New York.
"You have been here less than a week, and you are leaving so soon!" Sharapova snuggled into Zhang Guan's arms, her face full of resentment.
Zhang Guan sighed helplessly: "The Track and Field World Cup is about to start. This is my first time participating in the Track and Field World Cup, and it is also my first time participating in the long jump event in an international competition! The overall strength of Asian track and field is already there. It’s not as good as Europe and America, or even Africa. If I don’t participate, the Asian team will be at the bottom again this time.”
"Okay then! Anyway, this year's China Tennis Open is about to start, and the Track and Field World Cup should be over by then! I'll go find you then." Sharapova said.
"The Track and Field World Cup ends on September 17th, and I won't be able to return to China until the 19th. When will this year's China Open start?" Zhang Guan asked.
"Starting on September 18th. The China Open is only a second-level event. I was not planning to participate, but since you are here, I will definitely go." Sharapova said.
In tennis events, the bonuses and points for different levels of events are different. Of course, the qualifications for players at each level of competition also have different restrictions. Among them, the four annual Grand Slam tournaments are naturally the highest level events and have the highest requirements for players; the first-level tour tournaments under the four Grand Slam tournaments generally have a bonus of US$1.34 million. Competitions at this level are due to bonuses and points. They are all relatively high and can often attract Grand Slam champion-level players to participate.
Below the first-level tour is the second-level tour. The points of the second-level tour are reduced, and the prize money is generally 600,000 US dollars. Of course, there are exceptions. For example, the Dubai Open is organized by a rich man, so the prize money is more than one million US dollars. US dollars. The second-level tour occasionally attracts two or three Grand Slam champion-level players to participate. If the organizer is willing to pay the appearance fees, it is possible that there will be more big-name players than the first-level tour. In 2006, the China Open was a second-tier tournament.
As for the third-level tour, the prize money is only 175,000 US dollars. This level of competition is usually participated by players ranked above 20 in the world. Big-name players have to rely on appearance fees to attract them; while the fourth-level tour can be regarded as a professional league. In entry-level tournaments, the players are relatively weak. Generally, players ranked around 30 in the world can win the championship in the fourth-level tour.
The China Open was restored in 2004 and was included in the second-level tours of ATP and WTA in 2005. However, due to the strong organizers and strong national support, it is able to attract many top players to participate every year. It was not until 2009 that the China Open was successfully upgraded to a first-level event.
This year's China Open has Mauresmo, Davenport, Petrova, Jankovic, Kuznetsova and other players participating. Sharapova, who just won the US Open championship, was not prepared to participate. of. However, in order to reunite with Zhang Guan, Sharapova decided to participate in this year's China Open.
…
On September 14, Zhang Guan arrived in Athens, Greece, to join other players of the national team to participate in the 10th Track and Field World Cup.
In this track and field World Cup, the national team sent a total of 12 athletes to participate, including five male athletes and seven female athletes. In terms of male athletes, in addition to Zhang Guan and Liu Feiren, the men's athletes of the national team also have to participate in three events: triple jump, high jump and triple jump.
The rules of the Athletics World Cup are different from ordinary world-class events. This event calculates rankings based on points, and the men's and women's teams are calculated separately. The participating teams are also different from the tradition. They do not register as a country, but as a team from each continent. Of course, like the United States, Russia and other powerful track and field countries, the track and field strength of a country exceeds that of a continent, so it often forms its own team.
In this track and field World Cup, the men’s teams include the European team, the United States, the African team, the Asian team, the American team, the Russian team, the French team, the Oceanian team and the Greek team; the women’s teams include the European team, the United States Team, Africa United Team, Asia United Team, Americas United Team, Russia Team, Poland Team, Oceania United Team and Greece Team. Among them, the United States and Russia, as the two countries with the strongest track and field levels in the world, each form their own team. As the host, the Greek team also forms its own team. The French men's team and the Polish women's team form independent teams.
The national team obviously does not have the level to form an independent team, so it has to join the Asian team. According to the situation in previous years, the Asian team is at the bottom of the major leagues, often even inferior to those countries that form independent teams.
But this year's Asian team is unusually strong. The first is the group of naturalized legions from West Asian countries, including many of the world's top athletes, such as Qatar's 3,000-meter obstacle course king Shaheen, whose 5,000-meter long-distance running is also among the best in the world; in East Asia, Liu Feiren Japan's hammer thrower Koji Murofushi is also capable of winning gold. Of course, the biggest weapon of Asia United is undoubtedly Zhang Guan.
Zhang Guan will participate in four events: 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters and long jump in this Track and Field World Cup. This is unprecedented in the history of the Track and Field World Cup. No athlete has done so in the entire history of track and field. It can be said that as long as Zhang Guan is... A successful appearance will create history.
But this time, no one regarded Zhang Guan as an achiever. Zhang Guan broke two world records in Brussels, Belgium, and proved to the world that he can handle two events at the same time. Among the sprint events, Zhang Guan is undoubtedly the favorite to win the championship.
