June 10, Eugene, University of Oregon Hayward Stadium.

The weather is clear, and although it is already summer, the climate on the west coast of Eugene is quite pleasant at this time, with an average temperature of about 256 degrees, and because it is a Mediterranean climate, there is little rain in summer, so it does not look humid.

At 16:30 in the afternoon, before the starting line of the men's 400 meters, Ye Qin looked at the Chinese crowd gathered in the stands of Hayward Stadium on the sidelines, waved and expressed his gratitude to his supporters.

Compared to Eugene Station, Hayward Stadium's semi-open outdoor stadium feels more comfortable. There are more Chinese and international students in Eugene than there are in New York.

Although New York is a big city, there are traffic jams in all aspects, and most people, whether they are studying abroad, living or working, are in a much more hurried state, and there are actually very few people who can make time to watch a game.

Eugene is a track and field capital, and compared with New York, it has more of an atmosphere of living and living in a small and medium-sized city in the United States, and its enthusiasm for track and field events is also more prominent. There are also many overseas Chinese and international students from other nearby states who specially choose this time to come, on the one hand, for tourism, and on the other hand, for the domestic players to cheer for the players!

In the past two years, the domestic track and field atmosphere has been completely warm, and some competitions in which Ye Qin and Liu Yangyu participated can basically get extremely high attention. In addition, the Olympics are approaching, and media reports are basically surrounding various events, and basically not many people don't know Ye Qin's name until now.

Ahead of the men's 400m race, Yechin had already watched the previous races from the sidelines, the most important of which was the performance of Maria Mutola, the Mozambican women's 800m.

In the previous two competitions in Eugene, Ye Qin took the time to watch the opponent's competition in the women's 800, and this year is no exception, but due to the adjustment of the schedule, the women's 800m race time was placed before the men's 400 he was going to participate in.

Not to disappoint, Maria Mutalla continued her miracle at the Putfontein Classic, winning the women's 800m for the 15th consecutive time. From 1993 to 2007, Maria Mutalla was undefeated in the women's 800 event in Eugene.

Such a track and field feat, not to say that it is unprecedented, but it is estimated that it is difficult to have someone to come.

The Eugene Grand Prix is no small race, and there are countless athletes who participate in this event every year, and they have won 15 consecutive races since their debut, and their form has reached an astonishing level.

Many athletes may only be at their peak for three or five years, and the top players who can last for about a decade are already rare.

And Mutola has been in it for fifteen years, and that's not the most important thing, the most important thing is that for fifteen years, he has won every year in Eugene, which is really very difficult for an track and field athlete to do.

Athletics is a fast-changing sport, a generation of athletes is almost three or five years, basically once the time passes, except for a few top athletes, everyone else has to say goodbye to this arena and stage.

Ye Qin competed in the 400m in 2005, the 200m in 2006, and the 400m in 2007 in 2007.

Originally, he was planning to compete in the men's 100m, but considering that he will officially make his debut in the men's 100m and 200m events of the Golden League this year, he gave up the men's 100m and 200m in Eugene and chose the 400m event.

The most important reason is that since the start of this year, he has not competed in the 400m event properly, even if he has more men's 100m now, but the 400m cannot be lost.

On the big screen at the scene, the list of men's 400m runners has appeared in front of all the spectators at the scene, and it is also the top lineup in the current men's 400m event:

First Lane, Sean Merritt, USA;

Second Lane, Angelo Taylor, USA;

third, Gary-Kikaya, Congo;

Fourth Lane, Darold Williamson, USA;

Fifth Way, Taylor Christopher, Canada;

Sixth Lane, Michael Blackwood, Jamaica;

Seventh Dao, Yechin, China;

Eighth Lane, Erin Franchick, Grenada;

Among the other seven competitors present, most of them are no strangers to Ye Qin, who have played against each other on the track of the 400-meter race. Angelo Taylor, the only one with only the second lane, was the first time Yechin had met.

Angelo Taylor is not a specialist in the men's 400m, but a 400m hurdles athlete, the Sydney 2000 Olympic champion and a member of the U.S. men's 4×400m relay team, winning the Olympic title alongside Michael Johnson and others. In the years that followed, Angelo Taylor committed indecent assault and was assessed as a sex offender. It wasn't until this year that he began to return to athletics.

