We interrupt the regular programming with some news from the world of sports. The Natialympics 2024 are finished, and here's a breakdown of the
results in ALL 32 events.
7 of them went without any participation from
tho. Triathlon - hosted in Öösingimäed, rugby sevens - hosted in Waiting Iist of Shelley & Nici, field hockey - hosted in MatiMati, sport climbing - hosted in Doire, archery - hosted in Vylkuzeme, breaking - hosted in Adamsburg, and skateboarding - hosted in Halito. Maybe next time.
So we start off with handball, hosted in Konthena.
played in Men's Group A, where
was beaten 37-20, then
was beaten 40-28, then there was a 20-28 loss against home nation
, followed by another loss, 24-29 against
, before ending the group stage with a 26-20 win against
.
finished 3rd in the group, and met
in the quarterfinal, and that ended our run, with a 23-30 loss.
did not qualify for the women's tournament.
Following up with gymnastics, hosted in Tanoiro. And what a tournament it was for the men in Artistic Gymnastics! Demir Nikolovski brought home
's first medal, winning the silver in the Floor Exercise with a score of 15,366. Walter Royceston scored 15,666 in the Pommel Horse, and also won the silver. Pietro Cassano finished 6th there. In the Vault, Rasmus Nelson also finished 6th. Pietro Cassano had an amazing tournament tho, because he won the gold in the Horizontal Bar (score 16,733), and silver in the Individual All-Around, with a score of 88,097. And in the Team All-Around, Pietro, Demir, Walter and Rasmus won another gold medal, with a score of 262,900. Absolutely incredible!
And in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics, Akane Hidaka won the gold in the Floor Exercise, with a score of 14,466.
Other results was Hanna Horn's 6th place in Vault, Joanna Peck's 5th place in Floor Exercise, Akane Hidaka's 8th place in the Individual All-Around, and a 5th place in the Team All-Around.
also had a 4th place in Men's Individual Trampoline, and a 14th for the women. But these Natialympics will definitely be remembered for the results in the Artistic Gymnastics!
Then we had the Balearica Island hosted volleyball tournament, which turned out to be a bit of a disappointment, considering Beach Volleyball is pretty much our national sport. Indoor Volleyball first tho, our men's team had a good run in Group A, beating
3-1 and
3-0, while losing 0-3 against
. It was a full stop in the quarterfinal tho, losing 0-3 against
. Our women's team did not have great success in the group stage. They beat
3-2, but lost 2-3 against
and 1-3 against
, and that was the end of their tournament. Then the Beach Volleyball. We had two teams in the Men's tournament. Fuare and Baláž in Pool A, beating
2-1, but losing 0-2 against
and 1-2 against
. Then it was Ó Flannagáin and Robledo in Pool B, who beat
2-1, but lost 0-2 against
and 1-2 against
. Both our teams then had to play in the Lucky Loser Round, where Fuare/Baláž beat Ó Flannagáin/Robledo 2-1. But their run ended in the Round of 16, losing 0-2 against Low/Lorenzon from
. A better start for our women's team, Dumbledore and Ó Gráda won all their matches in Pool A, but lost against Fujita/Holst in the Round of 16. Fujita/Holst, who had to go thru the Lucky Loser Round, ended up winning the silver, but it was a very disappointing tournament for
.
We move on tho, next was the taekwondo, hosted in Endórë. Not a big sport on
, no men competed for us, but we had a couple of women competing. Sarah Kilduff competed in the Women's -49kg, where she beat Lucie Varnham from
35-25 in the Round of 16, then lost 4-11 against Tea Oursler from
in the Quarterfinal, and then lost 5-21 against Paula Roach from
in the Repechage. Jacinthe Langlais competed in the -57kg, but lost 8-35 against Silke Merx from
in the Round of 16.
Roseland hosted the badminton event, Kanta Bandyopadhyay competed in the Women's Singles tournament, but unfortunately lost all her 4 matches in Group C.
Then it was the weightlifting, hosted in Denmark of Sisters, where our only result was a 7th place in Men's 61kg.
