IBABS Chapter 78.2 — 60m Hurdles Preliminaries & 60m Finals

By the foam wall near the finish line, Elano looked at Su Zhe with disbelief. Only after seeing the final ranking did he pat Su Zhe’s shoulder and give him a thumbs up.

“You’re strong, man,” Elano said to Su Zhe. “But I’ll be stronger in the next race.”

Hearing Elano’s declaration, Su Zhe also smiled and nodded at him. “I’m looking forward to the next race too.”

After finishing his conversation with Elano, Su Zhe waved to the audience again, then left the competition area with the other athletes in his heat amid the enthusiastic and excited cheers from the crowd.

It was already past eleven in the morning. During the race just now, he had gotten a bit too excited because of his excellent condition, and had used more energy in the preliminaries than originally planned. He had to return to the rest area quickly to adjust his physical and mental state and prepare for tonight’s 60m sprint final at 8:50!

Online, Su Zhe’s outstanding performance in this 60m hurdles preliminary had already sparked another wave of excited discussion among track and field fans. Before the race, fans had been worried about the effects of Su Zhe’s technical adjustments, but in less than a minute, all their previous concerns had turned into post-race excitement.

On the second day of the World Indoor Athletics Championships, the official media outlets online still maintained a happy mood. Zhou Tianjue and Su Zhe both won first place in their 60m hurdles preliminary heats, and all three Chinese team athletes advanced to the indoor championships 60m hurdles semifinals.

No matter which headline or content you looked at, the news was filled with irrepressible joy.

Casual spectators, media, and track and field fans had all experienced immense joy during the past two days of the World Indoor Athletics Championships. It wasn’t just Su Zhe and his teammates, many other athletes from the national track and field team who participated in the competition had also achieved equally outstanding results.

The good news kept coming one after another, making everyone feel incredibly excited.

Amid this joyful and excited atmosphere, time gradually moved to 8:50 PM. The men’s 60m final of this World Indoor Athletics Championships was about to begin!

Among the 56 athletes from around the world, the finalists included Evanson and Gates from the United States, Carlos from Spain, Hilm from Jamaica, Hassan from Iran, Toure from Ivory Coast, Archie from Britain, and Su Zhe from China.

Most of these finalists were primarily 100m sprinters, but there were also some strong competitors, like Archie, whose main event was the 200m, mixed in.

As with all major competitions, each finalist was given a moment in the spotlight before the race. Even before the athletes appeared, the audience was already eagerly waiting, ready to send warm cheers and blessings to the finalists as they entered.

Under the spotlights, these world-class track and field athletes stepped onto their competitive stage one by one. After smiling and waving to the crowd, they quickly moved to their assigned lanes and began making final preparations for this ultimate final.

When Su Zhe made his entrance under the bright lights, the atmosphere at the venue reached its peak. This was the Chinese athlete who made them proud in the finals, their compatriot, and one of the athletes representing the highest level of Chinese track and field sprinting.

“Zhe-shao! We’re all proud of you!”

“Su Zhe Jiayou!”

Under the bright spotlight, Su Zhe couldn’t really see the surrounding audience clearly, but every word of support etched itself deeply into his heart.

He had to give it his all!

For his own pursuit of speed, for the exhilarating feeling of racing on the track, for the unwavering support of the audience, and for the honor of wearing this red jersey.

“All athletes have now taken the field and are making their final preparations!”

In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing, Wang Miaochuan, and Su Yinsheng were all watching every detail on the track.

After adjusting his starting blocks, Su Zhe placed his right hand over his left chest. He could feel his heart pounding fiercely. The adrenaline surging from his blood made his entire body gradually enter an excited state.

This was the same feeling he had experienced in this morning’s race!

Sure enough, the system notification sound came again.

Host’s current physical and mental state has reached maximum values. Adding the Hurdles LV3 skill status buff will cause value overflow.
To prevent value overflow, this status buff value will be automatically reduced.

Value overflow triggered: 2/3

Su Zhe looked toward the finish line ahead of the track with excited eyes.

He had originally thought that in tonight’s competition, his final result would probably be just outside the 6.50-second mark. But since his condition was this good today, why not try challenging the world under 6.50 seconds?

