Time skip to September 1988
[3rd POV]
In September of 1988, the world was abuzz with excitement as the Olympic Games descended upon Seoul, South Korea. The 1988 Olympic Games held in Seoul, were of immense importance to the country on various levels.
The hosting of the Olympics provided South Korea with a global platform to showcase its capabilities, culture, and progress. It was an opportunity for the country to display its economic and technological advancements, and symbolized the country's emergence as a global player and reinforced its national identity.
The preparation and hosting of the Olympics injected a significant economic boost into South Korea. It led to a surge in infrastructure development, construction projects, and tourism-related industries. The investment in modernizing stadiums, transportation networks, and accommodations was expected to provide a long-term benefit to the country's economy.
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The first major event was the Parade of Nations.
The Parade of Nations was one of the most iconic moments of the opening ceremony is the Parade of Nations. Athletes from participating countries marched into the stadium, proudly carrying their national flags. The athletes are usually dressed in their official team uniforms, representing the diversity and unity of the Olympic community.
At the head of the American parade were two athletes in American uniforms. Apollo and Artemis both held the stars and stripes as they marched into the stadium.
Behind them were about 300 of America's best. The best jumpers, runners, and swimmers. There were noticeable fewer than in the 1984 Olympics, which featured over 500 American athletes. The reason for this was that there were two new athletes who were competing in dozens of events each.
As they watched the lighting of the Olympic Flame, Artemis leaned over to Apollo.
"It would've been cooler if one of us lit it."
Apollo nodded in agreement as ideas ran through his mind. One of them could shoot a flaming arrow. Or they could shoot a solar or lunar blast to create a spark. Or either could simply will a fire to existence with a mere gesture.
Once the flame was lit, fireworks went off, and people cheered at the symbolic start of the Olympic games.
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Time skip to the next day
[Main POV]
I stood near the starting position, stretching my legs before the 100m sprint. As I shook my legs to relax them, I looked towards the other competitors.
There were my two fellow Americans, Carl Lewis and Calvin Smith. They were talking with the Brit, Linford Christie. They were the original top 3 in the original timeline, each achieving a time of less than 10 seconds.
"How's it going, eh?"
It was the Canadian runner, Ben Johnson. If I weren't here, he'd dominate the race and finish with a time of 9.79 seconds, 0.13 seconds ahead of Carl Lewis. However, the joy and celebrations were short-lived. A few days later, it would be revealed that Johnson was tested positive for stanozolol, a performance enhancing drug. He was stripped of his gold medal and faded into obscurity afterwards.
But that hadn't happened yet. Johnson was not yet disgraced. He held the world record at 9.83 seconds and was the heavy favorite of the race.
Not wanting to talk with him, I simply turned away and focused on the woman's 100m sprint. Artemis was on the track.
Standing at 5'10'', she didn't look anything like the 9-year-old she was. Her presence was awe-inspiring, emanating an air of grace and strength. Clad in the standard red-white-and-blue uniform, it symbolized her new nationality. Her eyes, sharp and focused like those of a falcon, scanned the track with unwavering intensity, as if willing herself to teleport to the finish line.
Lean and agile, her muscles rippled beneath her flawless skin, honed by years of training and natural power. Unlike the others, she chose not to tie or cut her hair, letting it cascade in loose waves like the flowing streams of a forest, dancing with every movement, adding to her ethereal aura. As the embodiment of the moon, her radiant presence shone on the track, casting a seemingly celestial glow upon the surrounding athletes and spectators alike.
As the starting signal resonated through the air, Artemis launched herself forward with astonishing power and grace. Every sinew of her athletic physique propelled her forward like an arrow released from a bow.
With each stride, Artemis covered an astonishing distance, her legs moved with lightning-fast precision. The wind danced around her, unable to keep up with her incredible speed. Her steps were light, yet purposeful, as if she floated above the ground, defying the very laws of physics. As her divine energy surged through her body, her focus intensified, and her determination ignited.
Within the blink of an eye, Artemis effortlessly conquered the 100 meters, crossing the finish line in an astonishing 4.04 seconds. Her sheer speed astounded onlookers and left them in awe of her unparalleled abilities.
The crowd was immediately silenced, but when the second-place runner crossed 8 seconds later, they broke out of their stupor, and erupted in thunderous cheers. I smiled as chants of 'USA' rang across the stadium.
Artemis made her way to me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off to high five with her teammates. The American coach had already popped the champagne and was halfway through the bottle.
I continued to smile, but on the inside, I was slightly disappointed. Why did she have to set the standard so low?
"Wow, that's girl's quite something, eh?" Johnson remarked.
"Yeah," I mumbled mindlessly, "yeah, she is…"
As I walked towards the starting line, I wondered what time I should achieve. Artemis and I had agreed to match our times in rough parody. The Olympic competition was nothing to us, so we both agreed that we wouldn't overdo it.
But now, I was feeling competitive. I blamed my Americanness. It drove me to always win, and now was no exception.
