Rakwere.

A small town in northern Estonia, 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea.

The town has a long history, with signs of human settlement dating back to the 3rd to 5th centuries AD, and because of its location, it has been dominated by many countries and wars.

With the independence of Estonia in World War I and the end of World War II, the town, like most other European towns, has its own attractions and features, but it is unremarkable among the many towns in Europe.

On August 3, 2010, this little-known town in Europe ushered in a rare liveliness.

The stadium in Lakwere Town, where lights are lit up and colorful banners flutter outside, has gathered here early in the morning.

Some of the foreign tourists who happened to pass through this place were attracted by the excitement and also came to the town stadium. After arriving, many people found out that there was a track and field competition in this small town stadium today.

Estonia and Finland held a track and field tour exchange competition, the competition level is not high, it is a regional competition, the main competition location is to travel between the cities of the two countries, the main purpose is to promote the atmosphere of track and field in the two countries, select track and field talents, but also attract some international outstanding athletes to participate.

Today, the athletics tour of the two countries has come to the small town of Rakwere.

A Volkswagen crossed the streets of Rakwere, avoiding pedestrians and quietly parked at the crossings of the Lacvere Town Stadium.

The noise outside came through the half-open window, and a tall, stocky black young man sat in the back seat, and after the car stopped, he did not get out of the car immediately, but sat quietly in the seat, listening to the shouts from the stadium in the distance.

"Man, it's time to get off!"

The driver of the car turned his head, and it was a local Estonian young man, speaking English with a strong accent, to the black youth in the back seat and another middle-aged black man sitting next to him.

"Let's go!"

The middle-aged black man reached out and gently patted the black young man on the shoulder, and there seemed to be some encouragement in his tone.

“OK！”

The young black man took a light breath, nodded, opened the door, and stepped out of the car.

As if coming out of the small space behind the vehicle, the black youth seemed to hear louder shouts from the town stadium, which seemed to him to be a little rudimentary, as if he had stepped out of the car.

And with these shouts, the black young man's heart beat twice violently, and the muscles of his whole body seemed to tense slightly.

It was a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time.

It's been so long that the black youth can't remember the last time I felt like this.

The young black man glanced at the track field in the distance, then turned around, walked to the trunk of the car, and took a duffel bag from the middle-aged black man.

The color of the bag is a little old, he bought it years ago, and he used to travel with him to a track and field field, but now it has been dusty for a long time.

After the two of them finished picking up their luggage, the strangely accented driver poked his head out of the front seat and said "good luck" in strangely accented English, after which the car started again and left into the distance.

The young black man reached out and hung the strap of the duffel bag on his shoulder, unzipped it and took out a baseball cap and put it on his head, and in the backpack there was a pair of sunglasses he had prepared earlier, and his fingers ran over the sunglasses case, but he still didn't take them out.

Not necessarily, is it?

The corners of the black youth's mouth were hooked, and a faint hint of self-deprecation floated.

After being away for so long, the whole world is developing and changing so fast, and probably people have already remembered him!

"But I'm back!"

The self-deprecation on the black young man's face flashed, and soon his expression returned to calm, but there was an incomparably determined look in his eyes.

"Time is running out, do you remember the process?"

The middle-aged black man next to him had already taken a few steps towards the stadium, and suddenly looked at the black young man who seemed to be standing in place in a daze, and immediately turned his head and joked with a smile.

"Of course."

The black young man nodded expressionlessly, not thinking too much about joking, just silently followed the middle-aged black man towards the stadium, and there was still a word in his heart that was not spoken.

"I can forget everything, but I don't forget the field, I don't forget the track."

……

"Is that him?"

"Damn, why did this guy get here?"

"Really?"

"Isn't he banned for life?"

In the check-in area of the stadium, when the black young man changed into a sprint suit and appeared, a whisper sounded in an instant.

Some are deliberately spoken in English, while others are spoken in local Estonian and Finnish.

The black young man carefully pressed his legs and stretched the joints of his muscles, and he knew what other people's discussions meant, and if he couldn't, he could understand them by looking at the eyes of these people.

If the local driver didn't recognize him when he came to the stadium just now, the people who are about to play here will definitely recognize him.

It's just that these people say that the content of the discussion is not necessarily so pleasant.

No one came up to greet him, and the athletes present were all young, and some of them may have been about ten years behind him.

He was already an old guy standing here, when he appeared in such a low-level arena!

"Your world record of 9.77 seconds in Doha has been cancelled!"

"The punishment for you has come down, an eight-year ban! If you don't accept it, USADA will most likely ban you for life! ”

"Eight years is too long, I was 30 years old by then, so what's the difference between that and a lifetime ban."

"There is still a chance, if you accept the punishment and reach cooperation, there is a chance to appeal later."

"The CEO of the hearing sympathized with your plight, and in view of your good attitude, and the fact that your incident was directly related to your first time, the arbitration panel reduced your punishment to four years!"

"Who do you think you are? World champion? You're a medicine jar. ”

"You haven't played rugby since 10th grade!"

"I'm sorry, you didn't pass the tryout!"

……

A trance-like memory flashed through his mind, and he took a light breath, the game hadn't started yet, and he tried not to think about the past.

"Don't have any pressure, it's just a very ordinary game, there are not many ordinary reporters who come to the scene, and when we leave here after the race, no one will care."

