New York.

"VJ, see, this is the United States, the strongest track and field country in the world. Three of the current top five world 200m athletes are Americans. I remember when you had the opportunity to come to the U.S. to go to school. [Note]

With a smile on his round face, Glenn Mills pointed to the colorful high-end buildings on the streets of Manhattan in the distance.

They were on Landers Island in the Manhattan borough of New York at the moment, because the hotel they lived in was not far from Icahn Stadium, and the group did not take transportation and walked directly along the banks of the Harlem River on Landers Island.

"I don't want to go to school in the United States." The black teenager stubbornly shook his head and looked across the Harlem River at Manhattan, a city of skyscrapers in the sun and a dazzling sense of technological modernity.

Just two or three years ago, after the World Youth Championships, many American colleges and universities sent him invitations. And his manager, Mr. Pearct, even suggested that he immigrate for better opportunities to develop, but in the end he refused.

Admission criteria to U.S. universities are favorable to elite Jamaican athletes, who receive offers from a number of U.S. universities and receive full or partial scholarships based on merit.

The U.S. is as competitive as Jamaica when it comes to athletic facilities, and U.S. colleges and universities want to advocate for themselves by bringing in the world's best athletes. Jamaica's education system, on the other hand, is relatively inadequate, offering athletes a wider range of choices.

For many Caribbean athletes, going to the U.S. for further education means a chance to get a glittering green card.

"Oh? Why is that? Glenn Mills knew that this disciple had the opportunity to come to the United States, but he didn't know the details, "There are many excellent coaches in the United States, and many of the best training equipment in the world can only be found in the United States, how can you give up this opportunity?" ”

"It's too cold in the U.S., it's going to snow or something." The black teenager hesitated and said, "And if I come to the United States, I won't see my mother." ”

"Huh?" Glenn Mills glanced at the black boy again, his slightly cloudy eyes were extremely sharp, "Is that so?" ”

The black teenager grinned, "Okay, coach, I've heard that the training of athletes in the United States is very stressful, very hard, athletes on scholarships from well-known universities, they have to follow the instructions of their coaches completely, there are competitions every weekend, they have to make the school happy, and those sports department heads also want to see these athletes working hard in training." I can't take this kind of inhumane training program, I'm going to be tortured to death by them. ”

"Huh." Glenn Mills laughed like a pigeon, and after a year of getting along, he already knew exactly what kind of character the black teenager in front of him was.

However, there is nothing wrong with this choice, and the brutal American-style training will indeed hinder his development. He had also heard that the Jamaican Amateur Athletes' Association had made a lot of efforts to keep him.

As they spoke, the two had already crossed the pedestrian street by the Harlem River and arrived at Icahn Stadium.

In 2005, the Icahn Stadium Grand Prix was renamed the Reebok Grand Prix, but in 2006, when Reebok was acquired by Adidas, it was changed to the Adidas Grand Prix, and until 2016, it was part of the IAAF Grand Prix and Diamond League. It was not until 2016 that the IAAF announced that Rabat, Morocco, had replaced the Diamond League at Icahn Stadium in New York, and it was no longer part of the IAAF event.

Icahn Stadium is named after American businessman Carl Icahn, who donated $10 million to the stadium, which was built on the site of Downing Stadium and opened on April 23, 2005, and the Reebok Grand Prix was also the first international tournament at Icahn Stadium.

So in terms of facilities, it is also the best at the moment, and the standard 400-meter track has passed the IAAF Level 1 certification, and has the world's top performance on the surface of the track.

"Usain, I'm afraid this game won't be so easy."

After entering Icahn Stadium, it was still early for the men's 200m race, and Glen Mills went to the event organizer to get the list for today's competition, and the two faint eyebrows were furrowed at this time.

This time at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York, there should not be too many well-known players participating in Glenn Mills' plan.

After all, the first stop was the Grand Prix in Eugene, which is a gathering place for track and field enthusiasts from all over the United States, and it is extremely attractive to American athletes.

Moreover, this is the first time that the Reebok Grand Prix has been held at Icahn Stadium, and it has not been well-known before, so it should be difficult to attract experts to participate.

This is also the purpose of bringing Usain Bolt to the competition, mainly to warm up. Usain Bolt is still in the transition stage and has some international tournament warm-ups to help improve his concentration and ease his mentality after the setback in Athens.

But now...... Glen Mills had a headache as he looked at the roster in his hand.

"Hey, coach, what's the trouble?" The black teenager asked, twisting his body and smiling.

"Look at this." Glenn Mills showed the black teenager the roster of the game.

"Sue?" The black boy was surprised to see a familiar name, "This is the runner-up in the 200 meters at the Athens Olympics, I have seen him." ”

"He's going to be in the 200m this time, so it's not easy for you to win the championship." Glenn Mills nodded, as a track and field coach, he basically knows everything about the well-known athletes in the world today.

Sue just won five of the men's 200m at the Eugene Grand Prix on June 4 as a rookie in American athletics. The results of that race were surprisingly good. ”

"Really?" The black boy giggled and didn't care.

"There were five people who ran into 20 seconds." Glenn Mills shook his thick fingers, "They will all be your opponents in the future, there are still too many talents in American track and field, and in other countries we don't know, there are also many talented sprinters." ”

"Five people ran into 20 seconds?" The black teenager couldn't believe that he was far from the feared Jamaican lightning bolt of later generations, and that he would not run 20 seconds only a few times in his current career record. The most famous of these was the Caribbean Games, where he broke the record with a time of 19.93 seconds and won the championship.

"It's too exaggerated, it's too exaggerated, it's more than the Olympics, right?" The black boy said again and again, his expression solemn.

The 200-second mark in the 200m is like the 10-second mark in the 100m, and in comparison, there are probably more people who run in 10 seconds in the 100 meters than in the 200 meters.

"Of course." Glenn Mills nodded, "It's rare in the entire history of track and field to have so many athletes run 20 seconds at once. ”

Although the overall result was still far from the 200m record set by Michael Johnson, you can imagine the intensity of the event at that time when so many strong 200m competitors were gathered together at one time and such a result exploded.

As if seeing that his disciple's expression became a little nervous, Glenn Mills comforted softly:

"Don't be nervous, Usain, we're here to warm up and test the recent recovery. If you want to be a first-class sprinter, sooner or later you have to compete with them. This Grand Prix is a warm-up race, and the officials of the Athletics Association have communicated with me to let you prepare for this year's World Championships, and there will be more powerful people by then. In athletics, there is nothing to escape.

There are no American players from Eugene on the competition list, and Sue from China is here, and it seems that he is brushing up points. He's a few months younger than you, and if they can do it, you can too. Remember, Usain, you were made to run. ”

Note: In 2005, the top five athletes in the world 200m were Michael Johnson (USA), Frankie Fredericks (Namibia), Petro (Italy), Michael Marsh (USA), and Carl Lewis (USA)