The notice to train in Los Angeles has been posted on the bulletin board.
"You want to train in Los Angeles and train until the start of the Olympics? It takes nearly twenty days. How long does it take to train?" one athlete said with a frown.
The person next to me immediately comforted him: "Don't worry, didn't the notice say that going to Los Angeles this time is not mandatory, we can participate voluntarily. If you don't want to go, just don't go."
"What I want to know is, if you train in Los Angeles until the Olympics, what should you do in the fourth training camp?" another athlete asked.
"The fourth training camp is included in this Los Angeles training camp. If you do not go to Los Angeles this time, it will be regarded as voluntarily giving up the fourth national team training camp. Anyway, the fourth training camp is relatively short and of little significance. "A voice suddenly sounded from behind.
It was Chris Payton who spoke. He followed Dai Li to the US Track and Field Team and was responsible for the training of middle-distance running and marathon running.
"Coach Payton, if we go to Los Angeles to train, what will be the benefits?" One athlete asked directly. This person is obviously the kind of person who can't afford to be early without benefit.
"The good thing... you can receive the best training in the world." Payton continued: "Our training center has the best hardware equipment in the world, and Coach Li will personally develop a training plan for you. I can guarantee that, although The training won’t take long, but you will improve by leaps and bounds.”
Several people looked at Payton with suspicion, obviously thinking that Payton was bragging.
"What, do you think I'm talking nonsense?" Payton was not angry because of this. He continued: "How effective are the training these days? You should have an evaluation in your own mind, right? This is our training level, and back If you go to Los Angeles, you can use better and more advanced training equipment, and the training effect will only be better than now."
None of them spoke to each other. As those who received training, these athletes could feel that although the third training camp in recent days was relatively short and not enough to make significant progress, the training effect was still very good.
Payton continued, "You probably don't know how high our charging standards are. It is no exaggeration to say that our charging standards are the highest among all physical training centers in Los Angeles. Of course, the training services we provide are also better. If If you go to Los Angeles to train, you can enjoy about 20 days of training for free, which is a profit in itself, isn't it?"
…
Payton turned and walked away, leaving behind a group of jocks uncertain to pay attention.
One of them took out his mobile phone and searched the Internet for information about Coach Li's physical training center.
Then the athlete said: "I found some information about Coach Li's training center on the Internet. Coach Payton did not lie to us. What he said is true."
"Is it really the best training in the world there?" someone next to him asked.
"No, I'm talking about the charging standards. The charging standards there are really very high. Take a look..." The man passed the phone to everyone.
"Oh my god, the fees are so expensive! I can't afford such a high training fee."
"This fee is indeed much higher than other physical training centers I know of."
"Living in California is already relatively expensive. Maybe other physical training centers in Los Angeles are not much cheaper."
"Other physical training centers in Los Angeles are definitely not so expensive. This price is comparable to our first-class physical training center in New York."
"Looking at it from this point of view, I think what Coach Payton said makes sense. I usually can't afford such expensive training fees. Now that I can get such training without spending a penny, I must be making money. ah!"
"Furthermore, all food and accommodation are free, and even the air ticket to Los Angeles can be reimbursed. Just think of traveling to Los Angeles, it is quite cost-effective. There are many nightclubs in Los Angeles, and you may even meet Hollywood stars! I am now Go sign up.
"Let's sign up together, and I'll go to Los Angeles too!"
The word "free" is indeed very attractive, even if it is not worth the loss. For example, someone drives a car to get free Chinese cabbage, but the money earned from the Chinese cabbage is not enough to pay for gas for the round trip.
For these athletes who are not very famous, it is naturally a very good thing to be able to experience expensive training for free and use high-tech training equipment that is not usually used at all.
Of course, people are lazy. Since it is not mandatory, some people will choose not to do it even if it can bring benefits to themselves. So not every athlete will choose to train in Los Angeles.
…
"Coach Li, the registration deadline is over. A total of 122 athletes have signed up to continue training in Los Angeles."
"I understand. Send the list of registered athletes to Manager Blake and ask him to book a hotel room." Li Dai said.
