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IIIrd winter games logo After a three year break, the third winter Vexgames were held in Santa Maria, in the Mumasia province of Morania. Twenty-three nations competed in fourteen sports to win 44 gold medals in 14 sports over 17 days between February 12 and 27, 305ap.

Largest crowds to a games What a difference six years made! By all accounts, these were the biggest winter games yet held, and amongst the most professionally executed of the Vexgames, with, again, the media warmly regarded as an integral component of the games, and erasing any remaining bad memories of 299ap for Moranians.

The games were declared a "landmark achievement" by IVC chairman Leon Kihond, with the first televised coverage of the opening ceremony and events and the first extensive use of internet webcasting of the games as they happened. It was reported that over one thousand members of the press were present, twenty-two television crews and the games televised into thirty nations.

Medals

Perhaps expectedly, cool-climate or mountainous nations dominated the medals, with Burovian state Ras Lanarch winning the games with five of the forty-four gold medals, Cruisana and Cimera close behind. Cimera also won the highest number of medals, twelve, with Deucoland and mountainous Westermarc (now Chungxipang) in equal-second place with ten medals each.

Rk T	Rk G	Nation	G	S	B	Tot.
4 5 1 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 5	1 2 3 3 3 3 7 7 7 7 7 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 11 21 21	Ras Lanarch Cruisiana Cimera Westermarc Utania Deucoland Kalesthesia Wesmerite Westria Kasvria & Sav. Whitlam Solanchatka Polarian Islands Baben Bay Sanx Somery Morania Lyson Empire Aethelnia IWK Porto Capital Djeriga Niokolo Koba	5 4 3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0	2 1 6 3 3 0 0 0 2 2 2 1 6 5 3 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 1	2 2 3 4 0 7 4 2 3 2 1 4 0 0 3 0 5 3 1 1 0 0 0	9 7 12 10 6 10 7 5 7 6 5 7 7 6 7 3 7 5 2 2 1 1 1

The first gold medal of the games was presented to Cruisana's Sarah Lopez for the Women's Short Track (1,000m) Speed Skating. Lopez was immediately hailed as the darling of the games, having grown up in poverty in Cruishavn. Cruisana's team followed that up with a second gold medal for Half-Pipe snowboarder Elizabeth Eichen who scored perfect points for a double ollie. Cruisana won a third gold medal the very next day when William Johnson won the Men's Short Track (1,000m) Speed Skating. However, the Cruisanans' dominance ended when Utanian unknown, Justin Keffs, won the Men's Half-Pipe over two well-known snowboarding veterans.

Aethelnia's Josephine Evreux stunned spectators on Day 4 (Tuesday 15th) with an astounding lead and convincing victory in the Women's 10km cross-country ski event. Kalesthesia's Feta Gerlin, who was not expected to participate in the games owing to, first, pregnancy, then a tragic miscarriage, won hearts as she won gold. Another surprising but popular outcome was Niokolo Koba's Ixl was a crowd favourite Niokolo Koba's unexpected silver medal in the Men's Short Track (3,000m) speed skating for Petar Ixl. As Ixl gained traction in the heats, he became a crowd favourite. Likewise, 16-year old Muire Brown attracted large crowds as the Cimeran high school student won her country's first gold medal in the Woman's Figure Skating.

Cimeran 16-year old Muire Brown was expected to finish 8th

Controversy

The "landmark" games were not, however, without controversy. On day 2 (Feb 13), figure skaters Alberto Mueller (Deucoland) and 28-year old Orser Maggi (Independant Westrian Kukuria) demonstrated they would be formidable rivals for the figure skating gold medal, though Mueller ended the day ahead having two perfect 6.0 scores for the short program. The two met again on day 14 (Feb 25), and Maggi ended the long program with the gold medal.

However, within hours, the IVC announced Maggi was being stripped of his gold medal, disqualified, for using a banned substance, a performance enhancing drug. While asked to leave the city, Maggi insisted on remaining within city limits to fight his disqualification. His appeal, that he did not knowing use the substance, that team management allegedly doped him, failed, and, the following day, amid substantial media scrutiny, he left Morania.

While the saga left a sour taste for many, the IVC remained, and remains, resolute in its determination to eradicate any practise of using P.E.D.s, and hopes that Maggi was the first and last disqualification the IVC will ever hand-out.

The bidding process

The 305 winter Vexgames attracted only one formal bid, that of the Moranian city of Santa Maria. It was the second bid the city was making, and the third time a Moranian city was bidding to host the games. The Estontetsan city of Duceta formed a bid campaign, but did not formally announce its canditature.

In late November 304ap, the IVC announced that Morania had won the right to host the games. Less than three months later, the opening ceremony commenced in Santa Maria.