Orc Undead Sports Warrior

Chapter 184 Semifinals vs. Hughes

"Your team has achieved good results, you should be the happiest person, why are you just standing there?"

Yu Wei nudged Wang Qiao, who was deep in thought, snapping him out of his reverie.

"This shot was a good result, but there are still many areas that need improvement in terms of technique, and there is room for improvement."

Wang Qiao was actually stunned. He found it astonishing that Lu Wei could achieve such a result given his starting rhythm and the seamless transition between the early and middle stages of the race.

Because of his exceptional height, his starting strides appear to be enormous, which ironically enhances his mobility. Furthermore, during the transition from the start to the middle of the race, his height means he takes significantly longer to get up than other runners. When he reaches top speed, he's actually less than 40 meters from the finish line.

Even so, Lu Wei was able to leave the other team members far behind. He reached top speed with that shot but didn't go very far before slowing down again. Breaking the national record can only be attributed to his amazing talent.

At this moment, the big screen on the sidelines was still replaying the video of the last group's match.

"Wow, with such terrible technique, he's still running so fast. Looks like having long legs has its advantages..."

Zhao Gang had mixed feelings at this moment. He could tell that Lu Wei's skills were just so-so, but what frustrated him was that even though he was almost throwing up from running, he still couldn't keep up with this big guy.

Wen Ningyi's time was 10.41 seconds, not far behind Zhao Gang's. Although he couldn't beat this annoying guy who used to bully the team, he gained confidence through the preliminaries.

This opponent, who seemed unattainable two years ago, was chased and made to look disheveled in the final moments of the game. It seems that the psychological fear he had before was all self-inflicted, and he was just scaring himself.

By the time the 100-meter preliminary rounds ended, it was nearly 10:30 a.m.

"Congratulations on qualifying for the Olympics! Now China has three athletes in the 100-meter race at the Olympics. That's fast!"

Yu Wei stood up and shook hands with Lu Wei. Wang Qiao then punched Lu Wei in the chest with his fist and said, "Keep training! You're still a long way off. If you don't achieve amazing results with this physical talent, it'll be a real waste. It's truly enviable!"

Zhang Yuanteng, Shen Liang, and Hu Huo also came up and shook hands with Lu Wei one by one. In their words, they wanted to share in the good fortune of the national record and hope to achieve a good result in the afternoon.

On competition days, the midday break is always precious and fleeting, especially for sprinters. It's during this time, when tension makes it difficult to sleep, that athletes are most acutely aware of the damage a small mistake in the afternoon's race could cause to their performance.

Apart from Lu Wei, who was fast asleep, the others had difficulty falling into a deep sleep. After a while, they were woken up one by one by Wang Qiao.

"It's not even April yet, why is Chongqing already so hot!"

Zhang Yuanteng washed his face with cold water and felt a little better. Perhaps because of the weather, he felt that even the cold water from the tap was a little warm.

Despite this, washing his face with cold water helped him to perk up.

"If you, a northerner, can't even stand this much heat, what would happen if the Olympics were held here? The weather would probably drive you to despair!"

Shen Liang looked energetic, and Wang Qiao could only sigh at how wonderful it was to be young. In such a competitive state, many people would try every means to improve their mental state in the afternoon.

However, he noticed that Lu Wei acted as if nothing had happened, as if what they were about to do was just a regular training session.

Perhaps sensing that a series of exciting events were about to unfold in the afternoon, the spectators in the stadium had already begun to unleash their enthusiasm even before the afternoon matches started.

Inside the stadium, spontaneous spectators had already started blowing horns. This scene was commonplace in many cities during the early years of the Chinese professional football league, and today they brought it to the track and field stadium.

In the afternoon's competition, the 24 players who advanced to the semi-finals were divided into 3 groups. Shen Liang and Zhao Gang were in the first group, Lu Wei and Hu Huo were in the second group, and Zhang Yuanteng, Wen Ningyi and Yu Cheng's "Little Cannon" were in the third group.

The top two finishers in the 100-meter semi-final group will advance directly to the final, and the two best-performing athletes from the remaining teams will also qualify for the final.

The semi-final results were determined entirely by the morning's race results, with Shen Liang and Zhao Gang placed in lanes 4 and 5 respectively. Having failed in the morning's preliminary rounds, Zhao Gang prepared to repeat his strategy in the afternoon.

However, he did not expect that Shen Liang's arrogance was comparable to Lu Wei's. From warm-up to competition preparation, he did not take the other team members seriously at all.

After the trials of last year's World Championships and this year's Indoor Championships, Shen Liang's temperament has undergone a transformation, and he no longer feels intimidated by domestic opponents.

In his mind, Lu Wei was the only rival in the country. Although Zhang Yuanteng was slightly stronger than him now, he believed that with his hard training, it was only a matter of time before he surpassed him.

As expected, once the race started, Shen Liang completely dominated the other team members from the moment the starting gun fired. I wouldn't dare say he's in a world-class competition, but at least in Asia, his ability in the first 30 meters is among the best.

By the middle of the race, Zhao Gang had fallen far behind Shen Liang. In the last 15 meters, he simply gave up on chasing Shen Liang. Both of them held back in the final moments.

Shen Liang's semi-final time was 10.29 seconds, and he wanted to save some energy for the final. He still vividly remembered the scene from the 60-meter semi-final at the Indoor Championships. Although the intensity of domestic competitions is much lower, he tried his best to save more energy for the final.

Reality has a much greater educational impact on people than schools.

"Shen Liang has much more competition experience now than last year. He seems a bit mature for his age. Competitive sports are all about constantly competing and then correcting the shortcomings found in the competition during training."

The athletes in the second group had already taken their positions, with Lu Wei in lane 4 and Hu Huo in lane 5. As the race was about to begin, the two had stopped communicating.

When it comes to the competition, Lu Wei is able to concentrate his attention entirely on the game. Hu Huo was able to enter one of the top two universities in the country. In addition to his outstanding sports performance, his academic performance was also good enough to get him into a top-tier university.

Hughes-Hughes is actually quite relaxed about the results. For him, the competition is also a part of life, and he just needs to try his best to control the process.

One is assertive, the other is calm; a showdown is about to erupt.

"Hu Huo's expression also turned serious, which is rarely seen in a match!"

At this moment, Wang Qiao also said to Yu Wei beside him, "When you encounter a formidable enemy and there is no way to escape, you will use all your strength to resist. This is human instinct."

"Everyone is in your place!"

With the referee's command, the battle was about to begin.