The Olympic track and field event has entered its seventh competition day.
In this day's competition, the American team has several gold medals, such as the men's shot put, the men's 400-meter hurdles, the women's 400-meter hurdles, the men's decathlon, and the men's 200-meter dash. In addition, the preliminaries of the 4x100m relay race will also be held on this day.
With the strength of American athletes, whether they are male or female, as long as they don't make mistakes like dropping the baton, it will be very easy to pass the preliminary round of the 4x100m relay.
And Li Dai happened to have the title of "Iron Chain", which was used by athletes to strengthen team competition. At the Asian Games that year, Li Dai relied on this title to help the national team win the championship in the 4x100m relay.
With the blessing of the "iron chain", the players of the American team cooperated very well, successfully completed the game and advanced to the finals.
After the relay race, the first gold medal in today's track and field competition is about to be born, that is, the men's 400-meter hurdles.
Since the explosion of track and field in the 1980s, the United States has occupied a dominant position in this event. They have won several consecutive Olympic championships in the 400-meter hurdles.
The reason why the United States is strong in this event is due to the fact that the United States has a group of excellent 400-meter athletes. The 400-meter hurdles is a relatively difficult event in track and field. Most of the 400-meter hurdles athletes came from the 400-meter sprint. In many cases, in the 4x400-meter relay race, the 400-meter hurdles will be Athletes come on as substitutes.
The United States has the most 400-meter sprinters in the world, and naturally there will also be a large number of 400-meter hurdlers. It is said that quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes. When there are enough people engaged in a certain sport, there will always be better talents, not to mention American athletes. His talent is also world-class.
However, in today's men's 400-meter final, the person who shouldered the task of winning the gold medal for the American team was not a player trained in the United States, but a naturalized athlete.
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"Clete, you look a little nervous. It seems that the Olympic final is really not an ordinary competition. With your competition experience, you will also feel nervous!" Li Dai said with a smile.
"I'm sorry, coach, I'm a little nervous. I'll try my best to adjust." Clete continued: "After all, this is my first time representing the US team."
The 31-year-old black athlete named Clete will represent the United States team in the men's 400-meter hurdles final.
Clete was born in the small Caribbean country of Trinidad and Tobago. People in this country love sports and have produced many outstanding athletes, and Clete is one of them.
Clete first participated in competitions as an athlete from Trinidad and Tobago. He participated in the World Athletics Championships, the IAAF Grand Prix and Diamond League, and the Olympic Games, and achieved some outstanding results. , but Clete was wearing the Trinidad and Tobago jersey at the time.
Later, Clete became an American citizen and became an American athlete. For this reason, he missed the last Olympic Games because according to the regulations of the International Olympic Committee, after athletes change their nationality, they are not allowed to participate in competitions on behalf of their country within three years.
In this Olympics, Clay was also one of the beneficiaries of the doping scandal. He was originally only the third place in the trials and was considered the "lower horse" in the US team. However, the first two people also retired because of the doping scandal. Clete, a "lower horse", suddenly became a "higher horse" and had to take on the important task of winning the gold medal for the American team.
Dai Li is very optimistic about Clete because this athlete is very hardworking and very self-disciplined.
Dai Li also knew that as an athlete not born in the United States, and in the 400-meter hurdles, the most powerful event of the American team, Clete was able to stand out, and the hardships behind it were absolutely unbearable for ordinary people.
Kleiter is different from previous pole vault champion Muller. Although Muller was born in Germany, he came to the United States with his parents when he was very young. He has lived in the United States since he was a child, received an American education, grew up in the United States, and was influenced by American culture. All have been integrated into the United States. And as a German of German descent, Americans are more likely to accept him.
Clayte is a naturalized athlete. He did not grow up in the United States. He has not been influenced by American culture, and naturally he cannot integrate into American culture so easily. Moreover, he is also a black man, and black immigrants are also a major obstacle for Clete to gain recognition.
For Clete, if he wants to succeed, he must work harder and achieve more than other Americans.
Dai Li is not an American, and he can understand Clete's eagerness to integrate into the United States. When he first came to the United States to open a training center, he was not trusted. Americans did not believe how capable a Chinese coach could be. Later, Dai Li slowly proved himself through his results, and then he established himself in Los Angeles. heel.
Clete obviously does not have the ability of Li Dai. For Clete, identity recognition is his biggest knot, and Li Dai must now try his best to help Clete untie this knot.
