章 195: Bolt appears
New York.
"You haven't been here for a week, and you have to leave so soon!" Sharapova snuggled in Zhang Guan's arms, her face full of grudges.
Zhang Guan sighed helplessly, "The Athletics World Cup is about to start. This is my first time participating in the Athletics World Cup, and it is also my first time participating in the long jump event in the international arena! The comprehensive strength of Asian Athletics was originally not as good as Europe and America, and even Africa. If I don't go to the competition, this time Asia will be at the bottom."
"Okay! Anyway, this year's China Open is about to start. At that time, the track and field World Cup should be over! I'll go find you then." Sharapova said.
"The Track and Field World Cup will only end on September 17, and I will probably return to China on the 19th. When will the China Open start this year?" Zhang Guan asked.
"Starting on September 18. The Chinese Open is only a second-level event. I was not going to participate in it, but since you are here, I will go." Sharapova said.
In tennis tournaments, different levels of tournament bonuses and points are different. Of course, the qualifications of players of various levels of competition also have different restrictions. Among them, the four major slam events each year are naturally the highest level events, and the requirements for the players are also the highest; the first-level tour under the four major slams, the prize money is generally 1.34 million US dollars, this level of competition due to bonuses and points are relatively high, often will be able to attract the Grand Slam champion-level players to participate.
Under the first-level tour is the second-level tour. The points of the second-level tour have been reduced compared to the first level. The prize money is generally 600,000 US dollars, of course, there are exceptions, such as the Dubai Open, the organizer is a local tyrant, so the prize money is more than 1 million US dollars. The second-level tour occasionally attracts two or three Grand Slam champion-level players to come to participate. If the organizers are willing to pay the game fee, there may be more big-name players than the first-level tour. In 2006, China Open was a second-tier tour.
As for the third-tier tour, the prize money is only about 175,000 US dollars. This level of competition is generally attended by players outside the world's top 20. The big players will not be attracted by the appearance fee, and the four-tier tour can be regarded as a professional league. In entry-level tournaments, players are relatively weak. Generally, players in the world ranking around 30 can win in the fourth-level tournament.
China Open only resumed in 2004 and was only included in the ATP and WTA as a level 2 tournaments in 2005. However, because the organizer is rich enough, and the state supports it, it attracted many top players every year. It wasn't until 2009 that China Open successfully upgraded to a first-class event.
This year's Chinese Open included Mauresmo, Davenport, Petrova, Jankovic, Kuznetsova, and other players. Sharapova, who had just won the US Open championship, was not prepared to participate. However, to get together with Zhang Guan, Sharapova still decided to participate in this year's China Open competition.
...
On September 14, Zhang Guan arrived in Athens, Greece, and joined other players of the national team to participate in the 10th Athletics World Cup.
This time for the track and field World Cup, the national team sent a total of 12 players, including five male players and seven female players. In addition to Zhang Guan and Liu Feiren, the male players of the national team also have to participate in three events of the triple jump, high jump, and triple jump.
The rules of the Athletics World Cup are different from the general world-class events. This event is calculated according to the points, and the men's and women's groups are calculated separately. The participating teams are also different from traditional ones. They do not register in units of countries, but the form of alliances on all continents. Of course, like the track and field powers of the United States and Russia, a country's track and field strength exceed that of a continent, so it tends to form its team.
In this track and field World Cup, the men's team has European United, American United, African, Asian, American, Russian, French, Oceanian, and Greek; the females have European, American, African United, Asian United, American United, Russia, Poland, Oceania United, and Greece. Among them, the United States and Russia, as the two countries with the strongest track and field levels in the world, each form their team, the Greek team as the host also forms their team, and the French men's team and the Polish women's team had also formed their independent team.
The national team does not have the level of independent team formation, so it is necessary to join the Asian team. According to the situation in previous years, the Asian team is at the bottom of the major leagues, and often not even as good as the independent countries.
However, the strength of the Asian team this year is extraordinary. The first is the group of naturalized legions in the West Asian countries, among which there are many top players in the world, such as Qatar's 3,000-meter steeplechase king Shahien, whose 5000-meter long-distance running is also the world's top-level; the Japanese team's hammer player Shigeru Furuhiro can also win gold. Of course, the biggest killer of the Asian United team is undoubtedly Zhang Guan.
Zhang Guan will participate in the four events of 100m, 200m, 400m, and long jump in this track and field world cup. This is unprecedented in the history of the track and field world cup, and no athlete has done so in the history of track and field. Being able to play smoothly will create another history.
