When Cui Luoheng hung up the phone, it was already past ten o'clock in the evening local time in Doha. He and Lu Mengfan lived in the same athlete dormitory in the Sports Village. When he hung up the phone, Lu Mengfan had just come out of the bathroom. After seeing that Cui Luoheng had finished talking on the phone, Lu Mengfan told him to go take a shower and go to bed early in the evening because they had the most crucial battle of the 110-meter hurdles tomorrow morning.
As Lu Mengfan spoke, he casually chatted with Cui Luoheng: "Were you talking to Coach Xiao Su just now?"
Cui Luoheng was still looking at the phone in his hand, with a hesitant look on his face.
Hearing Lu Mengfan's question, he nodded silently.
"Then you have a really good relationship with Coach Xiao Su." Lu Mengfan said with a smile, "I've never seen you act like a spoiled brat with others."
…
…………
?
When Cui Luoheng heard Lu Mengfan's words, he looked up in surprise, and the expression on his face seemed to say: What are you talking about?
Lu Mengfan looked at Cui Luoheng's expression and immediately burst into laughter: "Alright, alright, you're not acting like a spoiled child. Go wash up quickly, or I'll call Coach Xiao Su and tell him that you didn't rest well before the game."
?
Lu Mengfan's "threat" sounded a bit nonsensical, but after hearing it, Cui Luoheng frowned, stood up, took off his shirt and went to the bathroom.
Cui Luoheng was not afraid of Lu Mengfan's "threat", but he did think about the game on the second day - this was his first final after the change from eight to seven. Although his performance in the preliminaries was amazing, if he could not maintain this advantage in tomorrow's final, then everything in the preliminaries would become a "coincidence" in the eyes of others.
He remembered that just before hanging up the phone, Su Bai praised his performance in the preliminaries and also expressed his concern for his final tomorrow.
There is no room for error in tomorrow's final.
With such a mood, Cui Luoheng quickly finished washing and tidying up, and lay back on the bed to close his eyes and rest.
The next morning, domestic
When the men's high jump final ended the day before, it was already one or two o'clock in the morning in China. Although there were die-hard track and field fans who followed the live broadcast of the final all the way to the end, there were also many fans who woke up the next day and watched the replay of the game on the sports channel live broadcast website.
The entry about the high jump twins was once again pushed back onto the hot search list because of the large number of viewers who were reviewing the final of the previous night.
While reviewing the performance of Wang Shen and Ye Wenhao on the field the night before, more viewers began to look forward to today's event.
Athletics Kingdom Forum
Theme: [The last day of competition of the Asian Athletics Championships! Let’s count down today’s key events! 】
Topic content: [In the first three days of competition, the Chinese team has won 9 gold medals, 12 silver medals and 8 bronze medals, and is currently ranked first in the medal table and the gold medal table. Today is the last day of competition. Can they maintain the first place in the medal table and the gold medal table? Today's competition is very crucial!
(Asian Championships day 4 schedule.jpg)
I have uploaded a schedule for today. There are several key competitions today, which I believe are also events that everyone is paying close attention to. They are the men's 110m hurdles final, the men's long jump final, the men's 4*400m relay final, and the mixed men's and women's 4*400m finals.
These competitions are all events in which the Chinese team has a good chance of winning medals. As long as we win them steadily, our top spot in the gold medal and medal charts will be secure! 】
3l: [In fact, our medal table is basically stable, especially the gold medal table. Bahrain is now tied with us for first place in the gold medal table, and Japan is only one gold medal behind us. At the critical moment, the teams of these two countries have strong events to compete in today. Bahrain's women's 4*400m and mixed men's and women's 4*400m, Japan's men's 400m, these are their strong points. As for us, the one that has a chance to win the championship today is probably the men's 110m hurdles...]
