajal and Douglas Ferrara, the Sculling Pair, have a fierce rivalry with the Coxless Pair and each will look to out-do the other.

Men's Coxless Four Heats
The Coxless Four is one of the most tightly-contested rowing events this tournament, and for Psomiadis, Lemonis, Tzatsis and Pakousis, they'll want to take home a medal and be crowned Kings of the Water. First of all they'll have to make it through this Heat stage.

"As we've said before, Starblaydia are boasting a very strong Rowing Team. Though not the largest team out there, Starblaydia are expecting to be among the top of the Rowing Charts at these Games. Good Luck to them, and of course, to all their opponents."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

"How do you feel about your chances in the finals?"

"I think we've got a great chance, like we've never had before. We had some disappointments, but I think we really can take home the gold."

"We're all putting it together for the team, we're going all out for the relay, it's definitely our number one priority."

"Who do you think will be your greatest threat in the final?"

"Well, Big Pimento were down our necks in the beginning, and I thought the Lovisans were holding back. We'll just step up our game, we know they're going to, and we'll just have to step it up more."

"Alright, thank you girls, and good luck."

"Terry English there with the women's relay team, who are in the finals of the 4x100m freestyle relay and going for the gold. Now a look back at some of the highlights from today's action."

Day 1 is complte

Rowing has been uploaded completing the Day 1 events... Day 2 will commence after I've RPed the first day.

Streetian Team Squads:

Football squad - men:

Goalkeepers:
1 Steve Ricketts, aged 19, av rating 5.58, Lindegard FK
13 Grorgrunter, aged 20, av rating 5.99, KI Lanthanate

Defenders:
2 Ivar Golddevourer, aged 19, av rating 5.87, wing back, K'haz'bak K'druz'ba
3 Dwarfclobberer, aged 21, av rating 5.59, central defender/left back, BC Dichromate
4 Sarah Cawdron, aged 18, av rating 6.11, left back/left winger, Rizh'peith K'druz'ba
5 Darren le-sur-Mer, aged 19, av rating 5.88, sweeper/defensive midfielder, Roegrow Athletic (origin: 1/2 Streetian, 1/2 Eauzian)
12 Gareth Schofield, aged 21, av rating 5.44, right back, Upperborough FC
16 Hroar Pickaxe, aged 20, av rating 5.58, right back/central defender Likh'gokh K'druz'ba
20 Nicholas Gunter, aged 26, av rating 5.98, left back/central defender, Likh'gokh K'druz'ba

Midfielders:
6 Frederic Stewart, aged 22, attacking midfielder, av rating 5.78, Vimesbairn United
7 Peter Cardinge, aged 18, winger, av rating 5.18, Likh'gokh K'druz'ba
8 Olaf Glodsson, aged 20, central midfielder, av rating 5.67, Izh'no'got K'druz'ba
11 Gavin Weddles, aged 21, defensive midfielder/left back, av rating 5.78, Harewood FC
14 Sam Moss, aged 19, central midfielder, av rating 5.58, Utterwich SC
17 Bjorn Einarsson, aged 20, left winger, av rating 5.48, Har'dah'bath K'druz'ba
18 Thorgeirr Axewielder, aged 29, attacking midfielder, av rating 6.11, Alan City FC (The Belmore Family)

Attackers:
9 Neil Gray, aged 20, striker, av rating 5.58, Vimesbairn Athletic
10 Moissanite, aged 18, striker/forward, av rating 5.89, Jotneheim Mountains AFC
15 James Stephenson, aged 21, striker, av rating 5.41, Roegrow Athletic
19 Rikki Stone, aged 33, striker, av rating 7.09, Alan City FC (The Belmore Family)

Starting line-up: Grorgrunter - le-Sur-Mer - Cawdron, Dwarfclobberer, Gunter - Einarsson, Glodsson, Cardinge - Axewielder - Moissanite, Stone.

Football squad - women (note: AFAIK there's no age limit on women's football):

Keepers:
1. Anna Thurbett, aged 26, Vimesbairn United*
18.Sarah Atherton, aged 22, Lindegard FK

Defenders:
2. Rhye Jenkins, aged 28, left/right back, Twiddlehampton Town*
3. Beate Iversen, aged 27, sweeper/central defender, Upperborough Athletic*
4. Nina Kinderberg, aged 29, central defender, Vimesbairn Athletic*
5. Monica Kerr, aged 24, right/central defender, Roegrow Athletic*
12.Erica Hellström, aged 25, full back, Lindegard FK
14.Sinead Fitzpatrick, aged 27, full back/right winger, Jorvik FC

Midfielders:
6. Therese Grindvik, aged 31, central/attacking midfielder, vimesbairn United*
7. Linda Hedge, aged 26, left winger, Upperborough Athletic*
8. Maria Benham, aged 24, right winger, Roegrow Athletic*
11.Stine Haugset, aged 21, defensive/central midfielder, AC Swyton*
15.Carolina Sunesson, aged 27, winger, Rye AFC
17.Andrea Kidd, aged 23, central midfielder, Eercastle FC

Attackers:
9. Jeanne Ealham, aged 24, striker, Jorvik FC
10.Tara Hollioake, aged 22, striker/forward, Vimesbairn Cricket FC
13.Martine Sørensen, aged 28, striker, Eercastle FC
16.Kristine Stendal, aged 23, forward, IK Djerv

Handball squad, men:

Keepers:
1. Andreas Johansen, aged 22, keeper*
12.Thor Axewielder, aged 25, keeper

9-metre players:
2. Alan Tobb, aged 29, left back*
4. Brian Stevens, aged 26, playmaker
5. Stian Leivset, aged 24, right/left back*
8. Einari Spearthrower, aged 30, right back/playmaker*
10.Tony Carpenter, aged 23, playmaker
11.Hans Kråkstad, aged 22, left back/left wing

6-metre players:
5. Harald Bearhugger, aged 23, left wing/lineplayer
6. Paul Poskitt, aged 25, lineplayer
7. Carl Gayle, aged 29, right wing/right back* (changes regularly with Carborundum after each attack)
9. Edward Hooper, aged 28, lineplayer*
13.Carborundum, aged 24, right wing, mostly defender
14.Bjørnar Finneid, aged 26, left wing*

Handball squad, women

Keepers:
1. Anette Rørvik, aged 30, keeper
12.Inger Lise Evensen, aged 21, keeper*

9-metre players:
2. Margaret Bell, aged 24, playmaker
3. Angelica Puttick, aged 18, left back
5. Natasha Lewis, aged 22, right back/right wing*
9. Ida Storsjø, aged 20, right back/playmaker*
10.Alice Howard, aged 23, right back
13.Elise Martinsen, aged 25, left back*

6-metre players:
4. Kathryn Wood, aged 29, right wing*
6. Eve Warwich, aged 26, lineplayer
7. Berit Oksdal, aged 27, left wing*
8. Ine Marie Bye, aged 23, left/right wing
11.Susanne Yttervik, aged 19, lineplayer*
14.Ada Lovelace, aged 31, right wing

* marks starting players, although a lot of substitutions will probably be made in handball.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

Day 1 Round-up

News stories:
Beaulac Times - Boisvert: I Can Only Blame Myself (http://kelssek.tripod.com/news/2004-10-18.html)
National Telegraph - Day 1 Notebook (http://kelssek.tripod.com/news/olympic-1.html)

"And so that concludes day one, no medals for Kelssek but plenty of action going on in Kaze Progressa, here is the NSN Olympic Round-up.

Disappointment in the pool for Jean Boisvert, who faltered at the end of the men's individual medley and dropped out of the final in the 400m freestyle. Meanwhile the women's relay team were the number one qualifiers, doing much to inspire hopes for a gold.

Also, Soccer Kelssek has announced its new strip which will be worn beginning with the Olympics. It was unveiled at a press conference today with captain Derrick Mercer modelling for the press."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/soccer-jersey.gif

Three golds for Starblaydia in rowing, they picked up the golds for the men's coxless pair, women's coxless pair, and the men's single sculls. Lovisa picked up the gold for men's double sculls, Bedistan won the women's single sculls event, and Esth took gold in women's double sculls. First medals for Liverpool England, they won the bronze in the women's coxless pair. Vastiva, The Belmore Family and Audioslavia also won their first medals in rowing.

Dennis Parker placed well off the medal pace in the trap shooting competition, finishing with a score of 93 for 12th place. Darius Ferko from Commerce Heights won the gold in that event.

A new Olympic record was set in weightlifting, Grazyna Piecha of Lovisa lifts 210kg in the Womens' <48kg en route to a gold medal. After the first day of competition it's Bedistan and Lovisa sharing the top spot in the medal tally. Here's the tally and we'll be back after the break for full coverage all this hour on NSN."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/day1.gif

Barry Tomlinson: Welcome to Olympic Roundup with me Barry Tomlinson;

Jack White: And me, Jack White as we entertain this mornings competitions. We’re starting poolside where we had several competitors in heats. We hand you over to Nancy, Paul and Mike for commentary

<scene flicks to Nancy poolside holding a microphone in her left hand

Nancy: Welcome to the first events of Kaza 2008, the swimming let’s look how our Belmorians are shaping up for today’s races.
Muffy Perl starts the Belmorian games off, going in the second race, the 400m Individual Medley. There’s a good chance of a medal for Lucas Henry. Following Lucas, the girls relay team might have a chance of a medal as they go in the 4x100m relay qualification as they round out a morning of Belmorian swimming. However, I hand over to Mike and Paul as the 400m Woman’s Individual Medley is about to begin.

<Scene changes to a view of the pool with the athletes about to come out>

Paul: Yes, Muffy Perl will be going in this race with a hope of a medal. However she will have to overcome Keisha Locher of The Lowland Clans to do well in this race. However it’s all a matter of times so as they stand on their diving boards, let’s see who’s in each lane.

Mike: In Lane 1 we have Alisa Millis. Definitely not nearly as good as Locher, but may have a chance in this race. Next we have the Belmorian Muffy Perl, perhaps not our best chance of medal, but she still stands a chance. In lane 3 is Deborah Cotterill from Cockbill Street. Though she is not out of the running for qualification, not many people expect her to medal in this event. In Lane 4 is Sue Swimmer from Sportland who certainly has an outside chance of medaling here. In Lane 5 we have Eiichi Ono from Esth. Let’s see how she gets on in this race. Next in Lane 6 is Pauline Ovfevre from Kesslek. Despite being from a relatively unknown nation, she could create an upset for the girl next to her. Which is Lane 7’s Keisha Locher, as her name is read out The Lowlanders are going crazy to the left of me, certainly expected to do well in this event. However, the cheer won’t be as loud as the one we will here next as Kaze Progressa’s Kata Tiatahi name is read out in Lane 8.

Paul: Now to the starters orders.

Starter: To your marks….. set….. GO!

Paul: And they’re off. Locher takes the lead as their heads pop up. Pearl just behind her. They’re dashing towards the first 50m mark with Pearl, Tiatahi, Locher and Millis all side by side. At the turn they’re at just under World Record pace! Surely this is way to fast for the heat and I think some will start to feel it as Locher begins to pull away! Millis has dropped back slightly with Pearl just in second. 3rd we see Tiatahi the Progressans are going mad, they go into the 100m turn, only slightly slower than the last 50. Locher is really pulling away now; Millis isn’t quite able to keep up the pace on her least favourite stroke. Now Swimmer is starting to get into this race. She’s almost level with Tiahti and gaining on Perl Almost at the 150 turn Pearl isn’t looking as strong, nor Locher, Swimmer dashes forward past the Progressan into the 4th 50m. Swimmer is neck-and-neck with Pearl she’s going flat to get a qualification time. She’s overtaken Pearl as they approach the halfway mark They turn, No! Poor turn by Pearl is her Olympic dream over because of that turn? Tiahti has over-taken Pearl, this is dreadful, can she catch up after that awful turn? Cotterill is now catching on her. But Pearl’s now driving forward, she’s pulling away from the Streetian… can she make up this lost ground? She’s now almost in 2nd, Locher is miles ahead, she’s already turned for the last 100m! The Belmorians are shouting like crazy for Pearl! Ovfevre back in the picture though, she’s up to 4th, this is a great race. A second place time is usually good enough to qualify. Muffy goes into the 300m turn with Ovfevre right on her. Ovfevre goes into third by about a head. She’s catching on Tiahti into the 350m turn. Can Muffy catch up? No! She’s slowing. She’s falling behind the other 3 and is in danger of being caught be Swimmer. She is caught by Swimmer with 25m to go. She slowing up completely as Swimmer goes on a last minute charge… but to no avail Locher gets 1st, Tiahti gets 2nd, Ovfevre 3rd and Swimmer 4th with Pearl in 5th.

Mike: The Official Timing are out:

Lane Name Time Nation Place
Lane 1 Alisa Millis 294.03 The Lowland Clans 8
Lane 2 Muffy Pearl 281.28 The Belmore Family 5
Lane 3 Deborah Cotterill 285.07 Cockbill Street 6
Lane 4 Sue Swimmer 279.79 Sportland 4
Lane 5 Eiichi Ono 285.53 Esth 7
Lane 6 Pauline Ovfevre 278.73 Kelssek 3
Lane 7 Keisha Locher 273.4 The Lowland Clans 1
Lane 8 Kata Tiatahi 277.29 Kaze Progressa 2

So sadly Muffy is unlikely to go through at this time, but Nancy is down with her Poolside:

<Nancy is stood in the interviewing area with Muffy beside her>
Nancy: Muffy, you did a good race out there what were your feelings?

