Sprint: This champion is a bit weird

Chapter 180 I didn’t feel sad for a moment, because the person who rushed to the battlefield immediately was—Su Bingtian!

As time goes by, the IAAF is constantly integrating resources for track and field events around the world, hoping to build a more reasonable and standardized track and field events at all levels covering all parts of the world.

In 2005, the IAAF integrated 6 Golden Leagues, 5 Super Grand Prix events, and 14 Grand Prix events in Europe, America, Asia, Africa and other places, and gave it a new collective name - IAAF World tour.

Track and field events that are certified as "World Tour" either have a relatively long history and event foundation, or have a large amount of resource investment in the region where they are located.

The former is such as the European Golden League and Super Grand Prix, and the latter is such as the Grand Prix that has only emerged in recent years and is scattered across four continents.

In Asia, there are three events that meet the "World Tour" standards: Qatar-Doha Grand Prix, China-Magic Golden Grand Prix, and Neon-Osaka Grand Prix.

In fact, in addition to China's Magic City Golden Grand Prix, the two track and field events in Doha and Osaka have been changing.

For example, in 2005, Osaka was called the IAAF Japan Grand Prix—the IAAF Neon Grand Prix, and the event level was Class B; in 2006, it was called the IAAF World Athletics Tour—the IAAF Super Tour, and the event level was Class A.

This year, it was simply changed to the Osaka Grand Prix, and the event level was dropped back to Class B.

It looks a bit confusing, but it is actually a bit confusing.

As for the reasons for this situation, Wen Hao didn't want to conduct in-depth research. After all, it had something to do with him?

If the level drops, it will drop. Anyway, as long as the appearance fee is enough, that's it.

The organizer of the Osaka Grand Prix this time offered Wen Hao an appearance fee of US$4, the same as the Daegu International Invitational Tournament at the end of September last year.

It's hard to say whether the appearance fee was a kickback. Anyway, judging from the reports about Neon hosting the Winter Olympics in past lives, there is a high probability.

However, this kind of thing is also an unspoken rule in the industry. Anyway, as long as the appearance fee agreed in advance is not bad, he is too lazy to meddle in other people's business.

On May 5, at the Capital International Airport, the Chinese National Track and Field Team held its first event assembly of the year. The list of a total of 3 athletes in 10 events is as follows.

Men's 100 meters: Wen Hao,

Men's 110-meter hurdles: Liu Xiang, Shi Dongpeng,

Men's high jump: Zhang Shufeng,

Men's pole vault: Yangquan,

Men's javelin: Chen Qi,

Women's pole vault: Zhang Yingning,

Women's shot put: Hao Shuai, Zhang Wenxiu,

Women's long jump: Chen Yaling,

Women's 4X100m relay: Cheng Jue, Han Ling, Qin Wangping and Wang Jing,

Men's 4×100m relay: Wen Yongyi, Liang Jiahong, Su Bingtian, Wen Hao.

This list was announced on April 4, and it caused a lot of heated discussion before that.

Domestic track and field fans have no objections to the athletes sent to the eight individual events. Anyway, in international events such as the Osaka Grand Prix, athletes who are not strong enough are not eligible to participate.

As for the women's relay, these four members were all from the original lineup of last year's Asian Games. They won the Asian Games gold medal, so no one would doubt it.

But for the men's relay event, the controversy in track and field circles is too great.

The first and fourth rounds remained unchanged, but two newcomers, Liang Jiahong and Su Bingtian, were used in the second round. Is this arrangement really reasonable?

Where is Hu Kai? Where is Yang Yaozu?

Although the Chinese relay team missed the gold medal at the Asian Games due to their mistakes, their strength is not enough to be squeezed out by the two newcomers, right?

Hu Kai and Yang Yaozu can be said to be in the first echelon below Wen Hao in the domestic men's sprint field.

Hu Kai was the 05 Universiade champion and a nationally famous "spectacle trapeze artist", while Yang Yaozu had also been firmly on the domestic 200-meter throne for the past few years, and was second only to Sutsu Shingo in Asia.

Liang Jiahong was somewhat famous before. After all, he won the 100-meter bronze medal at the World Youth Championships and was also a champion member of the World Youth Championships relay team. His performance on the field last year was very outstanding among the younger generation.

至于苏炳天，3月份的时候他在室内大奖赛里的表现确实非常经验，魔都站6秒58仅输温永义0.06秒夺得亚军，燕京站6秒59再夺亚军。

But 60 meters indoors and 100 meters outdoors, can that be one project?

