After Leaving the Sports Circle, I Became a Cooking God (Completed BL)

Chapter 59: Pre-match public opinion & Asian Games 400M race Finals

Translator: dapotaturs
Release Date: 09/04/2023

On August 27th, the 4th day of the Jakarta Asian Games, besides the men's 400 meters race, there were numerous other athletics events scheduled for the day, including the women's marathon, men's long jump finals, decathlon discus throw, pole vault, and more.

Between the exciting men's and women's 100 meters semifinals and finals, there were the finals for the men's and women's 400 meters races and a women's shot put final.

This arrangement seemed to place the 400 meters as a buffer between the two 100 meters sprints. The 100 meters sprint, being the benchmark for absolute speed in track and field, always garnered more attention and priority than the 200 meters and 400 meters.

In the early evening, the members of the track and field team who had finished their meals returned to the Chinese athletes' section in the spectator stands, waiting for the upcoming events to start.

Online, as the moments ticked closer to the start time, the number of viewers in the sports channel's livestream chat room continued to rise. For track and field enthusiasts, the evening held two heavyweight events: firstly, the men's and women's 100 meters sprint, where they wondered if Fang Yu would smoothly make it to the finals; secondly, the men's and women's 100 meters finals, where they were curious to see what results Zhang Ziyi and Qiu Wen would achieve. Lastly, they pondered if Fang Yu could achieve an impressive performance in the 100 meters final and make a remarkable contribution to the Asian Games.

Jiang Wentao, as the team official leading the Chinese delegation, spent a significant amount of time like this, sitting in the spectator stands with a nervous yet anticipatory feeling, waiting for one event after another to begin.

"Old Pei," as the clock neared 7:30 PM, Jiang Wentao turned to Pei Jin'an and asked, "Is Fang Yu's condition okay for tonight's race?"

Pei Jin'an nodded, "It's decent. He had a reasonable performance in yesterday's preliminaries. When I talked to him today, he complained to me about not being invited to eat Coach Su's food last night. He mentioned that during his training with Wu Yi, they occasionally bumped into Coach Su giving extra meals to the 400 meters athletes, and it made both of them quite envious."

Pei Jin'an chuckled, "At times like these, it's good to crack jokes, maintain a relaxed mindset. There should be no issues for tonight's semifinals. As for the finals, it will require both skill and a bit of luck."

As Pei Jin'an spoke, he mentioned that Fang Yu's condition for today was fairly good. He had progressed to the finals with a time of 10.15 seconds in the semifinals, securing first place in his heat. This performance eased Jiang Wentao's worries.

"Fang Yu's condition seems stable today. As long as he can maintain that in the 100 meters final and give his all, there's a chance for a medal," Pei Jin'an, the head coach of the sprint group and Fang Yu's coach, was familiar with Fang Yu's condition.

Jiang Wentao nodded in agreement, then let out a sigh, "Fang Yu is a talented athlete. It's a shame that after breaking the 10-second barrier in 2015, he hasn't been able to improve further. He's nearly 28 now. Breaking through again after this age will be even more difficult."

As the first and only male athlete in China and even all of Asia to break the 10-second barrier in the 100 meters sprint, Fang Yu's brilliance in 2015 had brought tremendous attention and expectations from China and the Asian track and field community. Unfortunately, since that moment, Fang Yu's progress had plateaued. His results didn't decline dramatically, but he hadn't made any significant improvements.

The national track and field team, along with the athletics management center, had invested a lot of effort in understanding Fang Yu's situation, but his performance had yet to see a breakthrough.