Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 09/03/2023
Seeing that Qiu Wen and the others were talking to Zhang Ziyi and Guo Dun, Hu Shaowen couldn't help but feel uneasy. He pulled Su Bai over to where they were.
Until they got closer, Hu Shaowen could vaguely hear what Zhang Ziyi was saying to Qiu Wen.
"Xiao Qiu, our B City Athletics Team is very sincere, and we're just inviting Coach Su to exchange and learn about the coaching and training experience for the 400-meter event..."
Qiu Wen looked a bit puzzled, "No, Zhang Ge, why are you telling me this? Coaching exchanges and learning about these things should be something that your team contacts our athletics team directly for, right?"
Zhang Ziyi understood what S Province Athletics Team was implying from this response — that the information was being withheld from the leadership, and neither Su Bai nor his athletes knew about it.
Thinking this, Zhang Ziyi sighed deeply, "Of course, we have contacted S Province Athletics Team about this as well, but their reply was that Coach Su is busy and can't make it, and they can't decide on this matter."
Qiu Wen nodded in agreement, "That makes sense. Xiao Bai has been really busy lately. Besides our 400-meter project, he's also overseeing Ah Heng's hurdles training. On top of that, he has to cook in the cafeteria every day. He's truly exhausted."
Seeing Qiu Wen's righteous expression, Zhang Ziyi felt awkward, "Of course, we're not looking to invite Coach Su for immediate exchange now. We're proposing a winter training session. From what we know, many athletics teams are interested in inviting Coach Su for exchange. So, we wanted to make an early reservation for the winter training period, hoping that Coach Su could come and take a look. The treatment will definitely be top-notch. However, S Province Athletics Team hasn't agreed at all..."
Regarding the 400-meter event, the B City Athletics Team was seriously researching it, and S Province Athletics Team's recent performance hadn't gone unnoticed by them.
Online discussions speculated that there was tension between the B City Athletics Team and the S Province Athletics Team, but that wasn't entirely accurate. On the field, in the face of strong opponents, tensions were expected.
As for off the field... they wanted to invite Su Bai to their side for a proper exchange. Who could have expected that their sincere invitation would be met with the response, "We can't make decisions on this matter either"?
From their point of view, how could S Province Athletics Team not have the authority to decide?
Seeing Hu Shaowen bringing Su Bai closer, they overheard this conversation, and Hu Shaowen felt relieved that this wasn't some malicious situation he was worrying about.
Su Bai thought for a moment and called out Qiu Wen's name in the direction of their conversation.
"Hey!" Hearing the voice, Qiu Wen turned his head and immediately greeted Su Bai with a smile, "Xiao Bai, what's up?"
Hearing Qiu Wen call him "Xiao Bai," Zhang Ziyi and Guo Dun both showed delight—it was finally the real deal!
Following Qiu Wen's call, they finally laid eyes on the renowned 400-meter coach of the S Province Athletics Team, Su Bai.
Before coming to find him today, they had inquired about Su Bai's appearance. However, it was only after seeing him in person that they truly understood the concept of being "young."
Presently, Su Bai was wearing a simple white sports jacket, his coach's pass hanging around his neck. His hair was slightly longer than the average athlete's, not cropped as short as most of them were.
Perhaps because he hadn't been training for a while, Su Bai's skin appeared particularly fair. At a glance, it was hard to believe that just a few months ago, he was a professional athlete.
The only thing that looked like that of a coach, apart from his composed and calm demeanor, was his calm face. With just a single glance, Zhang Ziyi couldn't help but stand up straight.
After exchanging greetings with Zhang Ziyi, Su Bai asked about Qiu Wen's adaptation status. Qiu Wen immediately patted his chest, indicating that everything was fine.
After a few words, Su Bai sent Qiu Wen away and remained with Zhang Ziyi and Guo Dun.
"Hello, Coach Su," Zhang Ziyi greeted Su Bai earnestly. "Regarding the invitation from our B City Team, you heard it just now. Our team is genuinely sincere about this matter. Some of our team members, including myself, are facing training bottlenecks. We really hope Coach Su can seriously consider our invitation."
Su Bai nodded and spoke frankly, "Our athletics team isn't just going through the motions either. After this competition, my work situation might undergo some changes, so they really can't promise you."
