Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/02/2023
Chapter 195: Finland Event Results, Public Opinion, and the Upcoming Trial Tests
Overseas, national team athletes from various countries are competing in different events at various station meets, aiming to achieve good results.
At the World Athletics Challenge in Finland on June 12th, China's Fang Yu won the gold medal with a time of 9.99 seconds, while Cui Luoheng ran the 110-meter hurdles in 13.17 seconds, setting a new personal best and earning the silver medal.
Fang Yu's sub-10-second performance once again showcased his outstanding form this season, bringing joy to many as they witnessed his current state.
With Cui Luoheng breaking the 13.20-second barrier, it signified that this young 21-year-old athlete had officially entered the elite circle of 110-meter hurdles. From this moment on, there would be no more than 10 athletes worldwide who could stand in his way.
When Cui Luoheng rapidly improved his performance and comfortably ran 13.20 seconds at the Asian Championships, track and field enthusiasts in China already knew that 13.20 seconds was by no means his limit in the 110-meter hurdles.
However, they did not anticipate that Cui Luoheng would casually break his own personal best in such an ordinary World Athletics Challenge station meet, entering the 13.20-second territory for the first time. This nonchalant achievement left many track and field enthusiasts momentarily stunned.
【I originally thought that breaking the 13.20-second barrier should at least happen in a major competition, with high expectations and everyone's anticipation, and then Ah Heng would carry everyone's hopes and laboriously break the 13.20-second barrier... But now that this result has come out today, why do I feel a bit dazed? It's like I don't really want to believe it.】
【...Brother, it's not just you feeling dazed; I'm feeling a bit dazed too. But I think you might have watched too many TV dramas, so you have this illusion. In reality, many great results are achieved in such inconspicuous competitions. Athletes' form isn't constant; sometimes it just happens.】
【The previous brother is right. While coaches and athletes try their best to peak their competitive form during major events, it's quite normal to achieve good results during the season when they are adjusting and competing. You see, in the interview after Hao Ge's race a few days ago, they also said that his form was exceptionally good that day.】
On the internet, although Cui Luoheng's result had a huge impact on seasoned track and field enthusiasts, most ordinary viewers didn't have a clear understanding of the significance of this achievement.
Therefore, while there were praises for Cui Luoheng's performance on platforms like the National Team, the Athletics Management Center, and the Athletics Kingdom forum, on more mainstream platforms like Weibo, casual onlookers were aware that Cui Luoheng had achieved a good result but didn't grasp that this result already placed him in the top ten in the world for the year.
This difference in online discussions didn't bother either Su Bai or Cui Luoheng. However, domestic media seemed more anxious than them. Upon receiving news of Cui Luoheng's 13.17-second run, they rapidly released one commentary article after another:
《After a Decade, Another Chinese Athlete Breaks the 13.20-Second Barrier in the 110m Hurdles!!》《The Forbidden Zone of the 110m Hurdles Sees the Appearance of Another Chinese Athlete!》《The Birth of a New Generation Hurdling King from China—Only 21 Years Old This Year! Promising Future!》《From Lows to Highs, the New Rising Champion on the 110m Hurdles Track. Can He Reach the Legendary Heights of the Past?》
The discussions and reports from various media outlets, as well as the sports channels' news broadcasts, finally made a significant number of ordinary people in China realize: Oh? This 13.17-second result seems quite impressive?
On June 13th, the day after the conclusion of the World Athletics Challenge Finland Station, the discussions in news reports and the buzz among internet users caused the replay of Cui Luoheng's 110m hurdles race from the previous day to gain millions of additional views. Even the hashtag #CuiLuoheng13.17seconds was pushed to the forefront.
Inside the national team, however, Su Bai didn't pay attention to these online messages. Instead, he arrived at one of the outdoor competition tracks at the training base with his data and documents.
Previously, Su Bai had instructed Coach Gu to inform the trial team members that the first round of 400m individual testing would take place in 3 days, and today was the scheduled time for the testing.
This batch of trial athletes consisted of a total of 60 male and female team members. They were divided into two rounds of testing at 8:30 AM and 10:00 AM. Su Bai didn't have the athletes test together; instead, he organized them into groups of five, had them warm up properly, and then took turns conducting the tests.
Although this approach required more time, it allowed for a comprehensive assessment of the athletes, considering not only their 400m individual results but also details regarding their skills, mindset, rhythm, and control, among many other aspects.
