"Hey, this architectural style is really completely different from China!"

On July 9, a bus slowly passed through the outer city on a road in the Italian city of Grosseto.

Nie Fangping looked at the Western-style buildings in front of him, the earthy yellow brick and stone spired houses revealed a historical afterglow, and the tall church in the distance was faintly visible, and he couldn't help but sigh a little.

"Coach Nie, this is your first time abroad, right?"

On the front seat, Zhou Bin looked back at Nie Fangping behind him with a smile, after getting off the plane from Rome Airport, the group got on the big board car that drove directly to Grosseto, Nie Fangping has been looking left and right along the way, and he is quite interested, occasionally seeing some unfamiliar buildings, and his mouth sighs of admiration from time to time.

"It's really the first time, if it weren't for Coach Zhou to add me to the team list, I don't know when I would have a chance?"

Nie Fangping smiled, he has always been an ordinary sports school coach, most of the time he stays in Haixi Province, a limited number of times, but he ran a few cities with the domestic competition, and suddenly came to a foreign country, everything is really a bit strange in his eyes.

When he wanted to send Ye Qin to participate in the World Junior Championships, Coach Zhao Youcheng once joked about him, saying that he had never gone abroad. And last year's World Junior Championships was also limited due to the special situation in China at that time, and he did not accompany the team.

On the contrary, at the World Youth Championships this time, as the head coach of the men's 200m and men's 400m events that have a chance to win medals, Nie Fangping finally took this flight to Italy.

The city of Grosseto is a city located in the Tuscany region of Italy and the capital of the Italian province of Grosseto. Grosseto also has its own airport, but it is military, and if it is civilian, it only accepts private jets or private charter planes to dock, and the Chinese team did not enjoy such preferential treatment, and the official travel at this time is only to fly to Rome in economy class, and then transfer to Grosseto.

"Ye Qin, look at this building, is it very classical, this is history, a bit like Yongding Tulou." When the bus drove past a river, Nie Fangping pointed to a circular building in the middle and said to Ye Qin with a smile.

"Coach, where is this like except for the color?!"

Ye Qin looked at Nie Fangping's rather excited look, and was a little helpless for a while, since the plane arrived in Italy, Nie Fangping's expression was a little excited, he could hardly imagine that a person in his fifties and sixties was unusually unusual, full of curiosity about the surrounding buildings and various novelties. He was even more excited than when he went abroad for the first time at the World Junior Championships last year.

This time off the plane, because of the long-distance flight and jet lag, the others were basically a little sluggish, only Nie Fangping enjoyed the exotic scenery along the road and watched it with relish.

In fact, on the one hand, Nie Fangping's mood is relatively high, and on the other hand, Nie Fangping is using his own way, hoping that Ye Qin will become a little more relaxed.

This is the first time he has taken Ye Qin abroad to compete, although he doesn't say it, the slightest strangeness in his words and demeanor still exposes Nie Fangping's inner state.

"Hehe, Coach Nie, when you have a chance in the future, you can also go to many European countries to have a look, but ah, I'm afraid that you will go abroad more in the future, and you will vomit on the plane, please you are not happy to come out!"

Seeing Nie Fangping's rare state of excitement, Zhou Bin couldn't help laughing, last time he communicated with Nie Fangping, and when Ye Qin entered the national team and went abroad to participate in the competition as much as possible, at that time, Nie Fangping was an exchange, how could he have such an opportunity.

"That can't be, I've shrunk my whole life in Haixi Province, and I finally have the opportunity to come out and see the world, and I must seize the opportunity."

Nie Fangping shook his head, looking at the scenery outside the car window, there seemed to be not only curiosity about strange things abroad, but also thoughts that others could not perceive.

The World Junior Championships is the first stop, and there will be many more ......

In many places, the architectural style of Grosseto is somewhat similar to what Yechin saw in Sherbrooke, but it feels more dated when it looks at it, and it may be related to the local building materials, and most of the buildings reveal an earthy yellow color when you look at the past.

But the city doesn't feel backward, it's a city of rich history, traditional culture and fine art, with Romanesque and Gothic architecture everywhere.

Among them, the Medici walls and the bell tower of the Grosseto Cathedral, which have just passed by in the distance, are extremely impressive just by a brief glance.

The 2004 World Junior Athletics Championships were held in Grosseto, Italy.

The World Junior Athletics Championships to 04 is just the 10th, the time of the competition is July 12-July 18, a five-day competition, the schedule is basically similar to the World Junior Championships, a total of 168 countries and a total of 1261 athletes participated.

China sent a team of 50 people to participate in the World Youth Championships, including 31 athletes, and 19 other team leaders, coaches and related staff, which is much larger than Ye Qin's participation in the World Youth Championships last year, because the Olympic Games in August are imminent, and some of the staff and coaches will go directly to Athens after the World Youth Championships.

