NationStates Jolt Archive

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 3 spills into Day 4, and we got results!

Team Handball (Men):

The 2nd match didn't go as well as the frist for the team, losing to Secristan 32-25. But the team is 2nd in the group, on GD. The final goal was an very rare Own Goal by the Secristan keeper, when the ball slipped out of his hand and it bounced off his hip and into the goal.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 11 14 25
Secristan 19 13 32

Qazox Goals Today: (overall)
Clinton Villavicencio: 7 (18)
Christian Jowett: 7 (15)
Hugh Lafon: 6 (14)
Cody Parkey: 2 (6)
Kurt Curtis: 1 (5)
Darryl Longworth: 1
Own Goals- 1 (Secristan)


Softball (Women):
Gerainia held a 1-0 lead going into the bottom of the 7th, but Marci Redman's 2-run homerun gave the team its first victory. Kathrine Staff struck out 9 and allowed 5 hits.

SCORE SUMMARY
Gerainia 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2


Water Polo—Men’s:
Back-toback wins now for the Men's team, as they have vastly improved themselves since the last Olympic showing. An 8-7 win over Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea, sees the team tied for 1st in the group, with Taeshan, familar foes.

SCORE SUMMARY
B. C. & O. 1 3 2 1 7
Qazox 4 2 1 1 8

Qazox Goals Today (Overall):
Bruce Lanham: 2 (6)
Howard Romero: 3 (5)
Luis O'Keefe: 2 (3)
Danny Baptiste: 0 (1)
Jose Allgood: 1 (1)


Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

Albert Wall was on a mission.

His first Olympics were just for experience. Even so, he had underachieved, only winning one bout.

His second Olympics saw him installed as the favourite for gold. He destroyed his semi-final opponent. But it was his only bout before the final and Oriol Presas was able to counter his gung-ho attack. Frustrated, Wall gave up easy points and lost the gold.

He was practically the only gold-less Wentland wrestler. So much was the disappointment in him that, despite being national champion, there was talk about not picking him for the Games.

Wall insisted that he was the man for the job. He promised to bring home the gold. "I've learned from my mistakes...I can apply them..."

His first bout seemed to belie his confidence. Wall lost the first period when he was unexpectedly taken down and Nascimento did not give him an opportunity. But the second period showed the new Wall maturity. Patient and composed, he waited until the last ten seconds before scoring the decisive point via reversal as Nascimento went for a 2-0 lead. And in the third Wall ended it quickly with a suplex throw that dazed Nascimento sufficiently.

It was the start of a good day for the wrestlers. Every bout won ensuring the slightly easier semi-finals. But the one with the burning desire for gold was Albert Wall.

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

BRONZE PICKED UP

(This is a Monday Evening event RP, a Tuesday Morning RP will follow later. This will likely be a common theme for us midweek.)

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- Tara Kelly earned a bronze for Newmanistan in an absolutely thrilling competition in the Women’s Trap, although it was the only medal picked up by the Empire in last night’s events, though again, with the events that medals were awarded in, it shouldn’t have been expected to be much of a medal day. But enough about that, was the Women’s Trap exciting or what? Hey, we realize not everyone gets up for a good shooting competition, but when the replay of this event shows on NSPN3 later this afternoon, be sure to catch this event. Three participants, in qualifying tied a qualifying olympic record, with Kelly just one shot behind them. Then in the final, another participant would tie a final olympic record in a furious charge to try and win a medal, but because those that were already ahead of her continued to be right on target, the hometown hero Elia Aravani could only get back to 5th. That is because while Kelly and Allanea’s Stella Falwell did not tie an Olympic record, they fell just one shot short. So with the U.C.S. fans hoping for a great story in an Aravani comeback, the event proved to be great in other aspects. The 20 scored by Aravani won her the gold medal by a shot over a threesome tied for second, including her countrymate Martha Higgins, as well as Kelly, and Cafundeu’s Alessandra Vieira. So there would be a shootout to decide the silver and the bronze. That would be tight as well, and it would be Higgins getting the silver, making a 1-2 finish for Allanea, and Kelly getting the bronze. Given the intensity of the event, Kelly said that her bronze feels like a gold, “That was intense. We were all looking at each other and smiling as we all knew that we were putting on a great show for the fans while we were at it. To have had that kind of battle with them, knowing that they too are the best in the world, is something that I will never forget. It’s the greatest moment of life, outside of when I had my daughter. To get a medal is something really special, and I assure you that everyone who got a medal really earned it. It’s kinda too bad that Vieira and Aravani don’t get something to show for it, because they both did a great job, too.” Mark this event high on the list as one the best, most intense, single events that there has been in this Olympiad thus far.

The other medals were not awarded in events where we should have really expected to have much success. The Fujisawan Territories picked up a gold in the Archery Men’s Team competition; you may remember that they were the team that knocked us out in the early stages. Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea won the gold in the Men’s Synchronized 10m Platform in Diving. We were 12th in that event, just a mere 45 points off the BCO pace. Ok, in diving, that’s a ton! Christina Zhang of Ariddia won a gold in Fencing, though how about that West Pocono earning a bronze there? Congratulations to them! Ariddia and an amazing Judo-ing Bear won golds in that event. Kura Pelland and the BCO won Weightlifting golds. See, none of those were events we expected to even sniff the leaderboard, and following suit, we did not. We were surprised though, when Beorran o Blackhills could not lift the 227.5 weight.

Newmanistan’s day was otherwise pretty quiet in terms of events entered. Kyle Novak had a bye in lightweight boxing, and no Newmanistanian made the quarterfinals in any of the Judo or Fencing that took place; nor did we have an entrant in rowing. There were some swimming qualifications that took place, and the results here are quite mixed. Dave Perotti qualified for the semis in the Men’s 200 meter butterfly, but Nate Compston did not have a good showing. Lauren Biron made the field in the 200m Freestyle, but Jennifer Conlin (is it too early for us to get on her case?) did not qualify for the event, and finished a very disappointing 24th. We’re not sure what’s up with Jennifer right now, but Lauren did look good in her heat with only Carrie Stefansson of Secristan faster then her. The split continued in the 200m Individual medley. Kara Brannon in, Caitlin Geraghty out. Don’t look now but Kara Brannon is having a strong Olympiad. Hopefully, saying so did not just jinx her. We expected better then this in the pool, but at the same time, it’s a decent enough showing not to worry that much. Except for maybe, what’s up with Conlin? In Tennis, three of four Newmanistanians advanced: Including Chris Terrell winning 12 straight games after losing the first set in his match, and Brendan Holt looked strong in straight sets. However, three of four victories would be the best possible event for us in men’s singles, as Michael Johnson and Tim Cooper went head-to-head. Johnson improved his lifetime record against Cooper to 8-3 as he moves forward and avenges his recent Loudon Open Finals defeat. Cooper did taste victory though, as in doubles, him and Chris Terrell won just one of two first round matches that were scheduled. On the ladies side, make it 4-for-4. The Hearn sisters were victorious and each did so in straight sets, fairly easily. Brittany won her match, 6-3, 6-1 and Ashley won hers 6-3, 6-4. Afterwards Brittany said, “Our dream of both being on the podium at the same time remains.” The dream also remains for Sarah Mayer and Lauren Martin. Mayer won in straight sets, surviving a late charge Ipanna Umike of the BCO, and Martin rebounded after dropping the first set to win the final two against Krytenia’s Rachel Giannini. It’s great to see us doing so well on the tennis court.


Now for team events, Newmanistan looked strong in the tug of war demonstration event, defeating the Landau Institute to advance to the semis. We had an exciting battle against the Bluth Corporation on the hardwood, defeating them by six in a game that was close the whole way, with the Rockets eventually pulling away late as the Corporation missed some clutch free throws. The final there was 91-85 on the ladies side. Stunningly, the men’s field hockey team were only defeated by one against Krytenia. We take it Krytenia isn’t very good in this either. So that’s that, you’re Monday evening report. Stay tuned for the Tuesday Morning report coming sometime later!

ATHLETE PROFILE: Tom Parsons, Shooting
By: Jenn Murphy

Congratulations to you, the fans, that us at the Rocket Report went out an interviewed. Remember before the Olympics, we asked the common fan to pick their winners in several categories. Some, haven’t gone according to plan, but you all picked the winner in what was one of the harder categories. Remember this?

Category: Biggest sleeper to medal
Winner: Tom Parsons (shooting)

– The purpose of this category was to vote for the athlete that isn’t really seen as a top contender to win a medal right now, but could surprise everyone. It’s purpose was not to pick the most “unlikely”, as in someone you thought would completely do horribly. That comes in the next category. Parsons actually ended up being a pretty popular pick, almost to the point to make you wonder if he should even be a sleeper in these events.

Tom Parsons became more then just a sleeper to win a medal though. He became the first ever Newmanistanian to win a medal, and it was gold, in the Men’s 10m Air Pistol. Now, for all eternity, Parsons will be the answer to the ultimate trivia question of who was the first to medal in a Worldwide Olympiad. Tom Parsons. A man, that never made a lot of money and had never received a lot of fame. Like most of us reading this report, Parsons was a man who got up early in the morning, and worked 40 hours per week, every week, in order to put food on the table for his wife Christine, and two kids, Brian, 6, and Sarah, 3.

No, fame is not something that Parsons has ever had, nor had ever grown in. Growing in the Putnam Lake area, he was one of two children born to his parents, Alex and Carrie. His sister, Amanda, was two years older. They were your typical middle class family, making enough money to get by, but not much more then that. Alex worked the beat as a member of the Putnam Lake Police Department while his mother Carrie was a secretary for a local business. There was nothing crazy, or anything unusual about Tom’s years of growing up, he was a good kid, obviously, and kept in with the right people. His father would not allow him to do much that would be considered risky, knowing how brutal the world could be out there. But then, there came a day, when young Tom was just 13 years old. The night before, he had a big argument with his father over him not taking away his cellphone over a couple poor grades for a week. Tom threw a fit, uncharacteristic, but still he was mad. The last thing he said to his dad that morning was that he hated him. While he was at school that day, his father was shot in the back during a drug bust. When Tom came home, he broke down in tears when he heard the news. How could this have happened, and how could the last thing he ever said to his dad be such a horrible thing. Alex would survive, but be permanently paralyzed. He has never been able to walk again. “The one thing I remember in the hospital,” Alex says from his wheelchair, “was Tom saying how bad he felt and that we would be a cop one day. I first let him know that I would forgive him, although I didn’t know if I really wanted him to go into law enforcement.”
Tom, standing beside him during this interview, comments further, “I know how much my dad loved being out there and fighting the bad guy. It’s a tough job but if we don’t have these brave men and women out there it would complete anarchy. I wanted to finish the job that he had left behind.”

Alex Parsons still works for the Putnam Lake Police Department, in their office, away from the front lines. It’s not what he dreamed of doing his whole life, but he still had to help them in any way he could. It’s only office work, but it’s good enough. Especially now, that Tom has joined him. “I told Tom that he still needed to graduate and keep his grades up, stay out of trouble, and if he really wanted to work for the Department, that I probably could pull a few strings to get him into a training program quicker then most people would,” said Alex. Alex also took his son to the shooting range on several occasions. Tom was impressed by how well his dad could shoot from his wheelchair, and gradually Tom got better, and better. When he eventually went to training camp for the Putnam lake Police Department, he was very efficient, and it did not take long for him to earn his badge. True, they all wanted him to succeed, but he got no freebies, he had to earn his badge the same way anyone else would. Tom had realized his dream, and now was a member of law enforcement himself.

But this shooting thing. Everytime he went out with his buddies to the shooting range he just impressed them, time and time again. They were all good, but Tom, was just amazing, making them look bad despite that. At 21, Tom participated in Empire-Wide Police Olympics. He finished second that day. He didn’t remember the name of the guy who finished first, as at the time, he didn’t really care. The next year, he did it again, and finished 2nd again. Then it was Olympic trials, and he would finish second again. It was good enough to get him on the team, but soon he would be introduced to this guy that kept beating him, as it was the same person, that every other time, was the man that beat him. His name was Nick Henderson, and he was from Pocono City. They talked a little bit. Both were cops, but despite that big thing in common, they went their separate ways until arriving in Columbia.

Tom’s father, Alex, joined him in Columbia, and one of the first people that Tom got to know, this time much better, was Nick Henderson. Henderson’s roots were not much different, he grew up in a middle class family, and like Alex Parsons, his father was a cop. Shawn Henderson soon got to know Alex Parsons, and they shared police stories for hours and hours, and probably even days. Tom and Nick practiced together for their events, and their fathers, when possible, would join them. Then it would be time for the event, the 10m Air Pistol. The fathers made a friendly wager over which of their sons would do better. Who knew what to expect, as now they were going up against the best in the world. Shawn Henderson reminded Alex Parsons that every time his son found a way to beat Alex’s son. The event started and both got off to a good start. Then it continued and they finished strong. Both were excited, and then when all the shooters had taken their turn, it was there as clear as day. We had a tie for first. Between Tom Parsons and Nick Henderson. For most of the world, it was a tie between two Newmanistanians, and that was enough. For us, it was an assurance that we would win a gold and a silver in the event. As much as Tom had become friends with Nick, this was his chance, right here in the shootout, to make up for those second place finishes on the biggest stage ever possible. It was an intense but friendly shootout, and in the end, Tom would win. Finally he had defeated Nick Henderson. And a dream, that just kinda happened, was a reality. Tom Parsons was a gold medalist.

At the conclusion of the medal ceremony, and the end of the Newmanistan national anthem, Tom took his gold medal and wrapped it around the neck of his father. It was dedicated to him, because without him, Tom Parsons never would have been here. They say, in Olympic lore, that the Olympics make heroes out of everyday people. That great stories would come about, and come out of no where. For Tom Parsons, out of no where the first Newmanistanian ever to win a gold medal, that is definitely proven to be true.

The Gun and Ball
Allanea's Sports Magazine

We in The Gun and Ball would like to point out that the naysayers – including us – continue to be proven wrong. Ladies and gentlemen, we have another Gold medal, now brought home by Elmer Rubinstein.

Mr. Rubinstein is currently studying for a Ph. D. in East Havenic History in the University of San Nereiana. After a brief phonecall to the Allanean Olympic Village, he said, in part:

"I am proud of my accomplishment – but, as a matter of fact, I believe I will now concentrate on my career in History. As far as I am concerned, I have gone as far as I could have humanly gone in Olympic sports. And now I need to do other things – such as work on my doctorate on the emergence of the Praetonian monarchy."

In other news, the diminituve Sandra Romah has arrived in the semifinals in Greco-Roman 48-kilo wrestling, while the slightly-heavier Alciviades N. Rock is also in the semi-finals in the Men's 55-kilo Graeco-Roman. Ayn Rosenbaum has qualified – and is so far leading the pack in Women's Double Trap. Nikita Maine has qualified as well in the same sport. In Men's Double Trap, Alexander Irwin and Moses Shaw have qualified as well.

What this means in practice is that the naysayers were wrong – Allanea has more than just a fighting chance to score a few more medals at these Olympics – we have a pretty decent chance.

REAPING THE SPOILS
Communist News Network Sports Blog

Allanea is the Land of the Gun, and has been known for this particular feature of its culture since its very foundation. The national motto is 'From our cold, dead fingers', for the love of God. The failure of Allanea's leadership to accede to even the most modest, common-sense limits on firearms ownership, and in fact, their encouragement of it lies deep in the capitalist, individualist, propertarian culture of the country.

Those of you who are readers of our main news website, or of the leading Progressive periodicals in Allanea, know full well what terrible price this nation pays for its fixation with weapons and violence – and the capitalism that begets it. Every year in Allanea, 600,000 people are killed by guns, many of them children. This includes the Allanean 'peculiar institution' of dueling – in effect, legalized murder.

But we at the CNN Sports Blog are not an anti-gun campaign outlet, and we readily admit that Allanea's highly controversial approach does have its benefits – because it means that the nation's legitimate users of firearms are far more proficient. It means our soldiers are more likely to win wars, and that our Olympic competitors are more likely to win medals.

With this in mind, we would like to congratulate Elmer Rubinstein for receiving the Olympic Gold in Men's 50-meter Pistol – becoming Allanea's fourth Olympic gold medalist this cycle, and her third shooter to grab the gold.

We at the CNN Sports Blog are as happy as any red-blooded Allanean patriot to see our people win medals, but we do think that the sports we are good at tell a lot about us as a nation and as a civilization.

What does it mean about our nation that we fail so utterly at every team sport imaginable, but succeed in individual sports that eschew cooperation in favor of competitiveness, representing a community or sports club in favor of corporate-funded stardom, and peaceful sports in favor of militarist 'combatives' that teach only how to harm others?

And again, congratulations, Mr. Rubinstein.

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OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 12, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080812.mp3

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COLIN CHILLIAD - WATER POLO

I've got a lovely pair of stripes across my back and I don't even know when I got it. I got so much crap going on at the back in the match that when exactly someone sharpened his toenails on me I can't recall. Welcome to international-level water polo. With national pride on the line anyone can get a little psycho. The toughest sport isn't hockey, or rugby, it's water polo. If you doubt me just play one quarter and I guarentee you'll agree. People get kicked, scratched, punched, dunked, held under, and the ultimate: the knee to the balls and that's just the beginning. Fellas have broken their noses, ruptured eardrums, bled into the water...

I personally don't go out to play dirty but many players do and I'll be damned if I let someone dunk or kick me and not get my own back. Play nice with me and I won't do anything funny, but swim over my legs and I'll kick you, elbow me and I'll dunk you, etc. It's a jungle out there, especially at this level.

We have a day off today with a break in the schedule, so we went to do touristy things. It'd be a real job to explain all the in-jokes so I'll end it off here. It's back to SMASHY SMASHY KILL KILL tomorrow.

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

FOUR MEDALS WON IN MORNING

Many of us have been waiting for this big day, that one day where much would go right, and the Empire could start seeing several medals come there way. Newmanistan increased their medal total from six to ten, including two golds. Leading the way, were the Aquatic Rockets, responsible for all four of the medals. The biggest event was definitely the Men’s 200m Freestyle, that saw a 1-2 finish for Newmanistan. Dave Perotti celebrates with a gold while Nate Compston picks up a silver, as they perhaps took care of some unfinished business after they have been close with medal opportunities previously in the meet. This time, they would not let anything get in their way. Perotti said that he could sense the gold was his as he approached the finish, not because of where he felt the other competitors were, but simply because he knew he had swum a great race, “I’ve had some good runs in the heats, but it wasn’t until right now in this race, where did I feel I did everything right, and I knew I was going to come home with a good time. Yeah, I could tell I was clear of the others, but it was great to finally be real happy with the way I performed, and I am thrilled that I have captured a gold.” As for looking up on the board in seeing Compston behind him, “That was great, I know he’s been going through a lot of the same things that I have and am glad he gets the silver behind me. A 1-2 finish is special.” Compston agreed that this finish takes a lot of weight off their shoulders, weight, which in a pool, is never a good thing, “As a team, the frustrating part has been that we haven’t always done as well in the races as we have in the heats, and it was starting to get to us. Here, Dave and I both ran a strong race, finally putting all together and finishing off an event that we started well. I am really excited to win this silver. It’s not gold, but it’s nice to win a silver and still hear your anthem while you’re on the podium.” Later, Compston would add another medal to his collection, this a bronze in the 100m Backstroke. With the medal, he became the Empire’s first multiple-medal winner. He was honored about that one too, “After the Freestyle, I had a lot of confidence going into the Backstroke. I just told myself to again, not worry about where I was, just to concentrate on doing my thing. Rodney’s (Standhope, the gold medal winner from Secristan) good, we’ve competed against each other before in regional competitions. Losing to him is something I can handle. It guess it got really close there for the silver that they needed three decimals to determine it. That’s cool, Kelssek has got some very talented swimmers too. It’s been fun going against them.”

And there was another gold, and finally Lauren Biron will no longer be shut out of the medal count. While Jennifer Conlin continues to search, Biron was absolutely flawless in the 100m Breaststroke, starting out with the lead, and never relinquishing it. Carrie Stefansson was a valiant challenger but she couldn’t quite get all the way to Biron, as just it looked like she might make a pass in the final 10 meters, Lauren dug down deep for a little extra speed and found it, just enough to hold off Secristan’s Stefansson. Afterwards, Biron was in very high spirits, “Heck yeah I’m thrilled. I just won a gold medal! It’s finally our time, we’re starting to get some good, positive momentum going. Just look at what the men did today, it’s really great and I think we may have some more swimming medals to win. Not everyone can say they are an Olympic Gold medalist.” Then when we reminded Lauren that she just became the Empire’s first ever female gold medalist, she got even more excited, “Oh wow! I didn’t think about that part! Woohoo, that’s just totally awesome and a real honor!” She then offered a comment for Stefansson, “You’re too good to have to be buying your spot on the team!” Biron’s emotions continued to get the best of her as she went up to a group of Newmanistan fans that were in attendance, and single handedly gave each one a hug and a high-five.

In other aquatic action, Dave Perotti put himself in a position to capture a second medal by qualifying for the final second overall. Hopefully, he will be able to build on his momentum further. Biron may have celebrated her gold a little too much as she seemed a little off in the 200m Freestyle semifinal. She started out well, but faded quite a bit at the end. In fact, Biron did say that focus was a factor. “Ok, ok. I admit it!” she exclaimed. Kudos to Lauren for coming out and admitting that and not covering it up. Kara Brannon qualified for the 200m Individual Medley, placing third in the semifinal. “I should have a shot at it!” Brannon told us. The final in the Women’s 100m Backstroke also took place, but there were no Newmanistan representatives in it. Reportedly, our Matt Clemons has made a friendly wager offer with Wentland’s Sara Clemons over which Clemons will have more medals in the pool. This after what Matt said, is “Too many people asking us if we’re related. You’d think they realize we’re from two countries that aren’t exactly geographic neighbors.” Neither has medaled thus far.

Wrestling began today. That’s good news for those nations that have hopes of picking up medals in the sport. We are not one of them. Jim Kircher and Pete Latella did pick up a win though, before their inevitable elimination. Phil Montrose, our hope in Wheelchair fencing, had a bye. Montrose is probably the best with a sword in the entire country and likely can beat our fencers that aren’t in a wheelchair. Montrose says it was just a thrill to have the event in the Olympics, “When they told me that Wheelchair Fencing would be a demonstration sport, I couldn’t believe it. I tried out immediately and am honored to represent the Empire. It’s really great that they are recognizing our talents.” In an exhibition in the Olympic village, Montrose defeated Otis Ramos, a regular fencer, 15-10. In the Tug of War, it would have been a silver medal for Newmanistan had it been a medal event. Still an impressive performance, and its good to see despite apparent ineptness in Weightlifting, we are just as strong as anyone else. In American Football, Corey Parisi ran for 162 yards and three touchdowns in the Rockets 37-17 rout of kenavt. They have yet to really been tested, though quality sides like Kura-Pelland and the Fujisawan Territories, who you may remember had a strong World Bowl I, loom. Also Bears Armed’s ladies get noticed after crushing Taeshan. Elsewhere in demonstration sports, Hank Ridgewell and Burt Ordway have been eliminated in bocce, though played well in getting to the quarterfinal. And in canoeing.... wait, never mind, they actually give medals for that.

Ok, Medal Sports. Canoeing? Not gonna happen! Though Brian Derby almost qualified, finishing 9th in the Men’s Slalom C-1, whatever that is. Erin Siegwalt gave a more indicative performance of Newmanistan’s canoeing prowess, finishing dead last, and some thirty seconds behind the closest opponent. Though she finished, and got a standing ovation when she crossed the line. She could have given up, you know. We still had people alive in Badminton, but that probably came to an end today. We lost all the fencing, as well, and the same for the Judo. One event though where our failure to medal actually is a little disappointing is Men’s Artistic Gymnastics. Sure we know that they are not as good as the women, though we were hoping they could pull something off there at the end. Sadly, they did not, and the Ariddians lived up to their reputation in the sport. It was tight for second with the Landau Institute just beating Secristan for the silver, who just beat West Pocono for the bronze. Poor West Pocono. Now, with guns.... Nick Henderson is not as good from 50m as he is from 10, and that showed in qualifying, as was the case with Tom Parsons. We were hoping they’d at least make the final. We had success in the double trap though, with both genders. On the male side, Mark Stra-coooozeee fired quite well, placing third and well above the cutoff point. With the ladies, they were back giving us quite a thrill. Four shooters tie for first with 108. Folks, these women with guns in the trap events have been quite a show. Don’t miss the final of this event! Newmanistan’s Tara Kelly was one of those four. Showing the competitiveness, Jennifer Winters was only two shots behind the tie, but she did not qualify! Look for the home crowd to offer tons of support for their own Elia Arvani based on the way she closed out the single trap, but not quite able to medal.

Team sports are going pretty well, too. Newmanistan cruised over Allanea, 38-20, to improve to 2-0 in men’s handball. Combining the men and the women, they are 4-0 and haven’t really been tested yet. The volleyball performance against Gerania was pathetic. The Men’s Indoor team lost the first set by the score of 25-5. How do you explain that one other then a lack of being prepared for what you are about to face. It took them until the third set for them to even hit the 25 point mark, total. The men defeated kenavt in Water Polo, 9-8, to improve to 2-0. Softball got underway for us as we had a bye on the first matchday, as did Kelssek. Our men looked strong in their 2-0 win.

So, in total, Newmanistan has 10 medals. Three golden, two silver, and five bronze. They are 6th overall on the medal board, though only two nations have won more medals. The nation that has won the most medals is.... no way... One Big Island rival, Secristan? That’s just because of the Judo, don’t worry. They won’t have bragging rights on us for long. We hope.

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Transcript of the 1:00pm news broadcast of the BT-FNC English

"And today, the BCO team had a slow start. Merani, the only remaining badminton player in the men's singles, was eliminated after being defeated at the hands of Onrry de Summer of Roumberre. The double Neuwille/Petaneke suffered the same fate against Williams and Sherman of the Bluth Corporation with an end result 18-21, 21-13, 17-21. However, Merani/Neuwille prevailed against Harris and Ernandeso of Jasīʼyūn 21-13, 21-3.

During the first canoeing semifinaks, only Marc Bourse qualified for the finals, placing first with a time of 1:35.07. Vukari and Baleya, however, both failed to be among the top 8.

A surprising win by the men's handball team was one of today's highlights. The BCO team prevailed against Cafundéu 25-26.

Our second judoka, Matea Na-Nint, was defeated in the second round by Laurence Daniels of Kura-Pelland after receiving a bye in the first round.

The women's softball team could register a clear win against Jasīʼyūn with a result of 6-0. They are currently at the top of Group B.

In the men's 100m backstroke finals, Kitnareo finished last with a time of 55.24, more than a second after Securistan's Rodney Standhope, the gold medalist. In the 100m backstroke finals, Zumbala also place last. Kimbehāŋi narrowly qualified for the 200m butterfly finals, and both Poutense and Hempara qualified for the 200m freestyle finals, as did Mehirga for the 200m individual medley.

On to wrestling. The first qualification bouts were held today. In the Greco-Roman 55kg division, Mito Akea failed to qualify with 5 defeats and 0 wins. In the 60kg division, Jeti Ācarmūniṭ Esoci also was eliminated with 2 defeats, 0 wins.

Premi Krat narrowly qualified in the women's Greco-Roman 48kg with two wins, two losses.

As of noon, BCO still leads the medal tally with 5 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze despite not winning medals during the morning competitions. With a total of 11 medals, we are behind Secristan - currently number 2 on the tally - and trailed by Newmanistan with 10 medals, placed 6 on the tally.

For more, check back with us later, or visit our website. Live broadcasts of the Olympic competitions can be watched on any of the National Broadcasting's sport channels.

I'm Jennifer Htaŋita, and you are listening to the First Baranxtuan National Channel English. Please stay tuned for the national weather forecast."

A Team and a Dream. The story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

It was a somewhat good morning for the Purple Knights teams this morning as 3 out of the four teams in Competition getting a win, and the losers unsuprisingly are the Football team with a 48-9 loss to the Bears armed Womens team. Horrible, Horrible. In Handball the Mens team revenged there earlier loss to Kelssek with a 24-20 victory over Esstesse Intenso/The Landau Institute, mike Kwan led the team with 10 goals. In Water Polo the Water Knights won again with a9-4 victory over the Cafundeu Monopolists Milton Miller led the team with 3 goals. Finally in Mens Indoor Volleyball the Knights after losing the opening set to the Kura-Pellandi team came back and won the game in 3 straight sets. Erin Spesio led the team with 19 kills, and Jeff Rollings led in Digs witth 13.

The members of BA's female "American" Football team had gone out together for a fine dinner, to celebrate the scale of their victory over the Taeshanese. As they sat around the tables in a steakhouse that they were pretty much filling up all by themselves, sipping drinks as they waited for their orders to arrive, quarterback Irrinna o Redwood called out to their coach _

"Harr'yey, Clementine, do you think that we should maybe re-name ourselves as 'The Steamrollers'?"

Several of her team-mates giggled at this suggestion...

__________________________________________________

However the situation was rather less festive in the rooms in the Olympic Village that were being used as a temporary headquarters by the BA Olympic Committee...

"Hokay, so we didn't really expect to have won many medals by this stage of the Games, given the order of events," grumbled their chairbear Siggurr Thuleann to the people heading the main sports' sections, "but some of the Roumberree are getting just a bit too smug about their current lead over us. I want to see those smiles wiped off of their faces SOON. All of you, work out which of your people have any hope of winning any events during the next couple of days and give them even more of a push than you're already doing. H'rrmm, maybe I should give a recitation of an appropriate Saga to the whole delegation to boost morale, yes?" There was a chorus of coughs as a number of the other people present started to object to this idea but then decided against risking his anger.
After a few seconds of silence Birrin, the leader of the wrestlers and weightlifters, spoke up_
"H'rrmm, maybe ‘No’? Not that your Clan's sagas can't be very inspiring, indeed, but they do take rather a while to recite properly and after all those of our people who haven’t finished their events yet do need to get a decent amount of sleep in between practicing and competing..."

"I suppose so," agreed Siggurr, with a touch of what might have been called sulkiness in any lesser Ursine, but talking of your people, don't you have some explaining to do? The BAOC went along with the High Council’s idea of incorporating some of our nation's resident non-ursines in the team, to help show that their peoples are valued parts of the country’s population as well as in the hope of taking extra medals home for some events where we didn't have enough good Ursine contenders, and what happens? When that bloody Brock whom you yourself helped to select for the Males' 56kg class in Weightlifting becomes co-winner of his event on Sunday afternoon, with what I’ll admit was a very creditable effort indeed, and is on the podium to collect our team’s very first gold medal of these Games, he gives the bloody “Brock Power” salute! It’s just not good enough! There’s a bloody ditch-digger given the honour of helping to represent us all, and he shows such ingratitude! Who does he think he is, anyway?”

Several of the other committee-members carefully edged a bit further away from both Siggurr and Birrin, as the former’s voice rose in volume during this tirade, but Birrin himself held his ground.
“He thinks that he’s a champion athlete, now,” he replied, “and do you know what? By my reckoning he really is one: Setting a new Olympic record, and one so far above the previous level, doesn’t happen every day.
And I know the arguments against giving the Brocks the improved rights that some of them are calling for, and there’s certainly law and logic behind those, but I can see their side of the argument too. I definitely don't support all of their claims maybe it is time for the High Council to reconsider at least some aspects of that situation. Now, unless you want the whole Weightlifting team to decide to sit the rest of this contest out, leave handling the matter to us until we all get back home and then go through proper channels…”

Siggurr growled lowly at this reply, but held his temper in check and strode out of the room — without uttering another word — instead of getting into a fight that could left one or the other of them too badly injured to take a further part in the Games…


(OOC note: Hibbin Dall, the "Brock" weightlifter about whom Siggurr was complaining, is actually an anthropomorphic Badger rather than an anthropomorphic Bear. His people constitute less than 01% of BA's population, and there really are valid arguments against the additional rights that some of them are now trying to claim... but they do have some valid grievances, too.
I'd been considering having one or another of the team's non-ursine members make such a gesture anyway, if a suitable opportunity arose, and when he won the nation's very first 'Gold' medal of these Games he seemed the obvious candidate...)

I scorinated the match correctly, but put the wrong name when I formatted the results.

To Joakina Martínesa, Director of Operations, COLOCOG,

Sir,
It seems that I owe you an apology. Apparently the blow to the head that I took during the 'Chess Boxing' event left me slightly concussed, as several members of my nation's team have now explained that I accidentally watched the wrong match altogether during that stage of the Women's Individual Foils contest.
Please accept the attached item as a token of my regret for troubling you in this way.


Yours regretfully,

Alexandre Brumas [senior],
Chairbear, Committee Olympic Roumberee,
Chancellor of the University of Baree.


_________________________________________________

(OOC: Oh well, at least one of Alexandra's team-mates actually managed to take Gold in that same event... but I'd been hoping for a second medal there, too. Still, if the remaining Fencing contests go at least as well for this team as the ones that have already been completed did, Roumberre should become internationally known as a 'superpower' in this field by the end of these Games...)

(Oh, and the "attached item" is a bottle of Roumberree 'Champagne': It might not be quite as excellent as the most prestigious [RL] French brands of that drink are generally considered to be, but it's certainly pretty good...)

"Representing Cafundeu...Terezinha Di Maggi and Cecília Miranda!!!"

There was polite applause from the bocce crowd.

"And representing Wentland...Edna Grubbe and Doris Speed!!!"

Similar polite applause. Edna Grubbe stepped forward and clasped the waved to the spectators. "Oh, thank you so much, that is very kind..."

Doris Speed also approached them. "Yes, there must be SO many more interesting things to see and do around here, it is so nice of you to watch our opponents..."

"Yes, perhaps you would all like some whortleberry jam? I've brought some with me..."

"Oh, Edna...you ARE a caution! But you can tell the nice people that it contains no artificial flavourings!"

"No, indeed. All natural ingredients from the pantry garden. You would not BELIEVE the difficulties I had with customs..."

"Er, ladies...would you mind please turning your attention to the contest? Your opponents are ready to start."

"Oh, I DO beg your pardon, young man...please, proceed and we shall catch up later. My lumbago is playing up again, I'm afraid..."

The umpire could not help but smile as he signalled di Maggi to launch the jack, which she did expertly. Within a minute Cafundeu were 4-0 up.

"Oh dear, Edna, it seems as if we are a little unsteady on our pins today..."

"Indeed, Doris. I knew I should not have had that tot of sherry on my morning porridge oats."

"Oh, but you MUST, Edna. It is SO good for your bronchial condition. Perhaps a piece of upside-down cake will be capital?"

"Oh, Doris, that's SO kind. Thank you very much. I think that will do the trick, as those youngsters are fond of saying."

Five minutes later and the position was nearly restored. 6-4 to Cafundeu.

"I wonder if I may go to the necessarium? I think I had too much rosehip tea, young man."

"Er...this is most unusual...technically you are not allowed to leave the playing area without forfeiting your turn..."

"Oh, go on, Doris...I shall hold the fort..."

***

"I am SO sorry, Edna...the lavatories were SUCH a distance away, and they did not have the double-ply quilted topweave that I require..."

"Don't you fuss, Doris...it doesn't matter..."

"Oh...is it my turn now?"

"No, the game is over. We won 11-8."

"Oh really? Oh, I am so sorry, Edna...they scored another couple of points."

"Yes, that was regrettable...fortunately that upside down cake was JUST the thing for victory. Well, all's well that end's well."

"What do we do tonight? Is the bingo being held?"

"Now, that IS a good idea...that rap concert was a little too fresh for my tastes...give me the old school of MC Killa and the Frantic Foursome any day..."

"Now THERE's a brother who knows his shiznit. Holla!"

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

A Historical Day today for Green wombat, as we finally have a Medal! Although it is a bronze medal, the importance of this event is very significant. It proves that all of the training over the past few years have not a waste, and now that we have won one medal, perhaps more are forthcoming. Not to metion that we narrowly missed a 2nd bronze.


SWIMMING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD), Medal winners in Medal Color:

Men’s 200 m Freestyle—Final:
Walter Bergstrom: 1:45.84 (4th by 0.02 seconds)

Men’s 200 m Butterfly—Semifinals:
Patrick Blackmon: 1:57.57

Women’s 100 m Breaststroke—Final:
Kristin Stoffel: 1:07.03- Bronze Medalist

Women’s 200 m Individual Medley—Semifinals:
Jenny Messina: 2:13.27 1st
Audrey Wallace: 2:14.18 (lost swim-off for 8th place)

Day 08–12 B results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13917442&postcount=11) · part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13917451&postcount=12)).

um NH you missed my 3 jumpers Alec Grene, Ava Smitts, and Selma Hayak

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

The Aquatic events are about halfway through, and Green wombat, while it's not showing on the medal tally, has done well enough here in Columbia, that in the next Olympics, a stronger showing should occur.


SWIMMING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD), Medal winners in Medal Color:
Men’s 100 m Freestyle—Heats:
Walter Bergstrom: 50.05 (8th)
Eric Monge: 51.41

Men’s 200 m Breaststroke—Heats:
Jack Havens: 2:16.59
Eric Hines: 2:17.30

Men’s 4×200 m Freestyle Relay—Heats:
(Bergstrom/Monge/Peele/Caswell): 7:24.03

Women’s 200 m Butterfly—Heats:
Ruby Lindell: 2:14.69
Alberta Bechtel: 2:20.71

A Team and A Dream. The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

Well it was another bad day in Capitalizt Slani as the Knights teams had a mixed day. First off we must mention the missed entrance of the Taeshani Show Jumpers. The three mTae competitors in the whole horse events of theis Olympics were missed. It is unexcuseable. In Basketball the Mens team after winning there opening game fell short in there seond match falling to Newmanistan 72-62. Ilychin Baker led the team with 15 points. in Beach Volleyball after both Mens teams opened with a win they both losed in the second round. Joey Ghengis and Cilis werington fell to the Newmanistani team of Cipriani/Henry in two sets, while Mike Phish and Tyson Bradshaw fell to Rheeder and Wulf. In womens the story was different as Trainer and Keller after there first round loss were able to rebound with a win over Dolgashava/Gay of Allanea, and Fiona Smith and Ashlen Fredy won there game over Marksberry/Robillard of Unified britania.

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online
Another swimming medal for the Territories

Columbia, UCS - Kavajirak Matsunami gave the Fujisawan Territories another medal from the pool, finishing third in the men’s 200m freestyle final with a time of 1:45.82, winning bronze. Dave Perotti and Nate Compston, both of Newmanistan, won gold and silver respectively in that event.

And in the Men’s 100m Backstroke, Kwan Kawasaki finished in fourth in the final, with a time of :54.13, putting in a good effort. Rodney Standhope of Secristan won gold, Phillipe Destry of Kelssek won silver, and Compston won bronze, his second medal of the day.

In the men’s 200m butterfly semifinals, Chai Tsugimoto finished in fifth with a time of 1:56.51, qualifying for the final.

Midori Ko finished in fifth with a time of 1:59.56 in the 200m freestyle to qualify for the final.

But not everybody is pleased with the Fujisawans. Lately, it seems like there is a cold war of sorts between the Fujisawan and Beretanian swimmers.

“They’re letting their frustration build up and build up and it’s starting to get to them. That’s no way to win in the pool,” Jozenna Nai, a Fujisawan Territories gold medalist at these games said yesterday.

“There is most certainly a rift between us, and it’s not going away. We’re not going to be nice about it and shrug it off,” Unified Beretania’s Crystal Milton said.

It doesn’t look like the Beretanians are ready to let it go. Earlier today there was a heated exchange in the Olympic village between Fujisawan silver medalist Chatchaha Azumaro and Unified Beretania’s Aimee Holland.

“I’m going to take the high ground. I don’t think it’s appropriate on the world stage to be acting the way the Beretanians are just because Sarasvati [Channarayaptra] and Lorette [Shufflebarger] haven’t won any medals. They really need to tone it down because right now, they’re not really expressing the Olympic spirit,” Azumaro told the Fujisawan media following the argument.

Holland refused to comment.

Elsewhere...

American Football
Fujisawan Territories 27, Ariddian Isles (W) 24

Gymnastics
The Fujisawan Territories finished last in the men’s team final, with Ariddia solidifying their place as the world standard in gymnastics. Ariddia won gold, the Laundau Institute won silver, and Secristan won bronze.

Judo
In the men’s judo 81kg first round event, Bussho Jimbo defeated Professor Fabiano Vega of the Landau Institute.

In the first round of the women’s 63 kg event, Jun-ko Sanda had a bye, and in the second round, she was defeated by Yohjo WhiteMoon of Bears Armed.

Softball
In women’s softball, the Fujisawan Territories topped Allanea 1-0.

um NH you missed my 3 jumpers Alec Grene, Ava Smitts, and Selma Hayak
They’re entered in equestrian jumping, not eventing.

"Welcome to Olympic Roundup here on ABS One. I'm Alan Eagle. Well, medals have been forthcoming for the Asteran delegation, just not the color everybody wants. Let's go to the day's events and show you how our athletes faired."

"In the morning fencing, all three Men's Sabre competitors fell in the third round, dashing their hopes for any individual medals."

"Sergeant Thomas Yorke qualified for the Men's 50 meter pistol shooting finals, but finished 8th overall, albeit with a higher score than the bronze medal winner in the final round. Captain Chris Graham failed to qualify for the Men's Double Trap final, while Leslie Graham failed to qualify for the Women's Double Trap final. No relation there."

"Laurie Dein failed to qualify for the Women's 200 meter Freestyle final, finishing two seconds out of 8th. Orel Herman failed to advance past the heats in the Men's 100 meter freestyle. Leo Wendlinger had his hopes of another breaststroke medal dashed when he failed to qualify for the Men's 200 meter race. The Men's 4x200 meter Freestyle Relay team just missed out on the final, finishing 10th in the semifinals. Paulette Mayfair failed to qualify for the Women's 200 meter Butterfly semifinals, finishing 34th."

"In tennis, Denise McCormick had her hopes of individual gold disappear after losing to Tila Esil 6-2, 6-3. They still remain in the hunt for the double's title, beating the team of Justine Cournoyer and Beverly Henn 7-6, 7-5."

"The Blues have it all to do against Wentland if they hope to qualify for the knockout stages after drawing nil-all against Qazox. A win could see them through, but a few other circumstances would have to fall into place. The Lady Lions, however, are done in the tournament. With a 3-0 loss to Maineiacs, their hopes of qualifying are over. We spoke with Amy Lee on the mood in the camp."

"Well, of course we're disappointed. You never want to lose, but it happens. We just have to take the positive of us winning a match and use what we learned to try again next time."

"In basketball, the Blues had a day off, but still need to work hard if they hope to qualify. Forward Eric Cooper spoke to us earlier."

"It's hard, yeah. We messed up hard in our first game, and we won't make the same mistakes. We had guys missing shots and losing the ball too easily. Everybody knows that they screwed up, and we're working hard to make sure that we don't embarrass ourselves on television again."

"In judo, Tom Rautavaara and Noelle Lister both fell in the second Repêchage round, ending their hopes of replicating the judo success the team has had."

"Finally, a pair of medals from the Greco-Roman wrestling program. All three wrestlers fell in their semifinal matches, sending them to the bronze medal matches. In the Men's 55 kilogram match, James Barnum fell to Liam Howe 3-0. In the Men's 60 kilogram match, Steve Wilkins claimed the bronze, beating Ilkay Erdem 3-1. In the Women's 48 kilogram match, Lena Parpola beat Premi Krat 3-0 to claim her bronze. The wrestlers declined our request for an interview, claiming they didn't want the spotlight by being one of a few medallists from Asteran. Humble in victory and defeat."

"So, that brings Asteran up to five medals now, with one silver and four bronze. The team has surpassed the initial expectation of just winning one, and now a gold doesn't seem out of the question with some of these performances. We'll see if they can do it tomorrow. This has been Olympic Roundup on ABS One. I'm Alan Eagle. Goodnight."

Perhaps the music is particularly lively today. Perhaps it only contrasts with the rather lame hypothetical question that follows it. Who knows.
Lily: So imagine you're in the Olympics, competing at the world's highest level. While the rest of your group, including three teams you've yet to face, is playing, you've got an off day. How will you spend it? Practicing more? Scouting your opponents? If you're April Johnson, at the Olympic Outdoor Aquatics Center, watching...kayak racing.
Rather furious splashing noises.
April: Several of us just decided to head down there, watch Seth in the semis. And sure enough, he made the finals, so we stuck around for those too.
Seth: Being the first to compete, it was definitely cool, to see them all come out there. Now I'm eliminated I'll try and make some of their games.
Yvette: The camaraderie that has developed among the kayakers and field hockey players is certainly noteworthy. But what do the two sports have in common?
April: Uh...
Seth: Nothing?
Both laugh.
Darryl: Carl Mellon, who will compete in both solo flatwater events, has a theory.
Carl: We're both sort of fringey compared to something like tennis, or even wrestling: at least they have consistent interest all the way down. But for us, we generally don't get into it until later on, so we're very close to our teammates at these highest levels.
Lois: And we're sort of isolated-there's just this belief that kayaking is sort of cool! Well, I believe so, anyway.
Carl: Oh trust me, it is.
Yvette: This the voice of Lois Winter, the field hockey team's main goalscorer.
Lois: As opposed to canoeing, say, which we didn't enter at all. And field hockey, there are great men who can play it-Paul Schrieber-but not a full team. So, these sort of half-delegations just really get along well.
Yvette: Brigid Minot will also be in the slalom race.
Brigid: Hopefully I'll be in the final when you're playing, so I'll just have to cheer in advance.
Steve: In other news, well, almost news, a bunch of swimmers failed to make the cut.
Darryl: However, both tennis doubles teams advanced. Flinton and Peek took both sets from Fabrício Camargo and Leandro Masno of Cafundéu six games to three, while DuPont and Greenleaf rolled past Makena Tekoo and Ipanna Umike of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and/or Otea.
Lily: That's hardly the point...the fact that the three nations can unite for this tournament is a testament to the Olympic spirit.
Steve: So we should send a combined delegation with Travda and Malachor III to the next Olympics?
Lily: That's not what I said.
Steve: Or maybe just smuggle our biathletes across the border, so they can practice without getting arrested.

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics
A nation in mourning
Fernando López in Columbia

Senior politicians have described it as “our darkest hour”, and millions have been wiped off the Rushmori Stock Exchange as the Candelarias plunge into gloom. The twelfth of August will forever be remembered as the day when C&M lost its innocence, and opened its eyes to the harsh realities of an unforgiving world. Nothing will ever seem quite the same again.

One roll of the jackpallinopillbolusboccino was all it took, to send Júnior Chaves de Souza and Alessandro Fattizzo out of the unofficial Bocce World Cup, on a black afternoon that saw Lauren Filipovic and Gabby Sovengi also exit. Both teams were battling for a semi-final place and a dream match against the Cafundelense – or so they thought, for in the women’s draw the youth and vitality of Wentland’s Edna Grubbe and Doris Speed saw them overcome experienced rivals Terezinha Di Maggi and Cecília Miranda. The C&M teams’ exits instead came at the hands of opposition from Ariddia and Jaseyun.

The Ariddians should well have wrapped up the win even sooner than the eventual 11-9 victory, but the women’s game was nothing compared to the drama that would soon unfold. Earl James and Cole Richardson eventually took that match, despite a terrific comeback from the Candelariasian team from an early 3-0 deficit. The Cafundelense-born Chaves de Souza was particularly inspired, pulling together a string of 1-0 frame victories until the local pair capitalised on a perfect early shot and poor Candelariasian response to take the four points required to take the score up to eleven and beat the C&M team by a single score.

A black day indeed, which had promised so much. The all-Candelariasian tie in the badminton mixed doubles proved a game to savour, with long-time partners Jon Jackson and Hanna Marks taking a tight opening game 21-16 before both sides provided some truly superb cock-work, with the match coming down to a deciding game. Looking on, the Roumberre duo of Rafaele de Collini and Marrie de Summer must have been delighted to see Jackson and Marks falter late on to gift Matt Fogg and Holly Richards – the elder players but clearly inferior couple – a 21-19 victory and a place in the quarter-finals.

It was a mixed day for C&M in the pool, after the drama of Monday. Darío Limia booked his place in the final of the 200m butterfly, but up against a host of global stars his efforts will surely come to an end there. Olivia Harris had a fine swim in her own final, but finished down in seventh. Marco Antonio Gabriel de Silva, fresh from his heartbreaking fourth yesterday, was a remarkably poor forty-eight in the 100m freestyle heats, and refused to answer queries as to his form in the immediate aftermath, but within minutes was swimming a much better time in his favoured event of all – the 200m breastroke – to qualify for the semi-finals.

Candelariasian interest in the men’s tennis finally ended as Florin Cantle was wiped aside by Kura-Pellandi opposition, and Katie Hodges disappeared on the same court barely an hour later to the Eesseffian Gabrielle Solla. Plus sides remain – Comfort Adekunde imperiously triumphed over Wentland’s Amelia Curtis to set up an altogether more challenging tie against Newmanistanian doubles specialist Lauren Martin. But performance of the day went to Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad, who could yet become the Candelariasian heroines of these Games after conceding just two games against the Hearn sisters of Newmanistan.

C&M’s women’s footballers slumped out of the tournament with a 3-1 defeat to Sorthern Northland, who really do have lovely shirts; but, as ever really, it was the field hockey players who did us proud. A five-three victory over, funnily enough, Newmanistan, was nowhere near as solid as it should have been, but Emelina García’s side still have every chance on this showing of doing rather well. And five goals are five goals – learn how to pronounce Krautwormowa. Quickly.

We’d print some photos for you but, well, y’know…

hmm maybe im having trouble reading stuff hmm.

"The final of the men's Greco-Roman 55 kilograms. Albert Wall of Wentland versus Alciviades Rock of Allanea. Albert Wall's last chance at gold, surely, after so many disappointments...lock-up...twist...OH! AND WALL HAS LIFTED AND SLAMMED ROCK!!!! IT IS OVER IN SIX SECONDS FLAT!!!! ALBERT WALL HAS THE GOLD AND HE HAS GONE BERSERK!!!!!!"

It took four full minutes to calm Albert Wall down enough to get him involved in an interview. He hurled himself amongst his supporting team mates, his wife, his parents, the Wentland supporters that turned a quarter of the wrestling stadium royal blue, and generally outsprinted the Wentland sprinters in his joy. "I did it! I did it...at last...at last..."

"Albert, your first gold medal..."

"It will be my last, Trevor. That's it. I'm retiring. No more. Too much heartbreak, I am NEVER going back into that ring again. Oh, this is priceless."

Evie Regan soon followed suit gainst Sandra Romah as Allanea were unable to gain revenge. A late pin in the second period ended the match prematurely and Regan defended her hard-earned gold.

But there was disappointment in the 60kg for men. Eric Taylor had destroyed Steve Wilkins in the semi-final, but in winning an early point he twisted his knee. Taylor tried to carry on to defend his title, but was soon forced to concede two points and eventually the match when a leg-throw saw him concussed.

The two golds and one silver were needed to buck up Went spirits. Amelia Curtis' run in the tennis ended in the third round, the canoeists couldn't keep up their first run form and ended up well out of the medals, and the swimmers were almost stone last (as per normal.)

Albavona Capitol Sentinel Online
Beretanians win first medal, but warring swimmers interfere with celebration

Columbia, UCS - The highlight of the day for Unified Beretania was not supposed to be the ever growing friction between the Fujisawan and Beretanian swimmers, but Alejandra Pappalardo-Papadopoulos and Ahulani Nua’alo’s silver medal in the women’s synchronized 10m platform. The Greek/Hawaiian duo were expected to do well, and they are enthusiastic about being the nation’s first Olympic medalists.

The first medal of these games for Unified Beretania was a cause for celebration. It’s hard to celebrate though when your delegations swimmers are in all out war with the Fujisawans. Following the women’s 200m butterfly heats, Wanda Trimble of Unified Beretania and Chatchaha Azumaro got into a tussle after Trimble supposedly shoved Azumaro and made derogatory racial remarks toward Azumaro. Sarasvati Channarayapatra, who was poolside in support of the Beretanians but did not compete, broke the two apart.

This comes after a heated argument in the early morning hours between Unified Beretania’s Aimee Holland and Azumaro in the Olympic village.

“I’m ashamed of what is happening between us. Our reputation is being damaged by a few swimmers who want to vent their frustrations in the wrong way, and in my name, and I’m not going to tolerate it,” Channarayapatra said.

“Our team is basically fractured, and this is the worst possible scenario we could ever imagine at the Olympics,” swimmer Lorette Shufflebarger said.

No Beretanian swimmers participated in the semifinals or finals in the first half of the day, a source of frustration as Kavajirak Matsunami picked up another swimming medal for the Fujisawan Territories.

Elsewhere...

Christa Chang and Lo Jiang Li advanced from the women’s archery individual second round. Jamie Na lost to Coocoostan’s Lydmilla Dyrgina.

All of Beretania’s men’s archers had been defeated by the end of the second round. Interestingly enough, the same fate befell the Fujisawan Territories, who had won team gold on the men’s side.

In basketball, Unified Beretania was embarrassed by Maineiacs, 131-54.

David Palomo qualified for the men’s 100m freestyle semifinal in ninth place with a time of :50.09.

Humberto Juarez qualified for the semifinal of the men’s 200m breaststroke in thirteenth place with a time of 2:15.43.

Johanna Juarez (no relation to Humberto Juarez) qualified fo the semifinal of the women’s 200m butterfly with a time of 2:13.15.

Porfrio Sanchez and Brian Ho advanced out of the second round of men’s tennis doubles, defeating Donatello Leonardo and Manuel Augusto of Nuevos Aires.

Bobby Ames and Coleman Houston lost to Chris Terrell and Tim Cooper of Newmanistan.

On the women’s side, Jin Ming and Trista Dagostino defeated Marcelo Camargo and Leona Roche of Cafundéu.

"I say, chaps! That was rather a rum do, wasn't it?"

"I should say! Bears in a boat! Never heard of such a thing! Monty, you're the biologist, can bears swim?"

"Of course they can, Tarquin. Never knew they could row, though!"

"Given their time, they can't! Arf! Arf!"

"Never mind, chaps. We're in the final. That sort of cramps one's style, eh? No chance for boozums."

"No, we will have to keep on the old wagon, what? Never mind, we can still chase skirt! Some sort of athletic activity!"

"That's a good idea! How about we check out the talent in the women's eight?"

"Urgh, rather you than me, Bertie...bunch of shemales..."

"Not so, Algy...they've scrubbed up quite well...those telly bods did a whole thing about them..."

"They weren't interested in us, were they? And we're the ones with the international success. We got a bronze!"

"That was the problem. They wanted to turn losers into winners. And as the slappers were sinking more often than rowing, that makes better telly."

"Well, it's going to be a waste, isn't it? Come on, let's wait around and see them sink again."

***

*bang*

"They're off...and immediately the Wentland eight go into an early lead..."

"Good Lord, they're actually rowing TOGETHER..."

"It won't last! Guinea says they're clashing each other's oars by 200..."

"You're on."

"...coming to the two hundred and fifty and Wentland have a length on Krytenia..."

"Blimey, what's going on, what? They're in the lead..."

"Give them time! They'll probably sink..."

"They've moved to thirty-sixes!!! This is rather decent."

"Indeed, and they're pulling well away. The last two are miles behind..."

"They're not going into the final, are they?"

"It'll take a sinking to stop them. Well done, totties!! Good show!!!"

"They could swim home now..."

"Yes, even our swimming team could make that. Arf."

"The cannon's gone...what's the time?"

"They broke six minutes..."

"Right! I'll double or nothing that guinea on them getting gold..."

***

"Why did SHE get a bye? I'm the captain of this team..."

"Ms Lonergan, Kellie Bright shot one of the best scores in the qualifying round. Only the top few got a bye. You should have shot better."

Kellie Bright poked her tongue out at Kate Lonergan. Lonergan just glowered. "OK, if I have to beat another patsy, I will...where's the Fogmonster?"

The coach did not know. Kellie Bright piped up. "I THINK she said she was going to kiss a cox..."

"Well, that's obvious..."

***

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN!!!"

"Keep your hair on, coachy. I've been giving some moral support to one of our other teams."

Lonergan shouted "immoral support, you mean!"

"Well, your first three shots have been forfeited. You're 14-0 down and going OUT. You'd better pick up your ideas, lady, or you won't be here next time."

"Meh, piece of cake. Watch this."

*boing*
*boing*
*boing*

"Thirty scored. Miss O'Greenwood..."

*boing*
*boing*
*boing*

"Sixteen scored. Current scores: thirty points each."

"Told ya. This kid's got no chance. No offence, Greeny."

NEW MANHATTAN, AP. - Reports are coming in of an athlete going on the rampage in a press conference at the Olympics. Sara Clemons, of Wentland, reportedly flew into a rage and started throwing microphones at reporters whilst yelling "for the eight hundred and seventy-third time, I am NOT related, NOR married to, Matt Clemons!!!! It's a COINCIDENCE!!!!"

A doctor has advised getting her some water, but given the performance of the Wentland swimmers it has been suggested that water is the last thing they would want.

MEDAL COUNT NOW 15

Secristan continues to make a positive impression in the 3rd Olympiad in Columbia as we have now increased out medal total to 15, which along with Allanea, is the most won by any nation so far. It’s very close among the top nations, but the mere fact that we are in the group is something to make us all proud. Much of our success is coming in judo and in swimming. Chang Woo-Kim picked us up a medal in his 81kg bracket, winning a silver. But at last, we have shown we can compete in a little more then those two events, as we picked up a bronze in the team portion of the Equestrian Show Jumping final. We were no match for our Monopolists friends from Cafundeu, and our regional rivals from Newmanistan were slightly too much for us as well, but we seemed to settle nicely into third place. Earlier in the day, Carrie Stefansson won a silver in the 100m Breaststroke and Rodney Standhope took a gold in the 100m Backstroke, and the men won a bronze in the all-around competition for gymnastics. Stefansson is now a double medal winner as you may recall she took a gold in the relay a couple days prior.

But the biggest winner in Secristan is not Carrie Stefansson or the judo combatants, it is the Secristan Department of Sports as the success of the nation is sending pay-per-view purchases through the roof as events that didn’t seem as though they would be bought with as much frequency have been, especially the judo. Even though we were well aware that we were sending competent athletes, there wasn’t expected to be a huge appeal for fans to watch judo on TV, let alone pay for it, but that is what is taking place. Plus, the fans are still paying for the higher profile events in great frequency, and the team making it to the semifinal in the Tug of War also helped out. SDOS spokeswoman Cassie Doran is simply thrilled, “We are so excited about the numbers that are coming in. Our citizens have really gotten into the Olympics as we have remained successful and with consistency. And the advertisers are paying more for prime positions within the events, so much so that we have been able to increase the commercial ratio to 40 minutes per hour. We are hoping this will continue, but we think it will as even though judo will be over pretty soon, we have confidence that we will continue to threaten for medals in the events that have yet to begin.”


OOC: Who are these people? Kenjiro Momotani/Ujitzugu Kawagichi (SEC)- Men’s Beach Volleyball. The SDOS has no record of these two men having placed any bids for their participation! They look to be someone else’s participants as we have our two pairs in other groups within the event but I thought I would let you know. Should they wish to move to Secristan and become citizens, we will allow for that.

OOC: Who are these people? Kenjiro Momotani/Ujitzugu Kawagichi (SEC)- Men’s Beach Volleyball. The SDOS has no record of these two men having placed any bids for their participation! They look to be someone else’s participants as we have our two pairs in other groups within the event but I thought I would let you know. Should they wish to move to Secristan and become citizens, we will allow for that.
Well, you can see how it would be easy for me to confuse Secristan with Fujisawan Territories, because they…um…look so similar? :p Anyway, it’s fixed now.

Why was my entrant in Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling 55kg class, Varlam Kastanitch, not shown?

Prux's Olympic Blog

As day 4 comes to a close, Prux is still in contention for medals in all 4 events they are competing in, which is good, but in the games they win, they aren't beating the opponents, but just squeaking by.

Water Polo—Men’s—Group Stage:
A mild upset as Gerainia edged out Prux 6-5. The loss puts the team in 4th place, behind Gerainia due to H2H results.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 2 1 1 1 5
Gerainia 2 1 2 1 6


Basketball—Men’s—Group Stage:
The men's team win its first game of the tourney knocking off a good Cafundéu team, and suprisingly sits atop the group due to some tie-breaker or another.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 15 20 18 22 75
Cafundéu 20 13 17 17 67


Field Hockey—Women’s—Group Stage:
Another tough loss today, as the team drops to 0-2, with out a goal so far, and chances are slim that they will advance to the next round.

Score by Half:

Coocoostan 2 1 3
Prux 0 0 0


That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

Why was my entrant in Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling 55kg class, Varlam Kastanitch, not shown?
He was eliminated in Group B of the qualification round on 08–12 A (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13916158&postcount=10).

From the Series "COC List Stars for Columbia":

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/4678/25102781107d7ecd1a57dd2.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/4530/jh2ve9.png (http://imageshack.us)
COC List Stars - Jennifer Ross and Matheus Inocêncio (Diving)

Before everything, we, the editors of this magazine, must warn you that one of our trainee employees was a complete idiot and put the wrong images in this article, and there was no time for us to change them, only to add these words. So, the second image isn't of Matheus Inocêncio (for those who thought so, although this would seem a bit strange if he was that woman... because he is a man). Instead, the second image is of Carolina Pereira Machado, another female diver of the Cafundelense team. After this, we'll continue talking about the athletes.

First, we'll talk about Jennifer Ross, who already had an excellent start in these Olympic Games in winning the gold medal in the synchronized 3m diving platform, together with Luciana Coutinho. After this medal, she is even more favourite to win the individual events, although Carolina Pereira Machado and even Luciana Coutinho still have enough strength to threaten her. But Ross is the most famous between the three, especially because Carolina faced some injuries during the last years and wasn't so active in the international scene as Jennifer, and because Luciana is still a new face in the worldwide diving. The difference in their abilities seem to be zero, but Jennifer seems more ready to win.

So Ross has more chances to win than Machado and Coutinho because she didn't face injuries and is more experienced? Yes, that is right. If Carolina is well prepared and doesn't fear more injuries, she won't have problems to threaten Jennifer and battle for the gold medal, but that is still uncertain. And the fact that Luciana is still unexperienced can harm her at some extent, making she much nervous during the competitions. But these are just theories. As we said, the difference between the abilities of these divers is close to zero, so all the three will fight for gold medals.

In the men's side, only Matheus Inocêncio seems good enough to get the good medal, but he is one of the best in the world and have more than just chances. Inocêncio has the fame of performing better under pressure or when one of his opponents provocates him, but he can perform well even in common situations. The other athletes in the male diving team of Cafundéu don't have his ability, and will probably finish in the middle positions. Nothing wrong, as they already did a good job in getting qualified to the Olympic Games in Columbia.

But there is one person that can help Matheus Inocêncio to go after the synchronized events' gold medals (they already lost one chance). It is his childhood friend Francesco Di Magitti, who can help his more famous friend to maximize his potential. Their job isn't easy, but they are more than capable to producing good results for Cafundéu. Diving is a sport practised by many young people in Cafundéu and, although it isn't very popular among those who didn't practise it, it is very popular among the practisers.

(ooc: Breno Gavião's podcast will come in Thursday. It'll be about the following days of the Olympic Games: yesterday and today [maybe tomorrow too, but I don't confirm it], so it'll be the daily reviews of these days)

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 4 continues....
Football (Men):
The Men's second match was a 0-0 draw with Asteran, setting up a showdown with Jasīʼyūn for the group title tommorrow.

SCORE SUMMARY
CAM 0 0 0
Qazox 0 0 0

Qazox Goals Today:
None

Qazox Goals (Overall):
Christian Schieffer: 2
Neil Cropp: 1 (PK)
Clinton Cassone: 1


Football (Women):
In their 3rd match in 36 hours, a 2-1 win over Gerainia sends the Women through to the quarterfinals where they'll take on Cafundéu, whom they beat 4 years ago in the semifinals on penalties. The winner of that match, could be the favorite to win Gold, after all is completed.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 1 1 2
Gerainia 0 1 1

Qazox Goals Today:
Gay Dionisio: 1
Liza Darsey: 1

Qazox Goals (Overall):
Selena Eutsler: 2
Kathrine Ditmore: 1
Gay Dionisio: 1
Liza Darsey: 1


Field Hockey—Women’s:

The first point for the Field Hockey team, comes with only 47 seconds left, as Theresa Gordon scored to tie Secristan 1-1. The tie leaves a bit of hope for the team to qualify for the next round.

SCORE SUMMARY
Secristan 1 0 1
Qazox 0 1 1

Today's Goals:
Theresa Gordon: 1
Overall goals:

Edna Mardis: 1
Theresa Gordon: 1


Tennis—Men’s Singles:
Third round action today and Qazox is down to one player left, Clinton Few, who cruised into the 4th round with a (6-1,6-4) win over Thun-si Yugasi.

Tennis—Men’s Doubles:
The 2nd round began today and suprisingly, Qazox is done as both teams lost, Nelson Belvins/Neil Sanders to Kura-Pelland's team of Bill Couth/Teddy Innek (2-6, 2-6). While the team of Clinton Few/Cody Hammell were stunned by George Smertin/Bart Fagan (6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 0-6). In an event where Qazox figured to be at worst fighting for a medal, they go home empty-handed.

