Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
It was the final of the men’s 110m hurdles.
The shot rang out and all the athletes on the track hurtled forward like arrows.
The reaction times of the athletes were immediately on the screen. The fastest was the American athlete, Ellis Metter, at 0.131 seconds.
That young man’s reaction is so fast! Dai Li thought in his mind.
By this time, the athletes on the field had began to jump the first hurdle.
Of the ten hurdles in the race, the first three hurdles were the most important. Athletes must find their own rhythm in the first three hurdles or the later part of race would be greatly affected.
It would be a big mistake for the athlete to lose his own rhythm in the first three hurdles. Every athlete in the final was a top professional athlete. After so many hard trainings, nobody would make such a stupid mistake.
After the first three hurdles, all the athletes found their rhythm, and the real competition began.
…
“Reed is nearly neck and neck with Baccus.” The Brazilian commentator’s voice was passionate.
Actually, there were three athletes in the lead at this time: the Jamaican, Reed, the French athlete, Baccus, and the American, Metter. However, Metter hadn’t attended any international games, so the commentator was not familiar with his name. Therefore, the commentator couldn’t remember it while caught up in this exciting moment.
The distance between the athletes became apparent by the sixth hurdle. Reed, Baccus and Metter were obviously ahead of the rest athletes and one of them would win.
Reed started to accelerate at the seventh hurdle. For Baccus and Metter, Reed’s acceleration was a distraction.
Reed raised his leg a little faster than Baccus and Metter at the eighth hurdle. However, that advantage didn’t put him far enough ahead. When he stepped hit the ground after crossing the eighth hurdle, Baccus also hit the ground.
Obviously, Baccus was also starting to accelerate in the final sprint.
Reed had always kept an eye out for Baccus. He had competed with Baccus several times and Reed thought that Baccus was the biggest threat. Reed suddenly became more determined as Baccus caught up.
I’m the champion! Reed repeated this in his mind.
Jamaica was a country where sports flourished. When it came to Jamaican athletes, people first thought of sprinting. Like all the other Jamaican athletes, Reed was a sprinter and viewed Gittell, the first flying man in the world, as his idol.
However, Reed practiced the 110m hurdles, which was not the event Jamaican athletes were good at. Jamaica had not gained any medals in this event before.
This put immense pressure on Reed. In Jamaica, sprinting was irreplaceable as the favorite sport. It was no exaggeration to say that all the best athletes in Jamaica sprinted. If one athlete gave up sprinting to practice something else, it told others that he was not good enough to sprint.
It was like a battlefield. The best soldiers would fight with enemies at the front, while weak ones would stay in the back. Surely, the back was also important. However, when the war came, most soldiers wanted to fight against the enemy directly rather than stay in the back.
The situation would be better if Reed had started in the 110m hurdle. However, he had switched over from sprinting, which brought criticism from the public. Many people thought that Reed was a loser, who gave up sprinting for a less fierce competition.
“Why don’t you just keep sprinting and also run the 110m hurdles?” This was the most common question Reed heard and he hated it. It was more a criticism than a question to Reed. They doubted about his ability.
Anything done by a loser would be wrong and any decision made by a loser would be doubted.
Reed didn’t want to be that kind of loser. He wanted to break down that doubt, so he needed this Olympic gold medal. He wanted to prove to the world that the path he had chosen was the right one.
…
At the ninth hurdle, French Baccus caught up with Reed.
I’ve been waiting eight years for this gold medal. I won’t let it go! Baccus looked determined.
Compared to the other seven athletes in the final, Baccus was a veteran. Certainly, Baccus had much more experience than all the other athletes.
Baccus was called a star of 110m hurdles when he was young, and he was regarded as hope for the 110m hurdles in France, even in Europe. Baccus himself even felt that his future would be bright.
However, when he entered international competition, he finally realized how strong his opponents were. In addition to Feixiang Lin, the world record holder, there were several strong American athletes faster than him.
At that time, Baccus told that he was still young and there was a lot of time for him to improve. He would keep improving and win a gold medal eventually.
During the two years in which Feixiang Lin was injured, Baccus really rose to the occasion. He ran several times within 13 seconds. It was a performance as excellent as a world champion, and Baccus indeed won several rounds of Grand Prix held by the IAAF. However, this was not as important as the World Championship in Athletics or the Olympic Games. Only one thing could be sure: Baccus had entered his prime.
Nevertheless, Baccus wasn’t lucky. In the World Championship in Athletics, when Baccus had entered his prime, Feixiang Lin came back. Faced with the world record holder, Baccus couldn’t win anymore.
Baccus didn’t know that all of this was because of the American head coach Dai Li. If Feixiang Lin hadn’t gotten help from Dai Li, he wouldn’t have come back.
