Almighty Coach

by Stayrr

How could a poor graduate student without any background or connections become successful? With a coaching system? An upgrade? This is not a computer game, but real life we’re talking about! This will be a fantasy based on reality. Dai Li will fight back against all those who would mock and humiliate him with his astonishing and awe-inspiring training skills. From a nobody he’ll t

7. 193 - 220

Read Almighty Coach - Chapter 193: I Want to Be Stronger online free - Light Novel Full

Chapter 193: I Want to Be Stronger

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Coach Li Xue had once been sprinter, so he was more knowledgeable about speed than Shuren Zhao was. Shuren Zhao could judge athletes' place at the bend, but Li Xue could make direct judgements on a sprinter's speed.

"Yue Zhao is fast!" Li Xue pursed lips, his eyes were shining.

The audience was made up of coaches and athletes. Even though the 200m was not their speciality, they had knowledge on it. As the saying went, "the inexperienced see the appearance, and the experienced appreciate the contents". Yue Zhao's performance had garnered many people's attention.

"That guy took the lead in the beginning. Is that Yue Zhao?"

"I haven't seen him in more than three years. I heard that he retired, and that this is his comeback. I didn't expect that he would still be this strong."

At that moment, Yue Zhao was the first to hit the straight track. Obviously, he was far ahead of the competition.

"He has huge advantage; he will win without a doubt!" Shuren Zhao said with a long sigh. Although the game was still going on, the result was apparent.

Shuren Zhao turned around and said to Li Xue, "Li Xue, you were a sprinter. What do you think of Yue Zhao?"

"He has a nice foundation, and outstanding curve technique. Three years ago, when he was still on our national team, he was a technical player. He has big advantages in the 200m sprint. The only problem is his age; he is 26-years-old, which is older than average. He doesn't have much potential left to be developed. I don't think he is worth developing," said Li Xue.

As Li Xue was speaking, Yue Zhao crossed the finish line first. His time was displayed on the screen.

"20.88 seconds, under 21 seconds. Nice performance," said Shuren Zhao.

"Yeah, such a time is top tier on the national team." Li Xue frowned and considered this for a while, then said, "Maybe we can keep him. In our next phase, we need some high-level ladder players."

...

With a time under 21 seconds, passing the first phase was a sure thing. But to Yue Zhao, it was a reassurance; it had proved that choosing the 200m sprint was the right decision.

But he was not satisfied with this. He hoped to stay till the end, thus he worked even harder.

In the second phase, the number of athletes were reduced, as was time for isolated practice; group training time, however, increased. Almost every morning the athletes gathered together to practice, and in the afternoon they had isolated training based on their own condition.

Group training was a method which could easily showcase differences in ability. Individual training time and events were the same, but the effect varied. Yue Zhao's age was his weakness, so he didn't make much progress when he worked with young athletes.

But every afternoon, when Yue Zhao trained alone with Dai Li, he always made big progress. Dai Li was helped by "top-level coach" benefits, so his training was indeed more effective than the other coaches on the national team. Yue Zhao's ability was improving day by day. Dai Li estimated, according to Yue Zhao's current improving rate, that he had a large possibility of running in under 20.75 seconds.

...

On the void terrace, Dai Li was talking to his parents on the phone.

"Mom, don't worry about me, I have enough clothes; I won't catch a cold," Dai Li said, looking up in the sky. A bright moon was hanging there, but there were no stars.

Dai Li suddenly missed old times, when he had seen starry nights quite often. Now he could only see one or two stars twinkling in the dark at night.

Dai Li looked into the distance again. Even though it was night time, there was still someone on the track.

Who practices so late at night? After ending the conversation with his parents, Dai Li zoomed in on the person using his phone's camera.

It looks like Guohong Niu! Didn't he get enough practice during the daytime? Dai Li thought for a second, then decided to take a look himself.

Dai Li took two bottles of sports drink and walked onto the training field. Seeing that it was indeed Guohong Niu who was focused on training, he immediately walked towards him.

"Guohong Niu, why are you giving yourself extra work so late at night?" Dai Li shouted at Guohong Niu.

Guohong Niu stopped immediately once he recognized Dai Li. He looked at Li embarrassingly. Dai Li threw a bottle of sports drink to Guohong Niu, then pointed at the open space on the side of tracks. The two sat down on the ground.

"Why are you still practicing? When you were in Tsinghua University, you were not this active," Dai Li scoffed at Guohong Niu.

Guohong Niu gulped the drink down, then said, "Coach, I want to be stronger!"

"Stronger?" Dai Li looked at Guohong Niu: "Everybody here feels that they are not strong enough; everyone wants to be stronger."

Guohong Niu took a deep breath. He replied, "I always thought that I was pretty good. In Tsinghua, universities in Huajing City, or even among colleges around the country, I was always the best. But once I got to the national team, I finally realized that there are so many people better than me. A lot of athletes are younger than me, yet still perform better than me!"

Dai Li knew that Guohong Niu was having an identity crisis.

People who were able to attend Tsinghua University were one-in-a-million, and Guohong Niu had been at the top, which meant that he was on the best of the best. It was no wonder he had so much confidence.

But there was a gap between college athletes and professionals. Take a complex sport like basketball, for example; when playing against professionals, the "national number one" player from a university was undoubtedly not as good as someone in a professional league.

Sports like sprinting did not contain much cooperation and tactics; almost all events required individual work. Therefore, the gap between college and professional athletes was smaller. Guohong Niu, the top athlete in university, would probably become a great professional. But he needed sufficient time and work to develop in order to shorten the gap.

Honestly, Guohong Niu's performance was not bad; he was above average on the national team. But compared to the top-level athletes, he still had a long way to go.

Considering these factors, Dai Li comforted Guohong Niu. "This is normal. You are on the national team, where the best athletes in the country gather together. A large number of them began training at seven or eight years old, then went to sports schools as teenagers, and have received professional training since then. Compared to them, your training time is way less."

Dai Li patted Guohong Niu's shoulder and said, "Don't put too much pressure on yourself. You are great! What you need is time; once you put sufficient time into your training, you will become a top-level athlete in this country."

"But Sijie Yang joined in the team with me. His best time during training reached B-level qualifying standards for the Olympics. My time is still only around 10.40 seconds. I'm falling behind."

For the 100m sprint, B-level qualifying standard for the Olympics was 10.28 seconds. This indicated that since arriving here, a 0.1-second gap had been created between Sijie Yang and Guohong Niu.

"Sijie Yang is younger than me, and he was not as good as I was; yet in only six months he has outperformed me," Guohong Niu said, clenching his fists. "Coach, can you help me improve? I want to be stronger!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 194: Qualifying Standard

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li stared at Guohong Niu. He sensed that Guohong Niu was eager to be stronger.

"So far your training load is pretty high. If I give you extra practice, your body may not be able to bear the stress," Dai Li said worriedly.

"I believe I can do it!" said Guohong Niu firmly.

"Let's have additional training for a few days first, then see how everything goes. You can adjust yourself during this period of time," Dai Li agreed, "It's OK if you can't make it. Additional training doesn't fall under regular training, there's no need to be ashamed if you can't hold on until the end."

Guohong Niu said nothing, but his eyes were shining with stubbornness.

"Well, to be honest, it's not necessary to put yourself under so much pressure. Athletic training is a long, gradual process; you have to improve step by step. Nobody can reach the top in a night. You are already on the national team, they won't eliminate you. Don't worry about that."

"I want to go to the Asian Games!" Guohong Niu replied, "I don't want to be an alternate! I want to compete in formal contests!"

"Then hold on!" Dai Li smiled. He knew that Guohong Niu had made his decision. It had not taken any encouragement on Dai Li's part. Why not push this boy a little by offering him additional training in spare time?

Guohong Niu was anxious to outdo the others. Even if Dai Li refused, he would insist on receiving extra training. Dai Li would rather give him a small lesson than let the boy practice alone unprofessionally.

A few days later, the second phase of the Asian Games Training Camp finished. It was finally time for the national team to decide on the participants for the game. In the meeting room, the national team coaches were discussing the final name list.

"Guohong Niu is a college athlete. He started late, but has been working very hard. Recently he has been receiving extra training. From his performance I can see significant progress." Li Xue paused, then said, "In yesterday's assessment, Guohong Niu's time was 10.28 seconds, which just reaches the B-level standard for the Olympics. Usually an athlete with such a performance would be able to go to the Asian Games, but the number of participants is limited. Therefore, I plan to have him be an alternate in the Asian Games," Li Xue finished his speech, sighing pitifully.

Big competitions like the Asian Games were different than individual events. The latter required whoever registered to be the one competing, while the relay race only required group registrations. The participant group submitted the list of names right before the race began.

Generally speaking, the relay race had alternates. If the main force's schedule was too tight, or if any of the main athletes got injured, alternates would substitute in for the athlete. Sometimes there were alternates who specialized in the relay race. So, as an alternate, Guohong Niu's upcoming task would be to prepare for relay race. With his performance, the other coaches had no disagreements over making Guohong Niu an alternate.

"OK, now let's discuss the 200m sprint!" Li Xue paused again, then said, "For the 200m sprint, Jun Xie and Zitao Wei already occupy two spots; the key problem is deciding who should be the last one. l was planning on choosing either Xiong Chu or Wei Zhang, but you all watched the latest in-team examination. We have a dark horse! Yue Zhao's time was 20.78 seconds.

"I know, 20.78 seconds is not outstanding; Xiong Chu and Wei Zhang can also make that time. Moreover, both of them are already members of the national team, while Yue Zhao is from a local team. But I think Yue Zhao has a lot of potential!"

Li Xue continued, "Yue Zhao is 26-years-old. Normally athletes at 26 don't have much potential left. However, during this last examination, his time was 20.88 seconds. There were only twenty days between the first and second tests, yet he improved by 0.1 seconds. I'm surprised by his progress.

"There are still two months before the Asian Games begin. If Yue Zhao keeps improving like this, when the games begin, his time might be less than 20.70 seconds. Going off previous years, such a time could possibly win a medal."

"Therefore, for the last person for the 200m sprint, I'd like to hear your thoughts." Li Xue ended the conversation, looking at the crowd. The coaches in the room began brainstorming.

It sounds like Coach Xue is planning on giving the last spot to Yue Zhao!

Yue Zhao's coach is Dai Li. Even though he doesn't belong to the national team, he is Li Xue's favorite student. Is Li Xue planning to promote Dai Li?

It's not common to see a basic-level athlete take a national team athlete's spot! It might be weird to send Yue Zhao for the game.

Everyone present had different ideas. Finally, someone said, "Coach Xue, Yue Zhao's current time may be 20.78 seconds, but after two months there's no telling whether he will be able to run in under 20.70 seconds or not. Since his performance is not guaranteed, I don't think it would be a good idea to send him for the competition."

Li Xue nodded silently, then turned to the others.

"Coach Xue, I think Yue Zhao can be the one. For the 200m sprint, if we send either Xiong Chu or Wei Zhang, neither of them can realistically win a medal. Why not bet on him? If he indeed runs under 20.70 seconds, he might be able to get a medal."

Li Xue nodded again, then looked at the other coaches. Some coaches agreed the idea, while others were against it. They each came up with various reasons. The fierce discussion brought forth no conclusion. At last, Li Xue turned to the chief coach, Shuren Zhao. He should be the one to make the final decision.

Shuren Zhao took it as his obligation. He cleared throat with a cough, then said, "This is all good advice. But there are two weeks before the registration deadline, so my suggestion is that we don't need to hurry; why not take time to observe Yue Zhao for a while, instead of making a hasty decision right now? What do you think, Coach Xue?"

"Right, we still have two weeks. We'd better make further observations." Although Li Xue said so, he didn't think in the same way. He preferred to have everything set as soon as possible, so he could arrange upcoming training plans. But Shuren Zhao was the chief coach. As the second leader, Li Xue dared not to disagree.

"But it's not a good idea to put this off. What if in two weeks we still can't come to a group decision. We will have wasted too much time." Li Xue turned to Shuren Zhao and said, "I have an idea—how about we set a qualifying standard for Yue Zhao?"

"Good idea." Shuren Zhao gently knocked on the table to call everyone's attention. Then he said, "During this period of time, Yue Zhao is indeed improving rapidly. But it's unsure whether his improvement is temporary or will prove to be long-lasting. Li Xue just reminded me that we can set a qualifying standard for him. Before the registration deadline for the Asian Games, if he can reach our standard, he will get his opportunity! In athletics, the one with the better performance has the power. Although Yue Zhao is from a local team, as long as he has an outstanding performance, the others will be convinced."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 195: The Marvellous Effect of the Halo

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Setting a qualifying standard to judge Yue Zhao's ability sounded pretty fair.

"Then how much should this standard be?" someone immediately asked.

The meeting room fell into silence again. If the standard was too low, it would be like sending Yue Zhao directly to the Asian Games. But if the standard was too high, then it would seem like an obstacle aimed at stopping Yue Zhao from attending the game.

"Would 20.75 seconds be OK?" Li Xue asked.

Shuren Zhao replied immediately, "There are only two weeks left before the deadline. Asking Yue Zhao to improve from 20.78 seconds to 20.75 seconds, a 0.03-second increment, is quite difficult."

It was hard for high-level athletes to improve even 0.01 second. Based on Yue Zhao's current ability, to increase 0.03 seconds within two weeks would be an extreme improvement.

"Coach, I think we should give the other athletes a chance, too," somebody suddenly said. "Give me two weeks; I can make Xiong Chu run in under 20.75 seconds!"

Wei Zhang's coach then said in agreement, "I am also confident that Wei Zhang can reach the 20.75-second-standard within two weeks!"

The two coaches' attitudes clearly indicated that they were not willing to hand the chance over on a silver platter to Yue Zhao.

Shuren Zhao laughed. "Good, competition stimulates progress! Let's do it this way: not only Xiong Chu and Wei Zhang will compete, but all the other 200m sprinters can join in this competition, too. Our qualifying standard is 20.75 seconds. Whoever reaches the standard will win the ticket to the Asian Games."

"What if more than one person reaches the standard?" Coach Wang asked.

"Then we send the best one!" Shuren Zhao paused, then said, "Our team will represent our country; we must send the most competitive participants!"

...

Dai Li was not a formal coach for the national team, so he was not qualified to participate in the meeting. All he could do was to wait. There were two other people waiting for the results: Yue Zhao and Guohong Niu.

"The participant list for the Asian Games is posted on the bulletin board!" someone shouted. Every athlete stopped their work to see the list of names.

Sijie Yang was selected for the 100m sprint, as I expected. Dai Li checked the list carefully, but he didn't see Guohong Niu's name.

Guohong Niu was upset. He specialized in the 100m sprint, and felt that he had lost his opportunity.

"Guohong Niu, I found your name!" Yue Zhao suddenly said. He pointed at the relay race section. "See, your name is in relay race section."

Guohong Niu immediately looked up. He saw his name on the list.

"I will be in the relay race!" Guohong Niu exclaimed. Although he had missed the chance to compete in the individual games, he would still be able to be part of the relay race. This was comforting for him.

Standing next to Guohong Niu, Dai Li felt happy for him. Meanwhile, Dai Li was checking the participants for the other events.

When he reached the 200m section, Dai Li frowned.

200m sprint: Jun Xie, Zitao Wei, undetermined. Only two names are here, but no Yue Zhao. What does 'undetermined' mean? Does it imply that Yue Zhao still has a shot at going? I need to ask about this, Dai Li thought.

Soon, Dai Li heard about the qualifying standard.

Two weeks to reach the 20.75-second qualifying standard. That's not difficult for me, Dai Li thought confidently, But the others can also reach the standard, which means 20.75 seconds is not enough! It can't guarantee a spot for Yue Zhao.

Dai Li fell silent. He knew Yue Zhao needed time.

Yue Zhao's talent in the 200m sprint was undoubtedly the best on the national team, and he had mature techniques, which was also ranked amongst the top of the team. But the problem was that he had wasted almost three years. He needed more time just to get back to his original status, let alone get even better.

We have to make time for extra practice sessions! Dai Li firmly clenched his fist.

...

Yue Zhao crouched on the ground, retching violently. The training was intense. Yue Zhao was so tired that he vomited.

After throwing up, Yue Zhao drank half a bottle of water, then walked back to the training field.

"Coach, let's continue!" Yue Zhao's voice was filled with tiredness.

Dai Li looked at Yue Zhao's sallow face, then sighed lightly. He said with sympathy, "How about we take a break?"

Yue Zhao hesitated. He was exhausted, and really wanted to sleep on the ground. But he nodded stubbornly. "Time doesn't wait. I don't have time to rest; I need to practice."

This can't work. The current training load is above Yue Zhao's physical limits.

Dai Li was worried, but he could not do anything. He had to give Yue Zhao larger training loads, and Yue Zhao had to push through. It was not just an examination of Yue Zhao's physical fitness, but also his willpower.

The ordinary person might not have been able to hold on. But Yue Zhao was different; the misdiagnosis of bone cancer had taken three years away from him, but had also strengthened his willpower. Every time he was too tired to move, he would recall his past, remembering the bitterness he had tasted in America. It was enough to motivate him to move forward.

From 7AM to 9PM, Yue Zhao stayed in the training field, only taking short breaks for lunch and dinner. When the day's training finally ended, Yue Zhao spread out on the ground. He felt like all of his strength had been taken away from him.

If he continues like this, how much strength can he have for tomorrow? Dai Li looked at Yue Zhao worriedly.

The System's voice suddenly rang, "I have been wondering for a long time— why don't you use the endurance halo?"

Dai Li was in a daze. "The 200m is a short-distance run. Why would I use the endurance halo?"

"To increase his endurance, of course," The System continued, "The 200m does fall under the category of short-distance running, which doesn't require much endurance; but don't you forget, what you are doing is training. The endurance halo offers additional endurance, which can help athletes keep up during practice."

Dai Li suddenly understood. Why didn't I think about this earlier!

Dai Li's first halo had been the explosive force halo. From then on, he had regarded halos as equipment only used in competitions.

Since Dai Li had received the endurance halo, he had never used it. Dai Li had been coaching the sprinting team, which did not need the endurance halo's assistance. Dai Li had not considered using the halo in training, for he believed that only middle- or long-distance running required high endurance.

But what Dai Li had neglected was that sprinters who had been practicing under long, high-intensity circumstances used the same amount of energy as a long-distance runner running ten thousand meters. Yue Zhao's training load had consumed a lot more power than running ten thousand meters.

My fault. I should have thought about using the halo earlier in practice. Dai Li was upset. He patted his head, blaming his own foolishness. At least it's not very late. We still have time, Dai Li sighed, This endurance halo can be used during training. Seems like halos are the best rewards.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 196: Sense of Urgency

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

At 10PM, most athletes were falling asleep. Dai Li and Yue Zhao had just gotten back to the dorms. Yue Zhao was too tired to move; he couldn't get up the stairs without Dai Li's help.

In fact, Dai Li was doing no better than Yue Zhao. Being a coach was exhausting work; after a day on the training filed for most of the day, Dai Li could barely keep himself standing.

But Dai Li felt that since he had made the switch from the explosive force halo to the endurance halo, Yue Zhao had indeed kept up his energy level longer during training.

Yesterday, Dai Li had not used the endurance halo; by 8PM, Yue Zhao had been too exhausted to even raise his foot. But today, after Dai Li had used the endurance halo, Yue Zhao had held on until 10PM.

Pity that I can only use one halo at a time. If I could use both the explosive force halo and the endurance halo, that would be great! Dai Li sighed.

Halos could only be used one at a time, which annoyed Dai Li. If he chose the endurance halo, he couldn't use the explosive force halo, and vice versa. In other words, Dai Li could only choose between increasing explosive force or enhancing endurance.

Luckily, in track and field, such a selection was not hard to make. For running, jumping, throwing events, etc., the explosive force halo was the best choice; when it came to middle- or long-distance running, race walking, etc., the endurance halo fit athletes better.

If it was another activity, such as basketball and football, it would not be as easy to make a choice. Athletes needed explosive force to break through opponents' defense, as well as to perform some difficult actions. At the same time, however, they also required endurance to maintain energy for continuous running. In this case, one could not have it in both ways.

Dai Li helped Yue Zhao back to the dorm gate, then said, "Take a shower and go to bed as soon as possible! Tomorrow we need to keep training."

"Hey Dai Li, it's late at night. Are you only just coming back?" a voice suddenly rang in the hallway.

Dai Li twisted his head to look in the direction of the voice. The speaker was a Coach named Liu. He was about to be in his fifties, and had seniority on the national team.

"Hi Coach Liu. I was practicing with Yue Zhao, I just forgot to check time," Dai Li smiled.

"Young men are energetic!" Coach Liu pointed upstairs, then said, "They are playing Mahjong upstairs, they have three players looking for one more. I will join them. See you later." Coach Liu then walked upstairs. Dai Li headed to his dorm and began preparing for bed.

Coach Liu knocked on the door. Three people were already in their positions, and Mahjong tiles were already aligned in stacks, waiting for Coach Liu.

"Zhong, Li, and Wang are also here! This is my first time playing Mahjong with Wang!" Coach Liu greeted the other three.

The coach who was named "Wang" was Yaozu Wang. He was Xiong Chu's chief coach. Xiong Chu was the strongest competitor for the last spot for the 200m sprint.

"Hey Liu, come sit down! We have been waiting for you for a long time! Here, roll the dice; let's start a round!" one of the three called out to Coach Liu.

"I say, Liu, are you getting old? Why does it take you so long to move upstairs? The time you wasted was enough for me to win by my own draw. Ah, wait, I skip," another person said.

"Huh? Oh, I met Dai Li before I came here, so we had a short conversation. Young men are so energetic; they had additional training tonight, and were only just coming back. If I were him, I would be exhausted, and would barely be able to move," Coach Liu explained as he threw a Red Dragon.

"Additional training?" Yaozu Wang was sitting on Coach Liu's right. Hearing about his news, his heart skipped a beat. He drew a tile, noticed it was a White Dragon, then discarded it at once. But the next second, he realized that he had made a mistake!

Shit, I shouldn't draw. I have two Red Dragons here, I should Pong! Yaozu Wang was upset. If Coach Liu had not mentioned Dai Li's additional training, he would not have acted so absent-mindedly.

Seeing the opponent to his right had discarded the tile, Coach Liu shouted, "Pong!"

Coach Liu joyfully matched a tile with a triplet, then slowly stroked his "wall" and said, "Right, additional training! Yue Zhao was working so hard, I saw he had collapsed. He had to be carried back by Dai Li!"

As he spoke, he threw a Three Bamboo tile.

"Pong!" the man seated on Coach Liu's left shouted, grasping the Three Bamboo in front of him. He said, "The last spot for the 200m sprint is still undetermined; plus, with that 20.75-second qualifying standard, Yue Zhao will definitely spend every day fighting for it! But speaking of this, I sympathize with Yue Zhao; he was misdiagnosed with bone cancer, and almost lost his leg. It must be a difficult thing for him to come back."

Hearing these words, Yaozu Wang was unhappy. He was Xiong Chu's coach, Yue Zhao's opponent, but this coach beside him obviously supported Yue Zhao. Now, Yue Zhao was fighting for the last spot, which had apparently given Yaozu Wang a sense of urgency.

