Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 09/03/2023
After crossing the finish line in second place, Qiu Wen took a couple of steps to slow down, then turned back to look for Hu Li's position. He quickly approached Hu Li, who had just finished, and glanced at Li Gu, who seemed to have crossed the line around the same time.
After catching his breath, Hu Li smiled at Qiu Wen, who seemed to want to ask a question but hesitated. "Fourth," Hu Li said.
Upon hearing these two words, Qiu Wen's eyes brightened. He gave a thumbs-up to Hu Li and exclaimed, "Hey, Hu Bro is amazing!"
Seeing Qiu Wen's exaggerated praise, Hu Li, still catching his breath, laughed and placed a hand on Qiu Wen's shoulder. He joined in the praise, saying, "Not at all, it's still our little Qiu who's amazing..."
As Qiu Wen and Hu Li exchanged their playful compliments, not far away, Zhang Zi Yi had just stopped and was trying to catch his breath. With his hands on his hips, he was regaining his composure.
Next to him, Lin Chuan walked over to Zhang Zi Yi and asked, "How was it?"
Though only three words, Zhang Zi Yi understood the meaning behind Lin Chuan's question. He gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "The pressure is even greater than last time."
Zhang Zi Yi was referring to the feeling of competing with Qiu Wen on the track. The last time they had faced each other was during Qiu Wen's debut in the 400 meters. Qiu Wen had left a strong impression on Zhang Zi Yi, as Lin Chuan had said, running like an exuberant Husky finally let off the leash. On the 400-meter track, he appeared tireless.
Of course, Qiu Wen couldn't truly be tireless. He mostly adhered to the overall rhythm of the 400-meter race, despite his seemingly boundless energy.
It was like someone had taught an exuberant Husky how to sprint with strategy.
Back during the z-city station of the previous meet, Qiu Wen's performance had already given Zhang Zi Yi some pressure. However, comparing then to today, Zhang Zi Yi realized that the pressure had grown significantly.
Lin Chuan also nodded in agreement and sighed, "I'm in better shape today compared to last time, but the gap between him and me has actually widened."
Finishing that sentence, Lin Chuan and Zhang Zi Yi exchanged a glance. Both of them knew the unspoken meaning behind those words.
Qiu Wen's progress and speed of improvement had far exceeded their expectations. Initially, they thought Qiu Wen would be a talented athlete with potential. But now, it seemed his talent and potential were much deeper than they had imagined.
After hesitating for a moment, Lin Chuan asked, "Do you think he... has a chance?"
Furrowing his brow, Zhang Zi Yi remained silent for a while. "Let's see... It's hard to say for sure right now."
In the spectator stands, at the seating section for the S province track and field team, Hu Shaowen also asked Su Bai the same question, "Xiao Bai, Qiu Wen has only been training in the 400 meters for a few months, yet he's keeping up with Zhang Ziyi... Do you think he has a chance to break the 45.25 seconds barrier in the 400 meters?"
45.25 seconds, for the Asian or even global scope of the 400 meters, was just an average time. But for domestic athletes, it was a record that had loomed over the heads of all 400-meter runners for over a decade without being broken.
Su Bai turned to look at Hu Shao Wen, who was filled with hope, and smiled slightly. Then, with firm conviction, he said, "He can."
This resolute and direct answer caught Hu Shaowen off guard, but before he could gather his thoughts to ask more, the live broadcast announced the final results of the first heat of the men's 400 meters.
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.
At this moment, on the Track and Field Athletics Kingdom forum:
Topic: [The Transformed S Province Track and Field Team's 400-Meter Project — And the Man Behind the Project.]
Content: [Just finished watching the live broadcast of today's grand final and Jakarta selection meet 400 meters preliminaries. Can't help but want to say something.
Those who recognize my pseudonym probably know that I'm an old fan of the 400 meters. From over a decade ago when the national 400-meter record was shattered, achieving the impressive 45.25 seconds, to every year since, my hopes remained high, only to be dashed every time.
There's a series of threads I started in the forum: 'Has the National 400-Meter Record Been Broken This Year?' I'd create the thread at the beginning of every outdoor season and reply to myself when the season ended.
