Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/16/2023
Chapter 263 Men's High Jump Finals & Results
Amidst the anticipation of the crowd, Wang Shen stood up from the preparation area. At this point, among the six participants on the field, besides Wang Shen, the remaining five had all completed their first attempts at 2.36 meters. Among them, Dunasev, Cabrein, and Abdallah all successfully cleared the bar on their first try.
"Before the 2.36-meter mark, Wang Shen and the other three participants had maintained a perfect clearance rate. If Wang Shen wants to keep up with these athletes at this stage and not fall behind in terms of performance, he must also achieve a hundred percent clearance at the 2.36-meter mark."
Shao Minyi's voice was laced with obvious caution and nervousness. He carefully watched the screen in front of him and continued, "In other words, in reality, for Wang Shen to catch up with the performance of these three participants, this first attempt is his only chance!"
"Can Wang Shen seize this opportunity?"
The audience in front of their television sets had also held their breaths. Some of the more timid viewers had even stopped watching the live broadcast, hesitantly holding the remote control, wanting to switch away from the current match, yet reluctant to miss the real-time progress of the competition.
In the stands, Jiang Wentao and Li Mingzhuo also had visibly tense expressions. Even though Su Bai had told them that Wang Shen had been suppressing his own state all along, waiting for this moment in the Olympic finals to unleash it, could Wang Shen truly release his full potential perfectly today?
Or even if Wang Shen were to unleash all of his potential, could he guarantee a hundred percent success in clearing the current 2.36-meter bar?
This was something no one could assure, hence they couldn't help but feel nervous.
In the spectator stands, Su Bai also looked in the direction where Wang Shen was, filled with curiosity.
He could indeed see various data about the athletes, especially as his learning in the system became more profound, his understanding of the system's data became increasingly profound.
He could calculate the different state curves of the athletes more and more accurately, but even so, he wasn't a hundred percent accurate in predicting the athletes' performances.
The final performance of the athletes depended on their current physical condition, competitive state, and pressure state, occasionally mixed with a bit of inexplicable luck.
Especially in cases as extreme as Wang Shen's.
From the system data, Su Bai could read that Wang Shen was indeed, as he had claimed, giving his utmost, executing the state fluctuations that he and Li Mingzhuo had set for him during the winter training phase.
Su Bai glanced at Wang Shen on the field, who was already raising his hand towards the referee, ready to attempt the jump. He then glanced at the real-time dynamic monitoring data, where Wang Shen's excitement value in the mental state column was already off the charts.
At least, after suppressing it for so long, Wang Shen had indeed, as he had said, brought out his most excited state in this Olympic final.
Perhaps, "a tiger out of the cage" was the best interpretation of his current state.
Looking at the field before him, Wang Shen squinted his eyes, ready to start the jump under the gaze of the timekeeper.
At this moment, Su Bai's heart was also filled with anticipation, wondering if this unleashed tiger could truly create an uplifting miracle on this evening's stage.
On the competition field, in the high jump finals area, the timekeeper's time was running out, and the timekeeper had already begun reminding Wang Shen that he had very little time left to start the jump.
The timekeeper initially thought the Chinese athlete in front of him was nervous, hence the delay in starting the jump. But in that moment when he looked up to remind the athlete, the timekeeper unexpectedly noticed that the Chinese athlete's eyes were filled with an excitement that reached its peak.
He almost saw in the athlete's eyes a terrifying excitement, akin to that of a beast king hunting.
Was this an illusion?
In the timekeeper's moment of daze, Wang Shen's jump time was about to reach its limit. Just before he was about to time out, the timekeeper watched as the Chinese athlete in front of him suddenly, like an agile cheetah, began a nimble and swift run-up from the starting point.
He seemed like a hunting cheetah, agile in posture and swift in movement. On the arc of the run-up, his speed was both rapid and filled with a sense of leaping.
As he finally reached the bar, his upper arm had already begun to swing backward, increasing the power of his body. Subsequently, his take-off leg exerted a perfect and astonishing burst of force into the ground. The lateral momentum transformed into an enhanced upward kinetic energy under the final strong braking.
An almost perfect height of clearance!
Almost as Wang Shen completed the take-off, Shao Minyi and Li Sen simultaneously shouted, "There it is!"
Just by observing Wang Shen's height of clearance and his body's posture in the air, some experienced audience members could sense immediately that Wang Shen's jump was secure.
And indeed, Wang Shen's leap didn't disappoint. With his guiding hand, his body soared in mid-air like a flying cheetah, effortlessly crossing a steep cliff that would make one's heart skip a beat.