Since there is a newcomer, why not arrange Zhang Peimeng, who has experience working with Wen Hao and has performed well in the 200-meter event, in the third leg?

Regarding the heated discussions and doubts in the track and field circles, national team spokesperson and head coach Feng Shuyong also gave a brief explanation at the press conference before boarding the plane.

"Because Hu Kai and Yang Yaozu, who were originally the main players for the second and third teams, were temporarily unable to participate due to personal reasons, but the national team did not want to waste this training opportunity, so they temporarily decided to use the Guangdong team's team, and Wen Hao Together they formed a temporary national team and went to Osaka to compete. 』

"One thing that needs to be made clear is that the official roster of the national men's and women's 4×100 meter relay teams will not be officially determined until they pass the World Championships trials to be held in Suzhou in June."

In a word: Just for fun, don’t take it seriously.

This is what the national team said, but a small number of track and field fans did not buy it, especially fans of Hu Kai and Yang Yaozu. After the list was announced, they tried every means to complain for their own athletes.

It was a good thing that there was no commotion in the end, but after the incident started, people discovered that it was a bad thing!

Fortunately for Hu Kai, because he has always stayed in China, it is easy to find information about him.

In the relay final of last year's Asian Games, Hu Kai fell down while trying to ensure that he and Yang Yaozu completed the relay, causing a sprained ankle. It took him more than half a month to recover before he could walk on the ground.

He has been undergoing rehabilitation training since then and did not engage in high-intensity training throughout the winter training period. He did not officially return to high-intensity training until late March.

Track and field fans and his fans can also understand that Hu Kai is absent from the Osaka Grand Prix relay lineup this time. After all, even if he is really allowed to play, he will not be able to run.

As for Yang Yaozu, who went to the United States for training, things were a bit strange.

It stands to reason that since Yang Yaozu has had the experience of training in the United States, he should be competing in the United States at this time, especially on the west coast of the United States and Florida. Basically, there will be many track and field events starting in April.

As a result, until now, in early May, there is not even a single news about Yang Yaozu's participation reported on the entire network, which is in sharp contrast to the situation in 5.

On May 5, a post suddenly appeared on Baidu Wenhao Bar: [Yang Yaozu, you are not at Baylor University at all. Where have you gone? ! 】

[Thank you for the invitation. I am in Texas and just got off the plane. 】

[Because I like track and field and sprinting, I took advantage of the weekend to come here on the 28th to meet Yang Yaozu and let him feel the support of our international students in the United States for the track and field career of the motherland. 】

[This is the university where Michael Johnson, the famous sprint star at the end of the last century, studied. It is also the alma mater of Athens Olympic 400-meter champion Jamiri Varina. The school Yang Yaozu participated in was named after Michael Johnson. elite training camp. 】

[I was really looking forward to it, because last year the Chinese men's sprint event, especially the 100 meters, achieved an overall breakthrough. Although Yang Yaozu was overshadowed by Wen Hao's brilliance, the Chinese track and field team also missed one due to his mistakes. A relay gold medal. 】

[But after all, he is the former 07-meter king, and his personal strength has steadily improved last year. I believe that many domestic track and field fans are looking forward to his performance in 08 and just like me. 】

[After a lot of twists and turns, I finally entered the Michael Johnson training camp and met the retired legendary superstar, as well as the current world 400-meter king Varina. But when I explained my purpose of coming, I got A completely unexpected answer]

[Yang Yaozu, he suspended training in February and returned to China in early March! 】

[The head coach of the training camp, Hart, did not explain the specific reason to me, but just told me: "We signed a secret agreement with the Chinese track and field team. If you want to know why, then go find the answer yourself!"]

[So my trip was in vain, but even if it was in vain, I still have to know the reason! Many things are inconvenient for people abroad. If friends in China are well-informed, please reply to me, alas.]

As soon as this post was published, it attracted the attention of many track and field fans, and many melon-eating people who did not know the truth heatedly discussed Yang Yaozu's whereabouts.

In the beginning, it was just a normal discussion, but then all kinds of weird rumors came out, such as "Yang Yaozu's leg was broken by an American", "Yang Yaozu's father died and returned to China for funeral", "Yang Yaozu's coach was investigated for corruption and bribery".

It wasn't until a report from the Shanghai Evening News spread on Xinlang.com that the melon-eating contest finally came to an end.

