Chapter 15

General Administration.

In the director's office, Director Hou adjusted his reading glasses and carefully read the document in his hand.

Director Hou was a former athlete who, after retiring, took charge of the women's volleyball team and led the national women's volleyball team to its most glorious period. Later, he entered the General Administration of Sport, which was then called the Sports Commission. From Xu Haifeng's first Olympic gold medal, he witnessed step by step the growth and glory of the country's sports. One could say he had dedicated his entire life to the country's sports cause.

This year, Director Hou was already 64 years old. After the Athens Olympics next year, he would retire and leave the sports position he had fought for all his life. But at this moment, he showed no sign of slackness as he approached retirement. He wanted to stand his last post not only out of duty but also for the cause he loved and had fought for all his life.

Many people believed that the Athens Olympics next year were a preparation for the Beijing Olympics, so the results did not need to be too demanding. However, Director Hou did not think so. He very much hoped that the national team would achieve excellent results in the Athens Olympics and hoped to make breakthroughs in certain events. Although patriotism dominated, for an elderly man about to retire, it was also a way to put a perfect ending to decades of work.

At this moment, what Director Hou held in his hand was the list of athletes who had met the Olympic qualifying standards in track and field events.

Liu Fei, the 110-meter hurdler, was clearly the brightest star on this list and the athlete Director Hou was most optimistic about. According to Liu Fei's current level, he was capable of winning a medal at the Olympics, thus achieving a breakthrough in the national team's men's track and field short-distance events.

"Hmm?" Director Hou's gaze swept over the men's 100-meter sprint, and he noticed two names, both marked with the Olympic A standard.

"Two people!" Director Hou looked carefully, confirming that he had not made a mistake, and his eyes sparkled with excitement.

"The men's 100-meter sprint, usually it's so difficult to even meet the Olympic B standard, and now two people have reached the A standard. They might even make it to the second round. Chen Jian? I've heard this name before; he won a medal at the last Asian Games, a very promising young man; Zhang Guan? Who is this?" Director Hou thought hard but had no impression, so he called in his secretary and pointed to the list, saying, "Go and get the files of these two men's 100-meter sprinters."

The secretary immediately notified the Athletics Association, and within twenty minutes, the files of Chen Jian and Zhang Guan were sent to the secretary's email.

"Chen Jian, second place in the 100 meters at the 2001 East Asian Games; third place in the 100 meters and 4x100 meters relay at the 2002 Busan Asian Games; champion in the 100 meters at the 2002 National Track and Field Grand Prix Final..." Director Hou looked at the row of honors on Chen Jian's file, all the way to the recently obtained "Champion in the 100 meters at the Huangpu Station of the National Track and Field Championships."

Director Hou's face showed a satisfied smile, and he muttered to himself, "The Huangpu Station of the National Track and Field Championships, a personal best of 10.17 seconds. This competition was just finished the day before yesterday, which means Chen Jian is in great form right now. Sending him to the Olympics might result in a breakthrough, very good."

Director Hou then opened Zhang Guan's file.

"Zhang Guan, only seventeen years old, so young!" Director Hou continued to read, and in the honors section, there was only one entry: "Champion at the Asian Athletics Championship Qualifying Event."

Director Hou's face immediately turned grim. He called in the secretary, pointed to Zhang Guan's sparse file, and asked, "What's going on? Why is there only one line?"

The secretary knew that Director Hou felt there was too little information on Zhang Guan and thought he had not done his job well. He quickly defended himself, "I was just about to report to you. The Athletics Association only provided this much information on Zhang Guan. When I first received this information, I thought the Athletics Association had missed something, so I called to confirm. The Athletics Association said that Zhang Guan is only seventeen years old and had not participated in any competitions before. The Asian Athletics Championship Qualifying Event was his first official competition, so there is only this one record."

Director Hou's expression eased somewhat and he asked, "Since there are no competition records, there should at least be training information! For example, which sports school he trained at, which sports school selected him, and which coach he followed before. But here, there is only his household registration and team affiliation."

"According to the Athletics Federation, Zhang Guan only received two months of formal training before participating in the Asian Athletics Championship, and he was not trained through a sports school. He is an ordinary high school student who has not undergone sports training." The secretary paused and said in a low voice, "It is said that Zhang Guan was discovered by Old Chen by chance."

"Discovered by Old Chen?" Director Hou nodded, acknowledging Old Chen's abilities.

"So this athlete was not selected through the system." Director Hou gently tapped the table, and the word "genius" flashed in his mind.