At the moment when Wang Shen landed on the cushion and effortlessly flipped back up, all the viewers watching the competition couldn't help but applaud him warmly.
Even though they were just in front of their television sets, even though their applause couldn't reach Wang Shen's ears, this applause was their sincerest tribute to him!
"Wang Shen, first attempt at 2.36 meters, successful!!!"
When Shao Minyi announced this, his voice carried such obvious pride and glory, and all the viewers in front of their televisions or on the internet, upon hearing Shao Minyi's words, also displayed their evident pride and joy.
【Ah ah ah ah ah, damn, Wang Shen is really, really, really amazing!!!!】
【Oh my, Old Wang is so handsome!】
【Really, the first three athletes before him all cleared the bar on their first attempts, and now it's Old Wang's turn. If he fails, he will be at a significant disadvantage in the following competition. Under this kind of pressure, Old Wang's performance is unexpectedly so great! I respect him, I really do...】
【Sob sob sob, I unilaterally declare, Wang Shen is my husband! My husband is just too handsome!!!】
In the sports channel's online live stream room, a group of viewers nervously watching the live broadcast let out excited screams upon seeing Wang Shen's performance.
And not just in the live stream room, on Weibo, under the super topic and hashtag of the Tokyo Olympics, suddenly there was an influx of netizens who only posted screams like 'ah ah ah ah ah,' causing much confusion among many bystanders who were not aware of the situation as well as among viewers of other events.
As the live camera focused on Wang Shen flipping back up from the cushion, it zoomed in directly on his face. His hair was slightly disheveled, yet his eyes were filled with an excited fighting spirit. From the slight curve of his lips, everyone could easily understand what was in Wang Shen's heart at that moment - he wasn't done yet, he wanted to challenge even higher heights!
When the camera zoomed in on his face, many viewers in front of their televisions were momentarily stunned - damn, this face is too handsome!
Shao Minyi and Li Sen in the sports channel's live room also looked at Wang Shen's face, momentarily taken aback, then jokingly remarked, "I remember there was an entertainment company that wanted to sign Wang Shen into the entertainment industry, right?"
Li Sen also laughed and added, "Yes, I was thinking at the time, in the entertainment industry, there are so many handsome men and beautiful women, why target Wang Shen? But now looking at his face, I understand. Those companies had a point targeting Wang Shen."
When the camera zoomed in on his face, especially in this kind of straightforward male photographer's style in a sports competition, for many celebrities, it would likely cause their face to crumble. But when this camera zoomed in on Wang Shen's face, it completely conveyed the feeling of this athlete standing at the pinnacle of the world, the sense of disdain and the burgeoning ambition emanating from his body.
In the past, Wang Shen had often been reserved, concealing his inner self with a smile. Only today, at this moment in the Olympic men's high jump finals, he had completely unleashed his deep-seated ambitions.
This complete release truly allowed people to feel the dangerous character tension and charm that had been latent within Wang Shen's body.
Just this close-up shot, when a viewer recording the match made it into a gif and posted it online, instantly drew countless screams and frenzied reposts.
Various entertainment public accounts, upon seeing this breathtaking gif of a top Olympic athlete, also saw the potential for explosive reading traffic, and thus all began to swarm in on promoting the stunning moment of Wang Shen in this gif.
Regardless of the associations and divergences that emerged on the internet due to this close-up shot of Wang Shen, the ongoing competition at the venue continued as normal without any disturbance.
After Wang Shen's first attempt, Ye Wenhao and Morris each proceeded with their second and third attempts, respectively.
Ye Wenhao could feel that with Wang Shen's guidance, his take-off had improved compared to before, but this progress, combined with his current condition, couldn't support him in clearing the 2.36-meter mark.
Just a little more.
But this little bit meant failure.
After Ye Wenhao's failed third attempt, he sighed helplessly, then walked over to Wang Shen's side and gave him a hug, wishing him success in the upcoming competition.
Therefore, after the 2.36-meter height, the competition for Abdallah, Dunasev, Cabrein, and Wang Shen was raised to 2.38 meters.
"This is an incredible competition!" Shao Minyi's voice carried amazement. "2.38 meters. This height could even serve as the annual world-best performance in the past two years. Yet today, at this moment, in the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, there are four athletes waiting to challenge this height."
"In tonight's competition, how high will the pursuit of the male high jumpers ultimately reach?"
Shao Minyi, at this point, suddenly thought of something and said cautiously, "Some viewers may still not be aware that the national record for men's high jump in China was set 36 years ago in 1984. The record of 2.39 meters has been maintained since then..."
