Chapter 44

In the large meeting room of the athletics management center, the fifty-three track and field athletes who were to compete in the Athens Olympics gathered.

On the stage, Director Luo of the national Olympic track and field delegation was briefing the athletes on the arrangements for the Olympics.

"Due to the large number of participants, our country's athletes will be divided into three batches to arrive in Greece. The first batch includes the sailing, rowing, canoeing, women's football, and gymnastics teams. Among them, the sailing, rowing, and canoeing athletes have already arrived in Athens, as water sports are greatly affected by wind and waves, so they need to arrive early to adapt and train."

"The second batch is the main contingent, which will arrive in Athens on a special flight on August 8th. This batch includes table tennis, badminton, weightlifting, diving, swimming, archery, boxing, and others. The men's basketball team, due to their larger size, will take another flight to Athens. The athletes in these two batches will all arrive in Athens before the opening of the Olympics on August 13th."

"As for our track and field delegation, we are scheduled to be the last batch to arrive in Athens. We don't have a special flight, so we need to fly there on our own. According to the principle of proximity, we will be divided into three teams. I will lead the team departing from the capital, with a stopover in Frankfurt to Athens; Coach Sun will lead the team departing from Huangpu, with a stopover in the Netherlands to Athens; Coach Sha will lead the team departing from Huacheng, with a stopover in Hong Kong to Athens. Depending on the flight schedules, we will arrive in Athens between August 17th and August 19th."

"Another point I want to mention is the participation in the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics. Our delegation will form a formation during the opening ceremony, with some athletes recommended by the organization. Other athletes who wish to participate can sign up. Is there anyone here who wants to sign up?"

Participating in the opening ceremony of the Olympics is a great honor, but it is also very tiring. The opening ceremony requires multiple rehearsals, which will consume a lot of time. The opening ceremony is scheduled from 9 PM to 12 AM on August 13th, local time in Athens. Including the return trip, it will likely last until 3 or 4 AM.

The opening ceremony will consume a lot of energy, so many athletes choose not to participate to avoid affecting their performance. Additionally, Director Luo has already explained the transportation plan for the track and field delegation. If one signs up for the opening ceremony, it means arriving in Athens several days early, which means being separated from the delegation. In traditional thinking, being separated from the group is not a good sign.

Moreover, arriving in Athens early and being separated from the group means dealing with accommodation, meals, and training on one's own. As a professional athlete, even a day without training can affect one's state, let alone several days.

Therefore, when Director Luo asked if anyone wanted to sign up for the opening ceremony, none of the athletes raised their hands. Even those who wanted to participate held back when they saw no one else doing so.

Seeing no one raise their hand, Director Luo nodded in satisfaction. He did not want any outliers in his team.

At this moment, an athlete sitting in the back suddenly raised his hand and shouted, "I want to sign up for the opening ceremony!"

Everyone in the room was taken aback and then turned to look. The one who raised his hand was Zhang Guan.

"Uh..." Director Luo was speechless. He never expected such an undisciplined athlete, especially one who was a role model in the track and field delegation.

However, Director Luo then thought that Zhang Guan was only eighteen years old, still a big kid, and had only participated in one international competition. It was normal for someone his age to be curious about everything.

"Zhang Guan, you might not know, but participating in the opening ceremony is very time-consuming. You have to get up early and stay late, and there are multiple rehearsals. Just walking around the stadium will take several rounds," a coach in the front row reminded him.

"Right, our track and field delegation will only arrive in Athens several days after the opening ceremony, so you will have to stay in the Olympic Village on your own during that time," another coach added.

"No problem, it will be a good opportunity to familiarize myself with the competition venue and the local environment. I think participating in the opening ceremony is a great honor, especially being part of the athletes' formation, representing my country in front of the world. It is a tremendous honor for me," Zhang Guan replied.

Those who originally wanted to dissuade Zhang Guan immediately fell silent. They did not expect him to set such a high tone, even mentioning representing the country, which raised the issue to a level of ideological awareness, making it difficult for others to persuade him.

When Zhang Guan first signed up, everyone thought it was due to his youthful curiosity and lack of experience, so a few senior coaches in the front row tried to dissuade him. However, after hearing Zhang Guan's response, it was clear that he had planned this in advance.

Director Luo sighed in frustration. Given his position, he could not go back on his word. Since Zhang Guan had publicly raised his hand to sign up, Director Luo had to agree and had him fill out a registration form, which was then submitted to the Olympic delegation headquarters.

The official in charge of publicity at the headquarters quickly approved Zhang Guan's participation in the opening ceremony formation.

The opening ceremony formation prioritizes athletes with high fame and good images. As the "first flying man of Asia," Zhang Guan's application was not rejected, especially since he is over 1.9 meters tall, giving him an advantage in the formation.

