#U20 Athletics

[thejuniorage]

Read about the Indian athletes at the Asian U20 Athletics Championships. Get full details about India's 5 gold medalists in Asian U-20 Athletics Championship.

[afrotumble]

That name rings a bell 👀

🇰🇪's Sarah Moraa cruises to the win in her 800m heat with 2:05.11.

Her cousin Mary Moraa is the reigning 800m world champ 🙌

Courtesy of World Athletics

[uniqueeval]

U20 World Athletics Championships

Coverage of the U20 World Athletics Championships. Source link

[thebestsetter]

Thinking about Isagi Yoichi going absolutely insane when someone talks shit about you, his one and only girlfriend.

And I'm not saying insane as in "Don't talk about her like that!". I'm saying insane as in "Say her name again with that filthy mouth of yours and I swear I'll cut your fucking tongue off."

He can handle people badmouthing him. It's not that deep, really. He's a football player, so, like every other athlete, he has fans and haters all around the globe (more fans than haters, but anyways). So, he developed the hability to just tune off all the hateful comments. Badmouth him all you want, that ain't changing the fact that he's a sucessful all star player and you're not.

What he can't handle, though, is when someone tries to talk shit about his relationship with you, his favorite person in the whole world.

Sadly for the media, you're not a famous singer or model. Yoichi and you met when you were both still little kids, dreaming about monsters, princesses and the world cup trophy. In kindergarten, he thought you were a very great friend. He realized you were the prettiest girl he had ever seen when you were middle schoolers, and, by the time high school came, he had already learned to accept the fact that he was head over heels for you. And so, like a "straight out of a movie" kind of scene, he confessed his love for you all sweaty and smiling in front of the whole world after his winning goal at the Blue Lock XI against Japan U20 match two years ago.

So yeah, you and Isagi had a cute love story. Every video of you together had millions of views and thousands of "couple goals" comments, and people loved you (honestly, how could they not? You're amazing, he's not even sure how he managed to make you fall for his "football rizz" or something, but he's glad you did anyways).

Apparently, not everyone appreciated you as much as he thought.

"Isagi, one minute of your time, please!"

"Isagi, for french press right here!"

"Yoichi, answer my question!"

"Wow. One at a time, guys!" Isagi smiled nervously yet kindly, sitting in a chair in front of the mass of reporters from all across the world who came just to interview him.

Smiling again, Isagi pointed at one of the what seemed like thousands interviewers.

"The lady over there, with the Sae Itoshi shirt"

"Thank you for the opportunity" The room became silent. The woman, seemingly in her late twenties, smiled "I'm Sol, from Spain's national TV press. I'd like to ask a question you about your relationship with (Name) (Surname)"

Smiling wide like a lovesick fool like he always did when someone mentioned you or your relationship, Yoichi urged the reporter to continue.

"Sure. Go ahead."

"It's a known fact that you and (Name) (Surname) have been in a relationship for a little over two years. And so, your fans are wondering: do you plan on getting married shortly?"

The silence in the room was papable. All the cameras and microphones turned to a now strawberry red Yoichi. But he wasn't embarassed because of all the attention he was getting or from the fact that the whole world was seeing this right now. He was used to this feeling of "pressure" already.

He was red because he knew you were watching this interview. He was the one who asked you to do so, after all.

"Uhm... well" he swallowed hard, eyes avoiding the cameras "We have a healthy and happy relationship. We both love each other very much and spend a lot of time together. So... I guess I'd be lying if I told you I haven't thought about it before, but..."

He couldn't even finish his sentence. The press' reaction was instantaneous. Cameras' flashes everywhere and the reporters voices overlaping eachother filled the room.

"BUT" Isagi tried to continue, but just gave up on shouting since his voice couldn't compete with the voice of the lots of reporters. So, he just said to the mic in front of him, almkst whispering, hoping it would capture his voice "I think it's still a little early. I want to make sure we're both mature and financially secure first!"

Reporters were still talking and trying to get his attention. With a sigh, he realized they wouldn't stop shouting until the next question came.

"T-the guy with the light shirt"

"Argentinian press right here" the man started.

Oh oh. Yoichi didn't sense a good vibe from this man. He doesn't know if it's his smirk or his posture, but something feels off. He looks almost dangerous.

I'm probably going crazy, Yoichi thought.

When the man opened his mouth again, though, Isagi realized his intuition was right all along.

"I know you said you love your girlfriend, but you do realize the fans think your girl is just keeping you from becoming the best version of yourself, right?"

Oh, for fuck's sake.

"What." Isagi said, the words coming out in a rather forced way.

