Agon (2025)

[bunniefuu]

Just think about yourself

when you get on the strip, okay?

Don't get distracted

by some obnoxious guy

or some girl trying to pull a fast one.

Don't let that stuff get to you.

Otherwise, it starts to drain your energy,

and you need all your energy

just to stay focused, got it?

Come on. Legs!

Come on. One, two.

Again. One, two.

Good, nice rhythm. Switch!

Legs, then work your arms.

Work your legs, then your arms.

Try to stay coordinated.

Go. Yeah. Go.

Good job, great.

Great. Hold on.

Come on, we're almost done,

then we'll go get some water.

Good job.

Take a break.

Go drink some water.

Come on, work on the transition.

Move your knee outside,

hold her down, pin her. Extend your leg.

Hold her down, five more seconds.

Hold her. Try to get away.

Hold her.

Three, two, one. Stop.

Is your knee bothering you?

Is it?

When you twist it?

No?

Maybe it's the grappling

that's giving you trouble.

Today we'll start

with some movement again.

Just a few degrees.

We have to try to bend it

as far as possible.

Good job.

Just a little more.

That's it, great.

Okay.

Keep it there.

Good, that's it.

Good job. Great.

We have to bend this knee though, okay?

Come on, together.

Hold it.

We'll start with a walk.

As naturally as you can.

Try to extend your leg

and bend it as much as you can.

If it hurts, that's normal.

We're in no hurry.

But try to extend it and bend it.

Good job, relax.

Resist the pull of the ring.

Good, again, down.

And release, slowly.

Go down. Touch and again.

Stand up.

Go down slowly.

And again, stand up.

Go down slowly.

Go.

Remember, the eyes

are the brain's video camera.

The optic nerve

is what interacts with the brain.

Four, two, seven, eight.

The Korean athlete just needs

to tie to get to the final.

Before London,

the timers didn't have decimals.

So, they don't know how much time is left,

but it's less than a second.

Again.

See, they set the timer

back to one second.

I was there.

They let them get

three touches in one second.

That's practically impossible.

They panicked.

The referee should've put them

on guard at the right distance.

They would've landed one touch at most.

Look how close they are.

Then the timekeeper wasn't in sync

with the referee giving them

the "ready, fence!"

They totally panicked.

See, the Korean coach

immediately appealed it.

Poor thing, she sat

there crying for 70 minutes.

But then they handed

the victory to Heidemann anyway.

They had to escort the Korean athlete out

because she didn't want to leave.

Then she even lost the third-place match,

because by that time,

she was totally out of it, drained.

The referee didn't work for years.

Neither did the director.

He just dropped off the map.

Biceps, four point eight.

Raise your arm.

Suprailiac, seven point eight.

Medial,

fourteen point two.

Abdominal, twelve.

Thigh,

twenty-three.

Subscapular,

nine.

Well?

Who sent it to you?

Marco forwarded it to me.

How did he find it?

Want me to ask him?

Ask him if he can make it disappear.

No.

"No," you won't ask him?

When are you leaving for Ludoj?

So, are we using a reel at the final?

Or is it wireless?

Why the f*ck do you care

if it's wireless or not?

Let's get there first.

You want the red mullet?

No, they're too big.

What are you afraid of,

that they won't count your touches?

I've seen it all.

At a championship some years ago,

a guy would touch the strip's edge

and then run at his opponent

when the referee was looking away.

Incredible.

Aren't you going to take a shower?

I'll tap you every 30 seconds,

so you know the time, okay?

Whenever you're ready.

Imagine you're on a course.

Stay with it, focussed.

Think about all the details

of what you're imagining,

because that's what

allows you to disconnect.

Now take a rest, do some belly breathing,

then when you're ready,

we can start over.

I WALK BACKWARDS ALONG THE SEABED

FISH ARE FLYING CARS

DUST FLOATING LIKE STARS IN SUNLIGHWELDING DREAMS

IN THE DARKNESS OF A MASK

NEUTRINOS TRAVELLING FOR CENTURIES

REVEAL HISTORY FOR A BRIEF INSTANAS I LOOK FOR THE NORTH STAR

AMID WANDERING CONSTELLATIONS

OF MICROORGANISMS

LIKE SHARP STARS

ON A COLD MISTRAL NIGHHADOPELAGIC ASTRONOMY

Of all the countries that pay

for gold, silver and bronze medals

Italy is one of the most generous.

- Since we're so well off economically.

- Right.

- Italy has no economic problems at all.

- Exactly.

The Italian Olympic Committee

pays its athletes very well.

- 180,000 euros for a gold medal,

- Yeah.