This men's 400m race is basically a duel between the most important athletes in the current international athletics men's 400m event, in addition to the Olympic champion, Jimmy Warner, who is in full swing at this time, whether it is Sean Merritt, or Gary Kikaya, or Taylor Christopher and other players, they are all second to none.

After the athletes reach a certain level, basically in various large-scale events, the faces that can be seen are basically those people, the top 10 and top 20 of the IAAF rankings, basically these athletes, other athletes can occasionally show their faces, but because of the level gap, it is difficult to impact other athletes.

Just like the men's 200m event, the pattern of the IAAF at this time is basically Jason Gaby, Wallace Spearmon, Yechin, and Yusse Bot have an absolute advantage, and the champions are rarely left behind. At most, a handful of athletes such as Xavier Carter, Sean Crowder, and Walter Dix are able to challenge in some competitions, and other athletes are basically unable to pose a threat to the front few in the big arena.

Ye Qin still attaches great importance to this men's 400m competition, although he is currently competing in the men's 100m, but the 400m event is not really considered to be put aside.

As the first Asian athlete to run the 200-meter run and break the 10-second mark in the 100-meter, Ye Qin is completely unreasonable if he does not stand on the men's 100-meter track.

But this does not mean that he has really put the 400m on hold, his talent in the 400m event has reached the level of Jimmy Warner in the test of the Training Bureau, and it can be said that Jimmy Warner may not be able to run his current results at Yechin's age.

The men's 400m was the first stop of Ye Qin's 2007 400m event, and he faced opponents who were also in strong competition, and he did not dare to say that he would win completely.

However, among the many players present, Sean Merritt and Gary Kikaya should be undoubtedly the strongest two, facing the two, although Ye Qin is weaker than them in the best results, but last year's IAAF World Cup and the 400 meters in Shenghai Station later, he won each other, and the psychological advantage is still obvious.

After a gunshot, the game officially began.

Ye Chin's start and acceleration are now very noticeable, but in the men's 400m, he did not let go of the unbridled acceleration in the first 100m.

Instead, they rhythmically control their own speed, distributing speed and physical fitness. The training of the three events of 100m, 200m and 400m has made Ye Qin's sprinting technique and rhythm more and more mature, and he has been able to master and cope with the changes of the runners around him.

Because Yechin is in lane seven, except for Grenada's Arin Francick in lane eight, there is no place for anyone else, and what needs to be tested more is his control of rhythm and pace.

By the time he entered the corner again from the straight, Yechin had already passed Grenada's Erin Franchick, but he still didn't dare to take it lightly.

Both Sean Merritt and Gary Kikaya were not weak in the second half of the race, and he couldn't measure the position of the two at this time, so he could only keep the rhythm and run forward.

It wasn't until the end of the third 100m, immediately entering the final corner into the straight, that Yechin felt he should have established his advantage.

In this match, Sean Merritt may not have played particularly well because of the first lane, and did not catch up after Yechin entered the straight.

In lane 3, Congolese Gary Kikaya followed not far behind Yechin, but in the final half-way sprint, Gary Kikaya had no way to threaten Yechin after losing the lead in front.

Thirty meters, twenty meters, ten meters......

Rush the line!

44.63 seconds!

When Ye Qin crossed the finish line, he glanced at the men's 400-meter result run by his group.

It wasn't particularly good, because he was in lane eight, and he didn't feel a competitor in the end, and after he was fully sure of his advantage, he couldn't fully rush in the last few tens of meters, and lost the opportunity to set a new personal best.

After Yechin, Gary Kikaya, who crossed the finish line second, clocked 44.93 seconds, and third-place Sean Merritt clocked 45.17 seconds...... After the whole race, Ye Qin could feel that he did not regress in the 400-meter event, but because the 100-meter strengthened the start and acceleration, his ability in the first half of the race has been improved to a certain extent.

It's just that, because of the Grand Prix, the opponents are all reserved or not in the best condition, and there is no strong competitive atmosphere.

Standing on the runway, Ye Qin looked at the many international students and overseas Chinese cheering on the sidelines, and stretched out his hand to wave to everyone again.

"Next stop, Norway! It's time to face Asafavil, the world No. 1 in the 100m! ”