Unlike before, the silence in the room was not only palpable. It was now suffocating, uncomfortable.

"Well, it's clear as water" the man shrugged, as if what he was saying made a lot of sense "She is stopping you from becoming the number one striker in the world."

All Isagi wanted to do now was jump across the room and send his fist flying straight to the man's face. He wanted it to realize how utterly wrong he was. How your relationship was actually the best thing that had ever happened in his life, and how he would have probably given up on football have you not begged him to go to the Blue Lock program.

And the though of you sweet, caring you watching this made Yoichi give up on his idea of hitting the man straight on the nose, even if his body was trembling just from thinking about it.

I have to keep my cool. For her.

"Why..." he swallowed. Hard. "Why do you think this is truth?"

"You're not using your time wisely. Instead of practicing, your wasting it because you keep giving for futile things like a relationship"

Oh, how much Yoichi wanted to jump this ugly looking clown. How he wished to hit him hundreds of times, over and over again until he swallowed his own words. Until he regretted ever learning how to even speak.

His fist was already trembling. He was taking deep breaths to keep himself steady.

But it seems like the argentinian doesn't know when to stop.

"Also, it gets kinda tiring living with the same person for a long time, no?" The man laughed "I wouldn't blame you if you're actually cheating on her too, I honestly wouldn't have just one girl if I was you. I mean, you're a star and she's just..."

"Shut. the fuck. up."

All the cameras turned to him again. Yoichi was red. But it's not cause he was embarassed, like the other time.

He was red because he was seething with boiling rage.

I'll kill him. I swear I'll fucking kill this dumb shit.

"Never" Yoichi narrowed his eyes "And I mean never say my girlfriend's name with that disgusting voice of yours again. If you as much as look at her, consider yourself fucking dead." He got up from the table, gaze harder than the one he wears on the field "That woman is the source of my happiness, and you have no right to talk about her like that. If you talk with me with respect you have to show respect for her too. Are we clear? Or is your skull too fucking thick for the information to get into it?

"Calm down, amigo! I was just saying what the fans think." The man smirked, gald to get a reaction from Isagi. If looks could kill, he would have been 6 feet under already "They think it would be better if you both break up..."

"You've fucking done it."

Yoichi jumped from the table, ready to kill the man.

He wanted to crush his skull with his bare hands, to show him just how much you mean to him and how mad he gets when someone mentions you in a degrading way.

Gladly, the japanese PR team removed the man from the room before things could get worse, or else Yoichi would realky have done some damage (he was an athlete, after all).

Watching the man leave the room with furrowed brows and a subtle pout (he really wanted to beat him, after all), Iaagu decided to use this moment to make some things clear. So, he turned to the main mic again.

"I hope this serves as a lesson" Yoichi said, somehow managing to look at almost all of the cameras at the same time "To everyone watching this. Don't expect to talk shit about my girlfriend and get out with all of your teeth in place. I fucking dare anyone to badmouth her. I won't let you get away with it." He glared at one of the cameras "This press ends now."

He then quickly got out of the room, ignoring all the reporters who tried to get him to come back.

With a sigh, once he was in the changing room, he grabbed his phone, not surprised to see almost 20 missed calls and 50 missed massages from you.

(My love ❤️)

-> YOICHI???

-> WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING

-> (1 missed call)

Don't worry, I'm going home now 😁 <-

Miss you ❤️ <-

-> Typing...

With a smile, he put his phone in his pocket and started to go home.

Man, he just really wanted to see you. Specially since he knew that the next day, the press would want more interviews about what happened.

Whatever. What really matters is that, at the end of the day, you're his and he's yours. And no amount of dumb reporters or media will ever change that.

~ A/N: not proofread. This sucks 💔 I wrote this to stop my growing Aiku obsession LOL

Masterlist

[tims-shi]

tags: itoshi!sister, baby itoshi is named kei, fluff, sae and rin as older brothers, some spoilers for the u20 match !!, this is v self indulgent tbh 😭 kinda ooc characters im sorry

first post !! also not proofread lols again this is p much self indulgent oml ending is rushed my mind went blank,, i tend to coddle my baby cousins A LOT and ive been missing them these days so it led to this 😧

“hey prodigy boy, a little lady’s looking for you.” aiku announced, entering the break room with a miniscule smirk on his face.

sae merely raised a brow, coldly saying, “send them away.” aiku laughed, waving his hand in the air, “i can’t do that. she seems very persistent. i feel like she’ll cry if she gets sent away.”

getting annoyed, sae dropped his bag. rolling his eyes as he stomped his way out of the room. he opened the door, prepared to tell the tepid creature to scram off, only to be met with air.