"Now the bar on the field has been raised to 2.38 meters, which is 1 centimeter higher than Wang Shen's personal best of 2.37 meters and 1 centimeter lower than the national record that China has held for 36 years..."
As he spoke, Shao Minyi's voice suddenly paused. "Tonight's competition may be waiting for a miracle that has been absent for 36 years!"
As Shao Minyi spoke these words, there was a hint of apparent uncertainty in his voice, but he still firmly expressed them.
For sports professionals, the sprint toward the limit, the anticipation of seeing their athletes surpassing limits, was ingrained in their bones at all times. He truly hoped that Wang Shen could create this miracle.
At this moment, Li Sen also nodded, "This miracle... I am also looking forward to it. Let us wait together to see if a miracle will be born tonight!"
After the voices of Shao Minyi and Li Sen fell, on the field, Ukraine's Cabrein was the first to attempt the 2.38-meter height.
Although the viewers in front of their television sets knew that Cabrein was Wang Shen's opponent, the Ukrainian athlete's previous performance had been so strong that everyone felt this confident guy should be able to easily clear the 2.38-meter height.
The result, however, was unexpected. Cabrein's first attempt, to everyone's surprise, failed.
However, when the camera focused on Cabrein, there didn't seem to be a particularly strong sense of surprise on the Ukrainian athlete's face. He just furrowed his brow slightly.
【Oh, failed, huh?】
On the live chat screen in the sports channel's online live stream room, after seeing Cabrein's failure, one viewer posted this question with a confused look.
【It's normal to fail. This is 2.38 meters! It's even higher than the doorframe by a head, right?】
Now phrases such as "doorframe + phone," "doorframe + soda can," and "doorframe + head" had become a scale in some viewers' minds to measure the height of the high jump. Many people looked back at their own doorframes and imagined adding a human head on top...
Oh man, at this height, for some shorter apartments, it would almost touch the ceiling!
Suddenly, it seemed understandable that Cabrein had failed.
But well, even though Cabrein failed...
We still hope that Wang Shen can succeed!
Almost every Chinese viewer thought this way, and then, they saw Abdallah also fail at the 2.38-meter height. It was only when it was the turn of the neutral Russian athlete Dunasev, who had been in exceptional form this year, that he successfully cleared the 2.38-meter bar on his first attempt.
"Dunasev...!" Shao Minyi's voice sounded somewhat tense, then he sighed, "It should be said that he truly deserves the title of this year's world-best performance creator. Dunasev's jump at 2.38 meters was clean and perfect. He is currently the only athlete who has a 100% success rate at this height. Now we will have to see our athlete Wang Shen, whether he can maintain a perfect performance under such pressure and difficulty and clear the bar!"
With a pause, Shao Minyi continued, "If Wang Shen can smoothly clear the bar in one go, then he is very likely to secure at least a silver medal in the men's high jump, and even... there might be hope for the gold!"
Not only Shao Minyi and Li Sen thought this way, but in the audience seats, Jiang Wentao and Li Mingzhuo had already nervously stood up, waiting for Wang Shen's next jump.
As Wang Shen stood at the starting line, everyone's expectations were directly locked onto him.
Before the starting line, Wang Shen was still rubbing his wrist, his eyes full of ambition as he looked toward the bar.
The timekeeper at the starting position was conducting the final countdown. This time, there was no impatience in his voice as before - he had probably understood that this Chinese athlete was going to make his jump at the last moment.
Was he enjoying... the thrill of challenging the sky in this state of extreme tension?
The timekeeper felt that he couldn't understand these things, but he understood that in this world, especially in sports, there were many geniuses that were difficult to comprehend. These geniuses often had some eccentricities - and this Chinese athlete in front of him was probably no exception.
So, under the watchful eye of the timekeeper, as the time was about to reach its limit, Wang Shen once again started like a cheetah, and to everyone's gaze, once again... successfully cleared the bar!
At the starting point, the timekeeper, watching Wang Shen clear the bar, even felt as if Wang Shen's leaping body had crossed the stars in the sky.
So agile, so effortless... so filled with the beauty of power and the limits.
"Success!!!" Li Sen's excited voice directly came through the live broadcast, "At a height of 2 meters and 38 centimeters! Tonight, Wang Shen has successfully refreshed his personal best in the high jump. With this achievement, Wang Shen is very likely to secure a silver medal!"
As Wang Shen stood up after flipping over, his gaze swept over the few remaining opponents on the field. He could clearly see the fear in their eyes towards him. In his eyes, there was nothing but a sky full of stars, as well as the ambition and desire to continue challenging higher heights.
