Chapter 23

The men's 100-meter semi-finals.

The semi-finals are divided into three groups, with the top two from each group and the two fastest third-place finishers advancing. Among the three national team members, Chen Jian is in the first group, Shen Bao in the second, and Zhang Guan in the third.

In this group, Zhang Guan encountered the black athlete Habibe again, who was placed in the same group as him. However, Habibe is not the strongest opponent in this group, as Japan's Asahara Noboru is also in this group.

Asahara Noboru, a 31-year-old veteran, is part of Japan's golden generation of sprinters, alongside Itō Kōji and others. Asahara has run a personal best of 10.02 seconds. For an athlete over 30, Asahara still maintains a very good competitive state, which is quite remarkable. Historically, even in 2008, Asahara still performed at a level that did not fall behind the younger athletes, and he even participated in the 2008 Olympics.

Apart from Asahara and Habibe, the other strong competitors in this group include Hananai from Jordan, Bao Shengsong from Singapore, Said from the Maldives, and Om Du Fanghe from Laos. However, these athletes only meet the Olympic B standard, and being in this group means the semi-finals will be the end of their journey in this Asian track and field competition.

In the first two groups, Chen Jian performed well and advanced as the group leader, with Tsuchi Kenta in second place. In the second group, the group leader was naturally Muroshige Shingo, with the Saudi athlete Mubarak in second place, and Shen Bao in third. However, Shen Bao's time was better than the third-place finisher in the first group, so according to the rules, Shen Bao has already secured a spot in the final.

Habibe knew his speed was not as fast as Zhang Guan and Asahara. If he wanted to advance to the final, he had to be faster than the third-place finisher in the first group. Zhang Guan and Asahara were undoubtedly the top two in the third group in terms of strength.

In the press area, Filipino journalists generally focused their cameras on Zhang Guan, whispering to each other.

"That's Zhang Guan," Ramos, a journalist from the Manila Times, pointed at Zhang Guan and said to his female colleague, "He boasted yesterday that he would break the Asian record!"

The female journalist zoomed in and examined him closely, then said, "He's so tall! Even our Filipino basketball players aren't as tall as him."

Ramos sneered, "What's the use of being tall? It might help against ordinary athletes, but this time he's up against the Japanese star Asahara Noboru. Just wait and see, Asahara will definitely crush Zhang Guan and show him his place!"

Ramos deliberately spoke loudly so that the surrounding journalists could hear. They all nodded in agreement. In the eyes of the Filipinos, the Japanese were even more friendly than their American masters. Moreover, the Filipino media had previously mocked and belittled Zhang Guan, so the Filipino journalists present were all waiting to see him fail.

In the press area, Yang Zhongyi, the national team's accompanying journalist, stood there with a grim expression, clearly irritated by Ramos's words. Yang Zhongyi was in his prime and couldn't help but retort, "I don't think Zhang Guan will lose to Asahara. Although Asahara has better historical results, Zhang Guan is in great form recently. He ran under 10.10 seconds in the preliminaries yesterday."

"Is that so?" Ramos smiled slyly and then took out five 1000 Philippine peso bills, saying, "Dare to bet with me on who is faster, Asahara or Zhang Guan? I bet 5000 pesos on Asahara. If you don't have pesos, you can use dollars. If you're not brave enough, forget it!"

The surrounding Filipino journalists immediately started to egg him on. Yang Zhongyi, being young and hot-blooded, was quickly provoked and said, "Why wouldn't I dare?"

Yang Zhongyi took out 5000 Philippine pesos but soon regretted it. At that time, the domestic currency had not yet appreciated, and 5000 Philippine pesos was equivalent to about 1000 RMB. The housing prices in the capital had not yet skyrocketed, and the price of a square meter in the fourth ring was only 4000 RMB. 1000 RMB was a significant amount for Yang Zhongyi, who had just started his career.

"Zhang Guan, you must win! Otherwise, my 1000 RMB will be gone!" Yang Zhongyi prayed in his heart.

...

In the stadium, the announcer was introducing the athletes.

The camera focused on Zhang Guan, and the announcer introduced his name and nationality. Zhang Guan waved symbolically, but heard a large chorus of boos from the crowd.

Zhang Guan looked around, puzzled. He had never received such treatment before and felt the atmosphere in the stadium was somewhat hostile.

"It seems I've suddenly become unpopular. These Filipinos seem to have a lot of grievances against me," Zhang Guan took a deep breath and his expression became serious.

Zhang Guan knew that respect is earned. If you are strong, people will respect you; if you are weak, even if you flatter and smile, you won't gain respect. Now was the time to prove himself with his strength.

