IBABS Chapter 54

At the commentary booth, Chris and Bills were introducing the athletes on the eight tracks to the audience.

From the 48 world-class competitors, those who made it to the finals were: Evanson and Gates from the United States, Anthony from the Netherlands, Dlamini and Samuel from South Africa, Su Zhe from China, Sandy from Nigeria, and Hilm from Jamaica.

Among them, Evanson from the United States had frequently dominated the championships in various 100-meter sprint events over the past two years. He stood as the powerhouse at the pinnacle of men’s short-distance sprinting. Gates, also from the American team, possessed outstanding ability as well.

Both men had successively improved their personal bests over the past two seasons, both under 9.85 seconds. Evanson’s personal best of 9.74 seconds made him the undisputed king of today’s men’s 100-meter sprint.

Among all the competitors, Su Zhe undoubtedly had the weakest current record. With a personal best of 10.03 seconds, he was the only finalist who had never broken the 10-second barrier. That he could stand on this battlefield of the finals was already considered a miracle.

After Chris finished introducing all the competitors, the athletes on the field were ready, each crouching at their starting blocks.

The atmosphere on the track was exceptionally tense. Every athlete was quietly crouched, with no one making a sound. Everyone was focused, waiting for the referee’s signal to get ready.

In the Chinese athletes’ section, many competitors who had finished their events also came to the stands, together anticipating Su Zhe’s performance in this 100-meter final.

Zheng Wensheng simply clenched his fists, and like everyone else, fixed his eyes on Su Zhe’s figure on the track.

On the track, Su Zhe maintained his crouching position, and seemed to hear the pounding of his own heart.

Tension and excitement continuously stimulated him. On either side of his lane number 7 were Sandy from Nigeria and Gates from the United States, but at this moment, no one was paying attention to the competitors beside them. Everyone was waiting for the moment the race would begin!

Su Zhe closed his eyes slightly, and when he opened them again, all that remained in his sight were the track ahead and the finish line.

This time, surrounded by such formidable opponents, what kind of performance could he deliver?

Thump, thump.

It was the sound of heartbeats echoing in his ears.

Then came the judge’s announcement to prepare!

A serious and mechanical voice declared the start of this race.

“On your marks.”

Everyone pushed up into position, ready to sprint at any moment!

“Ready.”

“Bang!”

Under the sound of the starting gun, the race timer began!

With a powerful burst, he drove off the starting blocks, his body beginning to accelerate from zero, using his explosive power to sprint forward! This explosive force propelled him forward instantly, then he raised his upper body, transitioning from the starting position into the acceleration phase!

In just the first 10 meters of the battle, the scene had already changed considerably.

Evanson’s reaction to the gun was slightly slow this time, only 0.173 seconds, which meant his start didn’t give him enough advantage. However, his stride length and frequency were quite astonishing, still making it possible for him to catch up at any moment in the middle and later segments.

The fastest reaction time belonged to Evanson’s teammate Gates, with a 0.126-second reaction and his powerful explosive starting ability putting him at the front of all competitors in the starting phase!

On Su Zhe’s left, Sandy’s reaction to the gun was also almost instant, at just 0.139 seconds, ranking third overall. In the starting phase, he likewise used his strong explosive power and perfect starting acceleration to secure the second position in the first 10-meter segment.

Su Zhe’s starting reaction was an astonishing 0.128 seconds, the second-fastest reaction time in the field, compensating for his lack of explosive power compared to other competitors. In his transition from start to acceleration, he achieved his most perfect state through his control. Then, he began swinging his arms, eyes focused, striving with all his might to continuously accelerate using his own strength.

In the first 10 meters, Su Zhe’s position briefly reached an astonishing third place, but was soon overtaken by Evanson’s stride, and quickly after, Hilm also completed his passing with measured steps.
In just about 2 seconds, the situation on the field was constantly changing.

In the stands, the packed Celion Stadium now roared with cheers. Regardless of which country they came from, all spectators were shouting loudly, cheering for these 8 athletes on the track!

“Su Zhe!!! Go for it!!!”

In the Chinese athletes’ section, everyone was tensely shouting at the top of their lungs, watching the changing dynamics on the field, their emotions rising and falling like a roller coaster.

On the track, they had already passed the first 30 meters of acceleration, and the situation had clearly diverged.