6l: [The friend on the 3rd floor said it well. Today's games are just a big hodgepodge. Let's see who can gain the advantage and take the first place in the gold medal list. If we can hold on to the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles and then snatch the gold medal in the men's 4*400m from the Japanese team, we can guarantee that we can at least tie with Bahrain for first place in the gold medal list. 】
10l: [I reviewed Cui Luoheng's 110m hurdles preliminaries and his time of 13.30 yesterday. It seemed that he ran quite easily. There should be no current 110m hurdlers who can beat him. As long as he maintains the form in the preliminaries, it will not be a problem for him to win at least a gold medal in the 110m hurdles today. 】
13l: [During last year's Asian Games, our men's 4*400m won a silver medal. This year, Lin Chuan in the team has been replaced by Xiao Qiu, and the overall strength of the athletes has improved. There is still hope for us to win a gold medal, right? 】
…
At the Athletics Kingdom forum, track and field fans had a very heated discussion, and at the China Building in the Sports Village in Doha, the athletes also got up early in the morning. Among them, the 400-meter team members who had a competition in the evening simply adjusted their status together after a good rest. At the same time, Wang Ting also called the male and female team members together to discuss the strategy for the evening's event.
When it comes to relay, it seems like a sprint all the way and everything will be fine as long as the two runners have good tacit understanding when passing the baton. However, that is the 4*100m relay. In the 4*400m relay, after the second runner starts to grab the lane, how to grab the lane and how to preserve one's advantage to the end are actually very complex tactical issues.
Except for the players in the 400-meter event, the remaining athletes who did not compete followed the bus provided by the organizer to the scene to cheer for their teammates in the national team.
In the morning competition, in addition to the 110-meter hurdles, there are also women's 100-meter hurdles, men's long jump, and men's hammer throw. However, the one that really offers hope of winning gold is the 110-meter hurdles.
Whether it is Cui Luoheng or Lu Mengfan, both of them have the possibility of aiming for medals.
When the live broadcast of the last day of the Asian Championships began, Su Bai in China also turned on the live broadcast on TV as scheduled and began to wait for today's competition. At the same time, he did not forget to open the record book for work, ready to take stock of the moments that needed to be recorded at any time.
Doha Stadium site, preparation area
After changing their clothes, Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng went to the preparation area and began to warm up for the upcoming competition.
The preparation venue for the competition allows the media to apply for photography interviews in advance. The media reporters who followed the national team to Doha will certainly not miss the opportunity for pre-match interviews in such a crucial event as today.
When Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng's warm-up preparations came to an end, the sports channel reporter carrying a camera approached the two of them.
The reporter's name was Lu Yuan, who had the same surname as Lu Mengfan. In the past, because of this rare common surname, the two were familiar with each other. When Lu Mengfan saw Lu Yuan, he also greeted him with a smile.
"Xiao Lu, Xiao Cui." Lu Yuan was a person who always smiled at everyone he met. After he came up to Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng, he immediately greeted them with a smile.
However, Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng had finished warming up before the game, so there was not much time left before they took the court. After Lu Yuan greeted them, he immediately changed the topic to the game that would be played later.
"At last year's Asian Games, Xiaolu and Xiaocui teamed up to win two medals in the 110m hurdles and brought glory to the arena. For today's final, do you have the confidence to create the miracle of winning medals together again?"
This question is actually quite routine, and Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng of course both nodded in agreement.
However, after finishing his words, Lu Mengfan touched his chin and smiled: “However, I don’t agree with Ah Heng’s previous idea.”
Lu Mengfan's words made Lu Yuan and Cui Luoheng stunned.
"What does Xiao Cui think?"
Lu Yuan asked subconsciously.
"gold medal."
Lu Mengfan simply responded with two words, and Lu Yuan's expression suddenly changed: Wow! Lu Mengfan was talking about what Cui Luoheng had said during the interview before departure, about winning the gold medal!
"So...what do you mean?"
Lu Yuan held the microphone tremblingly, waiting for Lu Mengfan's answer.
