IBABS Chapter 58 — Public Opinion & Gossip & 110m Hurdles Final!

After commentator Chris announced Su Zhe’s time of 13.26 seconds (-0.4), the three semifinal heats of the 110m hurdles had finally concluded.

Yes!

The second-place qualifier from this heat was Su Zhe!

Whether they were Chinese spectators at the venue or viewers watching the live broadcast, everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that moment.

Su Zhe did not disappoint everyone’s expectations. After Ye Jun’s elimination and Zhou Tianjue’s unexpected failure, he shouldered the pressure and successfully navigated through this dangerous hurdle to reach the finals.

Since Song Chen’s retirement, China had instantly lost its advantage in the 110m hurdles event. Before this, no Chinese athlete had made it to the finals for three consecutive World Championships.

The talent gap between Song Chen and other athletes in the same event was simply too difficult to fill with numbers alone, but the glorious memories Song Chen brought to the 110m hurdles still lingered in people’s minds, impossible to forget.

Actually, shortly after Song Chen, there had been a brilliant new talent in the 110m hurdles named Hong Mingwei. In his first appearance at a national-level competition, he recorded an impressive time of 13.39 seconds, even more astonishing than today’s Su Zhe and Zhou Tianjue.

But Hong Mingwei, who was dubbed “Little Song Chen” when he first emerged, didn’t have the chance to fully develop before being crushed by pressure – the expectations from sports team leaders, the track and field administration, and even his own parents, coach, and the large number of sports fans overwhelmed Hong Mingwei, who was barely over 20 at the time.

Without timely guidance to manage the pressure, he began his journey in international competitions. Finally, after failing to advance past the preliminaries in his first Asian Championships due to mistakes, under the disappointed gaze of those around him, this once-brilliant young talent was completely broken, never again achieving better results.

Hong Mingwei’s story had long been considered a classic case of wasted potential in track and field circles. Today, he had transformed from a once-highly anticipated rising star into an ordinary 110m hurdler. When searching his name through search engines, one could still find a series of suffocating related terms like “Hong Mingwei, washed up,” “Hong Mingwei, peaked at debut,” “What happened to Hong Mingwei,” and “Hong Mingwei loses 110m hurdles to amateur athlete.”

Domestically, on the Track and Field Kingdom forum, members were discussing the situation of this competition.

A veteran forum member who was also a well-known sports commentator, “Uncle Eyes,” posted a message mixing excitement with a touch of heartache.

[The Light of Revival in the 110m Hurdles—The Late-Blooming Lord Jun and the Talented Twin Stars]

[This World Athletics Championships has truly brought us too many surprises in the short-distance and hurdles events. I won’t discuss how Su Zhe broke the Asian athlete ranking record in the men’s 100m here.
Just focusing on the 110m hurdles.
Even in Song Chen’s era, we never had three athletes simultaneously advance to the semifinals of the World Athletics Championships. When Ye Jun, Su Zhe, and Zhou Tianjue all crossed that threshold into the semifinals, it was already a miracle.
In this World Championships, these three 110m hurdlers have performed exceptionally well. Lord Jun, who has been carrying the banner for our 110m hurdles in recent years, first improved his personal best at the Asian Championships, and in this World Championships, he also broke his own personal best in both the preliminaries and semifinals!
As we all know, the golden age for Chinese track and field athletes is around 20 to 24 years old. As an athlete who will soon turn 27, Lord Jun has theoretically passed his peak performance years, but looking at this year, he has improved his personal best from 13.39 seconds to 13.32 seconds in one go, and could break the 13.30 barrier at any moment!
At the same time, I don’t know if everyone has noticed, but although Lord Jun couldn’t advance to the World Championships finals, his latest PB of 13.32 seconds exactly meets the qualifying standard for next year’s Tokyo Olympics!
In the previous competitions, we were all lamenting Lord Jun’s performance, and I think many people, like me, overlooked this detail!
For next year’s Tokyo Olympics, our 110m hurdles event, just like this World Championships, will have all three spots filled!
As for our current 110m hurdles twin stars, Young Master Zhe and Brother Jue’s talents need no elaboration. If not for that accident on the track earlier, we might have had two athletes squeeze into the finals at this World Championships!
Just thinking about this possibility, I can’t help but get goosebumps all over my body…
But the accident has already happened, and fortunately, Brother Jue doesn’t seem to have suffered any serious injury.
As I write this post, I’m still recalling Brother Jue’s expression when he stood up and looked toward the finish line. It’s such a pity—he was just a hair’s breadth away from the finals. His silhouette as he gazed at the finish line made even a tough guy like me tear up…
Now, I just hope Brother Jue doesn’t develop psychological trauma from this accident, and that he gathers strength during the upcoming winter training to achieve better results next year!
As for Young Master Zhe, I can only say Young Master Zhe is incredible!!! Whether in the 100m or 110m hurdles, Young Master Zhe’s talent has reached the level of international top athletes. Especially in the 110m hurdles, in the recent broadcast footage, his hurdling technique was unbelievably clean and sharp. I can only describe this level of hurdling technique with four words: a pleasure to watch!
From Lord Jun to Brother Jue and Young Master Zhe, these three athletes with their frequently explosive performances have shown me hope for the revival of our country’s 110m hurdles. In the upcoming 110m hurdles competitions, perhaps we’ll witness a series of thrilling battles among these three kings!
Finally, congratulations to Young Master Zhe for making it to the World Championships 110m hurdles finals! May Young Master Zhe perform excellently in tonight’s final and run in his best form!]

