Challenge 2025 Fanfiction Summer Olympics

It's summer again, which means the Fanfic Olympics is back and better than ever complete with the exciting unveiling of some new events!



This Fanfiction Summer Olympics will be very similar in schedule and structure to the ones I hosted in 2020, 2021, 2023, and 2024 respectively, which inspired some truly marvelous stories on a variety of characters across the Star Wars and non-Star Wars fandoms.

The main difference is an increase in the number of events participants can choose from to create stories that will count toward their triathlons, pentathlons, or decathlons. These new events are designed to keep the Fanfic Olympics feeling fresh and to give the competition more of a choose-your-own-adventure type of vibe. So feel free to mix and match between old and new prompts for your triathlons, pentathlons, and decathlons.

Additionally, there will also be the inclusion of the option to sign up to write a heptathlon (seven events) as well as the previous triathlon, pentathlon, and decathlon options. The "Olympics Remix Athletes" Category will also remain as an option for those who would like to complete triathlons, pentathlons, and decathlons from Olympics past.

A special shoutout and thank you to my wonderful fellow fanfic mods @Findswoman and @Mira_Jade for helping to come up with some of the marvelous new prompts and events that make this year's Fanfic Olympics more exciting than ever! @Chyntuck also deserves thanks and credit for helping to create some of this year's new events



This Fanfiction Summer Olympics is a competition where authors attempt to complete their choice of a triathlon (three writing events), a pentathlon (five writing events), a heptathlon (seven events) or a decathlon (ten events) for a character, couple, family, or friendship they have selected before the competition closes.

Nota bene: if you pick a certain character, couple, family, or friendship, that character or those characters should be the main focus of your stories, but you are certainly welcome to include other characters as well. For example, if you are writing Han/Leia for the Star Wars Pentathlon, Luke is welcome to show up as well in your story or stories. When picking a couple, you may also write about a non-canon couple if you'd like, and when writing stories, you may write in an AU if you'd like as well.

For the triathlon, pentathlon, heptathlon, and decathlon there will be Star Wars and non-Star Wars categories in which authors may enter. This means the available events are as follows: Star Wars Triathlon, non-Star Wars Triathlon, Star Wars Pentathlon, non-Star Wars Pentathlon, Star Wars Heptathlon, Non-Star Wars Heptathlon, Star Wars Decathlon, and non-Star Wars Decathlon.

To enter the competition, simply post in this thread with your intention to enroll in a particular event in the Star Wars or non-Star Wars category and list what character, couple, family or friendship you would like to use for each event. You may enter multiple events. For example, you could announce your intention to write about Luke Skywalker for the Star Wars Pentathlon and Lily/James in the Harry Potter fandom for the non-Star Wars Decathlon. You can also edit your post to add new events that you’d like to sign up for as the competition continues.

In your post, you can provide a link to your story thread or threads. You should keep all the events for a particular competition that you are entered in confined to one thread for easy reference and include the events in separate posts. For instance, if you are writing for the Luke Skywalker Pentathlon, all your writings for that event should be in one thread, but you should have another thread for your Lily/James submissions for the non-Star Wars Decathlon in another thread in the non-Star Wars category. Likewise, if you were to decide to write a Star Wars Triathlon for Han Solo, you would create yet another thread for that. You should also update your post with information on the different events that you have completed as you go along so that everyone can see and celebrate your progress.

Multiple people may choose to write about the same character, couple, family, or friendship for their category (for example, multiple people could write about Han/Leia for a Star Wars Pentathlon, or multiple people could write about Anakin Skywalker for a Star Wars Triathlon). The main point of having people choose the couple or character they wish to focus on is to provide an extra element of challenge to this competition.

At the end of the competition, anyone who has finished an event in a particular category will be considered a champion and a virtual gold medalist in that particular category. Anyone who completed multiple parts of an event but did not completely finish the event will receive a virtual silver medal in that category. Anyone completing one event in a particular category will receive a virtual bronze medal.

Important Dates:

The competition opens: June 1st, 2025

The competition closes: August 31st, 2025

Medal Ceremony: September 1st, 2025



Event Choices:

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Triathlon: Pick any three of the below listed events OR any two of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Pentathlon: Pick any five of the below listed events OR any four of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Heptathlon: Pick any seven of the below listed events OR any six of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

The Star Wars or Non Star Wars Decathlon: Pick any ten of the below listed events OR any nine of the below listed events if one of your selections is Marathon Swimming.

