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

Chapter 49: The so-called 'facing reality' & 'easygoing' Su Bai

The situation for the 400m event was different. While China had invested in the 400m event, its overall technical difficulty made it challenging to train. While they knew the basic principles of training, applying them effectively and developing at least an Asian-class 400m athlete posed a challenge.

Over time, the Athletics Administration Center defaulted to the idea that the 400m event was a tough nut to crack. The decision was made to first focus on the 100m and 200m events and then continue to study and apply the mature training experience to the 400m event.

As a result, there was little pressure from the upper echelons, and athletes also subconsciously believed that the 400m technical level was inferior to that of other countries. Under this environment, even though domestic 400m athletes might not admit it openly, deep down, they had accepted their relative "weakness." If this topic were mentioned, they might react defensively.

And what about the domestic track and field fans?

Already a niche following, true track and field enthusiasts were well aware of the rigorous training and talent required for this sport. They were adept at researching both domestic and international sports news and scientific findings. Given this, while they might feel pained by the disparity in results, they remained tolerant toward the athletes.

With no pressure from professional management and no pressure from fans, combined with the athletes' self-awareness and tendency to evade reality, a complex environment arose, contributing to the somewhat awkward state of the domestic 400m event. Everyone believed that athletes were working hard, and their progress was limited only by talent and coaching plans. However, in actual competitions, people often saw athletes seemingly coasting and making excuses for their lackluster performance, blaming their lack of competitiveness on fatigue.

Since Su Bai took over Qiu Wen's 400m project training, he had been through several competitions and watched many videos of domestic 400m events. This gradually solidified his understanding of the situation.

For the time being, Qiu Wen hadn't been affected by this environment. However, Zhang Wei and Hu Li had been victims of this environment in the past.

Before coming to the national team, Su Bai had also briefly looked into Zhang Ziyi and Guo Dun's profiles, as well as Li Junhao from the B City team, who was squeezed out of this selection race by Hu Li and Zhang Wei. From these athletes, Su Bai had more or less perceived the sense of complacency they developed due to the abnormal domestic 400m environment.

Not to mention the case of Li Junhao from the B City team. Despite being only 23 years old, he had run 46.89 seconds in the 2016 outdoor season. He was an early achiever. However, in this year's outdoor season, he hadn't managed to break 47.50 seconds in any of his races. While his performance was hovering around the bottom of the rankings to enter the Grand Prix final, this year's Grand Prix suddenly saw the emergence of Qiu Wen, Hu Li, and Zhang Wei. Under their impact, Li Junhao's qualification for the final was overtaken.

Many people discussed this matter online, and some believed that the B City team and the S Province Athletics Team had a falling out this time.

However, some track and field enthusiasts realized that this was purely because Li Junhao himself had achieved nothing in the annual Grand Prix races, resulting in this outcome.

"And so, why did Li Junhao achieve nothing?"

After Su Bai had finished explaining the series of events, he straightforwardly asked Pei Jin'an this question. After Su Bai posed this question, Pei Jin'an didn't answer immediately. He leaned back in his chair and let out a long sigh.

"...You're right."

Pei Jin'an didn't answer Su Bai's question but agreed with his viewpoint.

From a coaching perspective, they had always felt that the domestic 400m training capacity was lacking. Although they were strict in training, the athletes received a lot of care and support in their daily lives and psychological health.