Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/11/2023
Chapter 249: A New Record
In this race, Zhang Ziyi not only won the championship.
When the results were displayed on the big screen at the venue, another wave of excitement followed—Zhang Ziyi, who was in the first place, had a time of 44.76 seconds (NR) listed next to his name.
No one had expected that Zhang Ziyi would actually break his personal best in the first Diamond League race of the season, and, of course, set a new Chinese men's 400-meter sprint record.
The moment they saw this result, in the conference room at the National Athletics Training Base, young team members and coaches burst into cheers, following the initial gasp of surprise.
In the sports channel's live broadcast room, the voices of Shao Minyi and Li Sen, who had been relatively calm, also transformed at that moment.
You see, although the Diamond League is already the top series of athletic events, traditionally, only at the Diamond League Finals at the end of each season could you witness athletes unleash their true abilities and compete to the fullest. In regular station events, most athletes simply participated to get a feel for their current form.
Take, for example, the men's 400-meter sprint in previous Diamond League races. In each event, usually only the athlete in first place would break the 45-second mark, while the rest of the athletes' times typically ranged between 45 and 46 seconds—not particularly good nor bad.
It's not that other athletes lacked the capability, but it was evident that these athletes ranked within the top 20 in the world tended to be more relaxed in their form. Unless they had special needs for adjusting their condition or clearly felt that their current form was excellent, these athletes generally wouldn't push themselves too hard in station events.
In any case, as seasoned commentators, Shao Minyi and Li Sen were well aware of the habits of athletes in the Diamond League. Therefore, while they were thrilled and excited about Zhang Ziyi's victory, they didn't lose control of themselves.
Until they saw the final result rankings.
First place: Zhang Ziyi (China), 44.76 seconds (NR);
Second place: Barnes (USA), 45.01 seconds (SB);
Third place: ...
Apart from Zhang Ziyi, the subsequent results of others became irrelevant. The number 44.76 made them instantly think of another record that had remained elusive during the World Championships—the record for the 400-meter sprint held by a person of Asian descent!
"44.76 seconds!" Shao Minyi's mind buzzed for a moment and then quickly snapped back into focus. "Zhang Ziyi once again broke the national record for the men's 400-meter sprint at the Qatar Diamond League event. At the same time, this time of 44.76 seconds... has successfully broken the record held by a Japanese athlete for nearly 30 years!"
"The record for the men's 400-meter sprint among people of Asian descent has been passed from the hands of a Japanese athlete to that of a Chinese athlete after a gap of 28 years! With this, both the records for the men's 100-meter and 400-meter sprints among people of Asian descent now belong to Chinese athletes!"
"Not only that, the current holder of the national record for the men's 200-meter sprint in our country, Wu Yi, is in excellent form at the moment. Last year, Wu Yi couldn't achieve his desired results due to an unfortunate injury, but in this year's winter training, glimpses of Wu Yi's personal training situation from the 'Athletics Idol Training Camp' clearly show his outstanding form."
"Currently, according to Wu Yi's head coach, Pei Jin'an, Wu Yi's form has fully recovered during the winter training period, and in training, he has been able to significantly improve upon his previous personal best... We have every reason to believe and anticipate that the records for the men's 100 meters, 400 meters, and 200 meters sprints among people of Asian descent will all fall into the hands of Chinese athletes!"
In the sports broadcast room, Shao Minyi and Li Sen were extremely excited, and the online audience celebrated this achievement like crazy.
After all, before this result was revealed, no one expected that Zhang Ziyi would directly break this record for people of Asian descent in the opening match of the outdoor season.
And it's still early in the season!
Someone couldn't help but say, "If this continues until the end of the season... no, it doesn't even need to wait until the end of the season, as long as Zhang Ziyi maintains this excellent form during the Olympic Games competition period, then regardless of rankings, at least Zhang Ziyi has a good chance of making it to the finals!"
Just thinking about this, many athletics enthusiasts couldn't sit still, wishing they could time travel immediately to see what kind of results Zhang Ziyi would achieve at the Olympic Games!
As domestic audiences and various athletics enthusiasts were getting excited, at the Qatar Diamond League event in Doha, Zhang Ziyi, after seeing the result, was slightly surprised, and then he smiled and waved his hand, celebrating this unexpected achievement.
It may seem to ordinary people that this gesture is not enough to express the excitement and joy of breaking a record, but when they saw the smile on Zhang Ziyi's face, they had the feeling that he had hidden his most excited emotions deep in his heart.
