IBABS Chapter 77 — 60m Semifinal Results & Public Opinion & 60m Hurdles Preliminaries (Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun's Part)

Su Zhe, first place in the third semifinal heat, advanced directly to the 60m finals!

The moment this result was announced, countless sports bloggers on Weibo rushed to share the news in the shortest possible words. Everyone was bursting with excitement!

At this world-class indoor competition held on home soil, Su Zhe did not let anyone down!

After posting Su Zhe’s semifinal ranking, Tao Sheng reposted his own initial Weibo update and wrote excitedly:

Whether it was bloggers and track and field fans passionately expressing their thoughts on Weibo, or other various people, everyone was excited about Su Zhe’s ranking while also eagerly awaiting his final result!

Under the pressure from Hilm and Barrigan, he managed to overtake them and secure first place in the semifinal heat. What would his final time be?

In the stands, many track and field fans were whispering to each other.

“Do you think his time will be under 6.50 seconds?”

“Not sure, but it’s definitely faster than this morning’s preliminaries! Hilm and Barrigan looked like they performed pretty well too. If Zhe-shao could crush past them, his time must be impressive!”

Amid the murmurs and tense anticipation, the judging panel pushed the final results to the commentary booth.

Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan’s eyes lit up the moment they saw the results!

Wang Miaochuan immediately started announcing the results for all athletes in the third semifinal heat, “The final results for the men’s 60m semifinals are out. First place, Su Zhe (China), 6.50 seconds. Second place, Hilm (Jamaica), 6.53 seconds. Third place, Barrigan (Britain), 6.57 seconds…”

The moment Wang Miaochuan announced Su Zhe’s time, the venue erupted into cheers once again.

In front of their screens, all viewers, whether casual viewers or dedicated track and field fans, couldn’t help but pump their fists in celebration.

Well done!

What could be more thrilling than witnessing an athlete from your own country defeat strong competitors from around the world on such a prestigious stage in your own homeland?

Although this was still just the semifinals, if Su Zhe could maintain this momentum… maybe a medal wasn’t too much to hope for?

After the results were announced, another wave of discussion heated up online. Sports bloggers who had finished watching the competition posted their race predictions and affirmations of Su Zhe’s current condition.

Uncle Eyes, a well-known member on the Track and Field Kingdom forum, posted his thoughts simultaneously on both the forum and Weibo.

It wasn’t just these sports influencers. Various official media outlets also generously gave their most direct praise after seeing Su Zhe’s performance!

When the final results of the semifinal were tallied, Su Zhe’s time of 6.50 seconds (.707) was slightly behind Evanson’s 6.50 seconds (.703), placing him third overall in the semifinal rankings.

Whether it was netizens or media outlets, everyone felt incredibly proud and satisfied with today’s races and Su Zhe’s current results.

By now, the entertainment industry labels that once stuck to Su Zhe had basically been torn away. When everyone thought of him now, their instinct was no longer to remember that meme everyone used to mock, but a talented athlete who could bring glory to the country!

In Su Zhe’s super topic, the “Philosophers” didn’t participate in the praise and celebration for Su Zhe outside their community space. These fans, including newcomers who grew to like Su Zhe and stayed in the super topic, labeling themselves as “Philosophers,” were all very restrained and only celebrated this victory belonging to Su Zhe within their own space.

After posts about “not being able to buy tickets” started appearing, the super topic’s focus shifted from celebrating Su Zhe’s current achievements to fans sharing their ticket-buying experiences. Some people even dug up the 2020 domestic and international track and field key events schedule that the Track and Field Administration Center released during New Year, and started to guess which other competitions Su Zhe might participate in this year besides the Olympics.

For a while, Su Zhe’s super topic ironically became one of the places on Weibo with the least praise for him.

March 2nd, the second competition day of the World Indoor Athletics Championships. This day was also extremely important for Su Zhe.

At 10:50 a.m., Su Zhe would first participate in the men’s 60m hurdles preliminaries together with Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun. Then at 8:50 p.m., would be today’s key event, the men’s 60m sprint finals!

Whether it was the finals that would start in the evening or the morning’s 60m hurdles preliminaries, both were among today’s hot highlights.

When entering the warm-up venue, Xu Zhi’s Sports Channel interview team was also conducting today’s pre-race interviews. Seeing Su Zhe and the others enter the venue, Xu Zhi immediately smiled and waved at them.

“Reporter Xu.” At Xu Zhi’s gesture, Su Zhe and the others walked over to the camera and greeted him.

After exchanging greetings, Xu Zhi conducted individual interviews with the three as usual. Since they would be competing together in the 60m hurdles today, he finally had all three appear together for a joint interview on the last question.

Xu Zhi: “At last year’s World Championships, all three of you made it to the semifinals, which greatly inspired the domestic sports community. Moreover, at this year’s Japan Invitational, you achieved the remarkable feat of sweeping the top three positions. So, for today’s preliminaries, can we expect to witness all three of you advancing to the semifinals once again?”

