IBABS Chapter 75.2 — World Indoor Athletics Championships Men's 60m Preliminaries

In the commentary booth, the commentators responsible for the entire competition day were the now well-known track and field event commentators Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan. To provide more precise commentary on the events, Su Yinsheng was also invited to sit in today’s commentary booth.

As the athletes made their final preparations, Wang Miaochuan turned to Su Yinsheng.

“Coach Su, in this competition, we only have Su Zhe competing in the men’s 60m sprint event. For him, the pressure must be very great. As his coach, we’d also like to hear your thoughts. Do you have any predictions about what kind of results he can achieve in this preliminary group?”

Wang Miaochuan’s question was meant to prompt Su Yinsheng to assess the other runners in the heat before making a judgment about Su Zhe’s chances.

Frowning slightly, Su Yinsheng replied, “Out of all seven heats, this group’s overall strength isn’t particularly strong. The only ones worth paying slight attention to are Gordon from the Bahamas and Bustamante from Jamaica. The other athletes’ results are relatively average.”

After a pause, he added bluntly, “The number of participants doesn’t matter, quality does. Chen Zhi also carried the entire 60m sprint event by himself in previous competitions. Competition pressure is something every athlete needs to face and handle. There’s nothing much to say about it. As for this preliminary race, for him, there’s no problem.”

Su Yinsheng spoke with great certainty, making Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan feel a bit nervous, worried that Su Zhe might have some kind of accident during the race.

Amid the slightly tense commentary and the electrifying atmosphere in the stadium, the fourth heat of the men’s 60m preliminaries officially began.

Su Zhe crouched on the starting blocks in lane five. His competitors were also very tense and cautious, each one staring at the finish line. Out of the seven preliminary groups, only the top three from each heat plus the next three fastest times would advance to the semifinals. This was the qualifying spot everyone wanted to fight for.

As the runners settled into position, the originally heated atmosphere in the stadium came to an abrupt halt. The audience held their breath, eyes locked on Su Zhe in lane five, afraid that any extra noise from the stands would affect his reaction to the starting gun.

In this tense silence, the starter’s voice rang out over the loudspeaker.

“On your marks.”

“Set.”

“Bang!”

The starting gun fired, and the runners exploded into motion.

Su Zhe reacted instantly, driving off the blocks with explosive force, launching himself onto the track in a flash.

First step, second step, third step…

With simple but powerful strides, Su Zhe had already quickly completed a series of technical movements: reacting to the gun, explosively pushing off the starting blocks, rapidly charging forward from the start, raising his body, and seamlessly transitioning into the acceleration phase.

As Su Yinsheng had predicted, the overall strength of this heat wasn’t particularly strong. Just in the gun reaction phase, three runners had sluggish reactions right out of the gate, clocking in at around 0.5 seconds. This directly decided that on this 60-meter track, these 3 athletes had almost lost their chance to advance to the semifinals.

After the gun fired, the atmosphere in the spectator stands heated up again. Everyone waved the small red flags in their hands, shouting and cheering for Su Zhe at the top of their lungs.

The energy from the stands fueled him further. After transitioning into the acceleration phase, the result of the daily training and systematic training completed during winter training was fully displayed. His initial acceleration, which wasn’t originally his strong point, had improved significantly after specialized drills. This allowed him to build speed faster and dominate the early race.

From his lightning reaction to the gun to his explosive transition into full sprinting, Su Zhe had undeniably seized the lead in this preliminary heat.

Whether it was Gordon or Bustamante, whom Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan had worried about before the race, they were both more than a body length behind him.

“Yes!” In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing couldn’t help but excitedly shout, “Su Zhe gained a clear advantage right from the start!”

The crowd naturally also saw how obvious this starting advantage was. Their cheers brought Su Zhe enthusiasm and excitement, while his performance in return made the venue even more heated.

“Su Zhe, jiayou! Zhe-shao, jiayou!”

Faces flushed with excitement, the fans screamed without pause, refusing to let the cheers die down for even a second.

On the track, Su Zhe had entered the mid-race phase. His speed endurance and ability to maintain peak velocity only widened the gap between him and the trailing runners.

In just 60 meters, he demonstrated the brutal difference between a world-class sprinter and ordinary athletes. This could be called a pure, overwhelming display of dominance.

Behind him, Gordon from the Bahamas and Bustamante from Jamaica both felt very shocked. They knew Su Zhe was strong in the 100m, but every analysis from sprint coaches emphasized his late-race acceleration. In theory, this type of athlete shouldn’t have too strong competitive power on a 60-meter track.