To be honest, after chasing the 400 meters for so many years and seeing no progress, I had sworn off paying attention to the event this year. However, after watching the preliminaries just now, all I want to say is: the 400 meters is exhilarating.
Of course, that exhilaration has a source. Take, for example, our transformed underdog: the S province track and field team.
Well, it's not exactly fair to call them underdogs. After all, they're an old powerhouse in our domestic track and field. But when it comes to the 400 meters, they've never had much ambition. They've been a solid 400-meter underdog team!
But this underdog team managed to produce Qiu Wen, Zhang Wei, and Hu Li this outdoor season. Considering Qiu Wen's progress and how quickly he's catching up to Zhang Shuai's 400 meters, who could have anticipated this three months ago?
There were posts on our forum a little over three months ago criticizing this move. People were wondering why Qiu Wen, who was doing well in the 100 meters and 200 meters, was being pushed to the 400 meters.
Sigh, I replied to that thread too, joining the crowd criticizing the inexplicable coach Su Bai... Those were some regrettable times. I didn't want to admit it, but the internet has a memory. I won't make excuses for my past blindness.
Yes, I'm here to kneel before the great Su Bai!
Allow me to shout three times: Su Boss is awesome!!!
I won't say anything more. I've compiled a set of data here: the historical performance data of Hu Li and Zhang Wei, as well as Qiu Wen's data since transitioning to the 400 meters (see figure).
After reviewing this data, my fellow forum members might also feel like their eyes are playing tricks on them. I experienced that feeling myself while compiling this data.
Let's not even discuss Qiu Wen's genius in the 400 meters. For Hu Li and Zhang Wei, both of whom have been training in the S Province Track and Field team for around ten years, what were their performances like before? They were consistently around 48 seconds, with personal bests falling outside the 47.60-second mark they were striving to break.
And yet, since Su Bai took over the 400-meter project for the S Province track and field team, their performances have shot up!
In the recent two races, the worst result was 47.51 seconds — even just two months ago, if you had asked them, I doubt they would have dared to dream of such times.]
Not to mention Su Bai's ingenious choice of Qiu Wen!
Before, Xiao Qiu had achieved certain results in the 100 meters and 200 meters events. Logically speaking, he was already competing in both events, so the team definitely wouldn't let him continue in both. Who could have imagined that Su Bai would spot him so quickly and put him directly into the 400 meters event, and then achieve such results through coaching?
Now I'm getting a bit itchy. I want to say, under Su Bai's guidance, when will Xiao Qiu be able to break the 46-second barrier? And when will he have a chance to break the 45.25-second mark?This post is quite lengthy and it's clear that the author is a die-hard fan of the 400 meters event. Although the overall tone is lighthearted, the first few paragraphs also reveal the author's initial disappointment with the 400 meters event.
However, it's obvious that this disappointment has now transformed into renewed anticipation for the 400 meters event.
3: "Hey, isn't this 'Brother Xiongqi'? You're truly excited about the 400 meters again, aren't you?"
The original poster who started the thread is named 'Xiongqi of 400 Meters', and indeed, as he said, he's a staunch supporter of the 400 meters event. He used to criticize the 400 meters and claim he would never pay attention to it again, but whenever someone achieves a good result in the 400 meters event, he opens a thread on the forum to analyze it and express his excitement.
Due to his somewhat prominent presence on the forum, he's often referred to as 'Brother Xiongqi' or 'Brother True Fragrance'.
7: "Count me in for the 'Brother Xiongqi's Fragrant Post' +1. But seriously, I also watched the competition just now, and I have to say, it's not just Brother Xiongqi, I also find it quite exciting! Zhang Shuai ran 46.39 seconds in the heats today, and even the second-placed Xiao Qiu is really impressive. Looking at Brother Xiongqi's data chart, his time improved by 0.8 seconds in three months. With this talent, there's quite some hope to break the 46-second barrier!"