When Feixiang Lin retired, Baccus was still among top athletes in the world, but American athletes were still competitive. Although American athletes were not as powerful as Feixiang Lin, they were as strong as Baccus. Moreover, America had many strong athletes. Normally, the American team could send two to three athletes who were almost equal to Baccus.
Baccus had to face several competitors of his own strength in every competition. If his opponents performed a little bit better, or he did a little bit worse than he was capable of Baccus couldn’t win the championship. Sometimes, even when Baccus performed well, his opponents performed better than anyone could expect.
In fact, it was an awful experience. Just like gambling, the more people involved, the harder it is to win. If there were only two players, one would win easily if he rolled three sixes. However, if there were two hundred players, there might be one or several people who were lucky enough to roll three sixes.
If there were only two people, one just needed to knock down the other to get the whole cake. However, if there were ten people contesting for one cake, the unlucky one might not get any.
Baccus had encountered this situation several times. There was actually no obvious speed gap between him and his opponents, but they were still making it more difficult for Baccus to win the gold medal.
Year after year, as he got older, Baccus could feel his sports career coming to an end.
The media thought that Baccus was just unlucky and someone thought Baccus should retire to be a coach. However, Baccus stuck with it. He was still training to win a gold medal.
Baccus also knew that this Olympic Games might be his last chance. Maybe four years from now, he wouldn’t be as strong as he was now.
Age was the biggest enemy of any athlete, an unbeatable enemy. Therefore, Baccus should seize his last chance in this competition.
During my entire career, I was overshadowed by Feixiang Lin. I couldn’t defeat him because he was the world record holder. I couldn’t do anything about it!
When I was in my prime, I had to compete with several strong American competitors. I couldn’t defeat them because I wasn’t lucky enough to overcome all of them. I couldn’t do anything about that either!
But today, without Feixiang Lin and those top American opponents, how dare you,Reed, stand in my way! How dare you take the championship from me!
Baccus gave Reed a sidelong glance. He began to get angry. It was not because he looked down on the Jamaican, but because hehad gained nothing from all his persistence!
I need this gold medal. I need to prove to this world that I am able to win this.
Baccus looked determined and he wanted to prove to the others that he had been right not to retire.
…
By the tenth hurdle, Ellis Metter was falling a bit behind Reed and Baccus.
Metter was satisfied with this situation. He hadn’t even made it through the Olympic qualifiers yet he now had the chance to stand on the Olympic podium.
Reed and Baccus were fighting hard for the final championship.
In fact, a bronze medal is also a pretty good result! Thinking this, Metter looked at Reed and Baccus subconsciously.
At that moment, he saw a special energy in Reed’s eyes. It was not just the eagerness for championship, but a determination!
Baccus had a similar expression on his face!
Suddenly, Metter felt inspired by the two athletes.
This is the Olympic final! At this time, Metter finally understood how important this was.
He had always gotten eliminated in competitions before he had gotten a chance to become inspired. He hadn’t really cared about his races.
In the first round of the Olympic Games, he had performed well and had entered the next round easily. He still hadn’t felt any difference between the Olympic Games and his usual training.
However, at this moment, he finally felt the magnitude of this moment.
I must win! I must win the championship! At last, this thought appeared in Metter’s mind. It was a desire for victory.
Metter raised his leg, crossed the hurdle and stepped on the ground. He crossed the last hurdle and hurtled forward.
He caught up with Reed and Baccus in a second.
They didn’t expect Metter to catch up with them and even run ahead of them.
What happened? Who is this guy! He is faster than me!
He is beyond me. Am I not destined to win this gold medal?
Reed and Baccus were startled.
Metter stretched out his head and crossed the finish line first.
…
Dai Li raised his arms and celebrated the victory in the coaching area!
“We won!” said Downey as he ran toward Dai Li to hug him.
Dai Li, however, didn’t want Downey’s hug.
“You see, he’s no blunt axe!” said Dai Li.
“Yes, you are right! You are Captain America!” Still excited, Downey went on, “You proved to the world once again that your insight was correct!”
…
“We won the championship! That guy didn’t pass the first round of qualifiers and he could won the gold medal!” Williams rushed out of the bathroom without washing his hands.
“It was luck, right?” Williams murmured to himself.
At this time, Metter’s final time was shown on the television. 12.95s.
Although it was far behind the world record and the Olympic record,it was still incredible. It was worthy of an Olympic gold medal.
It proved that Metter won the championship with his ability.
How could such an excellent young man fail the first round of qualifiers?
How could Dai Li pick him out of so many athletes?
The two questions came to Williams’ mind at the same time.