IBABS Chapter 60.2 — 4x100m Relay Race Heats

The Chinese team was assigned to lane six. As Su Zhe reached his position, not far ahead of him in lane seven, the American team’s fourth-leg runner, Gates – this Championship’s men’s 100m champion – was measuring where to place his starting mark.

In lane five, Jamaica’s Hilm was also taking measurements.

This was truly… a gathering of powerful opponents.

Looking at his fourth-leg rivals on both sides, Su Zhe patted his head and temporarily pushed their existence to the back of his mind. Relay races valued not only individual ability but also sufficient teamwork, which could equally produce excellent results!

This time, their opponents weren’t these powerhouse teams, but rather some other teams.

The United States, Jamaica, Brazil… they might not be able to compete with these teams capable of running under 38 seconds, but as long as they could defeat opponents of similar caliber like Turkey and Australia in this preliminary, they would definitely squeeze into the finals.

Come on, everyone!

After silently issuing this cheer in his heart, Su Zhe crouched down and began waiting for the official start of the race.

At the curved starting line, Zhao Zhixuan had also calmly completed all his preparations.

As the first-leg runner, he carried the heavy responsibility of determining the initial segment’s performance.

As the first-leg runner of the temporarily reorganized relay team, shouldering such responsibility in such a major competition… Zhao Zhixuan had originally thought that despite his relatively rich competition experience, he might still feel nervous and anxious.

But now, crouched in the starting blocks, his mind was extraordinarily clear and calm.

He remembered this feeling. It was the same sense of security that his senior Chen Zhi brought him when he was the core of the relay team.

Since when did Su Zhe develop the same energy as Chen Zhi, enough to stabilize his mind on the track…

Shaking his head, Zhao Zhixuan temporarily cast aside these extra thoughts and began to fully focus his attention on the race about to begin!

Inside Celion Stadium, the referee’s calm voice sounded again over the loudspeaker.

“On your marks.”

“Set.”

“Bang!”

At the sound of the gun, all 8 athletes on the curve simultaneously pushed off from their starting blocks with batons in hand, beginning the first round of competition on the track!

Zhao Zhixuan’s reaction to the gun was very sharp. His 0.132-second reaction time didn’t lag behind anyone, ranking third among the 8 teams! After his explosive first push-off, he quickly controlled his body rise, avoiding losing control on the curve due to a forward-leaning center of gravity.

He rapidly controlled his body, slightly tilting his center of gravity toward the inner lane after rising, and began speeding along the track.

To his left, Jamaica’s first-leg runner, having completed his curve start acceleration, was rapidly closing in on him. His speed on the curve was astonishingly fast. In just the blink of an eye, he completed the overtake on the curve.

This sense of urgency coming from behind made Zhao Zhixuan’s nerves tighten involuntarily. He shook off the jumbled thoughts in his mind and continued to grit his teeth as he charged forward!

In lane four, Turkey’s first-leg runner also performed exceptionally well at the start. After Jamaica’s first leg overtook Zhao Zhixuan, he too closed in from behind and began chasing Zhao Zhixuan on the track ahead.

Stay calm! Accelerate!

Zhao Zhixuan stopped paying attention to the surrounding conditions and began focusing all his efforts on controlling his sprint down the track. After casting aside distracting thoughts, his speed gradually increased, temporarily shaking off the Turkish athlete behind him as he rapidly approached Wang Ming’s position ahead!

On the track ahead, Wang Ming was positioned at the fly zone line in a pre-running stance, constantly observing the movements behind him. When he noticed Jamaica’s first-leg runner arriving first, his brow furrowed slightly, but he remained calm and continued to focus entirely on what was happening behind him.

Soon, Zhao Zhixuan’s figure appeared as well!

Wang Ming took a deep breath, and seeing Zhao Zhixuan reach the starting mark, immediately stopped hesitating. He launched from his crouched position and began entering the acceleration zone!

“Wang-ge!”