This number is better than what Li Dai expected. After all, this is not mandatory. Li Dai thought it would be good if half of the athletes were willing to go to Los Angeles to train. Unexpectedly, as many as three-quarters of the people signed up.
The problem of food and accommodation for more than 100 people is not a financial burden to Dai Li. The price of American food is very cheap, and Li Dai doesn't even have to worry about it himself. He can hire the chef of a restaurant and let the restaurant directly provide a variety of food.
As for accommodation, as long as you don't stay in a five-star hotel, the price will naturally not be very high. Dai Li can even book a medium-sized hotel directly.
The highest cost that Dai Li paid was the cost of training.
The training of more than one hundred athletes will occupy a large amount of training resources, including coaches, training venues, training equipment, etc. Using all these training resources on the athletes of the US Track and Field Team will inevitably reduce the training resources of other customers, Li Dai must pause for a while to take on new customers, which will of course affect Dai Li's business and make him make a lot less money, or even lose money during this period of time.
However, in the long run, this can also bring an advertising benefit to Dai Li. As a training venue for the U.S. national track and field team, this kind of advertising can attract some customers, but the premise is that the performance of this national team must be sufficient. Well, this is convincing.
If the results of this U.S. track and field team are very bad, it will also have a great impact on the business of Dai Li's training hall. No one will follow or identify with a loser. In the eyes of many people, everything a loser does is wrong. Therefore, if the U.S. track and field team fails in the Olympics, Dai Li’s training will inevitably take the blame. Athletes who originally wanted to come to Dai Li to train will be deterred by this, and he will lose many potential customers.
The doping scandal has caused the level of the U.S. track and field team to drop a lot this time. Many ordinary people in the United States also have a premonition that the performance of the U.S. team in this Olympics will decline. However, most people are still relatively optimistic. They think Even if many top athletes are involved in doping scandals and cannot compete, the US team can still achieve good results.
In fact, many Americans have a relatively naive understanding of things. They have become accustomed to being immersed in the concept of "America is number one in the world" and live an American-centered life. The only things they come into contact with in all aspects of their lives are Products dominated by American culture, such as Hollywood movies, various American pop music, American fast food, the four major professional sports leagues, American talk shows, etc.
It can be said that the United States is ahead of the world in many fields. Therefore, the vast majority of Americans do not understand things outside the United States, and they are unwilling to understand things outside the United States. They may even resist many foreign-born people. New things may even be regarded as alien and not accepted by the American people.
However, other countries are not optimistic about this U.S. track and field team.
The U.S. track and field team is No. 1 in the world. Since you are sitting on the No. 1 throne, you must be mentally prepared to be challenged or overtaken by others, because the whole world will target you.
At the same time, the whole world will regard the American team as an object of research and study. It is like a class. Teachers and parents hope that students who do not study well can learn from the first place. Whenever there is a parent-teacher meeting, the first place Parents will come to the podium and introduce how their children learn, and their introduction will be regarded as the bible by many parents of students in the audience.
The U.S. track and field team is such a "number one". Track and field teams from various countries will study the U.S. team, imitate the U.S. team, learn from the U.S. team's strengths, and look for the U.S. team's weaknesses. In many cases, foreign coaches are even more familiar with the American team than the Americans themselves.
As far as track and field is concerned, the biggest competitor of the American team is undoubtedly the Russian team.
The Soviet Union was once the world's leading sports power, able to crush the American team at every Olympic Games. For example, in the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Soviet Union won 50 gold medals and the United States won 33 gold medals; in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the Soviet Union won 49 gold medals and the United States won 34 gold medals. After the Moscow Olympics, due to the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, the United States boycotted the Olympics and did not participate. Then in the Los Angeles Olympics, the Soviet Union did not participate in revenge. In the subsequent 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Soviet Union and the United States once again competed at the same time. The Soviet Union won 55 gold medals and the United States won 36 gold medals. In the Barcelona Olympics after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the former Soviet Union countries participated as a joint team. As a result, the joint team won 45 gold medals, which was still more than the 37 gold medals of the United States.
