From the late night of October 2 to the early morning of the next day, domestic sports fans and even spectators were immersed in the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year. The atmosphere of joy did not dissipate for a long time.
【#D国龑田世錦赛# Taiwan's men's 100m sprinter Su Zhe successfully advanced to the semi-finals with a first place in the group with a time of 10.05 seconds in the third group of the men's 100m preliminaries on October 2. Tonight at 11pm (7pm D country time), Su Zhe will participate in the men's 100m sprint semi-finals. Let us wish him an excellent result! 】
After the official Weibo accounts of the Sports Channel and the Athletics Administration Center each released a segment about Su Zhe's schedule, netizens gathered under the official Weibo accounts and began to look forward to the semi-final competition to be held today.
[Ah, a little nervous, can Su Zhe make it to the finals tonight? ? ]
[It’s hard to say. Those who can make it to the semifinals are all world-class 100m athletes. Even those who have made it to the semifinals have a worst score of 10.17 seconds, and they are always capable of breaking into the 10.10 range... This kind of competition within the range of 0.1 seconds depends too much on the athlete’s on-site competitive state, as well as the influence of the venue, wind speed, and even the track.]
[If you ask me, Zhe Shao has already achieved success by reaching the semi-finals and qualifying for the Olympics! Even if he didn’t make it to the semi-finals, it wouldn’t be a loss! ]
[That being said, if we can make it to the finals... wouldn't that be wonderful? By the way, when will the semi-finals group be announced? I hope Zhe Shao's grouping goes well! ]
It's not just sports enthusiasts and spectators. Because of Zhuo Siming's article and the topic #Welcome Su Zhe back to the entertainment industry# hyped up by the Pear public account, star-chasing fans who usually only pay attention to the entertainment industry also paid a little attention to the events related to Su Zhe, but the style of their attention is completely different from that of sports fans.
An entertainment blogger named "八卦吃颜美少女" collected a complete set of Su Zhe's stills, raw photos, and fan-retouched photos when he first debuted, and also captured a wave of "Lu Ming" highlight photos from the trailer of "Chasing the Light", and then posted all these photos on Weibo.
[Ahhh, why did I only see such a handsome brother today for the first time? Let's see, what kind of rare treasure did we miss? I used his emoticons, but if it weren't for the comparison between the emoticons and his real self on the cover of Pear Push, I would never have thought that the original emoticons were such a handsome brother... I feel like I have fallen, but my brother has already given up the entertainment industry...]
As a Weibo entertainment celebrity with 5 million fans, the influence of the gossip-loving beauty girl can be said to be no less than that of some ordinary little stars.
After she posted this message, her fans were blown away.
[Ah, I noticed him when the trailer for "Chasing the Light" was released. Lu Ming is such a beauty... QAQ But when I searched his Weibo, I found that his Weibo profile had been changed to athlete...]
[I...lllllb... Such a good-looking brother actually became an athlete? ? And because of the company's marketing plan going wrong, he became a big nobody? ? Lemon Entertainment, you guys should open your eyes and take a good look. Is there any brother in your company who can grow up like this? ]
[I know him! Shao Xingchen mentioned him several times before, he is really good looking... The crew of Chasing the Light released some behind-the-scenes photos, and I saw this little brother at first sight, he was so white and glowing under the sun!!!]
[Wuwuwu, I sat up as soon as I lay on my back, staring at the photo of the beautiful brother and licking him repeatedly. This kind of beauty is really amazing! ]
【I have also heard about this younger brother these days (laughing and crying). His company asked him to terminate his contract because of his low popularity, but now he has become a superstar in the sports circle. Yesterday, he even qualified for the Olympics. I went to check out his super chat. His fans have now all become fans of his sports career. They are happily waiting for the competitions every day. They said that after becoming an athlete, his resources are much better than when he was in Lemon Entertainment. There is no shortage of live performances and live broadcasts (laughing and crying again)... I must say that Lemon Entertainment is really a brainless company.】
This last reply was so funny that it was liked by other fan girls and was pinned to the top of the post.
However, some people do not believe that Su Zhe's fans can really become fans of his sports career, so many people went to Su Zhe's super topic to watch the fan ecology of the "philosopher".
In Su Zhe's super chat, fans had already put away the New Year atmosphere of the previous day and began to prepare for the evening's game.
Some have done a good job of popularizing scientific knowledge and started introducing the difficulty levels of the World Championships semi-finals to philosophers who lack professional knowledge. Others have prepared control comments to prevent Su Zhe's online reputation from falling after losing the game.
The first pinned item in the super topic is not the various rules like other celebrity super topics, but a short paragraph of text.