As the two quickly closed the distance to about 1 meter, Zhao Zhixuan decisively called out the baton handoff signal.

“Take it!”

The first handoff between Zhao Zhixuan and Wang Ming went very smoothly. In the Chinese team’s section, seeing the baton exchange between the two, Zheng Wensheng clenched his fist and shouted, “Good! Beautiful handoff!”

Su Yinsheng also nodded, then continued to observe the situation on the track.

The second leg runner Wang Ming was the weakest link among the four, but his extensive competition experience and steady mentality actually made him the part Su Yinsheng worried about least.

Even though Wang Ming’s ability was the weakest among the four, at this moment on the track, having completed his acceleration, Wang Ming could still maintain a high speed during the straight section.

Although the Turkish runner behind him was gradually closing in, Wang Ming remained extremely calm, focusing only on his task in his lane, using his maximum strength and speed to achieve his personal best!

As he approached the third leg position, Meng Hao was already crouching on the ground, prepared and waiting.

At the third leg position, Meng Hao felt slightly anxious. This was his first time standing on such a big stage as the third leg runner. Despite his continuous deep breathing, his nerves remained extremely tense.

The powerful American and Brazilian teams were already ahead, and seeing Jamaica’s runner catching up from behind – even the Turkish runner was now approaching the third leg – Meng Hao’s nervous emotions escalated further.

I can’t mess this up!

After warning himself mentally, and confirming that Wang Ming was about to reach the starting mark, he quickly raised his head and began his pre-running segment!

“Meng-ge!”

“Take it!”

Perhaps the mysterious law that being overly nervous and cautious makes one more prone to mistakes really exists.

During their previous training sessions, Wang Ming and Meng Hao had already raised their handoff coordination to a sufficiently high standard, but at Wang Ming’s signal, Meng Hao first squeezed his hand but failed to smoothly grip the baton.

Wang Ming’s expression immediately changed as he quickly extended his hand to help Meng Hao secure the baton.

By the time Meng Hao, his scalp tingling, recovered and entered the third leg’s curve, the Turkish runner, who had already been closing in on Wang Ming on the inside of his lane, took advantage of their delayed handoff and had overtaken his position, moving ahead.

I can’t let the team’s final result be affected by my mistake!

After the initial scalp-tingling moment, Meng Hao quickly adjusted his physical state and began to run with full power around the curve!

On the curved section, the strong centrifugal force tried to pull him out of his lane, but Meng Hao fiercely controlled his body. Using his powerful will and experience, he maximized his running speed on this arc-shaped track!

I can do this! Don’t even think about gaining an advantage on my watch!!!

Meng Hao roared in his heart, his face contorting with effort as he ran the curve.

He controlled his body with everything he had, slowly but surely catching up to the Turkish third leg runner who had overtaken him!

In the Chinese team’s section, Zheng Wensheng watched the handoff error between the second and third legs and Meng Hao being overtaken, then saw Meng Hao run the curve with excellent form and speed, catching up to the Turkish third leg runner…

This exciting, breath-holding scene made Zheng Wensheng forget to breathe for a moment. He could only stare intently at the track and shout words of encouragement.

As the handoff between the third and fourth legs approached, the race entered its final, white-hot stage!

Su Zhe crouched at the pre-run line in his lane, simultaneously looking back and down at the starting mark position – Meng Hao was coming!

The instant he saw Meng Hao reach the line, Su Zhe launched from the pre-run line without hesitation, accelerating to maximum speed.

Behind him, Meng Hao also maintained top speed, steadily closing the distance to the accelerating Su Zhe.

When their speeds nearly matched, they reached the handoff zone, coming within the optimal one-meter handoff distance.

“Su Zhe!”

“Take it!”

Meng Hao’s voice was somewhat gritted, his teeth clenched as he fixed his eyes on Su Zhe’s hand extended behind his back, carefully passing the baton into Su Zhe’s hand.

