As an expert in sports, Chen Qiang certainly knows what kind of competition the so-called "World Games" is.

Chen Qiang couldn't help but think of the sketch "The Prince and the Postman" by Chen Peisi and Zhu Shimao in the future, which is about the World Games, which has a few lines: "Run the first number", "You just can't run first", "If you want to run the first foreigner, you will definitely be unhappy", "Then Lafayette will be angry".

So Chen Qiang asked half-jokingly: "Let me run first?" ”

"Nonsense, you can't win the first place, what are you going to do? It's the World Games! If it's a war, it's a national war! Zhang Boling said with a serious face.

"That's what the gentleman said." Chen Qiang didn't joke with the old man anymore, he then asked, "Who are the opponents, are you sure now?" ”

"I went to inquire, there are no well-known foreign athletes coming to Tianjin recently, so in this World Games, your opponent should still be the foreigners and garrisons in Tianjin." Zhang Boling paused, and then said: "But this time, the World Games held by foreigners did not have a 100-meter sprint event. The sprints are only 200 meters and 400 meters. ”

"This Westerner has also learned from the Japanese! Wasn't that the case last time the Japanese didn't set a 100-meter dash, so I was asked to run 200 meters. Chen Qiang said with a smile.

"Foreigners are not stupid, they know that they can't win you by running 100 meters, so why do they have to compete with you. However, this also shows that in this World Games, the foreigners' desire to win is very strong, and they don't want to lose! Zhang Boling said.

"No one wants to lose, but competitive sports still depend on strength. Even if I don't run the 100-meter dash, I can definitely win in the 200-meter and 400-meter run! Chen Qiang said with confidence.

"I know you've just broken the national records in the 200m and 400m, but it's also an indisputable fact that foreigners are better than us in sports. It's better to be careful to sail the ship of ten thousand years, and don't take it too lightly. Zhang Boling said.

Chen Qiang nodded: "I understand, remember the teachings of Mr. ”

……

Chen Qiang said that he would definitely win, but he really didn't have the idea of underestimating the enemy in his heart.

As Zhang Boling said, Western sports are indeed stronger than China's, and second-rate athletes from European and American countries can surpass many of China's first-class athletes.

At the North China Games, Chen Qiang made a mistake in the 200-meter final, but still ran a full 22-second time, if Chen Qiang did not make a mistake, the result should be faster, reaching about 21.8 seconds.

21.8 seconds was already a very fast time, and the 200m world record at the time was held by American Jackson Scholz in 21.6 seconds, which was set at the Paris Olympics in 1924.

And at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympics, the 200-meter champion Parcy Williams won the championship with a time of 21.8 seconds, and this Parcy Williams, the man who set the world record of 10.3 seconds in the 100-meter sprint.

According to this calculation, if Chen Qiang runs a 21.8 seconds, he can win the gold medal at the Amsterdam Olympics. Therefore, in the 200-meter race, Chen Qiang is not intimidated at all, although there are many foreigners in Tianjin, Chen Qiang does not think that among the expatriates and garrisons, there will be strong people at the level of Olympic champions.

As for the 400-meter event, Chen Qiang is much weaker, and the national record of 52.3 seconds is great in China, but in international competitions, it can only be regarded as turtle speed.

In this era, Japan's top athletes have a 400-meter time of nearly 50 seconds. In the Olympic Games, it is difficult to qualify for the preliminary round if you run a 50-second 400-meter run.

"The 400-meter sprint project, whether it is physical fitness or technique, I still have a lot of room for improvement, and the difficulty of the 400-meter is relatively large, and there should be no 400-meter master among the foreigners in Tianjin!"

Chen Qiang's strength in the 400m is not world-class, and he can only pray that there are no strong athletes among the foreigners.

……

Tianjin has held many World Games, and for the people of Tianjin, the World Games is more about watching foreign athletes gallop and fight the field.

The first few World Games were not allowed to participate in the Chinese, and the Chinese at that time did not know much about the sports from the West, but they just thought that a group of yellow-haired and blue-eyed foreign devils were running and jumping, throwing an iron ball across a crossbar or something very interesting.