In the audience seats, Jiang Wentao's eyes began to fill with expectations - he had successfully cleared the 2.38 meters in one go, and Wang Shen's state seemed far from reaching his limit!
So... could he succeed at 2.40 meters next?
Originally, before tonight's competition, the Athletic Center had marked the men's high jump as a potential for the gold, but it was a very uncertain possibility. Yet now...
Jiang Wentao suddenly felt that this possibility of winning the gold might not be as unattainable as they had thought!
On the field, Wang Shen's successful jump undoubtedly brought immense pressure on Cabrein and Abdallah. The pressure that was initially on the three athletes who all cleared the 2.36 meters bar in one go now shifted to these two.
At the height of 2.38 meters, both Cabrein and Abdallah failed on their second attempt. During the third attempt, Cabrein failed again, eventually being eliminated after three failures.
Abdallah, under the watchful eyes of Dunasev and Wang Shen, gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength for his final attempt. Finally, he broke through his limits and successfully cleared the 2.38-meter bar as well.
However, at this stage, Abdallah was also aware that unless he could absolutely outperform the other two competitors at the subsequent height, he would most likely miss out on the gold medal.
After Abdallah's successful attempt, the bar's height was raised once again to an astonishing 2.40 meters.
Among the three athletes on the field, only Dunasev had a formal competition record of 2.40 meters so far this year. Both Wang Shen and Abdallah had yet to achieve a 2.40-meter record in public competitions.
Abdallah was the first to take the challenge, but after barely clearing the 2.38-meter height, he completely failed at the 2.40-meter mark.
Following him was Dunasev from Russia.
However, even though Dunasev had already jumped over 2.40 meters within this year, he was struggling at this height, especially after the high-intensity challenges in the previous rounds, which had depleted a significant amount of his energy.
The current 2.40 meters made him hesitate, and perhaps it was this hesitation that caused Dunasev's first attempt to result in failure.
After Abdallah and Dunasev both failed to clear the 2.40-meter height, the opportunity finally fell into Wang Shen's hands. If he could successfully clear the 2.40-meter height in this attempt, it was highly possible that the Olympic gold medal in the men's high jump would be his.
But...
Was it possible?
As Wang Shen approached the starting position, it was the same timekeeper again. He announced the beginning of the countdown. After the announcement, the timekeeper occasionally stole glances at Wang Shen, speculating in his mind whether this terrifying mad genius from China would once again choose to wait until the very last moment before starting his jump at the 2.40-meter height.
In his mind, the timekeeper thought that if it were him, he would never dare to do something like that. But...
He wasn't the crazy genius standing before him.
This madman, indeed, once again waited until his preparation time was almost exhausted before starting his sprint from the starting point of the run-up. Then... he launched his leap toward the 2.40-meter bar.
Would he succeed this time?
The timekeeper watched the Chinese athlete in front of him, only to see him planting his foot, rotating his body, and soaring... clearing the bar!!!
In front of television screens across the country, all the viewers were left bewildered for a moment at the sight of Wang Shen clearing the bar, and then their scalps started to tingle, followed by an outburst of excitement as they leapt up from their chairs and sofas at home!!!
"He did it!!!"
"He did it!!!"
The voice of Shao Minyi was thoroughly hoarse with excitement. "In the first attempt at the 2.40-meter height, Wang Shen successfully cleared it!!! Wang Shen has successfully once again broken his personal record, and at the same time, has broken the 36-year-old national record for men's high jump in China!!!"
"This is a miraculous leap, and this leap very likely helped Wang Shen secure the Olympic gold medal in the men's high jump!!!"
In the spectator stands, Chinese fans were already waving their flags frantically, while Jiang Wentao swung his arm fiercely, clenching his fist, too exhilarated to put into words.
The track and field team, at this moment, had most likely secured the first gold medal for track and field at this Olympics!!
On the field, Abdallah and Dunasev, upon seeing Wang Shen once again successfully clear the 2.40-meter bar, both felt a thud in their hearts. The immense pressure had instantly shifted onto their shoulders.
Indeed, as Shao Minyi had said, Wang Shen's jump had essentially secured his first gold in track and field!
However, neither Abdallah nor Dunasev were easily willing to give up. In their second attempt, both of them made all-out efforts to clear the 2.40-meter height, but they still failed.
In the third attempt, Abdallah failed once again and was eliminated, while Dunasev chose to pass on the jump—he was planning to directly challenge the 2.42-meter height!
