Huang Yiluan was browsing the Track and Field Kingdom forum as usual today when he saw a post by Xiaomajia, and then saw a group of people in the post laughing and teasing Xiaomajia.
18l: [Oh, it’s hard to convince people with your fake account. Why don’t you post a selfie so that we can at least believe that you are a member of the national team? Otherwise, how can we believe you when you say that Zhang Shuai is so imposing that it makes people weak in the knees? 】
20l: [You’re right. The World Championships are coming up soon. Xiao Qiu, the internet addict, has been spending less time on Weibo recently. How come you still have time to stay here and browse the forum? 】
28l: [Although Zhang Shuai is a very nice person, when it comes to momentum, Zhang Shuai is still not that good. How about Xiaomajia, can you take a photo of Zhang Shuai and show it to us? 】
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A guy hiding behind a pseudonym looked at the track and field fans teasing him in the whole building, feeling very sad and angry, but he didn't dare to reveal his real account.
The original poster replied: [Just wait! The national team will leave for Doha tomorrow. There will definitely be interviews at that time. You will know when you see Zhang Shuai's appearance! 】
After saying that, Qiu Mingjie, the little vest, closed the Athletics Kingdom Forum app with a melancholy look on his face.
Just as Qiu Mingjie said, the next day was the day when the national team set off for Doha. At 8 a.m., the 75 players of the national team who were about to go to Doha gathered at the outdoor training ground of the training base and took a group photo. Then the players and the coaches and staff who were traveling with the team boarded two national team buses and went to the airport together.
Although the variety show during the national team's winter training only had 5 short episodes, and the national team hasn't had any variety shows since then, the high ratings of the variety show and the subsequent good results achieved by the national track and field team have been unmatched. After watching the variety show during the winter training, countless viewers gradually developed a "cultivation" complex for the national track and field team, especially the 400-meter event.
As the track and field team has continued to achieve good results during the outdoor season, even if the original audience did not really pay much attention to track and field events, they have now developed the habit of clicking on any information related to the national team.
Nowadays, there is already a considerable fan group behind the national track and field team. Although they rarely organize gatherings such as airport pick-up and drop-off in order not to disturb the athletes, this definitely does not mean that they are not concerned about the news of the national team.
Therefore, whenever the national team goes out or returns home, or if there is any movement, it often attracts the attention of a group of reporters. What's more, today is the day when the national team sets out for the biennial World Athletics Championships.
When we arrived at the airport, just as many people had expected, there were already many media reporters waiting outside the airport for the national team. A group of photographers with their cameras set up saw the national team members getting off the bus from afar, and the shutter sounds of their cameras had already started to ring out one after another.
Although the reporters were enthusiastic, they did not dare to get too close to the players of the national team. Apart from anything else, these players were about to go abroad to compete and win glory for the country. If the reporters squeezed too close, someone might accidentally step on the instep of a player...that reporter would definitely be in trouble.
Therefore, passers-by at the scene could see that there was a group of reporters outside the airport, and after they waited for the interviewees, they were unexpectedly orderly, a magical scene.
"Huh? There are so many reporters. Who are they guarding?"
"Oh, it seems to be the national track and field team. I remember that the World Championships are about to start. Are they preparing to fly to Doha?"
Some passing passengers recognized the members of the track and field team. When they saw reporters approaching to interview them, many of them excitedly took out their mobile phones and took a short video of their encounter with the national team members.
In front, after seeing the members of the national team, the reporters did not dare to crowd, but they quickly put the interview microphones, recorders and other items into the hands of the players, and asked everyone various questions about their prospects for the Doha World Championships.
The official in charge of the team's trip with the Athletics Management Center is still Jiang Wentao. As the deputy director of the Athletics Management Center and the highest official person in charge of this trip, of course many reporters handed the microphone to Jiang Wentao. However, as an official of the Athletics Management Center, although Jiang Wentao is not as good at dealing with the media as Liao Jie from the Marketing and Activities Department, he can still answer questions without any mistakes.
"Hmm? What's the goal?" Jiang Wentao said with a smile, "I believe the media friends have already understood the goal of the General Administration of Sport - we hope that in this World Championships, we can surpass the previous one in terms of medals. I believe that our track and field athletes will also do their best to strive for this goal, break through themselves and win glory for the country."
"Are you worried that the goal cannot be achieved? I personally believe in the strength of our athletes. Of course, we also know clearly that in this World Championships, the United States, the world's strongest track and field country, will undoubtedly be the strongest and most formidable opponent that all countries need to face. If we want to achieve our goal, we must 'snatch meat' from the United States. However, regarding this 'competition', I believe that our athletes will never be timid or afraid of fighting. Our athletes will definitely face the strong enemy and rise to the challenge!"