Tennis—Women’s Singles:
The third round for the Women was today as well, and like the men's draw, the women are down to one as Allie Meola lost to Ad'ihan's Martina McOwen, (7-5, 2-6, 5-7), while Serena Paden lost the first set, but stormed back against Chineze Akakoyo to advance to the 4th round, (4-6, 6-1, 6-2).

Tennis—Women’s Doubles:
The women also took to the court for doubles, and like the men, the team of Serena Paden/Pearlie McKechnie lost to Cafundéu's pair of Ana Paula Klaeigh/Daniela Venturine, in 3 sets (2-6, 6-3, 8-10), with the 3rd set lasting just over an hour, but in the end, Qazox is going home medal-less in this event as well.

Overall a very busy day for Qazox' teams, and in tennis, a very dissapointing one.

Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

OOC: One little thing regarding the Equestrian eventing finals - Seti Iraka's total adds up to 52.4, so he should be on 5th place instead of 4th.

Day 08–13 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13919155&postcount=13) are now up.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 4 is over and Day 5 begins....

Softball (Women):
Qazox falls to 1-2, with 5 games left as Ad'ihan no-hit the Lady Pheonix, 4-0. Hillary Laakso only allowed 2 hits, herself, but the big hit was a 3-run homerun in the 5th, breaking open the game. The closeness of the group, means the team is still alive for a quarterfinal berth, but might need to win 3 or 4 of the remaining games to do so.


SCORE SUMMARY
Ad'ihan 0 0 0 0 3 0 1 4
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Water Polo (Women):
A dissapointing loss to Newmanistan leaves the team in 4th place, and with just 2 matches left, the Lady Pheonix need to win both to even be in contention for the Quarterfinals.


SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 1 2 1 1 5
Newmanistan 1 3 3 1 8

Qazox Goals Today:
Allyson Folts- 2
Lilia Lueders- 1
Lorrie Blackstone- 1
Marylou Coots- 1
Margery Nolley- 0
Louisa Damian- 0

Total Goals:
Allyson Folts- 8
Lilia Lueders- 5
Lorrie Blackstone- 3
Margery Nolley- 1
Louisa Damian- 1
Marylou Coots- 1



Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

KELLY’S SECOND MEDAL HIGHLIGHTS EVENING

(RP of Tues PM events)

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- Newmanistan athletes had a good night of work, all things considered, with some nice successes, which seemed to outnumber the results that may have been a bit disappointing. There were no golds tonight, but there were two silvers and two bronzes to increase the Empire’s total to 14. The biggest story came in the Women’s Double Trap where Tara Kelly picked up her second medal in Columbia. Tara took home the bronze in an absolutely thrilling competition in the single trap, and now earned herself a piece of silver with her showing in the double trap. After watching these ladies put on quite a show in the single trap there would be no way that could be topped in the double, right? Well, it was. After four ladies, Kelly included, tied for first on the leaderboard in qualifying, we knew we would be in for quite a show, and all four of them were fantastic in the final. They were so good, that at the end of the final, the same four will still tied for first, and another final round charge by the hosts’ own Elia Aravani would come up short again. So here we were, a four-way shootout. All three deserved a gold based on their performance but one of them would go home without a medal in the event. As the shootout went on, two athletes pulled away from the others. They were Kelly, and Son Min-ug of the UCS. Pushing each other to the limit, they knew that they were putting on a great show for the fans, and in the end, it would be Min-ug winning. But the host fans were appreciative of what they saw and also gave Tara Kelly a long round of applause. Kelly, is more then happy getting a silver, despite a gold medal performance, “That was so much fun. You know, we always say we come here for the enjoyment of competing against the best in the world, and this was as exciting as it can get. I’m happy for what I have done here, I did all I could do, and in the end, there was someone who was one shot better then me. Congratulations to her, she was awesome. I think all of us were outstanding in this event.” Kelly has certainly raised her profile within the Empire, and we’ll likely see more of her in various endorsement deals when she gets home. Tara says she wouldn’t mind that, “It’s not what I came here for, but it’s not something I’ll turn down either.” Great Double Trap performances continued on the Men’s side as well as Mark Stracuzzi picked up a bronze in the event. While this event did not have the “down to the last shot” appeal as the women’s did, it did produce an Olympic record, by a UCS athlete who’s name we cannot format properly on Rocket Report computers. It’s a shame, because his terrific performance definitely deserved that recognition. Stracuzzi tied the Olympic record himself, while finishing third, and he was pleased with his performance, “I did my best. Actually, 180 is a personal high for me, so I did everything I could. I can’t believe I’ve won a medal. I’ll cherish it for the rest of my life.” said Stracuzzi.

Also winning a bronze was Meghan Stover, in Equestrian. Stover has taken it upon herself to become a leader in respect and recognition for Equestrian riders, and her great performance in the Jumping final will go a long way in earning that. Meghan posted a score of 50.2, which was strong but not quite at the level of two riders from Cafundeu. Stover though, is more then pleased with winning a bronze in the event, “This is for all the riders out there in Newmanistan. We have a great program, and perhaps now we have seen that there is a little room for improvement for us to be as good as Cafundeu, but we all did a great job, and we are very proud. I came here wanting to win a medal, and I am honored to have achieved this.” Well, Meghan did more then just win “a” medal, she in fact, won two. In the team competition, Newmanistan ended up finishing second to earn a silver, behind Cafundeu once again. Stover was just part of the team that takes home the silver, as also earning the medal are Ashley Foster, Jessica DeLuca, Rachel Ryan, and Brooke Hughes. Job well done to all of them. We got this comment out of Ashley Foster, “We came here and did our thing, and I think we are really happy with our scores. It was a real pleasure to compete against Cafundeu, and we look forward to the events still yet to come against them. We’ve gotten to know their riders a little bit, and we have a lot in common, but especially our love for this great sport. They’ve set a new bar for us to try to reach, and I think we will go home and review what we could be doing to get at their level.” It was consistency, more then anything else, which led to Cafundeu’s great team score as their top three riders were 1st, 2nd, and 4th.

In other individual sports, Tony Darrow has managed his way into the third round of the Men’s Individual Archery competition. Go, Tony, Go! None of the ladies made it that far. We had no representation in any Canoeing events, and the Diving team in the synchronized 10m Women’s Platform was well off the pace, though they avoided finishing last. Megan Litten made a valiant effort to bring home a medal for the Empire in Judo, Women’s 63 kg division as she made it all the way to the bronze medal matches, thanks to strong repechage performance. Unfortunately, her bid for an upset medal came up one win short. “I can’t believe I came so close!!” she exclaimed! It was by far, our best showing in any Judo division. We did not qualify for any of the Rowing finals, though that should not surprise anyone. Qualifying for more events was held in the pool, and Newmanistan had a fairly good showing here, though the Men’s 100m Freestyle was not one of them. Matt Clemons was the fastest qualifier in the 200m Breaststroke heats, and not that far behind him was Ron Harris, who placed sixth. The 4x200m Freestyle Relay team finished just thousands of a second ahead of 4th place Kelssek in those heats, though they were a good 4 seconds off of the fastest time. Meghan Johnstone advanced in the 200m Butterfly, but Courtney Anglin missed out by just one spot.


Moving on, in Tennis, the competition is now beginning to get a little stronger, and this showed a bit on the women’s side. However, the three men remaining all advanced. Brendan Holt had a tough match against Secristan’s Bubba Fisher before prevailing. Chris Terrell won in three sets while Michael Johnson won in two. Both doubles teams remain alive, defeating their second round competition. Things fell apart a little bit in the women’s bracket as both of the Hearn sisters were defeated, both by Valanoran competition. This is nothing to be ashamed about though, as Valanora seems to be really strong here, as all four of their singles ladies have advanced. Our other two ladies remain alive with Shannon Mayer dominating Secristan’s Chrissy Thornton, 6-1, 6-0 and Lauren Martin getting a straight set win over Darlene Rice. The bad day for the Hearn’s continued in doubles as they lost there as well. So now all that’s left for them to do is root for Martin and Mayer. That doubles team was victorious. In Beach Volleyball, Men’s, Kevin Cipriani and Shawn Henry won their match in straight sets, to improve to 2-0, and 4-0 in sets won. Jason Schifano and Michael Hammond had a bye. They presently are 1-0. On the Women’s side, Michelle Clausen and Courtney Larson are looking very strong, handling Lucy Riis and Rachel Bianchi of Krytenia without much difficulty. Riis and Bianchi looked to be strong opposition coming into the match, so this is a very impressive win. Clausen and Larson are 2-0, and have won all four sets. Katie McAllister and Brittany Phillips rebounded from the opening loss with a hard battle against a pair from the Bluth Corporation, but ultimately prevailed over Julie Wilson and Whitney McFadden. In Weightlifting, Vince Mathison set a personal record, but it was only good enough for 6th overall. He was very happy though, with his performance. Phil Montrose was defeated in Wheelchair Fencing.


Now for our quick look at team sports, Newmanistan blanked Kura-Pelland in Women’s Association Football by the score of 2-nil. They now head to the quarterfinal where they will take on Nuevos Aires. The Men’s Basketball team did not shoot well, but thanks to good defense, they got themselves a victory over Taeshan, 72-62. But then again, we always beat Taeshan. We lost to Candelaria And Marquez in Field Hockey, but that’s not a shock. And that’s a wrap for this edition. Wednesday morning report will follow sometime later.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/bcologosmall.pnghttp://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/eyeofbaranxtusmall.png
August 13, 2008 - Eye of Baranxtu online edition

A royal disappointment

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States - Wednesday morning so far has not bode as well as expected for the BCO team. True, we did win three more medals (one each), but not all has been well in the state of SLANI.

The BCOOC is planning to send an official enquiry to revise the results of the Men's 100m Backstroke Finals and the Women's 200m Individual Medley Finals, as some members of the committee believe there may have been a mistake regarding the distribution of medals vs actual finishing time*.

To most Baranxtuan watchers, the bigger and much more widely noticed (and actual) disappointment, however, was the elimination of a certain wrestler during today's qualification in the Greco-Roman 66kg category. Winning one and losing one of the qualification bouts was not enough for first-time Olympic wrestler Ayudani Timanitu Ŋuri-Eilari to make it to the semifinals. Of course, to the majority of Baranxtuans at least, Ayudani T-tu is much more familiar under his formal title, HRH Prince Ayudani of Baranxtu.

For our non-Baranxtuan readers, the 18-year-old Prince Ayudani is the nephew of King Ateni; he is the son of the king's younger sister, Crown Princess Lehura of Baranxtu (former governor of Āŋ-Neila and current Minister of Foreign Affairs) and her former husband, Timani Metunaeitu Sipingari.

He is neither the first nor the only member of Baranxtuan nobility to participate in major sport events; Iðari Bāraŋxiṭ Ŋuri-Ahadi (member of the former ruling dynasty of Baranxtu and its 18/19th century puppet state Sraŋana) and is on this Olympiad's swimming team, and Nēnisa Źānatu Suraŋanavata (a noble family today mostly known for its antics as reported in the yellow press) participated in the first Olympic's archery events.

Nevertheless, Prince Ayudani is the by far most prominent noble - and in his case, even royal - to participate in any major sports event. Which makes his loss all the more well-publicized. He is without doubt a promising young athlete, but it is rather questionable how much he deserved all the attention he received from the media in the lead-up to today's bouts.

Nevertheless, apparently Ayudani himself doesn't allow either his loss per se or the by now undoubtedly widespread knowledge thereof to discourage him; after all, he has another chance in a few days with the freestyle wrestling event. As he puts it, "if [he] lets this get [him] down, [he] could as well just pack my bags and go home".

---

In the dorm of the BCO fencers

Auli grinned at Yätti. "See, you do have it in you! I got my ass thoroughly kicked in the first round, and Marc in the third, but you're in the quarterfinals! And I saw parts of your fights, you were really, really good. I think you have an honest chance to w-"

"DON'T SAY IT! That's bad luck! If you say it, I'll definitely lose. Hell, you know, you basically said it. SO NOW I AM GONNA LOSE AND IT IS YOUR FAULT!" Obviously, Yätti was, to put it mildy, somewhat tense.

"Don't forget to breathe between shouting." Marc smirked behind Yätti's back. He probably wouldn't have dared it to his face - well, not right this moment.

"Oh ha ha, you are so funny. See me laugh."

"Yätti, have you actually had something to drink? Or to eat? You can't fight if you collapse from low blood sugar, y'know." Auli was somewhere between amused and genuinely concerned.

"Who could eat? I got another round in a few hours and I AM TOO NERVOUS!"

"Normally, I wouldn't recommend it, but in your case, I'd really suggest you take up smoking something. You really need to calm down. I haven't ever seen, say, Mēāgitu this nervous, and if he screwed up a dive, half of Baranxtu'd probably commit mass suicide." Marc hoped that this would help his friend's nerves at least somewhat.

"Yeah, but he knows he's good. It's totally different."

Marc was slowly getting annoyed with this strange mixture of admittedly understandable nervousness, whining, and selfdoubt. "Oh please. Do I need to find one of those horrible children's movies with An-Aesop-with-two-capital-letters and force you to watch so you learn that self-doubt is bad and that with confidence and the power of love you can overcome anything?"

"Oh yes, make fun of me. That will help!"

"Then I'll probably not make my next suggestion, which would've involved An Aesop about the power of sweet, sweet lovin' and how porn probably won't make you overcome anything."

---

*And to make that IC part come true: Why are the two ties in the Men's 100m Backstroke finals and in the Women’s 200 m Individual Medley not awarded as ties?
And yeah, another of the things I only noticed because it'd upgrade my medal status (well, the latter at least) :p

Coverage of the games in Bulgislavia was full on. The 2 hours a day of TV restriction was lifted to allow 12 hours of full Olympic coverage before the TV's turned off. The radio's were all onto it too.

But the results so far were quite bad for Bulgislavia the Olympic team wasnt performing up to its standards. Although due to economic decline through the 90's and early millenium and the coup of May the Budget for sports had decreased significantly from 1984 when it took up to 6% of the budget to present day where it now takes up 1% of the budget

"This is really unacceptable. I did expect something to come from our gymnasts, I know we were up against the best but still!" said Ion

"Well maybe some sporting reform? increase in the budget or somthing?" said one of Ion's aides

"Well we really did have to decrease it to pay for out military but we will have to slash other things to get us back up to a sporting power. Also our Olympic team only had a stregnth of 38 athletes. We really should of increased! Things will be different next time!" demanded Ion the President (Dictator) of Bulgislavia

........................................................................................

"...and here comes the final turn, Josh Comas opens up the gap! What a swim he's putting in!... at the halfway mark and it's a full bodylength ahead of Unified Beretania's Nolin... no, I don't think they'll take the Olympic record but the gold is definitely in the bag, the green line wins the race but Kelssek... wins the gold!!"

"Oh my, and who says Kelssek are a spent force in the pool? What a way to send a message to the naysayers, most of them at home, I might add..."

But no one heard the last bit because the sports bar crowds had erupted and were jumping around and cheering in their carefully practiced manner designed to avoid inadvertent spillage.

---

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r56/kelchek/media/kbc-icon.gif

OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 13, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080813.mp3

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

PATRICK COMES FULL CIRCLE WITH GOLD

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- Before the Olympics began, we provided a chronicle of Michelle Patrick, and everything that she had to go through to become a cyclist in Newmanistan, and how she, almost singlehandedly, worked to make the sport become more popular in the Empire. It’s still a work in progress, but we have made great strides on the bikes, and cycling programs throughout Newmanistan have picked up thanks to her efforts. Still, at this level, Newmanistan was just starting to become respectable. It was going to take some time, and when Debbie Christensen brought home a bronze early in the meet, it was a sign of that progress. But there was about to become another chapter written to that story, and it was going to happen right here in Columbia. The event would be the Road Time Trial. She knew she had the ability to win a medal, but she was well aware of the other talented riders she would be going up against. Michelle would do the best that she could, this is what all that long training was all about. Debbie Christensen would contend, and the Sorthern Northland pair of Duval and Gilbert also loomed as a major threat. Michelle took off, and as she said, she knew it would be a great day early into the run, “I was just really into it. My focus was there, everything fell into place right where I dreamed it would. I knew I had a good run going, and I knew I would be very happy with my time at the end of it, the only question for me was how many of the riders would be able to do the same thing.” One by one, the crossed, but the leader and the winner was Patrick. A gold medal. Yes, it’s happened, Newmanistan. A gold medal, in cycling. The woman who tirelessly worked off the bike to get respect for those to get up on the bike. She’s been happy with the progress made, but now, she’s gotten the ultimate reward. Gold wrapped around her neck, and hearing the national anthem and watching the flag rise to the top in victory. Michelle could not hold back her tears during the anthem. And we can’t blame her. Still struggling to hold back her tears of joy, Michelle said for us, “It’s all come full circle. This is just.... Oh my.... I just.... I can’t believe this. I won a gold medal! It’s unbelievable. I have to.... I.. I have to thank everyone out there who gave me the strength and courage to live out my dream. A dream that to many people seemed foolish. This is just so amazing.” Afterwards, 7th place finisher Debbie Christensen gave her childhood idol a big hug.

While the rise of Michelle Patrick will be one of the top stories of the Columbia Olympics for Newmanistan, we can’t completely let it overshadow the other gold won this morning, because there is a story there as well. Dave Perotti took home the gold in the Men’s 200m Butterfly, his 2nd gold medal of the competition, making him the first ever Newmanistanian to win multiple gold medals. He had won gold in the 200m Freestyle as well, so he is definitely putting his mark on this particular distance in Columbia. Dave was quick in the heats, and when it came time to race, he took command from the start, pulling away from the other competitors and was a full body length ahead of second after reaching 100 meters. Down the stretch, he was clear of his rivals, and the only battle would be for the silver. “The other day in the Freestyle, I felt so good, felt so focused and I had that feeling again today. It was such a great feeling to win that first one, that I wanted to do it again real badly. We’re beginning to have some good results in the pool, as a team, and this is just another example if it.” That it is. Another example is the 3rd medal of the day, and the 2nd one picked up by the Aquatic Rockets. Kara Brannon won a bronze and set a personal best time in the 200m Individual Medley, a race that became a 3-woman battle at the very end. Brannon, as well as gold medalist Natalia Franco of Cafundeu and Inana Anatu Mehirga of the BCO all seemed hit the wall together to finish the event. It could have gone any of three ways when the lane numbers were posted, but it would be Brannon third. Franco, the gold medalist, set an Olympic record. Brannon was pleased, knowing she did all she could do, “Yeah that’s a personal best right there. I’ve had an 11.80 but never under 80. Natalia and Inana did great, and I am certainly satisfied with the bronze.” The three medals earned by Newmanistan today pushed the Empire’s total up to 17, which is part of a three way tie for second in overall medals, behind first place Cafundeu, who has 18. BCO and Secristan also have 17. Officially, Newmanistan is 4th on the leaderboard.

Now, for our look around the other individual events played this morning, and it was a pretty busy day, overall. We had no representation in any of the Badminton or Rowing events. Boxers Brian Gallows and Shannon Marshall each took to the ring in their respective classes, and both won, including an especially impressive win for Gallows, defeating a rather intimidating looking Marghorr Margh’hrurr from Bears Armed. Gallows, though, did not seem one bit intimidated, and wasted no time taking it to his opponent. “No one’s gonna beat me. No one! You hear that! I am gonna win the gold!” Brian certainly didn’t seem to care that he just gave all the other boxers a ton of bulletin board material. “Good! It ain’t gonna matter!” he said, in response. Shannon Marshall was a little less cocky after her win, “It was a good fight, I feel good with the way things went, but there is still a lot more work to be done.” Yep, their personalities certainly are night and day. We split in chess boxing as Tom McAteer lost, but Erin Reynolds won, and Stu Collett was eliminated in Croquet. The highlight of the fencing is that we saw Amy Repsher’s name on the first look of the event results. Unfortuantely, it was not in boldface, and neither were most of the others, both men and women. Jennifer Bupree, though, made it all the way to third round before she too, was defeated. In Judo, Jarred Tate qualified for the third round! Way to go Jarred! The Women’s 25m Pistol didn’t go well in shooting. Then there was gymnastics. An event in which we hoped to do well. As many positive results as we have seen, so too, are disappointments. And as much as it may be hard for them to swallow the loss, we did not do well here. Perhaps it was pressure, perhaps it was poor choreography on the Floor program, but Newmanistan was only 6th. Our young ladies were in tears when the final results were posted, but sometimes, things just don’t work out. Julie Harding, afterward, said, “We feel terrible, we really let a lot of people down.” In Wrestling, we had one advancer to the semfinals. In the 74kg division of the Greco Roman, Mario Rhodes was on his game, and looks to bring a medal home to the Empire for the Wrestlers. “Hey man, that’d be pretty cool, huh? We train just as hard as everyone else. I will do everything I can, even if I have to wrestle a bear, to win the gold.”

Now, for team sports, and we got some baseball going this morning as the ladies took to the diamond and defeated Kura-Pelland by the score of 6-1. A three run homer by Rachel Crockett in the fourth inning was the biggest highlight of the game. Tara Stewart tossed a complete game in the win. The Woman’s Handball team defeated the Landau Institute 30-21, a solid but a little tougher game for them this time. The bitter hated rivalry between Newmanistan and Secristan in lacrosse to the field for those in the UCS to get a feel for what it was all about. This was just a demonstration event the fans thought? Not for these two regional rivals when it comes to lacrosse. It was a bitter, highly physical, war, on the field. You want a demonstration of lacrosse? You got one right here. The only bad thing about it is that there is no overtime in the Olympics and they ended up tied at 12. They appealed to the referees to play overtime anyway, but they were declined. The referees left, but the teams remained on the pitch, just for bragging rights. For the Olympics, it was over at 12-12. But for the players, there was going to be a winner. UCS officials were advised just to let them play it out. Corey Farrell scored three minutes into the unofficial overtime that never officially was, to give us a very unofficial 13-12 win. But for the standings, it’s a 12-12 tie. Elsewhere we had another bye in softball. Yes, our schedule is weird in this. The Women’s Indoor Volleyball team defeated the hosts in straight sets to improve to 3-0. They have not lost a single set in the tournament. Very well done, ladies. We also earned an 8-5 win over Qazox in Water Polo to improve to 3-0 there as well. Six goals in the middle quarters were the key in that win.

So that’s the end of this report. We’ll be back for more as the Olympics continue from Columbia.

Land de Wood Sports Olympiad Special
While our main focus has been on the Baptism of Fire, we are delighted to bring you a special Olympiad report:

Volleyball
In the women's volleyball our ladies have played some excellent volleyball. Winning all three of their first round games so far, including a 4 set thriller against Fujisawan Territories.

Lacrosse
We had high hopes for our Lacrosse team, having come runners up in the world championships. However, it seems that was beginners luck as we have managed to only win one of our three games. Rumours that our big money stars are not wanting to risk injury at the Olympiad whilst looking forward to their big money day in Newmanistan.

Tennis
Mary Jones has been a surprise. See won her women's third round match 6-0, 6-3 against Ana Paula Klaeigh. Having earlier beaten Makena Tekoo, 7-5, 6-3 in the second round.
James Dodger crashed out in the men's second round losing in straight sets 6-4, 6-4 to Dave Cannon.

Field Hockey
In the women's field hockey, our Qazoxian Sports Festival Gold Medalists have continued to impress with two good wins.

Football
Meanwhile in the football our team, deprived of its stars due to the Baptism of Fire have lost both their games so far and have no way of qualifying from their group. They face the prospect of going out before th Baptism of Fire has even finished!

Day 08–13 B results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13920291&postcount=14) are now up.

A Team and A Dream. The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

It was a mixed morning in Capitalizt Slani as half of the teams with a game one and the other one didn't. First lets start in Womens indoor Vollyeball the Knigths played Jaseun and defeated them in 3 straight sets. The Knights are tied for second in there group with Bluth Corporation witch they should be playing in the next game. They need a win to advance. and in Lacrosse the Knights faced Jaseun also, but they wernet as lucky losing there game 5-10. Wow were not having a good olympics.

A Team and a Dream. The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team.

Swimmers stun everyone and make it the Final

Wow it was a shocking 4 by 200 relay today in UCS as the Taeshani Womens Team led by Dana Treets finished seond in one of the two heats fro the womens relay. This is totally shocking as none of them except Song Kaker had advanced so far in any of there events. Nicole Spesisy led the team off with Tretts second, Kaker third and Sueng Li Byang wining it on the anchor leg. Byang had to catchup to the leader in th end, but wow it was awesome. In other swimming news Dana Tretts qualified for the semis with a 56.32 in the womens 100 M Free. Her two teamates did not. And in Soccer the mens team was stunned by the Fujisiwan Territories losing 3-1 in a shocking game.

(Yesterday’s issue of 'The Bear Necessities' has reached Columbia, already, and somebody has left a copy of it open at the sports pages…)

________________________________________________________________



So What Is This ‘Table Tennis’ Game, Anyway?

Yes, dear readers, tomorrow’s events in the Olympic Games include the opening round of a contest in yet another sport that few people in this country will ever have heard of before now… but this time it’s a foreign sport in which we actually have a full slate of competitors and — they claim — at least some chance of success.
To put it simply, ‘Table Tennis’ is rather like ‘Badminton’ _ except that the ‘court’ is replaced by a table (Yes, basically just an ordinary table…), the net is mounted across the midline of this and is only a few inches high, the ‘rackets’ have slightly shorter handles, and the ball doesn’t have a ring of feathers attached.
So who in Bears Arms actually plays this game, do you ask? Well, apparently some people in the Eightwayist and Kungfushianist monasteries — down south in Clan SnowyPeaks’s territory — use it as one method for something that they call “dynamic mediation”. The BA Olympic Committee didn’t originally plan on sending any entrants for this sport at all, but when our eight competitors for the fighting style of ‘Taekwondo’ were selected from amongst those monasteries’ inmates it turned out that all of those athletes were skilled in this sport too, and they all volunteered to go to the Games with a dual role. The best six ‘Table Tennis’ players were therefore selected from their ranks and entered for this sport as well, and there was no trouble about getting their status recognised by the NSOC because as it happened they had already been competing on an international basis — against monks and nuns from monasteries in the country of the ‘Philosophical Pandas’, which is where this sport was invented — anyway. In fact four of them had only just returned home from a tournament in that land, a contest whose final rounds for the Men’s Singles and Women’s Doubles events had seen them pitted (successfully in the former case, unsuccessfully in the latter one) against the reigning champions who came from their game’s actual birthplace the near-legendary monastery of Py’ing-Py’ong…

Tomorrow’s event is the first round of the ‘Women’s Doubles’ contest, our entrants in which are Hwat Sue [Hwa] and Tan Mee [Human]; both of them are entered for this sport's Women’s Singles contest, too.

Our other competitors in this sport are _
Tan Par [Human] (Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles),
Fan Hue [Human] (Men’s Singles and Men’s Doubles),
Hwen Dan [Hwa] (Men’s Singles, only),
and Nanna WhiteMoon (Ursine) (Women’s Singles, only).


We here at this paper wish all of them good luck in their Olympic challenge.


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(OOC: No, the word “Kungfushianist” isn’t a misspelling of “Confucianist”: They, and the 'Philosophical Pandas', really do have a religious philosophy whose founder’s name gets transliterated as ‘Kungfushious”… )

OOC: Though I appreciate it's hard to tell, all things considered, I think the competitors in the women's 69kg weightlifting were of the masculine persuasion again..

It happened.

It had happened.

Wentland had missed out on a medal in the wrestling.

And of all the people it had to happen to, it happened to Penny Grainger.

The Grinder had destroyed her opponents in the last Games on her way to an easy gold and she was favourite again. But it went all wrong in the semi-finals. Going for a routine suplex she slipped on the mat and blew out her knee. She continued and wrestled in the bronze play-off, almost immobile and relying on her strength, but was easily overcome.

Grainger was inconsolable. "I'm sorry," she tearfully blubbed to camera, "I've let everyone down..."

Team coach Robert Heenan tried to calm her down but she just hobbled away, waving off offers of help.

"It's a brutal business," explained Heenan. "The gold means so much to them, they're devastated if they don't get a medal. Vic Faulkner has only just stopped breaking up the dressing room."

There was a happier story in the men's 66kg class. Mark Rocco, the flamboyant flyboy, took a hard-earned gold thanks to a flying press and pin on a groggy Narrsan Chirrech. "Hey, I couldn't 'bear' to lose," he grinned afterwards.

***

"You mean we've got to play NOW? We've only just finished!"

"I'm sorry, but we're running behind schedule, thanks to some epic matches..."

Lydia Costa was elated over reaching the badminton semi-finals, albeit a little sorry for her team-mate Emma Gayle. They still had the women's doubles to enjoy, but immediately after their quarter-final singles match they were forced into playing their doubles semi.

Fatigue had set in and they were squashed in the first set. They picked it up a little in the second, but they were out.

"We MUST get some more badminton players in, Lyd...we can't do it all ourselves..."

"Yeah, but I've still got 2 singles matches to play before the bronze match...augh, I need some linament. Do me a favour, would you, lover?"

"Certainly, sweetie."

The Olympics so far (up to August 10)
Agence de presse ariddienne

If you’ve been missing some of the action in Columbia, here is your chance to catch up on the many events which have caused thrills, hopes, disappointment and joy at the third edition of the Summer Olympic Games. Several high profile Ariddian Islanders have been competing over the past days, with mixed results.

The opening ceremony in Holmes Stadium was everything the world expected, and more. The show was high tech, an exposé of the UCS’ technological achievements, but the spectacular imagery served to enhance rather than blot out demonstrations of Capitalizt culture, and notably its stirring, beautiful music in a variety of forms. The show highlighted the country’s rich and complex history alongside its artistic and cultural diversity, and thus proved not only stunning in form but also fascinating and educational in content – even if the show was understandably designed to simplify aspects of the nation’s past, or throw a positive spin on them.

Of the forty-eight participating nations, the Ariddian Isles’ delegation entered the stadium fourth. Ariddians had been expecting to march in behind the athlete monks of the Archregimancy, but an administrational error had filed the latter at the letter T, putting Ariddia behind the plucky team from the minuscule country of An Blascaod Mór. Contrasted with the microstate’s small delegation, Team Ariddian Isles appeared impressive indeed, led by star gymnast Abdel Andresen, the country’s most successful Olympian to date. Andresen carried the red, black and green flag of the PDSRA, used by the entire delegation, including its West Ariddian and North-West Ariddian members. The gymnast grinned, looking from side to side and nodding at spectators, clearly impressed by the show, despite this being his third participation in an Olympic opening ceremony.

And even Kennyites trying to spit at them could not spoil the thrill.

Most of the Ariddians, including Andresen, wore a simple, loose, comfortable red t-shirt with black shorts, dress or trousers. Others, mainly among the Wymgani athletes, opted for an Indigenous costume – patanja-leaf wrappers round the waist and (for the women) chest, along with body paint in various forms. Covering one’s chest is not a feature of traditional Wymgani clothing, but a concession was made to the world’s more conservative viewers, although a minority of the Ariddian ladies opted to wear the leaves only round their waist. The warm atmosphere on the stadium ensured that, despite the late hour, the athletes would not catch a chill.

The Ariddian Isles’ delegation stood out also by the presence of athletes with disabilities. Several entered the stadium in wheelchairs or on crutches. Ariddians were there to compete in sports including wheelchair fencing, wheelchair racing, blind judo, blind football and amputee football. Also present were one-legged swimmer Mélanie Sandré and one-legged long-jumper Antoine Mercier. The Ariddian Islanders received a friendly cheer from the mostly Capitalizt spectators, reflecting an absence of ideological tension at the Olympic Games.

FOOTBALL

Back in Querzakhi, Ariddia won gold in the women’s football competition and silver in the men’s, making the Ariddian Islanders favourites to take medals again in Columbia. The players are all amateurs, and the Ariddian teams distinct from the Rouge-et-Noirs of World Cup fame.

The football competition in Columbia began before the opening ceremony. Placed in group A, the women, the defending Olympic champions, faced the joint team of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea for their opening match. The ladies in red and black got Team Ariddian Isles off to an encouraging start by securing a comfortable 3-1 win and climbing to the top of the group.

Their result on day 2 was disappointing, with a 1-1 draw against Kelssek, a country with which Ariddia has good relations, but which it has rarely met on the football field.

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Amelia Stein of Ariddia (left), out to help defend her team’s Olympic title.

The men, for their part, were denied an opening win as a convincing performance by Sorthern Northland forced them into a one-all draw. That slight slip-up was amended on day 2, when the Black and Reds inflicted a resounding 4-1 defeat on Secristan, and put themselves properly back in contention for the Olympic title.

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Ariddia’s Abdul bin Achmed in action in Columbia.

OTHER TEAM SPORTS

Football excepted, Ariddians have never performed strongly in team ball sports at the Olympic Games, and little was expected of the black and red teams in Columbia.

In American football, however, the Ariddian Islanders had set out to surprise spectators. It was the most unlikely sport to witness Ariddian success, but both the men and women’s teams began their Olympic quest in more than convincing fashion. The ladies defeated Bluth Corporation 31-17, while the men beat hosts Capitalizt SLANI with exactly the same score – two comfortable and unexpected wins in a game which has few followers back home.

In handball, the women put up a surprisingly good fight, losing just 27-32 to Gerainia in their opening match. The men lost by a larger margin to Cafundéu, 20-37.

In lacrosse –another unlikely sport for Ariddians to be participating in–, the men surprised their opponents from Bluth Corporation by forcing them to struggle for a 10-9 victory. The women, by contrast, faded quickly against a strong Newmanistani team, and lost 6-10.

In volleyball, the outcome of the women’s opening match was never in doubt, as they lost in three games to the combined team of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea. The men, however, created a fresh surprise by battling on against West Pocono, and eventually winning their first match in five games – losing the first two and winning the last three.

In basketball, there was another good result as the women defeated Gerainia 72-67. The men, for their part, lost their opening match with an honourable score of 62-83, playing Secristan.

JUDO

Along with gymnastics, judo is the golden sport for Ariddians at the Olympics. Three Ariddians –At Suwil, Darren Foams and Admina Mwakingwe– had won gold in Querzakhi, and were back to defend their titles. Add to that the silver medals won four years ago by Joseph Kabir, Adam Jameson and Olivier Aleksanyan, not to mention the bronze medals which went to Minh Hai Deleclair, Julie Lanza and Joanna Montnoir, and the Ariddian Isles’ judoka were looking like the strongest threat to competitors at the Columbia Games.

The first Ariddian to take to the tatami was At Suwil, aiming to defend his Olympic title in the men’s 60kg category. Given a bye in the first round, he faced –and defeated– the host nation’s Leutérīs Tátios in the second, advancing to the quarter-finals. There he faced Cafundéu’s Arnaldo Mendonça, and his quest for gold came to an unexpectedly sudden end, as the Cafundelense judoka eliminated the reigning champion. Rebounding from his disappointing defeat, Suwil moved on to the repêchage, and advanced to the bronze medal match by defeating Kelssek’s Jeffrey Aunson. Faced with Tan Rau of Bears Armed, Suwil successfully threw his impressive opponent to the tatami, and claimed the Ariddian Isles’ first medal of the Columbia Olympics – a bronze.

Suwil’s smile during the medal ceremony was, at first, faintly subdued, expressing his disappointment, but grew as he watched the Ariddian flag raised alongside that of the new Cafundelense’s Olympic champion. Suwil’s hand went to his bronze medal while the Cafundelense anthem played, and he smiled at the crowd, before embracing his fellow medallists warmly.

There was tremendous disappointment in the men’s 66kg category, when Darren Foams, the defending Olympic champion, inexplicably lost his first round match to Professor Kaio Shizato of the Landau Institute, and was eliminated.

“I’m not sure what happened,” Foams said afterwards, grim-faced. “I’ll be giving it a lot of thought. I was surprised not to have a bye in the first round, actually. I don’t think I was over-confident, though. But Shizato was just better than I was. I would have loved to meet him in the final, but instead I had to face him in the first round, and well. . . I’m very sorry to all those who supported me and believed in me. As I said, I’m going to think this through, go over my mistakes, and hopefully come out of it stronger for next time.”

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/6295/foamskb9.jpg
Darren Foams (blue), the defending champion, unexpectedly lost his opening match.

The first woman contender from Ariddia was Dong Yue Yan (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/dong_yue_yan.html), in the 48kg event. Dong’s natural weight is just 39kg, for 1m47 in height, making her a super-lightweight back home. She had attracted attention in the previous Games by forcing herself to put on weight in order to compete, and did the same in Columbia.

“I have to eat a lot before the Olympics,” she told reporters with a cheerful smile. “A lot, a lot, a lot. And then I have to exercise to make sure the excess weight doesn’t go to the wrong places. The 48kg isn’t my normal category, so it’s not easy, but I still came first in the qualifying in Ariddia, which is why I’m here. I don’t mind the eating,” she added with a laugh. “The problem is going back to my normal weight after the Games!”

Dong is also famous as the only Ariddian ever to have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. She competed in the second Winter Games, in the skeleton event. Columbia was her third appearance in the Summer Games, following first round elimination in both the First and Second Games.

She fared no better in Columbia, losing her second round match to Kura-Pelland’s Jean Callo, following a bye in the first round.

“I’m sorry to have lost, and yes, it’s a disappointment, but I do feel I’ve been getting better. I’d like to think I was more of a challenge to my opponent this time than four years ago,” Dong said with a shrug and a smile. “Ah, well. Now I’ll be supporting the rest of the team, then doing a bit of sight-seeing. . . and starting a long diet!”

Dong, one of the darlings of the Ariddian public and media due to her repeated efforts at the Olympics, will remain at the Olympic village until all her team mates have finished competing. She has not yet said whether she will return to the Games in four years’ time, or whether she will participate in the next Winter Games.

In the women’s 52kg category, Admina Mwakingwe was the defending champion, and she began her new gold medal quest by defeating Bears Armed’s Fan Mae in round one.

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Defending champion Admina Mwakingwe (blue) got off to a good start in Columbia.

Mwakingwe went on to defeat the Fujisawan Territories’ Sumiko Kawasaki in the quarter-finals, and then Doctor Dóris Estrela of the Landau Institute in the semis. While Doctor Estrala would go on to win bronze, Mwakingwe advanced to the final, where she met Emily Hietala of Asteran. The defending champion was the favourite, and Hietala was not able to deny her a new gold: Admina Mwakingwe gave the Ariddian Isles their first gold medal of the Columbia Olympics. It was her third consecutive Olympic title in the women’s 52kg category; she had won the event in every Olympic Games.

“Well, I’ve done my bit for the team,” she said, smiling. “No, I’m very, very happy. I have a lot of respect for my adversaries and what they can do, so winning gold. . . I knew I had it in me, but it’s great to have got it done. And third time in a row! Now I have to go and celebrate!”

The Ariddian national anthem was played for the first time as Mwakingwe stood atop the podium, a gold medal round her neck, a lovely smile on her face, and a shine in her eyes, gazing up at the Ariddian flag.

Her participation in the Games was over, after a perfect performance. It was now up to other Ariddian Islanders to emulate her, and add to the gold medal tally.

ARCHERY

Youssef Kasmba, Ariddia’s only male representative, had won gold in the inaugural Olympic Games in Ashford. There were strong hopes for a repeat in Columbia, and viewing figures suggest that he gained a significant audience at home, but his score of 648 in the ranking round was only enough to place him 15th out of 58 – not the most auspicious of starts. Yun Yong-mo of the UCS scored 670, finishing first in front of a home crowd, while two other Capitalizt archers finished second and fourth. The challenge was on for Kasmba against the host nation favourites.

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Youssef Kasmba (right), gold medallist in Ashford, is Ariddia’s top archer.

For the first time, the Ariddian Isles have also entered women in archery. Marie-Christine Doucet (of North-West Ariddia) scored 624 points in the ranking round, finishing 33rd out of 59. Her team mate Mélissa Thinley (of the PDSRA) came 39th, with 621 points.

BADMINTON

Jean-François Bornescu is the Ariddian Isles’ sole representative in badminton. With Ariddia’s Amina Mba absent from the Columbia Games, Bornescu was the Isles’ only hope for a medal in badminton, and expectations were high.

He faced Andrew Wijaya in his opening match, and smashed the Kelssekian out of the competition in just two sets – 21-7, 21-7.

BOCCE

Bocce is not one of the most popular sports in any part of the Ariddian Isles, but spectators’ interest may have perked following the good performance of the men’s duo, Ludovic Forbin and Don Bridgeman, in their opening game. The two defeated the Roumberran pair by 11 points to 7.

The women, Miranda Benn and Cecily Carlisle, were given a bye in the first round

CHESS BOXING

Chess boxing seems to have attracted viewers due to its curiosity factor. Chess is generally more popular than boxing in Ariddia, although the same is not necessarily true in the Limean countries, and the idea of chess players competing in the Olympics, pounding each other in the face between moves, was clearly intriguing.

Ariddia’s Nathaniel Smith and Saiful Parvez were both given byes in the first round, as was Grace Smith for the women.

FENCING

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Esh La (right) competing in the men’s épée.

For the first time, Ariddia’s fencing delegation is not an all-female preserve, as four men join Christina Zhang to uphold the Ariddian colours.

In the men’s individual épée, Julien Beaulieu and Julien Bérard both won their first round match, while Esh La was given a bye. Matters did not go quite so well in the second, where Beaulieu lost 12-15 to Cafundéu’s Mário Lima Vieira, but Bérard thrashed Asteran’s Christian Hurst with a whopping 15-3, progressing to the next round. Esh La fell 10-13 to Gerainia’s Fense Abuv.

The Ariddian Isles’ sole remaining representative, Julien Bérard, won his third consecutive match when he defeated Newmanistan’s Jeremy Parrone with the highly convincing score of 15-4 in round three. He had just become one of the revelations from the Ariddian delegation.

“I’m delighted, of course,” he told reporters, clearly pleased. “To be honest, I never expected to win with such high margins. Not at the Olympics. I’ve got through the first three rounds, but now I have to prepare for the quarter-finals. I’m confident, but I know it’s going to get more and more difficult. I’m still quite some way away from the podium.”

Bérard was surely one of the favourites for a medal, although Baranxtu’s Mark Trenc and Roumberre’s Barramis were also looking strong. Unfortunately for the Ariddian Isles, Bérard fell to Cafundéu’s Mário Lima Vieira in the quarter-finals after holding strong throughout the match (11-14), and was eliminated in turn from the competition. Auli Atare, of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea, went on to win gold, while Barramis took silver, Trenc took bronze, and Vieira finished fourth.

GYMNASTICS

The major event of the Olympic Games, as far as many Ariddians are concerned. And with an astonishingly competitive international field gathering in Columbia, the gymnastics promised to provide high thrills and spectacular entertainment. Some of the world’s best gymnasts would be left off the podium altogether, making the competition intensely difficult for all involved.

The Ariddian Islanders arrived with memories of a stunning number of medals from the previous Games. But the Dream Team (men) were up against arguably their most difficult challenge to date – and the Golden Girls even more so. The media in the PDSRA had been going wild in anticipation for the beginning of the gymnastics, and the whole nation tuned in with palpable excitement to watch their champions defend their titles and seek even more medals.

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Michael Gris on the pommel horse.

It was up to the men to go first, and the six members of the Dream Team looked confident and focused as they took on the challenges of the artistic qualification events. The Ariddians did not disappoint. Of the 108 gymnasts in contention, only four achieved overall scores above 77 points – and all four were Ariddians. Michael Gris finished with the highest score of all, awarded a total of 77.289 points. Just outside the 77 point mark, Sae Iu finished with a score of 76.965 – fifth among the Ariddians, and fifth overall among the 108 competitors. Ih Wal, the only member of the Dream Team who had not been in Querzakhi, not only lived up to expectations but exceeded them, finishing second with 77.226 points. Only Abdel Andresen, the Ariddian flagbearer, failed to qualify for the all-around, despite a high score of 76.677. He qualified on the pommel horse and the rings.

And with a total of 309.694, the Ariddians as a team finished in first place, ahead of the Landau Institute and its 308.844 points. Of the eight gymnasts qualified for the all-around, five are Ariddians – a spectacular result which drew wild applause from spectators, and particularly from the tiny number of Ariddian Islanders seated in the gymnasium. In the all-around individual final, the gymnasts of the Dream Team will be hoping to secure gold, silver and bronze. They will compete against the Landau Institute’s Professor Kléverson Brown, Secristan’s Jerry Lennon, and Cafundéu’s André Viriato Gago.

“It’s fantastic!” Andresen told international reporters afterwards. “I mean, we went into the qualifiers confident in what we could do, never doubting ourselves, but this is. . . well, I think it’s better than what we might have expected, honestly. We’ve made it into quite a few finals, and there are lots of prospects. It’s great, really it is. Now we’re going to stay focused, and see what we can do. I’ve talked to some of the guys from the other countries, and we’ve been getting on well. We’ve got a spirit of friendly competition established, and that’s good. It’s what the Olympics is about. Making friends, and competing against them.”

He added that he was disappointed in not having reached the final of the all-around himself. “Obviously I was hoping to be in there. I can’t say my result was a bad one, but. . . I could have done better on the parallel bars, and I’d have qualified for the all around if I’d done that. Anyway. Never mind. I’m really, really proud of what my team mates have done. And my focus now is on the finals of the events I did qualify for.”

“God, they’re amazing!” a female spectator from West Ariddia gushed. “I’m in love with all of them! This was the best competition ever! And it’s going to be even better in the finals! Watch out, world,” she added with a laugh, “here comes Ariddia!”

Although high hopes have been raised, the opposition will nonetheless remain fierce, with excellent gymnasts from other countries having qualified for a variety of events. Among them, Doctor Luiz Augusto Flamengo of the Landau Institute, Randy Martin of Secristan, John Warton of West Pocono, and Chris Batty of Kelssek.

The men’s outstanding performance had set a target for Ariddia’s Golden Girls, four of whom had competed in Querzakhi, where they had won an impressive number of medals.

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Let’s hear some support for Sandrine Berthier, the newest addition to the Golden Girls’ team.

“The competition is incredibly hard,” Anaïs Reed said shortly before competing in Columbia. “But we’re good,” she added with a smile. “We can’t change how our opponents compete, which means we just have to be so good that they can’t reach us. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be. . . interesting.”

Interesting it certainly was, with stunning talent from around the world lining up to win gold off the defending champions from Ariddia. But with the men’s performance to live up to, Ariddia’s women delivered a brilliant performance, finishing first overall as a team, with a score of 309.375. The skill of the opposition, however, was demonstrated by the fact that only Aliw Set and Anaïs Reed qualified for the individual all-around, in second and eighth places respectively. In addition, Reed qualified for three individual events, and Set for two. Sandrine Berthier, Elu Sis and Sunny Mokhobo will each be seeking a medal in the single individual event they have each qualified for. Laure Mkrchyan finished with an overall score of 76.600, more than respectable by any standard, but failed to qualify for any event. In Querzakhi, she had qualified for four individual events as well as the all-around.

“It just goes to show how incredibly good the girls from the other countries are,” she said. “Congratulations to them, and good luck.” Despite her words of encouragement to her opponents, however, she was obviously disappointed.

“We’ve been issued a challenge,” Aliw Set said after the competition. “I think we’ve done as well as could be expected in the qualifiers, collectively. We’ve showed that we’re still the best team in the world, and that’s very, very encouraging. Now we have to be ready for the medal events. I think we are.”

Sandrine Berthier and Elu Sis, the two new girls on the team, said they were thrilled to be in Columbia.

“This is the best,” Sis said. “The Olympics, I mean. We’re up against the best gymnasts in the world. It pushes is to our limits, makes us show, including to ourselves, what we can do.”

“There’s a great atmosphere here,” Berthier added. “We’ve made friends with girls from the opposing teams. We all respect one another – as athletes, as people, as friends. A great atmosphere. Which doesn’t mean we’re not going to try our very best to beat them!”

At the end of the qualifiers, the ladies from Newmanistan appear to pose the biggest threat, having lived up to their promise to unsettle the reigning champions. However, it was Secristan’s Stacey Classen who finished with the highest individual score, and who may be Aliw Set’s main opponent is her search for gold in the individual all-around.

WHEELCHAIR FENCING

Wheelchair fencing is a sport proposed by the Comité olympique ariddien, and which attracted sufficient international support to feature as a demonstration event at the Columbia Olympics.

The PDSRA’s Marie Bellegarde was Team Ariddian Isles’ entry for the women’s competition. After being given a bye in the first round, she was unfortunately defeated by Philippa Carlton of Kura-Pelland.

DIVING

The Ariddian Islanders began poorly when duo Ua Le (PDSRA) and Patricia Finnan (North-West Ariddia) finished last in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard, obtaining 278.04 points – far behind the 335.14 of gold medal winners Cafundéu.

It was suggested that the two women, who were teamed up despite coming from different countries, may not have had sufficient time to train together.

“No, we’ve been practising a lot,” Finnan disagreed. “We make a good team, I think. We’ve become good friends, despite not having known each other long, and we work well together. These are our first Olympics, and obviously the competition is tough. We still have the 10 metre event to prepare for, and we’ll have learnt from our mistakes. We’re lucky to have a second event, to make up for today. We’re both determined to do better.”

Patricia Finnan, 22, born and raised in North-West Ariddia, is a city girl, who trained in indoor pools from a young age. Ue Le, 18, comes from an Indigenous community in the forests of the PDSRA, and learnt to swim and dive in natural lakes outdoors, before beginning more formal training. A native speaker of Wymgani, she later learnt to speak French, and her English is still a little faltering.

“We’re good friends,” she agrees with a broad smile, putting her arm round her team mate’s. “I went to big city North-West Ariddia. We are here at Olympics, fantastic. We train, and a lot. I’m happy to go at 10 metre dive, and, like Patricia say, we. . . we do well in 10 metres. Maybe we win the medal!” she adds with an enthusiastic grin.

Both ladies will also compete, against each other, in individual events.

SWIMMING

There are no expectations for medals among the Ariddian Isles’ swimmers, but their performance is being watched with interest nonetheless, as each seeks to improve his or her personal best.

The first Ariddian in the pool was Eric U, in the heats of the men’s 100m backstroke. With a time of 56.67, just four hundreths of a second short of his personal best, he finished a highly respectable 26th out of 42. In the same event for the women, Ariddia’s Claire Janes came 36th out of 38, her time 1:06.31.

TENNIS

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West Ariddia’s Christian Mohamed defends the colours of the PDSRA.

The Ariddian Isles’ only representative in tennis comes not from the PDSRA but from West Ariddia. Christian Mohamed is something of a star in his home country, where he is the highest ranked player in both table tennis and tennis singles. In the first round, he was not given a bye, but instead paired against West Pocono’s Kevin Hillerby, defeating him in three games (6-7, 6-4, 6-2).

“I wasn’t happy with losing the first game,” Mohamed said afterwards. “That put the pressure on me. But then I got to read him well, and my playing got better and better. So maybe that early pressure did me good.”

Mohamed has been seen spending time with West Ariddian beach volleyball player Roxanne Sha, herself a celebrity in her country, in and around the Olympic Village. He dismisses the fact with a shrug.

“Roxanne is a lovely girl, in every way. We’d met once before, when we starred in an advert together. For toothpaste, I think it was. So it was nice to meet up again. But I’m not letting it get in the way of training.”

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

As the beach volleyball got underway, the Ariddian men, Ivan Kovac and Michael Middleton, lost their opening match to a duo from Kura-Pelland in two games, 11-21, 11-21. The women fared little better, as Ariddia’s Maria de la Cruz and West Ariddia’s Roxanne Sha lost to a Krytenian pair, 10-21, 16-21.

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Beauty on the beach: Maria de la Cruz (right) hugs team mate Roxanne Sha after the pair score a point.

The two women come from different countries, have not known each other for long, and appear, at first glance, to have little in common. Roxanne Sha is a West Ariddian of part-Wymgani descent, born into a fairly wealthy background. She has the support of numerous sponsors, and receives lucrative contracts to appear in a wide variety of advertisements. Although she has a job as an interviewer on a popular news show, her sponsorship contracts enable her to work fairly little. Hers is the life of a successful and sexy sportswoman in a rich capitalist country – one of glamour, celebrity and relative luxury. By contrast, Maria de la Cruz was born in the PDSRA. Although she has achieved some small degree of recognition as an athlete, she is, for the most part, unknown to her compatriots. Living in a country where money does not exist, she is neither richer nor poorer than anyone else, and leads an ordinary life. She works as a nurse.

Despite their distinct backgrounds, the two ladies get on well.

“We’re a team,” de la Cruz says. “We clicked,” she adds with a smile.

“We became friends,” Sha adds. “The Olympics brought us together. I’m sure we’ll stay in touch after the Games.”


At the close of August 10, the Ariddian Isles lay in 14th place on the medal chart, with one gold medal and one bronze – both in judo. The opening days of the Olympics had brought mixed disappointment and joy, from Darren Foams’ elimination in judo to Admina Mwakingwe’s perfect performance, and the gymnasts’ magnificient skill.

How many more medals will come in judo, and other events. . . and will the gymnastics teams retain their Olympic titles in the face of fierce competition? Find out in the next overview of the Columbia Olympic Games.

(ooc to ariddia: you stole my gold in the women's football last time... I WANT IT BACK!)

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 5 continues with more scores? YES. There are more scores!

Football (Men):
A heartbreaking match for the men, as they are sent home following a 1-0 loss to Jasiyun, as the winnign goal was scored in the 87th minute. Only 3 minutes away and the team failed. But they needed a win, not a draw to advance, and offensively, the last two games, they were spent. Perhaps the fatigue of playing 3 games in 4 days finally got to the team.

SCORE SUMMARY
Jasiyun 0 1 1
Qazox 0 0 0

Qazox Goals Today:
None

Qazox Goals (Overall):
Christian Schieffer: 2
Neil Cropp: 1 (PK)
Clinton Cassone: 1

Tennis—Men’s Singles:
Clinton Few advanced to the quarterfinals with a (6-2, 6-2) win over Maineiacs' Teodors Kaustaskas. Few just needs to win his next match to have a chance for a medal.

Tennis—Women’s Singles:
Serena Paden also advanced to the quarterfinals with a (6-1, 6-2) win over Atya Reli.

Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Tennis
Albrecht girls setting Women’s Doubles alight
Paul Thompson in Columbia

Amid the doom and gloom of disappointing failures and near misses, a handful of Candelariasians today edged closer towards the Republic’s first Olympic medal. The Cafundelense table-toppers have nothing to fear, but we’re certainly gunning for West Pocono now…

The greatest two rays of light are in the women’s tennis doubles, with Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad again coming up with a victory to book their place in the quarter-finals – and would it be overconfident to suggest that the draw is really opening up now for the Albrecht pair?

The pre-Games favourites have been dropping like flies, with the most sensational result on the court today seeing Ana Paula Klaeigh and Daniela Venturine depart the Olympics after surrendering a one set lead against one of the four Secristani pairs left across the doubles competitions. Kristen Connolly and Chrissy Thornton will now be overwhelming favourites against the Coocoostani veterans Lena and Yuliya Grebeshkova; the winners of that game featuring either the Candelariasian or Zwangzugian pair in the semi-finals.

On current form it would be hard to bet against the unseeded teenagers, and that in itself represents a remarkable achievement. On the Candelarias singles tour, the seventeen year-old Nazar is ranked just twenty-third; Sajjad, her elder by nearly two years, is thirty-ninth. Yet the pair have been playing professional doubles together for just a year, and are already third in Rushmore. How does that happen, in an era when so many of the top doubles players across the world are merely recycled singletons? Their relationship goes back over a decade of course, accounting for the near telepathic bond between these two, but even individually their successes in mixed doubles events have shown their enormous talent for this form of the game. At times against the Krytenian pair, they appeared to be playing almost a different sport, and consistently seemed to think the extra few seconds ahead of their opponents as they reeled off consecutive 6-1 wins to qualify. They certainly haven’t got this far the easy way; but the spirit, guts and good humour shown thus far, coupled with an extraordinary natural aptitude and endless hours of practise, have been a joy to behold.

What they will face now, even more than DuPont and Greenleaf, will be the pressures that come with representing a small country in the later stages of the Olympic Games. Throw in their age and religious background; and every newspaper, marketing man and politician will be desperate to jump on C&M’s latest starlets. If anything can derail their march, it may well prove to be just that.

The fact remains that the girls are the Candelarias’ last realistic hopes in the racket sports. There are eight entries in the table tennis yet to start, but the pair of Daisy Mah and Candice Yao represent our best chance, and their draw against the representatives of the Landau Institute is less than comforting. María Núñez surrendered meekly to one of their countrywomen to end Candelariasian interest in the badminton, while Comfort Adekunde traded baseline points with Lauren Martin but exited 7-6, 7-6. Martin now faces fellow Newmanistani Shannon Meyer in the quarter-finals, and both players can afford to concentrate fully on that encounter after the pair lost in the other half of the doubles draw.

Other hopes to take the pressure of Nazar and Sajjad’s shoulders remain however, after an unexpectedly positive day in the rowing. The men’s fours are into the final, albeit with the slowest time from the heats, but shorn of the deadwood Craig Ellis and Ryan Foley were the fastest boat in the men’s pairs by a decent margin, and on that showing on the Bluth Corporation represent a threat. Pip O’Sullivan also qualified for the single skulls final.

Trevor Organ’s men ground out a 0-0 draw with Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea – enough to ensure qualification. The bad news? After all this time, a side representing the under-21 talents from the last four years or so come up against their counterparts from Newmanistan. It should’ve happened in the Di Bradini Cup. It’ll happen on Saturday. Apparently that’s quite exciting.

The men’s hockey team won by the way, another 3-1 against Allanea. Rather comforting, aren’t they?

OOC: Though I appreciate it's hard to tell, all things considered, I think the competitors in the women's 69kg weightlifting were of the masculine persuasion again..
Indeed they are; resimmed with the correct participants. Makes the medal table more exciting, at least :p

THE MONASTIC TIMES
OLYMPIC SPECIAL EDITION

ARCHREGIMANCY ATHLETE IN DECENT PERFORMANCE SHOCK
Fr. Nicodemus Proves Decidedly Non-Average in Single Sculls

By Fr. Nicholas the Scribe

In a performance that had many Orthodox sporting fans believing in miracles even more than they had seven minutes previously, the Archregimancy's entrant in the Men's single sculls shocked the more experienced rowing nations by scorching his way to qualification for the final a full three seconds faster than any other semi-final competitor.

The other finalists were said to be stunned at Fr. Nicodemus the Surprisingly Average's achievement at being the only competitor to qualify under 7 minutes, with only Kelssek's heathen Ken Amant - competing in the same heat as Fr. Nicodemus - also managing to finish in under seven minutes and two seconds.

Monastic Olympic Committee spokesman Fr. Vasily the Heavily-Accented was quick to deny that Fr. Nicodemus' unexpected performance was in any way due to breathing in too much illegal performance-enhancing incense. "Is outrage! Fr. Nicodemus is being the inspired by nothing more than power of the prayer" said Fr. Vasily, before admitting that no one had in fact accused Fr. Nicodemus of illegal behaviour. "Would still be outrage if he were being the accused" added Fr. Vasily.

Monastic Olympic Committee officials were quick to point out that Fr. Nicodemus had not in fact won anything more significant than a qualifying heat, and were quick to reassure sceptical monastic sporting fans back home that they were sure that the humble and God-fearing sculler had every chance of a soul-strengthening failure once the final takes place. "If Fr. Nicodemus brings back a gold tomorrow, I'll eat my cassock" said a senior archimandrite, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Look (listen?) on the bright side, at least it only plays on the way in.

Lily: Women led the way in a day of all-around success for Zwangzug, with victories and moral victories-
Steve: All right, let's settle the score here. What is a "moral victory"?
Darryl: Easy. It's when you win, in a moral style.
Steve: I wasn't asking you and you know it.
Lily: Well, today it was on the volleyball court, where Team Zwangzug battled back from two sets down against highly favored West Pocono.
Tyrus: The sets were, indeed, as close as the scorelines indicate. They played their hearts out for that last point, 24-23, trying to force some overtime, but Izzy was just reaching a little too far, left out of position.
Lily: Tyrus Kimakoo the coach of the volleyball team. How did you motivate them after falling behind 2-0?
Tyrus: I'm generally a quiet guy, and there were some nerves, people edgy that it was so close. I could have tried to calm them down, but I guessed that they'd be better off letting that stoke the fire. So I just asked each of them, in their heads, to find a way they could improve, and they rose to the challenge.
Darryl: A telling statistic there, ten points twice the margin they'd beat you by before.
Tyrus: The next game was much closer, as you know, and West Pocono taking the lead more than once. I figured, again, not too much I could say that would help the cause.
Steve: But then...
Tyrus: West Pocono were angry. No doubt about it. They were not supposed to be in this kind of position to us, and they went out there and proved it. If it had been a full game, maybe we could have rallied back, but as it stands we'll need our energy for the Krytenia game.
Steve: On paper, they're about the only team you should be able to beat.
Tyrus: And psychologically, that's just what we'll need to do. Beat them.
Yvette: Zwangzug still leads the group with five points.
Steve: Five? How'd we get five?
Darryl: One point for losing.
Yvette: Can't argue with that.
Steve: And two for winning? What's with padding all these losers, just give the winners a point each.
Yvette: Iiiin other news, Adam O'Meary and Nellie Ryder lost to opponents from Kelssek, and none of Zwangzug's four time trial cyclists made the top half of their road races.
Steve: Why are the results given by time?
Darryl: Different sort of time trial.
Lily: A chance for sweet revenge on the tennis courts, as Percy Flinton and doubles partner Atticus Peek faced the Bluth Corporation's Christopher Morgan and Blake Patton-Patton, of course, eliminated Flinton from the singles competition.
Darryl: But it was not to be, as Morgan and Patton won 6-4, 6-2.
Atticus: I think the pressure was getting to Percy, yeah...he overexerted himself in the first set. Of course, that led to many points from us we couldn't have gotten otherwise, his adrenaline was so insane, but we sort of, um, crashed and burned in the second.
Lily: An altogether different story in the women's competition, however. Amelia DuPont and Kiara Greenleaf had already been eliminated from the singles tournament, but knew going in their best success came as a pair.
Darryl: And so it was, as they squeaked past Sheila Fisher and ʼYun Nam-sūg of the hosting Jasīʼyūn delegation, 7-6 in the first set.
Kiara: We shoulda had it in the bag. And we all knew it, so that let 'em come back.
Steve: Indeed, Fisher and ʼYun took the next set 6-3.
Amelia: I had to calm Kiara down after that, but it all worked out.
Lily: With a 6-4 victory, DuPont and Greenleaf progressed to the quarterfinals.
Yvette: They will face Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad-the Candelariasian teenagers hail from Albrecht, and have been living up to high expectations all tournament.
Darryl: Success in the swimming pool: while veteran Kris Catenar missed the cut, Kitchie Ratner qualified in the two-hundred meter breaststroke, and the womens' four-by-two-hundred freestyle team also qualified, Rosie Ulm's second advancement.
Lily: And on Opening Day in World Baseball Classic 8, the women's baseball team also began play with a 7-4 victory over Gerainia. A bases-clearing triple in the fifth by Nadia Koves of the Kerlagrad Dragons gave Zwangzug the lead for good, and laid the foundation for a great start to the tournament.
Steve: Okay, answer me this one. Is this one of them time-dilation jobs with the same players in both tournaments? Because I've definitely never heard of Nadia Koves.
Yvette: Well, if she was hitting bases-clearing triples all the time, then it wouldn't be noteworthy enough to mention in the broadcast.
Steve: But that's not the point.
Darryl: Uh, you know what, we're just gonna end this one right here.

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Two medals but Newmanistan block the way for SN gold

Newmanistan may be relativity new to the international sports scene but already we know that when we come up against them more than likely it will be them coming out on top. Football (specially at U21 level), Gridiron, and in all probability the likes of Extreme Ironing and Tiddlywinks. Now though Cycling can be added to that long list of sports. Or at least the time trial discipline (have we mentioned we got the gold in the men's road race?).

The Women's Time Trial as with all cycling events was one that Sorthern Northland was aiming for medals in. The Men's Road Race had of course produced that with Fran Ventoso claiming gold in the Women's Road Race, although Hélène Duval and Hayley Gilbert despite impressive rides bought home the desired medals. The Men's Time Trial (later on the day of the women's) also failed to produce any medals with gold medal hero Ventoso finishing nearly half a minute away from bronze in 5th place and Kiran Kelly finishing all the way down in 25th. Both of those had been expected to challenge for the medals and will be disappointed with their rides. The women however performed well to claim silver and bronze. However with both getting in the top three there will surely be soon disappointment at failing to pick up a gold.