“are you fucking with me, you selfish captain?” sae muttered to himself, about to close the door. pausing halfway when he hears small mutters.

“nii, up.” looking down, sae sees his little sister, no older than three years, looking up at him with raised arms. “kei,” sae lets out a grunt as he picks her up. running his eyes through her figure once she’s nested in his arms. quirking a brow at the familiar looking blue pentagon brooch pinned at her jacket. 

“why are you alone? where’s mom?”, sae interrogated, fingers tucking her maroon locks behind her ear. “i’m with nanny. told her i’ll be back.” kei replied, fiddling with the string around her brother’s neck.

“okay, you’ve seen me. now go back to nanny.”

“no! wan’ see rin-nii, too.” kei whined, arms tightening around sae when he tried to put her down.  at the mention of the name, sae’s face scrunched up, reminded of the not-so-good relationship he has with his brother. “do you know your way? i can’t bring you there ‘cause my manager’s looking for me.” at that, kei nodded. placing her palms on his face and kissing his cheek before wriggling down his hold. “do you have your phone? i’ll text your nanny where you are. stay safe, alright?” sae crouched down, pinching her cheek.

“i will. bye-bye!” kei waved at him before dashing off to where her rin-nii could be.

—

kei’s lost. at first she was confident she’ll reach her rin-nii in record time, but after a few turns in this maze of a facility, kei’s starting to lose hope. tears brimming at her eyes, letting out sniffles.

—

with blue lock winning the match against japan’s u20, it’s safe to say the excitement hasn’t really died down. now done with showering and freshening up, the athletes are now on their way to the cafeteria, where a feast is waiting for them, as anri said. 

“that was a fun match! i’ve never played a match with so many talented players before! hell! i wasn’t even expecting we were gonna win!” bachira babbled excitedly. at his chatter, chigiri’s brows furrowed, “what do you mean you weren’t inspecting us to–”

“do you guys hear that?”, isagi hushed them. 

“...hear what?” reo asked. “it’s like someone’s crying” isagi answered, looking around for a person crying?

“is that a child?” nagi, who had been silent throughout the walk, pointed out the small figure not too far from them. bachira, ever the happy person, approached the crying child. “hi! are you okay? why is a little girl like you crying?” he asked, now on his knees in front of the child.

“can’t find my nii. ‘m lost.” kei muttered. feeling comfortable with the stranger before her, she went closer to him, hands now gripping his shirt.

“do you want us to help you find your brother?” this time, it was chigiri who asked. also crouched in front of her as he wiped her tear-stained face. “wan’ my nii.” the little girl uttered out, cries gone and was left sniffling. 

as bachira and chigiri were comforting the little girl, reo can’t help but feel familiar with the child. has he seen her before? he can’t really recall. looking over at isagi, it seems like he has the same thoughts as well.

“doesn’t she look like rin-chan? so cute!” bachira exclaimed, now holding kei in his arms, cooing at her cheeks. hearing her brother’s name, kei perked up. eyes twinkling at bachira, silently pleading to lead her to her brother. 

“oh? is he your nii?” when kei nodded, bachira turned to isagi and handed him the child. “isagi will bring you to your brother. right, isagi?” 

while panicking inside, isagi couldn’t help but sigh softly when kei looks at him expectantly. “i’ll take her to rin. save us some food.” isagi bid them goodbye. over his shoulders, kei waved at the group of boys left behind. 

—

“what’s your name?” isagi sparked up a conversation, the awkward silence getting to him. “kei and ‘m three!”

“what’s your name?” kei asked him, resting her head on his shoulders. “me? i’m isagi. i play soccer. do you play soccer, kei?” 

“no, can’t push the ball by myself.” kei pouted, recalling the times she tried to do the sport both her brothers love. “then you have to eat a lot so you get strong and kick the ball by yourself.” isagi told her, a palm resting on her back.

“we’re here. are you good by yourself?” isagi put her down. kei nodded at him, smiling at him in gratitude. “thank you, ‘sagi.” 

—

rin can’t help but be disappointed. at himself or at his brother? he’s not entirely sure. maybe he’s angry instead? he doesn’t know surely, too. sat alone in the break room with a towel over his head, rin curses inwardly as multiple thoughts run over his head. small pats on his knee made him look up. as teal eyes meet with another set of teal eyes, rin wasn’t expecting to see his little sister in here. let alone, by herself. “kei, are you alone?”, rin hushed out, picking her up and settling him on his lap, facing his body. 

