The next day, word of the results of the half marathon quickly spread to the national team. Everyone knew that Baogang Liu had had an unexpected failure, and that he had been defeated by Dai Li in the marathon.
The coaches of the national team knew each other well. They surely knew about Baogang Liu's qualifications.
In terms of ability, Baogang Liu was definitely not weak on the national team, and might even be in the upper-middle level. Not only was he good at marathon training, but he was also good at long-distance running training.
If Baogang Liu was defeated by another marathon coach, or even by a long-distance running coach, it would not have surprised anyone. After all, even the best horses stumbled sometimes; it's normal for a high-level coach to lose a match once in a while.