518 A Bonus (1/2)

Three American flags rose into the air at the same time in Maracana Stadium. The ”Star-Spangled Banner” was played again.

The Brazilian audience in the stadium felt nothing for the song. They discussed the might and strength of the U.S.

”I saw an article that said that the U.S. team was affected by a drug scandal, and they in bad shape. It looks like that isn't the case.”

”Don't believe the media. When have they ever been honest? The U.S. team has already won two out of five gold medals. That is impressive.”

”The U.S. National Track and Field Team is deserves to be considered number one in the world. Even the negative effects of the performance-enhancing drug scandal, causing so many strong athletes missing the game, can't hold them back.”

At that moment, many Americans watching the event in public venues around the U.S. cheered

The CEO of the American Track and Field Association, Williams, did not go to sleep this time. He waited in front of the TV and watched the competitions and matches of the Olympic Games.

When the three flags moved into the air, he was reminded of the Olympic Games from eight years ago. The U.S. team back then took home all three medals in the men's 400m sprint.

”When did our long jump athletes become so strong?” Williams mumbled to himself.

Williams looked carefully at the three well-built youngsters standing on the podium. He recognized one of them and the other two looked really familiar. Obviously, the two new faces joined the U.S. team after the drug scandal.

These two youngsters that I don't recognize were probably brought in by Dai Li. his Coach Li really has a good eye.

Williams suddenly realized he admired Dai Li.

”We shouldn't let this Coach Li become our scapegoat. The athletes he chose have been excellent so far! If we give him another four years, our U.S. National Track and Field Team will be strong again!”

...

The three U.S. athletes covered themselves with American flags as they answered questions from journalists. Dai Li watched it all with a bright smile while praising the state scale in his mind.

The three athletes had decent abilities, but if they had performed normally they could not won all three medals. That was where the state scale helped. The nature of the long jump event also made it possible for the state scale to work its magic. With six attempts at jumping, they only had to achieve the maximum condition once.

Moreover, Dai Li's was lucky today. Two persons achieved the maximum condition in the first jump. It instantly put immense pressure on the other athletes, helping the U.S. obtain an advantage right at the start. Victory would not have been certain if the U.S. hadn't taken such an early lead. It was the Olympics, after all. It was the highest level of competition in the world.

As the men's long jump final was underway, the women's 100m sprint had just ended.

Two contestants from the U.S. team had made it into the final. All three contestants from Jamaica had made it into the final.

The final of the 100m sprint would begin in two hours.

The next event in the track and field stadium was the men's 10,000m long distance run.

There were a total of 34 contestants in the men's 10,000m long distance event. Almost all of the participants were Olympic A standard and most of the participating countries sent out three contestants.

The 10,000m run required teams to employ an alternating leading strategy to conserve stamina. If a country sent three athletes, it would be easy to generate a small area alternate leading strategy. If it were only one person, it would be difficult to do. Leading the pack alone would definitely result in one running out of stamina and following another athlete would result in falling into someone else's rhythm.

The two long-distance powerhouses of Africa, Ethiopia and Kenya, were the strongest contenders for the gold. The other countries, like Uganda and Eritrea, were similar to the U.S. in strength. They were regarded as the second-tier teams.

Although the U.S. was only really behind the two African powerhouses, Dai Li did not plan on trying to win the run's gold medal. Kenya and Ethiopia were too strong. The difference in strength was not something Dai Li could overcome in such a short amount of time.

The race went as expected. The Kenyans took both first and second place while the Ethiopians got third and fourth place. Long-distance events were still dominated by the Africans. A U.S. athlete managed to get fifth place, which was a decent result in itself.

After the men's 10,000m race was the semi-final of the men's 800m race. The contestants from Kenya maintained their form and all three of their athletes made it into the final. Two athletes from the U.S. also made it through. If everything went according to plan, the gold medalist would emerge after a battle between the Kenyans and the Americans.

After that was the major event of the day, the women's 100m sprint.

...

Dai Li's gaze turned towards a man not far away. The man's hair and beard were all completely white. He was at least 60 years old.

”That guy is the head coach of the Jamaican team, right?” Dai Li asked the U.S. team leader, Donny, who stood beside him.

”Yeah. He's Fraser,” Donny nodded.

It wasn't the first time Donny was made the U.S. team leader, so he recognized many coaches from the other countries, especially from Jamaica. They were, after all, their strongest sprinting adversaries.

Coach Fraser is a legend in the world of track and field. He has groomed no less than ten world champions. Among them was the world's fastest man, Kittel. I only graduated that year, and I knew Fraser when I was following Li Xue on the Chinese national team. Coach Li Xue really admired him. Who would have thought that only a few years later, I would have the chance to battle against him in the same arena, Dai Li thought.

At the same time, in the Jamaican camp. Fraser's deputy saw Li. ”Coach, the head coach of the U.S. team is staring at you!”

”Staring at me! Does that Chinese coach want to provoke me!” Fraser turned his face towards Dai Li and widened his eyes intentionally.

However, Frase didn't expect Dai Li to smile at him. It was a very friendly smile.

Fraser suddenly felt as if he was punching cotton.

On the other side, Dai Li lightly tapped his chest and said to himself, ”This old Jamaican man sure is aggressive!”

...

The Jamaican team was confident in that they were going to win the gold medal. To guarantee it, they dispatched both of their fastest representatives who were respectively ranked as number one and two in the world.

As for the U.S. team, their strength was significantly lessened by the drug scandal.

Everytime a doping scandal occurs in the U.S., the sprinters were the ones who felt the full brunt of the consequences. That was because performance-enhancing drugs worked best in the sprinters' bodies. Use the 100m sprint as an example, reducing your time by 0.1 seconds was an incredible feat.

Even though two American athletes made it into the final, they still did not pose much of a threat to the Jamaicans. If the Jamaicans had only one advantage, Dai Li might have tried his luck. The Jamaican athlete might be in bad condition, and the U.S. could end up winning the gold medal. However, the Jamaican employed a double-insurance tactic, so Dai Li decided to not challenge the Jamaican team.

The result was as predicted. The Jamaicans won both the gold and silver medal. An American athlete managed to get a bronze medal. It was still a pretty fruitful result.

...

”We managed to win one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals. Not bad,” Dai Li was pretty satisfied with the results for the day. He stretched and prepared to return to the hotel.

At that moment, on the big screen of Maracana Stadium, a list of participants in the next sporting event appeared.

”Oh, I almost forgot that there is a women's heptathlon. After this event ends, the gold medalist of the women's heptathlon will be awarded. American athletes are participating in this race, so I should wait for it to be over before I go back to the hotel.”