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Jiang Wentao's answers were very official and orthodox. The reporters did not expect to get anything special out of him. After interviewing Jiang Wentao, they quickly turned their attention to his fellow athletes and coaches.
Speaking of the coach, the reporters soon remembered that they still hadn't interviewed Su Bai!
Su Bai was wearing the same sports suit as the athletes on this trip. Plus, he was young, and there was no sense of incongruity when he stood with a group of athletes. So much so that the reporters didn't notice him at first.
"Hey, Coach Su, you're here!"
After getting off the bus, the members of the track and field team stood separately in the airport hall. It was only then that the reporters realized that Su Bai had been left aside by them.
In the reporters' interview list, Su Bai was naturally an indispensable interview subject like Zhang Ziyi, Cui Luoheng, Fang Yu, Liu Jiaonan and other famous athletes of the track and field team. At this moment, the reporter saw Su Bai, and after a shout, many reporters also ran to Su Bai.
However, it was a pity that Su Bai was no longer the same person he was when he was interviewed before the Asian Games. No matter how much the reporters asked, they could not pry a single "prophecy" out of him.
"Coach Su, you're really too tight-lipped right now!" a reporter complained with a smile.
The reporters around also laughed and echoed: "That's right, Coach Su, why don't you think about it again, what is our goal for the 400-meter event in this competition, tell us about it!"
Su Bai also had a smile on his face. He seemed to be in deep thought for a while, then smiled and said, "Then I think... if I'm lucky this time, maybe we can look forward to seeing you in the finals?"
Wow!
The reporters present tried hard and waited for such a long time, and finally got the words out of Su Bai's mouth - See you in the final!
Unfortunately, the 400m events this time are quite comprehensive. In addition to the women's 4x400m sprint relay, there are also men's 400m individual events, women's 400m individual events, men's 4x400m sprint relay, and men's and women's 4x400m mixed relay, all of which have Chinese teams.
When Su Bai said "see you in the final", did it mean that we would only meet in the final of one event? Or which events will we meet in the finals?
The reporters were just planning to try to haggle with Su Bai a bit more when Jiang Wentao came over. Jiang Wentao politely told the reporters that they would have to go through security check soon, and then he pulled Su Bai out of their clutches with a smile.
The reporters looked at Jiang Wentao pulling Su Bai away with sad expressions on their faces, but the national team was going to fly abroad, and they couldn't really stop Su Bai from passing security, right?
Watching Su Bai being pulled away by Jiang Wentao, the athletes of the track and field team also went to the security checkpoint in twos and threes, and the reporters looked at each other privately.
"So... Coach Su, which event of the 400-meter race is he talking about?"
"It should be the men's 400m event, right? Zhang Ziyi ran 44.93 seconds in the trials. He is in excellent form. If he can maintain this form in the World Championships, he should have no problem making it to the finals."
"... Don't do that. With 44.93 seconds, I don't think it's possible for me to make it to the 400m finals."
"Don't worry, that's impossible, right? But you still remember that the men's 4x400m relay and the mixed 4x400m relay made it to the finals at the World Athletics Relay Championships, right? Especially the men's 4x400m relay, which was fourth in the finals and almost won a medal. Can you say that these two relay events won't make it to the finals this time?"
The reporters present counted around and found that apart from the women's 400m individual event and the men's 400m individual event, the remaining two 400m relay events were actually quite promising.
Although Su Bai did not say it explicitly, the reporters had a rough idea in their minds. After they had an idea in their minds, they immediately found seats at the airport, took out their notebooks for writing, and started typing away -
"Aiming at Doha, Chinese track and field athletes set off from B City Airport! 》
Director Jiang Wentao of the Athletics Administration Center said: Our goal is to surpass the number of medals won in the previous World Championships! 》
"Hamburger throw queen Liu Jiaonan says: My only goal is the gold medal!" 》
In response to the reporter's question about the competition goal, 400-meter sprint coach Su Bai said with a smile: See you in the final! 》
In addition, there are various contents such as "China's three 400-meter sprinters boast of advancing to the semi-finals together", "Famous athlete Fang Yu admits that his goal must be to advance to the finals", "110-meter hurdles rising star Cui Luoheng aims directly for a medal" and so on.
Track and field fans on the Internet have long known that today is the day the Chinese team sets off for Doha. Many of them are also lurking online, occasionally checking Weibo or forums in the Track and Field Kingdom for news about the national team's departure.
