Chapter 227
In the previous 2020 season, the national track and field team created one miracle after another in the Olympic arena. The historic records set by the Chinese men's sprint team in the Tokyo Olympics are still talked about by track and field fans and Olympic spectators at the time even in 2021.
Su Yu was also nominated for the World Laureus Sports Awards' Breakthrough of the Year Award for his outstanding performance in the sprint events in the 2020 season.
When the time turned to the 2021 season, with the arrival of the new season, the changes in the national team's sprint group made everyone feel more clearly that the burden of the national team was more clearly placed on Su Yu.
The first is the 2021 Oregon Track and Field World Championships. Su Yu will undoubtedly take on an important role in this World Championships.
Although Su Yu actually achieved fruitful results in the track and field events of the Tokyo Olympics last season, before the start of the Tokyo Olympics, the key players in the men's 100m and 200m and the players who needed to shoulder the task of advancing to the finals were still Zheng Tianxi and Feng Chuming.
But starting from this season, a similar burden will undoubtedly be placed on Su Yu.
The 200 meters was fine, as Zhan Youming still had outstanding strength, but in the 100 meters event, it was clear that Su Yu had to take over Zheng Tianxi's burden.
The reason I say this is because of a statement made by the national team coaching staff.
The national team's coaching staff is encouraging all trainees to compete more and improve their IAAF rankings before the qualifying window for the World Championships in Oregon at the end of June - whether they are 100m, 200m or 400m athletes, all can try to get a chance to participate.
At that time, when the coaching staff said this, many people quickly and keenly realized the problem.
After all, among these three events, 200m and 400m need not be mentioned. In last season's Olympics, Zhou Yuang and Gao Yansong in the 200m took this approach to compete for the last remaining qualification for the 200m in the Olympics.
And 400 meters?
Now, with the attention of the national team, the Athletics Administration Center and the General Administration of Sport, the investment and improvement of domestic 400-meter sprint athletes in the competition are indeed visible to the naked eye.
However, the 400-meter sprint event has accumulated many problems over the years. Although the performance of Zhang Mingliang, Lin Zekai, Li Mingzhou and some new 400-meter runners has improved significantly from last season to this season, it would be fine to let them participate in the Asian Championships to be held in H City in early July...but the World Championships?
Zhang Mingliang, Lin Zekai and Li Mingzhou have not yet broken the 45.50 mark. Even if they want to improve their individual IAAF rankings by "brushing competitions", it will probably be difficult for them to get a ranking high enough to be invited to the World Championships.
Since there is already a case from last season in the 200m race, there is no point in bringing up this plan for the 400m race…
Well, if you think about it briefly, you will know that the national team coaching staff made this suggestion mainly targeting individual athletes in the men's 100-meter sprint.
But for the men's 100m sprint...
This year's World Track and Field Championships in Oregon once again won the title of 'the most difficult World Championships qualifying threshold in history' - compared to the 10.10 qualifying requirement for the men's 100m sprint in the 2019 Doha World Championships, this time Oregon's men's 100m sprint qualifying line has reached 10.05, and the women's 100m sprint qualifying line has also reached 11.15, directly targeting last season's Tokyo Olympics.
Judging from the standards of the Oregon World Athletics Championships, it is foreseeable that the qualifying requirements for the next 2023 Budapest World Athletics Championships will be even higher.
Some people have speculated that the qualifying threshold for the men's 100m sprint at the 2023 Budapest Athletics World Championships may reach 10.00 seconds - by then, any athlete who fails to break the 10-second mark in the 100m will lose the qualification to directly obtain a ticket to the Budapest Athletics World Championships.
Of course, this is something we need to think about in the future in Budapest.
Taking the current entry standard of 10.05 seconds for the men's 100m sprint at the 2021 Oregon World Track and Field Championships, the window for meeting the standard spans from June 27 of the 2020 season to June 26 of the 2021 season.
The one-year window for meeting the standards clearly spans the Tokyo Olympic Games competition cycle.
In other words, if we look at the Chinese team's men's 100-meter sprinters, Zheng Tianxi, Feng Chuming and Su Yu, who all broke the 10-second mark for the 100 meters at the Tokyo Olympics, must have directly occupied all the men's 100-meter sprint quota for the Oregon World Championships.
But even in this situation, the national team still expressed the hope that some players could compete for the qualification to participate in this World Championships.
The only possibility for the national team to make such a statement is that at least one of Zheng Tianxi and Feng Chuming will be absent from the World Championships in Oregon.