90,000 for a silver medal

and 45,000 for a bronze.

- Before taxes.

- So then you need to pay taxes on that.

Are they self-employed like us

or employees?

I don't know, from a tax standpoint.

Other countries are much more generous.

For example,

at the last Olympic Games in Tokyo,

Saudi Arabia gave

a karateka called Tareg Hamedi

a whopping 1.2...

Alice Bellandi,

born on November 20th, 1998.

Italian nationality.

ID. Identity card, perfect.

Notification time is 6:23.

Do you confirm that?

Your trainer's name?

Giorgio Cano.

- And your doctor?

- Luca Modena.

- Phone number?

- Three, one, four,

six, two, seven, seven, two, four, five.

- Email?

- Alicejudo

at tmail dot com.

Discipline, judo.

Any meds or supplements

in the past seven days?

Multivitamins,

amino acids,

omega-3

and protein.

Any transfusions in the last three months?

- No.

- No.

Do you consent to the sample being used--

- No.

- No.

- Are you ready to urinate?

- Yes.

Choose a cup.

Choose a kit, please.

- Can you confirm that it's sealed?

- Yes.

Open it.

Check that the sticker numbers

are the same

on the bottle, lid and box. Thanks.

Now pour at least 30 millilitres

into container B

and at least 60 into container A.

You can pour the rest into container B.

Save some to measure the specific weight.

Close them.

I confirm there's no leakage

and that they're properly sealed.

I confirm the specific weight

is over 1005.

One zero twelve, to be exact.

The samples will be sent

to the anti-doping lab of choice.

Sample B will be frozen

for any further analysis or re-testing.

These two forms will be sent

to the lab with the samples.

As you can see, your name

and personal information are hidden,

as well as our names and signatures.

So they're anonymous.

We keep the originals and send them

to who requested the test,

and you get to keep the first copy

along with the notification.

You have to keep them for five years.

That's easy to say. She doesn't eat.

But the weird thing is...

It's like if I put on a sweatsuit now,

I'll lose four kilos by tomorrow.

So, the night before the weigh-in,

I told her to at least eat a protein bar.

- You can't go on that way.

- Jeez.

She had stomach cramps.

Sometimes she's even got

acne all over her face.

- They all do.

- They do cycles.

- I never saw her with any acne.

- Even at 63 kilos she never had acne.

I think the Russian girls do it too.

- The Russian girls?

- Yeah.

They do if you ask me. It's not normal.

It's not normal for her

to lift 60 kilos with her obliques.

Are you kidding?

- Kaimazova, 60 kilos with her obliques.

- She trained with 60 kilos.

Sixty kilos of plates.

- Not counting the barbell.

- I couldn't even lift it.

Sixty kilos...

- Not even Enzo could.

- You'd break your back.

I mean, 60 kilos, like it's nothing.

Right and left.

A 95-kilo bench press.

Seventy kilos. That girl

got a medal at the Olympics.

She benched 95 kilos once.

Seventy kilos? How's that possible?

Come on, you gotta be kidding.

She lost, though.

She lost to that Romanian girl.

- The Romanian, the waza-ari?

- She sucks.

And she fainted.

- She fainted.

- How come?

She fainted because she was choking her.

She raised her chin

and she choked her. She fainted.

- She totally sucks.

- Then she cheered in her face.

The Romanian girl.

If they touch my collar, I'll start

tapping like a fish out of water.

Seriously.

- Ready?

- Hold it.

Let go!

Go.

Let go!

You gotta let go suddenly.

Like a spring,

you gotta let go like a spring.

Come on.

Go.

Stop!

Go.

Does it hurt?

Did you feel something?

Does it hurt?

You in pain?

Try to move it.

Who's seen it already?

It's pretty unsettling.

Why not ask Valerio to help?

This stuff has nothing

to do with the Games.

It shows you skinning wolves.

Why didn't you ever tell me?

Sure you don't want to go out to dinner?

No, I'm too scared of food poisoning.

...that dances

across the paper at incredible speed.

Faster even than the eyes can see.

Now watch in slow motion

as it turns, tilts and prints.

Solving in three, two, one.

Oh, yeah!

You can't even tell it's you.

Who are these people anyway?

Going around with smart shooters?

They pull the trigger and wait.

How much did they give you?

You would've done the same thing.

How much?

Fifty grand.

It's not like I've been doping!

Yeah, but you're next

to a pile of dead wolves.

Valerio, please, don't give me that.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

I'm broke.

Either I win or I'm selling

my gold medal from Tokyo.

What the f*ck are you talking about?

