Chapter 347 Back for the Sophomore Year 1 (1/2)
Of course, the commentators couldn't know that Jake could run faster than his own world record when he wanted to, so it was natural for them to think that way, Jake kept running smoothly.
After running the 40km marathon Jake still had a big lead in second place, at this point, it was clear that Jake would win this marathon, Jake was running at a slower pace just to make sure he wasn't even tired after running these 40 km.
After earning two resistance points this year by winning both major marathons and gaining strength points, he had no problem winning a marathon even running at the pace he was training.
Even more, after he went through Coach Davis's resistance training that was preparing Jake for long-distance running, even though he tired more running alone he had spent less stamina for running using some techniques he learned from Coach Davis.
When Jake crossed the 42 km and entered the Olympic Stadium it was certain that he would win easily, American fans and sports fans applauded Jake who was winning one more marathon and one more gold medal at the World Championships in Athletics.
”And Jake wins this marathon at the 1997 World Championships in Athletics, it's certainly well deserved for what Jake has been doing in the last few years in marathons.”
”It's true, Jake wins another gold medal for the American team that underperformed the World Championships in Athletics one year.”
”Let's wait and see if Jake will run another marathon later this year or now focus on college basketball again, I'm sure he's bringing a lot of pride to UNC by winning that gold medal.”
Jake received one more gold medal later and was proud to receive just as he did after the Olympics, Jake hoped that in the next few years he could win many more medals like this and maybe other medals as well.
Jake eventually found a reporter who was interviewing the other athletes who won and who performed well at this World Championships in Athletics, Jake usually did not give interviews after marathons, but as the reporter was in front of him Jake could not just leave.
”Mr. Smith, may I have an interview with you?”
”Yes of course.”
”Thank you so much, what did you feel after you first won a gold medal in a world cup?”
”It is very good, it is a great pride to win such a marathon with the best runners from various countries, especially since today I am representing my country which makes this victory more special.”
”How do you feel when you're just 18 and already having major achievements such as a gold medal in the Olympics and World Championships in Athletics and winning several of the world's top marathons?”
”I think age is not very important in sport, anyone at all ages can win a race if they have the best performance on marathon day, I'm just happy to think that for my current age I can go on and on for several years running for more marathons.”
”And this year do you plan to participate in any other marathon or will you focus on basketball again?”
”I plan to participate in one more marathon this year at least, maybe I can do another one before I focus fully on basketball.”
”One last question, what did you think of the American team's performance at the World Championships in Athletics this year?”
”I thought it was a very good performance, the athletes from my country worked as hard as I did and we couldn't win more gold medals this year because the competition was so tough and the athletes from other countries were better.”
”Thank you for your time and congratulations again for winning the gold medal.”
”Thank you.”
Jake didn't like these interviews very much because sometimes reporters might ask a question that made the athlete uncomfortable and might give the wrong answer, as well as the question of what Jake thought about the performance of the American team.
Even though Jake has relieved the American team and praised athletes from other countries which might be a good answer, he may have offended athletes from other countries who have competed in the World Championships in Athletics in other years that the American team won several medals of gold.
But he was happy for the victory and so didn't care much about it, at the end of the day Jake went to a dinner party with some of the American athletes who won medals to celebrate this World Championships in Athletics.
Jake couldn't drink, so he stayed for a short time at dinner so as not to disrupt the fun of the other athletes, the next day Jake would return to Miami to spend time with his mother until it was time to return to university later this month.
Jake wanted to see what the other players on the team would be like when they found out that Coach Dean Smith had left the team, he figured it would come as a surprise to everyone, but it wouldn't be a problem for the team's performance because he remembered that the team would have a great performance this year.
He hoped that by what he did last year on the team and with coach Guthridge in charge of the team he could play much longer and thus achieve better personal results than last year.
At the hotel resting Jake was happy in the room because he got the news from the system that he had received 1 statistic point in each physical statistic for winning the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics.
Jake didn't count on those statistic points, but he thought he might end up getting to be a major international competition for athletes, even after a few years that points to win the major circuit counted, the points in the World Championships in Athletics also counted.
”Fate, show me my statistics on my third job.”
[Here it is.]