Because there were still dozens of athletes left in the arena at this time, all of them were about to participate in the 100-meter race, although the preparatory team of the Games also prepared lunch for them, most of the athletes did not eat it immediately, but adapted to the field and warmed up on the track.

On the side near the royal stands, the staff of the Games inserted wooden poles at the two ends of the track that had been measured, and then tied them to the wooden poles with a long string to straighten the ground, and then the referees held iron spoons with long poles and traced straight white lines up to 100 meters long along the ropes on the solid mud ground......

"I wondered before, there are no starting stones or finishing pillars in this race, how can I race? Now I know that the white lines drawn in white powder are the starting line, the finish line and the runway, which is very clear! ”

"However, I counted it, and they only traced 6 tracks with white lines, so did they only let 6 runners compete at a time? I remember that in other sports meetings, there were more than a dozen stone pillars at the finish line alone, and more than a dozen players competed at the same time~——"

"It's nothing, just a few more rounds! The key is that there are few players in a competition, which can avoid confusion and facilitate the supervision of referees, and it seems that the Ionians have carefully referred to the disadvantages of other games and really want to do a good job in this games. ”

The man who spoke was Halpius, a middle-aged citizen from the city-state of Okomenus of the Arcadia League, who had participated in many races in various games as a young man, but was too old to compete, but was keen to watch them. His biggest regret was not to win the championship, and once he was so close to the championship that a nearby competitor hit him in the face when he swung his arm, which affected the final result, and he also appealed to the referee, but to no avail, so he hated some of the shortcomings of the Greek Games.

Harpius was a long-time sports fan, and when he learned that Dionia, the overlord of the Greek world, was going to host the games, he rushed to watch it without hesitation, and was lucky enough to buy a ticket for the opening ceremony. Before entering the arena, he was ready to pick on the Ionian Games with a critical attitude, but after the opening ceremony, his affection for the Dionian Games grew: the unprecedented novelty of the opening ceremony was secondary, and above all he felt the real respect for the athletes participating in the Dionian Games.

As a person who has come over, he is deeply aware of the hardships of being an athlete, in addition to the usual unremitting hard training, but also to rush to the field alone before the start of the games, arrange food and lodging at his own expense, go to the temple in time to register, accept the detailed inquiries of the priests, the tedious preparations before the start of the competition, the tension and irritability are not resolved, all the glory after the game is attributed to the champion, and the other losers have no one to greet even if they are injured......

But this time the Dionian Games was markedly different, he had previously talked to the athletes of the Arcadia League: Dioonia not only provided all the participating athletes with free and comfortable accommodation and food, but also asked the participating city-states to send officials to take care of all the chores of the athletes, which meant that the athletes could devote themselves to the competition and not have to worry about other problems. And at the opening ceremony, the Dionians arranged for the athletes to circle the arena for a week, receiving the salutes and cheers of so many spectators......

Harpius regretted that he had been born a few years earlier and had not enjoyed such an honor.

Therefore, Harpius, who has a good impression of the Dionian Games, of course, hopes that the Dionian Games will also be able to shine after entering the competition stage, and with his experienced competitive eye, he carefully observed the layout of the stadium, and soon found some clues that were different from the previous games.

"I've heard before that the Dionian Games will not only be held in the 100m, but also in the 200m, 400m, 800m...... After I entered the field, I noticed that there were no marked pillars in the arena, and I wondered how they would run the long distance race (in the Greek Games, the athletes ran from the starting stone to the finish stone pillar, then ran around the stone pillar and back, and so on until they had completed the full distance, similar to the switchback run today), and now I understand.

And lo and behold! The Dioyans made a big circle out of small stone bricks, and then, as they do now, they drew a track with lime powder outside the entire circle, and the runners ran around the whole big circle, not to mention hundreds of meters, but thousands of meters can be easily held, which is much easier than running around the stone pillars! ”

Harpius was deeply impressed by the way the long-distance races of the previous games were conducted, and with his decades of experience in the games, he was both organized and contagious, which naturally attracted a group of spectators, led by him, and the discussion was in earnest.