Yet, his strategy failed as well. At the 2.42-meter height, Dunasev failed, and Wang Shen, once again, successfully cleared the bar.
When Dunasev failed, he originally thought that this Chinese competitor would choose to give up. However, this madman from China unexpectedly successfully challenged the 2.42-meter height, breaking the season's world record previously set by Dunasev.
With this, the men's high jump final at the Tokyo Olympics concluded, and the Chinese athlete Wang Shen secured today's Olympic gold medal with a season's best of 2.42 meters.
—---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 264 - After the High Jump Competition & Interview & 100-Meter Final Imminent
"Gold medal!!!"
"It's the gold medal!!!"
"Our country's men's high jump athlete, Wang Shen, in tonight's Tokyo Olympics men's high jump final, broke the men's high jump record that had been sealed for 36 years with a height of 2.42 meters, raising the national record by 3 centimeters in the past 36 years, and also clinched the men's high jump Olympic gold medal tonight with this achievement!!!"
"This is the first gold medal our country's athletes have won in the track and field events since the July 30th athletics schedule. At the same time, Wang Shen's performance is also the current season's world-best result in men's high jump!!!"
After the official end of the competition and the players' scores were displayed on the big screen, Shao Minyi officially announced Wang Shen's achievement tonight with an extremely excited and vigorous voice!
"Congratulations to Wang Shen, this is also Wang Shen's first personal Olympic gold medal!!!"
In the audience stands, since Wang Shen cleared the 2.40-meter height, the smile on Jiang Wentao's face had not disappeared, and Li Mingzhuo, who usually had a serious expression, also had a smile on his face at the moment.
The once-silent Wang Shen indeed fulfilled his initial promise, completely unleashing his best performance on the Olympic stage!
Before tonight's competition, who would have thought? This athlete, whose best result this season was only 2.33 meters before the Olympic final, would shine so brilliantly in the final of the Olympics!
After successfully challenging the 2.42-meter height, Wang Shen even applied to raise the bar to 2.44 meters. In front of all his teammates and the audience at the scene, he made three consecutive attempts to challenge the 2.44-meter bar. In the second attempt, his body had even successfully cleared the bar, but due to physical exhaustion, he couldn't control his posture over the bar, resulting in the bar unfortunately falling.
Nevertheless, his performance tonight was already brilliant and legendary enough!
This athlete, who had been unable to shake off the title of "eternal second place" in the country for a period of time, showed his ambition and determination to the world audience on the Olympic stage tonight.
In his eyes, there seemed to be no fear of failure. He only possessed a desire and pursuit of the extreme heights.
Failed to meet the 2.44-meter challenge?
It didn't matter.
Anyone could see from the footage the look in Wang Shen's eyes, the calm conviction hidden under the waves of ambition. Even though he failed this time, he was certain that one day he would be able to cross the seemingly insurmountable peak.
In the country, in the live broadcast room of the sports channel, the audience had gone completely crazy at this moment. Everyone was running around, celebrating, and excited beyond control.
"This is great, really great!!"
The smile on Jiang Wentao's face couldn't stop. Watching a staff member go to drape the national flag over Wang Shen and have him celebrate around the field, Jiang Wentao simply got up from his seat and went to the front of the athlete's area. When Wang Shen came to the front of the Chinese athlete's area, not only the Chinese audience at the scene was excitedly cheering, but Jiang Wentao also shouted loudly in Wang Shen's direction—Well done!!!
The domestic public opinion in China had already released various exciting and eye-catching topics about Wang Shen's championship.
——《After Thirty-Six Years, China's Men's High Jump Record Finally Breaks New Ground!》——《2.42 Meters!! Chinese Athlete Wang Shen Refreshes This Year's Best World High Jump Performance at Tokyo Olympic Stadium and Wins the Gold!!!》——《Chinese Athlete Wang Shen Secures China's First Track and Field Gold Tonight!!!》
The sports media from various quarters naturally focused on Wang Shen's actual high jump performance, but the coverage of Wang Shen's achievements tonight extended far beyond just these sports media outlets.
From the screenshot of Wang Shen's confrontational expression being turned into a gif and posted on Weibo, to the topic of "#WangShen'sHighJumpLooks#" being pushed to the top 20 hot search results, it took just a short two hours.
Perhaps during the Olympics, athletes were already receiving significant attention, and with the filter-enhanced footage of Wang Shen combined with his excellent looks, any passerby who came across this trending topic wouldn't mind sharing it and complimenting his appearance.