Zhang Ziyi felt a bit disappointed by Su Bai's response for a moment, but he suddenly caught onto the keyword, "after this competition." This keyword instantly brightened his mood, as he speculated about something. He didn't pursue further questions, expressing understanding instead. After bidding farewell to Su Bai, he left with Guo Dun.
On the other hand, Hu Shaowen, who was mostly in charge of another section of the team and not directly involved with the sprint group, heard about Su Bai's possible job transfer for the first time today. He looked surprised but didn't ask more since this news hadn't spread through the team yet. He chose to remain silent and instead accompanied Su Bai to observe some of the athletes undergoing adaptability training on the field.
July 16 arrived after the adaptability training on July 15.
This championship competition and selection for the Jakarta Asian Games could be considered the most anticipated track and field event of the year so far. It not only selected participants for the Asian Games but also caught the attention of the Athletics Center, which was looking to identify talented and promising athletes for the 2019 Athletics World Championships and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Due to the high importance and attention this event received, the sports channel set up live streaming on their website for the competition. They also assigned two track and field experts as commentators.
Forum members of the Athletics Kingdom were highly anticipating the event. After all, this competition was currently the highest-level domestic event of the year.
Su Bai had two events to focus on today: the heats for the 400 meters in Group 1 and Group 2, as well as the heats for the 110 meters hurdles in Group 1.
Unlike the previous Grand Prix competitions, the selection competition had limited participants, so they didn't need to run multiple heats for an event. For sprinting and hurdling events, they were generally split into two preliminary groups. After the preliminaries, the top 4 athletes from each group advanced to the finals the following day.
At around 3:00 PM, the heats for the 110 meters hurdles were about to start, and Cui Luoheng needed to warm up and prepare. Qiu Wen and others patted his shoulder, cheering him on. When it was Su Bai's turn, he nodded at Cui Luoheng.
"How are you feeling? Are you prepared?" Su Bai asked with a smile.
Cui Luoheng looked at Su Bai, and after a moment's contemplation, he nodded and then shook his head slightly.
Seeing his reaction, Su Bai was a bit puzzled. What did this nod and shake mean?
Cui Luoheng pursed his lips, his usually defiant expression now looking somewhat awkward. It was as if he had the demeanor of a big dog that had its head lowered in submission.
Observing Cui Luoheng, Su Bai felt a bit concerned and strange. During the morning's assessment of Cui Luoheng and the others' competitive readiness, their scores were quite high, and Cui Luoheng's readiness was particularly impressive. Why was he feeling down now?
"Are you nervous?" Su Bai asked, slightly probing.
Cui Luoheng blinked and then barely perceptibly nodded.
Seeing his nod, Su Bai didn't suspect anything else. After all, Cui Luoheng had indeed been struggling in outdoor competitions this year. Even with training adjustments, it was normal to feel nervous when returning to outdoor competitions.
So, Su Bai patted Cui Luoheng's shoulder and seriously said, "Don't be nervous. Just like I told you before, focus your mind and give it your all."
"Rest assured, your skills are definitely going to surprise everyone."
As Su Bai spoke to Cui Luoheng, he gazed into Su Bai's eyes, remembering the complete trust and encouragement Su Bai had placed in his abilities. Then he nodded in response.
Beside them, Qiu Wen, Wang Shen, and others were still standing there. Qiu Wen squinted his eyes, watching Su Bai comfort Cui Luoheng. He furrowed his brows and said, "Why do I feel something's off?"
Wang Shen raised an eyebrow upon hearing Qiu Wen's words. "Oh? What's off?"
Qiu Wen's expression grew serious. "Ah Heng isn't right. Did he take to heart what I said about seeking favor? Why is he so cool when we encourage him, but he's so obedient when it's Xiao Bai who encourages him? Is he really trying to compete for Xiao Bai's favor? Damn, does he want to fully pull Xiao Bai to the 110 meters hurdles and ignore us in the 400 meters?"
Wang Shen, who had initially smiled with deep meaning, froze upon hearing Qiu Wen's words and sighed deeply before turning to Qiu Wen.
"... With your mindset, what are you even trying to compete for?"
Qiu Wen: ??? Felt a bit insulted.
In the reserved area for athletes in the audience section, members of the S Province Athletics Team chatted and watched the progress of the competition on the field. Around 3:40 PM, the heats for the 110 meters hurdles were finally about to begin.
