Silent Enlightenment

During the 10th National Games, there were 42 major events and 357 minor events. The 46 national teams had accumulated nearly 10,000 people. Although they were not as comparable to the Olympic Games in scale, they reached the top level of the Asian Games. In some strong events, such as table tennis, badminton, diving, weightlifting, etc., the competition is much fiercer than the Olympics, and the level of excitement exceeds the level of the Olympics.

The preliminaries will be held in advance for each event. These preliminaries are not qualifiers, but real preliminaries. Only the athletes who pass the preliminaries can participate in the main event in October. As for the preliminaries of the 10th National Games, the main basis is the athlete's points in the past year. As long as the points are up to the standard, they can participate in the preliminaries of the 10th National Games.

Zhang Guan took part in two national track and field events last year and won both the 100-meter sprint championship. These points are enough to participate in the 10th National Games. However, in the 200m and 400m projects, Zhang Guan has not participated in the official competition, so he cannot participate in the preliminaries.

The preliminaries for track and field were held on June 20. There are many preliminaries for projects that have already ended in the previous months, such as table tennis, diving, weightlifting, judo, etc. There are also some preliminaries for the following three events as it started one after another during the month.

In the preliminary qualities of the 10th National Games, the athlete's level was relatively low, even lower than that of the National Grand Prix. Zhang Guan was practicing on his own, and he didn't work hard till the 30 meters before the finish line, but even so, the result of 10.19 seconds successfully allowed him to win the championship.

In the United Kingdom, Sharapova defeated Jankovic in the Birmingham Classic and won the championship. She seems to be in good condition while on the grass, but after Wimbledon, Sharapova lost to Serena Williams of USA and was stopped in the semi-finals. In last year's Wimbledon, Sharapova defeated Williams to win the championship, but this year, Williams got revenge for her sister.

Next, Sharapova will prepare for the US Open and participate in several open tournaments in the United States and Canada during early August. Before that, she decided to stay in Europe for a few days because this year's IAAF The Golden League is about to start, and Zhang Guan will come to participate.

The IAAF Golden League is formed by the integration of several different events scattered in Europe. It began in 1998. The top eight of each event in each game will receive a prize. Besides, the athletes who will remain undefeated at each station will receive a special award. At the beginning of this special grand prize was 50 kg of pure gold bullion. Therefore this event is called the Golden League.

Since 2003, the IAAF has reformed this competition, reducing the number of Monte Carlo stations. The competition has changed from the original seven stations to six stations. The special prize has 50 kg of gold and has been valued at 1 million US dollars. The requirements for the million-dollar jackpot have also been reduced. In the six races, as long as you win a single championship out of five of them, you can split 500,000 US dollars, and you can get another 500,000 in six races. For example, if two five-time champions and one six-time champion appear at the same time, then the three men will average the first 500,000 prizes, and the remaining 500,000 dollars will be given to the six-time champion alone. If there are two of the six-time champions, there will be one more person participating in the distribution.

The setting of the Golden League competition items is also different from many tracks and field Grand Prix, not all track and field events can participate in the Golden League. In the 2005 Golden League, men's official competitions include 100m, 800m, 1500m, 5000m, 110m hurdles, high jumps, and javelins. Others such as 200m, 400m, obstacle race, long jump, shot put, etc., are all included in the competition; while the women's side only has 100 meters, 800 meters, 5000 meters, 400 meters hurdles and triple jump.

The first leg of the IAAF Golden League this year is held in Paris, France. Because there will be a series of events before the game, the athletes will arrive in Paris three or five days in advance.

On the plane flying to Paris, Zhang Guan holds a sports magazine in his hand. This magazine has reserved a lot of space to introduce the ending of Wimbledon, which introduces Sharapova's game process, which gave slight happiness in Zhang Guan's heart.

Liu Feiren looked nervous and excited. He found Zhang Guan staring at the photos of Sharapova in the magazine, and he felt more irritable.

Liu Feiren pushed Zhang Guan and said, "You don't seem to be nervous at all!"

"Nervous? Do you feel nervous?" Zhang Guan glanced at the photos in the magazine before closing the magazine reluctantly.

"Of course I am nervous. This is the Golden League! Although I have participated in the IAAF Grand Prix before, I have never participated in the Golden League." Liu Feiren said.

Zhang Guan responded with a smile, "I thought since you had so much more game experience than me, you should be calmer than me."

"You don't understand. I was looking forward to being able to participate in the Golden League several years ago, 50 kg of gold! What a big piece!" Liu Feiren paused, then said, "In fact, it was quite simple at that time. It was already satisfying to meet Alan Johnson that one day and get an autograph from him.