Yue Zhao is receiving extra training. If Xiong Chu doesn't do the same thing, he will fall behind! I will never allow that to happen. Tomorrow I will give Xiong Chu extra training, too!

Thinking about this, Yaozu Wang was not focused on the game. He played Mahjong absent-mindedly, and began shooting tiles off carelessly.

...

It was half past seven in the morning. Yaozu Wang was humming a tune as he walked towards the canteen.

What do we have for breakfast? I want to have some bean curd, if there is any. If not, maybe I will have some soybean milk instead.

Yaozu Wang walked into the canteen and saw that his student, Xiong Chu, was already sitting at a table, focused on peeling a boiled egg.

I need to inform Xiong Chu that we will have additional practice this afternoon! Yaozu Wang quickly picked up his breakfast, then walked to Xiong Chu's table and sat down. At the same time, a voice suddenly rang.

"Yue Zhao, you are sweating all over. Did you have morning practice? Why don't you go and wash your face first!"

Yaozu Wang turned to face where the voice had come from. Yue Zhao was right there. He seemed hot, as sweat dripped from his jaw. His hair were already wet. Obviously, he had just received high-intensity training.

Yue Zhao smiled embarrassingly. "I got up at five. I just finished my morning exercise and put on a clean suit. I need to keep practicing soon."

"Five o'clock! That's earlier than daybreak!" someone gasped surprisingly.

Yaozu Wang subconsciously checked the time on his watch, alarmed.

He started at five o'clock, which means he has been training for two and a half hours. In other words, Yue Zhao has received two and a half more hours of additional training than Xiong Chu!

At that moment, the sense of urgency became stronger and stronger in Yaozu Wang's heart.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 197: Iron Man

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

On the training field, Xiong Chu gritted his teeth and went on with his training, but his body had a mind of its own. The next second, he crouched on the ground, breathing heavily.

I pushed him to the limit again! Yaozu Wang didn't urge Xiong Chu to get up, as he knew Chu was struggling. He had reached his physical limit. No man was a machine, let alone a perpetual machine. Once a man was tired or out of energy, he had to get some rest.

Yaozu Wang looked into the distance and saw that Yue Zhao was not training, either. Instead, he was lying on the ground, receiving a leg massage from Dai Li.

Yue Zhao had a two-hour extra practice session this morning. He should have a lot less power left than Xiong Chu does. That should mean I don't need to worry to much. Even if Yue Zhao stayed on the training field for an entire day, without sufficient energy he won't make much progress, Yaozu Wang exhaled, relieved.

However, at this moment, Yue Zhao got up from the ground and went back to exercising.

Did he regain his energy? Yaozu Wang was anxious, so he turned around to ask Xiong Chu, "How do you feel? Can you stand up?"

Xiong Chu gritted his teeth again, trying to raise himself up with both arms, but was only able to sit up. He had run out of energy for further training.

"Let's take a longer break. Have some water first!" Yaozu Wang could not help but sigh. He gave a bottle of sports drink to Xiong Chu.

After drinking some water and getting back some electrolytes, Xiong Chu had gained some energy. He sat there for a few more minutes, then finally stood up.

"Shall we continue?" Yaozu Wang asked.

Xiong Chu nodded, then returned to training.

After a short while, Xiong Chu laid out on the ground again.

"Let's take another break!" Yaozu Wang sensed that Xiong Chu had reached to his limit again.

I wonder how Yue Zhao is doing? Yaozu Wang looked into the distance again, and surprisingly found that Yue Zhao was still exercising.

Still going? He is so energetic! Yaozu Wang murmured, annoyed.

...

Gradually, Yaozu Wang realized, that although Yue Zhao's training time was longer than Xiong Chu's, he took less rest than Xiong Chu did.

Yaozu Wang began to observe Yue Zhao secretly. However, he found that Yue Zhao's workload was not low; instead, it was even higher than Xiong Chu's.

Yue Zhao has a larger training amount. How can he keep working for so long? He must have a ton of energy! Why didn't he practice long distance running instead? Yaozu Wang complained to himself. However, after he thought carefully for a while, he noticed something was wrong.

Yue Zhao began receiving extra training yesterday, and this morning he practiced for two more hours. He should have run out of energy a long time ago, and should feel more exhausted than Xiong Chu. Yaozu Wang recalled every detail he had observed during Yue Zhao's training progress. Suddenly, though, he remembered that whenever Yue Zhao had taken a break, Dai Li would give him a massage.

I heard before that Dai Li specializes in massage, and is as good as a professional masseuse. Maybe that's why Yue Zhao can keep going for so long.

Thinking about this, Yaozu Wang went over to Xiong Chu, who was resting on the ground, and said, "Xiong Chu, let me give you a massage!"

Coaches who were able to teach on the national team had to have some speciality, which meant that Yaozu Wang had some ability for sure. To sprinters, getting cramps or pulling a muscle was common. Therefore, professional sprinting coaches knew more or less about massaging.

Yaozu Wang figured that even though he was not as good as professional masseuses, he was capable of helping an athlete relax their muscles.

However, he could never know that Dai Li's Massage and Muscle Relaxation was way better than any ordinary massage. Even professional masseuses could not reach Dai Li's level.

...

Eight o'clock at night, on the training field, Xiong Chu fell on the ground like a pile of bricks.

"Coach, I'm sorry, but I can't do this! I cannot stand up." Xiong Chu sounded like he no longer had the strength to speak.

Yaozu Wang looked at his student with sympathy. He had never arranged such high-intensity training for Xiong Chu, and knew that today Xiong Chu had tried his best.

"Alright, let's end it here," Yaozu Wang said. He looked into the distance again, only to find that Yue Zhao was performing a deep squat.

What? Why is he still exercising! Does he even get tired? Yaozu Wang sighed depressingly. Keep practicing like this, then; let's wait and see how long can you bear it! I say in no more than three days that you will give up and cry! Yaozu Wang thought, helping Xiong Chu to the dorms.

After coming back to the dorms, Yaozu Wang's mind was still on the training field. Through his window he could clearly see the dorm gate, so he leaned on the window, playing Glory of Kings while waiting to see when Dai Li and Yue Zhao would appear at the gate.

Yaozu Wang waited for more than an hour, then finally saw Dai Li supporting Yue Zhao as they slowly moved through the gate.

Ten o'clock again. Go out at 5AM, come back at 10PM; seventeen hours in total. Even minus meal time, Yue Zhao has to have been on the field for thirteen to fourteen hours. Once he finished counting, Yaozu Wang was astonished.

That's crazy! Thirteen to fourteen hours a day; even Iron Man can't bear such high-intensity training. Yue Zhao will give up soon!

...

The next morning, Yaozu Wang got up an hour earlier, and took Xiong Chu to the training field at six o'clock. Yue Zhao was already there, sweating all over.

"Hey Li, did you come at five again?" Yaozu Wang said, greeting Dai Li.

"Morning, Coach Wang. You are quite early," Dai Li nodded as greeting, acquiesced in the fact that they had started training at five o'clock.

"The early bird catches the worm. I asked Xiong Chu to warm up, then have formal training after breakfast." Yaozu Wang paused, then asked, "Dai Li, would like to join us for breakfast?"

Dai Li nodded, "Sure, but Yue Zhao won't go. He needs to keep practicing. I will bring food for him."

Yaozu Wang felt awkward. He thought to himself, Do you have to do this, saving every second, even breakfast time for training! Yue Zhao is a human, not a machine; he won't hold on for long under such pressure.

...

That night, Yaozu Wang leaned on the window again. At 10PM, he saw Dai Li and Yue Zhao again.

The next morning, Yaozu Wang showed up to the training field, but Dai Li and Yue Zhao were already there.

One day, two days, three days; everyday was the same. Yue Zhao continued his extremely high-intensity training and long workout time. Yaozu Wang was stunned.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 198: The Result is Certain

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The entire day's work depended on a good start in the morning. For athletes, breakfast was quite important. A nutritious breakfast could offer sufficient energy for a whole morning's exercise. In contrast, dinner was not essential. Many athletes who wanted to control their weight chose not to have dinner when they were dieting. Research studies showed that it was not healthy to not eat breakfast for a long time.

At seven o'clock in the morning, the canteen chefs got various breakfast ready to serve. Considering the athletes were from all around the country with different preferences, the canteen offered a full range of food. The key point was to provide rich nutrition. Within the next half hour, coaches and athletes flooded in, making the canteen busy.

Dai Li was jogging into the canteen. The chef recognized him from a distance.

"Morning Dai Li, do you still want it to go today?" the chef asked.

"Yes, food for two people, I want them all to go. And please, give me two more eggs, and I also want..." Dai Li made his order. Soon, the chef packed everything Dai Li wanted and handed it to him. Dai Li thanked him, then carried the food as he jogged out of the canteen.

The other coaches witnessed this scene. Somebody began to talk about it.

"Did Dai Li have his breakfast to go again. He has been doing this for five or six days, hasn't he?"

"Today is the seventh day," another person answered. "Yue Zhao has been training crazily this week. People say that he started training at five in the morning, and didn't come back until ten at night."

"5AM to 10PM, let me count... oh my, seventeen hours in total! How can this even be possible! That's such a long training time. To do so for one or two days might be understandable, but seven days?! That's incredible! Even Iron Man couldn't bear it!"

"Well, this is partially correct. Don't forget to subtract dining time and breaks. But he still probably trains thirteen or fourteen hours a day. Even in that case, to go on for seven days seems impossible."

"Four years ago, when I was training Yue Zhao, I didn't realize he had such outstanding endurance!"

"He has been working so hard. I say the last spot for the 200m sprint must belong to him. But I wonder how much longer he can bear such high-intensity training."

The discussion was heard by Yaozu Wang, which made him uncomfortable.

It's been seven days; how can Yue Zhao continue such training for seven days! This doesn't make sense! Yaozu Wang clenched his chopsticks tightly, seemingly expressing his grievances.

Yue Zhao finished almost every task under my watch, so I know he didn't mess around, and I know he has a really high workload. But the question is, how did he make it? Xiong Chu has been doing the same thing, but he can only bear ten hours at most. Why? Does it have anything to do with training plans?

Yaozu Wang couldn't help but think about Dai Li, and became even more upset.

Recently, Yaozu Wang had been observing Dai Li's coaching, but he had not found anything surprising. Dai Li's methods were the same methods that were commonly adopted by the national team, Yaozu Wang was already quite familiar with them.

Yaozu Wang had once thought that the reason Yue Zhao could go on for such a long time was because of Dai Li's massages. Yaozu Wang had even tried to mimic Dai Li's actions; every time when they would take a break, Yaozu Wang would imitate Dai Li and give Xiong Chu leg massages. But it didn't work.

If Dai Li massaged Yue Zhao for five to six minutes, Yue Zhao could stand up and return to training. But even when Yaozu Wang would massage Xiong Chu for more than ten minutes, Xiong Chu would still not be able to stand up.

Is this because of the gap between Dai Li and me? Although he was unwilling to admit that he was not as good as Dai Li, he couldn't think of any other explanation.

At this moment, Yaozu Wang became anxious. He was predicting that the last spot for the 200m sprint was heading Yue Zhao's way, as Yue Zhao had been training much more than the others.

Training relied on the accumulation of ability, similar to a marathon. If athletes ran one kilometer of a marathon, gaps between athletes were not very obvious; but if a marathon was more than forty kilometers long, and one athlete ran just one second faster than the others every kilometer, in the end he would have at least a forty-second advantage.

Yue Zhao had benefited from this accumulation. Every day he had several more hours of training than the others, and after two weeks his training ability would have been at least one level higher than that of the other athletes. Moreover, Yue Zhao had talent in the 200m sprint, which had promoted his progress.

...

Two weeks later, at the 200m sprinting team's in-team assessment, six athletes participated. Among the six participants, not everyone had the ability to run within 20.75 seconds, some people wanted to try their luck. The most competitive runners were undoubtedly Yue zhao and Xiong Chu.

On the grandstand, Shuren Zhao looked at the starting line and asked, "I heard that both Yue Zhao and Xiong Chu have been receiving extra training. Xue, who do you think will win?"

"Yue Zhao!" Li Xue answered without hesitation. "Although both of them had received extra training, Yue Zhao's training load was greater. The effects of short-term assault training, time, and intensity will have a big influence."

Shuren Zhao nodded silently. If training intensity and time remained normal, assault training would not have much of an effect. To improve, one had to spend more time, effort, and practice under higher intensity.

It was similar to college students' behavior before finals. Right before final exams, study rooms were always filled with people. Students would study hard there; some bad students who had not worked hard during the semester relied on this method to pass finals.

The starting gun fired. Yue Zhao got a good start. His reaction to the starting gunshot had been perfect; not too late, and not to early. Dai Li was relieved.

Nothing wrong with the start; that means Yue Zhao will win! Dai Li smiled.

Right before the test, Dai Li had detected all the participants' ability points. The results showed that Yue Zhao had the most ability points of all of them. Moreover, Yue Zhao was being helped by the explosive force halo; even if his opponents had the same amount of ability as he did, he would not lose the race.

Standing besides Dai Li, Yaozu Wang looked very nervous. He glanced at Dai Li, and was surprised to see Dai Li smiling.

A smile? How come he is so confident? Does he trust Yue Zhao that much?

Yaozu Wang looked back to the field, only to find that Yue Zhao had taken the lead. Yaozu Wang was now sweating.

"It seems that higher-intensity training brings out better effects!" a coach standing beside Yaozu Wang said. Upon hearing this, Yaozu Wang became even more depressed.

On the grandstand, Shuren Zhao and Li Xue looked at each other. Although the sprinters were still in the bend, the result was clear.

Yue Zhao had gotten the last ticket to the Asian Games.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 199: Relay Race Training

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"20.71 seconds. Yue Zhao has made a lot of progress again; he has exceeded my expectations. Good job, Dai Li!" Li Xue was satisfied with Yue Zhao's performance.

"Next, Yue Zhao's training plan needs to be adjusted," said Li Xue. "Add some relay race training."

Dai Li nodded. To sprinters in the Asian Games, the 4x100m relay race was one of their tasks. Therefore, before the game started, the national team assembled sprinters to make relay race special training.

To win in a relay race, speed was not the key factor. Sending the four quickest sprinters could not guarantee a medal.

One lap on a standard track was 400 meters long, 160 meters of which were straight, while the other 240 meters were curved. Among the four runners in a 4x100m relay race, the first and third legs (runners) were required to run the bend every time. Both of those athletes had to have outstanding curve techniques.

Here, 200m sprinters had the advantage. They had curve techniques, outstanding speed, and explosive force, which made them capable of being any of the four legs.

In contrast, those without curve techniques were only capable of running the second or fourth leg.

Li Xue continued, "The 4x100m relay race usually only exists in big events, hence why we don't have much of an opportunity to practice. You haven't experienced a high-level relay race, have you?"

Dai Li shook his head. "No. But I learned about it when I was in college. We mainly focused on the baton exchange."

"Tell me what you learned."

Dai Li thought to himself for a few seconds, then answered, "I mainly learned the top-pick and press-down baton-exchange methods. The top-pick requires the receiver to stretch their arm backwards naturally, and form an angle from 40 to 50 degrees with their body. The receiver's palm faces backwards, fingers naturally open, with the part between the thumb and the index finger faces down. The incoming runner's hand should be over the baton and above the receiver's. The advantage of this method is that both receiving and giving are easy to control, and the actions are natural. The disadvantage is that after receiving the baton, the receiver's hand is holding the midpoint of baton. If the athlete doesn't shift the baton to the other hand, when they perform the handover to the next person, that person can only hold the top part of baton, which can cause them to drop the baton and influence the outcome.

The press-down baton exchange requires the receiver to stretch their arm backwards, forming an angle from 50 to 60 degrees with their body. The wrist twists inward and the palm faces up, fingers open. The space between the thumb and index finger faces backwards; the incoming runner then puts the top of the baton into receiver's hand. The advantage of this method is that it's easy for the receiver to run fast with the baton, and handover process is more accurate; but the disadvantage is that mistakes are easily made by tense muscle movement of the receiver's arm.

"When performing the handover, the first and third legs run along the inside of the track, and use their right hand to pass the baton to the second and fourth legs' left hand. The second leg runs along the outside the track, and uses their left hand to pass the baton to the receiver's right hand."

Li Xue nodded. "Um, good. It seems like you paid attention in school. In formal games we mainly use a hybrid of those techniques, depending on each leg's features. For example, the first leg doesn't need to think about receiving the baton; his job is to handover the baton safely to the second leg. The fourth leg only thinks about how to take the baton, since he has no one he needs to pass it to. As for the second and third legs, they receive and give the baton. In order to fit different needs, save time, and reduce mistakes, the second and third legs use different handover methods."

Pausing here, Li Xue changed to a serious look. "No matter which method is chosen, cooperation between athletes is the crucial factor. Any mistake will make the whole team fail.

"Let me give you an example. Before Team Jamaica rose to dominance, the American team had been the strongest in the relay race. Over a long period of time, Americans had a majority of the gold medals in the event. The only way the American team could have lost was if they had lost the baton during the race.

"In world-top competitions, a nice baton exchange can save 0.1 second. Asian athletes are not as competitive as people from the other parts of the world, so a successful handover can save more than 0.1 or 0.2 seconds."

Li Xue paused, seemingly going through his catalogue of memories. Later, he asked, "Do you know of the Asian Games that took place eight years ago? And which team won the gold in the 4x100m relay race?"

Eight years ago, Dai Li had still been a poor high school student living in hell. Everyday he would wake up with the sunrise, and go to bed at midnight. Almost every minute was used to study. How could he have had spare time to watch the Asian Games? Dai Li could only guess. "Maybe the Japanese? Before the Western Asians took their place, the Japanese had been the kings of Asian sprinting for about thirty years."

"The Japanese did rule the Asian sprinting world for thirty years. And, eight years ago, it was the Japanese's late golden period. But no, they were not the champion," answered Li Xue.

"The Saudi, then? Saudi Arabia was strong in athletics," Dai Li guessed again.

Li Xue shook head again.

"The Iranians? Qataris? Wait, at that time the Naturalization Legion hadn't developed yet. How about someone from the Middle East? Or the Koreans? It can't be North Korea, can it?" Dai Li guessed again and again. The countries he mentioned all had big sports names in Asia. However, Li Xue shook his head over and over again.

"You have no idea. It was Thailand," Li Xue answered.

"Thailand? I would believe it if they had won in Thai Boxing, but the 4x100m relay race? How could that be possible?" Dai Li was astonished.

In Asia, South Asian countries were the weakest in sports. The popular activities were cricket and other local games. Southeastern Asians didn't have high sports abilities, either. However, each Southeastern Asian country had at least one or two activities they were good at; for instance, Malaysia and Indonesia were famous for badminton, the Philippines and Thailand specialized in boxing, etc. But in track and field, Southeastern Asian countries had to stand aside.

Therefore, upon hearing that Thailand had won the championship in the Asian Games, Dai Li was dumbfounded.

"Coach Xue, it was the Asian Games—how could Thailand have possibly won the championship? Was it because the strong teams were all absent, or had they all made mistakes, meaning Thailand faced worse opponents?"asked Dai Li.

"Japan, Saudi Arabia, and our team all participated and finished the entire race." Looking as if he had remembered, Li Xue said, "I led the team myself to the race, and I was there to witness the process."

"Four Japanese athletes had all reached the Olympics A-level standard; three of them participated in the Olympics. But Thailand only had one Olympic B-level standard athlete. The other three weren't even B-level athletes. Yet Thailand won, through sound cooperation. The Thais cooperated smoothly. Whenever the athletes were running, the Japanese would always shorten the distance between them and Thailand, but after each baton exchange, Thailand always would widen the gap.

"I can still remember Japanese trump card Sasaki Akita's painful look when he crossed the finish line. He was capable of being in the semi-finals in the Olympics, and was regarded as the best Asian sprinter, yet he finished in second place in the relay race in those Asian Games."

Hearing the story, Dai Li couldn't believe it.

The Olympics 100m sprint A-level standard was 10.21 seconds, while B-level was 10.28 seconds. This meant that there was a 0.7-second gap between A-level and B-level sprinters. Sasaki Akita was regarded as the first "Asian Flying Man," as his score was close to ten seconds. The other Japanese athletes' best scores were around 10.10 seconds.

But Thailand only had one B-level athlete, which indicated that, each Thai runner had a 0.2-second gap between them and the Japanese. The fact that Thailand had won the gold proved that the Thais had been at least 0.2 seconds quicker than the Japanese during the baton exchange.

Standing next to Dai Li, Li Xue concluded, "I use this example to tell you the importance of cooperation in the relay race. Therefore, the essence of relay race training is to develop and enhance cooperation within the team! This is our purpose!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 200: Campaign for the Asian Games

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

There was a month left before the Asian Games would begin. The national team was the first to arrive in the host city, Xingkou.

The benefit of being the host city was that the athletes were already acclimated to the environment, especially the natural feeling and climate.

Each place had its own way of supporting its civilians. In ancient times, when medical conditions were undeveloped, many people who traveled long distances might die in foreign places. During that time, one had to risk their life to travel to other provinces.

As for athletes traveling for competitions, the most important thing was to adjust themselves to the new environment. Once one arrived at a new place, they would need to get acclimated to the climate, temperature, time difference, food, accommodations, etc. Athletes had to get used to the new environment and get comfortable as soon as possible so that they could perform better in their competitions.

The national team arrived at Xingkou City one month early in an effort to make athletes feel more comfortable in Xingkou.

Xingkou City was located in the southern part of the country, which provided a completely different climate from Huajing City. Moreover, the diet in Xingkou was abnormal for most northern athletes. The reason the team had arrived one month early was to ensure the athletes could get accustomed to the food.

The sprinting team was made up of five participants. Sijie Yang, Guohong Niu and Yue Zhao were the newcomers. Guohong Niu was the alternate for the relay race, and didn't have any individual contest to worry about. Sijie Yang would participate in the 100m sprint, while Yue Zhao was here for the 200m sprint.

In addition, Jun Xie and Zitao Wei would also compete. The two had attended the last Olympic games, and were at the top level in Asia. They could definitely compete for a medal. In these Asian Games, the two would both participate in the 100m and 200m sprint.

To the national team, Sijie Yang and Guohong Niu were there to gain some experience; they represented the team's future. Yue Zhao was the third participant for the 200m sprint, so the national team didn't have much faith in him. The task of competing for a medal had been given to Jun Xie and Zitao Wei.

During this one-month period, besides regular training, the sprinting team had mainly focused on practicing for the relay race. As an alternate, Guohong Niu focused on it, while others like Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao also joined in. Dai Li had taken this chance to put the entire sprinting team into the System's training list in order to gain experience points.

Four to five days before the Asian Games began, foreign teams gradually arrived in Xingkou City. The Asian Games were about to begin.

...

On the training field, the preliminary contest for the men's 100m sprint was about to start.

Because many sprinters also had to compete in the 200m race, in order to reduce the athletes' stress and fatigue, the 100m and 200m sprint were scheduled separately. The relay race was scheduled to be the final phase of the track and field competitions.

