All-round Athlete

Chapter 759 The final battle of short track speed skating

Zhang Guan crossed the finish line first, and his advantage was very obvious.

Sheng Xibei looked forward, Zhang Guan was too far ahead of him, especially in the final sprint, the gap between the two was widened a lot.

"How can there be such a big gap? Is my speed too slow?" Sheng Xibei looked at the timing card, and he found his own score.

"115 in 40 seconds, my score is very close to the 40-second mark. My speed is not slow, but I am still so far behind Zhang Guan. Could it be that Zhang Guan has entered within 40 seconds?" Sheng Xibei immediately looked at Zhang Guan Crown's results, and then his face changed drastically.

Although Hamelin was the third to cross the finish line, he looked frustrated.

"I only got the third place. Sheng Xibei is already strong enough, but I didn't expect Zhang Guan to be stronger than Sheng Xibei!"

Before the game, Hamelin was full of confidence in himself, because his strength was able to slide within 41 seconds, and he was able to break the world record. In Hamelin's understanding, if he could break the world record, he would definitely win a gold medal.

However, what Hamelin did not expect was that he was not the only one capable of breaking the world record, but also two other people, and they were even stronger.

Hamelin looked at his own result, 40 seconds 229, he was only a little more than 0.1 second slower than Sheng Xibei, and if you just look at the result, Hamelin can be considered satisfied, but this result can only get a bronze medal.

"I skated pretty well just now. Although I didn't reach the best level during training, it's not too far behind. The gap with Sheng Xibei just now is not that big, but Zhang Guan has such a big distance ahead of us. What is he doing? How fast?"

...

"Hamelin, 40 seconds 229, this is a world record breaking result, but he only won the third place!"

"Sheng Xibei, 40 seconds 115, is faster than Hamelin. It is also a record that can break the world record, but it is only a silver medal. In front of them, Zhang Guan won the championship with an absolute advantage. Then Zhang Guan's result is ..."

The commentator made a long sound and said loudly: "38 seconds 998! Zhang Guan not only entered the 40-second mark, but also entered the 39-second mark! He improved the 500-meter world record by 1.5 seconds in one fell swoop. Unbelievable! Unbelievable results! I never expected that Zhang Guan would be so much faster than Sheng Xibei and Hamelin."

Others broke the world record at the level of 0.1 seconds, but Zhang Guan raised the world record by 1.5 seconds at once. This is an improvement that may not be possible in decades in short-distance racing.

"Is this Zhang Guan's real strength? It is 1.5 seconds faster than the world record. This new world record may not be broken in twenty years!" Coach Li Bing suddenly thought of Zhang Guan's pre-match Those words.

"Three events, three gold medals, and three world records! It turns out that what Zhang Guan said was true. He was really preserving his strength in the previous competition..." Coach Li Bing thought of this, but his eyes revealed A look of excitement.

"Now we have won all the six gold medals in short track speed skating. In the next women's 1000m final, we will have two contestants, while the Korean team has only one. We have a great chance of winning the championship. And In the final men's relay race, with Zhang Guan here, we also have hope! As long as Zhang Guan is arranged for the last baton, we have a chance to win the championship..."

Coach Li Bing began to think about the short track speed skating men's 5,000-meter relay.

...

In the women's 1000m final, the women's player of the Chinese team lived up to expectations and added another gold medal. The national team also won all seven gold medals in short track speed skating.

Next is the men's 5,000-meter relay, which is also the last event of short track speed skating.

The four teams entering the relay race are the Canadian team, the US team, the South Korean team and the Chinese team. In terms of strength, the Chinese team is not dominant, but now with Zhang Guan, the situation is completely different.

In the short-track speed skating relay race, each team also has four players participating, and a total of 45 laps of 5,000 meters are required. However, unlike the track and field relay race, the short-track speed skating relay race does not stipulate the number of laps each team member skates. You can change players at any time during the race. The only requirement is that the first person to skate must skate. One full lap, and the last relay rider must skate the last two laps.

Therefore, under this rule, the handover of the athletes seems to be relatively random, but in order to maintain the speed, handovers are often made every one and a half to two laps, that is to say, during a game, each player Always play four or five times. Of course, if you want to skate 42 laps alone, it is not impossible for the other three people to do one lap each, but that speed is not dominant. After all, normal athletes can at most maintain two laps at full speed, no matter how long the distance is , the speed will drop.

