For Feng Qiang, of the two opportunities presented to him, the latter was undoubtedly a sure win.
However, for a player on this national team, it would seem a bit disrespectful to his national team status if he didn't go all out for first place.
So after much deliberation, Feng Qiang decided to go head-to-head with Bai Yu, as he also wanted to take first place.
Unfortunately, the 600-meter sprint distance was not something Feng Qiang could sustain.
For Feng Qiang, who had already run 2,400 meters with Bai Yu, his optimal sprint distance was 200 meters. In the end, he could only sprint a little over 300 meters before he couldn't go any further. He only managed to finish the last distance by gritting his teeth and persevering.
Fortunately, the final result wasn't too bad. Although Feng Qiang didn't get first place, he still stood on the podium and achieved a good result of third place.
As for Bai Yu, the 3,000 meters was a piece of cake for him, and his time was seven minutes and forty-nine seconds, breaking the domestic record that had stood for more than 20 years!
When the results were announced, the entire track and field team of Ocean University of China was in an uproar. The most excited person was Coach Li, as Bai Yu's achievement was a great honor for him.
He was indeed confident in Bai Yu's abilities, but he was completely unprepared for Bai Yu to break the national record.
With a time of seven minutes and forty-nine seconds, he improved the domestic record by a full seven seconds. Even on the international stage, his performance would be considered outstanding.
As Bai Yu crossed the finish line, he won the medal for this event, along with a certificate of being a first-class athlete.
With Bai Yu winning another gold medal, Haihe Province now has four gold medals and two silver medals, including two gold and one silver medal in track and field events alone.
Besides Bai Yu's gold medal in the 3,000 meters, Wang Hai also won a gold medal in the 1,500 meters. As for the 800 meters, there were too many top runners in China, and he didn't even make it into the top three, only managing to get fourth place.
After finishing the 3,000-meter race, there were no more races for Bai Yu on the sixth day. His 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter races were scheduled for the seventh and eighth days, respectively.
Bai Yu and the others then left the track and field stadium and went to the basketball court in groups to watch others play basketball.
On the seventh day, at 9:30 a.m., Bai Yu once again stepped onto the track and field, where he would face the 5,000-meter final.
The 5,000-meter final is much more intense than the 3,000-meter final, but in terms of the number of participants, the intensity is incomparable to that of the 3,000-meter final.
There are 15 competitors in the 5,000-meter final, including Feng Qiang and Li Yong, as well as yesterday's runner-up in the 3,000-meter race.
It's fair to say that all the long-distance runners at this Universiade are in the 5,000-meter final.
For someone who has just broken the 3,000-meter record and is more than 20 seconds ahead of the second-place runner, Bai Yu is not afraid of anyone.
In this race, Bai Yu was in sixth place. The moment the gun went off, he sprinted out, ready to seize the starting position.
However, after yesterday's 3,000-meter race, neither Feng Qiang nor Li Yong will let Bai Yu take the lead anymore. Even if they have to be the pacers for others, they will take that position for themselves.
Then a very strange scene unfolded: on the 5,000-meter track, many of the top contenders started competing for the lead in the first lap.
This is very rare in regular races, since the pace runner encounters the greatest wind resistance and expends the most energy per lap.
Normally, no one wants to be the pacesetter. They all hope that someone else will be the pacesetter, while they follow behind and develop their strength, only to fight for first place at the last moment.
After watching Bai Yu's match yesterday, Li Yong and the others knew one thing: they absolutely could not let Bai Yu take the lead in this match, otherwise they would fall into Bai Yu's rhythm, and their chances of winning the championship would be greatly reduced.
They wanted to compete, but Bai Yu didn't give them the chance. He accelerated at full speed and rushed to the first position, maintaining a distance of about ten meters from the second place.
His attitude was quite clear: even if you're only superficially related, if you want to give it a try, he wouldn't mind having some fun with Li Yong and the others.
Anyway, he already has a gold medal, so he's not under much pressure even if his 5,000-meter result is a little off.
Ultimately, the fifteen contestants were divided into two groups: Bai Yu, Li Yong, and Feng Qiang formed the first group, while the other twelve formed the second group, about ten meters away from them.
The 5,000-meter race consists of 12.5 laps. This time, spurred on by Li Yong and Feng Qiang behind him, Bai Yu's strength was on full display.
During the run, he repeatedly tried to pull away from the two people behind him by changing his speed. By the time he finished the tenth lap, there was only one person left behind him, namely Li Yong.
