Born to Run

Manchester, United Kingdom, May 16, 2011.

From early in the morning, Portland Street in the heart of Manchester is crowded with people, attracting the attention of local track and field enthusiasts and many tourists from all over the world.

Today is the day when the Manchester Street City Games will be held. Since 2003, Manchester’s street half-marathon and ten-kilometer race have been the largest events in Europe.

After joining the IAAF Gold Medal Road Race at the 2009 Manchester City Games, it attracted great attention. The number of applicants participating in the 10-km long-distance race reached 33,000 meters. Almost gathered many outstanding long-distance running professional and non-professional runners in the world to participate in track and field competitions.

At 14:30 in the afternoon, half an hour before the ten-kilometer race.

In the middle of the straight Portland Avenue, on a runway less than two hundred meters long, when Ye Qin appeared on Portland Avenue in a sprint suit, almost the entire street was instantly boiling.

Behind the baffles on both sides of the runway, almost crowded with people who came to watch the game up close, and even on the balconies and windows of many shops on both sides of the street, there were many people sticking out their heads and waiting. Looking at Ye Qin and the other three players next to him.

Jamaican Steve Mullins, American Roy Williams and British native Marlon Devinish.

The influence of the three in the sprint event is not very large, but they are all top athletes who have participated in the finals of the Olympic World Championships.

The audience on the streets all know that this year's Manchester City Games will start soon before the ten-kilometer competition.

This is a reserved item of the Manchester City Games-the 150-meter sprint. Basically, every year before the start of the long-distance race, a group of top male and female sprinters are invited to participate. To activate the atmosphere of the event and attract attention.

The men’s 150-meter race is a very controversial non-large-scale athletics event and has not been recognized by the IAAF.

Taking into account the comparison of the standard track, it is generally carried out in the corners and straight distances of the track and field stadium, or in some specially constructed special tracks for complete straight races.

The first climax of the men's 150m race in the world was the Rogers Center Stadium in Toronto, Canada in May 1997.

At that time, the race brought together two Olympic champions Michael Johnson and Donovan Bailey to determine who was the fastest runner in the world.

At that time, Donovan Bailey held the men's 100-meter world record with a time of 9.84 seconds, while Michael Johnson held the men's 200-meter world record of 19.32 seconds.

And Michael Johnson also set a world record of 14.83 seconds for men's 150 meters in 1996.

The duel between the two can be said to be the first time that everyone noticed the men’s 150-meter race in the world. Although it is not an IAAF sports event, taking a middle distance between the two world record holders still caused The attention of everyone.

In the final game, Donovan Bailey won the championship with a time of 14.99 seconds. Michael Johnson withdrew from the game due to an injury.

This game has also become one of the few games in Michael Johnson's career that makes people feel that he dare not face challenges head-on.

"Hi, Yeqin, I want to know, did you come to participate in the 150-meter race this time for the world record?"

Soon after Yechin appeared on Portland Street, the two BBC reporters in front of the starting line surrounded him with microphones and cameras, and conducted a street pre-match interview.

"I have never participated in a 150-meter race. I hope I can make a try. As for the world record..."

Ye Qin shrugged at the camera and made a helpless expression, "I'm going all out, hoping to get a good result."

The reporter interviews were naturally arranged by the organizers early in the morning. On the one hand, the main purpose is to use the reputation of top athletes to promote the influence of this event.

Ye Qin has become accustomed to interviews in the public. He is not at all timid. Instead, he shows a few eyes that Westerners can understand in front of the camera.

With the growth of his age and experience, he has become more and more free in such scenes, and he is able to communicate in English proficiently, which makes him less cautious in facing foreign media like many domestic players.

"Wow, then I think if you go all out, Youssé Bot will probably be with you in this year's World Championships, and you will take another world record from him."

The British journalist was obviously also very funny, and directly connected Yechin's match with the men's 150m world record set by Yousse Bot.

