Chapter 9

The men's 100-meter event in the morning has concluded, and the semi-finals for the men's 100 meters will be held later in the afternoon. The semi-finals will consist of only two groups, and the top eight athletes based on their overall performance will advance to the final, which will be held in the morning of the second day.

At this stage of the competition, there are no weak athletes left. Those who have made it this far are all strong competitors. If there is a dark horse, it is only Zhang Guan.

Among the other fifteen athletes, only Chen Jian and Shen Bao can guarantee their place in the final based on their strength. Both have the ability to run under 10.3 seconds, while the other athletes will have to rely on their performance on the day.

The organizers have placed the two strongest athletes, Chen Jian and Shen Bao, in different groups. Zhang Guan happens to be in the same group as Shen Bao, along with the 9th National Games 100-meter champion Yin Hanzhao, the Guangxi 100-meter record holder Gong Wei, the Northeast's top 100-meter runner Liu Dapeng, the special student from Peking University Jin Ke, and the "Glasses Hero" Hu Kai, who had competed against him in the preliminary rounds.

In terms of strength, Shen Bao is undoubtedly the strongest. The other three, Yin Hanzhao, Gong Wei, and Liu Dapeng, are experienced veterans with a good chance of making it to the final. As for the younger athletes Jin Ke and Hu Kai, their chances of advancing to the final are slim.

Since the top eight from the semi-finals will advance to the final, the eight athletes on the starting line did not show much tension, but rather a sense of harmony.

When the athletes took their positions on the starting blocks, the referee raised the starting pistol.

The gun fired, and everyone immediately sprinted forward. Only Zhang Guan's start was half a beat slower, placing him last from the very beginning.

"His start is still as bad as ever. His reaction time is almost 0.4 seconds! It seems this guy's start is really that bad, not just an act!" Coach Yu thought to himself in the stands.

On the track, Zhang Guan felt quite helpless. His condition in the afternoon was still average, slightly better than the second race in the morning, but not as good as the first race, where his reaction time was under 0.3 seconds.

However, he soon entered his usual sprint rhythm. His sprint skill took effect, and his explosive power quickly brought his speed to its peak, allowing him to start overtaking the other athletes.

Hu Kai and Jin Ke started side by side, both being special students from Tsinghua and Peking Universities, respectively. As students from the two top universities in the country, they naturally carried a competitive spirit, and on the track, they were determined not to yield to each other, pushing themselves to the limit. Hu Kai's condition was clearly better, and after a brief struggle, he had already gained a half-body lead over Jin Ke.

At this moment, a figure darted past Hu Kai, and it was Zhang Guan.

"Someone has overtaken me, how familiar this feels. This scene happened in the morning, and it's Zhang Guan again!"

The same scene had occurred in the morning's preliminary rounds, where Hu Kai had just gained a half-body lead over Pang Guibin before being overtaken by Zhang Guan. Hu Kai never expected this to happen again in the semi-finals in the afternoon. Being overtaken twice by the same person in the same day on the same track, Hu Kai felt extremely frustrated, but he had no way to catch up to Zhang Guan.

Next, Zhang Guan caught up to the Northeast's top runner, Liu Dapeng. He did not even give Liu Dapeng a chance to hold his ground before overtaking him, and then he caught up to the Guangxi record holder, Gong Wei.

"It's Zhang Guan, he's really fast!" Gong Wei thought to himself. He had heard from his teammate Pang Guibin at noon that Zhang Guan had overtaken him in an instant, a speed that was in a different league, causing Pang Guibin to give up on chasing him. Now, Gong Wei deeply experienced the same feeling.

Yin Hanzhao, who was in second place, noticed that he was already a considerable distance behind the leader, Shen Bao. However, Yin Hanzhao believed he still had a chance to catch up, knowing that Shen Bao would slow down in the second half of the race.

Shen Bao's strongest event is the indoor 60 meters. He won the bronze medal in the indoor 60 meters at the International Indoor Athletics Championships in Vienna in March, making him one of the world's top indoor 60-meter runners. His strengths are quick reaction time, explosive power, and early acceleration, which allow him to excel in the indoor 60 meters. However, in the 100 meters, Shen Bao cannot maintain the same level of explosive power throughout, which is why he has never been able to outperform Chen Jian.

As predicted by Yin Hanzhao, after 50 meters, when most athletes reach their peak speed, Shen Bao did not accelerate as quickly as before.

"An opportunity! I might be able to catch up to Shen Bao before the finish line! Wait, someone is catching up from behind!" Yin Hanzhao noticed Zhang Guan closing in.

After 70 meters, the leading Shen Bao also noticed that two people were closing in from behind.

After 80 meters, Zhang Guan overtook Yin Hanzhao.

