Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/09/2023
Chapter 227: Men's 400-Meter Final
Unlike the preliminaries, semi-finals, or some track and field events, the organizers of the Doha World Championships had designed separate grand entrances for almost every competitive event's final.
After the live broadcast announced the start of the men's 400-meter final, the overhead lights in the audience stands were quickly extinguished. The only remaining sources of light around the spectators were the dim floor lamps in front of each seat.
The lights on the track were also completely turned off. Soon, ten light strips on the field were illuminated. These light strips were embedded on the edges of the nine circular tracks. They emitted a rhythmic, breathing-like pattern of light, illuminating the entire field.
Accompanied by the breathing-like light display, cheers erupted from the audience stands. It was time for the athletes to enter the stage for the men's 400-meter sprint final!
As expected, after a series of brief breath-like flashes of light, the specially decorated entrance for the final athletes was opened by the ceremonial attendants. Along with the most dazzling colorful lights, the first athlete of the men's 400-meter final made his entrance!
In the live broadcast, the local announcer in Doha energetically introduced the first athlete to enter the stage for the men's 400-meter sprint final, Fraser from Jamaica.
"Let's welcome the first athlete to take the stage – Fraser from Jamaica!" After the excited elongated announcement, there followed a career introduction of Fraser and an overview of his performance in the preliminaries and semi-finals of this World Championships.
Back in China, Shao Minyi was simultaneously introducing Fraser's background: "This 400-meter star from Jamaica has performed quite well in the preliminary and semi-final rounds of this World Championships. He recorded 45.01 seconds in the preliminaries and 44.66 seconds in the semi-finals, securing his place in the finals quite comfortably."
Fraser had been placed in the second lane for tonight's final, which wasn't considered a very advantageous position.
After Fraser's entrance, the remaining seven finalists also made their appearances one by one. They were Tekawu from Trinidad and Tobago, Jipu Ruto from Kenya, Fernandez from the USA, Le Clos from South Africa, Gardiner from the Bahamas, Morris from Grenada, and Zhang Ziyi from China.
During this entrance ceremony, each athlete had approximately one minute of spotlight time and introduction. After all eight athletes had made their entrances, more than ten minutes had passed.
As each athlete entered, the lights on their respective lanes would also illuminate. When Zhang Ziyi entered, the lights on the ninth lane came on. The viewers in front of their TVs let out a sigh but continued to watch the live broadcast with earnest attention, silently cheering for Zhang Ziyi in their hearts.
In the semi-finals, Zhang Ziyi achieved a new personal best with a time of 44.81 seconds, but this time, which was close to the Asian 400-meter record, only secured him the second position among the remaining athletes, allowing him to advance to the final.
His semi-final time placed him last among the eight finalists, so drawing the ninth lane for the final was a quite normal result.
Zhang Ziyi smiled and waved to the audience amidst the dazzling spotlight on the scene. He then followed the directions of the event staff towards the starting line on his ninth lane.
In the eighth lane to his left was Tekawu from Trinidad and Tobago, and in the seventh lane was Jipu Ruto from Kenya. Interestingly, these two athletes had finished first and second in his semi-final group.
Fernandez and Le Clos, the top-notch runners controlling the race's tempo, occupied the sixth and third lanes, respectively. The fourth and fifth lanes belonged to Gardiner from the Bahamas and Morris from Grenada.
Once all eight athletes were in position, the lights at the entrance where the athletes had made their appearances went completely dark. In the vast stadium, not all the lights were switched on; only the custom-made light strips on the ninth lane shone brightly in the gaze of the audience, creating a special visual display.
On the circular track, a special virtual projection was cast onto the track combined with light strips to create a spectacular display. Local Qatari-style music filled the arena as the eight light figures moved in a wave-like pattern along the circular track. Finally, the light strips were extinguished, and the ground lights on the track lit up one by one. The lights, in a special design, only illuminated the full 400-meter race track, leaving the areas outside the track in complete darkness. This forced the audience in the stands to focus their attention on this particular track, witnessing what could be described as the world's pinnacle of men's 400-meter sprinting.
Back in China, some viewers who hadn't watched the World Championships before were stunned by the elaborate introductions and entrances of the athletes.