【We have seen his star rise, and have accompanied him through the cold and lows. The road to stardom is long, but we are willing to stop at this part of the road behind him and accompany him through every step of the scenery. This is the super topic of athlete Su Zhe, you are welcome to come. 】
Everyone seems to be busy but organized. There is no voting team like ordinary stars. The so-called control comments are just objectively stating that it is not easy for athletes and there are many factors that affect performance. I hope everyone will look at the ups and downs of athletes' performance rationally.
In this seemingly ordinary and Buddhist super topic, the most interesting thing is probably the resource post.
Other people’s resource posts are all about their brothers participating in a variety show, shooting a magazine cover, taking a series of screenshots of a web drama or TV series, or the retouched photos of frontline fans.
Su Zhe's family, on the other hand, posted a resource post full of on-site photos taken by sports reporters, news photos, live broadcasts of games, a collection of live broadcasts from the sports channel's "Lose Weight" series, etc., which made the star-chasing girls who came to watch look confused.
Wait, this is not what they thought. Are these fans really that Buddhist?
In the integrated links of the series of resource posts, they searched over and over again, and finally found the video and photo resources of Su Zhe when he first participated in the talent show. Apart from that, the most normal resources were probably the trailer of "Chasing the Light" and a few behind-the-scenes footage, as well as some short videos and retouched photos taken by some philosopher girls when they were following the live competition.
In the pinned Weibo, there is also a picture labeled "Su Zhe's schedule". When you click on it and take a look, you will find that the so-called schedule is Su Zhe's competition events and timetable for this World Championships. The men's 100-meter sprint, 110-meter hurdles and 4*100-meter preliminaries are specially framed, and the notes are that Su Zhe will definitely participate in these events this time.
The crowd came with great interest, but most of them left when they saw that there were no more melons. A small number of people stayed and gradually integrated into the world of the philosophers...
Different from the happy atmosphere at home, in Country D, the head coach of the track and field team, Zheng Wensheng, and the coaching staff of the sprint team all looked unhappy at this time.
They have already obtained Su Zhe's grouping list for tonight's 7:30 final. He has been assigned to the second group for tonight's men's 100m semi-final, but this semi-final group... can be called the death group.
In tonight's semi-finals, the top two players in the three groups will advance directly to the finals, and the top two players will be selected from the remaining players to advance to the finals.
In such a competition system, the second group of the semi-finals gathered three strong players who are capable of running under 10 seconds at any time - American athlete Evenson, currently ranked first in the world, Nigerian athlete Sandy, whose best result this season is third in the world, and American athlete Gate, whose best result this season is eighth in the world. The sb of these three players this season is 9.81, 9.86 and 9.95 respectively.
With such strong competition, the hope of competing for the top two spots, or even the remaining two spots to advance to the finals, is slim.
Zheng Wensheng looked at the grouping table, his expression changed again and again, and finally he sighed helplessly and stopped talking.
Su Yinsheng's face was solemn but calm. "It's okay. We have already made it to the semi-finals of the 100m race, which has already exceeded our initial goal. We have also qualified for the Olympics. No matter how you look at it, this is an excellent result."
"That's true..." Zheng Wensheng said hesitantly, "But this is only Su Zhe's second time participating in a world-class competition. In the semi-finals... this is his first time meeting so many top players in the world. If he loses, it won't affect his mentality, right? If it affects his performance in the 110-meter hurdles preliminaries tomorrow..."
Next to the two of them, Zhang Ye and Wang Jingsheng were also a little worried. Apparently, this was an issue that everyone was concerned about.
Su Yinsheng was certainly not reassured about this problem, but he was the most open-minded among the crowd: "No matter what, the competition must continue. As long as Su Zhe's strength continues to improve, he will eventually encounter these world-class strong players. This hurdle will have to be crossed sooner or later, and he can only rely on himself to get through it."
Seeing that Zheng Wensheng seemed to want to say something, Su Yinsheng waved his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, let's report this to the mainland first. The mainland should have received this grouping list. All we can do now is to tell the kid to relax. The rest is up to him."
As they were talking, Su Yinsheng turned around and left with the grouping list, preparing to officially inform him of the grouping information.
Domestic, Athletics Management Center
After receiving the men's 100m semi-final group table from the event organizing committee, the originally enthusiastic atmosphere was suddenly hit with a bucket of cold water.
Sun Zhihai sat in his office, and he and Chen Guangzhi beside him both sighed deeply.
After a long while, Chen Guangzhi finally spoke: "Okay, we have already won the 100-meter event this time, so we can't force ourselves to enter the finals. I will let the kids in the office say hello to the media first, and we must control public opinion in a positive way - there are many strong competitors in the semi-finals, and the opponents in the second group of the semi-finals are strong. As long as we don't lose our balance in the arena, we will win."
Soon after the Athletics Administration Center released the information about the semi-final grouping table, the sports fans and bystanders who were laughing happily on the Internet fell silent.