12: "+1. This 400 meters event of the S Provincial Track and Field Team is amazing. I've been following them for a while. Remember that 'Chef Coach' incident in the beginning? At that time, everyone thought Su Bai was an average retired athlete from the 100 meters event, who became a chef after retiring. And now, he's coaching the 400 meters, even guiding Qiu Wen, who had talent in the 100 meters and 200 meters events, to the 400 meters. Who could have thought that this would be the outcome three months later?"
17: "I also think Brother True Fragrance might be onto something this time. In just over three months, the S Provincial Track and Field Team's 400 meters event has improved so much, it's incredible! Looking forward to tomorrow's final, I have a feeling that in tomorrow's final, Zhang Shuai will have to give his all to surpass Xiao Qiu again..."
19: "Haha, who knows whether it's Zhang Shuai giving it his all to surpass Xiao Qiu or Xiao Qiu making a strong comeback to defeat Zhang Shuai? Seriously, ever since the S Provincial Track and Field Team rose up, the 400 meters event is so much more exciting now compared to before. It used to feel like a bunch of old men putting in minimal effort. Competing against that group, even if Zhang Shuai wanted to push himself, it would have felt meaningless, right?"
...
This thread gained momentum after the recently concluded 400 meters heats. Many people are curious about S Provincial Track and Field Team's performance in the finals, leading to an active discussion on the forum.
However, just as everyone was engrossed in discussing the 400 meters event, suddenly, someone added a comment:
57: "Su Bai is really amazing, he also coached Cui Luoheng recently."
...
...
???
After this comment on the 57th floor, the posts that were piling up suddenly fell silent for 3 minutes.
After this eerie 3-minute silence, someone finally tentatively replied:
58: "Brother upstairs, are you joking?"
If we were to say that the most eye-catching event of today's qualifiers was the 400 meters heats, it's now the first group of the 110 meters hurdles, where Cui Luoheng drastically improved his personal best by almost a full second.
After Cui Luoheng finished his race, due to his remarkable improvement, he was taken away by WADA staff on the scene for doping testing. The test results were quickly announced on the official website and social media accounts of the qualifiers. Among them, the person in the first place was Cui Luoheng with his latest 110 meters hurdles personal best: 13.57 seconds.
This completely proved that Cui Luoheng's performance today was legitimate, and the results he achieved were entirely due to his own ability.
Even the official social media account of the S Provincial Track and Field Team, after confirming everything was fine with the qualifiers, quickly shared Cui Luoheng's results and his advancement to the 110 meters hurdles final.
Compared to Cui Luoheng's previously disappointing results in several matches, this time his performance was so remarkable that everyone was applauding. While 13.57 seconds might be average on the global scale, in Asia, it's definitely a top-tier result.
What's more, Cui Luoheng has another advantage - his age.
As an athlete who hasn't even reached 20 yet, he has a long prime ahead of him. With age, his muscle strength, and possibly even his height, could grow. Combined with appropriate training, his performance will undoubtedly improve further, possibly even approaching or reaching a world-class level.
The appearance of such an athlete will undoubtedly attract attention to the 400 meters event that, despite significant improvement, has remained within the domestic range.
But...
The person on the 57th floor is saying that a talent like Cui Luoheng is also a product of Su Bai's coaching?!
...
This can't be, right?
Many of the forum users who were posting comments were having the same reaction as the person on the 58th floor.
And that person on the 57th floor wasn't holding back either. They directly provided a link, a link to a Weibo post. After hesitating for a moment, the users clicked on it and found that the user behind this Weibo page was Zhou Wen, the head coach of the S Provincial Track and Field Team's hurdles division and also Cui Luoheng's direct coach.
On Zhou Wen's Weibo homepage, the first post was a retweet of S Provincial Track and Field Team's announcement, stating that Cui Luoheng had secured the first overall ranking in the qualifiers and finals of the current championship with a time of 13.57 seconds.
What was special, however, was that alongside the retweet, Zhou Wen wrote a paragraph:
Zhou Wen: For a long time, as the head coach of @Cui Luoheng, I felt quite guilty. Aheng has exceptional talent and trains diligently. But due to certain physical reasons, he struggled to achieve good results in competitions. It was @Su Bai Coach who timely identified the challenges and provided us with comprehensive training plans. It's precisely due to Coach Su's assistance and guidance that Aheng was able to showcase his true strength in this competition.
