Sprint: This champion is a bit weird

Chapter 121 Wen Hao - You are my god!

Chaoyang Sports Center.

Amid the jubilation of the audience, the four members of the Chinese men's 4×100m relay youth team hugged each other, then jointly put on a two-meter-long national flag and began to circle the field to celebrate.

At the same time, the Jamaican team and the United States team, which won the runner-up and third place, also wore their respective national flags and took photos at the scene.

On the big screen in the stadium, the results of the eight teams were already displayed:

1——China Team——38.79 CR丨NR
  2 – Jamaica – 39.04
  3 – Team USA – 39.19
  4 – Team GB – 39.23
  5 – Nigeria – 39.65
  6 – Team Canada – 39.78
  7 – Russia – 39.95
  8 – Germany – 40.01
  "Okay! Well done!!"

In the spectator stands, after seeing the final results of the Chinese team, even Feng Shuyong and Yu Weili, who had been in high positions for many years, could not help but cheer and applaud along with the surrounding audience.

In just one day, the most important men's 4×100 meter relay event first went through the preliminaries and almost failed to enter the finals.

Now, not only did Wen Hao win the championship with his fourth baton and outstanding performance, but he also broke the 11-year-old national record in one fell swoop and refreshed the World Youth Championship championship record!

The level of the Chinese relay team has always been far behind the international leading level.

男子4×100米项目的世界纪录，是美国队在1992年巴塞罗那奥运会上创造的37秒40，成员为迈克尔·马什、勒罗伊·伯勒尔、丹尼斯·米切尔、卡尔·刘易斯。

The best result of the Chinese men's 4×100 meter relay team dates back to the 1995 World Championships in Gothenburg.

At that time, the national team composed of Li Xiaoping, Lin Wei, Huang Weiwei and Cheng Wenzhong ran a time of 38 seconds in the preliminaries, ranking second in the third group and advancing to the semi-finals.

Unfortunately, the performance of the four team members in the semi-finals was slightly worse than in the preliminaries. They only ran a time of 38 seconds, ranking fifth in the first group of the semi-finals and twelfth in the entire group, and missed the finals.

The Neon team, which was placed in the second group of the semi-finals, ran a time of 38 seconds to set a new Asian record and successfully advanced to the finals, eventually finishing fifth.

From 1996 to 1998, the three members of the Chinese men's 4×100m relay team who originally broke the Chinese men's ×m relay record at the Gothenburg World Championships: Lin Wei, Huang Weiwei, and Cheng Wenzhong successively reached the peak of their careers.

But it is a pity that they did not continue to create new good results in relay events.

1997年的雅典世锦赛，霓虹接力队再次刷新亚洲纪录，预赛38秒44、半决赛38秒31。

However, despite breaking the Asian record twice in one day, the neon relay team failed to advance to the relay finals. This shows how fierce the competition was in the relay events of the 1997 Athens World Championships.

Since the era of the "Guangxi sprint duo" of Cheng Wenzhong and Lin Wei, famous sprinters such as Zhou Wei and Cheng Haijian have emerged in China, who can also rank among the top ranks in Asia.

But in the relay event, it is difficult to gather four outstanding team members to attack the national record created during the Cheng Wenzhong era.

In less than six years since the 21st century, only a handful of Chinese men's 4×100m relay events have broken 39 seconds.
  But fortunately - a new dawn has arrived!

The young Chinese youth relay team in the stadium, Yin Hualong, Liang Jiahong, Zhang Peimeng, and Wen Hao, with an average age of less than 19 years old, finally completed the icebreaking task of China's 4×100 meter event and created New national record!

It has to be said that Wen Hao's role in this is really great.

他的个人最好成绩是9.98（-0.5m/s），哪怕不考虑这一枪的放水程度，在硬实力上也比10.45（+1.1m/s）的陈毅博强了0.5秒有余。

Now with young players such as Yin Hualong, Liang Jiahong, and Zhang Peimeng, they can break the national record. Wouldn't it be great if they were replaced by domestic famous players such as Pang Guibin, Wen Yongyi, Hu Kai, and Yang Yaozu?
  At this moment, Feng Shuyong can already imagine in his mind that at the Doha Asian Games four months later, the Chinese team won the 4×100m relay gold medal by stepping on the Neon team.

Will you continue to be careful?

I have General Wen Hao who can kill him!

In terms of overall strength, your Neon team is no better than our Chinese team.

论尖端战力，我们中国队可是有100米和200米的双料亚洲纪录保持者，你们的末续慎吾就算重回第二春，难道还能100破10、200破20？

Impossible?

It’s very blue!

"Let's go, Lao Yu, come with me to cheer for the children!"

Seeing that the four players on the court were about to finish celebrating, Feng Shuyong, who was extremely happy, immediately pulled Yu Weili up, and even ignored politeness, climbed over the fence and entered the court. The leaders of the two national track and field teams, one on the left and one on the right, protected the four team members in the middle, and welcomed more than a dozen domestic and foreign media reporters for interviews together.