The buses passed through the streets outside the city, and there were many places that were not entered, and there were many tourist attractions in the inner city of Grosseto, which were not allowed to pass by cars, and it was a quick walk around the road to a hotel near the stadium.

This is the location that the organizers have already arranged for the move, the Alberg San Lorenzo Hotel, a building that looks a bit like many of the dormitories of universities in China. The facilities and conditions inside are quite high-end.

The World Youth Championships attracted more than 1,000 young athletes from all over the world to compete, and it was still a very grand festival for a tourist city with a population of only 80,000 or 90,000. The organizers have also invested a lot of money in this area, and because the city of Grosseto is relatively small, basically all the hotels where they stayed were able to arrive in time for the stadium.

Under the arrangement of the hotel and the people who settled in the hotel, Ye Qin and the other athletes simply ate something and went directly back to their rooms to rest and reverse the jet lag.

This time his roommate is a hurdler in the men's 110m hurdles, also surnamed Liu, but not Liu Yangyu, but a player from southern Jiangsu Province, named Liu Lilu. A rather shy boy, about a few centimeters taller than Ye Chin. In the selection of hurdles, in addition to the explosiveness and speed quality of sprinting events, athletes with high height and long legs and good flexibility are generally biased.

Nie Fangping, who had been quite excited all the way since he arrived, also showed a little fatigue on his face at this time, after all, he was already old, although he was a little excited to go abroad for the first time, but now after getting off the car and entering the station, he basically left to rest first.

Early the next morning, 27 athletes from all competitions were gathered again to visit the venue of the World Youth Championships and do some adaptation training.

On July 12, the World Youth Championships opened, and there will be a women's 5,000 meters and men's 10,000 meters on the same day.

"Everyone will try to act in unison and follow the team leader and their respective coaches."

Before leaving, Zhou Bin instructed everyone again, and pointed to a sturdy girl in the team who served as the captain of the team of many players.

Ye Qin stood in the middle of the team and looked at the female athlete, he was not familiar with the other party, but he still knew the resume of the female team member, regardless of the domestic achievements, just in the international arena, her achievements were much more brilliant than all the other athletes present.

Ma Junjun, born in 1985, is a female discus thrower.

She is the 2001 World Junior Champion in Debrecen, Hungary, the 2002 World Youth Championship in Kingston, Jamaica, and a strong contender for the gold point of the Chinese team at the World Junior Championships.

Leaving the Alberg San Lorenzo Hotel, the group, led by the accompanying staff, soon arrived at the venue of the World Youth Championships, the Carol Zechini Olympic Stadium.

It was a completely open-air stadium, unlike the Conch Stadium and Helong Stadium that Ye Qin had seen in China, which were surrounded on all sides, but similar to the Sherbrooke University Stadium he saw when he participated in the World Junior Championships. However, compared to the University of Sherbrooke Stadium, the stadium in front of me has significantly more spectator seats in the stands, with more than 10,000 seats.

The Carozechini Olympic Stadium is home to Serie A side Grosseto FC and hosted several football qualifiers during the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. The stadium also hosted the 2001 European Junior Championships.

After passing through the iron gate at the entrance and entering the stadium, it is obvious that there are many players from all over the world in the stadium at this time.

The lawn in the middle of the Caro Zeghini Olympic Stadium is full of green, the white boundary line of the midfield penalty area is faintly visible, and the goals on the east and west sides have been removed for the shot put, discus and other field events that will be played in the next few days.

The color of the stadium's track is not his usual orange-red, but a light blue with a hint of grayishness. Although Grosseto has a Mediterranean climate, in the summer of July, the temperature is still not low, and Ye Qin still feels a little fresh when he looks at such a cool runway.

There are a lot of people in the athletics, especially on the track, and the figures running back and forth almost never stop.

Before the 100-meter starting line, runners of all races and colors are waiting to practice the start, often after a group of three or four runners finishes, the second group immediately follows.

With the experience of the World Junior Championships, Ye Qin knew that this kind of adaptation to the field training could not be shrunk behind him, and after the other runners finished running, he immediately followed behind.

Large-scale track and field competitions are often like this, especially in many outdoor venues abroad, where athletes will be trained a day in advance, and they are almost crowded.

There is only one track and field in the field, there is no separate warm-up track, and if you want to train, you have to be together.

In some indoor competitions, the competition venues are even denser because of the limited running tracks, and there is almost no place to stay.

Generally speaking, only the kind of particularly large-scale track and field competitions or sports meetings, the competition venue is a large stadium, there will be a warm-up track before indoor check-in, the track and field field in the venue is also well arranged, and even the Olympic Village has a separate track and field field to provide daily training for athletes.

And at the World Junior Championships in Grosseto, Italy, there are obviously no such conditions. Among the more than 1,000 runners, even if only half of the runners are runners, there are more than 500 runners, and the track is basically empty before and after the day.

"How many trips have you made?"

