University of Tennessee.
Although summer vacation has arrived, there are still many students on campus.
The summer for American college students is very busy. Since college tuition is very high and most students rely on student loans to go to college, using summer jobs to work has become the best way for college students to reduce their personal financial burden. Many businesses will also offer summer job positions specifically for students.
In addition, many college students will participate in social practice activities, especially some students who are about to graduate, and will use this time to prepare for employment.
In addition, universities often offer summer courses, which are shorter and more stressful, but can earn credits quickly.
For those college students with full scholarships, their summers are much happier. Full scholarships from American universities include living allowances, so students who receive full scholarships do not need to worry about financial pressure. They can live their college life in a nutritious way, and they can also do what they want to do during the summer vacation.
Ellis Met is such a college student. He studied gymnastics when he was a child and started practicing sprinting in high school. The coach found that he was very good at body flexibility and control box, so he asked him to train 110 meters instead. Hurdle. In his senior year, Met won the Georgia State Hurdle Championship, which earned him a full scholarship to the University of Tennessee.
The University of Tennessee also has a tradition of hurdles. Among their alumni are many well-known hurdlers. In his first year at the University of Tennessee, Met broke the 110-meter hurdles school record that had been held for 24 years by the University of Tennessee.
Of course, compared with many mature athletes, Met is still immature. He also has many shortcomings of young athletes, such as immature skills, lack of experience in competitions, and unstable performance during competitions.
Met also chose to participate in the recent Olympic trials. It was the largest competition he had ever participated in, but the result was not satisfactory. Met was eliminated in the first round of preliminary competition.
Obviously, that is not Met's true level. He performed too poorly during the game, but as a young athlete, this is the tuition he must pay. And Mete also learned his shame and became brave. After being eliminated in the trial, he immediately threw himself into training.
At this time, Met was sweating profusely on the training ground. Even in the summer, he still did not choose to rest. On the contrary, he also increased his training volume.
Matt also knew that he got a full scholarship from the school by hurdling. If he could not achieve good results, the full scholarship would probably be lost.
After the day's training, Met dragged his tired body back to the locker room. After taking a shower, Met lay on the bench in the locker room, enjoying the moment of leisure.
A teammate walked over and asked, "Ellis, do you have any plans for the evening?"
"No." Matt shook his head.
"I know there's a party going on somewhere, do you want to go together? There might be a lot of beautiful girls there!" his teammates asked.
Mate hesitated for a few seconds, and finally shook his head: "No, I have to go to bed early today, and I have to get up early for training tomorrow."
"You have been training so hard. It seems that the Olympic trials have had a big impact on you!" His teammate paused and said, "Do you really want to join the national team? There are only three places in each event, and there are so many in the United States. Athletes. Haha, I’m not looking down on you, but it’s really too difficult.”
Met sat up and said, "I thought I could enter the semi-finals, but I was eliminated in the first round. I think my efforts were not enough, so I had to train harder for the World Championships two years later. , I’m already going to enter the national team!”
Seeing Mete's determined look, his teammates decided to comfort him, so they said: "Ellis, I think it's a good thing that you didn't enter the national team this time. That doping scandal As you know, the head coach of the national team, Sebastian, is actually a senior 'pharmacist'. If you go to the national team, you might be led astray by him."
"Moreover, many athletes in the national team were involved in the doping scandal and were forced to withdraw. This has had a very bad impact. The current national team can be said to be unmotivated and unwilling to compete. At the Olympics, I am afraid that There will be no harvest!”
"In addition, the news said that the Athletics Association announced yesterday the candidate for the new head coach of the national team. It turned out to be a foreign coach, and he is also Chinese! Do you dare to imagine that a Chinese will be the head coach of the U.S. national track and field team! We don't even have a qualified coach. We can’t even find a coach, so this national team is completely finished.”
"Are you not mistaken? Chinese head coach? Is the Athletics Association crazy! If it is a British or a German, this is barely justified, but for a Chinese, their country's track and field is so bad, even in Asia is not the most outstanding... Are all our American coaches dead?" Matt couldn't believe his ears.
"What I said is true. If you don't believe me, look at it." His teammate threw the phone to Mete. On it was the news that Dai Li was the head coach of the US national track and field team.
Matt read the news carefully several times, and then took a long breath: "It's actually true!"
"How about it? Are you glad now that you didn't enter the national team?" The teammate smiled slightly and then said: "So you don't need to put so much pressure on yourself. Sometimes even if you enter the national team, it may not be the same." That’s a good thing. You don’t always have to think about training, training, training. You should relax yourself when appropriate, such as going to that party together at night.”
"That makes sense. Even if a national team led by a Chinese coach comes and asks me to join the national team, I won't go!" Mete snorted coldly.
At this moment, an administrator from the school appeared at the door. Instead of entering the locker room, he knocked on the door frame and said, "Ellis Met, there is someone outside looking for you."
"Okay, I'll be there right away." Met quickly put on his clothes, took his bag and walked out of the locker room, and his teammates followed closely behind.
After walking through the corridor and coming to the hall, Mate saw a yellow man standing there at the first sight.
"Is that person looking for me? I don't seem to have any Asian friends! Wait, that person looks familiar. Where have I seen him before?" Met suddenly remembered what he had just seen on his teammate's phone. That photo.
"It's him! He's the new head coach of the national track and field team. I just saw his photo!"
…
In the hall at the end of the corridor, Dai Li was looking around when Matt walked over from a distance.
Dai Li looked at Matt, and when he came closer, he asked: "Are you Ellis Matt?"
"Ah, yes!" Matt looked very surprised.
"Hello, my name is Dai Li, and I am the new head coach of the U.S. national track and field team. I would like to ask you, are you interested in representing the U.S. team in this Olympics?"
"You really came to invite me!" Matt was stunned for a moment.