Everyone can see clearly that for the national team, the most important thing at this World Track and Field Championships in Oregon may not be whether the Chinese team can achieve an excellent result that surpasses the 2019 Doha World Championships.
For the national team at the current stage, what they need to see more is the growth of new players, at least to replace one of Zheng Tianxi and Feng Chuming, so that the Chinese team can still have fresh faces in international events such as the World Championships and complete a smooth transition from old to new.
In response to the national team coaching staff’s statement, relevant sports media soon approached the national track and field team to conduct targeted interviews.
The national team did not hide anything and directly held a press conference about the new season.
Many sports media reporters have also discovered that at this new season's press conference, the person sitting with the coaching staff for interviews was no longer Zheng Tianxi, the former captain of the national track and field team's sprint group, but Su Yu, the team's now well-deserved star athlete.
In response to this discovery, many sports media reporters began to ask questions on the spot:
"In the past press conferences, Captain Zheng was interviewed together with the coaching staff. This time, the athlete representative has been changed from Captain Zheng Tianxi to Su Yu. Does this mean that Zheng Tianxi has stepped down as the captain of the sprint group of the national track and field team? If so, is the new captain Su Yu, who is the athlete representative today?"
On the stage, the spokesperson for the national track and field team smiled amiably: "Zheng Tianxi is still the captain of the sprint group of the Chinese track and field team and has not stepped down yet."
After a pause, before the reporters could ask, "Why is it Su Yu who is on stage for the interview today?" the spokesperson smiled and said, "But Su Yu who is on stage now is the absolute core player of the Chinese team's sprint event in the new season. He will also be the next captain of the Chinese team's sprint group. Since Su Yu has become the absolute core of the national track and field team's sprint group this season, it is Su Yu who is on stage for the interview today."
Once these words were spoken, the signals that should have been conveyed had actually been sent out.
Although Zheng Tianxi has not retired or stepped down as captain, he will start to reduce his participation in the new season.
Although he has not stepped down as captain yet, his only intention is to pass the captaincy to Su Yu after Su Yu takes over his responsibility steadily this season.
Although some people think that Su Yu is too young now, it seems a little inappropriate for such a young person to be the captain of the Chinese sprint team. If the captaincy is to be inherited, perhaps it would be more appropriate for Zhan Youming to take the position first.
However, everyone present was smart. In fact, they could understand it if they thought about it. If we had to talk about individual results among Zheng Tianxi, Zhan Youming and Su Yu, Zheng Tianxi and Zhan Youming might be slightly better. However, the three of them won three Olympic bronze medals and are also gold medalists in the men's 4*100m sprint relay team.
In terms of Olympic-level glory, there is not much difference between the three. Su Yu is not only young, but also can run across the three events of 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters in the sprint.
From this point of view alone, it is most appropriate for Su Yu to represent China in the men's sprint.
Then there is the issue of age.
Although Su Yu is indeed too young now, even if the title of captain of the national team is given to Zhan Youming, Zhan Youming will still retire in the next Olympic cycle, and the captain status of the Chinese team will then return to Su Yu.
Instead of waiting for another round of inheritance four years later, it is better to define Su Yu as the captain of the Chinese track and field team's sprint event now. With his strength, talent and performance on the field so far, he actually has enough reputation. The captaincy inheritance between Zheng Tianxi and Su Yu will also be a baton passing between legends.
After figuring this out, the reporters present actually understood the ideas of the track and field team coaching staff.
But even though we understand it, the topic of inheritance still makes people feel heavy in their hearts.
After leaving this topic aside, the media reporters present also discussed a new topic:
[So starting from this season, Su Yu will lead the Chinese team as the core sprinter in international competitions. Does this mean that Su Yu will be the absolute core player of the Chinese national track and field team in the Asian Championships in July? In addition to Su Yu, will Zheng Tianxi and Feng Chuming also represent the Chinese team in the arena at our doorstep? 】
[I heard that the national team coaching staff is currently encouraging young athletes to strive for the qualification to participate in the World Championships, but in the men's 100m event, Su Yu, Zheng Tianxi and Feng Chuming should already be enough to fill the team. Does this mean that at least one of Zheng Tianxi and Feng Chuming will be absent from this season's Oregon Track and Field World Championships? 】
[China's men's 4*100m sprint relay team made history by winning the Olympic gold medal in this relay event at the Tokyo Olympics last season. Will the Chinese team strive to win the men's 4*100m sprint relay gold medal at the World Championships in Oregon this season? 】
If the Chinese team wants to win the gold medal in the men's 4*100m sprint relay at the World Track and Field Championships in Oregon, will the lineup of the Chinese men's 4*100m sprint relay team remain unchanged? Or does the Chinese team have the ability and confidence to win the World Championship gold medal in this event even if it updates its lineup? 】
…
A series of questions were thrown out like a machine gun, including those regarding the Chinese team's next main lineup, the strength improvement of foreign training players and domestic training players during the winter training period, the new season schedule for each player, and the Chinese team's deployment for the new season's Asian Championships and World Championships.
