Siritaios did not respond in time because he was stunned, and the priest had to shout again, and he hastened to respond: "Yes! ”

The priest glared at him, but did not reprimand, and then called out the name that followed.

After the six runners were confirmed, the priest led them to the track.

The spectators, seeing the runners walking towards the track and realizing that the race was about to start, immediately began cheering again. Ciritaios, who was at the forefront, even heard someone in the nearest audience shouting: "Look, isn't that the athlete who saluted His Majesty!" ”

Cilitaeos suddenly felt that countless eyes were focused on him, and even sharp-eyed he saw that there were young women in the crowd that was paying attention to him......

While sighing that "Dionian women are indeed as bold as they are rumored", Siritaios suddenly felt that it was indeed necessary for the Dioonians to require them to wear shorts, at least he would not feel embarrassed in front of the women's gaze at the moment.

The extroverted Siritaios was not only nervous, but immediately cheered up, and he strode forward with his head held high.

The sun shone down from the unobscured center above the arena and shone on him: Siritaios, though not very tall, was handsome, with strong and well-proportioned muscles, and the olive oil covering his skin reflected the sunlight, and the whole person shone like a god. Especially when he was running on his own track to warm up, the strength and beauty shown by muscle contraction and relaxation made many male viewers can't help but admire, and also made a few female viewers' eyes light up.

The runners got used to the track, then returned to the starting line, took the small shovels from the referee's hands, and began to dig two small holes in the track.

"What are they doing here?" Some viewers were puzzled.

Harpius looked at it for a while, and then said: "In the past, there was a starting stone slab in the running competitions of the Games, which not only served as a starting mark, but also the dents on the slate helped the runners to start well and not slip. There are no starting stones on this runway, but I think these small pits serve the same purpose......"

The audience next to him suddenly realized.

At this time, the athletes have stepped their bare feet into the small pits in front and back, and stepped on them firmly, so that they can exert force at the start.

Two referees stood at opposite ends of the starting line, one to give orders and the other to monitor for fouls. At the end of the 100 meters, a red cloth belt was also pulled, and the atmosphere on the field began to become solemn.

Nervous again, Siritaios looked at the player next to him, this is an alien player, who is not allowed to participate in other sports meetings at all, but can appear in the Dionian sports arena in a grand manner, and the Dionian referee also specially stipulated: There shall be no discrimination between the players, otherwise they will be disqualified!

So Siritaios smiled at the player.

But the athlete from the Samonai Mountains was clearly competing in a tournament like this for the first time, and was visibly nervous and didn't bother to pay attention to the kindness that Siritaios had delivered.

The bored Siritaios cursed and returned to the upcoming match.

At this time, I heard the referee shouting: "Attention players!" ”

Ciritaios immediately tensed up, half-bent over, and leaned forward.

"Ready-" The referee was about to give the order to start, when a figure suddenly burst out, causing the other runners to follow.

The referees finally stopped the game and called the first player in front of him, who was the No. 2 player next to Ciritaios, and despite his pleadings, the referee on duty did not hesitate to send him off the field.

The severity of the referees at the Dionian Games on the offending players not only frightened the players on the field, but also made the spectators waiting to see the joke realize that the Ionians had declared in advance that "athletes who cheat and violate the rules at the Games will be severely punished" seem to be serious.

Ciritaios and their spirits were a little sluggish when they returned to the starting line, not only because of the physical exertion, but also because the players were sent off the field was also a big shock to them.

At this moment, there was a loud shout from the audience, cheering them on and reinvigorating them.

"Ready-" The referee raised his right hand again.

All the eyes of the audience were focused on the athletes at the starting line, and there was a thought in their hearts: the opening ceremony of the Dionian Games was wonderful, but the real start of the game, was it just as exciting? The clues can be seen right away.

The referee waved his hand down: "Run!" ”

The runners were worried about being sent off again, and only after hearing the order clearly did they rush out of the starting line, almost half a beat slower.

