Chapter 42

On July 20th, the Chinese sports delegation for the 28th Olympic Games was officially established.

The Chinese team registered 408 athletes, 117 coaches, 27 team leaders, 26 doctors, 27 translators, and 2 support staff for the Athens Olympics. This was the largest and most numerous delegation in the history of China's participation in the Olympics.

At the same time, the delegation also included 226 officials, with 31 from the headquarters and 195 from various sports teams.

Chinese athletes qualified in 26 out of 28 major events and 203 out of 301 minor events. The average age of the athletes was 23.3 years, with the oldest being 44 and the youngest being 14.

Since the next Olympics would be held in the capital, one of the important tasks for this Athens Olympics was to train the athletes and prepare for the capital Olympics. Among the 408 athletes, 225 were participating in the Olympics for the first time, and more than 300 of the athletes had the potential to participate in the next capital Olympics.

In the following days, the Olympic athletes would attend concentrated training sessions. The delegation also provided each athlete with a thick handbook on important matters for participating in the Athens Olympics, including information about Athens, local customs, local laws, discipline for athletes, diplomatic reception rules, what to do in case of trouble, and how to ask for directions if lost. The items listed were very detailed, and it would take a lot of effort just to finish reading the book.

The training content was similar to what was in the handbook, and with a short time and a lot of information, even those with exceptional memory would find it difficult to remember everything. Most athletes were not good at studying.

However, Zhang Guan gained a lot from the training. He met many famous athletes in the venue, such as Yao Ming from the basketball team, the national table tennis players, the diving team's elites, and the volleyball team's girls...

These familiar figures appeared before him, and many of them even knew Zhang Guan, the "Asian Flying Man," which made him feel honored.

During breaks or after the training sessions, a tall man over 1.9 meters could always be seen holding a camera, looking for people to take selfies with.

If it were a few years later, taking selfies would be a normal thing, and people would be used to taking photos of themselves or their friends during meals, parties, and other activities, and holding food plates in various poses would be a skill. However, in 2004, most people were not used to this, so the faces in the camera were stiff and uncomfortable.

Yao Ming, seeing Zhang Guan running around to take photos with people, couldn't help but laugh. He thought of many black players in the NBA who had this habit, and when they took selfies, their teammates or opponents would cooperate by making various poses and exaggerated expressions. Here, everyone was serious.

"Brother Yao, let's take a photo!" Zhang Guan ran up to Yao Ming, stretched his arm as far as he could, and pressed the shutter.

Zhang Guan, who was over 1.9 meters tall, was still short compared to Yao Ming, barely reaching his shoulders. From a distance, Zhang Guan only felt that Yao Ming was tall, but standing right in front of him, he truly felt his own insignificance.

At that moment, a small athlete happened to pass by, looking like he had just come out of the restroom. Zhang Guan immediately recognized him as the future boxing champion, Zou Shiming.

Zou Shiming was only 23 years old, but his appearance had not changed much compared to what it would be in a few years, with a mature look. Therefore, Zhang Guan recognized him at first sight.

"Brother Zou, let's take a photo together." Zhang Guan pulled Zou Shiming and took a photo with Yao Ming.

Zou Shiming was 1.62 meters tall, Zhang Guan was 1.92 meters tall, and Yao Ming was 2.26 meters tall. There was a 30-centimeter difference between them. If they had a selfie stick, it would have been better, but with Zhang Guan taking the photo with one hand, only his face, Zou Shiming's hair, and Yao Ming's neck were captured.

Years later, this photo appeared in a father-son reality show, and the kids couldn't find Zou Shiming in the photo. All they saw were Zhang Guan's smile, a neck, and a patch of black hair.

...

After the concentrated training, Zhang Guan asked Coach Yu to continue his English studies. The track and field team then found an English assistant from Beijing Sport University to continue tutoring Zhang Guan.

Before heading to Athens, there was another important domestic track and field event, the fifth leg of the National Track and Field Grand Prix, which was also the China Track and Field Open for the year.

The China Track and Field Open was a high-level event with attractive prize money, attracting over 900 athletes from 39 teams across the country.

Among the well-known domestic athletes, some who had already met the qualification standards for the next year's National Games did not participate, but many big names still came, such as Liu Xiang in the 110-meter hurdles.

The men's 100-meter event was still the most competitive and least suspenseful. It was competitive because of the large number of participants and top athletes, but it was not suspenseful because Zhang Guan was participating.