Previously, Su Zhe’s performance at the Japan Indoor Invitational had of course been seen by coaches from various countries. His only participation in a 60m event, with a final time of 6.60 seconds, seemed consistent with their initial judgment in the eyes of international coaches. To them, he wasn’t a serious contender in short indoor races.

At least, for Gordon and Bustamante who could run under 6.55 and 6.60 seconds respectively, they thought there shouldn’t be such a staggering gap in speed.

And now, faced with the reality unfolding on the track, their confidence wavered for the first time.

That’s right!

It must be because this was the home ground of Team China!

Amidst the roaring, incomprehensible cheers, the pressure was too overwhelming, which was why they had such a huge gap with this Chinese athlete!

This completely unexpected distance between them and Su Zhe weighed heavily Gordon and Bustamante, and they couldn’t even bring out their strongest performance.

No matter how Gordon and Bustamante tried to comfort themselves in their hearts, the gap between them and Su Zhe was already undeniable.

Starting from the 10-meter mark, Su Zhe took the lead and maintained his advantage all the way to the finish line, fueled by the deafening cheers of the crowd!

In the fourth heat of the men’s 60-meter sprint, Su Zhe crossed the line effortlessly in first place!

In the commentary booth, Su Yinsheng nodded at this. “Not bad. Su Zhe slowed down a bit in the last 4 or 5 meters instead of going all out. Compared to his earlier races, Su Zhe now has a more mature competitive mindset, which deserves praise.”

Compared to Su Yinsheng’s calm commentary, the audience in the stadium had already fallen into excitement.

“Team China! Team China!!! Long live!!!”

“Su Zhe is awesome! Zhe-shao is awesome!”

The exhilaration swept through everyone in the stadium. Even though they all knew this was just the preliminary round, Su Zhe’s performance filled them with immense pride and joy!

In this kind of top-level competition, even if it was just the preliminaries, the thrill of watching their own country’s athlete crush other competitors made everyone insatiable for more.

In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan’s voices also carried a hint of excitement.

Zhang Jing sighed. “Su Zhe ran exceptionally well in this 60-meter preliminary! From his reaction at the start to his acceleration, mid-race form, and finish, he looked completely at ease. Just as Coach Su mentioned, Su Zhe didn’t run at full power in the final stretch. We have every reason to believe that he hasn’t even shown his true speed in this race!”

Wang Miaochuan agreed. “That’s right. In this preliminary, Su Zhe’s overall technical movements were very smooth and precise, and his competitive state was excellent. Now, I’m really looking forward to what kind of spectacular performance he’ll deliver in tonight’s semifinals!”

At the finish line’s crash pad wall, Su Zhe smiled and waved to the cheering crowd, then bowed slightly in gratitude for their overwhelming support and enthusiasm.

After a brief wait, the official results for the fourth preliminary heat appeared on the big screen.

From the commentator’s booth, Zhang Jing cheerfully announced Su Zhe’s final result. “First place in this heat, Su Zhe (China), 6.54 seconds. Second place, Gordon (Bahamas) 6.65 seconds. Third place, Bustamante (Jamaica) 6.67 seconds…”

After the results were officially announced, both Gordon and Bustamante didn’t look too pleased. For them, this result wasn’t particularly bad performance-wise, but they clearly saw that the gap with Su Zhe this time was purely because this Chinese athlete’s ability far exceeded their initial expectations.

Amid the cheers of the audience, Su Zhe waved one last time to the crowd, then turned away with an easy smile, exiting the track alongside the other competitors.

Author’s Note:

Today’s Strange Scene
(Replaying how Boss Shao sent his New Year greetings?)

Boss Shao: (frowning, typing) Ah Zhe, I wish you even more brilliant achievements in the new year… The indoor championships are coming up soon, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. I’ll try to make time to watch your competition in person, hoping to see your excellent performance… Did you see the advertisement for Kuang Biao? You looked great in it. I wonder if we’ll have a chance to work together again in the new year…

Boss Shao: (staring at the message input box, frowning, 5 seconds later, deletes everything)

Boss Shao: (typing again) Did you see me on tonight’s stage? Too bad, it would have been great if you could have been there in person…

(Deletes again, repeats the cycle, looks at the time, almost midnight)

Boss Shao: !!!

1 minute later, Su Zhe received a WeChat message: Happy New Year, wishing you health and success in everything in the coming year.

Su Zhe: ^^ Thank you, boss, same to you!

Li Cheng pushed open the door and saw Boss Shao looking completely cold. “What’s wrong? It’s New Year’s?”

Boss Shao: (Glaring at the wasted time and the final, underwhelming result. Maintaining a cold expression. Silently fuming in low-pressure mode)