After Xu Zhi finished asking this question, Zhou Tianjue was about to answer without hesitation, but Ye Jun smiled and quietly patted him on the back. Su Zhe tactfully took over the topic.

“Of course, that’s our hope as well. We’ve also done some estimates based on past experience. If we can all run times within 7.70 seconds, then all three of us making it to the semifinals won’t be an impossible dream.”

Xu Zhi naturally saw Ye Jun’s little gesture. He smiled at the three in front of him and finally gave them sincere blessings. “Then let me wish you three success in achieving your goal, advancing together to the semifinals of this indoor championships, and once again making history with unprecedented results!”

Just as Su Zhe said, in recent World Indoor Athletics Championships 60m hurdles events, the 24th place qualifier in the preliminaries usually had a time around 7.76 seconds. After a full winter training, as long as nothing unexpected happened, all three of them could definitely run times that exceeded this standard!

Creating new historical results again in their own country – once this beautiful thought arose, it was hard to let go.

“Let’s work hard together?” Ye Jun looked at Su Zhe and Zhou Tianjue, extending his right hand.

“Let’s go!” Su Zhe and Zhou Tianjue each placed their hands on top of Ye Jun’s, and the three encouraged each other for the upcoming competition.

They had to smoothly advance to the semifinals together!

As time gradually approached 10:50 a.m., staff began guiding the athletes for the men’s 60m hurdles to the competition venue.

Compared to the 56 competitors in the men’s 60m, the 60m hurdles maintained the same number as during the World Championships. Only 40 athletes competed in the preliminaries, making the competition to advance to the semifinals significantly different from that of the men’s 60m sprint.

The 40 athletes were divided into 5 preliminary groups. Zhou Tianjue, Ye Jun, and Su Zhe were placed in the first, fourth, and fifth heats respectively. As the first heat’s race was about to begin, Zhou Tianjue turned and headed toward the track under the watchful eyes of Su Zhe and Ye Jun.

Inside the indoor track and field stadium, when the audience saw another Chinese team athlete taking the stage, the venue once again became an ocean of cheering and shouting.

This was the most direct and passionate support the local audience could give to every athlete from their own country.

At the commentary desk, the guest commentator invited for the hurdles segment was naturally Lü Fei, the famous hurdles coach who was as renowned as Su Yinsheng.

When Zhang Jing asked him about it, Lü Fei gave a general introduction of the athletes’ abilities.

“As for our three athletes, everyone already knows their results in the 110m hurdles. For the 60m hurdles event, I can honestly say that their abilities have improved once again compared to when they competed in the Japan Invitational. However, whether this improvement can be shown in today’s competition still depends on how each of them performs in their races today.”

Although he didn’t reveal much, Lü Fei’s attitude already made Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan’s eyes light up. If their skills had improved since the Japan Invitational, what were their results back then? Of course, the two commentators remembered. Even Ye Jun, who placed third, had run a time of 7.70 seconds!

After exchanging a glance, Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan nodded with smiles. “Thank you for the introduction, Coach Lü. Now, let’s look forward to the first preliminary heat of the 60m hurdles!”

At the starting line, Zhou Tianjue and the other athletes stood in their respective lanes, waiting for the starter’s signal.

Ever since he broke through another bottleneck at the World Championships, Zhou Tianjue had developed an even greater interest in competition and actual racing. He began to look forward to every race and felt eager to compete.

“On your marks, set…”

“Bang!”

On the track, the 8 athletes burst forward at the sound, quickly reacting and stretching their strides to reach the first hurdle at their fastest speeds!

This was a battle of speed and rhythm!

As Zhou Tianjue completed his pre-hurdle steps, his takeoff leg pushed off the ground. At the first hurdle, he sent himself over it with precision, ease, and perfect rhythm.

Competing alongside him were athletes like Andre from Britain and Gomez from Spain, who had also participated in the previous World Championships.

Perhaps because the qualification spots for the 60m hurdles semifinals were quite generous, with the top 4 from each heat plus the next 4 fastest times all advancing to the semifinals, neither Andre nor Gomez seemed to have any intention of giving their all.

Zhou Tianjue, however, paid no mind to their strategies. Before the race started, Zheng Wensheng had told them that since this competition was on home soil in China, they should try their best to show China’s strength!

Both he and Ye Jun had only this preliminary round to focus on for the day, unlike Su Zhe, who had other events. That meant their task in the morning preliminaries was comparatively more demanding.

These thoughts only flashed through Zhou Tianjue’s mind for a moment. His eyes were fixed firmly ahead. Using his height, long legs, and excellent sense of rhythm, he began attacking the hurdles at an extremely high frequency!