...
...
???
Zhou Wen's words were straightforward and clear, but after the track and field enthusiasts on the forum finished reading this message, nearly everyone was left bewildered.
Huh?
What does this mean?
Cui Luoheng's head coach is saying that Cui Luoheng faced challenges in training and competitions, but Su Bai recognized his problems, offered training plans, and that's why Cui Luoheng performed exceptionally well this time, directly improving his personal best by nearly 1 second?
Many people couldn't help but want to criticize - Coach Zhou, wake up! Isn't that Su Bai the coach for the 400 meters event? How could he suddenly start giving training plans for the 110 meters hurdles to Cui Luoheng?
Perhaps because there were too many people being sarcastic, someone actually directly asked this question under Zhou Wen's Weibo post, and Zhou Wen actually replied...
"Coach Su Bai was entrusted to manage and train Qiu Wen and the 400 meters event for our team due to his early recognition of Qiu Wen's potential in the 400 meters project. This doesn't mean Coach Su is only capable of training athletes in the 400 meters event."
Seeing Zhou Wen's reply, even more people were left bewildered, but this reply made so much sense that they couldn't refute it - indeed, no one had actually claimed that Su Bai was only skilled in coaching the 400 meters event.
After everyone finished scratching their heads over Zhou Wen's Weibo, the track and field enthusiasts on the forum returned to their own discussions. Soon, someone started a new thread:
Topic: "...Is a 400 Meters Coach Who Doesn't Want to Be a 110 Meters Hurdles Coach a Good Retired 100 Meters Athlete?"
Thread content: "I just finished reading Coach Zhou's Weibo, and now I'm feeling a bit dazed... Can someone wake me up? So, Su Bai not only miraculously turned the originally weak 400 meters team into contenders for the final round of the qualifiers, but also, during this time, he managed to provide 'minor guidance' to Cui Luoheng, whose previous personal best was 14.53 seconds, and directly improved Cui Luoheng's time to 13.57 seconds?!"
3 : "Huh? What are you talking about, OP?"
5: "Friend from the 3rd floor, does your village still not have internet? Check out this link..."
9: "I just saw Coach Zhou's Weibo post too. I'm thinking, does Coach Zhou mean that without Su Bai, Cui Luoheng's performance would still have been poor this time?"
12: "...Seems like that's the idea. Damn, so Su Bai single-handedly raised both the S Provincial Track and Field Team's 400 meters and 110 meters hurdles events to prominence?"
15: "It's not that I don't understand, but the world of geniuses is so strange. Oh my Buddha, just now Cui Luoheng also retweeted that Weibo post, directly mentioning Zhou Wen and Su Bai to thank them for their guidance. So, it seems this matter is pretty much confirmed..."
19: "I heard from a friend before that due to Su Bai's coaching achievements in the 400 meters event, some track and field teams were considering inviting Su Bai for coaching consultations. Now, with the addition of the 110 meters hurdles event, I guess these track and field teams might start trying to poach him?"
Online discussions about Su Bai and the S Provincial Track and Field Team continued to heat up. In the hotel where the B City Track and Field Team was staying, Zhang Ziyi, Guo Dun, and a few others had just received this news. Originally, both Zhang Ziyi and Guo Dun were likely candidates for the national team's 400 meters event. Upon learning that Su Bai might join the national team, they were reviewing their own 400 meters issues, intending to consult Su Bai when they join the national team. But then, they saw this news.
Guo Dun looked at his phone screen and fell silent for a few seconds. He turned to Zhang Ziyi, "Old Zhang, if it's really like this... when Su Bai enters the national team, will he also be managing the 110 meters hurdles?"
Hearing Guo Dun's question, Zhang Ziyi also fell silent for a moment and finally said with difficulty, "Well... it's hard to say."
Guo Dun's expression was complex, "So, we'll have to compete for coaches in the 110 meters hurdles too?"
Hearing this, Zhang Ziyi couldn't help but feel a headache, "Who knows?"
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