The three athletes for the 100m sprint were Jun Xie, Zitao Wei, and Sijie Yanghe. The first two had participated in the Olympics, although they had not achieved anything, they had been in big events before. When they stood on the field, they looked relaxed and comfortable.

In contrast, it was Sijie Yang's first time in an international-level competition. It was no wonder he was anxious.

Fortunately, passing the preliminary contest was nothing difficult to Sijie Yang. The level of Asian athletics as a whole was too low; many participants in the preliminary contest were emphasizing participation. Countries like Timor-Leste and Maldives had sprinters who were amateurs, semi-professionals, or simply sprinting enthusiasts.

The national team coaches were concentrating on the strong components. Li Xue pointed at a black athlete and introduced him to Dai Li. "That man is Clark from Qatar! He is the current Asian Flying Man!"

Dai Li looked in his direction and saw a short black athlete. He was around 1.6 meters tall. He did not look very strong, and seemed old. He seemed to be in his forties, but according to his personal information, he was thirty years old.

Clark had been born in Kenya, then domesticated to Qatar. Two years later, he gave Qatar their first Asian Championship. After another two years, he succeeded in running under ten seconds, which broke the Asian record. He became the first "Asian" to run in under ten seconds.

Clark's success had brought about a domestication trend in West Asia. Countries like Saudi Arabia, The United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain began to domesticate athletes from Africa. Therefore, in today's Asian Games, many black athletes could be seen.

Li Xue pointed in another direction and said, "That's Japan. See that coach whose hair is neatly combed? He used to be the king of Asian sprinting; Sasaki Akita!"

Compared to Clark, Sasaki Akita was more familiar to Dai Li. He represented an era of Asian sprinting.

Japan ruled the Asian sprinting world for about thirty years, during which emerged a "golden era." Sasaki Akita was the representative during that time. After he retired, Sasaki Akita became the sprinting coach of the Japanese sprinting team, and had now returned to the Asian Games.

Li Xue continued, "Do you see the young man next to Sasaki Akita with cropped hair? He is the gifted sprinter Oda Shoki. Oda Shoki is twenty years old; he once ran 9.97 seconds in high school. Although his performance was influenced by wind, and wasn't accepted as a record, he still amazed the Japanese athletic world.

"Oda Shoki was regarded as the future of Japanese sprinting. Even though he is only twenty, he has gained abundant experience. Last year, in the IAAF competition in Osaka, he was competing against the world's top sprinters."

"Competing against the world's best sprinters? Was he on the worst of them all?" Dai Li smiled.

"No, he was second to last," said Li Xue.

"Was there someone who couldn't surpass him?" Dai Li asked with surprise.

"One athlete committed a false start and was punished for breaking rules, so that guy didn't score. Oda Shoki was lucky to get second to last." Li Xue continued, "Sijie Yang is only several months younger than Oda Shoki, so they are supposed to be opponents. But right now, Oda Shoki has more advantages and more experience than Sijie Yang."

"The Japanese prefer to cultivate athletes by pulling prospects up in the hopes of helping them grow, which means sending groups of teenagers to international competitions to compete against twenty-year-old adults who are at the peak of their abilities. Once they win a game or two, the media keeps blabbering on about them. But once those 'geniuses' grow up, they will be forgotten," Dai Li complained.

"This might be the nature of Japanese. They like to bet on the future with the present; but athletics require athletes to grow step by step. No one can turn into Superman in one night. So, most of the time, they seem to win at the time, but they lose their future," replied Li Xue.

At that time, Dai Li had detected Oda Shoki. Oda had B talent on sprint, which was good, but was way lower than Sijie Yang. However, his ability points were pretty high, and much higher than Sijie Yang's. Dai Li knew such ability points were accumulated through resources.

Japan was an island country, but it was also the second developed country in the world. They had world's top sports training resources. When they put most of their resources into Oda Shoki, his ability would increase without a doubt.

In fact, Japanese athletes had similar characteristics. When they were young, they were considered "geniuses" who could only be seen once every century, and were expected to be future world champions, outperforming their peers in various competitions. However, once they grew up, they became ordinary, and were defeated by the others in contests.

Suddenly, the audience sighed in disappointment.

What? What happened? Dai Li looked around subconsciously. He could vaguely see from a distance that somebody needed help to leave the long jump sandpit. From the color of his uniform, it seemed to be an athlete from the national team.

"Our man got injured!" said Dai Li.

Meanwhile, Li Xue's phone rang. He picked it up, and his face immediately became pale.

"In the men's long jump final, Haiquan Fang twisted his ankle on his second attempt! I have to go and check on him," Li Xue said hurriedly, walking towards that direction.

"I'll go with you." Dai Li chased after Li Xue without hesitation.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 201: Persistence

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

When Dai Li arrived, Haiquan Fang was already lying in the open space beside the playing area. Haiquan Fang had taken off his shoes. The team doctor was sitting beside him, examining his foot.

"How bad is it?" Li Xue asked eagerly.

The team doctor looked up and said, "The preliminary examination didn't find any broken bones, and the joint is also OK; but there's a muscle strain for sure. As for the ligament, I am not sure; it doesn't seem to be very serious like a laceration, so I would guess it's a ligament strain at most. I suggest he have an MRI inspection immediately. If his ligament is OK and he only has a muscle strain, he should avoid strenuous exercise for 2-3 days, and then he will have recovered."

After hearing Haiquan Fang's bone and joint were OK, Li Xue was a bit relieved. Beside Li Xue, the head coach responsible for the long jump asked, "Should we send Haiquan Fang to hospital now?"

"Do you really have to ask? What are you waiting for? Send him to hospital immediately!" Li Xue said snappily.

The head coach of the long jump team had been Li Xue's subordinate for over ten years. He had been promoted by Li Xue as the head coach of long jump team. Because of this, Li Xue didn't need to speak to him with courtesy.

"But Haiquan Fang doesn't want to go to hospital; he wants to return to the match!" the coach of long jump team said.

"Can he return to the match in this condition?" Li Xue shouted angrily. His tone, along with his grisly-looking, made him really look like a monster.

"The current situation is quite promising, so Haiquan Fang doesn't want to give up." The long jump coach paused, then continued, "To be honest, I also don't want to give up. It would really be a pity to give up now."

"What's your point?" Li Xue asked.

"During the first trial jump, Haiquan Fang's result was 7.87 meters, which ranked 1st among all athletes. This result could ensure that Haiquan Fang enters the top 8." As the long jump coach was speaking, he looked at the distant scoreboard. He continued, "During the second trial jump, there was still no one who could surpass Haiquan Fang. The third trial jump is happening right now, and Haiquan Fang is still in first place."

Frowning, Li Xue was absorbed in thought.

Although 7.87 meters could not win the championship in the Asian Games, it was still a satisfactory guarantee result. An athlete who could achieve such a result on their first trial jump could choose a more risky technique in the next 5 trial jumps to strive for a score over eight meters. A score over eight meters could ensure a medal in the long jump event of the Asian Games.

"It's time for Haiquan Fang's third trial jump!" a game official said.

"We forfeit the third trial jump," the long jump coach said without hesitation. Then he looked at Li Xue. It was quite obvious that the coach was waiting for Li Xue's final decision.

"Just send Haiquan Fang to hospital!" finally Li Xue said.

"No, I want to continue," Haiquan Fang suddenly said loudly.

Li Xue went and tried to persuade Haiquan Fang. "Haiquan Fang, I remember that two months from now you will be eighteen, right? You are so young; you still have a lot of opportunities in the future. At your age, it should be no problem for you to attend the next two, or even three Asian Games."

"Moreover, you are very gifted, so you are bound to take part in the international matches. The IAAF Diamond League, the Track Field World Cup, the World Athletics Championships, and the Olympics Games are your stage. This is only the Asian Games; you don't need to push yourself so hard."

A flash of hesitation appeared in the eyes of Haiquan Fang, but he still shook his head.

"Coach Xue, I want to continue. This is my game; I should hold on. So many people are watching me. I believe I can jump!" Haiquan Fang said resolutely.

"Haiquan, even though we are the host city this time around, you don't need to take on any psychological burden. You quit the game because of injury; we understand that, and the audience will also understand. Furthermore, today you give up temporarily just in order to accomplish better things in the future!" Li Xue continued trying to persuade Haiquan Fang.

"But I want to win!"

Li Xue sighed helplessly. As a coach with decades of coaching experience, he could understand how Haiquan Fang was feeling. However, Li Xue still tried to persuade Haiquan Fang, saying, "You are injured right now. In your current state, even if you return to the match, you cannot obtain a satisfactory result. And if you get injured again in your current condition, it will be more troublesome. Your professional career could take a toll."

The third round of trial jump was about to end.

"As for the other two players of our team, Yi Li ranks 4th right now, and Jinrui Liu ranks 7th. Only one player hasn't had their third trial jump. This player is relatively weak; even if he gets a good score, Yi Li and Dawei Liu can also enter the top eight smoothly," the long jump coach whispered to Li Xue.

"Very good!" Li Xue nodded his head satisfactorily.

"What about me? Am I still No. 1?" Haiquan Fang asked.

The long jump coach hesitated for a moment, but said eventually, "Right now, your score of 7.87 meters still ranks 1st among all competitors."

"Coach Xue, I want to return to the match! Please!" With his hands on the ground, Haiquan Fang tried to stand up. His eyes were filled with the want to win.

A sorry expression could be seen on Li Xue's face. Haiquan Fang was in a quite favorable position now. The first 3 trial jumps had already been completed, yet Haiquan Fang still ranked 1st. According to the game rules, Haiquan Fang could perform the worst of all the athletes in the final three trial jumps and still win.

If no one gets a score better than 7.87 meters in the last three trial jumps, Haiquan Fang will win the championship!

The thought flashed Li Xue's mind; however, he knew it was impossible. After all, this was the Asian Games, which was filled with elite athletes from all across Asia, including the "immigrant legion" of countries in Western Asia. It was impossible for a score of 7.87 meters to win the championship.

"Coach, please give me one chance! Please! Just one jump!" Haiquan Fang continued to beg Li Xue for an opportunity.

At that moment, Dai Li finally said, "Coach, just give him a chance!"

"How could you mess with him?" Li Xue glanced at Dai Li questionably. "His injury could be serious. How could he return to the match?"

"Coach, I was Haiquan Fang's coach when he was on the youth team. I'm worried about his injury too," Dai Li said, "However, he is quite stubborn. He will never stop until he reaches his goal. So just let him have another jump."

"What about the injury in his leg? What should we do if his injury is aggravated?" Li Xue asked back.

Dai Li said immediately, "Let me give him a massage first to alleviate the pain. If his injury is not very serious, he should be able to finish one trial jump after the massage."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 202: Hang On

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

According to the diagnosis of the team doctor, Haiquan Fang had not hurt his bone or joint. The worst case scenario would be a ligament strain; it could also just be a muscle strain. Therefore, Dai Li had volunteered to give a massage to Haiquan Fang. If Haiquan Fang's injury had been very serious, Dai Li would not have had the guts to stand up.

Dai Li's rehabilitative massage could not cure traumatic injuries, but it was very helpful for injury recovery. Regardless of if it was a ligament strain or a normal muscle strain, the rehabilitative massage would be effective. At the very least, it could alleviate Haiquan Fang's pain. Together with the effect of low-temperature analgesic spray, Haiquan Fang should be able to handle a trial jump.

Li Xue also knew Dai Li's massage was very effective. Before, Dai Li had given massage treatments to the athletes of the national team who had suffered from sprains. The alleviation effect of his treatments was very obvious.

"Dai Li, do we have enough time for the massage? What are the odds of recovery?" Li Xue couldn't help asking.

"I'm uncertain about the odds, but I can at least give it a try." As Dai Li said this, he squatted beside Haiquan Fang and said to Li Xue, "Coach, please buy me as much time as you can."

Without any hesitation, Li Xue took out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"Director Chen, I am Li Xue of the Track and Field Team. We need your help for an urgent incident. We need some extra time before the long jump final. Yes, just postpone the game! We are the host, so it shouldn't be very difficult to postpone the match for a bit, right?"

A moment later, Li Xue hung up and said to Dai Li, "The third trial jump has just finished. The appearing sequence of the athletes will be reset according to the results. I bought you fifteen minutes in this period, and that's as much as you're going to get; don't expect more."

...

After three trial jumps, some were happy with the results, while others were sad. The happy ones were the top eight players, naturally, while the sad ones were the bottom four athletes, who had already been knocked out.

Three players of the national team had entered the top eight. Besides them, three players from the Saudi Arabian team had also entered the top eight. Therefore, the last three trial jumps would be a competition between the players from these two countries.

In the athletes' preparation area, Sardo, a Saudi-Arabian player, was quite anxious.

"Why hasn't the fourth trial jump started? They only need to reset the appearing sequence according to the results; why do they need such a long time?" Sardo complained.

The head coach of the Saudi-Arabian team besides him consoled him immediately, saying, "Sardo, take it easy. The game should start soon."

"I have been waiting for more than ten minutes! Now I am only second. I will surpass the guy in first place in the next three trial jumps. How could I be defeated by a nobody?"

As an immigrant athlete, Sardo's ancestral home was in Morocco, Africa, which was a country dominated by Arabians. Because of an identical religion and culture, many middle-east countries recruited immigrant athletes from Morocco.

Sardo was one of the best immigrant athletes. In the last Asian Games, he had won a long jump gold medal for the Saudi-Arabian team. This time, he was determined to defend his championship. From a performance perspective, Sardo was indeed strong enough to win the championship. The threshold result of eight meters was not a difficult task for Sardo.

Perhaps because of his eagerness of win, Sardo had chosen the risky technique for his first three trial jumps, among which only one jump had been successful; the other two jumps had failed. However, the result of his successful jump was 7.85 meters, which ranked 2nd among all participants.

Of course, Sardo was not satisfied with 2nd place; he wanted to win the championship by sweeping the other players. What he had not expected, however, was the emergence of Haiquan Fang, who had ruined his plan. More importantly, Haiquan Fang was an unknown newbie in the international matches. How could Sardo tolerate being defeated by a novice athlete?

Because of this, Sardo eagerly hoped the match would start immediately. He planned to obtain a score that would be enough to win the championship. He hated being in 2nd place, especially behind Haiquan Fang.

Beside him, the coach of the Saudi-Arabian team said, "Sardo, take your time. Sooner or later the championship will be yours. The guy who ranks 1st now was injured in the second trial jump. He has forfeited his third trial jump, which means his injury is too serious, and he cannot return to the match. I think he will continue to forfeit his last three trial jumps."

"The match didn't start until now; it's possible that they postponed the match to buy time for his treatment!" Sardo had seen a lot of things in his time, so he realized what was going on.

"I have spoken with the judge, and the judge told me the match has to be postponed for fifteen minutes to cooperate with the TV broadcast," the coach of the Saudi-Arabian team said, "It is quite normal. The matches broadcasted on TV always consider their sponsors. Even the Super Bowl has commercial breaks! Besides, it's only fifteen minutes. Do you really think they could help the injured guy return to the match in fifteen minutes? If they could, this guy wouldn't have forfeited his third jump!"

...

Fifteen minutes flew by quickly. The fourth trial jump had begun.

"How is he?" Li Xue asked anxiously.

"Wait a moment, he is still not OK." Dai Li was still performing the rehabilitative massage for Haiquan Fang.

"But the fourth trial jump has begun!" With his brows knitted, Li Xue watched the athletes who were getting ready in the waiting area.

"Forfeit the fourth trial jump!" Dai Li said resolutely.

Li Xue didn't speak, for it was time for Jinrui Liu, another athlete on the national team, to jump. Jinrui Liu sprung into the air; when he landed, his heels were pressed exactly on the8-meter mark.

"8 meters! Jinrui Liu, well done!" Li Xue clenched his fists excitedly.

Haiquan Fang became even more anxious. The emergence of a better result made him want to return to the playing area.

"Steady; be patient! Take a deep breath," Dai Li said. Haiquan Fang listened to Dai Li's instructions and adjusted his breathing, trying to suppress his anxiety.

"The result of the Saudi-Arabian player, Mubarah, is 7.92 meters!"

"The result of the Qatar player, Emir, is 7.98 meters!"

The players began to do their best on the fourth trial jump, and their results reflected it; they had improved remarkably.

Finally, Sardo, the long jump champion of the last Asian Games, stood in the run-up area.

Now the highest result is 8.02 meters. My result will exceed 8.10 meters to ensure the championship!

After taking a deep breath, Sardo began his run-up..

"Hah!" As Sardo shouted, he sprung up high into the air; he completed a walking movement in the air before landing in the sandpit steadily.

"He jumped past the 8-meter line." Li Xue felt something tug at his heart. The game official reported the score: 8.11 meters.

"8.11 meters could win championship. Of course it's Sardo; it seems like he could probably defend his championship!"

Sardo walked out of the playing area with an elated look on his face. He was now in first place, and his lead was quite large. In Asia, only a few player's could reach 8.11 meters.

Seeing the score of 8.11 meters, Haiquan Fang tried to stand up; but his legs were pressed down tightly by Dai Li.

"Just hang on! You have forfeited your fourth trial jump!" Dai Li looked at Haiquan Fang seriously. "Now you have only one chance, so you have to wait until the end when your leg has recovered more."

Haiquan Fang clenched his teeth and held back again.

...

The coach of the Saudi-Arabian team was smiling. "Sardo, I told you the injured guy would not return to the playing area; he has forfeited his fourth jump."

"He really made me nervous. I thought he could be a dark horse!" Sardo's face lit up.

"OK, Sardo, now you are No. 1; you will have more advantages during the appearance sequence. You should try to score a better score next time. I believe the championship will be yours!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 203: Fly

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Forfeit the fifth trial jump!" Dai Li said directly without raising his head.

Haiquan Fang clenched his teeth and held back the urge to return to the match.

If an unfamiliar coach had asked him to hold back, Haiquan Fang was so stubborn that he might have kicked the coach away. However, the one who was speaking to him was Dai Li, the first coach Haiquan Fang had had when he became a professional athlete. Out of the reverence and respect he had for Dai Li, Haiquan Fang had to hold back.

"Haiquan, I still remember that when I first met you, you told me you liked the long jump and the feeling of flying in the air," Dai Li said as he raised his head, "Now your goal has been achieved; you are a professional long jump athlete and you have been admitted to the national team. You practice the long jump every day. Is it boring?"

Haiquan Fang pondered a moment, then said, "Sometimes it is a little bit boring. Every day I keep jumping, and it gets boring. But on the national team, everyone is like this."

"Yes. On the national team, everyone is working hard; everyone is longing for victory and championships!" Dai Li paused, then asked, "Haiquan, do you want be a champion?"

"Of course!" Haiquan Fang answered without any hesitation.

"Why?" Dai Li continued to ask.

Haiquan Fang was speechless. He could not answer the question, for he had never thought about why he needed a championship.

"You don't have an answer?" Dai Li changed the topic and asked, "Do you remember the Provincial Youth Games? You defeated Gang Yang on the last jump and won the championship. Was the feeling wonderful?

"Now, for the second time, you only have one jump left again, and your opponent has taken the lead, just like in those Youth Games." Dai Li stopped his massage and said, "You like the feeling of flying in the air, but you should get more enjoyment from the sense of accomplishment that comes from defeating your opponents! Think about it; when you defeat strong opponents one after another, do you have an indescribable sense of satisfaction in your heart? Really think; when you are standing on the top of the winner's podium, is the feeling wonderful?"

"Sometimes you don't need a reason to pursue victory." As Dai Li said this, he picked up a low-temperature analgesic spray and sprayed it on Haiquan Fang's leg.

"OK, go and get yourself prepared for the last trial jump. Go and defeat your opponent!" Dai Li helped Haiquan Fang stand up and watched him walk to the preparation area.

"Go and fly!" Dai Li murmured to himself.

...

Sardo stood in the run-up area for the 6th time.

He looked quite relaxed and excited. He forced himself to be serious, but still could not hide the joy he was feeling.

Sardo's score of 8.11 meters still ranked 1st, and this was only the trial jump. Another six players before him had failed to surpass him. Sardo thought the gold medal was already his.

As for Haiquan Fang, who had gone last, Sardo had already forgotten about him. Haiquan Fang had forfeited three trial jumps, so Sardo thought Haiquan Fang had given up.

As long as I finish this jump, I will be the champion. Sardo took a deep breath and concentrated all his attention on the jump, then began his run-up.

Take off, flight, landing… Sardo finished all the movements in one motion and landed steadily at the 8-meter line. Although this trial jump had not surpassed his best score, it was still a successful trial jump.

Sardo raised his hands in celebration as he walked out of the sandpit. At the same time, deafening cheers burst out of the grandstand.

"Thank you! Thank you all!" Sardo was very happy; he had not expected the audience to be so enthusiastic in congratulating his win. Sardo's face was filled with a winner's smile. He waved to the grandstand and posed with a handsome gesture so that a reporter could take his picture. To Sardo's surprise, however, all the reporters were still in the interview preparation area, and nobody had approached him.

These reporters are so unprofessional! Don't they know they should take pictures of the champion and interview him? As Sardo complained to himself, he turned around to wave to the grandstand on the other side. As he turned around, however, he saw an athlete standing in the run-up area.

It's him; the guy that was injured in the second trial jump. How could he return to the match? Sardo's expression suddenly changed.

At this moment, Sardo finally realized the reason for the resounding cheers and applause that had burst from the grandstand. The audiences weren't celebrating his lead, but the return of their host city athlete. The reporters had not come to take pictures of him because the match had not finished yet.

You are back, so what? You only have one trial jump left, and you are injured. You have no chance at all. Sardo curled his lip disdainfully.

...

The return of an injured athlete who had limped out of the playing area deserved the applause of the audience. Moreover, as an athlete from the host city, the return of Haiquan Fang triggered the deafening cheers of the audiences.

Standing on the track of the run-up area, Haiquan Fang's ears were filled with the thunderous cheers of the audience. Suddenly he felt a sense of responsibility.

They are cheering for me! They are encouraging me! Haiquan Fang looked at the scoreboard unconsciously. The score of 8.11 meters on the top caught his eyes immediately.

The sense of accomplishment comes from the defeat of opponents! Haiquan Fang suddenly felt like his heart was filled with strong sense of expectation.

I managed to return to the match to surpass him; to surpass everyone! Haiquan Fang's eyes were filled with resolution

He began his run-up by completely ignoring his leg injury. In fact, Haiquan Fang had forgotten his injury altogether in that moment. His foot stepped on the take-off board, and when the judge raised the white flag, he sprung into the air.

Haiquan Fang had used up all his strength for this one jump. Haiquan Fang was really flying like a bird.

Just fly! Dai Li said to himself again, hopeful.

Tens of thousands of pairs of eyes in the stadium were fixed on Haiquan Fang. All Haiquan Fang saw, however, was the blue sky.

The sky is so beautiful! Suddenly, Haiquan Fang calmed down. This was the feeling of flying in the air, which was his favorite feeling.

The next moment, he looked into the distance and noticed the 8-meter line next to the sandpit in the corner of his eye.

I will fly over it! This was the only conviction left in Haiquan Fang's heart, who started to extend his legs forward strenuously.

I can fly even farther! Haiquan Fang kept his balance. He tried to keep his body in the air as long as possible.

