On the track, Su Feng was about to run another 100 meters. Suddenly, He Jun answered the phone and stopped Su Feng.
"Asafa Powell will not compete in the World Championships."
"What?!" Su Feng stood there in surprise, what is going on?
Not only Su Feng, but also several other young people in Su's team who were responsible for recording Su Feng's data also looked up at He Jun.
Asafa Powell has just broken the world record. He can be said to be the strongest athlete in the men's 100 meters. Even in the eyes of the Chinese, Su Feng is slightly inferior to him. Why doesn't he participate in the World Championships? This is besides the Olympic Games.
The highest level and most famous competition.
"Director Jiang from the General Administration of Sports called me. They have just confirmed the roster for this World Championships, and there is no Powell. It is said that Powell has torn his thigh muscle and is now being treated in Europe. Although it is not serious, this kind of injury
, I won’t be able to get better within two or three months, and I will definitely not be able to participate in the World Championships.”
"What about Gatlin and Green? They have no problem, right?" If you want to run the best results, you not only need your own strength, but also the best opponents. Most athletes are like this, and Su Feng is the same.
This is the first time Su Feng has participated in the World Championships. In the last time, his time was still outside 10.50 seconds and he was not qualified at all.
"No, Gatlin and Green have both confirmed to participate. Unless they get accidentally injured in the past few days, they will definitely go."
"That's good." Su Feng suppressed the shock in his heart and nodded.
Powell is now the opponent he most wants to challenge.
Then there are Gatlin and Green who defeated him in the Olympics last year. After this year of training, he has made great progress and wants to compete with them.
Unfortunately, neither of them could participate in the two games in the United States.
In the first game, with Powell still present, Su Feng still had a well-matched opponent.
In the second game, Su Feng was getting angry just in time, and there was no top opponent. In the end, Su Feng won easily.
Although it was shocking to be three or four meters away from the opponent on the field, Su Feng was still a little disappointed in his heart.
Fortunately, although Powell did not come this time, Gatlin and Green came, just in time for Su Feng to take revenge for the Olympics.
Top athletes are only in the minority, and the Olympic Games and World Championships can ensure that these people come together.
But having said that, Powell suffered an injury before this World Championships in his previous life. Unexpectedly, it would be the same this time.
But in this case, this game becomes a contest between Su Feng and two famous American players.
Su Feng looked at the sky. Is this what God meant? Is he having sex with the United States?
If I lose, it goes without saying that the American media will be belittling and gloating about my misfortune.
If I win, it will probably be even more lively. With the American media's urinary attitude, I'm afraid it will belittle our athletes, which will in turn arouse common people's hatred and resentment, and turn the blame back on themselves.
Anyway, the media is innocent as an intermediary. It just wants to make money while trying to bias things.
He Jun then told Su Feng about the track and field team lineup participating in the World Championships.
There are a total of 36 athletes in the Chinese team, participating in 24 minor events.
The team is led by Zhang Guozheng from the General Administration and head coach Guo Jiangping.
In the men's sprint, 100 meters, 200 meters and 400 meters, only Su Feng participated.
The World Championships also have the A standard and B standard like the Olympic Games, and the standards are the same. This time, only Su Feng reached the A standard in the 100 meters.
This is also the reason why the leaders of the General Administration want Su Feng to run 200 meters concurrently. After all, as long as Su Feng runs 200 meters, there is no problem in entering the A mark, and the scene will not be so ugly.
The gold medal points for this World Championships have not been announced to the public, but internally it is actually different. It is not a requirement, but everyone knows it.
The main gold medal points are Su Feng's 100 meters, Liu Yuxiang's 110 meters hurdles and Xing Huina's 10,000 meters.
However, the three of them also have their own problems and difficulties.
Among them, Xing Huina, she has to face the Ethiopian army. The 10,000 meters can be messed up, and there will be some tactical things in it. The reason why Xing Huina won the championship last time is also related to the overconfidence of several Ethiopian athletes. It can be said that,
Although Xing Huina was strong enough, she still took advantage of the loopholes.
Next, many Ethiopian players are likely to double-team Xing Huina to disrupt her rhythm and keep their gold medal.
As for Liu Yuxiang, like Su Feng, he participated in the Osaka, Eugene, and New York Grand Prix. After Su Feng returned to China, he continued to participate in the Lausanne and Rome Grand Prix.
The advantage of this is that Liu Yuxiang ranked first in the latest IAAF men's 110-meter hurdles event.
The disadvantage is that Liu Yuxiang's physical fitness has dropped significantly, and he has not gone through systematic long-term preparations, so his body has not reached its peak condition.
Moreover, he faces a lot of challenges at the World Championships. France’s Docury and the United States’ Alan Johnson will both participate.
Among them, Alan Johnson has already said that he must defend his title at the World Championships and complete his fifth consecutive championship.
And Docury, a new French star, has maintained the best result in the 110-meter hurdles this year so far, second only to Liu Yuxiang in points.
As for Su Feng, although Powell, who just broke the world record, was unable to compete due to injury, the champion and runner-up who defeated Su Feng in the Athens Olympics last year will be there, so the pressure is not small.
Although these internal analyzes have not been made explicit to the outside world, in this age of information, external analyzes are basically the same as those within the General Administration, except that the General Administration has not acknowledged it.
As a chance to win the gold medal, newspapers and media had high expectations and attention for the three of them, which caused a lot of pressure.
So now the team is mainly focusing on releasing the pressure on the three of them, for fear that they will be affected by the pressure. When the track and field team comes back and get nothing, it will not be able to explain it internally or externally.
But there is no other way. Results bring glory, but also the expectations of countless people, and this expectation falls on athletes, which is a heavy responsibility and pressure.
This is still the World Championships. If it were the Beijing Olympics three years later, the pressure would be even greater.
…
On August 4, 36 athletes including Su Feng and more than 20 leaders and staff boarded a plane to Europe after making all preparations in Beijing.
Helsinki is the capital and largest city of Finland.
Of course, it is incomparable with China's big cities in terms of size and population.
But the environment here is excellent, and it enjoys a high reputation throughout Europe. The beautiful coastline and islands make it a famous tourist destination in Europe.
As soon as Su Feng and others arrived at the airport in Helsinki, Finland, they felt the superior environment here.
In August, most places in the northern hemisphere are scorching hot summers, but it is very cool here. According to the real-time temperature displayed on the plane, the outdoor temperature at this time is only 26 degrees, which is more than 10 degrees lower than BJ.
Almost like air conditioning.
"It's so comfortable!" Su Feng said as he stepped off the plane and stretched.
Good weather puts people in a good mood. It seems that the weather in Finland really gave the Chinese team a face. This is undoubtedly a good sign.