Chapter 381: True Strength
The men's short track speed skating 500m event is the most contested event in short track speed skating, which can be regarded as the "100-meter dash" in short track speed skating, but this event is not the strong point of the national team. Pen Fun & Court www.biquge.info In this division, there are only four players in one competition, so the competition for a place in the finals has become more intense.
In the group stage that started first, Zhang Guan appeared in the fifth group, and there were no strong players in the same group, and Zhang Guan successfully advanced. Veteran Ma Yunfeng played in the sixth favorite group, along with Italy's Comfort La and Canada's Trepre, but Ma Yunfeng unfortunately failed to advance to the next round. In the eighth group, Han Jialiang, only one Japanese player in the same group is still some strength, and as a result, he also successfully advanced as the first in the group.
The final of the 500m will be held on February 27, which is also the last day of competition for short track speed skating.
"500 meters is as strong as a cloud! I heard that the world record holder Sheng Xibei has given up the relay race in order to win gold in this event. However, the South Korean team's plan could not catch up with the changes, Lee Jung-so was banned, and Sheng Xibei still had to participate in the relay race. Coach Li Bing continued: "In addition, the strength of Canadian player Hamelin should not be underestimated! In terms of strength, he can definitely challenge Sheng Xibei. ”
"Hamelin, I played against him in the 1000m final before, I didn't think he was very good." Zhang Guan said.
"Hamelin is much better in the short distance than he is in the long distance. You remember that in the 1000m race, Hamelin even led the skating for a while, and his speed was not inferior to the Korean, but the 1000m had to skate 9 laps, and his physical strength in the second half of the race may not be able to sustain it. But the 500m only needs four and a half laps, which is exactly what Hamelin is good at. Coach Li Bing continued: "So you have to be faster in the race, and I even think that in the final, you may not be able to win the championship with an achievement of less than 41 seconds." ”
"Isn't the world record in the 500m 41.051 seconds? Can't a world record result win the championship? Zhang Guan asked in surprise.
"Yes, the information we have, Sheng Xibei and Hamelin, both have the strength to slide into less than 41 seconds, and there is even news that their results can already enter within 41 seconds." Coach Li Bing continued.
"Really? That's great, it looks like the 500m final, finally don't have to keep the strength! Zhang Guan said excitedly.
"Retain strength?" Coach Li Bing's eyes widened in surprise, if a world record-breaking result is to retain strength, Li Bing didn't believe it in his heart.
But when these words came out of Zhang Guan's mouth, there was a strong sense of confidence and persuasion, which made Coach Li Bing feel in his heart that Zhang Guan really retained his strength in the previous game.
……
On February 28, the last day of short track speed skating, three gold medals in short track speed skating will be decided at the Pacific Arena: the women's 1,000m, men's 500m and men's 5,000m relay.
In this Winter Olympics, the women's short track speed skating team has won three gold medals, including a gold medal in the relay race, and if it can win another gold medal in the women's 1000m, it will win all the gold medals in women's short track speed skating at this Winter Olympics.
But the most watched race is undoubtedly the men's 500m final, after all, it is a sprint sport, the shorter the distance, the faster the speed, the more competitive the athletes, the more exciting the progress of the competition, and the more spectacle.
First up was the quarterfinals of the men's 500m. Judging from the grouping, Zhang Guan's group is not bad, with German student Tyson and British player Avery in the same group, and the strength of the two can only be regarded as middle and upper, not ranked among the top in the world. And Zhang Guanhe was promoted relatively smoothly.
Another member of the national team, Han Jialiang, was in a very tough group, with Canada's Oliver and South Korea's Lee Ho-seok in the same group. Lee Ho-seok's strength is definitely the first in the group, while Oliver is very good at short distance, so Han Jialiang only ranked third in the group and missed the semi-finals.
The Group of Death is the first group, with two of the world's best players, Canadian Hamelin and South Korea's Sheng See-be, meeting early.
"World record! Hamelin! In 40.988 seconds, Hamelin entered the 41-second mark! Hamelin broke Sheng Xibei's men's 500-meter short track speed skating world record! And it is also a result set in the competition with Sheng Xibei! The narrator shouted loudly, and the scene was completely boiling.
It was Hamelin's home stadium, after all, and although it was only the quarter-finals, the hosts' world record was enough to send the crowd into cheers for minutes.
In the quarter-finals, Hamelin successfully broke the world record in the men's 500m short track speed skating and qualified first in the group. Of course, Sheng Xibei also qualified, but at the moment he was unhappy, the second place in the group was still second, the key was that the world record he held was broken, and he was broken in front of himself, which was undoubtedly a provocation in Sheng Xibei's view.
All three of South Korea's players made it to the semi-finals, along with Jang Guan, Canada's Hamelin and Oliver, Great Britain's Avery and the United States' Apollo in the semi-finals.
There are two semi-finals, with the top two teams advancing to the Group A final for medals, and the bottom two advancing to the Group B final for a spot.