These track and field fans dug out all the news reports and interviews with reporters, and then carefully dug out the actual confidence of the track and field team coaching staff, the track and field management center and the athletes in this competition from these reports.
Since the 400m event has now become a "celebrity event" in track and field events, there is a lot of information related to the 400m event in reports and a lot of discussion in forums.
After seeing the words "see you in the finals" and "advance to the semi-finals as a group", track and field fans in the track and field kingdom couldn't help but worry about Zhang Ziyi, Qiu Wen, and Li Junhao in the 400m event.
Where did you say that?
You said we can advance to the semi-finals?
Among the current players of the Chinese team, the strongest is Zhang Ziyi, and Zhang Ziyi's current PB is 44.93 seconds. In addition to Zhang Ziyi, Li Junhao's pb 45.25 seconds and Qiu Wen's pb 45.17 seconds, these two results cannot be said to be bad, but even if they are regarded as Qiu Wen and Li Junhao's daily average results, they may not be able to advance to the finals.
Someone dug up the results and list of players who advanced to the semifinals from the group stage of the 2017 World Championships as evidence. In one of the most competitive groups at the time, among the top five players in the group stage, the worst result was 45.22 seconds. The fifth-ranked player barely got the chance to advance as a substitute based on this result. The sixth-ranked player behind this player had a time of 45.30 seconds and missed the semifinals.
Qiu Wen and his team's goal is to advance to the semi-finals, which is definitely no problem, but it is hard to convince domestic track and field fans that Zhang Ziyi, Qiu Wen, and Li Junhao can collectively advance to the semi-finals...
Even the track and field fans in the forum who had high expectations for the three couldn't help but wonder in their hearts: How many dishes are there? Why do they drink so much? If there were only a peanut, it wouldn't be...
However, although various media outlets interpreted Su Bai's statement "see you in the final" from their own perspectives, the interpretations all came to the same conclusion - all media outlets felt that Su Bai was referring to the two 400-meter relay events being expected to enter the finals.
Track and field fans had no objection to this interpretation by the media. After all, ever since the story of Su Bai's "super brain" was exposed, most of the track and field fans, who were already obsessed with all kinds of data, have become data-oriented. They had just used the data from 2017 to prove that it would be very difficult for Li Junhao and Qiu Wen to reach the semi-finals. Now, of course, these fans could use these data to prove the accuracy of the media's speculation.
However, occasionally someone would pop up and say, "Maybe Zhang Shuai also has a chance to advance to the 400m final."
It was just this "maybe" that was immediately suppressed by a group of track and field fans. The exhortation for suppressing them was also very simple - "My friend, I will just say one thing. In 2017 and 2015, the worst semi-final results of the athletes who advanced to the finals were 44.61 and 44.64 respectively. 】
As soon as these words were spoken, the expectations that many people had originally had waned.
Yes, although they also hope that Zhang Shuai can advance to the finals, but Zhang Shuai's current PB is only 44.93 seconds. Even if Zhang Shuai wants to advance to the semi-finals steadily, it is a bit dangerous... As for advancing to the finals?
Everyone took a look at the worst results of the teams that qualified for the finals at the 2015 and 2017 World Championships, and then shut up.
Just when everyone was feeling melancholy and sad, someone posted a photo of Zhang Ziyi taken by a media reporter at the airport. In the photo, Zhang Ziyi was no longer as gentle as before. His eyes were slightly gloomy, and he was holding a sports bag on his shoulder in one hand. Under the backlight, when this photo captured the portrait, there was a clear dividing line with the light coming from behind Zhang Ziyi. The figure under the backlight had an aura that Zhang Ziyi had never had before.
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Wow, who is this? Who are you?
Many track and field fans felt their hearts tremble when they saw this photo.
This photo was not officially released by the reporter, but was posted by the reporter on his personal Weibo account. He just thought that the photo was well taken, but Zhang Ziyi's expression and aura in the picture were not suitable for the report, so he posted it on his Weibo out of selfish motives, and then it was discovered by some of his track and field fans who followed him.
After seeing this photo, it can be said that almost every track and field fan who knew Zhang Ziyi was in a trance. When someone found the photo of Zhang Ziyi in the official report of that day for comparison, everyone discovered that Zhang Ziyi in the official report did have a smile on his face, but his eyes were indeed very different from the past.
This time, track and field fans immediately thought of the post that the little vest posted in the forum the night before - [I met Zhang Shuai in the national team cafeteria today. =口= Her aura was so strong that it made my legs weak. Oh my god, she was too handsome].