400 Word Cross Country: Exactly 400 words about your character, couple, family or friendship with any theme.

110 Word Hurdle: Exactly 110 word story. As an optional bonus challenge, don't mention the name or names of your character, family, friendship or couple aren’t mentioned.

Prime Time Coverage: Minimum 500 words of action, adventure, or excitement with your chosen character, friendship, family or couple as the star.

1500 Word Dash: An exactly1500 word story about your character, family, friendship or couple with any theme.

100 Word Sprint: A 100 word drabble about your character, family, friendship or couple using any theme.

AU Archery: A story of at least 100 words set in an alternate universe with your character, family, friendship, or couple.

Fantastical Fencing: A story of at least 100 words involving your character, family, friendship or couple in which something fantastical happens.

4x100 Relay: 4x100 word drabbles of exactly 100 words each on the four types of love (affection, intimacy, friendship, and charity) as experienced by your character, family, friendship or couple in one post.

200 Freestyle: An exactly 200 word story about your character, family, friendship or couple with a free choice of any theme.

Single Sentence Shot Put: A story told in a single sentence about your character, family, friendship or couple.

Water Polo Poetry: Water Polo Poetry has no word limit. The rules are that it must be a piece of poetry written about your character, couple, family, friendship, etc. The piece of poetry does not have to be in any set style, either. It can be a haiku, a limerick, a sonnet, or something written in free verse. As long as it is poetry, it counts. Remember poetry is a celebration of sound and imagery and sometimes but not always rhyme, so those are the kinds of things expected in Water Polo Poetry.

Rhythmic Gymnastics Drabbles: Write 5x100 word drabbles each exactly 100 words for the prompts Tempo, Control, Pulse, Arc, and Glimmer.

3x3 Basketball: Write 3x300 word stories. Use the prompts Dunk, Swish, and Assist for your triple drabbles. Each story should be exactly 300 words long.

Marathon Swimming: Write a story of at least 10k words to honor the epic test of endurance that is a 10km swim! Remember if you choose this event, it counts for two events, not just one. For an optional bonus challenge, draw inspiration from each of the following images:

Spoiler: Marathon Swimming Images

Equestrian Cross-Country: Jump the following hurdles in a story of 400 or more words. The story must feature the story element of clearing an obstacle, include the adjectives resilient, avid, and nimble. It must either include or take inspiration from the following quote: "It's all about the journey, not the outcome." - Carl Lewis, American track and field athlete and nine-time gold medalist

Tennis Match: Write a story of 100 or more words that is dialogue-only to create a true volley of words.

High Dive: Write a story of 500 or more words of dialogue-free introspection.

Judo: In Japanese the word "ju-do" means "the way of suppleness", referring to the story of the tree branch "bending" under the weight of the snow and not breaking. Write a story of 100 or more words where your character shows "the way of suppleness."

Rugby 7's: Write a story of 7x7 sentences. As an optional bonus challenge, use these seven quotes (in any order you want) as inspiration for each of your seven sections of seven sentences:

"Alone a youth runs fast, with an elder slow, but together they go far." —Luo proverb

"You can't measure success if you haven't failed." —Steffi Graf, German tennis player

"I won’t change my strategy. I’m here to win.” —Tigst Assefa, Ethiopian distance runner

"Repeating is harder than anything else." —Usain Bolt, Jamaican sprinter

"It is dangerous for an athlete to believe his own publicity, good or bad." —Bob Uecker, American baseball player and sports commentator

“When you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.” —Maria Sharapova, Russian tennis player

"If you see me collapse, pause my watch." —Anonymous T-shirt quote

Synchronized Swimming: Write a story between 230-500 words in length inspired by a piece of music of your choice. The piece of music may include vocals or be purely instrumental. Word count may include or exclude song lyrics at the author's discretion.

The Judges: Write a story of 100 to 1000 words from an outsider's POV on your character, couple, family, or friendship.

The Medalists: Write a story of 100+ words where your character, couple, family, or friendship achieves a victory – or, alternately, experiences a defeat.

Athlete Down: Write 100+ words of a hurt/comfort story (be it physical or emotional) with your character, couple, family, or friendship.

Hosting The World: Write a story of 500+ words where your character, couple, family, or friendship acts as a host.

Team Pursuit Cycling: Write 4 stories of 400 words featuring your character, couple, family, or friendship for the prompts instant, wind, intrepid, and surpass.

Paralympics: Write a 100+ word story prominently featuring a character with a disability.