The leading group of three – Gates, Sandy, and Evanson – occupied the front positions. In the second group, only Hilm was slightly ahead, with Su Zhe temporarily following closely behind. South Africa’s Dlamini was right on Su Zhe’s heels, the gap between them extremely small, with their positions frequently changing back and forth.

Samuel and Anthony both made major mistakes in their reaction to the gun. Anthony’s reaction time reached a puzzling 0.213 seconds, far exceeding the normal standard expected of athletes at this level.
Samuel’s 0.179 seconds, although not seeming much different from Evanson’s, wasn’t backed by Evanson’s powerful abilities that could quickly make up for the lag caused by this reaction time error.

Su Zhe continuously controlled his breathing rhythm, matching it with his stride frequency. Feelings of tension and excitement surged within him, stimulating him, driving him forward even faster!

Tear through the wind ahead, tear through all possible obstacles!

Tear through the sluggish reactions brought on by the fatigue in his body!

His eyes fixed firmly on what lay ahead.

Charge forward!

Continue onward!

He wanted to see the view further ahead!

Su Zhe knew that his current stride length, which they fixed after this period of training, was the most suitable for him. His stride might not match those like Evanson, but at 2.21 meters, it wasn’t weak. Theoretically, 45 strides would be enough to complete the full 100 meters. So if he couldn’t catch up to Evanson and the others in stride length, then all he could do was to further increase his stride frequency!

He had to be faster!

Behind him, strong competitors were in pursuit.

In front of him, the strongest runners continuously widened the gap!

Run!

Su Zhe clenched his teeth tightly, controlling his body, discarding the fatigue caused by his muscles’ lack of oxygen and rapidly depleting energy.

He stubbornly maintained his top speed, not allowing his pace to drop even slightly.

Around him, every athlete was also struggling to control their condition.

On this track where milliseconds determined the outcome, even the slightest relaxation or lag could cause earth-shattering changes!

In the leading group, Evanson had caught up to second place. Sandy tried to maintain his position under Evanson’s pursuit, but he still couldn’t withstand Evanson’s chase, finally surrendering the second position near the 60-meter mark.

Ahead of Evanson, Gates temporarily still held first place, but this position was becoming precarious under Evanson’s charge.

Hilm still maintained his top speed, without a hint of relaxation. His pace even seemed to increase slightly. From the stands’ perspective, they could see he was steadily closing in on the leading group, gradually narrowing the gap with Sandy, who had fallen to third!

Dlamini, who was competing with Su Zhe for fifth place, showed unexpected strength in the middle phase. When he reached the 50-meter mark, he experienced a second burst of power. A stronger sprint allowed him to overtake Su Zhe in the blink of an eye while also closing in on Hilm ahead!

The spectators in the stands continuously roared with cheers as they reacted to the real-time changes on the track. Everyone waved their national flags or whatever else they had, cheering loudly for the athletes with all their might.

What could be more blood-stirring than this live scene?

Everyone’s minds were filled with the wild thoughts of fast, faster, fastest!

Who would ultimately stand on the victory podium?

Chris and Bills no longer had the presence of mind for detailed commentary. They could only continuously report the athletes’ current positions while exclaiming in astonishment whenever a competitor overtook another to claim a leading position.

This thrilling competition sent their adrenaline soaring, making each segment of their commentary more passionate than the last.

“Oh! Evanson!!! It’s Evanson! He and Gates are constantly fighting for first place. Gates isn’t giving an inch, accelerating to try to secure his advantage!”

“China’s Su has been overtaken by Dlamini! Dlamini has exploded again in the middle phase! Oh, this amazing explosive power, unbelievable! How can someone unleash such strong power at this stage?!”

On the track, Su Zhe’s eyes remained fixed on the finish line.

The sound of wind whistled past his ears, while the pounding of his heartbeat continued to echo in his mind.

The barrier formed by the headwind was continuously torn apart by him.

A little faster.

He wanted to be even faster!

After his brief burst, Dlamini seemed to have consumed too much energy in his second explosion. His speed suddenly weakened in the 60-70 meter segment. Having been just within reach of Hilm, he instantly fell back, reopening the gap between them.

Su Zhe still maintained his top speed, even gaining a slight acceleration!

As one gained and the other lost momentum, Dlamini, who had leapt to fifth place, quickly fell behind Su Zhe, returning to sixth position. Further back, his teammate Samuel consistently maintained his top speed, and in the moment Dlamini’s pace dropped, he surged from seventh place, pushing Dlamini behind him!