“wan’ see rin-nii. miss rin-nii.” despite his cold demeanor, it’s no doubt that itoshi rin has a soft spot for his sister. always the sweet and loving child she is, unaware of the darkest sides of the world as she keeps lighting up every corner of their home and their hearts.

“rin-nii missed you too. have you eaten yet?” rin hummed, tugging kei closer and fixing a part of her hair that got messed up.

“i cooked my lunch! nanny helped me with the stove but i made my lunch by myself.” kei puffed up her chest, boasting about her blooming skills in the kitchen. “that so? should we go to the cafeteria? i think they have your favorite.”

“what we waiting for? let’s go! hurry!” with eyes gleaming at the sound of food, kei got off and started pulling her brother’s hand. “you wait here, i’ll just freshen up.” rin told her, arms under her arms as he sat her on the bench.

“rin-nii.” kei called out. “yeah?”

“can i sit with ‘sagi?” 

“WHAT?”

likes & reblogs are appreciated !

[beatrack92]

Karmen Bruus 🇪🇪

🥇 High Jump

2022 World Athletics Championships U20 (Cali)

[waffledforbreakfast]

Dreams of You [pt2] - Sae x Reader

Sae x Reader , oneshot, slight angst + comfort

[pt.1] <- the angst

[ BLLK Oneshot Masterlist ]

TW: heavy ooc, bad grammar, bad spelling, bad formatting, cringe, scuff, etc.

(Req by: @darkcowboypirate + @sereniauhhh ! ty u two sm for techincally my first req on tumblr :D)

Sae lucked out. 

Usually he doesn’t take up promotion offers or other sponsorships and such, but when the chance came to model with you on a shoot, he had agreed before he could even comprehend what was happening.

The brand was a pretty big one, one of the biggest sports brands in Japan. They were known for hiring big name athletes, and with soccer being on the rise, they had extended invitations to you and Sae.

(you could be requested since ur a model, or being a pro soccer player, or just a normal person with connections to the agency, it’s up to you!)

Sae wasn’t sure if you had declined your invitation, the agency said that you had yet to get back to them when he asked.

But Sae would be willing to wager his right foot if it meant there was even a chance to see you again.

He had deleted all your contacts the day he broke up with you, and he hated himself for it. Sae had considered buying a phone book just to flip through every page to find your name, or contact the phone agency to go through their database. But he told himself to keep some dignity so you wouldn’t think he was pathetic. (he knew he was. And it was his fault)

The dreams of you never went away. But slowly he started to find comfort in them. Going to sleep sooner, and trying to get himself to fall back asleep were unfortunately now part of his schedule.

“I miss you” “What are you talking about Sae, I’m right here!” “...I wish you were.” “?” “I’m so sorry. Please, forgive me.”

✈️✈️🕓

Sae’s eyes opened slowly, he grumbled and sighed before rolling over and checking his phone for the time 

7:45am

Sae’s mental health started to get better, the more he accepted that he missed you. But obviously with that, he was thinking of you more. You were his wallpaper, password, he buys your favorite food and drinks when he goes out, everything.

If ur famous, he even has some of your merch, and has made donations to you before.

“If I can't have the real thing I'll settle for this”

Sae was happy to just be your fan (even if you aren't famous), he could still love you without having to hurt you.

But part of him still hoped you were single, that you still loved him, at least that you didn't hate him.

He wanted to apologize, he needed to. Unless you've moved on already… was it bad that he hoped you didn't?

Whatever… it was time to get going anyway.

Sae threw on the first articles of clothing he could find, since it was a modeling shoot, he would be given new things to wear anyway.

He wondered what you would wear.

His hoodie maybe? No. He demanded it back when you broke up, and now he was clinging to your scent on it like a dog. He wished he'd at least left you with something 

Sae mindlessly waved off the tact driver as he got out the car and walked through the building. The shoot was set to take place on the 53rd floor.

He spammed the elevator button, unconsciously wanting to see you sooner. He even arrived early and everything, knowing that you often showed up a half hour before anything started.

The elevator doors opened, Sae felt a bit disappointed that he hadn't accidentally ran into you. Whatever. He'd see you in a few minutes anyway.

As the numbers indicating the floors went up, Sae’s mind became just a bit more crowded. His palms had a few beads of sweat as he quenched his fist, he hadn't been this nervous even for the BLLK vs U20 game.

He shut his eyes and focused his mind. It wasn't that big of a deal.

The doors opened. Finally. 

Sae stepped out and tried not to walk to fast and seem desperate, he pushed open the door to the designated room.

Even though there were still 30 minutes til the shoot, camera men, makeup specialists, designers, and staff were running around, helping the other models.

