After Leaving the Sports Circle, I Became a Cooking God (Completed BL)

Chapter 44: Preliminary Results & Public Discourse

On the sports channel's online broadcast, Shao Min Yi began reporting the results of the preliminary heat: "Men's 400 meters, first heat. First place: Zhang Zi Yi (B city track and field team), 46.39 seconds (wind speed +0.2m/s). Second place: Qiu Wen (S province track and field team), 46.67 seconds (wind speed +0.2m/s), a personal best. Third place: Lin Chuan (Z province track and field team), 46.96 seconds (wind speed +0.2m/s). Fourth place: Hu Li (S province track and field team), 47.37 seconds..."

With each announcement of the results, the barrage on the screen was filled with a series of "666" comments. This was because the competition and results among the athletes in the first heat of the 400 meters were extraordinary, almost rivaling what one might expect from a final.

Among them, the most impressive improvement was undoubtedly seen in Qiu Wen's performance. In the previous meet on June 24th, Qiu Wen's time was 47.19 seconds, but today he had managed to lower it to 46.67 seconds!

Since switching to the 400 meters, Qiu Wen had participated in four official competitions: the H city station meet on May 21st, the T city station meet on June 9th, the Z city station meet on June 24th, and the current grand final of this tournament.

In those four races, Qiu Wen's times had skyrocketed. From his debut final time of 47.47 seconds, he had now reached 46.67 seconds—an improvement of a full 0.8 seconds. This improvement was also impressive when compared to Cui Luo Heng's performance in the 110 meters hurdles heats earlier today.

Upon seeing the displayed results on the electronic board, Zhang Zi Yi and Lin Chuan exchanged a wry smile. The progress Qiu Wen had made was what had made their races challenging today. It wasn't that they weren't trying hard; it was just that Qiu Wen's rapid improvement left them unable to keep up.

Another person with shining eyes was Hu Li, who had been exhausted just moments ago.

47.37 seconds... compared to his time of 47.51 seconds from June 24th, Hu Li had improved by a significant 0.14 seconds today! For Hu Li, this progress exceeded his expectations by far.

He was acutely aware that he wasn't a naturally gifted athlete. Under Su Bai's guidance and training, he had found certain strengths within himself. However, he was also aware of his clear shortcomings.

He had originally thought that because he had started the race too aggressively, his pacing in the later stages might be imbalanced. But the final result had shown him that the determined effort he had put into the final sprint was meaningful.

Seeing the result, Qiu Wen was delighted. Of course, he was also very happy for his teammate Hu Li. After looking at the results with satisfaction, he turned to Hu Li and said, "Let's go! Let's find Xiao Bai and curry favor with him. We'll ask him to cook us something delicious tonight!"

After Qiu Wen and the others left the field, the venue was prepared for the second heat of the preliminaries. Among the participants in the second heat, Guo Dun held the highest domestic ranking. While some of the other athletes had personal bests in the 46-second range, their overall performances were not very consistent.

Zhang Wei's current personal best was 47.47 seconds, placing him in a similar mid-tier position among these athletes. However, he, like Hu Li, had experienced some improvements during this training period.

In the end, after the second heat of the preliminaries, Zhang Wei secured his spot in the final with a third-place finish in his group.

By this point, all the athletes trained by Su Bai had successfully entered the final stage of this selection meet.