Finally, Haiquan Fang landed in sandpit and left a clear mark in the sand.

"What is the result?" All the coaches of the national team stretched out their necks and looked at the mark that had been left in the sandpit.

"It is over 8.10 meters! He has a chance!" The long jump coach was the first to roar.

The game official announced the score soon after. Haiquan Fang's score for his last jump was 8.13 meters.

"8.13 meters! We won! We have won the match! Haiquan has won! His last jump was a buzzer beater!"

...

Buzzer beater! This thought jumped into Sardo's mind. He really could not believe what was happening in front of his eyes. One minute ago, he had still been celebrating his victory; in one minute, however, his gold medal had turned into a silver medal.

Haiquan Fang was looking at the scoreboard next to the playing area. The top score had been changed from Sardo's 8.11 meters to his 8.13 meters.

What Coach Li said was right. It is a great sense of accomplishment to defeat the opponent!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 204: The Reason I Can't Lose

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The result of Haiquan Fang's first trial jump had ranked 1st; he had gotten injured in his second trial jump, and forfeited his next three trial jumps. In the end, however, he had still managed to win the championship with a "buzzer beater" on his last trial jump. It had been quite phenomenal for Haiquan Fang to win the gold medal.

After the award ceremony, Haiquan Fang was sent to hospital for a diagnosis immediately. The final examination result reassured the national team. Haiquan Fang only had a muscle strain; after 3 -4 days of rest, he would be fully recovered.

The matches of the Asian Games were still ongoing. The next big event in the track and field category would be the men's 100m sprint.

As the last match the next day, the final competition, the 100m sprint, was also the highest-profile match. Two players from the national team, Jun Xie and Sijie Yang, had entered the final match.

"Zitao Wei was not lucky. He was knocked out in the 'group of death' during the semi-final; otherwise he definitely would have been good enough to get into the final match," Li Xue exclaimed indignantly.

The national team was not strong enough to dominate Asia in the 100m sprinting event. In East Asia, Sunshine Oda, the sprinting star of the Japanese team, was quite strong. His performance in the second-round match and semi-final had been very impressive.

Of the west Asian "immigrant legion," besides Clark, who held the Asian record, Oneida, another immigrant athlete of Qatar, also competed well and entered the final match successfully. As an immigrant athlete from Africa, the UAE athlete Sarafa had also qualified for the final match.

Thus, among the eight athletes in the final match, three of them were black immigrant athletes from Africa.

"Sijie Yang, you are in lane 2. On your left will be Xianlong Chen from Singapore, and on your right will be Sunshine Oda, the star from Japan!" Dai Li looked at the list of athletes and said, "Lane 2 is not the best, but it's still a good one.

"Xianlong Chen is a veteran; he once reached the standard B-level of the Olympic Games, and attended the last Olympic Games. As for Sunshine Oda, he is regarded as a once-every-century sprinting talent by the Japanese. He is close in age to you. He is currently a student at Tokyo University, which is very much like you, for you are also a brilliant student from Tsinghua University!" Dai Li continued.

Sijie Yang suddenly frowned, and a flash of disgust could be seen in his eyes.

Dai Li noticed Sijie Yang's mood change. He smiled and said, "Why? You don't like Japan? You are a man of national integrity."

"My father's laboratory was almost ruined by the Japanese!" Sijie Yang explained, "For the research project my father was awarded a Nobel Prize for, when the first stage research results came out, Tokyo University said they would provide research funding of three million USD, but they wanted to share the final research results.

"That was more than twenty years ago, yet they wanted to trade Nobel Prize-level research results for only three million USD. Tokyo University was so cheap!" Dai Li couldn't help complaining.

"But back then a lot of people wanted that three million USD; I'm talking about some administration departments. They asked my father to accept Tokyo University's request so that they could get a share from the fund. Moreover, the foreign exchange earnings of three million USD could also be considered an administrative achievement by some officials."

Sijie Yang paused, then continued, "However, my father refused, which also offended those people. After that, my father's laboratory entered a period of hard times. Their research funding was deducted, their application to hire more research staff was rejected, and the experimental materials they used were embezzled. Even the payment of the laboratory's utility expenses was delayed for several months."

Dai Li sighed slightly. Many people only focused on the immediate interests, ignoring the greater benefits in the future.

Dai Li had also used to curse their short-sighted behavior, but later realized the main reason had not been because of their nearsightedness. Most of the time, for decision makers, the immediate interests were their own; they wouldn't be able to enjoy the greater benefit in the future.

This was similar to the research funding of three million USD, which was a substantial achievement for some officials. As for the Nobel Prize, it was something that would not be realized until over ten years later; by that time, those same officials may have been promoted or retired. In addition, no one would take on the responsibility of selling the Nobel Prize research results to Tokyo University at a very low price over ten years ago.

Lin Yang's refusal had apparently hurt the interests of these people, so their revenge was inevitable. Therefore, the fund deduction, the rejection of staff recruitment application and experiment material embezzlement were quite normal.

Sijie Yang continued, "Fortunately, my father didn't burn all his bridges. He hid some critical research results. After the deduction of their research funding, he publicized these critical results, which made a splash in the industry and also drew the attention of high level management. It was because of this that my father managed to continue his research."

This was the first time Dai Li had heard about these issues. The history of Lin Yang winning the Nobel Prize had already been documented in literature, and had been published in installments in the newspapers during that time. It had even been compiled in the textbooks. It was a household name at the time.

However, the fund deduction, rejection of staff recruitment applications, and experiment material embezzlement Sijie Yang had just told him had never been mentioned in the news reports. Such things would be buried in the ashes of history if they were not mentioned by the concerned parties personally.

Sijie Yang continued, "In fact, this was just the beginning. Along with the implementation of my father's research, he needed to purchase some more advanced research equipment, some of which could only be manufactured in Japan. Therefore, Tokyo University asked the manufacturer to reject the purchase application of my father's laboratory with their influence. They wanted to postpone the progress of my father's laboratory.

"Meanwhile, Tokyo University also spent a lot of money hiring research staff from my father's laboratory, and even bought off some of his research staff to disclose the progress and data of the research in my father's laboratory."

Dai Li could understand the refusal to sell experiment equipment. All transactions should be based on the consensus of the buyer and seller; a mandatory purchase or sale wouldn't work. The seller had been willing to lose money in the business, so the buyer could not say anything else. Moreover, the technology blockade of the western world against China hadn't been stopped for over fifty years, which Dai Li has already gotten used to.

Hiring research staff by providing a high salary was also acceptable. As the old saying goes, man struggles upwards. Everybody wants a better working environment, a higher salary, and a more promising future. Everybody wants to have a better life and more disposable money. It is impossible to ask everybody to make unselfish contributions without a reward.

However, buying off research personnel to steal experiment data had gone beyond the moral line. Sometimes people resorted to every conceivable means to win, but the behavior of Tokyo University should have been considered a crime.

"After that, my father's laboratory got the results of the research first. They also registered the patent for their results. However, Tokyo University was unwilling to accept their failure, and filed for patent litigation in the European and American countries by accusing my father of plagiarizing their research results. Even though Tokyo University lost the case in the end, the litigation really hurt my father's reputation, and even influenced the selection for the Nobel Prize. If the Japanese hadn't filed the litigation, my father would have won the Nobel Prize five years earlier!" Sijie Yang said resentfully.

For people who engaged in scientific research, five years were nothing; however, for the Nobel Prize winners, five years were of great significance. If Lin Yang had won the Nobel Prize five years earlier, he would have established his position in the academic circle earlier; he could have grasped the discourse power in Chinese research earlier; he could have struggled for a better research program for China. The economic benefit of winning the Nobel Prize earlier also had to be taken into consideration.

Dai Li asked with emotion, "So this Sunshine Oda should be a deadly foe of your family. Do you want to avenge your father in the match?"

Sijie Yang nodded, his eyes full of resolution. "Even if only for my father, I will never lose to this Sunshine Oda! I will get revenge for my father."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 205: An Unexpected Accident

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Standing in front of the starting block, the Qatar player Clark was twisting his joints slightly.

Clark had been born in a village in Kenya. For generations, his family had been peasants living off of planting cassava. Cassava is a common crop in the tropical area, which doesn't need fine management, and has a high output and good drought resistance. Every year after the sowing period, the cassava could bear very large fruits, even without watering and fertilization.

Clark's family had a lot of land, so his family could keep themselves from starving by planting cassava. The eldest generation of Clark's family led quite a leisurely life every day. Two pieces of cassava would be enough for a day's rations. After eating, they would hang out in the village, or just sleep in the shade of a tree.

However, Clark did not want to lead a life of sitting around like the generations that had come before him. He did not want to be a peasant all his life; but Kenya had almost no industries, nor a service sector. Outside of being a peasant, there was nothing he could do. As a result, Clark had to engage in sports like many other Kenyans, for it was one of the only ways Kenyans could change their fate.

The event Clark had chosen was long-distance running, which was one of Kenya's strongest events. As the world's superpower in middle- and long-distance running, Kenya had cultivated many middle- and long-distance running champions.

However, Clark was not gifted in long-distance running; but his powerful explosive force and quick strides were quite impressive, so he was chosen by the coach of the sprinting team. Ever since then, he had had his sprinting career.

After shifting his focus to sprinting, Clark had achieved many things; soon after he made the switch, he became the national sprinting champion of Kenya. It was also at this time that Qatar came to him in hopes that he could work for Qatar as an immigrant athlete.

Through revenue of petroleum and natural gas, the per capita GDP of Qatar had always been among the top three in the word. For Clark, Qatar was extremely wealthy, and a place where he could make a lot of money. Therefore, he took on the Qatar nationality without any hesitation.

As a black athlete, Clark was not the best athlete in the world. However, he could defeat the Asian athletes easily. Since Clark's naturalization, he had won many Asian championships for Qatar, including the championship in the last Asian Game's 100m sprint.

Clark also received a profitable return for these championships. Because he was an immigrant athlete, the people of Qatar did not consider him a hero of their country. However, money was not a problem for Qatar. Clark's salary was very high, and he also received a decent-sized bonus for each championship he won.

Clark was now thirty. As a sprinter, he had entered the later stage of his career. In fact, Clark knew he was definitely older than thirty. His parents were illiterates without any education. They even needed a lot of time to finish addition and subtraction with numbers below ten. Therefore, the age of Clark was just a rough estimate they had made. Even when Clark looked in the mirror, he himself did not believe he was only thirty.

Because of this, Clark was devoured by a sense of crisis. He was eager to make more money so that he could have a comfortable life after his retirement. This was also the reason he had attended all kinds of matches frequently in the last two years.

The Asian Games were always a good chance for him to make money. He had won the championship in the last Asian Games, so if he could defend his title, Qatar would definitely give him a large bonus. As he thought about it, Clark couldn't help bending over and rubbing his shin.

His shin was not in good condition. As a small sprinter with a fast stride, it was normal for him to have accumulated injuries in his legs over time, let alone in the matches he had attended frequently in the last two years. Without sufficient rest, his legs had been further overwhelmed.

After this Asian Games, I shall take a long vacation. As Clark thought this to himself, he stood on the starting block.

Looking at the opponents on his left and right, Clark felt quite assured. Among these opponents was someone he recognized and someone that was new to him. But it was certain that he was the only one whose result could be under ten seconds among all eight athletes.

The starter signaled to the athletes so that they could get fully prepared, then raised the starting pistol.

At the sound of the starting pistol, the players rushed out from the starting line. Clark's starting phase was very successful; he had almost taken the lead in the very beginning of the match.

The stride rate of the small sprinters was always fast. Athletes whose stride rate was fast would be advantageous in the beginning phase of the match. Normally, in the first thirty meters, athletes whose stride rate was fast would take the lead, and at the very least would not fall behind.

"Clark is taking lead; he is in great shape today."

"No wonder he is the No. 1 sprinter in Asia. It seems like Clark is determined to defend his championship!"

"I wonder whether Clark's time can be under ten seconds again."

As people were exclaiming, Clark suddenly faltered and lost his balance.

"What happened?"

This unexpected accident surprised everyone, including Clark.

My leg! Clark suddenly felt a twitch in his right shin bone.

This kind of twitch probably would not have caused a tumble if the person was walking; however, during the 100m sprint, the athletes were running at a very high speed. This sudden twitch in the shin would stop the power output of one's leg, which was equivalent to the loss of support in a leg. Therefore, it could result in a serious fall of the athlete.

Oh, no! Clark tried to stabilize his body and keep his balance, but it was all in vain.

As Clark was about to fall, he tried to grab something out of instinct. It was also at this moment that a figure ran by Clark, and was grasped by him coincidentally. That figure was the Qatari player Oneida, who was Clark's fellow countryman. Oneida was in the lane adjacent to Clark's.

Clark had lost his balance, so he had grabbed Oneida in passing and transferred his center of gravity to Oneida instantly. Oneida was also running at a high speed, so he also lost his balance and fell in the other direction because of Clark.

Jun Xie, an athlete on the national team, was in the lane right next to Oneida's. Jun Xie had been running desperately when someone suddenly rammed into him from the side. It was too late for Jun Xie to evade the guy. Jun Xie collided with Oneida. In the collision, their knees also bumped into one another when their bodies made contact.

The next second, Oneida and Jun Xie fell forward simultaneously. They had been running too fast, so they even rolled over a few times on the ground.

"Oh, oh, oh…." Exclamations came from the stands. It had all happened so quickly. Before some of the audience had realized what had happened, three athletes had fallen to the ground.

It was quite normal for athletes to collide with one another in long-distance running; however, the collision of athletes in the 100m sprint was very rare.

Moreover, this collision was quite serious. Triggered by Clark, who was the defending champ and Asian record holder, this high-speed collision had knocked down three athletes at the same time.

Clark's ability was better than the other athletes. Before the match, he had once been considered the athlete who would certainly win the championship; but now he was lying on the ground during the match.

As for Oneida and Jun Xie, who had been affected by Clark, they were also powerful players; both of them had stood a chance to win a medal.

The athletes who had had the best chance to win medals had dropped out of the match because of their collision, which meant three vacancies had been created. The power gap between the rest of the athletes was not large; so the result of the 100m sprint had become uncertain.

"It's a good opportunity!" Akita Sasaki shook his fists excitedly.

Among the rest of the five athletes on the track, there were two players from the Japanese team. Moreover, the top three players had dropped out, so Sunshine Oda had a chance to win the gold medal.

As he realized this, Akita Sasaki couldn't help yelling, "Come on, Sunshine Oda!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 206: Fight for My Father

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The face of the Qatari Team's coach was filled with shock, disappointment, anxiety, and helplessness.

Clark, Qatar's ace sprinter, had tumbled suddenly; when he fell, he had knocked down his teammate Oneida accidentally. All the members of the Qatari Team were wiped out in a blink.

Oneida was also an immigrant, a black athlete of Qatar from Africa. He was not as strong as Clark; however, because of his physical advantage and the gift many black athletes had in sprinting, Oneida also stood a chance at winning a medal.

But now, Clark's gold medal hopes were gone along with Oneida's medal. The Qatari Team coach experienced the feeling of falling between two stools suddenly.

Another guy who had the same expression was Li Xue, since Jun Xie from the national team had also been affected by this accident. Jun Xie had attended the Olympic Games with a result that had reached the standard A of the Olympic Games, so the probability for him to win a medal at the Asian Games was very high. Li Xue had planned to have Jun Xie receive a medal for the 100m sprint, but his hopes were dashed.

In comparison, the coach of the Japanese Team instantly became excited. Sasaki Akita was even cheering loudly.

...

On the track, Oda Sunshine couldn't hear Sasaki Akita's cheers at all. The area was so noisy that he couldn't clearly hear what people were shouting.

In fact, many sprinters' minds had gone blank during the 100m sprint; all they knew was that they had to keep running forward.

Those athletes who had more experience in competition would keep an eye on the position of their opponents, pay attention to their own pace, and make adjustments during the match.

However, Oda Sunsine knew his opportunity had come.

The three athletes who had just been knocked down had been strong enough to win medals, so they were faster than the rest of the runners. Therefore, Oda Sunshine who had been running behind them witnessed the collision. He also knew his opportunity to win the championship had come.

Champion of the Asian Games! This title flashed in Oda Sunshine's mind. The championship was his goal for the following four years, but he suddenly found that he could realize his dream that day!

Oda Sunshine couldn't help but look around. Now, five athletes were running on the track. The gap in ability among them was not large, so the space between them wasn't large enough to determine the winner.

A figure on the left of Oda Sunshine was especially advancing on him, shoulder to shoulder. It was Sijie Yang.

No wonder this Sijie Yang could enter the final match, he's really something. But in Asia, I'm the best among my peers. This Sijie Yang is a few months younger than me, so he's absolutely no match for me!

Before the match, Oda Sunshine had also looked through the materials of the other athletes who had entered the final match. He knew Sijie Yang was a few months younger than him. Oda Sunshine was quite confident of his power in front of his peers.

His self-confidence came from the flattery of others. Oda was born in Osaka, and he was regarded as the sprinting genius of Osaka when he was in middle school. When he was a high school student, he was even described as the sprinting genius of all of Japan.

As a sophomore during a national high school game, Oda Sunshine had created a record of 9.97 seconds with the help of high winds. At that moment, he had turned into the hope for the future of Japan's sprinting, and was even called the future best sprinter in Asia by the Japanese media.

From high school to university, Oda Sunshine kept wearing the halo of "genius." In addition, in order to refine his skills, Japan had sent him to attend many international matches. Oda Sunshine had even raced against Gittell, the best sprinter in the world. Although he was left in the dust by those powerful black athletes in every match, his overreaching attempts to improve had given Oda Sunshine abundant experience for large scale matches. At least he was the best among the young athletes in Asia who were under 20.

At this moment, Oda Sunshine was so confident that he believed he could leave Sijie Yang behind in the next 10 meters.

...

With his heart filled with fighting will, Sijie Yang didn't care about the three players who had tumbled to the ground at all. The only thing he wanted to do was defeat Oda Sunshine.

I shall never lose to this Japanese! I must win for the honor of my father!

At this moment, the figure of his father was in Sijie Yang's mind. Deep in his heart, Sijie Yang had always adored his father. Although he wasn't a great scientist like his father, he had always regarded his father as his role-model. When he thought of the unfair treatment his father received in those years, his chest was filled with righteous indignation, and he was also eager to get revenge for him.

But actually, those things had occurred over twenty years ago, so they had nothing to do with Oda Sunshine. In addition, scientific research and sports belonged to two totally different fields. Personally, it was childish for Sijie Yang to vent his resentments about Oda Sunshine.

As a matter of fact, this was quite like those airhead fans who adored handsome young males. If their idol was criticized by anyone, these fans would denounce the criticizer definitively. In case dispute arose between fan groups of two idols, a crazy flame war would be triggered between the fan groups. People had even become accustomed to physical confrontation between the fans.

Now, Sijie Yang was a diehard fan of Lin Yang. As Lin Yang's son and the person nearest and dearest to him, Sijie Yuang had been living in the radiance of his "Noble Prize father" since his childhood. His adoration of his father was no less than the religious beliefs of fanatical religious believers.

Now is my father still in the laboratory or has he come home? I suppose he's at home. Maybe he's sitting in front of the TV and watching me! As he thought of this, Sijie Yang's eyes were burning.

Sijie Yang was eager to get attention from his father, but he was more eager to prove himself in front of his father. He was just like a fanatic groupie who was too excited to sleep for days because a celebrity had waved at him.

My father is watching my match! I won't fail, and I won't ever lose to that Oda Sunshine!

This strong belief kept Sijie Yuang focused. At this moment, he felt he was full of inexhaustible strength.

...

One second had passed, and the athletes on the track had moved forward another 10 meters.

The UAE athlete, Sarafa, looked to his left, and suddenly found the two players in lanes two and three were a body-length lead ahead of him.

Those 2 Asian players are even faster than me! Suddenly, Sarafa was anxious.

Also an immigrant athlete from Africa, Sarafa was born in Uganda, which was one of the world's least developed countries. Agriculture was the main industry of Uganda, but this country had to import agricultural tools, fertilizers, and even seeds.

Moreover, Uganda was a country full of all kinds of infectious diseases, slike dengue fever, malaria, plague, yellow fever, cholera and schistosomiasis. For every hundred adult Ugandans, there were six people infected with AIDS. Even the recent rampant Ebola virus was fermented in Uganda first.

Such a country was indeed not suitable for living, so Sarafa had decided to change his nationality. At first, he had wanted to join the United Kingdom, since Uganda was formerly a colony of the United Kingdom and had a strong influence on Uganda.

However, Sarafa was not one of the world's top-notch sprinters. His results in the 100m sprint were over 10 seconds. Therefore, the United Kingdom was obviously not inclined to take him in. After several setbacks, Sarafa managed to become an immigrant athlete for the United Arab Emirates.

Besides Sarafa's performance in the 100m sprint, the UAE placed high value on his technique in the 200m sprint. In comparison with Qatar's Clark, Sarafa's explosive force was a bit weak. However, Sarafa's curve running technique was better.

The best result of Sarafa's in the 200m sprint was 20.07 seconds, which had been the best result in Asia, and would have been good enough for him to enter the final heat in the Olympic Games or the World Championships.

However, the 200m sprint was not held frequently, and it wasn't as influential as the 100m sprint, so Sarafa was not as renowned as Clark, but this would not change the fact that Sarafa was the biggest favorite for the 200m sprint gold medal at this Asian Games.

At this moment, Clark and Oneida had dropped out of the match. As the only black athlete on the track, Sarafa naturally thought he already had the championship in his hands. However, when he was 20 meters away from the finishing line, Sarafa saw two indigenous Asian athletes taking the lead.

Am I going to lose to those two Asian athletes? No! Failure isn't for me! In the last 20 meters, Sarafa also did his best.

...

Oda Sunshine noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sijie Yang was still running shoulder to shoulder with him.

I've still failed to create distance between us? Don't I have a little bit of an advantage? Oda Sunshine was a bit anxious and angry.

Among the young people my age in Asia, I'm the fastest sprinter! This Sijie Yang is several months younger than, he can't be faster than me! I must win!

Oda Sunshine's expression became ferocious. He wanted to defeat Sijie Yang in the last 20 meters.

I am a genius. I'm a genius that only comes once every century. Even Coach Sasaki used to say I would definitely go beyond him and become the new best sprinter in Asia. How could I lose to these losers?

The relentlessness in the Japanese's bones broke out completely. Oda Sunshine's strides quickened suddenly along with his running speed.

...

"Well done, Oda! You're taking lead!" Sasaki Akita shouted excitedly. At this moment, Sasaki Akita saw his younger self.

Sasaki Akita had used to be the best sprinter in Asia, and the representative figure of the Golden Generation of Japan. At that time, Japan's sprinters dominated all of Asia. In some Asian matches, the Japanese Team could even take the top three.

However, after their retirement, the Japanese Sprint Team suffered a serious downturn. They couldn't even dominate East Asia, let alone the powerful immigrant legion of the West Asia.

Now, Sasaki Akita seemed to see the hope of Japanese sprinters rise again.

"Only 20 meters left, Oda, hang on!"

...

Li Xue also started to feel nervous.