Muffy: We all went out way to fast and I should have held back like Pauline and I could have recorded a much better time but I’ll stay posted and hope that the other heats produce much slower times.

Nancy: As the first Belmorian competing, did you feel a lot of pressure?

Muffy: Not really, you’re very secluded from the rest of the world in the village and you can’t feel much pressure, you just want to go out there and compete like you never had before.

Nancy: Thanks Muffy, back to Barry in the studio.

OOC: I cannot access the results page.

OOC: Updated my roundup for you :)

Gold Rush!
Starblaydia Dominant in the Boats
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg

SCB:Sports Online Special Report

Of the four medals available on the water today, Starblaydia took three of them and may have taken a fourth if it wasn't for Mark Carvajal's shoulder injury mid-race.

This rockets Starblaydia up the medals table and into the big leagues, such was their dominance at the Aquatic Centre.

Golds came in the Men's Coxless Pair, Single Sculls and Women's Coxless Pair, with the Men's Double Sculls coming fourth, edged out of the medals by the Lowland Clans' pair of Sidower and Townsend

Full Report To Come Later.


*Switches on SCB:Sports on TV to catch the programme*


"...what a treat for yo uwe have in store. If you didn't stay up late to watch the Rowing events, don't worry, I won't spoil the results for you. We now go to the five races with Starblaydi competitors, starting with the Men's Single Sculls Semi Final."

'Here we go, then, the first Starblaydi on the water at this games. Mitch Conley in the Single Sculls, Lane Three of the five.'

<fast forward a few minutes>

'Gravesend of Cockbill Street, pulling away from Conley, its them almost certain to qualify for the final. Gravesend gets it, Conley second, and they're almost certian to go through to the final.'

<the final is shown>

'Gravesend in One, Conley in Two, Taanus, the fastest qualifier, in Four. And they're off.'

<fast forward another few minutes, as rowing is esstenially not exciting until the final stages>

'Mitch Conley! Just look at the lead he's built up in this Single Sculls final! Incredible! Conley Wins it, first Gold For Starblaydia! He's taken the Esth athlete by nearly seven seconds! What a performance!'

<back to the studio>

"Told you its a treat. Well, the treat gets better as we move to the Women's Coxless Pair, in the final stages of the first Semi-Final..."

'Vicky Frizzell, Joy Sawicki, they're destroying the opposition in this first Semi. Starblaydia take it, with, oh my god, an incredible time. Five seconds ahead of the Streetians, with the Big Pimentos bringing up third.'

<near the end of the final>

'Starblaydia, pulling away! They've lefet the challenge of Cockbill Street dead in the water, who're being caught by the Liverpool Englanders! Starblaydia wins it in Six minutes Fifty-three-point-eight-four, and here comes the challenge from LE. Oh! its so close i don't want to call it. Starblaydia, a second gold in two Finals!'

<back to the studio>

"Now, here's the one we really want, the Men's Coxless Pairs. Lambros Choutos and Anestis Tsitsonis, Gold Medal-winners at the Atlantian Oceania Games. How about an Olympic Gold to add to that? Let's take a look..."

'Chouts and Tsitsonis, tussling with the Audioslavians for the lead in this first seven-lane Semi. The two boats are leagues ahead of anyone else... Audioslavia take it, Starblaydia second, with Krytenia trying to hold on to third.'

<back to the closing stages of the Final>

'Starblaydia, beating off the challenge of Audioslavia. It's been neck and neck all the way, one last drive from Lambros and Anestis will do it, they're just metres ahead of the 'Slaves, Nieland and McHunt, into the final few, can they hold on? They can! What a performance! Another Victory for Starblaydia on the water! Brilliant!'

<back to the studio>

"Then came the Men's Double Sculls Final, look out for Carvajal and Ferrara in Lane 1..."

'Michal Jedlinski and Adam Wojciechowski are pulling away from the field here, for Lovisa. Starblaydia, fighting for second with Bedistan and The Lowland Clans. One of these will have to go home without a medal, will it be Starblaydia?'

'But wait! Wha... its Starblaydia, slowing, with just a few score metres to go. Its Carvajal, he's hurting. His left arm, it looks like. Ferrara is pulling for two here, as Starblaydia lose ground with every stroke, down to third, down to fourth. Carvajal is back rowing again, gritting his teeth and digging deep with every stroke.'

'Its Lovisa, Bedistan and The Lowland Clans, oh, and look at Mark Carvajal, he's in tears. Dougie Ferrara is trying to console him, but he's waving over the medical boat, he's really hurt himself there. Such a heroic performance to try and get back in the medals, but Starblaydia finish fourth.'


*Goes back to the internet and a certain IRC channel*


Looking up your hostname...
Connecting...
/nick SDBTheKING
/ns identify ********
/join #sport
*** SDBtheKING joined #sport
*** Chanserv sets mode +o for SDBtheKING
<StarblaydiTux> wb SDB
<Stepmania> Its 'Slani' The King!
<TheWindyOlympics> hey
<CaptialiZt> hi SDB
<SDBtheKING> Allo allo
<SDBtheKING> 3 Gold Medals, baby!
<CapitaliZt> huh?
<SDBtheKING> Starblaydia won 3 golds in the rowing today
<StarblaydiTux> w00t
<Stepmania> Drugs!
<CapitaliZt> Bribes!
<TheWindyOlympics> FiXeD!
*** StarblaydiTux plays Carnival de Paris.ogg
<Stepmania> you cant dance to that :p
*** StarblaydiTux dances like a tux
<CapitaliZt> you cant dance <-- fixed your typo
*** JungleCats joined #sport
<StarblaydiTux> Hi J
<SDBtheKING> allo Jungle
*** JungleCats left #sport: Ping Timeout
<StarblaydiTux> NetAbysmalistan!
*** Stepmania wonders why STB didnt win 4 medals
*** SDBtheKING points to Mark Carvajal's arm nearly falling off
<Stepmania> :p
*** LeCommie joined #sport
<CapitaliZt> You red scum!
<LeCommie> CapitaliZt pig!
<CapitaliZt> red scum!
<LeCommie> pig!
<CapitaliZt> scum!
<LeCommie> le oink!
*** SDBtheKING slaps CaptialiZt and LeCommie with a book of moderacy
*** StarblaydiTux does something involving Window$ ME
<SDBtheKING> I gotta find a better way to spend my time...
*** SDBtheKING left #sport Starblaydia Rulez teh Waves

[OOC]: Lovisa's <48Kg woman equalled the world record of 210. I should know, I scorinated it :p

Audioslavia nets first medal
Rowing team takes silver
Battle makes another swimming final

Audioslavia got their first medal of the Kaza Olympics through the coxless pair of James Neiland and Gregor McHunt.

As with Danny Battle and Peter Thorwick in the swimming, Audioslavia's team blitzed the heats only to come up slightly short in the final. The heats saw them beat the hotly tipped Starblaydia team by a second in the fastest race of the afternoon, but the final saw a reverse result as Starblaydia took the gold by the same margin. From the start it was always the Starblaydis and the Audioslavians, staying ahead of third-placed The Lowland Clans by a good length, and a long way ahead of the rest of the pack. On the half-way mark it was neck-and-neck, through the 3/4 mark Audioslavia had got their nose ahead, but a terrific surge by the Starblaydi team of Chouts and Tsitsonis won them the race in the final stages, relegating Audioslavia to a well-deserved but slightly dissappointing silver medal.

In the other rowing events, Audioslavia qualified for the final of the Coxless Four with the fifth-fastest time, whilst in the double-sculls the team of Harold Phines and Wallace McArthur were less successful, finishing in last place a good 25 seconds behind the leaders.

In the swimming, Danny Battle again managed to qualify in first place, with old rival Jean Boisvert failing to qualify down in sixth place. Unfortunately, Battle's final was again dissappointing, finishing in fifth place in a slower time than in his heat, mainly due to the pressure of having Esth's brilliant Anargyros Leonidas and old foe David Graft of Gehena Tartarus on the lanes either side of him.

A disheartened Danny Battle joined 25-year old Audioslavian hopeful Adrian Hughes in the 100m Breaststroke event a while later. Battle again finished first in his heat, but a dissappointing performance in the semis set him down in fifth place, although still with a qualifying time. The final saw Battle get a good start from down in lane 2, but suffering from fatigue, fell away during the final 25m to finish seventh, with The Lowland Clans taking gold and silver. Adrian Hughes missed out on qualification from the heats by a second.

OOC: Can I suggest that results from day 2 go on a new page? It's getting very long and it's getting hard to find stuff.

OOC: Can I suggest that results from day 2 go on a new page? It's getting very long and it's getting hard to find stuff.

Please use the other thread for OOC talk, and yes, we're either going to be on a new page on that site or use the other thread to post results

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

"You know, it's still just day two, I wouldn't jump to any conclusions yet. We've still got the women's relay team, I would say, let's see how they do before we start pointing fingers or even calling it a bad performance."

"Where else can we look for medals?"

"I think the basketball team could do well, and the baseball team. Waterpolo is also a possibility. And we still have the track events to come. You don't jump in an say it's a bad Olympic performance on the basis of one day."

"Alright, thank you James. James Patrick, ladies and gentlemen, sports analyst for the National Telegraph, and we'll be hearing more from him later today right here on NSN.

As we begin day two, still no medals for Kelssek, prompting some to begin labelling these Olympics a failure for our athletes, but-"

"Don't jump to conclusions!" Patrick broke in.

"Getting James Patrick all worked up as you can see." said the anchor, chuckling.

"Anyway, the men's 100m breaststroke has just completed with a one-two for The Lowland Clans, Chad Desjarlais was last in his heat and didn't make the semi-finals."

The camera shifted to James Patrick. "I think the pressure's really on the women's relay team; we really need them to kind of salvage some pride here. But I say, there's lots of events still to come, there's no pride to salvage. Yet. I mean, most of our athletes haven't even competed yet!"

"You said 'yet.'"

"Well, obviously the pool is where we were hoping for some serious metal, but we're not getting that, so if we see some more of these lacklustre performances, then we should start getting really worried but not now, it's just the start of day two for God's sake!"

"Well it's back to the pool right now, with some more events just about to get underway..."

Shaky Start to Regatta
Big Pimento held without a medal in one of their best events

Many pundits were predicting Big Pimento’s first medal to come at Bilkitoniz Lake in the first day of the rowing competition. However, a disappointingly slow start has left the Pimento delegation still without a medal.

First to take the water was the foursome of Terry Tyson, Adamo Sanchez, Ronaldo Aguiar and Kirill Souliamanov in Heat 1 of the men’s coxless fours. Three of the four members of this boat were part of the squad who won the silver in the World Championships two years prior. However, their form was somewhat sluggish, finishing seven seconds behind the Starblaydian winners, while managing only fourth place in a very fast heat. The coxless fours were fortunate, since relatively slow times in the other heats allowed the Big Pimento team to squeak into the semi-finals in the 8th and final spot.

Terry Tyson and Adamo Sanchez were back on the water soon after to participate in the men’s coxless pairs. They got off to a good start, crossing the 500m buoys in third place behind the very strong Audioslavian and Starblaydian pairs. However, the exhaustion from competing in an event early that day got to their stamina and they faded bad, finishing last place in the heat. The men’s pair isn’t one of Big Pimento’s better event, but the dead last finish is a disheartening one nonetheless.

Jason Riviera was the next Pimento to blitz Bilkitoniz Lake in the men’s single sculls event. In another fast heat, Riviera, who does most of his racing in the long distance events usually, found himself way behind at the 1000m mark by a full twelve seconds. But Riviera started to make his move in the third quadrant, picking up the slack and passing the fading Bedistani athlete. Riviera continued his strong stroking right to the finish line, cutting his deficit to the leader by less than seven seconds at the end, but still finishing in fourth in the heat. When all the results were tabulated, Riviera fell a half second from qualification in the finals. After the race, Riviera said he “grossly miscalculated his strategy for the race”.

The ladies’ coxless pair of Jane Houston and Emilie McTavish was next to take the lake, desperately looking to bring some success to the national team. They put in a decent performance in the first leg, finishing a distant third behind the strong Starbladian and Cockbill Street rowers. After heat two, it became known that Big Pimento had qualified for the finals, managing to qualify for the final lane by a mere three tenths of a second. This “near death” experience served to wake up the Pimento pair, as they came out of the blocks with a much better start in the finals. Starblaydia rocketed ahead, leaving a three crew battle behind for two medals between Cockbill Street, Liverpool England and Big Pimento. At the 1000m mark, four tenths separated the three teams. It remained very close until the final 250m, when the Pimento pair began to fade, leaving the other two crews to slug it out for the silver. Cockbill Street ended up claiming it, inching ahead by eight hundredths of a second in the final metres. Big Pimento claimed fourth.

The women’s double sculls were the next event and the duo of Kim Nevin and Andrea Nastazio were trying to build on the momentum the Pimentos were building on Bilkitoniz Lake. However, Big Pimento is known as more of a rowing nation that a sculling nation and it showed through on this event. Outclassed from the starters gun, Nevin and Nastazio managed no better than a sixth place finish in the heat, dead last.

Giselle Perrier was the next up for the Pimentos, participating in the Women’s Single Sculls event. Perrier was ranked seventh in the World, just barely qualifying for the games, but turned in a sparkling performance. Perrier was holding around 6th spot up until the 1000m mark, when she then decided to put it in high gear. She pulled away from the other three boats, passed the Liverpool England entry at the 1500m mark and then set out after the Lovisan racer. With 100m to go, Giselle and the Lovisan girl were neck and neck, going stroke for stroke during the final stretch as the Progressan crowd urged them on. Perrier, appearing exhausted after her monumental climb through the field, dug deep and soldiered on, passing the Lovisan racer in the final instances for a three tenths lead over her. Great fourth places finish for Giselle.