The changes on the track sent another wave of exclamations through the spectators in the stands, followed by a new surge of cheers.

Faster!

A little faster.

As the race reached its final stage, the kinetic energy Su Zhe had accumulated earlier erupted again. His finishing acceleration ability surged once more, propelling him even further forward!

Ahead of him, Hilm was also using his finishing acceleration for the final sprint!

In the final 30-meter sprint, everyone unleashed their most powerful burst of speed, striving to be faster and stronger!

In the leading group, Gates showed exceptional determination today. Even at this stage, Evanson couldn’t solidly secure the advantage of first place, constantly battling with Gates as they pushed forward. The difference in speed between the two was impossible to distinguish with the naked eye.

Behind them, Sandy followed closely. After entering the sprint phase, Sandy’s speed also underwent a powerful transformation, his acceleration bringing him closer to Evanson and Gates ahead.

The positions of the top three in the leading group seemed unbreakable. Hilm attempted countless times to approach from behind, but never succeeded in breaking into the battle between the three.

And behind Hilm, without him noticing, Su Zhe was steadily closing in!

From the commentary box, Bills exclaimed, “Oh! China Su! He’s approaching Hilm! Without a doubt, China Su’s acceleration ability in the final stretch has reached the standard of top athletes!”

The strength Su Zhe had conserved during the earlier part of the race began to explode at the final moment. He leaned his body forward, forming the essential posture for sprinting, using his explosive power and accumulated momentum to push himself to increase his stride frequency, further boosting his speed.

But at the same time, although Hilm couldn’t catch up to the three ahead, his own speed showed no signs of weakening. In this final acceleration phase, his speed remained impressive!

After the leading trio crossed the finish line, the gap between Su Zhe and Hilm had narrowed significantly, but Hilm still managed to maintain the advantage gained in the first half of the race, crossing the finish line half a body length ahead of Su Zhe.

After Su Zhe finished, Samuel, Dlamini, and Anthony crossed the line in succession behind him.

This 100-meter battle concluded in a brief ten seconds, but every second of change on the track was unforgettable.

When the leading trio crossed the line, there was only a hairline difference between Evanson and Gates, and even the gap between Sandy and the two was extremely small.

From the spectators’ perspective, it was impossible to tell who among these three was the ultimate champion.

In the commentary box, Chris and Bills looked at each other in amazement.

“What an incredible race!” Chris shook his head. “Did anyone see clearly who our top three finishers were? Neither Bills nor I could make out the final rankings between the three!”

If Chris and Bills in the commentary box couldn’t determine who the ultimate champion was, then the spectators in the stands would find it even more difficult to distinguish the winner of this race.

While waiting for the judges to submit the video footage, Chris and Bills began discussing the performances of the remaining athletes.

“Oh, I just saw that China Su was the fifth to cross the finish line… What a pity, the gap between him and Hilm was only half a body length…”

“Yes,” Bills nodded. “If I’m not mistaken, this is already the best result for an Asian athlete at the World Championships, right? The athlete Chen who made it to the finals in the last World Championships, I believe he ultimately ranked sixth…”

Chris and Bills remembered correctly. In 2017, although Chen Zhi was in peak condition at the Asian Championships, running an Asian record of 9.90 seconds, at the World Championships, despite making it to the final, he could only finish sixth with a time of 10.08 seconds. But that was already the most glorious moment for an Asian athlete at the World Championships!

Today, Su Zhe’s ranking at the World Championships pushed Asian representation one step further forward!

This was another historic breakthrough, enough to make the nation proud once again!

In the Chinese team’s section of the stands, everyone was already happily embracing each other in celebration!

Su Zhe’s performance at this World Championship had far exceeded their expectations – from securing an Olympic qualification in the preliminaries, to squeezing into the finals with a time of 10.03 seconds in the semi-finals, and then finishing fifth in the finals, breaking the record for Asian athletes’ rankings at the World Championships.

Each impressive result made it impossible for them to contain their excitement and joy.

In the commentary box, Chris and Bills had received the final rankings of the top three athletes.

Chris exclaimed in amazement, “Oh, Gates! The first-place athlete is Gates from the United States! By the slimmest of margins, he edged out Evanson to become the men’s 100-meter champion at this World Championship. Evanson settled for second, and third place went to Sandy, the Nigerian athlete!”
Soon, the final race results were also submitted to the commentary box.