"Yang Yaozu suffered a blow after studying abroad. Will a strong Chinese track and field player fail? "In the middle of this report, it was mentioned that Yang Yaozu felt a little unwell after a training session shortly after arriving in the United States. He thought it was acclimatization at first and didn't pay much attention to it.

As the training continued, the physical discomfort became more obvious. Later, after a series of medical examinations, Yang Yaozu learned that he was suffering from "pneumothorax."

Before the Shanghai Evening News report was published, Yang Yaozu completed the "pneumothorax" surgery and is currently recuperating at home. As for when he can resume training, his head coach Liu Xia said it will take at least half a year.

As for Yang Yaozu's experience, Wen Hao actually tried to advise him not to do the 400-meter concurrent event in the first few weeks after he went to the United States, hoping that he could overcome this difficulty.

Yang Yaozu also attached great importance to Wen Hao's opinions. In addition, the sudden appearance of Wen Hao in this time and space really eased the burden that Yang Yaozu should have borne.

Therefore, after arguing with coach Liu Xia, he gave up the plan to do both the 400 meters and 200 meters and focused on the meters.

In the end, he still couldn't avoid the fateful joke of "pneumothorax", and his career entered the fog of uncertainty.

For Yang Yaozu, there may still be a glimmer of "vitality" in his future.

But Wen Hao knew that, as the title of the report said, China's track and field team had indeed lost a strong player.

However, I did not feel sad for the end of Yang Yaozu for a moment, because the person who rushed to the battlefield immediately was - Su Bingtian!

Thousands of miles high in the sky, Wen Hao leaned on his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

As of now, Asafa Powell and Tyson Gay, the top two players in the world's men's 100-meter event, have yet to make their 2007 season debut.

Obikweru participated in several indoor competitions, but his future ability was not good. He only ran a season's best time of 6 seconds, and he was not even ranked among the top three in China.

Sean Crawford participated in the Telstra A Series in Sydney in February and ran a time of 2 seconds. He was once the WL (world best) holder this year.

On April 4, at the Austin track and field meet in Texas, American "junior" Walter Dix ran a time of 6 seconds (+10), setting a new personal PB and winning the WL.

Just yesterday afternoon, after confirming the travel plan and confirming Wenhao's recent training status, the leaders of the competition management center gave him three instructions: upper, middle and lower.

"Going up" means tying or breaking the Asian record of 9 seconds, which is the highest ideal expectation;

"Medium" means running under the 10-second mark, which is a reasonable goal;

"Down" means exceeding the current world best time of 10 seconds. This is the basic requirement of seeking truth from facts.

Although it is true that you will feel uncomfortable at the first time when your superiors impose expectations or set requirements before the game, but if you don't even have this psychological endurance, there is no need to be a competitive sports athlete.

Moreover, these three instructions are actually quite reasonable. Wen Hao himself thinks the same way anyway.

It has been five and a half months since he started winter training in late December. His various physical attributes have improved greatly compared to last year. If he can't even refresh his WL of 12 seconds, he might as well go home and wash it. Go to bed

Take a look at the properties panel.
-

Name: Wen Hao

Age: 18 years old (1988.05.08)

Occupation: Track and field (sprint) athlete

Strength: 88→89

Stamina: 89

Speed: 87→88

Physical fitness: 90

Flexibility: 88→89

Responses: 92

Potential value: 11.6%——

After two more months of spring training, although his training intensity has been slightly reduced during this period, he is more focused on working on technical details.

However, the three attributes [Strength], [Speed] and [Flexibility] have all increased by 1 point each. Now the average of the six attributes has reached 89.5.

Wen Hao himself is not particularly clear about what kind of extreme results such a panel attribute value can achieve.

During the training, I took notes by hand, and the error was very large. Occasionally, I would get shockingly fast results, and Wen Hao just laughed it off.

The training results can only be used as a reference. If I can't run in the competition, saying that I haven't adjusted well, the weather is not good, the track is too rubbish, the opponent affects my ability to listen, and the audience is too noisy are all just excuses.

A truly strong person is never afraid of the challenges of wind and rain!

On the afternoon of May 5, the Chinese track and field team came to Osaka Nagai Land Arena.

这座足以容纳47816名观众的体育场，最早曾在1964年的冬京奥运会上举行足球5、6位淘汰赛，也是2001年东亚运动会的主场馆，2002年的日韩世界杯也承办了三场赛事。

In addition, this will also be the venue for this year's IAAF World Championships in Osaka. Therefore, the Chinese track and field team will send a full 17 athletes to compete here in order to allow domestic seed athletes to adapt to the venue in advance.

