Fluctuating State

July 17th, Beiti University Athletics Field.

The fourth leg of the National Athletics Grand Prix is ​​being held here. Due to the preparations for the Olympics, athletes like Liu Feiren and Xing Huina, who have a chance to win medals at the Olympics, did not participate. Zhang Guan, Asia's top sprinter, is one of the key players in this competition.

With Liu Feiren absent, there was naturally no attention on the 110-meter hurdles event. Consequently, all attention was focused on the showdown among the sprinters in the 100-meter dash. Everyone wanted to see how Zhang Guan's current state was.

The university campus in July had already entered summer vacation, but many students remained on campus, especially those from the School of Athletics. Many of these students were professional athletes, with several of them being international elite athletes and dozens being national-level athletes, with even more at the national first-level athlete level.

As the host venue, Beiti University naturally received some privileges. Therefore, in this leg of the competition, the Athletics Management Center allocated some spots to Beiti University, resulting in some participating athletes being students from Beiti University. However, this also lowered the overall competitive level of the competition.

For many students at Beiti University, being able to compete with Asia's top sprinter was a great honor. Before the race, there were countless students seeking Zhang Guan's autograph and taking photos with him, which made Zhang Guan feel that the competitive atmosphere had diminished significantly. Faced with this situation, Zhang Guan couldn't feel nervous at all, let alone excited.

In the end, in the preliminary round, Zhang Guan ran a time of 10.24 seconds, and in the final round, he ran 10.26 seconds. Neither the preliminary nor the final round showcased his full effort; it was just casual running.

Originally, Zhang Guan was somewhat serious during the preliminary round, but when he found that he had a significant lead, he didn't take the final round seriously either.

Whether it was the preliminary or final round, Zhang Guan's performance was not very good. His opponents were too weak, leaving Zhang Guan with no competitive spirit. Competing with a group of national first-level athletes when you can run the hundred meters in under ten seconds is like a cheetah competing against rabbits. Even if you win, there is no sense of achievement.

The next day's final saw a significant improvement in the athletes' performance. Without the university athletes participating just to fill the spots, all eight participants were professional-level athletes. Of course, university athletes couldn't have the ability to enter the final.

Zhang Guan encountered Shen Bao again. At this moment, Shen Bao's expression appeared serious, showing signs of nervousness.

Shen Bao was sprinting for the final ticket to the Olympics. The deadline for Olympic registration was approaching, and Shen Bao wouldn't give up this last chance. In fact, he hadn't given up any opportunity. He had participated in all athletics events this year and even achieved a good time of 10.23 seconds. This time was his personal best and the best domestic hundred-meter time this year, but unfortunately, he was still 0.02 seconds away from the Olympic A standard.

In yesterday's competition, nineteen-year-old Wang Li successfully achieved the Olympic A standard in the women's long jump event, securing a ticket to the Olympics. Just now, in the men's javelin event, thirty-two-year-old veteran Li Rongxiang also surpassed the Olympic A standard, securing a spot in the Athens Olympic Games for himself. The emergence of these two new Olympic tickets deeply stimulated Shen Bao. He also hoped to seize this last chance and earn the opportunity to go to Athens.

As for Zhang Guan, influenced by yesterday's performance, his state today was still not good. This was something Zhang Guan could clearly feel himself. Even standing on the track, his body couldn't get excited at all. His feet felt unusually heavy on the ground, as if he had just walked out of a freezer.

However, Zhang Guan still planned to challenge the Asian record this year. Currently, Zhang Guan had four skill points, and he needed two more to complete the next task. Winning just the championship of the National Athletics Grand Prix was not enough to earn two skill points, so he had to break the Asian record once.

...

With the sound of the gun, Zhang Guan dashed out of the starting line with all his strength.

"So fast! I've never seen anyone run this fast before."

"No wonder he's Asia's top sprinter!"

"Yesterday's run was already surprising, but today's even faster!"

The students watching from the stands at Beiti University exclaimed in admiration.

But on the track, Zhang Guan clearly felt that his speed was average. Under normal circumstances, he should have been much faster.

In the system, the timing numbers were constantly refreshing, and Zhang Guan felt anxious. At this rate, he was afraid he couldn't break the Asian record.

"I need to put in more effort!" Zhang Guan thought to himself. Although his legs were exerting full force, his speed didn't increase.

In the end, he didn't hold back, even making a serious effort to cross the finish line despite his significant lead. However, his final result remained at 9.99 seconds.

Cheers and applause erupted from the entire stadium. Once again, Zhang Guan equaled the Asian record, which the audience considered a remarkable feat. Witnessing this scene was a great honor for the students at Beiti University.