Lu Mengfan smiled good-naturedly, then squinted his eyes and said, "My goal is, of course, also a gold medal."
!
Wow!
Is that really what you mean?
Lu Yuan reviewed Lu Mengfan's result in the preliminaries the day before, 13.47 seconds. This result could actually rank among the top three among all the players in the preliminaries, but it was still a few points behind Cui Luoheng's result of 13.30 seconds that amazed everyone yesterday.
Seeing the surprise on Lu Yuan's face, Lu Mengfan smiled again, and then said seriously: "A contestant who doesn't want to win a gold medal will not stand on this field."
Hearing Lu Mengfan's answer, Lu Yuan was stunned - the meaning of this sentence was actually very simple and clear: he knew that his current results might be somewhat different from Cui Luoheng, who had already run 13.30 seconds, but facing the gap, rising to the challenge, and always pursuing higher, faster and stronger, this is the competitive spirit of an athlete.
What he pursues is not a stubborn and dull victory, but the heart that persistently pursues victory.
Who says that if there is a gap in strength, we cannot desire victory?
Next to Lu Mengfan, Cui Luoheng's eyes moved slightly after hearing what he said. He turned his head to look at Lu Mengfan, then looked at him, and then said very seriously: "But the gold medal will still belong to me."
Hearing Cui Luoheng's answer, Lu Mengfan couldn't help laughing, then nodded: "Okay, let's see the truth on the field!"
As he spoke, Lu Mengfan seemed to find it a little funny and said, "The competition hasn't even started yet, but it seems like we're already dividing up the gold medal."
Next to the two of them, Lu Yuan listened to the conversation between Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng. He was stunned for a while, took a breath, shook his head and smiled, "You are both right, then I look forward to your exciting match on the court!"
When Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng heard this, they looked at each other. It was clear that the game had not yet begun, and the two of them were not tense, but Lu Yuan seemed to think that the two were competing with each other at the moment.
When it was 9:15 a.m. local time in Doha, the women's 100-meter hurdles event had ended. Immediately afterwards, after the track was adjusted by the on-site staff, the athletes also came to the stadium under the guidance of the staff.
On the last day of the Asian Championships, all the matches taking place today were the most important finals. Although it was still morning time on a weekday, there were still many spectators who came to watch the games.
Most of them were spectators from Qatar, and there were also many track and field fans who came from other Asian countries to watch the event. After seeing the 110-meter hurdlers appear on the field, the scene once again erupted in enthusiastic cheers, looking forward to the outstanding performances of these athletes.
In China, many track and field fans have been eagerly looking forward to the 110-meter hurdles race since early in the morning. Firstly, they hope that Cui Luoheng and Lu Mengfan can win two medals again. Secondly, they hope to see Cui Luoheng's actual condition again and see whether his performance of eight to seven has stabilized.
In the Chinese players' seats in the audience, Jiang Wentao and Lu Shengbin were also discussing the topic of changing from eight to seven. After all, the actual effect of Cui Luoheng's change from eight to seven was right in front of them, and it was hard not to be excited by such an improvement in performance.
"I had discussed the issue of changing from eight to seven with Xiaolu and Yankai during the winter training period," Lv Shengbin told Jiang Wentao. "I also consulted Coach Xiao Su at the time. He thought that changing from eight to seven for Xiaolu and Yankai was theoretically appropriate, but in terms of timing, the winter training was already halfway through, so he thought it would be more appropriate to schedule the technical adjustment of changing from eight to seven during the winter training period."
Jiang Wentao nodded in understanding: "Indeed, Cui Yongyuan was already making adjustments from eight to seven. If his results were not released, Lu Mengfan and Zhao Yankai would also be eliminated. This would not only affect our efforts to qualify for the World Championships, but it might even affect the Tokyo Olympics."