All the reporters were asking questions closely, trying to get a glimpse of the true inner thoughts of the national track and field team and Su Yu himself from the answers of the coaching staff, the spokesperson and even Su Yu.
Especially some questions directed at Su Yu.
Although the reporters present all had a very deep liking for Su Yu, when faced with news topics, especially the various major changes in the first year of the national team's new Olympic cycle, the desire to pursue news topics and to uncover the truth prevailed.
Therefore, many people present pointed their questions directly to Su Yu——
——Hello, Su Yu.
——Please ask Su Yu.
——I would like to ask Su Yu a question here.
Interview microphones from various media outlets were all directed at Su Yu, hoping to break through Su Yu's obvious "weak point in interviews" and get some fresher and more interesting responses.
However, when Su Yu knew that the coaching staff wanted him to be interviewed as a representative of the players, he had already conducted many on-site simulations for himself.
From the perspective of news interviews, Su Yu put himself in the perspective of a media reporter and rehearsed the new season press conference - what major events happened to the national team last season and this season? What changes have taken place in the national team in the new season? What do the reporters want to know when they come to the press conference? What do you want to know?
Through this kind of perspective rehearsal, Su Yu accurately grasped the pulse of the reporters present. Although the accuracy rate was not 100%, it was 90% certain.
Therefore, it is impossible for the reporters present to see Su Yu reproduce the "classic black history answer", at least at today's press conference.
Sitting at the press conference seat, Su Yu took the microphone from the reporter. Although he was not able to laugh and talk cheerfully, there was no particular change from beginning to end, and he answered the questions from the reporter very calmly.
Below the stage, Liu Yu and Lin Weixiong, who were also present for the interview, were also quite shocked when they saw Su Yu calmly and confidently taking the challenge on the stage.
"Liu Ji, our autistic caterpillar is no longer autistic?"
Lin Weixiong was looking at Su Yu, who had just answered a question, with a shocked expression on his face.
After all, Liu Yu was more familiar with Su Yu than Lin Weixiong. He realized that although Su Yu on the stage had successfully started the "social mode", if a reporter dared to ask an outrageous question like "Who do you like best in the national team", Su Yu, who was talking eloquently on the stage at the moment, would definitely show his "true colors".
However, as a famous reporter specializing in track and field in China, Liu Yu has witnessed Su Yu's growth little by little. Now is an important period for the handover and inheritance of the core of the two generations of captains of the national track and field team. He certainly will not deliberately cause trouble for the national team and Su Yu. So when the staff on the scene chose him to ask questions, Liu Yu simply asked a question like "If Zhan Youming and Feng Chuming of the men's 4*100m sprint relay team retire and leave the team, will your baton order be adjusted again, Su Yu?"
Obviously, Su Yu had prepared for this question, so his final answer was very fluent.
It was not until the press conference of the national track and field team ended and the reporters on site left that Su Yu, who had kept his back straight throughout the interview, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Beside him, Pei Dingshan, who was also on the stage as an interviewee from the national team coaching staff, patted Su Yu on the shoulder silently to comfort him after seeing him look slightly relieved.
Su Yu, who had already walked down from the interview podium and retreated to the corner of the crowd, blinked slightly after noticing Pei Dingshan's movements, and then looked in the direction of Pei Dingshan.
In fact, in today's interview, apart from him, the person who received the most attention in the coaching staff was undoubtedly Pei Dingshan.
The reason is very simple.
Previously, the national team announced the long list of winter training coaches, among which Pei Dingshan appeared for the first time as the deputy head coach of the national track and field team's sprint group's winter training.
Although he is the deputy head coach of the winter training, the main training work of this winter training is driven by Pei Dingshan.
In other words, not only are the two generations of core athletes in the track and field team's sprint group undergoing a succession transition, but the coaching staff of the national track and field team is also undergoing a succession transition between the two generations of coaches.