After Ye Qin did a few sets of starting exercises at the 100-meter starting line, he ran a few more acceleration runs on the corner, and almost slowly stopped. I happened to see my roommate Liu Lilu resting next to him, and walked over to say hello to the other party.

The two hadn't seen each other a few times before, but they were assigned to a room in Italy, and they didn't look down to see each other, and they were young people, both teammates, and they were very familiar with each other.

In the current domestic men's sprint track event, the top player in the men's 110-meter hurdles is naturally Liu Yangyu, but in addition to him, there are also many other players who have good results. Liu Lilu's 110-meter hurdles level is about 14 seconds, and it is naturally not qualified to participate in the World Championships and Olympic Games, but it is still possible to come to see the world at this level of competition at the World Youth Championships.

"There were too many people, so I ran twice."

Liu Lilu shook his head, there are only two lanes on the straight path of the stadium with hurdles, in addition to the 110-meter hurdles players, there are also women's 400-meter hurdles, and the men's and women's 400-meter hurdles players share.

He is a 110-meter hurdles player, basically running the first few hurdles, practicing the starting acceleration and upper hurdles, those 400-meter hurdles, because of the field conditions, can not carry out long-distance adaptation training, can only follow the general practice hurdles, find a feeling.

Like Ye Qin, he can hardly run a full 200-meter and 400-meter run, just to roughly let his body find a sense and get familiar with the venue.

"Hi guys, hello!"

Just as Ye Qin and Liu Lilu were standing next to the track and talking, a black runner in a yellow sprint suit also stopped beside them, and when he saw Ye Qin looking at him, he immediately grinned.

"Hey, are you Jamaican?" Ye Qin looked at the national flag on the other party's sprinter and asked in English, "Then do you recognize Yusse Bote?" ”

Ye Qin's English accent is very strong, it is a typical Chinese English, although he has had few classes for more than a year, but he has not put down his English, and even strengthened it, although it is not slippery, but in fact, if the English in junior high school and high school is passable, a lot of oral expressions are enough.

The black young man on the opposite side frowned and listened carefully, it seemed to be laborious, but he also roughly understood what Ye Qin said, and replied with a smile, "That's right, guys, I'm from Jamaica, my name is Remard Rose, a men's 100-meter athlete. You say Euse-Bote, of course, that's our Jamaican star, of course I know. ”

The black man spoke quickly and was very active, and Ye Qin only barely understood a little, but he probably understood that the other party should know Yusse Both.

"Did he come to the World Junior Championships this time?"

Ye Qin then asked the other party, after he entered the track and field, he paid attention to it, thinking that this year's World Youth Championships might also meet Yusse Bote, but looking left and right, he did not see the opponent's iconic height among many athletes.

Since last year's World Junior Championships, Ye Qin once wanted to meet the Jamaican player Yusse Bot again, the last time the World Junior Championships opponent easily crushed him, he has made a lot of progress in a year, Ye Qin is eager to see what the opponent's current level is.

"World Junior Championships?" Remad Rose shook his index finger, "No, no, no, there is no one in Euse-Bote, hey, he's the 200m champion at the 2002 World Junior Championships, and I heard he's preparing for the Olympics." ”

"Also, he should be preparing for the Olympics!"

Ye Qin nodded, with the level of Yusse Bote, he naturally easily met the Olympic participation standards, and maybe even participated in the finals or won the ranking.

The Athens Olympics are next month, and the opponent has already won the world junior championship, so it is natural to give up this competition to prepare for the Olympics.

"Hi guys, mine goes first, I hope you all have a chance to see you in the field!" Remard-Ross looked at Ye Qin and Liu Lilu, waved his hand to say hello, and ran into the distance.

"See you later!" Ye Qin also smiled and beckoned.

It wasn't until Remard Rose, a black Jamaican player, smiled and waved away, that Liu Lilu on the side reacted, and a little surprise flashed in his eyes when he looked at Ye Qin.

"That...... Ye Chin, you are very bold! ”

"Huh? What do you mean? Ye Qin looked at Liu Lilu, a little bit not quite understanding what the other party meant.

"You dare to talk to others about such lame English!" Liu Lilu laughed, he felt that his English was much stronger than Ye Qin, probably because he came from the city, he had been exposed to English early, and his accent was at least not as heavy as Ye Qin, but he was basically shy when he came abroad, and he didn't dare to communicate with people.

Ye Qin couldn't help but be a little stunned when Liu Lilu said this.

He really didn't realize the problem that Liu Lilu said, he didn't feel any psychological barrier when he opened his mouth to speak English with others, at least he can speak a few sentences completely this year, and he can understand a lot of content, when he communicated with the Jamaican teenager last year, it was a bit of a bull's head and a horse's mouth, and the two of them almost used their hands and feet to communicate.

In fact, with one game after another, Ye Qin himself did not realize that it was not only his life that changed, but also his mentality, and he already had the confidence to face strange people and things calmly. 8)