Then we had the Comino hosted judo, with several competitors from
. In the Men's 60kg, 90kg and 100kg+, and Women's 48kg, our competitors all lost in the Round of 32. In the Women's 57kg and 63kg, our competitors lost in the round of 16. In the Men's 73kg, there was a win against
in the Round of 16, then a loss against
in the Quarterfinal, and finally also a loss against
in the Repechage. In the Women's 70kg, our competitor went all the way to the semifinal, after winning against
in the Round of 32,
in the Round of 16, and
in the Quarterfinal, but then lost against Mələk Jafarova from
in the Semifinal, and also Tilda Tuominen from
in the Repechage. A similar story in the Women's 78kg+, a win against
in the Round of 32, a win against
in the Round of 16, and a win against
in the Quarterfinal, and then a loss against Gold Medal winner Sirvad Nazarian from
in the Semifinal, and a loss against Nora Dávid from
in the Repechage. In the Mixed Team, our team lost against
in the Round of 16. But we've saved the best for last. In the Women's 52kg, Marcia Bellamy won the silver, after beating
in the Round of 16,
in the Quarterfinal, and
's Lene Haraldsen in the Semifinal, but losing to Daria Keely from
in the Gold Medal Match. Still, a great result!
Next, we have the athletics, hosted in Dalisska. Men's best results: 100m - 16th. 400m - 9th. 110m Hurdles - 6th. 3000m Steeplechase - 10th. 4x100m - 11th. 4x400m - 13th. Marathon - 71st. 20km Walk - 4th. Triple Jump - 16th. Hammer Throw - 20th. Javelin Throw - 29th. Decathlon - 14th. Women's best results: 100m - 31st. 200m - 9th. 400m - 26th. 800m - 9th. 1500m - 18th. 400m Hurdles - 13th. 3000m Steeplechase - 7th. 4x400m - 6th. Marathon - 38th. 20km Walk - GOLD, Tajana Ilic.
Triple Jump - 16th. Heptathlon - 19th. 4x400m Mixed - 9th. Marathon Mixed Relay - 10th.
Moving on to golf from Xochimilia. In the men's competition, there were 4 competitors from
, 15th was the best result. In the women's competition, 3 golfers from
took part, and 8th was the best result.
In the Begonia hosted canoeing, we had one competitor in the Women's K-1 canoe slalom, who finished 6th. In the canoe sprint events, we had a 9th place in the Men's K-1 1000m, a last place in the Men's K-2 500m, and a 4th place in the Women's C-2 500m. But, there were also some gold medals for
in canoe sprint, as Tara Joshi won the Women's C-1 200m, and Ora Hubert won the Women's K-1 500m.
Xhuxhmaxhuxh hosted the wrestling, and we had a few competitors in the Men's Freestyle. In 86kg, our man lost against
in the Pre Playoff. In the 125kg, our man lost against
in the Round of 16. But in the 97kg, Andrej Babic won our 7th gold medal, after beating
5-4 in the Round of 16,
13-4 in the Quarterfinal,
7-5 in the Semifinal, and
's Valentino Biondo 9-6 in the Gold Medal Match.
Only one competitor in the Women's Freestyle, who lost against
in the 76kg Round of 16. Also only one competitor in the Men's Greco-Roman, who lost against
in the 130kg Pre Playoff.
Illumia hosted the tennis. In the Men's Singles, our man beat
2-0 in the First Round, and
2-1 in the Second Round, but lost 1-2 against
in the Round of 16.
In the Tcher-Racoi hosted fencing, we had three competitors in the Men's Foil Individual, who all lost in the Round of 32. They did better in the Foil Team event tho, beat
45-40 in the Quarterfinal, then lost 31-45 against
in the Semifinal, but beat
45-32 in the Bronze Medal Match, and won
's first bronze medal.
In the Men's Sabre Individual, we also had three competitors. 2 of them lost in the Round of 32, while the third lost against
in the Round of 16. But again, better results as a team, where they beat
45-43 in the Quarterfinal, and
45-38 in the Semifinal, but then lost 42-45 against
in the Gold Medal Match, winning our 5th silver.