-Other Headlines-
Elsewhere, Sandro Teves made the semi-finals in the 100m breaststroke. A great swim for Sandro in the heats, a time of 64.11 saw him make the semi-finals. That time eclipsed his previous personal best by half a second. However, he’d given it all he had in the heats, coming out sluggish in the semis, posting a 65.05 in the semi-final to give him 14th spot.

The men’s gymnastics team from Big Pimento qualified for the team finals yesterday with a sixth place finish. The team’s performance was rather average, with most of the athletes saving their big money tricks for the finals. “Qualifying is just a matter of putting your foot through the door,” said head coach Draco Krystanopolis, “We get a clean slate in the finals, so I don’t care whether we’re first or eighth in this round, as long as we qualify.”

Medals rush for Streeters - though Starblaydians are greediest
Three Silvers, One Bronze in Kaza

What looked to be a day of torment in the morning turned out to be the Streeters most successful sporting day ever - possibly bar some Cup of Harmony victories. With three rowing teams and four sharpshooters in action late in the day, the Street grabbed four medals of various valor, and upped their total medal count to six.

The coxless four, with Hatfield, Buts, Swidden and McIlroy, was first up in the morning. They had a semi-final which went well enough, clocking 5.42,49 as their time and only beaten by the Starblaydis. That was to be the order of the day. Hatfield and Buts were obviously tired in the coxless pair, and collapsed to a dismal sixth place in the heats - two and a half seconds off the final, which was won by Starblaydia. But then, in the single sculls heats, a glimmer of hope began to materialise. Steven Gravesend, from lane 1, had an internal fight with the Starblaydi athlete, and for a change, the Streeter won, clocking 6.23,02 as the second fastest time in the heats, behind the impressive Lovisan. A medal chance there, perhaps?

Another medal chance was in the women's coxless pair. Despite a relatively poor time of 7.03,52, beaten by Starblaydia by well over five seconds, Helen Gazzard and Andrea Holberg were not beaten by anyone else, and finished second. Still, they were drawn in lane 1, and that looked ominous before the final. And in a tight - extremely tight - fight in the women's double sculls, Maskvik and Lagerkvist were 1.7 seconds off the best time from Esth, pulling away along with Krytenia and The Belmore Family early and staying in the lead for the rest of the race. However, their time was only fifth best - Deansvilla, who finished sixth, were eight seconds behind, and that boded for a closely fought final. Again drawn in lane 1, though, which meant that their chances of gold were slim.

At six o'clock in the evening, the finals began. The first Streetian, however, was not until seven thirty, when Steven Gravesend was up for his second ride of the day against his Starblaydi rival. And in the final, Gravesend was disappointingly poor. He said afterwards that "he had burnt too much in the heats and the opening thousand". That was definitely true. He was well within contention in the opening thousand metres, but tired off towards the end, was beaten by the Esthian in the final hundred, and nearly lost his medal, but a gargantuan effort in the final twenty secured a bronze medal for the Street - the third of the day.

Before the next final, news arrived from the men's trap that although Alf Stevenson had only hit 110 out of 125 targets, that had been enough for silver in the shooting competition - 8 targets behind the impressive Darius Ferko, but four ahead of bronze medalist from Esth Hermannus van Goer. The other sharpshooters, Mhairi Harkin in the air rifle and Michael Clarke and Gareth Ford in air pistol, finished eleventh, eleventh and twelfth respectively - perhaps not surprisingly.

A last swimming result also came in - Michael Harris swam brilliantly in the first round of the breaststroke, clocking 1.02,50 and the seventh fastest time, but completely fell through as Gordon Silvey and Aidan McCall held the speed down in the second heat. He finished a disappointingly poor twelfth overall - showing that the swimmers, yet again, lack potential. Silvey bettered his semifinal time by four seconds in the final to set an olympic record of 59.52, and Lewis Janusz completed a Clanner double.

Back to the rowing, though, because there was more good news there. The Starblaydis were too good again, naturally, but Jenny Maskvik and Lena Lagerkvist had a fantastic fight with the Liverpool English for second place. They were neck on neck for most of the race, but with 500 metres to go, Maskvik and Lagerkvist decided to go for it. They were visibly going faster than the Liverpool English, pulling away with every single oarstroke, but with only one hundred metres left, Lagerkvist almost fainted from the pressure, the heat, and the cheeky effort. The timing fell apart, the rowing was faint, but somehow, they scraped across the line eight hundredths ahead of Liverpool England, and claimed the silver medal - the Street's second after Stevenson's trapped surprise. Starblaydia won again.

Finally, the women's double sculls, which was expected to be a classy cracker of a final. However, with the Esthians pulling out something they had not shown in the semis - where they only won by a second after a boat-on-boat fight with Kaze Progressa - this final was split up from the start. They were determined to go out hard and see whether it worked, and although everyone tried to follow, Maskvik and Lagerkvist were the only two who could possibly challenge the Esth boat. The hosts and Krytenia fell off first, after only a couple of hundred metres, and looked completely lost. Kaze Progressa were eventually beaten by 20 seconds, and Krytenia, whose best rower had pulled a hamstring, were over 35 seconds off the pace! Esth, Cockbill Street and The Belmore Family were the three going for medals, and when the Belmores couldn't manage the pace after about 1200 metres, the Streetians eyed the first rowing gold. It was not to be, however. Esth were just too strong and mauled all opposition, finishing four seconds ahead of Maskvik and Lagerkvist, who still celebrated as though they had won gold. The Street now stand with one gold, three silver and two bronze medals, and although they might have hoped for a little more in the swimming, it was not a bad day overall. In the rowing, we've still got the quadruple sculls to come - Maskvik, Petit, Lagerkvist and viksveen - and given the form Jenny and Lena showed today, another medal might be on the cards. We keenly await the second day of proceedings from Kaza, Kaze Progressa.

(OOC: thank god for Ctrl-Z...I nearly deleted one and a half hour's work)

THE CELESTIA TIMES

~------------------Sports News------------------~

KAZA 2008 OLYMPICS

THE ROWING "LIONS":
-Kaza,Kaze Progressa

Esth continues to surprise in this Olympics.
And now it's the Rowing team to show off,in the Men's Coxless four Panos Khadjikyriakos / Mirco Larri / Tashiro Ichijo / Lysander Eliades obtain the second best qualifying time.
In the Men's single sculls Nikolos Tsakolov wins the silver medal with 407.93
"The Starbladyan athlete started to literally fly since the beginning of the race;it was impossible to catch him but anyway I'm really proud and happy of my silver medal victory" says Tsakolov after the race.
In the Women's double sculls Cochiti Machachura and Dulcinea Santos win the first gold medal in the history of Esthian Rowing: "I feel great,in the end it wasn't a difficult race for us,after the a slow start we gained speed and finished first;winning a gold medal,hearing your national hymn and all the rest is very touching,I barely could stop myself in falling into tears" says Santos after the race; "This medal was a dream. Last night I dreamed I won a medal but I couldn't see its colour,I'm so happy that it's gold".
Natsumi Tsuji in the Women's single sculls won the silver medal with 432.79 she describes her satisfying result "I feel extremely satisfied right now. I haven't quite got it yet though. I am sure I'll realize it in the next few days. I'll enjoy it."
In the Women's Lightweight Double Skulls Angela Piera Sasutti and Fumiko Koni reach the third place in the final;a gold in the Men's Lightweight Double Skulls with Marco Filini and Dario Fò and another gold in the Men's Lightweight Fours and in the Women's Eight (Machiko Nishimura / Alessandra Madassi / Megumi Konishi / Camelia Popa / Draguta Dasil / Siska Meijvogel / Edda Bahn / Sun Xiang) and finally a silver medal in the Men's eight (Tajo Lopez / Aleandro Mendez / Chale Duran / Ximen Andres / Koji Morioka / Marco Voiella / Masashi Fukushima / Ruut De Van Hoos).
All these victories are beginning to confirm that Esth is simply more than a simple nation who wins 3 or 4 medals with pure luck,it is becoming an Olympic Superpower,winning even in events who weren't considered as favourites.
"All our funds and efforts have not been wasted,today's victories in Rowing must be an example to us all,to everyone who wants to start a sport and represent their country in the world;they have demostrated that with effort nothing is possible" says Esthian Minister of Sports in White Rose square,one of Pana Dis's famous squares,while celebrating the impressive victories of their fellow athletes.
Other medals have been won in other sports,such as Shooting were Fytie Munken won the gold medal in the Womens 10m Air Pistol after an exciting one-on-one with Sarah Pearce of Cockbill Street.
"I shot well ready to win another medal. I had a bad shot (8.8) with my fourth, because I wasn't concentrating properly. I came to Kaza knowing that I would shoot very well, and I made it.
I only felt I was winning after I finished the last shot because, before I wasn't sure if I was in first or second place. I must also stress that Pearce, who finished in second place, was very good."
And regarding the reason why she chose this discipline:
"I chose this sport purely by chance. It grew within me, I really loved it and it's a wonderful discipline to have. It helps you discover what is in you and how you can control your emotions. The more intense the competition gets the more control you must have over your nerves".
And finally we close day 2 successes with the bronze medal of Heracleitus Haristides in the Men's 56kg Weighlifting.

Other results from the other disciplines:
GYMNASTICS: Esth reaches first place int he men's team qualifying
TABLE TENNIS: Kajiyama beats Biao [SLD] 4-3
VOLLEYBALL: Esth's Women team beats [BP] 25-1, 0-25, 25-3, 16-25, 25-0

The Bedistan Sports Digest
Kaza Olympics Late Edition - Day One

Late Day One results from Kaza:

Rowing
Team Bedistan finished third in their Men's Coxless Four semifinal heat and are hopeful of a medal chance in the final. In the Coxless Pair, the team made the final, but ended up finishing fifth. The Men's Double Sculls worked out better, though, as Ulysses Marshall and Tyree Donah cruised their way to a silver medal, finishing a bit over three seconds behind the Lovisan team. The men's single sculls and women's coxless pair and double sculls teams were unable to get past the semifinals, but LaRonda Lucchini received the ultimate Olympic glory with her gold medal in the women's single sculls.

Shooting
Jess Baus performed admirably in the men's 10m air pistol, managing a score of 581, but it was only enough for seventh place. Rhett Chikko finished 20th out of 23. Carmelo Husky and Norbert Ciarlo were a long way off from the medals in the men's trap, finishing 10th and 15th. Miesha Wittenburg, however, was nearly flawless in the women's 10m air rifle competition, and snagged a competely unexpected gold medal in shooting for Bedistan.

Swimming
After a disappointing 400m freestyle performance, Scott Spitzer was ready to give it another go last night in the 100m breaststroke. He seemed much calmer this time around, and it paid off as he would work his way to a bronze medal with a time of 59.73 seconds in the final heat.

Volleyball
The Bedistani women's team got off to a fine start by dispatching Maldunia in the first round three games to none. The first game was totally dominated by the Bedistani ladies 25-3, though Maldunia performed a little better the second time with a 25-8 loss, and Maldunia actually provided a challenge in the third game, but not quite enough of one as they fell 25-22.

Medals
Bedistan is now atop the medal standings as of the end of Day One with 4 gold, 2 silver, and 3 bronze. Lovisa also has four gold medals, and Esth and Starblaydia have three a piece. For full medal standings, turn to page A14.

Two More Rowing Medals
Two from two but Starblaydia still not Top of Rowing Table
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg
SCB:Sports Online Special Report:

Donna Coffelt and Lynne Miner hauled in Starblaydia's fourth Gold Medal of these Games, making the Fourth in the Rowing, too. The Lightweight Double Sculls event tested them to their limits as they pipped the Big Pimento team to the Gold by less than half a second. Much celebration, but Starblaydia still aren't top of the Rowing, losing out to Esth on Silver and Gold medals, as they won a massive three Golds today. Esth's first came at the expense of Starblaydia in the Men's Lightweight Double Sculls Filini and Fò seeing off the Silver Medal-winning challenge of Starblaydi's Frank Paris and Dennis Hamblin.

With just a few more events to go, Starblaydia don't have many more opportunities for Medals, though the blue-ribbon Men's Coxless Fours could be a good target, as Starblaydia qualified fastest of all the fifteen Semi-Finalists who attempted.

But why have Starblaydia got such a small, yet such a powerful squad? If the Five medals so far indicate the strength of Rowing in Starblaydia, why do we not have a full team bringing home the bacon in every event? As we all know, Starblaydia is a sports-mad nation, throwing itself into anything regarded as worthwhile. There may be the problem. Like Bilbo Baggins, we are butter, scraped over too much bread. Can we compete on a world-class level in Football, Ice Hockey, Cricket, and Athletics? Of course. Can we become truly dominant in any of them? Perhaps not. Sport does receive a massive ammount of State funding, but have we really the number of athletes to fill out every position will true class?

"Its definitely possible," says Minister for Sport Lord Rikaard Van Honjiik, "Without the inclusion of the formerly-Nemyan athletes after the annexation, Starblaydia would not have such a powerful rowing squad, as the Coxless Pairs and Fours have proven.

"With increased funding and the interest shown by these Games, we may see a complete team for 2012 and a World-Dominating performance."

We certainly hope so. But for now, Starblaydia's Medals-per-Competitors total is probably one of the highest in the Games.

OOC: I still cannot access Dy 1 results. Day 2 is fine for me. RP will come when I find out my Day 1 results.

