On the afternoon of September 9, 2007, the Raul Guidobadi Stadium, which had been deserted for some time, was full of people, but the seats of more than 5,000 spectators were filled almost as soon as noon was over.

Today is the day of the Letti Grand Prix, and as Italy, which has both the Golden League and the Grand Prix, the IAAF World Tour, has always been more popular and interested in athletics than in some other countries.

The IAAF Grand Prix Lieti Games, originally known as the Rieti Games, was proposed by Sandro Giovannelli, a member of the IAAF Competition Committee, in 1971. Six world records have already been set in this stadium.

Although the World Athletics Championships have just ended less than a week ago, this year's Rieti Grand Prix has a very large number of competitors, with a total of more than 10 events set up for men's and women's events, attracting many of the world's top and famous athletes.

Among them, the number of people in the men's 100m event is much more than the general Grand Prix, there are 15 people, and it is divided into two parts: the preliminaries and the final.

And the men's 100m, as the only event in this Grand Prix with preliminaries and finals, was the first to appear at the beginning of the Letty Grand Prix this afternoon.

In the waiting area of the Raul Guidobadi Stadium, Asafavir looked blankly at the athletes who were participating in the men's 100m as they walked not far in front of him.

"Michael Flat, Wallace Spearmon, Marvin Anderson, Brandon Christie, ......"

Some of these people are familiar to him, Michael Flatt and Marvin Anderson, both of whom are athletes on the Jamaican track and field team, and he has quite a few partners.

Wallace Spearmon is no stranger to him, as one of the world's top men's 200m special athletes, although he doesn't know why he wants to participate in the men's 100m at the Letty Grand Prix, but he just wants to try the men's 100m like Jason Gaby and Yechin.

"As for the others......"

Asafavil couldn't help but shake his head, if it was before, except for a few athletes, he wouldn't care who the other opponents were.

Especially these people are not in the same group as him in the preliminaries, and the few people he noticed just now are all players in the first group of preliminaries, and he is in the second group of preliminaries.

Even if he really had to be wary and pay attention to his opponent, he would have reached the final before.

But in this game, he didn't know why he inadvertently began to pay attention to these people, pay attention to their names, and remember their best results, whether there would be a threat to him.

"Don't think about it so much, Asafavir, you need to be firm in your beliefs."

After a slight adjustment of his breathing, Asafavil returned to the warm-up track and did another start practice.

His warm-up had not been so serious before, but since the World Championships in Osaka, he has always felt an unprecedented pressure.

It seemed that he could feel the players around him who were waiting for the second preliminaries, and their eyes were on him.

Not only the players, but also the media reporters who want to come and play will also surround him.

Especially if he doesn't perform well in the next game......

Just like in Osaka, when he came down from the men's 100m race, the media reporters interviewed him no less than he had won the championship before, but these people did not come to congratulate him, but with a bit of ridicule.

"Both Yechin and Jason Gaby put me under a lot of pressure and when I saw Yechin catching up at the last 80 metres, I was a little panicked when I saw that his feet were already in the same position as me. I didn't make it to the final gold medal, I gave up and I stopped running at that moment. ”

——On August 27, 2007, in an interview with BBC TV, Jamaican star and world record holder admitted that he lost in the 100-meter final because of his mentality, not his personal strength.

Former American sprinter Michael Johnson was critical of Asafavil's performance, saying: "In the men's 100m duel at the World Championships, every athlete should have put aside distractions and go all out, but we could clearly see that Asafavil was thinking, I'm going to lose, I'm going to lose, and then he just gave up at that point." Winning or losing is not really the most important thing, the real disappointment is that he bows his head in the face of his opponent! ”

Asafavil stood silently on the warm-up track, his mind haunted by the many reports he had seen during the week about the criticism of him.

He frankly admits that he is inadequate, and his mentality is not adjusted well enough.

But even so, no reporter would let him go without the news that a world record holder had been beaten by another runner in the men's 100m final at the World Championships.

He understood that what Michael Johnson said was the truth, and the other party saw it very thoroughly, and dissected all his momentary thoughts on the 100-meter track in the World Championships final.

But in his heart, he still felt pain and anger!

"I'm going to break my previous world record in 2007 and yes, I assure everybody that I'm in good shape, I've got it!"