The first world record for men's 150 meters mentioned earlier was the 14.83 seconds set by Michael Johnson in 1996.

This record has been maintained for more than ten years since 1996. It was not until the Manchester City Games in 2009 that Youssé Bot broke the straight at 14.35 seconds, setting a new world record.

In 2010, Jason Gaby was in an amazing state. In May he also came to Manchester to participate in the men's 150m challenge. The final result was 14.41 seconds, ranking second in history.

After inviting the last two men's sprinters in the world, this year's Manchester City Games finally began to invite Ye Chin to participate in the men's 150-meter exhibition match.

Yechin was not very interested in this event at the beginning. He received an invitation for the men's 300m race from the Ostrava Super Grand Prix last year.

Like the men’s 150m, the men’s 300m is also an informal ban. The main purpose is to help improve the speed endurance of men’s 200m athletes and the running speed of men’s 400m athletes.

The men’s 300m world record was also set by Michael Johnson in 2000. The result was 30.85. In Ostrava in 2010, Youssé Bot participated in the men’s 300m race. The final result was 30 seconds 97, failed to break Michael Johnson's world record.

This time, Yechin came to Manchester to participate in the men's 150m race. It was driven by many parties. Among them, his economic team hopes that he can participate to prove his absolute historical position in the sprint event. Another factor is that the appearance fee charged by the tournament organizing committee is high enough to impress people.

After simply accepting an interview with a BBC reporter from the sidelines, Yechin returned to the starting line and greeted Steve Mullins, Marlon Devnish and Roy Williams.

Although they don't have any deep friendship with each other, basically they have met many times in the arena, which is considered familiar.

Similarly, a few people came to participate in this game, and they also knew that they would be Yechin's foil, but being able to compete with multiple world record holders, this opportunity is still worth cherishing.

If in this men's 150m race, you accidentally beat Yeqin, this is a proud record that can be used for a lifetime.

For example, Asafaville, who was once the number one man in the men's 100 meters, has lost to some up-and-coming sprinters in many competitions, and there is almost an overwhelming publicity in the media.

The status of athletes in the track and field is based on the accumulation of races, but the ability to occasionally win the super-top players in some small competitions is something that is very exciting.

For Yeqin, this men’s 150-meter race is also mostly of performance, but as long as it appears on the field, whether it is a competition with the same group of players, or with Yousei Bot the year before, last year’s The good results created by Jason Gaby are all potential duels.

At the top level, the eyes of the world will follow you.

Don't say a word or deed, but the ups and downs of each game's performance, and the challenges of various competitions, there will always be someone holding a magnifying glass to pick.

As time approaches little by little, more and more spectators gather on the sidelines, and the atmosphere becomes more and more enthusiastic.

In addition to a large number of spectators on both sides of the track, there are also many athletes and amateurs who are waiting to participate in the 10km Challenge. In such a grand competition, the world's number one sprinter can be invited as a hot spot, regardless of Is it to add brilliance to the face of the event organizer, or to the fierce competition that will begin later, it is very effective.

Ye Qin stood before the start and glanced over the crowd of spectators nearby. Although there were a lot of people on both sides of the street, he quickly saw a familiar figure on the second floor of a coffee shop.

Chen Zixi stood at the window of a coffee shop on the second floor of the street and saw Ye Qin look over. He immediately raised his right hand and made a cheering gesture towards Ye Qin.

After graduating last year, Chen Zixi has been helping Ye Qin to take care of some of his original economic work and part of his financial investment. This year, he accompanied Ye Qin to participate in some European competitions. By the way, the two can also do a tour.

Standing in front of the starting line, Ye Qin returned a wave of his hand that only two people could understand, and then looked at the finish line in the distance. Someone had already pulled up a banner to cross the line there, waiting for the first to arrive to cross the finish line to greet cheers.

Because the whole street is an open-air game, the level of noise is even worse than in a stadium.