I, along with everyone else, crouched at the starting line, getting ready to burst forward. Just before the starting signal sounded, I decided.
When the signal rang, I waited, while everyone else ran. For one second, I stayed crouched, prepared to run, but not taking a step forward. In a 3 second race, one whole second felt like an hour as I watched the others leave me in the dust.
Then, after that one whole second, I started. I burst forward like a beam of light, zooming past the others. Each step propelled me forward by a dozen meters. I felt my body slightly heat up as I continued accelerating. Then just like that, it was over.
Looking up at the scoreboard, I saw my time: 4.04 seconds.
Turning back, I saw black streaks across the track, as smoke wafted above them. I didn't need to look at my shoes to know they were shot.
Innocently smiling, I waltzed over to Artemis. Expecting her to be angry with me, I was surprised to find the opposite.
"Congrats Apollo!" she said with a smile a little too large. "I guess I'll just have to show you my ultimate power in next event!" I swear I heard her teeth grind as she spoke.
Oh, it's on.
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[3rd POV]
The rest of the Olympics turned into a big competition between Apollo and Artemis.
Apollo finished the 200m dash with a frontal flip. Artemis finished it with a double frontal flip.
Artemis threw her javelin over the stands and into the crowd, nailing an apple someone was about to eat. Apollo threw his javelin out of the stadium. It broke 2 windows, 3 walls, and landed in the center of a bar's dart board.
For the Individual Equestrian event, Apollo stood on the horses bare back, and completed the course in record time. Artemis did the same while doing a handstand.
In weightlifting, Artemis lifted 500kg with one hand, before the metal bar bent and snapped in half. Apollo also lifted the maximum limit, but as the bar was at its limit, he demanded more bars, lifting 480kg in each hand.
Event after event, each tried to outdo the other. After a certain point, viewers started noticing and arguments formed on who was more impressive.
"Artemis is definitely better. She swam the 800m freestyle in half a minute – and she didn't even come up for air!"
"Nah, Apollo takes the cake! He threw his opponent at the judges during the judo finals! That table didn't stand a chance!"
All throughout the stands and the YouTube comments section, people argued who was the better athlete. But they quickly realized they would soon have their answer.
The marathon. One of the only events where both men and women participate in the same race. Running 42.195km, just like an ancient Greek was said to have done to warn his countrymen of the Persian invasion.
While there were other co-ed competitions, they were mixed doubles events (tennis, badminton, etc.), Apollo and Artemis, being on the same side, easily dominated their opponents, taking the opportunity to show off as they did.
As the marathon neared, tens of millions tuned in live for the event. Normally, barely anyone would, considering it usually took over 8 hours to run. However, everyone knew that there was no way Apollo or Artemis would take 8 whole hours.
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When the marathon did finally start, no one was surprised. Two streaks of red and gold zoomed past everyone else and took the lead, leaving everyone else in their dust.
By minute 22, they were only a couple of kilometers away from the finish line. At that rate, the race would finish in less than a minute, considering the cheetah-like speeds they ran at.
It was at that point when Apollo glanced at Artemis, only to find her looking back at him.
Both stopped simultaneously, creating immense amounts of friction to stop inches away from the finish line. They inadvertently started small fires on the track (which were soon put out by firefighters who were put on standby whenever Apollo or Artemis competed).
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[Main POV]
"Go ahead, cross the finish line," Artemis whispered.
"No," I whispered back. "You should win this one."
"No, Apollo," she declined. "You're the homegrown American hero. You should be the one to win."
"You should win this one," I repeated. "I feel really bad about how I used underhanded tactics to win the Chess Championships from you. So just do me a solid and take the W."
"Apollo!" she rebuked, "I don't care about that, and I hate it when you look down on me like that! Don't just give me the win because you feel bad for me!" She looked down and whispered, "How are you supposed to love me, if you don't even respect me enough to seriously compete against me…"
"Artemis," I calmly interrupted. "You want to know something. The day after we met in Moscow, after our first draw, I freaked out. You've been keeping up with me throughout this Olympics, and let's face it: you're the only being in this world that can even challenge me. I seriously considered eliminating you when we first met."
She turned white as a sheet at that last comment. "But I decided not to," I assured her. "And I never will. Because I love you Artemis, and nothing is going to change that." With that, I gave her a kiss which was graciously accepted.
Five minutes later (don't ask what we did for five minutes, that's private), we held hands, and walked across the finish line, becoming co-gold-medalists of the Marathon.
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[3rd POV]
In the end Apollo and Artemis won 46 gold medals each. They would have won more if not for the scheduling overlap between events.
This resulted in America walking away with well over 130 gold medals, well over half of the 237 events. American patriotism rose to an all-time high.
If anyone didn't know Apollo and Artemis then, they did from this event. All across America, social media buzzed with excitement, children were awed by their performances, and bars of people toasted to their names.
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AN: Enjoy these peaceful times. You will miss them.
Send me Power Stones, and maybe I'll be able to win a marathon.