As a participant in Group 1 of the preliminaries, Cui Luoheng had already taken the field with the other athletes.
In the commentary booth of the sports channel's live stream, commentators Shao Minyi and Li Sen were sitting in front of the microphones, providing a brief introduction to the situation on the field.
"The athletes currently on the track are participants from the first group of the 110 meters hurdles preliminaries. These athletes are the top 16 athletes from this year's Grand Prix standings, representing the highest level of our country's 110 meters hurdles event."
"Yes," Shao Minyi nodded and continued, "Those who have been following athletics for a long time know that the peak of the 110 meters hurdles event was about 10 to 15 years ago. After the year 2000, a batch of top-notch 110 meters hurdles athletes emerged on the world stage. Our nation's 110 meters hurdler also appeared during the same period and reached the world-class level."
"However, in the decade following that peak, the performance and level of the 110 meters hurdles worldwide declined. For our country, it wasn't until the appearance of the new generation's leader in the 110 meters hurdles, Lu Mengfan, in recent years that this decline was halted."
"It's a pity that Lu hasn't been able to return for this championship competition due to conflicts between national team events and the timing of this competition. However, according to the selection rules for the Jakarta Asian Games, his international results will be compared to the final results of this selection competition to determine the final athlete spots."
Shao Minyi and Li Sen had now provided a general overview of the 110 meters hurdles competition. They then went on to introduce the names, teams, and personal bests of all the athletes on the field, along with a brief speculation on their competitiveness in this competition.
On the Athletics Kingdom forum, these users were finally able to watch an official media broadcast. Although it was just an online stream, it was still better than the live streams by forum members before, right?
After hearing Shao Minyi and Li Sen's commentary, discussions erupted on the forum.
Topic: [The level of these preliminary athletes is seriously lacking. For the 110 meters hurdles, it seems like only Lu Mengfan can carry it...]
Topic Content: [What a shame. Although Lu's current performance is good, there's still a huge gap compared to the hurdling king from back then, in terms of their age.]
3 : [You can't put it that way. Lu is still good. His time this season is 13.46 seconds, just on the brink of breaking the 13.40 barrier. He's only 24 this year, and his explosive period is right around the corner. I see him breaking the 13.05 barrier in his career best this year.]
6: [Lu still has a lot of room to grow, but besides Lu, there aren't many reliable newcomers in the 110 meters hurdles in the country. Take Cui Luoheng from the first group of preliminaries now, for example. He had good times in the youth group, but after moving to the adult group, his season-best this year is only 14.53 seconds. Previously, the S Province Athletics Team claimed that Cui Luoheng's personal best during winter training was consistently under 14.30 seconds. Yet, during two outdoor competitions, he didn't show any signs of being able to run under 14.30 seconds.]
9: [Don't say that. I know a few guys from the S Province Athletics Team, and I've heard that Cui Luoheng's training results were indeed good. It seems he's still not accustomed to the pace of adult group competitions? Besides, he's only 20 years old this year. 14.53 seconds is still decent...]
10: [That's true, but the gap from our previous expectations is quite significant...]
When Cui Luoheng was mentioned on the forum, people sounded a bit frustrated, feeling that his performance this season hadn't lived up to the expectations placed on him. Although there were rumors that Cui Luoheng's performance had greatly improved after adjustments, there wasn't enough evidence and it sounded too exaggerated, so most forum users dismissed it.
In the live stream chat room, Li Sen and Shao Minyi briefly mentioned Cui Luoheng, mainly emphasizing that he was the youngest athlete on the field and his first time entering the adult group for a championship competition was commendable.
On the track, Cui Luoheng was well aware of how the spectators and commentators might describe him. He stood on the starting line, shook his head to clear his mind of these thoughts, closed his eyes, and began adjusting his breathing according to Su Bai's guidance. He focused his attention entirely on the track before him.
He recalled Su Bai's words just before he stepped onto the field.
【Don't mind your surroundings. The only thing you need to focus on is what's in front of you, and the only person you need to surpass is your past self.】
【You don't need to be nervous. After today's competition, when you meet these athletes on the field again in future events, the ones who will be nervous will be them.】
【Go for it, I'm here watching you.】
In Cui Luoheng's mind, as Su Bai's words settled, finally, his ears and vision were filled only with the track before him and the ten hurdles in front of him—now, the competition was about to begin.
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