Coach Yu, sitting in the chairman's stand, breathed a sigh of relief and said to the people beside him, "I thought Chen Laoshe's departure would affect his performance, but now it seems his state is still pretty good. If he can maintain this state, I'll be reassured for the Olympics."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Although they were all sports professionals, the best level of domestic athletes had long been at around 10.2 seconds. So, being able to equal the Asian record was undoubtedly a sign of excellent form in their eyes.

However, Zhang Guan frowned at the finish line. He knew that his state had reached its limit, and he hadn't performed at his usual training level at all.

It had been ten months since the Asian Athletics Championships last year. During these ten months, Zhang Guan had made significant technical improvements, and under the influence of two skills, his body strength and endurance had greatly improved. The soreness in his calves after intense exercise had disappeared, indicating that his strength was much stronger than last year. Zhang Guan had secretly tested it. Under full sprint, his hundred-meter speed was definitely much faster than it was during the Asian Athletics Championships last year, easily running under 9.9 seconds.

But today, despite giving it his all, he only ran 9.99 seconds, indicating that Zhang Guan's state today was very poor.

Zhang Guan then glanced at the final results table. Shen Bao still failed to meet the Olympic A standard. This time, he was destined to miss the Athens Olympics. Looking at his age and athletic status, it was unlikely he would be able to participate in the next Olympics either.

Shen Bao looked at the results table with a despondent expression, his eyes filled with pain and regret. For an athlete, participating in the Olympics was not only an honor but also a lifelong dream. Now that his dream had been shattered, he would never have a chance to fulfill it again.

"Shen ge..." Zhang Guan stepped forward, wanting to comfort Shen Bao.

Shen Bao looked up, smiled at Zhang Guan, and said, "Zhang Guan, do your best at the Olympics. I've given up my chance, so aim to make it to the finals!"

After saying this, Shen Bao turned and left. Zhang Guan vaguely noticed a glimmer of tears in the corner of Shen Bao's eyes.

Zhang Guan didn't say anything more. He watched Shen Bao leave and then remembered the desolate figure of Chen Lao leaving.

"I will definitely win the Olympic gold medal!" Zhang Guan suddenly said.

Shen Bao's body paused for a moment, but he didn't turn back. Instead, he raised his right hand and gave a thumbs-up.

Zhang Guan couldn't see Shen Bao's expression, but he knew that at this moment, Shen Bao must be silently blessing him in his heart, as well as blessing all the athletes of the national team!

...

Without breaking the Asian record and only winning the championship of the National Athletics Grand Prix, Zhang Guan accumulated five skill points, still one short of completing the task. This one skill point would have to wait until the fifth leg of the National Athletics Grand Prix at the end of this month.

Sitting on the return bus, Zhang Guan furrowed his brow, pondering how to improve his competition state.

Coach Yu was also on the same bus. Seeing Zhang Guan looking unhappy, he changed seats with the person next to Zhang Guan and sat closer to him.

"You equaled the Asian record, why do you still look unhappy?" Coach Yu asked.

"Coach, I feel that my recent competition state is not good. These past two days, running has been quite a struggle," Zhang Guan replied.

"Poor state?" Coach Yu was stunned. In his opinion, equating the Asian record couldn't possibly happen if Zhang Guan was in a poor state. But from Zhang Guan's serious expression, it didn't seem like he was joking.

"What's wrong with your state? Tell me about it," Coach Yu asked.

"It's hard to describe..." Zhang Guan began.

"Is it feeling like you're struggling to run, your steps are heavy, you can't find your rhythm, and it feels awkward? It feels like you're exerting force, but your speed doesn't increase?" Coach Yu suddenly looked serious.

"Yes, that's exactly how it feels!" Zhang Guan confirmed.

Coach Yu took a deep breath. Having been an athlete for over a decade and a coach for decades, he knew what it felt like for an athlete to have a poor competition state. So he accurately described it.

"For an athlete, long periods without competition, or injuries, or significant adjustments in training, or external factors, can all lead to fluctuations in state. When we get back, I'll come up with a new training plan for you, and I'll personally supervise your daily training," Coach Yu said.

In Coach Yu's view, Zhang Guan's decline in state was probably due to Chen Lao's departure. The impact of changing coaches on an athlete was significant. The new coach obviously didn't have the same level of skill as Chen Lao, resulting in a decline in Zhang Guan's competitive state. However, with proper training arrangements, it wouldn't take too long to recover the competitive state.

"Then again, this kid can still run 9.99 seconds even in a poor state. If he's in top form, wouldn't he be aiming for the world championship?" Coach Yu thought to himself silently.