User 1: 【_(:3)∠_I'm so naive. I thought athletes in sports competitions made simple entrances. What's going on tonight? I'm shocked.】
User 2: 【Haven't you watched the men's 100 meters final? Yu Ge's entrance was also quite stylish. This is the regular routine for athlete entrances in the World Championships nowadays.】
User 3: 【Just passing through, but this entrance had me thinking I stumbled into a talent show. But, to be honest, it looks really cool!】
Some viewers were casually chatting on the live chat, but most of the track and field enthusiasts, despite already having a 90% idea of what to expect, were still nervous, with sweaty palms, sitting in front of their TVs, too engrossed to pay attention to the live chat.
In the small fan group dedicated to Huang Yilun, a dedicated fan of the 400 meters, discussions were ongoing. While the conversation wasn't necessarily about the race itself, the fans were eagerly waiting for the evening's race to begin.
As the evening's competition began, with each event progressing, those in the fan group became increasingly hesitant to discuss anything related to the night's race.
Huang Yilun wasn't sure what his friends in the group had done during their nervous moments. However, he had noticed on Weibo that the dedicated track and field fan known as Dasheng Runs Fast, who had previously trended a hashtag and bought a trending topic to apologize to Su Bai for some online banter, had donated a significant amount to a charity project today. Huang Yilun wasn't alone; he too chose to donate for some peace of mind.
Then, as he looked at the real-time donation updates for the charity project, he saw a whole row of names belonging to Dasheng Runs Fast.
......
......
Alright, since the initial donation for Su Bai by Fang Yu and the subsequent donation by the goofy Qiu Wen, track and field fans had taken this as a way to seek comfort. Especially Huang Yilun's donation in this charity project, as it was where the first fan donated to Fang Yu, followed by Qiu Wen. So, it had already become a kind of internet sensation within the charity project.
Huang Yilun tried to distract himself with these scattered thoughts to ease his nervousness. However, when he heard the voice of Shao Minyi on TV saying, "The race is about to begin," his breath still caught in his throat.
It was about to start!
At the venue, all eight athletes were already in their respective lanes, ready to begin.
Among these 8 athletes, there was no doubt that Zhang Ziyi had the worst personal best (PB). Apart from him, the remaining athletes had PBs of 44.51 seconds, with a significant 0.3-second gap between his 44.81 seconds and theirs.
Thinking about this gap, Huang Yilun felt a bit frustrated. However, when he looked at the track where Zhang Ziyi was the only non-black athlete among the remaining seven athletes, it dawned on him.
Yes, in this 400-meter final, apart from Zhang Ziyi, all the other athletes were black, and there wasn't a single white athlete.
This was a field thoroughly dominated by black athletes' racial gifts, and Zhang Ziyi was the only one who stood out.
"Regardless of anything else, the fact that Zhang Ziyi can stand here as a Chinese athlete, an Asian of East Asian descent, is already a victory and a miracle!" Shao Minyi marveled at the scene on the track and said, "In the previous heats and semi-finals, Zhang Ziyi used his incredible speed to bridge the gap between Asians and these black athletes. As the first East Asian to stand on this track, he is already a source of pride for all of us!"
Of course!
The viewers watching at home all had a similar response in their hearts.
During the semi-finals two days ago, they knew that Zhang Ziyi was the first East Asian to reach the final. However, it was only a mental impact at that time. Today, as they watched the final with all black athletes on the track, this visual impact made them even more deeply aware of how powerful Zhang Ziyi had become and how great his achievement was!
At the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha, the competition was about to begin.
Zhang Ziyi crouched at the starting line. Due to the special lighting setup, he couldn't see anything beyond the 400-meter track. He was in lane nine, and there were no other athletes ahead of him. Within his field of vision, there was only a dazzling light, and within that light was the familiar 400-meter track.
This was Zhang Ziyi's first time competing on such a track. He had already participated in a heat and a semi-final on this track, and even earlier, during the Asian Championships, he had raced on this track.
However, at this moment, under the illumination of the lights, everything felt both familiar and unfamiliar.
The spectators at the venue were extremely excited, their voices loud and somewhat noisy, making the track in front of Zhang Ziyi, which already had a dreamlike quality, feel more real.
This was the track for the men's 400-meter sprint final at the World Championships.
This was his track!
