Born to Run

Singapore, August 19, 2010.

Since the first two days, the whole Singapore has entered a state of boiling, with the mascots Lyo and Merly everywhere on the streets of the city.

From August 14th to 26th, the first Summer Youth Olympic Games is being held in Singapore. This is the first large-scale sports event of the International Olympic Committee to be held in Southeast Asia.

The concept of the Youth Olympic Games was first put forward by the Austrian John Rosenzov in 1998. However, the International Olympic Committee did not approve of hosting the Youth Olympic Games at first. One was worried that the emergence of the Youth Olympic Games would cause a lot of problems. Young athletes train too much, and the other is that the cost is too high.

Until 2007, the President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge officially announced the plans for the Youth Olympic Games at the 119th IOC meeting held in Guatemala City on July 6, 2007.

At that time, 11 countries participated in the contest for the right to host the Youth Olympic Games. In the end, Singapore surpassed Moscow's 44 votes by 53 votes and became the host of the Youth Olympic Games.

The Youth Olympic Games attracted a total of about 3,600 athletes aged 14-18 from 204 countries who participated in 201 events in 26 sports.

Singapore has prepared 18 venues for the Youth Olympic Games, of which the track and field venue is the famous floating Marina Bay Stadium. This is a stadium floating on the sea and the largest floating platform in the world.

More than 30,000 on-site seats, because the Singapore National Stadium was demolished and renovated in the previous two years, it became the main stadium of this Youth Olympic Games.

However, although the venue of Marina Bay Stadium is large enough to host a football match, it does not have a track. Track and field events are not held here, but at Bishan Stadium, which is far from the city center.

There were 6,000 acts at the Bishan Stadium. At 10:30 in the morning, the entire stadium was full of spectators who came to watch the game.

"Don't be nervous, just play as good as you should be!"

Tao Jianglong stood looking at Xie Zheng, who had already warmed up, and stretched out his hand to gently pull him by the collar. "This time, a few coaches from the national team came to see. You have always wanted to join the national team, and now the opportunity is there. Right now."

"Really? Which coach came over?" Xie Zheng was wearing a red sprint suit. Although he was not very old, he was tall and tall, with only the spirit of a young man. After hearing Tao Jianglong's words, his eyes could not help but reflect.

"Why are you so excited, forgot how I told you?" Tao Jianglong patted Xie Zheng on the shoulder, his face slightly stunned, "Every big event requires calmness. The bigger the game, the more emotional it is. Hold on."

"understood."

Xie Zheng scratched his head, seemingly embarrassed. Seeing Tao Jianglong shook his head somewhat helplessly, and said again:

"I know they have someone coming, but it's not for this game. I can't do it accurately. It's just the preliminaries. I tell you this is not to put pressure on you, but to prepare yourself a little."

"Hehe..." Hearing Tao Jianglong's words, Xie Zheng couldn't help but laugh again. "I think Coach Yuan should come to watch my game."

"Okay, don't think about it, get ready to play!"

Tao Jianglong looked at the hippie smile of his last disciple before he retired, and couldn't help but laugh and curse, "Pi Monkey, if you don't run well, don't blame me for not letting people go."

"Don't worry, coach!"

Xie Zheng ran to the side of the inspection area, and when he heard Tao Jianglong's words, he turned his head and saluted him, and then he continued to trot away.

Seeing Xie Zheng's back, Tao Jianglong slowly picked up the thermos cup he was carrying with him from the chair next to him.

Although the weather in Singapore is very hot, he can't stand the cold in his stomach. After decades of habit, he still drinks warm water and hot water even in summer.

Sipping a sip of tea and smashing his mouth, Tao Jianglong walked along the passage towards the coach and media seats at the bottom of the Bishan Stadium auditorium.

The atmosphere in the stadium has become more heated at this time. The men's 200-meter preliminaries for this Youth Olympic Games are about to begin. Although the entire stadium is small, there are still a lot of spectators who come to watch the game.

"Coach Tao, here!"

As soon as Tao Jianglong appeared on the coaching bench, he saw a man who was not tall and waved at him.

"Director Yuan, I didn't expect you to be here today!"

Tao Jianglong looked at the man with a smile on his face and said hello.