This lengthy post triggered widespread reactions in the Track and Field Kingdom forum, with the most shocking detail being – Ye ¬Jun also qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in the 110m hurdles?!

Many people only then realized that indeed, although Ye Jun placed fourth in his group, his time of 13.32 seconds exactly hit the qualifying standard for the Tokyo Olympics in the 110m hurdles!

1L¹: [Holy crap! Holy crap crap??? Have we become too arrogant or what? Lord Jun made the Olympic qualifying standard and none of us even noticed?]

2L: [I’m absolutely shocked… We were already excited once when Young Master Zhe made the Olympic qualifying standard, then excited a second time when Brother Jue made the standard, and now seeing Lord Jun run 13.32, we actually forgot this was the Olympic standard line??? We’ve definitely become arrogant, but I love this feeling of arrogance!]

5L: [Damn, everyone above is feeling cocky, but I need to curse that Adolphe. He fell so artistically. Was it really not intentional? Seeing he had no hope himself, did he want to drag Brother Jue down with him?!]

8L: [I agree with the guy at 5L. Damn, this isn’t the first time that Adolphe fell in a race, right? I remember he fell once last year too and knocked down the athlete next to him. And today it happens again so conveniently? Fuck, I refuse to believe it’s just a coincidence!]

23L: [Adolphe deserves to die + ID number. Also, LOL at the guy in 11L saying we should crowdfund height for Zhe-shao. Bro, you calling our boy short?]

24L: [Hahaha, crowdfunding height, really? But I checked Zhe-shao’s official information earlier, and he’s only 177cm tall. Competing with guys who are nearly 20cm taller than him does seem like a disadvantage…]

Just like on the Track and Field Kingdom forum, the official Weibo accounts of the Track and Field Administration Center, the National Track and Field Team, the Sports Channel, and others posted news about today’s 110m hurdles event with different themes.

[Surrounded by Strong Opponents, Ye Jun Falls Short at Fourth Place in His Heat, Missing the Finals but Successfully Securing Tokyo Olympic Qualification!]

[Heartbreaking!! Zhou Tianjue Was About to Win When He Was Brutally Tackled from Behind by French Athlete Adolphe, Bitterly Missing His Finals Qualification!]

[Surprise! After Achieving Fifth Place in the Men’s 100 Meters at the World Championships, Su Zhe Again Advances to the 110m Hurdles Finals!]

Regarding Su Zhe’s performance, on Weibo, whether casual followers or sports fans naturally showered him with praise. However, some veteran melon-eaters noticed that when looking at photos of Su Zhe taken by sports journalists, they appeared different in angle and distance compared to the set of photos Su Zhe himself posted on Weibo.

The gossip radar of the general public are extremely sensitive, and someone immediately raised this question.

[Hmm? After looking through all the photos of the reporters, which should have been taken from the media area, the angles don’t match those in the photos Su Zhe posted on Weibo. That angle looks like it’s from the spectator area?]

Most sports fans weren’t interested in such questions about photo angles, but some netizens who usually indulged in entertainment gossip suddenly developed a research spirit.