When he thought about this, Zhang Ziyi closed his eyes, cleared his mind, and focused all his attention on the upcoming race.
"No matter what, just don't leave any regrets."
In his mind, he recalled the words that Su Bai had said to him earlier in the morning.
"You gave it your all in the semi-finals, right? It's not just to lose steam in the finals and casually end the race, is it?"
Just moments before the start, Chen Yadan passed by him and said those words.
Of course, he didn't strive to make it to this point just to casually end the race. So, the only way to not leave any regrets was to give it his all now and push himself even harder!
In the arena, the audience quieted down as the race was about to begin. On the track, the eight athletes had already crouched at their respective starting positions on the curved track.
Through the broadcast, the calm and clear command was given one after another.
"On your marks."
"Get set."
Then...
"Bang!"
"The race... has begun!!"
Li Sen loudly announced the official start of the race, and once the race began, the track became a scene of eight dazzling meteors streaking through the lights.
"Zhang Ziyi has a stable start, very good, keep it up!" There was a noticeable tension in Shao Minyi's voice. He emphasized, "Now, Zhang Ziyi is in lane nine. He needs to control his energy distribution properly and not run blindly just because there are no other athletes ahead of him in the early stages of the race."
Zhang Ziyi was not like Qiu Wen; he didn't possess the extreme energy supply capabilities that Qiu Wen had. However, at the same time, he didn't lack the control and awareness of his own pace unlike Qiu Wen.
His start was both steady and fast. While it may not have had the wild and beast-like ferocity of the semifinals, his start today carried a strong sense of determination that emanated from his heart.
In this race, Zhang Ziyi wasn't competing against the other athletes on the track; he was competing against himself, testing how fast he could go!
As usual, the fastest starters were not the flow-controlling athletes like Fernandez and Le Clos. The ones who sprinted most aggressively at the start were Gardiner from the Bahamas and Fraser from Jamaica.
Fraser, who started at the back of the pack, had the most explosive acceleration at the beginning. After the first bend, he closed in on Le Clos in front of him by nearly 3 meters.
Up front, Zhang Ziyi was facing a similar situation. Trinidad and Tobago's Tekawu had chased him aggressively in the initial sprint, but Tekawu's form today seemed not as strong as it was in the semifinals. Despite his fierce pursuit, Tekawu did not pose a significant threat to Zhang Ziyi.
After the first bend, Zhang Ziyi remained at the front of the pack. The distance he extended between himself and the athletes behind him was substantial, making it difficult for the trailing runners to catch up at this stage.
However, as they entered the first straight track, from the perspective of the audience and the cameras, it was clear that Gardiner, running in lane five, was running significantly faster than the others around him.
This Bahamian athlete displayed remarkable prowess today. On lane five, he accelerated to a speed that gave the impression of running a 100-meter sprint!
In the commentary booth, Shao Minyi sounded surprised, "This Gardiner, his split speed at this stage should have exceeded 10 seconds for the 100 meters!"
Gardiner's incredible speed even put pressure on Fernandez, who was on lane six, as it seemed to force the top flow-controlling athlete to calculate and release a speed faster than originally planned.
By the time they reached the second bend, Tekawu, who was initially trying to catch up with Zhang Ziyi, couldn't successfully pull ahead of him despite the clear advantage of the second bend, and they entered a phase of constant pressure between the two.
On the contrary, Jipu Ruto from lane seven maintained his good form. By this stage, taking advantage of the inner lane, he had surged ahead of Zhang Ziyi.
Fraser from Jamaica, running in lane two on the innermost lane, had made a ferocious burst after the start. By the 200-meter mark, he had also reached the front half of the field. However, as they entered the final straight, Fraser couldn't quite take the first position.
At this point, there was a clear division on the track. Gardiner, Fernandez, Fraser, and Le Clos formed the first group in the sprint.
The second group was led by Jipu Ruto, with Zhang Ziyi and Tekawu running at a similar pace. Behind them was Morris from Grenada, who clearly wasn't in his best form today, and was lagging behind a bit, with a noticeable gap between him and Zhang Ziyi and Tekawu.
Though they were still in the air-conditioned environment of the Doha Stadium, the intense competition, with athletes pushing each other's limits and racing step by step on the track, made this area feel like it was bathed in scorching sunlight. The hot air was inhaled into their throats as they continued their relentless pursuit towards the finish line, with only their individual goals in sight.