A few competitors in the Women's Épée Individual as well. One lost against
in the Pre Playoff, one lost in the Round of 32, while the third ended her run in Round of 16. But just like the men, there were more success as a team. They beat
45-41 in the Quarterfinal, lost 36-45 against
in the semifinal, but beat
45-32 in the Bronze Medal Match, and won another bronze for
.
In the Women's Foil Individual, one of our ladies won in the Pre Playoff. In the Round of 32, 2 of our 3 competitors won, and one of them also won in the Round of 16, but her run was ended in the Quarterfinal. As a team? Unfortunately a loss against
in the Quarterfinal. And finally, we also had three competitors in the Women's Sabre Individual. 2 of them lost in the Pre Playoff, while the third lost in the Round of 32. But in the Sabre Team competition, they had much more success. First beat
45-32 in the Quarterfinal. Then beat
45-36 in the Semifinal. And finally, beat
45-36 in the Gold Medal Match, winning
's 8th gold!
1 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze in fencing!
Our next stop is Rumia, who hosted the table tennis. One competitor in the Men's singles, who lost in the First Round, and the same in Women's Singles, where our only competitor lost in the First Round.
Elvaci hosted the shooting, and we had some competitors here as well. In the Women's 10m Air Rifle, 9th place. Women's Skeet, 6th and 20th. Men's 10m Air Rifle, 23rd. Men's 25m Rapid Fire Pistol, 6th and 24th. Men's 10m Air Pistol, 22nd. But again, we've saved the best for last, as Kobus Kappel won the gold in the Men's Trap!
Modern pentathlon was hosted by Kamandé, and our results were 6th and 11th in the Men's competition, and 28th and 33th in the Women's competition.
The surfing was hosted by the Zombiran island of TZSMBOD, and we had one competitor in the women's event. Beat
14,01 - 13,93 in the Round of 16, which was a close battle, then lost 9,05 - 13,34 against
in the Quarterfinal.
Then we head off to Rahasia-Diati, who hosted the football tournament.
reached the round of 16 in the recent Natia Cup, and had also qualified for both the men's and the women's tournament in the Natialympics. Our women's team struggled in the group stage, drawing 0-0 against
and losing 0-3 to
and 1-2 to
, but our men's U-23 team had a far better tournament. Beat
1-0, then drew 2-2 against
and 0-0 against
, which was enough to win the group, scoring one goal more than
. That goal turned out to be important, because we avoided
in the Quarterfinal, and instead beat
1-0. In the Semifinal,
was also beaten 1-0. That meant
in the Gold Medal Match, and they proved why they were the team to avoid in the Quarterfinal,
was beaten 0-2, but we got yet another silver medal.
Next up was the equestrian, hosted by Trollheimr. Not a big sport on
, but we had one competitor in Individual Dressage, who only got a bottom 6 result. A better result in the Individual Eventing, where our only competitor got a 16th place.
New Acadia hosted the rowing, and there were competitors from
taking part. Didn't go too well in the Men's Single Sculls tho, and our man ended 30th (of 32). But in the Lightweight Double Sculls, McGee and De Angelis beat everyone, and brought home
's 10th gold medal.
And they weren't the only men bringing glory back to the island, Desrosiers and Ayton won the bronze in the Coxless Pairs.
We also had a team in the Men's Eight, who finished 6th. For the women, we had one pair in the Lightweight Double Sculls, but they finished last.
We stay in the water, New Bander State hosted the aquatics, and after 3 gold and 1 bronze in water so far, you might think BINC (Balearica Island Natialympian Committee) were looking to add to that. And these are the
results: Diving: Men's 3m Springboard, 7th and 19th. Men's 3m Synchronized Springboard, 8th (of 8). Maraton Swimming: Women's 10km Open Water, 9th. Men's swimming: 100m Freestyle, 14th. 800m Freestyle, 25th. 200m Breaststroke, 6th. 100m Butterfly, 11th and 20th. 200m Butterfly, 21st. 4x100m Medley Relay, 12th. However, women's swimming remains, as we have once again left the best for last. In 400m Freestyle, Maude Moray grabbed the gold medal, and in 200m Butterfly, Doris Davidovic won the silver. Two more medals for
!
But, our long-lasting lead in the medal table was ended, as home nation
grabbed a lot of gold and silver in the aquatics events.