But Sae payed no mind to them. He skimmed the faces of everyone, getting more and more frustrated that you weren't there.

“Mr.Itoshi!” An assistant called out “Please, right this way, let's get you dressed-”

“Quiet.”

Sae shushed him instantly.

He continued looking around, and there you were.

You stood outside the room, leaning out on the handrails of the balcony looking down.

A shiver went up your spine, you hated heights. What were you doing here?

Right. Avoiding a certain man Calming yourself down before the reunion  Nothing really.

You sighed. You had no clue if Sae would show, of if you even wanted him to…

Who are you kidding. You've been dreaming about the man for the past several months, of course you missed him.

If only he missed you too. 

“Careful now”

An arm wrapped around your waist, pulling you back from the railing and into their chest.

“I thought you hated heights.”

“...Sae…? I thought you hated me?”

“No. I would never.”

Sae brushed your hair out of your face, Fuck. He was in love again.

You looked down, not sure what to say as you avoided his gaze.

“Hey. Look at me.”

He lightly tilted your head up with his finger, eyes locked on yours

“I missed you.”

He leaned in and kissed your lips, which he had missed oh so much

“You don't know how many times I've dreamt about this.”

A/N: yippee it's out :D hope u liked it, tbh i wasn't expecting people to want a part two, im literally so happy :'3

anyway thanks again for being my first requesters! i appreciate u two dearly :D

[komorim]

itoshi sae as a boyfriend is full of promises. he’s the type to look at you weirdly if you ask if he’d want to marry you when you’re older, replying with a “hasn’t it already been decided?”

itoshi sae is the type to try to remain strong and cool in front if you, mainly out of habit since he’s used to the people around him looking up to him. but overtime the false facade falls and he decides to give it a rest, sometimes even getting teary in your arms when it gets far too hard. (he hasn’t wailed nor sobbed yet, give him time).

itoshi sae who is ridiculed for being a hypocrite by the u20 team (mainly sendo) after he was found out being lovey dovey with you.

“unlike you, gravure loving idol brat- my significant other helps with my football career. and don’t you dare compare those gravure idols to them: it’s insulting”

sendo defends that he is now aiming fr hollywood actresses, but to his dismay, sae remains nonchalant:

“same thing. still insulting.”

itoshi sae who once internally freaked out after a particularly nasty fight about him never coming to see you after you left and slammed the door. tried to win you back by sending flowers. he won you back.

- 🐨

NO BECAUSE YOU’RE SO RIGHT >:( you’re officially on my list of favorite people just for this. my first confession goes out to koala anon :x

‣ itoshi sae hcs ⋮ part two !!

cw // nothing ??

itoshi sae probably sees his love for you as something that’s completely reasonable and logical; it should be common sense. so every time you feel insecure and ask him for the reason he chose you out of everyone, he just replies with “because i did,” as if he was explaining something as simple as 1+1=2

the beauty standards vary between person to person, and when one of sae’s teammates back in spain mentions how he doesn’t see what’s so special about you, itoshi sae is not the type to become mad in this situation. he simply responds with a “not everyone understands perfection.” it’s insulting, but his teammate can’t exactly argue with sae over this.

itoshi sae is the type of athlete who doesn’t care. he doesn’t care for his public image, nor does he bother with how the media and others might view his and your relationship. he doesn’t understand why the opinions of irrelevant people should influence the both of you, and always brings this up whenever you speak about your worries for the media.

itoshi sae struggles with expressing his emotions, often resorting to giving small gifts and doing things for you in order to convey his love. he probably has never said the three words albeit however long you’ve been together, and you get the feeling he might never be able to say them in front of you. though you don’t mind, he does enough things for you to know that he does indeed love you.

if you’re ever insecure in your relationship, sae would be there, patiently responding to all of your “what-ifs” without ever thinking you as a bother. in fact, he probably secretly enjoys hearing all your worries, since that just shows how much you trust and care about him.

itoshi sae, who has the heart to be a memo boyfriend who keeps all your interests and likes in his memo app, but doesn’t. why? since he doesn’t need it. you’re one of the few people he genuinely likes, so it’s not difficult to be able to memorize every little detail about you. it’s probably seen as the bare minimum in his eyes, so when he sees how happy you are about it, he doesn’t understand. but he still gives a small smile because you’re smiling.

itoshi sae, who’s the ideal boyfriend and husband.

do not copy or repost my works. likes, reblogs, and comments are appreciated.