As the baton was delivered, Su Zhe firmly gripped it and began the final fourth leg of the race!

Su Zhe! Go for it!

Meng Hao watched Su Zhe’s back in front of him, eyes wide with bloodshot rims. During the handoff just now, he instinctively recalled his own unstable baton reception, so he had been somewhat too cautious when passing it, causing Su Zhe to lose a bit of speed.

After slapping his own head hard, Meng Hao gritted his teeth as he looked ahead, once again shouting words of encouragement for Su Zhe in his heart.

The stadium erupted with the cheers of over 70,000 spectators, the atmosphere already electric with excitement.

With blood-pumping cheers surrounding him, Su Zhe began gripping the baton in his hand and sprinting forward.

At this moment, ahead of him, America’s Gates, Jamaica’s Hilm, and Brazil’s fourth leg runner occupied the first, second, and third positions respectively. Their advantage in this final leg was nearly impossible to overcome. Beside Su Zhe, Turkey’s fourth leg runner was trying to close the distance between them.

About one body length behind Turkey, Australia’s fourth leg runner was also fighting for a position ahead.

In the earlier legs, Australia had also experienced a handoff error between their first and second legs, causing them to fall back to sixth place at one point, but with the third and fourth legs’ strong pursuit, they now qualified to compete for the top four.

The fourth leg runners of both teams harbored ambitions to overtake Su Zhe’s position, but on this straight track, they were far from being his match.

Su Zhe’s eyes faced directly forward, not even bothering to pay attention to the runners chasing him from behind. On this track, he was attempting to chase the three runners ahead.

He wanted to fight for a top-three position for his team!

Could he get closer? Could he get even closer?

Su Zhe controlled his breathing and stride frequency, gradually trying to close the distance ahead, and he was actually doing it!

Behind him, Turkey’s and Australia’s fourth leg runners watched the silhouette of the young man ahead with incredible disbelief.

This Chinese fourth leg runner… could he really run this fast?!

At the very front, Gates and Hilm clearly had the advantage, and slightly behind them, Brazil’s fourth leg runner had also secured a favorable position. There was still some distance between him and Gates and Hilm ahead, but he believed he had firmly secured third place.

He never expected that behind him, there was a young man who kept accelerating!

Entering the final 30-meter sprint section, both Gates and Hilm weren’t using their full power, but sprinting with slightly restrained strength.

Brazil’s fourth leg runner was sprinting, but… faster than him was Su Zhe behind him!

In the Chinese team’s section, Zheng Wensheng’s eyes widened as he watched Su Zhe’s sprint.

“He… is Su Zhe actually chasing Brazil’s team in front?!” Zheng Wensheng’s eyes revealed unmistakable disbelief as he watched Su Zhe reduce the distance between the two teams from 4 meters to 3 meters, then 2 meters…

This was a very real closing of the gap.

Unfortunately, the remaining distance wasn’t enough for Su Zhe to continue his pursuit.

Finally, after the American, Jamaican, and Brazilian teams crossed the line in succession, Su Zhe also crossed the finish line in fourth place.

After he crossed, Brazil’s fourth leg runner couldn’t help but look back in surprise while slowing his pace. He hadn’t expected that not far behind him, this Chinese runner had come so incredibly close…

The moment he crossed the finish line, Su Zhe clenched his fists with some frustration.

After running the cool-down section, Su Zhe wiped his face forcefully.

Still not quite enough…

If only he could have been a little faster.

In the team section, Zheng Wensheng also felt some regret, but he understood that Su Zhe and the others had already done their best.

The question now was, what was their final time?

Would they qualify for the finals?

Amid everyone’s anxious and eager waiting, the announcer finally began to announce the final results of the second heat.

“Fourth place, Team China, 38.35 seconds…”

After hearing this result, the relay team members and Zheng Wensheng in the Chinese team section finally all breathed sighs of relief.

Great! They had secured a spot in the relay finals!