Panting, gasping for air...
It was the sensation of inhaling the searing hot air, the feeling of having only the finish line and their personal objectives in front of them. It was the exhilaration of continually sprinting forward, a pursuit of their own limits.
Keep running!
Charge forward! This was their pursuit of the ultimate.
This was... their burning desire to transcend themselves and their limits!
"Zhang Ziyi! Zhang Ziyi is currently in sixth place! He has left Tekawu behind!"
"Great! Keep it up!"
"He's sprinting forward, trying to catch up with Jipu Ruto up ahead! The final 50 meters! The gap between him and Jipu Ruto is very close, there's hope!!!"
Shao Minyi watched the screen, sweat dripping from his forehead and into the corners of his eyes, but he paid it no attention. He, along with Li Sen and the millions of viewers in front of their televisions, were all closely focused on Zhang Ziyi on the track.
Would he make the pass?
Or would he fail?
Sixth place? Fifth place?
The final 50 meters of the race had everyone on edge...
40 meters, 30 meters...
"He's keeping pace!!! Can he successfully make the pass?!"
Shao Minyi's voice was hoarse and tense, sending shivers down everyone's spine. All eyes were locked onto Zhang Ziyi, witnessing him engage in a back-and-forth pass with Jipu Ruto in the last 30 meters of the race.
In the end, Zhang Ziyi crossed the finish line in sixth place.
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Chapter 228 Men's 400m Final Result & 110m Hurdles About to Begin
As Zhang Ziyi crossed the finish line, the audience in the stands, particularly those from the Chinese contingent, displayed a mix of excitement and disappointment. However, these complex emotions ultimately transformed into congratulations for Zhang Ziyi.
"Zhang, you did a fantastic job!" Qiu Wen led the cheering from the stands, while Guo Dun and others vigorously applauded. They also shouted encouragement towards the direction of the track, exclaiming things like "Zhang Ziyi ran well."
Su Bai, Pei Jin'an, Jiang Wentao, and others also stood and applauded for Zhang Ziyi's final performance.
Finishing in sixth place might not have reached the top four, but it was certainly an outstanding achievement.
In reality, whether it was Jiang Wentao and the others or the leadership of the National Athletics Association, they had mentally prepared themselves for the possibility that Zhang Ziyi might finish last in the final. Moreover, even if he did end up last, preliminary plans were made within the system for rewards and recognition for Zhang Ziyi and the national team.
Just considering Zhang Ziyi's numerous record-breaking performances in the men's 400 meters in China throughout the year, it was only right to provide him with recognition within the system.
Currently, on a world-class stage surrounded by top athletes, Zhang Ziyi's ability to maintain a stable performance and secure sixth place was an unexpected delight.
In the sports channel's live broadcast studio, both Shao Minyi and Li Sen were discussing this. Even though Zhang Ziyi couldn't secure victory in the final moments of the race against Jipu Ruto, his performance was nothing short of heroic.
At the finish line, Zhang Ziyi, who had stopped and caught his breath, exhaled lightly. He felt a slight tinge of regret, but at the same time, he was filled with a sense of exhilaration.
Finishing in sixth place, while not surpassing his own psychological expectations, Zhang Ziyi could be very certain that he had given it his all on this day.
After a brief wait, the final results of this race were finally displayed on the big screen at the venue.
IAAF World Athletics Championships Men's 400m Final Results —
1st Place: Gardiner (Bahamas), 43.42 seconds (nr, national record);
2nd Place: Fernandez (United States), 43.97 seconds (sb, season's best);
3rd Place: Fraser (Jamaica), 44.17 seconds (sb, season's best);
4th Place: Le Clos (South Africa), 44.26 seconds;
5th Place: Jipu Ruto (Kenya), 44.73 seconds;
6th Place: Zhang Ziyi (China), 44.82 seconds;
7th Place: ......
......
When Zhang Ziyi saw the final results, he was a bit surprised. He had felt that he ran well in today's final, but in terms of competitive form and overall momentum, it was certainly not as strong as the semifinals two days ago. However, he didn't expect that the final result would only differ by 0.01 seconds compared to the semifinals.