[elenitrack]

Isabelle Boffey and Keely Hodgkinson 🇬🇧

2019 England Athletics Championships U20 (Bedford)

[setevulpo]

touchstarved love interests in the olympics? yes.

this post by @enviousbug2 (sorry for the tag i'll remove it if you want) and now i have this headcanon? au? idk but they're going to the olympics, enjoy the wild amount of dates and years mentioned lolol

divider by @/cafekitsune

mhin - artistic gymnastics

they're 25 by the end of the 2024 summer olympics, born in 1999.

currently only participates on the horizontal bar event, but used to do the all-around.

participated in the olympics three times: in 2016, 2020 and 2024.

they got a bronze medal in 2020 and a silver in 2024 in the horizontal bar, but didn't get any while doing the all-around in 2016.

participated in the youth olympics in 2014 in the all-around, ended in 24th place.

did four rounds in the fig world cup! they got bronzes in 2018 and 2019 in the all-around, and silvers in the 2019 and 2020 horizontal bars!

ais - ski jumping

he's 24 by the end of the 2022 winter olympics, born in 1997.

participates in the individual large hill event for the olympics, but does normal hill on other competitions.

got a silver medal in 2018 and a gold medal in 2022, both in the olympics. those were the first olympic events he participated in.

has joined the fis world cup every year since 2014, regularly gets bronze and silver medals.

got his first gold medal when he was 20 years old, during the 2017/2018 season.

vere - figure skating

he's 25 by the end of the 2022 winter olympics, born in 1996.

currently participates in the men's singles competition, but used to be an ice dancer before his partner left figure skating.

started competing in 2010 as a junior, and in 2012 as a senior, both in the isu world championships. his first olympics were in 2018.

got a bronze in the 2018 olympics, and a silver in 2022, both in men's singles.

he has two bronze medals for his ice dancing, in 2011 and 2014. after changing to men's singles he got three silver medals and a gold, respectively in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023.

participated in the feminine categories until 2016, changed to masculine when he split off from his dance partner.

kuras - speed skating

he's 32 by the end of the 2022 winter olympics, born in 1990.

formerly an ice dancer in figure skating, currently does the 5000 metres event in speed skating.

has a bronze medal in ice dancing from the isu world championships, from 2014, and no olympic medals from figure skating.

has three silver medals in speed skating isu world cups, in 2017, 2020 and 2021. he also has two golds from the same competitions, in 2019 and 2024.

got a gold medal in his first olympics in speed skating, 2018, and a silver in 2022.

leander - athletics

he's 18 by the end of the 2024 summer olympics, born in 2006.

competed in the olympics for the first time in 2024 and got 4th place in the javelin throw.

got a silver medal in javelin in the 2023 world athletics u20 championships.

didn't always do javelin events, in the 2022 edition of the u20 championships did discus throw instead.

has practice with pole vaulting, but hasn't participated in any competitions for it.

[dontforgetukraine]

Volodymyr Androshchuk

Decathlete Volodymyr Androshchuk was a member of the Ukrainian national track and field team and a champion of Ukraine in the U20 age group. In the same age group, he took sixth place at the 2020 European Championships. Androshchuk was preparing to compete for Ukraine at the 2024 Paris Olympics, but when the full-scale war broke out, he left his sports career and signed a contract with the army. He served in an assault group. Aged 22, he was killed on Jan. 25, 2023, in the battles near the village of Yampolivka in Donetsk Oblast. "He gave his young life for the sake of another dream of his – to see Ukraine as an unconquered, free, independent European state with a decent life for its long-suffering people," Androshchuk's native Letychiv community in Khmelnytskyi Oblast wrote in his memory.

Source: Ukrainian athletes who will never have a chance to compete at the Olympics

[sergeifyodorov]

How does world juniors work and where would one watch?

This is my first season watching the nhl and I’m from nz so I suspect we wont be represented lol but I’m keen to learn more and watch some! Any recommendations on what ones to watch?

omg anon WELCOME and also ... a brief WORLD JUNIORS PRIMER for you all...

Puppy Bowl!

If you're from NZ I'm not sure you know about the Puppy Bowl -- a show run concurrent to the Super Bowl, but all the participants are puppies? It means absolutely nothing but it is adorable. The World Juniors are basically that, but also it is exactly as important as the Olympics what are you talking about. Their official name is the "IIHF U-20 World Championship," which is a pretty self-explanatory name -- it's a tournament for players 20 and under (I believe they have to be at least sixteen, but because young athletes mature physically a LOT in those four years, the vast majority are eighteen-nineteen-twenty). Tradition dictates it starts on Boxing Day, and it runs for about three weeks -- it starts with a round-robin, followed by a single-elimination tournament, a bronze-medal match, and a relegation match.