At this moment, a lap situation is about to occur on the track, and Bai Yu is about to catch up with the 15th place!
In a high-level domestic sporting event like the Universiade, especially on the final stage where the athletes are all elite long-distance runners, how could there be a situation where laps are thrown?
Just as Bai Yu was about to complete the lap, the audience on the sidelines immediately erupted in cheers. This commotion also startled the fifteenth contestant, who turned around to take a look.
That one glance was enough to force Bai Yu to stop his impending lap, because the fifteenth-place player started to accelerate!
Although he is slightly weaker, even if he fails to finish the race, he is unwilling to be the first to be lapped. At the very least, he will finish in 14th place.
The fifteenth-ranked player started to accelerate, and Bai Yu also started to accelerate—no, Bai Yu's acceleration shouldn't be called acceleration, but rather a sprint!
That's right, Bai Yu was even more outrageous this time. He started sprinting when there were still 1,000 meters left in the race.
That's an irrational sprint! Who sprints during the 1000-meter race? Wasn't it just the 600-meter race yesterday?
This sudden turn of events left Li Yong, who was behind him, completely bewildered. He had already prepared to finish the lap and accelerate with Bai Yu when there were still 600 meters left.
But now Bai Yu has changed; he has started to accelerate. What should Li Yong do?
The answer is definitely to run at your own pace. He already saw what happened to Feng Qiang yesterday; he almost missed the podium. He won't let that happen.
In the end, Bai Yu lapped seven players in this match, accounting for half of the remaining players.
Bai Yu's final time was 12 minutes and 39 seconds, breaking the domestic 5,000-meter record once again, and even the Asian 5,000-meter record.
However, this record is unlikely to be recorded. The reason is that it was windy on the day of the competition, and it was a strong wind, which had a certain impact on the athletes.
Records set in this kind of weather are usually not considered new records. Even if Bai Yu's time is more than 40 seconds faster than the domestic record, it will not be recorded.
However, it is undeniable that Bai Yu is truly strong; at least the contestants behind him are convinced of his abilities.
As for the 10,000-meter final on the eighth day, a race of twenty-five laps in total, there was no suspense for Bai Yu.
Bai Yu and Li Yong won first and second place again in this competition, and Li Yong even broke his own best record this time because of Bai Yu's performance.
Li Yong's latest time is 28 minutes and 36 seconds, which is only half a minute away from his previous record.
Why is it referred to as a previous event record?
That's because a new record has been set. Bai Yu's time was 27 minutes and 54 seconds, more than ten seconds faster than the previous record, and there was no strong wind today, only a light breeze.
As for whether this breeze will affect the competition results, Bai Yu wasn't sure; that would have to be judged by the competition organizers.
Anyway, the 10,000-meter race was over, and Bai Yu won another gold medal.
So far, Bai Yu has registered for three events and won three gold medals. One record has been confirmed to have been broken. The 5,000-meter result was not recorded due to weather conditions. As for the 10,000-meter record, there is disagreement among the event organizers, and a decision will be made later.
However, this did not affect Bai Yu's receipt of the award, and he soon received his medal and certificate.
Bai Yu's participation in the Universiade this time was quite fruitful, with three medals, three certificates, and a cash prize.
The cash prize is worth tens of thousands of yuan and was provided by the event organizer, Zhejiang Province, as a reward for the champion and the record-breaker.
That's not all. Bai Yu is representing Hainan Province and Hainan University in the competition. When he returns to Hainan Province, the provincial sports department will definitely give him a reward, and it will certainly not be less than that from Zhejiang Province.
After all, Zhejiang Province has prepared rewards for a dozen or so large projects and two or three hundred small projects. Even if Zhejiang Province is very wealthy, the amount of money each person receives will naturally be less when averaged out among such small projects.
However, the situation is different for Hainan Province. Each province can only win a limited number of gold medals, so the rewards in this regard are naturally incomparable to those of the organizing committee.
After Hainan Province has finished awarding prizes, it will be Hainan University's turn next. As the top university in Hainan Province, will Hainan University be stingy with its rewards for students who bring honor to the school?
The answer is obviously no, it must be a big prize or a special prize!
After going through all this, Bai Yu will definitely receive a substantial reward, with the cash alone amounting to at least six figures.
Bai Yu was full of anticipation for this, and after attending the closing ceremony, he immediately returned to the hotel to pack his luggage.
Then, early the next morning, I boarded a plane with the delegation from Hainan Province and flew back to Hainan University.
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