Track and field has always been the strength of the Soviet Union. Before the 1980s, the world's three largest track and field powers were the Soviet Union, the Democratic Republic of Germany and the United States. At that time, the track and field of the Democratic Republic of Germany was even better than that of the United States. It was not until after the black civil rights movement in the United States that more and more black track and field athletes became available that the United States surpassed the Democratic Republic of Germany and became the world's second largest track and field power.
After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited most of the Soviet Union's legacy. Although Russian sports today are far less powerful than the Soviet Union, it is still the only country that can compete with the United States in track and field events. In particular, the rise of countries in Central and South America and the Caribbean has taken away many medals from the U.S. team in sprint events, which has weakened the U.S. team. This has also allowed Russia to be on par with the United States in track and field events.
Sports in the Soviet Union used to be a national system. When the Soviet Union just disintegrated, Russia almost negated everything in the Soviet Union, including politics, economy, culture, and sports. All aspects began to imitate the West, including completely negating the national system of sports. However, the results But it made Russia worse and worse. Throughout the 1990s, Russian sports were taking advantage of the Soviet Union.
It was not until a strongman president was elected that Russia regained its national sports system, which made Russian sports gradually become stronger again. In fact, Russia is not a complete national system like the Soviet era, but more like a national sport with Russian characteristics.
Russia's policy encourages athletes to go out and participate in foreign competitions or join foreign professional clubs, such as the famous CSKA Moscow. This is definitely a team with a Russian military background and is definitely a product of the national system, but The team not only improves its level by introducing foreign players, but once its players have the opportunity to go to a higher-level league, CSKA will definitely encourage the players to go.
In addition to state investment, many Russian wealthy people have also begun to invest in sports, which has caused some Russian coaches who have worked hard abroad to return to Russia.
The current head coach of the Russian national track and field team, Melkov, is such a person. He was once a world champion in long-distance running and had won many honors during the Soviet era. The disintegration of the Soviet Union coincided with his retirement. At that time, he knew nothing but long-distance running, so he was forced to leave Russia and go to European gold rush. Later, as Russia's economic situation improved, he returned to Russia and became the head coach of the Russian track and field team.
Russia’s dominant events in track and field are women’s middle- and long-distance running, marathon, race walking, high jump, and throwing events. As a long-distance runner, Merkov is relatively good at coaching middle- and long-distance running, marathon, and race walking. He is good at it, so he achieved good results after taking over the Russian national track and field team. In the last World Championships, Russia won 9 gold medals, ranking second only to the United States with 12 gold medals.
In this Olympics, Melklov's original goal is still second place. However, the plan could not keep up with the changes. The sudden doping scandal greatly reduced the strength of the American team. Melklov also saw the hope of surpassing the United States again.
…
A bearded middle-aged man walked into Melklov's office with a list.
"Coach, the final list of participants submitted by the U.S. Track and Field Team to the International Olympic Committee has been confirmed. As you expected, compared with the qualifying competition, the personnel changes are very large. Only less than a quarter of the athletes confirmed in the qualifying competition were One is still in the current US track and field team. The rest are all new to the US team." The bearded man said.
The bearded man’s name is Igor Nagaev, Melkov’s deputy and the deputy head coach of the Russian track and field team.
Melklov took over the list of participating athletes and read the names of all participating athletes carefully.
"The personnel changes are indeed huge. There are many athletes whose names I have never heard of. I think such athletes are not very famous even in the United States." Melklov said.
"But Jimmy Irvin, the king of the 400 meters, is still on the list. Judging from his results in the trials, he still has a good chance of winning the Olympic 400 meters championship. There is also Justin Alexander, who has been suspended for so long. He also made a comeback this year, and I heard that his time can still be close to 9.80 seconds. After Gittel retired, this is a very competitive time." Igor Najav said.
"Although the U.S. team has Alvin, I still feel that this is the weakest U.S. track and field team in history. It's a pity that the U.S. team's advantageous events are completely different from ours. Otherwise, it will be a trade-off. situation. If we can snatch a gold medal from the American team, then the difference between the inside and the outside will be two gold medals." Melklov put down the list with a relaxed look, and continued; "We can only look forward to the British team now. The people are a little stronger, and I hope they can steal a few gold medals from the Americans.”