The eventual winner, Michelle Patrick of Newmanistan had a slight advantage in starting the short time trial course early in the morning with the breeze coming from behind her. A slight advantage is all it may have been but it is all you need in this sport and especially in a discipline that can be as tight as time trials can be. By the time either Sortherner had set off Patrick had already long completed the course in a quick time of 31m:36.99s. The bar had been set and it had been set high. Hayley Gilbert was the first to challenge Patrick's time setting off shortly after Patrick had finished the course. Gilbert was steady throughout, checking in at the first timecheck just a few seconds behind Patrick, by the time of the second timecheck though she was down by around half a minute. It was roughly at the time that the difference was as Gilbert crossed the line to knock Leonora Pennyworth of Wentland off the silver medal spot. Hélène Duval was the Sortherners remaining hope in the race, and she set off around the same time that Hayley Gilbert had finished the course. Her start was a lot brighter though, the first few kilometres she completed at a faster speed than anyone previously and by the first timecheck she was a minute up on Patrick. By the time she reached the second timecheck though it was clear she was struggling to keep up here early pace, with Duval's time at the second timecheck being just five seconds quicker than Patrick's. It wasn't a question of was she losing time to Patrick, it was clear as daylight she was. The question was, will she have last too much time in the last third of the race. In the end no dramatic finish with Duval crossing the line in almost the exact same time as Patrick with people frantically checking spilt seconds happened. By the time Duval had crossed the line it had been known for nearly 20 seconds that she would do no better than silver. Two medals out of three is something to be proud of, the only problem is that success breeds high expectations, and with that not winning the top prize is seen as a disappointment. The Olympic team will certainly today be ruing that of their two medals won today was gold, but in the weeks to come the achievement will noted and hopefully be the second and third in a long line of Sorthern medals. One thing that has been noted though is that despite Hélène and Hayley now being Olympic medallists, neither has a more girly name than Fran Ventoso despite being girls.

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

WRESTLING SILVER THE STORY OF THE EVENING

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- It was a relatively quiet evening for Newmanistan this Wednesday in terms of medals won. There were no swimming finals, just some Judo and Fencing, as well as Weightlifting and Wrestling. Mario Rhodes kept us from being shut out though, as he picked us up a silver in the Men’s Greco-Roman, 74kg division. After advancing to the semifinals, Rhodes defeated Brandon Brooks of the UCS before being a bulky competitior from Roumberre. Rhodes said it was hard to get a good handle on Onrry de Ortembarrs, “It was a little tough, you know, with his fur. I’m not really accustomed to that.” However Rhodes did say it was fair, clean fight, and that he was honored to win a silver, “Onrry played by the rules, there was nothing wrong with it, he was the winner. I am just really honored to be bringing home a silver back to show my friends and family and I can proudly display it as the centerpiece in my Trophy Cabinet. It’s a great day for me.” It is the first medal that Newmanistan has picked up in Wrestling, and this was not an event where we expected to do much. At the beginning of the Olympics, we may have said one or two medals, at most, so perhaps, we are at our quota now. There is still plenty of it left, and just maybe Rhodes’ medal can provide some inspiration for our wrestlers still yet to hit the mat. “It’d be cool if it had that effect.” said Rhodes.

Other then that, tonight’s events were more about heats and semifinals then they were about medals. In Boxing, Andrew Payne won his first round match while Michelle Iverson had a bye. “There will be harder matches for me, definitely, this was more of a sparring bout.” Payne said. Not quite the cocky comment that Brian Gallows gave us this morning, but still shows that some of our boxers seem to have an arrogant flair to them. Even Iverson commented, “I enjoyed sitting back in my hotel room recliner sippin’ on a Long Island Ice Tea while the other ladies were in the ring. I was nice and relaxed.” The Men’s Road Time Trial in Cycling did not go well, but we don’t have a Michelle Patrick among the men, so not a surprise. Diving, Fencing, Rowing, Weightlifting and Judo had limited, if any, Newmanistanian participation and when there was it was an early stage loss, nor did we have anyone in the final of the Women’s 25m Air Pistol. In the pool, Dave Perotti, with two gold medals at the 200m distance, surprisingly did not make the semifinal of the 200m Backstroke, but Nate Compston did. Ron Harris was on top of the charts after 200m Individual Medley, but Matt Clemons was way down on the list. Jennifer Conlin, running out of medal chances, had a very good showing in the 100m Freestyle heats, placing behind her One Big Island rival Carrie Stefansson of Secristan. Will it finally be Jennifer’s turn to reach the podium? Lauren Biron still seems to be celebrating her gold, reportedly she was seen in a local nightclub until 4am. Kara Brannon and Caitlin Geraghty both qualified in the 200m Breaststroke, and Biron, Conlin and crew were properly focused for the Freestyle Relay, with the fastest time by 1.3 seconds, but we all know what happened in the other relay, so don’t be getting excited yet.

In Tennis, the only people beating Newmanistanian men are other Newmanistanian men. Our three singles players all advanced into the quarterfinals (the only singles defeat we have had was a head to head match between two of them), and now in doubles, one of our teams is knocked out by the other as Brendan Holt and Michael Johnson defeated Chris Terrell and Tim Cooper in an exciting match, especially the final set. Shannon Mayer and Lauren Martin advanced in singles, but if we have the pairs right, now they’re headed for a collison course! They were eliminated in doubles, so now we have no one left there. Our Table Tennis team was soundly beaten by a pair from Allanea. Not a surprise, but come on ladies, you could have done a little better then that!

In team sports, our Men’s Association football team laid the smack down on Land de Wood by the score of 4-0. Jeremy McAllister led the way with two goals, with Kevin Lewis and Alex Parnett each adding a score. Corey Hennis when called upon (and it wasn’t often) had a great game goal. We now get set for a match against Candelaria And Marquez. The Women’s basketball team had their bye, and the men’s field hockey team were officially eliminated, as West Pocono defeated them, 3-2. So that’s where we stand now. Get ready for the morning results, which should be coming soon!

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

The Aquatic events almost done, and Still only 1 medal so far, and the National Swim Coach, John Davis, has resigned, and will be replaced with Assistant Swim Coach Holly Atherton.


SWIMMING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD), Medal winners in Medal Color):

Men’s 100 m Freestyle—Semifinals:
Walter Bergstrom: 49.46

Women’s 200 m Individual Medley—Final:
Jenny Messina: 2:14.89 (8th)

Men’s 200 m Backstroke—Heats:
Jason Kirschner: 2:02.32
Michael Mastin: 2:04.15

Men’s 200 m Individual Medley—Heats:
Fred Valenzuela: 2:02.85 (10th)
Clayton Easterly: 2:04.01 (15th)

Women’s 100 m Freestyle—Heats:
Judy Wagstaff: 55.74 (4th)
Iris Seng: 59.00

Women’s 200 m Breaststroke—Heats:
Kristin Stoffel: 2:30.90 (t11th)
Nancy Butterworth: 2:33.56

Women’s 4×200 m Freestyle Relay—Heats:
(Wagstaff/Seng/Mohamed/Markel): 8:07.37

Prux's Olympic Blog

Day 5 is over and here is the lone Prux result:

Basketball—Women’s—Group Stage:
3-0 so far, and the quarterfinals are almost clinched, following a 86-69 win over Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea. Caroyln Fierra had 25 points to lead the way, and Kortney Hurtz added 17 and had 9 assists.

Score by Quarter:

B.C.O. 14 18 17 20 69
Prux 19 24 18 25 86



That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

Day 08–14 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13922359&postcount=15) are now up.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

5 days are completed and on the 6th, there is still more Olympics.

Cliff Diving—Men’s/Women's:
As expected, Juan de Leon won the Cliff Diving demonstration, as Henrique Munhoz of Cafundeu finished 2nd. Both men made it to the top of the stage, the 200m dive, and after the 3rd round, Munhoz was unable to match de Leon's scores. While not a medal, Qazox has its first ever win in Diving. As for the women, Jaunita de Leon, Juan's younger sister finished 9th of 9 competitors, as she received the lowest scores on all heights. Maineiacs' Graciela Escobar won the women's event.

Handball—Men’s—Group Stage:
A thrilling comeback, as Qazox improves to 2-1 and enhances its hopes of reaching the medal round, with a 27-25 win over rivals Taeshan. Villavicencio's 9 goals, 7 of which came in the 2nd half, led the comeback as Qazox outscored Taeshan 17-9. With a win in the next match, the team could clinch a medal round berth.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 10 17 27
Taeshan 16 9 25

Qazox Goals Today:
Clinton Villavicencio: 9
Christian Jowett: 5
Hugh Lafon: 5
Cody Parkey: 5
Kurt Curtis: 2
Darryl Longworth: 1


Overall Goals
Clinton Villavicencio: 27
Christian Jowett: 20
Hugh Lafon: 19
Cody Parkey: 11
Kurt Curtis: 7
Darryl Longworth: 2
Own Goals- 1 (Secristan)



Softball (Women):
Qazox is hanging by a thread, losing its 3rd game, 3-2 to kenavt. Carlene Minyard allowed 3 solo home runs in the 4th and 5th innings, but a 2-run shot by Odessa Passero in the 6th gave the team hope, but it was fleeting.

SCORE SUMMARY
kenavt 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 3
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2


Water Polo—Men’s:
Qazox has complete control of Group B following a 9-5 thrashing of our Taeshani rivals. With just 2 matches left, a win in the next match will send the team into the medal round.

SCORE SUMMARY
Taeshan 2 0 2 1 5
Qazox 1 3 2 3 9

Qazox Goals Today (Overall):
Russell Haber: 2
Bruce Lanham: 2
Howard Romero: 2
Luis O'Keefe: 1
Danny Baptiste: 1
Jose Allgood: 1

Overall Goals:
Bruce Lanham: 8
Howard Romero: 7
Luis O'Keefe: 4
Danny Baptiste: 2
Jose Allgood: 2
Russell Haber: 2



Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

"You broke my arrows!!!"

"You broke my BOW!!!!"

"You kidnapped Bunnykins!!!!!!"

The tilts saw a monumental fight between the Wentland participants. All had gone out before the quarter-finals, in three massive shocks. How come the gold medallists in the team event and favourites for the individual events had ALL lost to lesser opponents?

For Kate Lonergan, the answer was clear. She has missed out on one shot because she retrieved an arrow to find it had been neatly sawn through. A null score - and she lost by three.

For Siobhan Fogarty, the answer was also clear. Her bowstring came loose in the second shot. Again a null score and a hurried following shot meant a null and a three - and she lost by five.

For Kellie Bright, the whole round was a disaster. She was almost in tears from the off. It was a hopeless performance and she was well beaten. One of her companions had been toynapped...

The three of them were rolling around to the amusement of the crowd. Eventually coach Bleem stepped in. "RIGHT!!! You can all STOP that."

The crowd booed.

"SHE didn't break your arrow, SHE didn't break your bow, SHE didn't steal your toy. I did."

"WHAT?"

"You were all showing disrespect to your opponents and team-mates. Well, not you Kellie, but for God's sake GROW UP!!! You're twenty-three. Somebody had to teach you all a lesson, to stand you in good stead for next time."

The three ladies stared in silence at their coach.

And hurled themselves at her.

"AAAHH!!! SECURITY!!!!"

The journalists were jittery and mumbling about deadlines as they queued to be fed in the bowels of the media centre.

One of them said into a dictaphone, "Culinary note: roast beef yet to be mastered by the caterers."

"Did you get diarrhoea yesterday too?" someone else said.

A table of National Independent writers were united in writer's block sorrow.

"I can't believe there's so little really interesting going on! Not one of our athletes have thrown tantrums, gone in two footed on an opposing player, kicked someone in the nuts..."

"Well, one of the fencers said that losing felt like getting kicked in the nuts."

"Did you expect him to say it felt great?"

"No, but it's not a he, it's a she."

"I can't write a whole article about a woman being kicked in her non-existant nuts!"

"Apparently the Telegraph disagrees."

"They hate sports. Why do we care?"

"It might give you inspiration..."

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EDITORIAL
A shame for Kelssek

As the colossal waste of resources that the Olympic Games held in Columbia represents continues, one Kelssek athlete has singlehandedly displayed the inherent mean-spiritedness of sport and why it is such a pox on our society.

After losing, fencer Debby Busby was heard to say, "I imagine if I were a man, and I were getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly, this is how it would feel."

Sportsmanship? Graciousness? You've got to be kidding. There isn't any. These athletes we send to represent our country represent not greatness, heroism or any of the other attributes they are so often assumed to embody, but instead a fabulous waste of our resources. We, so wrongly, hold athletes on a pedestal in this country. This is how they respond to it.

It's not as if the performance at the Olympics is so great either. With an anemic 10 medals, three of them gold, we wouldn't get back in any significant way our millions of dollars in investment even if they were solid 99.9% composed of gold, silver and bronze. And of course, all the over-emotional socialists will be against melting them down anyway because they think they represent some kind of achievement or something.

$600 million is spent on sports programs, money which should be in our pockets, not so some girl can talk about getting kicked in the nuts. It's time to cut out sports and the cancer it is on Kelssek.

_____

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OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 14, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080814.mp3

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Yätti stared at his medal in disbelief. Auli and Marc were sitting next to him, both grinning, although Marc was also eyeing the medal slightly jealously.

"Told you so." Auli opened another bottle of beer and passed it to Yätti.

"I can't... I mean... I really won."

"Gold, even, you fucker. Cheers." Three bottles clinked together.

"Your face after you beat Donat was priceless. I think I'm gonna put that in a frame and put it on my desk."

Marc gave Auli a look. "I think you're probably also just a teensy bit... gloaty because he beat you."

"Maybe. But honestly, I'm happy for you, Yätti. You did us proud."

Wednesday night report

On a largely disappointing day for Kura-Pelland, weightlifting again proved the salvation. No golds, alas, but a silver and a bronze - Ramon Harrison missing out on gold in the mens' 77kg by just 2.5kg after leading in the snatch but failing his final lift in the clean and jerk, and Fiona Donn picking up a bronze in the womens' 69kg.

It livened up a day of big disappointments. The biggest disappointment might be that the football team are out after a 3-1 defeat to the hosts of SLANI, putting them second in the group; their record was the worst of the group runners-up, and only the best - Krytenia - qualify. Or it might be the first-round defeat for Zoe Richardson in the womens' super-heavyweight boxing, but the 23-19 loss to Harrla Marrla o Redwood of Bears Armed was a fabulous fight, with Redwood second best for much of it but clinging on to an early initiative gained in the first round. Or it might possibly be Tom Murray-Spencer missing out in the judo, losing his 90kg bronze medal bout to Krytenian Hayden Smith. He lost his semi-final to Jongwoo Ma of Secristan, who ended up with silver.

Joy for the mens' field hockey team though as they get a critical 3-1 win against Ad'ihan to top the table. Cafundéu drew again, ths time with Kenavt, and who knew a capitalist nation could have such socialist spirit in this of all places? C&M picked up another win, against Allanea.

The womens' basketball team are out in mildly humiliating fashion, a 71-69 defeat to the other host organising group of Jaseuyeon coming with a last-gasp three-pointer. Despite a modest -16 points difference, they're out with two games to spare.

Andrew Cancellara won the mens' road race time trial for Krytenia; as expected, no Kura-Pellandi competitors were anywhere near the pace, Chester Charlton and Fred Porritt bottoming out the top 20.

Mick Teyaratis made the semi-finals of the mens' 200m individual medley but has no chance of winning. His time of 2:03.39 made him the eleventh fastest qualifier. Charlotte McWhirter's time of 57.35 left her 28th fastest and out of the semis in the womens' 100m freestyle, a humiliating 0.47 seconds short of qualification. Yvette McCann in the 200m breaststroke was in a similarly awful position and the 4x200m relay team were second-last.

Much more joy on the tennis courts, with two comprehensive defeats of West Poconan opposition Mark van Haragan was comfortable in beating Bart Fagan 6-2 6-4 to reach the last eight of the mens' singles, and Bill Couth and Teddy Innek destroyed Matt Rizzo and Kevin Hillerby 6-2 6-1 in just 45 minutes.

Kura-Pelland now have 13 medals, with three golds, four silvers and six bronzes. They are eleventh in the medals table.

Thursday morning report

No medals but no lack of joy today, oddly enough.

Clara Tiyor produced a stunning performance to reach the semi-finals of the womens' individual archery. Sin Can-ju of Jaseuyeon was defeated 157-154 in the third round, before the Alleanean Simona Green was edged out 106-105 in a shorter twelve-arrow contest, Tiyor winning with a 10 on the final arrow.

Richard Vallier faces the heartache of quarter-final defeat in the mens' badminton singles, losing 21-7 21-13 to an on-fire Liam O'Connell. The doubles pair of Keith Simpson and Michael Boldrewood lost a classic encounter to the GreyBears of Bears Armed, 21-17 17-21 21-15.

Mick Teyaratis set a PB of 48.88 to come a creditable fifth in the mens' 100m freestyle, which was won by Connor da Vincho of Kenavt. He said later that he is proud to show that Kura-Pelland have some significant swimming talent. Home fans were probably disappointed as both representatives of Jaseuyeon were in the bottom three. Teyaratis went on to make the 200m IM final with a time of 2:00.95; he qualified fifth fastest and says he's hoping to go under the two-minute barrier in the final (his PB is 2:00.34).

The womens' baseball team got back on the road with a 4-1 defeat of Jaseuyeon, three runs in the third inning proving critical. There were also wins for both softball teams against Nuevos Aires, the men edging out a defensive showdown 1-0 with a score in the eighth, the women twice coming back from behind to win 4-2.

Bob Turner and Susie Hartley are both through to their respective quarter-finals in their light-heavyweight boxing categories, Turner comfortably defeating Bluth Corporation's Pierre Fourgenor and Susie Hartley rallying late on to defeat Doctor Lisa Henpson of the Landau Institute.

Paul Minkley and Carl Studley are seen as serious medal contenders in the C-2 canoe slalom, qualifying fourth fastest. Brian Derby and Mark Tholen of Newmanistan qualified fastest and are favourites, but the Kura-Pellandi pair were closer to them than to fifth. Rina Taylor was third fastest in her K-1 semi-final, and Christina Oatley also made the final in seventh. Kura-Pelland are the only country with two representatives in this event, but Brigid Minot and Rita Roseby both look dominant, five seconds clear of the rest after producing the only clear runs of the day on a tough course in tough conditions.

Sara Elson will be glad there's no medals in cliff diving, as she came fourth. Maineiacs picked up female glory with Graciela Escobar, while Juan de Leon picked up the mens' title with Manuel Edmundo in seventh.

Handball pride is growing with the mens' team eding out Cafundéu by the score of 25-22 courtesy of a great late rally. Not half as much as volleyball pride; while the beach teams are looking dismal, and a senior politican has claimed the sport should be banned on grounds of 'promoting unhealthy body image ideals and sexualising sport' - not a million miles away from the sources of the withdrawal of the Kura-Pellandi gymnasts - the male indoor team are on their way with a destruction of the Ariddian Isles, 25-5 25-7 25-8. There's even more joy for water polo fans; not only did Kura-Pelland defeat Jaseuyeon 6-3 but defending champions Kelssek were defeated 8-6 by Bluth Corporation.

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

TUCKER PROTESTS LOSS

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- It wasn’t the greatest day that we will have during the Olympiad, picking up just a lone bronze, but there will always be days like this. The biggest story of the day came from Stephanie Tucker protesting her loss to “The Bear in the Orange Mask” on the grounds that fighting a competitor with a mask puts someone at a great disadvantage, particularly in boxing. “It’s an outrage! She could have padding under that mask. Plus it was purposely hardened to make it aggravating every time I landed a punch. I cannot believe that the referees allowed her to fight with a mask on. I was put at an unfair disadvantage. We are motioning to the Olympic committee that this result be rendered void, and the bear be disqualified.” While Tucker has the support of her fellow boxers, the Committee has told her to deal with it and move on with her life. Tucker failed to mention, really, that it wasn’t really a close fight, and given the amount of points scored by the Bear, the mask really was a non-issue.

The bronze medal was won by Matt Clemons, in the 200m Breaststroke. It is the first medal won by Matt, and yet another for the Aquatic Rockets. Matt, though, was a little subdued by the bronze, “I know you hear people say how thrilled they are to win a bronze, and I am happy to have it, and it is something I am proud of, but I’m not going to pretend that I didn’t want a gold. That’s what I came here for. That Matsunami though, was in another zip code.” Kavajirak Matsunami of the Fujisawan Territories simply dominated this race, finishing nearly two seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Keeping it in the water, Newmanistan had no one in the 100m Freestyle final for men, but will for women. Jennifer Conlin, clinging to one of her last chances to win a medal was first in the semifinal. She seems to know that now is the time. “This is it!” she admits. Also on top of the leaderboard was our own Ron Harris in the 200m Individual Medley semifinal. More medals may be coming in the pool off these times. Also qualifying for a final was Caitlin Geraghty, who’s been somewhat quiet in Columbia, as she was 5th in the 200m Breaststoke semifinal. The 4x200m Relay team did not fare well, finishing 5th in the final.

In an absolutely shocking result, the canoeing team of Brian Derby and Mark Tholen placed first in the Men’s Slalom C-2 semifinal, setting a pair-best time of 1:45.71. I mean, these two really looked good out there. Could Newmanistan be on the verge of winning a medal in canoeing? Television networks are now revising their broadcast schedule a little bit as this event was one they never figured the Empire had a shot at winning a medal in, but there they are. Said Brian Derby, “We just went out there and did our thing. We have nothing to lose, we were comfortable with the course and hit our marks just as we drew it up as we planned it all out. When we finished, we knew we had a great time, and I think both of us wish this was the final. But if we did it before we can do it again! So believe in us and maybe we can bring home a gold or any medal back home.” It could be possible that a medal here could make Derby a prototype for young athletes who also wish to participate in canoeing type sports, much the way Michelle Patrick has done for cycling. But we won’t hit them with that yet. This performance alone could be inspiring enough. Erin Siegwalt and Heather Chernicky also made the final, placing 8th of 9. But hey, they’re in and like Derby and Tholen showed, anything can happen on any given day. In the Cliff Diving demonstration, Michael Driver was 5th and Ashley Davies 2nd. Afterwards, Ashley had to have it explained to her why she didn’t just win a silver medal. “Gee that sucks! But I guess it would have been worse to win and not get a gold!” she responded. In not as exciting results: we had two first round losses in judo, and disappointing performances across the board in shooting qualifications. Newmanistan was not represented in any of the Archery, Badminton, Bocce, Fencing, or Gymnastics, and Brian Mattox was a mere 6th in his Wheelchair Racing semifinal. Gabriella Sanchez, though, was very impressive. Winning her heat with the fastest overall time posted in either heat. “Wow, that was awesome!” she said, “But there’s still more to go!” Sanchez has been in a wheelchair since she was six years old, when a car accident left her paralyzed from the waist down.

A sport going pretty well right now is Wrestling. After Mario Rhodes had an inspiring silver in his weight class, we have begun to see a bit of a carry over effect towards our other grapplers. In all three divisions this morning we have had a competitor advance to the semifinals. Eli Sutcliffe in the 84kg Greco-Roman, Mark Charland in the 96 kg Greco-Roman, and Don McNabb in the 120 kg Greco-Roman. We would love to see this end up in a medal rush, and Eli Sutcliffe believes that it can, “Right now we’re a confident group. We now know that we can compete with the rest of the world. Mario showed that to us, and now I think the three of us also did in our qualifying matches. I think you’ll see some pretty good results. I can’t promise golds or anything, as right now you got the best of the best that our left, but we have shown that we belong, and now we, as wrestlers, would love to provide a big boost towards our country’s medal count.”

In the team events, results still seem to be going pretty well for us. In Men’s Handball, Jasi-yun gave us our first truly competitive match, and it was the first time that our team actually trailed in at one point in the game. However, a strong second half allowed us to defeated them by the score of 28-24 to improve to 3-0. Gerainia has also been real sharp within the group. When we meet, be sure to watch the contest. They were not however, very sharp, in Women’s softball, as our Rockets defeated them in blowout fashion, by the score of 8-0. Newmanistan put a 4-spot on the board in the first inning and never looked back as Gerainia only managed one hit in the game. They weren’t all wins though. Cafundeu defeated us in Men’s Indoor Volleyball in four sets. This is the one team that really looks to be seriously struggling right now. And finally, we had byes in both Men’s Water Polo and Women’s Baseball.

Medals could be coming tonight. Don’t miss tonight’s events.

(Various Conversations taking place among athletes)

I. Cliff Diving (Ashley Davies/Michael Driver)

Davies: So what now?

Driver: We’re done.

Davies: Do we have to go home?

Driver: Heck no! Now starts the real reason we came! The booze! The parties! The women! Let’s get it started!

Davies: Now that’s what I’m talking ‘bout. Except the women. I only go one way, so where are the weightlifters again?

Driver: Oh who knows, I’m gonna get to know some gymnasts better. A couple of them need some cheering up.


II. Boxing (Stephanie Tucker/Michelle Iverson/Lauren Courtney/Brian Gallows/Andrew Payne)

Tucker: This is such bull. I have to fight a freakin’ mask wearing bear.

Gallows: So why weren’t you able to outsmart her then, Stephie.

Tucker: I would have won the fight, you know, all this training for nothing. Don’t you agree with me that she should have been disqualified. If I have to fight a damn bear, fine, but wearing a mask. That’s messed up.

Iverson: Yeah the ref should have made her remove the mask.

Payne: Why didn’t you just tear her mask off?

Tucker: Hello!?! She’s a (expletive) bear!

Gallows: Are you scared of bears, Steph?

Tucker: Uhmmm no, I would have kicked her ass if not for the mask. You all should be giving me support here, you know if that was you that you would be pretty peeved about it too.

Iverson: Yeah, I would be. That’s not right.

Payne: You women boxers, you have to fight whatever comes your way, don’t be so damn afraid of a little mask or just because it’s a bear.

Gallows: All I know is that I am going to win a gold because I am the greatest of all time! I am the greatest!!!

Courtney: Hey guys, was that Brian boasting again?

Gallows: You got it my sweet light flyweight. You’re gonna win the gold too then we celebrate all the way back to Southport.

Courtney: You know it! Hey Steph tough break with the bear.

Tucker: Yeah you know you would be pissed if that was you.

Courtney: Yeah, but hey look on the bright side, you have nothing from stopping you from getting drunk off your ass the rest of the time your in Columbia.

Payne: See, Steph, there’s silver lining in everything. Just look at Kevin Scott after he lost, I don’t think he’s been sober for a minute since. I don’t know, I haven’t talked to him since he’s been trying to get with as many chicks from as many foreign countries as he can.

Tucker: I guess I should, but I’m not gonna be like that.

III. Swimmers Meeting (Dave Perotti/Nate Compston/Jennifer Conlin/Lauren Biron)

Compston: Hey Dave, you know you don’t have to wear your gold medals everywhere you go.

Perotti: Oh yeah I do. Man these are sweet I can’t stop looking at them.

Biron: I almost lost mine.

Conlin: You what?!

Biron: Yeah I went to this club and I put it in my purse. So I go back to a room with this guy from a country that starts with K, I don’t remember, or was it a B, no it was a K, wait maybe, anyway, that’s not important......

Conlin: You’re rambling again!

Biron: Sorry then so like we’re in the room and I am so like showing him the medal and he takes it then runs down the hall in his boxers and he drops it and then someone stops him and we don’t know where the medal is and then....

Compston: You eventually found it, right?

Biron: Yeah this guy from a country that starts with a K no wait that was the B country. I can’t remember who was from the K and who was the B country anyway yeah that guy found it and I thought that was very nice so I gave him a hug and then.....

Compston: Cool, Lauren, thanks for sharing. I’m glad you have you’re medal still. So did that guy really try to steal it or was he just playing.

Perotti: Did you really need to ask?

Biron: He was messin with me he thought it would be fun if I chased him down the hall but when someone stopped him he fell and they started fighting and then I got scared because my medal might be missing and that’s when the guy from the K place no, the B place, or, maybe it was a C now that I think about it. But yeah that’s what happened.

Conlin: Very good, Lauren, I’m glad you have your medal.

Biron: Where’s your medal, Jennifer?

Conlin: I don’t.....

Biron: Yeah I know. Sucks huh. I’m playin, I’m playin.

Conlin: Today I win my medal.

Compston: Yeah Jenn, I mean, I hate to put pressure on you, but uh, the media’s gonna be hard on you if you go back emptyhanded.

Perotti: And you can’t have one of mine. Hey Nate, which gold medal do you think goes best with my watch?

Compston: They look the same!

Biron: Yeah mine looks like yours too its got that neat little Columbia logo on it so we don’t forget where we won it. When are you gonna get one, Jenn?

Conlin: Right now.... the 100 Free.

Fran Ventoso and Mike Caverndash are lounging around in their room in the Athletes Village. In the background there are various noises, the fan in the corner of the room, the TV with updates from the events of the Games today and outside is all the noise and hubbub that surrounds an event such as the Olympics. Ventoso yawns with a large amount of exaggeration.

"It's pretty boring this init?" he says to Caverndash as he finished his yawn.

"Meh, no idea, change channel if you don't like it."

"Nah, not the tele, just this."

"Just what? What's this?"

"Being at the Olympics, there's nothing to do."

"Boring? But you've got a gold medal!"

"Yeah and that's great but aside from the cycling what's there to us to do?"

"Dunno, we could watch our comrades in their events."

"Already done that. Marcelo Molina was our only athlete to compete today."

"Oh. The boxer? How'd he do?"

"Beat Mários Aggelópoulos of Capitalizt SLANI. No idea how though as they both scored 22 points."

"I think the most aggressive guy gets the win if it's tied."

"Oh right. Well..... when the hell are we next involved anyway? I'm going crazy with boredom here with nothing to do!"

"Friday, it's the Team Sprint and Individual Points events. Until then there's nada."

"Right well I'm off out, there must be plenty of other bored athletes around and you know what people do when they're bored out of their minds.."

"Spread STI's."

"Er, hope not anyway, you look like you got something on your mind?"

"Yeah, has anyone ever told you that Fran is a bit of a girls name?"

Want to hear Breno Gavião and his friend Marcos Barbado? Download their news report (of day 3):

This link (http://www.savefile.com/files/1729174)

Want to thanks Kelssek for making this before me and giving me the idea, your podcasts are excellent.

The three of them were rolling around to the amusement of the crowd. Eventually coach Bleem stepped in. "RIGHT!!! You can all STOP that."
The crowd booed.
"SHE didn't break your arrow, SHE didn't break your bow, SHE didn't steal your toy. I did."
"WHAT?"
"You were all showing disrespect to your opponents and team-mates. Well, not you Kellie, but for God's sake GROW UP!!! You're twenty-three. Somebody had to teach you all a lesson, to stand you in good stead for next time."
The three ladies stared in silence at their coach.
And hurled themselves at her.
"AAAHH!!! SECURITY!!!!"

"FIGHT! FIGHT! FIGHT!"
Quite a few Ursines had decided to watch this match, to see how well the Wentlanders did, after Lonergan and Fogarty had knocked two of the Bear's own contenders out of this event during the previous round and their third archer had also been eliminated.

("We like Wentlanders," one of these spectators had told a curious journalist just before the match started. "Sure some of them beat some of our entrants in events where we hoped to do well, but then some of our people beat some of theirs in same way: They like same sorts of sports that we do, they don't seem afraid to enjoy life, they are 'our sort of people'... even if they aren't furry...
H'rrmm, maybe their ancestors were Ursines to whom the Great Bear gave human form so that they'd be more accepted by their neighbours?")

Many of these watchers now began cheering the women on, as they struggled on the floor, and some began making bets with each other about the outcome of the fighting...


_________________________________________________

OOC: Wentland, have you read the TG that I sent?

Day 08–14 B results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13923804&postcount=16) are now up.

"What the hell's going on?" Robert Heenan was incandescent. Mowersby and Drews out of the wrestling. Neither would defend their gold medals.

"Have you ever tried wrestling a bear?" complained a scratched Drews. "It's farcical. It should be for humans only."

"So use their bear-ness to your advantage! I TOLD you! They're big but not as fast. You should have dizzied them. And Mowersby, what's your excuse?"

CJ Mowersby did not respond. His face had turned white and he looked near collapse. "Oh God...someone get the medics...I've got to look after Sinclair..."

Tony Sinclair had become a crowd favourite with his underdog performances. The smallest of the competitors in the 84 kilo class, he might have been entered in a lower weight class still, but for the wealth of talent shown by Wentland in the circle. But his dazzling speed and strike-and-move adaptation of traditional Greco-Roman had ensured his passage into the final.

Engin Ahmed had destroyed his semi-final opponent and Sinclair approached with some trepidation. But after a scoreless first period Sinclair thought he had the measure. He went in close and sought an armbar, only for Ahmed to lift him bodily upwards and complete a point-scoring throw. 1-0 to the Maineiac.

"Oh God," said Heenan to himself as Sinclair repeated his move from the restart, "he's not learned..." But just as Ahmed lifted Sinclair again the smaller man deliberately slipped out, went behind and caught Ahmed in a half-nelson. A quick roll forward and Sinclair had the pin. A triple pointer to end the match and retain the gold.

It provided some cheer for Wentland. His Majesty's dressage performance was sub-standard and the team only gained silver, but as usual he was gracious in defeat and afterwards presented the victorious Cafundeu riders with specially-commissioned Warpstone diamond pendants to commemorate a noble and splendid contest.

Also, in the demonstration sports Wentland had picked up a silver - and a bronze. Edna Grubbe and Doris Speed became the oldest Wentland medallists ever, needing assistance to step up to the bronze medal platform. "Oh, Doris, it is SUCH a good job we did not win gold! We should not have been able to take it! Still, it is nice to see such nice young people do so well."

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

6th day continues as Qazox closes in on some medals, in some events at least, as for some other events, the journey is at an end.

Field Hockey—Women’s:

The Olympics are offically over, except for the final two matches as a 3-2 loss to Cafundéu, eliminates the Women from Field Hockey. while not much expected from this team, there is a chance for at least a win in the final matches, which would be a mark of success.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 1 1 2
Cafundéu 2 1 3

Today's Goals:
Theresa Gordon: 1
Brandi Murillo: 1

Overall goals:
Theresa Gordon: 2
Edna Mardis: 1
Brandi Murillo: 1


Tennis—Men’s Singles:
Clinton Few, Qazox' best hope for a tennis medal, was upset in the quarterfinals by Ariddia's Christian Mohamed (6-4, 5-7, 4-6), ending a very disappointing run for the men in tennis.

Tennis—Women’s Singles:
As goes the men, so goes the women, as Serena Paden, the women's hope for a medal, also lost in the quarters, to Ruperta Irma of Nuevos Aires; (6-7 (6-8), 2-6).

In tennis, Qazox is done, with no semifinal appearances, which is a big dissapointment, as Qazox hoped to bring home at least 2 medals in the competition, meaning the goal of 10 medals (well 9, not including Cliff Diving) will be hard to reach.

Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

"Welcome to Olympic Roundup. I'm Alan Eagle. We have another medallist for our country, who is standing by for an interview. But first, let's take a look at the day's results."

"Mixed results in boxing today, as only a couple of boxers advanced. Tommy Kallasvuo, Gary Mustonen, Mario Simberg, and Dee-Dee Rodgers all fell in their matches, while Mika Adams and Katherine Palmgren both advanced in their competitions."

"The Blues have given their qualification hopes a shot in the arm with a 85–46 drubbing of Taeshan. Eric Cooper had 17 points and six rebounds for the Blues, who sit in third place in Group C."

"In shooting, Fawn Andrews just missed out on a medal in the Women's 50 meter Rifle Three Positions, finishing two points out of third place."

"In swimming, there were mixed results for Asteran swimmers. Orel Herman failed to qualify for the Men's 50 meter Freestyle semifinals, finishing three-tenths of a second behind 16th place. He finished 24th. Doug Kiel failed to qualify for the Men's 100 meter butterfly semifinals, finishing 26th overall. Celie Sprague had better luck, qualifying for the 800 meter Freestyle semifinals in fourth place, just a second behind third. Tara Wilson is also moving forward in the 200 meter backstroke, qualifying for the semifinals in 10th place."

"Tennis saw the dream duo of Denise McCormick and Princess Anna move one step closer to a medal, as they moved into the Women's Doubles semifinals after beating Secristan's team of Brittany Clemens and Courtney Haynes 2-6, 6-3, 6-2."

"Wrestling saw a dramatic collapse of Asteran's wrestlers after a good first day. Joseph Crewe, David Rothman, and the favored Ian James all failed to qualify for the semifinals in their respective weight classes."

"In Judo, Pamela Forrester fell in her bronze medal match to Hwhi Lau of Bears Armed, while Markus Gothenberg beat Katai Yuasa of the Fujisawan Territories to claim bronze. We have Sally Brown live with Markus. Sally?"

"Thank you, Alan. Markus, you have claimed Asteran's seventh medal and the third in Judo. Were you surprised to win that medal?"

"I was. I thought I was done for after the quarters, but my coach told me to just keep fighting. After I won the first round, I had a thought in the back of my mind that maybe I could do it. Once I had won the second round and made it into the bronze final, I thought that I might be able to do it. After all, this is my first international contest. When they said I had won the match, I didn't believe them. My coach told me to look at the scoreboard. That's when the emotions hit me."

"Of course. Tell us what it feels like to see the flag raised in front of you while standing on the podium."

"It really is indescribable. You feel like the pressure has been lifted and the only weight you're carrying around is the medal. I just wish I heard the anthem!"

"We all do. Congratulations, Markus. Back to you, Alan."

"Thank you. Well, Asteran is up to seven medals with one silver and six bronze. Three from judo, two from wrestling, one from shooting, and one from swimming. With the track and field events and more cycling to start tomorrow, more medals should be forthcoming. Join us at the same time and see if it's true. I'm Alan Eagle. Thanks for watching."

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Opinion
Albrecht girls shrug off media storm to guarantee medal chance
Paul Thompson in Columbia

One’s been the subject of a highly dubious sapphic kiss-and-tell, the other has found herself the unwitting poster child for the Freedom Party. It’s doubtful that Albrecht’s Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad are even aware of the media frenzy surrounding their route to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles tournament, expectedly shielded in Columbia by their coaches Michael Davidson and Will Khan. These two have known for over a decade what special talents they have on their hands – and though the duo’s success may have come ahead of schedule, the formers pros can be trusted not to let anything come in the way of C&M’s first Olympic medal and, more to the point, a breathtaking achievement from the Albrecht pair.

Of course, these girls aren’t stupid (even if certain events prior to the Games might suggest otherwise) – they’ll have spotted the change in the make-up of the crowd since their first-round match. Back then, barely two rows of fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and assorted hangers-on sat, screamed and jumped up and down, bedecked in the eye-watering blue and green we know so well. That lot are still there every time, but today the previous smattering of young conservatives were joined by Candelariasians of all manner of hues and ages, life-long tennis fans and new converts alike, eager to delight in C&M’s burgeoning success story. Nazar and Sajjad’s minds are well and truly focussed on the job though – only a smattering of reporters have been allowed access this last week, and only on the strictest confidence that they leave non-tennis questions at the door.

Ironically, should they reach the final their support may have become incrementally pastier. While the jiggery-pokery-based claims of Paola Moura regarding the Cockyard-born Ms Sajjad should be best ignored – having been successfully sued for libel three times, the Cafundelense-born model ekes out a hand-to-mouth existence from reality TV shows and the headlines from certain less reputable publications – the younger of the two, Impossible Bay’s Nazar, did herself little favours when a facebook entry decrying the numbers of new Muslims in C&M surfaced yesterday.

Freedom Party leader David Wild was quick to jump on the quote from the third-generation Candelarian, and the usual cadre of self-appointed community leaders rose their hands in horror at him and her alike; but praise has also come in from today from the Modern Liberal MP Hussain Khan, the left-leaning backbencher. “A true Candelariasian success story and a profound example to young people across the islands,” was his description on TV1, adding, “I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to see Candelarian Muslims on the news that don’t represent the religious extremes of our community.” At a time when the likes of modern artists Peri Samim and pop singer Rhosyn al-Wadi have turned the headscarf into a fashion accessory, the impact of two observant yet thoroughly secularised athletes could prove profound if they make it just one stage further.

But I’m a tennis man. I care nothing for any of this, save the simple fact that we have a pair through to the semi-finals. The joy of this sport was displayed for all to see on their faces, be they smiling broadly or furrowed in effort or concentration. And during those water-cooler moments across the islands, the conversation is straying to not whether the Scorpions will managed to find a goalscorer from somewhere before the season starts, or whether the Shining Sons should give Austin Lewis a chance to resurrect his career after his release from prison, or whether MarquezOW is really the best place for Diego Fernando Pappas to develop with so much more attacking talent on offer… they’re talking about two young girls from the capital, stunning the tennis globe in Columbia.

And they’re from Albrecht. I do think that’s really worth stressing.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/bcologosmall.png http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/eyeofbaranxtusmall.png
August 14, 2008 - Eye of Baranxtu online edition

Weak Thursday for BCO

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States - Today was certainly not the most glorious day for the BCO equipe. True, our women's sabre team managed to snatch the bronze medal, giving us an overall of 9-6-7* on the tally, but the BCO slipped behind Cafundéu (11 - 8 - 7) and fellow IDU member Roumberre (10 - 5 -1). In totals, we now tie with Allanea and Newmanistan, behind Secristan with 23 and Cafundéu with 26 medals.

The women's individual archery was a nailbiter, but ultimately ended disappointingly; Ipanta Iraka lost first against Jūn Çūn-gi 108-107, and then did not manage to even secure bronze in the finals against Lo Xiao Xing (104 - 112).

In today's three canoeing finals, all of the BCO participants placed 6, showing significantly worse form than either during the semifinals or their usual home showings.

One (or rather, three) glimpses of hope come from Beach Volleyball, where the Namakkas/Söderberg duo and both Ramate/Sakara and Décams/Aimalatu Nalaya managed to qualify to progress beyond the group stage today.

We all hope for stronger performances tomorrow.

---

Ipanta wished she hadn't gone online. Who the hell did the writers for the Eye of Baranxtu think they were? Yes, sure, it was disappointing that she hadn't won at least bronze. But the condescending, insulting tone offended her. As if they had any idea even as to how to hold a bow.

The atmosphere in the archer's dorm was morose. Anlani, Ompeko and the other Ipanta were playing cards, talking in Qiru and not sounding too happy, whereas Hmargi and Äitti - by there status as non-Qi somewhat ousiders among the archers - were sitting by themselves, occasionally exchanging a few words in Baranxeï before falling silent again.

As Ipanta came back in, she took a look at the room before announcing, "Okay, this is depressing. Who's for getting wasted?"

A few hours later, six very drunk and very angry archers were thrown out of a bar.

---

Ipanta Iraka wasn't the only one discontent with the reports of the last few days in the various Baranxtuan papers and magazines.

Samuli Lahetsitu Maēli once agains was ranting, this time to a hapless Hadehāti Eigritu Limitsaï, one of the 100m sprinters.

"They only got bronze, and they're still treating like the walking gods on Earth! This is ridiculous! If we get bronze, we're lucky to be mentioned in one throwaway paragraph; he wins and he gets another whole article all for himself!"

Hadehāti looked puzzled. "Who?"

"Nahtēri!"

"Um... the diver?"

"No, our defense minister." Samuli fumed. "Of course the diver, you idiot!"

"You really do have anger management problems, don't you? Also, if you call me an idiot again, I'll break your teeth. Or more."

"Is everybody but me stupid!? They get this whole preferential treatment, and nobody seems to care!"

---

*OOC: You forgot to add BCO's bronze medal for today's team sabre to the total tally.

"Should we bother with swimming?"

That was the headline in the Wentland Times after yet another abject day in the pool. "We are evidently not an aquatic nation. With no tall ship race and the sailing events not being to the like of Wentland's naval tradition, it is perhaps surprising that the swimming should be so poor. But is this not logical? Wents are trained to AVOID having to swim.

"Nevertheless, a cursory glance at the swimming performances suggests that money is being wasted on those athletes. Just from today, 51st out of 54 in the men's 50m freestyle, 42nd out of 43 in the women's 800m freestyle and 35th out of 37 in the women's 200m backstroke are sadly typical of the Wentland pool performance.

"Indeed, the best performance in the Games from a Wentland swimmer has been a 14th place. Not even the sniff of a final performance; indeed only two swimmers out of a nearly full team have even made the semi-finals.

"Perhaps it is time to stop this farce. Cut the funding for swimmers and invest the money into the wrestling team, which alarmingly has slumped and is threatening to keep Wentland out of the medals top ten. Or perhaps put more funding the way of other deserving sporting stars, such as the canoeists who subsist on a shoestring.

"We issue a challenge to our swimmers. Pick up one medal, or two finals places, or heads should - and MUST - roll."

Almost the same old music, but louder and a little bit slower than usual.

Yvette: A big day at the Olympics for Zwangzug.
Darryl: Back in Querzakhi, Jessie Layn took silver in the uneven bars, the country's only medal to date. With many more athletes entering many more events, hopes for a gold medal and multiple overall seemed reasonable enough.
Lily: The quest continued throughout Columbia. Tennis players Amelia DuPont and Kiara Greenleaf squared off against Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad of Candelaria.
Steve: And Marquez?
Lily: Um-
Darryl: At any rate, the teenage pair seized early momentum and pulled ahead five sets to three before DuPont and Greenleaf tied things up.
Kiara: Amelia's at her best under pressure, knows how to stay cool...unlike me.
Yvette: But there were no outbursts of emotion today, just tiring exertion, as a poke by Sajjad just over the net at ad-in took the perfect bounce, and the first set ended seven games to six.
Lily: Propelled by the success, Nazar and Sajjad tuned out Candelariasian chatter around the court for a somewhat quicker 6-4 victory.
Steve: All of Zwangzug's tennis players are now eliminated.
Darryl: In swimming, Kitchie Ratner advanced through the semifinals to the finals of the two-hundred meter breaststroke. Vlad Rebelde and Alyssa Kath qualified for the semifinals-
Steve: -both finishing sixteenth, while the women's relay team finished last in the final.
Lily: The women's baseball team eased to another comfortable victory, 6-1 over West Pocono. While the previous game had a standout hit, this relied on consistent production all around the order. Only in the second inning, with three singles and two walks, did more than one run score.
Darryl: Perhaps the star of the night was junkballer Amber Pastis, whose collection of very-off-speed pitches kept West Pocono's batters guessing. She surrendered the sole run over eight innings of work.
Yvette: The field hockey team was not so successful. They gave up two goals, to Krystal Carroll and Sara Thompson, but only managed one of their own, scored by Lois Winter.
Lily: Perhaps they needed the cheering of one of their biggest fans. Goalkeeper Abigail Weatherby explains.
Abigail: Well, we were warming up and stuff, when Coach told us to get over to the bench.
Lois: And we were all shocked, because, she wanted us to quit practicing? It wasn't normal for her.
Melinda (humorously): Is that really what they think of me?
Yvette: Melinda Komodo, the coach, competed on the Querzakhi team.
Darryl: And speaking of Querzakhi, we're about a week through the Games of the III Olympiad, but it is believed that media coverage of the tournament may have already surpassed its predecessor: a credit to the esteemed journalists around the world.
Steve: And us.
Melinda: The team had been cheering on the kayakers, and that was fine, but when they announced the times for the semifinal on the radio, I didn't believe them. So I wanted to see if they were actually right.
Lily: And they were: Brigid Minot had finished first in the slalom semifinals, more than half a second ahead of Allanea's Rita Roseby-and an impressive five full seconds clear of the third-place finisher, Rina Taylor of Krytenia.
Darryl: And if you get a semifinal finish like that, there are few better places to do it than kayaking-as opposed to swimming, where semifinal results are ignored in the final, the semifinal times in that race would be added to the final times for a total score.
Lily: So while the field hockey team played in the afternoon, Minot took her lead into the final.
Darryl: Roseby proved her semifinal success was no fluke, finishing a full second better than the previous race, comfortably ahead of Kelssek's Judith Erland.
Steve: It would take five more seconds for Minot to come in, in the second half of the pack.
Lily: But soon enough, the times were computed: while Roseby took gold and Erland bronze, Minot held on to silver.
Yvette: Thanks for joining us today, Brigid, and congratulations.
Brigid: Thanks!
Steve: In retrospect, did you exert too much effort in the semifinal?
Someone groans, probably Lily.
Brigid: Of course not. Roseby was a class apart in the afternoon, but what if I'd gotten swapped times? Wouldn't have been able to psyche out the opposition, heh, just somebody else going after her.
Darryl: What went through your mind up on the podium?
Brigid: I was sort of "Wow. This is totally a big deal".
Yvette: How much had you thought about medaling before the race?
Brigid: Well..."Realistically", whatever that means anymore, I knew there were people with better shots than me. But I dreamed about it. We all do. Somebody had to get those medals...it's a big in-joke with all my family, now. Why not Minot?

Well after the disappointing Baptism of Fire semi-final result we are delighted to bring you some good news from the Olympiad.

Field Hockey
Jasīʼyūn 2–3 Land de Wood
Yep it's another good victory for our ladies beating Jasīʼyūn 3-2 in a tense game, which we were losing 2-1 down, but our comeback spirit reigned supreme in the end as we came back scoring the final goal in the final minute.

It just doesn't get any better than this. Clara Tiyor stunned the archery world - and the Colombia crowd - with a shock gold medal in the womens' individual event after defeating the hottest of hot favourites, Jun Cun-gi of Capitalizt SLANI, 106-105 in the final. The 107-104 defeat of Lo Xiao Xing - who easily won the bronze medal match with an Olympic record 112pt haul, and must be regretting her massive squandered chance at gold - was a shock enough, but the final victory was remarkable.

Clara admits she 'didn't even expect any medal, though the semi-finals were my target'. But she added 'in a straight knockout competition surprises happen'. She is clearly the single biggest star of these Games now for Kura-Pelland, although Krista Halford might be close.

Elsewhere, the usual stories of humiliating failure, as a disastrous fourth run saw Paul Minkley and Carl Studley come fourth in the C-2 canoe slalom final, while Christina Oatley was seventh in her K-1 final. The field hockey team were held 3-3 by West Pocono in an embarrassing performance, Mick Teyaratis couldn't even make the semi-finals of the mens' 50m freestyle and was third-slowest in the 100m butterfly heats, Mark van Haragan lost in three sets to Michael Johnson of Newmanistan in his tennis quarter-final...

There was some joy. Cassandra McGregor made the semi-finals of the 800m freestyle, and Nicky Thompson and Archie Salapo produced a sensational upset in winning their table-tennis first-round match. And Bill Couth and Teddy Innek have made their semi-final in the mens' doubles, beating Blake Patton and Christopher Morgan of Bluth Corporation in straight sets. Also, Clayton Woollin and Peter Parcell fluked their way to the last sixteen of the beach volleyball after the Ningok brothers of Allanea defeated Newmanistan's Jason Schifano and Michael Hammond. They will now lose to Chris Westlake and Andy Torrado of West Pocono in the round-of-16.

The track got into use for the first time as the wheelchair racing was used as a demonstration event, and Tom Malley took the win in the mens' 1500m in 3:07.53. Ellie Cooper was third in the womens' 800m.

Kura-Pelland slip to twelth in the medals table but their fourteen-medal haul is decidedly impressive with the Games not even halfway complete.

Slow start only normal says Pakhomov, Buznikin

Columibia-UCS

President Andrei Pakhomov and Chef de Mission Sergei Buznikin defended the Coocoostani Olympic team's lack of medals to date. Pakhomov said "the count has more to do with schedule than anything else, we have many surprising results and I look forward to seeing the results upon the game's completion." Buznikin, a former olympic cyclist went into more detail. "When I was awarded this job only a few weeks before the games, the application was a mess. The swimmers, who I felt were ready to go, had been left out because of infighting between the Aquatic Sports Federation and the Olympic Committee. The track entries do not reflect our best athletes, who despite winning the trials, in olympic qualifying time, are not here. You should look at our Boxing team and then judge our performance, because they are the only sport that is clearly organized." The Boxing team does already have 3 boxers in the quarterfinals, with more still to fight.

A Team and A Dream. The Taeshani Olympic Teams quest for a single Medal Continues.

See we've finally changed the name of the article from the story of the Taeshan Olympic team to the search for a single medal because we here in Taeshan can obviously see that thats all we might end up with. One of the favorites in Taeshan the womens 4 by 200 relay team after qualifying second for the final fell short off a medal, as did all other swimmers thus far, but a shocker in the womens 800 as Rias Veringer qualified for the semis in 6th but that is sure to be a disapointing loss for her. And in the other water sport the Water Knights water Polo lost there first game so far in a 9-5 bout against Qazox. The loss shocked the Knights as it did you the reader with the cherio breakfast, and in another game against Qazox the Knights lost another game in hadball 27-25.

In Volleyball the mens injdoor team shocked everyone by not losing on there bye day doing nothing and managing a no pointer. On the beach Ashlen Fredy and Fiona Smiths knockouts hopes were washed away as they lost and finished third in there group. The other team of Trainer/Keller who lost but maid it to the second round to face Rentos Paulita. In Mens Mike Phish and Tyson Bradshaw got a win over Marizio/Elesio and qualified second out of the group and will play Rheeder/Wulf the only team to beat them thus far, as will Joey Ghengis and Cilis Werington who beat Kinston and Grogan of Secristan and will play Cipriani/Henry of Newmanistan the only team to beat them.

OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

THAT’S THREE FOR STOVER

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- While the golds haven’t been as frequent, Newmanistan still has been able to pick up medals in Columbia, picking up their 10th bronze and 6th silver of the Olympiad, improving their total to 21, which in overall medals, puts them in a three way tie for 3rd. When you are in your first Olympics of this magnitude, the first time achievements come frequently, and now we have a new category to add to the list. Newmanistan’s first three medal winner. That would be Meghan Stover, and she is an equestrian rider. Yep, she was the one who e-mailed the Rocket Report earlier to complain about the lack of respect that is given to riders in her sport of choice. Now, though, there is no denying it, Meghan has three medals to her name as she earned her second bronze, to go with a silver during the Grand Prix portion of the dressage. Individually, Meghan was second on the leaderboard, but given this is a team event, they fell a bit shy of Wentland for the silver. It is the second team Equestrian medal for Newmanistan. Meghan has a third because she earned an individual bronze in an earlier event. After listening to the Cafundeu national anthem yet again, Meghan was a little choked up about the attention in which she is now starting to earn, especially when we told her that she is our first three-time medalist, “I have to thank everyone back at home for their support, without that none of this would be possible. And I have to thank my teammates, as it is our consistency that has made this happen. Two of these three medals are with them, and couldn’t have been done without them. It’s really great to go into the record books like that, and it is a real honor, but I had a lot of support.” The support is unquestioned, and also deserving thanks are the breeders and trainers who are looking after the horses and keeping them in fine shape, including Stover’s horse, Rocket Gallop.”

In Wrestling, there was an opportunity to pick up three medals with three participants going to the semifinals, so it is a little disappointing that we only picked up one. Eli Sutcliffe and Don McNabb lost both of their matches tonight to finish 4th, which is the unofficial worst place ever to finish in the Olympics. Keeping us from being shutout though was Mark Charland, who won his opening match against West Pocono’s Sal Lindroth before eventually losing to Maccar for the gold medal. Charland, who competes in the 96kg Greco Roman division, was more then happy with a silver. “Yeah, I am happy with this. I did what I could against Maccar, and maybe on another day I could beat him, but today was his day. Lindroth was a tough battle also, so I think the fans saw some good wrestling here. It’s too bad that the other guys lost out today, and that will help put earning a silver in perspective. It may not be gold, but it’s pretty good and something that I am honored to war.” Despite their losses and heartbreaking fourth place finishes, Sutcliffe and McNabb should be pleased with their performance here in Columbia. Outside of the Wrestling, there really was not an event handing out a medal this evening that also can be looked at as a lost opportunity. Though Brian Derby and Mark Tholen’s effort in canoeing was disappointing. Sure, we shouldn’t have expected anything, but after they won in the first segment, we started to believe and hope a little bit.

In other individual events in preliminary stages, we are starting to notice the competition tightening up now. Tennis has reached its semifinals, and two of three Newmanistan men that had been doing so well up to this point were defeated in their matches. Now, just Michael Johnson remains as a medal hope for us. Johnson still has a chance to be a two-time medal winner as he and Brendan Holt are in the semfinals of Men’s Doubles. In women’s singles, Sarah Mayer and Lauren Martin, who are also doubles partners, had to go head to head in the quarterfinal, and it was Martin earning a rare victory over Mayer, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. Mayer is now 4-10 against her double partner in a singles competition, lifetime. Elsewhere, Newmanistan fighters were 3-1 on the busiest boxing day of the Olympics so far. The only loss was sustained by Steve Marshall, who struggled mightily in the first round of his match before making a feverish comeback attempt in the final round. However, it was not enough to overcome the deficit he put himself in against Charres ReNwarr. Chris Kaylin, Sarah Baldwin, and Rachel Baynes all won their matches, with Rachel’s victory causing some Asteran fans to feel that she was given a “sympathy” decision in light of the Stephanie Tucker issue with the masked bear. Of the win, Baynes said, “The Asteran fans just need to shut up and worry about whatever their better at, because it surely isn’t Women’s Welterweight Boxing.” Chris Kaylin also had a tone of arrogance in his reply, “I’m a little concerned about the quality of refereeing after I completely knock the crap out of a guy, and only win by three points. I knocked the guy down twice.” They are just the latest in arrogant quotes being barked out by our boxers. While most of our athletes have been modest and appreciative, it clearly isn’t the case with this group and it doesn’t matter if it’s men or women. Newmanistan was not represented, or had poor early stage performances in Archery, Fencing, Judo, Table Tennis and Shooting. In Rowing, the Men’s Quadruple Sculls team when their semifinal heat, and posted the fastest overall time. George Kuflona, Greg Allers, Pat Kauffman, and Matt Smidley are now cautiously optimistic about their chances in the final. And in Swimming, there are some heat results to report. Newmansitan was 1-for-2 in 50m Freestyle qualifying as Dave Perotti looks for his third gold medal; he was 7th in the heats. Same story in the 100m Butterfly, where it was again Perotti, placing 3rd there. The Aquatic Rockets placed two swimmers in the semifinal of the 800m Freestyle, though Kara Brannon and Caitlin Geraghty were both in the second half of the leaderboard. Lauren Biron and Jennifer Conlin both advance to the semis of the 200m Backstroke. They were 4th and 13th, respectively, in qualifying.

Team sport progress continues to go pretty well. Newmanistan routed Kelssek 84-62 to improve their record to 3-0 in the Group. Right now, it’s hard to really see someone else even making us sweat losing the group title here. If anyone, it’d be West Pocono. The Women’s Field Hockey team scored a stunning draw against Kura-Pelland, 3-3, a match in which was considered a tough blow to our opponent. Us? Well, we’re not expected to do anything here. The Men’s Beach volleyball teams of Kevin Cipriani and Shawn Henry and Jason Schifano and Michael Hammond advance to the second round. Cipriani and Henry cruised to a 3-0 record while Schifano and Hammond won out in the tiebreaker scenarios to advance. On the ladies side, both teams also advance. Brittany Phillips and Katie McAllister as well as Michelle Clausen and Courtney Larson finished 2-1 overall, with Phillips and McAllister getting a clutch last day win to win their group. This concludes the report, sleep well, and be back watching in the morning!

- GLOBO MULTIMEDIA -
Cafundelense medals in the 5th and 6th days

Gymnastics (women's individual all-around) - Cafundéu was unable to defeat Ariddia, but ended in the second place, winning the silver medal.

Swimming (men's 4x200m fresstyle relay) - our team, after finishing the qualification heats in the first place, ended in the third place in the final, getting only the bronze medal.

Swimming (women's 200m freestyle) - Natália Franco, after winning many medals, couldn't get another gold, but this time got the silver, which wasn't a bad result.

Swimming (women's 200m individual medley) - did we just say that Natália Franco couldn't get another gold? Well, maybe not in the freestyle, but she won in the individual medley. A solid performance since the qualification heats, and she is probably the most successful swimmer in these olympics.

Judo (men's 90kg) - Jorge "Japão" Miyako defeated Jongwoo Ma from Secristan in the final and won the gold for Cafundéu.

Judo (women's 70kg) - in another CAF x SEC battle, Yasmin Hernandes lost to Qi Huang, and got the silver medal.

Bocce (men's) - 112-year old Wagner Fontoura and 76-year old Giuseppe Ramos Antonioli showed that experience does matter and won the men's bocce competition, showing the force of Cafundéu in this amazing sport.

Swimming (men's 100m freestyle) - Miguel Navarro got another medal, a bronze. The gold still didn't come to him.

Swimming (women's 200m butterfly) - after winning one gold, Sarah Le Pascal was unable to win again, even after good performances in the qualification. But she won't be disappointed with the silver.

Swimming (women's 4x200m freestyle relay) - our team swam well and got the second position, although some even expected more.

Equestrian (team dressage) - Antônio Carlos Bamerindus finally seems to be recovered, and thanks to him Cafundéu won the gold medal in the team dressage, a gold that didn't come in the last olympics.

Fencing (women's team sabre) - our team was unbeatable, with Ana Luiza Prado leading the women to an excellent first position.

Judo (men's 100kg) - Ilan Alves Ulsan lost in the final to Yuan-Sheng Kim from Secristan and finished with the silver medal.

Prux's Olympic Blog

Day 6 is over and how did Prux Do?

Water Polo—Men’s—Group Stage:
A 10-7 win over Maineiacs keeps the team's hopes alive for a medal, though they are still in 4th place.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 4 1 4 2 10
Maineiacs 1 2 2 2 7


Basketball—Men’s—Group Stage:
The men's team team is 1-2, after a 16 point loss to Kosovoe, but still is in 2nd place with 1 game left on the schedule

Score by Quarter:

Kosovoe 15 22 24 13 74
Prux 22 9 16 11 58


The Women's field hockey team had a bye day, and was eliminated form medal contention.

That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

Hopefully this week will end soon, and Green wombat will hopefully get another medal.


SWIMMING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD), Medal winners in Medal Color):

Men’s 200 m Individual Medley—Semifinals:
Clayton Easterly: 2:01.23 (7th)
Fred Valenzuela: 2:01.29 (missed qualiying by 0.04 seconds)

Women’s 100 m Freestyle—Semifinals:
Judy Wagstaff: 54.03 (4th)

Women’s 200 m Breaststroke—Semifinals:
Kristin Stoffel: 2:34.99 (2nd)

Men’s 50 m Freestyle—Heats:
Walter Bergstrom: 22.55 (3rd)
Eric Monge: 26.08

Men’s 100 m Butterfly—Heats:
Patrick Blackmon: 53.68 (9th)
Danny Wheat: 54.92

Women’s 800 m Freestyle—Heats:
Erica Markel: 8:41.90
Audrey Mohamed: 8:44.94

Women’s 200 m Backstroke—Heats:
Pauline Tessier: 2:16.28
Lori Connor: 2:17.15

[B]Sara Contreras: Well the women’s gymnastics individual all around is upon us, and with me, I’ve got Greta Gomez, the president of Gymnastica Beretania, the organization that oversees Beretania’s Olympic gymnastics team selections, and Beretanian gymnast Anastasia Kostrikova.
I’m Sara Contreras, joined by Olympic commentators Kirk Donovan and Aidan Hurley, and former Unified Beretania gymnastics national champion Sofia Schroeder.

Ok, none of the women’s gymnasts from Unified Beretania qualified for the individual all around, which is a little disappointing considering that Anastasia Kostrikova qualified for the final on four apparatuses, and Unified Beretania finished eighth in the team final. So Greta, I want to ask you, what were the expectations of Gymnastica Beretania and your personal expectations coming into these games?

Greta Gomez: Well, we consider Ariddia to be the world standard in gymnastics, and they’ve made it quite clear again in these Games as well. So with that in mind, we started with the goal of assembling a women’s gymnastics team from the ground up, that could conceivably challenge Ariddia. Unfortunately, we fell very short of that goal.

Contreras: So would...is it fair then to say that these Olympics have been a failure?

Gomez: No, what we have done is gotten the experience that we need to make the critical adjustments in training and in preparation for the Olympics. I’ve noticed that is the single biggest factor. There are a couple of gymnasts on the team that I feel weren’t ready to be in the Olympics. I think that hurt us too.

Contreras: You want to name names?

Gomez: I can name names. I think Veronica Shepard is one. I think she’s close, but we need to have our country’s best gymnasts representing us, and she did perform well in the Olympic trials and elsewhere, but she’s not a Katie Yang or Courtney Daugherty. And I felt that having Maizah Aboubakar was a detriment to the team because she’s not as developed as the others. And I’ve been quite outspoken about that and apparently, many people just say “Oh, she’s a racist because she’s only saying that because Maizah’s black.” I’m not critical of her for the color of her skin, but for her ability. It’s not there. I think just because she had a strong showing at the Olympic trials, she shouldn’t just be given a spot like that. We need to revise our selection process.

Contreras: Anastasia, what do you think of the selection process?

Anastasia Kostrikova: I think it’s fair. I’m not big on changing anything. I think Maizah and Veronica get the brunt of criticism and I’ll admit they’re not as strong as Katie or Courtney, but they did well in Olympic trials and that’s why they’re here. But like Greta said, it’s not because Maizah’s black.

Sofia Schroeder: Maybe if you could explain just how Unified Beretania’s gymnasts are chosen for the viewers who aren’t as familiar with the selection process, Greta.

Gomez: Sure. Well a year away from the Olympics, the top ranked gymnast in the country at the time, which was for example Anastasia Kostrikova, gets an automatic berth on the Olympic team to insure that we are sending our absolute best chance.

Then the top finisher of the Territorial Gymnastics Championships which is a joint Fujisawan-Beretanian competition gets a second automatic berth, which was Chrystal Le, and then a third berth is awarded to the top finisher in the nationals. That was Courtney Daugherty. And then the top three finishers in the Olympic trials pick up the last three openings. In this case, Katie Yang, Maizah Aboubakar, and Veronica Shepard.