Soon after, on the Weibo trending list, in addition to the "#WangShen'sHighJumpLooks#" topic, the "#WangShenWinsOlympicGoldinMen'sHighJump#" topic directly parachuted onto the trending list, as the official promotional campaign pushed it to the top of the page.
Thus, the originally indifferent passersby suddenly merged with the audience who had been following the Olympic-related topics.
The former group, who occasionally paid attention to the results of the games during the Olympics, were all astonished when they saw the topic about Wang Shen's victory:
【Wait, what?! Oh my God, did I just see what I think I saw? Isn't he the handsome high jumper who looks like an idol from the entertainment industry? So, he's not just a high jumper but also an Olympic champion?!】
【Wow, who is this godlike guy? Handsome and an Olympic gold medalist???】
【=口= I'm impressed. I'm sold within a second. Can someone give me all the information about this Wang Shen guy within 5 minutes??】
【Upstairs, Wang Shen, 22 years old, 192 cm tall, one of the twin stars of Chinese men's high jump... But after tonight, he's probably going to be the sole king _(:3)∠_. Check out our Shen bro. Young age, amazing results, national record, he's the first! Guys, it's a good investment. Buy in early!!!】
【?! Jimei, how long has it been? We already have a catchy slogan???】
Apart from the group of viewers who were initially purely interested in Wang Shen's appearance, there was another group of spectators who were originally just watching the competition. They also noticed the trending topics related to Wang Shen's appearance.
【??? What the heck, what's this? Isn't this Brother Shen? He looks so handsome in this picture!】
【Friend, hasn't Wang Shen always looked like this? Why are you acting like you're seeing his face clearly for the first time?】
【Oh, no, today's gif of Wang Shen is different from his usual state. He usually appears more reserved and doesn't show up in front of the media much. You know how sports journalists take photos, right? They must have taken his appearance while he was clearing the bar. Can you see his face in that photo? Plus, today, Wang Shen was like a fierce tiger descending the mountain. That momentum was completely different from usual. Add to that the fact that this shot finally shows his face clearly. Isn't that why the effect came out immediately?】
Due to these trending topics, as well as the impact of the previous trending topic about Wang Shen's appearance and the subsequent trending topic about his Olympic gold medal, the discussion about Wang Shen's victory in the men's high jump tonight reached a new high.
As a result, various gossip media outlets on the internet were stirred into action. They sensed that within the cycle of Olympic fever, they had found a fresh gossip topic in Wang Shen. Upon seeing Wang Shen's victory, they immediately realized how much craziness they could stir up with this topic.
For a moment, various gossip media outlets joined the fray. Discussions on the internet about tonight's men's high jump quickly expanded beyond Wang Shen's performance and appearance to include both his achievements and his looks.
——《Revealing the Heavenly Appearance of Athletes in the Sports Circle—Yes, we're talking about tonight's Olympic champion Wang Shen!》
——《The Chinese Track and Field National Team, Hiding Countless Handsome Guys—These are the fairy boys who balance appearance and strength!》
——《Shock!! The Gentle Guy Who Advertises xx Home Products and xx Cooking Oil is actually Su Bai, the Great Devil Coach of the 400-meter sprint in the Chinese Track and Field Team?!》
——《The Track and Field Team has more than just Wang Shen as a treasure. Let's get to know the new generation of hurdles king in China, Cui Luoheng!》
That night, the track and field enthusiasts and those following the Olympic events were excited, as were the casual onlookers. The level of attention on the Olympic topics, which had seemed somewhat weak due to the Olympics reaching the mid-term, suddenly returned to its peak on that night.
At the Olympic Stadium in Jingdong,
The men's high jump final had already concluded, and after Wang Shen circled the field draped in the national flag, he left the field and was then intercepted by domestic journalists for a special interview.
The award ceremony would take place after all the competitions had concluded, and on the field, as the men's high jump competition spanned a relatively long time, when the men's high jump final ended, only the final race of the men's 100-meter sprint was left.
In the sports channel's live studio, Shao Minyi and Li Sen were still discussing the exciting men's high jump final that had just taken place.
"It's really been... so long since I've seen such an exciting high jump competition," Shao Minyi exclaimed.
"Yes," Li Sen nodded in agreement, "Tonight's competition, in fact, the order of Wang Shen's appearance was very unfavorable for him. And in the first half of the competition, as everyone should have seen, the three players, Dunasev, Abdallah, and Cabrein, all had very strong performances. With all three of them maintaining a one-time clearance rate of one hundred percent, Wang Shen appeared last, so he was actually in a reactive position."