When the assistant starters signaled for all athletes to prepare, Su Zhe removed his hand from his chest. After some light stretching, he crouched down onto the starting blocks like all the other athletes, supporting himself with both hands on the ground, making his final preparations for the race.

The venue lights had already been turned back up to full brightness, and the audience began holding their breath under the staff’s guidance, not daring to disturb the athletes on the track.

After a long deep breath, Su Zhe heard the starter’s voice coming through the broadcast.

“On your marks.”

“Set.”

The starter’s calm voice made everyone tense up, waiting for that moment when the starting gun would fire.

Soon, the crisp sound of the starting gun rang out!

“Bang!”

At this signal, everyone on the starting blocks moved in response. In tonight’s race, almost every athlete achieved a reaction time within 0.170 seconds!

During the reaction phase, except for Carlos who unexpectedly only managed 0.297 seconds, all the other athletes had strong reaction speeds!

This was a race where almost all athletes were in good form!

With a reaction time of 0.121 seconds, Su Zhe gained a slight advantage during the reaction phase. In this final, he no longer held back in unleashing his explosive power.

With a powerful push from his right leg, he once again experienced that feeling of flying forward!

It was an illusion strong enough to make him feel as if he were flying. Using this initial burst of power, after connecting his start to acceleration, his initial explosive power and the technical application of that explosive force gave him significant improvement in the acceleration phase!

On the track, besides Su Zhe who was in excellent form, Gates, Evanson, and Toure all showed outstanding starting forms.

Around the 15-meter mark, several athletes were competing for the lead position. Although Su Zhe was slightly behind, after gradually accelerating to his maximum speed, he was still trying to increase his stride frequency and squeeze into the leading group ahead.

The 60m track was both too short for Su Zhe to fully display his late-race strength, and equally too short for Gates, Evanson and others to fully showcase their maximum speed and advantages.

Compared to the three 100m specialists, Toure, who was a 200m runner, had stronger speed endurance, but in the 50 to 60m sprint phase, he also couldn’t fully enter his sprint mode right away.

Everyone on this track had their own unique advantages and slight weaknesses. It all came down to who could completely stabilize their form on this track, maintain precise technical movements, and ultimately claim the winning position!

“Su Zhe! Go!”

In the stands, the audience was shouting passionately.

From the commentary booth, Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan were also cheering loudly for Su Zhe.

“Su Zhe’s start was great!”

“He has the advantage!”

“The leading group of four is now firmly positioned, with Toure’s acceleration slightly lagging in the first 60 meters!”

During their excited commentary, Su Zhe’s figure gradually overtook Toure’s. Compared to Toure, he was now one step closer to victory!

Faster.

Even faster, just a little faster!

Su Zhe kept adjusting his breathing rhythm and the speed and posture of his arm swings. While swinging his arms, he drove his hip movements and tried to mobilize all the strength in his body to coordinate and improve his stride frequency.

He believed he could do it!

“Su Zhe! Go!”

From the stands, the audience’s roaring cheers reached Su Zhe’s ears. His blood boiled with adrenaline, and his excitement fueled him with great power.

He could go faster, he could still go a little bit faster!

It was this belief that drove Su Zhe to steadily accelerate down the track. His speed on this 60m track reached an unprecedented level!

On the same line as him, Gates and Evanson were also battling for the lead. But as they charged toward the finish line, Gates’ right foot stumbled slightly. For a brief moment, his technique lost balance.

And it was this moment of imbalance that made his position fall slightly behind!

At this point, everyone had reached the final sprint stage. Su Zhe used the momentum he had built up along the way to dive forward in a sprinting posture, with everyone adopting a leaning, line-pressing competitive stance.

After Gates’ slight form breakdown, he quickly adjusted his movements, but his sprint was already a step too late!

Under everyone’s gaze, Team USA’s Evanson was the first to cross the finish line.

Right behind him was a figure in red!

Su Zhe!!!

It was Su Zhe!!!

In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan were so excited they almost jumped up, while the audience in the stands had long since stopped caring about anything else and all stood up excitedly.

Zhang Jing could hardly contain the excitement in his voice, “Second place!!! The silver medal!! This is Su Zhe’s first international competition medal! And it’s an honor for all of us!”

“Congratulations Su Zhe!”