[Oh, you discovered something interesting! But those photos look so professional. Weren’t they taken by professional photographers? Could it be that Su Zhe’s fans took them at the venue? That would mean they brought telephoto lenses abroad? His frontline fans are really going all out…]

With such curiosity, the melon-eaters made their way to Su Zhe’s super topic for observation and discovered that some Philosophers did travel to Country D for the World Championships to watch in person. However, the girls who went only brought ordinary cameras, and based on the photos they shared in the forum, none of them seemed capable of taking pictures of such quality.

???

[Then who took the photos? Did one of Su Zhe’s photographer friends from his circle come to watch him compete?]

This question was somewhat answered when someone posted a photo of the Chinese athletes’ seating area. In the photo, not far from Zheng Wensheng, Lü Fei, and others, there was a camera set up with a cannon-like telephoto lens pointed at the track. Behind the camera, a person wearing a baseball cap was looking down, as if adjusting the camera settings, their face unclear.

[…_(:з」∠)_So it was actually a photographer brought by the Chinese team?]

This seemingly correct answer immediately made all the melon-eaters lose interest in further investigation. They dispersed and stopped discussing the topic.

In Country D, after finishing the semifinals, Su Zhe reunited with the rest of the team. Upon seeing Ye Jun and Zhou Tianjue, Su Zhe looked worriedly at Zhou Tianjue’s wounds that had been treated, silently questioning Ye Jun about Zhou Tianjue’s condition with his eyes.

Seeing Su Zhe’s inquiry, Ye Jun shook his head with a bitter smile.

Actually, from Zhou Tianjue’s gloomy expression, it was clear that his mood was far from good.

After all, with the finals qualification so close at hand, who could immediately calm themselves after being eliminated due to such an accident?

When he saw Su Zhe, a flash of envy and unwillingness passed through Zhou Tianjue’s eyes, and he somewhat angrily turned his head away. Only after seemingly suppressing his frustration did he nod at Su Zhe in acknowledgment.

Before Su Zhe could figure out how to comfort Zhou Tianjue, he suddenly spoke up with resentment, “Su Zhe!”

When Su Zhe heard this, he was stunned. Zhou Tianjue wasn’t even calling him “little lamb” anymore, which showed just how terrible his mood was.

He immediately responded, looking at Zhou Tianjue, “Yes, what is it?”

After hesitating for a moment, Zhou Tianjue turned his head away and said, “This great master² can’t make it to the finals, so tonight depends on you alone! Don’t be afraid of those big lugs! Your legs may be short, but you hurdle with great agility! Give it your all and run forward! If you come back with a last-place finish… you’ll see how I’ll teach you a lesson!”

…

Su Zhe looked at Zhou Tianjue with a mixture of amusement and exasperation, while Ye Jun standing beside Zhou Tianjue also had an amused expression.

This goofball, despite his own unexpected failure to reach the finals and his depressed mood, he was still considering Su Zhe’s pressure and did not say anything about needing to achieve good results…

Although the comment about his short legs was quite annoying…

Su Zhe smiled and patted Zhou Tianjue’s shoulder, saying sincerely, “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t give you a chance to teach me a lesson!”

In the afternoon, after receiving a relaxing massage from the team doctor, Su Zhe returned to his room and quickly took a nap to restore his energy for the evening’s finals.

As time approached 8 PM, Su Zhe and all the 110m hurdles finalists were standing in the preparation area, making final preparations for the upcoming finals.

Among tonight’s competitors, the strongest was undoubtedly Lister from the United States team. In both the preliminaries and semifinals, he had advanced with an undisputed first place.

Next were Alcides from Spain and Elano from Brazil. In the semifinals, these three took first, second, and third place in the first semifinal group, and when calculating the overall results, they still firmly held the top three positions.

This demonstrated how fierce the competition had been in the first semifinal group this morning.

Besides them, the remaining competitors were Louis from the United States and Andre from UK from the second semifinal group, as well as Gomez from Brazil, Percival from Jamaica, and Su Zhe from the third group.

In the preparation area, from the moment the various athletes arrived, Lister, Alcides, and Elano had each stood in their own corners, showing no intention of greeting each other. Obviously, each considered the others their biggest rivals in the finals.

The atmosphere among the remaining athletes was no less tense. When Percival saw Su Zhe, he frowned, his expression far from friendly. It was obvious that he was still upset about losing to someone who appeared to be only around 180 cm tall.