Although Jun Xie had been knocked down by the others, Sijie Yang had sprung up and was taking the lead, running shoulder to shoulder with Oda Sunshine.

"Come on!" Li Xue also couldn't help yelling.

However, Oda Sunshine's stride rate quickened a bit at this moment.

Oh, no! Maybe we'll lose. Li Xue felt a twinge in his heart. In the last 20 meters of the race, the result could be determined by even the smallest advantage.

...

Back in the city of Huajing, Lin Yang purposely went home earlier to watch his son's race.

At that moment, Lin Yang couldn't help standing up from the sofa to stand in front of the TV. He didn't even notice how nervous he was.

As a Noble Prize winner, Lin Yang had experienced many big moments. He had long been able to be calm in his hour of peril. However, today he couldn't calm himself down at all, for it was his son who was struggling on the track.

Lin Yang suddenly noticed his nervous mood. He remembered that during the half hour before the Nobel Prize winner was announced, he had known he was on the list of the final three candidates; at that time, he was as nervous as he was at this moment.

Lin Yang couldn't help exhaling a breath and murmuring to himself, "This brat always makes me worry!"

...

On the track, Sarafa finally used his advantages to the fullest. As a black athlete, he had explosive force in the second half of match that the Asian athletes didn't have. With this explosive force, he caught up to Oda Sunshine.

On the other side, Sijie Yang also had noticed the quickening of Oda Sunshine's strides.

He didn't want to be outdone, so he used all his strength to dash forward. In the last 10 meters, the three athletes were running shoulder to shoulder.

I am a genius, the hope of Japanese sprinting. How could I lose to a peer? Oda Sunshine's mind was filled with these thoughts.

As an immigrant athlete, I should be faster than the indigenous Asian athletes, and that's also where my value is. How could I lose to these indigenous athletes? I don't want to go back to Uganda! The blood was surging in Sarafa's heart.

Father, look at me! I can win, I'm sure to win! I'm your son. I won't let you down! You will be proud of me! The finish line wasn't the only thing in Sijie Yang's eyes, but also the figure of his father.

In the next second, or less than 1 second, the three runners dashed to the finishing line simultaneously.

They lowered their heads and hit the tape with their chests. They crossed the finishing line in a single moment.

The time was frozen at 10.24 seconds, which wasn't a very good result according to the standard of the Asian Games. If Clark hadn't tumbled and knocked down another two runner, this result wouldn't have been good enough to win a championship.

With his arms raised high, Sijie Yang gestured a one with his finger.

Then, the audiences in the stadium abruptly erupted, just like the sudden eruption of a volcano which had been suppressed for a long time.

"Victory! We won!" Looking at Sijie Yang in the distance, Dai Li knew how hard his victory was gained.

Among the three athletes, Sijie Yang's abilities were the least impressive. Even his explosive force could not fill the gap between him and Sarafa and Oda Sunshine, but Sijie Yang had won the match by outdoing himself again.

"Sijie Yang, finally, you managed to make it." Dai Li smiled. Dai Li's happiness wasn't only because of Sijie Yang's winning the Asian Games, but also due to another upgrading of his system.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 207: The Interlinked Iron Chain

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The national team had plenty of first class athletes. Sprinting was also a relatively popular event. As the favorite apprentice of Li Xue, Dai Li naturally had many opportunities, so his experience was rocketing during his time on the national team.

Dai Li needed 50,000 experience points to upgrade from the preliminary phase of a top-level coach to the intermediate phase. If Dai Li had coached youth athletes like the old days, he might have needed 8 to 10 years to accumulate so many experience points. However, he could accumulate more experience with the national team, so his upgrading speed was almost the same as it had been before.

During this period, Dai Li also attended some races. The outstanding performance of the athletes he had trained during the races also gave Dai Li an experience bonus.

For example, the level of athletes who attended the National University Games was not very high, but the National University Games were a state-level comprehensive competition. Dai Li had gained 2,000 experience points for Sijie Yang's win and Guohong Niu's third place finish.

Another example was that during the long jump final of the Asian Games, Dai Li had put Haiquan Fang back on his training list by giving Haiquan Fang a rehabilitative massage. Later, Haiquan Fang won his event at the Asian Games, so Dai Li also gained some experience from this.

Although Sijie Yang was trained by Li Xue, he had also participated in the training for the relay; therefore, he was always on Dai Li's training list. Sijie Yang's first place in the 100m sprint at the Asian Games also gained Dai Li a lot of experience, which triggered his upgrade to the intermediate phase of a top-level coach from the preliminary phase.

Finally, I upgraded again. I just want to know what good staff is contained in the bonus package. Dai Li was immersed in the system, and eager to know what upgrade bonus he might receive this time.

"System, bring me the bonus package." Dai Li said.

"Okay, congratulations on winning the grand upgrade bonus package," the system said.

"Wait a minute, I was just upgraded to the intermediate phase of the top-level coach. Shouldn't I just get the upgrade bonus package? Why is it a grand upgrade bonus package?" Dai Li asked.

"I forgot to tell you that after your upgrade to the top-level coach, your following upgrades will be more and more difficult, so the bonus will also be a greater incentive by changing the normal bonus package to the grand bonus package; that is to say, you will get two awards for each upgrade in future," the system explained.

"Another award!" Dai Li was immediately delighted.

Dai Li opened the bonus package and looked into it eagerly. What he found were two items. On the left side, there was a book, which meant a new skill; on the right side, an item that was quite similar to the name badge of shop assistants in the mall was placed.

"What is this?" Dai Li picked up the name badge first, an award he had never seen before.

Four words were inscribed on the name badge, "The Interlinked Iron Chain."

"The interlinked iron chain? That reminds me of the story of Yu Zhou who burnt the interlinked war ships of Cao Cao during the Battle of Red Cliffs in the Three Kingdoms Period of China. What is this thing?" Dai Li asked.

"It's a title! Congratulations on getting your first title!" the system explained.

"What's the function of a title? Is it only for addressing and decoration, or could it provide some substantial effects?" Dai Li continued to ask.

"Of course it can provide substantial effects. Each title can provide a substantial promoting effect." the system explained.

"Something like the halo?" Dai Li remembered the halo over his head.

"You could think of it that way, however, titles don't contradict with halos. You may equip the title and halo at the same time to enjoy their combined effect," the system explained.

Dai Li had always held a grudge against the rule that only one halo could be equipped at a time. Now he had a title, which could compensate for the deficiency of equipping only one halo by Dai Li's estimates.

The system continued its explanation. "Besides, one major difference between a title and a halo is that all promotion effects of a halo are positive, while the effects caused by a title are not only positive, but could be negative."

"I knew it couldn't be that simple." Dai Li wouldn't stop complaining.

"If all the effects are positive, wouldn't the function of titles overlap with the function of halos?" the system continued to explain. "Let's take the title of 'The Interlinked Iron Chain' you obtained this time as an example; when you equip this title, the tacit cooperation degree of the athletes in your training list will be remarkably enhanced!"

"The degree of tacit cooperation is enhanced? That sounds quite good. This title could definitely be useful for sports like basketball, football, and volleyball. It could also be used in the doubles for tennis and badminton, which also require cooperation between teammates. In addition, this title could be used in other events that need multiple teammates like kayaking. In this way, the title of 'The Interlinked Iron Chain' could be widely used in all events except for solo ones."

Dai Li paused and continued to asked, "The enhancement of tacit cooperation would be a so-called positive effect, right? Then what are the negative effects of this title?"

"The negative effect is that after equipping this title, the athletes could influence each other. For example, if one athlete is in good shape, other athletes will be influenced and start to be in good shape." the system explained.

"In this way, if one athlete is in bad shape, other athletes will also be influenced and start to be in bad shape, right?" Dai Li asked immediately.

"Exactly. Strictly speaking, it shouldn't be a completely negative effect, but should be regarded as a double-edged sword. For instance, during a basketball match, if one player is on fire and keeps scoring, his teammates will be influenced and enhance their shooting accuracy.

"On the contrary, if one player misses shots consecutively, his teammates will also be influenced and miss more shots." The explanation of the system was quite thorough.

Dai Li nodded his head. This mutual influence among teammates was quite realistic, and very common during actual matches. Sometimes, the shooting accuracy seemed to be an epidemic; especially in the teams relying heavily on shooting, sometimes everyone was a sharpshooter and could defeat their opponent through a rain of three pointers. Sometimes everyone was a terrible shooter and missed all kinds of shots, and the match was lost naturally.

I am a coach of the track and field events, and this title of "The Interlinked Iron Chain" is temporarily useless for me in my current stage, so I'll equip it later. Dai Li's gaze fell to the skill book.

Before I used to practice weight-loss exercise, fat-loss exercise, relaxation massaging, and rehabilitative massaging. What's the skill this time?" Dai Li gave it a closer look, and found two words printed on the cover of the glittery skill book, which were: "Flexible Yoga!"

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 208: Absence

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Flexibility yoga could enhance the body's flexibility, so it should be very helpful for gymnasts, right?" Dai Li said.

The word "flexibility" reminded Dai Li of the gymnastics in the first place. The sport had high requirements to be a professional. The athlete needed to make all kinds of flips, many of which had to be finished in the air without any external support. Therefore, body flexibility was essential to the athlete's quality of movement completion.

"It's effective not only for gymnastics, but also for events like diving, fencing, and Taekwondo. Body flexibility is probably necessary for all sports with high technique requirements." Dai Li looked through the book and found the contents were all pictures of yoga positions.

Strength, speed, explosive force, and endurance are key factors for track and field events. Except for the hurdles, the other events don't have high requirements for body flexibility. Technique and speed are essential for hurdles, but body flexibility is not a key factor. The flexibility yoga skill seems not to be very helpful for me now.

Disappointment welled up in Dai Li's heart. He had been waiting for such a long time for this upgrade, and he had received two awards this time, which could have been very effective and used extensively. However, when it came down to it, these two awards weren't useful to him.

It was quite similar to a top-tier item obtained in a game that couldn't be used by the player's character, but this item was bound to the player's character, so the player couldn't sell it, and it would be a pity to throw it away.

I have to pin my hopes on future awards, but I'll need 100,000 experience points to activate my next upgrade, which could only be accumulated in the next two or three years. Dai Li sighed silently; he had to become more accustomed to this time-consuming upgrading mode.

...

In the hospital, Li Xue was on a tablet, and he was surrounded by five or six coaches.

Li Xue's tablet was playing the slow motion replay of the collision accident during the 100m sprint final.

"Yes, this is it. Oneida fell sideways into Jun Xie's lane so they collided into each other. You see, their knees also collided. It looked quite serious." As Li Xue said this, he became increasingly worried.

"Hope it's not a serious injury," a coach beside Li Xue said anxiously.

At this moment, a doctor came out with an examination report. Li Xue stood up immediately, dashed to the doctor and asked eagerly, "Professor Huang, how is Jun Xie? Were his knees injured?"

"His knees weren't injured, but we found a minor hairline fracture in Jun Xie's rib, which could've been caused by that violent collision. It isn't a very serious injury, and he'll soon be fully recovered after some rest and nutritional supplements." Professor Huang said.

"That is to say, Jun Xie will be absent from the 200m sprint and the relay." Li Xue let out a long sigh. "However, his knees weren't injured, which should be seen as a silver lining."

With Guohong Niu as the substitute, Jun Xie's absence wouldn't be a big problem for the relay team.

However, the 200m sprint was a solo event. Anyone who signed up for the race had to take part in the event themselves, so Jun Xie couldn't be replaced by other players on the national team. In his current condition, Jun Xie had to forfeit the match; that is to say, the national team only had Zitao Wei and Yue Zhao to count on for the 200m sprint.

After pondering it for a few seconds, Li Xue drew Professor Huang aside, and asked in a hushed voice, "Professor Huang, I know two members of the Qatari Team were also sent here. Could you help us inquiring about their conditions, and whether they an participate in the following events?"

Professor Huang hesitated, embarrassed, and said, "I've already checked the examination results of the two Qatari athletes, but for the privacy of the patients, I shouldn't disclose them.

"But, I also know they're your opponents. I could give you a brief introduction so you can figure out a tactic. However, please keep it between the two of us!"

Li Xue nodded, "Don't worry, Professor, this is only between you and me. We will never disclose this information to others."

Professor Huang looked around, then said, "The player whose name is Clark strained his shin ligaments during the collision. In his current condition, he will certainly not be able to participate in other events."

Li Xue was a bit relieved. As the number one sprinter in Asia, the absence of Clark in the following events would remove the greatest threat for the rest of the teams.

"As for the athlete whose name is Oneida…" Professor Huang looked around again and found no one was watching their conversation, then continued to say, "He received no serious injuries. Only his knees were scraped, which isn't a traumatic injury. After they're dressed, these scrapes will not influence his performance in the following events. However, he was knocked unconscious directly on the track, so he's definitely suffering from a brain concussion, which can range from minor to significant; therefore, we have suggested he remain in the hospital under observation for 24 hours."

Li Xue looked more relaxed. If Oneida would be in the hospital for the next 24 hours, he would definitely be absent from the 200m sprint preliminaries held the next day. That is to say, another powerful opponent for the 200m sprint had been knocked out.

Jun Xie's absence had ruined Li Xue's mood terribly, but now, Li Xue knew the situation of the Qatari Team was even worse, since they were losing two players at once. This was enough to console him.

...

The next day, the preliminary match and the second heat of the 200m sprint were held.

Of the remaining two athletes on the national team, Yue Zhao specialized in the 200m sprint, while Zitao Wei was also good at it. Therefore, it would be no problem for them to enter the semi-final.

And the real competition would start from the semi-finals.

In the semi-final of the 100m sprint, Zitao Wei was regretfully knocked out by the "group of death." Now, he was definitely not willing to repeat his tragic experience in the 200m sprint.

In addition, Clark and Oneida had dropped out of the 200m sprint, which remarkably reduced the pressure of the competition. Clark and Oneida were both strong enough to enter the final match. Without them, two vacancies had opened up for the other runners. Along with the absence of Jun Xie, there would be three spots available for the rest of the athletes.

Only eight runners could enter the final match. Now, the three vacancies had remarkably increased the odds for the remaining runners to enter the finals. As a powerful sprinter, Zitao Wei could almost guarantee himself a position in the final match if he performed well.

...

On the temporary training grounds of the national team, Yu Zhao was still practicing, but his training intensity wasn't very high.

"Well, Yue Zhao, let's call it a day now. You'll have a tough day tomorrow. You have to participate in the semi-final and final for the 200m sprint, as well as the preliminary match of the relay," Dai Li said.

"Okay, I'm going to get some rest." Yue Zhao stopped his training.

A gust of wind swept through the area, and Dai Li couldn't help sneezing.

"The air seems to be getting colder!" Dai Li looked at the cloudy sky.

"It's going to rain. On rainy days, the events are quite uncomfortable." Dai Li turned around and said to Yue Zhao, "It might rain tonight, and the temperature will definitely drop, so put on more layers to prevent getting cold."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 209: Racing in the Rain

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The sky looked dark and suffocating. The stands of the stadium were filled with gorgeous colors, provided by colorful umbrellas and raincoats.

It was raining at that moment. The rain wasn't heavy, but still created a cold, dreary feeling.

Dai Li looked at the sky and became irritable, for he didn't like events held in the rain.

In fact, all the coaches and athletes didn't want to participate in the events on rainy days. Especially for the sprinters, the rain would make the track wet and slippery, which could impair the athletes' performances, so naturally, the athletes' performances wouldn't be as good as the rest of the time.

After all, track and field events had to be held in the open air, so it was inevitable to hold events on rainy days. Proper stadiums would have sound drainage devices on the track. Therefore, the track could be wet and slippery, but the devices prevented the formation of puddles. As long as it wasn't raining cats and dogs, the matches would be held as usual, only the athletes had to painstakingly participate in the events in the rain.

All the athletes weren't used to racing in the rain, and no one could prepare for events in the rain. Especially those immigrant athletes from West Asia were more incapable of adapting to races on rainy days. The climate in West Asia was quite dry, and rain was a gift from God, so athletes from the West Asia had very few experiences racing in the rain.

On the track, Yue Zhao was making his final preparations before the race.

This was the semi-final of the 200m sprint, which was challenging for Yue Zhao. Fortunately, three of the most powerful athletes had dropped out of the event, so Yue Zhao didn't have any tough opponents in the semi-final. As long as Yue Zhao did well, he could definitely enter the finals.

When the starting gun went off, Yue Zhao dashed on the track, deliberately basking in the cheers of the audience in the stadium.

Yue Zhao was good at running the curve, so he was the first one to start sprinting the straightaway.

Maybe the rest of the runners in this group were mediocre, or maybe they just wanted to preserve their strength, or maybe these athletes were simply not good at racing on rainy days, but the other athletes didn't chase Yue Zhao, letting him enter the final as the first place of the group.

Soaking wet, Yue Zhao left the infield. The water on his body was not sweat, but rain water.

"Hurry, dry your hair and change into dry clothes." As Dai Li said this, he handed Yue Zhao a towel.

Although the athletes would get soaking wet during their daily training, which was similar to their situation now, sweat was different from rain water. A sweaty athlete wouldn't need to worry about catching a cold if he wasn't exposed to cold wind; however, athletes drenched in rain had to dry themselves off immediately to avoid catching a cold.

The athletes of another heat were standing on the starting line. Zitao Wei, another member of the national team, was in this group.

The UAE sprinter, Sarafa, and Zitao Wei were in the same group. Sarafa's strength in the 200m sprint was much stronger than in the 100m sprint. Now that Clark had dropped out of the event, Sarafa was the biggest favorite to win the 200m sprint championship.

Finally, Zitao Wei entered the final as the second place of the heat, so the two players from the national team entered the final match together.

After several hours' break, the preliminary match of the 4x100m relay started.

Only a few countries participated in the 4x100m relay. The Asians were not good at track and field events. Many Asian countries couldn't even scrounge up four sprinters, let alone have them participate in the relays. Therefore, the 4x100m relay only had a preliminary race.

The Japanese Team had dominated this event for over 20 years in Asia with their strength. However, with the retirement of their Golden Generation, it was hard for the Japanese Team to continue their domination of this event.

At the same time, they had witnessed the rise of many countries in this event, like Qatar and Saudi Arab in West Asia, Kazakhstan in Middle Asia and Thailand in Southeast Asia, which made it difficult to predict who the gold medal in the 4x100m would go to. Several strong teams, including the national team, seemingly had the chance to win the championship.

The strong teams didn't need to pursue speed in the preliminary match. After all, they were strong and could enter the final match easily, as long as they didn't make any mistakes in the preliminary race.

The national team also asked the four contestants to ensure their entry of the final match held in the next day by avoiding any errors in the preliminary race.

Jun Xie dropped out of the match because of his injury, so Guohong Niu, the bench player, had the opportunity to play.

Guohong Niu was quite excited. He had not been entered in any individual events. He had thought he would sit on the bench until the end of the competition. However, Jun Xie's injury was a great blessing for Guohong Niu. He could finally participate in the matches of the Asian Games.

The Qatari Team was in the same situation as the national team. Since Clark had dropped out of the race, and Oneida was also recovering from a concussion, the Qatari Team eventually gave up the relay.

...

On the track, as the third leg, Zitao Wei handed the relay baton to Sijie Yang, who took the baton steadily and started sprinting.

"No mistakes, the baton pass was successful!" Li Xue heaved a sigh of relief.

The baton pass between the third leg and the last was successful; now all Sijie Yang could do was clench the baton and dash forward strenuously.

As the new 100m sprint champion of the Asian Games, Sijie Yang was very confident. He had the demeanor of a star athlete, a kind of mindset change. With a brilliant gift for sprinting, it was only a matter of time before Sijie Yang became a world-class sprinter. An Asian Games championship would just accelerate his transformation.

Sijie Yang crossed the finish line steadily, marking the entry of the national team to the finals.

...

Zitao Wei took the towel handed to him and wiped the rain water off his head, then returned it to Dai Li.

"Your face is flushed." Dai Li looked at Zitao Wei, and found his reaction was unnatural.

"I…" Zitao Wei hesitated a bit and finally said, "I feel cold."

"Maybe you have a fever! I'll get the thermometer from the team doctor." Dai Li fetched for the team doctor immediately.

A moment later, the team doctor arrived. He touched Zitao Wei's forehead, which was very hot, then measured his body temperature with a thermometer.

"He has a fever. His body temperature is 102.02, almost 102.2," the team doctor said solemnly.

The coaches around Zitao Wei gasped.

Coupled with the sudden temperature drop last night, a race in the rain could have easily caused a cold and fever. However, it was indeed the wrong time for Zitao Wei to have a fever, since the final match of the 200m sprint would start in only one hour.

"What should we do?" Everyone was looking at Li Xue; it was time for the boss to make a decision.

Li Xue looked at Zitao Wei, as if he was asking for his opinion.

"Coach, let me do it!" Instead, Zitao Wei was quite steadfast; he continued, "This might be my last Asian Games. In four years, I'll be over thirty. I'm afraid that maybe I'll be retired by then. I've entered the finals, and I don't want to regret anything."

"Will you be able to handle it?" Li Xue continued to ask.

"Yes, I can make it!" Zitao Wei nodded resolutely.

"Then okay! Drink more water, and don't be worried about the result. You have a fever, no one could blame you. After the match, I will immediately dispatch a car to send you back so you can rest." Li Xue accepted Zitao Wei's request.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 210: The 200m Sprint Final

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

If ordinary people had a fever, they could take medicine or get an injection to bring down the temperature. However, professional athletes couldn't do this, for their medication had to be handled discreetly.

In addition, the events were still going on; Zitao Wei had to face a possible doping test after the race. Unless he dropped out of the race, he couldn't take any medicine at that time.

Therefore, Zitao Wei had to fight the fever with his body, and water was the only "medicine" he could use.

However, another issue still worried Li Xue. What would they do if Zitao Wei was absent from the relay final?

Jun Xie was bound to be absent from the relay final due to his fracture. Now Zitao Wei had a fever, and without medication, it was impossible to bring his body temperature down before the relay final, which was to be held the following day.

We lost another player! Now we only have three athletes left. How should we deal with the relay? Li Xue was quite depressed.

...

The 200m sprint final was the last event of that day.

"It's almost impossible for Zitao Wei to win a medal in his current condition."

"It really is a pity. This should have been the last Asian Games for Zitao Wei, and he was performing at the highest athletic level possible."

"This is the will of the heavens. God chose to make it rain on this day so that Zitao Wei would have a fever."

The coaches in the area were chatting in low voices.

Dai Li also felt sorry for Zitao Wei, whose strength in the 200m sprint was outstanding. Zitao Wei's curve running technique was quite good, and he also had sufficient explosive force for sprinting the straightaway. He had been regarded as a promising candidate to win a medal.

However, the reality was unforgiving. Now, his body temperature was 102.2, so it was impossible for him to exert all his strength in the match. The coaches would thank God if Zitao Wei could even walk to the starting line and finish the full distance.

We can't count on Zitao Wei anymore. I hope Yue Zhao can bring us a miracle. Dai Li peeked at Yue Zhao.

Yue Zhao's best result was 20.64 seconds, which was a pretty good result for Asia. His record was better than the B standard of the Olympic Games, and was very close to the A standard.