Excerpt from The Sportland Daily:

The whole nation of Sportland has been in shock after the first round defeat of our table tennis star Hu Biao. Hu was defeated 11-1, 1-11, 11-0, 11-6, 8-11, 9-11, 11-4, 11-7 by Kotaro Kajiyama of Esth.

When interviewed about the result, Hu simply said "He was too good".

Hu is clearly Sportland's number on table tennis player. He has won six international singles and doubles tournaments so far this year. He has a win-loss record that many of the greats of the game would be proud of.

We should not feel too disheartened, because Sportland still has many more opportunities for medals.

Bedistan continues to top the medal tally with three gold, one silver and one bronze.

OOC: I still cannot access Dy 1 results. Day 2 is fine for me. RP will come when I find out my Day 1 results.
Click the link at the top of the results page for Day 1 Results. It takes a long time to load.

'Slavia Battered in Regatta
No medals so far on Day 2

Audioslavian rowers had a torrid time on the lakes of Kaza this morning. The men's eight were woefully underpowered and finished in last place in their final, whilst the lightweight double-sculls were the victim of an epic four-way struggle for the bronze medal after Esth and Starblaydia pulled away from the pack. Audioslavia were challenging for the third place with Bedistan at one point, but both sides dropped away and came a cropper to a late Kaze Progressa surge which saw the Progressans finish third. Bedistan took fourth spot, whilst a tiring Audioslavian team were beaten back into sixth by the strong Lowland Clanners.

Audioslavia kick off their football campaign later today against Bogans & Boozers. Despite the Bogans completely unknown status as a footballing nation, Audioslavia arent taking the game lightly, knowing that without the proper national side the 'slaves are just as susceptible to a defeat as they are of winning the game comfortably. Audioslavia's boxers also kick off in the olympics, and the swimming team, and Danny Battle in particular, will have another crack at taking some medals back.

Nation G S B Total
Bedistan 3 1 1 5
Starblaydia 3 1 0 4
Lovisa 3 0 0 3
Esth 2 4 0 6
The Latin Union 1 0 2 3
Gehenna Tartarus 0 2 1 3
Cockbill Street 0 2 1 3
Maldunia 0 1 0 1
Audioslavia 0 1 0 1
Kaze Progressa 0 0 3 3
The Lowland Clans 0 0 2 2
Liverpool England 0 0 1 1
The Belmore Family 0 0 1 1


Audioslavia currently sit joint-seventh in the medal tables with just the one medal, but that could all change - for better or worse - in the coming days. Bedistan, Esth and Starblaydia have dominated the events on water so far, and Lovisa have also come to the fore with three gold medals.

Actually Esth is on top now... I'm updating my news site with a tally in a few minutes. http://kelssek.tripod.com/news/olympic-2.html

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

"Gold number five for Lovisa, Esth comes up big in rowing, I'm Derrick Wetherby, good morning and welcome to your hourly Olympic report on NSN.

Esth shot to the top of the medal standings with a big 5-medal performance in the rowing events, they took gold in the men's lightweight double sculls, men's lightweight fours, women's eight, and added a silver in the men's eight and a bronzes in the women's lightweight double sculls. Fytie Munken added a gold in the women's 10m air pistol event. Esth now leads with 7 golds, 4 silvers and 5 bronzes for a total of 16.

Wojciech Suchowolski claimed a gold for Lovisa in the men's 56kg event, lifting 292.5kg to beat Bedistan's Jared Hussong. Added to the gold in the women's quadruple sculls, that makes it five golds for Lovisa.

Still no medals after day one, but some hopes for day two, expectations are high for Cassie Smith in gymnastics, and the men's 4x100 freestyle relay team are looking good for at least a medal in the pool. Once again all eyes are on the pool with Adam Guidry looking for a gold in the 100m backstroke. The soccer and basketball teams also begin their quest for glory; it's going to be a great day and you can catch all the action right here on NSN."

KAZA, Kaze Progressa - Liverpool England Finally Claim Medal, Finish 4th At Least 4 More Times

Liverpool England claimed a sailing bronze in Kaza Progressa on Day 1 of the 2008 Olympics, courtesy of the Women's Coxless Pairing of Carloe Jaques and Victoria Paz. The Men's Coxless Fours team of Jonathan Metts/Arthur McArthur/Bobby Shrader/Edward Temple qualified for their final, and the single sculls' Stephen Abrego finished just outside of a medal, making him the second Liverpool Englander to miss a medal by finishing 4th.

Charles Hindman finished 4th in the shooting (10m air pistol), one point off a bronze, Steve Campagna in sixth, and Sherri Shattuck missed out with 4th in the Women's 10m air pistol.

Table Nation G S B T
Esth 7 4 5 16
Bedistan 5 4 1 8
Lovisa 5 0 0 5
Starblaydia 4 2 0 6
Cockbill Street 1 4 4 9
Commerce Heights 1 2 0 3
The Lowland Clans 1 1 5 7
Kaze Progressa 1 1 4 6
The Latin Union 1 0 2 3
Gehenna Tartarus 0 2 1 3
Big Pimento 0 2 0 2
Vastiva 0 1 0 1
Maldunia 0 1 0 1
Ariddia 0 1 0 1
Audioslavia 0 1 0 1
Liverpool England 0 0 1 1
The Belmore Family 0 0 1 1
Krytenia 0 0 1 1
Warta Endor 0 0 1 1

excerpt from the CELESTIA TIMES KAZA 2008 SPECIAL

Men's Water Polo:
Team Analysis:

Esth:
They showed good signs of improvement when competing in various events of this Sport.
In their last appearance in the Esthian Commonwealth Games 2003, everyone saw a difference compared to the team that competed in various International Friendlies around the world.
Five years later, the team seems to be even stronger.
The coach position has been passed onto Oscar Metrinoli, a veteran of Water Polo in Esth, who continues to coach and compete.
He retired as player to take up the technical responsibility of the team and lead it as it embarks on a very difficult mission.
Looking at the other teams, Esth will not have a easy time, since the strong teams like Bedistan, Liverpool England, Kaze Progressa, the Lowland Clans and Lovisa are considered tough adversaries.
Water Polo in Esth is heavily influenced by the Dutch school Water Polo.
They are seen as one of the heaviest teams with sound shooters and defenders.
Watch out for players like Markos Chotinos, Andrea Tarelli and Anton Ghutenberg.

Technical characteristics of the team:
Attack 7 on 7 : In attack, they have a particularly strong hole man and good shooters on the perimeter.
Defense 7 on 7 : A heavy team, which easily commits exclusions. It usually resorts to zone defence.
Man Up: A relatively high success rate. It rarely appears in friendly Tournaments; therefore it is difficult for the coaches of
the opposing teams to study the shooters of the team in great detail. Therefore little is known regarding the shooters of the team.
Man Down : The weak point of the team. The defensive zone of the team is greately based on a static game,thus making shots difficult for the opponents.
Counter Attack : Another weak point of the team. They rarely execute a successful counterattack and prefer to base their attack on precise tactical moves to avoid making mistakes.

Bedistan:
In this Olympic Games, the Bedistan National Men’s team will present the most renewed team of all the participants in the Olympic Games. They also changed their coach know to be one of Bedistan's finest in Water Polo.
However,glory in the Olympic Games is not the Bedistani’s immediate goal, although with their new coach, anything is possible.
First of all, the team will try to not lose any respect and gain a place in the quartefinals. They are fully aware that the challenge lies ahead, since they have to fight alongside the Esthians, Lovisians and Progressians.
According to experts, their biggest weapon is their coach, who always has something up his sleeve for major events. He has already proved his worth back in Bedistan.
Within a short period of time, he completely renewed the team and has long started a methodical journey to the top.

Technical characteristics of the team:
Attack 7 on 7: Creating space in front of the hole man of the team.
This is a basic guideline followed, allowing the latter to receive the ball with ease.
Defence 7 on 7: They have a variety of defensive systems and alternate pressing with zone defence with mathematical precision.
This pressing is sometimes so tight that sometimes they avoid to counter attack.
Man Up: Discipline in obeying the coach's instructions combined with individual shooting talent show signs of high success rate.
Man Down: The Bedistani's adapt their defence around the most probable shooters of the opposing attack.
Counterattack: As one of the fastest teams, the Bedistani's use the counterattack to surprise their opponents.

Kaze Progressa:
In view of the great task awaiting the hosts of the Kaza 2008 Olympic Games, Kaze Progressa renewed its National team.
By Changing coach and recruiting Progressian players from all other the world playing for many renewed club teams.
It is the greatest of all the challenges, not only for the coach, but also for the players who are currently showing that they are quite rightly considered to be in competition for a medal.
The competitive style of the Progressian team has not changed and they still give priority to their defence and safety in attack and trying to improve their Man Up.

Technical characteristics of the team:
Attack 7 on 7: The team boasts a pair of hole men who rank as the best attackers in the world. This helps the Progressian attack since players with strong shots find more opportunities to find the back of the opponent's net.
Defence 7 on 7: It is considered to be one of the tightest defences of this tournament.
The Progressians rarely resort to aggressive defence tactics, even if they are pressing.
Man Up: One of the team's Achilles heel.
Man Down: They can neither be characterized as good or bad in this sector.
Counterattack: Although the players are fast, the Progressian choose not to score an easy goal in this way since the defence they adopt rarely provides opportunities for counterattacks.

THE CELESTIA TIMES

~------------------Sports News------------------~

KAZA 2008 OLYMPICS

FOOTBALL,Thrill Match against Magnus Valerius:
-Kaza,Kaze Progressa

Esthian's Football team debut match in these Olympics surely wasn't one of the easiest.
Facing an aggressive and determined Magnus Valerius they battled every last minute until Castello scored the last-minute goal that closed the match and faded away the ghost of the Extra-Time.
"We were all excited,It happens sometimes,all the emotion runs all into your veins and then you start to de-concentrate,but anyway we still managed to get the victory,I'm sure well do better next time,calm and relaxed" said Castello during an inteview after the match.
"I still believe this team is a medal team" affirms Esth's Team Coach "don't know which type of medal but me and my boys are confident that they will reach the semi's,from there we will see,after all it's still a long way".

Esth 2 - 1 Magnus Valerius

Goals:
(4' Discroll) Esth
(51' #11) Magnus Valerius
(89' Castello) Esth


Cards: none

Esth's Formation: 3-3-4 formation

(1)Zollino

(3)Gissane-----(4)Jan Westerhof-----(5)Custerman

(6)Garceau-----(9)Lidri-----(8)Mikopolis

(11)Castello-----(15)Discroll-----(10)Tompkins-----(50)Christsteen

Magnus Valerius's Formation: 5-2-3 formation

Other Football results:
El Cid The Hero 2 - 0 Big Pimto
Mr. Peabody 2 - 1 Sportland
Liverpool England 0 - 1 Kaze Progressa
The Latin Union 2 - 0 Bedistan
Kryternia 3 - 1 The Weegies
Bogans & Boozers 0 - 0 Audioslavia (Audioslavia Wins 1-0 aet)
Democratius 0 - 1 Masserat
Cockbill Street 2 - 0 Arridia
Lovisa 0 - 1 Eskrador
The Lowland Clans 3 - 1 Deanswilla
Kelssek 0 - 0 Starblaydia (1-1 aet Kelssek wins 5-4 on Pens )
Wartar Endor 3 - 0 Maldunia

Erm... Huh?
Football Stars crash out on Penalties
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SCB:Sports Online Special Report:

Now this is a sad day for Starblaydi sport. A team of total unknowns (quite literally 'unknowns' as we never received a team sheet) from Kelssek, who have never competed in International Football before, defeated a team from which is drawn some of the best Under-21 players in the world, along with a smattering of World-Class players from the 21st-ranked National Team. Surely this is the upset of the first round as the Starblaydi Football Association shake their collective fist at yet another tournament that their tired and over-streched footballers have had to compete in.

Complacency? Don't even think of the word around the Starblaydi section of the Olympic Village. The Kelssek goal was peppered with shots in a virtual shooting gallery, with their goalie having to perform excellently to keep his team in the game. The Starblaydi goal was only troubled once or twice, though to no effect.

As full time sounded, Starblaydia were completely bemused by the nil-nil scoreline, wondering, quite rightly, 'what the hell happened?' When Starblaydia scored quickly from the restart with Jakkinho's volley, they assumed that would be enough. However, nothing ever goes perfectly for Starblaydia, and Kelssek equalised through a rather strange goal. One that I don't even want to describe, such would be the tarnishing of Markus Cragg's reputation.

So, penalties approached, with Starblaydia having not ever won a competitive penalty shoot-out before. Still, this recordis continued as Ceri Sallisbury blazed the fifth over the bar and Starblaydia were dumped out of the Men's Football at the first hurdle to a team of what seemed like part-timers.

We're sure that the Olympic Games will be almost completely ignored by Starblaydi players, fans and historians alike. Darn tinpot tournament with stupid rules...

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Kelssek Prevails In Nail-biting Conclusion
(Advance Edition)
by Bill Waterley

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Kelssek's Peter Hartraft (left) takes on Starblaydia's Roberto Di Bradini.

KAZE PROGRESSA - It went right down to the wire but Kelssek managed to eke out a win against Starblaydia in the first round of Olympic competition, bringing some relief for head coach Bojan Petrovic whose job was hanging by a thread after the EP '03 quarter-final debacle.

There were some early scares as goalkeeper Maurice Beauvais came up with two big saves early in the first half. Unable to penetrate Beauvais, the Starblaydia team was forced to sit back and absorb the attacking efforts of Dennis Parker and Peter Hartraft.