This final battle, even before the athletes had taken to the track, was already thick with tension. Together, all the competitors had pushed the competitive atmosphere to its peak before the race even began.

In today’s schedule, several events had already determined their final rankings, and the tense, exciting competitions had already heated up the venue’s atmosphere.

As the competition time approached and Su Zhe and the other athletes successively entered the finals venue, the cheering from the spectator area had already reached a crescendo.

The 110m hurdles finals was also one of the most anticipated events. The victory or defeat that would be determined in just over ten seconds was enough to make adrenaline surge and hearts race.

“Go! Go!!”

Regardless of which country they were from, all spectators were shouting enthusiastically, cheering for the athletes on the field.

Anyone in such an environment would inevitably feel their blood boiling with excitement.

At the commentary booth, Chris and Bills were introducing each competitor’s background and past achievements. When they introduced Lister, the Black American athlete raised his right hand high, making a number “1” gesture that he swept around to all the spectators before throwing his head back in a primal roar.

This provocative declaration of victory raised the atmosphere to its peak!

“Lister! Lister!!!”

The spectators began to cheer frantically for him, as if he was already the ultimate champion.

Unwilling to let Lister bewitch the audience, Alcides and Elano also made victory gestures when the commentators introduced them, challenging Lister directly.

When the commentators introduced Percival in the fifth lane, the Jamaican athlete didn’t make a victory gesture. Instead, he beckoned mockingly to Su Zhe and flashed a disdainful smile – practically signaling outright: if you’ve got what it takes, try to catch my speed.

This provocative attitude from someone who had just lost to him this morning almost made Su Zhe laugh in anger. When the commentators introduced him, Su Zhe pointed at Percival and shook his index finger – you, not good enough.

Facing Su Zhe’s counter-provocation, Percival narrowed his eyes and let out a cold snort.

In the spectator stands, the waves of shouting grew louder and louder as the athletes challenged each other!

In the Chinese team’s section, Zhou Tianjue, Ye Jun, Zheng Wensheng… and Shao Xingchen were all there, nervously watching Su Zhe on the field.

When Su Zhe looked up, he saw the attention from everyone in the Chinese team’s section. He raised his fist and waved toward them, conveying that he was in good condition.

Back in China, sports fans watching the livestream were furious after seeing Percival’s gesture. Many angrily typed strings of curses in the barrage of comments, demanding that Su Zhe teach that guy a lesson!

This competition had an atmosphere that climbed like raging flames from the very beginning, capturing everyone’s attention!

Fuck him!

This was the shared thought in the mind of every athlete on the field right now.

Everyone made their preparations and crouched at the starting blocks, waiting for the referee’s announcement to begin the race.

In this tense and boiling atmosphere, the referee’s voice rang out calmly.

“On your marks!”

On the eight lanes, everyone simultaneously made their preparatory positions.

“Set!”

“Bang!”

The moment the gun fired, everyone charged forward like unleashed wild horses!

No one held back their explosive power, each wanting to gain the greatest launching force through their own strength!

This was a somewhat crazy race.

Of the 8 athletes, 5 had starting reaction times within 0.135 seconds at the beginning of the race, meaning this was a competition where the vast majority of competitors were in excellent condition!

No one could have imagined that among all the athletes, the fastest reaction didn’t belong to Lister, but to China’s… Su Zhe!

A gun reaction time of 0.120 seconds gave him a certain advantage, even among the lineup of athletes in peak condition. Despite others having stronger explosive power, Su Zhe, who wasn’t particularly skilled at pre-hurdle running, briefly held a position in the top three.

But soon, Spain’s Alcides was the first to reach the hurdles, flying over the barrier in front of him.

It wasn’t Lister who held the strongest leading position!

All the spectators gasped in surprise, followed by even louder cheers that echoed throughout the Celion Stadium.

All the changes around him couldn’t affect Su Zhe’s focus at this moment. His eyes fixed firmly ahead as he approached the first hurdle with an extremely fluid motion. His right foot exploded off the ground, left leg swinging over the hurdle, right leg quickly pulling through, then rapidly sprinting forward between hurdles before clearing the next barrier.

Remember the technique for explosive power!

Cross the hurdle with minimal clearance to reduce any possible lost time!

Use continuously accumulated force and momentum to cross hurdles more quickly!

Don’t forget your rhythm between hurdles!