As for Zhang Guan's sudden participation in the long jump event, it did surprise many people, but if you think about it carefully, no one will be surprised. There are many examples of sprinters and long jumpers. Especially in the 1980s and 1990s, sprinting and track and field were even very popular for a time. It’s just that in recent years, with the continuous improvement of players’ strength, the requirements for athletes’ technical level have become higher and higher. Although running is better, cross-sport athletes such as sprinting and long jump are gradually being eliminated.
As for Zhang Guan's performance in the long jump event, the best prediction currently given by professionals is a silver medal, because in the long jump event, Panamanian player Saladino will participate. Saladino is currently the best long jumper in the world. It is said that he has the ability to jump to a distance of 8.7 meters. In the IAAF Golden League that ended not long ago, Saladino also won five games. In the end millions will try to get a piece of the pie.
With Saladino, the best long jumper in the world, Zhang Guan will naturally not be regarded as a player who can win the championship.
…
In the hotel restaurant, Powell sat alone in a corner, looking indifferent to strangers. Occasionally, other athletes came up and wanted to chat with him, but they all chose to take a detour because of Powell's expression.
Suddenly, a figure appeared and sat directly opposite Powell. Powell wondered why that guy was so ignorant, so he raised his head and saw Zhang Guanzheng looking at him.
"It turns out it's you!" Powell said.
Powell is a big-name athlete, and big-name athletes have a bad face. Of course, ordinary players dare not approach him, but Zhang Guan, a bigger name, has no such scruples. Moreover, he had a pretty good relationship with Powell in private. When he saw Powell's expression, Zhang Guan sat over out of curiosity.
"Asafa, you seem to be in a bad mood!" Zhang Guan said.
Powell nodded: "I have decided to give up the 100-meter race in the World Cup."
"Give up? Why? Is it because of your health? An old injury has recurred?" Zhang Guan asked. He felt that apart from the injury, there was really no reason for Powell to withdraw from the game.
Powell sighed and said: "I don't want to participate in the World Cup as the American team. I think Jamaica's track and field level is enough to form an independent team, just like this year's French team!"
People in the country all know that Jamaica is a place rich in flying people, but in fact, Jamaica is also very strong in other sports. It is just because Jamaica's sprint is so dazzling that people only remember that Jamaica is rich in flying people.
Zhang Guan can understand Powell's mentality. If possible, Zhang Guan also hopes to set up a separate Chinese team like the American team and the Russian team instead of staying in the Asian team. Zhang Guan believes that every athlete hopes that his country can form an independent team and compete in the Athletics World Cup.
However, if you want to form an independent team, the first thing you need is strength, the overall strength of a country's track and field. Just like the United States or Russia, even if they form an independent team to participate in the Track and Field World Cup, they still have a chance to win first place.
"Asafa, I can understand your feeling. You see, I am also in the Asian team!" Zhang Guan continued: "If you think about it, you are much better than me. At least the American team is very strong. , but the strength of our Asian team is very high.”
"This year's Asian team is not weak. There are three world record holders, you, Liu Fei and Shahien. And you are also the holder of two world records." Powell paused and then said: " In the 100-meter event, other athletes are average in strength, and the strongest ones are probably Obikewelu and Tyson Gay! As for the 400-meter event, Varina did not participate."
"Isn't Varina here? Then who is coming from the American team?" Zhang Guan asked curiously.
"Rashawn Merritt. This young man seems to be in pretty good shape recently." Powell continued: "You are the world record holder in the 100 meters and 400 meters. There is definitely no pressure to win the 200 meters. Obikwe Lu will also participate in the 200-meter race, and Wallace Spearman, the 200-meter champion at last year’s World Championships, will also participate! By the way, we have a young man in Jamaica. To say young is relative to me, in fact, he and you He is the same age and his 200-meter level is also good, but he has not participated in too many international competitions and still lacks some competition experience."
After speaking, Powell raised his head, looked behind Zhang Guan, and continued: "Just as I was talking, he came!"
Zhang Guan had already guessed who the person Powell was talking about was, but he also wanted to confirm his thoughts, so Zhang Guan immediately looked back and saw a familiar face.
"It's indeed Bolt!"
PS: The first chapter has been delivered. It has already exceeded 5,000 on average in the past few days, so I have long wanted to make a wave. Thank you for your support. I just saved the manuscript recently. There are three chapters a day these days. Thank you all readers for your continued support. They all support me so much to subscribe to the original version.
In fact, I have always felt that the main source of income for Internet writers is subscriptions. There are so many pirated websites now. If you insist on subscribing to genuine ones, you are really giving me food and clothing, and you are my parents. Of course, friends who have watched pirated copies enjoyed it and voted for it. I am also very grateful.
The competitive category is inherently niche, and Junding is generally less popular than other categories. The threshold for competitive writing to achieve good results is also higher than other categories, so I have to ask you to continue to support and subscribe to the genuine version in the future. Junding will continue to work hard in the future. If so, I will no longer write part-time. I will quit my job and go home to write articles full-time, and give you more updates every day.
One last thing to say, the original version of this book is available at: . point. middle. arts. net.
(End of chapter)