The Five Rings: Write a 5+1 story in honor of the five Olympic rings and the unity and equality they invoke together as a whole. As a bonus challenge, include the colors blue, yellow, black, red, and green in your story.

The Torch Relay: Write a story of 300+ words that takes place in multiple locations and is told through a corresponding number of narrator point of views.

"Olympics Remix Athletes" Category:

As a way of honoring Olympians past and encouraging people to return to Olympic decathlons, pentathlons, and triathlons from previous years that may not have been completed yet, I have created a new "Olympics Remix Athletes" category where participants can write a story for any prompt from this year's Olympics for a decathlon, pentathlon, or triathlon from a previous Olympics.

To compete in this category, simply let me know what previous decathlons, pentathlons, and triathlons you will be working toward, and then when you have written a story with a prompt from this year's challenge for one of those decathlons, pentathlons, or triathlons, you can link to it in this thread, and I will add it to the index.

"Olympics Remix Athletes" who complete one such story will earn a bronze medal. Those who complete two such stories will earn a silver medal, while those who complete three or more such stories will be honored with a gold medal!



Competition Rules and FAQ:

1. All stories should comply with the fanfiction rules of this site, but I’m sure all you wonderful people knew that already.
2. All word counts for stories should be followed as exactly as possible in order to ensure that the competition remains challenging.

Q: Does a story have to be "new" and written specifically for the Summer Olympics to be used for the Summer Olympics?

A: In a nutshell, yes, I would like all the stories posted for the Summer Olympics to be new, but don't be too intimidated. Remember that if you sign up for a particular triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon, you can still become a bronze or silver medalist if you finish a story or two from that triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon, so any progress you do make toward finishing your triathlon, pentathlon, or decathlon will be celebrated and acknowledged!

Q: Can stories written for the Summer Olympics be combined with other challenges (e.g. 4x100 Relay also being written for the OTP Challenge)?

A: From my end, I'm fine with someone "doubling dipping" with a particular story by making it work for this event and other challenges. I would still like anything written for this challenge to be put in its specially made thread for easy finding, though. For example, if someone were writing an Anakin/Padme Decathlon and the 4x100 Relay was also used for the OTP Challenge, I'd like for the 4X100 Relay to be in the thread the author made for the Anakin/Padme Decathlon. Also, since I don't want to step on any toes or violate the rules of any other challenge, I'd say to double-check with whoever is running the other challenge you plan on "double dipping" with just to make sure that they are fine with it. I'll put the responsibility of double-checking that with each individual competitor, however, and if a story that "double-dips" is posted for this Summer Olympics, I'll assume that they did get such approval from the person running the challenge.

Q: For the 4x100 Relay, what are the definitions for affection and intimacy, and how do they differ? How intimate does intimacy have to be?

A:I'd define affection as that sort of warm, fuzzy feeling of fondness. Affection could be for a family member, a friend, or a pet.

I'd define intimacy as a deep feeling of closeness to someone; a sense that you know someone profoundly and that person knows you. It can be felt between people in a romantic relationship, but also between parents and children or between siblings or between friends. It doesn't necessarily have to be physical intimacy in my opinion.

I'll also say that you can be quite open-ended and flexible with the definitions. Ultimately it is about what intimacy or affection means to your character, couple, family, or friendship if that makes sense.

Q: Do signups close on June 1st when the competition begins?

A: Since this is such a long competition, I will leave signups open after June 1st, and allow signups until the closing date, though, obviously, the nearer you signup to the closing date, the less time you have to work on your events. This also holds true for people who might have signed up already but want to add another event. For instance, if someone signed up to write a Luke Pentathlon but wants to write a Han Triathlon as well, that person can signup after June 1st for the Han Triathlon. I know it can be hard to predict in June what your August schedule will look like so I think having signups that go beyond June 1st will help with that.

Q: Can we start planning before the competition officially opens?

A: Absolutely. Everyone is welcome to plan and outline before the official start of the competition. Consider it training and warmups for the Olympics!

Q: Do titles count toward word counts?

A: I don't generally include titles in calculating a word count, but you may as long as you are consistent throughout the competition.

Q: Can we start writing the actual stories before the official opening of the competition?

A: You may begin writing your stories, but please wait to post them until the competition opens officially with a post in this thread on June 1st.

Further Questions:

If you have any further questions about this Fanfiction Summer Olympics, please feel free to post in this thread or send me a PM, and I will do my best to address any questions you might have.

 

Opening Ceremony and Parade of Athletes (a.k.a. Index of the Competition):