Chapter 107: A High Mountain
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
"This is cathartic!" Hui Zhang thought to himself, feeling relieved. His gloomy mood disappeared.
It was not long ago that Xian Su of the Nantan Middle School had forfeited his first attempt with arrogance. Now Dai Li had also asked his two athletes to forfeit. This was like slapping Xian Su in the face and saying, "Let save so strength so I can punish you later." Xian Su was furious. He gave Dai Li a nasty look.
Dai Li pretended that he had not seen it, then uttered, "Mr. Liu, let’s move on to round two!"
"Fine!" Hu Liu also harbored so anger towards Dai Li. In order to make up for the embarrassnt, he agreed without hesitation.
Jinpeng Lu was still the first one to appear on stage. This ti, his face seed more serious. His relaxed look was gone; it was replaced with fierceness in his eyes.
"I was being careless just now. I thought they were weak, but it turns out they were only pretending to be weak so they could defeat us. And there are three of them! I have never been embarrassed like this. Just wait and see. Now I’m going to show my true colors," Jinpeng Lu thought to himself.
Jinpeng Lu stood in the throwing circle for the second ti. But this ti, instead of throwing the shot right away, he began by carefully adjusting his stance. Everybody could tell that this ti Jinpeng Lu was taking things seriously.
Finally, Jinpeng Lu finished adjusting his stance, and was ready to throw.
"Go!" Lu spun his body with a loud shout, fierce enough to emit a shock wave through the ground.
The flying shot ball seed to have channeled Jinpeng Lu’s heart. It flew forward with anger, like a bomb. The asurent crew at the front seed to be frightened by this anger, and stepped back subconsciously.
Poon!
The shot landed on the ground. The asurent crew walked towards it with a ruler.
"16.48 ters!" the crew’s voice sounded.
"This is far, almost 16.50 ters! Lu did well this ti." Dai Li was surprised, but he did not appear to panic. If Lei Qin, Zhanshan Zhao, and Feng Luo did well, they could also throw 16.50 ters.
Hu Liu nodded with satisfaction. He knew that 16.48 ters was almost the best that Jinpeng Lu could have done.
"16.48 ters is apparently not enough. The rivals are strong. I’m sure a couple of the previous three athletes can throw just as far. In a mont like this, we have to rely on our trump card player, Xian Su!" After thinking about this, Hu Liu looked towards Xian Su.
Xian Su did not forfeit this ti. After having been humiliated by Dai Li, he could not wait to participate. He walked towards the throwing circle and imdiately drew the attention of everybody. The coaches and athletes watching the match began talking about him in low voices.
"That is Xian Su, the bronze dal winner of the National Youth Track and Field Championship. He is the trump card for Nantan Middle School!"
"National bronze dalist. He must be good. I’m not sure how far he can throw."
"6kg shots are used in the Youth Championship. You have to throw at least 18 ters to win a dal. They are using 7.26kg shots today in the match. I think Xian Su can throw at least 17 ters."
"17 ters? That’s impossible! If soone could throw beyond 17 ters, they could enter the top 10 in the National Track and Field Championship. Xian Su is a youth athlete after all. He cannot be that good!"
"I rember in the national track and field throwing group gas earlier this year, the qualifying distance was 17.03 ters. If Xian Su can throw beyond 17 ters, he can qualify for the national throwing group ga."
As the audience discussed amongst themselves, Xian Su was ready to throw.
With a swift turn, his tall figure spun in the air with the dexterity of a ballet dancer, yet filled with the beauty of explosive power.
"Beautiful movent!" Dai Li complinted secretly. Xian Su deserved the title of national youth ga bronze dalist. His movent was not only textbook, but also pleasant to watch.
With a shout, the shot left Xian Su’s hand. It travelled through the air like a shooting star, so fast that it was hard to capture with the naked eye.
Dai Li suddenly had a bad feeling. The faster the shot travelled, and the stronger the athlete’s force was, the further the shot would fly. In global-level events such as the Olympics and the World Championships, not even the high-speed cara on TV broadcasts would play the motion of a flying shot ball. They would only feature a close-up of the impact point instead. The speed of the ball was too fast for the cara to capture.
Once the shot landed, the asurent crew took a few steps back. After seeing the impact point, they had realized that it was the right decision.
"17 ters? It seems to have reached 17 ters!"
"No, not yet. It is just very close to the 17 ter marking."
"16.98 ters!" the asurent crew shouted, with the voice resounding throughout the entire stadium.
"It is close, only 2 centiters away from 17 ters!" Xian Su shook his head with disappointnt.
Hu Liu was satisfied with the result, however. Xian Su was only in his second year of high school, and was about to start his third year in September. Considering his age, he barely had a rival amongst his peers.
...
Dai Li’s face grew serious, and all five of his athletes felt extrely pressured. Lei Qin felt especially nervous, as he was the one who was about to step onto the field.
Lei Qin’s best record was around 16.50 ters in his training, which was almost half a ter away from Xian Su’s 16.98 ters. Even if Lei Qin perford extraordinarily well, it would be impossible to overco such a gap. Each attempt of Xian Su’s was like a mountain standing in front of the youth team.
"He is too strong. I do not have any hope of winning!" Lei Qin appeared to have so stage fright, which was imdiately spotted by Dai Li.
Stage fright was a fatal weakness for athletes participating in competitions. In sports gas, there was always soone among the strong who was the strongest. Even world record holders made mistakes. When facing a stronger rival, the athlete could perform very well if he or she chose to compete without fear or doubt.
Because young athletes lacked in-ga experience, they might have been able to do well when they had an advantage. However, if they were at a disadvantage, they were likely to underperform because of fear, doubt, and hesitation.
All five of Dai Li’s athletes were facing the latter situation. They had barely any in-ga experience, and that problem was evident when they saw that their rival had thrown almost 17 ters.
Stage fright and low morale were what was making Dai Li worried.
Lei Qin was the next one to step into the field. His attempt had beco crucial. If he did well, it could reassure the next four athletes waiting for their turns. But if he did not do well, it could trigger a domino effect.
"No, if all of them are in the sa state, we cannot continue the match like this. I need to boost their morale and get them fired up. It is ti to try the morale-boosting book." After thinking about this, Dai Li suddenly said, "Lei Qin, co here first."
Dai Li decided now was as good a ti as ever to use the morale-boosting book.
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