Kirk Donovan: So a lot has been said about a few gymnasts who were top quality but who didn’t perform well in the Olympic trials. In particular, Elisabeth Robinson and Lessie Kelly-Brown.

Gomez: If I had my way, Elisabeth and Lessie would both be on the team, but the way it stands now, we have three berths and then three open slots filled at the trials. I think we need to handpick each and every gymnast in the future.

Contreras: So talk a bit about the next Olympics, and some of the gymnasts out there who are competing to make the team, and then we’ll get back to Elisabeth Robinson and Lessie Kelly-Brown. By the way, I should point out that Gymnastica Beretania has a one Olympics policy for it’s gymnasts, meaning you can only compete in one Olympics, and you have to give it your all.

Gomez: Reason for that is we emphasize youth. We want young, fast, intuitive, calculated gymnasts. We want six fresh faces every Olympics. As for some possibilities, Elisabeth Robinson, Lessie Kelly-Brown, Cătălina Patrescu, Cassandra Bush, Isabelle Little, Aurora McGuire, Anne Archambault, Daniella Wong, Courtney Dotson, and those are just some of the top prospects we have now. Who knows what will happen between now and the IV Olympics?

Elisabeth Robinson is in good shape to make the next Olympics, and I think Patrescu has a good shot as well.

Contreras: Talk about the steps it takes to be a Beretanian Olympic gymnast.

Gomez: First, you have to register at a gym recognized by Gymnastica Beretania, and as you gain experience in various competitions, you pick up a ranking from Gymnastica Beretania. We rank every gymnast in the country affiliated with Gymnastica Beretania, and then if you’re good enough to break through to the top, you can start attending invitation only competitions for our top ranked gymnasts, which we use to identify and track the best of the best. Most of our gymnasts start out by the age of five. An early start really helps.

Contreras: Ok, now back to Robinson and Kelly-Brown. I think the overall consensus is that they should have been on the team instead of Aboubakar and Shepard. Would that have changed anything?

Gomez: Quite considerably. I don’t think we’d make our goal of challenging Ariddia, but we could have done much better. But what happened is in the past now, and we have to look toward the next Olympics with focus and get a team together that is more organized and one that can challenge Ariddia.

Contreras: Sofia, looking at the women’s individual all around, what do you think of the Territories’ Ajitawa Yukatsuko?

Schroeder: She’s got an excellent chance. She was the top gymnast in that regard in qualifying, with Secristan’s Stacey Classen in a close second. It’s an accomplishment to top two Ariddians in qualifying as well, and that she did.

Contreras: Yes, she did. 77.413 her qualifying total. While it’s a huge disappointment to not have a Unified Beretania gymnast in the women’s individual all around, it’s good to see Ajitawa Yukatsuko up there. Also in the women’s individual all around...Ariddians Aliw Set and Anaïs Reed, Newmanistan's Kristen Hilton and Courtney Connolly, Cafundéu’s Angélica Muniz Ramires, Stacey Classen of Secristan, Ashley Raynes of West Pocono, and Nadia Silivus of Bulgislavia. It should be fun to watch. Honestly, I think Ajitawa Yukatsuko will medal, but we’ll see.

Anastasia, I do want to ask you, what are your plans after the Olympics? I know that Katie Yang is going to retire as well, and she’s going to focus on preparing for the Winter Games as the nation’s second ranked figure skater. What about you, what are your plans?

Kostrikova: I’m set to open a regional gym affiliated with Gymnastica Beretania to help identify and train Olympic hopefuls. I am not walking away from the sport, I’m still going to find every way to give back what has been given to me. Hopefully, I can help someone else make it to the Olympics and I can inspire and motivate a new generation to step forward and take a chance.

Contreras: Sum up your Olympic experience...

Kostrikova: It’s been amazing. It has been everything I expected and so much more. I want to congratulate the Ariddians. They really are the world’s best. I really admire them. All in all, I can’t walk away disappointed with the way everything turned out in the team final or not qualifying for the all around, because then I’ll be defeated, and that’s not the outcome I want.

Contreras: Well it’s been a tremendous career you’ve had. It was a real pleasure to see you in the team final. So let’s hope you pick up a medal or two in some of the individual events. But what a way to end your career.

Kostrikova: Thank you.

Contreras: No, thank you. And thanks to Greta Gomez for speaking to us. We’ll be back with more gymnastics analysis after this....

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online
More swimming gold, two athletes become double medalists

Columbia, UCS - The Fujisawans continue to make waves in the pool in Columbia. No longer are doubters saying “Fujiwho?” Kavajirak Matsunami became the first Fujisawan to win two medals in the Olympics, winning gold in the men’s 200m breaststroke and finishing nearly two seconds ahead of the second place finisher. Matsunami won bronze in the men’s 200m freestyle. Matsunami joins University of Hoji’s Jozenna Nai as the Fujisawan Territories’ second swimming gold medalist.

But Matsunami wasn’t the only Fujisawan to become a double medalist at these Games. Lo Xiao Xing won silver in women’s team archery, and won bronze in the women’s individual bronze medal match, defeating Ipanta Iraka 112-104, eclipsing Kate Lonergan of Wentland’s Olympic record of 111. Lo’s sister, Lo Jiang Li of Unified Beretania didn’t fare so well and went down with the other Unified Beretania archers, though to her credit, was the last Beretanian standing, eliminating all hopes of a sisterly gold medal match.

Elsewhere...

Kura-Pelland routed the Fujisawan Territories 99-55 in men’s basketball.

Rose Kent of Maineiacs defeated Nijie Gojo in the first round of women’s welterweight boxing.

In the first repêchage round, Kyosa’aya Toyota defeated Nellie Carter of the host country, before defeating Ariddia’s Joan Filipenko in the second repêchage round. In her bronze medal bout, Toyota defeated West Pocono’s Heather Charles to win bronze.

Sianumata Kyomira qualified in ninth place for the men’s 50m freestyle semifinal with a time of :22.82.

In the men’s 100m butterfly, Kyuke Chizuma and Bakomon Aro qualified for the semifinal in sixth and seventh places respectively, with times of :53.55 and :53.62.

Zenkura Teshima topped all qualifiers in the women’s 200m backstroke heats, with a time of 2:11.72.

Zakarii Buritan advanced from the quarterfinals in men’s tennis singles, defeating Chris Terrell of Newmanistan.

Day 08–15 A results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13925558&postcount=17) ‧ part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13925560&postcount=18)).

4 Newmanistan (NEW) 8 6 10 22

24, surely, you mean ;)

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Nayani Kimbehāŋi and Marjel Taron were relaxing. Both had won two silver medals so far, and were almost finished in the competitions.

"So, tomorrow's your last chance to beat me, Nai."

"Any wishes as to the how? Want me to get a bronze? Or should I try for triple silver? Or be pretentious, go for the gold?"

"You're really that cool about it?" Marjel raised a wondering eyebrow.

"Not really; but I either play it cool, or I'll run around screaming. And, um, big no on the latter."

"Doubt it'll impress the ladies?"

"Exactly."

"Any particular one in mind?"

"Well, I gotta say, that Zara Ambrose is really quite a looker. Too bad we can only talk via an interpreter."

Marjel laughed, loudly. "Must... resist... double entendres."

"Oh, get your mind out of the gutter."

A medal of at least a silver hue is guaranteed for Darren Lindfield and Richard Vallier in the mens' doubles in badminton after they defeated Onrry de Summer and Fronkwarr DuBwarr of Roumberre 21-19 21-10 in an epic semi-final. They now face the Parmansupol brothers of Maineiacs, who destroyed two armed bears 21-7 21-7.

The gridiron team will play their quarter-final against the men of Bears Armed. They had a bye today while the rest of the groups were concluded.

The track events are underway at last, and there wasn't much in the way of success, as expected really. Ryan Saltire and Tom Tirinek both failed to qualify for the second round of the mens' 100m, which must count as an embarassment, while Keith Ateo made it only as a fastest loser. Tom McNally missed out on the hammer final, and Ulrika Elkstrom failed to qualify in the womens' 10,000m - but Helena Milton made the second round of the womens' 800m as a fastest loser. The single fastest loser, it must be stressed.

The mens' baseball team lost 6-3, thanks to a four-run Kanji Starter in the top of the first. Ahem. The women had a bye for no adequately explored reason, and the womens' handball team had a more reasonable bye in their five-team group. They could have done without Newmanistan beating Maineiacs and West Pocono beating the Landau Institute, though. The mens' softball team got a hard game against Secristan, losing 5-0, and the women were edged out 2-1 by Qazox.

The womens' indoor volleyball team defeated the Fujisawan Territories in straight sets, but that doesn't tell the tale - they had to come from three points down in each set to win a classic encounter 25-22 26-24 25-21. They could still qualify thanks to this.

An excellent performance from the womens' water polo team set them on their way to top spot in the group, beating Newmanistan 10-5. In archery, Howard McKenzie was defeated by Breno Macaé of Cafundéu 162-146 and frankly looked hopeless. Ellaro Niniar of Allanea, after struggling in windy conditions to only just beat Harrison Murphy of Maineiacs 153-152, exploited calmer conditions to destroy Lucas Bartholomew of Krytenia 115-108 in the twelve-arrow quarter-final, crushing the Olympic record of 110. The new mark was tied in the very next quarter-final by Rrorhb o Greenwood of Bears Armed, and Caleb Martin of Jaseuyeon was defeated despite beating the old mark with 111. This archery tournament looks fabulous, and Clara Tiyor must be thankful she didn't have such greatly superior competition for she wouldn't even have medalled if there were this many great female archers.

The lacrosse team beat the all-female Maineiacs team 13-9, which eliminates them. They look good for qualification. Unlike Cassandra McGregor who came twelfth in the 800m freestyle semi-finals, just over two seconds off a qualifying time.

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OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 15, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080815.mp3

http://www.islandsdaily.co.ad/sport/blog/columbiagames/what_we_really_want
What we really want
Posted 7:49 pm, 4 Nov 2147 by Luke Evans

The question has been asked of our athletes recently, both here in Columbia and back home: What exactly do we want? This of course comes after the COIA (that's the Comité national olympique pour les îles ad’ihanais, a.k.a. the National Olympic Committee for the Ad’ihani Islands) first said it was targetting five medals (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13890085&postcount=19) then later changed its mind to one (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13913817&postcount=226).

What do we want? At the most simplest level, we want a medal. It doesn't matter where it's from or what colour it is — Martina McOwen, our flag-bearer, is doing very well in the tennis and is just one win away from doing just that, as she's into the semi-finals of the women's singles.

Our various teams are also doing decently, with our softball women currently 4-1 and leading their group. We're all expecting them to challenge for a medal, but of course we won't mind the result as long as they do their best. The men's water polo team perhaps could be doing better but having spoken to them they all know what's at stake and have promised to buck up.

It's been disappointing in the athletics with Julian Crowley and Julia Damon both failing to make the second round of their heats in the men's 100m and women's 800m respectively, but we've still got Michael Riley and Dani Thomas.

What we really need to do is get behind Martina — we're this close from a medal in our first Games.

(Luke Evans is the Ad’ihani chef-de-mission at the Columbia Games and an Islands Daily blogger.)

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OLYMPIC ROCKET REPORT

A TRIPLE GOLDEN MORNING

Columbia, Unified Capitalizt States- It’s a beautiful Friday morning as the Empire comes home with three medals, all golden in this morning’s events. It’s especially good for swimmer Jennifer Conlin, one of our flagbearers, who was really looking to have success here in Columbia. Things had not gone well for her thus far, as something always seemed to get in the way of her in the podium. But alas, in the Women’s 100m Freestyle, she was finally able to realize her Olympic dream. You could tell by the look on her face that she knew that time was running out, and all of the Aquatic Rockets, men and women, were present, and loud and vocal in their support. Jennifer, after all, is their leader, and while others have seen the glory, Conlin still wondered if her time would ever come. Early in the event, she looked good. She started in front, and cleared Carrie Stefansson of Secristan quite easily. Stefansson, next to her in lane 5, was the person thought to be her biggest competitor, but Carrie never really got going. Jennifer took off, and set the pace from the opening gun. Though she knew there was someone matching her stride for stride, that would be Natalia Franco of Cafundeu. This is what Conlin needed. She was on good form, but there was someone else pushing her to the limit. As they approached the end, Conlin, wasn’t thinking about just getting a medal to get the media off her back. No. This was about getting what she came to Columbia for. A GOLD medal. She dug down for every bit of speed she could possibly find, knowing that Franco would do the same thing. She touched the wall. Looked up. And there it was! “4- Conlin- NEW” on top of the leaderboard. Jennifer smiled but breathed a deep sigh of relief, accepted a hug from her One Big Island rival, Stefansson of Secristan who was in lane 5, and waved to Franco, before jumping out celebrating with her countrymates. Afterwards, Conlin spoke of a feeling of relief, “What I learned in Columbia is how difficult it really is to get one of these things. Going up against the best in the world like this is something I have never done before, and while I can’t explain why some of my times have been off, it is very satisfying to win this medal, especially for it to be a gold. I knew this had to be my time. I saw my friends with medals and I knew that I had to have one for myself. The 100 Free has always been a good event for me, too, so, I had to make it happen here.”

Two other swimmers made it happen as well as the Aquatic Rockets simply had a fantastic day, whichever way you choose to look at it. Newmanistan continued it’s dominance of the 200m events on the men’s side, picking up their third gold medal at the distance, this one by Ron Harris. Harris has had some good times, but this is his first medal, and he was also very happy when we spoke to him. “My father told me, son, it’s not about winning medals, it’s about having a good time. Then he said, but winning medals will just help you have a better time. He’s here in Columbia, so I can’t wait to show him, and then go home and show all my friends. This is really a dream come true, going up against the best in the world and then knowing you are the best.” Harris was the only swimmer to complete the event in under 2 minutes, with a time of 1:59.23. But there was yet another 200m distance to win. The 200m Backstroke. A win here, and Newmanistan would win 4 of the 5 gold medals at the distance, and that’s just what Nate Compston did. For Nate, it is his second medal, but his first gold. You may recall that back in the 200m Freestyle, he picked up a silver medal in the same event in which our own Dave Perotti won the gold. This time, while he was standing on the podium hearing the Newmanistan national anthem, he really could stand there and know it was playing for him, and not someone else. “Yeah, that’s just what I thought. I admit that before I was very happy for Dave, he’s a great athlete, and it was great to see our flags go up, but this time, it was for me. That’s the way I dreamed it up when I was a kid.” Compston won the race in dominant fashion, defeating second place Darren Cardinale by over two seconds. And while we’re at it, here’s a look at what else happened in the pool. Dave Perotti set an Olympic Record with a blistering time of 21.51 seconds in his semfinal. Could he be in the verge of gold #3? Not that we really want to jinx him. He could not translate into another 50 meters though in the 100 m Butterfly where he failed to advance to the final. Only Jennifer Conlin qualified for the final in the 200m Backstroke. Now that she’s won a gold, will she maybe get in a groove now? Lauren Biron still seems to be celebrating her earlier gold a bit much, again there has been sightings of her being out very, very, late. After placing 6th in the 200m Breaststroke final, Caitlin Geraghty became one of the two Aquatic Rockets to qualify for the 800m Freestyle final. Caitlin was 6th in that semi, and up ahead of her was Kara Brannon, who looked real strong in her 2nd place placing. Kelssek’s Jessica Langton was quite impressive here, we must add. Sadly, swimming events are starting to wind down now.

When swimming begins to reach its conclusion that usually means that best track and field events will be getting underway, and that was the case with some early stage events this morning. Depending on event and gender, Newmanistan should contend for medals here. Most likely they will come in women’s track events, though the men should be strong contenders as well. There will be many other strong competitors here, as was the case in the pool. In field events, we have one solid competitor in jumping events in Stacie Gregory, but other then that, don’t expect much of anything. This was true to form as we did not qualify for any field events. In the Men’s 100m Heats, the biggest story is probably that 10.26 was the fastest time. A stiff breeze working against the runners was blamed for no one being able to crack the 10 second barrier. John Van Allen was the only Empire Runner to advance. Youch! Michelle Rancourt was the only runner to advance out of the 800m Heats. Things were better in the Women’s 10000m heats as both Lindsay Fullerton and Caitlin Blevins advance. Nicole Landon though, did not. Not the greatest start, but not terrible either. Things will need to be a little better, but the competition across the board here, is very stiff.

In other Individual events, as usual, if you’re still watching Archery or Badminton it’s probably because you immigrated here from another country. Ditto Croquet and Judo. But Fencing? We might be on the verge of something here! The Men’s Team Epee group has advanced to the semifinals! Come on guys, let’s not get shut out! The ladies were defeated in the first round by Wentland in the same event. As good as we thought out gymnasts were, apparently the judges don’t care for us. Or it might just be because our athletes aren’t as good as the others. You decide. Courtney Connolly and Kristen Hilton were 5th and 6th in the Women’s all-around and their opinions were very different. Connolly said, “The judges obviously have something against sky blue uniforms because some of the scores given to me and Kristen were absolutely absurd. Our execution was strong, I really don’t get it. Ah well, though, screw them!” Hilton was much more modest, “Well, I think the standards might be a little different at this level. Some of my scores, yes, confused me, but I like to think that they didn’t have anything against us.” Courtney also made a couple of unpleasant remarks towards the Ariddian pair, and alledged relationships with judges, which we can’t put in print. Moving on, after starting strong, and sliding in the middle, it was good to see Tom Parsons and Nick Henderson start to bounce back in shooting. Each qualified in the 25m Rapid Fire Pistol event, though neither made the show in the 50m Prone Rifle. Kurt Auckland advanced in the men’s skeet, and Natalie Hanners earned her spot the hard way, in a shootout for 8th place in the Women’s 50m Rifle Prone.

In the Boxing ring, we had a first knockout to report. Kyle Novak was all over Baiko Sakurai of the Fujisawan Territories, that it really seemed like a mismatch from the start. The referee wisely stopped the fight in the third round. So far our boxers have shown a rather un-Newmanistan-like extreme arrogance towards them, and Novak was no exception in his post-match interview. “That guy... is an Olympian? The Fujisawan people should have just not competed in this event. Wow. I’d have a harder fight with some scrawny chump back at home. Man, my next opponent better be worth my time.” Also victorious was Stacey Bradford, defeating Cafundeu’s Miriam Leite. She wasn’t quite as obnoxious afterward, “Well, I know there will be tougher opponents, but that was a good start.”


Now for team events, this was probably the toughest day that we have had so far as we lost in three sports. And we say that just to put things in perspective because of how well things have gone to this point. Coocoostan stunned our Men’s Baseball team 5-1, which is not really a great way to start things out, even though in Newmanistan, our best baseball players our women. We’re just different like that. Case in point, the 11-1 drubbing of Jasi-yun. Rachel Crockett went 4-for-5 with 2 HR and 5 RBI’s in the rout. Of the contest, Crockett said, “Yeah, that was pretty fun wasn’t it? I don’t think they really expected what we gave them.” Newmanistan and Secristan are the likely classes of the group, and perhaps, the event as a whole. The Women’s Handball team got a decent test from Maineiacs but defeated then 24-20. Our lacrosse team made rather easy work of Jasi-yun, allowing a mere two goals in a 9-2 rout. The Men’s Softball team looks sharp, though it is still quite as early, as they registered their second consecutive shutout, this a 4-0 win over Kelssek. On the women’s side, Secristan put a 4-spot on the board in the 3rd, capitalizing on three Newmanistan errors in the inning en route to their 4-1 win. The sloppiness of that game is something we hope will only be a one day thing. The Women’s Indoor volleyball team completely outclassed Gerainia in every way that you could possibly imagine, defeating them, 25-12, 25-4, 25-6. When you’re opponent doesn’t reach 25 for the game, you know it was a complete massacre. Surprising, as Gerainia had been 2-1 going into the game. And finally, Women’s Water Polo. Chalk up a win for Kura-Pelland in a battle between teams that were each 3-0 going into it. We were defeated 10-5 in the contest.


And there, is your report for this morning. We’ll see you tonight.

SILVER AND A BRONZE SO FAR

So far two medals have come our way. No, we’re not going to make Cafundeu, Baranxtu, Newmanistan, or any other nation at the top of the leaderboard sweat and think that we may be a threat to be at the top of the leaderboard. Things were different for us, as it was all about getting respect. And this has been done, with us getting two medals, and neither of them being from Courtney Petersen, the athlete in which many West Poconi thought would be our best medal threat.


It’s been a few days since we captured that first medal. It was a bronze back in the evening session on Monday evening, and it was delivered by Peg Sweeten in the Individual Foil of Fencing. We knew that Sweeten was outstanding at her trade, and the fact that she is a medalist isn’t a complete surprise. When she took to the competition and won her first two matches she started to really feel it she said, “At that point I did feel pretty good. Once I got to the semifinal I knew I couldn’t get so close and not win anything. The loss to Zhang was tough, but I had it set in my mind in that bronze medal match that I had to do this for my country. I’m sure Catarina Jade wanted it bad too, but for me it was a lot different.” Different, because Sweeten had just earned the first medal ever in the history of the country. West Pocono had found it’s name onto the medalboard, something that several other more well known countries hadn’t yet done in the Olympics. Was she disappointed that it wasn’t gold? Not really. “Obviously everyone wants the medal to be gold, but I am honored to have this.” And Peg, we are honored to have you.


Our medal total stayed at one for a little while until last night, when we earned our second, and this would be silver. And Peg Sweeten would get herself another piece of jewelry. The event was the team sabre, and the team along with Sweeten that made it to the gold medal match was Carrie Voronin and Patty Barnard. They looked good in the early stages, and then moreso in the semifinal when they completely manhandled the team from Maineiacs, 45-15. Hoping to build on that momentum, they ran into a group from Cafundeu, and this time we could not defeat them. But it would be a silver and the team is honored to have that. Voronin comments, “We did a real great job, we are really proud of our performance.” Simple, but straight to the point. Just like the medal table. We got a bronze, then a silver. Now, there’s only one medal left to go out there and get. Will it be possible for us to get that coveted gold and bring it back to West Pocono? We’ll see, but we’re sure going to try our best to go and grab it.

We have had some good performances in some team events, though unfortunately they are not handing out medals for the great game of Lacrosse or American Football. Bummer. We’ve done very well in beach volleyball. Both pairs of men and women have advanced to the quarterfinals, so maybe there is hope for us there. Maybe the Men could exact some revenge from Cafundeu in Team Epee. It’s a possible matchup among the four nations remaining there. Handball’s been good on the women’s side, but it’s not an easy group when you’re looking up at a dominant appearing Newmanistan. We’re also off to a great start in Men’s softball. So, there could be a gold out there. Somewhere.

A Team and a Dream. The Taeshani quest for a single medal in Columbia.

Track and Field

It was id say the greatest day so far in the olympics as the Knights teams finally got the startup of Track and Field. In the 100 Meter mens heats both Alen Prescott from group 4 and Scott Newmyer made it to the second round of heats, but sadly the Taeshani speedster Johnethen Lennon did not. In Shot Pu none of the Taeshani competitors qualified for the second round living up to expectations. In Mens discus Freddie Atu in 7th place, and Xavier Smith in 8th both qualified for the second round of the event looking like the second best hopes for the oympic team. In the womens 800 Meter Nicole Baker finished second in her heat to make it to the second round while Stacy Kennedy and Ashlie Flint did good but not good enough.

Team Sports

It was a somewhat bad day for team sports in Taeshan at the olympics. The Football team lost again 42-14 to Secristan a team we hadnt ever lost to before. In Lacrosse the team led by the young Attacker Rowan Qwarant defeated the Ariidian Isles womens team 11-9 with Qwarant scoring 5, and finally in womens Volleyball the team lost in 3 straight sets to the Bluth Corporation.

Baseball

The pride and joy of Taeshan there mens Baseball team the greatest hope for Taeshani Olympic dreams got there drive for the gold started on the right ffot smashing past Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea 110-2 in a game that wouldn't have been closer if the Knights hadn't showed up for the game. Socki Lewis led the team with 4 RBI's and 2 homeruns with Zoey Menigen scoring 3 times. The team played for injured comrade Zi Zo who had a perhaps career ending injury last week in a World Baseball Classic group round game.

The Bears' best individual hope in the Cycling events, Rarrns Pawstrong, was lying face-down on a table while their team's own doctor, Merryon White (a she-bear with fur in a very light shade of brown, which was quite closely trimmed on her face and hands, and one of the most 'humanoid' shapes out of all the Ursines who'd come along), examined him. She frowned, but then addressed him in a reasonably cheerful tone _

"Well, the scratches and scrapes that you took in that pile-up during the ‘Mass Start’ race on the Games’ very first day are all healing very nicely, but I'd still be decidedly cautious about putting too much strain on that hurt leg-muscle if I were you. Going out and riding in the ‘Time Trial’ on the 13th too, and pushing it so hard then, was not a smart thing to do.”

“But I had to try, Doc,” Rarrns replied. “I’d pledged myself as one of our entries for that race, and a Pawstrong never goes back on his word unless he has absolutely no choice in the matter! And now it’s almost time for the ‘Individual Pursuit’ qualifying round, and if I miss this that then I’ll have missed my last chance at a solo medal here. I’ve GOT to ride today… All of the people who put money in to help me buy my bikes, or helped me to find the time in which to practice, are depending on me! Say that I’m fit enough to race, Doc, say that I am!”

“I suppose so,” she said reluctantly, “but if that leg really starts hurting then you drop out of the race, hokay? There should be other chances for you to compete in future, but not if you actually cripple yourself trying to do too much here. I must admit to finding your dedication inspiring, though, and — seeing that your pelt is cut even shorter than my own — I have to ask: Are you a member of the ‘Lowfurran’ church?”

“You’re not the first person to ask me that, Doc, but the answer’s ‘No’. I was very ill a few years ago, and the herbal medicine that my clan’s wisebears gave me then made most of my fur fall out. I’d already done a bit of cycling back when I was in the army, and when I took that up again as a way of rebuilding my strength and stamina I found that having only a short pelt seemed to make reaching high speeds slightly easier, so I’ve kept it that way. But enough about me, Doc, how many people have told you lately how sweet you look?”

__________________________________________________________________


A number of the team’s other members were looking at the latest table of medal results by nation, and grumbling about how far above them the ‘Roumberree’ Ursines had managed to reach.
“How do they do that?”, rower Marroch o BlackBear enquired plaintively of the world in general. “Their land is so small, we must have at least sixty-four times their population to choose athletes from, no?”
“At least that much,” agreed wrestler Grreg, “and maybe even two or three times over. Anybody have any ideas?” Ilga o March, one of the female discus-throwers, did have a theory _
“They’re all “Christers”, aren’t they?” she asked. “I heard it on good authority that Christers get given their God’s own blood to drink, and that has to be a pretty high-powered food!”
“It’s not really blood,” swimmer Sarmo Troutcatcher corrected her, “They’re like the ‘Ursian’ church in that respect: It’s just mead, into which their God’s placed some of his spiritual power…”
“That still sounds like an unfair advantage to me,” retorted Ilga. “Who says we find Siggurr and get him to issue an official complaint?”
“Rather you than me,” Sarm muttered. “Old ‘PolarBear’ is really not in a good mood at the moment. Apart from these overall results, he’s got his own failure to qualify in the ‘Hammer Throw’ to cope with…”
“Sulking?!?” exclaimed Halvarrh Marrl-Thuleann (a boxer, and an old friend of Siggur’s), “That doesn’t sound like him at all: His usual response to things going wrong is to try and fix them, or at least to bash whoever’s responsible for the problems! He really must be feeling the heat very badly…” He fanned himself. “And talking of feeling the heat, I’m off for a cold bath myself…”

_____________________________________________________________

Rarrns Pawstrong, meanwhile, was still ‘under the doctor’… at least in a manner of speaking… and at the moment she was speaking quite emphatically about this…

“Oh! Ohhh! OHHH! YESSS!”

(Let us draw a curtain across, between our eyes and their activities…)

WE’RE STILL THERE

Quick show of hands. How many people out there were expecting our great nation of Secristan to begin to fade down the medal board. Fess up. A week in and we remain the leading One Big Island nation in the overall medal count. We are fifth overall on the tally and this is thanks in a large part to a consistent daily performance from our athletes who are continuing to prove to the world that you don’t need to waste time on Olympic Trials. In fact, as we have been reading media reports come out of other nations over the course of the Columbia Games, we see that some countries have talked about a lack of funding for sports. Or too much of it. We would like to advise these nations that you should be following the Secristan model of doing things. We do not spend a cent on sports. There is no need too. Not only that, we collect an insane amount of revenue from them. The reality is, in every country, there are athletes wishing to compete in the Olympics, so make money off it. Bidding works. The Secristan Department of Sports is not going broke anytime, in fact, they have plenty of money to spend on extravagant gifts for themselves, and for their loved ones, and for just about everyone they damn well please. Showing events on free TV? Are you mad? Pay-per-view is the way to go. Proceeds come in at a unbelievable rate to the SDOS, and we still show commercials during it, so there is still broadcasting revenue. Why do the people put up with it? Because there is no other option. Attempting to steal signals of events is Attempted Freeloading, a crime that will get you 20 years in jail. Funding for sports. What a joke. Sports revenue, is more like it.

Our best sports so far have continued to be Judo and Swimming, but we have begun to show our versatility as a nation by being able to medal in other events. Why just this morning there was a One Big Island nation that picked up a medal in the Gymnastics All-Around. Congratulations to Stacey Classen on her silver and splitting the Ariddians. Team events go pretty well too so far. But not as good as things have been for the SDOS as Cassie Doran gives us the latest update, “Profits are continuing to exceed expectations as we continue to do real well in Columbia. We are really pleased with picking up 25 medals just one week into it, and we feel pretty good about picking up more. What this has done is create more excitment about the Olympics that might not have been there before as people are now purchasing more events. Before, they were just purchasing their favorites but now because we are establishing ourselves in many areas, the sales are coming from many different angles, and we are making even more money off it then we thought possible. It’s really an enormous success for us.”

Day 08–15 B results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13926948&postcount=19) ‧ part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13926951&postcount=20)).

A Team and A Dream. The Taeshnai quest for a single medal

Overall it was a bad afternoon set for the Knights teams as the only qualifier in Athletics for the second round was Amy Owens finishing second in her 300 Steeplechase group. In Equestian Jumping Ava Smitts and George Formen led the Taeshani team smits in 6th, Formen in 16th. The other Taeshani riders Selma Hayak and Alec Grene finished 20th and 34th respectively. Look for anopther big dsay tommoroow.

OOC: On post 6 of the results thread, it lists Ajitawa Yukatsuko (FJT) as qualifying for the women's gymnastics individual all around final with a total score of 77.413 but she was left out of the final. I just wanted to know what happened there.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

A very busy 7th day, in Columbia, UCS. So let's get to the results, OK?

Baseball—Men’s—Group Stage:

The baseball Competition started and a good start for the Qazox team, a 6-0 win over Kelssek, as Kelly Bracco went the distance, striking out 9 and allowing just 3 hits. The big blow of the game came in the 5th when Julio Mizzell hit a 3-run HR to break open a close game.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 001 050 000 6
Kelssek 000 000 000 0


Softball (Women):
A walk-off solo shot off the bat of Alejandra Ginsburg in the bottom of the 7th game Qazox its 2nd win, keeping thier slim hopes for qualification alive.

SCORE SUMMARY
Kura-P 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
Qazox 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 2


Water Polo (Women):
A 9-6 win over Fujisawan Territories, keeps the hopes alive for 1 more day as the Women's water polo team is now 2-2 and has the 2nd best record amongst the 3rd placed teams.


SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 1 2 4 2 9
Fuji Terr. 1 2 2 1 6

Qazox Goals Today:
Lilia Lueders- 3
Allyson Folts- 2
Lorrie Blackstone- 1
Marylou Coots- 1
Margery Nolley- 1
Louisa Damian- 1

Total Goals:
Allyson Folts- 10
Lilia Lueders- 8
Lorrie Blackstone- 4
Margery Nolley- 2
Louisa Damian- 2
Marylou Coots- 2


(OOC: I DEMAND A REPLAY! :p j/k CH)
Football (Women):
Fatigue finally caught up with the women as they were stunned by Cafundéu 2-1, allowing both of Cafundéu's goals in the final 5 minutes. The 2-time Olympic medalists and pre-tourney favorites are sent packing, as is Qazox' hopes of 9 overall medals.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 1 0 1
Cafundéu 0 2 2

Qazox Goals Today:
Liza Darsey: 1

Qazox Goals (Overall):
Selena Eutsler: 2
Liza Darsey: 2
Kathrine Ditmore: 1
Gay Dionisio: 1



Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

"It's going to be gold for Geltzer...Kanji Starter's first of the Games and first ever...but can Eden hold on? She's staggering into the last 50 metres...McGonnagal is firing back now but so long as Eden finishes she will get a medal, the pack is nowhere...Geltzer crosses the line to the delight of the Kanji...come on Eden...she's going to do it!!! Eden Ardella has won the silver!!! What a performance!!!! Not even in the top ten in the world this year, but she's pulled that out of the bag, and she's collapsed to the track, utterly exhausted...what a day for Wentland! Ruane gets a bronze in the shot put, Juneau is in the finals of the discus and now a silver, against all odds...the medics are on the track now, tending to Eden Ardella...she's sitting up, she won't want to miss the ceremony..."

Eden Ardella did not indeed miss the ceremony and collected the silver medal after some extensive treatment. Then nobody saw her for two hours. The reason? She had to provide a urine sample for the drug testing. And she was so dehydrated she had to have eleven bottles of water before she could do so.

Then it was six pints of beer in celebration and she was anyone's.

***

In the pool however it was a different matter. Abdul Joyner at least was at the top end of the bottom ten in the 1500 metres, but the men's medley relay team was last, Rosalyn Reagan would have been last in the women's 50m had Venita Timenez not dived in a bit too deeply, hit her head on the bottom and nearly drowned and the women's medley relay team were last but one.

It was a disaster. No team had fared worse in the pool.

And the papers were having a field day.

"Swimming damp squib"..."deep trouble"..."depths of despair"..."sinking feeling"...questions were being asked as to whether Wentland should send a swimming team at all. And the swimming team was feeling the tension. "It's not ALL our fault, is it?" suggested Foreman Irvin. "We don't have the facilities, and swimming is seen as a bit, well, cowardly, for a nation of sailors..."

Irvin at least had nothing to be ashamed about. But with very few swimming events remaining it was on the shoulders of some of the less experienced members of the team to show some reward for their efforts.

The Maidment Post Times
Local hero lights up Olympics
Comley powers through to face Illrawq challenge

C&M’s last remaining fighter qualified for the second round of the men’s bantamweight division, and the whole of Maidment joined together in celebrating the achievements of the town’s golden boy.

In defeating hot favourite Ted Watters of Secristan, Gideon Comley-Smythe-Featherstoneshaw racked up arguably the Candelarias’ most impressive result thus far. It was a hard-fought clash, with ‘Dean’ narrowly avoiding a countdown at one stage, but the amateurs of Olympic standard are hardy fighters indeed – Ciro Guerreiro, of Cafundéu, received an astonishing forty-four blows during his defeat to Alex Gong in the featherweight division, and still remained standing to finish the fourth round. There was not a single knockout this afternoon; and both Watters and his opponent, who learnt his trade at the prestigious Colvin College, came closest to doing just that during their bout. But despite early wobbles, the southpaw came to dominate and victory ceased to be in doubt some time before the fourth round, despite a spirited late comeback.

It was a superb day for Maidment and north Candelaria all-round, despite a slow morning. First, Webley’s Stephen Hayes beat the regrettably named Lisa Packard (does anyone still remember when men were men?) to make the final of the men’s croquet demonstration event only to lose to someone or other. It was then time for the Blue Sticks to rise to the challenge set by their female counterparts, with Maidment’s own Grantham McGovern scoring twice in a confident 4-0 victory over the combined talents of three nations. They now face Krytenia in the quarter-finals, with Ad’ihan most likely awaiting the victors.

The questionable nature of the joint Baranxtu, Cikoutimi and Otea squad is there for all to see, and C&M’s single attempt to recruit shamelessly in this manner fell flat on its face today. The Bkyka John t’Baker pulled a muscle on his first at 280 kg, instantly ending his Olympic games. He must now return to Ransome-Bkyki Island with his tail between his legs; a failure for two nations.

Not so Bawell nr Maidment’s Helen Degand, who survives for one more test in the pool after her 4x100 medley relay team stormed into the final with the second-best time. Her childhood schoolmate Peter Tormey continues in the table tennis doubles meanwhile, as he and Aaron Jones came through a wearying clash to take victory 14-12 in the seventh set over the duo from the Landau Institute.

And the tennis pair from the capital guaranteed C&M their first Olympic medal.

This time the music sounds even lamer than usual. Maybe it was just in contrast to yesterday. Maybe it just sucks.

Steve: With the top twenty-five Zebras competing in the World Baseball Classic-
Lily: Oh we've figured this one out then?
Steve: -the men's baseball team in the Olympics lacks their talents. And it also lacks a catchy nickname.
Yvette: I think we can have three simultaneous teams.
Lily: I think the Purple Knights have the same team in both places.
Darryl: I think Zi Zo doesn't belong on the men's national team, unless something's, ah, changed that we're not aware of.
Steve: I think you're all ruining my segue. Now, the team that played Jasīʼyūn could well have been called the "Daydream Team", as wherever their head was in the ninth inning, it was not Bolúfero Stadium. Not all of those runs in the comeback were earned, but the closer is just as responsible as his teammates for this blown save.
Lily: A great rally for the hosts, though, and a fairly sizable upset.
Darryl: While Team Zwangzug, whatever you call it, should be able to move on easily, still a psychological bump on Opening Day.
Yvette: An entirely different story in the women's game, however. Zwangzug blew past Cafundéu 9-0, batting around in the five-run third.
Steve: The athletics portion of the Olympics got underway-
Lily: As opposed to...wait, don't answer-
Darryl: The track and field events began. In the glamorous hundred-meter dash, Floyd Collins avoided finishing last in the fifth heat. Kirsten Pigseye competed in the challenging third heat of the steeplechase, from which ten of the advancing twenty-four women qualified. But Pigseye was the eleventh, with a time of nine-fifty-one point fifty.
Lily: Rhonda Wilmette began the heptathlon by breaking a thousand in the hurdles.
Steve: A feat that looks impressive only compared to the scores of those who envelope her, comfortably in the second half of the tables.
Darryl: Wilmette is thirty-third in a field of forty-four. Jacquelyn Hotplot, meanwhile, steadily progressed to the triple jump finals. Though her first try was 12.99 meters, one of the worst scores overall, she flew almost a full meter farther on the next jump. How'd you manage that?
Jacquelyn: Mostly it was in the run, pacing myself differently. When I landed that first jump, even before I saw the score, I knew, I'm not...tired enough? Something's wrong. So I fixed that.
Darryl: But 13.91 wouldn't have been enough. So on the final try?
Jacquelyn: I just tried to focus on the first two jumps-I overlook them when I'm practicing. Guess it paid off.
Darryl: With a leap of 14.27 meters, Hotplot progressed to the final. Congratulations.
Jacquelyn: Thank you!
Darryl: Another track-and-field competitor left it till late to move on. Denny Mullane followed a mediocre 75.93 meter throw with a "no mark" on the second try.
Lily: What did it feel like waiting in between?
Denny: The stimulation could have been overwhelming. There's fifty of us out there-
Darryl: Forty-nine.
Denny: -and all we want to do is each, individually, compete. So you have to make the most of that downtime.
Yvette: What were you focusing on?
Denny: I told myself I had four chances to swing that thing around my head, and each time, I would put more power into it than the one before. Obviously it worked.
Darryl: Mullane's final throw sailed 77.37 meters overall, good enough for eleventh place.
Steve: Vlad Rebelde finished last in the butterfly semifinals, and Alyssa Kath might as well have in ninth.
Darryl: In the 1500 meter freestyle, also known as the down-and-back-and-down-and-back-and-
Yvette: And then some, Everett Pidge qualified in sixth place overall.
Lily: Kitchie Ratner was in a close finish at the two-hundred meter breaststroke. While Cafundéu's Vanessa Alves was a full second clear of the pack, Megan Hodge was merely seven-hundredths of a second in front of the Valanoran Julia Namath, who was even closer to the fourth-place Ratner.
Kitchie: I was farther outside, but I lunged ahead at the wall. Couldn't reach it. Maybe I wanted to turn, keep swimming forever.
Darryl: Also in the pool, some of the time, Elisa Wolf advanced through diving preliminaries, racking up 290.55 points. Wolf excels on somersaults, and generally reaches a high degree of difficulty by racking up many in succession.
Yvette: Both cycling teams qualified for the knockout stages of the track sprint. Lothar Ithack led the way for the men.
Lothar: It's been great getting to work with these guys...Matt's come a long way, he was really a road racer first, but we make a good team all together. Bring on the Bluth Corporation.
Yvette: The women's team will take on Maineiacs.

"Welcome to Olympic Roundup here on ABS One. I'm Alan Eagle. We have a lot of action to get to, including a pair of medallists from all of today's action."

"The first day of athletics competition saw some more mixed results for Asteran athletes. In the Men's 100 meter contest, Tommy Burns qualified for the second round, while fellow runner Charles McDowell failed to qualify. His success was short-lived, however, as he failed to qualify for the semifinals. The Rahman sisters had mixed luck in the Women's 800 meter heats, with Emma qualifying on speed and Fawn finishing last in her heat. Gina Nurmi had a disappointing 10000 meter heat, finishing 12th and well off the pace for qualifying. Craig Lister failed to qualify for the 1500 meter quarterfinals, while Kevin Richards came second in his heat. Shawna Foster failed to qualify for the Women's Triple Jump finals, finishing 17th after only jumping twice."

"In Lightweight boxing, Kenneth Morris fell to Gabriel Bounto 22-17 in his second round match, while Annie Howard recieved a bye into the next round."

"In cycling, Robert O'Grady failed to qualify for the first round of the Men's Individual Pursuit contest, finishing 19th. On the women's side, Michelle Ford just missed out on the first round, coming in just three-tenths behind 8th place."

"In fencing, the Men's Épée team beat Secristan 45-19 in the first round, but lost
41-37 in the quarterfinals to Newmanistan. The Women's Épée team fell to Kelssek in the first round 41-39."

"In swimming, Celie Sprague missed out on qualifying for the Women’s 800 meter Freestyle finals by two seconds, finishing 10th overall. Tara Wilson qualified for the Women’s 200 meter Backstroke finals, finishing 5th overall and just under a second out of third. She also qualified for the Women's 50 meter Freestyle semifinals, coming in 15th. Adam Brodie qualified for the semifinals of the Men's 1500 meter Freestyle competition, finishing 10th overall. The Men's 4x100 meter Freestyle Relay team missed out on the finals by a tenth of a second, finishing just behind Bluth Corporation. The same couldn't be said for the Women’s 4x100 meter Medley Relay team, as they failed to qualify for the finals by two seconds."

"In tennis, the gold dreams of Princess Anna and Denise McCormick have ended in a 6-3, 6-1 loss to the West Pocono team of Erica Tomlin and Jennifer Cooke. They will compete against Secristan's team of Kristen Connolly and Chrissy Thornton for bronze."

"In diving, Mary Bollea qualified for the next round of the Women's 3 meter Springboard, finishing 14th in the preliminary contest."

"In shooting, Sergeant David Calaway failed to qualify for the Men’s 50 meter Rifle Prone finals, losing a shootout to Rich Yary by one point. Fawn Andrews qualified for the final of the Women’s 50 meter Rifle Prone, shooting a 595. She then shot one of the best final rounds, finishing with a 699.3 and a bronze medal. Sally Brown talked to her afterward."

"Fawn, does this make up for missing out on a medal in the Three Positions final?"

"It does, sort of. I wanted to get two medals, but just winning this one is great. It means so much to me to win it and to join the other Asteran medallists."

"In judo, Sam Isokoski saw his gold hopes disappear after losing his first round match against Professor Olegário Tabajara from the Landau Institute. He fell again in the second Repêchage round to Sun-Yoo Park of Secristan. Anna Hedges lost in the quarterfinals, but found her way into the bronze medal match, where she defeated Denise Maria Rio Grande of Cafundéu for a bronze medal. She spoke with judo commentator Mark Fox after recieving her medal."

"It feels great. I knew that I might be able to do it after looking at my competitors, but I never would have thought that I actually would do it. It's incredible. It also feels good to know that I'm not the only person to medal in judo."

"That's all from us here. Tune in tomorrow for more results and exclusive interviews. This has been Olympic Roundup. Goodnight."

"Why are we still here?" moaned Siobhan Fogarty. "And why do I have to have breakfast with you two losers?"

"You know very well, you rotter," replied Kellie Bright. "We have to support the other Wentland people. They supported us."

"Aha! You answered. That means you know you're a loser."

Bright simmered. Lonergan couldn't help but grin.

"YOU'RE a loser," retorted Bright. "Remember that bet you had?"

"What bet?"

"That bet with Katie-watie. That you'd do better than her. You lost."

Kate Lonergan suddenly grinned even more. "Hey, yes. You've got to pay your forfeit."

Siobhan Fogarty spluttered. "Wha-? Hang on..."

"You remember the exact words? If you didn't get further than me..."

"Actually," piped up Bright, "it was that the one who didn't get further than the other would have to do the forfeit."

"Exactly."

"And you both went out at the same time, didn't you?"

"Huh?"

"So BOTH of you didn't get further than the other."

Fogarty and Lonergan looked at each other panic-stricken. Then at Bright.

"No..."

"A forfeit's a forfeit. You have to do it!"

Fogarty sneered. "No we don't. What are YOU going to do about it if we do not?"

"Not much," conceded Bright. "What CAN I do? Although..."

"What?"

"There's that little matter of the cox in the men's eight, that I've heard about..."

Fogarty blushed. "You wouldn't..."

Lonergan smiled. "Bad luck, Seebs."

"You have to do it as well, Katie-batey."

"Oh yes? What are you going to grass me up for, little Kellie? Taking too much sugar with my tea? Making a rocket with the coke and peppermint?"

"I just think the coach might like to know why you were sneaking over the fence into the Bears Armed compound the night bef..."

"SHUT UP!!!!!!! THAT WAS NOT ME!!!!!!!! I DO NOT HAVE A FUR FETISH!!!!!!!!!!!"

"What's a fur fetish? I thought you were after honey."

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/7857/antoileanachno6.png (http://imageshack.us)

O’Connell set for medal

When Liam O'Connell steps up onto the podium following the badminton final tomorrow, he will not only have claimed An Blascaod Mór's first Olympic medal but also a unique place in Olympic history for An Blascaod Mór. With a population of 143 it is already the smallest nation to compete at the Olympics. Every family on the island has had at least one athlete representing them at the games, and now following O'Connell's semi-final over Onrry de Summer. He and the island are guaranteed at least a silver medal. That combined with the island's small population means that An Blascaod Mor has what will surely be the lowest rate of Olympic medallists per capita.

At the start of the game the An Blascaod Mór team said it was aiming for one medal, many laughed off the claims, said they were way above our station. Yet with the form O'Connell's a gold isn't out of the question. Size may dictate we shouldn't win anything, other nations have sent delegations larger than our population. Never will we be a major player in any sport, but give us a sport, and we'll throw the full support of our nation behind it, and on the odd occasion maybe just maybe we will succeed.

Random Meeting of the Olympic Committee of Sorthern Northland

Suit 1: "So, quick review of day..... er what day is it?"

Suit 2: "Friday."

Suit 1: "No, I meant how many days are we into the Olympics."

Suit 2: "Oh right, no idea. 1093?

Suit 3: "Not 894?"

Suit 4: "No I think it's day 11."

Suit 1: "So nobody knows?"

All: "Nope."

Suit 1: "Oh well, review of day whatever it is. How did we do then?"

Suit 2: "Not to bad, in athletics we had Aiden Berry qualify from the heats of the 100m."

Suit 1: "Oh that's excellent."

Suit 2: "And then he went and qualified from the quarter-final!"

Suit 1: "Oh fantastic. And our other athletics athletes?"

Suit 2: "The other 100m bloke went out in the heats."

Suit 1: "And the other athletes?"

Suit 2: "We didn't have anyone else competing in tack and field today."

Suit 1: "Ah yes a small team, erm the boxing then?"

Suit 3: "Wun Tun went through by one point, Charles Kern is also through.."

Suit 1: "What a fight from him eh?"

Suit 3: "I was about to say he went through having been given a bye."

Suit 1: "Ah of course, and our other boxers?"

Suit 3: "Marcus Heredia got knocked out, all the others were already out."

Suit 1: "Useless muppets! Er swimming?"

Suit 2: "No thanks, not really up for a swim right now."

Suit 1: "No, how did our swimmers do?"

Suit 2: "Oh right, The Cod finished amongst the bottom places in the 1500m freestyle while Maragret Hargis came 52nd in the 50m freestyle heats and Sheena Jamieson did a bit better and came 34th. So they all did pretty badly."

Suit 1: "No surprises there then, now then onto cycling, and then we can bugger off for the night!"

Suit 5: "Erm aren't you forgetting something?"

Others: "Who the hell are you?"

Suit 5: "The one to tell you our table tennis results."

Suit 3: "We're in the table tennis?"

Suit 2: "News to me!"

Suit 5: "Ok, well Fegus Fallon and Johnty Shillion lost in the second round of the mens competition and in the women's Katie Lewiseyu and Kim Breen made it to the quarters before being knocked out."

Suit 1: "Oh good that's over, so cycling, how did we do?"

Suit 4: "Well it was the first day in the velodrome and we did ok. Niall Long set the fastest time in qualifying for the Men's Individual Pursuit, whilst Lewin Heghart set the 14th fastest time and failed to qualify. Long will face Trent Brownlee from Newmanistan in the next round. Our men's team just qualified in the Team Sprint event and will face Wentland in the first round. Whilst the women set the fourth fasted time in qualifying and will face Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea in the next round?"

Suit 1: "Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea? Sounds like a team of performance enhancing drugs to me."

Suit 4: "I agree, it's disgusting that these drugs cheats are allowed to compete, I've sent a complaint to the organising committee asking for any athletes using Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea to be disqualified."

Suit 1: "Good stuff, so the other results?"

Suit 4: "That's all of them."

Suit 1: "But the Women’s Track Individual Pursuit was today wasn't it?"

Suit 4: "It was yep."

Suit 1: "So how did our team do in that?"

Suit 4: "Er it appears we forgot to enter them."

Suit 1: "What? But? How? And what about our goals at winning that event?"

Suit 4: "Well we are in Capitalizt SLANI, perhaps we could bribe them to let us enter our team late?"

Suit 1: "Yes, what have we got to bribe them with? This box of staples?"

Suit 4: "Kumquats?"

Suit 1: "Kumquats! Yes, excellent, send them 1093 million kumquats immediately."

MILLIONAIRE'S ROW

THERE'S an old children's rhyme that talks about rowing. In Krytenia, rowing's not kid's stuff though. Saturday is the first day of the finals of the Olympic rowing regatta, and there are eight gold medals to be decided. And every single final contains boatsful of those unmistakeable sky blue oars. Here's a preview of Krytenia's "Saturday Super Strokefest".

Men's Single Sculls
Michael Tegan won his semi-final at a canter on Wednesday, and though his slow winning time means a less than impressive lane draw, the Caversham man is confident of getting to that top step. Challenges are expected to come from Baranxtese sculler Nemuri Ahefani, Ken Amant of Kelssek, and surprise package Father Nicodemus of...well, with a name like that, where else but the Archregimancy?
Medal prediction: GOLD

Women's Single Sculls
Jenny Herzog was pushed all the way in her semi-final by Kendra Sanlick, and the Krytenian and the Kelssek rower will be expected to continue to duel in the final. Look out for Mel Young of the Maineiacs as a potential spoiler though.
Medal prediction: GOLD

Men's Double Sculls
The team of Isaacs and Rickardsson scraped into the final by the skin of their oars - not that oars have skin - and look completely out of their depth in the final. The gold looks likely to go either to the Allaneans or the Maineiac pair, with everyone else chasing for the bronze.
Medal prediction: MISS

Men's Pairs
Lenny Bianchi and Elton Blumer may have finished second in their heat, but they are far from finished in a close field. They will face a serious challenge from the team that beat them in the semi. Craig Ellis and Ryan Foley are looking to improve on a disappointing Candelarian Olympics, and will push the Krytenians all the way, whilst there's more Maineiacs and a Bluth pair also in medal contention.
Medal prediction: BRONZE

Men's Fours
On paper, this looks like a three-way fight. The Ursine quartet, the Krytenians, and the foursome from Kelssek all posted similar times in getting this far. The bears, however, may be undone by two of their rowers attempting to "double up" in the pairs, and that leaves yet another K versus K showdown. This one's going to come down to the wire, they'll be separated by the breadth of a gnat's rowlock.
Medal prediction: GOLD

Women's Fours
The B.C.O. quartet are the favourites here, laying down a huge marker in Wednesday's semi. The Krytenian girls, however, will not be fazed, and will lead the chasing pack. The male fans will be cheering for a Krytenian win though; Emma Toracca gained infamy at the national championships after throwing her top into the stands after the foursome's victory.
Medal prediction: SILVER

Women's Double Sculls
It's Krytenia's to lose in this event. Gelsen and Bozehnov look completely unstoppable, blowing the field away in the first round on Monday, and only the Candelarians look like getting anywhere near them. This is the nailed-on gold of the day.
Medal prediction: GOLD

Women's Pairs
Another event that saw the Krytenians grab a heat victory. Terri Lansivuori and Jo Gilarmi stormed to the second-fastest time in the round, but with them now in the same stretch of water as the Baranxtese pair, can they hold off Satuada and Dalahauga and claim the gold? We think it might be too much for them - watch us be proved wrong. Please?
Medal prediction: SILVER

Coverage of the finals begins at 10am on KBS One, in a programme that will also contain live coverage from the athletics, cycling, and beach volleyball competitions.

OOC: To CH, i'll just chalk it up as a loss, and just RP it.

IC:

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record
Bizarre and disappointing morning for Fujisawan gymnast

Columbia, UCS - Imagine overcoming a devastating knee injury to make the Olympic team, qualifying in first for the individual all around final, only to suffer through a bout of appendicitis in warmups for the final. That’s what happened to the Territories’ Ajitawa Yukatsuko a mere ten minutes before the start of the women’s individual all around.

While in warmups on floor exercise, Yukatsuko suddenly collapsed to the ground in a heap. The next few moments were chaotic as she grasped at her abdomen, and Fujisawan officials frantically tried to assess just what was going on. Though Yukatsuko had been complaining of abdominal pain all throughout the day, she and her trainer didn’t make too much of it...until those moments. All the confusion delayed the start of the competition by at least a good half hour, and Yukatsuko was rushed to a Columbia hospital, where she was diagnosed with mild acute appendicitis.

While Yukatsuko was in emergency surgery having her appendix removed, Anaïs Reed was quickly en route to winning gold in the women’s all around. It was a nightmare through and through for Fujisawan gymnastics officials, who rushed to the hospital with their ever present blue binder containing the lists of all banned substances in the Olympics.

“It was an absolute priority to preserve Ajitawa’s eligibility in the remaining individual events, so we properly instructed the hospital staff which medications to use and which not to use. We’re confident all the right decisions were made. I think my hair just turned gray after this morning. I’m stressed beyond comprehension,” said trainer Asanjo Bushiyano.

Yukatsuko qualified in the top position for the women’s all around, with a total score of 77.413. Stacey Classen of Secristan, the eventual silver medalist, qualified in second with a qualification total of 77.400. Ariddians Aliw Set and Anaïs Reed qualified with qualification scores of 77.200 and 76.963 respectively. Reed won gold, while Set won bronze. Fujisawan and Beretanian media had both projected Yukatsuko to be at least a bronze medalist in the event.

Yukatsuko will take advantage of the scheduling to take a full day of rest. She is expected to remain in the hospital overnight and throughout the following day, but plans to compete in the women’s pommel horse event final against medical advice. The average recovery time for a mild case like Yukatsuko’s is a week or less, but she knows time is not on her side. It’s now or never, so she’ll be fighting through considerable pain just to compete in her events. She doesn’t plan on practicing at all during the remainder of these Games.

“She’s going to just go out there, give it her all without practicing, and with limited warmups. I imagine she’ll be in immeasurable pain when it’s all said and done. She’ll suck it up. She’s tough as nails, very brave,” Bushiyano said.

Coordinating which pain relievers and other medications Yukatsuko can use has already proven to be the cause of many a headache. “I check and double check and triple check the lists. We’ve already lost Ajitawa in the individual all around. I refuse to have her disqualified from her other events because she took a banned substance. Everything from what went in her IV to the anesthetics they used for her appendectomy, it all went through me first,” Bushiyano said.

By all accounts, her Olympic dream should be coming to a sad, abrupt end, but Yukatsuko refuses to let the Olympic spirit deep inside of her die.

“All the hospital staff kept saying her Olympics were over, and I kept arguing that it wasn’t. First thing out of surgery, she wanted to know who won the all around. Physically, she’s a disaster, but mentally, she’s ready to go. She doesn’t give a damn how much pain she’s in or if her stitches come undone, just put up her best and sew her back up. It’s the Olympics...how much pain are you willing to go through to medal, that is the question,” Bushiyano added.

“Ms. Yukatsuko has very little to say at the moment, but does wish to congratulate Anaïs Reed of Ariddia on winning gold. She has also stated that what happened was meant to be and that she has no regrets about the final outcome,” an official statement released this evening by Gymnastica Fujisawa read.

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/bcologosmall.png

Harri was waiting with Eoki, Iśmail and Seti. The five boxers, having all gotten eliminated by now, had nothing much to do until the Olympics ended, and had thus decided to go out and see what Columbia's nightlife had to offer for them.

"Pierre, are you ready?"

"Just a minute, I can't find the left shoe."

"Have you looked behind the door?"

"Yes. Wait, no. Oh. There it is. Comin'."

The other four let out a collective sigh. Eoki gave Seti a look. "I'd make a 'he'd lose his head' joke, but I think you did that just an hour ago."

"Yeah, when he couldn't find his contact lenses."

The door opened and finally, Pierre joined them. "Ready to have fun?"

"Oy, when you say it, it sounds like a threat," Harri joked.

...

Three hours later, the five had found a club to their liking and where dancing the night away, though all were trying their best to find company for that, though with varying success.

It was then that Pierre spied a stunningly beautiful woman sitting at the bar, watching the crowd on the dancefloor with a skeptical look on her face.

Bolstered by his usual confidence in his looks, and a couple of beers and two or three shots of some clear liquid, he walked over to her. "Excuse me..."

---

Back in the Olympic village, Auli Atare was getting ready for bed. The team foil was tomorrow, and he had not intention of watering down his performance by getting too little sleep.

Yätti and Marc were both in that annoying mood of mixed nervous- and giddiness, and Auli was sorely tempted to smack them both, although it didn't really seem the appropriate thing to do. Probably.

When he was lying down and the two of them were still talking, he couldn't help but get a bit sarcastic. "Y'know, I know we all have medals by now, and that's just swell, but personally, I wouldn't really mind another one, so why don't the two of you just shut the fuck up already?"

"Geez, sorry. You're starting to sound like that one runner with the anger problem."

---

Transcript of an excerpt of the evening news of the BT-FNC

"And today was another rather quiet day for the BCO team.

Two medals were one today, both in the men's 85kg weightlifting. Vrõdi Eyaa lifted 377.5kg, winning gold, whereas Tśirti Nandatu Mesumahi managed 372.5
kg. He tied for the bronze medal with Bryan Mitchell of the Bluth Corporation and Sergey Smolensk of Kanji Starter.

With that, Baranxtu remains in third place on the medal tally after Cafundéu and Roumberre.

For more detailed reports of today's events, stay tuned for the Special Olympic Afterhour right after the news. Johnny Mesopri's guests today are former Olympic divers Biteo Ketanko and, live from Columbia, Andagi Atenitu Bouleï and his husband and current star diver Nahtēri Mēāgitu Andali, talking about the status of diving in Baranxtu in comparison with other countries, and about team work in the synchronized diving events.

I'm Jennifer Htaŋita, thank you for listening."

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

As the aquatic events near an end, the Track events are just beginning as do the individual Diving events.

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Athletics—Men’s 100 m—Heats:
Brian Patterson: 10.56
Nicholas Hilliard: 10.60
Justin Galindo: 10.35

Men’s 100 m—Quarterfinals:
Justin Galindo: 10.25
Nicholas Hilliard: 10.39
Brian Patterson: 10.39

DIVING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Women’s 3 m Springboard—Preliminaries:
Sylvia Nyberg: 307.86 (3rd)
Marianne Reinert: 238.33

SWIMMING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD), Medal winners in Medal Color):

Men’s 50 m Freestyle—Semifinals:
Walter Bergstrom: 22.23(8th)

Men’s 100 m Butterfly—Semifinals:
Patrick Blackmon: 53.10

Men’s 200 m Individual Medley—Final:
Clayton Easterly: 2:01.62 (8th)

Women’s 100 m Freestyle—Final:
Judy Wagstaff: 54.14 (4th, missed bronze by 0.02 seconds)

Women’s 200 m Breaststroke—Final:
Kristin Stoffel: 2:25.56 (5th)

Men’s 1500 m Freestyle—Heats:
Howard Peele: 15:47.67
Keith Caswell: 15:51.20

Men’s 4×100 m Medley Relay—Heats:
(Wheat/Hines/Mastin/Bergstrom): 3:39.74 (5th)

Women’s 50 m Freestyle—Heats:
Judy Wagstaff: 26.53
Iris Seng: 28.35

Women’s 4×100 Medley Relay—Heats:
(Lindell/Stoffel/Connor/Wagstaff): 4:08.71 (8th)

Albavona Capitol Sentinel Online
Recent Olympic Results

Eldon Balter in heat five of the men’s 100m quarterfinal, qualified for the semifinal, finishing with a time of 10.25.

In heat one of the men’s 1500m heats, Wes Bowman qualified for the next round with a time of 3:39.81.

Cameron Cruz and Riley Jefferson qualified in the men’s 400m hurdles heats, with times of 49.71 and 50.96 respectively.

Keri Wood qualified in the women’s 3000m steeplechase, with a time of 9:43.40.

Anna Maria Esquivez qualified in the tenth position in the women’s discus throw qualifications, with 61.07 being her best throw.

Chloe Ungersol and Chelsea Inamine find themselves in thirty fifth and forty second places respectively after the first day of the women’s heptathlon.

Unified Beretania beat Gerainia 81-75 in women’s basketball on group stage matchday four, but Unified Beretania has already been eliminated from advancing beyond the group stage. After crushing Bluth Corporation 84-62, Unified Beretania’s counterparts from the Fujisawan Territories remain undefeated as of yet.

Kylie Kawasaki qualified in fifth in the preliminaries for women’s 3m springboard diving. San Yu of Maineiacs was the top qualifier in the preliminaries. Leighanne Hume also qualified, in eleventh place overall, behind Rebecca Norville of Newmanistan.

Kevin Stamps qualified in fifteenth with a time of 15:25.13 in the heats of the men’s 1500m freestyle. Bryan Patrick finished in twenty third and failed to qualify.

In what seems to be the best result of late for the Beretanians, both Crystal Milton and Lorette Shufflebarger qualified in the women’s 50m freestyle. Milton finished ninth with a time of twenty six flat, while Shufflebarger finished with a time of :26.01 in eleventh place. Agnes Rodriguez from the host nation was sandwiched between the two Beretanians, with a time of :26.01.

Lorette Shufflebarger, Christine Shipp, Genevieve Dawson, and Mercedes Rasmussen did their part to help Unified Beretania top the women’s 4x100m medley relay heats in another encouraging sign for Beretania aquatics.

Elsewhere at the Olympics, Ariddian Anaïs Reed won the women’s gymnastics individual all around, and a second Ariddian, Aliw Set, won bronze, all but solidifying Ariddia’s place in the gymnastics world and continuing their Olympic glory. Stacey Classen of Secristan won silver.
Just before the women’s individual all around, Fujisawan Ajitawa Yukatsuko collapsed during warmups and was taken to an area hospital where she was diagnosed with a mild case of acute appendicitis. Though she missed the individual all around, she plans to tough it out with no practice and minimal warmups in her remaining individual events after only a day and a half of rest, following surgery to remove her appendix.

Hayden Morgan of Jasīʼyūn won gold in the men’s individual archery finals, with Ellaro Niniar of Allanea winning silver, and Rrorhb o Greenwood of Bears Armed winning bronze.

The Olympic Committee management nursed their overpriced cups of hotel coffee as chef-de-mission James O'Donnell stared at the results in disbelief. "Ryan Beasley and Brad Feld? That pair of himbos got through to the next round? The guys who lost a match in Querzakhi because they were flexing and whistling at the female spectators?"

"Well, apparently, they are able to play beach volleyball quite competently when they aren't horny."

"Good God, I can't believe we're now hoping on those guys winning a medal."

"Would be tough. In fact any more medals, particularly gold ones, will be like squeezing water out of an almost-dry towel."

"What is that clicking sound?"

Eyes turned towards one of the support staffers attacking a newspaper with a pair of scissors.

"Don't want everyone to get upset about what the newspaper said..."

"Stop it! What is this, a bloody prison? As if we need to demoralise the athletes even more by cutting up all their newspapers! Argh, I'll be in the bar."

"Mr. O'Donnell... it's 10 in the morning."

"Your point being?"

