Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 10/18/2023
Chapter 293: Foreign Media's Discussion & Qiu Wen's Strange Focus
On the evening of August 6th, in the first group of the men's 4x400m relay preliminary, the teams that successfully secured direct qualification came from Jamaica, Belgium, and China, respectively. However, due to the erratic performance of the second leg athletes from various countries during the competition, the results of the teams in the first group were generally inferior to those in the second group. As a result, the two additional qualifying spots ultimately went to the teams in the second group of the preliminary.
In this race, as predicted by Shao Minyi and others before the competition, the Chinese men's 4x400m relay team indeed easily secured a spot in the final. However, the process of their qualification still surprised many.
Even during the post-match review process, many commentators from sports public accounts clearly stated that the key victory for the Chinese team was established during the second leg.
The reason for this established victory was obviously due to the other teams' apprehension of Qiu Wen.
【An unbelievable disruptive player!】
This was the unanimous evaluation of Qiu Wen by more and more sports commentators after the relay race that evening.
On the athletics kingdom forum, in the late night hours, someone reposted a summary of evaluations from foreign media, which came from various authoritative athletics commentary outlets outside of China.
【The second leg athletes in the men's 4x400m relay preliminary first group in Tokyo Olympics collectively lost their edge? Peering into the reasons for the decline of these athletes, you can pinpoint an incredible and unprecedented player!】
【A formidable disruptive player who makes Fernandez even subconsciously enhance control over himself, as confirmed by Fernandez himself.】
【Can anyone stop him? Or will all the world's men's 400m sprinters now be affected by him?】
These evaluations from foreign media almost depicted Qiu Wen as a glitch in the system, as if with his presence, other athletes experiencing issues in their form would be affected by this glitch, leading to various mistakes.
The original poster who shared this post expressed his feelings at the end of the post: 【These foreigners probably don't know that he's not some glitch, he's just an unrestrained goofball that no one can rein in.】
Chuckle.
All the netizens who were enjoying the earlier comments from foreign media couldn't help but burst into laughter upon seeing the final comment from the original poster.
3rd comment:【Hahaha, don't say that, the goofy dog running around, what a sight!】
10th comment: 【Sigh, these foreign media, I feel like their faces should be turning green when analyzing the goofball. Who would've thought that the goofball really had such a strong disruptive force?】
19th comment: 【Don't even mention it, I just saw a compilation of clips on the internet. It's a collection of different countries' live broadcasts before the race. I don't know who had the idea, but the uploader specifically cut the expressions of the athletes looking at Qiu Wen. In the preparation area, those athletes from the second lane, oh my... look at their expressions, that's true green envy. (Attached link)】
37th comment: 【Hahaha, my goodness, I came back after enjoying the video edit. I have to say, the goofball is truly something. A human weapon of destruction, in one of the clips, it's clear that after Fraser turned to confirm that the first leg of the Chinese team wasn't the goofball, he visibly let out a sigh of relief even from a distance.】
Under this post in the kingdom of athletics, the athletics fans were discussing with great enthusiasm. It was unclear why, in what was supposed to be an extremely tense competition, once Qiu Wen was involved, the tension seemed to dissipate slightly.
That evening, apart from the good news of the successful qualification of the men's 4x400m relay team, in the women's javelin final, Lin Weiran also performed exceptionally well, although she ultimately didn't win the gold medal, she still brought home a silver medal.
For Lin Weiran, although she still felt some regret about this result, the audience continued to wholeheartedly feel proud of her.
In just one day on August 6th, the Chinese track and field team added another gold and two silvers. Up to now, including the medals obtained in events such as women's discus throw, women's shot put, men's high jump, 110-meter hurdles, men's 100-meter sprint, and men's 400-meter sprint, the Chinese track and field national team has already garnered 4 golds, 3 silvers, and 2 bronzes. This can be considered a qualitative leap compared to the 2 golds, 2 silvers, and 2 bronzes achieved in the Rio Olympics in track and field events.
During these days, the faces of the staff of the national track and field team were filled with joyful smiles. Groups such as the throwing team and long-distance race, which were traditionally strong for the Chinese team, were happy but relatively calm. On the other hand, the excitement index of the staff in the short sprint and jump events was beyond measure.
Just look at it, among these 4 gold medals, the throwing team and long-distance race each had one, and the remaining two belonged to the short sprint and jump events.