In addition to Su Bai, members of the coaching staff for the 400m event, such as Coach Gu, Wang Ting, Zheng Xingguo, and others, were all present. Even assistant coaches were seated in the observation area beside the track. The assistant coaches responsible for assisting with organizing the competition were all specially borrowed from Pei Jin'an's team.
Now, everyone was waiting for each trial athlete to give their professional assessment according to Su Bai's instructions.
The 400m individual testing at 8:30 AM was for male trial athletes. When they arrived at the scene and saw the setup, they were momentarily stunned, as they had initially thought it was just a simple test to get an initial result.
"Oh my, this 400m individual testing looks quite different from what I imagined, doesn't it?"
Qiu Mingjie looked at Su Bai and the others in the audience area, then glanced at the track and all the sports camera equipment. It became clear that Gu Cheng's casual description of "just running to leave an initial record" didn't quite match the reality of the situation.
He swallowed nervously and turned to Wu Tian, "Wu Xiaotian, didn't you claim to be our insider? How come you couldn't find out about this?"
Wu Tian also looked disheartened and replied, "Well, when there's something important, it's 'Xiaotian and Tiange,' but when there's nothing, it's 'Wu Xiaotian.' Am I just a tool in your eyes?"
The two of them exchanged a fierce stare for a few seconds and then both backed down.
While Qiu Mingjie certainly had confidence in himself, being one of the top young athletes in the F-province provincial team along with Zhuo Yutang, and earning a spot in the national team trial, he knew that among the athletes present, everyone had exceptional talent for their respective age groups.
With everyone being so talented, and with the most outstanding 400m athlete in the country, Su Bai, sitting in the audience...
Qiu Mingjie looked back at his good buddy, Zhuo Yutang, with a miserable expression. "Ah Tang, what should I do? I think I'm starting to panic."
Zhuo Yutang, seeing his panicked look, remained silent for a few seconds and then patted Qiu Mingjie's head, "Just run as you know how to. Since Coach Gu said it's to record our initial results, then that's all we're doing—recording initial results. Don't panic."
Qiu Mingjie replied with an "Oh."
As they observed the situation, it was clear that Qiu Mingjie was not the only one feeling nervous among the trial athletes. However, unlike him, some of the older athletes tried to maintain their composure. They understood that despite their nervousness, the purpose was simply to record their initial results.
After the male team's athletes arrived on the scene, Su Bai didn't say much. He had everyone draw lots to form groups, and then each group took turns warming up and preparing to go on the track.
Compared to the current national team members, these trial athletes summoned to the national team had limited opportunities to participate in competitions every year. Even the most experienced athlete among them, Zhang Jiale, spent most of their time training for several months before going out for a few days to compete.
Seeing the unexpected test format, they couldn't help but feel a bit nervous.
During the warm-up of the first group of athletes, Pei Jin'an knew that Su Bai was going to test the 400m specialized results of these trial athletes, so he came to the scene to take a look. He sat in the audience area and chatted with Su Bai.
"How's it going? It's been 10 days. Have you seen any promising talents?" Pei Jin'an looked at the trial athletes on the field as if he could see the future pillars of the 400m project for the national team, with a smile on his face.
"Of course," Su Bai replied with a smile. "Those who can be selected into the national team are already promising talents in the 400m event. What we need to do now is to choose the best among them."
Pei Jin'an glanced at Su Bai, then looked back at the trial athletes on the field. "Speaking of which, when I first heard that your goal was for all the selected athletes to run under 45.30 seconds, I didn't believe it at first."
He shook his head with a smile. "But later, I thought about it. Even in our current team, we're not too far from that standard. My mind was still stuck on the 400m impressions from last year or the year before."
"I won't say anything else. I'm looking forward to this batch of trial athletes now. I'm waiting for you, Su Bai, to bring me a group of new 400m talents!"
After Pei Jin'an finished speaking, he glanced at Su Bai and the other coaches holding record books. He didn't say much more and just sat in the audience area, watching the trial athletes who had completed their warm-ups, waiting for them to take turns to perform their respective tests.
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Chapter 196: Trial Team Performance Testing (1)
Among the male trial athletes, the age group of 20 to 22 years old had the fewest participants, and the age group of 15 to 17 years old also had relatively low numbers. The main reason for the lower numbers in the former group was not just the older age of the athletes but rather the fact that some of these athletes had already developed habits of the domestic 400m sprinters. In fact, during Su Bai's selection process, it was found that some athletes who originally had talent had no advantage in their performance, indicating that there were issues in their daily training and personal determination.