Prux's Olympic Blog
(ooc: Haven't I clinched a qualifying spot? Because even if I lose my next match, I'm still ahead of Jasīʼyūn, and top 2 qualify right?)

Prux is halfway home and still around, even President Griffin hasn't been kicked out of UCS...yet.

Basketball—Women’s—Group Stage:
4-0 and a quarterfinal spot has been clinched, at least to our math, even there's no mention of it yet offically. The match vs. Secristan, one of the pre-Olympic favorites, almost clinches the Pool A title as well. Kimberly Jerrett, came off the bench and scored 17 to lead the team, and both Ann Gofman and Caroyln Fierra added 16 points each.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 19 20 23 21 83
Secristan 19 21 18 18 76


That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

The day 4 Olympics news report of Globo Multimedia is available (with Breno Gavião and Marcos Barbado):

This thing is what we call a "link" (http://www.savefile.com/files/1732495)

Day 08–16 A results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13928246&postcount=21) ‧ part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13928249&postcount=22)).

OOC: On post 6 of the results thread, it lists Ajitawa Yukatsuko (FJT) as qualifying for the women's gymnastics individual all around final with a total score of 77.413 but she was left out of the final. I just wanted to know what happened there.
Oops, I forgot that ties were possible and just looked at the first eight qualifiers listed.


(ooc: Haven't I clinched a qualifying spot? Because even if I lose my next match, I'm still ahead of Jasīʼyūn, and top 2 qualify right?)
Correct.

(Boxers: Chris Kaylin/Kevin Scott/Kyle Novak/Brian Gallows Stephanie Tucker/Lauren Courtney/Michelle Iverson)

Novak: I can’t wait to finally get started.

Kaylin: You already did.

Novak: Nah man, that guy was just a sparring match, there’s no way he is someone’s Olympian.

Courtney: Our media is really getting on us about being arrogant and conceded with things that we are saying and claiming it isn’t the Newmanistan way. What a load of crap. We’re the best in the world, and we’re backing it up.

Gallows: That’s right baby! I just figured out what day I will officially win my gold medal. Can’t wait to celebrate it.

Scott: Would you two stop.

Tucker: Yeah you know some of us have been put in tough situations, I have to fight a bear in a mask, Kevin has to fight in a first round where everyone else almost had a bye.

Scott: Even though I’m one of the best in the bracket coming in.

Novak: Screw it, let’s go out.

Gallows: Lauren and I will stay here.

Courtney: Hell yeah...

Scott: Anyway, yeah, let’s go.

(The boxers head to a local nightclub)

Scott: Haven’t been to the place yet.

Novak: It’s pretty cool, just one of the many places here.

Iverson: See you guys later!

Scott: Bye Michelle!

Novak: Look, over there, damn....

Scott: Hell yeah, gotta go get me a piece of that.

Novak: Looks like she’s got company though.

Scott: Who cares, that company ain’t got nothing for me.

(Kevin Scott approaches woman)
Scott (whispering to Novak): That guy looks a little familiar, I swear I've seen him somewhere before.

Novak: Maybe who cares, just get the chick.

Scott: (to the guy) You can be leaving now. Hey sweetie (girl looks at him and smiles), how about we go and dance.......

Novak: (to the guy as the guy looks upset): You don't want to mess with him, trust me, just go find someone else there's plenty of girls here.

Guy stands up....

Scott: Listen dude, chill, we don't want to make a big deal of this.

Guy: My name's Pierre and you ain't getting the girl, and I know you I've already kicked your ass once....

Scott: Wait, Pierre?! I believe we have a little unfinished business to take care of.....


(OOC: I've been spending too much of my Olympic RP time doing the long "Rocket Reports" when I actually enjoy doing this kind of RP more with athlete interaction, so expect to see a bit of slant now with me towards this kind of RP instead of the long reports.... I may just do those once a day or once every two days now and focus on this kind of RP more).

"...still goal-less and we're into the final five minutes...a really cagey game, one wonders, Geoff, if they're already thinking about penalties..."

"Indeed, Geoff...the Hummingbirds have not been humming today, after their sweep over Coocoostan the Krytenian team have been a much harder nut to crack..."

"A hopeful long ball forward there...oh, there's confusion in the defence and PEARSON IS ONE ON ONE!!! IT'S THERE!!!! ANNA PEARSON HAS SCORED!!!! EIGHTY-SIX MINUTES ON THE CLOCK AND WENTLAND TAKE THE LEAD!!!!"

"Oh, what a rick, Geoff, what a rick...the centre-halves left it to each other and and little Anna nipped in! But what composure, she sent the goalkeeper one way with her eyes and dinked it over her legs...now, can they hold on? Can they hold on?"

They could.

***

Lydia Costa was shattered. Emma Gayle had a suggestion. "Lyd, shall we just forfeit this match? It's only for bronze, after all, you've still got two golds to go for..."

Costa stared at her partner in disbelief. "You must be JOKING, Em! We've GOT to go for this...you can't give up a medal..."

"It's not so much that, Lyd, you know we're up against it here, you've a much better chance in the other events."

"Dammit, Em...I CAN'T let you down now, after I beat you in the quarters...you've got to get a medal from these games! It'll look good on the mantelpiece."

"Oh, Lyd...you're just so wonderful...quick kissy?"

"Go on then."

The pre-match smooch seemed to galvanize the women's duo. After a tight first set they romped home in the second to guarantee a rare badminton medal for Wentland.

And it got better for Lydia Costa. In the semi-finals of the singles - and the finals of the mixed doubles as the two Dis were swept aside. It was looking good, just like Lydia Costa.

***

"She won't grass us up."

"She might."

Siobhan Fogarty and Kate Lonergan were sitting in the athletics stadium, morosely, despite some unexpected Wentland success, with ex-wrestler Amelia Price hurtling the shot further than she had ever done before. Their credentials allowed them front-row seats and they were nicely hidden behind a Wentland flag.

"She will NOT. She'd be too scared."

"She's a little girl! She'd PROGRAMMED to grass! She's such a goody goody..."

"So we have to do this?"

"I don't think we have a choice..."

"OK, when?"

"Let's wait a bit. For one of the most boring events."

"Like the pole vault?"

"Perfect. They'll all be watching those idiots at the far end. When's it take place?"

"It starts in about five minutes..."

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/bcologosmall.png

In a less drunken state, Pierre might've tried to be more diplomat, or to negotiate something a little less violent.

In a less drunken state, Pierre might've not said what he was about to say.

"Ya want to get your ass handed to you again? 'cause I got no problem with that. Got no qualms making you squirm." He automatically adopted a fighting stance, slightly raising his fists. "Want to get your face broken right here?"

Kevin Scott laughed in his face. "You got quite some nerve. I admit, I was not in best form during our first fight. I am now. You'll cry like a little girl."

...

Harri was busy flirting with a cute girl when Iśmail tapped him on the shoulder. Annoyed, he turned around. "You're disturbing me. What is it?"

Iśmail pointed over to Pierre, who was facing a vaguely familiar guy with quite an aggressive look. "I think there's trouble ahead."

"Vittu! You get Seti and Eoki. I'll head over there and see what's up." He turned back to the girl. "Sarah, this is gonna take a minute. But I promise I'll be right back."

He strode over to Pierre. "Well, look at the two of you, all puffed up. What's the matter?"

Kevin snarled at him. "Keep out of this, or I can make you hurt, too."

"Whoa, easy there. Hey - aren't you the guy Pierre beat dur-" he caught the increasingly angry look on Kevin's face "oops. Wrong thing to say, I guess. Look, I dunno what your problem-"

Kevin interrupted him. "My problem? My problem is that I have his face still in front of me."

Meanwhile, Eoki, Seti and Iśmail had joined them. Kyle gave the newcomers a glance. "Why don't we let those two settle this all by themselves and keep out of this?"

Harri still tried to mediate. He had seen the looks of mixed annoyance and captivation on the face of the woman Pierre had flirted with earlier in the evening. "I see. Hi there. I'm Harri. Let me guess - these two both want to get to know you, and now they're all intent on duking it out over you."

The woman nodded. "Yeah, good guess. I must admit, I haven't had two guys fight over me literally. But I daresay there's some history...?"

Now it was Harri's turn to nod. "Indeed. Let's see... so, you two really wanna throw punches?"

"Yes," came the growled replies in unison.

"Then at least get outside where they aren't any innocent bystanders or furniture you might fall into." Harri grabbed both of them by their arms and firmly led them to the door. He smiled at the other clubgoers. "Ignore them, please. Keep on dancing. Sorry, comin' through. No need to look like that. Excuuuse me."
The three were trailed by their friends, and a few interested onlookers.

It's all about the sailors. Elena Charlton and Ulrika Ibaric finished the job in the womens' keelboat (Yngling) by winning the medal race, with their main contenders throughout - Stephanie Porter and Erica Durbin of Maineiacs, who were reliant on their national flag on their boat to distract their rivals - stuck in sixth in the medal race. And there was stunning gold in the heavyweight dinghy (Finn) for Sam Mills, who was behind both Thomas Rand of Maineiacs and Harry Bartolo of Krytenia going into the medal race but beat both to overturn the gap and take gold.

Keith Yaoragi was talked up for gold but ultimately was content with bronze in the 20km walk, behind Jaseuyeon's Herbert Arnold and Nikita Romanuk of Kanji Starter. 'I'm just delighted to have held off the bears at the end,' Yaoragi said with reference to Siggurr Thuleann of Bears Armed and Ffrehd ReBrrun of Roumberre, who were fourth and fifth, narrowly short of the medals. 'I think they just tired out because of their thick fur in the heat, or whatever it is.'

Tim Aorangi has been humiliated beyond belief in the mens' 10,000m, finishing seventh in his heat and not even making the final. The press seem certain to round on him, and he admitted that he was 'utterly complacent' and 'frankly a bit crap', refusing to blame a slight injury he picked up recently. He still has the 5,000m to go, at least, but he was utterly shown up by the completely unheralded hurdlers of Carlton Chilworth and Dominic Belletti, both of whom qualified from their heats of the 400m hurdles with some ease. And by Jules Burridge, who won his 3,000m steeplechase heat with the fastest time of any of them. 'In some of the other sports that's been a sign of potential gold, but I just had help from (Shmuel) Kimhi who was a great pacemaker, went out alone and just kept going.' Not a surprise really, as Kimhi is from that ultra-individualistic nation of Ariddia.

In the womens' 100m, a superb start. Regina Tinarek qualified third in a fast heat dominated by Michelle Rancourt, who made 11.08 look alarmingly easy, Tanya Obenjye edged out Allison Butler of Secristan in a photo-finish, but Mandee Fischer looked extremely comfortable running 11.27. 'I think any of us could make the final if we get it right,' Fischer added. Both Obenjye and Fischer set a faster time than the Candelariasian Ekah Ditto, although she won the slowest of the heats in 11.40. Michaela Scout leads the way in the womens' 400m and pulled off a remarkable upset by eliminating Brittany M. Wright of Newmanistan in the first round. She came second in 51.92 and was 'ecstatic' at her high-profile scalp. 'That's what you get when you're arrogant and believe you can do anything.' Wright had earlier finished second in her 100m heat in 11.33.

The womens' baseball team could not contain themselves as they defeated Secristan 10-8. 'You can't buy a team,' declared shortstop Iris Jackson, whose three-run homer won the game in the bottom of the ninth. 'Team spirit is a priceless commodity.' The mens' team, and both softball teams, were beaten in their matches, though there is no shame in losing only 1-0 to Newmanistan in mens' softball.

Nor is there any shame in being six-hundredths of a second away from making a final you were never expected to make. That was what teenager Fiona Parr faced in the womens' 50m freestyle, her time of 25.23 the ninth fastest. Charlotte McWhirter was not ashamed with her 25.35 despite being the fourteenth fastest. Gabriela Ramos took the last place with a 25.17. Parr, whose PB before these games was 25.60, says she is 'delighted' with how well she's done, and she is expected to be a lot more competitive next time, one of the few swimmers who might be.

There's always aquatic medal hopes in water polo, thoguh, and Kura-Pelland defeated Allanea with predictable ease, 6-2. They have now assured qualification with a game to spare.

The dregs of the gymnastics team, the mens' trampolinists, were nowhere near making the final, Thomas Lewis coming in 17th and JAmie Person 19th. Lewis was at least relatively close to the leaders compared to Person. Pressure is on GO K-P (Gymnastics Organisation of Kura-Pelland) to at least enter a proper mens' team to the next Games, if not a womens' team. But the body image controversy won't go away in Kura-Pelland, with the emergence of super-skinny pop star Janette Holton, who topped the charts this week with a dubious song complete with an even more dubious video involving her ballet dancing in see-through clothing. Kura-Pellandi TV network TeleNet are believed to be planning to make a programme about gymnastics and eating disorders, possibly with the input of PINA, the state-run broadcaster of Ariddia, the dominant force in world gymnastics.

(OOC: this is actually an offer to Ariddia, if he is interested in turning that into an RP thread of some description.)

Back to handball, and an agonising late defeat to West Pocono, 25-24. Two last-gasp goals turned victory into defeat and ensured the West Poconans qualify. Kura-Pelland are still not safe.

Kura-Pelland now have six golds, four silvers and seven bronzes, a total of 17 medals. The official team target of 13 golds and 37 total medals is back in sight; halfway through the Games, they are just short of halfway to their goal.

From a distance, Michelle Iverson and Stephanie Tucker notice what’s going on....

Iverson: Uh oh, look. ‘Bout to be a fight.

Tucker: Wait that’s Kevin and Kyle.....

Iverson: Oh boy... can’t they ever stay out of trouble. Let’s go watch.

Man: Come on girl don’t stop dancin’

Iverson: Sorry bud, have a nice night.

– Iverson and Tucker run out to follow the rest of the guys outside, where the action is about to take place. A bouncer for the bar originally looks as though he is going to try and keep it from happening, but Kyle Novak motions for him to stay back, telling him, “Just let these too settle a score man, they are trained fighters.” Reluctantly, the bouncer cooperates a steps back.

Novak: Alright let’s do it like its in the ring. Kevin, you wanted payback. Nothing dirty, let’s do it right.

Harri: Just like you did when it counted Pierre you can take him again! Keep it clean.

Onlookers begin to take sides and cheer for the person they want. The bouncer looks on as this is clearly unlike any fight he had ever seen at the club before. This wasn’t going to be a mass brawl, it was two men needing to settle a score as none of the friends of one of the men seemed to have any issues with the friends of the other, so he became more concerned with the keeping the onlookers in check. The girl they were fighting over seemed to be enjoying the fact that two Olympic boxers were about to duke it out over her. Michelle Iverson went over to her and began giving her the complete rundown of why these two men were angry at each other, though trying to make Kevin out to be better man.

Kevin: You got lucky that day I didn’t even know I was supposed to fight you until two hours before the match.

Pierre: No time for excuses now. (Offers to bang fists with Kevin to signal a start of a match)

Kevin: Let’s do this you’re going down! (Bangs fists)

Kevin takes a swing at Pierre and the onlookers shout a roar of approval. He connects. Pierre counters and connects. The teammates of each boxer look on and just seem to enjoy this moment. Some of the onlookers try to take pictures as they cheer. Olympic boxing, right here, in the middle of the night. The rematch was on....

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r56/kelchek/media/kbc-icon.gif

OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 16, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080816.mp3

“Good Luck!,” Karramarsar Ben wished his cousin Urravanna as she headed out to the finals of the Women’s Shot Put event. “I know that your ‘personal best’ for this event is almost a full metre over the best that you threw in the qualifiers, so if you can even get anywhere near that distance this afternoon — let alone beat it — you pretty good chance of winning: Let’s make this a pair of matching Golds for the Karramarsars in Shot Put, eh? I’ll be there to cheer you on, wearing both of my own medals — the one from Ashford as well as the one from here — for inspiration, along with as many of the others as I can round up… although of course some of our people have good reasons for wanting to watch those of our contenders who have decent hopes in other events: Rarrns Pawstrong in the Cycling, for example, or both of the “middleweight” Boxers, or the Women’s 75kg Weightlifting where we’ve got both Ulga Sunchild who’s the current national champion in her class and Rosa o Eastdale who was our only other gold medallist at Ashford… anyway, ‘Spirits Bless!…”


(OOC: Yes, that's right, Ben has now won the Gold for Men's Shot Put in two separate sets of Olympics...)


Rarrns Pawstrong, in the meanwhile was receiving even warmer wishes of success -- and promises about how a win on his part might be celebrated -- from Merryon White...

...and Siggurr Thuleann, having lost his last chance of winning an actual medal in these games, was studying a book on famous chess-players in the hope of ideas that would help him in the ffinal of the Chess-Boxing demonstration, even though that wouldn't take place until a week's time...

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Rowing
Pip! Pip! Hooray!
Francisco López in Columbia

Cafundéu, Roumberre, Baranxtu and the other two… we’re a-commin’ for yeh! Half-way through the third Olympic Games and Candelaria And Marquez is, or possible are, I’ve never been entirely sure, on the medals table – and it’s all thanks to one man and his boat.

Matching Michael Tegan, a native of one of the great rowing nations, almost stroke for stroke throughout, Di Alfonso native Pip O’Sullivan threatened a major upset and even poked briefly into the lead at the half-way stage. The Baranxtese Nemuri Imśitu Ahefani soon stretched ahead, creating a lead that his Krytenian rival would row himself to exhaustion in ultimately failing to catch from out wide. O’Sullivan continued his own race, leaving the Kelssekian Ken Amant trailing far behind, and very nearly – and suitably – pipped Tegan to the silver medal.

There proved little more than half a second in it, but O’Sullivan roar of delight at clinching the bronze told of the gulf between Krytenia and C&M in this event, and the sheer effort exuded by the Candelarian. Tegan and his nation were left disappointed with his efforts – for Pip and his, this was an unexpected way to get off the mark, and the cherry on top of an amateur career stretching back almost two decades.

“This is wonderful, this is just wonderful, it’s amazing, it’s, it’s, it’s, it’s everything, y’know, I’ve, I’ve, I’ve, y’know, this is, this bronze, this is justification for everything I’ve trained for, for so long, this is just… this is just wonderful,” O’Sullivan told TV2 before breaking into tears.

Surely now, Pip’s well-deserved success can be the breakthrough that rowing in the Candelarias has waited for for far too long. “There’s absolutely no reason why we shouldn’t be one of the top rowing nations in the world,” O’Sullivan’s team-mate Craig Ellis explained only yesterday, “it’s not as though we haven’t got enough water, for God’s sake… We need a victory in Columbia, or at least a medal, to show everyone that we actually have got the talent here, now we need the funding, the sponsorship… for years now, we’ve got none of that, and that’s crazy. Sailing’s got money, kayaking… it’s beyond me why we’ve been left behind for so long, so we’ve got absolutely everything to prove [in Columbia].”

This morning, then, nearly twenty years with every spare moment spent on Lake Wessex have paid off royally for O’Sullivan, who can now expect to become one of the Candelarias’ biggest sport stars – and his claims of a pending retirement before the Games look a distant memory. His place in the record books may be academic – Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad are guaranteed either gold or silver this evening after yesterday’s performance in the tennis doubles – but no-one will forget the name of the divorced father-of-two bank clerk from Di Alfonso. And he’s not even remotely Northlandish.

In theory, the COCACAMAO’s target of three medals could be wrapped up tonight, with Quintin Wright going in the individual pursuit final rounds in the velodrome and Tony Redway in that rather superfluous one with the guy on the back of a motorbike, as well as the Albrecht pair in the tennis. If they can’t do it, then the rowers might be able to over the next couple of days, with Anissa Lock and Kelsey Xureb two more potential national heroines in the women’s double skulls, and Ellis and Ryan Foley going in the men’s pairs.

Other Candelariasians took a step forward towards Olympic glory this morning, with Ekah Dikko through to the second round of the women’s 100 metres, winning her heat despite describing her performance as “utter cack”, while Bianca Forkel finished an impressive third in qualifying for the women’s trampoline. As for tonight, all eyes will be on the football field as the Medium Blues finally meet their Newmanistanian counterparts, while Emelina García’s women’s hockey squad tackle their Kura-Pellandi rivals in a match likely to be more violent than anything we’ve seen in the boxing.

Weee, isn’t this fun? I get paid for this!

A Team and A Dream. The Taeshani quest for a single medal.

Athletics

It was a somewhat good day in Taeshani athletics as Ryan Blackhorsefinished fifth in Heat 1 of the Mens 3000 Steeplechase. He qualified. In the Womens 100 M Stacy Kennedy, and CC Williams finishing 3rd in each of there respective heats qualified for the second round. And a Taeshani first in the Womens 400. The Knights have won there first Olympic race with Nicole Baker winning heat 7. Vern Bakeson-Reilly also qualified from heat 9.

Team Sports

It was a somewhta good day for the three team sports that are not under the heading of baseball. The Haandballl team fell and was knocked out of the competition with a 27-20 loss. In Mens Volleyball the group leading Knights defeated the Arridian Isles team in 3 straight sets, and finally in Water Polo the official Water Sport of Taeshan, the Mens team defeated the Kososove Blue Tornado 9-7 pretty much asuring the second round unless something weird happens.

Baseball

And finally it's time to talk about the Taeshani Baseball team. The Purple Knights tookon a fromer foe from the first couple of the WBC's Kura-Pelland. The Knights lost the game 4-2 in 9 innings. Hopefully with a 1-1 record so far they can win in the next game.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE


As the 2nd week begins, so does the push for medals for Qazox, as the first week of competition has ended in dissapointment, failing to medal in Tennis and Football. But this is a new week, and there still is hope.

Baseball—Men’s—Group Stage:

A upset loss for the men as they lose to Maineiacs, 4-1, on a walk-off Grandslam in the bottom of the 9th. Javier Blecha went 8 1/3 innings, but left with the bases loaded and Lonnie Cocke threw only 1 pitch, and it was lifted over the right field wall for the stunning upset win. Ted Rorie had a solo HR in the 6th to give Qazox a 1-0 lead, and the way Blecha was pitching, it seemed like that would be enough.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 000 001 000 1
Maineiacs 000 000 004 4


Handball—Men’s—Group Stage:
A blow-out today over Bluth Corporation 32-21, keeps the team's medal round hopes alive, as there is one match left. Since the top 2 from each group and the 2 best 3rd placed teams advance, Qazox is in a great position, as they have a 1 point advantage over the other 3rd placed teams, though on GD, Qazox is first in the group.

SCORE SUMMARY
T..B.C. 11 10 21
Qazox 19 13 32

Qazox Goals Today:
Clinton Villavicencio: 7
Christian Jowett: 7
Hugh Lafon: 7
Cody Parkey: 4
Kurt Curtis: 3
Darryl Longworth: 3
Jamie Ehrhardt: 1

Overall Goals
Clinton Villavicencio: 34
Christian Jowett: 27
Hugh Lafon: 26
Cody Parkey: 15
Kurt Curtis: 10
Darryl Longworth: 5
Jamie Ehrhardt: 1
Own Goals- 1 (Secristan)


Softball (Women):
A 7-0 loss today to Coocoostan, pushed the team to the brink of elimination. With only 2 wins, the team has so far underperformed these games, as the coach was hopeful for 4 wins.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Coocoostan 1 2 1 2 1 0 x 7


Water Polo—Men’s:
Trailing Ad'ihan 7-6 after 3 periods, and 9-8 with 3 minutes left, Qazox stormed back thanks to 4 goals from Jose Allgood, all in the 4th period; and won 10-9, clinching a medal round berth for the team. Only the final game remains, and a chance to clinch the top seeding.

SCORE SUMMARY
Ad'ihan 3 2 2 2 9
Qazox 3 2 1 4 10

Qazox Goals Today (Overall):
Jose Allgood: 4
Luis O'Keefe: 2
Bruce Lanham: 2
Howard Romero: 2

Overall Goals:
Bruce Lanham: 10
Howard Romero: 9
Luis O'Keefe: 6
Jose Allgood: 6
Danny Baptiste: 2
Russell Haber: 2


Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

Day 08–16 B results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13929468&postcount=23) ‧ part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13929482&postcount=24)).

A Team and a Dream. The Taeshani quest for a single medal.

It was a pretty good afternoon set. In Athletics Amy Owens, and Ute Geredfert both qualified for the finals of the 3000 Steeplechase, they will be the first Taeshani Athletic persons in any Athletic final. In Beach Volleyball sadly Joey Ghengis and Cilis Weringtons road ended with a loss, But the top Taeshani team of Mike Phish and Tyson Bradshaw recorded a win against the only team to have beaten them in an earlier race. They beat Kevin Cipriani and Shawn Henry of the hated Newmanistan. They made it to the round of eight with a 2-1 win.

Make a racket for Darren Lindfield and Richard Vallier, the latest Kura-Pellandi heroes! Their victory in the gold medal final of the mens' doubles - 21-12, 21-8 over the Parmansupol brothers of Maineiacs - is one to savour. It wasn't even close. 'I can't believe we won it so easily,' Richard said. 'We're two simple men who never complained about what we had, and here we are as Olympic champions. It's unreal.' Darren added that 'this was scary, knowing that one mistake can change the moment, one mistake can remain in your head for life... we didn't make any.'

In the same event in tennis Bill Couth and Teddy Innek missed out on another gold, losing 6-4 6-3 6-3 to Newmanistan's Brendan Hold and Michael Johnson, but their silver medal is still a fine achievement. 'Those guys just beat us in speed around the court, especially Michael,' Teddy remarked. 'But we did what we could and I think the true mark of their success is that every time they broke our serve it was with one or two superb shots.'

On the track, Scott Moreaux won the blue riband event of the mens' 100m - remarkably, by being the only man to break ten seconds. A strong headwind was blamed. The womens' 100m semi-finals will feature two Kura-Pellandis, Regina Tinarek (11.34) snatching third in her heat to sensationally eliminate Danielle Giles of Newmanistan, and Tanya Obenjye narrowly taking the final qualifying spot in a blazingly fast heat 4 with third in 11.25, just outside her PB of 11.21. Mandee Fischer missed out though with an 11.35, seventh in a mostly tight heat dominated by Misty Stripling of Green Wombat. In the womens' 800m, Helene Milton misses out on the final despite a not-unreasonable 2:00.32, good for sixth in her semi. She was still disappointed, saying 'I don't know if I had enough in me, but I wish I could actually give you an honest answer. But I didn't perform at my best so I can't.' Her PB is 1:59.59, which would have served her no better. Lisa Cottee ran a PB though, 9:32.15 putting her into the final as a fastest loser. 'Even if I'm in the final just to make up the numbers, I now want to go sub-9:30. It probably won't be enough to even make me look good, but it'll give me the feeling of satisfaction.'

In the indecipherable cycling track races, Sara Hoult, Bobby Knight and Jack Oulton displayed epic fail in the keirin, and Marc Harcourt didn't pick up many points in the points race, which Fran Ventoso dominated for his second gold of the Games. There was agony for Darren Medvedev of Krytenia in the individual pursuit, missing out on the gold medal final by just 0.038 seconds, then setting a time in the bronze medal final that would have won the gold medal final.

Humiliation for the hockey girls, beaten 3-1 by Candelaria And Marquez to leave them eliminated with a game to spare. A massive result to celebrate for the C&M team, but at least Kura-Pelland have many other successes.

Like Clayton Woollin and Peter Parcell in beach volleyball. We said before that they would lose their second round match - but they won it somehow, 19-21 21-7 15-13. (Yes, to the uninitiated, the final set of a beach volleyball match is first-to-15. Although you wouldn't know it from one match later in the day where the final set ended up 21-19 - another ended 24-22!)

Kura-Pelland are now tenth in the medals table with seven golds, five silvers and seven bronzes.

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Rowing
The new national sport
Francisco López in Columbia

CMSC football clubs, some of the wealthiest businesses in the country, get our taxes to spend on youth development. The CAMAO benefit massively from lottery money, and the likes of Ekah Dikko have never had to worry about financing their sporting careers. And as for cycling…

C&M field hockey, on the other hand, has had to build itself up from scratch relying on the meagre entrance fees to matches seldom watched by the dog, never mind the one man. And Candelariasian rowers, in their primitive little boats, struggle to juggle their preparation for events they might not even be entered into and real lives. For them, state funding is but a dream – hard work and perseverance is the order of the day.

Levels of self abuse among President Morton’s cabinet must’ve skyrocketed today. Truly, these are becoming the centre-right Olympics.

Hours after Pip O’Sullivan wrote his name in the history books, Candelariasian rowing teams have added two more silver medals to send Team C&M up into a tie for twenty-fifth place. More to the point, the COCACAMAO’s target for the Games has been half-way met – four medals are in the bag (or will be by tomorrow night, anyhow) – all they need now is that missing gold. And for all that the organisation’s bosses were grinning today, and as well they might, a simple irony remains – all three of the confirmed medal-winning entries were last-minute affairs that would not have even travelled to Columbia if Tommy Flowers had had his way.

The Candelarias have plenty of rowers, after all, just like we have plenty of archers and fencers and horse riders and wrestlers. But the COCACAMAO’s decree throughout was that no-one would be sent who didn’t have a chance. They’ll learn from that – it’s a curious fact that many of the better performing nations here enter massive teams including often hundreds of utter no-hopers – but it has likely been already to C&M’s cost? How many rowers were left at home because the COCACAMAO, in its infinite wisdom, decided that there was little point taking them?

Only after months of campaigning were the seven members of the team included in the final squad. And what a job they’ve done – every one of them comes away from Columbia with a medal.

Craig Ellis and Ryan Foley supply by far the most remarkable story – barely ten minutes after finishing last in the final of the men’s pairs they were back on the water alongside Nathaniel Oyler and Väinö Nieminen for the men’s fours and, lying fifth with barely fifty metres to go, discovered a superhuman burst of speed to push not only into the medal places but beyond the group from Bairsarmed. They would cross the line fully twenty second ahead of the bronze medallists, an extraordinary result that threatened almost to eclipse the performance of the gold winners.

They were Krytenian, of course; the team having an incredible afternoon in taking four straight golds bookended by silvers. But in their own way, Team C&M’s performances were just as memorable, and within minutes Anissa Lock and Kelsey Xuereb added a second silver after an equally dramatic comeback.

And yes, hours later, the Medium Blues were knocked out by Newmanistan thanks to a winner in the one hundred and twelfth minute. And did you notice? Honestly?

Rowing’s where it’s at, now. And field hockey, obviously. There’s always field hockey.

The music gives way to a voice deliberately distorted to give the illusion of distance, for more flashbacky goodness.

Voice: We're not a nation of sprinters. That may be where the glamour of the world lies, but endurance running is just as competitive...and I know I can do well.
Steve: Barnaby Pixal, commenting before the 10,000 meter run.
Yvette: But the day's results would be shocking to Pixal, along with many more of Zwangzug's fans of track and field.
Steve: Pixal finished fourteenth in a heat of twenty-one. Isaac Coalham, in the twenty kilometer walk, was eighteenth of thirty-nine.
Lily: Over far shorter distances, an altogether different story was told. Elliot Amavisca advanced to the semifinals in the 400 meter hurdles, Bianca Harroway won her 400 meter heat, and Melanie Anker qualified from a difficult heat in the 100 meter dash.
Darryl: Anker then progressed through the quarterfinals.
Yvette: Thanks for joining us today.
Melanie: You're welcome.
Darryl: Your success seems incongruous to some. How do you reply to that?
Melanie: At the highest level, all races are the same. There are different phases to each of them, and you run accordingly.
Lily: But surely in a hundred-meter dash, you're running all out, all the time?
Melanie: Well, obviously, if you can't do that for eleven seconds, you shouldn't be running that race in the Olympics. But the starting blocks? That's a different motion at the beginning than the final lunge at the end. There are incredible nuances to any race...but these tiny differences are what make them all the same. If you want to try and draw a line between the sprints, the distance, the middle...You start at the one place and you go to the other place. Or maybe you go around and back to the same place. They're all the same up here.
Steve: So, we can enter you in the marathon?
Melanie (laughing): Too late for that.
Yvette: Cameron Vadja won the first heat of the steeplechase.
Darryl: There's no mistaking Vadja on the track: he regularly soars above the competition, with high jumps that seem designed for maximum airtime.
Steve: Don't they hurt your time?
Cameron: You know, I have no idea. I've tried to race with smaller jumps, I really have. And it stresses me out so much trying to focus on that, I do worse. My philosophy is that I run for fun, and getting up there is the greatest feeling in the world.
Yvette: Did you ever consider entering a field event?
Cameron: Yeah...none of that ever went well. High jump, I'd want to jump far too early. Long, again, it's not a distance thing for me. But I'm a great runner too, uh...not to brag or anything?
Steve: Is this what we've come to?
Lily: No, we've been here a while. You are, indeed, an excellent runner.
Cameron: Thanks. Um, and just, the right mix of skills. So this works out.
Darryl: Finally, Barry Uggla completed an impressive two of three long jump tries successfully.
Lily: The women's baseball team had fallen behind 3-2 by the seventh, but rallied to beat the team of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea 4-3. Elisa Wolf somersaulted through the springboard diving semifinals, finishing sixth in the final.
Steve: Shannon Milstead and Lois Winter's goals were not enough for the field hockey team, losing 3-2 to Coocoostan and now eliminated. Insert cynical segue to cycling here.
Yvette: Darryl, do you have any idea what went on?
Darryl: Um. Lots of bike races, obviously. In the keirins, acceleration paced by a racer saw Zwangzug's competitors fail to advance, but gain a second chance to progress through the...aw, no, special characters.
Steve: Through a round that allows second chances to progress, at which the Zwangzug competitors failed also.
Darryl: Couldn't have said it better myself.
Yvette: Barack Thompson and Randall Hubbard were united in the first of those heats, and while Hubbard came third, Thompson finished last.
Darryl: In the points race, Saul Heinst picked up four points by being near the front of the nineteen racers at regularly scheduled intervals.
Steve: The winner, for perspective, had sixty-seven.

"Now?"

"Now!!!"

Siobhan Fogarty and Kate Lonergan suddenly charged out of their section of the crowd and darted for the steeplechase pool.

*Splash*

They were hoping no-one would notice and they could dart back out without causing too much of a commotion.

Unfortunately for them they picked the exact wrong moment to do so. Because the official broadcasters were busy demonstrating the obstacles used for the steeplechase and had a camera pointed right at the pool.

"Er...Fogarty..."

"What?"

"We're being watched."

Siobhan Fogarty gave a little squeak and tried to hide her head under her t-shirt top. Unfortunately her somewhat ample bosom and the tightness of the shirt meant that she ended up yanking her bra off and she ended up flashing the world.

***

"I have NEVER been so humiliated in my life..."

Siobhan Fogarty had turned bright beetroot as she was being marched out of the stadium, with giant scoreboard recording every move.

Kate Lonergan spotted a bystander. And grinned evilly.

"Until now?"

Fogary blushed into the infra-red.

"Errrrrr...hi mum..."

***

"Well...it's gold and bronze for Wentland in the keirin...but is that result going to stand?"

"I don't see why not, Geoff...there is nothing wrong with racing tactically..."

"The question is, Geoff, whether there was deliberate collusion or not...I wonder if we shall see a protest..."

"Let's look at the replay, Geoff...as you can see the Thomas twins are there at the front, one and two, as expected as the bell goes...and there Annabeth makes a sprint for it...the others try to follow, but Mirella moved up two lanes still at the fina pace speed, it put them right off..."

"She did not come into contact with any of them though did she, Geoff?"

"No, Geoff...Scheckter did in fact do so and she has been disqualified for that, but she wasn't in contention..."

"So there is no need for a further disqualification?"

"Perhaps not, Geoff, but with gold at stake you never know. As it is Mirella sacrificed her chances for her twin to retain her gold, and she was outpaced for silver in that final run, but she seems to be just as delighted as her sister..."

"Indeed, Geoff...we shall however wait to see what happens..."

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/bcologosmall.png

Harri, keeping an eye on the sparring men, went over to the girl in question and one of the Newmanistani women to give her the BCO side of the whole thing.

Meanwhile, the fight is getting much more intense. A few blow connect, but both Pierre and Kevin block the next few. Kevin manages to dodge the next, and connects with a brilliant counterattack, but it only makes Pierre to stumble backwards a step before he regains his posture. Of his next three blows, Pierre manages to make two connect.

The people are cheering. This was entertainment. Brutal, animalistic, but with excellent technique.

But as the fight progresses, the cheering dies down in parts. Blood splatters. It's becoming apparent that neither is willing to call it quits. Someone in the crowd murmurs "This isn't fun anymore! We oughta call the police."

The BCO guys shoot worried looks at the Newmanistani. As a particularly vicious punch of Kevin's connects with Pierre's nose, Harri edges over to them. "Damn, I think we let them go too far. Don't you think we should stop them?"

http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/2477/snpaperhb4.png (http://imageshack.us)

Bloke with girls name ftw!

He's done it again! Nearly a week ago Fran Ventoso secured gold in the men's road race and today he won gold in the men's points race. The gold came when he gained a lap on the field to secure 20 points of a total of 67 putting him 20 ahead of the silver medallist. To mark the occasion the government has declared all children born today must be named Fran thus ensuring a generation of manly men with girls names. And women with girls names but that's usual. The gold meant that the day was the most succesful day for the Sorthern delegation so far as Hiro Nakajuwima was also on hand to claim gold in the Keirin.

Nakajuwima started his day by easing to qualification the fifth heat. Max Melaten was also in the Keirin for the Sorthern team and was edged out by the rim of the tyre by Harold Sandersen. He was given another chance in the Repêchage but failed to grasp it as he finished in a poor fifth position in his heat. Nakajuwima was then on hand to destroy the field in the second round to take him to the final. In the final he was up against Tom Lorqvist of Krytenia. If anyone has been threatening to be more successful on the bike than us it is the Krytenians. Lorqvist was considered the main threat and for much of the race Nakjuwima stayed in his slipstream saving his energy for a burst on the final bend and home straight to win the race by nearly a whole bike length and add his name to the list of Sorthern medal winning cyclists.

Whilst Sorthern Northland dominated the point and keirin events the Men's Individual Pursuit was anything but a success. Niall Long was representing Sorthern Northland and found himself up against Trent Brownlee of Newmanistan. As soon as the nationality of his opponent was seen it was clear of the result he would get. But then it got worse. He didn't just lose, he was thrashed. More than three seconds was the difference at the finishing line. In the Women's Keirin, Kelly Brady and Madeline Savoy were also in disappointing form. Neither qualified from the heats and were then both placed in the same heat for the repecharge. Hopes for a Sorthern one-two were quickly washed away as Brady finished 6th with Savoy two places up in 4th. The embarrassment only got worse for the Sorthern Cycling Union when it was revealed that they had forgotten to register participants for the Women's Individual Pursuit. They were apparently confused as they had assumed Fran Ventoso was a woman due him having a girls name.

From the Series "COC List Stars for Columbia":

http://img186.imageshack.us/img186/6184/19879601072524103ea1ws5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
COC List Stars - Murilo Rosset (Handball)

No, we don't abandoned you, as you surely wouldn't abandon us, the editors of this magazine. So we continue to talk about our Cafundelenses athletes that are making an excellent job in Columbia, as Cafundéu is leading well the medal chart, thanks to good performances. And the others that aren't winning medals are at least doing their best, even when they create an accident during a cycling race and hear other cyclists shouting at them... that's why the poor guy is now heading to the Landau Institute to treat his extreme depression.

But now to what we intend to talk about, which is handball. We have two strong teams that are here to fight for medals, but their performances are being just average until now. Both the men's and women's team have been irregular during the competition, and most of the supporters are worried. In the men's case, the campaign so far has been a deception, and they'll have to play better if they really want to get the gold medal. They can still qualify in their group, even after losing twice.

Now we'll talk in more detail about our men's handball team, especially about the key player of the team, Murilo Rosset, who plays in the left wing. He is the top scorer of the team, and is responsible for many counterattacks of the team, thanks to his incredible speed. But, when he attempts a goal, he doesn't defeat the keeper using his strength. No, he is excellent at throwing the ball in the place where he wants, giving no chances to the goalkeeper, and that's why he is surely a special player. But of course he isn't the only top player of the team. From Eric to Tiago, Cafundéu has a very good team.

The women's team has a better campaign than the men's so far, but they have still to improve to be considered favourites to win the gold medal. They bet on speed to defeat their opponents, and due to that they lose many chances and make many missed passes, something that is driving their coach crazy and making their opponents happy. So, they must learn some tactics and moves to surprise the opponents and show that they know something more than just running.

So, although the Cafundelenses aren't being perfect in the Olympic handball, they have chances. The teams have good players and the sport is a popular one in Cafundéu, so they have many supporters. Most of the television channels of the country are showing the handball games, with nearly the same coverage of the football and volleyball ones, or of the swimming, equestrian and gymnastics. So, our players have the responsibility of making the ones watching them happy, and the only way that they can make this is winning games.

- GLOBO MULTIMEDIA -
Cafundelense medals in the 7th and 8th days

Swimming (women's 100m freestyle) - Natália Franco had high hopes of winning another gold medal, which would put her among the biggest swimmers of the history, but he ended in the second place, which is not bad, losing to Conlin from Newmanistan. Her performance so far has been outstanding.

Swimming (men's 200m individual medley) - Miguel Navarro failed in many events where he was good in, but in the medley (not his speciality) he was able to win a bronze.

Swimming (women's 200m breaststroke) - and the gold of the day to Cafundéu from swimming came thanks to Vanessa Alves, in the breaststroke. Usually in an event where fewer people pay attention, she now could show to her country that she is a top athlete like Natália Franco.

Fencing (men's team épée) - if in the individual competitions of fencing Cafundéu didn't do a good job, in the team ones the performance is being excellent and, once again, the Cafundelenses won a gold. One for all, and all for one!

Fencing (women's team épée) - what have we just say? Yes, fencing! The Cafundelenses team are simply incredible, and this time the women's épée team won the gold medal. It seems that, when united, the Cafundelense athletes make a force that it's difficult to be defeated.

Weightlifting (women's 75kg) - with many strong opponents, Jéssica Silva was unable to get the gold. But, pushing her limits, she was able to get a bronze medal.

Sailing (women's keelboat) - although the Laser and Star classes are the most famous ones for the Cafundelenses, the keelboat receives a lot of attention, and the supporters didn't know if they should be happy or deceptioned when our women won the bronze medal in this event.

Shooting (women's 25m rapid fire pistol) - the Cafundelense Army Lieutenant Aline Motta, taking her participation in this Olympics as a mission to her country, seemed dedicated to win a medal, and she could get a silver one, to honor her beloved nation!

Swimming (men's 50m freestyle) - finally Miguel Navarro was able to win the gold medal that he had dreamt for so long. He won many other medals, but this one is special, as it means that he won the fastest swimming event of the Olympics.

Swimming (women's 800m freestyle) - in this long event, Jennifer Assunção was able to show more resistance and speed than her opponents and win the gold medal, with a good margin over the second place swimmer.

Swimming (women's 200m backstroke) - in her speciality (and probably what before the Olympics would be considered Cafundéu's speciality), Vanessa Alves won the gold medal. Her performance in the backstroke was excellent, even with the fact that she won by a really small difference.

Swimming (women's 200m backstroke) - this is not a joke. Yes, it is the same event of the previous note! While Vanessa Alves was conquering the gold, Sarah Le Pascal was getting the silver medal for Cafundéu, in a brilliant finish. Maybe backstroke really is Cafundéu's speciality.

Shooting (men's skeet) - after a difficult personal battle against a JSY opponent, Marcus Vinícius Cadete won the bronze medal in the event.

Weightlifting (women's over 75kg) - an easy bronze medal for Márcia Testa, as the ones that finished behind her couldn't match her and the ones above her were too good.

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r56/kelchek/media/special/le-etoile-columbia08.png

PHILLIPE DESTRY WINS 100M BUTTERFLY

BRYAN DUBICEK
Sunday, August 17, 2008

The pessimists may have been right over the course of what has been, overall, a disappointing Olympic performance, but Phillipe Destry showed some real grit and determination to triumph in his specialty event, the 100m butterfly yesterday (Kelssek time).

Swimming in the outer lanes after nearly not making the final, nothing was going to stop him from winning his victory once he hit the water. He led the entire race and held off a late challenge from Kenavt's Connor da Vincho to touch first and win his first gold of the games. da Vincho would finish second and Nayani Balakitu Kimbehāŋi of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi and Otea third.

Interviewed following the victory ceremony, Destry confessed that he was fearing the worst.

"It hasn't been the best meet for Kelssek, our team really has had trouble with the intense competition but knowing what I had to overcome, the hard fight we've had, I'm so happy, it makes it so much more precious."

With three medals, one gold and two silver, Destry is Kelssek's most-decorated athlete at the Columbia Olympics. While that does say something about the kind of summer this country has been having in general - from these lacklustre Olympics to the hurricane whacking Haligonia and the federal government's employees all going on strike - it does speak volumes of the character of this young man especially after the criticism heaped on him in the early days.

And as the swimming programme completes and attention shifts elsewhere, let no one say that him or his teammates didn't put in their best.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE


More day 8? But of course!

Field Hockey—Women’s:

With the medal hopes already dashed, a win in either of the final two matches would do well for team morale, But a 2-1 loss to Maineiacs, leaves the team with one last chance for a victory.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 0 1 1
Maineiacs 2 0 2

Today's Goals:
Theresa Gordon: 1

Overall goals:
Theresa Gordon: 3
Edna Mardis: 1
Brandi Murillo: 1



Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

The Pool was not kind to Green wombat, as the Aquatic portion is over, and we still only earned 1 medal. But there's hope in Athletics and diving.

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Athletics—Men’s 100 m—Semifinals:
Nicholas Hilliard: 10.16
Justin Galindo: 10.32

Men’s 100 m—Final:
Nicholas Hilliard: 10.27 (8th)

Men’s Long Jump—Qualification:
Douglas Kruse: 7.58/8.03/7.90--8.03 (9th)
Martin McMullin: 7.91/7.91/7.86--7.91
Patrick Richman: NM/NM/NM--NM

Women’s 100 m—Quarterfinals
Misty Stripling: 11.01

DIVING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Women’s 3 m Springboard—Semifinal:
Sylvia Nyberg: 307.86/226.72--534.58 (4th)

Women’s 3 m Springboard—Final
Sylvia Nyberg: 226.72/344.13--570.85 (4th)

Prux's Olympic Blog

Only a few days left in the prelims for our team events, and we have a shot in Water Polo and Women's basketball for medals.

Basketball—Men’s—Group Stage:
A 90-67 loss to Valanora, eliminated the team from medal contention and the team is on the way home, but since not much was expected of them, getting a win is high praise, which is all they'll get.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 15 17 18 17 67
Valanora 30 21 18 21 90


Field Hockey—Women’s—Group Stage:
Not only did the team finally score a goal, they beat Krytenia 3-2 to earn their first win.

Score by Half:

Krytenia 1 1 2
Prux 1 2 3



That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

Valanora Times
Going Gold

On a very succesful day for the Valanora delegation, the country gets its' first two gold medals, doubling their medal count at the same time. Following up on the two bronze medals won by Julia Namath in the Women's 200 m Breaststroke and Neesa Surion in the Women's 200 m Backstroke, Mary Applegate took home the gold in the Women's Singles Tennis and Iva Angelotic took the gold in the Women’s 3 m Springboard. Also on this day, the Men's Football squad took down the Arridian Isles in the Quarterfinals, in a one-nil match that sees the side being just a win away from the gold medal match. The Men's Basketball moved to within touching distance of progressing into the next round with a large defeat over their Pruxian counter-parts.

Thus far into the games, its' been quite tough for Vanorians, with several of the atheletes finishing poorly in just their heats, and with the Women's Basketball side already eliminated. Add into that the failure of the relay teams, the entire Men's Tennis team, and the Women's Doubles, it's not been an Olympiad to enjoy for those back home or here in Columbia. Back as the second week continues to unfold, with the Athletics now coming into contention, where a large portion of the Vanorian delegation rests, the hope for a few more medals can be renewed.

For the footy side, they continued to be lead by the wonder sensation out on the wing of Ricardinho. He scored a magestic goal from the severest of angles in the thirty-second minute to put the Marauders ahead. The defence, lead by the Rapa of Chelmar, was then able to hold against the onslaught the Arridians brought in the second half, with second-half sub Angrod Minyatur clearing a free kick in the seventy-ninth minute off the line that looked to level things. They now face the dangerous Newmanistan side, who dispatched Candelaria and Marquez in their quarterfinal, for a chance at gold. With as much national team expierence, and the momentum the side has in being perfect, it should be a comfortable victory. Yet we all know that anything can happen in the Olympics, with many nations that Vanorians would of never even heard of having a whole collection of medals.

At the end of the day though, this entire expierence is about coming together as a world to celebrate competition. So despite the dissapointing results thus far, we should still be able to enjoy this Olympiad just as much as any other nation. Is that not what this competition is about?

Article by Ronilsan Oros

Day 08–17 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13931029&postcount=25) are now up. (the scorinator has clearly been bribed by micronations… :p )

To: Multiple undisclosed recipients
From: Luke EVANS <evans.luke@coia.ad>
Subject: Check it!

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b68/NSLE/NationStates/Picture2.png

Took that screenshot off SportSat's internet streaming feed of the medal ceremony yesterday for the women's tennis singles. We're all delighted for Martina, and she is absolutely chuffed to bits right now. Martina, Robert and François, as well as a few COIA officials, will be going out tonight to celebrate. Pictures to come.

Of course, we've still got to focus on the team events, as well as the triathlon, and Dani Thomas is in the semifinals of the 800m track event, so we're not losing sight of what we're here to do just yet.

Still, a medal is a medal and we're all absolutely in over our heads at bronze. The softball and baseball teams are both doing very well at the moment so we'll be looking to perhaps reach the gold medal event in either of those, hopefully. Michael Riley and David Faller also still to come...

Best regards from Columbia,
Luke

Luke EVANS
Chef-de-mission of Ad’ihan to the Games of the III Olympiad, Columbia, Unified Capitalist States
Member of the Comité national olympique pour les îles ad’ihanais

The fight was becoming long and drawn out. Neither man appeared to be getting the upper hand, and all they were starting to get to show for their actions were bruises and blood. Surely, the woman that they were fighting over couldn’t have a much of an interest now in a man in that condition. The crowd begins to either want the fight to stop or to see more combatants.

The BCO and Newmanistan contingents begin to exchange looks of wanting to jump in. Kyle Novak screams to Kevin, “Alright guys, that’s enough now, it’s done.” It’d have been nice if the woman had shouted the same thing, but she was one of the few people there who wanted to see more punches. Neither Kevin or Pierre wanted to stop, as this was about pride for one and redemption for the other. They both wanted a knockout. Harri leaned over to Kyle Novak and they agreed that it was time to separate them. While their friends were beating each other senseless, Harri and Kyle had seemed to get to know each other pretty well. Harri went to Pierre, Kyle to Kevin.

“It’s over, Kevin. Nothing you do now is going to reverse what happened in the first round, this has gone on enough.” Kyle said, with Harri seeming to say that same type of thing to Pierre. The woman clapped, and appeared to be ready to make her decision, but now, after all that fighting, Pierre and Kevin forgot what it was all about, originally. She walked up to them, though both boxers seemed to brush her off, which completely stunned her.

“Man I’m tired,” Kevin said to Pierre. Pierre nodded in agreement. Then, they shook hands. No, that wasn’t the purpose of the fight to begin with but that didn’t matter now. They each did what they felt they had to do, as men, and as trained fighters. In the process, they seemed to gain a respect for one another.

“Let’s go back in and have some drinks together. All of us.” Kyle Novak offered to both the Newmanistan and BCO boxers. The woman? She stood on the street, stunned, at what just happened. It was supposed to have been about her, wasn’t it?

Podcast up.

http://www.mediafire.com/?83nzgyofif2

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OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 17, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080817.mp3

http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d77/baranxi/Baranxtu/bcologosmall.png

So, a stalemate. It wasn't what he had expected, but Pierre had to admit, Kevin was a formidable opponent, and the performance in the official match must have obviously been a fluke. And now, the offer to go back for more drinks seemed very, very tempting.

"I think it's the winner's duty to pay a round." Harri smiled mischievously at Pierre and Kevin. "And seeing how we have two of those, I'd say the rest of us is pretty damn lucky." And before any objections could be raised, he quickly added "And the rest is also in the majority, and you're both just a bit too worn out to put up much resistance. So pay up."

Kyle grinned. "Excellent idea. Although, I'd say they both should get cleaned up first. You two look as if you'd just commited homicide."

"Guess they should've brought along some extra shirts." Harri and Kyle laughed together.
...
A little while later, they all had new drinks, and the two fighters, whereas still looking like hell, didn't look as scarily bloody anymore.

Once they'd gotten into talking, Pierre and Kyle got along astonishingly well. Sure, there were a few more or less subtle taunts, but this time, they were in a friendly spirit.

Kyle and Harri were also getting along fine, although at least the latter became a bit very jovial as the evening progressed. "Y'know... y'know what I think? I think, well, I think this evening could be the start for something... um... wonderful, is what I think. Y'know?"

Kyle smiled. "The one thing I know is that you are really, really drunk."

"Hello, and welcome to Olympic report, and today Wentland has won...nothing."

"Oh."

"There has been lots of action, though. Fran Middleton is through to the next round in the 110 metres hurdles and so are both track pursuit teams."

"Excellent. Any other Wentland performances?"

"The team sabre. They lost heavily."

"Ah. Anything else?"

"No."

"Really?"

"No."

"Err..."

"Hmm..."

"What shall we talk about?"

"Errrr..."

"Can you do origami?"

"No."

"Oh."

"There was a lot of water polo today. Shall we talk about that?"

"No way. It's cruel."

"How so?"

"Those poor horses. They might drown."

"They use sea horses."

"Really? Oh!"

"Let's look at the results...hmm, men's three position shooting...what are the three positions?"

"Lying down, standing and sitting on a revolving chair. It's a test of balance and precision, the chairs are rotated so they have to hit the target whilst on the move."

"Sounds fun."

"Not really, three spectators died after a Secristan athlete went a bit mad."

"Keep him away from the javelin then."

From the men's single sculls...
"....into the last three hundred of the race, Ahefani has blown this field away! Completely unheralded, the Baranxtese sculler has left them behind, O'Sullivan second, but the Krytenian is chasing! Up goes the stroke rate, Tegan pushes, O'Sullivan pushes back, and Tegan is coming through! Tegan going past, going past, one fifty, push, push, go on! O'Sullivan is fading! It's Ahefani, Tegan, O'Sullivan! Here...they...come!!! Ahefani gold, and silver for Michael Tegan! A strong start to Saturday here on the water, and let's not forget a first medal at these games for our friends in Candelaria And Marquez!"

From the women's single sculls...
"...a blanket finish for silver, stroke for stroke, Errhabarra, Young, Herzog! The Ursine with that huge burst of power, but the stroke rate slower. Young in second at the moment, here comes Errhabarra though! coming to the line....Bears Armed! Maineacs! And Herzog in fourth, what a shame for young Jennifer Herzog..."

From the men's double sculls...
"...and it's going to be more disappointment for the Krytenian crew here, Smythe and O'Malley will win gold for the Maineiacs, AND KELSSEK ARE CATCHING! Can Krytenia hold them off...? Here comes the line, and it's Gold Maineiacs - oh! That's a photo, but I think that Isaacs and Rickardsson have just snuck the silver!"

From the men's pairs...
"...home stretch now, and the Krytenian pair are holding off the opposition well! Come on, one more push, one...more...blast...it's going to be gold! It's going to be gold! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES! LEONARD BIANCHI! ELTON BLUMER! GOLD MEDALS! YOOOOOOOOOOU BEEEEEEEEEAUTIES!!!"

From the men's fours...
"...and this has been a lesson in rowing from the Krytenians. It's them, it's eight seconds, then it's the next boat! They are slowing down, relaxing, they are going to win it at a canter, and it's not even close as they cross the line! Gold to Krytenia, and here come the silver....now. Candelaria And Marquez silver, six seconds the gap in the end...and eventually, Bears Armed will cross the line for the bronze medal, and they will be bitterly disappointed with their performance."

From the women's double sculls...
"...Where is everybody? Krytenia the only pair in the shot as they come to the line! This is world class scullling! This is the perfect race! They cross the line for gold, and there's a real fight for the silver behind the, but we don't care! Three in a row for the rowers!"


From the women's pairs...
"...Krytenia, Baranxtu, Baranxtu, Krytenia, stroke for stroke, neck and neck, last hundred metres now! Krytenia push, Baranxtu react, but they can't hold it! Here! They! Come! YEEEEEEEES! COOOOOOOOME OOOOON! LANSIVUORI!!! GILARMI!!!! THEY HAVE DONE IT!!!!!! FOUR GOLDS IN THE ROWING, WHAT A DAY FOR KRYTENIA!!!!!"

From the women's fours...
"...and Ja Si Yun will win this, they are not going to be caught now! It's been a consummate performance from the co-hosts, but it will be second for the Krytenian quartet! Well done girls, another good medal performance, and another medal for Maineiacs as well as they get bronze."

"The final, then, of the mens one hundred metre sprint. Scott Moreaux carries the hopes of a nation. The lane line-ups then: Balter of United Beretania in lane one. Hilliard of Green Wombat in two. The Kennian, da Vincho, in three. Moreaux in four. Gabiru, Cafundeu, in five. Larii of Serviats in lane six. Berry of Sorthern Northland in lane seven, and Burczak of Sercistan is in lane eight."

"To your marks."

Settling down to the blocks, then. The men's sprint final.

"Set."

BANG!

"Away first time, great start from Burczak in eight and a decent one from Moreaux. Moreaux turns on the power and Larii with him! Scot Moreaux hits the front, Burczak holding on on the outside! Still Moreaux and Larii comes through as well! Moreaux! Larii second as they come to the line! Scot Moreaux dips his head...AND HE IS THE OLYMPIC CHAMPION! THE RED ROCKET GOES GOLDEN! Larii with the silver, and Burczak's supreme start wins him the bronze medal! The Blue Riband is sky blue for Scott Moreaux!"

"And here's the rest of the rest of the Day Nine news."

Football: Krytenia were crushed 5-1 by the Cafundeu team in the quarter-final of the men's event, and miss out on a medal.

Athletics: Three no-jumps ended Kenny Usher's competition in the men's long jump qualifying, as none of the Krytenian jumpers got to the final, whilst neither Iris Maddox ar Sammi Reddy will emulate Moreaux as neither made it to the 100m semis. The women's 400m, however, will see Antonia Angloma going for a place in the finals, as she finished second in her heat to qualify safely.

Basketball: The Blue Hoops are quietly getting on with things in the prelims, the men's team going three for three with an 80-70 victory over the hosts. One more win will see them competing in the final stages.

Boxing: Two more disappointing performances from Krytenian boxers means no more participation in the light-fly or middleweight events.

Cycling: Tom Lorqvist battled to silver in the men's keirin; however, he only managed six points in the points race later in the afternoon, finishing equal tenth. Darren Medvedev scored a bronze in the pursuit to finish a decent day at the velodrome.

Table Tennis: The Barcali brothers are in the semis of the men's doubles, beating their opponents from Ja Si Yun in five games. They will meet Bai and Bao of Maineiacs for a place in the gold medal match.

Volleyball: Rheeder and Wulf advance to the quarters of the men's beach volleyball after a stylish win over the Taeshani pair which was well-received by the crowd.

Krytenia leap to sixth in the standings today, after increasing their gold haul to nine.

OOC:
-women's baseball has a column of zeroes in Group A, between wins and losses. Is that for draws? There's no tying in baseball! :tongue:
-women's track team pursuit (cycling) has eight qualifiers, like the men's, but no ranking or first round matchups.

From the Series "COC List Stars for Columbia":

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/3128/1936328980f2e1e85ee4dd9.jpg (http://imageshack.us) http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1204/86204731xi0.png (http://imageshack.us)
COC List Stars - Ana Paula and Viviane (Football)

You didn't think that we were going to forget football, did you? Well, of course not. We, the editors of this magazine, could never forget to comment about the most followed and practiced sport of Cafundéu, the one that motivates people, arguments and friendships. But, as the World Cup is coming closer (by the way, follow it in Globo Multimedia, which is our partner!), and in Cafundéu, we think that it's better to comment about our women's National Team, a team with a lot of talent and capable of winning the gold medal in Columbia. (On a different note: soon it'll be available the audio file with Marcos Barbado [Portuguese] and Breno Gavião [English] comments of the game against Qazox!)

Our women's football team is full of talented players, clearly proving the fact that football isn't a "men's sport", like many people say in our country, sometimes even showing some prejudice against the women that practice it. No, football is a sport for everyone, women, men, young people, old people, right-wing, left-wing, Petardos S/A or Cafundó do Juta supporters. In fact, in Cafundéu football is one of the few things that can approximate such different people, making then unite, even if it's just for a moment, in the 90 minutes of the game. So, in our country, this is more than just a sport. There are football competitions for everyone: students, royalty, prisoners, public employees. children, bocce players...

Returning to our football girls, they are already in the semifinals of the competition, after defeating Qazox, one of the favourites, in a difficult game. So, now Cafundéu is clearly seen as one of the biggest contenders for the gold medal, and the team has just to win two more games to do so. And the team seems strong enough to conquer this title. Karen is secure in the goal, our defenders Bia and Mariana Fernandes have the responsibility of blocking our opponents, while Ribeiro is our heading queen, our wingers Íris and Mariana Borges start the most deadly counterattacks, Alessandra gives support to the defence, Fernanda is our best set pieces taker and Tathiana is an opportunist who can score many goals.

We talked about nine of our starting players... so how about the other two? Well, the best is for the end. These are considered the two best players of the team, the offensive midfielder Ana Paula and the striker Viviane. Ana Paula, who plays for Internacional de Penderia (team more famous in women's football than in men's), is the assists leader of the league, and very intelligent when creating plays, helping the team to score many goals with her excellent play vision. Viviane is the truly deadly striker of Cafundéu. Playing in Central United's women team, she is an amazing dribbler, and her shots usually give no chances for the goalkeeper. She really is looking to win the title of best player of the Olympics.

And what about the Monopolists? Can our "B" male football team win the gold medals in their event? Of course they can. After all, nearly all of our opponents aren't using their main teams too, and we're using a team full of talent too, including some players that are going to be called by Eduardo Bosschaart for the next World Cup, as Marossi and Kardec. Now, the team is already in the semifinals, with two games separating them from the gold medal. Currently our top scorer is being Hubert, something that surprises many supporters, that were expecting to see Fausto or even Marossi leading the team in the competition. So, don't forget to continue following the Olympic Games, while we bring to you the news about our athletes!

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 9 Action.... NOW!

Athletics—Women’s Marathon:
Kylie Wasnikski, set a new Qazox record finishing in a time of 2:33:37, but that wasn't enough to even crack the top 10, as she finsihed 11th, almost 7 minutes behind the winner. Maria Destrades was 23rd with a time of 2:36:46, while Pauline Therrien dropped out after 9 miles with severe leg cramps and did not finish.

Baseball—Men’s—Group Stage:

The Qazox B-Baseball team is getting killed in the Olympics, as they lost to Newmanistan 9-0, only managing 2 hits. With only 2 games left, they need to win both by impressive margins to have any chance at a medal.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 000 000 000 0
Newmanistan 030 411 00x 9


Softball (Women):
A 5-1 loss today against Nuevos Aires, keeps the team's slim medal round hopes alive, with only one game left and a 3-4 record. Alejandra Ginsburg's 3-run HR in the 5th broke up a 1-1 tie, and Marci Redman hit another HR to provide the final score.

SCORE SUMMARY
Nuevos Aires 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
Qazox 0 0 1 0 0 4 x 5


Water Polo (Women):
A 8-5 loss to Bluth Corporation eliminated the women today. A 2-3 record was better than most expected, and hopefully in 4 years, they could contend for a medal.


SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 1 2 0 2 5
T.B.C. 0 3 2 3 8

Qazox Goals Today:
Lilia Lueders- 1
Allyson Folts- 1
Lorrie Blackstone- 1
Marylou Coots- 1
Margery Nolley- 1
Louisa Damian- 0

Total Goals:
Allyson Folts- 11
Lilia Lueders- 9
Lorrie Blackstone- 5
Margery Nolley- 3
Marylou Coots- 3
Louisa Damian- 2


Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

as Team and A Dream. the Taeshnai quest for a single Medal.

Most Sports

In Athletics the Taeshani fans were stunned when the Purple and Gold got to runners into the semis of the womens 100 hurdles. Jessica Ownes finished 4th in Heat 2, and Nicole Baker continued her good olympics with a 2nd in Heat 4. In Lacrosse the team was knocked out by Secristan with a 12-13 loss. Rowan qwarant led the team with 6 goals. in womens indoor Volleyball the teams road ended with a loss to Gerania.

Baseball

The Team got its second win in 3 games beating Cafundeu 2-1. The Monopolists were no match for the powerful Purple Knight team who left um out to dry after the Mono's had a 1-0 ledad. Socki Lewis slammed a homer with Zoey Mengien on base. they won 2-1.

THE MONASTIC TIMES
OLYMPIC SPECIAL EDITION

POOR PERFORMANCES SCUPPER MEDAL CHANCES
Monastic Olympic Committee 'Encouraged' by Failures

By Fr. Nicholas the Scribe

As Olympic action continued to heat up in the second week of competition, a succession of poor results saw the Archregimancy continue in their abject failure to win a medal.

