On May 8, Zhang Guan returned to China. After being interviewed by reporters, he returned to the Xinzhuang base.
The special car was already in the parking lot of Xinzhuang base, and Zhuge Wenbo was already waiting in the car.
"Another championship. How many championships is this this year?" Zhuge Wenbo didn't show much excitement when he mentioned this championship. It seemed that seven consecutive championships in January and February had made him numb.
"The one who competes in the competition is the first one. The previous indoor competition is nothing." Zhang Guan said.
"When the news of your victory yesterday reached Europe, Daben Company informed me that you had been shortlisted for the Lawrence Sports Award for Best Rookie of the Year." Zhuge Wenbo said.
"It's just a shortlist!" Zhang Guan nodded slightly disappointedly.
Zhuge Wenbo adjusted his glasses and said apologetically: "I was a little too optimistic before. I thought that with Da Ben's recommendation, there would be no problem in winning Lawrence's Best Newcomer. But later I found out that things were not what I thought. It’s so simple. It’s just as difficult for an athlete to win the Lawrence Award as it is for an actor to win an Oscar.”
"Who else is on the shortlist?" Zhang Guan asked.
Zhuge Wenbo shook his head: "We don't know yet, but it seems there will be Phelps."
"That guy!" Zhang Guan thought of Phelps' long face and striking ears.
"The team behind Phelps is also very important. He also has endorsement and sponsorship contracts with several major international brands. We are at a disadvantage in this regard." Zhuge Wenbo took a deep breath.
Zhang Guan nodded. He knew that to win the Laureus World Sports Award, it was not enough to just rely on good results and strong strength, but also needed the operation of the team behind him.
World-class awards are all similar, such as the Nobel Prize in academia, the Academy Awards in the entertainment industry, the Lawrence Sports Awards in the sports world, etc. Among these awards, as long as you are nominated, it actually means that the award has recognized you. But there is only one trophy, and who to give it to is a very complicated issue. At this time, the public relations methods of the team behind the nominee will become particularly important. In this kind of public relations war, the spokespersons, advertisers and production giants behind the stars will form their own interest groups and use the power of capital to help the nominees; in academia, the pharmaceutical giants and chemical industry giants behind the Nobel Prize nominees Groups, technology companies, etc. also provide corresponding resources to nominees, and sometimes there will even be national support behind them.
For a Nobel Prize, the public relations team behind the nominee may find dozens or hundreds of scientists to endorse themselves; for an Oscar Award, the public relations team behind the nominee will reach an agreement with the traditional academic forces of Hollywood through various relationships. Compromise or exchange of interests; the Laureus Sports Awards may not be as complicated as the first two, but the endorsement companies behind sports stars will definitely be ready to make a move.
Of course, team PR cannot determine everything. For example, the Oscar-winning maniac does not hesitate to destroy his image in order to win the award, and even stars in large-scale scenes, but he always falls a little behind every time he is nominated.
In the past six months or so since the end of the Olympics, Zhang Guan has also signed several brand endorsements, including major international brands, but compared with the endorsements carried by Feiyu Phelps, they are still far behind. If the brand behind Phelps works hard, Zhang Guan may not be Phelps's opponent in competing for the Lawrence Newcomer Award.
…
After dinner, Zhang Guan rested for a while, checked that the time was almost up, then picked up the phone and dialed Sharapova's number.
"I just wanted to call you. Have you left Japan yet? I watched the news. You beat Gatling and won the championship again. Congratulations." Sharapova said directly.
"Well, I returned home today and have finished dinner. How about you?" Zhang Guan asked.
"I just finished breakfast and was getting ready to train." Sharapova continued: "The French Open is about to start in two weeks. I have to prepare, and Wimbledon is one month after the French Open, so I have to train harder. Okay. Do you have time to come to France to watch me play?"
"The French Open will start on May 23!" Zhang Guan thought for a while. During that time, there was only one IAAF Hengelo Grand Prix held in the Netherlands, and domestically, the track and field preliminaries of the Tenth National Games will not be held until late June. , I really don’t seem to have any competition.
"I don't have any games during that period, so I will try my best to get there." Zhang Guan said.
"Great!" Sharapova seemed very excited, and then continued: "There is also good news to tell you. I will go to Portugal on May 16th. My agent told me that I won the Nominated for the Laureus Sports Award!”
"Huh?" Zhang Guan immediately asked: "Which award are you nominated for?"
"Rookie of the Year Award..." Sharapova said.
