In the athletes' locker room, three sturdy men sat in a row, dressed in uniform and conspicuous with the striped American flag on their chests.

The trio are Jeremy Varina, LaSean Merritt and David Neville, all three of whom are in the final of the 400m and in an hour they will be in the final of the men's 400m.

The men's 400m is undoubtedly the strength of the US team, and in the traditional sprint events, in the 100m and 200m, the US team was challenged by the Jamaican team, but in the men's 400m, the US team's advantage is still unshakable. In this Olympic Games in history, the U.S. team also swept the top three in this event.

It's just that now Zhang Guan's qualification has made it impossible for the American team to stand at the peak of this event, but the dominance of the American team in the 400-meter sprint event is still in doubt.

At this time, in front of the three athletes, stood a black man in a shirt and tie, who looked like an official, he was the leader of the U.S. track and field team.

The leader of the U.S. team looked at the three contestants and said with a smile on his face: "Gentlemen, I'm very sorry for calling you here and delaying your preparation time before the game. The reason why I am doing this is also for you. A few hours ago, I just met with the general manager of our USA team, and he can snipe Zhang Guan in the men's 400m final! ”

"Sniping Zhang Guan?" All three were startled at the same time. They had thought that they might be calling them to cheer them on, but it would be better to mention the matter of fighting for the gold medal, or to work hard to win the top three, but they didn't expect the team leader to make such a request.

"Yes, sniping Zhang Guan, that is, don't let him win the gold medal!" The team leader paused, and then said: "I think you must know that one of the most discussed issues in the world right now is who is the greatest athlete in the world, Phelps and Zhang Guan, and the number of gold medals they win obviously determines the outcome of this debate." So far, Phelps has won eight gold medals in this Olympic Games, and Zhang Guanhua has only won five gold medals, but he is not over yet, and he is likely to win eight gold medals. ”

When the leader of the U.S. team said this, there was a hint of reluctance in his eyes, and then said: "Assuming that Phelps and Zhang Guan both win eight gold medals, we can still say that Phelps is the first person to win eight gold medals in one Olympic Games, and we can still think that Phelps is the greatest athlete in the world, but other people may not think so." As you all know, track and field events have a greater international impact than swimming, and track and field champions will definitely get more attention and sponsorship than swimming champions. ”

"And Zhang Guan also collapsed the big event, which is an incredible thing in itself, in the modern games, there will be athletes who can cross the major events and win the championship, it can really be said to have created a miracle. And tennis is also a very influential sport, and the double champion of tennis and track and field is bound to be more sought after by the world than a single swimming champion. The American team leader shrugged his shoulders and continued: "In that regard, Phelps doesn't have an advantage. If Zhang Guan and Phelps both won eight gold medals, it would seem that Zhang Guan's results are obviously more convincing than Phelps. In addition, as far as the current situation is concerned, Zhang Guan is still likely to win a medal in the 4 x 100m relay race, which means that Zhang Guan is likely to win nine medals in the end, becoming the athlete with the most medals in a single Olympic Games. ”

"So you need us to stop Zhang Guan in the 400m event? Just so that Phelps can be the greatest athlete in the world? Varina asked, dissatisfied.

Varina is also the world's top athlete, once the ruler of the 400m sport, although he has never broken the world record, but because of the life experience similar to "Forrest Gump" in the movie, Varina is not inferior to Phelps in the United States. So when he heard this reason, of course, he was very unhappy in his heart.

If the team leader says it's just for honor, for the United States, or even for sponsorship, Varina can accept or agree, but it is a little difficult for Varina to accept winning the championship in order to keep Phelps' greatest athlete.

Also a world champion, why did I win the championship in order to achieve your reputation as the "greatest athlete"? Could it be that I, Varina, am I going to be the first to be better than you Phelps? That's what Varina was thinking at this time.

The leader of the U.S. track and field team apparently realized that it was a bit inappropriate to say this, and he immediately said: "Of course, Phelps is only one aspect of it, and more importantly, for us in the United States." At present, in the gold medal list, our American team is still suppressed by the Chinese team in second place, and it seems that there is no hope for our gold medal first, so we can't let Zhang Guan win so many gold medals, and we can't let Zhang Guan get the achievement of 'the greatest athlete'! We want to tell the world that the United States is still the world's number one sports power, and we will not be surpassed by China! ”

Seeing the confident look of the team leader, Merritt hesitated for a moment and said: "Sir, I'm very sorry to interrupt you, but Zhang Guan's strength in track and field events, especially in sprint events, is obvious to all, and he broke the world record of 400 meters two years ago. And in this year's Olympic Games, he is even more in great form, in the 100m, 200m, 1500m and long jump, he not only won the gold medal, but also broke the record. Usain Bolt, Ramz, and Saladino, they have already played at a super level but still lost to Zhang Guan. With all due respect, Zhang Guan's strength is already very strong, and with his current state, I'm afraid it will be difficult for us to stop him! ”

Varina and Neville nodded in agreement, especially Varina, who had been defeated by Zhang Guan many times, so he knew the most about the horrors of Zhang Guan.

The leader of the American team smiled slightly, and vaguely revealed a kind of disdain, he said: "This is another point I want to tell you, Zhang Guan is actually not invincible, his state cannot always be so good, and he also has times when he is in poor shape, such as today!" ”

"Today? Sir, your consciousness is that Zhang Guan is not in good shape today? ”

"Yes!" The leader of the U.S. team smiled and nodded, then said, "Before I came here, Zhang Guan was competing in the final of the triple jump event, do you know how he did?" ”

The American team leader deliberately paused his voice to whet their appetite before saying: "Zhang Guan failed in the first two attempts, and among the twelve contestants, he was ranked first from the bottom, and he is about to be eliminated!" ”

"What?" The three athletes showed incredible expressions, because in their impressions, Zhang Guan has always been invincible, how could he not even enter the top eight!

"It looks like you don't believe me, it's okay, let's turn on the TV and take a look, maybe now Zhang Guan has been eliminated!" As the team leader spoke, he picked up the remote control of the TV and clicked the start button.

As the world's most advanced sports venue, the athletes' locker rooms are equipped with televisions, so that athletes can directly watch the situation in the stadium and can also watch the live broadcast of other games.

Footage of the game was shown on TV, and at this time, Zhang Guan had just come out of the sand pit.

"Zhang Guan has not been eliminated, it seems that he finally jumped out of the results just now and advanced to the top eight." As soon as the American team leader finished speaking, he saw a subtitle displayed at the bottom of the screen.

“WR，18.32M”

The American leader immediately froze on the spot.

Of course, the American team leader knows that WR means world record, which means that Zhang Guan has just broken the world record!

"Oh my God, 18.32m, I read that right, Zhang Guan broke the world record of 18.29m held by Edwards! There is no one in the world who can break this world record! Merritt exclaimed.

Varina, on the other hand, looked at the team leader with some sympathy.

Want to snipe Zhang Guan? Because Zhang Guan's game form today is not good enough? Failed the first two attempts? Ranked from the bottom? Coming to be eliminated?

At this moment, it all seemed to have become a joke.

Can you skip the 18-meter mark if you are not in good shape? Can you break a world record if you are not in good shape? Can you surpass the "cross-century bird" Edwards if you are not in good shape?

Zhang Guan broke the world record again, where is this bad state, it is clearly in a bad state!

Varina sighed and said, "I think Zhang Guan's sixth gold medal has arrived!" (To be continued.) )