"You never thought you would beat Alan Johnson one day, right?" Zhang Guan asked.

Liu Feiren nodded, but then shook his head again, and then said, "My former idol Alan Johnson dream of becoming the world's first, but when he grew up, he knew that his dream was too far away. It feels good for me to be able to enter the national team. When I first entered the national team, I felt that I would be the first in the country, I later became a national champion and wanted to be an Asian champion; when I became an Asian champion, I wanted to break the world record; and then I hope to be able to enter the Olympic finals. Because you won the Olympics, it influenced me to win the Olympic finals too. Now, I want to break the world record! I remember back when I was still a child, I always dream of becoming the world's number one."

"Don't worry, it is estimated that you will soon break the world record, and it will not exceed the next year at the latest!" Zhang Guan said.

"What about you? Who is your former idol?" Liu Feiren asked suddenly.

"Dayao, and..." Zhang Guan paused, pointed at Liu Feiren, and then said, "And you!"

"Me?" Liu Feiren suddenly laughed, but there was a trace of self-deprecation in the smile.

Zhang Guan straightened his body, as if recalling something, and then said, "At that time, in high school, the school was closed. Every evening, self-study was very late, and it was almost 11 o'clock when I finished washing and went to bed. The learning task for me was tight and there were no entertainment activities. I just listen to the 11 o'clock news after going to bed every day. I remember that the news broadcast seemed to say that it was an IAAF Grand Prix. You broke the world youth record all at once along with an Asian record, the female monitor of our class happens to have the same name as you, so I have remembered your name since then."

"That was in Lausanne, Switzerland! I ran for 13 seconds at 12 years old, and it has been three years after that. Now that I think about it as if it was yesterday." Liu Feiren sighed and he was caught in a short memory.

Zhang Guan went on to say, "You should have been in a sports school since childhood! Almost all athletes in our country are like this. You know, I am not the same. When I was young, I was like the other ordinary people. At that time, my only dream was to enter a good university! My previous grades were not that good, but in high school, the grades were even more terrible. It seems that I have worked hard to learn, but I still can't get good grades, so I went to practice sports since the score of the specialty students going to college will be relatively low. Later, I participated in the national second-level athlete test, and was selected by Chen Lao, and then... "

Zhang Guan remembered his system. If there was no system, he may have lived his whole life as an ordinary person. So he continued, "I have a dream!"

Liu Feiren had been listening quietly, but found that Zhang Guan suddenly stopped talking and could not help asking, "What dream? National champion? Asian champion? Or the world champion? Or just like me, all of these?"

Zhang Guan still smiled, and did not answer positively, but said, "No matter what dream, it may be realized one by one, maybe it will be farther and farther, but at least on the path of chasing the dream, I have struggled. And we are very lucky that we have realized our dreams, and even though most people have moved forward and struggled, they have never touched the edge of their dreams... "

Liu Feiren froze for a moment, seriously thought about what Zhang Guan said, and then nodded more seriously, "You are right, we are lucky, there are too many athletes, they work very hard, but they fail to be successful."

"So, sometimes when I think about it seriously, I feel quite satisfied." Zhang Guan said.

"Satisfied? Satisfied that you still practice 200 meters?" Liu Feiren said. These days, Zhang Guan is practicing corners, but Liu Feiren sees it all in his eyes.

"I would say that satisfaction is not about being in the status quo, but being grateful for the harvest." Zhang Guan thought about it and explained, "For example, if I have a normal car now, then I think getting a luxury car would be my dream, I will continue to work hard to buy a luxury car, but in the process of this effort, I will not feel that my car is bad, every time I drive out, I will still be very happy, I will feel very satisfied, I would think that although the average car is not as luxurious as a luxury car, at least I am a car owner. "

"You are optimistic!" Liu Feiren suddenly laughed after listening to Zhang Guan's example.

"I would think you want to say that I am the Ah Q spirit." Zhang Guan then said, "Life, you have to live with laughter and crying, so is it better to be optimistic. And we are athletes, as we grow older, we will encounter injuries and illnesses, and we will encounter ups and downs. When we are champions, countless people will tout us, but when we fail, we will be subject to various doubts and abuses. En, even taking a wife may not make you happy. So first, be optimistic and don't cry but stand... "

"What a mess!" Liu Feiren slapped on Zhang Guan's shoulder, "It's as you said 'we' in the front, how come to marry a wife, it won't make me happy? Why don't you mention yourself."

Zhang Guan laughed self-deprecatingly. He could not reveal the future to Liu Feiren. He only hoped that in the future, Liu Feiren could remember his own words and then go on optimistically.