Looking at the groups of people on both sides of the surroundings, there were bursts of cheering and discussions, and there was a feeling that Yeqin had returned to his boyhood to participate in the school sports meeting.

Everyone is watching your every move at close range, and their eyes will not leave you.

For the many onlookers present, this is also a rare experience. How fast the athletes are on the field is often seen only on high platforms in the distance or on TV.

Only at such a close distance can you truly feel the speed of top sprinters.

Following the call from the sideline starter, he began to leaned over and lowered his head, stepped on the approach, and got ready for the start.

There were only four runs on the runway, and Yeqin was in the middle of the second one. After he leaned over, he could hear the buzzing drone from behind.

That is in order to be able to take a more comprehensive view of the four athletes in the 150-meter project, aerial photography specially used by the tournament’s main committee.

After a prepared command, the gunshots of the game suddenly sounded.

The top four runners from the starting line rushed out of the runway in an instant!

After Ye Qin started on the run-up, he felt that his start this time was not bad, not particularly fast, but basically he didn't feel any obvious lag.

The entire Portland Avenue was caught in a frenzy after the gunfire rang out. The shouts and cheering of the audience on both sides of the street shook the sky.

Ten meters, twenty meters, thirty meters...

In the acceleration phase of the start, Yechin did not have a clear advantage in the first ten meters. Steve Mullins and Roy Williams next to him were both at the peak of their careers and had great explosive strength. At this stage Not inferior to Yeqin.

The only one is the British native Marlon Devinish, who is already over 30 years old. His peak speed is not there, and he is obviously a little slower after the start.

Twenty meters later, Yechin gradually ran out between Steve Mullins and Roy Williams, and began to lead the two by half to one position, reaching 30 meters. Yeqin has obvious advantages, and the audience on both sides of the street can already see that Yeqin is running ahead.

Forty meters, fifty meters, sixty meters...

Ye Qin's speed has been completely added up, the faster he ran.

The other three players around him started to be left behind by him at this time, and the entire arena seemed to be the only one running by Ye Qin.

Ye Qin listened to the deep cry in his ears, looked straight at the finish line, and ran with all his strength.

Seventy meters, eighty meters, ninety meters...

Ye Qin looked at the finish line ahead, feeling that he could run at high speed without any scruples.

He ran many times on the 100-meter straight. Basically, when the track was 100 meters full, he almost started to slow down afterwards.

At 200 meters, you start to accelerate from the corner. When you start, you must pay attention to your own centrifugal force to some extent. You need to stabilize the center of gravity~www.ltnovel.com~ The acceleration is not enough.

But now, when he is about to reach 100 meters, there is still a straight track of fifty meters ahead, which makes Yeqin feel an indescribable joy when he runs.

One hundred and ten meters, one hundred and twenty meters, one hundred and thirty meters...

The commentator in charge of this game has already exclaimed one after another.

Steve Mullins, Roy Williams, and Marlon Devinish are not too far behind Yechin, but Yechin in front of him has already opened a dozen or twenty meters away from him. the distance.

Cross the line!

"Unbelievable! Unbelievable..."

The commentator in charge of the game yelled loudly one after another.

"14 seconds 29!!"

"Yechin once again set a new world record! The men's 150m world record! At this moment, I don’t know if Youssé Bot is watching this game. If so, I hope he will not cry, his world is another world. The record was snatched by Yeqin!!"

Before the finish line, Ye Chin slowly slowed to a halt and waved to the spectators on both sides of the runway.

He has seen his final result in this game, 14.29 seconds,

Although it is a commercial competition, it is still very wonderful to be able to break the world record of a project again.

In this year's World Championships, he will also meet with Youssé Bot, Jason Gaby, Asafaville and others. Now he doesn't know how his opponents are prepared.

But he heard that this year Jason Gaby and Asafaville are not in good shape. Jax Trin has just returned to track and is improving his results step by step.

Come to think of it, maybe everyone in the World Championships may not be so caring.

The focus of everyone should probably be at the London Olympics next year.