[This grouping... is also amazing. ]
The original laughter and joy, after facing such a cruel grouping table, seemed to have been stopped and lost their vitality for a moment.
In Country D, in Building 8 of the Asian Games Village, Su Zhe, who received his grouping list, was quite calm.
Su Yinsheng stared at his son for a long while and asked, "What do you think of this grouping table?"
"Ah?" Su Zhe was stunned for a moment, and finally figured out what his father meant. Then he smiled and said, "Coach Su, isn't this a matter of time?"
"Meeting the world's top players and competing with them on the field... I think it's great." Su Zhe had a smile on his face and a firm gaze. He did not feel discouraged by so many strong players on the schedule. There was even a hint of excitement emanating from his body.
When Su Yinsheng saw him like this, he felt relieved and a little more smile appeared in his eyes.
After Su Yinsheng left, Su Zhe looked at the schedule in his hand and took a deep breath - what would it feel like to compete against the world's top players?
What is the gap between him and these world's top players?
During this training period, his best result has improved from 10.07 in the Asian Champions Invitational to 10.05 yesterday. This improvement is already very impressive, but it is almost his best condition.
Now that his results are beginning to approach the 10-second mark, he can feel that improving his results is becoming increasingly difficult.
Every 0.01 second of progress is an exploration into the unknown.
Perhaps, after competing with these world's top players, he can see from them the direction in which he needs to work hard next.
That night, when he stepped into the Hillion Sports Complex, feeling the bustling atmosphere in the stadium, the excitement of the upcoming competition began to creep into Su Zhe's heart again.
This state of excitement became even more intense after seeing Evanson, Sandy, Gates and others in the examination area.
Perhaps because Su Zhe's gaze was too enthusiastic, Evanson and others who were chatting together also noticed Su Zhe, and then waved to him and said hello in a friendly manner.
In addition to Evenson and others, those competing with Su Zhe this time also include Japan's number one player, Yuki Minamiyama. In the preliminaries, he successfully advanced to the semifinals with a score of 10.09. Kobayashi Kimihiko and Shiraishi Shota also advanced to the semifinals with scores of 10.11 and 10.14 respectively. With three people entering the semifinals of the World Championships at the same time, it can be said that this is the best result for the Japanese team in the men's 100m event at the World Championships.
There are also Montredo from Canada, Yak from Turkey and Adrian from France. The eight of them are the complete lineup for the second group of the semi-finals.
In the waiting area, all the 100-meter runners were warming up and adjusting their conditions for the upcoming competition. Su Zhe caught a glimpse of Shiraishi Shota who arrived at the waiting area at the same time as Nanshan and Kobayashi, but at this time the faces of the three of them were rather serious. After seeing him, they simply nodded in greeting and then began to warm up on their own.
Except for strong players like Evanson who can maintain his position as the world's number one player in a stable state, no one is sure how they will perform in the competition later.
For a moment, the atmosphere in the semi-final waiting area seemed extremely tense and solemn.
When the time came to 7:05 p.m., Shiraishi Shota and other players in the first group of semi-finals stepped onto the court. Players in the waiting area also followed the first group's competition on the big screen.
Although there is no world No. 1 like Evenson among the athletes in the first group, the South African athlete Dlamini, who has been in strong momentum this season, is in this group. His season-best result of 9.93 seconds is tied for fifth place in the season with several athletes.
Meanwhile, Dutch player Anthony in lane seven is also a strong competitor who once broke the 10-second mark during the season.
In the tense arena, after the sound of a gunshot, all the athletes shot forward like arrows. Everyone's starting response speed was very close, but in the first 10 meters of the starting acceleration, Dlamini suppressed all the other athletes with a visible advantage. Only Anthony followed behind Dlamini, ready to overtake at any time!
In the following halfway stage, Anthony's speed gradually surpassed Dlamini, and the two formed an uncertain tug-of-war along the way, forming a clear gap with the other participants behind them.
These two are indeed top players with similar strengths. Their superior condition on the field made it impossible for other players behind them to catch up. In the end, Anthony surpassed Dlamini in the sprint stage and advanced to the finals with a score of 10.02, ranking first in the group. Dlamini also advanced smoothly with a score of 10.04.
Behind the two, German athlete Richard crossed the finish line with a time of 10.07 seconds, while Shiraishi Shota only ran 10.10 seconds, ranking fifth in the group and with no hope of advancing.
After the first group of contestants left the field, the second group of contestants, including Su Zhe, also stepped onto the field under the guidance of the staff.
In the domestic track and field kingdom forum, at this time, there are far fewer posts than usual, and the most popular post is a help post.
[Help, please let me know after Zhe Shao's game is over, how is Zhe Shao's result... I won't watch the game anymore. With so many years of experience, whoever I watch plays, I don't think they perform well. I will wait here today. Please help me with Zhe Shao's result after the game is over, and I will go and make up the game video! ]
Under this post, many people who considered themselves to be prone to toxic milk posted shut-mouth emojis. For a moment, the tense atmosphere on the forum was almost as intense as that on the field.