However, if he wanted to win the championship with a time of 20.64 seconds in the final race of the Asian Games, luck was a necessary factor, meaning the performances of the other runners needed to be poor.

Dai Li couldn't help looking at the sky. The rain kept coming, and it seemed to be heavier than before. The track had long been saturated in rain water. The athletes' feet could easily make a visible splash, as there were still puddles on the track. Even the best drainage devices could not funnel all the water off the track.

Clark, Oneida and Jun Xie have dropped out of the race. Zitao Wei's chances are also impaired by his fever. Now it's raining again, which is also a factor of uncertainty. Maybe this will be good luck for Yue Zhao. As he thought this, Dai Li murmured to himself silently, "Yue Zhao! Come on!"

...

The Japanese Team were originally very strong in the 200m sprint, but now they were had a temporary shortage of talent. Oda Sunshine focused on his stamina in the 100m sprint, while the 200m sprinters cultivated by the Japanese Team in recent years were mediocre.

The best 200m sprinter on the Japanese Team was Gehiko Yamamoto, who specialized in the 400m run. The 200m sprint was a less important race for him. Most sprinters specialized in the 100m sprint, and took the 200m sprint less seriously; therefore, sprinters like Gehiko Yamamoto were quite rare.

The UAE athlete Sarafa was the biggest favorite to win the championship. He had defeated Oda Sunshine but lost to Sijie Yang in the 100m sprint final, and only won a silver medal. Now that he was on the track for his advantageous 200m sprint, he was, naturally, aiming to be the champion except he wasn't accustomed to races held on rainy day, for it rarely rains in the United Arab Emirates.

The athletes from Saudi Arabia and Jordan were also unable to adapt to the situation. These two countries had one runner each in the final match.

Saudi Arabia was a country with abundant money, ore, and petroleum, but with a shortage of water. Most areas of Saudi Arabia had a tropical desert climate, which was hot and dry in the summer. An air temperature of 104 to 122 was quite normal, so rain was rare in this country. When it did rain, the rainfall was very short and immediately, almost vaporized on the ground.

Jordan's water shortage was even worse than Saudi Arabia's. Jordan was one of the ten countries in the world that needed water the most. Even the famous Dead Sea was almost dried up because of the serious droughts.

Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan from Middle Asia also had one runner each in the final, but their athletes weren't competitive in the final for the 200m sprint.

...

Sarafa looked at the sky, his eyes full of misery.

Sarafa would definitely appreciate this kind of rain in the United Arab Emirates. However, during a race, Sarafa preferred a 120 sunny day more than a rainy day in a country that usually had a pleasant climate.

Sarafa was not accustomed to running in the rain. He thought the track drenched in rain water was too slippery and soft, making him quite uncomfortable exerting strength.

More importantly, today's temperature was too low for him.

After a lengthy warm up, Sarafa still felt his limbs were very tight, which was not a good sign for the upcoming event.

Sarafa was born in Uganda, which is a country on the equator. Although sometimes the temperature there would drop to around 70, people would never experience a sudden temperature drop in the subtropical areas that was too gloomy and cold. Later, he moved to the United Arab Emirates, which is a country where nobody knows the notion of "cold."

"What terrible weather! It's just so depressing!" Sarafa cursed in his mind. He looked at the Kazakhstan athlete who wasn't far away. This athlete had an obviously Russian bloodline, and his naked arms were covered with a layer of body hair.

Sarafa's eyes showed his envy. "His body hair must be quite warm," he thought.

Then, Sarafa looked to the lane on his left, where Gehiko Yamamoto of the Japanese Team was standing.

He's that famous Japanese athlete, Gehiko Yamamoto. Clark and Oneida have dropped out of the match, so he will be my strongest opponent.

Sarafa looked to the lane on his right, where Yue Zhao was adjusting the starting block carefully.

This guy is a host athlete, and has entered the final match as the first place in the semi-final. I haven't heard of him before, so he must just be a nobody. The athlete profiles said he was 26, soon to be 27. He's still unknown at his age, so I don't think I have to worry about him.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 211: Say Goodbye to the Past

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Yue Zhao, as a 26-year-old and experienced athlete, was a newbie in the Asian Games arena.

Warming up, adjusting his starting blocks, and getting ready for the race, Yue Zhao made his preparations step by step. It looked like he was pretty calm, but actually, inside, his heart was leaping.

"The finals in the Asian Games!" Excitement flashed across Yue Zhao's eyes.

Months ago, Yue Zhao never thought that he could attend the Asian Games, but today, he was standing right there in the arena, preparing for the 200m final.

Yue Zhao closed his eyes. He recalled his painful past.

"That misdiagnosis wasted three years of my time. Now I'm 26, and in only one or two years, I'll retire."

Thinking about his inevitable retirement, Yue Zhao suddenly felt painful. He stared at the track in front of him, unwilling to leave. A soft expression appeared on his face.

"I should give myself something to be proud of!" Yue Zhao felt that he was forced to stand and fight.

He stood on the starting blocks, put both hands on the ground to steady his body, and recalled technical details in his mind.

He was solely concentrated on receiving the signal from the starting gun.

Bang! The crisp sound of the gunshot greeted Yue Zhao's ears. At the same time, he leapt forward.

At once, the auditorium was boiling with excitement. Various kinds of cheering made lots of noise, but the noise sounded like drums on the battlefield to Yue Zhao.

Yue Zhao ran along the left side of the track, trying hard to increase his speed.

Due to his starting position, he couldn't see the other participants on his left, nor did he know whether anyone was catching up to him or not. His only thought was to run faster.

Beside him, Zerafa from the United Arab Emirates looked uncomfortable, his movements not as smooth as usual.

On Zerafa's left, Japanese sprinter Yamamoto Kazuhiko also put pressure on Zerafa. Yamamoto Kazuhiko was not very tall, but he had a high stride frequency. Since it was raining, every time Yamamoto stepped on the ground, he splashed, disrupting Zerafa's rhythm.

"Stupid rain!" Zerafa swore to himself. He knew he wasn't performing well, especially in the curve, which he ran poorly.

When he entered onto the straightaway, Zerafa realized that he was only in fourth. Although he wasn't falling behind much, he couldn't accept defeat at all. He was there to win, how could he be in fourth?

Zerafa quickly adjusted himself. In the second half of the race, he needed to turn the tide.

Running on the straightaway was way easier than the curve, so now that they were in the second half of the race, Zerafa's advantages as a black athlete showed.

Yamamoto Kazuhiko specialized in the 400m, so he might have had nice curve techniques, but he definitely lacked explosive force that the 100m sprinters had. On the straightaway, Zerafa caught up to him, and he immediately fell behind.

Within only thirty meters, Zerafa went from fourth to second place. His next goal was to overtake Yue Zhao on his right.

At that second, Zerafa suddenly realized, the one in the lead was the athlete from the hosting country that he had never heard about.

"Who would have thought he was the last one I needed to beat!" Zerafa thought, but he didn't slack, rushing foward.

...

Thirty meters before the finish line, Zerafa was about to catch up with Yue Zhao.

Zerafa was really worthy of being one of the tournament favorites, as he indeed had the upper hand. Even when his performance was restricted by the weather, his speed was still faster than the other sprinters.

Yue Zhao had already noticed the figure on his left making a dash for the finish line. That guy was running pretty fast. In the blink of an eye, that man had caught up and was now running side by side next to him.

Yue Zhao glanced at Zerafa. For some reason, Zerafa's skin color was extremely different and conspicuous.

In that second, disintegrated images flashed across Yue Zhao's mind. In a dilapidated and disordered city slum, where motley graffiti on the wall looked more like the shadow of the devil, curses rose one after another to join the shining lights.

Late at night, Yue Zhao left work and was walking down a dim path. Suddenly, two figures showed up. Two black youth blocked his way, knives in their hands.

The knives were glinted with a bloodcurdling coldness. Yue Zhao had figured out what they wanted from him.

"Money! Money!" The two bullies were worried about the Asian guy's English, so they kept repeating the word "money" while gesturing like they were counting dollars.

However, at that time, Yue Zhao was a poor guy who could barely feed himself, let alone have spare cash in his pocket!

He was filled with helplessness and fear. He kept swearing in his head, asking why life was so unfair, why should he suffer from such pain?

In the next second, Yue Zhao chose to flee. He had used to be a sprinter, since running was the thing he was best at. The two bullies were unwilling to let their victim escape, and immediately chased after Zhao.

That night, Yue Zhao was in the lead, with the two bullies in hot pursuit after him. The situation was exactly the same as he was currently in!

Today, Yue Zhao was making a slight advance on the track, while Zerafa was right behind him. The difference was that that night, Yue Zhao was escaping for his life, while today, he was fighting to win a competition.

To Yue Zhao, his days in America were the darkest days in his life. He was not willing to recall those painful memories.

But today, for some reason, those memories came into his mind unbounded.

He couldn't bear to think of the past, but once he had, he converted his grief and indignation into strength, pushing him forward.

Yue Zhao felt like he was fleeing again, and Zerafa was the bully threatening him with his knife in hand!

Right at this moment, Yue Zhao ran faster. He was back to that painful moment when he was struggling to escape from the bullies, but the current him wasn't only trying to escape from bad guys, but also the darkest moments of his past!

He wanted to get rid of the dark times, he wanted to let bygones be bygones!

His previous experience was a massive source of motivation for him. His strength instantly broke out, his speed becoming faster and faster. He was a phoenix approaching nirvana, shining as brightly as he ever had in his life.

...

Whoosh! Yue Zhao crossed the finish line. Until he exited at the end of the track, he didn't remember that he was still in a race at the Asian Games.

"The champion of the Asian Games!" He finally became conscious of where he was, but he couldn't believe it. After being in a complete daze for seconds, he confirmed that he had won the event at the Asian Games.

He knelt on the ground and burst into tears.

What he had experienced in the past, so many years of grievance, humiliation, and helplessness, all was vented at this moment.

"It's time to say goodbye to the old days!" a voice rang in Yue Zhao's mind. At this point, the knots in his heart were completely untied.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 212: A Volunteer

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Li Xue was pleasantly surprised; he had never expected Yue Zhao to be the champion.

Yue Zhao wasn't originally part of the national team's plan, and without Dai Li's vouching for him, he might not even have been admitted to the Asian Games Training Camp. The process of getting his final approval for the contest was full of ups and downs, and the argument for his participation was settled at the last minute, right before the deadline of registration.

But today, this underdog sprinter was the champion, which made Li Xue feel like he had hit the jackpot.

Yue Zhao's performance was 20.60 seconds, which was not very outstanding. He hadn't even reached the 20.59-second Olympic A-level standard. Based on an average performance at the Asian Games Champion, such a performance was something of a fluke.

Perhaps Yue Zhao was indeed very lucky. Aonaide and Jun Xie had dropped out before the race, and three of the favorites were incapacitated, Zitao Wei had a fever, so his ability was reduced greatly, and Zerafa wasn't used to racing in the rain, hence he didn't perform well. Due to these factors, Yue Zhao was able to snag a victory.

Since athletics focused on results, once a competition was finished, people only remembered the champions, not the process of the competition. Whether he had good luck or not, Yue Zhao was worthy enough to earn the Asian Games championship.

Besides, most of the time, luck was a part of one's victory. Sports matches were filled with uncertainties. Among so many games, one could win or be defeated by chance.

Looking at the podium, Li Xue smiled with satisfaction.

The national team had already gained two gold medals, for the 100m and 200m sprint, without realizing. The national team had previously planned to get one gold, but now they had exceeded their expectations.

Now we only have the relay final left! Thinking about this, Li Xue was stressed.

Zitao Wei still had a fever, but without taking any medicine, simply drinking more water and using cold compresses, he could hardly bring down the fever.

...

In the dead of night, the athletes had all fallen asleep, but the national team coaches were still gathered in the meeting room.

"Half an hour ago, a doctor took Zitao Wei's temperature, 102.5 Fahrenheit. Don't expect his fever to be gone tonight, it'll be a miracle if his temperature doesn't go higher." Li Xue paused, then said, "I'm not planning to put Zitao Wei in the relay race. Based on his current condition, he is not suitable for tomorrow's race."

"Then for the 4100m relay race, won't we lack one participant? Shall we borrow an athlete from another event?" someone immediately asked.

Li Xue nodded. "So for today's meeting, I also invited Coach He from the long jump team. This time, we need to borrow an athlete from his team."

In athletic competitions, if a 4100m relay race lacked athletes and needed to borrow athletes from other teams, the first option was not 110m hurdlers or 400m runners, but long jumpers.

Long jumping and sprinting shared much in common, and had similar physical requirements for the athletes. Both long jumping and sprinting required athletes to obtain extreme explosive force, while the run-up process in long jump needed athletes to acquire extreme speed.

Generally speaking, long jumpers were pretty good at sprinting, and the best long jumper's sprinting speed was even faster than ordinary sprinters; as for sprinters, as long as they attained long jump techniques, they could perform outstandingly.

In history, there was one who won world championships in both the long jump and 100m sprint.

Now that the 4100m team was missing an athlete, the national team went to ask the long jump team to help without hesitation. Therefore, Li Xue had invited Coach He, who was in charge of the long jump team, to ask for advice.

Li Xue turned to talk to Coach He. "Coach He, we need your help now. Please recommend a suitable athlete for tomorrow's 4100m relay race!"

"I think Haiquan Fang is the best man for the race. He has a nice physicality and strong explosive force. As for his speed, he's faster than all the other long-jumpers. Moreover, since Haiquan Fang just won the championship in the long-jump event, he's been in a confident mood. Old Xue, from my point of view, Haiquan Fang is the most suitable person." said Coach He.

Coach He was more than sixty years old, and had been rehired by the national team after retirement. He was years older than Li Xue, and was one of few on the national team who dared to call Li Xue "Ole Xue."

"I watched Haiquan Fang's competition. He did have outstanding explosive force while running. I agree, he's suitable," Li Xue said and turned to the crowd. "Any other ideas? Feel free to share your opinions, we can discuss together."

Nobody answered. Li Xue waited for a minute, and seeing no one disagreed, he continued himself. "Since no one is against this idea, we will have Haiquan Fang for the 4100m relay race!"

Li Xue wrote down Haiquan Fang's name on the list in his hand, then said, "Yue Zhao, Sijie Yang, Guohong Niu, and Haiquan Fang. These are the four participants for tomorrow's relay final, but Haiquan Fang is a long jumper, so he's never experienced a 4100m relay race. Therefore we need to give him special training. The final is at half past seven tomorrow night, which means that we still have time to prepare during the day."

As he spoke, Li Xue looked at the crowd. "One day for preparation, we're short on time, and the task is arduous. Who would like to try?"

The other coaches in the room kept looking at one another without saying a word.

In fact, everyone knew it was not a desirable task. To some degree, the coach who took this job would probably be made a scapegoat if something went wrong.

The 4100m relay race not only required high speed, but team cooperation. Even if an athlete struggled to gain a 0.1 second lead, once another teammate dropped the baton, such a lead would no longer exist, or worse, the whole team would lag behind.

Normally, to develop cooperation, athletes needed to practice together for at least one to two weeks. It was impossible to develop cooperation within only one day.

Not to mention that in this team, there were three Asian Games champions. Sijie Yang was 100m sprint champion, Yue Zhao was the 200m sprint champion, and Haiqua Fang was the long jump champion.

Such a lineup would be awesome, at least in outsiders' eyes, so such a team would be favorable to win the championship. Just like in people's minds, by putting the world's four fastest runners in one team, that team would be the world champions of the 4100m relay race.

But the fact was, this wasn't necessarily true. As mentioned before, the relay race relied heavily on team cooperation. Even if the national team sent a three-time first place squad, if they lacked cooperation, they might not even be able to medal, let alone win gold.

Therefore, to lead the relay race at this moment was like receiving a steaming hot potato; it looked nice but was difficult to handle. If the three-time champion squad won, to the public it would be just as expected, but if they failed, the coach would definitely be denounced.

Since the national team was the host team, the audience thought highly of them. Ordinary people only cared about the results, like whether the team won a gold or not, never caring about the professional background knowledge on the event! Many people even held the view that the relay race was only running to deliver a baton, nothing serious.

The coaches in the meeting room were all extremely quick-witted, how could they not know this? No one was willing to be unjustly blamed in the future, so when Li Xue raised the question of who wanted to take charge of the relay team, everyone began to play dumb.

Li Xue's face was dark. He looked at the crowd, regretting that they didn't meet his expectations. Everyone in the room was an outstanding coach for the national team, but at this crucial moment, nobody dared to stand out and shoulder the responsibility.

Right at that time, a voice suddenly rang from a corner. "Coach, may I have a try?"

Li Xue was so familiar with the voice that he could easily tell the speaker was Dai Li without even looking at the guy.

Dai Li had volunteered to coach the relay team!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 213: Li's Army

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Silence filled the meeting room. Dai Li's voice was a shocking thunderclap that broke the silence of the night, suddenly attracting everyone's attention.

It's Dai Li! The other coaches in the meeting room all turned to Dai Li.

They looked at Dai Li with different expressions in their eyes. Some admired Dai Li's courage to volunteer, some thought he was reckless, and some were delighting in his upcoming misfortune.

"Dai Li, are you sure you want to lead the relay team? I want to make this clear, there's only one day left for you to coach them." Li Xue paused then continued, "Moreover, even though you still have one day, you can't overtrain the athletes. The relay final starts tomorrow night, and your trainees must save as much strength as possible for the race. Therefore, your training load can't be too much. You have to think carefully."

Dai Li nodded. "Roger that, coach. I have confidence!"

Li Xue thought for a few seconds. "This is a matter of great importance. In the national team, you are the newest coach. Confidence is not good enough to help you deal with this challenge. You have to give us something to convince us. I won't give you the team simply from your words. How about sharing your ideas first, what's your training plan? We can discuss it."

Dai Li immediately replied, "Guohong Niu has a nice reaction speed, plus as an alternate, he has already been practicing for the relay race, so I plan to make him the first leg. Sijie Yang specialized in the 100m sprint, he has good speed and explosive force, so it should be no problem for him to be the second leg. Yue Zhao has outstanding curve techniques and has been performing steadily, so I'll put him as the third leg. Since these three participants have received special training for relays, they won't need much time to practice their baton exchanges tomorrow.

"The most vital role is Haiquan Fang. He's not a sprinter, so he can only fit the fourth leg, and he'll need special training on the baton exchange." Dai Li paused, then said, "Actually, he only needs to practice receiving the baton, so it should be okay for him to practice just before the race."

Li Xue nodded, agreeing with Dai Li.

Haiquan Fang was not a professional sprinter, and he didn't have any curve techniques, so he was not capable of being the first or third leg, only able to be the second or last one.

Usually, the fourth leg was the fastest person on the team, so Sijie Yang should be the fourth. However, the fourth runner only needed to receive the baton without delivering it to someone else. On the contrary, the second runner had to both receive the baton and give it to the next person, which meant that being the second runner needed more technique for passing the baton.

Passing was more challenging than receiving the baton, so it would be impossible for Haiquan Fang to fully master both techniques. Hence, by putting Haiquan Fang in the fourth leg, he only needed to grasp the skill of receiving baton, which was easier to learn.

To be honest, What Dai Li had said was plain truth, any coach understood, let alone the national team coaches in this meeting room! Anyone else present would adopt Dai Li's arrangement. The fact that nobody else had said so was due to a simple fact: they were all afraid of receiving this steaming hot potato.

Li Xue thought for a few seconds, then said, "Well, we all know the truth, but if you talk the talk, can you walk the walk? Although you've been studying the national team for a while, every coach here is more experienced than you. Why are you confident about this? What advantages do you have?"

Li Xue was not belittling Dai Li, he made that clear. He was indicating that even Dai Li the newbie had dared to bear this hardshi, while the seniors shrunk back at a critical moment, wasn't that pathetic!

Hearing this, some coaches lowered their heads with shame.

However, Dai Li replied, "Haiquan Fang was under my coaching when he was on the Hanbei Provincial Youth Team. We're familiar with each other, so if I train him, we could save time on introductions, and leave more time for formal training. We could have a faster training speed. That's my advantage."

"Good. We do need a high training speed." Li Xue glanced at Dai Li with encouragement, then turned to the crowd. "I agree to let Dai Li try, what do you guys think? If any of you feel that Dai Li is too young to do the job, feel free to share your thoughts! We can have further discussions!"

No one was against him at this moment. If anybody was stupid enough to disagree, once Li Xue said, "if you think you can, then you do it," that guy would have to take Dai Li's place and shoulder the responsibility. Now that Dai Li had volunteered to stand out, the others were exceedingly welcome.

...

Early the next morning, the four participants began to practice for the relay race.

In fact, the training was mainly about practicing the cooperation of the baton exchange. The participants were all good at sprinting, so there was no need to waste time on enhancing explosive force or speed.

When exchanging the baton, there was an exchanging zone, which was 20 meters long. The athletes were only allowed to exchange the baton within this area. Once anyone stepped out of the zone, it was illegal and would be disqualified.

The first leg would make a stationary start, the second leg runners would have a handoff, during which the second leg athlete ran up first, while waiting for the person behind him to catch up. The baton exchange was completed while running.

During the exchange process, the one at the back was in charge, and the athlete in front had to listen to the commander's order.

Normally, when the giver was approaching the receiver, he would shout "stretch," the person at front would stretch out his hand, and his eyes would remain looking forward.

The person in the back gave the baton to the front person, at the same time he shouted, "Hold." Upon receiving the command, the athlete in front would grip the baton tight and withdraw his arm, running at full speed.

Of course, there were some other orders used in place of "stretch" and "hold." Sometimes if teammates cooperated well, they only needed to give a grunt, and the front person would receive the order.

The most commonly made mistake was to drop the baton. If the receiver withdrew their arm too early, or the giver didn't pass the baton on time, it would lead to dropping the baton.

The whole process looked complicated, but it actually took less than one second for the athletes to complete. Teams who were good at relays were even capable to save about 0.2 seconds during the handoff.

...

At noon, several coaches who had completed their tasks walked out of the cafeteria, and when they passed by the temporary training field, they happened to see Dai Li and his four trainees.

"Half a day has passed. I wonder how Li is doing over there."

"They look good! But one day is too short for them to prepare, I can only pray for them and wish they're lucky enough to win a medal. It would be great to bring a medal back."

"Li once told me that the long jump champion Haiquan Fang used to be his student on the youth team. Then Li was a long jump coach? I thought he had been a sprint coach this whole time!"

"You know, a provincial youth team doesn't expect to have many coaches, and an able man is always busy! But you do remind me, Sijie Yang and Guohong Niu, they used to be Dai Li's students at Tsinghua University!"

"Guohong Niu and Yue Zhao have been training under Dai Li since the Asian Games training camp. Especially Yue Zhao, I heard that he was recommended by Dai Li to join the training camp. Days ago, in the second phase of the training camp, Dai Li stayed with Yue Zhao until ten o'clock every night to help him practice, you guys all knew that, didn't you?"

"God helps those who help themselves. Yue Zhao's hard work was not in vain, he's a champion at the Asian Games!"

