Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/11/2023
Chapter 241: Preparing for the Olympic Year
After the official selection of trial athletes for the national team was completed, those who didn't make the final cut returned to their respective provincial teams over the next two days. While they didn't make it to the national team, as athletes who were sent back in the final round of selection, the coaches from various provincial teams recognized their value. Upon returning to their original provincial teams, they would undoubtedly receive more training resources. With proper training, their future achievements might not be much worse than those who made it into the national team.
The athletes who were officially selected to join the national team also received a brief holiday to return home for some rest and to prepare for their formal induction into the team.
Winter training would commence in November, and there were only two months left in 2019. Crossing into the new year would bring the most important event for active athletes—the Olympic year.
The Olympics, being the quadrennial world's top multi-sport event, was seen as the "ultimate" in the minds of people worldwide. It had the most sports, the highest standards, and the strongest athletes. In short, the Olympics were the pinnacle.
Although each edition of the Olympics awarded over a hundred gold medals and hundreds of medals in total, the sheer number of gold medals often led viewers to lose their initial excitement about athletes winning medals. Some even only remembered the daily count of medals being won, while completely forgetting the names behind those medal counts. However, in reality, for each event's participating athletes, there was always a group of the world's top athletes competing against them on the same stage.
For athletes, merely stepping onto the Olympic stage was already a dream come true for most.
As the athletes took a brief break from the national team, Su Bai, along with the head coaches of various track and field events, attended a meeting organized by the General Administration of Sport. The theme of the meeting was "Motivation and Encouragement for Olympic Year Training in Various Sports."
Not only the track and field team, but also the principal coaches from various sports such as table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, diving, and other disciplines were gathered in the auditorium of the General Administration of Sport. They sat together, listening to the leaders on stage outlining the Olympic year's goals.
This was a customary practice before major competitions. Each sport had its own performance targets to achieve. These meetings were held because, for many countries, the level of sporting success also represented their economic strength and national power. After all, economically disadvantaged and weak countries would not have the resources to develop their sports prowess.
The sports system's meeting, while including some routine topics, was generally straightforward. During the meeting, they first summarized the results and shortcomings of the previous Olympic Games, as well as some of the lessons learned. They then presented observations and records of the recent years' achievements in various sports. Finally, they outlined the Olympic performance requirements for different sports.
The leaders on stage announced the requirements for each sport one by one. In the audience, coaches from various sports were looking at their data and silently calculating whether their sports had a chance to meet the objectives. They also checked to see if there were any discrepancies in the calculations made by the General Administration of Sport. If there were, they needed to communicate the current challenges in their respective sports to the authorities.
For a moment, the auditorium was filled only with the speakers on stage and the rustling of pages turning in the audience. It was incredibly quiet.
Su Bai, as the head coach for the 400m sprint in track and field, was sitting in the middle of the auditorium. To his left were the coaches of the diving team. Being a powerhouse in the Olympics, the diving team's coaches were experienced. When they looked at their objectives for the diving team, they exchanged smiles.
Su Bai had just heard the leader on stage mention the diving team's goal, which was quite simple: "Strive for gold in all events."
As a team with the title of the "Dream Team," their goal was straightforward. Su Bai took another look at the data in his hand, which included the achievements of the diving team in the previous Olympic Games. Even in the events where they didn't win gold, the diving team had still achieved one silver and two bronze medals.
The level of expertise in the diving team's achievements left Su Bai truly impressed. As Su Bai observed the diving coaches, they too had noticed him. Diving and track and field were vastly different sports, and the diving coaches may have heard about the rising popularity of track and field this year. They may have also been aware of a coach named Su Bai leading a successful team, but seeing Su Bai in person was a different matter altogether.
When everyone initially took their seats, the diving team's coaches on Su Bai's left were momentarily surprised. One of them even commented, "Isn't this a coaches' meeting today? Why are there athletes here too?"
Su Bai's youthful appearance made him stand out among the experienced coaches, and this had attracted the attention of several coaches when they first arrived.
Now, when the presentation moved on to the track and field events, the leaders on stage praised the breakthroughs achieved by the track and field events in the past two years and introduced new goals for the sport.