Just as his coach, Lü Fei, had said, throughout the winter training period, all three of them had made new progress in the hurdles. In the 60m hurdles, he was no longer at the same level as during the Japan Invitational!

On this short stretch of track, Zhou Tianjue moved forward with powerfully rhythmic steps between the hurdles, each stride attacking the next barrier. His figure was confident and vigorous, and the spectators cheered wildly at the thrilling sight.

This was hurdles!

This was the hurdles event that held an important emotional place in the hearts of all Chinese people!

And at this moment, they were watching their country’s athlete once again running ahead of all the foreign competitors on this short 60m hurdles track!

This excitement and exhilaration completely ignited the audience area!

“Go! Go, Team China!!”

Everyone shouted at the top of their lungs. People seemed to be reliving the once glorious era of Song Chen through this scene, and at the same time, celebrating the arrival of this new era of Chinese hurdles!

When Zhou Tianjue lived up to expectations and crossed the finish line first, the stadium erupted once again. Everyone waved the national flags in their hands, and even some middle-aged people in their thirties and forties quietly wiped away tears that had welled up in their eyes.

Yes, this was only the indoor 60m hurdles.
And yes, this was only the first heat of the preliminaries.

But none of that could hold back the overwhelming feelings of emotion and unforgettable pride swelling in their hearts.

When Zhou Tianjue waved to the audience with his first-place finish in his heat with a time of 7.59 seconds, everyone responded with the most sincere applause and cheers once again.

In the next two groups, another amazing athlete appeared. That was a young Jamaican athlete named Holness¹ in the third heat.

Holness was about the same height as Su Zhe, only 1.8 meters tall. When he appeared, Lü Fei frowned and showed a slightly worried expression.

During winter training, he had used this athlete as an example to explain to Su Zhe that even someone who was only 1.8 meters tall could still dominate the hurdles. That was no exaggeration. In fact, this young Jamaican talent even made Lü Fei sigh that “this will be the new king of the hurdles world.”

After introducing this Jamaican athlete to the audience, sure enough, he easily took first place in the third heat with a time of 7.57 seconds. And from his posture, it was clear he hadn’t even unleashed his full, ferocious potential.

This was truly… terrifying ability!

After Lü Fei watched Holness leave the track with a slightly worried gaze, Ye Jun’s group, the fourth heat, also stepped onto the track. In this heat, Ye Jun’s opponents would include two strong contenders like Lister from US and Alcides from Spain. At the same time, Louis from the US team was also a strong opponent that Ye Jun had faced directly during the World Championships.

This was a battle with absolute dominance. When World Championships 110m hurdles champion Alcides and runner-up Lister were both in the same preliminary heat, even if it was just preliminaries, it could give people the terrifying pressure of a final race.

In such a group, Ye Jun still appeared extremely calm. He understood his position clearly. Although he had been steadily building his strength in domestic hurdles, his overall progress still lagged slightly behind Su Zhe and Zhou Tianjue. He knew well that he still needed more training and accumulation before he could catch up to and even surpass these two prodigies through his own efforts.

For the 60m hurdles at this World Indoor Athletics Championships, he had no unrealistic fantasies about winning a medal.

The goal Ye Jun set for himself was to at least take third place in the preliminaries and directly advance to the semifinals. No matter how intimidating the opponents he faced were, this couldn’t stop him from achieving his goal.

On the track, while all the other athletes in his heat were wary of Lister and Alcides, even affecting their own mindset, Ye Jun still maintained a stable mentality and took one firm step after another!

As Lister and Alcides battled for first place in the heat, Ye Jun clung tightly to third position, even though Louis could completely keep up with the two strong competitors ahead.

After successfully clearing five hurdles, Ye Jun pushed his speed even higher in the final sprint. Amid everyone’s cheers and expectations, he finished in third place and earned the right to directly advance to the semifinals!

“Beautifully done!”

At the commentary desk, Zhang Jing exclaimed with emotion, “Athlete Ye Jun, in this preliminary heat, finished just behind World Championships 110m hurdles champion Alcides and runner-up Lister, successfully winning a direct spot to the semifinals!”

Amid the cheers and excitement of the crowd, Ye Jun and the other athletes of the fourth heat left the track. Meanwhile, the competitors of the fifth heat, including Su Zhe, stepped onto the field for their race!

Author’s Note:
Today’s Tragic Interview
Caicai: 0.0 Baby, what’s most important to you right now?
Su Zhe: Hmm, training, competing, breaking personal records and running better times?
Caicai: (silence) Then… what about romance?
Su Zhe: 0.0…??? Mom, did you arrange someone for me???
Caicai: (shocked, trash Caicai temporarily lost the ability to speak)
10 minutes later
Caicai: (turns to look at Boss Shao) Baby, why don’t you look surprised at all?
Boss Shao: (coldly) …I’ve known all along. The only one who didn’t see it was you, right?
Caicai: …QAQ (crying sadly)