At the beginning of the year, when he was interviewed by reporters, he seemed to remember it vividly, but after the fiasco of the World Championships, some people took out the words he said to mock him.

He lost in the face of head-on challenges from Yechin and Jason Gaby, and the loser naturally does not deserve sympathy, even if he holds the world record.

The men's 100m world record of 9.77 seconds, which he first ran at the 2005 Athens Grand Prix, broke Maurice Green's previous world record and topped the 100m fly.

Later, in 2006, he tied his world record of 9.77 seconds in Gateshead and Zurich, England, but after the World Championships, it seems that this honor has lost its former glory.

"I don't want to be a laughing stock ......"

Asafavir clearly felt his blood rushing rapidly, his whole body was hot and hot, and he was depressed and lost a week after the end of the World Championships, and he could no longer suppress it before this Lieti Grand Prix.

At the World Championships, he performed very well in the fourth position, from fourth place after winning the baton to second place, bringing a silver medal to the Jamaican 4×100m relay team and breaking the Jamaican national record in the men's 4×100m.

I lost to Yechin and Jason Gaby in the men's 100m head-to-head, but I still ran under 10 seconds, and my 9.9 seconds was not bad.

I just didn't play well!

"Asafa, Asafa......"

A low shout interrupted his reverie.

Asafavil turned around and saw his teammate Dwight Thomas, who was in the 4×100m in Jamaica, calling himself.

"It's time to play!"

Dwight Thomas waved to Asafavir, signaling that it was time for the game. The first group of runners in the men's 100m preliminaries finished their competition, and the second group of runners reached the time to play.

"Hey, Asafah, are you alright?"

Dwight-Thomas looked at Asafavil's silent and solemn expression, and asked in a somewhat concerned tone.

He is two years older than Asafavil and is a specialist in the men's 100m and men's 110m hurdles for the Jamaican track and field team, which won a number of championships in the Central American Caribbean before Asafavil rose to prominence in the men's 100m. At Sydney 2000, he finished fifth in the 200m.

However, although the strength of Jamaican track and field at that time was not weak, the overall level was not particularly outstanding compared to other Caribbean countries, and it was far from the United States team.

The real Jamaican sprint event can qualify for the U.S. team from the rise of Asafavir. In 2005, Asafaville broke the six-year-old world record held by Morris Green, giving Jamaican athletics an unprecedented wave of confidence.

Although many people in the outside world have questioned Asafavil's ability to compete and the lack of competition mentality, Dwight Thomas, as fellow track and field teammates, is willing to stand behind him and support him, as well as some other Jamaican athletes.

Sprinting is never an easy thing to do.

In a particularly world-class competition, the pressure required is unimaginable to outsiders. Al-Safavir could not bear the burden of the tournament, and although they all felt that it was a pity, they were able to understand it deeply.

The men's 100m world No. 1 throne is not so easy to sit on, and if you are not careful, you will become the target of everyone's attack.

"It's okay, Dwight!"

Asafavir shook his head slowly, his expression still a little cold.

Dwight Thomas had a good relationship with him, and the two were teammates in the Jamaican relay team in 2002, but there were some things that could only be tasted alone and could not be shared with outsiders.

"Take it easy, Asafah!" Dwight Thomas patted Asafavil lightly on the shoulder, showing a mouthful of white teeth and smiling, "Although the World Championships are a big scene, man, it is just a game after all. Winning and losing are common, but you see you're on the track again, you've got many, many races to play again, and if you're immersed in the past, your whole career is over. ”

Asafaville was slightly silent, looked at Dwight Thomas, suddenly a smile crossed the corner of his mouth, and he stretched out his fist and touched the other party gently, "Brother, you're right!" ”

The World Championships have passed, and whether it was scolding or sneering at me, the game was over.

From the moment I saw Ye Qin catching up with me on the track and panicked, the race was over.

What I need to deal with now is not what is in the past, what I need to face is what is coming.

I came to Leti in Italy to compete in the men's 100m, wasn't that what it was for?

No matter how important a game is, as a professional athlete, if you lose, you lose, but I have the next games, and there are many, many more games to come.

It seems that many of the things that have been thought of in my heart have become clear after Dwight Thomas said it clearly.

