The Far East Games, originally named the "Far East Olympic Games", is a regional international competition held in the Far East imitation Olympic Games and is also the earliest international international event in the world. The original initiators were China, Japan and the Philippines. Siam, India, Vietnam, Malaysia, Java and other places also participated in several of the Far East Games.
The first Far East Games was held in 1913, and then held every two years. From 1927 to three years. The Far East Games is an event officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee, so the Far East Games is also regarded as the predecessor of the "Asian Games".
The host country of the first Far East Games is the Philippines, the second is China, and the third is Japan, and then it is organized in turn in this order. Now it is the 9th Far East Games, and it is Japan's turn to host them.
Chen Qiang, in his previous life, came to Tokyo, Japan, but it is difficult to find the shadow of the 1930s in the future.
The bombing during World War II almost turned the entire Tokyo into ruins. In the future, the buildings before World War II were rare. Because of this reason, Tokyo in 1930 made Chen Qiang feel both strange and fresh.
The streets are full of wooden houses, the roads are not spacious, and there are very few people on the road. From time to time, they meet one or two women in kimonos, which is already a highlight on the streets of Tokyo.
Chen Qiang could feel that this place was a bit depressed and its prosperity was far less than that of Shanghai. The nickname of Shanghai as the "No. 1 City in the Far East" in this era is definitely not a false reputation.
"Tokyo is so deserted. I think Peking City is more lively than here." An athlete from Peking said.
The Japanese-based staff member who was responsible for receiving the athletes explained: "Last year, Tokyo was not like this, but it has changed since this year. There are more and more merchants going bankrupt, many factories have gone bankrupt, and even farmers have started to take debts. The whole of Japan has become deserted! I heard that many down-and-out nobles have gone to North Korea and Taiwan to look for opportunities, and now they can continue to produce, which is just a matter of perseverance."
Everyone nodded in a vague way, but Chen Qiang knew that this was the consequence of the world economic crisis.
The most lasting and most serious economic crisis in history broke out in October last year, and at the beginning of this year, the impact of the economic crisis also came to Asia. The most affected were the Philippines and Japan.
The Philippines was originally a colony of the United States. Whether it was politics, economy, or culture, it was controlled by the United States. Americans controlled almost all the trade in the Philippines. If the United States sneezes, the Philippines would catch a severe cold.
Japan has always regarded the United States as its largest market. The goods produced by Japan's manufacturing industry are mainly sold to the United States. An economic crisis occurred in the United States, and Japanese goods suddenly lost their sales, which directly led to the Japanese economy falling into a depression.
Given the current economic situation in Japan, holding large-scale sports meets a bit like a fat man. Therefore, at this Far East Games, the athletes' logistics support work was extremely poor, and the organizers did not even provide accommodation and diet for the contestants.
Fortunately, the Chinese team has only 170 contestants, so food and accommodation are easier to arrange. The local international student group in Tokyo has already found a hotel for athletes, and has also found an overseas Chinese chef from Zhejiang to provide Chinese food for Chinese athletes.
Chen Qiang didn't understand Japanese and had no money, so he didn't dare to go out for a walk, so he stayed in the hotel honestly, waiting for the team leader to organize the game to familiarize himself with the venue.
The 9th Far East Games track and field event venue is Meiji Shrine Waiyuan Arena. This stadium was completed in 1924 and was the largest stadium in Asia at that time. By 1931, the title of "Asia's largest" will be surpassed by Nanjing's central stadium.
Chen Qiang visited this stadium in his previous life, but at that time it was no longer called Meiji Shrine Apartamento, but was converted into the Tokyo New National Arena. The 1958 Asian Games and the 1964 Olympic Games were all held here.
...
Meiji Shrine Outer Garden Arena.
Chen Qiang stood on the runway and adapted to the hardness of the cinder.
Top sprinters will choose different nail running shoes based on the hardness of the cinder track. Chen Qiang only has a pair of nail running shoes, so he has no choice but to adapt to the track as much as possible.
In the distance, Filipino athletes also came to appear in the sports field, and they also came to be familiar with the competition field.
Chen Qiang looked towards the Philippine team and saw that all of them were tall white men.
"It turns out that they are all Americans." Chen Qiang sighed in his heart.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the most powerful country in Asia was not Japan, but the Philippines.
