Chapter 212: A Volunteer (1/2)

Chapter 212: A Volunteer

Translator: Nyoi-Bo StudioEditor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Li Xue was pleasantly surprised; he had never expected Yue Zhao to be the champion.

Yue Zhao wasn't originally part of the national team's plan, and without Dai Li's vouching for him, he might not even have been admitted to the Asian Games Training Camp. The process of getting his final approval for the contest was full of ups and downs, and the argument for his participation was settled at the last minute, right before the deadline of registration.

But today, this underdog sprinter was the champion, which made Li Xue feel like he had hit the jackpot.

Yue Zhao's performance was 20.60 seconds, which was not very outstanding. He hadn't even reached the 20.59-second Olympic A-level standard. Based on an average performance at the Asian Games Champion, such a performance was something of a fluke.

Perhaps Yue Zhao was indeed very lucky. Aonaide and Jun Xie had dropped out before the race, and three of the favorites were incapacitated, Zitao Wei had a fever, so his ability was reduced greatly, and Zerafa wasn't used to racing in the rain, hence he didn't perform well. Due to these factors, Yue Zhao was able to snag a victory.

Since athletics focused on results, once a competition was finished, people only remembered the champions, not the process of the competition. Whether he had good luck or not, Yue Zhao was worthy enough to earn the Asian Games championship.

Besides, most of the time, luck was a part of one's victory. Sports matches were filled with uncertainties. Among so many games, one could win or be defeated by chance.

Looking at the podium, Li Xue smiled with satisfaction.

The national team had already gained two gold medals, for the 100m and 200m sprint, without realizing. The national team had previously planned to get one gold, but now they had exceeded their expectations.

Now we only have the relay final left! Thinking about this, Li Xue was stressed.

Zitao Wei still had a fever, but without taking any medicine, simply drinking more water and using cold compresses, he could hardly bring down the fever.

...

In the dead of night, the athletes had all fallen asleep, but the national team coaches were still gathered in the meeting room.

”Half an hour ago, a doctor took Zitao Wei's temperature, 102.5 Fahrenheit. Don't expect his fever to be gone tonight, it'll be a miracle if his temperature doesn't go higher.” Li Xue paused, then said, ”I'm not planning to put Zitao Wei in the relay race. Based on his current condition, he is not suitable for tomorrow's race.”

”Then for the 4×100m relay race, won't we lack one participant? Shall we borrow an athlete from another event?” someone immediately asked.

Li Xue nodded. ”So for today's meeting, I also invited Coach He from the long jump team. This time, we need to borrow an athlete from his team.”

In athletic competitions, if a 4×100m relay race lacked athletes and needed to borrow athletes from other teams, the first option was not 110m hurdlers or 400m runners, but long jumpers.

Long jumping and sprinting shared much in common, and had similar physical requirements for the athletes. Both long jumping and sprinting required athletes to obtain extreme explosive force, while the run-up process in long jump needed athletes to acquire extreme speed.

Generally speaking, long jumpers were pretty good at sprinting, and the best long jumper's sprinting speed was even faster than ordinary sprinters; as for sprinters, as long as they attained long jump techniques, they could perform outstandingly.

In history, there was one who won world championships in both the long jump and 100m sprint.