Chapter 5. As Ren Xiyao's blade slashed through first...
As Ren Xiyao's blade swept across the finish line first, the semifinals of her National Championships 500m and 1500m time events came to a temporary close, just a week earlier. It was also on this same ice rink that Ren Xiyao competed in the final leg of the Elite League. Most of the top domestic athletes were preparing for the upcoming Solomon Islands Winter Olympics, so there wasn't much suspense. Ren Xiyao won the 1500m and 1000m titles in the final Elite League event, and finished third in the 500m. Her performance at the National Championships, from the preliminaries to the semifinals, went relatively smoothly. Her recovery from injury was also much better than expected.
After a short rest, the afternoon will feature the A group finals of the 500m and 1500m races, as well as the semi-finals of the women's relay. All the training during this period has paid off, and I can feel that my physical reserves are sufficient.
Ren Xiyao and Lin Shan sat together in the cafeteria. Two weeks ago, when they returned to their dorm, they threw down their things and went straight to the cafeteria. Although the national team's cafeteria food wasn't exactly stellar, it was definitely more varied than the South Korean cafeterias. The two of them, like they hadn't eaten in 800 years, squatted in the cafeteria and devoured a whole bowl of rice without a care in the world. They didn't even bother to talk. Clearly, seeing the same dishes as that day, Lin Shan remembered their embarrassing situation upon returning. The cafeteria lady had been kind enough to give them extra meat. The two exchanged a smile and quickly lowered their heads to eat. Just then, Ren Xiyao's phone beeped with a message from Kwon Ji-yong. During her time back in Korea, she hadn't lost contact with Kwon Ji-yong; on the contrary, they had chatted quite a bit on their phones. Their relationship had grown much closer.
"You've been busy until now. How did your match this morning go?"
"They've made it to the finals, so they're resting." She hesitated for a moment, then added a greeting: "Oppa, staying up all night again?" Ren Xiyao stared at the sentence she had typed. Actually, she didn't know why she always felt awkward using the term "Oppa." It just didn't feel right, but since the other person was South Korean, it was out of politeness. Generally, when asking a question individually, Ren Xiyao would add the word "Oppa."
It's quite interesting. Ren Xiyao's coaching team during her overseas training had a very high level of international integration, with a total of 12 coaches from all over the world. Half of the 12 coaches were Korean, and the rest were from other countries. Therefore, the official language of training was English, which resulted in her English improving rapidly despite being in South Korea, while her Korean was still quite broken, even in everyday phrases. However, so far, the other party didn't seem to mind.
“My composer friend said that we’re all nocturnal creatures in this industry… but I’d rather watch the players compete than stay up all night writing songs…” This was followed by a 15-second voice message with the sound of rustling writing in the background.
Ren Xiyao opened the voice message. Listening to the man's voice, she really thought Quan Zhilong was a very magical person. His voice was clear and bright, with a slightly childlike quality that really didn't suit a guy, but on him, it felt perfectly balanced. Sometimes, when he spoke, it sounded like he was being coquettish.
"No matter how bright the podium lights are, they can't compare to the ice flowers your skates create when you're going around the corners," came the Korean voice message.
It took Ren Xiyao a while to understand what Kwon Ji-yong was talking about. Her heart raced after she understood. During the time they were friends, Kwon Ji-yong would occasionally send her messages that made her blush and her heart race. It wasn't that Ren Xiyao was overthinking it; she genuinely felt it was a kind of boundary-testing. She typed in the chat box, typed and deleted, deleted and typed again, going back and forth for a long time, finally sending only one sentence: "You're quite good at using metaphors. The lyrics are pretty good."
On the other end of the phone, Kwon Ji-yong couldn't contain himself and nearly burst out laughing in his studio after seeing the reply. The staff around him were completely baffled by his behavior. From last night until now, he had been in a very tense and serious state; they had no idea what was wrong with him all of a sudden.