That night, after the end of the Doha stage of the Diamond League, the domestic news media immediately released the latest commentary article:
——《2020, A New Era for Chinese Athletics - The Battle of Doha, the Return of the Triple Crown!》
——《Men's High Jump, 400m Sprint, and 110m Hurdles: Glorious Reign, Brilliant Performances!》
——《Diamond League Doha Station: Chinese Athletes Shine - Three Consecutive Events, Three Championships!》
On Weibo, the hashtag #ChineseAthletesSweepThreeChampionshipsInDohaQatar has quickly gone viral.
When Cui Luoheng made his debut in the 110m hurdles event and won, there was already a wave of discussions on his topic on the internet. At that time, most participants in the discussion were genuine fans of athletics, including some die-hard enthusiasts of the Athletics Idol Training Camp. Everyone thought that Cui Luoheng's performance in the 110m hurdles was excellent. With only three Chinese athletes competing, they managed to bring home a championship.
After the results of the 400m sprint were revealed, where Zhang Ziyi broke the national record and also the Asian record held by a Japanese athlete for 28 years, the topic gained even more attention and spread faster.
After the high jump competition concluded, although Wang Shen's championship performance was relatively ordinary and didn't trend as a hot topic, something peculiar happened. Viewers in the live streaming rooms started a trend with the hashtag #Dear,CanYouJumpOverADoorframe. In this trend, many people measured the height of their doorframes and door panels, with captions like 【Just tried to jump over the doorframe, ended up sticking to the door panel.】
Since doorframes are a common household item, this trend attracted a large number of bystanders. People found the doorframe metaphor intriguing, and the hashtag's popularity even surpassed those related to Cui Luoheng and Zhang Ziyi's victories.
Following these consecutive three trends, the news of Cui Luoheng, Zhang Ziyi, and Wang Shen all winning their respective events at the Diamond League Doha Station was officially announced by the Athletics Center and the National Athletics Team.
Athletics National Team Official Weibo: 【On the evening of April 17th, local time in Doha, the Diamond League Doha Station concluded successfully. In this competition, three Chinese athletes, Cui Luoheng, Zhang Ziyi, and Wang Shen, participated and each won the championships in the 110m hurdles, men's 400m sprint, and men's high jump events, respectively. Notably, Zhang Ziyi achieved a time of 44.76 seconds in the men's 400m sprint, breaking the Asian record in the men's 400m sprint, and setting the latest record for China in this event!】
No one doesn't anticipate strong performances, and no one doesn't hope for the strength of their own national athletes. When news of Chinese athletes winning three consecutive championships returned, public opinion on the internet immediately overshadowed the previous trends and became a hot topic on Weibo with the hashtag #ChineseAthletesWinThreeChampionshipsInDoha.
In the past two or three years, netizens who frequently roam the internet have become accustomed to seeing good news about athletics on Weibo from time to time. However, achieving a result where all participating athletes win championships in the Diamond League, an event even ordinary people vaguely know is impressive, left many netizens who might have skipped a few classes in awe.
——【=口=Is this for real? We only had three athletes, and all three won championships???】——【Am I being foolish here? Is China's athletics program really this strong?】——【To the friend above, you're not being foolish. China is not only a sporting powerhouse but also a prominent figure in athletics. Although athletics may not seem as popular, China has consistently been one of the world's top eight nations in this field. It's just that the more well-known events were women's shot put, discus throw, or long-distance race walking, which are quite niche and have fewer viewers.】——【In recent years, short-distance sprinting has risen significantly in China. The remarkable improvement in our domestic sprinting times has sparked numerous discussions. This is the primary reason for the increased visibility of athletics recently, and I've been following it a bit myself. It's truly inspiring.】
This topic generated a buzz online. Given that this is an Olympic year, and these three athletes are all Olympic participants, they were greeted by a large number of reporters at the airport upon their return to China. Besides congratulating them on their outstanding performance in Doha, the reporters also discussed their prospects for the Olympics, which will take place in three months.
Among these three athletes, Wang Shen is the experienced one, and he simply smiled and stated that he would do his best, hoping to achieve his best form. Reading between the lines, it's clear that he aims to break his personal best, but if you look at it another way, he hasn't said much.
Zhang Ziyi's goal is relatively straightforward. He was very candid in stating that his goal is to make it to the Olympic finals.
However, when the interview microphone was handed to Cui Luoheng, Wang Shen's eyelids twitched slightly, feeling that Ah Heng was up to something. And indeed...