"That's right," Shao Minyi also nodded, "Just now during the live broadcast, the audience must have been able to hear that both I and Old Li were very nervous about Wang Shen's condition. After all, under that kind of pressure, athletes are prone to make some mistakes due to fluctuations in their mental state."
"Fortunately, Wang Shen is very mentally strong. With the support of his stable mentality, he withstood the pressure from the three powerful opponents and easily won this Olympic gold medal in the competition!"
"Yes, unfortunately, the only regret is that Wang Shen couldn't clear the 2.44-meter height in the end. Currently, the men's high jump record in Asia is still held by Abdallah's predecessor, a player from Qatar, who set a record of 2.43 meters six years ago. If Wang Shen's second jump at 2.44 meters just now had cleared the bar smoothly, then he would have broken not only the men's high jump record in China tonight, but also the men's high jump record in Asia."
"2.42 meters and 2.43 meters, Wang Shen's result is only 1 centimeter away from the Asian record, which may be the biggest regret of tonight."
Shao Minyi did not agree with Li Sen's statement. "I think that Wang Shen didn't actually leave any regrets tonight. What he left behind is an achievement that is destined to be surpassed by himself in the future!"
After hearing this, Li Sen paused for a moment, then smiled and agreed with Shao Minyi's words.
At the exit passage, the reporters from the sports channel had already stopped Wang Shen and were interviewing him. What were his feelings about breaking the national record and winning the Olympic gold medal?
Usually, when athletes are interviewed about their feelings on winning, they would express their sense of honor, happiness for bringing glory to their country, affirmation of their own strength and long-term training, and so on.
The reporters originally thought that Wang Shen would give a similar answer.
However, after the interview microphone was handed to Wang Shen, he smiled and said, "My feelings... are quite personal."
Reporter: ?
At this moment, Wang Shen seemed to have put away the ambition and fierceness he had released on the field, returning to the usual smiling and low-profile ordinary player with high emotional intelligence.
He looked at the reporter, pondered for a moment, and still smiling, said, "I think my grandfather, seeing me bring glory to the country, would be very happy, right?"
The reporters were initially a little nervous, worried that Wang Shen might say something inappropriate during the interview. Hearing that Wang Shen was still bringing glory to the country, and that his elderly family members also expected him to bring glory to the country, there should be no problem.
The reporter smiled and asked, "Tonight was your final, and your grandfather must have been watching your match on TV, right?"
Upon hearing this, Wang Shen continued to smile and blinked, then said, "Hmm, I think he must have been watching me."
The rest of the interview was quite simple, mostly about expectations for Wang Shen's future performance, hoping that he could achieve better results in future matches and break the Asian record soon.
Because the news of Wang Shen's championship that night was so huge, once this interview was completed, it was immediately pushed to the official website of the sports channel, and the interview was also broadcasted during the Olympic live coverage on the sports channel.
However, as the interview was playing, suddenly a prominent sports influencer replied under this interview with a sentence: 【If I'm not mistaken, he passed away two years ago...】
?
The audience who were initially enjoying Wang Shen's interview and admiring his performance were suddenly shaken upon seeing this comment.
What does this mean?
Soon, the sports influencer posted a small message:【Around two years ago during the Asian Games, Wang Shen's grandfather passed away. The old man couldn't witness today's Olympic scene, but from the looks of Wang Shen's sentiments, his grandfather must have had great expectations for his achievements. So he had such emotions. Regardless, I believe Wang Shen's performance today would have made his late grandfather very happy!】
On the internet, although not many people saw this comment, many of those who did had their eyes reddening.
In China, at Wang Shen's uncle's house,
Tonight was Wang Shen's Olympic final, and they certainly wouldn't miss it. While they were watching the competition, a framed photograph was also placed on the table in the living room, facing the television screen.
At the moment when Wang Shen won the gold medal, his uncle's family couldn't contain their excitement. But after watching the post-match interview, they all couldn't help but shed tears.
"This child... still has that stubborn temperament," Wang Shen's aunt wiped the tears from the corner of her eyes with a tissue.
Beside her, Wang Shen's uncle's eyes had also reddened, but his strong masculinity kept his tears from falling.
The meaning behind Wang Shen's words was something they understood the best. Two years ago, at the Asian Games in Jakarta, Wang Shen didn't achieve the most ideal result. In the year leading up to that, his performance had not been particularly impressive compared to now, even though he was known as one of the twin stars.
During that Asian Games, it was also the time when Wang Shen's grandfather fell seriously ill and passed away. In order not to affect Wang Shen's performance, the old man had instructed them not to tell Wang Shen about his condition during the competition. Wang Shen was out there competing for the glory of the nation, after all.
