Challenging a Greater Distance

On May 28, 1997, at the National Athletics Championships, Lao Jianfeng achieved a distance of 8.40 meters in the long jump. This not only set a new national record but also broke the Asian record for the men's long jump.

It wasn't until 2005 that Saudi Arabian athlete Al-Ku Walidi Muhammad broke this Asian record with a distance of 8.44 meters. Then, on July 2, 2006, just a month ago, Muhammad further improved his own record with a leap of 8.48 meters.

However, today, Zhang Guan jumped an impressive 8.49 meters, just surpassing Al-Ku Walidi Muhammad's 8.48 meters and reclaiming the Asian record for China.

"8.49 meters! Zhang Guan has jumped 8.49 meters! It's a new Asian record!" The loudspeakers in the stadium blared excitedly.

Ordinary spectators might not know what the Asian record for the long jump is, but they could tell that Zhang Guan's leap was better than the previous one. With the announcement over the loudspeakers, the crowd finally understood the significance behind Zhang Guan's 8.49 meters.

"Wow…" The audience erupted in cheers once again.

The waiting journalists swarmed around Zhang Guan once more.

Earlier, when Zhang Guan had broken the national record, he was already surrounded by reporters. Now, just seven or eight minutes later, the journalists rushed over again.

Even the usually composed and mature Zhou Can couldn't help but exclaim, "Zhang Guan is incredible! He broke two records with just two jumps, one national and one Asian. This is a miracle!"

"Indeed. I still find it hard to believe," Li Run said, pausing for a moment before continuing, "Is this Zhang Guan's true potential?"

"It seems we were all wrong. I used to think jumping over eight meters was his limit, but now that seems laughable! Over eight meters? He wasn't even trying!" Zhou Can shook his head and continued, "It's clear that Zhang Guan's long jump capabilities have already reached the level of the world's top athletes, perhaps comparable to the best in the world. Sigh..."

Zhou Can sighed, and Li Run asked, "Brother Zhou, isn't it great that Zhang Guan broke the Asian record? Why the sigh?"

"No reason, I just feel like I'm not good enough. Comparing myself to him is really frustrating," Zhou Can chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Look at Zhang Guan: 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, he's world-class in all of them. Now, he's also breaking records in the long jump. And look at us..."

"Brother Zhou, didn't you tell me earlier not to compare ourselves to Zhang Guan? He's just too amazing. We should just do our best," Li Run comforted.

"You're right. There's still one last attempt. We need to give it our all!"

…

Because Zhang Guan broke the Asian record with his fifth jump, the long jump competition had to be paused once more. After a long break, the competition continued, and the athletes began their final attempts.

Perhaps due to the lengthy interval, the athletes' bodies had cooled down. Many of them failed to perform to their best in their final attempts, some committing fouls, and some simply failing to achieve a good distance. Even those who succeeded did not achieve breakthrough results.

By this time, hardly anyone was paying attention to the long jump competition anymore. The audience was busy discussing Zhang Guan's breaking of the Asian record. The topic of an Asian record was clearly more captivating than a national record, especially since this Asian record had been reclaimed from a foreign athlete, elevating it to a matter of national pride. Even those who didn't understand athletics couldn't help but join in the discussion.

As the seven athletes completed their final attempts, the audience's attention returned to the field because Zhang Guan was about to make his last attempt.

"I think it's enough; you've already broken the Asian record. You can take it easy on this final attempt. Just make a symbolic appearance, and most importantly, take care of yourself and avoid injury," Coach Zhou said earnestly to Zhang Guan.

Earlier, when Zhang Guan jumped 8.42 meters, Coach Zhou had said similar words. He was extremely worried about Zhang Guan getting injured. As a national treasure of an athlete, if Zhang Guan were to get injured at a national athletics championship, Coach Zhou couldn't bear the responsibility.

Zhang Guan shook his head and pointed to the stands, "Coach, listen to the crowd..."

"Zhang Guan! Go, Zhang Guan! Go, Zhang Guan! Go!"

The cheers of tens of thousands of spectators were unified, all anticipating that Zhang Guan's next jump would bring another surprise.

"Coach, everyone is cheering for me! How can I give up now? Besides, I want to try and challenge the 8.50-meter mark," Zhang Guan said confidently, then walked onto the field.

Coach Zhou sighed helplessly. Although he was the head coach of the provincial athletics team, he couldn't really command a superstar athlete like Zhang Guan. He could only let him be.