The training of domestic athletes follows a complete system, with various levels of sports teams and sports schools occupying a large number of personnel and financial allocations, and also bearing the responsibility of selecting and training athletes. Famous athletes generally spend their nine years of compulsory education on training, and athletes in events like gymnastics even start training from the age of three or four. In such a situation, for an athlete outside the system to achieve such results could only mean he was a genius!

Director Hou suddenly shook his head and said, "No, we cannot send such an inexperienced person to compete. Zhang Guan has never been on an international stage; sending him directly to the Olympics is definitely not feasible. This would be too irresponsible. The Olympics are not just a sports event; they are also a representation of the country's image. Even just appearing once, even just making a brief appearance, represents the country! We can lose the competition, but we must not lose face for the country."

Director Hou's generation of sports people had experienced a lot: the country's turmoil in their childhood, the passion of construction in their youth, the country's growing strength in middle age, and the re-emergence of a great nation in old age. As a coach, he had led teams abroad many times, from the initial hostility and indifference of the Western world to the later respect and praise. No one understood better than they did the importance of the country's image. Moreover, the Athens Olympics would be the last major event of his term, and he hoped every athlete would achieve good results.

Director Hou took out a pen and wrote a note under Zhang Guan's file: Ensure that he participates in an international event before the Athens Olympics to gain international competition experience! Strive to ensure he is not nervous or intimidated at the Olympics.

...

Athletics Management Center.

Director Ma convened everyone in the meeting room again.

"Director Hou of the General Administration has personally given instructions, and everyone has already reviewed them, right? Our center's leadership has specifically instructed me to strictly implement Director Hou's instructions and ensure they are carried out. Today's meeting is mainly to discuss this matter." Director Ma looked at Coach Yu and said, "Coach Yu, you are in charge of the sprint events, so please share your thoughts first."

Coach Yu cleared his throat and said, "First, let me talk about domestic events. The only remaining competition this year is the year-end Grand Prix of the National Track and Field Championships in November. This event requires accumulating enough points in previous stations to qualify, so Zhang Guan does not have the qualification to participate. As for next year's event plan, there will be the National Indoor Track and Field Championships after the Spring Festival, and the National Track and Field Grand Prix series will start around April. However, one of the stations in the National Track and Field Grand Prix will be the Athens Olympics qualifying event. Since Zhang Guan has met the Olympic A standard and already qualified for the Athens Olympics, he does not need to participate. Considering the preparation time for the Olympics, I estimate Zhang Guan can participate in one to two stations of the National Track and Field Grand Prix at most."

"So few?" Director Ma frowned and asked, "What about international events?"

"Internationally, there is the 9th Asian Athletics Championships this month. Zhang Guan does not have the qualification to participate in the World Athletics Grand Prix. Apart from that, there are no other events this year. Next year, the Golden League is too high-level and mainly held in Europe, so our country's athletes cannot obtain invitations from the organizing committee. The World Athletics Grand Prix series next year requires participants to be at least 18 years old, and Zhang Guan will only turn 18 in the second half of next year, so he does not meet the age requirement. After that, it will be the Olympics." Coach Yu explained.

"Then isn't it only the 9th Asian Athletics Championships this month?" Director Ma thought for a moment and asked, "What about the youth events?"

"Youth events are relatively few. Next year, there is the World Junior Athletics Championships. The competition will be held from the end of July to early August next year, and the location is in Italy, which is quite close to Athens." Coach Yu said.

Director Ma sighed in disappointment, "The time does not allow it. The Athens Olympics will open on August 13th, and before that, the participating athletes need to attend training, especially for first-time participants, who will have more training sessions. Additionally, the registration deadline for the Athens Olympics is in early July."

Everyone immediately understood that the registration materials for the Athens Olympics would need to be reviewed by the General Administration of Sport. At that time, the World Junior Athletics Championships would not have started, so Zhang Guan's registration materials would still lack international competition experience, which would clearly indicate that the center had not executed the General Administration's orders. This was absolutely not allowed.

"It seems we are left with only the 9th Asian Athletics Championships this month. Prepare the letter and have Zhang Guan participate in the Asian Athletics Championships." Director Ma said helplessly.

"Will it be an additional quota or a replacement for an existing participant?" Coach Yu immediately asked.

Director Ma thought for a moment and said, "Let's replace an existing participant! At this point, the quotas have already been determined, and the financial allocations have been made, all calculated per person. Suddenly adding one more person would create financial issues, and it would be troublesome for travel, accommodation, and meals. It would also be difficult to explain to the audit department."

Coach Yu then asked, "What about the 4x100 meters relay? Zhang Guan has never run in a relay!"

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Thank you to the book friends Xing Ming Hui Yao and Yan Yan Jing Dian for your support. Please recommend and collect.

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