417 A Fallen Star (1/2)
”Phillip was the favorite to win the 400-meter event, but he only finished sixth!”
”Only sixth place! That's really bad!”
There were many spectators came to see the race of the famous Blade Warrior, but they were disappointed by Phillip's performance.
Standing at the terminal, Phillip looked at the scores on the screen. He was more than a second behind the first place today.
How did I run so slowly today? Looking at the celebrating winner, Phillip shook his head with disappointment and walked quietly down the aisle.
A sense of heaviness came from his legs. In fact, the two cheetah blades weighed less than a pair of normal legs, but he found it was difficult to walk with them now.
Phillip couldn't help but look down at his artificial legs. At this moment, he could clearly feel them now.
Even though I can walk and run like a normal person, these are not real legs after all! A feeling of sadness burst into Phillip's mind.
Walking down the stands, Steven came into the locker room and found Phillip.
Leaning back in his chair, Phillip's face was filled with impatience.
”I came here to win the championship of such a small-size competition, but I ended with the sixth place! Damn it! How could I perform so badly!” Phillip clenched his fists in anger. He still hadn't realized the root cause of his defeat.
”Barron, it's just a small game. Never mind.” Handing Phillip a drink, Steven continued, ”Maybe the opponents were so weak that you couldn't get excited at all. Besides, it's impossible for an athlete to perform at his best in every competition. It's normal to not be in a good state for one or two races.”
Steven was as upset as Phillip, though he didn't say so.
Phillip's achievement was directly related to the number of sponsors.
Sponsors chose Phillip not only because he was inspirational, but also because he was successful. The United States didn't lack disabled people who could be role models, but Phillip was the only one who could defeat able-bodied people in sports.
If he couldn't defeat an able-bodied athlete, he would be no different from any other disabled athlete. At best, he would be a disabled athlete with good performance. He would lose the attention of the media and the public, and his sponsors also would leave him.
I hope this match does not affect the sponsor we just negotiated with! Steven prayed in his mind.
...
Randy Blake rushed into Dai Li's office with a tablet computer.
”Dai Li, I just found this on the USA Track and Field; Barron Phillip just finished sixth in a match in New Mexico. It was just a small game without any top players, but Phillip still lost this match,” Blake said, pointing at his tablet.
”Ah.” Dai Li nodded without any sign of excitement.
”Hey, buddy! Say something!” Blake shouted.
”Say what? It was expected.” Dai Li didn't lift his head and continued focusing on the training plan he was developing.
”Wonderful answer!” Blake pursed his mouth and turned out of Dai Li's office.
As soon as Blake was out of his office, Dai Li couldn't help opening the USA Track and Field website and finding the results of the match.
Phillip was more than a second slower than the first place runner. And the first place's result was not excellent at all. Without the athlete patch, Phillip's performance has gone down even more than I expected... Dai Li shook his head. As far as he knew, although Phillip's performance still could rank first in the disabled races, it was a bad result against able-bodied runners.
Phillip must be depressed now, but it may be a good chance for me. It's a rare opportunity to become famous by stepping on the most prestigious AP Training Center in the US.
...
The AP Training Center had many branches in the US, and the one in Los Angeles was just one of them. David Mills was the head of the center, and he had to follow the instructions from headquarters.
David Mills was on the telephone with headquarters now.
”Mills, that race in New Mexico was small, but Phillip just finished sixth. You should know what that means, right?” the voice on the phone was harsh.
”Phillip is new here, and he cannot adapt to the new training environment. We made a new training plan for him, and it should take time to work out. Right now our coaching group and Barron Phillip are still in the adaptation period. I believe that after this period, they will get familiar with each other and Phillip's performance will improve drastically,” Mills explained.
”I hope so!” The voice was still serious. ”Mills, you should know, as one of the most famous fitness training centers in this nation, we are viewed as a benchmark by our peers and competitors. We have no friends. I believe every fitness training center in North America wants to move higher by stepping on our shoulders. In fact, many of them have tried to do so, but they all failed! No one can step on the shoulders of a giant! So, I don't want anyone to succeed in the future. Do you understand?”
”Yes, sir.” Despite the phone conversation, David Mills still spoke with a composed face.
”Good! You should remember that we are the leader in this industry, so we can't lose, even once. Any failure will cause people to doubt us and our peers to look at us more closely! The reputation we have built up over the years could also be destroyed,” the voice on the phone said.
”Sir, I assure you, we'll never fail,” Mills said confidently.
”Good! I wish you success, but I also hope you will remember your promise. If anything goes wrong, someone will be held responsible.”
After hanging up this phone, Mills's face was somber. Surely, ”someone” meant David Mills.