No need to feel sorry for yourself, the game continues!

"Let's go, Dwight, get on the field!" After readjusting his mentality, the solemn look on Asafarville's face gradually faded, and there was no longer hesitation in his eyes, replaced by the fighting spirit of the former world No. 1.

……

“On your marks！”

At the Raul Guidobadi Stadium, the second group of the men's 100m heats begins.

Asafavil stood on the sixth runway, deaf to the sounds of the stands. Ignoring the various cameras raised by the reporter on the right side of the runway.

Standing next to him were his familiar opponents, Mark Burns of Trinidad and Tobago, Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis, his teammate Dwight Thomas, and two unfamiliar Italian home players, Hank Palmer from Canada, among others.

But now, it doesn't matter.

This race, this track, unless Jason Gaby and Yechin are there, no one else will be taken seriously by him.

With a soft breath, he slowly walked up to the runner and leaned down to wait.

“SET！”

Syllable!

Shots rang out for the game.

Asafavil rushed out of the track almost the moment the gun rang out, with a powerful pedal, an instant muscle explosion, just a start, Asafavil showed his top starting explosive strength.

Nearly 1.9 meters tall, nearly 200 pounds in size, strong muscle strength, at this moment through a short start acceleration vividly displayed.

Lane 7's Trinidad and Tobago's Mark Burns also got off to a fast start, but was overtaken by Asafavil just two steps into the start.

And the Italian Alessandro Guazzi in lane 5, he was on the track to the left of Asafavir, and he felt that he had just raised his head and was about to accelerate, and the Asafavil next to him was already flying forward like a sports car.

10 meters, 20 meters, 30 meters......

Asafavil crossed the starting line and was at the top of the eight runners in just a few steps and continued to increase his pace.

In just one acceleration phase, the other runners were already separated by a body or two.

Forty meters, fifty meters, sixty meters......

Asafavil ran faster and faster, and his mind was almost empty, all he could see was the finish line ahead, whether it was the opponents around him, the reporters and spectators on the sidelines, or all the media reports and criticisms during this time, all of which he left behind.

He just wants to run!

Run with all your might!

Seventy meters, eighty meters, ninety meters......

Asafavir was like a bolt of lightning, and behind him, Kim Collins and Dwight Thomas, Mark Burns, these world-class athletes, almost felt a little unbelievable in this moment.

Asafavir is too fast!

From the start, like a bolt of lightning, it rushed out at once!

This is the preliminaries!

And it's just a preliminaries for a Grand Prix, shouldn't a top athlete like Asafavir save his energy and wait for the final to run a good result?

Asafavir seemed to hear the voices of his rivals behind him, and at the 90-meter position, before approaching the finish line, he seemed to have just come to his senses, and he was running a men's 100-meter preliminaries.

The thought flashed through Asafavir's mind, and he kept running at high speed and slowed down, his body crossing the finish line with inertia.

Crossing the finish line and slowly trotting down, Asafavier subconsciously raised his eyes and looked at the timing board on the sidelines, and for a moment, he was a little stunned.

9.74 seconds!

9.74 seconds!

"I broke my own world record again?!"

Asafavier looked at the time plate in disbelief, he had no idea that he had run 9.74 seconds in this set of preliminaries, and this was the result of his last few steps obviously distracted and a little water.

"Ahh

Before the finish line, Asafavir roared in the sky!

He did it!

Fulfilled what he said at the beginning of the year that he would break the direct world record this year!

A week after the end of the World Championships in Osaka, he once again used a new world record to make a name for himself!

At the Raul Guidobadi Stadium, more than 5,000 Italian spectators barely reacted when they watched the results on the timing board and listen to the radio in the men's 100m race, where Asafavir broke the world record again.

Because it was the first race of the Letti Grand Prix today, many people seemed to have just sat down and were not fully into the state of watching the race, but in the blink of an eye, a new 100m world record was born in front of their eyes.

……

Two and a half hours later, as the Italian crowd watched intently at the men's 100m final, Asafavir could pull off another miracle and break his world record of 9.74 seconds set in the heats.

However, this time the miracle did not happen again, and Asafavir was unable to break the new world record he set in the heats again, only winning the men's 100m at the Letty Grand Prix with an astonishing time of 9.78 seconds.