On January 10, the grouping situation of the 2008 Australian Open was officially announced. What surprised people was that the defending men's singles champion and world number one Zhang Guan actually withdrew from the Australian Open.
This news shocked the tennis world like a bolt from the blue, and people were curious about why Zhang Guan, the defending champion, withdrew from the Australian Open.
Then came all kinds of rumors. First of all, there were rumors about injuries. Some said that Zhang Guan's arm was injured, some said that Zhang Guan's leg was injured, and some said that Zhang Guan's lumbar spine was injured. In an instant, Zhang Guan became... A cripple with no meridians in martial arts novels.
Secondly, there were reports of illness. Some said that Zhang Guan had a cold and fever, some said that Zhang Guan had gastritis and appendicitis. In serious cases, he even mentioned Parkinson's disease and AIDS.
There are also some more unreliable reasons, such as being hit by a car, being caught committing a crime, being reported by enthusiastic Chaoyang people, etc.
With all kinds of rumors flying, the championship team and the Tennis Center jointly held a press conference to explain that Zhang Guan's withdrawal from the Australian Open was to prepare for the Olympics, and that Zhang Guan would also give up the other three majors this year. She is a champion and only participates in tennis competitions at the Capital Olympics.
Giving up the four Grand Slam tournaments for the Olympics is unbelievable to many people, especially professional tennis players. After all, the prize money of the four Grand Slams is very high, and the popularity of the four Grand Slams can also bring additional benefits to the athletes. Especially in sports with a relatively high degree of professionalism, the Olympic Games are more about honor, while professional competitions are related to one's own job. Many people don't understand Zhang Guan's choice to participate in the four Grand Slams without delaying the Olympics and give up his job for the sake of honor.
Another day later, the Athletics Management Center issued a press release. The theme was that Zhang Guan was about to return to track and field training in preparation for this year's Olympic Games. The press release also hinted that Zhang Guan would participate in multiple Olympic track and field events.
Only then did everyone realize that Zhang Guan really gave up the Grand Slam competition in order to prepare for this year's Olympics. Zhang Guan will participate in the Olympic track and field competitions, and will also participate in several events, which will definitely require a lot of time to prepare.
Some media saw the news about the Tianjin Management Center, and then thought of the press conference at the Tennis Center, and instantly came to the conclusion that Zhang Guan will participate in the two major events of Olympic track and field and tennis at the same time!
An athlete actually has to participate in two major events in the same Olympic Games! Although this happened in the early Olympic Games, it is impossible to happen in the modern Olympic Games.
Participants in the early Olympic Games were all amateur athletes or sports enthusiasts, so there were cases where the same athlete participated in two or more major events in the Olympic Games at the same time. But in the modern Olympics, all participants are professional athletes. Many athletes have trained for more than ten years just for one Olympics. Therefore, both the competitive level and the level of the participating players are incomparable to the early Olympics.
In this situation where athletes are becoming more and more "specialized", they participate in different events, such as freestyle, backstroke and butterfly in swimming, 100 meters and 200 meters in track and field, floor exercise, vaulting and rings in gymnastics. These are relatively common, but it is basically impossible to participate in two major events. Because you need to meet certain standards to participate in the Olympics. It is not easy for an athlete to meet the Olympic standards in one major event, let alone two major events.
Zhang Guan once again went against everyone's normal understanding, and he also successfully grabbed the headlines of the sports page the next day.
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Intense discussions have also begun on the Internet. Some are optimistic about Zhang Guan, and of course there are also those who are bearish.
In a discussion group for sports fans.
"Have you heard that Zhang Guan will compete in both track and field and tennis events in the Olympic Games?"
"Of course, this is the headline in the sports media today, and there are tens of thousands of comments from netizens below!"
"How many gold medals do you think Zhang Guan can win in the Olympics? I only have at least four!"
"Four? You think too highly of him. I don't think he can even get one. Zhang Guan has not participated in track and field competitions for more than a year. Now he is probably not in competitive shape at all. He can get one in track and field." A medal would be great! Maybe because of track and field practice, tennis will be delayed again, and then all will be lost!"
"It's too one-sided to say that! Zhang Guan still has obvious advantages in the 100m and 200m events. Even if his condition declines, I think there should be no problem in retaining the gold medal! If we add the 400m and 800m Meter, 1500 meters, and long jump, there are so many events, winning two or three gold medals is not an exaggeration..."
"How can Zhang Guan play so many games by himself? His physical strength doesn't allow it!"
"There is absolutely no problem with physical strength. Didn't Zhang Guan compete in seven events at the same time at the Asian Games the year before last year? And he won seven gold medals."
"Those are all track and field events. Don't forget that Zhang Guan will also participate in the tennis competition this year. He is going to win the Golden Slam! One more tennis event will make a huge difference!"
"Look at this report. Zhang Guan lost hundreds of millions by not participating in the four Grand Slam tournaments! I'll send the news link!"
This news report first listed the income earned by tennis stars such as Federer and Nadal from the Grand Slam, and then calculated Zhang Guan’s Grand Slam income last year, including bonuses, advertising endorsements, etc., and finally proposed that Zhang Guan would not participate. The four Grand Slams in tennis will bring great economic losses to themselves, and a very exaggerated figure has been calculated.
At the end of the article, it was specifically stated that Zhang Guan did this for the sake of this Olympic Games held in the capital. In order to win more gold medals, he was willing to suffer huge economic losses, which was a manifestation of taking the overall situation into consideration.
In Zhang Guan's view, this report was a bit too exaggerated. The income figures were exaggerated, and the comments attached afterwards were also exaggerated. It simply portrayed himself as a heroic figure who left his family to take care of everyone for the Olympics. But in this age where money is paramount, the title "Loss of Hundreds of Millions" is indeed eye-catching enough, and it is enough for Zhang Guan to win a round of applause.
Of course, this report was written by the championship team, and under the operation of the championship team, the public opinion was also one-sided in praising Zhang Guan. Of course, a positive publicity target was also needed at this time. The sports world even launched a "praise to Zhang Guan" "Learn" call.
…
Zhang Guan did not participate in the Australian Open, but Sharapova performed very well in the Australian Open. She defeated Davenport in the second round, Dementieva in the fourth round, and defeated Haining in the quarter-finals. , defeated Jankovic in the semi-finals, defeated Ivanovic in the finals, defeated many strong women's singles players along the way, and finally won the championship. This was also her third Grand Slam championship.
With the end of the Spring Festival, Zhang Guan also ended his vacation, said goodbye to his family and returned to the training center, returning to the track and field training field again.
(End of chapter)