During this period, he subtly probed her, and whenever Ren Xiyao couldn't answer, but didn't want the atmosphere to become awkward, he would send responses that even she herself found embarrassing, avoiding the main point and awkwardly changing the subject. He truly found this girl adorable. Her naivety, untouched by romantic entanglements, and her genuine, natural reactions only fueled his growing curiosity about her.
He also noticed something interesting: she didn't add "Oppa" to every sentence; he could tell she used the word awkwardly. She didn't use it as smoothly as GDxi, and he struggled to say eight out of ten sentences in Korean, mixing up all sorts of grammar and still not understanding it. But Kwon Ji-yong never felt offended; he just found her adorable. He really wanted to say, "Come back soon!" This longing to see her was incredibly intense.
Ren Xiyao, on the other side, was indeed as Quan Zhilong had predicted. This was truly the first time she had felt this way. She had feelings for Quan Zhilong. But she didn't know how to respond, and her words, spoken in a flustered manner, even left her speechless. When had she become so tongue-tied?
Lin Shan, watching Ren Xiyao's behavior, was somewhat bewildered: "What are you doing? Who are you messaging?" Startled by Lin Shan's voice, Ren Xiyao snapped out of her daze and tried to cover it up, saying somewhat evasively, "Nothing, just a friend. I don't quite understand what they're saying."
Lin Shan started to say, "You've been acting a bit strange lately..." Before she could finish, Ren Xiyao interrupted, "Strange what? Hurry up and eat." Lin Shan was about to say something more when Ren Xiyao picked up her plate and said, "I'm full. You hurry up and eat; it'll be time to go back soon." Then she quickly left, her retreating figure giving the impression of a hasty retreat. Lin Shan wondered what was going on. Was something wrong? She hadn't seen her getting particularly close to anyone.
The brief acclimatization period on the ice ended. The whistle called the athletes back to the starting line. With their skates gripping the ice from the inside, and standing upright sideways, the starter quickly blew the whistle to signal "ready." Simultaneously, the athletes lowered their center of gravity, bending their left elbow forward and extending their right arm backward. Several athletes used different starting positions. Some used a side start, while others still used a toe-pinch start.
The main reason is that there have been rumors in the past two years about a possible ban on toe-starts, so some young athletes and coaches have begun to consciously train for side starts. Toe-starts are undoubtedly very advantageous, especially in events requiring high explosive power, such as the 500m and 1000m. However, toe-starts damage the ice surface, sometimes even creating holes. From a competition perspective, uneven ice can also affect the skaters' blades later in the race, leading to mistakes or even falls off the track, causing danger. Short track speed skating requires a very smooth ice surface.
As the starting gun fired, the athletes rushed out, but quickly adjusted their positions based on their opponents' intentions. The first to take the lead was a female skater from Zhanqing Club who established an advantage by using the shortest entry line into the corner, but she had to bear the risk of being squeezed out by skaters on the outside lane.
But this is just the beginning. Nobody's planning to fight for positions yet. The 1500m distance is 13 and a half laps, which requires a lot of physical strength. In the first few laps, everyone's pace is not fast.
In short track speed skating, leading generally consumes almost one-third more energy than following behind. At the beginning, there's not much fighting for position, as that also consumes a lot of energy. The focus is on conserving energy.
Everyone is positioned reasonably. Ren Xiyao is currently fourth in line. Lin Shan is sixth. Zhan Qing Club is currently second, and the third is a skater from Kunji Club. Chen Jie from Lan Hai Club is fifth. Ren Xiyao is consciously separating the two skaters from Lan Hai Club, not wanting them to coordinate. In short track speed skating, skaters from the same team grouping together easily form a group advantage, allowing for better and more varied tactical coordination. For example, alternating lead increases the probability of winning medals.
