At 10:10 a.m. local time, two events were held on the track and field at the same time. The field event is the qualifying event for the women's shot put, and the track event is the first round of the men's 800m. In both events, the U.S. team sent three athletes.
In the women's shot put event, the U.S. team originally had the possibility of winning gold. They have a world-class player who has won the Olympic runner-up and the World Championships champion. However, the famous player voluntarily withdrew from the US team after the doping scandal broke out, citing the recurrence of his back injury.
Today, the three female shot put players on the U.S. team are all newcomers participating in the competition for the first time, and two of them were personally selected by Dai Li.
As for the men's 800 meters, the United States is not weak, but the Kenyans are too strong in this event. It will be difficult for other countries to challenge Kenyan dominance.
The athletes walked onto the field, and in the area where the coach was waiting, Dai Li was talking to a Chinese coach in his fifties.
The Chinese coach’s surname is Yang, and he is the coach in charge of the national team’s throwing events. When Dai Li was still studying with the national team, he knew Coach Yang. Now that we meet old friends again, it is inevitable to have a conversation. It's just that the "Coach Yang" in Dai Li's mouth back then is still "Coach Yang" now; and the "Xiao Li" in Coach Yang's mouth back then has now become "Coach Li."
In terms of status, the head coach of the national team of the world's number one track and field powerhouse is definitely the most powerful person on the field. Anyone who sees Li Dai will be polite.
"The women's shot put is an event in which we hope to win the gold medal. The Li Xiaona we sent has won the bronze medal in the World Championships." Coach Yang introduced.
"I remember her. When I was still in our national team, she seemed to have been selected for the national team. I remember she was not yet 18 years old at the time." Li Dai said.
"Yes, so many years have passed." Coach Yang said with a playful smile, and then said; "Coach Li, you are the head coach of the U.S. track and field team, and your level is naturally better than that of our domestic coaches. Duo, what do you think Li Xiaona still needs to improve on? How about giving us some pointers?"
Dai Li could hear the vague sourness in Coach Yang's words, but Dai Li could understand Coach Yang's thoughts.
At that time, Li Dai could only be regarded as a seconded member of the national team, and did not even have a national team establishment. Even though he had the aura of Xue Li's disciple, he was not an official member of the national team after all. In comparison, Coach Yang at that time was already a coach in charge of a small project.
In just a few years, Dai Li suddenly became the head coach of the U.S. track and field team, becoming the most valued figure in the track and field field and someone that other coaches looked up to. In terms of status, Dai Li instantly surpassed Coach Yang by several levels. It was like seeing a young man at the bottom of his generation suddenly become the leader of the most powerful club. This psychological gap made Coach Yang feel sour in his heart. It is normal.
Of course, Coach Yang asked Li Dai for advice. Although he didn't really ask for advice, it wasn't to embarrass Li Dai. He just felt a little unhappy and wanted to vent his emotions.
Dai Li didn't mind Coach Yang's behavior. The psychological gap was understandable. But he still decided to let Coach Yang see what he was capable of. So he launched a detection on Li Xiaona and immediately found Li Xiaona's shortcomings.
"Li Xiaona is an athlete with very good skills. She is not at a disadvantage compared to European and American athletes in terms of strength, and she also has rich competition experience. If I have to say there is room for improvement, I feel that when she throws, her arms are stretched. The movements are a little too stiff. I think her movements can be stretched a little more and not be so tight. This will be helpful for the coordination of the overall technical movements. If the coordination of the overall technical movements is better, maybe it will improve her performance. The improvement is minimal, but the stability of the throwing will be better, and excessive fluctuations in personal status can be avoided." Li Dai said.
As Dai Li spoke, Coach Yang's expression had hardened, because what Dai Li said was completely consistent with the situation he had grasped.
The higher the level of an athlete, the smaller the room for improvement. Li Xiaona, a bronze medalist at the World Championships, can already be regarded as the top shot put player in the world. Such athletes are already approaching perfection in all aspects. It is also very difficult to find even the slightest flaws.
Faced with such an athlete, the coach needs to repeatedly watch the athlete's game video, slow down bit by bit, compare and analyze bit by bit, and then continue to discuss with the athlete, so that it is possible to discover the athlete's flaws. Coach Yang also used this method, and he also invited several throwing coaches to analyze it together, and held several seminars before finally coming to this conclusion.
However, Coach Yang spent a lot of time and energy to come to the conclusion that Li Dai came up with after just two glances. If Coach Yang hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it.
"He actually got it right! He was able to say it so accurately just by looking at it casually. When Dai Li was in our national team, why didn't we realize that he had such great abilities? No wonder this kid can give U.S. Track and Field As the head coach of the team, this kind of observation ability is really unmatched!" Coach Yang thought to himself.
At this time, the unhappiness in Coach Yang's heart had completely dissipated, and was replaced by admiration for Dai Li, whom he had sincerely accepted.
On the field, an athlete from the US team also stepped onto the field. This athlete only threw a score of 17.37 meters for the first time, which was considered a failing result in the Olympics.
In the Olympic shot put qualifying competition, each athlete only has three chances. The 12 athletes with the best scores advance to the finals, so every throwing opportunity is very precious. If the result of the first throw is too poor, the results of the next two throws will be very poor. The pressure of the first trial investment will be relatively high. And if the results of the second trial shot are also very poor, then the last shot will have to be fought against the odds.
The American athlete picked up the shot put, took a few deep breaths, adjusted his breathing, and then made a throwing motion.
"Whoosh!" The shot put was thrown from her hand, formed an arc, and landed on the grass in the distance.
"We have passed the 19-meter mark. This result is enough to advance to the finals." Coach Yang pointed at the athlete and asked, "Who is this person? I have never seen her before. The little girl is pretty cool." awesome."
"Her name is Vince Jackson. This is her first time representing the United States team in an international competition." Dai Li frowned slightly and said with a serious expression: "This kind of young athlete has too many ups and downs."