In the semi-finals, Zhang Guan met Hamelin, and the other two in the same group were South Korea's Lee Ho-seok and Guo Yunqi. The other four were placed in the other group.
When the game reached the semi-final stage, the competition was already very fierce, for example, in Zhang Guan's group, the three opponents were all strong, and the two Korean players became weaker players. Hamelin, who had just broken the world record, probably wanted to maintain his physical strength, so he did not fight hard and finally advanced to the Group A final with Zhang Guan.
Subsequently, Sheng Xibei also appeared, and the three people in the same group as him were all European and American players.
"950 seconds in 40 seconds! Sheng Xibei! He managed to reclaim the world record! I really didn't expect that Hamelin's world record was only held for half an hour before it was broken by Sheng Xibei here. It seems that the next final will be a top showdown between needles and Maimang! ”
Sheng Xibei, who appeared in the second group, showed absolute strength, and he successfully responded to Hamelin's provocation with a new world record, which seemed to tell Hamelin that he is still the strongest in the world!
The audience also gave Sheng Xibei a warm applause, although they really wanted their country's Hamelin to win, but they would like to see a wonderful game, and the world record was broken twice in half an hour, which is obviously worth today's ticket price, and then, these two people will compete in the final, which is definitely the most exciting and exciting duel of the Winter Olympics.
The other qualifier was taken by the American Apollo. Apollo is nicknamed the "American Prince" and is the defending champion of the men's short track speed skating 500m, which means that he won gold in the event four years ago in Turin, beating South Korea. And four years later, Apollo certainly hopes he can successfully defend his title.
"It smells of gunpowder! If you don't do your best, you might really lose! Zhang Guan took a deep breath, and a feeling of tension rose in his heart, and this tension was pleasant and exciting.
Zhang Guan vaguely remembers that the last time he brought him this feeling, it was Bolt, facing Bolt, who had the strength to break the world record, and the desire to win in Zhang Guan's heart was also stronger. And today, there are two people in front of him, both of whom have the strength to break the world record, which makes Zhang Guan feel even more excited.
"I finally think this game is interesting!" Zhang Guan's eyes revealed a look of excitement.
……
"It's game on! Hamelin grabbed the top spot! ”
The scene immediately burst into cheers, and the audience was cheering for Hamelin, who was fighting at home.
Hamelin was really good at the start, having won the first place in the 1000m final and the 500m today, he also managed to take first place at the first corner.
However, compared with the 1000m, the 500m title is obviously more meaningful and the advantage is relatively greater. With 9 laps of 1,000 meters, Hamelin didn't have enough stamina to lead the way to the finish line, but with only half the distance of 500 meters, Hamelin was definitely capable of keeping the first place and crossing the finish line.
Sheng Xibei successfully grabbed the second position, Zhang Guan followed closely behind Sheng Xibei, and the "American Prince" Apollo fell to fourth place.
The 500-meter race is impossible to open up a large distance, and in the same level of duel, as long as there are no mistakes, even before the finish line, the difference between the first and fourth places will not exceed 0.3 seconds, which is very similar to the 100-meter sprint.
As with the 100-meter sprint, in the 500-meter short track speed skating, every 0.01-second improvement of the world's top athletes is extremely difficult. The time of 0.3 seconds is an insurmountable gap before the finish line.
As the first lap drew to a close, the pace of the athletes had already increased, and Sheng Xibei, who was in second place, clearly did not want to fall behind Hamelin. He turned outward, ready to overtake Hamelin.
Hamelin has been paying attention to Sheng Xibei's movements, and he found that Sheng Xibei was about to overtake, so he also moved his body at the first time and made defensive moves. However, what Hamelin didn't expect was that this was just Sheng Xibei's feint, and the next moment, Sheng Xibei suddenly turned to the inside, and then overtook Hamelin.
"Damn Asians, so thin, you can get through this little gap!" Hamelin couldn't stop complaining.
It is said that the inner space left by Hamelin is not large, and if it is a tall European or American, it may not be able to drill through. But Sheng Xibei's figure is obviously more slender than Europeans, Sheng Xibei, who is nearly 1.8 meters tall, weighs only 60 kilograms, which looks very thin in ordinary Asian men, and the athlete's muscle density is higher, so it is thinner. Therefore, European and American athletes can't get through the same space, but Korean athletes can drill into the past.
Sheng Xibei managed to get the lead, and he also knew that if he wanted to take the lead, it was not enough to rely on defense, he also needed to be faster. And Hamelin, who is behind, is also waiting for an opportunity to regain his position.
The race entered the second lap of the race, which would have been a brief stalemate in other classes, but in the 500m race, the competition intensified.
Hamelin wants to overtake Sheng Xibei, and at the same time, Zhang Guan is also ready to surpass the two in front of him.
"It's Zhang Guan!" Sheng Xibei and Hamelin were vigilant at the same time.