Officials from the Monastic Olympic Committee were said to be 'encouraged' by the failures. "In the first summer Olympiad" said a senior archimandrite, speaking on condition of anonymity "we racked up a series of surprise results, and had one of the best success rates of any of the Olympic competitors in terms of medals won per number of participating athletes. This was clearly unacceptable. Orthodox monks don't set out to win transient rewards in this life, like Olympic medals of gold, silver and bronze; instead they set out to win the eternal rewards of the life to come after the Day of Judgement. That's why our abject failure in this Olympiad marks such a step forward."

Signs of that failure were easy to come by over the weekend. First of all, Fr. Hellius failed to reach the final of the individual dressage. Fr. Nicodemus failed to follow up on his remarkable qualifying performance in the single sculls, coming a welcome sixth in the final. Fr. Stephen failed to get out of the heats of the 100 metres. Fr. John the Far-Runner failed to qualify in the 10,000 metre heats. Fr. Just could only finish 12th in the 20km walk, one of a couple of events where the Archregimancy inexplicably holds the current Olympic record, after he stopped for a 'contemplative prayer' while leading after 17km. Fr. Onesimius also failed to qualify in the men's trampoline, but that result, at least, was widely expected.

A rare note of disappointment for the MOC came in the Archregimancy's signature event, the 3000 metre steeplechase, where all three Archregimancy participants made the final. "We were hoping that Fr. Marcian at least might fail to qualify" said one anonymous source close to the team "as now there's a real danger of a highly unmonastic and non-humble clean sweep."

Given that most steeplechase qualifying times were some 30 seconds behind Fr. Athanasius the Leaper's Olympic record, there's a real danger that the heathens and heretics from opposing teams might fail to stop the Archregimancy from winning their first medal of these Olympics.

After a Disappointing Start, Illrawqi Boxers are Beginning to Come to Their Own

4 of the Illrawqi boxing competitors have remain in the competition after a tough opening round, in which several of the athletes suffered from difficult match making and heart wrenching losses.

Illrawq, the young nation participating in its first Olympiad, will be sending Assad Moghadam, Ali Abu-Bakr, Zakkaria Basara, and team captain, Salim Abdul-Rahim, into the next round of competition. Coach Talib Sulaymon was very proud of his teams performance in the first round, saying, "I have only seen good things from my team thus far. Some of the matches didn't end how we wanted them too, but I am still very proud of them." In opening matches, six of the Illrawqi matches were decided by five or fewer points.

Perhaps the most impressive of all the Illrawqis, was the 18 year old Abdul-Rahim, who wowed those in attendence with his technical, elusive style with a 38-8 rout. The featherweight cruised, frustrating his opponent, with slick counter punching and a brilliant display of footwork, landing at will often before his opponen could even get started. "I am happy with my performance," said Abdul-Rahim, "But cannot be satisfied with just that. The goal is the gold, and the struggle continues."

Bantamweight Ali Abu-Bakr won a thrilling bout, 23-22, against a very game Julian Kerensky, from the Maineiacs. The two engaged in a very back and forth battle, but it was Abu-Bakr, with a last minute flurry, to end up on top. "It was not how I expected," a weary Abu-Bakr told reporters, "but I will take the win. I hope to perform better for the fans in the next round."

Other Illrawqi victors include Light Flyweight Assad Moghadam held off a very game Marcos “Ceará” Ananá from Cafundéu, winning 33-27, and Light Heavyweight Zakkaria Basara took a 22-14 match versus Romeu Cunhado Miserado, also from Cafundéu.

Day 08–17 B results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13932958&postcount=26) · part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13932964&postcount=27)).

"Good evening and welcome to the Olympic Roundup. I'm Alan Eagle, and we have some medals to report for you tonight. We also will recap yesterday's events, as this show was not seen due to football matches."

"First, let's cover yesterday's action. In the Men's 10000 meters race, Matt Ronkainen qualified for the final after finishing 4th in his heat. In the Women's 100 meters, Sara and Dana Paulsen both finished 4th in their respective heats, but both failed to qualify for the second round. Danica Dixon fell, but Gina Seeman won her heat in the Women's 400 meters with the best time in the field. Lucy Newman failed to qualify for the Women's Pole Vault final. Ernest Gribble finished 48th in the Men's Long Jump field, well out of contention. Gina Seeman qualified for the Women's 400 meter semifinals after finishing second in her heat. Emma Rahman followed that up with a quick time in the Women's 800 meter semifinals, making it to the final."

"The action continued in team Foil, where the men beat Secristan 45-31 in the first round but fell to Jasīʼyūn 45-17 in the quarters. The women had better luck, beating Cafundéu in the quarters after recieving a bye in the first round. They fell to Roumberre 43-42 in the semis, but beat Maineiacs 42-40 to claim a bronze medal. Cycling saw Theodore Bosch fail to advance to the Men's Keirin finals, while Charles Moncrief finished a distant fourth in the Men's Points Race. Emma Aarnio just missed out on a Women's Keirin medal."

"The sailing action got underway, with the Women's Keelboat team of Samantha Neilson and Elise Johnson finishing 10th in the final. Jasmine O’Connell finished 5th in the Heavyweight Dinghy contest. In middleweight boxing, Cain McDaniels defeated Timothy Escritt 20-15, while Jeanne Torvalds beat Atefeh Nyerere after the referee stopped the contest due to injury."

"Lisa Cooper finished 18th in the Women's 25 meter Rapid Fire Pistol qualification, missing out on the finals. Moving to swimming, Adam Brodie failed to advance to the Men's 1500 meter finals, finishing 12th overall. Tara Wilson came 13th in the Women's 50 meter Freestyle semis, missing out on the final."

"Diving saw Mary Bollea go to the 3 meter springboard finals, where she finished in 11th place. Tennis saw the dream come to an end for Princess Anna and Denise McCormick, as they lost to Kristen Connolly and Chrissy Thornton 6-0, 6-0 in the bronze medal final."

"With that in mind, let's cover today's results. In athletics, Lisa Castle finished last in her 100 meter hurdles heat, failing to advance. Lisa Young came 34th in the Women's Marathon. Kevin Richards failed to qualify for the Men's 1500 meter finals, coming 8th in his heat but just a second away from the final. In the Men's 10000 meter final, Matt Ronkainen brought home Asteran's second silver medal, finishing the race four seconds ahead of third place. We'll be talking to him later on. Chris Helmsley failed to advance to the Men's High Jump final. Gina Seeman continued her run of dominance in the 400, advancing to the final with the co-fastest time. Eve Sheldon advanced in the Women's 400 meter hurdles, coming in 4th in her heat."

"Scarlet O’Driscoll lost her Heavyweight Boxing quarterfinal bout against Denna o Barrdenn 28-26. Cycling saw Ross Styles fail to advance to the first round of the Men's Individual Sprint, while Candace Morgan advanced to the first round, lost to Fina Tonton, won in the first repêchage round, and beat Jennifer Garvey in the second round to advance to the quarterfinals, where she will face Martine Beltran."

"The Men's Sabre team beat Krytenia 40-38 in the first round, but lost to Bears Armed 42–36 in the quarterfinals. In shooting, Sergeant David Calaway qualified for the Men's 50 meter 3 Positions Rifle, them proceeded to win bronze in the final."

"We go to Sally Brown in Columbia, where she is joined by Gina Smith, Dana Caruso, Grace Weber, Matt Ronkainen, and Sergeant Calaway for interviews. Sally?"

"Thanks again, Alan. Matt, we'll start with you. How does it feel to be the second silver medallist?"

"It means a lot less pressure on me. Being the second means that nobody remembers you."

"I see. Does the fact that the two silver medallists are Kapi put more pressure on everybody else to perform?"

"Not at all. I think that it shows the Kapi have built a good system, but non-Kapi athletes have more medals than we do. If more than one person from Asteran were in our events, I think they could beat us."

"Thank you. Sergeant Calaway, we'll go to you next. Did Fawn Andrews's medal inspire you?"

"In a way. She just missed a medal in Three Positions like I did in Prone, so we both wanted to prove ourselves in our respective final. And we both did."

"Did she give you any advice?"

"She did. After I made the final, she told me to just focus on getting good shots off and not try to go for broke. I just concentrated on getting shots on target and it got me a medal."

"Thank you, Sergeant. Ladies, we'll go to you first. After not winning an individual medal, does it feel good to win a team medal?"

"It does. It shows that we can work well together, even if we had to come off the disappointment of losing our individual matches."

"Would you rather have won individual medals?"

"You always want to win, but getting this makes up for it."

"Thank you. Alan?"

"Thank you, Sally. We'll be back tomorrow with results and interviews at the same time. This has been Olympic Roundup. Good night."

(Random conversations going on across the delegation)

I. Boxing
(Kyle Novak/Brian Gallows, Lauren Courtney/Shannon Marshall/Michelle Iverson)

Courtney: Brian, what happened baby? How did you lose?

Gallows: Don’t worry sweetie, it’s a great day.

Novak: Why are you so happy with having lost?

Iverson: Yeah, really, what gives?

Gallows: Look at this (shows his friends a check for an enormous amount of money).

Novak: Where did that come from?

Marshall: Don’t tell me you took a bribe.

Gallows: And this (another check for a huge amount of money). Lauren, when we get back home, we’ll have some fun spending this.

Courtney: Well that’s great, but how?

Gallows: You guys know how all the Secristan people are like, loaded, financially, right?

Novak: Well, yeah.

Gallows: Well Tom, myself, and the Secristan Department of Gambling came to an agreement. I would tank the fight. Tom would give me 5 million rusas, that’s what that one check is. Then the Department of Gambling would give me an additional 5 million rusas since I was such an overwhelming favorite, the casinos made a ton of money with Nolte. Then, in a month or so, I’ll have a rematch with the guy in Secristan, and Nolte will return the favor and take a dive for me in the second round.

Courtney: You’re so smart. Maybe I will run into a Secristan fighter too.


Gallows: Yeah I mean screw the gold. I don’t really care, I just made 10 million rusas, and those exchange very well with gold coins.

Iverson: I can’t believe that you would tank your Olympic dream for money.
Gallows: It’s alright, it’s never been a big dream anyway. The bigger dream was getting rich quick, the sooner I can retire from boxing the better.

Courtney: Let’s go celebrate now!

Marshall: What if like, people find out?

Gallows: Nothing will happen. It’s Secristan money. And we know how favorably they look towards this kind of thing. I might be ridiculed a little bit but I don’t really care.

Novak: Man, this isn’t the kind of thing they had in mind when they first thought up the Olympic concept way back when.

Gallows: Olympics.... bribes.... scandal, the words are all synonymous anyway.


II. Swimming
(Jennifer Conlin/Lauren Biron, Dave Perotti/Nate Compston)

Biron: Ok now this sucks there are no more events left.

Perotti: Yeah, it’s all over now. What a time we had, huh?

Compston: Yeah, it was fun. I’d love to have some rematches with some of these opponents we had, what a great experience to have gone up against the world. I’m so honored to have two medals to show for it, and I know you can’t get enough of your two golds.

Perotti: You’re right, I just can’t get enough of them. So how do you think we all did as a team here.

Biron: Kinda good kinda not so good. I mean we won a lot but some people like Jennifer were supposed to win a lot of medals.

Conlin: Gee thanks, Lauren.

Biron: I’m sorry I don’t mean it like that.

Perotti: It’s ok, we know that a lot of the things that come out of your mouth don’t always come in the way you meant.

Conlin: You’re right though, we left a lot on the table. We did very good in spots, and not as well in others.

Compston: I would give us, maybe a C+ as a team.

Conlin: That seems fair.

Biron: Well Dave gets an A. He has two golds. I don’t know what to do know with myself for the rest of the time, I think I have seen every dance club now.

Conlin: And that’s when we were competing. I can only imagine how drunk you’ll be getting now.

Biron: Ok, honestly, who here was drunk during one of their events?

Perotti: Uhm, not me.

Compston: Not me.

Conlin: Nor me.

Biron: Oh come on you can admit it.

Perotti: Sorry Lauren, I take it you were.

Biron: Yeah I was in the one relay final, I think that’s why my time was a little off.

Conlin: Gee thanks for that Lauren.

Biron: Whoops I probably shouldn’t have said that with you here.

Conlin: It’s alright, we knew you were drunk so it’s not news to me.


III. Gymnastics
(Tara McCallion/Julie Harding/Jessica Anderson)

McCallion: Yay Jessica!

Anderson: Thank you, thank you.

Harding: I was afraid we might get shut out here and that would have been pretty embarrassing, you saved us.

Anderson: It’s great to win the gold, you all helped me with it so I want both of you to take as much pride in this victory as I am.

McCallion: So will you let me wear it sometimes.

Anderson: Sure, why not. I trust you.

Harding: Do you think the media will be hard on us when we get back home?

McCallion: If they are, we can tell them to go you know what themselves. They only care about gymnastics during the Olympics anyway.

Harding: Yeah, we’ll just have to remind of that fact.

Anderson: Yeah I love how that ignore a sport all year for 3 years and then all of the sudden it’s time for the Olympics and all of the sudden all of these so-called experts come out of the woodwork. Don’t worry girls, just because I have our lone medal, I’ll always have your backs. (Group hug follows)


IV. Association Football

(Jeremy McAllister/Jeremy Brooker/Brian Carson)

McAllister: Hey coach, why did so many nations send “B” teams to the Olympics?

Carson: Oh, it’s pretty simple really.

McAllister: Why’s that?

Carson: So they can use it as an excuse for not winning a medal because they couldn’t rely on World Cup rankings in the Olympics.

Brooker: Damn man, that was blunt.

McAllister: It’s probably true though, and to lessen the accomplishment of what teams like us are doing here.

Carson: Exactly. We’re semifinalists boys, two more wins for a gold medal.

McAllister: Let’s do it!

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

We were a bit hasty to claim the Aquatic events done, as there were still a couple of events left, and we picked up a 2nd medal! Another Bronze, but a medal is a medal, right?

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Men’s High Jump—Qualification:
Tony Holzer: 2.28m
Brian Abner: 2.25m
Chris Fullerton: 2.25m

Women’s 100 m—Semifinals:
Misty Stripling: 11.10

Women’s 100 m—Final:
Misty Stripling: 11.12 (7th)


SWIMMING RESULTS:
Men’s 4×100 m Medley Relay—Final
(Wheat/Hines/Mastin/Bergstrom): 3:35.17 (5th)

Women’s 4×100 m Medley Relay—Final:
(Lindell/Stoffel/Connor/Wagstaff): 3:58.68 (BRONZE)

Prux's Olympic Blog

Only a few days left in the prelims for our team events, and we have a shot in Water Polo and Women's basketball for medals.

Basketball—Women’s—Group Stage:
With the quarterfinals and the Top of the group clinched, the backups started against Kura-Pelland, and possinly due to the resting of the starters, Prux lost by 6. But they are still in the Medal stages, and will take on Fujisawan Territories in the Qtrs.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 16 22 20 17 75
Kura-Pelland 20 22 18 21 81


That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

Day 08–18 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13933728&postcount=28) are now up.

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Today the Olympic Report is attached to a regular KBC podcast.

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/kbcworldservice18aug2008.mp3

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Eye of Baranxtu - online edition, August 18

Speaking With Stars
Interview with BCO gold medalists

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Back row: Nemuri I-tu Ahefani (rowing), Nahtēri M-tu Andali (diving), Mourize Janne (swimming)
Front row: Ipanta Teka (heptathlon), Hīva Nameokyan (weightlifting), Yätti Puroma (fencing)


Columbia - United Capitalizt States With less than a week to go in the Olympics, a lot of the great medal hopes of the BCO equipe have finished up their work in Columbia. Athletics has never been the strong point of either of the nations, but hope rests with exceptions such as javeline thrower Atis Ma'aragy, Ranik Ihminen who proceeded to the 110m hurdle finals, 3000m steeplechase competitor Krit Anako or Narga Śrautatu Lehaŋa, 400m runner. The two individual men's and the women's 10m platform diving events also have yet to take place, and the three nations under the blue-green flag look to Nahtēri Mēāgitu Andali, Père Dekouj, Sonija Maranatu Empeka and Nintike Anaeteo with high expectations.

The Eye of Baranxtu has now asked six of the current 18 gold medalists (winning 14 events) to answer a few questions about the Olympics, Columbia and life in general by our primary Anglophone Columbia reporter, Teresa Aibling.
...

Aibling: "Good morning to all. Now, I'm here with six of our gold medalists - and might I say, an honor. My first question is for our fencer, Mr Puroma. You are, as far as I know, the first Mäsenäsi athlete to compete in an international competition, and right away, you won two gold medals - in the Men's Individual Foil, and together with Auli Atare and Marc Trenc in the Team Foil. Was this - putting Mäsenäsi on the international scene and showing the diversity of Baranxtu - part of your motivation?"

Puroma: "Definitely. I hope nobody takes this personally, but so far, Baranxtu has been not much present on the international scene outside of the International Democratic Union, and even less so most of its minorities. Sure, Baranxtimans such as our Prime Minister, and Asuanituan-Baranxtimans like the King, are relatively well known - and rightly so, they do excellent work, after all - but so few know about the Mäsenäsi, or the Marani, any of the Marani tribes. And yes, I do hope I've changed that a little. But don't think I'm doing this only for 'my people' - here, I'm an athlete primarily, and a Mäsenäsi secondarily. And before you ask, at home, I'm just Yätti. So, really, I hope that all Baranxtuans and all Cikoutimians and all Oteans feel pride when they see that I've won gold. Well, as proud as they can be of fencers, anyways." (laughs)

Ai.: "Yesterday, you were joined by Itäkki Attamönni who won the bronze medal in hammer throwing. First of all, do you know him, and if so, do you know how he sees all of this?"

Pu.: "Indeed, I do know him. Honestly, I think he doesn't give a shit about this, and I mean this in a good way. He's one of those old breed Mäsenäsi, highly competitive, yes, and highly stubborn and hard-working towards his goal. But what others think, he just doesn't care about that. At least, not on a general level. He wants people to respect him, of course - we all do. Of course, we're not bestest of friends, more buddies, so if you want to know for sure, better ask himself."

Ai.: "Thank you. Now, on to rower Mr Ahefani, winner of the Men's Singe Sculls finals and part of the gold medal-winning Lightweight Fours team together with Arajāti, Kautavati, and Mañacurṭi. Rowing is, well,..."

Ahefani: "A marginal sport. You can say it, I won't cry."

Ai.: "A bit. Now that you are a double medalist, do you hope you can change that?"

Ah.: "One can always hope. It does get somewhat frustrating when you keep having to explain that yes, rowing is a sport and there are championships. Well, among my fellow Baranxtimans at least. They're all aquatics, all the time. ... Damn, now I sound jealous. It's not like that. It would be nice to get more recognation, that's what I'm saying."

Ai.: "So, you and the swimmer's probably won't be caught trading punches too soon?"

Ah.: (laughs) "I highly doubt it. Fist fighting isn't really my domain."

Ai.: "I think we can be glad about that, then. Ms Teka, you are our star heptathlete, and, if I may say so, surprisingly won the gold medal."

Teka: "It wasn't only surprising to everyone else! Not to seem too proud, I do think I'm quite good, but there were a lot of competitors that usually perform much better than me. When I saw the total, I was flabbergasted. Really."

Ai.: "You've been competing nationally for almost ten years now, this is your first international competition. What are the differences?"

Te.: "You feel a lot more pressure. After all, suddenly, you're not only representing yourself, but your home country, as well. Suddenly, you know not only your parents and your husband and your friends watching, but a whole nation - and after all, that's about forty million more eyes you feel at the back of your neck. Apart from that... well, the competition itself, that's not so different then. When you do your thing, the whole world gets drowned out. Then you suddenly come back, and it's not 'Ateo nasaŋ yaka utikeo - Ipanta Teka', but 'Heptathlon, first place: Ipanta Teka', and it's only then that it hits you again that you're not at the Simala Stadion in Setusunea."

Ai.: "Now, as far as I know, you were not the only one surprised at their gold medal. Mr Janne, you won the Men's 400m Individual Medley, in which Marjel Taron placed second. Why were you surprised?"

Taron: "Definitely. Generally, Marjel performs better than me, I must admit as much. He's one of the few BCO record holders at the international level, so beating him in the finals came as quite a shock."

Ai.: "May I ask if there were any hard feelings afterwards?"

Ta.: "Oh no, not at all. He was the first to congratulate me, and he was honestly happy for me. We've been friends for over 15 years now, since high school when we were on the same swimming team, and we won't let a medal get between us now."

Ai.: "That's a touching sentiment. Ms Nameokyan, you won the Women's 58kg weightlifting category with a lift of 227.5kg. Did you and your fellow weightlifter Takkae Otima also feel like this?"

Nameokyan: "Takkae did congratulate me, but I can't really answer your question. We hadn't had the chance to talk much beyond the basics, as she does not speak Baranxeï or English or Halami, and I do not speak French or Halami."

Ai.: "I see. Well, then on to my next question. Women's weightlifting is something of a marginal sport, similar in general prominence to rowing. As a result, women weightlifers have a lot of stereotypes and clichés about them, some of which are shared by female boxers. What's your stance on this? And also, do any of those stereotypes apply to you - be honest?"

Na.: "First of all, those stereotypes annoy me, and they annoy almost all of my fellow weightlifters. I can't speak for the boxers - I don't know any - but I doubt they see this too differently. Sure, there may be some who are exceedingly agressive, and some who are very far removed from traditional female roles, but... well, on the one hand, it's a stereotype. I know weightlifters who love to shop, spend an hour every other week at the hairstylist's, and who giggle like schoolgirls. On the other hand, we should all keep in mind that traditional roles are just that - tradition. Traditions have their place, but they should not dominate our thinking, at least that's the way I see it. As for which stereotypes apply to me, to be honest, I find that question a little offensive."

Ai.: "Then please accept my apology for asking it. And now, on to - I hope the others will excuse my next phrase - the most famous of our gold medalists, winner of this year's Synchronized 10m Platform and two time gold medalist of the First Olympics, Mr Nahtēri Mēāgitu Andali. Mr Andali, diving is by far the most popular non-team sport in Baranxtu. Why do you feel is that?"

An.: "Honestly? Beats me! For some reason, diving just seems to appeal to your average Baranxtiman and Asuanituan more than running, or jumping, or what-have-you. I can't explain it myself; I just file it under 'quirks of my culture'. As many know, personally, I much prefer fencing."

Ai.: "You've been married for over a year now to former diver Andagi Atenitu Bouleï. How does he handle your personal success in diving? And how does he handle the fans?"

An.: "He's handling both as perfectly as I could hope for. The success, it doesn't bother him at all, he is happy for me, and that's what is important to me. And it is phenomenal how he tolerates some of the more, um, insistent of my fans. He's been incredibly supportive and I couldn't be happier."

Ai.: "Unlike your fellow gold medalists here, you still have two competitions - the Men's Individual 3m Springboard and 10m Platform. Are you nervous?"

An.: "As nervous as I'm always before a competition. I try to channel any stage fright into giving an as-close-to-perfect-as-possible performance. And I hope I can do just this both this afternoon, and during all my following events. I must admit, even though I got a few medals by now, it would be very, very pleasing to finish this Olympiad with another gold or two. I'm usually more modest, but as I said before, I am honestly thinking about retiring after this year, so it would be a nice way to finish my career."

Ai.: "Then I wish you personally, and also in the name of the Eye of Baranxtu's staff, all the best for your dives. And I thank you all for taking the time to talk with me today. I wish you a lovely time for the rest of your stay in Columbia."

DOING WHAT IT TAKES

In the basement of the Amherst Casino in Western Secristan, there is a discussion. It concerns boxing. There is an upcoming match between the overwhelming favorite to win gold in the Men’s Heavyweight division, Brian Gallows of Newmanistan and Secristan’s Tom Nolte. “There are way too many wagers for us to have to cash out if Gallows wins,” said an unknown man wearing a black jacket. “We can balance a lot of that out if we put house money on Nolte, and give Gallows an incentive to throw the fight.” answered his colleague. They were aware that Nolte had a bunch of money, and decided that if Nolte personally offered Gallows five million rusas to throw the fight, he would receive his bid back, in full, to have represented the nation in this weight class, which was six million rusas, as long as the Department of Sports would agree to it. The call was made. The response, “We will have your back on this.”

Now, came convincing Tom Nolte. This wasn’t really that difficult as he could spare himself facing the true wrath of Brian Gallows’ real talent. But there would be an additional caveat for Gallows. He would get his chance at redemption. In a match to be hosted right here at the Amherst Casino in a match dubbed as “Gallows-Nolte II”, Brian would get payback as Nolte would take a dive in the second round. They could create so much revenue with this fight for the betterment of the Casino. Nolte agreed, as it was only fair.

Would Brian Gallows go for it? Brian was a young Newmanistan amateur who surely hadn’t seen the kind of money that would about to be offered. Nolte would offer what would appear to be five million rusas of his own money even though he was going to be reimbursed by the Department of Sports. The Casino would be five million of their own money also to reward Gallows. After all, they were setting the odds for the fight, and with most of the wagers going towards Gallows and knowing the outcome would be predetermined if Brian accepted, they had nothing to lose, and would even be able to profit. Gallows was contacted and the only surprise was the ease in which he accepted the payment. Or perhaps as others may call it, the bribe.

Then came fight time. Gallows gets a standing ovation. A great fight is expected. If only the fans knew what really went on.

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LAURA ASHTON - JUDO

"GAH! Pigeon shit defence!!"
- Sonia Gatling.

That kind of sums up what I've been getting up to in Columbia as Olympic competition turns into a free vacation for increasingly larger numbers of athletes.

The pigeons in question were clustered around the buildings that were once the Parliament, or whatever the proper name for their legislature is, it might even be Parliament but I forgot, of an independent country called Bedistan.

It doesn't exist anymore, having been absorbed into the Unified Capitalizt States. But the former halls of power are still there for tourist edification. They're pretty nice, built like most legislatures to impress.

But man, were the grounds thick with pigeons. Tourists like us must be feeding them with wild and reckless abandon, and they all know where to go. They're not so aggressive as to go after what food you're eating, but any scraps that fall off your table in the cafés quickly begin the process of turning into pigeon crap.

We quickly decided to head to a less pigeon-overrun area. But be careful, citizens of Columbia, for soon they might take over...

Press Release #1
A Sad Loss

I regret to announce the sudden and tragic death of Maccar ReNwarr, one of the Roumberree athletes participating in these Games.
Maccar ReNwarr (19), a native of the city of Baree, collapsed unconscious immediately after crossing the finishing line in eighth and last place during a qualifying heat for the Men's 200m foot-race. As those of you who were watching that contest will already know, he had come to a sudden halt, and clutched his chest, at approximately 180m into the race, but then staggered onwards to complete the course. He was rushed to hospital, with our own team's doctor in attendance, but was pronounced dead on arrival. An autopsy will be held, but it is currently thought that he simply "raced his heart out".
Maccar ReNwarr was a student at the University of Baree, having gained a scholarship to study for joint honours in Athletics and Theology there, and all of his tutors gave very good reports on both his studies and his general attitude. He will therefore be graduated posthumously with first-class honours.
All the rest of us here in the Roumberree delegation unite to send condolences to his family. Our prayers are with you, and with him.

Alexandre Brumas [senior],
Chairbear, Committtee Olympic Roumberree;
Chancellor, University of Baree.

Press Release #2
A Call for Calm

On behalf of my government I formally apologise to the people of Columbia and to those of the Unified Capitalizt States as a whole, and to all of the other nations' delegations here, for the public brawls into which several recent confrontations between my fatherland's visiting nationals and those of Bears Armed have escalated during the last three days.
I hereby call on all Roumberree athletes and spectators here to remain calm, even in the face of provocation. The people who have come here from Bears Armed are perfectly within their rights to cheer for other nation's competitors in matches against us if they so choose, despite our shared Ursine heritage: Respect that right, and do not bring shame upon our nation by making us appear as uncivilised animals to our hosts. After all, we know that it would merely be petty envy of our proven superiority in these Games that would lead those bears to favour our opponents over us in the remaining events...


Alexandre Brumas [senior],
Chairbear, Committtee Olympic Roumberree;
Chancellor, University of Baree.


Having finished composing those two messages Alexandre set them aside, for handing over to his team's Press liasion at their next meeting, and looked regretfully at his desk. Having been eliminated as a contender in both the Badminton and the Chess Boxing was bad enough, but now he had no excuse not to catch up on the rest of his official paper work. With a light sigh he pulled his in-tray slightly closer, and began going through its contents...

A letter of complaint from some of the Newmanistani boxers, about the mask that one of their Roumberree rivals was wearing (competing as "the Bear in the Orange Mask"...), and a letter from the Olympics Committee saying that this complaint could be disregarded.
(Stapled together, and filed away.)

A letter of congratulations from "a major manufacturer of sports equipment" on his team's victories so far, with a catalogue of that firm's products.
(Letter filed, catalogue set aside for later attention.)

Several requests from members of the international Press for interviews with Callista d'Ursini, 'Mademurselle de Roumberre', despite the official statement already issued that she wished to remain "just one of the team" during her presence here and would therefore only be talking to reporters as an athlete amongst other athletes rather than alone as a Prince's daughter...
(Binned.)

Several requests from members of the international Press for interviews with "The Bear in the Orange Mask", or at least for clarification about whether any of the rumours were true and she was actually either a noblewoman (competing behind a mask to avoid her family's displeasure) or an outlaw (competing, masked to avoid arrest, in the hope of earning a pardon for whatever crimes she had committed), despite her own earlier announcement to some reporters that she would only reveal her identity --and give them an interview -- if and when she won a medal.
(Binned.)

A letter from the Prince's private secretary, firmly requesting -- in their mutual master's name -- the true identity of "The Bear in the Orange Mask".
(Oh dear, he'd really hoped not to have to answer that question before she unmasked, but what can't be cured must be endured" and all that: With another sigh, a deeper one than before, he uncapped his pen and began to draft a reply...)

To: Alexandre Brumas, Chairbear or the Olympic Committee of Roumberre

I want to express our deeply felt condolences to you, the Roumberrian delegation and the whole nation of Roumberre on behalf of the BCO Olympic Committe and the delegation of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea. We are filled with sadness and mourn the loss of such a fine young athlete on what should be a day of joy for all.
We shall all include him and his family and friends in our prayers and thoughts today.
I also write to you on behalf of Messrs Bourges and Maēli, who request to be allowed to attach ribbons in their cultures' respective colors of mourning to their jersey during their subsequent races to honor the memory of their late fellow athlete.

My deepest sympathies,
Askeli Lahtanitu Tampaleni
Chairman of the BCO Olympic Committee

Rarrns Pawstrong and Dr Merryon White were relaxing together, after several hours during which she had used her advanced knowledge of Ursine physiology to help him celebrate his winning the Gold Medal for the 'Men's Individual Pursuit' event in Cycling. Suddenly, he chuckled.
"What's so amusing?" enquired Merryon, with a hint of wariness in her voice.
"Oh, it's nothing to do with this, honey, I assure you, it's just something that happened in the races," Rarrns quickly responded. "Remember how surprised the other guy involved in my first round after the qualifier, the human from a nation by the weird name of 'Candelabras and Marquees', acted when I entered the arena? He kept on asking the judges where his scheduled opponent was, even though I was standing right there in front of him and they'd already introduced us to each other, and after I'd beaten him he kept muttering "You aren't real! You aren't real! This isn't happening!"... I guess sapient Ursines were just so far outside of his previous view of things that he couldn't get his head around the idea... But the rest of him seemed to understand that I was there, all right, because he still put up a very good challenge and I really had to work to beat him fair-and-square..."

The music plays. You could read an advertisement over it, if it got boring, but you don't have to.

Yvette: Plenty of Olympic action here in Columbia, in plenty of events.
Darryl: And they converged in the triathlon, where Tyler Cieslik took tenth. Gregory Stone was thirtieth, and Leon Walsh left the course during the cycling portion of the race.
Steve: There were many other cycling events in the last couple of days, however, not to mention track and field, and, uh,
Lily: Baseball and volleyball?
Steve: Sure, them.
Lily: The final match of group play pitted Zwangzug against Krytenia. The latter were considered somewhat closer to Team Zwangzug's ability level, and had already been eliminated.
Darryl: But they took the first two sets before Zwangzug won, 25-20. Krytenia, however, would win set four and the match.
Yvette: Zwangzug's head-to-head victory over Secristan gives them second place in Group C: they will play Coocoostan in the quarterfinals.
Darryl: Coocoostan won a three-way tiebreaker to top group B.
Yvette: Zwangzug is 3-0 in the last couple days of baseball games. The women beat Allanea's Atlanta Babes 4-3. Despite the closeness of the scoreline, the result eliminated the Babes and let Zwangzug clinch heading into a bye day.
Darryl: The men pounded Kenavt 10-2: Don Abuanza collected eight total bases with two doubles and a home run. Grant Baig left the game after four innings, while Larry Vance-a position player, batting ninth below the several pitchers Kenavt used-walked in Kenavt's second run.
Lily: The pitchers didn't all bat, though.
Darryl: No, but it was that kind of a night for Kenavt.
Lily: Where the pitchers come to the plate regularly?
Darryl: No, where they use plenty.
Yvette: Actually, Anthony Rodriguez did the best he could through the middle innings: Zwangzug just brought more firepower.
Darryl: At any rate, Zwangzug beat Kosovoe as well, 4-2. Aaron Plecant's changeup was easy meat for the top of the order, which scored three runs in the first. Amos Robotham's (the th is pronounced as a phoneme of its own) two-run single capped that inning. Steve Fishar drove in Seth Kline for Kosovoe's first run.
Lily: Zwangzug remain second in the group, but destiny is in their hands as they face first-place Ad'ihan in the final group stage game.
Steve: Only the winners will advance.
Yvette: Both of the cycling pursuit teams qualified for the knockout stages.
Darryl: The men beat Secristan, but their time was eight-tenths of a second too slow to compete for the gold.
Yvette: They'll face Roumberre with the bronze on the line.
Darryl: Ali Shanit qualified for the first round of the individual sprint, but couldn't qualify for the second, not even through...the other way into it.
Lily: The women's pursuit team was eliminated by Bears Armed...and Harr’aynau Herrtha Ostfarer.
Steve: Keisha Lin describes the race.
Keisha: I think we underestimated them. I know I did: I didn't think they could even stay on their bikes. Um. They, uh, they did though? Hopefully the men have better luck against Roumberre, they don't seem too challenging either but what do you know?
Darryl: Amanda Thrummond and Chloe Figgs both qualified for the first round of the individual sprint, only to be eliminated by Krytenian opposition. They faced each other in the following round, but Candace Morgan of Asteran advanced from the group of three.
Darryl: To the track, then. And field. Mallory Elrene took 11.84 seconds to run the hundred-meter hurdles, and a lot longer to see whether that would be enough to advance...but it was, and she made it through the quarterfinals as well, finishing fourth in heat one with a time that would have been first in the fourth heat: 11.17 seconds.
Steve: Heidi Silk finished the marathon in almost three hours, fourth-to-last of the fifty-nine women who made it.
Yvette: Cameron Vajda did not make the steeplechase final, but still says his Olympic experience ended-how else?-on a high note.
Lily: Denny Mullane rallied from a "No Mark" on his first hammer throw attempt to make his best throw in the final on his second try. 76.56 meters gave him an eighth-place finish.
Steve: Melanie Anker came last in her hundred-meter heat. So much for the sprinting thing. Jacquelyn Hotplot needed all three tries even to pull off the triple jump, second-to-last in the final. Eric Haus mediocrely slumped into the 400-meter quarterfinals.
Lily: Mediocrely?
Steve: You know what I mean. Brian Stapple finished second-to-last in his 110 meter hurdle race.
Lily: Who cares? He made it through.

To: Alexandre Brumas, Chairbear or the Olympic Committee of Roumberre

I want to express our deeply felt condolences to you, the Roumberrian delegation and the whole nation of Roumberre on behalf of the BCO Olympic Committe and the delegation of Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea. We are filled with sadness and mourn the loss of such a fine young athlete on what should be a day of joy for all.
We shall all include him and his family and friends in our prayers and thoughts today.
I also write to you on behalf of Messrs Bourges and Maēli, who request to be allowed to attach ribbons in their cultures' respective colors of mourning to their jersey during their subsequent races to honor the memory of their late fellow athlete.

My deepest sympathies,
Askeli Lahtanitu Tampaleni
Chairman of the BCO Olympic Committee

To Askeli Lahtanitu Tampaleni, Chairman of the BCO Olympic Committee,

On behalf of my nation, my delegation and myself, I thank you and your own delegation for your condolences on the death of Maccar ReNwarr.
Yes, of course Messrs Bourges and Maēli have our permission to honor his memory as they have offered.

No date has been set for M. ReNwarrr's funeral yet, but I expect that there will be a memorial service held in the University's main chapel within a month or thereabouts of our return home from these Games. Would some members of your delegation, possibly including you yourself, be interested in attending this ceremony?


Alexandre Brumas [senior],
Chairbear, Committtee Olympic Roumberree;
Chancellor of the University of Baree.


__________________________________________________

OOC, message to New Manhattan _
This death means that Roumberre no longer has a full team for the Men's 4x100m Relay race, and will therefore have to withdraw from that event. Alexandre Brumas will remember to send the organisers a message to this effect before that race's first heats are due to take place.

Ad’ihan take surprise triathlon medal

Ad’ihan are celebrating a second medal at the NS Olympic Games today after David Faller's unexpected third place finish in the men's triathlon event.

The 25-year-old Faller, of Dalinn, Barrier Island, finished with a time of 1 hour 52 minutes 42.48 seconds, just under 10 seconds behind the silver medallist Mark Strickland of the Unified Capitalist States' Jasiyun team. Kura-Pelland's Bill Kingston won the race in a time of 1:52:06.15.

Faller was overcome with emotion after the race, and broke down in tears upon crossing the finish line. Faller was again in tears on the medal podium, and described his feelings after the race between sobs of joy. "When they announced over the tannoy, 'Medaille du bronze, Ad’ihan', it was just the culmination of this remarkable journey for me. I came here with the aim of a top 15 finish (out of 67 participants).

"When I led at the first transition from the swim to the bikes I just couldn't believe it. I didn't do as well as I liked in the cycling but I'm just so honoured to be on the medal podium."

Faller's bronze medal adds to one already won by Martina McOwen in the women's tennis singles.

Elsewhere, Julian Crowley finished second in Heat 8 of the men's 200m sprint to qualify for the second round of heats in that event, although the heats were marred by the unexpected collapse and subsequent death of Maccar ReNwarr in heat 4. Fellow runner Michael Riley finished third in his 400m heat, but that was enough to see him through to the second round of heats in the 400m.

Ad’ihan's men's baseball team thrashed the Unified Capitalist States' Jasiyun side 11-2 to maintain their perfect 3-0 record in the baseball tournament. Jonathan Kaczinski hit a grand slam inside-the-park home run in the second inning to give Ad’ihan a 4-0 lead before Jasiyun cut the deficit in half with a two-run double in the fifth.

However, Kaczinski, who went 4-for-5 on the night with a team-high 7 RBI, hit a bases-clearing triple in the seventh to give Ad’ihan a five-run lead, and second baseman François Frille, third baseman Mike Tant, right fielder Howard Smith and catcher Jason Crutcher hit back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs off two different pitchers in the 8th inning to ensure that Ad’ihan could now only be caught in their group by Zwangzug.

Ad’ihan's women's softball team similarly kept up their good form by thumping Kenavt 5-0 to maintain a near-perfect record in Group A and maintain their lead in the group (6-1), with Jennie Austar pitching a three-hit shutout and helping herself along the way with an RBI double in the fourth.

A win in both team's final group game will guarantee each of them a place in their respective semi-finals and the chance at yet more medals for Ad’ihan.

Ad’ihan's men's field hockey team, also into a quarter-final of their own, will face Kelssek tomorrow for a place in the semi-finals, with the only Ad’ihani team not having made it past their group stage so far being the men's water polo team.

Ad’ihan's chef-de-mission, Luke Evans, has congratulated Faller on his medal, and expressed his hope that Ad’ihan's current provisional anthem, the Ode to Joy, would be played soon at a medal ceremony.

A Team and A Dream. The Taeshani quest for a medal

A country shatered. The Purple Knights Baseball Team loses to Kanjii Starter

Yes, it is a tragedy. The Purple Knights have been ripped from the Baseball tournament in Columbia. horrible playing its just not right. It's impossible to bear what these players must they have failed on one of the grander stage. They lost 5-4 to the team from the unknown lands of Kanjii Starter. It's shocking just shocking.

In other News

In Thge Mens 200 Meter heats Jeff Reynolds made the second round finishing 2nd in heat 2. In the Mens 400 Geoff Titlingar and Alen Prescott qualified out of there to Heats, and in the Mens 110 hurdles Aashitler Deigo was 2nd in Heat 2, and Mark Myers fourth in heat 3. Both Qualified. In another horrible showing in the mens Handball game the Knigths won there last game, but our out of the Knockouts. In Mens Volleyball the team lost to West Pocono in three straight sets, they will play Kosovoe in the next round. (ooc I should win that somehow) finally the Water Poloing Water Knights defeated Adi'han 9-6 qualifying to the second round. They will play Landau Institute of Esstresse Intenso in the next round. Go Knights.

http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/6201/corriereb45jb0.jpg
(foreign edition)

Runner’s glory

Femke van der Vaart (http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/6201/corriereb45jb0.jpg) came to the Games with one ambition: to do her country proud. Today, she achieved that aim in spectacular fashion.

Van der Vaart represents the Sovereign Village of San Adriano, a country so tiny that it often doesn’t appear on maps. It has a total population of about 450, and is entirely surrounded by friendly neighbouring country Uhuh-Topia – which also happens to be Femke’s country of origin. Its history (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/history_of_san_adriano.html) is distinct, going back to its official foundation in 1641. The village has its own monarch, its own currency, its own parliament, its own museum. . . and one single representative at the Columbia Olympic Games.

The weight of expectation on van der Vaart’s shoulders was considerable. Not only was she her country’s only athlete, but she had been entered in just one event: the ladies’ marathon. There was no scope for error, no second chances. Competing at Querzakhi four years ago, she had failed to complete the race, and was determined to set things right this time around. There was little hope in anyone’s mind that her four years of hard training would yield a medal, but the aim was to do as well as she possibly could, and shine for the village nation in the eyes of the world.

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4940/fvdvjb7.jpg
Van der Vaart (foreground) during an earlier competition.

Asked whether she expected to finish within the top ten, the Sanadrianese wisely did not reply. A sharp observer might have noticed a look of doubt in her eyes, however. Her personal best was 2:37:19 – not exactly slow but not enough, one would think, to challenge for the medals.

With the women’s marathon due to take place on day 17, Mrs. van der Vaart had time to get used to Columbia – the weather, the air, the food, the people.

“I made friends at the Olympic village,” she told reporters. “I trained with runners from other countries. And it seems silly to eat on my own, so I sometimes get together with other athletes at meal times. I’ve been round to see the team from An Blascaod Mór. Their country is even smaller than mine, and it’s great that they’re here. We got on wonderfully well, swapping stories about life in a microstate.”

An Blascaod Mór has no-one in the marathon, but van der Vaart says she has become good friends with Rosheen McLennan, who competed in the women’s 100 metre sprint.

On the big day, sixty-seven athletes had gathered to run for over two and a half hours through the streets and hot summer air of Columbia and its surroundings. Femke, wearing the green and red suit of her country, with San Adriano written on the back, was hopping and shifting a little among the crowd of runners on the start line, exercising her legs one last time before the event began. She smiled broadly and waved when her name and country were announced over loud speakers. The Sanadrianese was an umistakable figure with her light green-dyed hair and glossy green lips, her sense of style making her unique as much as her nationality.

And then the race was on. Jogging steadily, van der Vaart remained with the pack at first, testing its rhythm. The run dragged on, seemingly endless, taking the athletes between striking buildings old and new, and out into the countryside – between spreading fields of crops and through the occasional shade of trees lining the roads. Spectators abroad watching on television were given the sights of Columbia’s heart, suburbs and surroundings, but the runners could not spare the attention to appreciate them. Occasionally, an athlete would try to break into the lead, only to be caught up and pulled back into the pack. Through it all, van der Vaart remained safely towards the middle, only very gradually easing towards the front.

After thirty kilometres, she was wiping her brow, and drinking thirstily from bottles of water provided on the roadside. Sweat glistened on her face and body, and her expression was focused, a little strained perhaps. Several runners by now had dropped out. But not the Sanadrianese. Her breathing, her pace were still steady. She was in twelfth place.

At thirty-eight kilometres, she glanced at the distance marker, and smiled. This was further than she had got in Querzakhi. And she was now in eighth place. On very rare occasions, someone in the crowd of spectators called out her name and cheered her on, sometimes even waving a Sanadrianese flag. These were not Sanadrianese, but locals who had chosen to support the tiny country’s valiant underdog. Van der Vaart smiled, pleased, and ran on.

Shortly before the forty kilometre mark, she overtook Rebecca Poliéster of Cafundéu and Lucy Smith of Allanea, and moved up into fifth place. Of the top four, Maya Lantraov seemed within reach, if Femke could somehow draw a fresh burst of energy from her tired lungs and limbs, while Kiki Reyes, Amanda Sagace and Ilga Eastwater looked out of reach. Behind the lone Sanadrianese athlete, Kristina Feodorova was still going strong, striving to retain her medal hopes. Legs pumping on the hard ground, Van der Vaart ran on.

A few hundred metres to go. Sagace had lost pace, and van der Vaart cruised past her, to cheers from the crowd, closing in on Lantraov. Of the two, van der Vaart looked the fitter, and it was no doubt inevitable that she would overtake her competitor, surging into third place... and into bronze medal position. With the crowd applauding and cheering, the only Sanadrianese at the Games powered on. Lantraov remained close on her heels for a while before dropping back, out of contention. Breathing hard, van der Vaart ran up towards Eastwalker. As they neared the stadium, the two women were running side by side, now and then alternating in front of one another. Sorthern Northland’s Kiki Reyes had already crossed the line to take gold, while van der Vaart had a tiny lead over Eastwalker just before beginning the final sprint. The cheer from the crowd in the stadium was deafening, urging on all the runners. Drawing on a last burst of strength, Eastwalker ploughed ahead, distancing her Sanadrianese opponent, who ran heard to cover the last few metres, and finished five seconds behind her.

Van der Vaart ran on several strides further as she wound down her momentum, then fell to her knees, gasping for breath, and cried tears of joy. Reyes, the Olympic champion, draped already in the Sorthern Northlander flag, was being assailed by reporters and photographers, but soon members of the press also turned to the exhausted, beaming van der Vaart. Somebody, from somewhere, procured her a Sanadrianese flag, and she wrapped it round her shoulders, her face shining with still incredulous pride and excitement.

“It’s going to take a while to sink in,” she panted into the microphones shoved towards her, catching her breath. “I never expected... Wow! I have a medal! I don’t believe it! I’m so… I’m so happy!” she gasped, tears trickling down her cheeks from shining eyes.

The postwoman-turned-marathonian was soon posing for the cameras with the other two medal winners, their national flags intertwined over their shoulders, all grinning. Later, on the podium, Femke’s eyes were bright with emotion as the Sanadrianese flag was raised for the first and only time in Columbia.

“This medal is for my family, my parents, my husband, my friends, Her Royal Highness Princess Serena, my country,” she said afterwards, holding her bronze medal up proudly. “I’m so proud to have run for San Adriano. It’s been a fantastic day, and. . . wow. It still hasn’t quite sunk in!”

Femke van der Vaart’s time of 2:30:43 was a personal best and a national record. Her achievement, wildly unexpected, makes her one of the heros of the Columbia Games. It is also an incredible feat for tiny San Adriano, in that every Sanadrianese athlete who has ever competed at the Olympics has now won a medal – a stunning accomplishment matched by no other country. It is expected that van der Vaart’s portrait will now feature on banknotes with a value of 500 Sanadrianese lira (worth about WÇ 1.25), alongside those of previous Sanadrianese Olympians.

Asked how she managed to win a medal, Femke explained: “I just ran. I made sure to keep a steady pace, but at the same time, I was running to win it. I wasn’t running to finish tenth. I had to persuade myself that I could win, and that’s what I was trying to do. I think it helped. I didn’t start the race doubting myself. It’s all about persuading yourself that you can win, and running with that target in mind. I had to be unrealistic, otherwise I’d never have done this well.”

San Adriano’s new sports hero will now take a few days to visit Columbia and its surroundings as a tourist, something she hasn’t had time to do yet.

“I’d love to do some shopping,” she admits with a laugh. “But everything is expensive here. I won’t be able to afford much. Still, you know, it’s wonderful to be here, and it’s been the experience of a lifetime, but I’ll be glad to get home, too. I hope they’ve got a party going, because I’ll be in the mood for it when I get there!”

In San Adriano, the entire village has taken on a festive atmosphere, and is preparing give its Olympic hero a warm, fantastic welcome home.

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Team C&M
Joanna gives us hope as golden girls sweep to victory
Jason Justice in Columbia

Twentieth in the standings, of thirty-nine nations having medalled. You can’t get much more average than that. Superb!

In finishing off C&M’s second gold medal in barely twelve hours, Dani Roman and Joanna Lonardo were anything but average. Winning four of the first ten races, with the only blip being a difficult third race from which they still managed to recover to seventh, the pair needed only to stay ahead of the Cafundelense duo of Rita Guedes and Larissa Carvalho to take gold – and they managed it in style by winning the medal race and condemning the favourites to the silver. Bronze went to Kura-Pellandi – and it was no surprise to see these three nations sharing out the medals – though the Cafundelense team could at least savour victory in the men’s event, with the two Maxes finishing a disappointing fifth thanks largely to two early disqualifications.

If for many Candelariasians – and Kura-Pellandis, and Cafundelense – it is tomorrow morning that will see the major event on the waters come to a close, the woman’s one-person dinghy; the pair’s success provides another boost to C&M’s long-term hopes of becoming a key force in sailing and rowing alike. These Games may have come too soon, but Jo and Dani have at least one more left in them, and the interest that will be generated by this performance should see an even stronger team next time around.

Not that Candelariasians can’t win on dry land too, oh no. There was an air of destiny about Yazmin Nazar and Rabiah Sajjad right from the off, and the youngsters certainly did not disappoint. There might have been merely two breaks of serve shared between the Albrecht pair and their West Pocono opponents in the opening two sets, but the teenagers soon stepped up a gear as their rivals tired; twice breaking Erica Tomlin to love in the third set and sending up an exhausting, tense and scrappy fourth. It swung back and forth, but at five-all Tomlin was once again annihilated by Sajjad’s powerful return of serve, and the elder player kept her nerve to serve out the final game and take the match 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Who knows what the future will bring for these two, now instantly installed with the dubious honour of being the islands’ biggest sporting celebrities, but if nothing else they can always be remembered for ensuring C&M their first Olympic gold.

With a total of five medals on the board, Team C&M have now surpassed all expectations – and more surely, is to come. Ossi Bartram is certainly guaranteed a medal of whatever colour in the light welterweight boxing after a tight win over another West Pocono opponent, though Eddie ten Heuvel took a battering from the Secristani Tom Barra and the contest was stopped with the Candelariasian trailing by twenty-two points. There was also agony for Beth Mountray, whose score of 9.463 put her in the silver medal position in the vault before the final two gymnasts pushed her into fourth. But Basima Al-Jabar can go for broke in the unfamiliar parallel bars final tomorrow, and there’s always the field hockey, right?

Elsewhere, COCACAMAO chiefs have insisted that several Team C&M competitors have not received positive drug tests, despite being taken off the media circuit and halled up in the Candelariasian section of the athletes’ village. A spokesman told TV1 this lunchtime that Pearce Pedotti, Quintin Wright and several of the rowing team were merely “suffering from burnout” and that it was important to give them a nice long rest, lest they risk “saying silly things.”

Udawye Wins Bronze, Grebeshkov Silences Critics

A busy day at the Olympic games saw Roger Udawye win a surprise bronze in the men's 10,000 meters, the first ever for Coocoostan in track. Udawye, who comes from the slums of Swahilabad, but trains in Panjuhr cleared his nearest challenger by ten seconds. "It is amazing", Udawye said. "I will take my medal home to Darrowmere, to show everyone what is possible." Udawye ran a lap of the olympic stadium with a national flag and then the tri color of the former Darrowmere.



Also in track Yuri Grebeshkov responded to criticism of his "pedestrian" pace in the 100 metres by finishing third in his heat in the 200, to move on, as well as winning his heat in the 400 metres. Grebeshkov, normally a dignified sportsman, has been irate in recent interviews, criticizing "they naysayer mentality" of the public.

Day 08–18 B results are now up (part 1 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13935037&postcount=29) · part 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13935051&postcount=30)).

Hoji Metropolitan Daily Record Online
Recent Olympic Results

Men’s 10000m Final
Ken Ryosama finished in fourth place, just outside of medal range with a time of 27:29.78.

Men’s High Jump Qualification
Jun Numajiri qualified for the next round.

Men’s Hammer Throw Final
Kawaii Umezo won gold in the men’s hammer throw, while Hércules Prado of the Landau Institute won silver, and Itäkki Attamönni won bronze.

Men’s 200m Heats
Tsu Imeraz advanced from the heats.

Men’s 110m Hurdles Heats
Yori Imomaro advanced from heat 2 for the next round.

Men’s Triple Jump Qualification
Natsu Kogo qualified for the next round.

Women’s 100m Hurdles Quarterfinal
Ginnie Akutagawa qualified for the semifinals with a time of 11.23

Women’s 400m Hurdles Heats
Emmi Yoshioka and Karin Kuramoto-Sani qualified for the next round.

Women’s 400m Hurdles Quarterfinals
Karin Kuramoto-Sani advanced from the quarterfinals with a time of 55.25. Emmi Yoshioka also advanced with a time of 55.67.

Men’s Basketball
Newmanistan 88, Fujisawan Territories 76
Quarterfinal: vs. Prux

Boxing Men’s Heavyweight
Samba Kawaguchi defeated Maineiac’s George Holmes in the quarterfinals to advance.

Gymnastics - Women’s Artistic Pommel Horse
Ajitawa Yukatsuko won bronze in this event just two days after surgery following appendicitis, ahead of Beretanian gymnast Anastasia Kostrikova. Jessica Anderson of Newmanistan won gold. Pénélope Arsenault of Kelssek won silver.

Women’s Softball
Fujisawan Territories 10, Nuevos Aires 0

"The men's steeplechase. Wentland's best chance of a medal on the track. As expected no representation in the final of any of the sprints but Omar Jabeel has been highly impressive in the heats...and they're off..."

Jabeel had indeed been highly impressive. Not bad indeed for a refugee. He had arrived in Wentland as a three year old with parents fleeing a civil war. He was a shy and withdrawn boy at school, who found his release in running. Running, running and running. Running for what? To where? He didn't know and he didn't care. He just liked running. It was in his blood.

"...and the two Wentland competitors are close together at the end of the third lap, nobody has broken yet..."

Tim Block was an even more unexpected finalist. Born to one of the richest families in Wentland, he had received an exclusive education where cross-country runs were compulsory. And he was the best of them. He seemed always to be eager to return to school first so he could get studying. A PhD in physiology from the University of Greyguilds allowed him to prepare the most appropriate training regimen that he could think. And that, together with his natural aptitude for running, had seen him make the Olympic team. But it was a heck of a step up from national trials to the Olympics. His plan was to obtain experience now and win next time out.

"...Father Julian's prodigious leaping ability is something to behold..."

Jabeel had watched Father Julian almost mesmerized in the heats. How could someone jump so well in such a heavy robe? What a handicap he put himself under!

Block had also noticed but more scornfully. Not a scientific approach at all. Elimination of weight was the key. Block had even shaved his head to ensure he was at tip-top lightness.

"...and now Paparizou makes a move! The Jasi'yun athlete with three laps to go has gone...the others however are not following..."

Jabeel thought it was too soon. He was still full of running and Paparizou's heart was not in it. He could feel that somehow it was a token attempt, a last gasp try to break the field and that he would be gobbled up.

Block knew it was too soon. The optimum moment for a break was with 300 metres to go. The bell would distract people, some would try to break then, but they would run out of steam with 50 to go and the net effect would be to destroy them. Just wait a hundred metres and blast past them in humiliating circumstances.

"...and there's the bell...and there's the break, Paparizou is going to be swallowed up by the field..."

Jabeel waited. Not now, just wait, wait, wait. The race has been fast. Anako, Husar, Tigh...all gone. Jabeel has a faster kick than anyone else there. They will not be able to respond.

Block waited. Too soon again. Just leave it. Three fifty, three forty, three thirty...

"...and now Tim Block makes a move! He has kept touch with the pack and now he is moving through! Block is on the inside and he's passed Cooper...and look at JABEEL!"

Block had not factored this into account. Omar Jabeel had gone past Block like he was standing still. Where did he come from? No time to think now, just GO GO GO!!!

"...a hundred metres to go and Jabeel is in the lead!!! Samuels has got nothing and the only challenge is Tim Block!!!! Jabeel is STEAMING down the front stretch and he is going to win Wentland's first gold on the track!!! Block has passed Samuels and is going to take silver...and Jabeel WINS!!!! Oh, just LOOK at his face!!! He can't believe it!!! Block is second and who cares who's come third..."

Tim Block was aghast. His calculations had failed him. Still, it was ahead of schedule, so silver was not too bad. Just a shame he could not have been the first Went to win the steeplechase, but he consoled himself with the thought that he could be the first Went-born winner.

Still, he watched from afar as Jabeel wrapped himself in a blue flag with two white stripes. That will be me next time, he vowed.

"Welcome to Olympic Roundup on ABS One. This is Derek Smyth. We begin tonight's broadcast on a somber note, as an athlete has died at the games. Roumberre's Maccar ReNwarr died after collapsing at the end of his 200 meter heat. He was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. We go to Sally Brown with more. Sally?"

"Thanks Derek. I'm here with Charles McDowell, who was competing in the heat with ReNwarr. How is the mood among the athletes, Charles?"

"It's kinda strange. Some people have been affected by this more than others obviously. I've seen people just ignore it to take time out to pray."

"You were well ahead of him at the time of the incident. Did you see anything odd?"

"Not really. You don't normally look around at other people, so I never saw anything. Afterwards, I saw him stumbling and I thought he had cramped up or torn something. When he collapsed, you just knew something was really wrong."

"I see. Thank you for your time. Derek?"

"Thanks. We here at the Asteran Broadcasting Service, along with the members of the Asteran Olympic Committee, would like to send our deepest condolences to the Roumberre Olympic delegation and to the family of Maccar ReNwarr. Now, Alan Eagle for the review of the day's events. Alan?"

"Thanks Derek. A sad day in Columbia indeed."

"First, let's start in athletics. Charles McDowell advanced out of his heat in the Men's 200 meters, while Tommy Burns failed to advance. McDowell then came second in his quarterfinal heat, advancing to the semifinals. In the Men's 400 meters, Don Redman and Rory Wallach both advanced to the quarterfinals, where they failed to advance to the semifinals. Hurdler Neil Thorpe advanced to the Men's 110 meter Hurdles quarterfinals. Joseph Berg failed to qualify for the Men's Triple Jump finals, finishing 19th. Eve Sheldon advanced to the finals of the Women's 400 meter hurdles in a very hard-fought contest. Emma Rahman saw her luck come to an end in the Women's 800 meters final after pulling up just 50 meters from the finish and coming in last. Team doctors have said that she suffered a partial rupture of a tendon in her left knee, though they declined to expand on it further."

"The Lions saw their gold dream dashed after losing 84-80 to West Pocono. It left the team with two wins and two losses and tied for second in their group."

"In sailing, Victoria Benson and Irene Davidson finished 11th in the Women's Two Person Dinghy finals. Cycling saw Rita Markham finish 13th in the Women’s Points Race, while Candace Morgan lost her Individual Sprint quarterfinal match to Martine Beltran of Krytenia. Rohan O’Grady advanced while Darren Marks was left out in the Men's 3 meter Springboard preliminary contest. O'Grady finished 11th while Marks finished 26th."

"That's it. Tomorrow has more athletics, diving, cycling, and the start of freestyle wrestling. You can find a complete schedule of events on our website, or just press the Blue button on your remote to find all the information. We'll be back here tomorrow with more news and interviews. I'm Alan Eagle. Goodnight."

Albavona Capitol Sentinel Online
Recent Olympic Results

Men’s 200m Heats
Columbus Gurrero, Elton Hass, and Kevin Ford, Jr. all qualified for the next round.

Men’s 200m Quarterfinals
Columbus Gurrero and Elton Hass both qualified for the next round.

Men’s 400m Heats
Elton Hass and Billie Adams qualified for the next round.

Men’s 110m Hurdles Heats
Cameron Cruz qualified for the next round with a time of 13.54.

Women’s 100m Semifinal
Ginger Moore qualified for the final with a time of 11.06.

Women’s 100m Hurdles Quaterfinals
Claire Parks advanced to the semifinals of this event with a time of 11.09.

Women’s 3000m Steeplechase Final
Kerri Wood won silver in the women’s 3000m Steeplechase final, while Elizaveta Karailli of Kanji Starter won gold, and Allison Carlson of UCS won bronze.

Women’s Basketball
Unified Beretania 84, West Pocono 77

Men’s Basketball
Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea 79, Unified Beretania 78

Chess Boxing Quarterfinals
Connor da Vincho of Kenavt defeated Leonardo Wise of Unified Beretania.

Gymnastics Men’s Floor Exercise
Travis Strange won silver, while Ted Jedniak of Secristan won gold, and Evan Lucas, also of Secristan, won bronze.

Gymnastics Women’s Uneven Bars
Courtney Daugherty won silver on the uneven bars while West Pocono’s Jessica MacNeil won gold, and Tara McCallion of Newmanistan won bronze.

Men’s 3m Springboard Diving
In the preliminaries, Rockford Jones qualified for the next round in sixth.

THE MONASTIC TIMES
OLYMPIC SPECIAL EDITION

STEEPLECHASE DISASTER OVERSHADOWS NATION'S FIRST MEDAL
Monastic Olympic Committee, Athletics Fans Both Relieved

By Fr. Nicholas the Scribe

In an unprecedented sporting disaster, the Archregimancy's highly-fancied steeplechasers, nicknamed the 'Jumping Trinity' failed in by-now highly-precedented fashion, with only Fr. Julian reaching the final, where he promptly finished sixth. Fathers Serapion and Marcian failed to even reach that stage. Instead of the clean sweep talked about in some monastic sporting circles before the games, the Archregimancy walked away from their showpiece event with nothing.

Team spokesman Fr. Vasily the Heavily-Accented was quick to denounce suggestions emanating from the Wentland media that the Jumping Trinity had been handicapped by competing while wearing monastic robes. "Is outrage!" declared Fr. Vasily. "Is good for monk to jump in robes. Have you been seeing the sinful state of unrobingness worn by heretic athletes? Is practically naked! Sinful displays of much flesh should be banned by organising committee, and all athletes should be wearing the monastic robes. Is only fair. And less sinful." Fr. Vasily did, however, offer words of sympathy to the Roumberre delegation over the death of young sprinter Maccar ReNwarr; "Is heathen, but is still sad" said Fr. Vasily.

The spectacular failure of the heavily-favoured steeplechasers - rumoured to currently be undergoing a heavy programme of scourging penance for their hubristic pride - overshadowed the news that two person dinghy crew Fr. Athenogenes and Fr. Paul had somehow conspired to come second in their event despite desperate attempts to capsize their boat once they realised they were in danger of winning a medal. While they managed to avert the shame of winning, their best efforts weren't enough to avoid silver. "We're really, really, sorry" said national flag bearer Fr. Athenogenes. "We can only assume that a demon forced us into second. I hereby announce my intention of undergoing a strict fast of shame."

Speaking of fasting, in the latest news from the exciting Summer Vigil Fasting event, Fr. Emilian was said to have moved on from small insects and grubs, and was now fasting on nuts and berries.

The nation has done so poorly in other events that there is, God be praised, little further news to report.

Away from the main events, Monastic Olympic Committee officials were said to be relieved by the steeplechase disaster, noting that it would have struck an 'inappropriate note' for the nation's athletes to win the event while also holding the Olympic record. Athletics and sailing fans also expressed relief, though chiefly for avoiding the Archregimancy's 2 hour long national anthem.

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Gymnastics
Tramapoline! Trampopoline!
Francisco López in Columbia

We won another medal, and frankly it’s getting old hat now, isn’t it? And did you know up until half an hour ago, that they handed out Olympic golds – or silvers, in this case – for bouncing?

Well, it appears we have the second-best bouncer in the world, with Bianca Forkel finishing behind Jennifer Dickson in the women’s trampoline final. That result, incidentally, lifts Dickson’s West Pocono back above C&M in the medals table, but look at all the great sporting powers we’re still ahead of – the Eesseff, An Blascaod Mór, Ketchupland…

Anyway, the twenty-three year-old from nr Lavange earned 38.8 points with a relatively simple but perfectly executed routine; starting with an Adolph ball out and including a fine triffus, and a swivel hips one and ¾ back suicide atskull, and I’m sure her mum is very proud of her. I suppose, if the rowing doesn’t catch on, we can now expect a nation of boinging tweenagers. I reckon I can live with that, if it helps combat the ensuing obesity crises.