Shen Bao turned his head slightly and saw Zhang Guan overtake Yin Hanzhao.

"It's the new guy, Zhang Guan! His start was so slow, how did he catch up so quickly!" The scene from the morning's preliminary rounds, where Zhang Guan overtook from last to first, flashed through Shen Bao's mind. He then looked ahead and saw the finish line in sight.

"The finish line is almost here, hold on! How can I lose to a newcomer!" Shen Bao gritted his teeth and pushed himself to the limit.

After 90 meters, Zhang Guan was running side by side with Shen Bao. At this point, neither Zhang Guan nor Shen Bao had any reason to give up. This was no longer a fight for qualification but a battle for honor as athletes.

At this moment, Shen Bao was giving it his all, but he felt a growing sense of despair as he realized that with every meter he ran, he was falling further behind. He watched helplessly as Zhang Guan overtook him and crossed the finish line, while his own desperate attempt to catch up seemed futile.

Shen Bao crossed the finish line, slowed down, and eventually stopped. He then looked at the scoreboard and found his time. A final time of 10.31 seconds was a very satisfactory result for anyone, and it would have placed him second in the country last year.

He then looked at the first place time, which was Zhang Guan's.

"10.28 seconds!" Shen Bao took a deep breath. He never expected this newcomer to run under the 10.3-second mark. This performance was enough to place Zhang Guan among the top athletes in the country.

...

10.28 seconds was already the best time in the country for the 100 meters this year.

On the podium, Coach Yu suddenly realized something and clenched his fist in excitement.

"This ticket is finally secured. We've been waiting for a year, and finally, an athlete has achieved this time..."

He then glanced in the direction of Chen Jian, the top long-distance runner in the country, and muttered to himself, "You should start pushing yourself. Otherwise, you might be overtaken by this young athlete and miss the Olympics next year!"

At the same time, Coach Chen and the other teammates who were watching the race also ran over, and even coaches from other teams came to offer their congratulations, creating a festive atmosphere.

"What's going on? Why are you all here? Why such a big fuss?" Zhang Guan was taken aback by the scene.

Coach Chen was the first to grab Zhang Guan and said, "Zhang Guan, well done! You've secured this ticket for our country."

"Ticket? What ticket?" Zhang Guan asked, puzzled.

"Of course, the Olympic ticket!" Coach Chen continued, "You ran 10.28 seconds, which meets the Olympic B standard!"

Zhang Guan immediately understood.

The Olympics, as the highest level of international sports competition, has set Olympic qualifying standards to prevent athletes of lower levels from participating and affecting the overall quality of the competition. The qualifying standards for track and field events are based on the results of national and international competitions over the past two years, with both Olympic A and B standards.

According to the rules set by the Olympic Committee, in individual track and field events, each National Olympic Committee (NOC) can send up to three athletes who meet the Olympic A standard to participate. If fewer than three athletes meet the A standard, the actual number of qualified athletes will participate. If no athletes meet the A standard but some meet the B standard, only one B standard athlete can participate. If no athletes meet even the B standard, they are not allowed to participate in the Olympic event.

Under these rules, if a country has only one athlete meeting the A standard, it is the least advantageous situation, as the number of participants is the same as a country with only B standard athletes, which is one athlete. In other words, having only one A standard athlete is equivalent to having a B standard athlete.

Additionally, athletes who do not meet the standards can still apply to participate in track and field events, but their participation will be determined by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) based on their performance levels and the number of athletes who have met the standards. In essence, this is a "backdoor" way to participate.

For the 2004 Athens Olympics, the Olympic A standard for the men's 100 meters was 10.21 seconds, and the B standard was 10.28 seconds. 10.28 seconds is the minimum standard for athletes to participate in the Olympics. This standard remained the same for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and was raised to 10.18 seconds for the A standard and 10.24 seconds for the B standard for the 2012 London Olympics.

The men's short-distance events have always been a weak point for the national team, and athletes who participate in the Olympics usually do so by meeting the B standard. For the 2004 Athens Olympics, the qualifying period for individual track and field events is from July 1, 2002, to the end of July 2004 (excluding marathon, race walking, and combined events). Any results achieved during this period in national or international competitions are valid. The best time achieved by a domestic athlete after July 1, 2002, was 10.32 seconds, meaning that no one in the country had yet met the 10.28-second B standard.

The national team would not resort to "backdoor" methods to participate, but not having an athlete meet the B standard for over a year was a matter of national pride. Of course, the level of domestic athletes would not be satisfied with just meeting the B standard. However, Zhang Guan's 10.28-second performance today secured a guaranteed ticket for the national team.

From this moment on, Zhang Guan's name truly entered the national track and field circle.

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