The men's high jump won the Olympic gold for the first time in history, and in the 110-meter hurdles, the gold was won again after 16 years. Additionally, there were the two bronzes in the 100-meter and 400-meter sprints, which almost directly shattered the racial gap. Even Wu Yi in the men's 200-meter sprint broke the 20-second barrier and refreshed the Asian record.
In this Tokyo Olympics, the short sprint and jump events could be said to have stolen the show, and if you really asked the members of the national team, almost all of this limelight was somewhat related to Su Bai.
People couldn't help but recall the discussions about Su Bai's age on the internet these past two days. After many people talked about it, they couldn't help but sigh in their hearts - heroes really do emerge when they are young.
After the events of August 6th ended, the focus shifted to August 7th. At this point, the Olympic competition had already reached its final moments, and on August 8th, there was only one event left, the final of the men's marathon. In reality, for most athletes and spectators, August 7th was the final moment of the competition.
In the schedule for August 7th, the morning session featured the women's marathon final held in Sapporo, while at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, the competitions for that day were scheduled for the evening, including the women's high jump, women's 10,000 meters, men's javelin throw, men's 1500 meters, and the finals of the women's and men's 4x400 meters relay.
In this series of events on August 7th, the only event related to the Chinese team was the men's 4x400 meters relay final, which belonged to the sprint group.
Online discussions about the men's 4x400 meters relay from the previous day were still heating up as the final on August 7th was about to arrive once again.
On the afternoon of August 7th, Su Bai once again cooked for the members of the men's 4x400 meters relay team who were going to participate in the final that night. He prepared a nutritious and delicious yet easily digestible meal for them to replenish their energy.
Having the rare opportunity of enjoying a whole day of Su Bai's cooking, Qiu Wen happily wolfed down his portion after receiving his nutritious meal. This guy, who was known on the internet as having 'devil-like abilities,' couldn't help but let out a few happy howls with his bowl in hand.
"If only I could eat meals cooked by Xiao Bai every day," Qiu Wen muttered to himself, already planning ahead for his future.
Hearing Qiu Wen's muttering, Zhang Jiale nodded earnestly. Su Bai's culinary skills were indeed exceptional. Exaggerating a bit, every time he ate a meal prepared by Su Bai, an image of the delicious dishes from the anime "True Cooking Master Boy" automatically popped up in his mind.
Holding his bowl, Zhang Jiale couldn't help but say, "I really envy Su Coach's future partner. They can enjoy Su Coach's cooking regularly."
"Ah, yes," Qiu Wen said, biting his chopsticks with an indignant expression. Then, he looked at his bowl and hesitated, "Otherwise, should I try to pursue Xiao Bai a bit?"
Zhang Jiale: ...?
Nope.
Zhang Jiale really wanted to ask, "Are you trying to pursue Coach Su just for free meals and drinks? Aren't you afraid Coach Su will scold you to death?"
Zhang Ziyi, Li Junhao, and the nearby Guo Dun, Wang Shen, and others, sitting across from Qiu Wen, all turned their gaze toward him after hearing his muttering. Qiu Wen was taken aback by the attention his muttering had garnered. He looked at his teammates, about to ask why everyone was reacting so strongly. However, he noticed that at another table, Cui Luoheng was frowning, intercepting Su Bai, who had just returned to his seat with his meal.
Cui Luoheng not only stopped Su Bai but also took the tray from his hands and placed it on the table. He then embraced Su Bai around the waist.
Qiu Wen: ????
Everyone: ... !!!
Qiu Wen looked at Cui Luoheng's actions, feeling even more puzzled. Then he saw Cui Luoheng turn his gaze toward him.
Cui Luoheng: "Mine!"
He said as he enveloped Su Bai in his arms.
Qiu Wen & Everyone: ... !!!
No one expected such a sensational piece of news to emerge during their lunch. Even Pei Jin'an, who was also present at the lunch, showed no reaction, maintaining a calm and composed demeanor while looking in the direction of Su Bai.
Jiang Wentao, sitting with Pei Jin'an, was baffled. "This... Ah Heng and Xiao Bai, are they together?!"
Pei Jin'an calmly nodded.
Jiang Wentao was momentarily stunned. "This can't be. They're a coach and an athlete, and there's such an age difference..."