The middle-aged black man walked over and whispered to the black youth to comfort, "All you need to do now is go for a run!" ”

"Loren, I'm not a rookie."

The black young man slowly raised his head, a rare smile on his face.

Although he was the one who was comforted, he used his words and eyes to comfort the middle-aged black man in front of him.

Loren Seagrave, this is his new coach.

A lot has happened in the past few years!

From the distant United States, flying to Estonia in Europe to participate in such a low-level event, this is what Loren Seagrave has prepared for him.

Here, the contestants should be able to recognize him, but probably...... There won't be too many people who know him in the audience.

The audience is forgetful!

They are now chasing Yechin, it is Yusse Both, it is Jason Gaby...... He is already a thing of the past.

Therefore, the pressure that may be under is also reduced.

Falling from the peak to the trough is probably only a matter of a short moment, but from the trough back to the top, this road will not be so easy.

Minutes and seconds passed.

Soon, having completed the pre-match preparations, he heard the preparations for the game.

"Come on!"

Loren Seagrave patted him on the shoulder again and said nothing more.

What should be done has been done, what should be said has been said, and the rest needs to be faced by himself.

The weather in the town of Rakwere today is very good, the sun is shining, and the temperature is neither high nor low.

A women's 100m race in the stadium has just come to an end, and the winner was a young female athlete from native Estonia, drawing cheers and applause from the crowd.

The level of competition is not high, but for the residents of this town, it is still a great joy to be able to see a wonderful track and field event on their doorstep.

After the women's 100m race came to an end, the men's 100m runners appeared on a large screen installed especially for the tour.

"Who's that?"

"There's an American here to compete!"

"Probably a newcomer!"

In the audience, many people noticed the list of players, saw a player with an American flag logo, and shouted one by one.

There are a number of other countries participating in this lower level of the tour, but in general it is dominated by players from some European countries that are bordering Estonia and Finland.

U.S. sprinters appear on the European stage, at least at the Athletics Grand Prix, and rarely in such a regional low-level event.

After all, as a track and field country, there are enough track and field events in the United States every year, as well as various events in Central America. Especially in the sprint events, the level of competition on the American side is much higher.

However, this doubt did not last long, and soon, many spectators noticed the American runner who appeared at the men's 100-meter starting line.

Some people don't know it, but gradually, more and more people recognize it.

I don't know where to start, there was boos.

Fierce shouts also rang out from time to time, and a few even stood up from the audience, excitedly shouting "Get out, you're not welcome here!" ”

Of course, more live audiences are actually still in a cold sidelines.

They're just here to see the game, they're not really track and field fans, and they don't care too much.

Standing in front of the starting line, the black youth habitually walked more than ten meters on the track, and then returned to the starting line to adjust his emotions.

He heard boos and yelling, but he didn't care.

He had imagined many times that his return to the runway would be a cheer or a boo......

Well, probably boo.

It's just that this level of intensity is much lower than he expected.

Probably because this place is far away from his own country, there are not so many people who really care about him.

In fact, from the moment he started training in earnest and was ready to return to athletics, he already knew the pressure he was going to face.

“On your marks！”

The familiar sound of being in place sounded at the scene.

"There's nothing to fear me anymore!"

He slowly walked up to the runner, stared at the finish line in front of him, and said to himself silently.

A match gun rang out.

Throughout the stadium, everyone craned their necks and stared intently at the starting line.

I saw that among the many runners, the black young man who seemed to be the oldest suddenly rushed out of the starting line.

He didn't start fast, his movements were not good, and he didn't seem to have adapted to the rhythm of the race, but after fifty meters, the black young man suddenly jumped up from behind.

The other young athletes in the same group tried their best to catch up, but the distance was getting farther and farther away!

Ahead of them was a veteran.

But again, he was once a world champion!

Even if his current form is far from his peak, the person who can defeat him is not in this arena.

Rush the line!

On the on-site timing board, this group of men's 100-meter results appeared in front of everyone.

10.24 seconds!

A level that barely reached the semi-finals in an international competition, but in such a low-level competition, it is enough to win the championship.

The black youth looked at the results on the timing board and bit his lip fiercely.

It's a far cry from his peak results, but he's still excited.

He fell to his knees on the runway, threw his head up and roared angrily.

"I'm back!"

"I'm back Jax Thelin!"

No one can understand his emotions at the moment, and over the course of four years, he has also felt the urge to give up sprinting, his favorite sport. After all, it is a big unknown whether he will be able to maintain his form after four years.

The wealth he had accumulated was also limited, and he could not train day after day to survive.

He tried out at several NFL clubs during his suspension, but all of them failed; He also returned to his high school alma mater in Pensacola, Florida, as a track and field coach, and as a personal trainer at a gymnasium in northeast Atlanta, Georgia.

At the moment, no one cheered for his victory!

……

On August 16, at the Ergo World Challenge in Tallinn, Jax Thelin won with a time of 10.17 seconds.

In the final match of the Finnish Elite Games series in Joensu on 22 August, Jax Thelin won the men's 100m title in 10.13 seconds over Steve Mullins of Jamaica.

On August 31, in Rovereto, Italy, Jax Thelin finished second in the men's 100m race in 10.09 seconds, first by Jamaican rookie John Blake, who won in 10.06 seconds.

One month, four games.

Jax Thelin returns to athletics after a four-year ban!

PS: The new book "Mysterious Nightmare" needs to be collected and recommended tickets, I hope you will support it!