…
The UK is also a country with strong track and field strength, but its strong track and field events basically overlap with those of the United States.
At that time, the British Empire had colonies all over the world. Even in modern times, the scale of the Commonwealth Games is not inferior to that of the Asian Games, and the level of competition is even better.
Therefore, many athletes from economically backward Commonwealth countries hope to be naturalized in the UK. The vast majority of them are black athletes from Africa, such as Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, and Jamaica. These countries were all former British colonies. , are also rich in strong black athletes. These strong black athletes also brought many Olympic medals to Britain.
Black Americans and British blacks are good at similar events. They are all sprints, long jumps and other events that require high explosive power. However, compared with native American black athletes, these black athletes who were born in Africa and then naturalized in the UK still have to wait a little longer. Inferior.
Moreover, the sports culture of the United Kingdom has many similarities with that of the United States. People are very involved in sports. Therefore, in the two events of men's decathlon and women's heptathlon, Britain's strength is not inferior to that of the United States.
The head coach of the British national track and field team is named Alex. He is a legend in British track and field. He was once an athlete in charge of training disabled athletes. Later, he was promoted to a coach due to his outstanding performance in leading the team to participate in the Paralympic Games. Head Coach of UK Athletics.
At this time, Coach Alex also got the list of athletes participating in the U.S. track and field team.
"There are many people on this list of participating athletes that I don't know and have never even heard of. There are rumors that this U.S. track and field team is the weakest in history. It seems that it is not groundless." Eric As Si spoke, he kept a gentlemanly smile on his face.
"Coach, I just took a look. In this Olympics, we may defeat the American team and win the gold medal in several events." The assistant said excitedly.
"Of course we have to strive for gold medals, and the more the better, but I am also very interested in the new head coach of the US team. This is the first non-American track and field head coach in the history of the United States!" Alex said .
"Are you talking about the Chinese coach? I don't think he has the ability to lead the U.S. track and field team. After all, track and field is not the Chinese's strong point." the assistant said.
Alex still maintained his gentlemanly smile, and he said: "I pay attention to this Chinese coach because his experience is somewhat similar to mine. As you know, four years ago, the people I trained were still disabled. He is a human athlete who also participated in the Paralympic Games. And the first work of this Chinese coach is also a disabled person. You must have heard the name of 'Blade Runner' Philip, right? He is the only one in the world who can compete with normal people. The coach’s disabled athletes were discovered and trained by this Chinese coach himself.”
"So, this Chinese coach is very good at sprint training. Sprinting has always been the strength of the American team!" The assistant's expression became a little solemn.
Alex immediately consoled him: "Don't worry, our sprinters' individual abilities are not enough to win the Olympics. We just need to run the relay race well. But the Jamaicans may have different ideas! After all, Ji Terre has retired, and the Jamaican sprint needs a new leader. They prefer to keep the title of 'No. 1 Flyer' in Jamaica rather than take it back to the United States!"
…
Jamaican National Track and Field Team.
At this time, head coach Frazier was giving instructions to his athletes, and his expression looked very excited. He clenched his fists and said:
"This U.S. track and field team is the weakest in history. This is also an opportunity for our Jamaican team. Although we lost Gittel, I believe that among you, there will be someone to replace Gittel and become The new world’s No. 1 flying man! There are six gold medals in total in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. This time, we want to get them all!”
…
The bowl of bean juice in front of Xue Li had reached the bottom. He patted his stomach and burped.
"In the past, the U.S. track and field team was full of big names, but the U.S. track and field team in this Olympics is undoubtedly the weakest in history... Lao Xue, this public account I just followed just posted an article saying this The U.S. track and field team in 2016 is very weak and will definitely be doomed in the Olympics. Your apprentice, the position of the head coach of the U.S. team is not secure either. Will he be fired by the Americans?" A busybody asked. .
"Don't listen to the nonsense of those public accounts, they know nothing!" Xue Li curled his lips: "That's my apprentice. Even the weakest American team can bring out the best results!"