However, this time no one regarded Zhang Guan as an achievement player. Zhang Guan broke two world records in Brussels, Belgium, and has proved to the world that he can cope with two events at the same time. Of the sprint events, Zhang Guan is undoubtedly the biggest favorite to win the championship.
As for Zhang Guan's sudden participation in the long jump event, it did make many people feel surprised, but if you think about it carefully, you won't be surprised. There are many examples of sprinters coming to the long jumps. Especially in the 1980s and 1990s, when sprinting in track and field were very popular. It's just that in recent years, with the continuous improvement of the strength of players, and the requirements for the level of the athletes' technique are getting higher and higher, it is better to run side by side, but cross-athletes such as sprint and long jump are gradually being eliminated.
As for Zhang Guan's performance in the long jump event, the best prediction given by professionals at present is a silver medal, because, in the long jump event, Panamanian player Saladino will participate. Saladino is currently the world's best long jumper. It is said that he has the strength to jump to a distance of 8.7 meters. In the IAAF Golden League, which ended not long ago, Saladino also won five games. In the end, he will try to share a piece of soup.
With the existence of Saladino, the best long jumper in the world, Zhang Guan will naturally not be regarded as a champion.
...
In the hotel's restaurant, Powell sat alone in a corner with a strange expression. Occasionally, other athletes came and wanted to chat with him, but because of Powell's expression, they chose to detour.
Suddenly, a figure appeared and sat directly opposite Powell. Powell thought why the guy was so uninteresting, so he looked up and saw Zhang Guan looking at himself.
"It turns out to be you!" Powell said.
Powell is a big-name athlete. Big-name athletes have a bad face. Of course, ordinary players dare not get close, but Zhang Guan, a bigger player, does not have such scruples. Moreover, his private relationship with Powell is quite good. When he saw Powell's expression, curiosity drove Zhang Guan to sit over.
"Asafa, it looks like you are in a bad mood!" Zhang Guan said.
Powell nodded, "I have decided to abandon the 100-meter track and field World Cup."
"Give up? Why? Is there a physical cause? The old injury has recurred?" Zhang Guan asked. He felt that apart from the cause of the injury, there was no reason for Powell to retire.
Powell sighed and said, "I don't want to participate in the World Cup for the United States. I think Jamaica's track and field level is enough to form an independent team, just like the French team this year!"
Everyone knows that Jamaica is a place rich in sprints, but in fact, Jamaica is also very powerful in other sports. It is only because Jamaica's sprint is so dazzling, so people only remember that Jamaica is rich in sprints.
Zhang Guan is understandable about this kind of psychology. If possible, Zhang Guan also hopes that he can set up a Chinese team like the US and Russia, instead of staying in the Asian United team. Zhang Guan believes that every athlete hopes that his country will be able to form an independent team to compete in the World Cup.
However, for independent teams, the first thing you need is strength, the overall strength of a country's track and field needs to be strong. For example, in the United States or Russia, even if they form an independent team to participate in the track and field World Cup, there is a chance to win first place.
"Asafa, I can understand your feelings. You see that I am also on the Asian team!" Zhang Guan then said, "In this way, you are much better than me. At least the strength of the American team is very strong. but the strength of our Asian United team is very strong."
"This year's Asian United team is not weak, there are three world record holders, you, Liu Feiren and Sha Xien. And you are also the holders of two world records." Powell paused, then said, "In the 100-meter project, the strength of the other players is average. The strongest is probably Obik Viru and Tyson Gay! As for the 400-meter project, Varina did not participate."
"Didn't Varina come? Who is in the American team?" Zhang Guan asked curiously.
"LaShawn Merritt. This young man seems to be doing pretty well recently." Powell continued, "You are the world record holder for the 100m and 400m. There is certainly no pressure to win the 200m. Obik Viru will also participate in the 200-meter race. Also, last year's 200-meter champion Wallace Spearman will participate! By the way, we have a young man in Jamaica. You might know him as your both relatively young. He and you are the same age. His 200m level is not bad, but he has not participated in many international competitions, and his experience is still lacking."
When Powell finished, he raised his head, looked behind Zhang Guan, and then said, "Well, he's coming!"
Zhang Guan had already guessed who Powell was talking about, but he still wanted to confirm his thoughts, so Zhang Guan looked back immediately and saw a familiar face.
"It is Bolt!"
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