Zhang Guan suddenly laughed, and then said: "It seems that we will meet soon."
"What do you mean? Are you coming to Portugal too? Are you also nominated?" Sharapova was a little surprised, and then asked: "Is your nomination also..."
"You guessed it right, I am also nominated for the Best Newcomer Award." Zhang Guan said.
…
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) immediately intervened in Kondo Kamezo's case. As Kondo Kamezo handed over the test report of the Yokohama All-Star Games to the IAAF, the IAAF immediately formed a specialized investigation team and went to Japan. Investigate this incident.
According to Kondo Kamezo, at last year's Yokohama All-Star Game, he detected the use of illegal drugs by athletes, but was forcibly suppressed by a certain deputy minister of the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At the same time, Kondo Kamezo also added insults by saying that this time at the Osaka Grand Prix, This was also the reason why his own laboratory was deprived of its testing qualifications. The deputy minister was worried that Kondo Kamezo would once again detect athletes using banned drugs.
According to Kame Kondo’s account, the behavior of the deputy director has seriously affected the fairness and justice of the event. However, the IAAF is an international organization and has no way to punish Japanese government officials. Moreover, considering Kondo Kame What San said may not be true, so the IAAF's investigation team began a series of complex investigation activities.
First, the IAAF needs to determine whether Kondo Kamezo’s test report at last year’s Yokohama All-Star Games is true. Although the samples at that time had been destroyed, the detailed data after the specimens were tested are still there. At the same time, it is necessary to make sure that the testing methods used by Kondo Laboratory are correct and reliable. This requires not only theoretical demonstration, but also practical verification. Experiment to verify.
Scientific theories and verification results have proven that the testing method used by Kondo Laboratory in last year’s Yokohama All-Star Game was correct, thus proving the authenticity of the testing report at that time. But after all, it has been more than half a year, and a test report alone cannot explain anything. It would be great if the latest test results were available. However, at the just-concluded Osaka track and field competition, there were no problems with the testing of all specimens. Fortunately, after the robbery, the IAAF immediately sealed the tested samples.
The IAAF needs to confirm the detection method, and Kondo Laboratory has developed a more advanced detection method this year. Kondo Kamezo claims that this is the most advanced detection method in the world. Therefore, the investigation team needs to verify the latest detection method of Kondo Laboratory to confirm whether this new method is effective.
After confirming that the method is effective, the IAAF needs to test the previously sealed samples, and the results show that Gatlin's urine sample did contain banned drugs.
At this time, the IAAF immediately notified Gatlin and asked him, Gatlin's coach, or a notary to test the spare specimen under the witness of both parties. However, Gatlin's coach Graham did not dare to come at all, and made an excuse not to go to Japan. According to the regulations, the investigation team applied to dispatch a specialized international notary, and then tested the spare specimen under the witness of the specialized notary. , and the entire process was videotaped to preserve evidence. As a result, the test results found that Gatlin and some American athletes had indeed used banned drugs.
But this is not the end. The IAAF announced the test report and gave Gatlin the opportunity to appeal. If Gatlin does not approve the IAAF test, he can appeal, and then the IAAF will take action against the athletes involved. The specimen is sampled again and tested again.
In the United States, Gatlin and his coach Graham immediately held a press conference, claiming that the IAAF test was wrong. Gatlin also denied that he had used any banned drugs, but Gatlin said he would not complain. , will not be tested again, pretending to be clean.
Gatlin's performance immediately aroused everyone's criticism. Since you think the IAAF is wrong, why don't you appeal? Since you didn't use any illegal drugs, why don't you get tested again? This is obviously a sign that there are no three hundred taels of silver here.
Gatlin was a hard-boiled duck and decided to fight to the death, but some of the other athletes involved couldn't handle it. Soon the first person admitted to using banned drugs, and then the second person also admitted. Then even the FBI got involved.
The FBI got involved because evidence pointed to Arnold, the famous chemist known as the father of prohormones and who had worked in Balco's laboratory.
Two years ago, the doping scandal broke out at Balco Laboratories, which directly led to the suspension of world record holder Tim Montgomery. Many other athletes were also involved, including baseball and football stars, and legendary flying star Marion Jones. . The FBI was responsible for investigating this matter at the time. Today, considering that this incident may be related to the scandal at the Balkan laboratory two years ago, the FBI is dispatched again.
The American sports world is once again caught in a doping scandal. The US doping scandal, which was not supposed to break out until 2006, has been brought forward!
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(End of chapter)