Later, the Chinese began to understand the Olympic movement in the West, began to understand sports, and then Chinese participated in the World Games. It's just that China's sports lag behind the West too much, and the Chinese who participate in the competition also lose more and win less. To be precise, there are not many who can defeat foreigners in the World Games.

Every World Games is almost a process of Chinese athletes being beaten by foreign athletes, but whenever a Chinese athlete can defeat a foreigner in the World Games, it is regarded as a heroic existence.

And this time in the World Games, there is a hero in the minds of the people of Tianjin, that is Chen Qiang!

Even if the World Games had to charge for tickets this time, many Tianjin citizens were willing to come to watch the games, and they wanted to witness the moment when Chen Qiang defeated the foreigners.

Guan Wuye came again, but this time he didn't mention the bird cage, the shouts and cheers around last time were too loud, startling Guan Wuye's bird, after going back, the poor bird didn't eat or drink for several days, Guan Wuye was good to feed the bird to ease up.

Shopkeeper Song also came, this time he did not come alone, but brought his two sons to watch the game together. However, what made Shopkeeper Song a little depressed was that he came a little late, and the tickets were sold out.

Before the game had even begun, the stands were full of people, which was somewhat unexpected by the British, French and Italian consuls.

In the main stand, the Italian consul Elio looked around and said: "In the previous World Games, there were not so many Chinese watching the games!" ”

"Isn't the number of Chinese coming is exactly what we are looking forward to?" British Consul Edward had a smug expression on his face, and he continued: "I really hope that more Chinese will witness the loss of their heroes!" ”

French Consul Batner echoed: "We just let the Chinese sober up, and the Chinese need to know that they can never be on an equal footing with Europe." I think after experiencing this failure, the Chinese can have a clear understanding of themselves, and be honest and obedient in the future, isn't it very good! ”

"I agree with both of them." Elio, the Italian consul, smiled, then took out a newspaper and said, "But I recently saw a very interesting piece of news. ”

Edward glanced at the newspaper in Elio's hand and asked with some surprise, "Are you holding a Chinese newspaper in your hand?" ”

"Yes, this is a newspaper issued in Jinan, and the circulation is not large, and it is difficult to buy it in Tianjin." Elio replied.

"Elio, don't sell it, we don't have the time to read a Chinese newspaper, tell me what the news you are talking about!" French Consul Batner spoke.

Elio nodded: "I noticed that there is a news item on it about Chinese athletes from North China, including an athlete named Chen Qiang, who broke China's national record in the 200-meter sprint, and his time was 22 seconds!" ”

"22 seconds? That's a really good 200m time, enough to compete in the Olympics! Chen Qiang? Isn't that the 'fastest in Asia'? He's going to race the 200m soon, right? Butner couldn't help but feel a little weak.

"Didn't you say before that Chen Qiang's 200m time was 22.2 seconds?" Edward asked, frowning.

"22.2 seconds was last year's time, and obviously, he's improved again!" Elio replied.

A haze rose on Edward's face, the 200-meter dash was the first event of the World Games, and he didn't want to make a mistake as soon as he came up!

……

During the North China Games, the media in Tianjin basically did not report on Chen Qiang's achievements.

Because this time, Chen Qiang is representing the Shandong team, and the newspapers of Tianjin people will definitely not report on the Shandong team.

And there are also many Tianjin media who feel that the Shandong team's behavior of snatching Chen Qiang over to brush up on the results is very unkind, so the Tianjin media basically choose to ignore Chen Qiang's two national records, and they don't want to report it at all.

On the contrary, Jinan's newspapers will definitely focus on reporting on this matter, but Jinan in this era is not prosperous, Beijing and Tianjin in the north, Qingdao in the east, all of which are pressing Jinan on the end, so Jinan's local newspapers have no sales, basically can only be distributed in Jinan, and even Jinan City can't go out.

It is also for this reason that the British and French consuls in Tianjin did not know Chen Qiang's excellent performance in the North China Games.

Not only did the British and French consuls not know, but the people of Tianjin did not know, and the impression of the people of Tianjin on Chen Qiang at this time was only 22 seconds 2 last year.

With the cheers of the audience, Chen Qiang stood on the runway.