“Alright, now let’s look at the final race results. First place, Gates (USA): 9.91 seconds (-0.3); Second place, Evanson (USA): 9.92 seconds (-0.3); Third place, Sandy (Nigeria): 9.95 seconds (-0.3); Fourth place, Hilm (Jamaica): 9.99 seconds (-0.3); Fifth place, Su Zhe (China): 10.02 seconds (-0.3)…”

At the track’s finish line, countless media had already been waiting, including Xu Zhi from China’s Sports Channel and other media with approved interview credentials. They all gathered there to photograph all the athletes.

The champion Gates was surrounded by media as he knelt on the ground, making the sign of the cross on his chest to thank God for his protection. Beside him, Evanson’s face showed a hint of frustration, a moment captured by countless media cameras.

In front of Sandy, there were also many media inviting him to pose for photographs.

Su Zhe originally thought these photo sessions had nothing to do with him. After exchanging hugs and handshakes with Hilm, Samuel, Dlamini, and Anthony, he was about to turn and walk toward the athletes’ exit tunnel.

Not far away, seeing Su Zhe preparing to leave, Xu Zhi urgently called out Su Zhe’s nickname in desperation.

“Zhe-shao!!! Don’t go!!!”

???

Su Zhe had always known about his nickname, but hearing it suddenly in this time and place gave him the jarring feeling of being publicly exposed.

The only consolation was that among the reporters and athletes present, there was nobody else who understood Chinese.

Xu Zhi intercepted Su Zhe and excitedly conducted a post-race interview with him.

“Zhe-shao, ah no, Su Zhe, you’ve continuously created miracles in the men’s 100 meters at this World Championship. You ultimately finished fifth with a time of 10.02 seconds, not only breaking your personal best but also setting a new ranking record for Asian athletes at the World Championships. How do you feel right now?”

Su Zhe looked at the camera shoved in front of him and couldn’t help but smile. His bright, determined gaze and radiant, confident smile made even the photographer behind the camera momentarily lose focus.

“My feelings right now are certainly good, but this is just my first event at this World Championship. The men’s 100 meters is over, and I’m preparing to temporarily set it aside during the competition period. The upcoming 110-meter hurdles and 4×100-meter relay are challenges I need to tackle next. For me, the World Championship journey is only one-third complete. I still need to maintain my condition and strive for excellent results in the upcoming events.”

Xu Zhi asked again, “You’ve now surpassed your senior teammate Chen Zhi in World Championship rankings. Are you happy about that?”

This question momentarily caught Su Zhe off guard. Then he seriously replied, “Xiao Zhi-ge and I haven’t competed in the same field. I’ve only surpassed my own past self. The Asian record of 9.90 seconds that he created is still very far from my reach. As someone who hasn’t yet broken the 10-second barrier, it’s too early to talk about surpassing him. I hope his injury recovers soon. We’ve already made an appointment to meet on the track once he’s healed.”

“Only then will I be qualified to talk about a true competition between us.”

“For me, Xiao Zhi-ge will always be my idol. His respect for the sport, his passion for running, and his genius are all worthy of our admiration.”

Su Zhe’s answer made Xu Zhi immediately become more serious. In subsequent conversations, he no longer mentioned comparisons with Chen Zhi, focusing only on discussing the current competition.

After finishing his conversation with Xu Zhi, surprisingly, a reporter from Japan’s Fuji TV was waiting nearby, ready to interview Su Zhe and inviting him to take a series of photos on the track. While Fuji TV was taking photos of Su Zhe, reporters and photographers from other countries also noticed him. Many exclaimed in admiration after seeing Su Zhe’s face clearly and joined in taking photos.

That evening, while Xu Zhi sent his formal news interview back to China, Fuji TV also received a set of interviews and photos. At the top of this collection, placed there by the reporter, was a photo of Su Zhe looking toward the stands with a smile on his face. Under the stadium lights, Su Zhe seemed to be surrounded by a glowing halo, almost too dazzling to look at directly.

The headline of this news article was equally filled with exaggerated and soul-stirring Japanese-style flattery: [Record-breaker for Asian Athletes’ World Championship Rankings—Beautiful Snow Leopard Youth, Track Fairy—China’s Su Zhe!!]