Apollo, who finished fourth, was also not lonely, but the short track speed skating was not wide enough to accommodate Apollo, so on the second lap he just tried it and retreated.
At the same time, Zhang Guan has been neck and neck with Hamelin.
"Zhang Guan is really fast!" Hamelin felt the heavy pressure, and by this time he had already felt that Zhang Guan was indeed superior to him in terms of maximum speed.
"If you want to defend Zhang Guan, you must take advantage of the curve in front of you!" Hamelin decided to stick to the line and stick to the corner.
The two entered the corner at the same time, but the difference was that Hamelin was on the inside and Zhang Guan was on the outside, which meant that Zhang Guan had to cover a longer distance. But the two are still neck and neck.
Zhang Guan is faster than Hamelin, and even if he walks outside the corner, he can still stay parallel to Hamelin.
Hamelin held on until the end of the corner, and after entering the straight again, he still couldn't hold his position and was overtaken by Zhang Guan.
"I didn't hold it, it was completely by the speed of transcendence, there were no tricks, and it was not the same as Sheng Xibei's exploitation, is this a gap in strength?" Hamelin thought to himself.
The race has come to the third lap, and Zhang Guan has come to the second position. But because Hamelin stubbornly guarded the inner line, closely following behind Sheng Xibei, leaving no space to enter, Zhang Guan could not turn into the inside.
However, Zhang Guan didn't care that he would skate a little more distance, he was not in a hurry to get inside, but was ready to continue to overtake Sheng Xibei.
"Zhang Guan is catching up!" Sheng Xibei could sense that there was a red figure behind him.
"He shouldn't be able to overtake in this time period, now that he has entered the third lap, the final sprint will start in the third and a half laps, and he should make adjustments at this time to prepare for the final sprint, if he consumes physical strength now and forcibly overtakes, Ken will affect the sprint of the last lap!"
Sheng Xibei was thinking about it, but Zhang Guan had already overtaken him.
"What? Zhang Guan really dared to surpass at this time! Is it self-confidence? Or is there no racing experience at all? ”
At the time of three and a half laps, Zhang Guan successfully reached the first position, and at this time, there was still a full lap left from the finish line, and the final battle was coming.
The first to make a move was Apollo in last place, and of course he would not stay in fourth place forever, so he launched an overtake against Hamelin in front of him.
And almost at the same time, Hamelin also began to accelerate, and his goal was Sheng Xibei.
"Just now Zhang Guan forcibly overtook me, he must not have adjusted now, his sprint will be a little slower, take advantage of the present, but overtake!" Thinking of this, Sheng Xibei immediately launched a transcendence of Zhang Guan.
But Zhang Guan did not do as Sheng Xibei imagined, he did not adjust, but turned into a wild horse and rushed forward.
"Zhang Guan has sprinted! It's so strong! Could it be that this is Zhang Guan's real strength! Sheng Xibei sighed in his heart.
The shouts of the audience have reached the extreme, and the situation on the scene at this time may change every second.
With the final corner left until the end of the race, Apollo wanted to replicate the kind of overtaking of Hamelin at the beginning of the match, and he also chose the inside, but he underestimated his size and Hamelin's defense. Hamelin suffered a loss on Sheng Xibei, so naturally he would not suffer a second loss in a row, but Apollo accidentally crossed the line when he overtook him, which was a foul in the game and would inevitably be disqualified.
And Hamelin also lost the opportunity to surpass Sheng Xibei because of his defense of Apollo, and if Zhang Guan and Sheng Xibei in front of him did not make mistakes, he could only accept the result of the bronze medal.
Sheng Xibei also knew that this corner might be his last chance, so he did his best.
"I don't believe I'm going to lose to you!" Sheng Xibei accelerated with all his might.
"I'm going to win!" Zhang Guan has the same belief in his heart, but the difference is that Zhang Guan's dictionary does not have the word "lose".
This is a real competition of speed, a competition of strength. Sheng Xibei showed the resilience of a World Champion, and instead of playing tricks like other South Koreans, he challenged Zhang Guan with his own strength.
Zhang Guan completely ignored Sheng Xibei's challenge, because there was only one thing in his eyes, and that was the end. He has only one goal, rush over as fast as he can!
……
"1500 meters, 1000 meters, now 500 meters, is Zhang Guan going to win again?" Coach Li Bing's hands began to tremble uncontrollably, the closer he got to the finish line, the more nervous his heart became, and the time seemed to be getting longer and longer, and Coach Li Bing even had a feeling of living like a year.
"Time is so slow, time flies so slowly!" Coach Li Bing's breathing suddenly froze, his eyes opened wide, and he didn't dare to miss every subtle movement of Zhang Guan.
The end is already in sight, and Coach Li Bing is already blushing, as if he is a volcano about to erupt at this time.
"Ahh Coach Li Bing raised his hands and shouted: "Rush to the line!" It's Zhang Guan! Win, we win! ”
The volcano in Coach Li Bing's heart finally completely erupted at this moment...... (To be continued.) )