"Talents are rare. It doesn't happen to come with the team, so I have to come and see it. This little Xie hasn't joined our national team yet, but I have heard many people say his name."

Yuan Guohua smiled heartily and replied that his words really did not contain any water. He basically knows the outstanding young track and field athletes in China, although he has selected a few more sprinters from Guangdong province than from other provinces.

But this is not because he is only sending talents for his own province, but because he comes from Guangdong province, and the relationship network there is much stronger than other places.

In addition, the overall level of sprinting in Guangdong Province itself should be stronger, and there will be more athletes entering the national team's sprinting event these years.

But in the same way, he also spares no effort to collect sprinters from other provinces. The evaluation of him within the national team is that he can go beyond the geographical limitations and find and select the most suitable players for the national team.

"I just want to hide, but I can't hide from you!"

Tao Jianglong smiled and shook his head. He knew that Xie Zheng's entry into the national team was basically a certainty. Whether it was in the team or Xie Zheng's own wishes, he actually wanted to enter a higher platform.

But in his heart, he has always been reluctant to let Xie Zheng enter the national team. On the one hand, Xie Zheng is still young, and in his opinion there is still enough time to lay the foundation.

On the other hand, it may also be because he is about to retire, and the last disciple he brought with him will inevitably be a little bit soft. This is the same as most elderly people, who always want to stay with them.

But the young eagle will always grow up and needs a wider sky to allow him to gallop.

"Coach Tao, the time is just right now."

Yuan Guohua doesn't care about Tao Jianglong's words. The old coach will always have such emotions, especially when he is about to retire, but the current situation is still different.

After a pause, Yuan Guohua continued, “It’s 2010 and Xiao Xie is still young, but his performance is on the rise. Now he is training with the national team and next year is the World Championships. If you polish it up, you may have a chance in the next year. Participated in the Olympics."

"What's the situation with the relay team now? It's so short of people?"

Tao Jianglong's heart had already been shaken, but the tone of his words was still a bit harsh.

Yuan Guohua smiled and said: "There is no shortage of people, but it is difficult to find a general in the army. Now the first team of the relay team Su Bingtian and the second team Zhang Peimeng are very mature, and the fourth team is Ye Qin. Needless to say, he is the core of the entire team. Now there is still a lack of a third stick. This is not to say that no one in our national team can run, but it is not easy to have a high level and potential.

What I want is not now. What I want is the Olympics in two years, the World Championships in five years, and the Olympics in six years... Such athletes are what I want, and I want to start looking for training now. "

"You, the head coach, really plan ahead!"

After listening to Yuan Guohua's words with a frown, Tao Jianglong felt a sigh of emotion in his heart. The head coach of the national relay team has brought out a series of outstanding sprinters, not to mention that the relay team has jumped from the Asian level to the forefront of the world in his hands.

Of course, there are factors other than a super player, but it is evident from the training level and performance of other players.

Moreover, in the Asian Championships held in Yangcheng, Guangdong Province last year, the Chinese team defeated the Japanese team in the men’s 4×100m relay event without Ye Qin, and won a gold medal, which is enough to prove its ability. The growth of domestic track and field sprinters in 2015.

"Haha..."

Yuan Guohua laughed, with a red light on his face, but he was a little bit excited about national selection.

It was at this time, on the track and field stadium.

Two groups of men's 200m preliminaries for the first Youth Olympic Games have been held in succession, and the third group of players happened to be on the field.

Because it is the first Youth Olympic Games, the ages of the players are between 14-18 years old. Although there are many countries participating, there are not many athletes who can reach the level of participation in various events.

There are only 26 players in the four preliminaries of the men's 200 meters, and only the preliminaries and finals are held.

Seeing that the third group of the preliminaries was about to start, no matter it was Tao Jianglong or Yuan Guohua, the two stopped communicating and all looked at the track and field of Bishan Stadium.

A red sprint suit was assigned to the seventh pass on the edge. Although Xie Zheng was young, looking at him, he was still physically vigorous, and he did not appear immature among the players.

After a gunshot, the game started immediately.

After the gunshot sounded, Yuan Guohua couldn't help but patted his thigh.