Compared to the fourth leg of the competition half a month ago, Zhang Guan's competitive state had improved. The training plan set by Coach Yu was indeed effective, and Zhang Guan could feel it the most.

However, compared to the beginning of the year, Zhang Guan still felt a significant difference. Although his current state was not terrible, it was still below average. If he were to run in the Olympics in this state, he would not win a medal.

In the preliminary round, Zhang Guan easily ran a time of 10.21 seconds, which instantly made the other athletes feel hopeless. For ordinary athletes, running under 10.40 seconds was already a huge success, and in domestic competitions, 10.40 seconds could win a championship.

In the semi-finals, Zhang Guan continued his performance from the preliminary round, running a time of 10.19 seconds. In the semi-finals, he still ran a time of 10.20 seconds.

Zhang Guan used the first three races to adjust his state. In previous races, he struggled, mainly due to poor control over his body. Therefore, he was constantly trying to control his body and speed. As the competition progressed, his control over his body improved, and his competitive state gradually recovered.

Finally, it was the final, and Zhang Guan decided to challenge the Asian record again.

The finalists were all top domestic athletes. Although they knew that with Zhang Guan, winning first place was impossible, the final ranking was still worth fighting for. As the China Track and Field Open, the prize money was much higher than other domestic events, and each step up in ranking meant a more substantial prize.

At the same time, the ranking in the open also earned more annual points, which could qualify them for the final of the National Track and Field Grand Prix and the next year's National Games. For athletes who had no chance to participate in the Olympics, the National Games was the highest-level event they could participate in.

After the starting gun, Zhang Guan took the lead, while the other seven athletes competed fiercely.

The cheers from the audience were continuous, but most of them were not for Zhang Guan. Since he was clearly going to win, the focus was on the intense competition among the other seven athletes, which was more exciting to watch.

The more intense the competition behind him, the louder the cheers from the audience. Although Zhang Guan couldn't hear clearly what they were shouting, he could feel the tension in the atmosphere. Zhang Guan enjoyed this atmosphere; the sense of urgency seemed to call to him, awakening his cells and making him feel excited!

Excitement! This was the competitive state athletes should have in a race.

Zhang Guan felt that this excitement helped him find some of his racing state, but it was still far from enough. He didn't feel the pressure from his opponents or the thrill of the decisive moments before the finish line.

Then, Zhang Guan crossed the finish line!

Zhang Guan was disappointed. He had just found a bit of the racing feeling, but the race was already over. It was like a musician who had just heard the most beautiful music in the world, but the sound suddenly stopped, and it was hard to find again.

As he crossed the finish line, he looked back at the other athletes who were still fighting hard. At that moment, he suddenly envied them. At least they could experience the thrill of competition and the true essence of competitive sports. He, on the other hand, was just a lonely leader.

Zhang Guan suddenly realized that perhaps deep down, he had always hidden a soul, a soul of an athlete.

"Breaking the men's 100-meter Asian record, rewarded with 2 skill points."

The system notification appeared, and Zhang Guan realized that he had broken the Asian record again.

A few seconds later, the electronic scoreboard showed the results, and Zhang Guan's time was particularly noticeable because it had one less digit than the others.

"9.98 seconds! Zhang Guan has broken the Asian record again!" The announcer immediately shouted, spreading the news throughout the stadium.

The entire stadium erupted in applause and cheers.

Zhang Guan looked at the result. Although he was still not very satisfied, he had achieved his goal by breaking the Asian record and earning two skill points.

"With seven skill points, I should complete the task quickly." Zhang Guan opened the skill synthesis panel, spent 6 skill points, and combined the skills "Strengthen Body" and "Enhance Constitution" into a new skill "Strengthen Body and Enhance Constitution."

A golden icon appeared in the skill frame, with an additional description:

"Strengthen Body and Enhance Constitution: Increases physical strength and endurance, and improves the speed and level of tissue damage recovery. Note: Growth skill, synthesized skill."

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Chapter 2 is here. Thank you to the new patron gigiliu5277 for your continuous support, and thank you to the readers Loli Green Town, Xin Wei Xue, Misplaced in Books, Crying Ah Ah, hzh0000, Happy Little Marquis, Reader 140418234417279, and Reader 130503143013024 for your donations. The plot will move to Athens tomorrow, so please give me some recommendations.

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