When the names of the head coach, deputy head coach and other winter training coaching staff were announced during the winter training phase, the media reporters did not actually pay attention to this issue. Or, even if the media reporters noticed this, they did not pay much attention to it.
After all, as we all know, in the previous winter training, many athletes were selected to receive training at overseas track and field bases. Although there were also athletes from China, their number was not large.
Pei Dingshan was originally the head coach of two key players, Su Yu and Zhou Yuang, so it was normal for him to have the title of deputy head coach during the winter training period.
Many people know that Pei Dingshan is capable and is highly valued in the national team.
But even if the new year came, Pei Dingshan was actually only 26 years old. To be honest, he was not much older than the average college graduate.
Therefore, everyone felt that even if Pei Dingshan was valued in the national team, it was impossible to put too heavy a burden on him all at once. After all, as the saying goes, taking too big a step can easily lead to problems.
As a result, no one expected that when reporters asked questions to the coaching staff of the national track and field team on the stage today, many questions were directly pushed to Pei Dingshan to answer.
Not only that, even if the person answering the question was not Pei Dingshan, the other coaches on the stage would often add a sentence like "Coach Xiao Pei said" or "Under the planning of Coach Xiao Pei" when answering.
It was in this obvious way of answering the question that the reporters present immediately discovered that not only were the athletes in the national track and field team's sprint group inheriting the old and the new, but the coaching staff was also about to begin changing their teaching concepts with Pei Dingshan as the core.
After discovering the national track and field team's idea, the media reporters present immediately went crazy again.
The only difference is that the last round of madness was directed at Su Yu, while this round of madness was directed at Pei Dingshan.
However, unlike Su Yu, an autistic player who needs to rehearse interview scripts in advance, although Pei Dingshan does not show any e-human characteristics, he can express his thoughts and suggestions confidently and calmly no matter when facing coaches older than him in the coaching staff or when facing players in the national team.
On the contrary, many players and coaches in the national team gradually became afraid when facing Pei Dingshan after being pointed out the same mistakes by him again and again.
_(:зゝ∠)_
Although Pei Dingshan would not scold in a harsh tone, his calm face and eyes that seemed to be able to see through your heart were enough to make people tremble uncontrollably.
Just like Chen Yifei, who was just called up to the team for training during the winter training period. When he was just called up to the team, although he had been trained under Qiao Feiyu for a long time, Qiao Feiyu was in charge of the entire track and field team of Q University. Chen Yifei did not train around the clock, and he also had his own schoolwork to do on a daily basis.
Therefore, when he was called up to the national team for winter training, there were many relatively obvious and stubborn technical errors that had not been corrected.
However, when he joined the national team and came under Pei Dingshan during the winter training, these problems were effectively corrected within about a month.
:)
Don’t ask how he corrected it, Chen Yifei doesn’t want to look back.
When Chen Yifei, with a mask of pain, whispered to his idol Su Yu about Pei Dingshan's strictness, he got a slightly puzzled look from his idol. That look seemed to be saying - is Pei Dingshan strict? Why doesn't he feel anything?
Chen Yifei: “…”
When Chen Yifei faced Su Yu's obviously puzzled gaze, he felt for a moment that his entire worldview was in disarray. He couldn't even figure out whether it was his own problem or his idol's problem.
Later, Chen Yifei was unwilling to give up, and quietly asked his fellow sufferer Zhou Yuang - during the winter training period, apart from his initial technical mistakes that were difficult to correct, Zhou Yuang was the one who was stared at most by Pei Dingshan's 'death gaze'.
Chen Yifei originally thought that at least Zhou Yuang would be his solid ally.
As a result, Zhou Yuang laughed at first and said that Pei Dingshan was a famous devil coach when he was in the summer camp.
But before Chen Yifei could nod frantically in agreement, Zhou Yuang touched his chin and said, "But I think it's okay now. Although the coach is a little strict, it's actually okay after you get used to it."
Chen Yifei:……?
Chen Yifei finally realized that the biggest gap between himself and his idols and players on the national team might be that he was not cruel enough to himself?
In short, Pei Dingshan is such a coach who can make people tremble in their hearts with his calm face. Therefore, even though he did not answer the questions perfunctorily at all, the reporters present gradually stopped daring to ask questions.
After the reporters finished their "siege" of questions to Pei Dingshan and Su Yu, everyone finally knew - in this new season, the national team has really...changed!
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