Have you ever dreamed of competing in the Olympics, but you just couldn't make the cut? Well worry not; with our Olympic Pose Contest -- running from Monday, August 11th, 2008 through Monday, August 25th, 2008 -- you can show off your competitive prowess while also entering to win one of 20 Worldwide Invitational Goodie Bag cards! These are the very cards given out in Paris, France at this year's Blizzard Worldwide Invitational, where Diablo III was announced!

Not only will each of the lucky 20 winners receive entry into the Wrath of the Lich King Beta Test, but they'll also get their very own mini Tyrael from the Diablo franchise thanks to Tyrael's Hilt! Both of these fantastic prizes come on the coveted WWI '08 card, and entering to win one is easy -- read on for the rules!

UPDATE: As we've receieved a few questions regarding this, we'd like to mention that Wrath of the Lich King areas do not count for this contest.

How To Enter

• The first thing you'll want to do is register here on Curse.com if you haven't, so you're ready to go through the rest of the submission process. It's free, easy, and has a number of advantages beyond this contest. To learn more about Curse.com and the entire Curse Network, head over to the Curse Network page.
• Next up you'll need to be in the competitive spirit. To do this, login to World of Warcraft and participate in the Spirit of Competition event and obtain a competitor's tabard. To do this, simply join a battleground and stay for the entire duration. Once the battleground has ended and you've received your Marks of Honor, you should be eligible for the tabard and have it sent to you via in-game mail.
• Now that you have your tabard, you'll need to show it off. We want to see just how proud you are, so find the coolest place you can either on Azeroth or Outland (Northrend / Wrath of the Lich King Areas excluded) where you can take a screenshot. Once you've found your perfect location, be sure to disable your UI; we wouldn't want it messing up the screenshot! You can do this by pressing Alt + Z (default keybinding to disable the UI).
• After getting rid of the UI clutter, the only thing left to do is show off. We want you to do this by emoting with the /flex slash command. Capture that perfect /flex pose in your screenshot and you're set!
• Upload the Screenshot here on Curse in the special Screenshots / Olympic Pose Contest category; it's important to make sure you upload it here as all other categories will not be counted in the contest!
• Once all that is done, it's time to wait it out and cross your fingers.

Rules

• Only one entry per user. Multiple entries may disqualify all entries from that account and any future contests on Curse.com.
  • If you decide at a later date you've found a better location to screenshot, delete your other entry prior to uploading the new entry. Entries are allowed until Monday, August 25th, 2008.
• Any UI elements present in screenshot will automatically disqualify that specific screenshot. The User Interface must be hidden by using the Alt + Z keybinding.
• The screenshot must clearly display the Competitor's Tabard handed out by participating in the Spirit of Competition event running in World of Warcraft.
• /flex is the only valid emote for entry into the contest, and must be clearly visible in the screenshot.
• Images must be submitted in .jpg format.
• A valid email address must be used to create your Curse.com account. Winners will be contacted via this email address.
• Entries must be submitted on or before 11:59 P.M. PST (Pacific Standard Time) Monday, August 25th, 2008 to qualify.
• Curse, Inc. employees and network affiliates are not eligible for entry into the contest.

Tips

Capturing that perfect flex can be challenging -- timing is of the essence -- so here are a few quick tips!

• Before hiding your UI, create a /flex macro and bind this to an easily accessible key.
• Once you've hidden your UI, do a few test flexes to make sure the scenery behind your character looks good, and when to best time your screenshot.
• When you're ready to take your screenshot, hit your /flex macro and wait 1-2 seconds; this will allow the animation to reach its peak where you'll want to capture the screenshot.
• Hit your screenshot key (default Print Screen) and you're done! Now head to your World of Warcraft\Screenshots\ folder and locate the Olympic Pose screenshot and convert it to .jpg if needed.
• Make sure no one is running behind you as you take your screenshot; this is your 15 minutes of fame!

As mentioned above, this contest will be running from Monday, August 11th, 2008 through Monday, August 25th, 2008 so get your entries in fast! Good luck to all entrants; we look forward to seeing your best pose!