"In the 400m sprint for both men and women, ensure a spot in the semi-finals, strive to reach the finals, and aim for a breakthrough of 0. For the men's 4x400m relay and the mixed 4x400m relay, aim to reach the semi-finals and secure a place in the top ten."
Compared to the goals set for the diving team earlier, the targets for the 400m sprint were relatively modest. However, considering that the 400m sprint events had failed to qualify for the Olympics in the previous edition, except for the women's 4x400m relay, achieving four Olympic qualification spots in this edition was seen as a historic breakthrough under Su Bai's leadership.
After the meeting ended that day, the leaders of the General Administration of Sport gave specific instructions to coaches of different sports. They emphasized, "The qualification assessment period for the Olympics is not over yet. Everyone must make every effort to adjust the athletes' conditions. We hope that before the qualification deadline, more Olympic spots can be secured."
After the meeting at the National Sports Center, Director Wang Zhengsheng approached Su Bai to inquire about the prospects of athletes in the 400m sprint, aside from Zhang Ziyi and Chen Yadan.
"For the women's team, Lin Huan and Lin Yao are still quite far from the 51.35-second standard. They will likely improve their performance during winter training, but it's still very challenging to reach that standard," Su Bai replied candidly. He pointed out that neither Lin Huan nor Lin Yao had achieved the women's 400m standard from the previous World Championships, let alone the highly demanding standard set for the Tokyo Olympics.
"As for the men's team, there is still hope for Qiu Wen," Su Bai pondered for a moment. Qiu Wen had already achieved a personal best of 45.01 seconds during the previous World Championships, which was close to breaking the 45-second barrier. If Qiu Wen could make progress in rhythm control during the upcoming winter training, there was a chance he could break the 44.90-second standard before the Olympic qualification deadline.
After hearing this, Director Wang Zhengsheng nodded in agreement and patted Su Bai on the shoulder. "I believe in your judgment."
Shortly after the meeting, not only the national team but the entire country entered a state of tension and excitement as they approached the "Olympic year." Coaches from various provinces were also busy with tasks such as analyzing the comprehensive results of the World Championships, selecting and summoning athletes for winter training, planning the winter training program, formulating year-round training plans for key athletes, pursuing Olympic qualification for selected athletes, managing some athletes' IAAF ranking points, and arranging competition schedules.
With various responsibilities and additional lectures as a national team coach, Su Bai found himself with a heavy workload even when the athletes were on holiday. This was Su Bai's second winter training since joining the national team. Although this year saw the addition of more young athletes to the team compared to the previous year, Su Bai managed the winter training and other arrangements meticulously. The only slight annoyance for him was that Cui Luoheng, who chose not to go home during the break, seemed to be constantly running into him at the national team's dining hall.
Cui Luoheng understood Su Bai's busy schedule. During this break, he was only engaging in basic maintenance training and didn't need to bother Su Bai. He simply timed his meals at the cafeteria to "coincidentally" meet Su Bai.
Initially, Su Bai didn't notice, but after five or six encounters in a row at the cafeteria, he realized that Cui Luoheng was intentionally waiting for him there. Even though Su Bai was somewhat slow to catch on, he understood that Cui Luoheng was specifically targeting him in the cafeteria. He initially thought about changing his meal times, but one evening, he arrived at the cafeteria an hour later than usual and still found Cui Luoheng waiting. He only perked up when he saw Su Bai.
After that incident, Su Bai gave up trying to avoid Cui Luoheng's persistent presence in the cafeteria. He decided to let it be.
Thinking back to the pitiable look on Cui Luoheng's face when he first entered the cafeteria and saw him waiting, Su Bai sighed inwardly and admitted to himself that he had indeed softened a bit.
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Chapter 242: Start of the Winter Training Cycle
In addition to preparing for this year's winter training, various sports variety show production teams were also getting ready. Yes, not only did the second season of the "Athletics Idol Training Camp" for the track and field team have already been confirmed, but apart from that, within a short period, a total of six new sports variety shows were announced, including "Ping Pong Champion," "Diving King," "Super Sports Academy," and "Olympic Superstars," among others.