"Yue Zhao, Sijie Yang, Guohong Niu, and Haiquan Fang, in this case, all four athletes in the relay race are Dai Li's students! Well, well, Li is pretty young, but his students are everywhere!"

"Haha, our national relay team is 'Li's army!'"

This coach carelessly joked about "Li's army," but he didn't expect that years later, "Li's army" would dominate the sports world!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 214: A Makeweight

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Southeastern countries had almost the poorest athletic performances. Even in Asian-level competitions, athletes from those countries were in the background—they acted as co-stars, never getting the chance to win themselves.

However, in the upcoming 4100m relay race, Thailand was one of the favorites to win the championship.

According to individual ability, Thailand was very ordinary. The whole country had at most, one Olympic B-level athlete, and even that guy was at the bottom of the B-level.

However, in the 4100m relay race, Thailand was quite strong. The Thai sprinters were different from the other countries in that they specialized in relays and rarely participated in individual contests. Therefore, the team had great cooperation. Of course, even if they attended individual events, due to their abilities, they would not obtain good results.

Eight years ago, when Thailand was competing against Japan, led by The First Asian Flyer Sasaki Akita, the Thais won the championship with only 0.02 seconds on the Japanese. That fight was the shock of the Asian Games, and it also kicked Japanese Golden Generation off of its altar.

Four years ago, in the last Asian Games, Thailand won a silver, defeated by Qatar. However, in that competition, Qatar was the host team, plus its team member Clark had just broken the Asian record and was in great form, so it was reasonable for Thailand to lose the games.

But today, due to Clark and Aonaide's injury, Qatar had to give up the relay race. Without Qatar as their powerful enemy, Thailand had a higher possibility of winning a gold.

An hour before the race started, Thailand's chief coach, Bassoon, had the list naming all of the teams.

We have been preparing for four years, waiting to defeat Qatar, but who could have imagined that Qatar would give up.

But this isn't a bad thing. Without that strong foe, we have greater hopes to win. Bassoon looked through the list of names and smiled. Bassoon felt like punching the air.

As a team specializing in the 4100m relay race, Thailand was quite familiar with the other national teams' conditions.

The Japanese team is in a low place after the Golden Generation retired. That gifted athlete Oda Shoki does have some ability, but Japan has to wait for another four years to totally rely on him. The current Japan team is a mixture of elder and junior athletes. They are facing a temporary shortage, similar to four years ago. There is no need to fear!

Saudi Arabia is worth paying attention to. Their team includes naturalized athletes from Africa, but only one is Moroccan, and the majority of the North Africans are white. If Saudi Arabia naturalized a black athlete like what Qatar did, things would be more challenging.

As for the host... Jun Xie has retired from the race, I heard that Zitao Wei is sick, I don't know whether he'll show up or not. Bassoon checked the name list, finally seeing Haiquan Fang's name.

A stranger, who is he? Is he an alternate? It seems like he's never shown up before. Bassoon was worried about any sudden changes, so he immediately brought the list to a familiar officer for inquiry.

Soon, he found some information.

So he's a long jumper! And he's the new long jump champion at this Asian Games! Bassoon became relaxed at once.

It looks like the host team is no longer a threat. I used to think that they had a 100m and 200m sprint champion, so they must be strong. It's a pity that the relay race is four people. When lacking a fourth runner, they found a long jump as a makeshift runner. They're now several levels lower than us simply by team ability.

Bassoon shook his head. He had gained more confidence.

...

Before long, the other coaches also heard that since the host team lacked a fourth runner, they had to find a long jumper to fill in.

Although Haiquan Fang was the champion of the Asian Games, with a speed faster than many professional sprinters, in the 4100m, team cooperation played a vital role. It would be a big success if the temporary runner didn't make any mistakes, let alone expecting him to work well with the team.

In any competition, the host team was a team to fear, especially in group events, where the host had clear advantages. Some athletes with poor psychological qualities were afraid in the face of the local audience's cheering even before the games started.

Now that the host team had a subsitute, in the other teams' eyes, the national team had abandoned its chances of winning. Unknowingly, the national team had been kicked off the Potential Winner List.

...

At half past seven at night, the relay final was about to start.

Dai Li stood besides the track, looking at his students, feeling anxious.

"Li, it's time to inspect your training results." Li Xue patted Dai Li's shoulder and continued, "Don't worry, no stress, no consideration of winning or losing. You have me! Even if the result isn't satisfying, as your teacher, I'll shoulder the responsibility for you!"

Dai Li was touched. He looked at Li Xue and said, "Coach, I have confidence in them!"

Dai Li's confidence came from a Serial Cable, which could increase teamwork and close relationships to a great extent.

In the latter half of the training, when Dai Li had equipped himself with the Serial Cable, the effect was immediately seen. The relationship between teammates improved at once; even the last baton exchange between Yue Zhao and Haiquan Fang looked like they had been working together for weeks.

Li Xue's "inspection of training results" would be inspecting the Serial Cable's external effect.

Of course, after being equipped with the Serial Cable, the athletes affected each other either positively or negatively. But Dai Li didn't worry about that. The national team was the host, so they had a high morale. In the team, as Haiquan Fang, Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao had all won, they were in the most confident mood, which promoted their performance, no one was better than another. Therefore, the mutual influence would be positive.

...

The huge screen on the field displayed the live broadcast, which was focusing on Thailand. Apparently, the broadcaster knew that Thailand was the most favored team to win the race.

People showed sympathy to the weak. An underdog's victory was the most popular scene in novels. Eight years ago, when the weak Thailand outperformed Japan, the then strongest Asian team, and defeated the Japanese Golden Generation, the Thai had gained many fans. Now that Thailand had returned, they were definitely favored by many people.

The starting gun went off with a bang. The first leg, Guohong Niu, reacted quickly, and his speed was good, at least faster than the first Thai.

Guohong Niu was the only one on the national team who focused on relay races, hence his preparation was the best. It was reasonable to see him perform well. Among all the first runners, he was the first to arrive at the exchange area.

On the side of the field, Thailand's chief coach Bassoon curled his lip with disdain.

Fast speed is nothing; in the relay race, the key point is the baton exchange. If you are 0.1 second slower than us when passing the baton, your efforts are in vain!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 215: Closeness of Li's Army

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

In the relay race, athletes had a staggered start, which meant that they were not starting from the same horizontal line. Athletes in inner lanes had their starting positions in the back, while runners in outer lanes had forward starting positions. To the ordinary audience, before the athletes entered the last 100m straightaway, they could hardly tell who was running faster.

Luckily, there was something called the exchange zone, which helped judge who ran faster. The distance from each athlete's starting line to the exchanging zone was the same, so whoever stepped into the exchange zone first was the faster runner. Likewise, athletes who left the zone first took the lead in the race.

Guohong Niu was the first to arrive at the exchange zone, which indicated that he was the fastest runner among the first legs. However, since he was the first leg, the national team's advantage was not obvious yet.

Sijie Yang had already been waiting for Guohong Niu at the edge of the exchange zone. When Guohong Niu was approaching the zone, Sijie Yang began running, and Guohong Niu rushed towards Yang's back.

The baton exchange process was the most vital part of the whole relay race, or rather, it decided whether a team would succeed or fail. If, unluckily, someone dropped the baton, the team would fail early. With any tiny mistake, any previous speed advantage would be erased.

Sijie Yang stretched his hand backward, and Guohong Niu passed the baton steadily into Yang's hand. Yang grasped the baton, rushing forward.

"Excellent, nice exchange!" Li Xue murmured. Guohong Niu and Sijie Yang's handoff was like floating clouds and flowing water—seamless and smooth, no time wasted.

Guohong Niu and Sijie Yang were schoolmates at Tsinghua University, so they've been training together for about two years. They have developed a nice relationship. Moreover, in the first exchange, Guohong Niu was in charge of passing the baton. Since he has no individual events and has been focusing on preparing for the relay, no wonder he had a better performance here.

Thinking about this, Li Xue pushed down the joy in his heart immediately. It was only the first exchange, the first step, that was completed successfully, but there were second and third exchanges that remained.

Thailand's national team chief coach Bassoon was anxious. Guohong Niu and Sijie Yang were cooperating well; it looked like they had been old teammates for one or two years. Although their teamwork was not as good as Thailand's relay team, whose bond had developed for four years, the two teams looked similar.

We didn't catch up much in the first round of baton exchanges! Bassoon's eyebrows furrowed. At the same time, Sijie Yang left the exchanging zone first, which meant that he was taking the lead at that moment.

Don't worry, they're just lucky. Besides, the first two athletes who were in the original relay team have been practicing together for a long time, so it makes sense that they cooperated well. The key point is the last exchange between the third and fourth sprinters. The fourth one is an experienced long jumper, so as long as he makes a mistake, we can make up at least 0.5 seconds! Basson comforted himself.

...

The second runner mainly ran on the straight track, and his running distance was the shortest among the four athletes.

Sijie Yang had won the championship three days ago, enhancing his presence in the field, so the audience all recognized him. When he received the baton, the whole audience all rose and cheered deafeningly loud for him.

The audience's reaction immediately stimulated Sijie Yang, who felt an upsurge of emotion, which brought him inexhaustible energy. He couldn't wait to release his power.

As the champion of the 100m sprint at this Asian Games, Sijie Yang again showed his outstanding talent. Judging by speed, Sijie Yang was the fastest in the national relay team. Normally, the fastest runner would be the last leg, while the second person was usually the weakest in the team.

However, due to the same reason that the national team had lost a participant, they had to ask Sijie Yang, despite being the best runner, to be the second leg. Like Tian Ji's horse racing strategy, Sijie Yang was a first-rate horse, while the other second runners were low-grade horses. The distinction was huge.

Hence, on the second curve, Sijie Yang easily created a clear gap. Even without using the exchange zone line as a measurement, people could tell Sijie Yang was in the lead.

While many audience members were still recalling the first exchange process, Sijie Yang had already entered the exchange zone, and Yue Zhao was the first to enter the zone.

Second exchange! Li Xue's heart was pounding again.

Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao were not schoolmates. Yue Zhao had been recruited by the national team after he joined the Asian Games Training Camp, and he had specialized in the 200m sprint, rarely interacting with Sijie Yang. Until one month before the Asian Games, when they began to prepare for the relay race, the two hadn't worked together.

Therefore, Li Xue knew that the teamwork between Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao wouldn't be as good as Sijie Yang and Guohong Niu.

Moreover, Guohong Niu had focused on practicing for the relay race, while Sijie Yang concentrated on the 100m sprint, so Guohong Niu would have better handoff skills than Sijie Yang.

I don't expect the second exchange to be as seamless as the first one, I only wish they don't make any big mistakes or waste too much time. Sije Yang has made a clear advantage, so we should be able to bear 0.2-second loss, Li Xue thought.

Meanwhile, the two athletes on the track began to pass the baton. Sijie Yang stretched his arm forward to pass the baton to Yue Zhao, while shouting "hold." Yue Zhao grasped the baton tight, then continued his running as the third leg.

The whole process happened extremely quickly, so fast that one couldn't not see the actions clearly without a fixed gaze at the the athletes' movements.

The baton exchange required the athletes to play it safe, but the faster, the better. The faster athletes exchanged it, the less time was spent on it, and the better the final time would be.

The exchange process between Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao was not as perfect as the previous one performed by Guohong Niu and Sije Yang, and the actions were rough, but the time it took was similar.

From the final results, as long as they hadn't taken too much time, handoffs were worth praising. It was like the same car, after installing leather seats and a surround sound system. Although the new equipment could produce a better driving experience, they didn't help increase speed at all.

"Awesome! Good job!" Li Xue involuntarily started clapping.

The first perfect baton exchange had brought Li Xue much joy, but the second exchange had been kind of outside of his expectations.

Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao were cooperating so well that it didn't look like they had only been working together for a month. On the contrary, they were like old friends.

Li Xue knew that in the relay preliminary, Yue Zhao and Sijie Yang hadn't had such nice "chemistry."

He couldn't help glancing at Dai Li by his side, but Dai Li looked indifferent.

When did Yue Zhao and Sijie Yang learn such good teamwork? They weren't like this yesterday in the relay preliminary. Was it because of Li's special training? Is it possible for them to have developed such a relationship in one day?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 216: The Last Baton Exchange

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The second baton exchange went smoothly, Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao's cooperation greatly exceeding Li Xue's expectations.

According to Li Xue's original plan, this exchange would count as a success as long as the two runners didn't make any mistakes. Even if they wasted a little time, it was acceptable.

However, this exchange didn't waste any time at all. Instead, Sijie Yang and Yue Zhao performed even better than they did during daily training. While feeling happy for them, Li Xue was quite confused.

Is this a coincidence? Or good luck helping them to perform well? Li Xue wondered, shaking his head in silence.

As an experienced coach, Li Xue never believed in luck or coincidence. To high-level athletes, even with coincidence and luck, results must be based on hard work. Without true abilities, coincidence or luck wouldn't work at all.

Perhaps Li's 'practice just before the race' method worked? Such thoughts flashed across Li Xue's mind, causing him to involuntarily glance at Dai Li again.

At the same time, Thailand's relay team chief coach Bassoon looked more serious.

Thailand's second baton exchange was completed perfectly. Simply from smoothness and teamwork standpoints, Thailand was better than the national team. However, on the time front, although Thai's speed was a little bit faster, they were far from fast enough to make up the time they were behind.

Thailand's individual abilities were low, so they depended on their cooperation. In Bassoon's original plan, when on the track, each Thai runner might be 0.1 to 0.2 seconds slower than the other teams, but with better cooperation, every exchange could gain 0.2 to 0.3 second back for them. As Bassoon counted, once they gained more than an 0.8 second advantage through the three exchanges, then they would surely be the champions.

Such a plan had worked in actual races. Thailand's defeat of Japan eight years ago was the best example.

At present, Bassoon's plan was only half succeeding. Compared to Japan and Saudi Arabia, Thailand had gained an advantage through good cooperation, but in front of the national team, Thailand couldn't fill the gap, seemingly widening it instead.

How come their second exchange went so well! Bassoon curled his lip. Due to the fact that Sijie Yang was way faster than the second Thai runner, Thailand hadn't gained much of a lead during the exchange process, causing Thailand to clearly fall behind.

The third runner for the host team is that 200m champion. Our runner will probably fall even more behind. Thinking about this, anxiety appeared on Bassoon's face for the first time.

By the last exchange, we'll be lagging behind much more than this. If we want to turn the tide, we have to rely on the last exchange.

Bassoon looked at the last Thai runner, who was standing in the last exchange zone waiting for his teammate nervously.

This athlete, named Mochai, was the strongest athlete on the Thailand team, and was the only one in the team who could reach the Olympics B-level standard.

Mochai was ethnically one quarter American. His grandfather was an American soldier who had left a relationship in Thailand to return to America. Perhaps even the soldier himself couldn't recall that he had offspring in Thailand.

In Thailand, there were many of Thai-American parentage like Mochai. Compared to native Thais, those of mixed-blood were taller and well-built, with more outstanding athletic abilities.

Mochai is our best athlete. Even when facing Asian top-level runners, he is able to compete with them. The fourth host team athlete is a long jumper, so although he won a championship, in a sprint event he is probably not as competitive as Mochai! As long as we make up the gap in the last exchange, the championship still belongs to us! Bassoon considered, looking at the exchanging zone with high expectations, waiting for the final exchange.

...

Yue Zhao had a wonderful curve technique, and the third runner performed mostly on the curve. He was indeed the best choice for the third leg.

The national team's "Asian Games Champion" lineup had worked out successfully. No matter if Sijie Yang was the second runner, or Yue Zhao was the third, they were all Asian Games champions, who took advantage in their reputation. The other second and third runners were all weaker than these two, therefore, by capitalizing on this, the national team had widened the gap to maintain their lead.

However, both the national team coaches and the other international coaches were all aware of the cruel truth that, before the teams reached the finish line, the result remained unsure. This wasn't even considering the most vital part—the last baton exchange wasn't completed yet!

On the track, Yue Zhao was approaching the exchange zone, while Haiquan Fang, the last runner, began to run.

Li Xue focused on the track, praying in his heart: As long as you guys can pass the baton smoothly, a slow exchange is fine. Please, please do not drop the baton! Make it steady, steady! It's okay to slow down, wait, why are you running so fast!

On the track, Haiquan Fang increased his speed rapidly, causing quite a shock to Li Xue, whose head was now soaked with cold sweat.

During the exchange process, the slower the athletes ran, the easier they could exchange the baton, if they both paused to pass the baton, there would be no mistake at all. However, on the other hand, the slower they ran, the more time they would waste.

Conversely, the faster athletes ran, the less time it would take, but the probability of error increased. Theoretically speaking, the ideal baton exchange happened at the time when the receiver's speed reached the top.

Practically, such an ideal exchange had never happened. Not taking into account the teamwork between the giver and receiver, the exchanging zone was only 20 meters long, impossible for an athlete to immediately increase their speed to a full sprint within such a short distance.

To stand-ins like Haiquan Fang, who lacked training and practical experience in relays, to guarantee a good performance, it was definitely better for him to pursue steadiness. Slowing down or having some tiny flaws, or even mistakes, those were all acceptable, but never any fatal errors.

However, Haiquan Fang's current run-up speed was obviously not aiming for steadiness—every coach present could tell that he was trying for higher speed!

What the heck are you playing at?! Shouldn't you perform steadily instead! You shouldn't be pursuing a higher speed, you're asking for trouble! Li Xue knew, as an athlete, that Haiquan Fang himself would never have made such decision, so it must have been Dai Li's plan.

Li Xue stared at Dai Li with annoyance. He had never expected Dai Li to adopt such radical tactics at the final crucial step.

Surprisingly, Dai Li still looked relaxed, seemingly satisfied with his tactics.

...

"Huh?" When Bassoon saw Haiquan Fang's run up, he was confused at first, then he smiled.

Bassoon also held the view that since the fourth runner was a substitute, the national team would choose to make a steady exchange. They would rather sacrifice a few fractions of a second to guarantee a safe last exchange.

Therefore, at the time he saw Haiquan Fang's radical acceleration, he was puzzled.

He immediately realized that such radical acceleration meant a higher probability of error to an inexperienced relay runner. Such a tactic was like gambling with a pretty low winning rate.

You will fail, you must fail, you will probably drop the baton! Haha, you've taken the lead all the way until here, but if you drop the baton at the last step, your previous efforts would all be in vain, wouldn't it be painful!

Bassoon had a big smile on his face, waiting to witness the delightful moment of the national team's misfortune.

At the same time, Yue Zhao and Haiquan Fang started their last baton exchange.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 217: We are the Champions

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

The first three national team athletes performed outstandingly, creating a clear advantage for the team.

But at the games, there were still a lot of foreign coaches and athletes who didn't project the national team to be the winner.

The fourth runner, Haiquan Fang, was a long jumper, which was a big issue. In the relay race, a long jumper's speed might only be fractions of a second slower than a professional sprinter, yet in a high level competition like this, such a time difference was decisive.

The fourth leg was the final spurt, so every team put their best sprinter in this leg. Compared to them, the national team's last runner, Haiquan Fang, was just a makeshift addition. Undoubtedly, his leg would be the weakest part of the national team's performance.

It seemed to return to Tian Ji's horse race, using a first-rate horse to fight against a low-level horse, but this time the poor horse was Haiquan Fang of the national team, while the nice horse was the last runners from other foreign teams.

We still have a chance! Bassoon the Thailand chief coach thought. The other foreign team coaches all secretly thought the same.

Li Xue felt like his heart was in his throat, while the other team members all wore anxious expressions.

Haiquan Fang's speed was increasing so quickly, it was clear he didn't plan to play it safe at all.

Meanwhile Yue Zhao, the third runner who was going to pass the baton to Haiquan Fang, didn't slow down either, rushing into the exchanging zone, preparing to deliver the baton to Haiquan Fang.

Please make it! Li Xue involuntarily prayed in his heart, but it was too late to pray for fortune. He could only hope that the two athletes in the field could exchange the baton successfully.

Yue Zhao caught up and was right behind Haiquan Fang. He didn't hesitate, directly putting the baton in Haiquan Fang's hand, and gave Fang the order to start running at the same time.

Haiquan Fang didn't do things sloppily. He grasped the baton, then dashed forward.

The whole process went smoothly, and the cooperation between the two looked pretty good, especially Haiquan Fang, who had acted calmly, even accomplishing the task with ease. He didn't look like a substitute at all.

Yes, no mistake! Excellent! Li Xue's pounding heart gradually calmed down, but in the next second, Li Xue suddenly wondered, Yue Zhao and Haiquan Fang cooperated perfectly in the last exchange process, like they had worked together for a long time, but in fact, they only practiced together for one day. How come they have developed such closeness?

Li Xue had been a sprint coach for decades, gaining great experience. It was not the first time for him to ask long jumpers to fill in for a relay race. However, in all the previous races, the long jumper wasted time while exchanging the baton.

Yet today was different. In the last baton exchange, the long jumper hadn't wasted a second, instead acting seamlessly with his teammate. Yue Zhao and Haiquan Fang's teamwork would never be seen in any other new pairs who had only been working together for one day.

How did Li do it? Li Xue couldn't keep his eyes from straying towards him.

Not far away, Bassoon, Thailand's chief coach, was sallow-faced.

They succeeded! The whole process went seamlessly! How could this even be possible? Isn't that long jumper an alternate? Shouldn't they have cooperated poorly? But their performance, their exchanging process, it looked like they had been training together for weeks! It doesn't make any sense! Why?

Bassoon furrowed his eyebrows, wondering, Perhaps the long jumper was already on the team when they began relay preparations? No, it couldn't be! Their coach would never be able to predict that one of the four runners would miss the race, and he would never let a long jumper participate in relay training beforehand!

Currently, Bassoon was anxious. The national team hadn't messed up in the last baton exchange, and they maintained their great advantage. The probability of Thailand winning the champion decreased as the finish line approached.

At the same time, an exclamation came from the Japanese team's coach. Japan had made a mistake on their final exchange.

The fourth runner held his arm back earlier than he had been supposed to, which led to a situation where the third runner didn't fully hand the baton to him. Hence, the two had to redo the baton handoff in order to complete the action. This mistake had added at least 0.3 seconds on the Japanese team's final time.

Due to this mistake, Japan was no longer in the gold-medal match. With their nice teamwork, Thailand had passed Japan by a long distance.

However, no joy could be seen on Bassoon's face. Although Thailand was still in second, as the chief coach of Thailand's national team, second place was definitely not what he wanted.

Thai sprinters had terrible individual abilities, rarely appearing in high-level big stages like the Olympics or World Championships. To them, the Asian Games would probably be their highest-level competition, but even so, they couldn't win any medals in individual events. Therefore, the only event they could rely on was the relay race.

In the past four years, Thailand had concentrated on the relay, aiming at winning gold in this Asian Games.

This year's Asian relay race made Thailand feel like there was a heavenly hand helping them to win. The traditionally strong Japanese team had a mix of old and young athletes, last year's champion team, Qatar, had lost runners and had to retire this year, and even the host team had lost a runner, using a long jumper as the alternate. Bassoon felt that this year, Thailand must win!

Unfortunately, the race didn't go as he expected. Thailand was good at exchanges, but now that the last cooperation was finished, there was no more chance left for them to gain a lead again, so they would still remain in second place.