Zhang Ziyi was momentarily lost in thought, but then he calmed down. The current result was in the past, and he had already given his all. Thinking about what could have been achieved with a little more effort was no longer meaningful.
After settling his mind, Zhang Ziyi smiled and waved to the Chinese audience section in the stands, then turned and walked towards the exit tunnel.
Reporters from the Chinese sports channel had been waiting for Zhang Ziyi here, and when they saw him approaching, they immediately called out his name and invited him for an interview.
"Ziyi, first of all, congratulations on achieving the sixth-place result! This is the best result in the 400 meters for the Chinese team at the World Championships. Do you have any thoughts on this achievement?"
Such questions were routine for sports journalists, and athletes like Zhang Ziyi, who represented the national team, had received training on how to respond to reporters' questions before traveling for competitions.
Zhang Ziyi paused for a moment and then smiled, saying, "I'm feeling extremely excited. Achieving this result and bringing glory to my country is an honor for me. This result is my pride. I believe it also sends a message to all the teams around the world that China's 400-meter sprint has risen and will become even stronger!"
The reporter then asked, "Ziyi, we can see that your time tonight was 44.82 seconds, with only a 0.01-second difference from the 44.81 seconds in the semifinals two days ago and a 0.03-second difference from the current Asian record of 44.78 seconds. Do you feel any regrets when you see this result?"
As he heard this question, Zhang Ziyi couldn't help but think, "As expected." The result from tonight made this question almost inevitable.
Zhang Ziyi smiled and then answered seriously, "Of course, I hope to achieve better results, and I look forward to the moment when I can break new records. But for tonight, I'm very satisfied with my performance. I've done my absolute best, and I can say with great composure that I have no regrets about tonight's race."
The interviewing journalist was momentarily surprised. He had expected Zhang Ziyi to express some regret and talk about working even harder for better results in the future. However, he didn't anticipate that Zhang Ziyi would be so content and straightforward in stating that he had no regrets about tonight's performance.
The foreign correspondent had limited interaction with track and field athletes in the past, but hearing Zhang Ziyi's response made him feel that Zhang Ziyi was genuinely composed and convinced. He couldn't help but find himself impressed.
No wonder he's the captain of the national team for the men's 400 meters!
This thought crossed the journalist's mind as he asked a few more routine questions and then watched Zhang Ziyi exit through the tunnel.
Back in China, track and field enthusiasts were extremely satisfied with the ranking and results. Going from the semifinals to the finals and running close to the current Asian record twice in a row—what could they possibly be dissatisfied with?
For these fans, the most important thing was that Zhang Ziyi had achieved times of 44.81 seconds and 44.82 seconds consecutively. This indicated a strong possibility that Zhang Ziyi could challenge the current Asian record of 44.78 seconds, even if not immediately. The mere thought of that possibility left track and field enthusiasts elated.
Online track and field fans were overjoyed, but for those like Jiang Wentao who were present at the venue, nervousness returned as they removed the 400-meter starting blocks and adjusted the track to prepare for the 110-meter hurdles final.
Indeed, after the 400-meter sprint final, the night's climax was approaching—the 110-meter hurdles final!
If the 400 meters was about witnessing "Chinese male sprinters finally making it to the World Championships final," then for the 110-meter hurdles, everyone's expectations went far beyond that.
China had once stood at the pinnacle of the 110-meter hurdles with its golden era of athletes. Memories of over a decade ago still evoked tremendous excitement, even now.
Although there had been a significant gap in China's 110-meter hurdles program over the past decade, whether it was track and field enthusiasts or the general public, no one had forgotten the history of China being a powerhouse in the 110-meter hurdles.
When Cui Luoheng ran the astonishing time of 13.15 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles preliminaries, many viewers who hadn't been particularly interested in the event couldn't help but shift their attention to this race.
Cui Luoheng had stated in interviews that his goal was to win a medal. Could he really achieve it? Whether they were track and field enthusiasts or casual viewers, they now held a different level of anticipation.
"Cui Luoheng's performance in this race will undoubtedly be the focal point of the evening!"
Shao Minyi and Li Sen learned from the commentary broadcast through their earpieces that, with the conclusion of the 400-meter final, the 110-meter hurdles final was about to begin. Even in the late-night hours, the viewership of the sports channel continued to rise.