After arriving at the Changju Land Arena, Liu Xiang seemed a little excited.

But this is easy to understand, because since the East Asian Games in 2001, this stadium has become his "blessed place".

2001年5月24日，劉翔以13秒42的成绩夺得生涯首个洲际冠军。

2004年5月8日，劉翔以13秒06的成绩打破亚洲纪录夺冠。

2005年5月7日，劉翔跑出13秒12的成绩摘得冠军。

2006年5月6日，劉翔跑出13秒22的成绩夺冠。

In this stadium, Liu Xiang has won three consecutive "Osaka Grand Prix" championships. Everyone is looking forward to him achieving four consecutive championships, and everyone is also looking forward to someone being able to defeat him here!

"Brother Xiang, are you under a lot of pressure?"

"Pressure? Are you kidding me? I have been working hard to improve my skills for so long, and I have long wanted to release my ultimate move. The one who is under pressure is not me, but my opponent, okay?"

"Okay, okay, so can I break the world record?"

"Well, let's talk about this. Let's talk about it."

After some joking, Wen Hao gave up his plan to continue teasing Liu Xiang and started warming up with the brothers of the relay team.

On the day the competition list was announced on April 4, Wen, Liang, and Su had actually arrived in Yanjing and joined Wen Hao for relay training.

Time is still in a hurry, but fortunately, their lineup is the Guangdong team. Liang Jiahong and Su Bingtian are currently serving as the second and third teams in the Guangdong team.

The only difference is that Wen Yongyi serves as the fourth baton in the Guangdong team, but this is not a problem because he is the first battalion in the national team and can adapt quickly.

When he first started getting used to three or four sticks with Su Bingtian, Wen Hao was still a little uncomfortable with it.

Because in the national team before, whether it was Yang Yaozu or Pang Guibin, both of them were much taller than Su Bingtian, and it was really difficult to change the technical and movement habits of taking over the baton for a while.

However, after two or three days of getting used to it, Wen Hao found that it seemed quite comfortable to work with Su Bingtian.

Su Bingtian's technical characteristics are quick start and quick acceleration. Compared with players of the same level, his speed ability is not bad at all, but he is really not good at speed and endurance.

But his shorter height also means that his body center of gravity is lower, and he can perform more stably in corners than taller athletes.

This was something Wen Hao had not thought of before, because the mainstream view among domestic track and field enthusiasts in his previous life was that Su Bingtian's technical characteristics were not suitable for running the third leg, but the first leg was the most suitable for him.

Analyzing from the perspective of extreme forward running style, this point of view is indeed very reasonable, but there are many reasons why Su Bingtian has been the third best player for a long time in his previous life, which cannot be explained clearly in just a few words.

Anyway, after a week of running-in, Wen Hao really changed his view on Su Bingtian.

In view of Su Bingtian's technical characteristics, Wen Hao deliberately adopted relatively conservative steps to ensure that he would not start too fast and successfully complete the handover with him who had poor speed and endurance in the later stages.

In terms of handover technique, due to Su Bingtian's shorter height, Wen Hao found that he did not need to straighten his hand back to take over the baton as before.

Instead, you can naturally extend your hands at the same height as your hips, and let Su Bingtian use the upward lift to complete the handover with him.

Because this time it was only a temporary national relay team, Wen Yongyi's coach Huang Weiwei simply did not come to join in the fun. Li Qing had also spent a lot of time on Hu Kai and Zhang Peimeng recently, so the affairs of the relay team were fully left to Yuan Guoqiang was put in charge.

Yuan Guoqiang not only did not stop Wen Hao from taking Su Bingtian to try the overhead technique, but followed them to study it with great interest.

Li Qing had a lot of training and competition information on the neon relay team, and Yuan Guoqiang asked for these information. While leading the team members to conduct relay training, he studied the overhead relay technique.

However, Yuan Guoqiang does not dare to rashly let Wen Yongyi and Liang Jiahong also use the overhead technique, especially for now, Wen Yongyi has been firmly ranked first in the national relay team for the time being. If Hu Kai returns in the future, that will be Should I continue to use the upward lift or the downward push?

Therefore, the pick-up technique is limited to the handover of three or four sticks between Su Bingtian and Wen Hao, and is regarded as a small experiment.

(End of this chapter)