Upon hearing the question, Cui Luoheng was very straightforward and said, "The championship."
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Chapter 250: Intense Preparations Before the Olympics
Cui Luoheng's declaration of aiming for the championship wasn't the first time. The previous time was just before departing for the World Championships. However, at that time, Cui Luoheng's championship declaration didn't receive much attention until he made it to the finals of the World Championships and nearly tied with Vladimir in the final. It was only afterward that people realized Cui Luoheng's initial championship declaration was sincere.
This time, Cui Luoheng once again set his sights on the championship. Now, he already holds the titles of World Championships runner-up and Diamond League Doha champion, and he has just set the best time in the 110-meter hurdles for this year. With such performance and achievements, when Cui Luoheng speaks of aiming for the championship, no one will take it as a joke.
He truly believes it, and he has the skill to pursue this goal.
Reporters, even those specialized in sports, naturally want explosive headlines. With Cui Luoheng's response, headlines like "110-Meter Hurdles' New Generation Champion Aims for Tokyo Olympic Gold" are practically handed to them.
In the end, the reporters left in high spirits. Before leaving, they earnestly advised Cui Luoheng and the other two to take good care of their bodies and strive for even better results at the Olympics.
These reporters, although specializing in news, are mostly sports enthusiasts who uphold the spirit of competition and have their preferences for sports. Besides reporting the news, they are genuinely concerned about the athletes' conditions.
After bidding farewell to the reporters with smiles, Zhang Ziyi and the others waved at them. Wang Shen glanced at Cui Luoheng and then chose to remain silent.
The national team and the Athletics Administration usually instruct athletes not to be too aggressive or extreme when answering questions from reporters. They emphasize the importance of maintaining a balanced and respectful tone since national team athletes represent not only the team but also the face of Chinese athletes.
However, athletes who make it into the national team not only possess talent but also have their unique characteristics in terms of personality. For instance, there's Qiu Wen, and there's Li Junhao. To be honest, if we compare the trouble Qiu Wen has caused to Cui Luoheng, it far outweighs what Ah Heng did when he declared his goal of winning the Tokyo Olympics...
Now that I think about it, isn't it still acceptable?
Moreover, from the time before and after winter training to the present, the changes in Cui Luoheng's overall momentum and mindset are something Wang Shen has noticed. Upon some reflection, Wang Shen quickly understood the general reason behind Cui Luoheng's determination to win the championship.
Among the three of them, Wang Shen remained silent. If we consider Zhang Ziyi's personality from the past, he might have tried to persuade Cui Luoheng to be more cautious in his words. But now, Zhang Ziyi has gained confidence from his recent performances, and he doesn't see any issue with Cui Luoheng, given his current strength, declaring his aim for the championship.
After the three of them achieved the remarkable feat of simultaneously winning in the Diamond League Doha Station, they received commendations from the team upon returning home and participated in a separate interview with the sports channel. Afterwards, they swiftly immersed themselves in training and other competitions for the new season.
Although it's still early in the 2020 season, being an Olympic year means that the Tokyo Olympics will begin on July 23, and the qualification assessment period for certain track and field events will end on June 30. All in all, many athletes who haven't secured their Olympic qualifications are now giving their all. Those with a chance to directly meet the qualification standards will try to achieve their target performances in the next two months through as many competitions as possible.
Take, for example, the case of Wu Yi, mentioned by Shao Minyi during the Diamond League Doha Station. He is actively preparing, hoping to hit the target and secure a spot in the Tokyo Olympics for the men's 200 meters.
And what if there's no direct opportunity to meet the qualification standards but the athlete has been performing well in their event? Well, they should also work hard to compete and improve their performance in various competitions.
Athletes in this category need to participate in various competitions of different levels organized by World Athletics or regional athletics associations as much as possible. They should strive for good results and rankings in these competitions, continuously improving their athletics points. By enhancing their World Athletics points and world rankings through this points system, they can increase their chances of securing a spot in the Olympics.
Of course, while there are events like the 100m and 400m sprints with only a few standout athletes like Zhang Ziyi and Fang Yu, many other events require more than just meeting the qualification standards. Athletes must also participate in head-to-head competitions within their own event to compete for a chance to represent their country at the Tokyo Olympics, among the qualified athletes in their respective events.
In summary, athletes will be incredibly busy in the lead-up to the Olympics. Those who haven't secured qualification will be busy with their own methods, while athletes like Zhang Ziyi and his teammates, who have already qualified, will have a different kind of busyness.