It was still CCTV’s Tong Rina who took the lead:

"First of all, congratulations on winning the championship, and also breaking the national record this time. Is there anything you want to say?" 』

Yin Hualong: "I'm very happy and excited, because after all, I won the championship at home and it feels so good to win glory for the country!"

Liang Jiahong: "Just thank the people across the country for their support. Thank you to the leaders and coaches of the track and field team for their hard work. Thank you to my teammates for their good performance. I will continue to work hard in the future!"

Zhang Peimeng: "There were still a few small mistakes today, but fortunately it was more stable than yesterday's preliminaries. It can be regarded as living up to the efforts of my teammates. Then before the game, I thought about the possibility of winning the championship, but I didn't expect to break the national record." The way of recording, I just want to say Wen Hao - you are my god!"

When Zhang Peimeng shouted these words, he even knelt down on one knee, covering his chest in a funny way, almost embarrassing Wen Hao to death.

Good guy, did Qing Haiqing's phrase "Ouhao, you are my god" come from you?
  However, after Zhang Peimeng's antics, the atmosphere of this interview was indeed a lot more joyful, and the two bosses, Feng Shuyong and Yu Weili, were also happy to see such a scene.

The attention of track and field events is too low. Now it is difficult to achieve some results. Athletes can let go and do some eye-catching things, and they can also create certain hot topics and increase people's attention to track and field sports.

Overall, it's a good thing.

After an interlude, it was finally Wen Hao's turn to speak.

He smiled and faced the camera and said: "Thanks to my teammates for their dedication, to the leaders of the track and field team for their trust, and to my coach Li Qing for his hard work, so that I can show myself to the fullest at the World Youth Championships at my doorstep."

"This relay gold medal is hard-won, and it is very surprising to break the national record, but there are still higher goals in my heart that need to be achieved."

"I believe that the number of 38 seconds 79 is definitely not the limit of China's 4×100 meter relay. Next, I will set my sights on the Doha Asian Games four months later, where I will challenge the Asian record holder Neon Team! "

After listening to Wen Hao's answer, Feng Shuyong and Yu Weili looked at each other. They both nodded slightly, their eyes full of admiration for Wen Hao.

Look, what is the style of a general?
  The World Youth Championship has just ended, and we are already setting our sights on the Asian Games. Who can praise this realization?
  After the media from various countries asked Wen Hao and other four team members some questions, they turned the focus of the interview to Feng Shuyong and Yu Weili, the two heads of the Chinese track and field team.

NBC: "Mr. Feng, what do you think of China's final results of 8 gold medals, 5 silver medals and 8 bronze medals at this World Youth Championship, and finally ranked first in the medal table?" 』

Feng Shuyong was naturally prepared for such a question. He smiled and answered:

"I am very happy that the children of the Chinese team can achieve such excellent results. This is also the best performance of the Chinese track and field youth team since the establishment of the World Youth Championships."

"In events with certain traditional advantages, such as men's and women's race walking, women's 500 meters, men's and women's high jump and pole vault, our team members have continued the excellent performance of their predecessors and achieved good results."

“In the men’s 100m, 200m and 4×100m relay events, we have also emerged talented athletes like Wenhao who are extremely competitive around the world, enabling China to achieve zero breakthroughs in sprint events. This is even more gratifying!”

"But looking at the world, in international competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships, the overall level of our Chinese track and field team still lags behind the world's leading level."

"There are still two years left before the Yanjing Olympics. I hope that the young athletes who have achieved outstanding results in this World Youth Championship can redouble their efforts and strive to achieve better results for themselves and for the country and the country on a higher track and field stage in the future. The people deserve higher honors!"

A very standard Chinese answer. First, praise your own family, then reflect on the international comparison, and finally sublimate the theme and look to the future.

The most important thing is that what Feng Shuyong said is true.

其实哪怕没有文浩的出现，这一届世青赛中国队的奖牌数也能达到5金5银7铜，虽然比不过肯尼亚的6金6银3铜，但至少比美国的4金5银2铜强一些。

In fact, judging from the results of previous World Youth Championships, although the US team has occupied the top spot a lot of times, it has rarely shown a dominant situation.

The reason why there is such a big gap between the Chinese team and the American team in international competitions such as the Olympics and World Championships is that the problem mainly lies in the training system for adult professional athletes.

This point will not be solved in a short time, and the development focus of Chinese sports has long been to focus on the development of traditional advantage projects and low-cost unpopular small projects.

A major competitive event like track and field that lacks commercial development value and cannot get "feedback" in a short period of time is naturally difficult to be taken seriously.

It can only be said that the future development of Chinese track and field still has a long way to go.

(End of this chapter)