Before the phrase "so much" could even be uttered, Jiang Wentao also realized that Su Bai was only 25 years old this year, just three years older than Cui Luoheng.
Such a pairing between a coach and an athlete had never happened in the national team before, leaving many people momentarily bewildered.
Seeing the stunned expressions of those around him, Su Bai raised his hand to rub Cui Luoheng's head and then gently said, "Alright, A Luo, let's eat."
Qiu Wen: !!!
"Ah, so, A Heng, you are the rascal who sneaks a step and will often get to taste Xiao Bai's cooking in the future?!"
...
...
_(:3)∠)_
Upon hearing Qiu Wen's indignant question, many people thought he was going to say something else, but then...
Is that it?
Is that it?!
Many people wanted to ask Qiu Wen if his focus was a bit off.
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Chapter 294: Men's 4x400m Final
Cui Luoheng and Su Bai were actually together!
Just as everyone was shocked by this news for 3 seconds, they were once again stunned by Qiu Wen's thought process.
While Qiu Wen turned to mock Cui Luoheng for leaving the masses and betraying them, Wang Shen pressed his fist to his lips and patted his head to suppress his laughter.
"It's okay, with A Heng around, it will be more convenient for us to trick him into treating us."
?
???
The surrounding onlookers watched as Qiu Wen, who had sparked the "Cui Su love affair" topic, was led astray by the simple mention of "good food in the future." In an instant, everyone turned to look at Cui Luoheng and Su Bai, who had already sat back down and started eating, and then back at Qiu Wen, who continued to enjoy his nutrition meal.
Many of the onlookers were bewildered: Wait, is this topic so easily let go of? So, it turns out that we're the only ones who were truly shocked in the end?
The members of the relay team, apart from Qiu Wen, were also a bit confused, but after this revelation, they recalled Cui Luoheng, the 110-meter hurdles athlete with thick eyebrows and big eyes, who often lingered around their 400-meter training ground. Although it was because he was personally coached by Su Bai...
Anyway, Cui Luoheng did indeed have feelings for Su Bai, and during the usual training process, there might have been some behaviors that other team members found unnatural. Now that the truth behind those behaviors was finally revealed, veterans like Zhang Ziyi and Guo Dun also had a sudden realization of "so that's how it is."
This otherwise ordinary lunch suddenly became extraordinary in the midst of this astonishing gossip, but everyone could only privately express their amazement and dared not say much in public.
That afternoon, a few individuals on Weibo, verified as "Athletics National Team Staff," made quite a bit of noise on their personal accounts.
【Ah ah ah, shocking gossip, it stunned me!】
【Never thought I'd miss it when I went to eat lunch a bit late.】
【I was lucky enough to witness it on the scene, but I just want to say to the husky: Is that it? You can think of this in your head?】
These private accounts didn't have much traffic, mostly having only two or three hundred followers. However, within these followers, there were more or less some sports influencers, who were primarily from the field of instant news and thus had a keen sense for various gossip. After seeing the similar messages posted by the national team staff on their homepages around the same time, they sensed that some internal gossip had emerged within the national team.
Upon closer inspection, these staff members were all part of the contingent that had gone to the Tokyo Olympics, so the gossip immediately took on a new direction.
Did the Track and Field National Team in Tokyo have some gossip?
This thought had just crossed the minds of the influencers, and they were a bit concerned that any gossip from Tokyo might affect the ongoing competition. However, upon looking at the content of the staff's posts, it was clear that they were in a relaxed state when posting on Weibo.
So...
What exactly happened?
As a result, many sports influencers immediately discreetly reached out to their familiar friends in the national team to try to find out what had happened.
Thus, the public revelation of the relationship between Cui Luoheng and Su Bai suddenly became semi-public within the sports circle.
Netizens on the internet were still completely unaware of the "gossip" that had emerged in the Track and Field National Team in the Olympic Village in Tokyo. Most people were simply looking forward to the final of the men's 4x400m relay later that evening.
Perhaps because of the impact caused by Qiu Wen in the previous day's competition, many netizens in today's related topic discussions were humorously mentioning Qiu Wen.