But immediately after the start, almost all the runners ran as hard as they could, because after some time of practice, many competitors like Siritaios who had participated in previous games knew that the 100-meter race at the Dionian Games was half as far as the shortest distance of other games, and that there was no chance of winning without giving it their all at the start.

Siritaios quickly waved his arms, his feet quickly alternately forward, the oncoming wind pressure blowing the skin on his face, the corner of his eye could see the hideous faces of the players who were advancing with him, and the rapid breathing sound was like a sword that kept stabbing behind him, urging him to move forward even harder......

Before he was halfway through the race, he felt a tightness in his chest, as if a fire was burning every lobe of his lungs, and he couldn't help but yell: "Ah!! ……”

In the past athletic races, it was rare to see such a scene: all the competitors were roaring hoarsely, and as the roar continued, they became faster and faster......

Almost all the spectators were so excited by the excitement that they all stood up, shouted and screamed, and the sound of the arena resounded throughout the city of Turiyi, making the hearts of the Dionians who could not buy tickets outside the arena itch.

Alex, who had been sitting behind the royal stands, suddenly rushed forward, his hands clutching the railing, his eyes wide, staring at the runners running as hard as he could, as if he wanted to reflect their postures in his mind, muttering to himself, "Great! That's great! This is exactly what I wanted! ……”

Xenophon and Plato looked equally surprised: too fast! Faster than any runner they've ever seen before! As Davers said, the 100-meter race is a complete demonstration of the athletes' ability to sprint at full strength!

This demonstration of the limits of human speed shocked the crowd in the arena, making them staring at the sprint competitors without even blinking their eyes.

The audience suddenly let out an exclamation.

It turned out that when he was about to rush to the finish line, Siritaios, who had exhausted all his strength, suddenly softened his feet, and under the impetus of the huge inertia, he rushed to hit the line first and his whole body fell to the ground forward.

The doctor, who had been keeping a close eye on the field, rushed over and helped him up, and after confirming that Siritaios had only a few minor abrasions and was fine, the referee on duty, Calcidis, walked over and raised his right hand, signaling that the winner of the first round of qualifiers was Siritaios.

Since there are no precise timing tools to accurately test the time it takes for each athlete to complete the 100 meters, and then determine the best top finishers for the final based on their qualifying results, the only way for the Dionian Games to do so and to guarantee fairness is to allow only the winners of each qualifying round to advance to the semi-finals or finals, because in the end there is only one champion, no runner-up and no third place, which is in line with the tradition of the Sparse Games.

When the other eliminated players walked to the exit of the arena with their heads down, the audience gave them a round of applause and thanked them for dedicating such a wonderful match.

And Siritaios, who walked at the end, although his face was still covered with dust and a few blood marks on his body, he looked a little embarrassed, but the audience gave him a more enthusiastic cheer: the young man from Crete won the approval of the Dionian people through this game.

When dusk came, the day's competition finally ended, when he saw many spectators around him still enthusiastically discussing the opening ceremony and running race he had seen before, the messenger from Olympia had mixed feelings, although he was picky, but he had to admit in his heart: whether it was the opening ceremony, or the subsequent running competition, he felt new and exciting, and the Dionian Games did get off to a good start!

When many of the Dionian spectators walked out of the arena, they were surrounded by other people who knew each other well, asking about what was happening in the arena, and these spectators were happy to share it with them.

So, after nightfall, the whole city of Turiyi was lit by candlelight, and the restaurants and taverns in the streets and alleys were crowded with customers, drinking wine, eating delicious food, and talking about interesting things that happened in the main arena of Hattis, and there was laughter everywhere.

Such a lively scene also happened in the Dionian royal family.

Davers held a family banquet at his mansion on the hill to celebrate the success of the opening ceremony of the Dionian Games, but it was Christopod and Enon's grandchildren who were most talked about at the Games.

Faced with the praise of their families, the two teenagers were so shy that they wanted to escape from the banquet.

At this moment, the court steward Ribazo quietly entered the dining room, came to the side of Davers, who was sitting on the throne, and whispered a few words.

Davers' smile remained unchanged, but he stood up.