After all, they all know that it is hard to say what the athlete's condition is. If the technical adjustment fails, it may affect the entire season or even multiple seasons thereafter.
"Yes, that's what I mean." Lv Shengbin nodded. "I helped communicate with Coach Xiao Su about the adjusted training plan before. It worked well for Xiaolu and Yankai. According to the idea of this training plan, at least this season, both of them have the opportunity to hit the qualifying line for the World Championships. After the World Championships, this winter training will go all out to sprint to Tokyo. This approach is safer."
As he spoke, Lu Shengbin smiled and said, "But the change from eight to seven is already firmly on the schedule. After all, Cui Luoheng's performance improvement is here. Not to mention me, Xiaolu and Yankai can't help but be tempted."
How should the players adjust their techniques? Will the adjustments be effective? Or will they have a counter-effect?
These are what the coaches in the coaching staff and the scholars in the national team research room consider every day. After all, when facing these top players, it is very likely that a small technical adjustment will have a ripple effect.
Jiang Wentao and Lu Shengbin were chatting here while paying attention to the competition. On the field, the eight athletes in the final were already ready - the competition was about to begin.
In the domestic sports channel live broadcast room, Shao Minyi and Li Sen had just finished introducing the eight athletes in this final. Unlike previous men's 100m, 200m and 400m events, the athletes in this 110m hurdles final were almost all Asians with black hair and yellow skin.
Although this is the Asian Championships, the sudden sight of such athletes at this moment still makes track and field fans who have seen too many black naturalized athletes feel a little amazed.
At this time on the track, in addition to Cui Luoheng and Lu Mengfan, the strongest players are Koichi Komatsu from the Japanese team and Sun Youchen from the Taipei team.
These players and Lu Mengfan are old rivals. Facing Cui Luoheng, who emerged as a dark horse last year and reached 13.30 seconds in yesterday's preliminaries, these players are even more vigilant.
13.30 seconds……
Is this result just a flash in the pan from yesterday, or is it Cui Luoheng’s true strength?
In this tense and stressful atmosphere, the runners either stood behind the starting blocks with their hands on their hips or simply jumped on the spot to make final adjustments.
Finally, when the starter's voice sounded on the radio, the 110-meter hurdles final was finally about to officially begin!
In China, Su Bai was already sitting in front of the TV, tapping the record book in his hand with the pen in his hand, watching Cui Luoheng who had already walked around the starting blocks and was ready to start.
At this time, Cui Luoheng and Lu Mengfan were on adjacent tracks, located on the fourth and fifth tracks respectively. On the right hand side of Lu Mengfan, on the sixth track, was Japan's Koichi Komatsu.
On the field, every athlete seemed to be in a tense state - after all, Cui Luoheng, who was on the same starting line as them, had demonstrated a strength of 13.30 seconds the day before, which weighed heavily on the minds of these athletes at this moment, and no one could say that they didn't care about it.
To be honest, the only two people who were relatively relaxed in this competition were Cui Luoheng himself, who was being watched by everyone, and Lu Mengfan, who was smiling and challenging before the game, saying that he wanted to compete for the gold medal.
Cui Luoheng was squatting on the starting blocks of the fourth track with his eyes slightly closed. For a moment, the scene of his competition in China at the beginning of last season suddenly flashed through his mind.
At that time, he was not aware of the real problems he encountered, so when he actually played in the game, he always mistakenly thought that his psychological endurance was too weak and that was why he could not exert his full strength.
During that period of time, his heart was always in silent pain and self-blame.
If it wasn't for meeting Su Bai...
Maybe now he can't forgive himself, so he overtrains again and again, and ends up with injuries?
Although the game was about to start at any time, Cui Luoheng's mind still flashed through the phone call he made to Su Bai last night. Then, the breathing rhythm that Su Bai taught him on the phone once again rang clearly in his ears.
