Chapter 205: An Unexpected Accident
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Standing in front of the starting block, the Qatar player Clark was twisting his joints slightly.
Clark had been born in a village in Kenya. For generations, his family had been peasants living off of planting cassava. Cassava is a common crop in the tropical area, which doesn't need fine management, and has a high output and good drought resistance. Every year after the sowing period, the cassava could bear very large fruits, even without watering and fertilization.
Clark's family had a lot of land, so his family could keep themselves from starving by planting cassava. The eldest generation of Clark's family led quite a leisurely life every day. Two pieces of cassava would be enough for a day's rations. After eating, they would hang out in the village, or just sleep in the shade of a tree.
However, Clark did not want to lead a life of sitting around like the generations that had come before him. He did not want to be a peasant all his life; but Kenya had almost no industries, nor a service sector. Outside of being a peasant, there was nothing he could do. As a result, Clark had to engage in sports like many other Kenyans, for it was one of the only ways Kenyans could change their fate.
The event Clark had chosen was long-distance running, which was one of Kenya's strongest events. As the world's superpower in middle- and long-distance running, Kenya had cultivated many middle- and long-distance running champions.
However, Clark was not gifted in long-distance running; but his powerful explosive force and quick strides were quite impressive, so he was chosen by the coach of the sprinting team. Ever since then, he had had his sprinting career.
After shifting his focus to sprinting, Clark had achieved many things; soon after he made the switch, he became the national sprinting champion of Kenya. It was also at this time that Qatar came to him in hopes that he could work for Qatar as an immigrant athlete.
Through revenue of petroleum and natural gas, the per capita GDP of Qatar had always been among the top three in the word. For Clark, Qatar was extremely wealthy, and a place where he could make a lot of money. Therefore, he took on the Qatar nationality without any hesitation.
As a black athlete, Clark was not the best athlete in the world. However, he could defeat the Asian athletes easily. Since Clark's naturalization, he had won many Asian championships for Qatar, including the championship in the last Asian Game's 100m sprint.
Clark also received a profitable return for these championships. Because he was an immigrant athlete, the people of Qatar did not consider him a hero of their country. However, money was not a problem for Qatar. Clark's salary was very high, and he also received a decent-sized bonus for each championship he won.
Clark was now thirty. As a sprinter, he had entered the later stage of his career. In fact, Clark knew he was definitely older than thirty. His parents were illiterates without any education. They even needed a lot of time to finish addition and subtraction with numbers below ten. Therefore, the age of Clark was just a rough estimate they had made. Even when Clark looked in the mirror, he himself did not believe he was only thirty.
Because of this, Clark was devoured by a sense of crisis. He was eager to make more money so that he could have a comfortable life after his retirement. This was also the reason he had attended all kinds of matches frequently in the last two years.
The Asian Games were always a good chance for him to make money. He had won the championship in the last Asian Games, so if he could defend his title, Qatar would definitely give him a large bonus. As he thought about it, Clark couldn't help bending over and rubbing his shin.
His shin was not in good condition. As a small sprinter with a fast stride, it was normal for him to have accumulated injuries in his legs over time, let alone in the matches he had attended frequently in the last two years. Without sufficient rest, his legs had been further overwhelmed.
After this Asian Games, I shall take a long vacation. As Clark thought this to himself, he stood on the starting block.
Looking at the opponents on his left and right, Clark felt quite assured. Among these opponents was someone he recognized and someone that was new to him. But it was certain that he was the only one whose result could be under ten seconds among all eight athletes.
The starter signaled to the athletes so that they could get fully prepared, then raised the starting pistol.
At the sound of the starting pistol, the players rushed out from the starting line. Clark's starting phase was very successful; he had almost taken the lead in the very beginning of the match.
The stride rate of the small sprinters was always fast. Athletes whose stride rate was fast would be advantageous in the beginning phase of the match. Normally, in the first thirty meters, athletes whose stride rate was fast would take the lead, and at the very least would not fall behind.
"Clark is taking lead; he is in great shape today."
"No wonder he is the No. 1 sprinter in Asia. It seems like Clark is determined to defend his championship!"
"I wonder whether Clark's time can be under ten seconds again."
As people were exclaiming, Clark suddenly faltered and lost his balance.
"What happened?"
This unexpected accident surprised everyone, including Clark.
My leg! Clark suddenly felt a twitch in his right shin bone.
This kind of twitch probably would not have caused a tumble if the person was walking; however, during the 100m sprint, the athletes were running at a very high speed. This sudden twitch in the shin would stop the power output of one's leg, which was equivalent to the loss of support in a leg. Therefore, it could result in a serious fall of the athlete.
Oh, no! Clark tried to stabilize his body and keep his balance, but it was all in vain.
As Clark was about to fall, he tried to grab something out of instinct. It was also at this moment that a figure ran by Clark, and was grasped by him coincidentally. That figure was the Qatari player Oneida, who was Clark's fellow countryman. Oneida was in the lane adjacent to Clark's.
Clark had lost his balance, so he had grabbed Oneida in passing and transferred his center of gravity to Oneida instantly. Oneida was also running at a high speed, so he also lost his balance and fell in the other direction because of Clark.
Jun Xie, an athlete on the national team, was in the lane right next to Oneida's. Jun Xie had been running desperately when someone suddenly rammed into him from the side. It was too late for Jun Xie to evade the guy. Jun Xie collided with Oneida. In the collision, their knees also bumped into one another when their bodies made contact.
The next second, Oneida and Jun Xie fell forward simultaneously. They had been running too fast, so they even rolled over a few times on the ground.
"Oh, oh, oh…." Exclamations came from the stands. It had all happened so quickly. Before some of the audience had realized what had happened, three athletes had fallen to the ground.
It was quite normal for athletes to collide with one another in long-distance running; however, the collision of athletes in the 100m sprint was very rare.
Moreover, this collision was quite serious. Triggered by Clark, who was the defending champ and Asian record holder, this high-speed collision had knocked down three athletes at the same time.
Clark's ability was better than the other athletes. Before the match, he had once been considered the athlete who would certainly win the championship; but now he was lying on the ground during the match.
As for Oneida and Jun Xie, who had been affected by Clark, they were also powerful players; both of them had stood a chance to win a medal.
The athletes who had had the best chance to win medals had dropped out of the match because of their collision, which meant three vacancies had been created. The power gap between the rest of the athletes was not large; so the result of the 100m sprint had become uncertain.
"It's a good opportunity!" Akita Sasaki shook his fists excitedly.
Among the rest of the five athletes on the track, there were two players from the Japanese team. Moreover, the top three players had dropped out, so Sunshine Oda had a chance to win the gold medal.
As he realized this, Akita Sasaki couldn't help yelling, "Come on, Sunshine Oda!"