...

The next day, Zhang Guan went to the bank to exchange some euros and withdrew all the euros from his bank card. He now had over 160,000 euros in cash.

The largest denomination of euros is 500, so 160,000 euros is a bit more than three stacks. A large envelope was enough to hold it, and it could easily be tucked into the inner pocket of his carry-on bag.

According to customs regulations, there is a limit on the amount of foreign currency one can carry when leaving the country. However, the Olympic delegation was traveling on a special flight, a Boeing 747, and the customs cleared them without any issues, allowing Zhang Guan to successfully bring the cash on board.

At the time, the fees for cross-border withdrawals were much higher than they were ten years later. International credit card giants were also trying to block UnionPay, making it difficult to use UnionPay-issued international credit cards in many places. Additionally, the daily limit for cross-border withdrawals was 5,000 yuan, not US dollars, which was very low. It was not until 2008 that the limit was increased to 10,000 yuan, and later, as Chinese tourists began to travel more and the country's foreign exchange reserves grew, the limit was gradually increased to 100,000 yuan per day.

Due to these restrictions, Zhang Guan chose to carry euros in cash. In fact, at the time, most people traveling abroad carried foreign currency in cash. The entire Olympic delegation, except for the well-known athletes who frequently traveled abroad and had foreign bank accounts, carried cash.

There was no direct flight from the capital to Athens. If traveling by commercial airliner, a stopover would be required. The Olympic delegation, however, was on a special flight, which took only six and a half hours to reach Athens.

Athens is five hours behind the capital. The flight took off at 2 PM local time and arrived in Athens at 3 PM local time. The Athens Olympic Organizing Committee provided a dedicated "Olympic Family" channel for the participating countries, allowing direct passage through customs. The buses for the Olympic Village were already waiting in the closed parking area at the airport. After the athletes left the airport, they boarded the buses and headed straight to the Olympic Village.

The delegation did not hold any ceremonies at the airport and did not interact with the media. This arrangement disappointed the waiting journalists, of whom there were over 200, who could only take photos of the athletes pulling their luggage across the road.

The Olympic Village for the Athens Olympics was located at the foot of a mountain. The village was divided into a residential area and an international zone, both of which had access restrictions. The residential area was only accessible to athletes, officials, and Olympic Village staff.

Most of the buildings in the residential area were three-story structures, laid out in an apartment style. Each apartment had a living room, four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a balcony, essentially a four-bedroom, two-bathroom, one-living room layout. Each bedroom had two beds, so one apartment could accommodate eight athletes.

The Olympic Village also had facilities such as a hospital, religious service center, and library, all of which were free to use.

Next, Zhang Guan would participate in the rehearsals for the opening ceremony.

Before the athletes arrived, the Athens Olympic Organizing Committee had already held multiple rehearsals for the opening ceremony, including rehearsals for the opening performance, lighting and sound, torch relay, and lighting of the cauldron. The Organizing Committee required that only a portion of the athletes participate in the rehearsal for the athletes' entry, but the flag bearer of the formation must attend.

The flag bearer for the Chinese delegation was the "little giant." Since the leader of the men's basketball team was to participate in the rehearsal, the entire team would naturally follow. Zhang Guan, who had long wanted to leave the Olympic Village, used the pretext of participating in the rehearsal to leave as well.

...

On the day of the rehearsal, at the Athens Olympic Stadium.

As soon as he got off the bus, Zhang Guan grabbed the interpreter and said, "I have a stomachache, I need to go to the bathroom for a while. Please take a leave for me!"

"Are you okay? Should you see the team doctor when we get back?" the interpreter asked.

"I'm fine, just a bit of water and soil discomfort," Zhang Guan replied.

The interpreter nodded. It was normal for athletes to experience diarrhea due to water and soil discomfort in the first two days of traveling abroad. He pointed to a sign in the distance and said, "Don't get lost. We will meet there after the rehearsal, at that sign. If you can't find us, wait there. Don't wander around."

"No problem, don't worry, I won't get lost," Zhang Guan said, clutching his stomach and rushing into the nearby bathroom.

A few minutes later, seeing that the rehearsal participants had all entered the stadium, Zhang Guan quietly slipped out. He took out a map of Athens, studied it carefully, and then quickly disappeared into the crowd.

---

Chapter 2 is delivered. The Olympic plot is about to begin. I would like to reserve a recommendation for tomorrow. Thank you to the readers gigiliu5277, Xinwei Xue, Meizhu Jushi, Baidu 360 Weishi, TK Freedom God, hzh0000, Ku Aa Kan, Fengxue Piaolin, and Blank·Angel for your support.