It's evident that these variety shows were inspired by the success of last year's "Athletics Idol Training Camp." Even though they were aware that their show's content might differ from last year's track and field theme, they took the gamble, hoping to replicate the viewership success.
It's worth noting that compared to last year's winter training, this year's training coincided with the final push for the Olympics. Riding on the Olympic theme, these shows were expected to garner even more attention from the audience.
And for those production teams and projects that might have initially hesitated, after reviewing a series of data, including last year's "Athletics Idol Training Camp" program viewership data, interactive data, and the level of interest generated by the program, any previous reservations were inevitably swept away by the enticing data.
As a result, before the winter training season even began, a series of sports variety shows were quickly launched, bringing a hint of excitement to the winter season.
The arrival of an Olympic year brought not only excitement to the sports events but also a series of related economic hotspots surrounding the two words "Olympic Games."
In addition to the various sports variety shows in preparation, advertisers were also eager to get involved. This year would be the highlight for sports stars once every four years.
Almost every athlete in various sports, including celebrity coaches, had the opportunity to sign lucrative advertising contracts during an Olympic year.
This Olympic year was no exception.
For advertisers, there were two things they were enthusiastic about during this phase: signing well-known athletes with hopes of winning medals and signing a variety of athletes who had qualified for the Olympics.
Signing both types of athletes was a gamble for advertisers. The former involved high investment but had a high likelihood of returns, while the latter had lower investment but a smaller chance of returns. However, if an athlete signed during the casting net phase unexpectedly won a gold medal at the Olympics, the resulting advertising impact, combined with the low-cost contracts with the athletes, would be more than enough for advertisers to celebrate.
The athletics team also received a series of advertising invitations after the World Championships, most of which were not high-cost signing contracts. The typical requirement was for two material shoots, one before the Olympics and one after. Of course, there were also supplementary agreements in the contracts, stipulating that if the signed athlete performed exceptionally well during the Olympics, additional shooting fees would be provided for the post-Olympics shoot.
During the period when Su Bai was busy preparing for winter training, Liao Jie, in charge of marketing and business at the Athletics Center, also received numerous offers to sign Su Bai. In addition to the two companies that had initially invited Su Bai to shoot advertisements, many other brands sought his endorsement due to the achievements of the athletics team under his leadership at the World Championships.
For these brands, Su Bai was undoubtedly a hot property, and among all the sports coaches, Su Bai was the most sought-after figure.
However, Su Bai had no time to deal with these matters in the near future. He informed Liao Jie of his current situation, and Liao Jie promptly assured him that he could focus on coaching the team, as the Athletic Center would take full responsibility for all contracts and ensure that he wouldn't be taken advantage of.
During this period, the seven-day break given to the athletes by the national team had already ended, and the athletes began to return to the team one by one. The start of winter training was getting closer with each passing day.
During this time, Su Bai not only organized training plans for the existing athletes in the 400-meter program but also prepared training frameworks for the new team members.
In Su Bai's plan, the primary task for the newly added team members in an Olympic year remained focused on training diligently. The younger athletes were encouraged to participate in domestic and international youth competitions. Those transitioning to the 400-meter event or preparing for multi-event competitions needed to adapt to the rhythm of the 400-meter event throughout the year.
However, there were only two athletes originally from the 400-meter background: Li Feng and Zhang Jiale. Among them, Li Feng had relatively average results, with a current personal best of 46.67 seconds. On the other hand, Zhang Jiale, in the few months leading up to the trial training, had already improved his personal best from 46.21 to 46.07 seconds.
This performance exceeded that of veteran athletes Guo Dun and Lin Chuan, and according to Su Bai's assessment, Zhang Jiale, a self-taught athlete who had only been involved in professional sports training for a few years, was likely to experience a rapid improvement in his results during the upcoming winter training period with more suitable guidance and training.
For these two athletes, Su Bai devised a set of demanding training programs tailored to their respective needs. For Li Feng, the training was characterized by stringent requirements rather than excessive intensity. Su Bai set exceptionally high standards for each training aspect, which meant that Li Feng would have to invest more training time than other athletes to meet these requirements.