Players are selected by their national hockey administration -- for Canada, it's Hockey Canada, but all countries within the IIHF (International Ice Hockey Federation) have their own. The intricacies of ~Sports Bureaucracy~ are really long and only a LITTLE relevant, but every country ices the best roster they can, which means players are often "loaned" from CHL teams, NCAA universities, European league teams, or, occasionally, the NHL. (Note: You can usually tell how good a World Junior team is by how many players have been drafted/signed by NHL teams: the Canadians, Swedes, and Americans are almost always entirely draftees or under-18s, while the other teams in the upper division might only have a handful, or even only one, drafted player.)(Second note: The quality of a team has less correlation than you might think to them winning a single-elimination tournament.)

Like I said earlier, it starts with a round-robin: there are ten teams in the main WJ (we'll get to this in a second), divided into two groups of five, who each play each other once. The worst-performing team of each group is sent to the relegation match post-tournament, and the eight other teams do a single-elimination match until one team wins gold.

Teams and Divisions

This year, the top ten teams are: Canada, the US, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Norway, Czechia, Slovakia, Switzerland, and Latvia. Because of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia is banned from participating in IIHF tournaments, but when it's not it's always in the top ten (likely instead of Norway, Switzerland, or Latvia.) UNLIKE the NHL, the IIHF has multiple "divisions" of teams, and at the end of the tournament the bottom two teams play a match to avoid relegation from the official ~IIHF World U20 Championship~ to Division I, which is right under it. There is also a Division II and a Division III -- and after some sleuthing, there IS a New Zealand team in Div III!!!!!

Canada and Broadcasting

Unfortunately, the WJC is basically only popular in Canada -- essentially a Boxing Day tradition to watch the babies play and cheer for our teams' prospects, or, usually, just Team Canada. In fact, Hockey Canada has bid to host it basically every other year until 2030. Because of this (or maybe a bit of a chicken-egg situation), the WJC is... kind of hard to find online if you're outside of Canada? I know for a fact it's broadcast on TSN (one of our sports networks) without any regional blackouts, but I don't think there's anything available in NZ that will be streaming it, especially because it's not one of the IIHF top ten countries. If you're not already doing so, you'll probably have to sail the high seas for your fix. (If you don't know where to do this, you can slide into my DMs and I can send you a link!)

Who to watch?

There's basically two routes for this: one, pick the team you think is going to win, or two, go look up what prospects your NHL team has that are playing at the WJC and watch them (Note: neither the Avs nor the Oilers have any WJC prospects this year!) The IIHF website has the game schedule listed, including time-zone adjusted start times -- they're all staggered, so if you have a lot of free time you might be able to watch more than one!

Personally, as both a Canadian and a Leafs fan -- both WJC-chosen Leafs prospects are Team Canada players, including their captain Fraser Minten -- I would recommend Team Canada (unashamed homer bias here.) They're usually one of the favourites to win, and they're almost entirely either drafted or not yet eligible, so you can see either your prospects or you can look at Celebrini and hope (if your team is bad) that he's coming to you one day. The Americans are generally considered Thee tournament favourites, if you prefer your teams highly touted.

To me, the WJC has twofold appeal: one, junior hockey is, for lack of a better term, messier than high-level hockey? Pucks are more likely to bounce in silly ways, rushes can get crazy, and you can get both a super high amount of shots and a super high amount of goals. Hormonal teenagers playing super high-stakes hockey for the first times in their lives and they can get really, really into it! The passion a kid has scoring a medal-winning goal in front of a sold-out crowd is absolutely unrivalled by all but the Cup Finals. (OMGGGGG THIS IS YOUR FIRST HOCKEY SEASON TOO... ok don't let me start talking about nhl playoffs because THIS is the puppy bowl that is the super bowl. but worse! i mean better but it's worse (for your cardiovascular health.))

Two, that these guys are still so young, and that at least a few of them have long, illustrious, potentially-Hall-of-Fame NHL careers ahead of them. For a lot of young stars, the World Juniors is an important part of their Lore. Watching someone become something as an adult after you've seen him as a junior is... magical? World Junior hockey is diamond-in-the-rough hockey. There's no polish, but it's the rawness of the million-dollar stone that sells it.