Defensive tactics from both sides kept the ball stuck in the middle of the pitch for most of the game while Beauvais had to be alert as Starblaydia went for long-range artillery attacks, once nearly scoring with an unexpected long range cannon from Ceri Sallisbury. The game finished scoreless after 90 minutes and Starblaydia finally took the lead before a defensive lapse led to goalkeeper Markus Cragg colliding with one of his defenders, allowing Laurent Dubois to blast home the equaliser from 30 meters out.

Then the Starblaydian penalty shootout curse struck as Ceri Sallisbury sent the final penalty airborne, allowing Kelssek to take home the win.

Speaking after the game, Petrovic said, "It was a very stifling, hard-fought game, we got a little lucky and I'm very happy Deegan kept his nerve there. It's very hard to take that penalty with all the pressure."

No doubt Petrovic was also happy that his job was safe for at least another day.

GOALS
Jakkinho 94' (STB)
Duvois 101' (KSK)

KELSSEK LINEUP
(37) Beauvais

(3) Jemmel (17) Bonk (5) Lydman (3) Smitt


(8) Mulroney

(22) Dubois (11) Hoegh

(14) Parker


(9) Hartraft (19) Morris

Substitutions:
Fletcher for Morris 77'
Deegan for Mulroney 92'
Roche for Bonk 109'

We’re live at this chilly morning on the shores of Bilkitoniz Lake to bring you the finals of the first event of the day, the Women’s Lightweight Double Sculls. Big Pimento’s Casey Caldwell and Nina Sakic find themselves on the outside in Lane 1. A quick review of the other teams, Starblaydia in 2, Bedistan in 3, Lovisa in 4, the Progressans in 5, Esth in lane 6, Liverpool England in 7 and The Lowland Clans in 8. Starblaydia and Esth have been dominating this regatta, so expect strong performances from them. The tandem from Liverpool England won the World Championships last year, so look for them to contend as well.

The starter prepares to fire of his gun. Beep. Beep. Beep. GO!

Esth taking it out very hard in the first 50m and it looks like they may have the early lead. Starblaydia, Big Pimento and The Lowland Clans look to be a bow behind, but equal with each other. Esth stroking magnificently in the first 500m, they’re really taking it to the rest of the field. It looks like Casey and Nina are around third position right now, as we flash by the 500m mark.

EST 50.85
STB +0.99
BP +1.17
TLC +1.41
BED +1.89
LE +2.13
LOV +2.56
KP +3.92

Esth holding on to their lead and I think it’s important to note the poor start by the Liverpool England pair. They are known for their sensational finishing kick, but they’ve dug themselves in quite a hole to begin the race, let’s see how this plays out. It looks like the back of the field is starting to string out now a bit. The Lowland Clans, Bedistan and Liverpool England starting to drop off the pace a bit. Esth looks like they’re being reeled in by the Starblaydian and Big Pimento pairs who are still even with each other. Oh yes, you can definitely see the gap being closed now, all three top sides are within a few feet of each other now. Here we come to the 1000m mark and we have:

BP 102.54
EST +0.18
STB +0.23
TLC +2.28
LE +3.18
BED +3.22
LOV +3.67
KP +5.87

Big Pimento inches in the lead! Fantastic stuff! This group of three appear to be all alone in the battle for the medals. Lowland Clans falling back but holding fourth and Liverpool England still languishing in fifth, you gotta wonder how much longer can they keep biding their time like this, they have to make a move soon. Bedistan just dropped into sixth, Lovisa find themselves in seventh and the hometown Progressans are bringing up the rear in eighth. Back to the front of the pack and it appears that Esth is dropping off the pace of the two other boats. Perhaps their torrid start is costing them in the later stages of this race. It appears as though Big Pimento may still hold a bit of a lead over the Starblaydian crew, but it’s very slim. I don’t think these two boats have been more than a few tenths away from each other the entire race. Coming up to the 1500m mark and it’s still a matter of inches for top spot.

BP 154.21
STB +0.06
EST +0.97
TLC +3.73
LE +3.94
BED +4.17
LOV +5.02
KP +9.12

Big Pimento are still holding the lead by the slightest of margin with the Purple and Black boat of Starblaydia to their immediate right nipping at their heels. Esth is fading but appears to have the Bronze locked up, Lowland Clans and Liverpool England battling for fourth. Terrible outing for the Liverpool Englanders, they were really expecting to contend for a gold here and they now find themselves three seconds out of bronze. Bedistan’s trying to keep themselves close to the battle ahead in sixth. Lovisa still in seventh and it looks as though the struggling Progressan boat is being passed by the camera barge now. Let’s go back to the front where it appears that Starblaydia may have passed the Pimento boat. We’re setting up for a great finish here; with each stroke the opposing squad put themselves ahead. 100m left and it’s still anyone’s race! They neck and neck, side by side going stroke for stroke. Caldwell and Sakic trying to dig deep to find that little extra to put them over the top. Here comes the line, it’s still close, the winner is… Starblaydia! Big Pimento gets owned by their region mates once more, but the silver will serve as ample consolation. This silver is the nation’s first medal of the games, and although they were beaten for gold by the slightest of margins, this was a great performance by the tandem of Caldwell/Sakic. Battle for bronze is closer than expected as Esth has really fallen off the pace and Liverpool England is charging hard. Esth gets the bronze! Liverpool England settles for fourth. Where did that Liverpool England crew come from? They were way behind not to long ago, but ended up giving Esth a good challenge for bronze. The rest of the boats come in through the finish line, as the celebrations for the medal winners have already gone underway.

Final Results

STB 207.49
BP 207.73
EST 210.39
LE 211.08
TLC 212.01
BED 213.11
LOV 214.50
KP 218.91

'slaves scrape through
AAAAF celebrates win

Audioslavian amateur football scored a narrow win over Bogans + Boozers amateurs today in Kaza.

B+B were solid throughout the first half. Whilst not making too many scoring opportunities, the midfield seemed comfortable in holding the midfield and keeping possession.

Audioslavia were, on the whole, uninspired. Players like Dale Fox, Benny McLLroy and Roan Hogan - who had been tipped as the better players - didn't get started and as a result the side had little or no teamwork, with few players making runs off the ball or being able to grind out a scoring oppotunity.

The second half saw the 'slaves gently apply the pressure to the Bogans side, Fox and Hunter both got sight of goal early on but failed to trouble the Bogans goalkeeper. Audioslavia spent the last ten minutes of normal time playing comfortably around the Bogans + Boozers goal, confident from B+B's apparent inability to counter-attack effectively, their hopeful punts upfield to the strikers usually going wayward or towards the tall 'slavian centre-halfs Hogan and Hetfield.

The crowd had to wait until extra time to see a net bulge, and luckily for the 'slaves it was the B+B net bulging. Dale Fox showed a hint of the talent that he had been (probably wrongly) reported as having. He beat the full-back for pace and went to cross the ball, but instead lashed a shot with his right foot from a narrow angle which somehow the goalkeeper managed to palm into the roof of the net.

1-0 the match stayed, and Audioslavian football's olympic games were off to a positive, if stuttery, start.

FINAL SCORE
Audioslavia 1 (Fox, 97)
Bogans + Boozers 0

Upsets for Starblaydia and Bedistan
Uproar in Blayde media

Starblaydia managed to get their side knocked out of the Olympic Games football championship in the first round to an unfancied Kelssek side.

Despite having the upper-hand for roughly 120 minutes, The side representing Starblaydia (mostly taken from U21 side fresh from a strong display in the World Youth Cup) managed to fire blanks despite having enough ammunition to blow most proffessional sides off the face of the planet.

The olympic games though are a different kettle of fish. If a country's national side is a bunch of part-timers and/or amateurs in NSWC football, then, thanks to the olympics amateur spirit, that side is usually the side that plays in Olympic football. The countries that have a rich history and a huge talent pool can find it difficult to find players elligible for the olympics due to the better players becoming proffessional. Weird as it may sound, were Ravea's amateurs to play a team of amateurs from Rejistania, the Rejis team would stand a good chance of getting their asses beat.

But probably not 10-1....

Bedistan's team showed that even long-standing soccer heavyweights are prone to failure as The Latin Union knocked them out with a 2-0 win and a brilliant display.

I've been Jeremy Jaffacake, g'nite bitches

Robb blames loss on new hairstyle
New Blonde haircut and lack of a tan from cloudly Kaza skies
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg
SCB:Sports Online Special Report:

After being resoundly criticised for trying to be known for his haircuts as much as his footballing skills, Roberto 'Robb' Di Bradini was seen leaving the players' tunnel will the following hairdo.

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Now, either Ceri Salisbury forgot to bring his shorts and had to borrow Robb's, or the PARANOiA UNiTED player was wearing a wig, or it was an imposter. From the quality of the TV picture, we just can't quite tell. Though from the quality of the football, it was probably a fake person dressing up as Roberto.

Either way, Roberto Di Bradini was spotted, just hours after the game, with a freshly shaved head. Had that bonce contained the weird blond mop seen in the loss to Kelssek? We'll never know.

This has been Georgio Garamundo, Fashion Editor for the Starblaydi Football Association, reporting for SCB:Sports Online.

Sirake Tekim: Hejida listeners, this is radio RejisCAST, the only english speaking station in Rejistania and this is

Jingle: RejisCAST Olympic Update!

ST: Yeah, and for us in Kaza kali, Kaze Progressa is Elin Ri. Hejida Elin!

ER: Hejida Sirake! How's things?

ST: Fine here. Some clubs think that it is a serious problem that all their top players are in the olympic soccer team.

ER: Jinhes Lines, surely!

ST: There are no jinhesian players in the olympic soccer team.

ER: Yeah, all of their top-players, as I said!

ST: Are you always that disrespectfull against teams, others are fan of?

ER: If you are fan of them....

ST: As charming as always.

ER: Yes! Well, I guess you expeect an update of events.

ST: I do!

ER: Okay: Table tennis player Tika'he lost 4:5 against Progressan Qatilko. Dy'he played too in the women's singles but did not lose.

ST: She won?

ER: She was trashed 1:5 by Whitley'he from the Belmore Family.

ST: Not good!

ER: I'd know a better expression, it starts with sl and ends with i.

ST: No need to be more detailled.

ER: I wanted... but about the first match of the olympic soccer team.

ST: Okay, be detailled there!

ER: The first match of the olympic Orange-Blues was against the Belmore Family.

ST: Again these Belmorians?

ER: Yes, again. The orange-blue team is pretty unexperienced internationally. Some players are former U21-players, but most are simply unknown on international level. An interesting fact: The Belmorians have as many Belmores as the Orange-Blues Kansus.

ST: 23?

ER: 3!

ST: okay, so we will not get coonfused with all the Belmores and Kansus.

ER: Yes. Maybe the most know Belmorian in the team is Wishmoor'he from Hetaki.

ST: From Team Belmore?

ER: Yes, from Hetakli Hetaki.

ST: Well tell me about the match.

ER: The Belmorians had the better start into the match but the orange-blue defense could parry all chances at that time. In the 23rd minute, Majam Mese was in a good position but a belmorian defender fouled him. Free kick for the Orange-Blues, Syku Lyku takes it... and scores!

ST: SyMji again?

ER: Yeah, he is still a good player despite his age. In the 30th minute, the Belmorians however equalized the score. A distance shot by Alderik'he surprised Miki Haxeri. In the second half, Ha~e La~n was substituted in and scored twice. once after a corner kick in the 49th minute and once in the 81st minute after an assist of Nxeni Venu.

ST: So the score was 3:1?

ER: Yes, it was!

ST: Great! But tell me about other sports rejistanians are in.

ER: Errr.... there are no.

ST: Okay, then let's call it a day, the match between the second Lines team and the second of Sike starts in a few minutes.

ER: That is a reason. See you!

irc://irc.esper.net/olympics

Ankh-Morpork C-mail

Footballers Concede No Goal
Both Women and Men Go Through

With the men's U-23 side, boosted by Rikki "Gomdod" Stone, being drawn against former World Cup greats Ariddia, Streetian fans feared an early exit. But Under-21 experience from the last cup in Total n Utter Insanity (where the Streeters went out at the second round to the impressive Rejistanian youth programme, who has luckily not turned up in Kaza) prevailed. Moissanite scored the first goal with only eight minutes on the clock, beating the Ariddian keeper with a curler from twenty yards out. The rest of the match was spent in System Karela mode as Ariddia were stopped on thirty metres time and time again. A last desperate clearance hit an Ariddian defenders head, bounced into the feet of Stone, who dribbled past the two central defenders and lobbed the keeper for a cheeky 2-0 goal. The Streeters held on for their first Olympic victory. The Streeters, having won their first round match, are now left to ponder who they will play in the second round.

A similar fate befell the women's side, which has been sadly neglected by Streetian media since the start of football in the Street. There has been a women's league active for the past fifteen years, with Eercastle and Vimesbairn United taking four titles each. The national team has played some friendlies against Kaze Progressa, Bedistan and Rejistania, but no real international football for women has been started before this cup in Kaza. Many teams seem to think this was a U-23 tournament too, but the Streetians read the rules and came up with the best players of the Women's Compound Championship.

That didn't say a lot. The Latinos, who had already entertained large sporting successes in the cycling, played entertaining, technical football and had the Streeters under control for large parts of the first half. The few counter-attacks that came were feeble, effortless and without much chance of goals. However, the Latinos' exhausting style of play eventually took to themselves as well, and the match became one of many errors and generally poor football. The score at the half were 0-0 - luckily for the Streeters, who had goalkeeper Anna Thurbett to thank for some important saves.