After eliminating such athletes, the number of those with outstanding talent and a strong passion for training and competition naturally became smaller.
As for the trial athletes aged 15 to 17, they were selected purely based on their exceptional talent because they were not the primary target group for this selection.
In the 400m individual event test, the first to take the stage was Zhang Jiale, who was selected into the first group as the first athlete to compete. He was the oldest athlete in the trial team, nearing the age limit set by Su Bai. Compared to Li Junhao, the youngest member of the 400m main team, Zhang Jiale was a few days older.
"Oh, I know this Zhang Jiale," Pei Jin'an said with a smile when he saw Zhang Jiale taking the stage first. "He's the 400m mainstay from Y Province. He didn't come from a professional sports school, and he started training relatively late. However, he managed to achieve better results than Group B athletes from sports schools at the Youth Championships."
"The coach at his school can't really be considered a professional; he's more of a self-taught coach. It's all about natural talent. I was considering recruiting him into the national team, but it seemed like he suffered an injury last year or the year before and had to take a long break, so I temporarily put it on hold."
Su Bai nodded as he listened to Pei Jin'an's words, then shifted his attention to Zhang Jiale, who was about to start his trial run. On the track, Zhang Jiale had assumed his starting position, the starter had given the preparatory command, and then the starting gun sounded. The trial run had begun!
From the moment Zhang Jiale pushed off the starting block and accelerated forward, Su Bai began to record a series of symbols on his notepad for his own memory. When he rapidly memorized the data, he used these symbol combinations for initial notation, which he would later convert into regular text when organizing the records.
Watching Zhang Jiale's performance on the track, Su Bai nodded in approval.
On the track, even though only one athlete was running at a time, and it was the first one to take the trial run with so many people nervously watching and analyzing his performance, Zhang Jiale seemed unaffected by the pressure.
Despite being slightly older than Li Junhao by a few days, Zhang Jiale was not tall, standing at only 176cm, which was 11cm shorter than Li Junhao. Among all the trial athletes, he had a relatively low height.
However, this did not hinder his excellent performance and endurance.
Based on his height, it was evident that Zhang Jiale was a stride-type athlete. His stride was smaller than that of most 400m runners, which could be seen as a disadvantage on the 400m track since a higher stride rate meant greater energy consumption. However, he had a natural talent for endurance, even though it wasn't as extreme as Qiu Wen's. He could control his energy distribution well, knowing when to push and when to conserve. For Su Bai, Zhang Jiale was originally one of the pre-selected talents he wanted to include in the team.
Overall, his initial performance in the 100m was not strong, and there were some issues with his pacing. However, the direction for improvement was clear, as long as he maintained his training, there wouldn't be any problems with performance improvement.
In the end, Zhang Jiale's test result for this round was 46.49 seconds, which was considered a good personal performance.
After Zhang Jiale completed his run, Wu Tian had somehow managed to sneak up beside him and quietly asked, "Le Ge, how did it feel?"
Zhang Jiale had just finished running and was catching his breath when he saw Wu Tian, so he didn't hesitate to give Wu Tian's head a friendly pat. "Don't worry, among the trial team, you're definitely the top paparazzo."
"Wow, Le Ge, why are you calling me a paparazzo? Besides, what's there to be proud of in being the top paparazzo?" Wu Tian pried apart Zhang Jiale's hand and wrinkled his nose.
Hearing Wu Tian's question, Zhang Jiale grinned mischievously and said, "Paparazzi can run fast, you know! Isn't that great?"
...
Wu Tian rolled his eyes at Zhang Jiale's playful comment.
But jokes aside, Zhang Jiale shared his feelings about the test on the track with Wu Tian. "When you're on the track alone, it's hard to gauge your speed. You don't know if your pace is too fast or too slow. Without opponents, it's not easy to get into a competitive state. And with so many pros watching you on the sidelines, you'll definitely feel nervous. The only way is to treat them all as big watermelons in the field and pretend you're a wild boar running freely in the watermelon patch..."
...
Wu Tian was initially following along, but then he got confused. What was with the watermelon patch and the wild boar?
Seeing Wu Tian's perplexed expression, Zhang Jiale chuckled and said, "Just don't think of yourself as a person. Focus on running hard! The key is not to panic."
Wu Tian glanced at the seemingly serious Zhang Jiale, then replied with an "Oh," not entirely convinced.