Next, it's the basketball in Tamausia & Deltannor.
had a team in the Men's 5x5, who lost 78-105 to
and 78-119 to
, and then beat
97-72, but they ended last in their group.
In the Insomnéa hosted cycling, we start with the road cycling. In the Men's Road Race, our best result was a 37th place, and in the Men's Time Trial, our only result was 19th. For the women, best result was a 31st in the Road Race and 25th in the Time Trial. Then there was the track cycling. No men competed for
there, but we got a 16th in the Women's Sprint, a 13th in the Women's Keirin, and a 20th in the Women's Omnium. In BMX, no competitors from
, but we had one woman in the Mountain Bike, Janet Samuels, who won the silver medal. The hills around
has been a great training ground for her.
Aimūlli hosted the boxing, and there were some competitors from
. In the Men's 51kg, our man beat
5-0 in the Round of 16, but lost 0-5 against Cyril Maxwell from
(who ended up winning the gold) in the Quarterfinal. Bernard Tunison had a long tournament in the Men's 80kg. He beat
2-3 in the Pre-Playoff Round, then
was beaten 5-0 in the Round of 16,
was beaten 3-2 in the Quarterfinal, Bala Devi from
was beaten 4-1 in the Semifinal, and Daniele Rizzo from
was beaten 3-2 in the final. That means another gold medal for
!
In the Women's 57kg, our fighter lost 0-5 against
in the Round of 16. Then it was Antonela Nikolić in the Women's 60kg. Just like Bernard, she had to go thru the Pre-Playoff Round first, where she beat
5-0. Then
was beaten 3-2 in the Round of 16,
was beaten 4-1 in the Quarterfinal, Jonie Cochrane from
was beaten 3-2 in the Semifinal, and then Gerd Hjort from
won the Gold Medal match 4-1, which means it was a silver medal for Antonela in the end.
Finally, we have the sailing, which was hosted by Fervorosia.
isn't unfamiliar with water and wind, but there weren't that many
competitors. We had a duo in the Mixed Multihull - Nacra 17, who finished 14th. We had a duo in the Mixed Two Person Dinghy - 470, who finished 8th. We had one competitor in the Women's One Person Dinghy - ILCA 6, who finished 30th. But we also had Miriam Ahmad competing in the Women's Windsurfer - IQFoil, who won
's 13th gold medal of Natialympics 2024!
So to sum this up, Natialympics 2024 was a huge success for
. 13 gold medals, 9 silver medals and 3 bronze medals, and #1 in the medal table!
Gold medals:
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Horizontal Bar - Pietro Cassano
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Team All-Around - Team Balearica Island
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Women's Floor Exercise - Akane Hidaka
Athletics - Women's 20km Walk - Tajana Ilic
Canoeing (Sprint) - Women's C-1 200m - Tara Joshi
Canoeing (Sprint) - Women's K-1 500m - Ora Hubert
Wrestling - Men's Freestyle 97kg - Andrej Babic
Fencing - Women's Sabre Team - Team Balearica Island
Shooting - Men's Trap - Kobus Kappel
Rowing - Men's Lightweight Double Sculls - McGee/De Angelis
Aquatics (Swimming) - Women's 400m Freestyle - Maude Moray
Boxing - Men's 80kg - Bernard Tunison
Sailing - Women's Windsurfer (IQFoil) - Miriam Ahmad
Silver medals:
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Floor Exercise - Demir Nikolovski
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Pommel Horse - Walter Royceston
Gymnastics (Artistic) - Men's Individual All-Around - Pietro Cassano
Judo - Women's 52kg - Marcia Bellamy
Fencing - Men's Sabre Team - Team Balearica Island
Football - Men's Tournament - Team Balearica Island
Aquatics (Swimming) - Women's 200m Butterfly - Doris Davidovic
Cycling - Women's Mountain Bike - Janet Samuels
Boxing - Women's 60kg - Antonela Nikolić
Bronze medals:
Fencing - Men's Foil Team - Team Balearica Island
Fencing - Women's Épée Team - Team Balearica Island
Rowing - Men's Coxless Pairs - Desrosiers/Ayton