Elsewhere, we now have two guaranteed boxing medals to come, after Dean Comley won another tight bout to set up a clash with a daunting contender from the three countries stuck together. And it’s getting even better on the water: Steven Mitchell, our single actual canoeist in Columbia, is already through to the 1000 metres flatwater final with the second-quickest time, while Flower Upton – and we will find out where that name comes from before tomorrow – is likewise certain of a place among the last eight.

And C&M did at least get one over West Pocono today; a 2-0 win in the field hockey that sets up a genuinely mouth-watering tie against arguably the Blue Stickettes’ strongest competitors, Land de Wood.

It has been far too long since our last update.

Let's see how our remaining teams have got on at the Olympics:

Lacrosse
Kosovoe 12–20 Land de Wood
A good win here, our second of the tournament gave us an outside chance of qualifying for the next round.
Land de Wood 3–9 Maineiacs women
A disappointing defeat ended our brave team's competition.

Volleyball
Coocoostan 25 25 25
Land de Wood 21 20 20
A disappointing three set defeat, our first of the competition should not stop us qualifying for the next round.

Field Hockey
Land de Wood 5–3 Allanea
A good win here saw us through to play the mighty Candelaria And Marquez. Like us Candelaria And Marquez won every game in qualifying and had a tough group. It will be a very interesting game.
A win guarantees us our first medal, a defeat and we presumably will play off for Bronze against the other losing semi-finalist.

It has been a good tournament for our Field Hockey stars who are of course the reigning Qazoxian Sports Festival champions.
The 15 goals have been scored by:
Pauline Chicken 6
Alice Jackson 3
Cherry Putter 2
Natalia Green 2
Danielle Conway 1
Emma Light 1

Natalie Green has been the star of the assists setting up 8 of the goals.

The other semi final features Cafundéu and Cooocoostan both teams likewise won all their group games so two teams are about to lose their 100% record.

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It's a marathon not a sprint, literally

Sorthern Northland yesterday claimed a suprise gold and first gold away from the bike yesterday as Kiki Reyes destroyed the field to cross the line in first. The win was one that Kiki had made look so easy and that became apparent when second placed Ilga Eastwalker of Bears Armed crossed the line nearly exactly four minutes later whilst Femke van der Vaart came in behind Eastwalker to claim a fantastic bronze medal for the Sovereign Village of San Adriano, a nation so small in size it would struggle to have a marathon route. The gold will be particularly pleasing to Sorthern Olympic chiefs as it is Sorthern Northland first non-cycling Summer Games medal. Sorthern Northland had been expected to challenge for medals in both the men's and women's football event but both teams went out at the group stage. With them gone many saw cycling as the only sport for Sorthern Northland to win medals in. Now though they finally have a treasured athletics gold medal and for the next four years Kiki Reyes has the ammunition to call herself the best female marathon runner in the world. Speaking after the race she said, "I think the big winning margin is due to the fact I had a bear chasing me over the last few kilometres. I thought it was trying to eat me or something, I didn't realise it was in the event as well."

Predictably though it wasn't long before the cycling teams took the headlines out of Kiki's grasp and placed them firmly back into their own. The first of the multitude of cycling events to distract this newly bike obsessed nation was the Men’s Track Team Pursuit. Sorthern Northland having qualified easily were placed into the first round against the team from Bluth Corporation in a battle of the ideologies. The Sortherners started the better team but with four laps to go the Bluth Corporation team upped the pace to take the lead, however it was to cost them dearly as their back two riders were unable to keep up with the pace and found themselves dropped, and with the time being given of the one of the third rider across the line their race was effectively over the Sorthern team keeping it's three strongest riders together to cross the line more than a second ahead of the third Bluth rider. From then it was onto individual events and specifically the men's sprint. Mike Caverndash and Fran Ventoso were the two to wear the red and gold skinsuits, Ventoso easily breezed through qualifying with the second fastest time whilst Caverndash only just squeezed in with a time just 2 hundredths of a second faster than the fastest non-qualifier. And with Fran and Mike qualifying second and second last respectively they found themselves racing each over in the first round. Both claim to be the fasted sprinters in the world, this were the chance to see who really was and it was Caverndash who was able to uphold his claim of being the fastest sprinter in SN if not the world at the end of the face, and Ventoso who would be needing a repêchage to keep his hopes of a third gold medal alive. Come the repêchage he did just that with ease finishing 0,2 seconds ahead of his closest rival. Mike Caverndash then caused a minor shock in the second round, the shock however was not that he won with a bloody fast time but that his defeated opponent was from Newmanistan. Ventoso raced straight after Caverndash and found himself coming in ahead of Damian Counago of Krytenia to score another Sorthern win in the cycling battle between SN and Krytenia. With the quarter-finals still to come, a shot at one perhaps two medals looks likely with Caverndash to race Andrew Hern of Ariddia and Ventoso up against Mitärri Tattakaläin of the nations with a name that sounds way to much like some sort of performance enhancing drug, Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea. Even their TLA of BCO sounds like a drug name.

The next event in the velodrome was the Women's Individual Sprint with the Sorthern representatives, Hélène Duval and Hayley Gilbert blowing away their Road Race disappointment with some superb form to put them in a good position for two medals come the final. Neither set the stand out times in the qualifying round but neither set times to only just scrape in either. Set a good time but save energy for later rounds seemed to be the plan. It worked a treat for Hayley Gilbert who beat Jessica Motley of Kura-Pelland to secure her path to the second round. For Hélène Duval though it didn't go so well as she was defeated by yet another bloody Newmanistani in Danielle Edwards, and like Fran Ventoso found herself needing a repêchage win to stay in the competition. With sporting tensions between Sorthern Northland and Cafundéu raising slightly recently the racing with Ana Paula Jordan repêchage was always going to be lively and so it proved. Allegations of bike tampering flew across the starting blocks prior to the race which was delayed slightly as the coaches of the SN and Cafundéu teams came to blows. Shouting over and punches thrown Duval proved too strong for her opponents to claim a win to put her back into the competition. Duval like Caverndash found herself up against a Krytenian in the second round. The race was a close one with Duval edging out her opponent by one hundredth of a second, Hayley Gilbert also found herself in the quarters with victory over Susan Pemberton of Secristan. Duval will line up against another Krytenian in Rose Artemescu for the quarters, while Gilbert with race against Whitney Wessley of the Bluth Corporation. Should both win then Sorthern Northland is in with a great chance of two medals in the event and the possibility of a gold and silver.

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Super Sunday!

Sunday was the day of the micronations at the Olympics. Femke van der Vaart started it with a bronze for San Adriano in the Women's Marathon that was celebrated widely from The Royal Palace in San Adriano to the Trá Bán on An Blascaod Mór. Although we all knew a medal was on it's way for An Blascaod Mór with Liam O'Connell being in the badminton final, no one was aware that van der Vaart had started something on a medal rush for the two micronations at the event.

Just as O'Connell was starting his quest for gold in the badminton hall, the eight competitors of the Women's 100m Sprint final were lining themselves up in the blocks over at the Games main stadium. Among them was Rosheen McLennan, already widely heralded on the island as the finest bread maker, she was now one of the eight fastest women in the world. On your marks. She settled into her starting block. Set. She raises off here knees. Gun fired. She’s straight out of the blocks, in less than two seconds she’s fully up. Halfway through there’s nothing between the front runners, one hundred metres, Allison Butler and Karolyn Ryniker both of Secristan dip and take gold and silver. McLennan also dips, to force her body over the line just before Gabrielle Coxão of Cafundeu. Just. She looks up at the screen to see her time, realises what she’s just done and set’s off on a lap of honour with tears of joy streaming down her face.

At the same time Liam O’Connell is over in the Badminton Hall doing battle with Quentin Quisling of Gerainia. Battle though is the complete wrong word to describe the match. Quisling is never in it at all and O’Connell eases to a 21-8 victory in the first set. The second set is even easier with O’Connell almost embarrassed by the end of it, taking a 21-5 win to claim gold. It was not a battle at all, if anything it was a slaughter or massacre. Which if anything made it all the more sweeter for An Blascoad Mór, no one can argue that O’Connell didn’t deserve his gold, he needed no flukes, no luck to win this match. He was simply in a class of his own and head and shoulders above his competitors to secure gold and seal a memorable day for two micronations at the Olympics.

A day no less, that has seen both claim unique records and in a sense both can now claim to be the most successful nation at the Olympics. San Adriano’s bronze means they become the only nation to have had all it’s athletes win a medal. An Blascoad Mór meanwhile can claim the smallest medals per capita ratio with one medal per seventy one point five citizens.

"You're wearing a ribbon for a bear?" Uŋimi Layati looked at Samuli Maēli in disbelief. "You're whining about how they all kiss Andali's ass, and you're wearing funeral attire for an animal?"

"Just because I have some issues with a human doesn't mean I can't feel sympathy if another athlete dies on the field. I wouldn't wish death on Andali, either."

"But... it's a bear. It's an animal."

"You can be such an ass sometimes. Sure, he - he - was an animal, but so are we. Descent of Man and all that? Does that ring a bell?"

"Yeah, but... that's different."

"Ugh, get out of my way. Just be glad I don't report you to Tampaleni."

"You'd do that?"

"If you don't shut up already, maybe. And for the gods' sake, don't let anyone hear you talk like that. Some are already looking at us funny after Fourgenor got himself in a fight with that other boxer. We can't have them think we're all such morons like the two of you." He pushed Uŋimi out of the way and walked out of the room.

---


To Askeli Lahtanitu Tampaleni, Chairman of the BCO Olympic Committee,

On behalf of my nation, my delegation and myself, I thank you and your own delegation for your condolences on the death of Maccar ReNwarr.
Yes, of course Messrs Bourges and Maēli have our permission to honor his memory as they have offered.

No date has been set for M. ReNwarrr's funeral yet, but I expect that there will be a memorial service held in the University's main chapel within a month or thereabouts of our return home from these Games. Would some members of your delegation, possibly including you yourself, be interested in attending this ceremony?


Alexandre Brumas [senior],
Chairbear, Committtee Olympic Roumberree;
Chancellor of the University of Baree.


To Alexandre Brumas, Chairbear of the Olympic Comittee of Roumberre

I would certainly accept your invitation to attend, and I will forward this to our delegation and my fellow members of the Olympic Comittee. As soon as a date is set, I shall also oversee the preparations for anyone wishing to attend to travel to the ceremony in order to honor the memory of Mr ReNwarr.
Once again, this came as a great shock to all of us.

Askeli Lahtanitu Tampaleni
Chairman of the BCO Olympic Committee

(OOC: due to the WC preparations, I'll only RP about my medals won today, without an athlete's article)

- GLOBO MULTIMEDIA -
Cafundelense medals in the 9th and 10th days

Sailing (skiff) - in one of the least popular events of Sailing for Cafundéu, our athletes were able to pull a good performance and win a bronze medal.

Swimming (men's 4x100m medley relay) - the Cafundelenses had big expectations in this event, with many good swimmers participating. In the end, only the bronze medal came, which produced mixed reactions.

Swimming (women's 50m freestyle) - Natália Franco's participation in this Summer Olympics ended with a fantastic win in the fastest women swimming event, defeating Biron from Newmanistan and someone that looked like a French but later we discovered that wasn't (was from United Beretania). After winning many gold medals (and silvers and bronzes), Natália Franco's name is put among the best swimmers of history, and probably the most successful athlete of this Olympic Games. Congratulations to her!

Gymnastics (women's floor) - a medal that didn't make the Cafundelenses much happy. In the country's speciality in the gymnastics (along with the balance beam), only a bronze medal, with Ana Beatriz Lima, who made a solid performance. Natália Veloso had better moves, but stepped out of the floor area and was punished with some points, ending with her medal chances. Although Ana seemed happy with her medal, the supporters were expecting more.

Gymnastics (women's vault) - another bronze medal in the gymnastics, this time in the vault, which isn't one of the best apparatus of the Cafundelense girls (although it isn't one of the worst). Cecíla Castro Jimenez mantained her good presentations of the qualifying stage and that was enough for her to get the third place.

Weightlifting (women's 75kg) - with many strong opponents, Jéssica Silva was unable to get the gold. But, pushing her limits, she was able to get a bronze medal.

Weightlifting (men's 94kg) - Murilo Feroz was determined to win this gold medal. And we got that, after lifting four hundred kilograms, a marvelous amount, defeating by twenty kilograms the old record, from the Cafundelense Marcílio Dias. He showed a lot of will force and physical force to win this one.

Sailing (men's 470 class) - Dirceu Gomes and José Carlos Peixoto dominated the competition since the first races and didn't let their opponents get close to them even when they finished badly in some races. In the end, a deserved gold medal in one of Cafundéu's favourite sports. It was a much welcome medal, and probably the first of many in Sailing. The second placed double was the one from The Archregimancy, which was much praised by their opponents.

Sailing (women's 470 class) - our women Rita Guedes and Larissa Carvalho were unable to repeat the good performance of our men in the same class, but ended with the silver medal, a much respected one. They made some bad times in the first races and had to recover in the end. The gold went to C&M's sailors.

Athletics (men's long jump) -* Wagner Souto da Silva surprised all the world by winning the men's long jump final, with a good mark in his second jump. There was some confusion over the judges if his jump was valid or not, but in the end he was awarded the gold medal, with Nicholas from Kelssek with the silver (OOC: the results thread shows Nicholas with the gold, but da Silva's 2nd try was best than all of Nicholas's, so the gold medal should go to da Silva).

* if there isn't a change in men's long jump results post (the way I said), I'll remake this part of the post with the silver medal

Athletics (women's discus throw) - in another win for the Cafundelense Athletics, Vilma Natalina Conceição had to win a personal battle against a Landau Institute doctor in order to win the gold medal in the discus throw. The result was much commemorated, as the Doctor Ferdinanda Valentine was the favourite one.

Cycling (women's track team pursuit) - cycling! We won something in cycling! That was impressive. After the confusion with the Sorthern Northland cyclists, we were able to win a medal, and a silver one! Our team must be proud after winning this silver medal.

Equestrian (team jumping) - a loss in equestrian is always a sad note for Cafundéu, even if the team was able to get a silver medal. Seeing Secristan's anthem being played instead of the Cafundelense one wasn't a good experience, and our riders will do their best to avoid that situation again.

Gymnastics (women's rings) - another bronze medal for one of our female gymnasts. This time, Fernanda Serrano. But in this situation there wasn't a deception, as the Cafundelense women usually don't train in the rings, leaving this apparatus to the men. So, the medal was a welcome one.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

You want day 10 scores? You got them!

Baseball—Men’s—Group Stage:

1 more game left and after an 11-2 win, Qazox still has a slim chance to qualify for the medal round. 4 runs in the 4th and 5 runs in the 6th made it 11-0, but 2 run in the bottom of the 6th kept the mercy rule from being in effect.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 200 405 000 11
T.B.C. 000 002 000 2


Handball—Men’s—Group Stage:
Thanks to Jasiyun's earlier loss in the day, Qazox clinched a medal round berth before they even took the court against Kelssek. Even so, a win could have clinched the group title, but a last minute goal fell the Pheonix, 28-27. They will play West Pocono in the Quarterfinals. OF all the medal round teams, only Newmanistan had more goals, which is a positive.

SCORE SUMMARY
Kelssek 14 14 28
Qazox 13 14 27

Qazox Goals Today:
Clinton Villavicencio: 5
Christian Jowett: 5
Hugh Lafon: 5
Cody Parkey: 4
Kurt Curtis: 3
Darryl Longworth: 3
Jamie Ehrhardt: 2

Overall Goals
Clinton Villavicencio: 39
Christian Jowett: 32
Hugh Lafon: 31
Cody Parkey: 19
Kurt Curtis: 13
Darryl Longworth: 8
Jamie Ehrhardt: 3
Own Goals- 1 (Secristan)



Softball (Women):
A bye date but no matter, as the team was eliminated from medal contention after Fujisawan Territories' win over Nuevos Aires.

Triathlon—Men’s:
In an event Qazox was expected to contend for a medal in, Kurt Pound twice fell off the bike and couldn't recover as he finished in a dissapointing 46th. (ooc: Kurt Pound was rated 1.0, how da heck can he finish 46th??) The other 2 triathletes didn't fare better, as Eric Byers finsihed 39th and Cody Weick finished 57th.

Times:
39 Erik Beyers: 1:57:21.06
46 Kurt Pound: 1:57:51.67
57 Cody Weick: 2:00:22.64


Water Polo—Men’s:
A very impressive 9-4 win over Cafundéu, clinched the #2 seed, as Landau Institute wound up with a slightly better GD (+16 to +15). This sets up an interesting Quarterfinal matchup with Prux, who won the gold at the Qazoxian Sports Festival.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 3 1 3 2 9
Cafundéu 1 2 1 0 4

Qazox Goals Today (Overall):
Jose Allgood: 3
Luis O'Keefe: 3
Bruce Lanham: 2
Howard Romero: 1

Overall Goals:
Bruce Lanham: 12
Howard Romero: 10
Luis O'Keefe: 9
Jose Allgood: 9
Danny Baptiste: 2
Russell Haber: 2


Field Hockey—Women’s:

0-1-4 is not they way the Field hockey team wanted to make it's Olympic debut, but towards the end, they challenged top teams and came away with a goal for the next for 4 years... 1 WIN.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 2 0 2
SLANI 2 1 3

Today's Goals:
Theresa Gordon: 2

Overall goals:
Theresa Gordon: 5
Edna Mardis: 1
Brandi Murillo: 1


Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

We're now 99.99% sure the Aqautic events are over, except for Diving.

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Men’s Long Jump—Final:
Douglas Kruse: 7.84/NM/NM (9th)

DIVING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Men’s 3 m Springboard—Preliminaries:
Ryan Pitre: 444.76 (7th)
Randy Oster: 369.38

Prux's Olympic Blog

The group stages are over and only the Medal rounds remain, and Prux is either 1/2 way to 2 gold medals, or halfway to walking away empty-handed. But then again we could get 2 silvers or 2 bronzes, or a mix of 1 of any type of medal and 1 of any other type of medal. You get the point.

Water Polo—Men’s—Group Stage:
A 3-2 groups tage record after a tough 6-4 loss to Landau Institute, means we'll face familar foes in the medal round: Qazox. The team we beat TWICE at the QSF, just 3 short months ago. So we should have no problems beating them here, right?

Score by Quarter:

Prux 1 1 0 2 4
L. I. 2 1 1 2 6



Basketball—Men’s:
NOTHING other than a mild cheer after the team landed in Pawtucket last night.

Field Hockey—Women’s—Group Stage:
1-3. And the team is on its way back home. Nothing much else to say, other than they didn't do to well.

Score by Half:

Zwangzug 1 1 2
Prux 0 0 0



That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

A Team and A Dream. The Taeshani Strive fro a Medal.

It was a somewhat good afternoon in Columbia, with a few wins and a few losses. In Mens Athletics Jeff Reynolds made it to the semis in the 200, while Alen Prescott did the same in the 400. In Equestian Jumping the trio of Selma Hayak, Alec Grene, and Ava Smits all qualified for th finals in that event. The Mens Basektball team defeated Kelssek by 20 but fell short of a second round berth. And Finally in Mens Beach volleyball the team of Mike Phish and Tyson Bradshaw shocked the world with a 2-0 beatdown of Nuvos Aires's Eugenio/Ezio. They are the first Taeshani team with a legitimate shot at a medal in the Medal Round.

Day 08–19 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13936422&postcount=31) are now up.

An error in the results of yesterday’s men’s long jump has been corrected; Wagner Souto da Silva (CAF) was incorrectly given a final result of 8.16 m when his best jump was 8.23 m. This change puts him ahead of Mark Nicholas (KSK), so da Silva has been awarded the gold medal and Nicholas the silver.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 11, and that means the final push for medal begins now.

Baseball—Men’s—Group Stage:

Despite the 6-5 win over Coocoostan, both Maineiacs and Newmanistan won their matches, eliminating the team, who were medal favorites.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 001 101 201 6
Coocoostan 000 032 000 5


Softball (Women):
A 2-0 loss to Fujisawan Territories, leaves the team at 3-5, just shy of the 4-4 record expected.

SCORE SUMMARY
Fuji Terr. 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2
Qazox 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0


Triathlon—Women’s:
Qazox earned its first medal today, a silver in the Women's triathlon. Kathrine Turlington finished behind Zwangzug's Kelsey Rosenbaum by 43 seconds, but that was more than enough to win silver. The two were neck-and-neck after the swim and cycling portions, But Rosenbaum was just a bit better in the running portion, allowing her to pull away over the last 3 miles. As for the other 2 competitors, Sharron Slowik finished with a personal best in 24th and Marylou Zajicek finished 58th after stopping twice with cramps during the run.

Times:
2 Kathrine Turlington: 2:06:26.06
24 Sharron Slowik: 2:08:44.90
58 Marylou Zajicek: 2:13:42.89



Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

(ooc: figures, one female athlete with a rating of 0.9 in one event wins silver, while one male athlete with a rating of 1.0 in the same event, finished 46th. Dang scorinator :p)

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Kelssek Olympic Committee is extremely saddened at the tragic passing of Maccar ReNwarr. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to his loved ones.

In tribute we have provided and requested all Kelssek athletes to wear black armbands for the remainder of these Olympic Games to honour Mr. ReNwarr's memory.

Please direct all enquiries to our press office.

____

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OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 19, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080819.mp3

Now that wasn't part of the plan. Márcia Jordão was nowhere after a series of dire performances, Hannah Wisnieski was all but out of gold medal contention, and only Laureen Newman, an absolute nobody, could deny Hannah Paulsgrove.

Newman had 36 points; Paulsgrove had 33. In short, to win, Newman had to finish two places above Paulsgrove. Wisnieski, on 45, could have won by finishing six places above Paulsgrove and four above Newman, but with only ten in the medal race this was mildly unlikely to say the least, and her concern would have been beating Mary Harrison of Maineiacs and probably secure at least some medal. Nobody else was in it, save for an outside shot at bronze.

Both Hannahs got caught in unfavourable conditions. Wisnieski got into the medals, but that was it. Paulsgrove did at least get silver, but Newman won the medal race and with it the gold. Jordão was second, Linda Roux of the BCO triple threat third, Vana Williams of Krytenia fourth, then Nina Ferr of Kenavt, then Rebecca Orange of Asteran. Paulsgrove was seventh, Whitney Phelps of Bluth Corporation eighth, and Wisnieski only just snuck ahead of Harrison to secure bronze. Even then, it was fortunate that the remaining contenders shuffled themselves in this manner, as Roux would have won bronze if she'd snuck above Jordão.

Paulsgrove's comment that she would only need to beat Candelarian and Cafundelense opposition to take gold is sounding very stupid indeed.

'That's sailing though isn't it?' she remarked. 'And I've got a silver medal which is fantastic, I beat the other Hannah which was great after what she said about me. She said about me, 'I can't stand the bitch'. Well, let me tell you now, Mother Nature, who caused me so much problem today and in a couple of the other races... I can't stand the bitch.'

In the mens' equivalent category, Ben Simpson edged out Amat Oeke to secure bronze behind Roberto Soares of Cafundeu and Fr. Athenogenes the Wanderer of The Archregimancy.

Slight disappointment in the womens' triathlon, Idina Brightman missing out on the gold many expected of her as pacemaker Crystal Orton struggled late on in the bike, though she battled on to finish a creditable 13th. Kelsey Rosenbaum of Zwangzug took on the pace along with Qazox's Kathrine Turlington, but Rosenbaum's stronger run saw her take gold by a significant margin, with Brightman edging out Katharina Oppenheimer of Bluth Corporation in a sprint for bronze.

In other sports, Erica Namin missed out on a semi-final in the womens' 63kg Greco-Roman wrestling by the drawing of lots, after losing 3-0 to Arrah of Bears Armed. 'I should have made that unnecessary... and I feel I've let down ReBrrun (who also lost in the tiebreaker, Rose Piauí winnign through) because she beat me and I feel... sick'. Piauí beat ReBrrun to set up a three-way tie that could not be separated by any other method.

More good news in athletics though as Mandee Fischer won her 200m heat and Ellie Varono, despite missing out on qualification by just one-hundreth of a second, had the pleasure of beating Brittany M. Wright of Newmanistan. Her Bluth Corporation namesake won her heat.

Sara Marshall is through to the long jump final with a 6.58m leap; she says her target for the final is to break her personal best of 6.89m. 'In an event where everyone does individual efforts like this you can do is give your best and hope it's enough. It's not like distance running where what others do affects your performance too.'

Speaking of which, the 5,000m heats were marked out by Allaneans breaking away to dictate the races from the front, and all were probably quicker for it, won in well under 15 minutes. Lisa Cottee missed out on a fastest-loser spot in the 5,000m final by just 0.09 seconds; 'I couldn't believe it, I'd have made the final if even three more people had gone under my time outside the top eight, but four did!'

Both baseball teams missed out on the semi-finals; the men had the misfortune of facing the devastating Kanji Starter, but beat everyone else, while the women were beaten on a three-way tiebreaker behinid Newmanistan and Secristan.

The Olympics so far (August 11-12)
Agence de presse ariddienne

Catch up on the latest action in Columbia, and find out how the Ariddian Islanders have been doing.

BADMINTON

Ariddia’s sole representative, Jean-François Bornescu, began the second round of the men’s singles on a strong note, defeating Kelssek’s Ian Canterbury in straight sets – 21-17, 21-14. Bornescu looked comfortable as he faced a skilled but ultimately outmatched opponent.

In round three, an excellent Bornescu again took just two sets to eliminate Krytenia’s Ben Flecha, and the outcome of the match was never really in doubt – 21-12, 21-7.

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Jean-François Bornescu performs in Columbia.

CROQUET

Most viewers watching the croquet may have been motivated by curiosity more than anything else. The competition began on August 11. The Ariddians’ participation was extremely brief; Branislav Slovak and Miranda I were both eliminated in the opening round.

http://img125.imageshack.us/img125/6524/croquetel0.jpg
Ariddia’s Branislav Slovak (in red) was eliminated in the first round of the croquet competition.

FENCING

One of the Ariddian Isles’ best medal hopes went into action in round one of the women’s foil. Christina Zhang, who was Olympic champion in Ashford, was not given a bye but paired against Secristan’s unfortunate Michelle Joseph. Zhang sailed her way comfortably through the first round, 15-8.

In round two, she met another Secristani, Kristen Reed. This time, Zhang defeated her opponent by a virtual walkover, advancing with a score of 15-5. She was looking in perfect shape.

“I’m glad to be back at the Olympics,” she told reporters. “It’s always a great experience. I feel fit, and ready, and so far it’s going well. I’m here for a medal, and I know I have it in me to do very well. Of course, my opponents here are very good too.”

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Zhang concedes a point but scores at the same time.

Zhang’s adversary in the third round was Dana Caruso, of Asteran. The Ariddian defeated her by a healthy margin of five points, 15-10, and qualified for the quarter-finals.

There she eliminated Xalostia’s Sharla Barnes, 15-6. So far, none of Zhang’s opponents had been able to put more than ten points past her. In the semi-finals, Peg Sweeten of West Pocono conceded defeat to Zhang’s swift foil by nine points to twelve, and the Ariddian earned herself the certainty of a medal.

Her adversary in the final was Roumberre’s Callista d’Ursini, who had not looked quite so much at ease as Zhang in previous rounds. Come the final, however, d’Ursini displayed the best of her skill, and Zhang was confronted with her most difficult fight. From being 2-5 down, the Ariddian fought her way back into a 9-5 lead, before d’Ursini levelled it at 11-all. From then on it was point to point, each woman clawing her way with great effort to a tenuous and always brief lead, until d’Ursini snatched the narrowest of victories – 14 points to Zhang’s 13. Christina Zhang gave her a opponent a congratulatory embrace, and smiled, a little disappointed, as she accepted her silver medal.

“No, of course I’m not too happy,” she admitted, and shrugged, keeping it brief. “But an Olympic silver medal is still an achievement.”

FOOTBALL

Continuing on strong form, the Ariddian Isles’ women –the defending champions– defeated Krytenia 1-0, and qualified for the quarter-finals, topping Group A.

OTHER TEAM SPORTS

In handball, the women did better than most would have expected on matchday two, holding off team Baranxtu, Cikoutimi, and Otea for most of the match before finally falling by 21 points to 29. They remained at the bottom of group B.

In lacross, the men’s team went down 9-12 to Maineacs on day 2, but hold on to the fifth place out of six in their group, ahead of Cafundéu on points. The women, defeated 14-16 by Secristan, were at the bottom of their group on the same day.

In the opening games of tug-of-war, the men’s team lost to a very strong Bears Armed’s women’s team 0-2, but the Ariddian Isles’ women defeated crowd favourites Jasīʼyūn 2-1. They went no further than round two, alas, where Secristan put an end to their Olympic journey with a decisive 2-0 win.

There was no good news for the ladies in basketball, as Kelssek defeated the Ariddian Isles 93–73, knocking the girls down to fourth place out of six in Group B.

In American football, a very strong Ariddian Isles’ women’s team conceded a narrow defeat (24-27) to the Fujisawan Territories, and found themselves in second place in Group B. The men, meanwhile, lost to Kosovoe 16-42, but also retained second place in Group E.

In handball, the men lost their second match and sank to bottom place in their group. In basketball, the men also lost their second match.

In volleyball, by contrast, the men performed well, defeating the Fujisawan Territories in four games, and taking temporary second place (out of five) in group D.

JUDO

Joseph Kabir, having won the silver medal in Querzakhi, received a bye in the first round of the men’s 73kg category. He then advanced past the second round by defeateing Andrew Gillard of Kelssek.

“Contrary to what some people think,” Kabir said, “getting past round two when you’ve been to the final before isn’t just a formality. The judoka who are here at the Olympics all qualified because they’re among the best in the world. I beat Andrew, but he was never an easy opponent.”

His quarter-final match was also the first direct confrontation between an Ariddian and an Allanean at the Olympics. Relations between the two countries have most often been cold at best, fraught with ideological tension. But these are the Olympics, and the two men facing each other no doubt had sport in mind, not politics. Joseph Kabir and Alexander Zonday saluted each other politely before grappling with each other on the tatami, until Kabir threw his opponent in a decisive ippon. Kabir and Zonday saluted each other again, and shook hands with what appeared to be genuine good feeling. The Ariddian spoke a few words to the Allanean with a friendly smile.

In the semi-finals, Kabir defeated Secristan’s Masashi Sunako, and advanced to his second consecutive Olympic final. Xalostia’s Emmett Rondo was no match for the talented Ariddian Islander, who dealt him another ippon and claimed his first ever Olympic gold medal. He let out a whoop of joy, and was grinning as he received his medal. For the second time in Columbia, the Ariddian national anthem was played, and Kabir’s face reflected unmistakable emotion as he watched his country’s flag rise towards the ceiling.

“Yes, I’m overjoyed,” he said, not unexpectedly. “I won bronze in Ashford, silver in Querzakhi, so I really needed it to be gold this time. Now I’ve got medals in all three colours, with the best left for last, and I’m just delighted. It was eight years in coming, but now I’m the Olympic champion!”

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8438/kabirag0.jpg
Joseph Kabir (blue) on his way to gold.

In the men’s 81kg category was Adam Jameson, gold medallist in Ashford and silver medallist in Querzakhi. His first round consisted in a comfortable win against Doug Knowles of West Pocono. His second round victim was Bussho Jimbo, of the Fujisawan Territories. In the semi-finals, he overcame Tan Mar of Bears Armed, thus ensuring himself a new Olympoc medal.

Jameson’s opponent in the final was Chang Woo-Kim of Secristan. Despite his opponent’s tenacity and skill, Jameson was the better judoka, and proved it by taking gold – the Ariddian Isles’ third gold medal in judo at the Columbia Games.

As for the women, in the 57kg category, West Ariddia’s Joan Mathis made a good start in her first Olympic Games by defeating Lisa Ogilivie of West Pocono in the first round. She also defeated Asteran’s Lisa Yates in the quarter-finals.

The semi-finals were another judo bout between Allanea and Ariddia. This time, it was the Allanean, namely Goreta Ganda, who came out on top, diverting Mathis to the third place match – which she lost to Secristan’s Kim Jyun-Hyung. Ganda went on to win silver, and Mathis went to congratulate her personally a little before the medal ceremony.

In the women’s 63kg category, Julie Lanza beat Jūn Hyūŋ-lyoŋ of Jasīʼyūn for her opening match, before eliminating Asteran’s Noelle Lister in round two. The Ariddian Isles’ judoka were looking dangerous indeed. Lanza went on to defeat Katherine Wallace of Secristan in the quarter-finals, and, looking unstoppable, Juliane Falcão of Cafundéu in the semis. While Falcão took bronze, Lanza lost for the first time in the final, winning silver for the Ariddian Isles while Yohjo WhiteMoon of Bears Armed took gold.

DIVING

Men’s pair Jose Morales and Armand Savard performed far beyond expectations in the 10 metre synchronised dive, finishing fifth out of twelve with an impressive 366.22 points.

“To be honest, this was the best we could realistically hope for,” Morales said. “So I’m pleased. Of course we were aiming for a place on the podium, but finishing just two spots down isn’t bad at all. It’s very encouraging.”

TENNIS

West Ariddia’s star Christian Mohamed was back in action in the men’s singles. He smashed Kelssek’s Mark Owens 6-1 in the first set, then went down by a worrying 3-6 in the second, before recovering his usual form and advancing with a 6-4 win in the third.

Round three was even easier; Mohamed beat Valanora’s Justin Farl 6-2, 6-3, one of the best results of that stage.

WHELCHAIR FENCING

There were no Ariddian Islanders in the women’s final of this event, first proposed by the Comité olympique ariddien. Philippa Carlton of Kura-Pelland won the inaugural Olympic title, defeating the Fujisawan Territories’ Koriko Ippitsusai with a majestic 15-4. C.O.A. President Eo Sheh and Frédéric Iwo, President of the Comité paralympique ariddien, praised Carlton as an “outstanding athlete”, and jointly offered her their warmest congratulations.

BOCCE

Ariddians were treated to an excellent surprise in bocce, as Ludovic Forbin and Don Bridgeman defeated Kura-Pelland’s Alan Ilford and Charlie Summers by a high margin in the quarter-finals – 11-4. The women also advanced to the semis, when Miranda Benn and Cecily Carlisle narrowly ousted Lauren Filipovic and Gabby Sovengi of Candelaria And Marquez, 11-9. There are now strong hopes of at least one medal in bocce, something which many would have considered wildly implausible just yesterday.

GYMNASTICS

All around the Ariddian Isles, people were glued to their television sets as the men’s artistic team all-around got underway. Although the Dream Team did not come out on top in every aspect of the event, their overall score was the only one above 232 points. There was loud applause in the gymnasium when the final results confirmed that they had successfully defended their Olympic title, taking gold for their third Olympic Games in a row.

It was also the Ariddian Isles’ third gold medal in Columbia, and the first not to come from judo.

The men of the Dream Time were on cloud nine after their win, warmly embracing one another. They had made history, their performance absolutely remarkable, and their names would not be forgotten any time soon.

WHEELCHAIR FENCING

In another sport initiated by the Ariddian Isles’ Olympic and Paralympic committees, Lounglath Sirivonghanh’s participation was over almost as soon as it had begun, when he lost his first round match to Rrohrb the Butler of Roumberre.

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/3797/wheelchairfencingyj0.jpg
Lounglath Sirivonghanh (right) of the Ariddian Isles.

ARCHERY

Archery was also of keen interest to Ariddian viewers. Youssef Kasmba’s Olympic record held throughout round one of the men’s singles event, while Kasmba himself narrowly defeated Secristan’s Lucas Moradian, 165-163.

“It’s good to have tough competition in round one,” the Ariddian said afterwards. “Moradian forced me to put in a lot of effort, to do my best. It’s good practice for the next round. I scored 165, which is good, but several other archers did that too. And Sherwood, from Wentland, got to 167, just one point below my record. So this is going to be a tough competition all the way through. If my record has to fall, I’d like to be the one to break it.”

Alas, that was not to be. Huge disappointment awaited Kasmba and his many fans when his 167 points in the second round were not enough to overcome Rrorhb o Greenwood, who –as though to twist the dagger in the wound– broke the Olympic record of the opponent he was eliminating, with 170 points.

“I’m annoyed,” Kasmba told reporters. “I’m really annoyed. First off, I’d like to say that Greenwood is the best archer I’ve ever gone up again, and, although our scores were close, he deserved to win. But my score was second-best of all thirty-two competitors in that round. If I’d been against any other archer, I’d have won. Any at all. That’s not a brag; it’s statistical fact. But that’s the bad luck of the draw. Under different circumstances, I’d have won silver, maybe gold. As it is, I’m out. Yes, it’s bad luck, but to be honest we all know I’d have got onto the podium. That’s four years training wasted by a stroke of bad luck. Still, good luck to Greenwood. After all that, I hope he does take gold.”

For the women, Marie-Christine Doucet (of North-West Ariddia) defeated Newmanistan’s Carla Dinsmore, while Mélissa Thinley, with an identical score of 146, lost to Kura-Pelland’s Clara Tiyor.

http://img139.imageshack.us/img139/1733/doucetln0.jpg
[I]Marie-Christine Doucet advances to the second round.

In round two, Doucet, the last of the Ariddian Isles’ archers, underperformed quite badly, her score of 132 well below her previous level of achievement. She was eliminated by the Fujisawan Territories’ China Miyakus.

SWIMMING

No medals were expected in this sport, where Ariddians started out as underdogs. John Blake swam the 100 metre freestyle in 56.23 seconds, finishing last of his heat but ahead of two other competitors in the final ranking.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL

Matters remained difficult for the Ariddian Isles’ Ivan Kovac and Michael Middleton, who lost in two sets on day 2. The women (Maria de la Cruz and Roxanne Sha) were similarly outclassed.

SUMMER VIGIL FASTING

And, to conclude, the summer vigil fasting continues. The event is not much of a spectator sport, but the two Ariddian Islanders in contention –Julian Singh and Aphrodisia Amanatidis– were reportedly in good health after their first few days of fasting. Fr. Emilian of the Archregimancy remains the favourite for what will be the Games’ last and most unusual medal.

At the end of August 12th, the Ariddian Isles were in sixth place on the medal table, with four gold medals (three in judo, one in gymnastics), two silver, and one bronze. There had been tremendous disappointment in archery, but also unexpectedly good performances in bocce. In fencing, Christina Zhang missed out on her dreams of gold, but added a silver to her country’s medal tally. Above all, the Ariddian Isles’ judoka swept in the medals, and the Dream Team of the men’s gymnasts fought off tough competition to take their third consecutive gold medal in the men’s team all-around – thus remaining unbeaten throughout the history of the Olympics.

[I]NEWS FLASHES!

In addition to a look back at the early days’ events, we bring you snippets of the most recent Olympic news regarding other countries’ delegations:

· Tragedy struck the Games when Roumberre's Maccar ReNwarr died while competing in the 200 metre sprint. The Comité olympique ariddien expressed its profound condoleances, and the Ariddian Isles’ delegation decided collectively to wear black armbands for the next three days of events.
· Tiny microstate An Blascaod Mór has won two medals, with Rosheen McLennan finishing third in the 100 metre sprint, and Liam O’Connell the Olympic champion in badminton. Meanwhile, San Adriano’s Femke van der Vaart has taking bronze in the marathon.
· The Archregimancy’s 'Jumping Trinity' failed to take even one medal in the steeplechase, but Fr. Athenogenes and Fr. Paul took silver in sailing. Spectators –some holding up signs bearing the words ‘IS OUTRAGE!’ to show their support for the athlete monks– were spared the country’s stirring but endless national anthem.
· Not for long, however, as Fr. Athenogenes went on to take gold in the singles, with a six point lead. Spectators were unable to hold up their support cards throughout the anthem ceremony, and some may have been seen quietly slinking away.
· In gymanstics, Ajitawa Yukatsuko of the Fujisawan Territories was injured during the all-around. She had qualified in joint eighth place for the final, and was not able to compete. She was taken to hospital, where three of Ariddia’s Golden Girls –Reed, Set and Mokhobo– later visited her.
· It has been hinted that Kura-Pellandi TV network TeleNet is preparing to make a programme about gymnastics and eating disorders, in cooperation with PINA. Unofficial confirmation has been obtained from PINA, although the details remain sketchy.
· Newmanistan’s Courtney Connolly accused gymnastics’ judges of being biased in favour of Ariddians. There has been no reaction from any Ariddian athlete or official.

Momentous issues were being discussed in one of the conference rooms of the Kirkenes Courier.

"I'm for 'Lafontaine is king of the rings', as the headline" said the subeditor, flecks of digestive biscuit cascading onto the surface of the table.

"People might think he won in boxing, several times."

"King of the Roman rings, then" insisted the subeditor.

"Is it actually called that?"

Looking up from his laptop, a writer read, "A Roman ring, in theoretical physics, is a configuration of wormholes where for each individual wormhole the time difference across its mouths is such that it may not allow a closed timelike curve (CTC), or 'closed-time loop'..."

"What?!"

"Oh, and it looks like the KBC's already taken 'king of the rings'."

The editing team mulled over this for several minutes.

"How about lord of the rings?"

Everyone groaned, except, of course, the one in charge of making the decision, the chief sports editor, who declared "I like that."

"Oh, you can't be serious."

"I'm not."

The sense of relief was palpable.

"Let's just go with something boring. 'Lafontaine wins gold on the Roman rings'."

No one wanted a boring headline, but no one wanted to spend lunch time discussing it, so they left it at that.

"They want me to do what?" Nahtēri Andali stared at his coach in disbelief.

Zurati Marsani smirked. "From what they've told me, rugby players are doing it in some strange country... somewhere."

"Posing stark naked. In a calendar. How about no?" He reconsidered. "Make that a HELL NO."

"But your fans would love it! It'd sell like hot cakes. Well, given the subject, more like hot -"

Nahtēri shot him a look. "If you say 'buns', I'm gonna hurt you. Bad."

"Just... think about it."

"The only thing I'm thinking about now are the finals. I sorta screwed up during the semifinals, so I want to concentrate on doing it right later and not think about showing my ass to half of Baranxtu."

"Geez, it's just a suggestion. You don't need to get aggressive."

"I'm not aggressive. I'm annoyed - annoyed that you gotta distract me like that now. And now, if you don't mind, please, go away, I want to pray."

The Ariddian Cultural Centre in the International City would be pleased to promote friendly international relations through sport and culture by hosting a singlestick event.

Eo Sheh,
President, Ariddian Olympic Committee


Hrarroom!
Have your people decided yet on date when this event, and your own display of Paralympic Judo, are to take place? Now that both Judo and Fencing events in main Games are all completed, any date before Closing Ceremony would suit us as well as any other date in that period.


Best wishes, and many fishes,
from

Siggurr Thuleann,
Chairbear, BAOC.

(Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Bears' section of the Olympic Village_)

"Have you seen Arwenna?" Brillda o Vasrbora asked her cousin Verans,"I wanted to find out whether she's going to watch the Dressage this afternoon, but -- for a change -- she wasn't hanging around at the stables when I checked there just now."
"I think she's gone sightseeing into the city with her 'new best friend', maybe to see what possibilities there are in the way of shopping," replied Verans.
"Oh? What 'new best friend' would that be? Spill the berries!"
"It's one of the Wentlander humans, one of their female archers; the one who didn't take part in that unscheduled 'swimming event' out on the main track."
"The same one who got a 'bye' in the individual event, and so didn't knock one of our own girls out of that event?"
"Yes. Apparently she was really curious about what we were like as people, so she actually managed to sneak over the fence into this compund a couple of nights ago"
"NO!"
"Yes. Fortunate for her that it was Arwenna whom she met first, rather than some backwoodsbear who might have mistaken her for a 'goldilocks', eh? Anyway, Arwenna brought her in here to chat with those of us who were around, and they really seemed to strike it off well with each other: After a while they disappeared off into Arwenna's room, to talk in private, and I don't know what they were discussing in there but some people who were out in the adjacent garden said that because Arwenna had left her window ajar for fresh air they could hear a lot of very loud giggling going on...'"
"Oh well, I'll try to catch her later..."


______________________________________________

(OOC: Over to you, Wentland _ I've just posted some more information about Arwenna here (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13860177&postcount=12)...)

Hrarroom!
Have your people decided yet on date when this event, and your own display of Paralympic Judo, are to take place? Now that both Judo and Fencing events in main Games are all completed, any date before Closing Ceremony would suit us as well as any other date in that period.


Best wishes, and many fishes,
from

Siggurr Thuleann,
Chairbear, BAOC.

OOC reponse for now: That depends. I've realised that I haven't actually got a scorinator able to cope with varying skill levels. If CH is willing to scorinate these, and the other unofficial events, they'll be hosted whenever it's convenient for him.

Okay, this is definitely a different arrangement: an electronic yet weirdly organlike shimmer blends in with the not-Travdan-at-all theme. It lasts longer than usual, but that's not necessarily a bad thing...

Lily: Twenty-four exhilarating hours for Zwangzug fans in Columbia, perhaps the most thrilling yet.
Steve: The drama started on the track, where Eric Haus backed into the semifinals of the 400 meter dash.
Darryl: Was he running backwards? That really would be impressive.
Yvette: Mallory Elrene made the finals of the hundred-meter hurdles, fourth in heat one.
Darryl: She finished two-hundredths of a second in front of Claire Parks, who would have tied for third in the second heat.
Yvette: Thanks for joining us today, Mallory.
Mallory: Hi!
Darryl: COLOCOG has drawn controversy for misplacing the finish cameras in the hurdle races. Has this affected your score?
Mallory: Oh my gosh, no way! I mean, 11.17, that's totally my personal best!
Yvette: ...Indeed. Well, good luck in the finals.
Mallory: Thank you!
Darryl: Barbara Thaner made the finals of the javelin throw despite a third-try scratch; her second try had already sailed 59.44 meters.
Yvette: Emily Alvarez crossed the foul line on her first long jump attempt, a worrying start for the pride of Zwangzug track and field. Do you know what happened out there?
Emily: Some sort of overconfidence, I guess. Most of us were not on our game.
Darryl: Indeed they were not: the majority of the twelve qualifiers registered at least one "no mark" in their three tries.
Lily: Then came the second try.
Emily: I saw Doctor Ventania-who'd crossed the line too-just blow past everyone. So that calmed me down a little.
Darryl: Doctor Gabrielle Ventania of the Landau Institute jumped 6.59 meters, the farthest distance of the second try.
Lily: What goes through your mind when you're running down that track?
Emily: If I'm lucky, nothing at all. No, really! I try and clear my mind. Thinking about anything doesn't help. If my mind is too wired, I try counting my steps. I try to have the same approach every time.
Darryl: Alvarez jumped 6.48 meters, enough for a spot in the final. Ventania, meanwhile, registered 6.68 meters on her final jump, the longest of the leaps.
Lily: Four Zwangzug kayaking entrants qualified for the semifinals-
Steve: That's because they all do.
Lily: Except for those who make the finals directly, such as Irene Brigham-twice.
Darryl: Brigham qualified in the two-person thousand-meter race with Kylie Ingmar and four-person five-hundred meter race, with Solveig O'Keefe, Delilah Swarth, and Kaitlyn Fiske.
Yvette: How do the different races compare?
Irene: Well...one is shorter and has more people, and the other one doesn't.
Steve: Very insightful.
Irene: In the K-4 there's a lot more, I guess you call it conformity. There's less room for error and keeping rhythm with your teammates is more important. That's why I respect Hanna and Mollie so much-they don't have the freedom in the solo races they do as a K-2 pair, so I'm always impressed by how they do it.
Yvette: The field hockey team, meanwhile, beat Prux with one Lois Winter goal in each half. Lynn Mishra reflects on the tournament.
Lynn: Of course we're disappointed, but we know we gave it our best. I really appreciated the shutout today, that was a good way to go out.
Steve: Also eliminated were the volleyball team, crashing out in three sets to Coocoostan and not scoring double digits in any of them.
Tyrus: Nobody wants to say that they're not good enough, realistically second or third or eighth-best. I don't want to make a big deal about how impressive our group stage was, but I think in time the team will understand their achievement.
Lily: Not eliminated, however, was the men's baseball team. Needing to win to advance, they jumped to a 3-0 lead before Ad'ihan pulled ahead 4-3. The lead switched hands, eventually climbing to 6-4 Zwangzug, but Ad'ihan got back within one before Marco Erewhon shut them down.
Darryl: No longer the "daydream team", they'll face Kanji Starter in the semifinals. Kanji Starter went 4-0, with the best...run differential?...of the perfect teams.
Yvette: Secristan managed a superior +21, yet failed to advance. Their women's team, however, will face Zwangzug after the latter beat Maineiacs for the group's top spot.
Darryl: Linda Ibañez doubled in Maya Edwards for Manieiacs' only run. Zwangzug won 3-1.
Yvette: Meanwhile, Secristan's regionmates of Newmanistan are in both other semifinals. A rematch or two of the seventh Classic final is certainly within reach.
Steve: Henry Boyd was eliminated from wrestling without winning a single match.
Lily: But Zwangzug's smallest Olympic wrestler, Jake Schilling, topped his group after each wrestler went 1-1.
Darryl: Moses Voldemort-Singh's margin of defeat to Peter Warner eliminated him from contention, while Schilling's victory against Warner sent him through.
Jake: It's awesome. I'm just so keyed up. I wasn't really paying attention to the tiebreaker stuff, just...just being jazzed up.
Yvette: What were the matches like?
Jake: Voldemort-Singh...he was one intimidating dude. I'm sort of glad he's eliminated and stuff because that was freaky.
Yvette: All right then. Well done.
Jake: Yeah, I'm psyched for Graves. It's gonna be awesome.
Steve: Few debates are as old as form versus function.
Lily: But one that is is whether they need to be opponents at all.
Yvette: Such is the state of Zwangzug cycling. What, exactly, does it mean to claim to be a skillful biking country? The average citizen may well bike faster or more efficiently than their Travdan or Ferahgotopian counterpart. But short of Lucia Corzan, all-around mediocrity is the trend at the top as well.
Darryl: Indeed, as fans have seen, one road race is not the same as another-and the local timetrials are nothing like the rest of the world's.
Lily: But maybe they had a point after all.
Darryl: Competing for the bronze medal, Morris Echo, Rafael Quixote, Otto Clift, and Lloyd Streer took to the track against the Roumberre team of Borrin ReNwarr, Arroysiurs ReNwarr, Charres LeBruinne, and Birrin ReNwarr. Several thousand meters later, a sweating Streer edged past Birrin ReNwarr.
Lily: Zwangzug hadn't just won: they'd lapped Roumberre, dominance not yet seen in the games.
Yvette: Clift joins us to discuss the race.
Otto: We talked it up a bit, the thought of lapping them...you know, they shouldn't be here, whatever. Part of it was just to give ourselves a boost, but I guess it actually happened.
Steve: Did you feel pressure to represent the country well?
Otto: Uh...no? I guess if we're going to bring home a medal, it says something that we do it as a team.
Lily: But the best was yet to come.
Darryl: Kathrine Turlington of Qazox had the slightest of leads over Zwangzug's Kelsey Rosenbaum after finishing the swimming leg of the triathlon. It was effectively moot in the cycling leg, though, and they ran neck-and-neck for the first half of the running portion.
Kelsey: I don't really consider pacemakers, where my teammates were.
Darryl: Heather Karan was on her way to a 40th place finish, with Janet Lauer 46th.
Kelsey: All I knew is that I didn't need to outstrip her until the end.
Lily: Rosenbaum pulled away to win by over a quarter of a minute.
Kelsey: When I crossed the line, I was like, Now what? Where is she? Did I do enough? I sort of turned around, and here comes this woman I've been racing the last two hours.
Yvette: Can you describe the medal ceremony?
Kelsey: Well, the big deal was Zwangzug's first Olympic gold. And that's fine, but I'm not going to be able to describe what that means. I don't even know. It was nice just to stand in one place for a while though.
Steve: And then?
Kelsey: Who knows? I'm not really just Kelsey anymore, I'm this person, Zwangzugian, who's just won an Olympic gold medal. And I think that's going to make a difference, but for now, it's just seeing what comes next.
More theme music fading out, too. Just because.

OOC reponse for now: That depends. I've realised that I haven't actually got a scorinator able to cope with varying skill levels. If CH is willing to scorinate these, and the other unofficial events, they'll be hosted whenever it's convenient for him.

OOC: Fair enough. (N.B. 'Singlestick' should probably be scorinated on the same basis as Sabre.)


Cycling—Women’s Track Points Race
G Stefana Zuider (MAI) 47
S Angela Ellice (ARI) 43
B Janelle Reyes (WLD) 42
4 Isabelle Koster (CAF) 41
5 Charressa DeNwerro (RMB) 21
6 Alya Nasmatu Ēgīpeta (BCO) 19
7 Talia Valjavic (KRY) 10
8 Deborah Beery (ZWZ) 8
9 Mona Kont (ALL) 8
10 Danielle Edwards (NEW) 7
11 Ilga o BerryGlades (BRS) 7
12 Jennifer Garvey (SEC) 7
13 Rita Markham (KAS) 7
14 Inna Checksov (KJS) 4
15 Jessica Alexander (BLU) 4
16 Laura Sharpe (KPL) 1
17 Felipa Babiana (COM) −15

Oh dear, did somebody have a little accident when she realised that there were two Ursines in the same race as herself? :D

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9610/snpaperdv6.png (http://imageshack.us)

It's a marathon not a sprint, literally

Sorthern Northland yesterday claimed a suprise gold and first gold away from the bike yesterday as Kiki Reyes destroyed the field to cross the line in first. The win was one that Kiki had made look so easy and that became apparent when second placed Ilga Eastwalker of Bears Armed crossed the line nearly exactly four minutes later whilst Femke van der Vaart came in behind Eastwalker to claim a fantastic bronze medal for the Sovereign Village of San Adriano, a nation so small in size it would struggle to have a marathon route. The gold will be particularly pleasing to Sorthern Olympic chiefs as it is Sorthern Northland first non-cycling Summer Games medal. Sorthern Northland had been expected to challenge for medals in both the men's and women's football event but both teams went out at the group stage. With them gone many saw cycling as the only sport for Sorthern Northland to win medals in. Now though they finally have a treasured athletics gold medal and for the next four years Kiki Reyes has the ammunition to call herself the best female marathon runner in the world. Speaking after the race she said, "I think the big winning margin is due to the fact I had a bear chasing me over the last few kilometres. I thought it was trying to eat me or something, I didn't realise it was in the event as well."

OOC: "Ahem!" As I explained at the start of this nation's signup post (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13860016&postcount=77), and then mentioned again in one of my earliest posts in this thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13908624&postcount=141), slightly over 20% of Bears Armed's entrants here actually come from the relatively small ( < 05%) non-Ursine side of this nation's population... and if you check in that signup post then you'll see Ilga Eastwalker's name followed by "[Ha]" which indicates that she is from the Harr'aynau people: Ursine in spirit, yes, but more-or-less Human in appearance...
(And even the nations' fully-Ursine athletes are wearing clothes, which I would have thought might be seen as a clue that they're not just savage animals...)

To: Monastic Olympic Committee,

On behalf of our delegation, our Prince and our nation, we thank you for the words of sympathy that your spokesman Fr. Vasily the Heavily-Accented expressed concerning the tragic death of Maccar ReNwarr. However we wish to correct one error that he included (hopefully due merely to ignorance of our culture) in his statement _
Maccar ReNwarr was not a 'heathen'. The family ReNwarr, like all of our Principality's people, are good Roman Catholics (following the line of Popes whose seat is at Nova Assissi).


Yours in God's name,

Alexandre Brumas [senior],
Chairbear, Committee Olympic Roumberree;
Chancellor of the University of Baree.

Monsegnurr Androkles DeBwarr,
Chaplain to the Roumberree Olympic Delegation.

Day 08–19 B results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13937340&postcount=32) are now up.

For the unofficial events, if you could give me a list of participants and their skills and the format of the competition, I can probably scorinate those either on 08–23 A or sometime after the last events.

"Good evening and welcome to Olympic Roundup. I'm Derek Smyth, filling in for Alan Eagle. It's been a great day of competition here in Columbia, and we have all the highlights for you."

"Let's start with the track and field competitions. The Paulsen sisters had their hopes of medals in the 200 meters dashed when they failed to advance out of their respective heats. The same was true for Bertha Power and Julia Gold in the 1500 meters, who made up for it by advancing in the 5000 meters heats. Ariel Newman qualified for the Women's Long Jump final with a best of 6.59 meters. Charles McDowell just barely qualified for the 200 meters final, finishing fourth in his heat. Neil Thorpe failed to advance to the 110 meter Hurdles semifinals after coming sixth in his heat. The best track result of the day came from the Women's 400 meter finals, where Gina Seeman saw her dream come true, finishing second."

"Diving saw Rohan O'Grady advance to the 3 meter Springboard finals, where he finished 4th after a mistake on his last dive cost him valuable points. Cycling saw some mixed results. John Sayles and Kevin Hall finished 7th in the Madison competition, while their female counterparts Olivia Johns and Molly Tonbridge finished 8th. Sailing saw Rebecca Orange finish 8th in the Women's One Man Dinghy."

"In the combat sports, Mika Adams and Annie Howard both fell in their respective boxing quarterfinals matches, being outpointed by small margins. Wrestling saw more success, as the freestyle competitions kicked off. In the Men's 55 kilos, Kendall Graves advanced to the finals, where he won a silver medal after losing to Wentland's Dean Delamare. In the Men's 60 kilos, Randal McConnell failed to advance out of his pool, while Marlene Bieter had the same problem in the Women's 63 kilo Greco-Roman contest."

"Alan will be back tomorrow with interviews and more news. Thanks for watching this shortened Olympic Roundup live from Columbia. I'm Derek Smyth, and I hope you'll join me for the track and field competitions tomorrow. Good evening."

A Team and a Dream. The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

Gymnast wins first Ever Taeshani Olympic Medal

The streets of Taeshan were empty. Everyone in there right mind on the Islands was glued to the TV, as they watched Brandon Wissenger seal the dreams of all the fans by winning silver on the Beam in the finals. It was a stunning performance on apparatus that Taeshani mens gymnasts don't even use it was awesome, and in Table Tennis all the Taes got Byes.

Amelia Price was fuming. Beaten in the semis after a fall was given against her when she claimed to have taken to the mat herself. She was almost literally steaming. The spectators who had just seen Dean Delamere bore his way to a competent gold medal were suddenly very, very interested.

Poor Adele Poriére. She was visibly quaking as Price took to the mat. They hooked up and immediately Price lifted her high into the air and slammed her down. Then Price did it again. And again. And again. The referee awarded Poriére a point because of Price's over-aggression but there was no question that Price had to be awarded the fall. And Adele Poriére was obivously hurt. She could not continue and the match, and the bronze, had to be given to Price.

The young Kelssek competitor was taken out of the arena with medical staff surrounding her. And the arena itself redounded with boos as Price strutted around not caring what they thought.

It was somewhat disconcerting for the gold medal grapplers as Price exercised her right as competitor to stay mat-side. She stood, arms folded, glaring, especially at her conqueror Piauí. Somehow the Cafundeu combatant kept her concentration to emerge victorious. But as soon as her arms were raised Price was straight up to her, purportedly to congratulate her, but the lip-readers were able to see what Price was saying. "You and me. Right now. Double or quits. You can NEVER beat me fairly."

Before Piauí could respond officials hustled Price away. The medal ceremony was to be somewhat truncated in fear of a new fight breaking out.

THE MONASTIC TIMES
OLYMPIC SPECIAL EDITION

DAY OF GOLDEN SUCCESS
Icon Exhibition Wins Hearts, Minds

By Fr. Nicholas the Scribe

In by far the most successful day of the Olympics so far for the Archregimancy, a day-long exhibition of icon painting at one of the Games' cultural venues left visitors gasping at the sheer beauty of Orthodox Art. "I may be an avowed atheist and notably intolerant of all expressions of monotheistic - and indeed polytheistic - theology" said visiting Professor Dick Hawkins "but boy, those monks can paint." Visitors to the exhibit were said to be particularly impressed at the extensive use of gold leaf on the icons, with the Holy Icon of the Mother of God, Bringer of Victory - famous for being paraded before Archregimancy football squads prior to World Cup qualifiers - proving particularly popular.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a319/vakraas/theotokos_of_nicopeia2.jpg
The Holy Icon of the Mother of God, Bringer of Victory

Less importantly, Olympic squad flag-bearer Fr. Athenogenes the Wanderer won his second medal of these Games in the one-man dinghy, embarrassing the nation by winning gold. Fr. Athenogenes later apologised to the MOC, stating that he thought the other teams hadn't been trying hard enough, and that a freak gust of wind - no doubt inspired by demonic forces - had been responsible for his unwelcome victory. "I know I'm one of the best sailors at these Games" said Fr. Athenogenes "but that's no excuse." On the plus side, a dwindling number of sailing fans were exposed to the full glory of the Archregimancy's 2-hour long national anthem, The Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, recently described by Ariddian media as 'stirring'.

Fortunately, equilibrium was soon restored to monastic humility when heavyweight weighlifter Fr. Andrew the Gigantic intentionally dropped the weights on his final lift so as to guarantee fourth, thereby avoiding an unwelcome medal. MOC officials are said to be 'concerned' at the solid times posted by Fr. Aquila in the two canoeing events, and are said to be looking at ways of surreptitiously sabotaging their own boat.

Elsewhere, a contrite Fr. Vasily the Heavily-Accented offered a rare apology to the Roumberre delegation for characterising the recently deceased Maccar ReNwarr as a 'heathen'. "Am truly sorry" said Fr. Vasily. "Is unacceptable for me to be the adding to nation's grief. Is true Maccar ReNwarr is not heathen. Is heretical schismatic. Correction offered now."

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/6315/snpapervx3.png (http://imageshack.us)

17th! At last!

The bike has been a place of success for Sorthern Northland so far. Of the seven medals that Sorthern Northland had won prior to today's event, six had come either in the road or track cycling events. Today was the final day of tack cycling of these games, and with it the final day it seems for a Sorthern medal haul. There is still the mountain and BMX events to come in which SN may score more medals but, without the main cycling events, the medal pool will surely now dry up.

With that in mind, the Sorthern team would have been looking at today's schedule and dreaming of coming back with five medals from five more entries. Of course it was only a dream, five was too much to ask for, three though was seen as a good haul.

The most known of those three athletes to find their way to the podium was none other than Fran Ventoso. Of the girls name. Already a double gold medallist, he went into his sprint semi-final hoping to become a triple gold medallist. An astonishing achievement it would have been, some commentators even seemed to feel it was his destiny, for of the stars that have so far shown on the big, surely he is one of the brightest. Alas the destiny we had all hoped for was not to be, Fran's destiny lay elsewhere (and not in being teased due to his name). Racing in the semi against Arridian Andrew Hern his gold medal dream was quickly over. A poor reaction as Hern launched the sprint was the end for Ventoso's gold medal, instead he would have to settle for a place in the bronze medal race, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Of course he went on to win the bronze medal, ironically with a faster time than either the gold or silver medallist managed, but that is such the way that this sports goes. You can be the fastest man in the world, but if you weren't fast enough in the prior race it won't win you the worlds top prize.

The disappointment of Ventoso's missing third gold was offset somewhat by the Madison event that had preceded the sprint finals. The race promised much, and in the end failed to deliver as Sorthern Northland's gold medal somewhat proves. There can be no doubting that Conor Keogh and John Lempez fully deserved their gold, they did after all beat their nearest competitors by a margin of eight points. But the whole point of the Madison is to lap the field and win that way. Very few teams even attempted to do that, the Sorthern pairing did at the end of the race, but they only succeed in adding a few more points to the bag as they failed to lap the peloton. While all golds are worth having, this one was won in a way that will be forgotten and thrown to the anals of time shortly enough. In the Women's event pre race favourites, Hélène Duval and Hayley Gilbert served up what is being called an "epic fail" on messageboards to finish in joint 9th with a mere 3 points.

The final event was the women's sprint and with two Sortherners in the semis at least one medal was guaranteed. And with both riders kept apart in their semi final heats, hopes were high for a Sorthern one two. The first semi was Hayley Gilbert against Krytenian Martine Beltran (who incidentally we know uses EPO, just because we can't prove it doesn't mean it's not true). The usual couple of slow laps around the track and then the two riders kicked into their sprints with Gilbert leading out. The lead out proved vital as by the time Beltran had reacted to Gilbert's sprint the eventual near half a second winning margin had been established and Gilbert was easily in the final. Part one of the Sorthern one two complete. Up next Hélène Duval against Valentina Antonova from Kanji Starter. Ironic really as a good start for Antonova proved to be the difference as the race was decided by 0.001 second. Duval was out of the final by the narrowest of margins, a closer race you will struggle to find. And now the best Sorthern Northland could do was a gold and a bronze. The bronze race was the first and once again Duval came in second. But as stated above Beltran uses EPO so if the Organising Committee has any ethics she will have her medal stripped from her and rightfully awarded to Duval. Hayley Gilbert found the final another easy race as she won gold with an empathic half a second victory, to complete a succesful few days in the velodrome for Sorthern Northland. Today's medals have pushed Sorthern Northland up to that all important 17th place in the medals table.

In Other News: Ilga Eastwalker of Bears Armed and silver medallist in the marathon (won by Sortherner, Kiki Reyes) is not in fact a bear as reported in the previous edition of this paper. We apologise to Eastwalker for this misunderstanding whilst Reyes said, "She does look a little like a bear if you glance quickly to be honest, and that's what I did, I didn't look long enough to realise she is a Harr'aynau and to be fair she was very bear like in her spirit and determination during the race."