So Dai Li asked: "Clete, you have implemented the training plan I made for you before, right?"
"Of course. Coach, I'm not lazy. I completed the training plan you arranged for me very seriously." Clay nodded. He didn't understand why Dai Li suddenly asked this question.
"Then why did you obey my training plan?" Dai Li then asked.
"Because you are the coach!" Clete replied with an inexplicable look on his face.
"Don't you have any doubts about my training plan?" Dai Li asked again.
"You are the head coach, why should I question you? And the training plan you gave me is indeed very good, and it perfectly helped me solve some detailed problems." Clete said, his expression becoming more and more incomprehensible.
"Very good." Dai Li nodded, and then said: "Look, I am the head coach of the US team. I lead the entire US track and field team, and in this team, everyone will obey me, no one will Against me, no one would even question me. Because I'm the head coach, I'm the leader of this team, and I have enough authority within USA Track and Field."
"But I am not an American, but you will still obey me. Why? Because I have the ability to lead the entire team, and I have the ability to convince you! And what you recognize is also my ability."
Dai Li said, patted Clete on the shoulder, and continued: "Clate, I know what you are worried about, so I hope you can understand one thing. The reason why people recognize you has nothing to do with you. It doesn’t matter your nationality or your place of birth, what people recognize is your ability. And in sports, in the Olympics, what people recognize is the gold medal!”
"So you don't need to think so much, and there is no need to look forward and backward. Have you seen the end point? You just need to be the first to cross there and get the gold medal. You are an American hero!"
Clete nodded somewhat suddenly: "Coach Li, I understand, I know what to do."
Dai Li nodded with satisfaction. An athlete like Clete has competition experience and sufficient strength. As long as he can unlock the shackles in his heart and allow him to fully display his level, the possibility of winning will be great. increase.
Clete's performance did not disappoint Li Dai. During the competition, the veteran did well except for a slightly slower reaction time at the start. In the end, Clete also finished with a time of 47.70 seconds. Won the men's 400-meter hurdles championship.
After the finals of the 400-meter hurdles, we rested for an afternoon as usual. In the evening competition, the first final event was the men's shot put.
The Russians and Poles have strong strengths in this event, but the top two players in the men's shot put world rankings are both Americans.
The United States has never lacked strongmen, but in the shot put event, there are two talented athletes in this Olympics, World Track and Field Championship champion Divac, and Luther, currently ranked number one in the world.
The current world record for the shot put is 23.12 meters, and the Olympic record is 22.47 meters. Divac and Luther have both thrown over 22.50 meters in official competitions, which means they have the ability to break the Olympic record. .
And both of them are still young. Divac is 24 years old this year and Luther is 23 years old. For male shot put athletes, they still have room to grow. Many professional sports commentators believe that the current 23.12-meter The men's shot put world record may be broken by one of them.
For the US team, this was another planned gold medal, and there was no upset in the competition. Luther won the championship with a time of 22.52 meters and broke the Olympic record. Divac won the championship with a time of 22.18 meters. The result was runner-up.
Unknowingly, on the seventh day of competition in track and field, the first two gold medals were won by the US team.
After the men's shot put, there is the women's javelin final. In this event, no athlete from the US team advanced to the final, so the final has nothing to do with the US team.
Dai Li focused his attention on the track, because the last event of the men's decathlon, the 1500-meter race, was about to begin.
In the last Olympics, American athletes took the top two spots. In this Olympics, after the end of the javelin throw in the ninth event, the American athletes have firmly occupied the first place in points, and his scores have exceeded Scored 7500 points, 70 points higher than the second place.
So in the last 1,500-meter event, he doesn't need to compete for first place, or even for the top few. As long as he doesn't lag behind the second-placed player by too much time, he can win the championship.
The American athlete did not disappoint Li Dai. Although he only finished eighth in the 1,500 meters, he still ranked first in total points and successfully won the men's decathlon gold medal.
The next event was the women's 400-meter hurdles final. Although the Jamaican team had three runners, they were completely defeated by the United States and Russia in the medal race. In the end, the American team won the gold and bronze medals, and the Russians won the silver medal.
Of the five track and field gold medals that have been born today, the US team has already won four of them, which can be described as a bumper harvest.
There is also the last event left on this competition day, the men's 200-meter trapeze.