Valruzia

[Aethan]

Second week of the Games: Hosts and Bianjie remain on top with Vanuku overtaking Trigunia/Nadiya for the 3rd place 

Sports: Diving, Artistic & Marathon swimming, Archery, Athletics, Boxing, Cycling and Surfing

Medal standings after week 2

And just like that, another week has passed for the 5710 Terran Olympics. Valruzian hosts remain in first place with 25 golds, 24 silver and 29 bronzes; followed by the delegation from Bianjie with 18 golds, 20 silvers and 13 bronzes and the delegation from Vanuku, that has taken the 3rd place by overcoming Trigunia/Nadiya, which falls to the 4th place; and Dundorf remaining in a solid 5th. But let's take a look and how the different delegations have done during this second week, as the competition heats up and already more than 470 medals have been awarded! How have nations fared? Find out below!

1. Valruzia
The hosts remain on top of the ranking, but with a notable decrease in this week's golden medals. Out of the 71 events of last week, only 5 more golds were added to its total count. Enough to remain on top, but underperformance for the expectations. In artistic and marathon swimming, the Valruzian team nevertheless managed to get in the podium in all categories (Duet and Teams in artistic and men and women in Marathon). Perhaps the biggest disappointment was for Valruzian boxer Jacek Woswski, who came to the Games as the big favorite to win in the men's Heavy category but had to comfort himself with a bronze after losing to eventual winner from Mordusia. 

2. Bianjie
A huge boost for second-ranked team in the second week. The team reaped 3 golds and 2 silvers in Archery, becoming the underdogs in this modality. The Bianjian team also set a new Olympic record in the 4x100m relay Men after winning gold, sparking huge cheers from the many locals in the crowd. 

3. Vanuku
The Majatran nation has become the big surprise of this week, almost tripling the gold medals from last week events and doubling its total medal count, including 1 gold, 2 silvers and 2 bronzes in Archery and the two top positions in Javelin (for men and women) and an astonishing 6 gold medals, 2 silver and 2 bronzes across all 14 categories in Boxing. Despite same golden medals, its total count and these silver and bronzes have been enough to overcome last week's 3rd placers Trigunia/Nadiya for the overall podium. 

4. Trigunia/Nadiya
The now fourth-raking nation also more doubled its total medal count, but coming mostly as the result of a huge lap in silver and bronze medals. 6 silvers and 4 bronzes. From its six new golds, all of them came from women events, a huge boost for Trigunia's national pride. 

5. Dundorf
Another nation that has boosted incredibly its ranking, both in total medal count and in gold medals. Jörgen Strausser, its representative in Pole Vault, who had to overcome a knee injury just six months ago, surprised everyone by placing first with more than 20cm's difference from second-placed hosts, who were the early favorites in the category precisely due to the injury. Dundorf's cycling team also was a source of pride for the nation, with 2 golds and 2 silvers added to its medal tally. 

6. Amudim
Going up three positions in the ranking, Amudim. Despite a disqualification for its boxer in the Boxing Heavy category for failing to pass the pessage, the Amudim team compensated in both Cycling and Athletics, winning enough medals to pass above many nations previously on top of them.

7. Mordusia
The top climber of the week, Mordusia, went from 3 golds to 10, including a gold in the men's Surfing event that caught everyone completely off-guard, and the men's triple jump that was earned by a mere 0.01m against second-placed Bianjie, that needed a five-minute review and discussion by the Terran Olympic team. 

8. Kalistan
Four golds were not enough to keep the Seleyan team in the top-6. Despite that, the team complied with expectations and earned a gold in women's surfing by huge numbers against second-placed Amudim; and the women's marathon swimming as a surprise medal thanks to the excellent performance of its swimmer Miranda Esteban. Perhaps the most notable disappointment was its 5th-placed male surfing competitor, who had to deal with complicated situation at the sea and was not able to perform at his best.

9. Luthori
Another excellent performance by the women's side, with 4 of its 5 new golds coming from them (race cycling road, marathon, 400m and diving 3m springboard) and the only exception of men's light Boxing. A beautiful Olympic gesture came from the women's marathon, after the Dundorfian runner twisted her ankle and Martha Knowles, the Luthorian athlete, stopped for a brief moment to help her get up and continue the race to eventually come first.

10. Xsampa
From 1 to 7 gold medals, a golden climbing. When we talked with its Olympic federation president, they told us this was "completely unexpected", but that they hoped this trend continued for the following and last week. 2 golds in cycling and 1 in boxing complemented the other 3 gold medals.

11. Egelion
2 more golds, in diving and 100m women, were not enough to push the Egelian team further up. And underperformance for this week, the Egelian team expects to improve their ranking next week, after a fatal disaster week that was commented by reporters across the nation. 

12. Kundrati
Another nation dropping in the total medal ranking, also 2 gold medals added, in women's long jump setting a new Olympic record; and athletics 400m men. Along with Egelion, another team underperforming. But hey, this is the Olympics right? Some must win and some must lose, and the winner takes it all! Still, a lot of 5ths and 6ths coming their way. 

13. Narikaton and Darnussia
One single gold no more! Narikaton climbs up from the last spot thanks to its performance in high jump, triple jump, shot put and boxing. Still at the bottom of the table, but now winning track to try and perform better.

14. Jelbe
Sadly, there has to be a last-placeholder. And this week is Jelbe after failing to get any gold medals. Still, a good performance for the Majatran team in Boxing and in the silver medals ranking, but as we work it, gold medals count more! Let's hope for them to improve next week!