As for Zhang Jiale, Su Bai had already defined a series of training goals and specific areas of improvement, focusing on speed enhancement, rhythm control, and the 4x400-meter relay event. On the first day Zhang Jiale returned to the team, Su Bai directly informed him that he had been selected as a backup athlete for the men's 4x400-meter relay, and he needed to be prepared to step onto the track at any time during the current Olympic Games.
Su Bai's announcement completely stunned Zhang Jiale, who had thought he had a good mindset. What did his coach just say? Tokyo Olympics? He had a chance to compete?
If Zhang Jiale didn't know that he had no real connection with Su Bai, he would have been worried that Su Bai was manipulating something behind the scenes.
Zhang Jiale stared at Su Bai, his mouth opening and closing, and he stood there in a daze for a while. It was only after a long moment that he stumbled out of Su Bai's office. When his parents called to ask if he had settled in at the national team, he was still a bit slow to respond. But when he told his parents that he might have a chance to participate in the Tokyo Olympics, their attitude did a complete 180-degree turn.
Zhang's father: "Son, train hard, and don't think about coming back for holidays or anything like that. Don't expect us to miss you when you're on break with the team, and don't even think about coming home for the Lunar New Year. Just stay at the training center and listen to the coach. Whatever the coach tells you to do, just do it. Don't think about home!"
Zhang Jiale: ??? Wait, why did his dad suddenly say they wouldn't miss him at home?
While Zhang Jiale was still baffled, his mother took over the conversation and said, "Son, take good care of yourself and don't get injured like you did before."
Hearing this, Zhang Jiale felt somewhat reassured: It seemed that his mother did love him after all!
However, before Zhang Jiale could fully bask in the warmth of his mother's concern, her tone suddenly changed.
"If you injure yourself again and miss the opportunity to represent our country in the Olympics next year, don't even think about stepping through the door of the Zhang family!"
......
............
???
On the other end of the phone, Zhang Jiale, who was sitting on his dormitory bed, looked utterly baffled. Faced with his parents' dual "education," Zhang Jiale suddenly felt like he had regained his composure.
Why did he feel like his family status had actually declined after he had the opportunity to become an Olympic athlete?
Facing his parents' "education," Zhang Jiale wanted to "negotiate" for the right to make phone calls home. So, he tentatively asked, "But... won't Grandpa, Grandma, Nana, and Papa miss me?"
Zhang Jiale knew that when his parents called him today, his grandparents were definitely present as well. He thought he could enlist some "foreign aid." However, to his surprise, his grandparents were indeed there, and his parents were using a hands-free speakerphone. Before he could say much, he heard his grandfather's hearty voice.
Grandpa Zhang: "My boy, don't worry. Your grandparents won't miss you either. I'll call your grandmother right now and tell them not to miss you. Just focus on your training!"
Until he hung up the phone, Zhang Jiale's excitement about having the opportunity to become an Olympic athlete had been replaced by a series of "your family won't miss you" comments.
He was absolutely certain that after he hung up the phone, his parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents would all be overjoyed. He had become a completely unimportant tool for them, with the sole purpose of training well, becoming a qualified Olympic athlete, and bringing honor to their family.
Sure enough, starting from that day, when he called home the next day, he was no longer greeted with warm greetings but received a series of heartfelt advice urging him not to indulge, train hard, and take care of his health.
Zhang Jiale - just officially joined the national team and was given the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, thrilled; just given the opportunity to participate in the Olympics, his family status plummeted to an all-time low, sad.
_(:3)∠)_
The ups and downs of life can truly be unpredictable.！
In any case, with the start of the winter training season and the approach of the Olympic year, the word "Olympics" has started to appear frequently in various places. This includes a series of Olympic cycle travel itineraries, Olympic ticket lotteries, and other related topics that have become hot topics for discussion among everyone.
As for the track and field team, with the return of all the athletes, the track and field team officially began its winter training cycle.
On the morning of November 1st, Su Bai looked at the 400-meter athletes, whose numbers had nearly doubled, and revealed a faint smile. Winter training had begun, so would the next season be far behind?
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