…

Athletes have a time limit for their run-up preparation, with each attempt being limited to one minute. A timer is usually set up at the head of the run-up area to remind athletes of the time. The timer is started when the athlete enters the run-up area, and when there are only fifteen seconds left, the timekeeper raises a yellow flag. When the time is up, the yellow flag is lowered, and if the athlete hasn't started their attempt, it is considered a failed attempt.

However, when Zhang Guan stood on the field, the referee did not start the timer, obviously giving him some leeway to take his time.

Zhang Guan didn't dawdle. He adjusted his breathing rhythm slightly and then got into his run-up stance.

The timekeeper only started the timer when Zhang Guan was ready. As soon as the countdown began, Zhang Guan immediately started his run-up.

"Look at that speed, Zhang Guan is still giving it his all! Even on the last attempt, even after breaking the Asian record, he hasn't given up on the competition! Will he be able to perform even better than before?" Director Ma, who had just calmed down, became tense again at this moment.

Zhang Guan once again drew a parabolic trajectory and landed in the sandpit. Countless grains of sand scattered, and a mark appeared on the once smooth sand surface. The farthest edge of the mark had even surpassed the 8.50-meter mark.

"Zhang Guan really crossed the 8.50-meter barrier!" Coach Zhou couldn't help but exclaim.

After confirmation, Zhang Guan's final distance was 8.52 meters.

"8.52 meters! Old Yu, did you see that? 8.52 meters! This is a world champion level performance! We finally have a world-class athlete in the long jump!" Director Ma said excitedly, his voice trembling.

At this moment, Director Ma was extremely excited. Having come from a background as a long jump coach, Zhang Guan's achievement in the long jump touched him deeply.

Coach Yu was less exaggerated in his reaction. In the sprint events, Zhang Guan had already brought too many miracles to Coach Yu, who had become accustomed to such achievements. His subconscious had already formed the belief that as long as Zhang Guan was competing, anything was possible.

Three consecutive jumps, three records, one national and two Asian records, with the last jump breaking the 8.50-meter barrier! This was definitely the most sensational event in domestic athletics competitions in recent years. Although national and Asian records were not as impressive as the world records Zhang Guan had broken, they were still bound to cause quite a stir.

But now there was no time to dwell on that; Zhang Guan still had to compete in the men's 800-meter final in the evening.

…

As night fell, the temperature seemed to drop a bit, but the summer heat and the enthusiasm of the crowd intertwined, making the stadium feel like a boiling pot.

The 800-meter final was about to begin. When Zhang Guan appeared in sight, the atmosphere at the stadium reached a new high, with even those queuing for the restroom rushing back, afraid of missing Zhang Guan's race.

How many in the audience were really familiar with athletics competitions? For most spectators, spending money to watch the competition was mainly to see a few big-name athletes. Now that Zhang Guan was about to compete, they didn't want to miss it.

Even though Zhang Guan had participated in the long jump final a few hours earlier, no one doubted his stamina. The sprinting speed he displayed in the 800-meter and 1500-meter preliminaries had already shown everyone that his stamina reserves could only be described as "phenomenal."

There were no particularly strong opponents in the 800-meter final. Among the seven competitors, Li Xiangyu, the champion of the Tenth National Games, was the clear favorite, with the others being relatively weak.

The level of 800-meter running in China was generally weak. Originally, the champion of the Ninth National Games, Li Huiquan, was also very strong and had defeated Japanese athletes, but he was currently suspended for doping violations, with his ban set to expire in two months.

The eight finalists stood in their respective starting lanes, with Zhang Guan in the fourth lane. They quickly prepared themselves, and at the sound of the starting signal, they began to run.

Having learned from the preliminaries, Zhang Guan did not sprint during the initial split lane run, instead choosing to run at a normal pace, which meant that he didn't gain an advantage before the break line. After passing the break line, Zhang Guan started to merge lanes. Merging from the fourth lane wasn't the easiest, but it wasn't too difficult either. Although Zhang Guan's merging technique wasn't perfect, he managed to complete it smoothly. By the time they reached the end of the straight, with everyone moving to the innermost lane, Zhang Guan was in fifth place.

Zhang Guan was quite satisfied with this outcome. He had already activated his drafting technique and now just needed to follow the others for a bit over a lap before breaking out of the inner lane and starting his sprint. With this strategy, the 800-meter title was almost guaranteed to be his.

But at this moment, the unexpected happened on the track!