【Although it's the final of the 4x400m relay tonight, I don't know why, but just thinking that the Husky will still be there tonight, I'm not so worried anymore.】
【Hilarious, the Husky is truly a killer on the track. I can't wait to see the scene of the Husky causing mischief on the track.】
【? Haha, don't be like that. Although the Husky's presence is indeed disruptive to others, in reality, he is running very seriously!】
(:3)∠)
That's right, today, a foreign sports commentator, after observing Qiu Wen's various performances, suggested that Qiu Wen was not intentionally disturbing his opponents during the competition. He was simply very earnestly engaged in his own race. It's just that his rhythm had a significant difference compared to the rhythm of the other athletes around him, and his own infectious rhythm had a strong impact, causing the other rhythm-sensitive athletes to be greatly affected.
When some bored onlookers brought this comment back to the domestic sphere and translated it, Chinese netizens reading the remarks from this sports commentator seemingly gleaned a distinct sense of helplessness.
After all, compared to deliberately disturbing opponents, being inadvertently influenced just because the opponent is earnestly competing... it seemed that the latter was more pitiful in any case, right?
In the evening, the members of the track and field team had all arrived at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium. The final race of the men's 4x400m relay was about to take place here, which was the last event for the Chinese team other than the men's marathon.
In the sports channel's online live room, the public chat was particularly active tonight.
Perhaps because this was the final 400m sprint-related event of this Olympics, many viewers, with a desire not to miss out, had calculated the timing to cheer for the 400m sprint athletes in this final event of the Olympics.
Of course, the active chat had another significant factor - for tonight's final, most viewers did not have high hopes for a medal. Therefore, the audience's mood was relaxed, and they were all happily playing with jokes in the chat. Some were even planning to count how many athletes would be affected by Qiu Wen in the second leg of the race.
Tonight's schedule placed the men's 4x400m relay at the last time slot.
In the sports channel's commentary room, Shao Minyi and Li Sen were introducing one event after another as usual until it was exactly 10 p.m. local time in Tokyo.
Just as the women's 4x400m relay had concluded with the United States, Jamaica, and Poland securing the gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively, the final race was about to begin at the conclusion of the women's 4x400m relay.
On the track, the eight teams for the men's 4x400m relay final had already taken their positions.
Apart from Jamaica, Belgium, and China, the other five teams hailed from the United States, Colombia, Italy, Poland, and Bahrain.
Teams that were typically strong in the relay events like Trinidad and Tobago, France, and the UK failed to qualify for the final due to their underwhelming performances in the heats, as they happened to be in the first heat.
Shao Minyi and Li Sen sounded somewhat amazed while introducing the final list of teams. Although they had mentioned Qiu Wen's rhythm-disrupting abilities several times in various competitions, the impact Qiu Wen had brought in this Olympics was still far-reaching.
As seasoned insiders in the athletics community, Shao Minyi and Li Sen had received word that someone was in the process of writing an article about the impact Qiu Wen had made in this Olympics. In that article, the writer referred to the effect caused by Qiu Wen as the 'Qiu Wen Phenomenon.'
Whether this phenomenon was ultimately good or bad was not yet clear, but some believed that relying solely on a distinctive athlete like Qiu Wen to achieve results might have some adverse implications for the future development of related events. After all, athletes like Qiu Wen were rare and could not be easily replaced. It was unrealistic to expect another athlete of the same type to emerge after Qiu Wen retired.
Despite the various thoughts running through their minds, Shao Minyi and Li Sen remained focused on their live commentary and introductions.
All eight teams' first-leg runners had taken their positions under the audience's gaze. Compared to the semifinals the day before, the Chinese team didn't secure a favorable lane due to their unsatisfactory performance in the preliminaries, ending up in the ninth lane.
The Chinese audience's expressions turned odd upon seeing their team placed in the ninth lane. Even the opponents of the Chinese team seemed displeased at the sight of them being in the ninth lane.
Shao Minyi, with a slight smile, pointed out that for the second-leg runner Qiu Wen, the ninth lane was actually a relatively advantageous position. However, he also emphasized that this was a relay race and not an individual 400-meter sprint. After receiving the baton, Qiu Wen would have to merge with the other runners after the first turn, making the lane less significant for him.
With a more serious tone, Shao Minyi added, "Regardless of the lane or the opponents, we should believe that our Olympic athletes will give their all and fight their best battles. As the competition is about to begin, let us wish them the best performance and ideal results in tonight's race!"
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