In addition, there is no baton in the short-track speed skating relay race. With a sharp push from the back, it is considered that the handover has been completed.

Therefore, the basic process of the short-track speed relay race is generally like this: A starts skating, handed over to B after one and a half to two laps, B handed over to C after one and a half to two laps, and C skated for another one and a half to two laps. The lap is handed over to D, and D is handed over to A after one and a half to two laps. At this time, A has rested, so he can still keep moving forward at the fastest speed, and then give it to B, then to C, and so on until the race Finish.

Basically, the interval between each athlete's two appearances is four to six laps, and the interval is close to 1 minute. This 1 minute is enough for the athlete's body to rest, and then to sprint with all his strength in the next appearance.

When every athlete is on the field, they are trying their best to fight, regardless of their physical strength. Anyway, they only need to skate for two laps before going down to rest. Therefore, in this event, players with fast speed and strong explosive power have an advantage. Those players who are good at long-distance combat and have strong follow-up ability are not as good as those who can rush in a short distance.

At the same time, it is precisely because each person skates for at most two laps, the distance between the players will not be widened. This is like sprinting. If you only run 20 meters, it is estimated that there will not be much difference between Liu Feiren and Bolt. At 40 meters, Bolt must be ahead. At 60 meters, the gap between the two will be widened. If it reaches 100 meters m, the results speak for themselves.

In two laps, the leading advantage that can be obtained is too limited, and the competition will be interfered by the opponent when the baton is handed over, and the handover will also lose time. Therefore, in the 5000-meter short track speed skating relay race, the first 43 laps It is difficult to gain a decisive advantage, the key still depends on the last two laps.

The rules require that the last two laps must be completed by the same athlete, and after the last handover, there will be no obstacles on the track, and the sprint speed of the last athlete will directly determine the outcome of the competition.

...

"To be honest, without Zhang Guan, our three opponents would be stronger than us." Coach Li Bing looked at his players, and then said: "I don't need to say more about the Korean team, everyone knows how powerful they are. And It may be unreliable for athletes from European and American countries to let them skate long distances, but they are not weak at all in short distances. If everyone only skates one and a half to two laps, they may have an advantage. Especially Team Canada!"

Coach Li Bing specially said to Zhang Guan: "Hamelin of the Canadian team, you just experienced it in the 500-meter final. The dominant period. And he also has a younger brother, the famous player François Hamelin, although not as dazzling as his elder brother, but he is also very strong in short-distance explosive power."

"But aren't we also very good at short-distance explosive power?" Zhang Guan said with a smile.

"That's right, short-distance explosive power is indeed our strength." Coach Li Bing nodded.

Inability to succeed in the second half of the competition is a big problem for the national team's men's short track speed skating. This can be clearly seen from the competition. In many competitions, the male players of the Chinese team often rush at the beginning of the competition. Leading in the front is also a common thing, but in the middle and late stages, you will always be overtaken by other opponents, and in the final sprint, you will even be widened by a big gap, which is caused by the lack of follow-up physical strength.

But if you only skate for one and a half to two laps, the Chinese team is considered to be the top level in the world. If it is not as good as the opponent, then it is considered that Coach Li Bing is modest. In fact, in the relay race, at least he can compete with several other teams. .

"Another thing we need to pay attention to is that we must not make mistakes when handing over the baton." Li Bing said solemnly.

The handover of the short track speed skating relay is very simple, just push it from behind to complete the handover, but it is impossible for the receiver to stand still and wait for the handover to push, and the receiver must first help slide for a while The distance, this is the same as the run-up in the track and field relay race, but the speed of short-track speed skating is obviously faster than that of sprinting, and it runs without lanes. In addition, the situation on the field changes rapidly, so it will always happen. If the person passing the baton cannot come directly behind the person who takes over the baton, the handover cannot be completed, and this is considered as a mistake in handing over the baton.

However, unlike track and field competitions, it doesn’t matter if you make a mistake in the handover of the short track speed skating relay. The big deal is to let the athlete skate half a lap longer, and another player can enter the field immediately and wait for the next handover. It's just that in this slippery half circle, due to the exhaustion of physical strength, the speed will definitely decrease. Therefore, the failure of the handover in the short track speed skating relay will not be as eye-catching as the drop of the stick in the track and field relay, but it will inevitably affect the speed.

