Chapter 1: Abu Dhabi
Chapter 2: Yokohama
Chapter 3: Cagliari
Two men skip stones along the shore. One turns
to the other and says, “the best throw earns
the gold”. With a small nod, the friend assents
and waits as the first man, his stare intense,
gazes over the sea. He casts his stone
and as it skims over depths not yet known
he yelps with glee. “Beat that, my man,” he crows.
The second man ignores his friend. He knows
what he will do. With a slow draw, he cocks
his arm then suddenly turns and hurls rocks
at his friend’s crotch. His aim is true and strikes
the first man plumb. A howl follows, the likes
of which he had not heard before, as his
friend writhes on the sandy floor. “The game is
over,” the second man says, “we both know
who won this day.” A win from just one throw.
Upon the Sardinian beach two men
also stand together. Alex, Hayden
and more await the gun but all know who
to watch. With a win apiece from the two
battles thus far, Alex and Hayden are
in command of all attention. How far
can they skip their stones today? The horn blares,
starting the game, but Alex falls. He swears
as he gathers himself and dives into
the waves, striving to save face and pursue
Hayden. For the first time all four would-be
kings are in the fray at once. In the sea,
again, Kristian loses ground and he
is soon out-manoeuvred. The slight degree
of hope he had is lost as Leo scraps
for the lead. Alex, though, is back. Perhaps
it will be his day yet. With his comeback
complete he emerges beside Hayden
as Leo charges after his maiden
win of this new campaign. Upon the bike
the three take on the task at hand alike.
No nonsense, all business, they control all
those around them and extinguish the small
glimmer of hope Kristian still possessed.
Next comes the final stage, the final test
of Alex, Hayden and also Leo.
To what dark depths will those three hopefuls go
to out-fight, out-wit, out-last the others?
As all fall away, there are no brothers,
no friends, no allies to share in this fight.
Leo composes himself but despite
his valiant effort, he will take third.
Meanwhile the race for gold ahead has stirred
into new life as first Alex and then
Hayden take turns to attack. Yet again
Alex goes but Hayden has his measure.
Such is the pain they each inflict, pleasure
or some strange joy must drive them to withstand
this suffering. And yet neither can land
the final blow. Both still seek that perfect
skimming stone; out of a mutual respect
neither can quite resort to the low blow.
As the finish line draws near both men know
the show they have performed must end. Someone
must win. And then, at the last, after one
skip too many, Hayden’s stone finally
sinks. The stone thrown by Alex went only
the smallest bit farther, it bounced just once
more, but that was enough. Still Hayden hunts
his rival, even as he admits it
is too late. He has no option to quit,
that simply is not in his nature, but
the cheers of Alex tell all and must cut
at Hayden. He can be proud but he does
not race for that; glory is the true buzz
he craves. Both men threw everything at one
another and both still stand. When the sun
descends afterwards, and the night takes hold,
both will seek new tricks to win the next gold.
—
(The full race report is available here.)