Su Zhe worked hard to control the coordination between each breath and movement, turning all his power into the driving force that sent him flying forward.

He could go faster!

He could get closer to the front!

He could race faster toward the finish line!

In Su Zhe’s eyes burned an unwavering determination to forge ahead, while the thunderous cheers surrounding him made his blood boil.

Why would a Jamaican who had already lost to him dare to provoke him with such disdain?

Because he still didn’t look strong enough!

Go faster, he wanted to chase the speed of the wind, to fly even quicker!

At the venue, the spectators’ cheers had already reached deafening levels.

“Go!!! Su Zhe!!! Go!!!”

The cheers from the Chinese team’s section couldn’t match the volume of those from foreign countries, but everyone was shouting with all their might for Su Zhe.

In a gap between the athletes’ seats, Shao Xingchen bent behind his camera, one hand covering his wildly beating heart while his eyes remained fixed on the viewfinder. His other hand gripped the shutter release, unwilling to miss a single moment of Su Zhe’s most brilliant form.

Go for it!

Hearing the sounds around him, Shao Xingchen shouted these words in his heart too.

On the track, Percival once again caught up to just behind Su Zhe, while behind them was Gomez, who had come first in the third semifinal heat. He made a slight mistake at the start, with a reaction time of 0.156 seconds. It was not slow under normal circumstances, but in today’s final, it cost him the early advantage, forcing him to chase with all his might in the later segments.

In the fierce battle, Lister, Alcides, and Elano converged again at the front, constantly switching positions, with none able to gain a clear advantage.

Behind them, Su Zhe barely held fourth position thanks to his advantage in the starting reaction phase, but Percival and Gomez were not far behind, waiting for any opportunity to overtake.

Entering the fourth hurdle stage, Percival gradually reached his maximum hurdle clearance speed, successfully overtaking Su Zhe at the fifth hurdle. Behind him, Gomez was also closing in on Su Zhe.

Su Zhe didn’t let his focus drift to anything around him.

His concentration reached unprecedented heights as he firmly controlled every rhythm of the race through sheer willpower. With continuously building momentum and explosive power, his hurdle clearance speed kept increasing!

Just after Percival had overtaken him at the fifth hurdle and entered the sixth hurdle stage, Su Zhe drew level with Percival again, his speed increasing even further – seventh hurdle! Su Zhe reached his maximum hurdle clearance speed and steadily maintained it until the end!

“Incredible!!!” At the commentary booth, Chris exclaimed loudly. “The top three competitors are locked in a tight battle, and it’s hard to tell who has the advantage between fourth and fifth place!”

“This is an incredible final!! All athletes have brought their peak performance! They are the strongest!! Without question!!!”

When Lister and the other two reached the final sprint segment first, Su Zhe, Percival, and Gomez immediately followed them to the ultimate battlefield!

At this moment, everyone was giving their maximum effort in the sprint to the finish line. As Lister made his final dash, his form wavered slightly. By the time he stabilized himself and continued sprinting forward, Alcides had already seized this perfect opportunity, giving Lister no chance to overtake him again!

In the final sprint, Su Zhe steadily maintained his best sprinting form, and at the last moment, he practically flew forward toward the finish line.

Beside him, Percival and Gomez arrived simultaneously!

In the stadium, waves of excitement surged through the crowd. This intense, breathtakingly nerve-wracking race had driven everyone into a frenzy!

Who was it?

Who were the gold, silver, and bronze medalists?

And between the Chinese athlete and the Jamaican and Brazilian competitors, who had won fourth place?!

At the commentary booth, Chris and Bills’s voices had become hoarse from shouting. The excitement and intensity of this 110m hurdles final far exceeded many people’s expectations!

When the judges released the finish line photo to the commentary booth, the director simultaneously displayed the image on the venue’s big screen.

Chris shouted with his hoarse voice:

“Let’s congratulate the champion – Alcides!!! And the silver medalist Lister, bronze medalist Elano!!!”

“And of course!! Congratulations also to the next three athletes: fourth place goes to Su from China!!! Fifth place to Brazil’s Gomez, and sixth place to Jamaica’s Percival!”

By now, everyone at the Chinese team’s section, having already seen the photo finish, erupted in wild, excited cheers!

Back home, thousands of viewers watching the live broadcast couldn’t help but cheer in front of their screens!

“Zhe-shao!!! Well done!!!”