In addition to Chen Qiang, there were three foreign runners in the 200m, two British, one French, and the Italians did not send anyone to participate.

The French contestant is a dark-haired man who looks quite handsome, but with a pair of large front teeth, he looks like a cute groundhog.

One of the two British contestants, one of whom had a beard, could still feel that he was younger than he looked.

The other person is a standard British look, about thirty years old, with a somewhat long face, good facial features, deep eyes, and a high hairline, and will be crowned nine times out of ten in the future.

This Englishman with a high hairline gave Chen Qiang a sense of déjà vu, and Chen Qiang felt as if he had seen him somewhere.

The British, who has a high hairline, are also looking at Chen Qiang curiously. He wanted to go up and say hello to Chen Qiang, but when he saw Chen Qiang doing warm-up exercises, he didn't come forward to disturb.

The loudspeakers at Minyuan Stadium began to introduce the contestants, and Chen Qiang was arranged on the outermost track, so he was introduced at the end.

"First course, Airy Blank, from France!"

The Frenchman with front teeth waved around, but almost no one paid any attention to him, except for a few French expatriates in the main stand.

The loudspeaker sounded in English, and the people of Tianjin couldn't understand English, so they naturally didn't feel it.

Chen Qiang could understand English, and he recalled it carefully in his mind, but he didn't find any information about "Airy Blank".

"There is no record in history, it should be an unknown athlete, it seems that there is no need to worry about him." Chen Qiang said secretly in his heart.

The loudspeaker began to introduce the second athlete: "Second lane, George Williamson!" From the UK! ”

The bearded Englishman waved his hand in the direction of the main stand, where there were many British expatriates, and immediately gave the bearded a warm applause in response.

"George Williamson, such an ordinary name, I haven't heard of it either, and he's an unknown athlete, don't worry about him." Chen Qiang said secretly in his heart.

The voice sounded again from the loudspeaker: "The third way, Eric Liddell, is from England!" ”

The Englishman, who had a high hairline, smiled and waved around, and the main stand erupted in warm applause, shouts and whistles, and it could be seen that not only the British expatriate, but also the spectators in France, Italy and other countries were cheering for him.

Chen Qiang looked at this Englishman with a high hairline with a shocked expression.

"I said how do I feel a little familiar, I've seen a picture of him in the future! He's Eric Lidtier! Hasn't he retired yet? How did the British move out this 'Chariot of Fire'! ”

At this time, Chen Qiang suddenly felt that the competition of this World Games was about to hang!

……

Eric Liddell, a Scottish native whose Chinese name is Li Airui, was born in Tianjin and spent his childhood in Tianjin before returning to England at the age of six. When he was in college, he was selected for the national team in rugby, but later switched to track and field.

In the 1924 Paris Olympics, he gave up the 100-meter sprint because the preliminary race happened to be on a Sunday, and he was a devout believer who had to worship every Sunday. Even though the British royal family personally ordered it, he still chose faith between competition and faith.

In the 200-meter sprint, Lidier won the bronze medal at the Olympics with a time of 21.9 seconds. In the 400-meter sprint, he won the gold medal with a time of 47.6 seconds and broke the world record in the 400-meter. Historically, this achievement was maintained for more than 20 years before it was broken.

After the Paris Olympics, Liddell gave up the favorable conditions and treatment in Britain and resolutely returned to his birthplace of Tianjin, China, to become a teacher who was loved by his students, teaching chemistry to Chinese students. After the outbreak of the Pacific War, Liddell was captured by the Japanese, along with other British expatriates, and imprisoned in a concentration camp in Weifang, where he eventually died.

The former residence of Lidier in Tianjin, the statue and monument of Lidier on the site of the Weifang concentration camp, and the foundation named after Lidier in Hong Kong. Lidier's deeds have also been adapted into a movie, that is, "Chariots of Fire", which won the 54th Oscar for Best Picture!

So when Chen Qiang heard Eric Lidier's name, the first thought in his mind was, the Chariot of Fire is coming!

——————

The second chapter is delivered, and today the two chapters are more than 9,000 words, ask for a guaranteed monthly ticket!