[uniqueeval]

Watch: U20 World Athletics Championships

Coverage of the U20 World Athletics Championships. Source link

[pinkinsect]

I've been reading your shidou posts and his metafictional situation really is just so frustrating isn't it. like hell yeah this guy is gay and violent and carnivorous. quick question why did you give these traits to your only dark-skinned character

RIGHT LIKE. i love gay violent carnivorous dudes and his tan partially coming from his morning routine could be something so beautiful if you consider his actions as a form of rebellion against a past of deprivation but then you Remember. you have 299 other athletes who are not gay or violent or carnivorous (as explicitly as shidou—for all the homosexuality and cannibalism in blue lock, none of it is quite explicit as what shidou has going on; him being violent and gay was the basis for pretty big segment of the u20 match), presumably the same race as shidou, and spend an awful lot of their time outside of school playing soccer and you're telling me not one of them is even remotely as dark as him. where did hiori's father's melanin go. is hiori just too reserved for it to show up or something.

[beatrack92]

Torrie Lewis 🇦🇺

🥈 200 metres

2024 World Athletics Championships U20 (Lima)

[prettyboykatsuki]

sae has weirdly been my fav blorbo for a long time but when considering his type I've come to realise that he probably wouldn't be into nerdy or not conventionally pretty girls. + I don't think that sae is the type to commit at all like. he's just there to fuck around and then leave and if anything the fb trope would be more fitting for his character (imo). and everytime I read fluff about him it's just so ooc to me I can't help it 😭 I mean he does have a lot of toxic traits and could be considered 'a horrible person' but yea idk you always have this deep analysis of characters I was wonder what you'd think about sae and this topic specifically haha hope I didn't bother

i disagree with this characterization of him for a lot of reason

i don't pay a lot of attention to what the fanon interpretation of sae is and im sure this aligns with his image but i dont personally think that this assessment of his character makes a lot of sense. i do understand where it comes from though !!!

i believe that a lot of this miscommunication of his characterization stems from his relationship to rin, but i've broken that down as to why i don't think sae hates rin. in fact in his own way i think he views his own harsh behavior as a way to shield rin from reality (though it had the opposite of his intended affect) i also don't believe that sae is a vapid or shallow player off-field, and that's largely in contrast to his personality before he left for spain and after.

sae is always viewed to be cold, blunt, and serious but he is also deeply affectionate of rin in their adolescence. his major change happens while we're overseas and while we don't know yet what happened specifically - it's clear to me that something borderline traumatic happened. this type of change of character through rigorous training happens to kunigami through the wildcard system and this type of betrayal that leads to betterment is a theme in bluelock as well (i.e. nagireo)

im of the belief that saes arrogance and crass way of speaking developed largely as a defense mechanism as his goal of being a striker was shattered through playing in spain. in the same way kunigami views being a "hero" through soccer as a stupid ideal post wildcard.

sae is a normal guy outside of soccer. he even says that one of his major flaws is that he's pretty clueless about everything other than soccer. his least favorite food is fries, not because he hates the taste but because he can't have them because of his nutrition restrictions. his 'fetish' is ass because he thinks it can show what kind of an athlete someone is. all somewhat silly and ultimately regular things

all that being said - i don't think sae is a shallow person. i think he thinks very deeply and logically about a lot of things and he is indefinitely arrogant, but not shallow which is why i think it wouldn't make sense for him to judge on appearance. it'd be more accurate to assume that he's sort of dense and doesn't pay attention to people who aren't in his immediate circle. the assumption that he would make judgements on your appearance if you're just a regular joe-schmo doesn't quite connect to me. he's not insecure enough to do that.

on the issue of commitment - my only opinion is that sae is a character who values independence of sense of individualism in his partners. anyone with a strong sense of self is someone he is drawn to. this is why he likes isagi and shidou and often reprimands rin because he lacks a sense of selfhood and self confidence. rin only realizes that post the u20 match.

my point being that i think sae can and will commit to somebody but there's a lot more factors for a character like him that others like isagi or chigiri or kunigami who are naturally emotionally in tune with you.

sae isn't and will never be a 'romantic' person in the traditional sense to me but i don't think it means he's incapable of love or commitment. he has a hard time communicating verbally and saying things to your face but he remembers everything you said from your last conversation and pay attention to your hobbies. if you argue, you'll always find a vase of flowers in your kitchen with a note but you always have to call first. he's not Good about the emotional aspect because even if he puts in a lot of effort - it's never going to come naturally to him

BUT that also means if you're able to meet him half-way he's a committed and decent lover to you. he tries really hard to be and it takes some patience because he's sometimes too logical and hurts your feelings but he's there where it matters etc.

this is an essay SORRY KFDHJKSD. ive spent a lot of time thinking about him and giving him depth. and im not defending him necessarily because he is a massive douchebag for a lot of your early relationship. just not for shallow or petty reasons. simply bad at coping with his emotions and expressing himself because he's very prideful