Just do a few guest appearances on TV.

They're dying to have you on.

Alex, as you can imagine we are forced

to terminate your sponsorship contract.

We regret this decision

but believe it aligns with our values

in wildlife conservation

and ethical hunting

as a manufacturer

of performance driven ammunitions.

An official notice will follow.

Take care, Tom

Try to keep your distance,

then lunge with your blade.

Watch out, she has a good hit.

If you're struggling

because she starts with a flche,

distance yourself

so you can see when she starts.

We all heard a noise,

a noise that made us realise

something had broken.

We immediately panicked

because the noise was very, very loud.

I felt like my kneecap

was quickly going up into my thigh.

I cried and screamed in despair,

because the pain

wasn't actually that bad,

but the pain in my heart was enormous.

Why?

Why was this happening to me?

I thought the worst things.

I imagined it was the end.

The end of everything.

- Ricciardi?

- Yes.

Hi, it's Alex Anderson with The Chronicle.

Yes, it's me. They told me you would call.

You have five minutes?

I'm trying to better understand

the safety protocol.

The press office gave me

your phone number.

Listen, there is not much to understand.

After the accident, you know,

they needed to find out

if there was any responsibility

on the failure of both athletes's gear.

Considering that both mask

and sword have failed,

they basically had to check

whether they were built up to the specs

of what we usually call Model One.

Imagine that there is one model

of this mask that has been h*m*

and has been tested prior to production.

First, they need to check

if the mask that has failed has been built

and tested as it was supposed to.

The gear was puncture tested,

then was approved at weapon control.

What happens now is

that we have to understand

whether the mask was built up to

the specs or not.

The problem is that

if it was built up to the specs,

we need to open up a discussion

in order to understand

how to improve the safety standards.

The accident in this case would open

a loophole in our technical rule book.

Basically, an issue

we have never addressed before.

But what if the specs weren't respected?

Well, if so, we now go a little bit

into a complex territory.

The reality is not really a protocol,

as you know.

Sometimes not all the masks get tested

fully by the manufacturing company.

Now there will be an investigation

to establish what degree

of responsibility there is.

But there is also a chance

that we have been exploring at the moment

that the gear was actually built

to the standards

but some parts that the company received

are not what they're supposed to.

Assembly components?

The company receives the metal mesh

from a third-party supplier

who sells it as certified.

So now it's either the company

who has provided deliberately

the mesh as a counterfeit

or maybe it can be

that it's the actual material,

the actual stainless-steel plate,

was given to them fraudulently.

And what happens in this case?

All of this kind of overlaps

with some negligence from the athlete

like dropping the gear on the floor

or some corrosion due to sweat,

in theory, it shouldn't create

any malfunction or mechanical damage

if the metal is fully certified.

But if it wasn't,

it could have started to corrode.

Anyway, something feels strange.

It hurts.

You just need to warm up.

They're about to call you.

I'm telling you, it hurts.

I'll call you back right away,

I'm with someone.

Sorry.

Details are never boring.

Some people fake injuries,

and you suspend me for an investigation?

Don't be superficial.

No one is questioning that.

Yeah, but ignoring it is disrespectful.

That's not why we suspended you,

don't you get it?

Someone can be a bad sh**ter,

but you judge

what I do outside the competition?

If it's poaching, yes.

The Games are

about friendship, respect and peace.

Sorry, Franco,

can I call you back in ten minutes?

You could've made something up.

Are you serious?

It's a miracle

they don't arrest you for your fixations.

And you come to me

complaining about the suspension.

You think poaching is like going shopping.

And you still hope

I'll do something for you?

I don't care if you don't like it.

There's no room for violence here.

Go back home.

You're not suited for the Games.

GLOWING EMBER

WARM TO THE TOUCH

RESISTANT TO WATER

LIGHTS AND HEATS MY BATH

CICADAS ARE SINGING

SNOW WARMS UP

LE TRE RANE AWAITS ME

THE TABLECLOTH IS THE PORTAL

DINER OF DECOMPRESSION

HYPERBARIC PORTAL

I DECOMPRESS MY IMAGES

STROKING WET PAGES

LYING ON SOFT ROCKS

WAVES COVER ME

THEIR FOAM LIKE A WARM BLANKETHE LOW SUN IS THE LIGHON MY NIGHTSTAND

HADOPELAGIC ASTRONOMY

I can't take it anymore.

I hate my life.

I swear, as soon as we get back to Rome,

I'm gonna cut this f*cking leg off.

Calm down, relax your leg, easy.

It's nothing, don't worry.

Please, no.

Please, no.