[Breathe, breathe... Don't pay attention to the other players around you, all you need to focus on is yourself. 】
[Hold your breath, give it your all, and let go of your rhythm. I believe you can do it. 】
As the voice fell, the starter's "Ready" sounded on the radio, followed by the sound of a starting gun - "Bang!"
"The game begins!!"
In the commentary booth, Shao Minyi gave a short and quick commentary: "Start running! Very good, Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng both react very quickly!"
Yes, at this moment on the track, after the starting gun sounded, the two people who reacted the fastest at the start were Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng from the Chinese team!
The reaction speeds of 0.121 and 0.118 crushed the remaining 6 players on the field. The third fastest player was Sun Youchen from Taipei, but his reaction speed of 0.127 was still slightly inferior to that of Lu Mengfan and Cui Luoheng.
When all the runners stepped on the starting blocks and started running, the figures on the track rushed forward like ferocious beasts. Everyone had a serious and ferocious expression on their face. No one had the energy to care about these things. In the real arena, there is no good looking image, only running with all your might!
The stage on the track before the hurdles was originally a weakness for Cui Luoheng, but after using the seven-step hurdle technique, his height and long legs were no longer restricted by the eight-step pace on the track. With the explosive power at the start, his body speed increased rapidly. Because of the seven-step hurdle technique, his body posture is more forward than that of the eight-step hurdle technique. This posture, full of impact, is also more conducive to speed sprinting!
Beside Cui Luoheng, Lu Mengfan was also rapidly increasing his speed in front of the hurdles. Every step he took was extremely powerful and would generate even stronger explosive power for himself. This power was accumulating in his body step by step, pushing him forward faster.
"Well done! Cui Luoheng and Lu Mengfan are both very fast at the hurdles! They both reached the first hurdle side by side! Let's start attacking the hurdles!"
Shao Minyi spoke very fast, but no matter how fast he spoke, he could not keep up with the changes on the scene.
After all, the eight-step approach to the hurdles is different from the seven-step approach. In the eight-step approach to the hurdles, the steps will be shortened to the last step before the hurdle, which will affect the speed and rhythm when attacking the first hurdle. This is also one of the skills that 110-meter hurdlers need to learn and improve.
The seven-step hurdle attack is different. There is no rhythm of shortening the pace in front of the hurdle. Although this rhythm habit is different from the hurdle attack habit that Cui Luoheng learned in the past, during the training time of several months, Su Bai has completely broken and reshaped Cui Luoheng's habit.
In front of the first hurdle, Cui Luoheng pushed off the ground with his take-off leg, and his body's center of gravity quickly moved forward - his body's original forward tendency was very conducive to attacking the hurdle, and there was almost no obstacle. His swinging leg quickly passed the hurdle, his body flew into the air, and pressed down. Following closely, his take-off leg whipped quickly to pass the hurdle and then entered the rhythm of three steps between the hurdles!
From the start, to attacking the first hurdle, to the rhythm of entering the hurdles, Cui Luoheng's entire set of movements was as smooth and natural as flowing water.
And once he entered the rhythm between the hurdles, Cui Luoheng's control over his own rhythm was more clearly demonstrated.
Ta-da-da, this is his smooth stepping between the hurdles and attacking the hurdles.
Behind him, Lu Mengfan was also giving it his all, his eyes also filled with desire for victory. Even though the person in front of him was his teammate, and even though there seemed to be a speed difference between the two of them, there was no fear in his eyes!
On this short 110-meter track, speed and pursuit became the eternal themes of this moment.
It was not until Cui Luoheng took the lead in breaking through the tenth hurdle that Lu Mengfan, Komatsu Koichi and Sun Youchen followed closely behind.
On the track, even though Cui Luoheng seemed to have firmly occupied the first place, every player on the track did not give up the idea of chasing!
Finally, under everyone's gaze, Cui Luoheng, who was in first place, was the first to cross the finish line of the track, followed closely by... Lu Mengfan, who was also from the Chinese team!
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