Zhang Guan stood at the starting blocks, looking seriously at the finish line and preparing to start.

Perhaps it was the last race of the day, and the referee wanted to finish early, so he didn't give the athletes much time to prepare. The starter walked to the starting line and said, "On your marks... set..."

The moment the gun went off, Habibe was the first to dash out.

"Habibe is using a gun start!" The spectators immediately looked at the starting reaction times on the display. Habibe's reaction time was only 0.128 seconds, while most other athletes' reaction times were around 0.15 seconds. This indicated that Habibe's gun start was successful.

"Habibe is really going all out, using the gun start strategy. This is not surprising, as in this group, Habibe is not as strong as Zhang Guan and Asahara. If he wants to advance as one of the top two, it's almost impossible, so he's using the gun start to try his luck," Coach Yu thought. He then looked at Zhang Guan's reaction time, which was a steady 0.15 seconds.

In the 100-meter race, the first 30 meters are the acceleration phase, where the athletes don't pull away much. The next 40 meters are the key to separating the athletes, where the leading group will pull ahead of the others. The final 30 meters are the final sprint.

Habibe had a slight advantage at the start, but his short stature meant that by the 50-meter mark, the advantage he gained at the start had disappeared.

A tall figure appeared on Habibe's left and easily overtook him. Habibe could see out of the corner of his eye that it was Zhang Guan.

The two athletes' strides were not too different, but Zhang Guan, who was nearly 1.9 meters tall, had longer legs and a larger stride. Despite his best efforts, Habibe could only watch as Zhang Guan overtook him.

Habibe knew it wasn't his fault; he had done his best, but he was just not tall enough. He also thought that Asahara should be overtaking him soon.

He looked to his right and saw that Asahara was still a half-step behind him.

"What's going on? Zhang Guan has already overtaken me, and Asahara is still behind me. Is Asahara slow?" In the next moment, Habibe realized that Asahara was slightly faster than him, but it wasn't that Asahara was slow; it was that Zhang Guan was faster!

At this moment, Asahara watched Zhang Guan take the lead, feeling shocked. According to the assessment of the Japanese team's coach, Kōji Kobayashi, Zhang Guan was at the same level as Asahara, and Asahara himself believed this. But now, Asahara knew that both he and Coach Kobayashi were wrong.

"I was wrong, the coach was wrong, we were all wrong! I thought Zhang Guan was at the same level as me, but now it seems he is stronger. His true level is probably on par with top African and American athletes," Asahara thought, and he was also worried about Japan's chances of winning the final.

Japanese sprinters dominate in Asian competitions but are no match for African and American athletes on the international stage. For Japanese athletes, breaking the 10-second barrier requires perfect conditions, while for top international athletes, it's a matter of whether they want to do it. For Asian athletes, it's a question of "can they," while for American black athletes, it's a question of "do they want to."

...

In the press area.

Yang Zhongyi's heart was pounding. He had covered many sports events before, but he had never been as nervous as today. After all, the outcome of this race would affect his 1000 RMB. Even though Zhang Guan had taken the lead, Yang Zhongyi couldn't shake off his nervousness.

On the other hand, Ramos looked even more agitated. As a senior journalist for a major Filipino newspaper, Ramos earned a good salary and received travel allowances, but 5000 Philippine pesos was about half a month's income for him. Losing it would feel like a knife to the heart. Most Filipinos don't save much, and Ramos was no exception. Impulsively betting 5000 Philippine pesos meant he might go hungry for the next half month if he lost.

"Go, Asahara!" Ramos shouted in his heart.

Perhaps his encouragement worked, and on the track, Asahara overtook Habibe, which immediately excited Ramos.

"Go, overtake Zhang Guan!" Ramos clenched his fists, but then he saw that Zhang Guan, who was in first place, was already near the finish line.

"Zhang Guan won!" Yang Zhongyi's cheers rang in Ramos's ears, and he felt the 5000 Philippine pesos in his hand being snatched away by Yang Zhongyi.

"What are you doing?" Ramos roared.

Yang Zhongyi waved the 5000 Philippine pesos triumphantly and said, "Mr. Ramos, Zhang Guan beat Asahara, so these 5000 pesos are mine. You should honor the bet; everyone is watching. You won't back out, will you?"

Yang Zhongyi pointed to the electronic timer at the finish line, where the number "10.00" was prominently displayed.

---

Thank you, Loli Green Town, for the Santa Claus. I just found out about this thing during the holiday, it's quite fresh. Thank you, Zhang Dao Yi and Wu Ru Shu Cong, for your support. Merry Christmas Eve! Wishing all my readers a safe and happy family.

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