Mochai, it's your turn. The last host runner is a long jumper, you can definitely run faster than him!

...

On the track, Haiquan Fang was sprinting hard.

He knew, as a long jumper, that he might not run as fast as professional sprinters in the 100m sprint.

He also knew that the last run was decisive, determining the final results of the race.

The national team had taken the lead for the first three legs; Guohong Niu, Sijie Yang, and Yue Zhao had already created a sufficient advantage for Haiquan Fang, now all the heavy responsibility shifted to him! As a long jumper, he would decide the winner of this relay race!

Haiquan Fang didn't want to, nor could he fail. He was carrying his three teammates' efforts, also shouldering the huge expectations from the whole national team!

I'm not a sprinter, but when it comes to speed, I will never be defeated by you! Haiquan Fang snorted in his heart. His stubbornness surfaced, stimulating him to dash forward bravely.

A-level talent in the long jump didn't mean that the athlete could only jump further than the others. A comprehensive physicality was needed for long jumping, containing explosive force, jumping ability, body-control, balancing competence, run-up speed, and more.

Many world-standard long jumpers' 100m sprint marks easily reached the Olympics A-level standard, let alone one who had once won two championships: both long jump and the 100m sprint.

Haiquan Fang's talent in long jump made him a future world champion. At the present, since he had not reached his peak yet, if asked to compete in the 100m sprint, he was still far behind the top world sprinters, but among Asian sprinters, he was at the top.

Besides, when the baton was passed into Haiquan Fang's hand, the national team had gained a huge lead. As long as his speed was not too much slower than Mochai, the Thai sprinter, the national team's first place would be guaranteed.

The audience started cheering. They didn't care about whether Haiquan Fang was a long jumper or not, they only knew that Haiquan Fang was in first.

He's so fast! How can that long jumper run so fast! What Bassoon had always expected hadn't happened, as Haiquan Fang's speed was similar to Mochai's. Based on the distance between the two, the result was a foregone conclusion!

"We win!" Although Haiquan Fang hadn't crossed the finish line yet, the national team coaches had begun cheering and celebrating.

Bassoon painfully covered his face in hands. To him, the gold medal was stolen right from under his nose, the four years effort he had put into it completely in vain!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 218: They Are All Ordinary People

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Hey Li, congratulations on winning gold in the relay race, your efforts were the most valuable!"

"You're amazing, Li, to help Haiquan Fang and Yue Zhao develop such closeness in only one day."

"Li, I saw that the other team members' cooperation was better than before, your training's effectiveness is extraordinary!"

The coaches around Dai Li couldn't stop praising him.

Li Xue had his nose in the air, elated and proud. Previously, nobody was willing to be in charge of the relay team, thinking it was too dangerous, until his student Dai Li stepped forward bravely.

The result hadn't blown up in Li Xue's face. Dai Li brought no shame, but glory, to Li Xue, in the form of an Asian Games relay champion, which was a big surprise and beyond everyone's expectations.

Including the previous champions in the 100m and 200m run, they had gained three "grand chiefs," so now they could return fully decorated.

Based on traditions, in the upcoming Asian Games Commendation Conference, the national athletic team would be praised for sure, while their application for next year's funds would be largely guaranteed. Therefore, the whole team would benefit from their achievements.

Among compliments, Dai Li was smiling shyly. To him, the relay championship helped gain not only public approval of his ability, but also twenty thousand experience value points as a reward.

The experience value increases faster in competitions! If I only depend on daily training, I wonder how long it would take to obtain sufficient value points to upgrade. A relay champion is worth twenty thousand experience points, one fifth of the upgrading value points required! Dai Li sighed in his mind.

But big competitions like the Asian Games are only held once every four years. Usually in domestic games, even if I trained a champion, I wouldn't receive much experience value as a reward. If I have such experience-rewarding opportunities in the future, I must take every chance.

Dai Li knew that without these Asian Games, he could never predict exactly when he would finally gain enough experience value to upgrade to the top-level coach intermediate phase.

In the next long period of time, there were no big competitions. Dai Li would have to gain his experience value step by step.

...

The Asian Games were finished, but Dai Li didn't return to the Hanbei Provincial Athletic team. Li Xue let him stay with the national team for a few more days in order to increase the coaching team's variety, while offering an opportunity for Dai Li to learn more.

People could tell that Li Xue was determined to cultivate Dai Li, and they had no disagreements. The relay race had proved Dai Li's ability, he was indeed worth of the national team's special treatment.

The national athletic team.

Dai Li knocked at the door, then walked into Li Xue's office.

"Coach, did you want to see me about something?" Dai Li asked.

"Take my car keys and drive my car to pick someone up from the airport. Today's schedule is pretty tight, and our team cars are out on duty, so I have to use my own car instead." Li Xue said, threw his car key to Dai Li.

"Who should I pick up?" Dai Li took the key and asked.

"Old Ding! Jihai Ding. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't let you pick them up. They could simply take a taxi here." Li Xue continued, "Old Ding's flight will arrive at around half past eleven."

"Which airport?" asked Dai Li.

"The international airport, Terminal Three, Exit B," Li Xue replied.

"Is Exit B the exit for international flights?" Dai Li searched his mind, then asked.

"Old Ding went to Singapore for the Asian Hurdling Promotion Conference, that was why he took the international flight. Hurry up, there isn't much time left before rush hour, you don't want to get stuck in a traffic jam," Li Xue said, then focused on his own business.

Dai Li, driving Li Xue's car, headed to the international airport.

At present, it wasn't rush hour, thus traffic wasn't busy. As Dai Li approached the airport, the amount of cars increased gradually, most of them passengers trying to make it in time for flights.

Dai Li parked the car in the parking lot, then went directly to Exit B, Terminal Three. He checked the time, just about eleven o'clock, so the flight from Singapore had not arrived yet. Even if the flight had landed, it still took time for passengers to pass through customs and pick up luggage.

Coach Ding is on the flight, so he can't answer my phone call. Once his flight arrives, the screen will show the information. I can text him then to let him know that I'm here waiting to pick him up.

Since Dai Li felt that there was still some time left, he found a seat, then began to read online novels.

Passengers with different skin colors came out from the exit one after another, white, black, mixed race… All kinds of people gathered together, but nothing stood out. Different languages were spoken at the same time, creating an frenzied atmosphere.

A group of tens of people walked out from the exit wearing the same tracksuits, looking quite strong. Dai Li glanced at them, immediately recognizing that they were athletes.

Foreign athletes? They must have come here for a competition. Do we have any competitions in Huajing soon? Or are they just stopping by in Huajing to move to another city?

As a coach, Dai Li always paid more attention to athletes. He looked carefully at the group of people and found that they were apparently westerners. Some of them looked like Asians at first glance, but if he looked closer at their appearances, they had some Caucasian features, and were probably mixed-race.

They might come from Central Asia. I remember that in the Asian Games, the athletes from five central Asian countries looked similar to these people.

Thinking about this, Dai Li's mind was in a haze. The five central Asian countries—Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan—those countries were quite difficult for Dai Li to distinguish. If he hadn't attended the Asian Games recently, he might not even be able to recognize their national flags.

Let me see what sport they are in! Dai Li thought, examining the foreign athletes.

Road Cycling, talent: C, ability: 328. So they're cyclists!

Dai Li detected several people, and it turned out that they were all cyclists.

I see, recently there seems to be a tour around Juyongguan Bicycle Grand Prix. These athletes must be here for that event. They are probably Kazakhstan athletes. I heard that Kazakhstan has a strong cycling presence, the Astana-Wurth was a breakout force in the Tour de France.

After a while, another group of people came out. This time, they were all Caucasian, although they were dressed casually, Dai Li sensed that they were also professional athletes.

Dai Li examined them again.

Again, these are cyclists. This athlete looks young, but he has B-talent, and his ability is approaching 500 points. As Dai Li was pondering, he saw a foreigner holding a black, yellow, and red tricolor flag, waiting for someone at the airport.

Belgium! Belgium is a country with great power in cycling. Their athletes are indeed stronger than Kazakhstan, but back on topic, this bicycle race is pretty big, even European teams joined in.

Soon after the Belgians left, a group of Spanish-speaking athletes came out with their luggage carts.

Spanish cyclists are here, too. From their ability points, they are at the similar level as the Belgians!

This team even has black athletes, uh, they must be Americans. I can't remember any good black cyclists in history.

...

Three flights had arrived one after another. Dai Li had seen several groups of cyclists.

The flight from Bangkok has just arrived. These must be Thai cyclists! They don't look as good as the previous teams.

Dai Li looked at a new group of athletes who had just come out. They were also dressed in identical tracksuits, but the total amount of people was more than twenty, which was about the sum of the previous two teams.

However, these Thai athletes looked skinny, many of them short and skinny, and two or three of them had dark circles and looked sleepy.

They look exhausted, how long does it take to fly from Bangkok to here? It shouldn't be longer than flying from Europe, right? But the Belgians and the Spanish weren't as tired as they are.

Dai Li shook his head slightly. He could sense that the Thai had so-so physical qualities, perhaps they would lose in this bicycle race, but he still examined them.

Object: ordinary people, ability: 45. What's going on here?

Dai Li stared at the result in a haze.

How come he's just an ordinary person? Shouldn't he be an athlete? Uh-huh, I see, this guy must be the coach! That's why the System doesn't show an athlete's features, but what the hell is a 45 point ability? Even among normal people, such an ability is quite low. I remember the old woman who was walking her dog had a higher ability than this. Is the Thai coach this bad? A few days ago, Thailand's chief coach Bassoon looked quite strong.

Dai Li shook his head again, beginning to examine the next person.

Object: ordinary people, ability: 47. Another ordinary person? Is this a coincidence? Have I examined two coaches coincidentally?

He moved on to the third person.

Object: ordinary people, ability: 55.

The fourth person: Object: ordinary people, ability: 51.

The fifth: Object: ordinary people, ability...

The System has recognized five people as ordinary, is it possible that all five of these people happen to be coaches? Dai Li furrowed his eyebrows.

Perhaps on the Thailand team, there are many non-athletes. Perhaps they've seized the opportunity to travel in a foreign country! But their abilities are indeed low, forty to fifty ability points, that's similar to the old and weak.

Dai Li continued his examination.

Ordinary, ordinary, ordinary, ordinary… More than twenty people, all of them ordinary! What's going on here?

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 219: Mystery

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Subconsciously, Dai Li had examined all these men. The results showed that this group of more than twenty men were all ordinary people; only two of them had more than 80 point in abilities, with everybody else having little athletic ability, as low as aunts who did square dance!

Are they really athletes? If I consider their ability points alone, I would label them an elderly tour group! Dai Li's mind was filled with confusion.

Perhaps I misunderstood. They aren't cyclists at all, they just happen to be wearing uniform tracksuits, but based on an ordinary adult's physical standard, it is quite difficult to gather more than twenty athletes with poor physical qualities, like them.

At this moment, his phone's vibrating broke into Dai Li's thoughts. He lowered his head to check, the phone screen displayed Li Xue's name.

"Hello, coach, I'm in the airport right now, Coach Ding hasn't arrived yet." said Dai Li.

"Li, don't need to wait anymore. Come back now!" Li Xue's voice rang out. "Beikou training center has an emergency, Old Ding made a last minute change and flew directly to Donggang. I just received his phone call."

"Alright then, I'll come back now." Dai Li put his phone back into his pocket with disappointment, walking to the parking lot.

When he passed by the men's room, Dai Li suddenly felt like he needed to use the toilet, so he walked in.

To Dai Li's surprise, in the corner of the room, he ran full tilt into a man.

The man was middle-aged with cropped hair, not tall but stocky, even fatter than Dai Li. This man wore an Arsenal shirt, so he might be a Arsenal fan.

"I'm sorry!"

"Excuse me!"

Dai Li and that man had both talked at the same time.

Since people could hardly see each other coming around a corner, it was difficult to judge who was right or wrong. The two didn't argue about it, only nodding at each other, then continued on their own way.

That man was holding a phone, talking to somebody. "Uh, nothing serious, I didn't watch where I was going and bumped into someone."

"Alright, dear, let's end here. Those Thai cyclists have arrived, they keep pushing me to send them to the hotel," the man with cropped hair said to the phone.

Thai cyclists? Hearing those words, Dai Li couldn't help but think of the group of over twenty athletes with extremely poor abilities.

Are they indeed athletes? They look so bad, they shouldn't be! Perhaps a new group of real athletes has arrived at the same time.

...

Dai Li walked out of the bathroom, planning on leaving directly, but several steps later, he saw an old friend. This guy was wearing casual clothes, his hands in pockets and a Bluetooth headset in a ear, looking around.

It was Chong Lin, Dai Li's previous trainee at the Police Training Base.

That's Chong Lin! It's been a while since I finished the Police Training Camp. Is he here to pick up someone? Dai Li walked closer, and Chong Lin also recognized Dai Li.

"Officer Lin!" Dai Li greeted him with a smile.

"Coach Li!" Chong Lin greeted warmly. Without Dai Li, he might already have been transferred to be a civil servant.

"Officer Lin, are you still in the Anti-Drug Brigade?" asked Dai Li.

Chong Lin nodded. "That's right, I'm still in the brigade."

"How is your leg, can you still feel the pain?" asked Dai Li.

"Come on, stop making fun of me. My leg has never hurt since I was told it was fine. It seems that my pain is just a psychological effect." Chong Lin sighed. "Working on the front lines suits me better. If I ended up being a civil servant, I would have been bored as heck."

As Chong Lin spoke, he noticed that Dai Li didn't have any luggage with him, not even a bag to be seen. He realized that Dai Li had not just arrived, so he asked, "Coach Li, are you here to pick someone up?"

"Yeah, I was supposed to pick somebody up, but the plan changed." Dai Li replied with another question, "Are you waiting for somebody, too?"

"Haha." Chong Lin gave a dry smile, but didn't respond clearly.

At the same time, Chong Lin suddenly became serious. He nodded and said, "Sir, it's nothing strange, just an old friend, I haven't talked to him in a while. Yes, sir, no more conversation. I will return to the task right away."

Dai Li was slightly dazed, then realized that Chong Lin was talking to his Bluetooth headset.

So Chong Lin is on duty! Dai Li immediately understood, and felt embarrassed, because Chong Lin's facial expression indicated that he was scolded by his leader due to his chat with Dai Li.

While Chong Lin was on duty, casually chatting with old friends was not allowed.

Dai Li thought that he had interrupted Chong Lin's work, causing him to be yelled at. He looked at Chong Lin apologetically and said, "Sorry, I didn't notice that you were on duty, I won't bother you anymore. Bye."

"Coach Li, don't worry. Our team leader is always very strict about work," Chong Lin explained, then said goodbye to Dai Li, and watched him exit the terminal gates.

...

Near the parking lot, Dai Li saw the group of poor Thais again. They were gathered together, seemingly waiting for a car.

A tour bus approached them and stopped. The bus driver came out, the man with cropped hair and the Arsenal Shirt. He was the same man who had bumped into Dai Li.

The cropped hair guy opened the trunk, then used body language and half-English to motion the Thai to put their luggage in the car.

Dai Li looked at the scene, talking to himself secretly. I remember in the bathroom, this guy talked to his wife and mentioned he was here to pick up Thai cyclists, did he mean these poor 'cyclists'? Are they indeed here for the bicycle race? With forty to fifty ability points, they might not even be able to ride ten miles!

This Road Bicycle Grand Prix should be quite prestigious if even Europeans and Americans are here for it. The race must be of a certain standard, not some bogus race. What are the Thais doing, sending a group of weak people who aren't even professionals, even I can do better than them!

Dai Li stopped to take out his phone, beginning to search related news reports about this Road Bicycle Grand Prix.

The information showed that the participants for this Grand Prix were all professional cycling teams, no amateurs admitted.

That was weird! Dai Li's curiosity peaked. He couldn't help but move closer to find out more details.

The Arsenal-fan driver was busy helping the Thais move luggage.

One of the Thais seemed to feel his suit was too loose, and was bothering him while moving luggage, so he rolled his sleeves up to the elbow, then continued his work. On his bare arm, a tattoo was quite obvious.

Dai Li stared at that tattoo, but he couldn't tell what it was.

However, there was another sign on his arm that caught Dai Li's attention.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter

Chapter 220: Role Play

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Dai Li looked carefully. On one of the Thai's arms, except for a tattoo, there were several red dots.

These look like scars made by injections, which are quite fresh. Is this guy coming from the hospital? Dai Li suddenly felt that something was wrong.

He took his phone and looked up the official page for the Road Cycling Race around Juyongguan, then searched through it cautiously. After a while, he raised his head.

This race has a urine test; the participants shouldn't have received any injections recently, otherwise they won't pass the examination.

Dai Li pretended to play with his phone while he continued observing the Thais. Several minutes later, another Thai also rolled up his sleeves, revealing his arm. The same three red dots could be seen on his arm.

Another one? Dai Li squinted his eyes. He had made a wild guess.

Chong Lin is here for undercover duties. I remember that he works for the Anti-Drug Brigade. There are more than twenty Thais in total, and they are not athletes at all; they are pretending to be athletes so they can pass through Customs. In addition, their athletic abilities are surprisingly low, which means that they are in poor physical condition. That, plus the needle marks on their arms...

Dai Li felt that he was quite close to the truth.

I don't know whether Chong Lin knows all that information or not. Dai Li looked at the group of Thais, noticing that they were about to leave. Dai Li hesitated for a second, then returned to the terminal's arrival area.

In the hall, Chong Lin was still looking around. It seemed as if he was searching for something. Seeing this, Dai Li immediately moved closer.

"Coach Li, why have you come back? Are you here to pick up someone else?" Chong Lin saw Dai Li.

Dai Li lowered his voice and asked, "Officer Lin, are you waiting for drug dealers?"

Chong Lin shook his head. "Coach Li, I am on duty; I can't tell you any details about my job or what I'm doing. We have rules; please understand."

Dai Li smiled. Chong Lin was a police officer for the Anti-Drug Brigade; his only job was to catch drug dealers.

...

At the same time, in a little room not far from there, Chong Lin and Dai Li's conversation had passed through electronic devices.

The Anti-Drug Brigade leader, Dahu Fu, was in charge of the operation. He had already noticed on the monitor screen that Dai Li was talking to Chong Lin.

How come Chong Lin's friend has returned? If he keeps doing so, he will interrupt our mission! Dahu Fu took the microphone and prepared to order Chong Lin to send Dai Li away, but then he heard the conversation.

"Officer Lin, are you waiting for drug dealers?"

"Coach Li, I am on duty; sorry, but I can't tell you any details about what I'm doing. We have rules; please understand."

Dahu Fu frowned his eyebrows at once. What is Chong Lin's friend doing? Why is he asking? He already left once; why dod he come back? He is asking about what we're doing; does he have some ulterior motive?

Dahu Fu was beginning to suspect Dai Li. As the leader of the Anti-Drug Brigade, he had been fighting drug dealers for more than twenty years. He had developed the habit of suspecting people who asked too many questions.

Chong Lin called him "Coach Li"; is he a sports coach, or a driving school coach? Dahu Fu lowered his head and thought for a while. He planned to look into Dai Li by himself.

...

Meanwhile, Dai Li continued asking, "Officer Lin, the drug dealers you are waiting for—are they coming from Thailand?"

Chong Lin did not answer, nor did he change his facial expression. He was indeed a good undercover cop with outstanding psychological strength; even when Dai Li asked a crucial question, he didn't show any change in emotion. It was as if Dai Li was talking about something that had nothing to do with him.

Dai Li continued, "If your target is from Thailand, perhaps I can help you as a Chaoyang local, and give you a tip."

Chong Lin still looked indifferent, but Dahu Fu, who was in the command center, took the microphone.

"Chong Lin, invite this Coach Li to the command center," said Dahu Fu.

Chong Lin immediately nodded, "Coach Li, our leader would like to meet you."

"No problem!" Dai Li nodded in agreement, then followed Chong Lin into the command center. In the room, Dai Li met Dahu Fu.

"This is our Anti-Drug Brigade leader, Fudui!" Chong Lin introduced. He seemed to worry that Dai Li would misunderstood the meaning of "Fudui", so he added, "Captain Dahu Fu."

"Nice to meet you, Captain Fu," said Dai Li. Without Chong Lin's explanation, he would have thought that the man was a vice captain.

"Nice to meet you, Coach Li. We have heard about your conversation with Chong Lin. What kind of clues can you offer?" Dahu Fu asked directly.

"I'm not sure about your tasks in detail, but if you are planning to catch drug dealers from Thailand, I have found some suspects." Dai Li wasn't planning to hide anything, so he said straightforwardly, "Huajing is going to hold a Road Bicycle Race around Juyongguan,.I think the drug dealers may have disguised themselves as Thai athletes."

Dahu Fu signaled to a policeman who was sitting next to the computer, then asked, "Coach Li, what's the basis for your assumption?"

"Thailand has sent more than twenty people. I sense that they are not athletes," Dai Li said. He could not tell Dahu Fu that after detecting them he had found that the Thais were all ordinary people, let alone that they were the weakest among ordinary people.

"You sense?" Dahu Fu snorted upon hearing Dai Li's response. He replied, "Coach Li, you may not be familiar with the process of handling our cases. We always solve problems based on real evidence, not our senses."

Chong Lin then explained hurriedly, "Captain Fu, Coach Li is a professional sports coach, and he works with the national team."

"Oh? Coach Li looks so young. I didn't know that you were a national team coach; sorry about that," Dahu Fu replied.

Because Dai Li was coaching on the national team at such a young age, Dahu Fu had not expected it. However, it was hard to convince Dahu Fu Dai Li was right purely based off what he felt.

Dai Li continued: "I'm a sports coach, and I'm quite good with athletes. In my professional opinion, none of the Thais are professional cyclists. This Bicycle Race has pretty high standards, and the participants are all professionals. Because of this, this Thai team is suspicious."

"You coaches can tell whether someone is an athlete or not just by looking at them?" Dahu Fu didn't believe it.

Having been a policeman for more than twenty years, he could not tell whether a person was a criminal or not simply by taking a glance at them. Dai Li was such a young coach that when he said he could tell if a person was an athlete or not just by looking at the, Dahu Fu naturally thought that he was boasting.

Dai Li didn't argue. He had made the judgement using the detector, which was impossible to explain. Dai Li was planning to tell Dahu Fu about the needle marks on Thais' arms.

However, before he spoke, the policeman who was sitting in front of the computer said, "Captain Fu, I've found the results; the Thailand cycling team is called the 'Jinxin Team,' and 23 people in total have passed Customs. They used the airport's special pass for cyclists."

"Special pass? Does that mean they didn't go through the new millimeter wave imaging detector?" Dahu Fu immediately asked.

The policeman nodded his head in confirmation. He kept typing for a while, then said, "I also saw that this Jinxin Team was formed half a year ago, right after the announcement of the Road Bicycle Race around Juyongguan!"

Dahu Fu seemed to realize something. He suddenly stared at Dai Li as if he had seen a ghost.

National team coaches are amazing. how can they judge whether someone is an athlete or not just by looking at them?!

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know report chapter so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report chapter