The second half began in a similar fashion, except that it was now the Street who dominated. Making slightly fewer errors in their passing play, and being led by their extrovert and fiercely competitive captain Therese Grindvik, made the difference as the Streeters camped in the Latino half. Maria Benham headed a corner kick just over the bar in the sixty-second minute, and eight minutes later substitute striker Martine Sørensen should have made it one-nil when she put a feeble shot straight into the keeper's hands.

Although the 90 minutes petered out to 0-0 and the shots statistics were tied at 6 apiece, there was no doubt who had the momentum and more energy going into the extra time - especially with subsitutes Fitzpatrick and Kidd being vibrant replacements with a lot of will to play more football in this tournament. The Latinos collapsed completely three minutes into extra time, when Tara Hollioake completed one of few beautiful attacks on the day - the dual international (having also played cricket for the women's side at 19) finally found the back of the net as she was passed free by a good pass from Andrea Kidd. Two-nil came five minutes later, as the disorganised Latino defenders passed the ball right to Stine Haugset who thankfully slotted a shot past the keeper, and with three minutes to spare of the half, Sinead Fitzpatrick made it three as she stood tall in the box and chested in a cross from Benham.

---

COCKBILL STREET OLYMPIANS 2 (Moissanite 9, Stone 86)
ARIDDIA OLYMPIANS 0

Cockbill Street Olympians: Grorgrunter 5 - le-Sur-Mer 6 - Cawdron 6, Dwarfclobberer 4, Gunter 6 - Einarsson 5, Glodsson 4, Cardinge 6 (Weddles 7 on 51) - Axewielder 6 (Stewart 4 on 45) - Moissanite 7 (Moss 5 on 72), Stone 6.

COCKBILL STREET wOMEN 3 (Hollioake 93, Kidd 98, Fitzpatrick 103)
THE LATIN UNION WOMEN 0
AFTER EXTRA TIME

Cockbill Street Women: Thurbett 7 - Kerr 5 (Fitzpatrick 6 on 75), Iversen 4, Kinderberg 6, Jenkins 3 - Benham 5, Haugset 5 (Kidd 7 on 75), Hedge 4 - Grindvik 6 - Ealham 5 (Sørensen 4 on 64), Hollioake 7

Three Starts, Three Medals
Individual Morning Shines Bright

The individual competition for the Streetians brought much success, although the elusive gold stayed out of Streetian reach yet again. Jenny Maskvik and Lena Lagerkvist, already responsible for one Streetian silver, placed themselves in the boat again along with Genevieve Petit and Cathrine Viksveen for the quadruple sculls (or skulls, as an IOC official humourusly put it when Vic Hatfield got hit on the head by an oar on his way to the athletes' camp and had to be taken to hospital for an "X-ray" check-up...some magic that enables you to see someone's bones, apparently). Anyway, given the feeble line-up, only nine nations were on the Bilkitoniz Lake for the quadruple sculls event. It had been shortened to 500 metres due to strong winds making any longer event possible - and it became rather feeble. The Lovisans pulled away with a magnificent effort in the first 200 metres, splitting the field into pieces, and the Streeters, whose main force is accumulation and stamina and not pure speed from the get-go, was horribly lost from the outset. In seventh place with only 200 metres left, Petit and Viksveen had to bear the brunt of the effort with the other two girls still visibly tired from the partying yesterday, and they did so in style. Passing Bedistan, Liverpool England and The Lowland Clans in the last hundred, the battle came down to Cockbill Street vs Esth, and with one last oarstroke they pulled ahead with only eighteen hundredths of a second to spare. A bronze it was, although some commentators from other countries (usually those who lost out) claimed medals given in these events were "unofficial" given the short distance that was rowed. Pulling out an obscure paragraph in the Olympic Charter about rowing was able to silence the doubters, however, and Lagerkvist and Maskvik could celebrate their second medal in two days - before travelling home from Kaza on the first zeppelin.

In the weightlifting arena, Megan Booth was hopelessly out of any chance of gold when Ursula Farber of Bedistan lifted 115 kgs in the pull - Booth only made 92.5 and was out of the running there. However, she had some hope of catching Kelly Hope of Deansvilla, who had claim to the bronze having lifted 97.5 kgs in the pull. Coming down to the last snatch effort, Booth needed to lift 107.5 kgs to beat Hope (she had weighed in at 52.98 kgs and would thus lose on body-weight if they tied), and with having set a personal best of 102.5 kgs in the last attempt, it seemed unlikely at best. Booth tried, however, knowing that Hope had another attempt left and would be able to chase her target down. Somehow the occasion got to her - she managed to pull it up to shoulder level, then up it went and Booth had made 107.5 kgs! It was an impressive sight - it looked as though the weights were about to crash onto her head any second, but she survived, and with the three white lights coming up, the whole Streetian squad cheered for her. However, she still had to wait for Hope, who calmly put on 102.5 which would tie the fight between them - her personal best was 105, it was rumoured - walked up, took a good grip, tried to lift it, and fell over as a muscle in her thigh strained. It was a pitiful sight for everyone...except the Streetian cadre, who cheered madly at another bronze medal which they knew they hadn't really deserved. The fourth bronze medal of the championship, and still some more was to come.

Because at eleven o'clock, when this journalist had just managed to get out of the smoke-filled Indoor International Arena and catch the bus (it's a kind of mail coach, only with magic so it doesn't need horses. OK?) to Claribi Park, he saw that Sarah Pearce was about to spring a surprise in the air pistol. Alf Stevenson had already grabbed one medal for the shooters, and Pearce was in third place before the final shot - behind Shotus of Warta Endor and Munken of Esth, who had already shot 39 tens and seemed unstoppable. Pearce, however, had 384, tied with Shotus, but was behind on "shot quality" (i.e. how the shots fared within the bulls-eye), and needed an almost perfect hit or for Shotus to miss it by inches to gain silver. Amazingly, both happened. Sarah shot a 10.9 - middle of the bulls-eye - but Shotus only managed 9.4 under the pressure, making Pearce's 10.9 academic. Another silver medal, bringing the medal count up to nine - with some team hopes and a lot of individual events still to come.

The women's volleyball team also cruised past Deansvilla in four sets yesterday, losing only the one set by 3-25 (a collective breakdown, it was later explained), but Sten-Åke Waldner was forced to a premature retirement from singles table tennis when he was knocked out in six sets in the first round. Pairing up with Gueju Tian, it is only to hope that he will do better in the doubles, though tonight's performance did not exactly bode well.

Girls out-do the boys as Starblaydi Ladies progress
Extra-Time needed AGAIN
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SCBSports08.jpg
Jenny Waikiki reports from the Women's Football Competition

As Krya Stoker placed a perfect thirty-yarder into the top right-hand corner and Tabitha Keayl came up from the back to bullet a header into the Sportland net, it was confirmed. Starblaydia's Women have done better than Starblaydia's Men at the Kaza '08 Olympics.

Just the way it should be, really, and they certainly look better in bikinis. Not that Jean-Pierre Durand doesn't have a tight butt, but its just fits a gal better, y'know? The Spice Girls were never very big in Starblaydia, but Girl Power has certainly made the transition into Football, with a women's League and a lightning-fast football team.

Through to the next round of... thirteen(?), Starblaydia's Ladies are looking to progress to the next round of... six and a half teams(?) and then onto the 3.25 stage and finall be crowned One-and-one-eigth in the World of Women's football! Rock on Ladies!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

The women's soccer team have also progressed to the first round after a close game against Liverpool England. The teams were evenly matched and it was Kathy Stockman who came up with the game's only goal shortly after the interval. Here's a look at the lineup for the game.

GOALS:
Stockman (KSK) 49'


(1) Stone


(2) Woods (15) Ross (5) Jonquiere (21) Brown

(6) Brophy

(8) Endor (14) Lechance (7) Angler


(9) Stockman (22) Evans


SUBSTITUTIONS:
Stefanovic for Stockman 77'
Oliver for Angler 79'

"And Esth continues to pick up medal after medal, two Esth cyclists scored a 1-2 in the cycling women's road race to bring their medal count to 8 golds, 5 silvers and 5 bronzes. Live coverage continues after the break."

Starblaydia: Three teams received byes.

IC: Liverpool England Miss Out On Yet Another Medal - Finish 4th in Women's Lightweight Double Sculls

Liverpool England has again missed out on a bronze, for the fifth time this Olympics the team finished in fourth place. The Women's Lightweight Double Sculls team finished about half a second behind third placed Esth. Meanwhile, the Liverpool England under 23 Men's and Women's team have crashed out of the Olympics football competition at the first hurdle to Kaze Progressa and Kelssek respectively, both 1-0. The Men's Hockey team also fell, 2-0 to The Weegies, but the Women did the nation proud with a 6-2 drubbing of Bogans and Boozers.

8pm news
Adèle Jameson: “. . .And back to sports now, with the Olympics. The excitement has been coming from the football stadium, the event many Ariddians had been eagerly awaiting. Jon Vale, you’re live in Kaza, what can you tell us?”

Jon Vale: “Well, yes, Ariddia has been absent a while now from the international football scene. Of course, the men’s team sent to the Olympics wasn’t the same team that would have been sent to a World Cup, and anyhow almost all the players who used to compete internationally have retired now. Still, there were high hopes for Ariddia in football in these early stages of the competition.

For the men’s game, Ariddia was up against Cockbill Street, and it was a disappointing start. The team looked as though they were still trying to find their style, and were much less methodical and efficient than their opponents. There was some nice playing, of course, and at one point a ball just off the bar when Cockbill Street’s goalkeeper was defeated, but in the end the better team did win, by two goals to nil. The boys tell me they’ve learnt a lot from their opening match, and that they’ll be training intensively and going over their mistakes for the next game.

It was a different story in women’s football, where the team in red and black met the Lowland Clans. It wasn’t an easy match, both teams being of similar skill, but the Ariddian girls showed a lot of the focus and adaptability the boys had lacked, and eventually dominated the game. The one goal of the match came from Fatima Brights to give Ariddia a one-nil victory.”

Jamison: “So, a good start for the girls, and the boys determined to shape up and follow their example! We’ll be bringing you more on football and other sports as the competition unfolds, of course, and you can also follow live coverage. Jon, overall news from the Olympics?”

Vale: “Well, cycling has begun, with the women’s road race. A very impressive performance there by the ladies from Esth, taking both gold and silver. They’ve also raked up a medal in shooting. Hockey is underway, with Liverpool England delivering a thrashing 6-2 over the nation of Bogans and Boozers. Of course there weren’t any events in which Ariddia was competing for a medal today, so no reason to be disappointed. . . plenty of events still to come in the next few days!”

Jamison: “Of course. Thank you, Jon, and that about wraps it up for us tonight. I’m Adèle Jameson, and you’ve been watching the eight o’clock news. Good night!”

THE CELESTIA TIMES

~------------------Sports News------------------~

KAZA 2008 OLYMPICS

FOOTBALL,First easy win for the Esthian Ladies:
-Kaza,Kaze Progressa

The Football players in "skirt" win their first international match against Commerce Eights 2-0.
A match clearly dominated by Esth,who controlled the ball most of the time though wasting many goal opportunities.
Team Coach Kazuo Kijamiya is clearly satisfied of his team's result; he started managing the Esthian Women's Football team two years ago:
"It was really difficult to find some players for the national team,Football is not very famous here and to make things worse women here rarely play football since most Esthian people think that Football is not a sport suited for women,they are even obliged to play with a skirt (that arrives to their knee d.n.) to hide their shorts.
Strangely my players seem not to be "humiliated" to play under this situation,instead,they are here in Kaza to demostrate that,even if Football is not considered an "elegant sport for ladies", they can play football and win something important for their nation"

Assunta Paga,aged 19 from Uhl,is the first player to score for her national team: "Scoring a goal for my home country gives you an unique and undescrivable feeeling,I dedicate my goal to my boyfriend,who has always supported and encouraged me to continue practising this sport which I love very much.
I started playing since my brother took me to see some Football matches,it was love at first sight,I begged my parents to let me practise this sport since they believed that,toghever with many other Esthians, this could ruin my femminility thus not giving me the chance to find an husband.
But now I'm here to prove everyone that they are wrong,even if they obliged to us to play with skirts."