Also In Other News: The Olympic Committee of Sorthern Northland has questioned why unfit athletes were allowed to compete following the death of Maccar ReNwarr from Roumberre. One anonymous official said "He/she/it was only running two hundred metres for Christ sake, to kill yourself doing that you either need to be seriously unfit, hit by a stray javelin or a bit of a pansy. Whilst it could be the latter I suspect the former. Either that or it's a conspiracy on the part of Roumberre to garner sympathy for them. I mean some teams are wearing black armbands and what not, it's ridiculous. This is the Olympic Games not a memorial service." We expect him to be heavily criticised by the Capitalist Memorial Service industry for making his (possibly correct) thoughts public.

From the Series "COC List Stars for Columbia":

http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/650/vladke8.png (http://imageshack.us)
COC List Stars - Vladmir "Vladão" Novaes (Boxing)

After some days with problems in our magazine headquarters (our printer broke and the man called to fix it got lost in the middle of Cafundó do Juta and wasn't found until now - by the way, information about him is rewarded, as we anticipated half of the payment to him), we finally return to our series of articles about our athletes in these Olympic Games. All the editors of this magazine are glad to have this opportunity to make these excellent sportspeople known in the world. Some people that appeared in these pages have already shown success, as Natália Franco and Antônio Carlos Bamerindus.

So, now we'll talk about fighting sports and, more specifically, Boxing. The truth is that the fighting sport that Cafundéu is the best in (among the ones in the Olympics) is Judo, but we weren't able to make an article about this sport before and now this would be nearly meaningless, as the Judo competitions have already ended. We still have the Taekwondo too, a sport that has some strong and talented Cafundelense competitors, but doesn't have the fame of Boxing. That's why we decided to make this article about the Olympic Boxing, in which our country has many medal chances.

And, between all our athletes in this sport, we must talk about one in special: the lightweight category fighter Vladão, as Vladmir Novaes is called in the international scene (he sometimes is called Vadão, or just Vlad, but Vladão is his most common nickname). A fighter with an incredible resistance, he is more likely to defeat his opponents after losing in the first rounds. In the beginning, his opponents are full of energy, and can hit him sometimes. But later, they can't match with his resistance, and get tired. That's when Vladão takes opportunity of the situation to win. Expect many victories of this Cafundelense with this strategy.

So, are we expecting a medal (a gold, maybe) just from Vladão? No, of course. Although he is the most famous athlete between the boxing fighters, there are many others who are battling for medals, and in pursuit of the gold one. Examples are the featherweight Ciro Guerreiro (known for his habit of eating much before the fights), the middleweight Atômico (known for his powerful punch), the super heavyweight Gorila (one that most people really expect to win a gold medal) and others. Cafundéu has a strong "team" of athletes able to win medals for the country.

And the women? Some people say that boxing is "too violent for them to practice", but they are wrong. In fact, there shouldn't be sex, age or something else restrictions for any sport. Sports are essential for a human being, and they must be motivated to practice. Well, returning to talk about our female boxing fighters, we have many good ones too, and they'll fight for gold medals. Examples are: the lightweight Miriam Leite (unbeatable inside the country), the heavyweight Gita Seixas (usually considered a crazy hippie), the light flyweight Gabriela Almeida (a common person, in fact) and many others.

Prux's Olympic Blog

Basketball—Women’s—Quarterfinals:
One win down and only 2 more to go to get Gold as Prux demolished Fujisawan Territories 83-57 to advance to the semifinals.

Score by Quarter:

Fujisawan Territories 13 10 15 19 57
Prux 21 24 15 23 83


That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

- GLOBO MULTIMEDIA -
Olympic news in our website! - Today with Breno Gavião

*script of the Breno Gavião comments*

Athletics - this sport, in Cafundéu, alterrrrrnates good and bad moments. Some of our athletes arrrrrre simply horrrrrrible, just filling spots, but otherrrrrrs arrrrrrre serrrrrrious contenderrrrrrrs for medals. Today, we qualified Melinda Bacharel in the women's 200m (she didn't qualify in the quarterfinals later) and Nina Rrrrrrrrrodrrrrrríguez in the javelin thrrrrrow (women's too). No good rrrrrresults in the day's finals.

Baseball - another loss of the Cafundelense male team... expected.

Diving - Matheus Inocêncio got qualified in the 3m sprrrrringboarrrrrd event and was a contender for the gold medal, but had a bad perrrrrforrrrrmance in the final.

Handball (women's) - our female team keeps its hopes of a gold medal after defeating Kurrrrra-Pelland by the rrrrresult of 27-21. The team looks strrrrrong enough to achieve this feat.

Sailing - today was the day of the Laser-class finals, the most popular one in Cafundéu. But just a silver medal came with Rrrrrrrroberrrrrto Soarrrrrres, losing to an Arrrrrrchrrrrregimancy monk. In the women's competition, Márrrrrrcia Jorrrrrdão failed to the expectations and didn't win any medals.

Thrrrrriatlon (women's) - best rrrrresult was a 11th place with Emmanuele Divon.

Volleyball (women's) - the team goes to the semifinals, as expected, after an easy and comforrrrrtable (this without counting the tough second set) victory against Bluth Corrrrrporrrration, 3-0.

Football (men's) - Cafundéu battled well, scoring a goal in the beginning of the game with Huberrrrrrt, but Capitalizt SLANI showed morrrrrre strrrrrenght and defeated us by the rrrrrresult of 2-1, eliminating us in the semifinals.

Basketball (women's) - a loss against West Pocono (89-82) eliminates the team frrrrrom the competition.

Boxing - Vladão and Gabriela Almeida reach the semifinals, guaranteeing at least a brrrrrronze medal. Metrrrrrranca lost in the quarrrrrterrrrrfinals and is out.

Canoeing - in a surrrrrrprrrrrise, many Cafundelenses got qualified for finals in canoeing of many differrrrrent events.

Equestrrrrrian (drrrrrressage) - Antônio Carrrrrrlos Bamerrrrrrindus showed all his ability together with his horrrrrse Serrrrrrrrano and won the gold medal, continuing with Cafundéu's dominance in this sporrrrrt. Heitor Marrrrrinho also went well and won the bronze medal to Cafundéu.

Gymnastics (men's trrrrrrampoline) - Rrrrrrenato Fischer finished in 3rrrrrd, a good rrrrrresult.

Gymnastics (women) - in the parrrrrallel barrrrrs, one of the worrrrrrst apparrrrrratus of the Cafundelenses in generrrrrral, Laurrrrrra Fessoto surrrrprrrrised and won the gold, showing that she had prrrrrractised this a lot too, and that Cafundéu isn't so bad in this. In the horrrrrizontal bar, Angélica Muniz Rrrrrrramirrrrres won the brrrrronze. In the balance beam, a deception, as Ferrrrrnanda Serrrrrrrrano lost.

Beach Volleyball (women's) - both of our doubles (Paola/Grrrrrazielli and Alessandrrrrrra/Daniela) arrrrre in the gold medal match! Yes, what an incrrrrredible and happy news!

Wrrrrrestling - surrrrrprrrrising good news: Rrrrrrose Piauí won a gold medal, defeating the favourrrrites. After the victory ceremony, she got involved in a confusion with the Wentland fighter, who was provoking her. To reply, she took her gold medal and showed it to her opponent, saying "This is mine... you are the loser" before leaving the place laughing.

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

(OOC: CH Why wasn't there multiple silvers awarded in the Men's high Jump, as there were 5 players tied for 2nd. :confused:)

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Women’s Long Jump—Qualification:
Olga Guiterrez: 6.55/6.58/6.61--6.61m
Marguerite Hornback: 6.37/6.29/6.09--6.37m
Roxanne McMahon: NM/6.26/NM--6.26m

Men’s High Jump—Final:
Tony Holzer: 2.34 (tied for 2nd) Holzer and three others were not awarded a medal, despite a 5-way tie for 2nd. The GWOC has protested this result, and is awaiting the response to the appeal.


DIVING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Men’s 3 m Springboard—Smeifinals:
Ryan Pitre: 444.76/219.36--664.12 (8th)

Diving 3m Springboard Final:
Ryan Pitre: 219.36/480.15--699.51 (9th)

Day 08–20 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13939298&postcount=33) are now up.

(OOC: CH Why wasn't there multiple silvers awarded in the Men's high Jump, as there were 5 players tied for 2nd. :confused:)
There are IC tiebreaking rules for the high jump, specifically:
The athlete with the lowest number of jumps at the height at which the tie occurs shall be awarded the higher place.
If the tie still remains, the athlete with the lowest total of failures throughout the competition up to and including the height last cleared, shall be awarded the higher place.
The placement order was determined by the scorinator.

Chef-de-mission James O'Donnell crawled under his desk as Kevin Kwan, Adele Poriére's coach, continued to pelt him with profanities and threats of violence over his initial refusal to lodge an official protest.

"HOW CAN YOU SIT THERE AND ACCEPT THIS?!? HAVE YOU NO SENSE OF SPORTSMANSHIP AND PROPER DECENT CONDUCT? OUR OWN ATHLETE HAS BEEN DISRESPECTED AND ABUSED!!!"

"Okay, okay, go ahead and do it. Just please... shut up... I'm scared of you."

"YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT I'LL GO AHEAD AND DO IT!" Kevin bellowed and stormed out of the room.

----

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KOC protests "unsportsmanlike conduct" in wrestling incident

by JULIAN MARKOVITCH
August 20, 2008

COLUMBIA -- The Kelssek Olympic Committee has said it will lodge an official complaint asking for Wentland's Amelia Price to be sanctioned for what the KOC claims was unsportsmanlike behaviour in the bronze medal match at the women's Greco-Roman 63kg category competition yesterday.

"The behaviour of Ms. Price in during and after the match was entirely out of line with accepted standards expected of sportspeople, particularly at an event such as the Olympics. We expect the relevant authorities to look into the matter and take appropriate disciplinary action." said chef-de-mission James O'Donnell in a statement.

Amelia Price was penalised during the match for over-aggression, slamming Kelssek's Adele Poriére to the ground repeatedly to win the bronze medal match. Following the match she remained mat-side for the gold medal match and is alleged to have confronted and threatened the eventual gold-medal winner, Cafundéu's Rose Piauí, who defeated Price in the semi-finals.

The victory ceremony had to be truncated as a result, with officials acting quickly to seperate Piauí and Price.

Poriére also required medical attention after the match, and was taken to hospital with brusied ribs. She was discharged and is currently recuperating at her accomodations in the Athletes' Village.

Poriére's coach Kevin Kwan spoke out in a press conference today regarding the complaint.

"Amelia Price showed absolutely no respect to her opponent, Adele, and to Rose Piauí, she disrupted the victory ceremony and uttered threats to her fellow competitors." He added, "I am very angry with the situation and this must be resolved, if this doesn't get done through official channels I just might settle this unofficially."

Enquiries made with the Wentland Olympic Committee and Amelia Price were not answered before press time.

For the unofficial events, if you could give me a list of participants and their skills and the format of the competition, I can probably scorinate those either on 08–23 A or sometime after the last events.

For 'Singlestick', the Bears brought along _

Men’s Singles (3): Arrgamm Sunchild (1.0), Rrorrwan o Redwood (0.9), Carrward Sunchild (0.8).
(Team = [1.0+0.9+0.8]/3 = 0.9)
Women’s Singles (3): Zarranna o Redwood (0.9), Addarra Sunchild (0.8), Elsannar o March (0.4).
(Team = [0.9+0.8+0.4]/3 = 0.7)


OOC: If nobody else turns up then we will carry out two matches as a demonstration, one between any two [selected by drawing lots] of the males and one between the two highest-rated of the females: If other people turn up willing to compete, too, then we could have competitive matches and I'll leave it up to you to determine who fights who. I suggest scorinating on the same basis as 'Fencing: Sabre'. ('Team' contests require 3 people per side, as in the 'Fencing' events...)

(If you send 3 individual entrants to a 'Singles' event in the above sport then they automatically form a 'Team' entry too, as in Fencing...)

Travda? Where's that? Never heard of it. Not in the Olympics. But we've got a nice little riff for you...

Steve: A comparatively quiet day for Zwangzug athletes. Mallory Elrene taking seventh in the hundred-meter hurdles final.
Lily: Nevertheless, satisfied with her "personal best"-no matter how flukish it may be.
Steve: Brian Stapple got the worst time of the advancing one-ten-meter hurdlers in the quarterfinals and...what?
Darryl: Eric Haus made the 400 meter final with the fastest time of the semifinalists?
Steve: Yeah. That.
Yvette: Eric, Zwangzug's considered to be a fairly poor sprinting nation, especially among men. What's prompted your success?
Eric: Hmmm...If those helicopters set the entire country down on a wide track, yeah, I think it would take at least an hour or so to move 400 meters. The country's not racing. I'm racing.
Yvette: What's the pressure like on this stage?
Eric: You just said there wasn't any because Zwangzugi can't sprint, didn't you?
Lily: That's-
Eric: The only pressure is what I have inside. That's enough for me.
Lily: Have you overcome any metaphorical hurdles?
Eric: No idea what you're talking about.
Steve: I like your attitude. Good luck.
Eric: Like that'll make a difference.
Darryl: Swimming is winding down, with the women's 10000 meter freestyle, also known as the down and back and down and-
Other three: SHUT UP!
Steve: Anyway, Merle Finklehof was 29th of 34.
Yvette: In kayaking, three Zwangzug teams-women's K-4 1000 and men's K-2 and K-4 500-qualified for the finals directly, while the others will compete in the semifinals.
Steve: Madison cyclists Tad Ickers and Xavier Pohlad were a lap behind the winners, though Rayna Klipp and Jessi Pride just a point off the medalists in fifth.
Darryl: Due to table-tennis entries numbering 2^n+x, for very small x, all of Zwangzug's competitors had first-round byes. Ariana Pierce was eliminated in four games to Kim Breen of Sorthern Northland.
Ariana: It'll sound sad, but...you sort of know going in how you stack up, at least against your teammates. I was wasting my energy those first three games on shots I had no chance of getting. Once I fell so far behind, I was able to relax, and keep the last one a lot closer.
Darryl: Trisha Hwang breezed past Newmanistan's Susan Stallmer, also in four games. Lena Cantor took six games to beat Aina Saji of the Fujisawan Territories: after losing a tense close game 14-12, she lost the next one 11-5 but came back to take the next four.
Steve: Jake Schilling lost his semifinal wrestling match to Kendall Graves, and the bronze-medal match to Pavel Petskov.
Jake: Yeah, it was pretty much, uh, uncool. But the Olympics are still flippin' sweet.
Yvette: Similar stories for Shane Radermacher and Mikhail Vitch. After winning their first two matches, each faced 1-1 Allanean opposition. But both Gunnar Magnusson and Snorri Sturluson won to move on.

Two to the Semifinals
Abdul-Rahim and Moghadam advance to the 'Final Four' in Olympiad Boxing; Illrawqi Tae-Kwon-Do competitor also victorious
Assad Moghadam and Salim Abdul-Rahim were both victorious in their respective quarterfinal bouts at the III Olympiad in Columbia, moving one step closer to bringing home the first medals in the nation's history.

Coach Talib Sulaymon said, in regards to his boxers' performances, "They fought good, smart fights, and I think that right now we are in a good place to bring a potential gold home. We seem to have some momentum on our side, and if (Assad and Salim) can keep performing at the level they have been, it shouldn't be hard."

Abdul-Rahim, the captain and star of the Illrawqi National Boxing team, upended West Pocono's Steve Quarless in a 32-20 decision victory. Abdul-Rahim, who has been marketed as one of the top up and comers here in the Olympiad, used his trademarked elusiveness and superior reach to frustrate Quarless, continuously beating his opponent to the punch then retreating to avoid damage. Abdul-Rahim said of his performance, "H-he was a tough competitor, always moving forward and never giving up. I am thankful to came out on top, and know that next round will not be easy. The finals is close, but it only gets more difficult from here."

Moghadam, the lightflyweight who has been somewhat of a surprise in these games, outlasted the Maineiacs' Jorge Tavares in a heated 32-25 competition. Moghadem trailed throughout the majority of the fight until the final two rounds, where he continuously attacked and pulled out the victory. A weary Moghadam said, "(Tavares) was an incredibly strong opponent, but I knew that if I could hang around long enough I would always have a chance to win. Hopefully, my luck does not run out, so close to the end."

In other Illrawqi Olympic news, Tae-Kwon-Do competitor Jabar Imran reached the quarterfinals of his competition, with a 11-7 victory over Kura-Pelland's Ciaran McNorton.

OOC:

For the unofficial events, if you could give me a list of participants and their skills and the format of the competition, I can probably scorinate those either on 08–23 A or sometime after the last events.

Thanks! For Ariddia, that would be:

AMPUTEE FOOTBALL
Men’s team [0.5]
Women’s team [0.5]

BLIND FOOTBALL
Men’s team [0.5]
Women’s team [0.5]

PARALYMPIC JUDO
Men: Arthur Ie [0.4]
Women: Viviane Bonnaire [0.6]

All those, I suppose, would be scorinated in the same way as the non-Paralympic events.

My entries in singlestick:

SINGLESTICK
Men
Albert Lefébure [0.5]
Women
Thérèse Savard [0.5]

My entries in singlestick:

SINGLESTICK
Men
Albert Lefébure [0.5]
Women
Thérèse Savard [0.5]

OOC: So, unless anybody else turns up with entrants, four 'duels' (two of my men, randomly selected; my third man vs. Albert Lefébure; Zarranna o Redwood vs. Addarra Sunchild; Thérèse Savard vs. Elsannar o March)?


_________________________________________________________

Siggurr Thuleann had mobilised all those of the Bears' athletes who weren't themselves scheduled to compete that afternoon, to go and cheer for their fellows in those events where such support seemed most likely to be useful, where his delegation had entrants who were good canidates for winning medals on past form but these had one or more tough opponents to overcome: the women's Javelin Throw final (in which Beorra Beorninga, who'd had the 2nd highest score in the qualifying round, was expected to win a medal of some metal and the 'gold' certainly seemed attainable...), and the three Wrestling events...

He'd also had the word spread, through Clan and club links, that their accompanying supporters were strongly urged to concentrate on those same events too.
Naturally, Ursines being Ursines (and some of them having pre-booked places to watch specific events, anyway), this request hadn't received anywhere near 100% compliance... and of course some of the fans would have been going to those same events anyway... but it might have helped to put some of them where they might make a useful difference in their athletes' morale...

"That's one big advantage we've got over the Roumberree here," he remarked to his old friend Halvarh Marrl-Thuleann. "Their nation is so small that their team here must be something like a 512th of the total population all by itself, so they could only manage to send a relatively low number of non-competitors along to cheer for them, whereas we've got several thousand fans present..."


________________________________________________

(OOC: for RP purposes, I regard Roumberre as having a population of only somewhere around100'000, rather than the millions claimed by the game-mechanics; "a 512th" because Bears Armed uses base-8 mathematics, and that's 8-cubed which therefore seems a natural number to use for them...)

Day 08–20 B results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13940034&postcount=34) are now up.

The American football competition, the knockout stages of which were missing from the schedule for some reason, has now resumed; the semifinals will be as scheduled on 08–21 A.

A Team and a Dream. The Story of the Taeshan Olympic Team

In another gripping day of sports entertainment in Columbia, the BMX racing got started with Reilly Derenson, and the two Women Force Gregsen, and Kirce Miller all racing out of there heats and into the semis. In Volleyball the Mens indoor mteam sweeped aside Kosovoe, and walked into the medal rounds with a 3-1 victory, on the beach Mike Phish and Tyson Bradshaw will have to play for a bronze as they lost to Faria/Garcia of Cafundeu. They will play the young duo from West Pocono Aspin/McGivern. In Water Polo the Knights were shocked by the team from Esstresse Intenso/Landau Institute and will not be winning any medals. Finally in the mens 800 heats Jeff Reynolds qualified for the semis.

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Olympics>Sailing
Roberts sails to admirable silver
Jason Justice in Columbia

All smiles, and as well she might have been, as the youngest member of Team C&M’s sailing squad sealed the country’s eighth confirmed medal and announce herself on the world scene with superb second-place finish.

Missing out on the gold was no crime for teenager Eleigh Roberts in the Women’s sailboard, with Cafundéu’s Sabrina Vermelho having all but wrapped up the title following a string of early first-place finishes. The battle was always going to be for the silver, and a wonderful winning performance in the medal race saw the Abiodun native sweep past Christine Richmond of Asteran in the final table. Making up for Howard Fitzgerald’s late failure in the men’s competition, Roberts also completed a significant coup – finishing one medal better off than Hannah Wisnieski.

Taking the bronze ultimately represented a good achievement for the Candelarias’ most recognisable sportswoman, after a competition dominated by the surprise package of Coocoostan’s Laureen Newman. Márcia Jordão flattered to deceive – though elsewhere the Cafundelense hold on global sailing remained stronger than ever – but Wisnieski must be sick right now, having been beaten to silver by both her Candelariasian and Kura-Pellandi arch-rivals.

C&M’s own impact across the waters in and around Columbia continued this afternoon, with the Payne brothers booking their place in the 1000 metres kayaking final, shortly after Gervais Payne had made his solo final with the third-best time. Flower Upton could relax and watch the women’s semi-finals having previously gone straight through to the final, allowing her to prepare both for a clash with Melian Bloom that could prove a headline writer’s wet dream, before she and Sofía Peralta made it into the final of the K-2 1000 metres.

All this gave the country a chance to recover from yesterday’s shock exit from the men’s field hockey, with captain and flag-bearer Josh Woodward admitting that his side had let themselves down against Krytenia, who now face hot favourites Kura-Pelland. It was left to their womenfolk to show them how to do it; a nip-and-tuck, three-two victory over Land de Wood giving them a guaranteed silver medal and a place in the final. In a games where C&M’s women have done themselves more than proud, all three of the table tennis competitors made it through to tomorrow’s fourth round fairly comfortably – with Daisy Mah destroying her Zwangzugian opponent to just fifteen points conceded.

Best of all however, Alejandra Pappalardo-Papadopoulos of Unified Beretania qualified for the semi-final of the ten metre platform with the highest score, and I for one hope she goes on to win.

"And...representing Wentland...MICHAEL MCMANUS!!!!"

The boos reverberated around the arena. McManus slicked back his hair and pranced to the middle, delivered an exaggerated bow and returned to his area blowing kisses. The crowd hated him. He loved it.

It was however with good reason. McManus had lost to Dante Grove in the group stage. Controversially, as he was disqualified in one round for a slap, but nevertheless he had lost. McManus was shattered. This simply did not happen.

It also meant that he was out unless Grove was blanked by Eastwalker, a hairy lumbering beast who had not had any success at all. Beaten with some ease in both matches. He would not have a chance against Grove, surely?

So McManus decided to take a closer look himself. Round 1 and Grove was having surprising difficulty in finding a way past Eastwalker's defence. McManus was matside and laughed when Grove slipped and gestured. "On the pop again, Dante? Ehbagoom, you'd never stand a chance round our way. Even Ida'd ave you in a second."

Grove made the mistake of turning and facing McManus. That slip of concentration saw him taken down and Eastwalker was one up.

"Gorrr...oh dear oh dear oh dear. Fancy letting a hairy thing like that get the better of you, Grovey. Bit rubbish, eh lad? Nooo, you'd best submit. There you go, a headlock, that's a big move, isn't it? Against a big strong thing like that? He'll pick you up, he will. Look, told you so. Dear, dear, dear, maybe you should strike and move..."

The constant commentary was irritating Grove's coach and the audience and they started booing. Grove was also losing concentration and finally snapped. "SHUT UP!! Just go...aaaaahH!!!!" Eastwalker, a novice bear-ly listening to what was going on other than his own stumbling grapple thoughts, suddenly realized that Grove had turned his back and was in position for another backlift drop. And there it was, a 2-0 score and he was going to win a match.

McManus rubbed his hands with glee. "Tha's not going to get a point, is thee? Blimey, it's over, just give up. You're not going to win, they may as well give me my gold back, it's all mine..."

Grove, battling through tears of rage and frustration, lost his gameplan and went all out for a lift. But Eastwalker was too big and strong and let fly with a clubbing blow. Grove was thrown beyond the mat and McManus sort of accidentally on purpose managed to get in his way before he could get back. "Oops, sorry, my mistake...oh, you seem to have been counted out. Ta-ta."

McManus remembered all this. He also remembered how Grove had been barred from matside after an attack on McManus during the semi-final. Which was useful for McManus, the point for Ŋuri-Eilari's consequent disqualification had come in very useful. And now with the crowd against him he knew he couldn't lose to Magnusson.

And he didn't.

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 12, And there is little hope of gaining more medals.


Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

Handball—Men’s—Quarterfinals:
Qazox easily advanced to the semifinals with a 32-23 win over previously unbeaten West Pocono.

SCORE SUMMARY
Qazox 15 17 32
West Pocono 12 11 23

Qazox Goals Today:
Clinton Villavicencio: 6
Christian Jowett: 6
Hugh Lafon: 5
Cody Parkey: 5
Kurt Curtis: 5
Darryl Longworth: 3
Jamie Ehrhardt: 2

Overall Goals
Clinton Villavicencio: 45
Christian Jowett: 38
Hugh Lafon: 36
Cody Parkey: 24
Kurt Curtis: 18
Darryl Longworth: 11
Jamie Ehrhardt: 5
Own Goals- 1 (Secristan)


Water Polo—Men’s:
Prux got us again, this time it hurt as Qazox had a 5-1 lead at the half but 7 unanswered goals over the next 2 periods eliminated the team.

SCORE SUMMARY
Prux 1 0 5 2 8
Qazox 3 2 0 0 4

Qazox Goals Today (Overall):
Jose Allgood: 1
Luis O'Keefe: 1
Bruce Lanham: 1
Howard Romero: 1

Overall Goals:
Bruce Lanham: 13
Howard Romero: 11
Luis O'Keefe: 10
Jose Allgood: 10
Danny Baptiste: 2
Russell Haber: 2

The Olympics so far (highlights: August 13-18)
Agence de presse ariddienne

Catch up on the latest action in Columbia, and find out how the Ariddian Islanders have been doing.

JUDO

There was tremendous disappointment as Olivier Aleksanyan fell in the second round of the men’s 90kg event. He had won silver in Querzakhi four years ago.

West Ariddian members of Team Ariddian Isles performed strongly. In the men’s 100kg category, Bastian Gains won his first match, as did Joan Filipenko in the women’s 78kg. They both lost their quarter-finals, however, failing to add to the country’s medal tally.

GYMNASTICS

Could the Golden Girls match the men’s achievement in the team all-around? Yes, they could! There was celebrating galore as the Ariddian ladies collectively pulled off gold. They narrowly fended off a fantastic Cafundelense team, with 232.250 points to 232.200.

“The Cafundelense girls are golden girls too,” Ariddia’s Aliw Set said afterwards. “They should be very proud of themselves. They gave us one heck of a run for the gold.”

The Ariddians, men and women combined, have now won six team all-arounds out of six since the first Olympic Games, confirming their country’s status as the world’s gymnastics superpower. Perhaps not unbeatable, but still unbeaten.

In the men’s individual all around, five Ariddians had qualified and were hoping to sweep the podium. Instead, an outstanding Jerry Lennon of Secristan unseated the favourites to take gold. Ariddia won silver and bronze, through newcomer Ih Wal and veteran Sae Iu. The latter had also won bronze in this event in Querzakhi, where Ariddia’s Michael Gris had taken gold.

It was thus left to the women to take the top place in the individual all-around, which Anaïs Reed did, taking gold with a score of 77.025. Secristan proved strong again as Stacey Classen took silver, while the bronze went to Ariddia’s Aliw Set.

In the trampoline, for the men, Abdel Andresen qualified in second place, joined by Jang Yong-Jun. They had won gold and silver respectively in Querzakhi. For the women, newcomer Sandrine Berthier qualified in first place, but, disappointingly, Sunny Mokhobo, who had won bronze four years ago, was eliminated. Berthier did her country and team mates proud by winning bronze.

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/9597/trampolinenh5.jpg
Upside down but stll focused: Sandrine Berthier wins bronze on the trampoline.

Sae Iu was the men’s only representative in the artistic floor exercise, an event which had seen Ariddia win two medals (gold and bronze) in Querzakhi. This time, Iu finished a disappointing fifth, while Ted Jedniak of Secristan took gold. The women, faced with very high quality competition, failed to obtain a medal in the event.

On the pommel horse, the Dream Team had a lot to live up to. That event had been their only clean sweep –gold, silver and bronze– in Querzakhi. To the delight of supporters, and spectators in general, they came close to replicating that achievement in Columbia. Ih Wal won gold, while Abdel Andresen obtained silver, but Michael Gris finished sixth, and the bronze went to the Landau Institute’s Kléverson Brown. Here too, the women were sadly left off the podium; none had even qualified for the final. There was disappointment also in the women’s artistic vault, with no medal at all.

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/3636/pommelhorsevq2.jpg
Michael Gris on the pommel horse.

The events that followed all brought fresh medals for the men. Michael Gris took silver on the artistic rings, behind Jacques Lafontaine of Kelssek. It was a gold and a bronze on the uneven bars, for Denis Vaillant and, again, Michael Gris. Gris then took yet another medal, also a bronze, in the vault.

FOOTBALL

The men’s team qualified by topping Group C at the end of the group stages. A huge disappointment awaited the Querzakhi silver medallists, however, as they then lost 0-1 to Valanora in the quarter-finals.

The women, for their part, defeated Secristan 2-1 in the quarters. In the semi-finals, Cafundéu held the red and black girls to a one-all draw, until the Ariddian Islanders broke the deadlock by utterly dominating extra time, and seizing a 3-1 victory.

OTHER HIGHLIGHTS

All three of the Ariddian Isles’ chess boxers –Nathaniel Smith, Saiful Parvez and Grace Smith– transcended expectations by winning their second round matches. In the quarter-finals, Parvez and Grace Smith went out, but for Nathaniel the good news continued, as he won his match against Kura-Pelland’s Sam McGhee, and advanced to the semi-finals.

In boxing itself, Nathaniel Smith cleared the second round comfortably by defeating West Pocono’s Ken Corradi 30-16. In the same event, Omigodtheykilledkenny’s notorious Susa Batko-Yovino was narrowly eliminated (25-26) by Allanea’s Samson Kohen. Smith made no comment, other than to say that the Kennyite and the Allanean had looked “evenly matched”. Parvez, however, was eliminated in the first round of his event, the men’s featherweight.

In the women’s bantamweight, Rosalin Gillen was outboxed by Allanea’s famous Melissa Wright in the quarter-finals, 15-20.

Also in boxing, the action finally began for Aa Shey in the women’s light flyweight division on Day 8. The Ariddian Isles’ national champion took on Sinula Mañatu Andaka (BCO) in round one, and beat her by 26 points to 18.

http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/6479/shey10tvav4.jpg
Tough little Aa Shey was ready to take on the world in boxing.

“It was good to get into my first ever Olympic match,” Shey said with a broad smile. She had been waiting a long time for women’s boxing to become a women’s event. “Most of the other competitors were given a bye, but it’s good that I wasn’t. So I’m glad to be here, it’s great to have won my first game, and I’ll do my best for it to be like that all the way.”

In fencing, Pierre N’guemo, a strong hope in the men’s foil, disappointingly lost his first round match to Reid Whitlock of Secristan.

Enthusiasts were treated to an interesting match when the Ariddian men’s épée team took on Allanea, and beat them with the decisive score of 45-18 in round one. The Ariddian Islanders then went on to defeat Krytenia 45-18 in the quarter-finals, before losing 34-45 to Cafundéu in the semi-finals; the team also lost the bronze medal match.

In diving, pair Jose Morales and Armand Savard impressed viewers by finishing fifth in the 3 metre springboard event, matching their previous performance in the 10 metre dive.

In swimming, Catherine Deveaux put in the swim of her life in the heats of the 100 metre freestyle, pulverising her personal best to qualify in seventh place with a time of 56.16. Her achievement received widespread coverage back home, making her an instant celebrity. This is her first major international competition. In the women’s 50 metre freestyle, the Games’ only swimmer with a disability, Ariddia’s Mélanie Sandré, attracted much media attention, and finished 44th in the heats with a time of 28.21. She demonstrated her talent by finishing ahead of eleven other competitors.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/2803/deveauxca6.jpg
Catherine Deveaux qualified from her heat.

In tennis, Christian Mohamed cleared the fourth round, then defeated Qazox’s Clinton Few in the quarter-finals. Against the Fujisawan Territories’ Zakarii Buritan in the semi-finals, the West Ariddian star dominated the match – 6-3, 6-2. The final pitted him against Newmanistan’s Michael Johnson.

Mohamed won the first set with an encouraging score of 6-3, before Johnson found his bearings and retaliated to take the second, 6-4. Mohamed imposed himself in style in the third, a decisive 6-2. The fourth and final set was the closest of all, as the two men battled it out point by point, neither taking a clear lead… until Mohamed finally despatched his opponent to take gold, 7-5.

“Well, gold is what I came for, so that’s good,” he told reporters, attracted perhaps by his celebrity status as much as by his performance. “Full credit to Michael Johnson, who played a good match, but in the end I did what I was going to do, which was be the Olympic champion.”

Mohamed, a star in his native West Ariddia, is one of the Ariddian Isles delegation’s most high-profile athletes. He is now also an Olympic gold-medallist, and the first from the Ariddian Isles to win gold in a sport other than gymnastics or judo in Querzakhi.

In badminton, Jean-François Bornescu swept past Cafundéu’s Darren Winnear in the quarter-finals in just two sets: 21-9, 21-9. Having lost the semis in three sets, he won the bronze medal off Roumberre’s Onrry de Summer in a fairly tight-fought contest. It was not the gold his supporters had been hoping for, but it was a new medal for the Ariddian Isles nonetheless.

In bocce, Ludovic Forbin and Don Bridgeman were one of the unanticipated successes of the Games. Thrashing their opponents from Wentland in the semis (11-5), they faced unassaillable opponents from Cafundéu in the final (1-11), and took silver. The women, Miranda Benn and Cecily Carlisle, also breezed through their semis before being outclassed by the Landau Institute in the final, coming away with a well-earned silver medal in turn. As bocce is a demonstration event, however, their medals will not be included in the Games’ official tally.

In the somewhat controversial event of cliff diving, Vincent Millar finished just outside the podium, coming fourth with 382 points. In the women’s event, Concha Nuñez also delivered a strong performance, and finished fifth.

In wheelchair racing, however, the competition was too high for the Ariddian Isles’ representatives. Both Kevin Lowe and Sarah Rollins were eliminated in the semis.

In cycling, West Ariddia’s Angela Ellice proved her skill in the women’s track individual pursuit, qualifying in second place with a time of 3:28.509. She was competing in an event that the PDSRA has never sent representatives to, due to a lack of equipment and training facilities.

Also in cycling, Andrew Hern qualified by topping his heat in the men’s track keirin. After a very strong first performance, he squeezed through the qualifiers in the second round, and finished fourth in the final. In the women’s event, Angela Ellice also qualified by topping her heat, made it through the second round with little difficulty, and won a new silver medal for the Ariddian Isles – sandwiched between Annabeth Thomas’ gold and Mirella Thomas’ bronze, both for Wentland. The West Ariddian cyclist posed proudly with the two Wentlanders on the podium. Her medal is the third ever for the Ariddian Isles in cycling. The PDSRA’s Deirdre Khangal had won the first ever Olympic gold medal of any nationality and in any event when she won the woman’s road race at the first Summer Olympics in Ashford.

“I’ve never met Deirdre, no,” Ellice said. “I’d like to. She may have been part of what inspired me to try and get into the Olympics. I know we’re not from the same country, but we’d have been part of the same team.”

Barely was the medal ceremony over, however, when it was time for the new vice-champion to get back onto her bike and compete in the track individual pursuit. Ellice beat Cafundéu’s Jéssica Giardini Maceno, and qualified for the bronze medal race, her time of 3:31.149 not quite fast enough to seek gold. She ultimately finished fourth. After that, it was back on her bicycle yet again; she qualified second of thirty-three competitors in the track individual sprint – only to be eliminated, unexpectedly, in the next round.

Finally, in the track points race, Ellice won her second medal of the Columbia Games – a second silver, with 43 points. She said she was “very pleased”, and her smile confirmed it.

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Angela Ellice on the track.

The Olympics continued for Andrew Hern, who qualified in fourth place in the track individual sprint. He then defeated Kelssek’s Michael Norton to advance to the next round, where he lost to Kyle Peterson of Newmanistan. However, he then finished first in his repêchage race, advancing to the quarter-finals. He won the next race by just over five hundredths of a second.

In diving, 18 year-old Ua Le of Ariddia qualified in 17th place in the women’s 3 metre springboard, with a score of 274.55. She looked delighted when speaking to reporters afterwards, and admitted that, in addition to her good result, she had obtained an autograph from San Yu of Maineiacs, by far the big name of her sport.

Alas, the enthusiastic and skilled young Indigenous girl made several mistakes in the semi-final, enough to drop from her preliminary 274.55 points to a disappointing 218.33. She finished sixteenth out of eighteen, out of contention for the final. Her idol San Yu topped the semis, then won the silver medal, while Valanora’s Iva Angelotic took gold.

“I was a bit nervous,” Ua said afterwards. “I shouldn’t have been. I mean, I’ve done it so many times in training. And I was really happy with what I did in the prelims. But being out there in the big event… All I can say is I’ve learnt a lot from this, I intend to improve, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to have been here. I hope this wasn’t my last competition. I’d love to come back and do it again next time. But for that I’ll have to be good enough. No more jitters! Also, I’m lucky that I’ve still got the 10 metre dive here, so I’ll be doing my very best in that.”

In athletics, all eyes were on Ariddia’s Antoine Mercier in the long-jump. The one-legged runner was out on an astonishing quest, cheered on by a supportive crowd of spectators. He stumbled on his first try, failing to achieve a mark, but, as spectators applauded loudly, he jumped to 6.85m at the end of his second run. It was a long way short of the Olympic record (8.96m), but then all the other competitors had two legs. Mercier’s third attempt was a failure, and in his fourth he jumped exactly 6.85 metres once more. He got up from the sand, bowed to the public, and smiled. He finished 51st of the 52 athletes who scored a mark; five others were eliminated altogether.

Also in athletics, John Chesney impressed home supporters by doing the unexpected and finishing third in his heat in the men’s 200 metre sprint, thus qualifying for the next round. He, too, became an instant revelation in Ariddia, attracting an immediate fan base after his race. He then finished seventh in his quarter-final heat. No doubt his potential will now be carefully nurtured.

There was more good news in synchronised swimming, when men’s pair Jeremy Grover and Mustapha Kanu finished first in the technical routine by a full point, with a score of 46.917. The women also performed well in that event: Samantha Cohen and Pam Pham were fourth.

By the end of August 18, the Ariddian Isles were in tenth place on the medal table, with nine gold, seven silver and seven bronze. Of the gold medals, three had come in judo, one in tennis, and the remaining five in gymnastics. Cycling had brought two silver, thanks to Angela Ellice, and Jean-François Bornescu had added to the diversity with his bronze in badminton. There was still a possibility of another medal in cycling through Andrew Hern, while Aa Shey was looking strong in boxing. Both men and women’s duets had shown promise in synchronised swimming; Christian Mohamed still had the table tennis to compete in; and the women’s football team had the final to prepare for, with a guaranteed medal.

From the Series "COC List Stars for Columbia":

http://img378.imageshack.us/img378/918/rg2yw1.png (http://imageshack.us) http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/1610/rg1sy1.png (http://imageshack.us)
COC List Stars - Jaqueline Isidoro and Letícia França (Rhythmic Gymnastics)

You must be asking this question now: why are these editors from this magazine making another article about gymnastics, when they already did one about Fernanda Serrano of the artistic gymnastics? Well, we have the answer for you. With the end of the artistic competitions, everyone will turn their eyes now to the rhythmic gymnastics, which will soon take place in Columbia. And our comments about this event in our article about Fernanda Serrano were too simple and small, and our gymnasts deserve much more. They are contenders for the gold medal, and we'll treat them like stars.

In these Olympic Games, the Rhythmic Gymnastics are composed of individual and team events, as everyone must know. Also, it'll have events for men and others for women. Cafundéu sent gymnasts only for the women events, as our country isn't used to train male rhythmic gymnasts (this is something new to our country, but that will probably be introduced in large scale soon). But this doesn't mean that our country is weak in this sport. The situation is exactly the opposite one. The Cafundelense girls are among the favourites for the gold medal, with beautiful and efficient performances.

Even the Ariddians noticed that the Cafundelenses are very good in gymnastics, especially the women (although we weren't capable of beating them - we are the 2nd best behind them, I think we could say). This is a sport much practiced in the schools of the country, and the reason why the girls usually dedicate more to the gymnastics than the men is due to the fame of the Cafundelense female gymnastics, which motivates the younger ladies. This is also a very much appreciated sport in this country, and many people simply love to watch it.

Now to talk specifically about our rhythmic gymnasts. The COC sent to Columbia six young girls to participate in the events, but only two will have the opportunity to participate in the individual events. These two are Jaqueline Isidoro (in white in the image) and Letícia França (the blonde in black), whose main characteristics are their solid performances, with few mistakes, and a lot of grace. Their jumps are very artistic and acrobatic ones, and they know how to use their apparatus to make their performance better. They have similar styles, but different preferred apparatus: Jaqueline prefers the hoop and ribbon, while Letícia is an expert with the clubs and ribbon.

So, both of them are more than able to win the gold medal, although they first must defeat some talented opponents (including Jaqueline [in Letícia's case] or Letícia [in Jaqueline's case]). But what about the group competition? For many, this is the best event of the entire gymnastics competition, including the artistic and rhytmic ones. The teamwork is impressive, the efficiency of these girls is astonishing... Cafundéu's group is an excellent one, and will battle for the gold medal. In this event, other gymnasts join Jaqueline and Letícia: Rachel Tenório, Ana Laura Peixoto (the 3rd best of the country), Clara Diniz Guerra (a rising star) and Alice Rosas. It'll surely be a marvelous event.

- GLOBO MULTIMEDIA -
Olympic news in our website! - Today with Breno Gavião

*script of the Breno Gavião comments*

Cycling - in what can be considerrrrrred one of the sporrrrrts with the fewest number of quality Cafundelense athletes, a day of qualifications in the BMX, in both the men's and women's events.

Hanball (men's) - a loss against Kelssek in the quarrrrrterfinals (27-25) and the team is out of the Games.

Sailing (men's) - the windsurrrrrrf, in terrrrrrms of popularrrrrity, is in an averrrrrrage position. But today, it became a verrrrry followed event, as João Miguel de Deus won the gold medal in the men's event, with a huge difference over the second placed frrrrrrrom Kanji Starrrrrter.

Sailing (women's) - windsurrrrrrf again, and this time the women. And another gold medal to Cafundéu, with the Jutense Sabrrrrrina Verrrrrrmelho, with an outstanding advantage over Rrrrroberrrrrts frrrrom Candelarrrrria And Marrrrrquez. An excellent perrrrrrforrrrrmance of Sabrrrrrrina.

Aquatic Marrrrrathon (women's) - not a good perrrrrforrrrrmance by our swimmerrrrrrs in this event.

Table Tennis - the beginning of the competition was a one full of action for the Cafundelenses. For the women, Marrrrrina continues, Mel worked harrrrrd but lost, while Isadora was eliminated in her firrrrrst game. For the men, André Okitamone and Lucas Tenda continue in the competition, but José Siena must now rrrrreturrrrrn home, as he lost.

Taekwondo - a bad day for Cafundéu in the firrrrrst parrrrt of the day, as all our fighterrrrrrs that parrrrrticipated today werrrrrre eliminated at some stage of the competition. In the second parrrrt, Milene Rrrrrodrrrrríguez brrrrrought happiness to the Cafundelenses by winning a brrrronze medal.

Volleyball (men's) - Coocoostan even scarrrrred the supporrrrrterrrrrs after winning the firrrrrst set, but the Cafundelenses showed their strrrrrength in this sport and ended winning in the quarrrrrterrrrfinals game by the rrrrrresult of 3-1.

Wrrrrrestling - nothing good for Cafundéu in this day, just eliminations and morrrrre eliminations.

Athletics - horrrrrible day for Cafundéu, we simply couldn't win anything or get qualified for anything, nothing worrrrrth commenting!

Basketball (men's) - a victorrrrry against Bluth Corrrrrporrrrration puts Cafundéu in the semifinals. The rrrrrresult was 72-67.

Boxing - no victorrrrrries for Cafundéu today, only losses.

Canoeing - today, we didn't get qualified in a lot of events... at least in one (women's flatwater K-4 500m) we got the qualification.

Diving - both Carrrrrolina Perrrrrreirrrrrra Machado and Jennifer Rrrrrross got qualified for the finals in the 10m platforrrrrrm, and have grrrrreat chances of getting medals.

Field Hockey (women's) - Cafundéu's girrrrrls defeated Coocoostan in the semifinals and arrrrre now in the gold medal match against Candelarrrrria And Marrrrrquez.

Synchronized Swimming (men's) - an excellent perrrrrrforrrrrmance of Silvérrrrrrio and Santana earrrrrrned the countrrrrry a silver medal, a verrrry commemorated one.

Synchronized Swimming (women's) - like expected, Plini and Gerrrrrrmano did grrrrrreat durrrrrring their prrrrresentation, and werrrrrre able to win the gold medal for Cafundéu, a medal that was expected by many, although some doubt the quality of the girrrrrrls to get this (now it's prrrrroven that they werrrrrre wrrrrrrong).

Beach Volleyball (men's) - in morrrrrre amazing perrrrrforrrrrmances. both of our doubles arrrrre in the final, like it happened with our women too! A gold and a silver guarrrrranteed. In the semifinals, the games werrrrre too easy, both 2-0, showing that the Cafundelenses werrrrre rrrrreally a level above of the other competitorrrrrs.

Prux's Olympic Blog

Water Polo—Men’s—Quarterfinals:
Whoo! Once again, Qazox falls to our superior Water polo Skills. we even let tehm have a 5-1 lead, and still won. and now we are just 1 win away from a medal.

Score by Quarter:

Prux 1 0 5 2 8
Qazox 3 2 0 0 4


That's all so far from Columbia, UCS.

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

To clear up some thing about last night's result in the High Jump. Although tony Holzer was tied for 2nd, it took him 3 attempts to reach that height, while the silver and bronze medalists each did it in their first. So despite the tie, Holzer would not have won a medal. The protest by the GWOC has been withdrawn its protest.

SWIMMING RESULTS:
(The seemingly never ending ones)
Women’s 10000 m Freestyle:
Erica Markel: 2:22:56.4 33rd
Audrey Mohamed: DNF 34th

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):
None.


DIVING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Women’s 10 m Platform—Preliminaries:
Sylvia Nyberg: 344.21 (2nd)
Marianne Reinert: 280.07 (23rd)

Day 08–21 A results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13941945&postcount=35) are now up.

OOC: Looking at the name of the athlete concerned, is the Olympic Record that you gave for comparison with the Women's Hammer Throw results actually that for the Men's event?


Athletics—Women’s Hammer Throw—Final
Olympic record: 86.60 m (Mike Omara [LEN]; Ashford, CAS)

Try 1 Try 2 Try 3 Try 4 Try 5 Try 6 Best
G Irritti o Redwood (BRS) 69.11 74.40 73.31 NM 69.12 74.21 74.40
S Professor Luzia Seixas (LID) 66.87 69.76 73.79 73.60 67.01 69.64 73.79
B Iniïga Ramíresa (COM) 68.32 NM 68.92 72.66 73.72 73.23 73.72
4 Martha Haggerty (WLD) NM 73.38 67.17 NM 68.25 67.43 73.38
5 Errdythe Errhabarra (BRS) 69.84 73.32 66.10 NM 67.23 66.34 73.32
6 Olivia Siffing (KRY) 65.05 70.02 66.71 71.73 67.09 66.42 71.73
7 Marra no Aengrur no Garra Borr (BRS) 66.96 70.10 67.56 NM 67.95 71.12 71.12
8 Mallory Minnis (BLU) 68.19 69.13 66.26 68.81 67.62 66.36 69.13
9 Amy Hall (JSY) 68.46 68.87 66.48 68.87
10 Ελία Κωνσταντίνου (COM) 68.73 67.67 NM 68.73
11 Tatyana Sama (ALL) 68.39 67.46 NM 68.39
12 Jessica Jensen (SEC) 68.24 66.26 67.64 68.24

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OLYMPIC REPORT PODCAST - AUGUST 21, 2008

http://media.switchpod.com/users/kelssek/olympicreport20080821.mp3


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Ode to Joy to come?

By James Crocknall
CHIEF SPORTS EDITOR
In Columbia, Bedistan, Unified Capitalist States

We're guaranteed a silver. That's the great news. Our women's softball team unfortunately lost their semifinal against Secristan, but their inspired performance in the bronze medal match which saw us beat Gerainia 2-0 meant that, thanks to the format being employed at the Games, Ad’ihan progressed to the gold medal contest, where we will once again play Secristan

Is it too much to dream that we'll hear our interim anthem, the Ode to Joy? And, perhaps more importantly, do we need a proper anthem? The Ode to Joy is an instrumental piece, very famous and all, but it's been nearly five months since independence. Someone should put words to the Ode to Joy for us. Or, even better yet, compose a new tune.

But I'm getting off topic here. This is about celebrating our athletes. Our men's field hockey team are also into the semifinals after a 4-2 win over Kelssek on penalty shots. We could be looking at two more medals. Let's hope they're both of the golden persuasion.

Newman Wins Gold, Nash Silver, but medal count still in question.



Columbia-UCS




Two athletes have won medals in recent days, but for some it still isn't enough. Laureen Newman, 43 of Aubrey, won gold in the Women's One Person Dinghy, becoming the first person in the nation's history to medal at two olympics, as well as the first to improve on a previously won medal in these games, as Newman won bronze in the Querzakhi games. Her teammate Mark Hodges couldn't improve on his Querzakhi bronze, finishing fifth in the men's. Newman and Hodges also finished in the middle of the pack in the two team events they attempted. Still with Newman retiring and thirty-five year old Hodges saying he wants one more shot at gold, the future of the sailing program looks bright. "We have about twelve youth that sail with us in Aubrey at the moment, with about half of them looking at it as competetive sport. I think with this medal, we should get more, especially females, which since I won't be returning, is very important," said Newman, who will stay on in her de facto role as a national team coach.
At the olympic stadium, Jason Nash, 26 of Ebling, won a silver medal in the men's high jump, a year after making the final in Querzakhi. Nash's medal improves on Roger Udawye's silver in the 10,000 metres, making his performance the best in national history in the Olympic track meet.
Naysayers point to the elimination of the Men's water polo team in the preliminary round, or Querzakhi medallists such as Hodges or Boxer Ruslan Karpov losing out as an indication of a poor showing. On the contrary, the Women's Field Hockey team is playing for Bronze, Women's Volleyball for Gold. Both teams were not supposed to go, until President Pakhomov stepped in. Four boxers will still fight for medals, same as last time, only all four still have shots at gold.
The Volleyball story is the most interesting of all however. Pakhomov received a recommendation not from sports officials, but from his own daughter, an avid player, who is coached by some of the players. Looking at their record in competition, the descision was made to allow both teams to go and now, the Women have the chance to battle mighy Cafundeu for the gold. The team enters the final as underdogs, a role they thrive in.
BSC Predicts the team will win nine medals, one short of the goal of ten.

Day 08–21 B results (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13942943&postcount=36) are now up.

OOC: Looking at the name of the athlete concerned, is the Olympic Record that you gave for comparison with the Women's Hammer Throw results actually that for the Men's event?
Yes, it was—I fixed it, though it doesn’t change anything.

Siggurr Thuleann had mobilised all those of the Bears' athletes who weren't themselves scheduled to compete that afternoon, to go and cheer for their fellows in those events where such support seemed most likely to be useful, where his delegation had entrants who were good canidates for winning medals on past form but these had one or more tough opponents to overcome: the women's Javelin Throw final (in which Beorra Beorninga, who'd had the 2nd highest score in the qualifying round, was expected to win a medal of some metal and the 'gold' certainly seemed attainable...), and the three Wrestling events...
(OOC: Arrgh! I was in a hurry, because I was due elsewhere, and accidentally looked at the wrong notes: That should have referred to the final of the women's Hammer Throw, in which all three of the Bears' entrants were amongst the 12 contestants and Siggurr was actually hoping for a clean sweep of the medals to balance the one that Roumberre had gained in the men's Shot Put...
Oh well, consider it retrospectively as such, if you can... or just assume that the heat really has been getting to him...

___________________________________________________________


The delegation's section-leaders had gathered for another 'Council of War', to consider the results of the previous afternoon's and morning's events and discuss which forthcoming events they should try directing their supporters towards.

"Seven more medals in just a day, when I'd regarded six as reasonable and four as the bare minimum "acceptable" for the events involved, and with three of those being 'gold' medals at that" remarked Siggur in a satisfied tone. "Verrry nice, and a fine answer to those who try to suggest that Ursines have no place in competitions such as this. My congratulations, on my own behalf and those of the High Council, to all of our winners. Sorry to see you out of it, Birrin, but that was a verrry close decision and at least you made ReBrrun really work for the place."
"It's a bit of a pity that we still haven't managed a 1-2-3 in any event yet, though, and that we didn't quite manage to gain any medals at all in either of the women's Walks although everybody had thought those should be good opportunities for us: Put that together with the fact that I only managed 4th place in my own Walk, and maybe it means that we need to improve our training for that sport..."
"Anyway, we're only a couple of places below Roumberre in the medal table now, so let's really put our best efforts into trying to overtake them before the end of the Games. What would it say about Bears Armed if they manage to beat us in the end, considering that we've got so many more people than them to choose contenders from? Right, let's look at the next couple of sessions and see where our best hopes are..."

QSPN.com/OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Day 13 and the end of the competition is near. The goal of 9 medals from these games is now a impossibility, so we'll settle for as many as we can get.

Unfortunately, there is no events that Qazox competed in today, so we're stuck at 1 silver medal, for now.

Stay tuned to QSPN, QSPN2, QSPNOcho, and QSPNInternational for live coverage of every Qazoxian event, and tune into QSPN.com for 24/7 live streaming video for any competition.

New intro to the same theme this time around.

Lily: Lots to catch up on before we meet four more medalists.
Steve: Not really though so don't get your hopes up. Basically, a bunch of people advanced, and some more didn't.
Yvette: Same as always.
Steve: But we're just going to mention some of the ones from Zwangzug because...because...anyone have a good reason?
Yvette: It's in our contract.
Steve: Great reason!
Darryl: And mention the ones who did advance, in general. We've tended to skip the ones who didn't.
Lily: All of the kayaking semifinalists from Zwangzug qualified, in all of their events.
Darryl: Stanley Fitsgerald advanced to the third round of the table tennis tournament...by beating Marcus Adamik, who joins us.
Marcus: Obviously it's tough to go up against a teammate, but it was a good match. Of course, we've trained long enough to know how it's going to go, some of those shots. He just came out on top.
Lily: He won the penultimate game 11-2, but you bounced back to force the last to go 14-12. How did that happen?
Marcus: I think just switching sides of the table helped keep me fresh, mentally in the game.
Darryl: Meanwhile, Kevin Dougherty swept Adam Neese.
Marcus: Stan and I were listed next to Kevin and that other guy on the bracket so we were wondering if the winner could get to play him...but that didn't happen.
Steve: While Fitsgerald was swept in round three, Dougherty lost to Kenavt's Connor da Vincho in six sets.
Marcus: That guy is amazing. And has way too much time on his hands, but is still amazing.
Steve: Trisha Hwang was the only female from Zwangzug to make the third round, and also lost to opposition from Kenavt.
Lily: The women's 4-by-100 relay team, fastest in third place, advanced.
Darryl: The women's team sprint cycling team lost in the quarterfinals, but the men beat Bluth Corporation to race for the bronze medal.
Lily: They raced against Roumberre, a rematch of the team pursuit bronze-medal match, in which Zwangzug had lapped. And while this result wasn't as overwhelming, the winners wore the same colors. Matt Kim, Alvin Drumm, and Lothar Ithack, who's here with us, brought another cycling medal to Zwangzug.
Lothar: This is the way it's supposed to be. I couldn't have asked for a better race, or greater teammates. Like I say, Matty's a 23rd street champ, I'm just some kid who they misspelled on the original roster. At the end of the day, we get the job done. Comin' from all over the country to race together, it's an awesome feeling.
Steve: Suffice it to say that today's other medalist for Zwangzug-perhaps its most unlikely-has a rather different sentiment.
Yvette: Well, it doesn't suffice, as he'll speak for himself.
Lily: It's often been said, and almost as frequently disproved, that Zwangzug runners prize endurance above sprinting speed.
Eric: Well, if I was as bad as that, 400 meters would be a distance run. So I'd be good at it.
Lily: Eric Haus was never considered a top medal contender.
Eric: Although if all my competition at the trials sucked, maybe that's how I got through. Don't really care.
Yvette: But race after race, heat after heat, he did what he needed to do to advance.
Eric: And that's not right either. It's not like a race I suddenly learn how to run. It's what I do in between, driving myself to get faster and faster. So when the race comes, I don't care. I just run. I'm good at running. So I win.
Darryl: Haus's racing style doesn't rely on perfect takeoffs, desperate lunges, or straightaway sprints. Instead, he whips around the curves, with momentum matched to each lane.
Eric: They're all different. I run in them all, I memorize them all, and I swing around to get back to moving forward.
Lily: In each turn at the 400 meter final, Haus gained precious fractions of seconds. There were no dramatics at the finish-first Edward Burczak, then Miguel Collins-but right behind them came Haus, followed closely by Doctor Émerson Braga and Ross Larii.
Eric: Nobody comes here to win bronze. I wanted gold, of course. If I'd have said that, what would people do? Laugh at me because of the place I was born? What matters today is that my name is Eric Haus, and there's an Olympic medal hanging around my neck. People call me a bitter person sometimes but I don't know. I think it's sort of cool.

From the Series "COC List Stars for Columbia":

http://img261.imageshack.us/img261/5962/2152891943618547fcaflz0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
COC List Stars - Tupã Aquino (Marathon)

The Olympic Games are reaching its end, and we are preparing our last articles about our athletes of these games. There will be four more articles, counting this one, of our COC Olympic stars, and they are about: Marathon, Summer Vigil Fasting/Bocce together, Fencing/Archery together and Basketball/Tennis together. Between all those sports, only the Marathon, Basketball and the Summer Vigil Fasting haven't ended. So why would we, the editors of this magazine, be commenting about sports that have already finished their events in these Olympics?

The answer isn't difficult to guess. Before everything, you should understand that our main objective with these articles isn't to comment about our medal chances and in which events we should win something. No, that's more to introduce the readers to our talented athletes, and to make a homage to these amazing people that dedicated themselves to their sport and that joined the biggest sporting event of the world to try to bring medals for our beloved country, Cafundéu. So, we won't criticize those that didn't win medals, but praise them like we praise the ones that won something, as all of them deserve our respect.

So, after making these comments about our last articles on the Olympics, we'll now talk with more detail about the athletics events, in which Cafundéu sent many athletes, but most of them not at the level of the best in the world. In the races, few hopes (without counting the marathon, about which we'll comment soon). Maybe a medal in the 100m with Chicão, but he finished in 4th. But there were many athletes that seemed ready to win medals for Cafundéu in the athletics events. And we got gold ones: in the men's long jump and in the women's discus throw, something that made our people proud of these athletes. Other medals came in other events.

Now the Olympic Games are reaching their end, and so are the athletics events. But they'll end with the most traditional event of the whole Olympics: the men's marathon. And the COC sent excellent athletes for this event: Wallace and Tupã. Wallace is an expert in foreign marathons, winning many of them, although his performance in the national ones was frustrating most times. So, he is an irregular runner, and many don't believe that he can win the gold medal. But he said that these comments only give him the fuel to work hard to go after the first place.

Tupã is much more experienced, and with a victorious career in both national and international marathons, especially the Cafundó do Juta Marathon, in which he won the last 3 editions, facing many of the athletes that will participate in this Olympics' marathon. His best quality is his consistency, as he usually stays close to the leaders (if he's not the leader) since the beginning, and doesn't let them create an advantage. So, many people believe that him will take a medal. Cafundéu also sent a third athlete, but he is not a famous one.

- GLOBO MULTIMEDIA -
Olympic news in our website! - Today with Breno Gavião

*script of the Breno Gavião comments*

Athletics - in the women's javelin thrrrrrow, Nina Rrrrrrodrrrrríguez won an unexpected silver medal, and crrrrried durrrrring the prrrrrize cerrrrremony. In the men's javelin thrrrrrow and in the women's high jump qualifierrrrrrs our athletes had excellent perrrrrforrrrrmances, qualifying in the second place.

Cycling - the BMX final events both (men's and women's) featurrrrred Cafundelenses, something that imprrrrressed many. In the women's, Nathália Werrrrrner didn't win anything. In the men's, Gilmar Neogarrrrradovsky won a brrrrronze medal!

Handball (women's) - a loss in the semifinals of the competition against Secrrrrrristan (a countrrrry verrrry rrrrrespected in Cafundéu, which has many trrrrrade agrrrrreements with us), eliminated our team's chances of a gold medal.

Sailing - the second most popular class of the Cafundelense sailing is the Star one, and our people werrrrrre expecting the gold medal with William and Henrrrrrique. In the end, the expectations werrrrre fulfilled, as they defeated their opponents and assurrrrrred this medal in the Star class, commemorrrrrating much this conquest.

Aquatic Marrrrrathon (men's) - not a good perrrrrforrrrrmance by our swimmerrrrrrs in this event (yes, again).

Table Tennis - in both the men's and women's events, therrrrrre arrrrre still Cafundelenses competing. For the men's, André Okitamone seems prrrrromising after defeating Lim Bao frrrrrom Maineiacs and Tommy Knight frrrrrrom Jasiyun. In the women's event, Marrrrrrina Senaki is closer to the medals after defeating Emma Rrrrrossi frrrrrom Krrrrrytenia and Lan Mei frrrrrom Maineiacs.

Taekwondo - another brrrrronze medal came in the taekwondo, this time with Maurrrrrício Grrrrraziano, a medal that met his expectations.

Volleyball (women's) - the Cafundelense girrrrrrls arrrrre in excellent forrrrrm and, after defeating West Pocono, have guarrrrrranteed at least the silver medal, although they want the gold.

Wrrrrrestling - the only major news of this day of wrrrrrestling for the Cafundelenses was the brrrrronze medal of Michel Serrrrrdan, who had a verrrry good qualifying stage but lost in the semifinals.

Football (women) - in the thirrrrrd place game against Wentland, our women had no prrrrroblems in getting the victorrrry and the brrrrronze medals, with goals by Viviane (both of them).

Canoeing and Cycling - not worrrrth commenting those two.

Diving - both Jennifer Rrrrrrrross and Carrrrrolina Perrrrreirrrrrra Machado werrrrre worrrrrking harrrrrd to win the gold medal in this one. In the end, it was Jennifer who achieved this feat, with a good marrrrrgin over the second placed, while Carrrrrolina finished just in fifth.

Equestrrrrrrrian (jumping) - surrrrrprrrrrisingly, no medals came in the individual jumping. For many this was the best event of Cafundéu in the whole Olympics, so our rrrriderrrrrs must be verrrrrry disappointed, although they should be prrrrroud of their perrrrrforrrrrmance in the Games.

Moderrrrrn Pentathlon (men's) - averrrrrage rrrrresults for our parrrrrticipants, that came frrrrom the arrrrrmy.

Beach Volleyball (women's) - and, in the end, the double that won the women's beach volleyball event was Paola Leko and Grrrrrazielli Molly, after thrrrrree exciting sets. The game was verrrry difficult, as their opponents werrrrre giving their best to win too, but they deserrrrrved this medal, winning on the details.

Beach Volleyball (women's) - so you ask: who werrrrre the opponents of Paola and Grrrrrrazielly in the final? Well, another Cafundelense double: Alessandrrrrra Ventos and Daniela Paulista! An all-Cafundéu final, and verrrry exciting one! But, for Alessandrrrrra and Daniela, the final rrrrresult was a lost, which rrrrresulted in the silver medal.

GREEN WOMBAT Olympic Update

Its almost over and if there were medals for 4th place, Green wombat might be leading in that category, as we've had about 6 or 7 4th place finishes.

SWIMMING RESULTS:
(The seemingly never ending ones)
Men’s 10000 m Freestyle:
Howard Peele: 1:49:30 (4th, was just edged out for Bronze by 0.13 seconds)
Keith Caswell: 1:55:43 (16th)

ATHLETICS RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):
Men’s 4×100 m Relay—Heats:
(Galindo/Hilliard/Patterson/Abner): 39.91 (missed qualifying for next round by 0.02 seconds)
Women’s 4×100 m Relay—Heats:
(Perkins/Randall/Stripling/Henson): 43.71


DIVING RESULTS (Advancers in BOLD):

Women’s Women’s 10 m Platform—Semifinal:
Sylvia Nyberg: 344.21/157.75 501.96 (5th)

Women’s Women’s 10 m Platform—Final:
Sylvia Nyberg: 157.75/336.42 494.17 (11th)