He has never seen Xie Zheng in a car before, but he has heard the term in his ears many times.

One of them was the World Junior Championship last year. After Ye Chin went to cheer for the players, he came back to recommend him.

Sure enough, from the start of Xie Zheng, Yuan Guohua saw the extraordinary features of such a player, with a large stride and excellent explosive power.

In this group of players, many black and white players of the same age are far inferior to Xie Zheng in physical fitness. With a short distance of 50 meters, Yuan Guohua has already judged that the opponent has taken the lead in the corner.

When it came time to turn into the straight stage, Xie Zheng was already far ahead, and the speed he showed made Yuan Guohua feel a bit like the first time he saw Yeqin's game in the City Games.

The final result did not have much suspense. Xie Zheng crossed the finish line all the way and won the first place in this group of preliminaries.

The result was 21.27 seconds, which was 0.5 seconds faster than the 21.81 seconds of American player Landerdon Sanders, who was second in the same group.

When the four groups of preliminaries ended, among all the young players, Xie Zheng’s 21.27 seconds was the best. Even if he was the first in several other groups, the best result was more than 0.2 seconds with Xie Zheng. difference.

Seeing the results of this preliminary round, Yuan Guohua no longer hesitated. He had only one idea in his mind that such a talent should come to the national team.

At Xie Zheng's age, Ye Qin can only run in this way.

He can’t guarantee that Xie Zheng will grow to the level of Yeqin’s in the future. After all, anyone with a discerning eye can see that an athlete with excellent talent cannot be a Chinese cabbage. The kind of top athlete who improves step by step every year can be. Unforgettable encounter.

But just for the potential that Xie Zheng has shown now, it can be said that he feels that the future is quite promising.

The first point is that Xie Zheng's height is very good. Although he can't keep up with Ye Qin and Zhang Peimeng, he still has 180. Although he is not the kind of coach who chooses according to his height, the advantages that his height can bring are very obvious.

The other point is explosive power and rhythm. Xie Zheng’s stride length is very large, but his stride frequency is not slow, he runs with a good rhythm, and one of the advantages of being a 200-meter athlete is that as he gets older, he gradually enters In the peak period, muscle strength grows up. In the future, whether it is 100 meters or 400 meters, it is very promising.

This is one of the reasons why they are now focusing on finding a lot of 200m athletes in the selection of talents. Excellent 200m athletes need to take into account explosive power and speed endurance. If both are excellent, they can do multiple events at the same time. UU reading www.uukanshu.com

After the game, Yuan Guohua and Tao Jianglong came to the backcourt and found Xie Zheng, who looked a little excited just after the game.

"Xie Zheng, this is the coach Yuan of the national team."

Tao Jianglong looked at Xie Zheng who was excited and impatient. Although he was still a little bit disappointed in his heart, he introduced Yuan Guohua to Xie Zheng.

He is just an old coach, training athletes for so many years, to a certain level, after all, he still has to go to the upper level. Now the national team is not adopting the previous pre-match training mode, but a unified training management.

If he was a few years younger, he might not have followed Xie Zheng to enter the national team, but now it is approaching the age of retirement, there is no point in tossing these things, it is better to let go.

"Director Yuan!"

Xie Zheng shook hands with Yuan Guohua excitedly, not mentioning the identity of the other party as the coach of the national team, and being the first national men's 100-meter stopwatch record holder alone was enough to impress him.

"Xie Zheng, coach Tao and I have already talked, would you like to come to the national team?"

Xie Zheng first glanced at the mentor who had taken him for four or five years, and when he saw the other side nodding slightly, he nodded heavily, "Guide Yuan, I am willing!"

"Well!"

Yuan Guohua laughed, "Then I will recruit you, but there is a premise!"

"What?" Xie Zheng felt nervous again when he heard Yuan Guohua's words.

"That is to win the men's 200m championship in the Youth Olympic Games!"

"Great!"

...

Two days later, at 20:48 on August 22.

The men's 200m final at Bishan Stadium was held as scheduled.

In the brightly lit stadium, Xie Zheng and eight 200m finalists from the same age group won the Youth Olympic Games with a time of 21.22 and was officially selected for the national track and field team.