In Asian countries, if track and field events can reach the B standard of the Olympic Games, it means that they can represent the country in the Olympic Games. However, some European, African and South American countries that are not very strong in sports can also participate in the Olympic Games if they reach the Olympic A standard.
Only in the United States, as the world's number one track and field power, the Olympic A standard is only the lowest entry threshold. In any track and field event, there are too many athletes who can reach the Olympic A standard.
Not long ago, Dai Li also came to the Olympic trials. At that time, he witnessed many outstanding athletes being eliminated because they did not enter the top three. Among them, there were many athletes with outstanding talents or high ability values. Because of their performance, Poor and eliminated. Under Li Dai's detection, he even discovered that athletes with A+ talent were eliminated in the first round of the trials. You must know that A+ talent can definitely become a world champion, but he encountered Waterloo in the first round of selection.
The American athlete selection mechanism is like this. You will win or lose in one battle. No matter how talented you are, no matter how strong your ability is, no matter how famous you are, no matter what honors you have achieved, even if you are a world record holder, As long as you can't qualify from the trials, you won't be able to participate in the Olympics.
Although this selection mechanism is fair, it also causes many outstanding athletes to miss the opportunity to participate in the Olympic Games.
During the trials, when Dai Li had nothing to do, he scouted almost every athlete. He also discovered a lot of "relics" at that time. Some failed to qualify due to poor performance, some failed to show their best strength due to training issues, and some did encounter stronger opponents and were eliminated.
In Li Dai's view, such athletes are really a pity. If they were not in the United States, they would definitely have the opportunity to be on the Olympic stage. However, Dai Li had no intention of helping them. After all, he was not an athlete trained by himself.
But things are different now. Dai Li is going to become the head coach of the U.S. track and field team, and those "legends" that Dai Li discovered back then become important. For example, that athlete with A+ talent but was eliminated in the first round of trials, if Dai Li is allowed to train well, he will definitely win the Olympic championship.
Therefore, Dai Li asked Williams to select the athletes for the competition. The purpose was to recruit all these athletes who had the opportunity to achieve good results in the Olympics to the team. This was also a guard of honor for Dai Li to confidently take over the mess.
If it were any other coach, taking over the current U.S. track and field team would be doomed to a failure. A clever woman cannot make a meal without straw. No matter how great the coach is, it will be in vain if the athletes are not strong enough.
But Dai Li was able to find some athletes who were buried but very powerful. If these athletes successfully join the US team, the overall strength of the US team will not drop much.
Dai Li actually came prepared.
…
After listening to Dai Li's request, Williams did not immediately agree, but fell into thinking.
It is normal in any country for a head coach to select athletes, but it is different in the United States. The right to participate in the individual events of the American team is basically determined by trials. This rule has lasted for decades.
Now Dai Li proposes to select the participating athletes himself, which undoubtedly breaks the tradition of the American team and also violates the rules of the American team that have lasted for decades. Of course, Williams couldn't agree easily. Deep down in his heart, he even resisted Dai Li's request.
Breaking tradition is not an easy thing to do, and Williams had more to think about. Williams was worried that once he agreed to Dai Li's request, future national team coaches would also make the same request.
After thinking for a long time, Williams finally said: "Coach Li, the US team has always relied on trials to determine participating athletes. This has been the case for decades. Your request does not comply with our rules."
The implication of Williams' words was that he did not intend to agree to Dai Li's request.
Dai Li started to persuade: "Mr. Williams, I have no intention of violating your rules or provoking your traditions, but the primary problem we face now is that we can't even get enough athletes to participate. This is why we The problem that needs to be solved first. Isn’t it that you asked me to be the head coach to solve the problem?"
"The so-called extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. There is only more than a week left before the registration deadline given by the International Olympic Organizing Committee. If we follow the original selection procedure step by step, we will not have enough time, and I also need to It will take time to train and integrate the team. If I can’t even do this, it will be difficult for me to guarantee the results of the players.”
Williams frowned and thought for a while, and finally nodded: "Okay, Coach Li, you have convinced me, but I hope you can submit the list of participating athletes three days before the International Olympic Committee deadline. Come up."
"No problem." Li Dai nodded and agreed.
…
Watching Dai Li's figure gradually go away, Frey asked in a low voice: "Mr. Williams, do you really plan to let that Dai Li select athletes by himself?"
"I've already promised him, why should I regret it?" Williams said.
"But we have never had this precedent. In the past, we relied on trials to determine the athletes." Frey continued.
"We have reached this point now, is it possible that we have to hold another trial again?" Williams showed a smile like an old fox, and then said: "I know what you want to express, do you think I gave it to you?" That Li Dai has too much power, right?"
"I have this idea." Frey admitted without hesitation.
"Don't forget, why did we deliberately find a Chinese as the head coach? We just need a suitable scapegoat, so it doesn't hurt to give him a little power. Besides, when it comes to selecting athletes, do you really think it's a matter of choice? A kind of power?"
Before Frey could answer, Williams asked himself and said: "In my opinion, this is not a power, but a chore. There is only a little more than a week, but you have to make up sixty or seventy As an athlete, this task is very arduous. I was still having a headache about this matter, but now it's better, someone can help us solve the problem."
"At the Olympics, if the performance of the U.S. track and field team is not good enough, we have even more reason to shift the responsibility to Dai Li. He is the head coach, and he personally selected the sports, but the results were very poor, so it failed. He should be more responsible!"