Over the past two years, especially in the current year, the 400-meter sprint had accumulated a large fan base. Despite this, before the start of the 110-meter hurdles final, it once again attracted a substantial number of new viewers.
Shao Minyi and Li Sen understood that these viewers were part of the audience who had deep memories and special feelings for the 110-meter hurdles. They were well aware of Cui Luoheng's achievements and declaration, which prompted them to tune in specifically to watch this final.
They wanted to relive the past, to see a Chinese 110-meter hurdler stand at the pinnacle of the world once again.
Shao Minyi and Li Sen exchanged a knowing look, and both understood each other's thoughts. Cui Luoheng's earlier statement about winning a medal had been somewhat hasty. He had prematurely directed the audience's attention to himself. For these viewers, if Cui Luoheng performed well tonight, it wouldn't matter. However, if his performance in tonight's final was unstable, it could lead to a backlash from the audience.
At the venue in Doha, Cui Luoheng was prepared to take the field. From the semifinals to the final, with less than two hours in between, this posed a test of physical endurance and personal stability for any 110-meter hurdler on the field.
Among all the athletes present, the youngest was 21-year-old Cui Luoheng. Perhaps because of his youth, he didn't feel physically fatigued. As the final was about to begin, he felt a palpable sense of anticipation.
He looked forward to chasing speed with these top athletes on the track, and he also looked forward to experiencing that feeling again – the one he had in the semifinals when he expanded his perception range and gained a heightened sense of control over himself on the track.
In the preparation area before entering the field, veterans like Vladimir and Fabregas quietly waited for their moment.
Finally, with the venue ready and the entrance ceremony complete, the nine athletes who had secured spots in the 110-meter hurdles final, including Vladimir, Fabregas, Clav, Vanderburg, and Cui Luoheng, stepped onto their respective lanes amid dazzling entrance performances.
The light show this time continued to revolve around the venue. However, instead of sprinters' images, this time it featured animated hurdlers racing around the arena.
After the spectacular light show concluded, the track was illuminated again, accompanied by the sound effect of heartbeats, creating an atmosphere of tension. After a series of suspenseful heartbeat sounds, the venue lights finally shone towards the track, narrowing everyone's focus to the short 110-meter race.
The competition was about to begin!
As the light show came to a halt, the sound of everyone's heartbeat echoed in their minds.
In this race, Cui Luoheng was positioned in Lane 5, which was considered a prime lane, but what made it equally intimidating were the athletes on his sides in Lanes 4 and 6: Fabregas from France and Vladimir from Russia, respectively, both top contenders.
Apart from these two, Lane 3 and Lane 7 featured McCleod and Clav, who were also strong contenders for a medal in this race.
In the sports channel's broadcast booth, Shao Minyi and Li Sen watched the top athletes on the track and considered Cui Luoheng's bold statements before the race. They felt immense pressure and a sense of suffocation.
They knew that Cui Luoheng indeed had the ability and potential to compete for a medal, but at such a young age, could he handle this level of pressure and deliver a top-notch performance in this race to secure a medal?
"Stability! The key is to maintain consistency at each hurdle, precise technique, and a stable state. These are all aspects that Cui Luoheng must maintain and perform well in. Only then can he truly have a chance of winning in this race!"
"Absolutely. Besides that, we hope that young Cui can bring his excellent starting performance to the forefront in the early stages of the race. Only then can we talk about the subsequent performance and results."
In the commentary booth, Shao Minyi and Li Sen nervously analyzed what state Cui Luoheng needed to achieve to have a shot at winning a medal.
On the track, Cui Luoheng wasn't thinking about anything at the moment. He crouched on the starting blocks, his hands on the ground, eyes closed, and there were no unnecessary thoughts in his mind. He was trying to feel everything around him. With each breath, he could clearly sense that he had extended his perception beyond his usual limits.
On his left and right, Vladimir and Fabregas both had a steady rhythm of breathing, exuding an air of unwavering confidence.
As the starting gun's sound echoed through the venue, the entire place fell silent, and Cui Luoheng could clearly feel the solemn atmosphere on the entire track.
On the track, everyone was ready for the race to begin.
The 110-meter hurdles final at the World Championships, which had been eagerly anticipated by countless people, was finally about to start!
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