During yesterday's tactical meeting, the coach mentioned that Lin Shan's stamina was currently struggling with the 1500m, so Ren Xiyao needed to shoulder more responsibility. It wasn't ideal to have the two from the Lan Hai Club coordinate well in the early stages. On lap 6, Lin Shan started pulling onto the outside lane, preparing to move up. Ren Xiyao sensed Lin Shan's approach. As Lin Shan overtook Ren Xiyao, Ren Xiyao also immediately pulled onto the outside lane. The two overtook simultaneously. The first three riders didn't completely block the route, and after pulling onto the outside lane for one lap, Ren Xiyao and Lin Shan smoothly moved into second and first place, respectively. At this point, the race had reached eight and a half laps, and Sister Chen from the Lan Hai Club started moving as well. She changed lanes between the inside and outside lanes to reach fourth place, with a rider from the Nei Zhan Qing Club ahead of her.
By lap 10, the race was essentially in its final stages. Some riders had fallen behind. Zhan Qing's rider was now at the very back. Chen Jie began attempting to overtake Lin Shan from the outside. Lin Shan was running out of stamina, but she maintained a tight hold on the inside. At this moment, Ren Xiyao, exiting the corner on lap 9, overtook Lin Shan from the inside and took first place. She had picked up the pace.
Fourth-placed Kunji also attempted to overtake, but Chen Jie, while pulling away from the outside, laterally blocked his attempts to cut inside. By lap 12, Lin Shan's stamina was almost depleted, and his technique began to falter. He was struggling to maintain his inside position. Entering the corner, he made a mistake, lapping too tightly. Exiting the corner, due to centrifugal force, the inside lane was completely exposed, allowing Chen Jie and Kunji to overtake Lin Shan.
Ren Xiyao could sense the changes behind her. However, she still held an absolute advantage and had some energy left, so she began to accelerate when she exited the bend on the 12th lap.
At this moment, she still had the ability to accelerate in the latter half of the 1500m race and even in the final lap. This is the result of Ren Xiyao's progress in physical training recently. Her pedaling speed is fast, and her pedaling efficiency has also improved. With the national team's main players not participating, Ren Xiyao has a significant advantage, so a clear gap has already begun to appear between her and the second-place finisher, until the 13th lap. The last corner before the sprint. Before entering the corner, Ren Xiyao proactively pulled onto the outside, choosing to enter and exit on a larger lap while keeping her body very low. The moment she exited the corner, she had already created a considerable distance between herself and the second-place finisher. Undisputed first place.
2 minutes 23.229 seconds!
Ren Xiyao breathed a sigh of relief as she crossed the finish line. Looking back, she saw the Kunji Club's skaters and Sister Chen from the Lanhai Club were fiercely competing, separated by only a hair's breadth, which Ren Xiyao couldn't quite see clearly. She bent over, supporting herself on her knees, and skated on the ice to relax. Lin Shan was the fourth to cross the finish line. During this period of training, Lin Shan's physical fitness had also improved significantly. His performance in the 1500m, keeping up from the sixth to the twelfth lap, was commendable.
The referees completed the verification, and the final time for Chen Jie from Lanhai Club was 2 minutes 24.221 seconds. Kunji Club's time was 2 minutes 24.253 seconds. It was a hair's breadth difference that determined the silver and bronze medal winners.
Lin Shan slowly slid up from behind and patted Ren Xiyao on the back. The two gave each other a high five in unison. Ren Xiyao understood Lin Shan's unspoken words: "I'm so glad to fight alongside you." Ren Xiyao felt the same way; they were opponents, but also teammates sharing glory. This had never changed from the past to the present. She was fortunate to have walked this path together.
A note from the author:
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The International Skating Union (ISU) officially banned the toe-start technique on July 1, 2015, classifying it as a foul.
Regarding the professional aspects of short track speed skating, I've tried to be as thorough as possible, watching numerous races and listening to commentators and athletes' explanations, combined with my own observations and understanding of the competition. I'll try to write in a passionate and interesting way, but I can't guarantee 100% accuracy. I'll do my best. [Hands clasped in prayer][Hands clasped in prayer][Hands clasped in prayer]
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