Strictly speaking, the Philippines can only be regarded as a colony of the United States, and cannot be regarded as an independent country.
At that time, the reason why sports in the Philippines was strong was that the athletes representing the Philippines were actually Americans. In the previous Far East Games, the Philippines' total results were able to beat Japan and China. The Chinese football team won nine consecutive championships in the Far East Games, and was the overlord of Asia. The only second place was that it lost to the Philippines.
Chen Qiang has known this for a long time. He has seen some precious historical materials about the Far East Games. In the blurry photos left at that time, the Philippines is a group of white people from the United States, and the leader is also waving the star and striped flags.
Chen Qiang was still afraid of American athletes. Although there were fewer black athletes at this time, the United States was a sports power after all, and their white athletes also had the world's top level. Even if the Americans in the Philippines team were not as good as those in the United States, their level would not be too bad. It should be no problem to run within 11 seconds in 100 meters.
Chen Qiang began to observe the Filipino athletes carefully. In just a few minutes, he found several strong players. The thighs were filled with metallic muscles and the muscle lines that looked like carved. You could tell at a glance that they were definitely not ordinary people.
"I really don't know if I don't go abroad. When I was in China, I felt that I was quite strong. I only found out that there are so many foreign experts. Now it's just the Far East Games. If it were the Olympics, I would probably be instantly ruined when I met those top players in the world." Chen Qiang sighed.
Then he comforted himself: "Fortunately it's only 1930, and there are two years left before the Los Angeles Olympics, and I still have room to grow!"
...
Staying in a hotel, life is fast without leaving home.
Chen Qiang stays in bed every day. To outsiders, this player is so lazy and sleeps every day. In fact, he enters the training space and conducts the final training.
Finally, on May 24, the opening day of the 9th Far East Games.
The scale of the Far East Games is far less than that of the National Games in China. Only China, Japan and the Philippines participated in this Far East Games. China sent 170 athletes to participate, Japan, as the host, sent 175 athletes, and the Philippines sent 170 athletes. All athletes are added up, which is 515. In the domestic National Games, more than 2,000 athletes participated.
There were some Chinese students and overseas Chinese in the stands around. When the representatives of the Chinese team came on stage to deliver speeches, the Chinese students all gave the warmest applause. They seemed very excited, as if they had won the game.
Next to Chen Qiang, Cheng Jinguan whispered: "Seven years ago, the 6th Far East Games was also held in Japan. We were too behind at that time. The representative of the Chinese team's speech on stage was an American, and he delivered a speech in English throughout the process."
Cheng Jinguan sighed with a little disappointed sigh and said with some grief: "After the opening ceremony, the Japanese began to laugh at us. They said that the Philippines is a colony of the United States, and it is understandable to let Americans go to the stage to deliver speeches. China is an independent country, but it also let Americans go to the stage to deliver speeches! They laughed at us. Although we have the name of an independent country, we do not have the reality of an independent country!"
"I understand." Chen Qiang nodded. He now knew why the Chinese students and overseas Chinese in the stands around him seemed so excited and showed joy similar to victory.
Because the person who came to the stage on behalf of China this time was not Americans, but Chinese!
If Chen Qiang had just arrived in this era, it would be difficult for him to understand this feeling. But now he has slowly integrated into this era and he has begun to learn to look at the world from the perspective of the Chinese in this era.
In this era, China is a weak country, bullied and ridiculed. Too many people have inferiority complex, too many people kneel, and even too many people are unwilling to stand up after kneeling for a long time, and they have lost their national self-esteem.
This backward China and countless Chinese with inferiority complex really need some encouragement!
Even a slight progress can ignite the fire of hope in people's hearts and make many people regain their national self-esteem.
For example, the person who stood on stage to deliver a speech at the Far East Games was the United States who delivered a speech on behalf of China seven years ago, and seven years later, there were finally Chinese people speaking out for their country!
Although this is just a trivial progress, it can make those Chinese students feel dignity! At least the Japanese will not laugh at them for "although they have the name of an independent country, they do not have the reality of an independent country."
At this moment, Chen Qiang suddenly felt a sense of responsibility and mission pressing on his shoulders.
"A champion and a record are a very difficult honor for the Chinese in this era, but the most important thing is to tell those who are inferior and those who are kneeling that we cannot continue to kneel down. We should stand up and we can stand up. Our nation is still full of hope!"
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Chapter completed!