At this time, someone shouted, "Look at it! Oh my God, the Dioans are going to cover the sky! ”

The Gentile spectators raised their heads one after another, and then opened their mouths wide one by one, revealing a look of surprise: they saw that above the main arena, long strips of white cloth were slowly converging towards the center of the arena, forming a thin white cloth cover, covering the arena, blocking the direct sunlight at noon, and bringing shade to the audience.

Xenophon, who had come to the Arena of Dioria for the first time, was as amazed as the rest of the Gentile spectators, and couldn't help asking, "How did this happen?" ”

Davers replied calmly: "Actually, this is very simple, there are 200 wooden poles erected on the edge of the top of the arena, and each wooden pole is connected to the wooden pole on the opposite side of the circle through the center of the arena...... But while we're enjoying all of this in peace, let's not forget that there are hundreds of managers at the top of the arena who are working on us under the scorching sun......"

"It sounds simple, but it's cleverly designed!" Plato, who was on the side, sighed sincerely: "The key is that this kind of spirit is very rare to be willing to endure difficulties and try to solve them as much as possible!" Unlike us Greeks, who were sloppy and unsophisticated in their lives, the Dionians demanded a high level of life, which made their spirit of inquiry permeate all the kingdoms...... So I am very confident that Dionya will not only be successful, but will also give all Greeks a new understanding of the Games! ”

"Hahaha......" Davers smiled heartily: "Okay, you Plato, you can tell a big truth about a little thing!" ”

Xenophon didn't speak, he looked up thoughtfully.

While the Gentile spectators were marveling at the ingenuity of the main arena's design, the athletes began to withdraw from the arena, causing some spectators to wonder: "Isn't the running competition going on?" ”

Some of the more experienced spectators, like Halpius, said with certainty: "No, the race is about to begin!" ”

As they said, the athletes came to the lounge next to the entrance to the arena, because the Dionian ball game was held every year, so the room for the players to rest was comfortably decorated, but the athletes did not want to feel this, they took off their previous costumes for the entrance ceremony, and then changed into the shorts provided by Dionia, and then began to carefully apply olive oil evenly to their bodies, and when all this was done, everyone began to pray to Apollo sincerely, Let your tension be soothed.

After a while. A priest walked in and said loudly, "Ladies and gentlemen, it's time for the competition, please come in!" ”

When Siritaios, who had calmed down, heard this, his heart suddenly began to beat faster again.

Dozens of athletes returned to the arena again, and the priest gathered them together, because this was the first game of the Dionian Games, in order to ensure that it could be carried out smoothly, Calcidis, who was the head of the referee, personally presided over it, but the old priest, who had always been amiable, looked serious at the moment, and he said in a powerful tone: "Fellow players, I think you should know the rules of the Dionian Games running competition very well after this period of practice, but I still have to emphasize again before the competition- Only the runners whose names are called can participate in the race, and the rest of the runners must stay away from the track and not interfere with the race; Before starting, the runners must not step on the starting line, and after the start, the runners must not deviate from their own track, interfere with other runners, and deliberately obstruct and injure them......

Anyone who violates any of the above rules will be disqualified! If the violation is intentional and the circumstances are extremely serious, the referee team will report the player's situation to the Games Preparatory Committee, and they will decide whether to carve the athlete's appearance on the punishment wall of the upcoming Dionian Games Memorial Hall as a warning to the players who will participate in the Dionian Games in the future! - Did you all hear me clearly?! ”

"Clear!" The contestants nodded their heads in response.

Only then did Calcides show a smile, put his palms to the sky, and said warmly: "May Hades bless you!" ”

Then, a priest took the roster of athletes and said in a loud voice: "Please pay attention, the player I have called by name will participate in the first round of the tournament - Siritaios!" Runway 1! ”

Siritaios was stunned: the first one called him, this luck is too good!