Pre-Olympic training cannot be neglected, and they must strive to maintain stable form and occasionally fine-tune technical details. They also need to carefully select which Diamond League and Grand Prix events to participate in, ensuring they have the inertia and resilience to compete against the world's top athletes on the field.
Just the athletes themselves have plenty to keep them occupied, but the coaches are no different.
So far, Su Bai has at least Zhang Ziyi, Qiu Wen, Li Junhao, Guo Dun, Zhang Jiale, Chen Yadan, and Lin Yao to closely observe. In addition to these athletes, he cannot afford to overlook Cui Luoheng's training and competitions, and he also needs to keep an eye on Fang Yu and Wang Shen.
With so many responsibilities on one person's shoulders, the national team is also feeling some pressure. Some athletes have suggested that certain athletes who are not solely under Su Bai's guidance could continue to be coached by their original coaching teams.
For athletes like Fang Yu and Wang Shen, who are still training under their original coaching teams, the solution proposed by Su Bai involves only minor adjustments.
Ultimately, the scarcity of coaching resources for the 400m sprint event is the root of the issue. Currently, Su Bai personally oversees the training of the top athletes and prospects in this event. Although the coaches he is nurturing can handle routine training tasks, they are not yet ready to take full responsibility for these athletes who will be competing in the Tokyo Olympics.
It's widely understood that the recent success of athletes like Zhang Ziyi and Qiu Wen in the 400m sprint is largely due to the support of Su Bai within the national team.
In recent years, Su Bai has almost single-handedly carried the 400m sprint event to success. People also hope that when Su Bai has trained enough excellent coaches, the development of China's 400m sprint event will continue to progress, but such expectations may only be realized step by step after the Olympics.
From April to the end of June, there is just a little over two months left. Besides competing in his own races, Zhang Ziyi is also working on coordination with the 4x400m relay team, including Qiu Wen.
For the Tokyo Olympics, Su Bai is considering new relay baton exchange orders for the 4x400m relay. In the past, Zhang Ziyi was usually placed in the first leg to prevent falling too far behind in the initial stages and to relieve the starting pressure on subsequent runners. However, based on conventional order, Zhang Ziyi, as the strongest runner among all team members, should ideally be placed in the anchor leg as the final and most powerful runner.
As for Qiu Wen, he's like the goofball he's always been. He tends to disrupt other athletes' rhythms on the track. If he can start in the ninth lane or even in the middle lanes, it would be advantageous for the Chinese team. Even if he starts in the second lane, there's a good chance he can make it difficult for athletes from other teams.
Considering this, Su Bai decisively moved Qiu Wen to the first leg during winter training. After careful consideration, Su Bai didn't place Zhang Ziyi in the fourth leg but rather in the third leg, with Li Junhao remaining in the fourth leg.
The second leg is still contested by Zhang Jiale and Guo Dun.
Placing Zhang Ziyi in the third leg is mainly to lighten his sprinting burden since he is the only athlete among them with a confirmed spot in the 400m individual event.
During the Olympics, if Zhang Ziyi successfully advances to the 400m individual final, and both the mixed 4x400m relay and men's 4x400m relay teams also make it to the final...
Running seven races in a short time frame.
There is still a significant gap in physical fitness between Asians and Black athletes, and this physical and mental stress during the Olympics can be overwhelming.
If they were to burden Zhang Ziyi entirely with the relay races...
Su Bai couldn't help but doubt whether Zhang Ziyi, who already had no significant issues with his body, would get injured due to this series of factors.
With this in mind, he finalized the relay team lineup for the time being. Zhang Ziyi and the others are also doing their best to adapt to this new relay order and develop better chemistry, especially between Zhang Ziyi and Zhang Jiale.
Of course, in the relay team, aside from the relay races, both Qiu Wen and Li Junhao are making their final pushes.
The qualification deadline for the Olympics is June 30th, and neither Qiu Wen nor Li Junhao has given up hope for a last-minute push.
On May 10th, Qiu Wen and Li Junhao traveled to Tokyo to participate in the World Athletics Continental Tour held there. In this competition, Qiu Wen won the 400m event championship.
In this competition, although Qiu Wen still didn't manage to break into the 44.90-second qualification range for the Tokyo Olympics, he successfully ran below the 45-second mark for the first time in his career!
With a time of 44.98 seconds, he excitedly let out a roar, becoming the second Chinese athlete to run the 400m within 45 seconds!
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