When he returned to Qiu Mingjie and Zhuo Yutang, they had complex expressions on their faces after hearing Wu Tian's theory about watermelons and wild boars – treating...Su Da Lao (Su Bai) as a watermelon?
Qiu Mingjie blinked and had a complicated look on his face. "Then... Su Da Lao must be the best-looking watermelon in the field."
Wu Tian nodded in agreement.
Zhang Jiale, who had also joined them, wore an expression of speechlessness after hearing their conversation. He deeply felt that there was a huge gap in their thought processes compared to these post-2000s athletes.
Zhang Jiale's test had ended, but the other four athletes in his group were still testing.
The remaining four athletes had originally thought that since Zhang Jiale seemed to run comfortably and had no problems being the first to go, perhaps they were just feeling nervous watching from below, and everything would be fine once they got on the track.
With this mindset, they waited their turn one by one and only realized how difficult it was to run in this serious and reference-lacking environment where there was no one cheering them on and no opponents to compare with.
In short...
After Zhang Jiale, the second, third, fourth, and fifth athletes to run achieved times of 47.79 seconds, 48.13 seconds, 47.98 seconds, and 47.66 seconds, respectively. Not only were there differences compared to Zhang Jiale's times, but there were also deviations from their regular training test results.
After this series of results, the athletes who initially watched Zhang Jiale run, thinking there were no particularly intimidating competitors, felt their tension rise again.
In the first group of athletes, after the tests were completed, Wu Tian was in the second group. Before the test began, he closed his eyes tightly at the starting position, muttering continuously, "All are watermelons, all are watermelons... I'm a wild boar, I'm a wild boar..."
In the spectator stands, Pei Jin'an looked at Wu Tian's expressions and chuckled, "It seems like this kid is quite nervous. I wonder what he's muttering about?"
Suu Bai opened his eyes and glanced at Wu Tian standing at the starting line. He was too far away to hear Wu Tian's mutterings, but he smiled and said, "Wu Tian, Coach Pei, you can take a look."
"Oh?" Hearing Su Bai's words, Pei Jin'an suddenly brightened up.
"Wu Tian, originally a long jump athlete, has strong explosive power and an advantage in absolute speed. Even if he doesn't run the 400 meters, he won't be bad in the 100 meters."
"Really? Well, let's see then," Pei Jin'an nodded. "But he also has an advantage in running the 400 meters, right? Otherwise, you wouldn't have selected him?"
Su Bai smiled and replied, "Yes, Coach Pei, you'll see."
As they spoke, Wu Tian on the track had already started running upon hearing the starting gun. Just as Su Bai had mentioned, Wu Tian's explosive power at the start was very strong. However, he originally came from a long jump background, and despite learning the techniques for the 400 meters in just 10 days, he was not completely proficient. He seemed to struggle a bit to control his body while running on the curve.
Due to this issue, he lost some of his initial explosiveness during the curve.
However, this explosive power was not completely wasted. After entering the straight section of the track, Wu Tian's earlier explosiveness was fully unleashed, and he displayed the momentum of a 100-meter sprint on the second 100-meter stretch.
"Wow, this kid looks a bit like Qiu Wen, doesn't he?" Pei Jin'an was surprised as he watched Wu Tian on the track.
Su Bai shook his head, "The one who really resembles Qiu Wen is still to come."
As he spoke, Su Bai said: "Actually, Wu Tian's characteristics are quite similar to Ziyi's."
Huh?
Zhang Ziyi?
Pei Jin'an couldn't see any resemblance between Wu Tian and Zhang Ziyi at all. Although Zhang Ziyi was sprinting fiercely at the starting stage, he had strong control over his pacing, maintaining a standard 400-meter rhythm. His overall rhythm control and release were excellent.
Su Bai pointed at the track and explained, "Look closely. Because he's not yet familiar with the 400 meters, Wu Tian's explosive energy was quickly depleted after the initial burst. However, his condition during the trial run didn't instantly collapse. While he's clearly not as relaxed as before, he has maintained his pace. Even as his stamina rapidly dwindled, he gritted his teeth and persevered through the entire race, right up to the final sprint. He kept a steady pace throughout."
Pei Jin'an finally understood what Su Bai meant. Wu Tian indeed had tremendous explosive power, but his ability to control his body, including maintaining balance during the final sprint, was quite similar to Zhang Ziyi's characteristics.
In fact, if we were to put it that way, Wu Tian is a player who combines the characteristics of both Qiu Wen and Zhang Ziyi... No wonder Su Bai chose this kid!
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