At this time in the competition, Su Zhe was in the sixth lane. On his left, in the fifth lane was the world-dominating Evanson.
After everyone was ready and stepped onto the starting blocks, the referee's voice rang out at the right time.
"Everyone, take your positions!"
In the audience, everyone held their breath and dared not make a sound, for fear of disturbing the athletes. In the Chinese team's player area, the players who were not competing at the moment sat in the players' seats, staring nervously at Su Zhe on the track with Zheng Wensheng and others.
“Ready!”
"Bang!"
The starting gun sounded, and the moment Su Zhe felt the gun fire, he pushed the starting block with his right foot and accelerated from a static state.
In just less than 2 seconds, all the athletes have completed the transition from explosive start to starting and then accelerating.
Around Su Zhe, Evenson had already taken the lead, while Sandy and Gates were not inferior at all, and were almost the same as Evenson in the startup reaction phase.
Su Zhe's reaction to the gunshot was extremely fast this time, with a score of only 0.132 seconds, which put him in the top two among all the athletes. However, in the initial burst stage, although his explosive power had been exerted to the limit, there was still a clear gap compared to Evanson and others. This eliminated the time advantage he gained when reacting to the gunshot in the initial burst stage, and he was unable to compete with the three-man team in the first group.
But even so, Su Zhe's advantage among the remaining players is still very obvious!
But at this moment, on the court, Su Zhe no longer had the energy to pay attention to the performance of other players!
He stared at the finish line in front of him. Apart from that, only Evanson was within his sight.
That scary black athlete was galloping on the track in a dust-free manner. His hard-to-catch-up speed made Su Zhe feel frustrated for a moment, but at the same time, he became more eager to pursue.
The wind from the track blew across Su Zhe's face. At the extreme speed, this breeze passing by his ears seemed to have a sense of presence like a spatial barrier.
Su Zhe gritted his teeth, stared straight ahead, and tried to tear the barrier in front of him with his own speed.
Hurry up!
Faster!
What's this little bit of wind?
Tear them apart!
Su Zhe instinctively controlled his body, maintained the stride calculated by the calculation team, and began to try to increase his step frequency.
During the training period, his speed endurance was greatly improved compared to before, which enabled him to maintain a stable speed even when constantly trying to increase his speed, and not reduce his speed due to muscle fatigue due to lack of oxygen.
At the 50-meter stage, the four people behind Su Zhe had already opened up a visible distance from him. His feet kept alternating, and from the perspective of the audience, it could be seen that he was approaching the three-person group in the first group in front!
In the audience, the audience from China and the people in the Chinese players' zone were cheering for Su Zhe like crazy!
"Su Zhe! Come on!!! Su Zhe!!!"
“Go!!!”
Zheng Wensheng has long disregarded his reserved status as the leader of the Track and Field Administration Center. At this moment, he is just a simple track and field enthusiast who cares about Chinese athletes.
He cheered for Su Zhe on the field at the top of his lungs, and other athletes also waved the national flags in their hands and cheered for Su Zhe.
The last 20 meters!
Evenson is still in first place!
About a body length behind him was Gate, also from the United States. Nigerian star Sandy lost a little in the final sprint and was overtaken by Gate, falling behind the two American players.
Behind Sandy, Su Zhe was approaching like lightning.
The last 20 meters was Su Zhe's strongest acceleration stage. The power and thrust he had accumulated in the early stages of the race burst out in the second half of the race, allowing him to continue to accelerate forward!
Su Zhe's upper body leaned forward slightly, and he started a game with Sandy in a sprinting posture in the final stage!
It seemed like a very long period, yet it also seemed like only a moment.
In the audience, no matter which country they were from, they were all cheering for the game on the field. Even the two commentators in the commentary booth exclaimed at this time!
Chris, the commentator, watched in amazement as Su Zhe gradually approached Sandy from fourth place, and even started to be on par with Sandy in the final sprint, and might even overtake third place...
"China Su!!! His late-race acceleration is amazing!! He is overtaking Sandy, will he succeed?!"
"He's on the line!!! He and Sandy almost crossed the line at the same time! Who is the final winner between the two???"
At the last moment, Su Zhe and Sandy simultaneously pressed forward to sprint to the finish line. The speed difference between the two was so small that it was difficult to tell with the naked eye who won the third place in this group.
Soon, while the audience was waiting, the referee team played the final screenshots of the finish line. From the comparison lines drawn on the screenshots, it can be seen that Su Zhe's torso crossed the line a hair faster than Sandy. Obviously, the difference in their performance should only be within a limited number of thousandths of a second.
The third place in the second group of this semi-final is the player from China - Su Zhe!