When the family informed Wang Shen of this news after the Asian Games, they saw for the first time the child who had always been stubborn, swallowing all the pain and pressure in his heart, crying in such a heartbreaking manner.
Two years had passed. During this time, they had continued to care for their nephew, watching his achievements improve with each passing day, breaking record after record. They were all happy for him and had thought that he had already moved on from the shadows of the past.
But...
The child still had that stubborn personality. He always kept the old man's words in his heart — he was out there fighting for the glory of the nation.
Watching the interview, with the child's calm smile, Wang Shen's uncle quietly wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and then spoke to the photo on the table, "Dad, can you see this? Ah Shen is out there bringing glory to the country!"
In the sports channel's studio, Shao Minyi and Li Sen were unaware of the various events happening off-camera. At this moment, their attention was fixed on the current track.
In the final of the men's 100-meter sprint, the athletes on the track were already prepared, and Fang Yu's figure was among them.
"Fang Yu! The leading figure in the men's 100 meters in our country. I believe the audience in front of the television is already familiar with Fang Yu. Previously, Fang Yu set an Asian men's 100-meter sprint record of 9.90 seconds at the World Championships, reclaiming the record from the hands of a naturalized athlete for the Asian race!"
"At present, in the Asian arena, Fang Yu is undoubtedly the number one Asian athlete. His achievements and strength are the benchmark for the current Asian men's 100-meter project!"
"In tonight's arena, in the previous men's 100-meter semifinals, Fang Yu did not disappoint. He smoothly advanced to the finals with a time of 9.97 seconds, marking the first time in history that a East Asian athlete has made it into the Olympic men's 100-meter sprint final!"
"The track of the men's 100-meter final at the Athletics World Championships and the Olympics has long been known as a forbidden zone for East Asian athletes. Fang Yu, however, has created two miracles based on his own abilities, leaving his mark on both these stages. From now on, the forbidden zone is no longer off-limits! We now have a sprinter who can break into this zone!"
Shao Minyi and Li Sen introduced to the audience Fang Yu's previous achievements and the significance behind them. The radiance behind Fang Yu's achievements was almost the dream that had shone for several generations of athletes in China over the past decades.
Although the men's high jump final was already thrilling enough, when Jiang Wentao saw Fang Yu standing at the starting line of the men's 100-meter sprint final, his eyes suddenly reddened.
Athletes, especially the older generation of Chinese track and field athletes, couldn't help but feel excited to see Fang Yu in this position, standing at the starting line of the Olympic final.
China's track and field events were once very challenging, especially in the sprinting events. Many international experts used to say that it was impossible for Asian people to run under ten seconds, that the ten-second barrier was the limit for them.
The natural physical talents and qualities of Chinese people couldn't be compared with those of black and white people, and what China lacked was not just natural genetic physical qualities."
The sprint project in China started late, and for a long time, the country was lagging behind in sprinting techniques and scientific concepts related to sprinting.
The track and field community in China poured in the efforts of several generations before gradually struggling in the men's 100-meter sprint event. However, even so, many of the coaching ideas in the country still failed to keep up with the latest standards.
Just like the 400-meter sprint project in China, various coaching concepts were outdated, and the training standards were uneven. Did the track and field community in China not want to address this?
No, they were simply incapable of doing so.
The initial idea of China's track and field project was to first put all efforts into boosting the men's 100-meter sprint, then gradually infiltrate the experience and technology into the 200-meter sprint, 400-meter sprint, and other directions.
However, if this plan were to be strictly followed, the time for the explosion of Chinese sprinting results would have been pushed back for many more years.
The severe shortage of technical talent in sprinting in China was a significant reason why the national team quickly recognized and promoted Su Bai when he emerged.
The sprinting project in China had experienced how dark and difficult it was. At this moment, seeing Fang Yu standing on the Olympic final stage that had been the dream of all track and field athletes was truly inspiring.
Fang Yu, come on!
Almost all the track and field enthusiasts sitting in front of their televisions at this moment had their expectations focused on Fang Yu.
At the starting line on the track, Fang Yu's eyes were also tightly fixed on the direction of the finish line - he had successfully made it to the Olympic final stage, and what awaited him was the arena he had dreamt of countless times!
Just in the recent men's high jump final, he saw the intensely ambitious gaze in Wang Shen's eyes. Now, crouching at the starting line, the intense heartbeat and the desire to surpass his limits were trembling violently in his heart!
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