Chapter 395 Replacement
Gu Sanjing competed in two events at the National Games: the women's all-around diving competition and the women's 10-meter platform diving competition. The National Games began on November 20th, with the opening ceremony taking place on the 20th, and the competitions starting on the 21st.
Gu Sanjing and her team stayed in the best hotel in Guangzhou, in a double room. When the coach assigned the rooms, he based it on the relationships between the players. Gu Sanjing and Zuo Mingyan had previously shared a dormitory and had always had a good relationship, so the coach let them stay in the same room.
Today was the opening ceremony of the National Games, and they had nothing to do but go through the motions. The ceremony began at six in the evening, and around five they changed into their uniforms and followed their coach to the venue.
At the hotel entrance, Gu Sanjing ran into Guan Leshan, her former coach at the provincial sports school. She immediately went over and greeted him with a smile, "Coach Guan."
Guan Leshan was also very happy to see her. After looking her up and down, he smiled and said, "Not bad."
Gu Sanjing chuckled, and Coach Guan continued, "I talked to Coach Pei the day before yesterday. She said you work very hard and your performance is stable. Keep a positive attitude in this competition."
"Yes." Gu Sanjing said with a smile.
Coach Guan is still a bit nagging like before, but very kind.
The two exchanged a few more words before following their respective teams to the venue. When they arrived at the venue entrance, the coach asked them to line up and enter when it was their turn.
As the national team, we were definitely the first to enter the stadium. After waiting for a while, we heard the radio calling for the national team to enter, and then we heard warm cheers.
The team leader, holding the national flag in hand and striding into the venue with his head held high, was followed by Gu Sanjing and the others. As they entered, the cheers grew louder.
Gu Sanjing waved a small red flag back and forth, looking around. She saw the large conference hall was packed with people. She wanted to find her family, but they were too far away to see. However, on the south fence of the venue, there was a large poster for Guangming Supermarket, and she couldn't help but smile.
Gu Siqing and the others were sitting in the audience, very excited. They were too far away to see Gu Sanjing, but they had brought binoculars with them, and they were all watching through them.
"I saw it, I saw it." Gu Siqing said excitedly while holding up the telescope.
"Where is it? Why can't I see it?" Old Lady Xia asked hurriedly, and Gu Siqing told her, "In the middle of the second row."
Gu Jianguo and Wang Yueju hadn't noticed either, mainly because they were all wearing the same clothes and walking together, and it was hard to tell them apart from such a distance. As soon as Gu Siqing said that, their eyes focused on the middle of the second row, and then each of them smiled proudly.
Seeing them all holding binoculars, the audience was truly envious. Why hadn't they thought of buying one? The opening ceremony was grand. After Gu Sanjing and the others finished their "show," they sat in the audience to watch the performance. Afterward, they all went back to rest. The competition was tomorrow, so resting today was crucial.
This competition is particularly important, as it's not only the nation's largest sports event, but also serves as a preliminary qualifying tournament for next year's Olympics. If we achieve good results this time, we'll likely have a good chance of participating in next year's Olympics.
Arriving at the hotel room, Gu Sanjing and Zuo Mingyan washed up and lay down on the bed to sleep. However, after turning off the lights for a while, Zuo Mingyan still couldn't fall asleep. She was a little nervous and a little excited.
"Sanjing, I can't sleep." Zuo Mingyan turned her head to look at Gu Sanjing on the bed next to her, and saw that she was quiet, breathing steadily and long, and had fallen asleep.
Zuo Mingyan sighed. In terms of mentality, no one in the team could compare to Gu Sanjing.
The next day, Gu Sanjing and Zuo Mingyan woke up around six o'clock, washed up, and went to the restaurant for lunch. Then, they all went to the competition venue. This morning was the women's three-meter springboard preliminaries. Gu Sanjing would not participate, but she would sit down and watch.
The three-meter springboard team is composed of Jia Xiaoling and Jiao Qingyi. Jiao Qingyi's competition events this time are the ten-meter platform and the three-meter springboard.
Before the competition started, the athletes changed into their swimsuits and did pre-race warm-ups. Gu Sanjing and Zuo Mingyan sat downstairs and chatted. Zuo Mingyan asked her how she could fall asleep so quickly. Gu Sanjing replied, "I just counted. I fell asleep before I could count to 100."
Zuo Mingyan gave her a thumbs-up and said, "You're awesome."
Gu Sanjing chuckled. At this moment, the coach came over with a bad look on his face and said to Gu Sanjing, "Jia Xiaoling just twisted her ankle. You should participate in the three-meter springboard competition."
Gu Sanjing was stunned for a moment, then stood up and said, "Okay."
"Go get ready." Pei Yunxia's brows furrowed. Jia Xiaoling's twisted ankle was unexpected. Although she thought San Jing should have no problem with the three-meter springboard, she was still a little worried because San Jing had not made any preparations before and was rushing into the competition.
Gu Sanjing went to the locker room to change clothes and came out. Pei Yunxia was waiting for her at the door. Seeing her come out, Pei Yunxia said, "Don't be nervous, just play your best. You will have no problem on the three-meter springboard."
Gu Sanjing hummed, "I know, coach."
Pei Yunxia saw that she looked calm and not nervous at all, so she smiled. This child always had a good attitude. She said, "Go and get ready."
Gu Sanjing went to the waiting area and began to warm up. She was surprised to be picked up at such short notice, but she didn't think much of it. She usually did well on the three-meter springboard, and the all-around competition she was going to compete in that afternoon also involved the three-meter springboard, so she just treated it as a normal training exercise.
Jiao Qingyi frowned when she saw Gu Sanjing replacing Jia Xiaoling, but she immediately smiled and said, "I knew right away that the coach would let you replace Jia Xiaoling."
"How did she get injured?" Gu Sanjing was very curious. How could she twist her ankle while warming up before the game?
Jiao Qingyi sighed regretfully, "She was too nervous. Warm-up exercises should be done in moderation, but she kept doing them. Then she slipped and fell, twisting her ankle."
Gu Sanjing followed her finger and saw that the area was flat and dry. She wondered how Jia Xiaoling had twisted her ankle. Even if she recovered, she probably wouldn't be able to compete in next year's Olympics. She might even face retirement.
But that wasn't her concern. She stretched her arms and began to warm up. Jiao Qingyi was beside her, and the two of them were together. Ten minutes later, the coach came over and said to Gu Sanjing, "This is your first jump, so give it your best shot."
The first jump is neither good nor bad. If the athlete's movement is of high difficulty and perfect, it will put a lot of pressure on the next athlete, causing him to be nervous or choose a difficulty beyond his ability, and ultimately fail.
But if the first jumper's ability is insufficient and the difficulty coefficient is not high, the next jumper can easily surpass her. However, Pei Yunxia believes in Gu Sanjing's ability.
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