Esth 2 - 0 Commerce Heights

Goals:
(14' Paga) Esth
(71' Pedez) Esth

Cards: none

Esth's Formation: 4-3-3 formation

(1)Davignon

(2)Hiragetsu-----(3)Dahman-----(4)Y.Q.Ma-----(5)Bottiglieschi

(6)T.Nakagawa-----(8)Barriault-----(7)Y.Nakagawa

(10)Paga-----(11)Pedez-----(21)Kostanopoulos

Commerce Height's Formation: 4-2-2 formation

Other Football results:
Delize 1 - 2 Big Pimento
The Latin Union 0 - 0 Cockbill Street (CS wins 3-0 AET)
Eskrador 0 - 0 Magnus Valerius (Eskrador wins 2-0 AET)
Bogans and Boozers 1 - 0 Lovisa
Gehenna Tartarus 1 - 1 Rejistania (1-1 AET Rejis wins 4-3 on Pens)
Sportland 1 - 1 Starblaydia (Starblaydia wins 2-1 AET)
Arrdia 1 - 0 The Lowland Clans
Democratius 0 - 0 The Weegies (The Weegies wins 2-0 AET)
Liverpool Enlgnad 0 - 1 Kelssek
Deansvilla 1 - 0 Maldunia
Krytenia 0 - 2 Kaze Progressa
The Belmore Family 2 - 0 Bedistan

Baseball,Esth "Grand Slams" Eskrador:
-Kaza,Kaze Progressa

In a hot and sunny afternoon Esth defeats Eskrador 7-3 in the first round.
The first inning started really fast for the Esthians,scoring 3 points with a total of 10 hits.
Eskrador immediately replied scoring 2 points (due to some errors in defence) and closing the inning with all the bases full.
After that it was total domination for the Esthian team:in Defence they created 16 strikeouts,conceding only 3 hits,one HR (of one point) and no errors; In Attack a Grand Slam in the 5° inning doomed the Eskradors.
"My players played hard. I am very proud of this team. They have every reason to be proud of how they played,I got a little bit angry for the mistakes made in the 2° inning but they managed to solve the problem perfectly.
In the future games we must be aware of potential gold medal winners like Liverpool England;they also have showed in their game that their team is an improved one,well prepared and skillful." Says the Esthian team Coach after the match.
"I was very excited in the first minutes of the game and I'm sure everyone in the dugout felt the same. This victory was very important for us but more important for Esthian baseball." says SP Adriano Limano,the 16-strikeout man capable of scoring a 4-5 at bat "for a pitcher a batting result like that is a very good one,too bad I made only one RBI"

Scoring By Innings ----- Final score:
EST 3 0 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 ----- 7
ESK 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 ----- 3

Double Plays:
EST 3
ESK 1
Errors:
EST 5
ESK 3
Hits:
EST 23
ESK 12
Triple Plays:
None

Other Baseball results:
The Lowland Clans 6-2 Sportland
The Latin Union 6-5 Democratius
Lovisa 3-4 Kaze Progressa
The Redavic Union 3-4 Gehenna Tartarus
Kelssek 0-4 Warta Endor
Maldunia 2-3 Bogans and Boozers
Bedistan 3-1 Magnus Valerius
Liverpool England 7-2 The Lowland Clans

Sirake Tekim: Hejida listeners, this is Radio RejisCAST, I am Sirake Tekim and you are listening to:

jingle: RejisCAST Olympic Update!

ST: I don't know... anyone else gets annoyed by this jingle? Well, Elin Ri is here for us in Kaza kali to give us up-to-date reports. Hejida Elin!

ER: Hejida Sirake!

ST: How's things in Kaza?

ER: victious!

ST: Tell me more!

ER: okay: 1:1 AET and 4:3 APK... of what does that remind you?

ST: twelveth world cup, final!

ER: It happened again, but this time in the first round: The female Orange-Blues defeated Gehenna Tartarus by that score.

ST: Good!

ER: Deborah Simmons scored for Gehenna Tartarus in the 25th minute. The System Hangila of them had much dominance in the first half. In the second half however, the Orange-Blues found into the match, gained dominance but unfortunately did not score.

ST: You said they did.

ER: ...until the 86th minute when midfielder Etiya Lanave-Sirare, who came in for Kamy Lyx in the 73rd minute, was able to score in a counter-attack.

ST: That secured Extra Time.

ER: Indeed, however, both teams were afraid of conceding and played, well, conservative. The Tartarians used their substitutions in the regular time, the Orange-Blues made a last substitution in extra time: Jiale Iki~n left the field and Xianji Jiru replaced her. besides that the extra time was pretty eventless. Then it was time for penalty kicks...

ST: Which ended 4:3 for the Orange-Blues.

ER: They did. Ajui Rii, Lyku I Kansu, Kansu Ji and Xianji Jiru converted, Syku I Y missed, but fortunately that did not matter since Simmons'he missed too.

ST: Deborah Simmons?

ER: Yes, her.

ST: Who will the female Orange-Blues face in the next match?

ER: I have no clue

ST: About that too?

ER: I know more about tech than you.

ST: I won't pity you for having no life.

ER: Life is an abbreviation for Lame Imitation of Fair Existence.

ST: so you are even proud of it?

ER: At least it brought me to two world cup finals... and not you.

ST: topic change: In what other sports did the Orange-Blues participate?

ER: Win after regular time, you mean?

ST: Whatever...

ER: The field hockey team not what they are used to be. They won 4:3 after extra time.

ST: The men's or the women's team?

ER: The men's team, The women's team managed to win in regular time.

ST: Wow!

ER: Well, they had the easier opponent. Maldunia does not have the class of Krytenia.

ST: surely...

ER: and that is why the match between the women's team and Maldunia ended 2:1 and the men's team scraped past Krytenia 4:3 AET.

ST: Who scored?

ER: Namidi Y and Leja Hsida, but then Krytenia scored twice to make the match go into extra time. There Kiku Jaji and Namidi Y scored for and Eta Kori against Rejistania.

ST: Eta Kori scored an own goal?

ER: Indeed.

ST: Was Kansu Siki the disappointment everyone predicted him to be?

ER: He was not. That would imply the rest of the team to be good, they were not. The FHWC9 team would have trashed them 10:0 - in one half.

ST: You are exaggerating!

ER: a bit... maybe...

ST: Well, tell me how the women's team did

ER: I told you already: 2-1. And if they would not have played highly defensive in the second half, they would have won even higher. Nanija Ha~e scored twice.

ST: you do have no clue about their next opponent?

ER: Right! I have no idea.

ST: Okay then that was the OlympicUpdate, back to the regular programme

Theme music plays: "da-da da da da da-da da da da da-da da da da da-da da da da da-da da da da da-da da da da da-da da da da da-da da da da brrrre brrrrrrrre brre bre-de bre-brrrrrrrrrrrrrrre da-da-da-du-da-du-duu."

"This is BSTV Sports Tonight, with your host, Mike Michaels."

Mike: "Good evening, Bedistan. We're taking a slight break from our live Olympic coverage to bring you an update of all that's happened in Kaza so far on this second day of Olympic competition. We'll begin with baseball."

[A shot of a Valerian pitcher attempting to strike out a Bedistani batter is shown as Mike continues talking.]

Mike: "Magnus Valerius were first to score in their match against Bedistan with an RBI single in the second inning, but watch Augusto Gutierrez on this at-bat...it looks like it's gonna be outside, but breaks at the last minute and Gutierrez is ready for it. He gets all of that pitch - Tom Rafferty will come in from second on this two-run homer in the fourth. 2-1 Bedistan. Dick Jones would later come in to make it 3-1 in the seventh. Bottom of the ninth, two outs, Valerius at bat. Look at this - a screamer of a drive that looks like it's gonna be a homer - that would bring in three runs and the game for Magnus Valerius, but watch this play by Telé Aragora - a fantastic catch over the wall for the final out, and that will save the game for Bedistan with a three-one win."

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
BED 0 0 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 3 7 0
MVA 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 6 0

Mike: "In cycling, Rita Banker and Dinorah McGrotty both made fine efforts in the women's road race, finishing 7th and 11th respectively. Once again, Esth took two medals, this time the gold and silver, with Benedetta Fanizza finishing over two minutes ahead of second-place He-Suk Ho. Amy Lightbody of the Weegies would claim the bronze medal."

Banker (interview): "Well, it was a good run, but the two Esthians got out front at the very beginning and never looked back. It was just a race for the bronze the whole way. And even that wasn't much of a race, with Lightbody dominating the rest of the field much of the way."

Mike: "Now, perhaps the shock of the whole Olympics: both Bedistani football teams out in the first round! These two events were the ones where Bedistan was considered most likely to win a gold medal, but instead it's severe disappointment that leaves a lot of people wondering why our national team is ranked second-best in the world. An upstart team from the Latin Union provided the 2-0 defeat for the men's team, and those bloody Belmores took care of the women by the same scoreline. We spoke with men's team midfielder Thad Linberg about the loss."

Mike (interview): "So what happened out there? After winning the Under-21 World Cup, surely you'd think you'd be able to defeat a brand-new side from the Latin Union..."

Linberg: "Yes, you would think that. Obviously, our problem was arrogance. We were absolutely certain of a win over the Latinos, and as a result we didn't have our 'A' game...hell, I don't even think we had our 'B' game. It was a disgraceful performance today, and I'm to blame just as much as the rest of the team."

Mike (studio): "Women's team defender Lissa Hausteen had much the same to say about her side's performance against the Belmore Family. It is hoped that the players can find their form again before U21 World Cup 7 and regular World Cup 18."

[There is a slight pause, then he continues.]

Mike: "Meanwhile, our women's hockey team is having a far better outing. In a surprisingly clean game, our ladies defeated Deansvilla 2-1. It's another judo bronze for Bedistan, this time in the men's 60-66kg category (that's 132-145 pounds). Joaquín Kozisek defeated Kaze Progressa's Shialok in the first round and Stonethrower from the Street in the quarterfinals. Not surprisingly, an Esthian by the name of Rottendalem was his downfall in the semis, but Kozisek recovered enough to defeat Krytenia's Smith for the bronze medal. Rottendalem would take the gold, with Kaze Progressa's Neasrak going home with silver."

[There is a brief clip of the three of them on the podium, then Mike continues.]

Mike: "We're going to take a quick commercial break, but first here are the current medal standings."

[The standings are displayed onscreen. Esth is shown at the top with an incredible 19 medals, nine of them gold. Bedistan is in second place with six gold, four silver, and four bronze, followed by Lovisa with six gold and nothing else. Starblaydia and Cockbill Street round out the top five.]

Excerpt from The Sportland Daily:

There have been some more success stories from the second day of competition at the Kaza 2008 Olympics for Sportland. Still no medals, but many more chances.

An excellent performance from Treena Wheels has resulted in her finishing eighth out of the field of 27 competitors in the women's cycling road race. Bendetta Fanizza of Esth stormed away in the last twenty kilometers to win by more than two minutes. Teammate He-Suk Ho came second.

While both of our men's and women's soccer teams were defeated in the first round, our women's hockey team defeated Kryternia 6-3 in extra time after scores were 2-2 at full time. "The four goals in extra time were quite an amazing achievement," coach Vanessa Ascot said after the match.

*theme song*
Defence:
CF Brian Mcclinton


LF Mark Ashburn RF John Lebel






SS Arthur Holston 2B Benjamin Weller


P Jonathan Beaudry


3B Marvin Sessions 1B Walter Britt



C Nathan Kaye

Batting Order (Bats/Throws/Other Positions)

1- CF Brian Mcclinton [L/R/OF]
2- 1B Walter Britt [S/L/3B]
3- SS Arthur Holston [R/R/2B]
4- DH Marcus Weller [R/R/LF]
5- LF Mark Ashburn [L/L]
6- RF John Lebel [S/R]
7- 2B Benjamin Weller [S/R]
8- 3B Marvin Sessions [R/R/RF]
9- C Nathan Kaye [R/R]

Pitchers
SP Jonathan Beaudry [R/R]
SP Mike Umphree [S/L/C]
SP Timothy Francis [R/R]
Relief "Monster" Greene [R/L]
Relief Jeremy Siveh [R/R]
Relief Tony Buchanan [R/L/1B]
Closer Gordon Asimovich [R/R]

"Welcome to Kaza 2008 coverage on Sport TV live from Kaza in Kaze Progressa, this is Day 2 of the Olympics and we've got a late night game here to bring you, Liverpool England face The Lowland Clans, who beat Sportland 6-2 in an early daybreak preliminary. And there you see the Batting Order and Defensive Lineups for Liverpool England, and here's The Lowland Clans lineup."

BOT 1st
Outs: 1
LEN 0
TLC 2
------Runner 2nd------

------Runner 1st------

"And so, the TLC CentreFielder blasting one deep, 412 feet from home plate to score two runs. McClinton and Holston on board with Britt out. Here comes Designated Hitter Weller. And the first pitch, a call strike, a 87-mph curveball in the corner of the zone. Here comes the 0-1 pitch, and it's swung at. But it's way outside, and it will roll to the backstop.... McClinton's at third, he's rounding third... Holston has made it to second, and is unsure if he can try for third... the TLC catcher has the ball, the throw to the pitcher covering home, and McClinton's caught in a rundown! Holston will hold at second! McClinton will slide back to third..... the tag.... SAFE! He is called safe, and the TLC third baseman is not happy. Let's take a look at the replay..... hrm, the third baseman does have an arguement there, he looks out from that angle... let's take a look from the umpire's view... it is hard to call... and the umpires will gather round. And the homeplate umpire might have had a better view, Tim Ravine and leftfield umpire Thomas Randall will discuss it... And Ravine calls McClinton safe! And the TLC players are definitely not happy, but the game has to continue."

BOT 1st
Outs: 1
LEN 0
TLC 2
2nd: Holston
3rd: McClinton

OOC: Part 2 coming up.

Part 2

"And so, McClinton gets away with it that time, but he won't always be that lucky. Weller comes back into the batter's box for his 0 and 2 pitch. And it's a high change[up], Weller swings at it and pops it out to medium-deep right, and the catch is made, two down, and the runners will tag up.... the throw to the relay man, the throw home...... and McClinton comes crashing into the catcher... did the catcher manage to tag him? It's a tough call. Ravine has already called McClinton safe once tonight in a controversial call. Holston is at third waiting for the verdict. Safe! And no arguement now, and the team have a run on the board."
BOT 1st
Outs: 2
LEN 1
TLC 2
3rd: Holston
At-Bat: Ashburn

"A curveball to start Ashburn's at-bat, it's grounded to the third baseman, who picks it, Holston took off as soon as the ball hit the ground.... throws it home... Ashburn has reached first safely and is going for two. Holston's heading back to third. The catcher follows him... throws to third... was there a tag? The third base umpire will leave the call to leftfield umpire Randall, who had a better view.... OUT! That will end the inning, 2-1, TLC leads."

