Almighty Coach Chapter 514 - Counterattack of the Extra

Chapter 514: Counterattack of the Extra

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Vince Jackson was one of the athletes that had been personally selected by Dai Li. She was only 19. Vince Jackson was considered slightly above average in terms of her strength and talent. The reason Dai Li chose her was that he fancied her malleability.

There was no advantage to being 19 in the adult shot put competition. It could even be seen as a disadvantage. Shot put not only required strength, but it also required athletes to have a certain weight. At the age of 19 the body had not yet accumulated enough fat and the developnt of muscles had only just begun. This may it more difficult for young athletes because they were up against people in their mid-20s, the physical pri of one’s life.

Vince Jackson’s physical disadvantage was not the only one that was a result of her youth. Young athletes had unstable mindsets and their ntal states were always fluctuating, especially in sporting events like the Olympic Gas. There were too many uncontrollable external factors, both on and off the field, which made accounted for these fluctuations.

In the won’s shot put qualifier, twelve athletes entered the finals. While the U.S. team sent three athletes, only Vince Jackson made it to the final. Although this was better than the n’s discus event, it was worse than the U.S. had done in previous years.

The first round of the n’s 800 ters occurred at the sa ti as the won’s shot put qualifier. The Arican team perford as well as they had in the past. All three athletes advanced into the semi-finals.

After the n’s 800 ters race, the Maracana Stadium, the main stadium of the Olympic Gas, hosted the final of the won’s 10,000 ters race. This was the first track and field dal round in this Olympics.

This event was undoubtedly dominated by the Ethiopians and Kenyans. Other countries also had strong athletes but, in the face of the alternate lead-runner strategy of the Ethiopians and Kenyans, it would be tough for them to keep up.

In the end, Ethiopia won the gold and bronze dals. The Kenyans won the silver dal, along with fourth and fifth place. An ethiopian ca in sixth. The seventh-place athlete was slower than the sixth place athlete by a full 13 seconds. Africa’s fa in long-distance running was really well-deserved.

Although it was a 10,000-ter race, at one point there was such a gap that they could have basically just surrendered. Dai Li could not be held responsible for losing the 10,000-ter race. The opponent was just too strong. It was too difficult for any coach to snatch dals from Ethiopia and Kenya in long-distance running.

The final event of the morning session was the final of the n’s 20-kiloter race walk. Although the race walk event originated in the United Kingdom, the Russians were the strongest in it. The Chinese team was also strong enough to have a chance at getting first place. Arica was much worse off and couldn’t make it into the top 20..

Dai Li did not expect a lot from this event. After giving the athletes so encouragent, they returned to the hotel to rest and prepare for the evening’s competition.

There were no scheduled track and field events in the afternoon. It was not until 8:30 in the evening that the field events resud.

The first event in the evening was the first round of the won’s 1,500 ter race. The Kenyans and Ethiopians were the strongest in this event. Algeria’s was also good. As for the Arican team, they were strong enough to place, but Dai Li was not too concerned about this competition. After all, it was the first round. There were many lesser athletes in the competition. These lesser athletes were all used as cannon fodder. It was rare for the U.S. to be eliminated when among such athletes.

The won’s hamr throw qualifying match was held at the sa ti in the track and field stadium. The Arican team perford normally, and two players entered the final. They were up against a strong Eastern European team, so it was unlikely that the Aricans would win.

The next two events were the first round of the n’s 400 ter and the n’s long jump qualifiers. Arica was favored in both of theses events. The Arican athletes were all able to advance and nobody was surprised..

There were two remaining track and field events that day. The first round of the won’s 100 ter sprint and the final of the won’s shot put.

Dai Li did not pay attention to the first round of the won’s 100 ter. Although the U.S. team was not as good as the Jamaicans, they were definitely the second strongest. There would be no problem for Arica’s two athletes to enter the final. They would be able to advance easily in the first round.

A gold dal would be awarded to the winner of this competition. This would be the third gold dal in Olympic track and field today and it was also the last gold dal for the day. If they could get this gold dal, it would at least be sothing to cheer about for the U.S. team. It would be very helpful for improving their morale.

However, the 19-year-old Vince Jackson was the only mber of the U.S. team to advance. She would have to face top athletes from all over the world. It was very unlikely that the U.S. would win.

...

Three athletes from the Russian team entered the finals of the won’s shot put, lklov was certainly determined to win.

“New Zealand veteran Adams and Hungary’s Malton are our biggest rivals. Adams has already participated in the Olympic Gas three tis. She has won the Olympic silver dal. This ti, of course, she’s trying to get first place. Malton won the last World Championship. Schneider of Germany and Xiaona Li of China are also favored. As for the other athletes, they pose no threat to us.”

lklov suddenly laughed. He continued, “Only one person from the U.S. team advanced to the final, and she is a 19-year-old youth nad Vince Jackson. I hadn’t even heard of her na before this Olympics. Her preliminary score was 19.23 ters, which isn’t bad. However, she’s going to need to throw over 20 ters to have a chance at a dal”

As lklov said that, he raised his fist and, with a fervent look, directed his words to the three athletes who would be competing in the event. “Girls, our biggest enemy, the Arican team will not be able to pose any threat to us. Now, no one will be able to prevent us from winning this gold dal! I believe that you can win. You guys will beco heroes of Russia!”

On the other side, Dai Li was not as excited as lklov. At the mont, he looked very calm.

None of the 12 athletes who entered the final were weak. He found that Vince Jackson would end up in the middle of the pack based on raw strength alone.

Although there are so gaps in strength, it won’t be like the won’s 10,000 ters where we were crushed by the African teams. It will be difficult to get a dal. Vince Jackson has always been unstable... looks like I have to take a chance!