...

For coach Cui Guangfu, his future is already looking bleak. Men and women have produced a total of seven gold medals in short track speed skating, and South Korea has not won a single one. This is obviously not worthy of the status of the world's strongest short track speed skating country. This can even be regarded as South Korea's short track speed skating. One of the worst fiascos in skating history, so someone has to be held accountable. This kind of thing will definitely not be punished by athletes. Cui Guangfu, who is the head coach, is the first candidate to be blamed, so Cui Guangfu typed a resignation letter and is ready to step down.

"Resigning voluntarily is always better than being dismissed! I hope the Ice Federation can give me a chance to resign voluntarily because I have played for the national team for many years." Coach Cui Guangfu thought to himself.

At this time, Cui Guangfu's depressed mood also affected his team members. Even Sheng Xibei, who had just won the silver medal, had an indescribable sadness on his face.

The consecutive losses have made the South Korean team no longer interested in fighting. At this time, the players of the South Korean team hope that the game will end sooner, so that they can leave this damn sad place as soon as possible.

On the other hand, the Canadian team looked high-spirited.

The Canadian team, which is playing at home, has high morale, especially in team sports, this home field advantage will be magnified several times.

This is the case with sports. The larger the scale and the more people participate in the sport, the more powerful the home court will be. Therefore, in football, it is easier to have some devils at home. The atmosphere created when tens of thousands of people cheer at the scene will instantly improve the morale of the home players, and it will also make the away players feel invisible pressure. This home-team morale boost or away-team pressure reduction affects 10 people on the court in basketball, 12 in volleyball, and 22 in soccer. Occasionally, one or two coaches with poor psychological quality will be affected. So based on this calculation, football should be the sport most affected by home and away games.

Of course, the world is full of wonders, and there will always be some strange ones. For example, they lost 0 to 1 at home to Syria, which is in the middle of the war.

...

Song Weilong was the first player to appear on the stage for the national team, and his starting skating was the best in the national team. In fact, he did not disappoint coach Li Bing. After the first corner, Song Weilong successfully pulled out for the national team top spot.

Next, Zhang Guan was arranged to debut in the second leg, followed by Ma Yunfeng, followed by Liu Xianwei. Among them, Ma Yunfeng's strength is 500-meter short-track speed skating, while Liu Xianwei can almost be regarded as a full-time relay player. The two successfully maintained the advantage of the national team. Canada, South Korea and the United States are next in line.

On the 12th lap, the South Korean team took the lead in trying to improve their ranking through outside lanes, but failed in the end, and then several other teams also launched offensives, but one athlete only had one and a half to two laps , In addition to the speed loss during the handover, it is indeed unrealistic to overtake the front. The positions of several teams have not changed.

At the critical moment, Hamelin showed his power. He overtook Song Weilong on the 24th lap and brought the Canadian team to the first place. Then Hamelin began to exert his strength and his speed gradually accelerated. The next brother Hamelin also inherited his elder brother's strength. The strategy brought the pace of the game very fast. Obviously, the Canadian team likes to slip out some leading advantages.

On the 30th lap, the Chinese team made a mistake in handing over the baton, and the players skated half a lap longer before successfully handing over the baton. Fortunately, the Korean team also made a mistake in handing over the baton in the same lap, so the position between the two teams has not changed. It's just that due to the loss of speed, the distance with Canada has widened a lot.

It took the national team seven or eight laps, and after several successful handovers, to get close to the Canadian team again, while South Korea's was just the opposite. In the process, they made two handover mistakes and dropped to fourth place. The South Korean team was indeed greatly affected, and the South Korean team, which had no intention of fighting, also lost its game status.

The game has entered the final stage. Judging from the current situation, the South Korean team has fallen behind, and the US team has no chance to surpass the front. The Chinese team, which has been sticking to the second place, only followed the Canadian team. If there is no accident, the championship will be born between these two teams.

After 42 laps, the last baton handover was about to begin. The Canadian team sent Hamelin, while the Chinese team of course sent Zhang Guan.

There is another duel between Zhang Guan and Hamelin, another duel of peak speed!