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

TOP 7th
Outs: 1
LEN 1
TLC 2
1st: Pinch Runner #4
2nd: #18
3rd: #46
At-Bat: #22

"Bases loaded. One out, and here's the pitch, Jeremy Siveh's first tonight.. Ball one. Siveh has a wide array of pitches, but he tires easily. He can throw a changeup, curves, a sinker, a slider, cut and 4-seam FB's, but he sometimes has difficulty finding the strikezone - he was the Orean Shocker's worst starter this year when used, 1-6 as a starter in 13 appearances of 54 possible, an ERA of over 6, and he gave up 37 walks while only K'ing 17 in over 65 innings of work... but he is a good reliever, his domestic stats are 3-1 as a reliever in 22 relief games, with 14 saves, a 3.66 ERA, but still shows his difficulty in finding the zone, 44 walks. The pitch... a high screwball... And #22 hits it... way back....... might be gone! It's out of the playing arena, but did it land foul!? The three runners will come in.... and Leftfield umpire Randall, who's had tons of calls to make tonight, seems to be indicating a foul ball... and the grandslam is taken away! No homer! The runners will be forced back to their positions! And Siveh is lucky there. A defensive arrangement switch by Liverpool England then, John Lebel in Rightfield is going to swap with thirdbase player Marvin Sessions, whose place is taken by the firstbaseman Walter Britt. Lebel is 0-for-4 tonight, and they will bring in one of only two pitching staff to be able to play elsewhere in defence. Tony Buchanan will take the first base position.

And the 1-1... Popped up on the infield, and the infield fly rule will be called for two outs."

---------------------------------------------------------------------
BOT 8th
Outs: 0
Strike Count: 2-2
LEN 1
TLC 2
1st: Buchanan
2nd: Ashburn
3rd: Marcus Weller
At-Bat: Benjamin Weller

"And Liverpool England look to be heading out of the competition.... Ben Weller will bat. The 2-2 pitch... the runners take off... Weller hammers it.... going.... going.... going..... it's out of here, and still going! A 504 foot Grand Slam homerun! Liverpool England lead 5-2! Rightfielder Marvin Sessions steps up to bat. He knocks the first pitch! It's going to deep right... near the wall..... BACK-TO-BACK!!!! 6-2! And TLC will make a pitching change. Catcher Nathan Kaye will enter the box, he is 1 for 6 (.167) tonight. The clock now reads 1.23 am here in Kaza. The pitch. Low for a ball. And Kaye absolutely goes for the second pitch and is fooled by the low slider! Boy, is he charged up..... and he breaks his bat... it's going... dimensions at left field read 311 feet.... Gone! Three-hundred and fifteen feet! Back to back to back homers! They now lead 7-2!"

------------------------------------------------------------------
TOP 9th
Outs: 1
LEN 7
TLC 2
1st: #4
Batting: #22

"And they'll bring in their closer, Asimovich. The low changeup. Swung at and down the first base line, above the ground. Buchanan makes the grab for one, and #4 has already taken off running. #4's heading back to first, and Buchanan takes his time... and steps on the bag at first! Double Play! Game over!"

FINAL
Kaza, Kaze Progressa

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E DP TP

TLC 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 6 1 1 0
LEN 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 X 7 5 0 2 0

Mixed Results for 'Slavian Boxers
Tucker beaten by Progressan Heivik, Dannesfield whups Harila

Audioslavian boxing hopeful Lay Tucker was beaten yesterday in an exciting first-round bout. Heivik took the first round on points 7-5 in an equal round, before Tucker started using his superior reach to keep the Progressan away, taking the second round 9-5 and the third 9-7.

With the 23-17 lead, Tucker looked like he was going to cruise the bout, but he, and the Audioslavians in the crowd, couldn't have expected what came next. Heivik opened round four with a flurry which stunned the Audioslavian, knocking him against the ropes and landing a hammer blow on his jaw which forced the referee to step in to give the Audioslavian a standing eight-count. With Heivik's deficit cut from six points to just two, the Progressan's confidence shot up and started landing with a number of hard shots to Tucker's body, taking the wind out of the Audioslavian in more ways than one. With thirty seconds left it was 28-24 to the Progressan with Tucker tired and flat-footed. He managed to open up and smack Heivik with a couple of good shots but for every Tucker punch, Heivik was able to counter before Tucker could get his hands back up to his face. The last few seconds saw Tucker get a couple of week punches to Heivik's body but it wasn't enough, and the Progressan took the bout 30 points to 28.

With Tucker out, Dannesfield had it all to do to re-establish Audioslavia's reputation in his bout with the Krytenian Harila, coming just twenty minutes after his compatriot's loss. Unlike that fight however, Dannesfield looked on top throughout, counter-punching well and keeping his guard up against a Krytenian who had a couple of inches and a couple of pounds on the Audioslavian. Round one was a nervous and slow 6-6 before Dannesfield opened up on the Krytenian, getting in three hard crosses in a row which made the referee give Harila a standing eight count. 14-9 ahead after round two, the Audioslavian continued the momentum to take the third round 9-8, and set about defending the 25-19 lead in the fourth, a lead of the same margin Tucker had in his bout.

Like the Tucker bout, the Audioslavian lost the round but maintained his good counter-punching skills to take enough points off of the Krytenian. The only nervous point coming in the final fifteen seconds with the lead cut down to 31-29 and Harila on the offensive, but a loose swinging left from the Krytenian allowed himself to be caught twice by two Dannesfield jabs and a harsh uppercut, knocking Harila's momentum at a cruicial time. Dannesfield went on to win 34-30.

All in all a passable day for Audioslavia's boxers, but the 'slaves olympic team will be looking for something more from their cruiserweights in the coming days.

I've been Jeremy Jaffacake, g'nite bitches

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008nsn.jpg

"Andrew Buhck couldn't hold off Starblaydia's Jimmy Dicks and lost his second match of the 65-79kg mens boxing despite taking an early lead."

"Nice move by Buhck, and a GREAT JAB! He's got Dicks reeling now and leads 11-0 in the first round..."

Buhck dominated the first round and racked up 15 points without reply before Dicks came out with a huge flurry of blows and a knockdown in the second round. He carried the momentum to score a 41-33 win.

"What a comeback we're seeing from Jimmy Dicks, and now Buhck is down!"

"And Jimmy Dicks of Starblaydia picks up the win, a great fight and a great comeback we've just witnessed."

Kelssek's hopes for a medal in the competition are not lost, however, as Peter Vaz is still yet to see action and Luc Perrault has a chance to make up for his earlier loss."

OOC: That RP would be inaccurate as if a boxer gains a 20-point lead in an Olympic bout, it is stopped and the win awarded the leader (he is judged to have outclassed his opponent). Besides, 26 points in one round would be absurd punishment and highly unlikely. Changing this to 16 would make the RP more realistic. (Otherwise though, you've been one of the best RPers in the Games.)

Also OOC: Day 2 is finally just about complete. More swimming results are up at www.kaza2008.tk.

OOC: Whoops, corrected. Sorry, not a boxing fan.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v428/numbersaregood/kaze2008.jpg

"Some good news from the pool, no, not a medal, don't get excited yet, but chances are still good. Jonathan Beale wasn't planning to be in the Olympics at first, but he came back early from his hamstring injury and it seems to have healed very well. He secured a place in the final of the men's 200 meters freestyle. Adam Guidry didn't make the finals in that event, but both him and Martin Peters are in the final of the 100m backstroke and it looks like it won't be too long before Kelssek can finally grab some medals."

"Adam, what do you think of your medal chances?"

"Aw, you ain't seen nothing yet, man. I'm going all out in the finals and you're going to see me up on the podium."

"So you're going for the gold?"

"Oh yeah."

"Pauline Ovfevre made it to the finals of the women's 400 meters freestyle and finished sixth. Cindy Rogers of Gehenna Tartarus took the gold in that event with an Olympic record time of 244.11 seconds. That's the news from the pool, back to live coverage after these commericals. You're watching NSN."

Lovisa send a protest.


Lovisa apply in swimming (womens 100m breaststroke, womens 400m freestyle) a our representants. But lovisan women not start in qulification in this 2 disciplines. why?

Letter written to The Sportland Daily:

What the hell is up with Chris Sport? He has now qualified third in the 400m freestyle heats and first in the 200m freestyle heats, yet has just missed out on qualifying for the final in both events! I think that if he continues to do this and does not make any finals, we should shoot him when he gets back home.

God bless.

Quentin Mongoose

OOC: Yeah, I've also noticed a few inconsistencies with the RPs for boxing, like someone who said that about 70 points were scored in the first round of a fight. Try to avoid unrealistic situations. Not that I am a good RPer or anything *starts crying*.

Silver and Cold
Pool’s heating system fails; Stasiuk succeeds

A logistical nightmare occurred at the Kaza Wave Aquatic Centre, causing some massive delays for all the aquatic events. The pool’s main heating mechanism failed due to unknown causes, taking three hours to be fixed and another hour to get the pool warmed up to the level where competitive swimming could occur. As a result, all swimming events were pushed back and delayed heavily.

However, all the delay in the World would not stop Cora Stasiuk on this day. The 26-year-old Stasiuk, heralded as one of Big Pimento’s greatest natural athletes is a sensational distance swimmer as well as an accomplished triathlete. Today she would be swimming in the 400m Freestyle, an event which has traditionally been her worst compared to her results in the 800m free, but today’s results will cement her place in Big Pimento swimming folklore forever.

Stasiuk started the day with a good swim in Heat 1, landing her in second place. After a quick second heat, she was left waiting to see if her time of 256.68 would be good enough to hold up for a place in the finals. It would indeed be good enough, after a relatively slow Heat 3 saw just one swimmer make the finals. Stasiuk’s qualification time landed her in sixth place after qualification.

Just as the Ladies’ 400m Freestyle Final problem was about to get underway, another problem arose with the pool: The heating system gave out again. Already behind schedule, Progressan officials made a gutsy call to allow the final to take place. Stasiuk turned in the swim of her life, shattering her career best by a full three seconds despite the difficult conditions, allowing her to be second to touch the wall. After the race, Stasiuk said that she thought her experience with triathlons and frigid waters helped her adapt to the chilly pool better than the other girls.

Stasiuk’s sensational swim marked the third medal of the day for Big Pimento, all of which have been colored silver. We still have Women’s Gymnastic qualifications to look forward to in Day 2, but besides from that, it’s time to look towards the future and hope to see more stellar days like today.

Shameless Plug

Big Pimento will be holding Nationstates’ inaugural X Games, the premier event in action sports. Events which will be held include:

-Aggressive Inline Street
-Aggressive Inline Vert
-Bike Stunt Dirt
-Bike Stunt Park
-Bike Stunt Vert
-Downhill Skateboarding
-Moto X Best Trick
-Moto X Freestyle
-Moto X Step Up
-Skateboard Big Air
-Skateboard Street
-Skateboard Vert
-Street Luge
-Surfing
-Wakeboard

Sign-ups are here ( http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=366939). The four-day extreme sports extravaganza will begin in two days’ time.

EBRS Kaza 2008 Night News

"Good Evening,this is Rambert Becker in Studio n.8 here in Kaza.
It's time to see what our fellow athletes have done during this second day of the Olympics.
Martha?"

"Yes Rambert,this has been a very exciting day.
Esth has won every team sport matches...."

Short Highlights of Hockey,Men's and Women's Football,Softball and Baseball are shown while Martha hands brief descriptions of each game

".....while in Archery Guo Fang Yin goes to the next round after winning an exciting till-the-last-minute match against one of the favourites of this event,Penelope Skillman,145 to 141;let's hear now an interview from Yin just after the match"

an asian woman with long hair is shown

A:"How did you feel after the victory?"
B:"I felt very happy. After this victory I think I'm on course for winning a medal. I am feeling very strong."
A:"What about the weather condition?What problems did it gave you?"
B:"The wind was coming from different directions and I had to keep adjusting my aim. At the same time, I think the wind is an advantage as it helps show who the better archer is. Of course, you also need a bit of luck."

Martha continues to talk

"Only one medal in Swimming while the other athletes fail to pass the first heat.
In Boxing Sarus beats Bismarck 25-35 in the 64-69kg category...."

Highlights of the boxing match are shown,then an interview shown up

A:"Comments about this bout?"
B:"Until the second round I did not have the psychology to win the bout. So, my coach talked to me and said: ‘Respect yourself and the training you have had so far.’ This made me more confident; I scored more points and won the contest"
A:"Prospects about winning a medal?"
B:"I would be very happy even if I won a bronze medal,but for now I'll face my next opponent,then we will see if I'll win a medal or not".

Martha once agains continues to speak

"And finally in the Cycling - womens road race Benedetta Fanizza and He-Suk Ho win respectfully a gold and a silver medal,a great victory for Esth in this sport,don't you think Rambert?"

"Yes indeed,our Olympic team continues to surprise more and more often,I believe nobody ever predicted that Esth would win 19 medals in only two days;let's just hope they keep up like this.
Meanwhile during these events,in Celestia our Emperor during a Parliament Reunion sent his congratulations to all the athletes who have won a medal and encouraged all the others to give their best.
Let's hope his "blessings" will come to a good end;what about tomorrow Martha?Any interesting events?"

"Yes,in Hockey our women's team will play against The Belmore Family while in Tennis the duo Kunthea/Bronislava will match up against Korokova/McTennis of Eskrador in the Women's Double.
The eventing dressage has been postponed to tomorrow due to heavy winds.
Not to miss are also the mens 66-73kg and womens 52-57kg in Judo"

"Thank you Martha,it's time to sign off,this is Rambert Becker in Studio n.8,Kaza;thank you for watching and goodnight"