Dai Li looked at the state scale in his coaching system and decided to use the tool for Vince Jackson.

The state scale could make an athlete’s state extrely stable. For a player with superior talent, a stable state could almost ensure a victory. Dai Li originally helped Adam Holly get rid of his psychological problems by doing this.

At the sa ti, the state scale could also make the state of the athlete extrely unstable. This instability might cause the athlete to do very well or do very poorly. It was based on luck.

Today, Dai Li planned to make Vince Jackson extrely unstable.

Dai Li thought that if Vince Jackson were to perform normally, she wasn’t likely to win. It was better to gamble and give her a shot at first place. Doing sothing extre was her only shot.

The way that the shot put event worked made the state scale a great option.

Sports that were related to racing, such as short-distance running and swimming, were all fleeting. Every athlete only had one chance per month. Who would be the first to get to the finish line? Whoever was faster would co in first. There was no second chance. The performance and mindset of the athlete in sports like that were indeed important, but the most important thing in the competitions was still raw power and strength.

As for events like shooting, archery, diving, and other sports that relied on the accumulation of points, the total score determined the outco. So every bullet, every arrow, every ti the athlete made a move, they had to go all out. Even if they did badly for a second, they would lose the gold dal. For those kinds of sports, a steady performance was the most important thing. A single good performance might give athletes so advantage, but when calculating the total score, the one single excellent performance would be evenly distributed in the total score, which might lessen its importance or even make it negligible.

Shot put and other field events, however, were different from those other events. Field events gave an athlete multiple chances. For example, there were six attempts for the shot put and there were six opportunities to jump for the long jump. As long as one of their scores were better than the other athletes, even all their other scores were zero, they would still win.

This kind of system of competition also made it so that athletes could boldly go all out and choose the technique that pushed them to their limits, even if it put them on the verge of failure and fouling. As long as they produced a good enough result, they could still beco the champion.

This was made the state scale particularly useful. For instance, for the six attempts that were taken, as long as there was a situation where an athlete went all out, it would be possible to beco the champion.

...

Vince Jackson picked up the shot put and looked at the ground with the curved lines. She was tense. Not only was this the first ti she was participating in the Olympic Gas, it was also her first ti participating in an international competition. Now, she was in the shot put final in the Olympics.

Vince Jackson couldn’t help but recall that a few months ago she was in the Arican dostic trials and only got twelfth place. She had ranked nowhere near the top three who had qualified. She didn’t even dream that she would stand on the stage of the Olympic final.

It wasn’t easy to get here. This may be the most brilliant mont of my life. I’ll do my best! Vince Jackson thought of this and started a test throw.

“Ugh!” Vince Jackson couldn’t help but scream and the ball left her hand at the sa ti.

Whoosh. The black shot put ball was like a cannonball.

Bam. A hole appeared on the ground. That hole was not even over the 17-ter mark.

The surveyor imdiately rushed towards it and inserted a long rod into the hole.

“16.79 ters!” The referee announced the result.

Vince Jackson felt frustrated. Her throw had been terrible. That was an Olympic throw. A B standard in the Olympics was 17.3 ter, and the A standard in the Olympics was 18.35 ters. For athletes who entered the Olympic final, not being able to reach at least 17 ters was embarrassing.

Vince Jackson walked off the field, and Dai Li personally ca over and handed her a towel.

“Sorry. Coach Li, I...”

He didn’t wait for Vince Jackson to finish. Dai Li interrupted her and said, “It doesn’t matter, it’s just the first throw. In shot put, every throw is a new start! I picked you personally. I’m very sure that I didn’t pick the wrong person.”

Dai Li’s expression was very relaxed and confident. This helped Vince Jackson settle down.

When faced with a young athlete who was in the Olympics for the first ti, encouragent was obviously very important. Moreover, Dai Li did not want Vince Jackson to put too much pressure on herself. He tried to appear relaxed to take so off of her.

Moreover, Dai Li did not feel that his luck would be so bad that all three throws would be that bad.

...

The first round of throws was over, and Vince Jackson, who had a score of less than 17 ters, was undoubtedly at the bottom.

An unknown athlete scoring less than 17 ters. Everyone thought this young girl was just an extra.

Coaches from the other countries chose to ignore Vince Jackson. While the other 11 competitors also decided not to pay attention to her. No one wasted energy on an extra.

The athletes started the second throw, and Vince Jackson also ushered in her second appearance in the Olympic final.

Vince Jackson stepped onto the throwing area and picked up the ball. At that mont, the big screen in the stadium and TV broadcasts showed the statistics on Vince Jackson’s first throw.

When a very low score of less than 17 ters appeared, so viewers couldn’t help but yawn. After all, it was already after ten o’clock in the evening. If the person going on wasn’t an expert, it was very difficult for people to concentrate.

The people who were watching at ho went to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom. No one cared about the results of an unknown extra.

In the coaches’ rest area and the athletes’ waiting area, everyone was busy with their own things. They were completely uninterested in the performance of Vince Jackson.

At that point, perhaps only the referee put his attention on Vince Jackson.

Vince Jackson took a deep breath and repeated the essential shot put techniques in her mind, and then started to throw.

The black shot put ball was turned into a small cannon again. It flew out and slamd into the ground, leaving a hole.

This ti, however, the mark was located outside the thickest line.

That was the 20-ter mark!

The referee in charge of the asurent widened his eyes, as if he could not believe what he just saw.

Am I seeing this wrong? It exceeded 20 ters! She couldn’t even reach the 17 ters a mont ago. How did her score improve so much in such a short amount of ti?”