Almighty Coach

The competition system at the National Games was very complicated and varied for different events.

For example, the preliminaries for basketball would be held four to five months in advance and would be held in several locations. The participating teams had to participate in round-robin matches in each location. The top two teams of a competition would be promoted to the final round, while the third and fourth place of the competition competed for another place in the final round through a play-off. In August, the teams who had entered the final round would compete for the gold medal.

In this competition system, in case several powerful teams were assigned to one location, the preliminaries would be very fierce; in case all the weak teams were assigned to one location, the preliminaries would be held between the weaklings. Because of this, a circumstance where powerful teams were knocked out while weak teams entered the final round was always possible.

Another example was the marathon. The winner of the gold medal of the marathon would be decided several months before the National Games. The official events of the National Games would be held in August, while the marathon champion would have been decided around April, and the marathon wouldn’t be held during the National Games at all.

The competition rules and system varied at each National Games. For example, eight teams would enter the final round in this National Games, but the number might be changed to twelve at the next National Games, while the number could even be changed back to eight in the games after that. The registration of the current National Games would be changed during the next one. In case the registration rules were changed, those who were qualified to participate in the events might lose their qualifications, while those who weren’t qualified might be able to participate.

After all, the National Games were renowned as "The Olympics of Systems." The rules and competition systems were decided by sports associations. Sometimes, the chairman of a sports association who had a passing fancy in his mind might casually decide to change the rules. Therefore, non-professionals could be confused by the National Games, sometimes not even being able to figure out how athletes were promoted.

For the track and field events at this National Games, athletes whose results ranked in the top sixteen in China in the previous three years could enter official meets directly; athletes who participated in the last Olympic Games, or placed in the top eight in the last World Championships, or placed in the top six in the last World Cup, or were in the top three at the last Asian Games could also enter official meets directly. Therefore, athletes like Haiquan Fang, Yue Zhao, and Sijie Yang didn’t’ need to participate in the qualification meets, and could enter the official meets directly.

In this way, over twenty places in the official meets had been occupied by athletes who had qualified directly, which made the competition in the qualification matches even more fierce.

...

My opponents are so strong! Kun Shen lowered his head and walked off of the field gloomily.

He had come in the fourth place in the qualification race, and couldn’t enter the next round, which meant his journey in the National Games’ 100m sprint event ended here.

"Kun Shen was also knocked out, so our sprint team has been wiped out in the 100m sprint." As Guodong Li spoke, he patted Tingshan Chen’s shoulder and continued, "Tingshan, don’t be depressed, you’re still young and have a chance at the next National Games. You aren’t like the others who’ll retire before the next National Games."

"Guodong Li, stop being mean!" Baojun Sha growled immediately to show his dissatisfaction.

Kun Shen was already twenty four this year, so he wouldn’t have the chance to attend the next National Games. Guodong Li had alluded that Kun Shen was the one who would retire before the next National Games.

Kun Shen’s failure to get through the qualification round upset Baojun Sha a lot, so Guodong Li’s cruel words annoyed him easily. Baojun Sha quickly launched a comeback. "Kun Shen will participate in the qualification race for the 200m sprint, so he still has a chance to strive for success. He isn’t like some young athletes who could only participate in the 100m sprint because they lacked curve techniques!"

Now, Baojun Sha was implying that Tingshan Chen was a young athlete who didn’t know how to handle running the curve. Tingshan Chen was not yet twenty and still needed a lot of time to perfect his technique for the 100m sprint, so he hadn’t spent any time training the 200m sprint.

"Enough! You two stop quarreling! Don’t embarrass yourselves in front of the other teams!" Hua Liu noticed that Baojun Sha and Guodong Li were about to start a quarrel, so he tried to sort it out immediately.

Before, the three of them formed a short-term alliance because of Dai Li. Now, with the threat of Dai Li gone, they had revealed their true colors and started to undermine each other’s work again.

However, this time, Kun Shen, Yueyang Zhu, and Tingshan Chen had been knocked out in the qualification match of the 100m sprint together, and lost the opportunity to enter the official race.

After all, they were weak and less skilled, so it was normal for them to be defeated in a fierce competition like this.

Kun Shen participated in the qualification match of the 200m sprint held the next day, but he was knocked out in the first round.

...

In the hotel, Yueyang Zhu was packing his luggage, quite depressed.

Beside Yueyang Zhu, Kun Shen was sitting by the bed. He lowered his head and kept silent.

Kun Shen was twenty four this year, so he was at his peak as a sprinter. Even so, he still failed to enter the official race at the National Games, which meant he wouldn’t have another chance to participate in the National Games.

The next National Games would be held at least four years later, and Kun Shen would already be twenty eight by then, which meant he would be in the final phase of his sports career, perhaps even preparing his retirement.

I’ll be twenty six when the next National Games is held. I don’t know whether I could still have a chance to participate in it. Yueyang Zhu shook his head and said nothing.

Just at this moment, they heard the sound of footsteps. Tingshan Chen entered the room with another athlete.

"Shen, since we’re going to go back tomorrow, we plan to buy some local delicacies for our families. Care to join us?" Tingshan Chen asked.

This was the first time for Tingshan Chen, who was only nineteen, to participate in the National Games; therefore, although he had failed to enter the official race, he wasn’t very depressed; instead, he was quite excited to participate in meets in new places.

"It’s time to buy some gifts for my family." Kun Shen returned to his mind and stood up. "Sure, I’ll go with you."

As Kun Shen spoke, he picked up his cell phone to look for a number, then said, "Wait a moment, let me call Mr. Zheng of the vehicle fleet first. He travels a lot, so he definitely knows where we can buy high quality, local delicacies at the lowest price."

"That would be best. We were worried about where we could go just now. We planned to go shopping at supermarkets." Tingshan Chen said.

"The supermarkets are almost the same in all of China. Let me ask where we can find a specialty store." As Kun Shen talked to them, he dialed Mr. Zheng’s number.

Soon, the call was connected.

"Hello, Mr. Zheng? This is Kun Shen speaking," Kun Shen said.

He heard a noise through the cell phone. Mr. Zheng, on the other end of the phone, said, "Shen, speak loudly please. It’s quite noisy here, I can’t hear you clearly."

Kun Shen raised his voice immediately and was almost shouting, "Mr. Zheng, how about now?"

"It’s much better, I can hear you now."

"Mr. Shen, why is it so noisy there? I also can’t hear you very clearly! Could you find a quiet place? I’d like to ask you about something," Kun Shen said loudly.

"I’m still in the stadium! So many people are around, how can I find a quiet place?" Mr. Zheng said.

"You’re still in the stadium? Haven’t you come back yet?" Kun Shen checked the time, then said, "Mr. Shen, now should be time for the Closing Ceremony, right?"

"The Closing Ceremony is about to be held soon. Now is the last match of the 4x100m relay, which is also the last event. I have to wait until the end of all matches then drive our athletes back." Mr. Zheng said.

"The relay race? Our athletes?" Kun Shen gasped immediately, and asked in amazement, "Hasn’t our relay team been knocked out yet?"