Yes, just look at the photo that the reporter selfishly released earlier. If you really see it face to face, wouldn’t it make you feel weak in the knees? This is a world of difference from the Zhang Shuai of the past.
What do these changes in Zhang Shuai represent?
Many track and field fans suddenly became excited again - looking at Zhang Shuai's posture, she seemed to be ready to do something big! So, can they expect Zhang Shuai to break the 44.90 second barrier in this competition and qualify for the Tokyo Olympics?
The members of the track and field team were naturally unaware of these discussions on the Internet. After the security check, they took a brief rest and then boarded the plane one after another. After a period of air journey, they successfully arrived in Doha, Qatar.
This is a hot city, and even though it is already the end of September, it is still hot. Also because of the local weather in Doha, the World Athletics Championships, which were held in August in previous years, were scheduled to the end of September this year, forcing many top track and field athletes to adjust their training plans and extend their best condition by one month.
But even so, at the end of September, the temperature in Doha is still hot enough to make people faint - in order to ensure the health of the athletes, the 20km race walk, 50km race walk and marathon events of this World Championships have been scheduled in the evening local time.
Fortunately, apart from these projects that cannot be solved in the stadium, Doha's local stadium facilities are still very strong, especially the air conditioning circulation system in the stadium, so that even if the entire stadium is open, the temperature can still be controlled at more than 20 degrees.
Due to the time difference between China and Doha, when the national team landed in Doha, it was still local morning time. The members of the track and field team have been traveling around to participate in international competitions some time ago, and now they have become accustomed to the different climate changes and time differences in different countries.
Picked up by the bus sent by the Doha organizers, the national team successfully arrived at the athletes' village in Doha - still the athletes' village during the Asian Championships. After arriving here, many members of the national team felt quite familiar with the place.
Before arriving at the destination, Su Bai sat in a two-seater bus with Cui Luoheng. Unlike the team members who went everywhere to participate in competitions and training, he felt a little uncomfortable when he landed. After getting on the bus, he didn't pay attention and fell asleep accidentally. When he woke up, he found that his head was resting on Cui Luoheng's shoulder, and Cui Luoheng sat very carefully, and seemed to adjust his sitting posture to make him comfortable. As a result, when he woke up in the Athletes' Village, Cui Luoheng looked a little stiff.
When Cui Luoheng realized that Su Bai had woken up and was looking at him thoughtfully, the back of his ears immediately turned red and he froze in his seat.
Seeing that Su Bai didn't say anything, Cui Luoheng hesitated for a long time, and finally said: "...You are too tired, you need to have a good rest."
After hearing what Cui Luoheng said, the idea that had flashed through Su Bai's mind suddenly stopped. He looked up at Cui Luoheng, looking at this guy who was somewhat frozen in place, and stroked his hair with a smile.
"Okay, go to the room and relax immediately. I've been leaning on you all the way, and your muscles are going to be stiff. The competition is about to start, so don't let it affect your condition." After saying that, Su Bai saw Cui Luoheng inexplicably becoming a little lost, and then smiled and said, "Thank you, Luo."
Just a word of thanks, Cui Luoheng suddenly perked up again, then with a stern face, after getting off the bus, he helped take Su Bai's suitcase out from the belly of the bus, and then silently dragged his and Su Bai's two suitcases all the way until he sent Su Bai to the floor where the coach was.
When the two said goodbye, Su Bai smiled and rubbed Cui Luoheng's head again: "Okay, adjust your state well, and do your best in the next game."
Although it was just a word of good luck in the game, Cui Luoheng was also very happy. In recent months, he often traveled outside for competitions. After returning to the national team training, he had not had much chance to get close to Su Bai. Until today, after seeing Su Bai sitting down, he simply moved to the seat next to Su Bai, and then straightened his upper body to let Su Bai sit on the reclining chair all the way.
When Cui Luoheng returned to the elevator and followed Wang Shen, Qiu Wen and others who had been traveling with him to the athletes' floor, Qiu Wen in the elevator looked at Cui Luoheng with a puzzled look on his face, then turned his head and gave Wang Shen a compliment.
"Lao Wang, do you feel that we were invisible all the way here, as if we didn't exist at all?"
Wang Shen blinked, smiled mysteriously, and then thought to himself: If he was not mistaken, Coach Pei seemed to be planning to sit at the seat next to Su Bai. Su Bai seemed to have seen Coach Pei before A Luo sat down... So did Su Bai see how A Luo looked when he was grabbing the seat?
Thinking of this, Wang Shen's smile deepened a little more.
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