IBABS Chapter 80 — Pre-Race Discussion & 60m Hurdles Semifinals (Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun's Part)

On March 3rd, the World Indoor Athletics Championships had reached its final day, and today’s most anticipated event was undoubtedly the men’s 60m hurdles semifinals and finals.

As the only event in this championship where China had a full team competing and all members advanced to the semifinals, it naturally attracted countless eyes. What’s more, these three athletes’ performance in Japan last December, where they swept the top three spots, was still frequently mentioned.

Everyone had high expectations for Zhou Tianjue, Su Zhe, and Ye Jun, hoping they could deliver outstanding performances on this competition.

On the Track and Field Kingdom forum, members were still celebrating Su Zhe’s achievements from the night before and hadn’t finished their celebrations when March 3rd arrived. Everyone started worrying about today’s 60m hurdles again.

Just as the forum users feared, the general public on Weibo remained highly optimistic about the men’s 60m hurdles. Their logic was, if Su Zhe alone could make the finals and win silver in the 60m sprint, surely having three athletes in the semifinals this time meant a medal was within reach, right?

While everyone was excited, many sports bloggers who had been celebrating Su Zhe’s silver medal the day before came out again today, attempting to temper everyone’s expectations.

The data compiled by Track and Field for Beginners clearly illustrated how the preliminary times of Su Zhe and the others measured up against historical finalists.

Uncle Eyes also posted on Weibo.

Posts from sports bloggers were gradually shared across the internet, catching the attention of many netizens. The initially overexcited casuals were stunned at first, then their originally overheated emotions cooled down a bit.

Some of the more impulsive netizens weren’t too happy with what they saw as the sports bloggers collectively pouring cold water on the hype. They voiced their objections through reposts.

Online, on one side were sports bloggers trying to reduce pressure on the athletes with their statements, and on the other side were some netizens who didn’t quite understand the competition situation, watching the competition with a relaxed attitude filled with excessive expectations. For a while, both sides’ comments sections were filled with people communicating with slightly heated language.

Sports fans found the situation a bit of a headache, but they didn’t really complain.

Having this situation meant netizens cared about and paid attention to the competition. Those who weren’t invested wouldn’t bother arguing about it in the first place.

Anyway, as long as they could explain things clearly and help everyone understand more about sports events, even if it meant arguing with people online, the argument would be worth it.

While people online were busy debating, in the warm-up area, Xu Zhi was conducting pre-race interviews with Su Zhe and the others.

Xu Zhi: “What are your thoughts on today’s semifinals?”

Faced with this question, even Zhou Tianjue, who usually spoke without much filter, held back a little today. It was clear he wanted to shout out “the goal is the finals,” but precisely because of his understanding of the 60m hurdles finals standard and his own level, he couldn’t freely shout out those words.

Compared to Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun’s restraint, Su Zhe seemed more relaxed. “In a competition like this, is there any athlete here who doesn’t want to win? Just do your best, give it your all, and have no regrets.”

After Su Zhe spoke, Zhou Tianjue also scratched his head, and added, “I want to win.”

After hearing Su Zhe and Zhou Tianjue’s answers, Ye Jun smiled and said, “I’ll give it my all and have no regrets.”

From their answers, it was clear the three athletes were in different mental states – Su Zhe was relatively confident, Zhou Tianjue was on the edge of danger, and Ye Jun’s hopes were somewhat slim. In fact, they all wanted to win the competition, but nothing was that simple.

At the venue, after the previous round’s pole vault finals ended, the staff took the opportunity to adjust the competition area. During this break, Zhang Jing, Wang Miaochuan, and Lü Fei, the special guest commentator for the next event, started chatting together.

Cameras searched around the field looking for interesting shots, which the directors then displayed on the big screen to share with the audience.

In the control room, since the event hadn’t started yet, the directors were relatively relaxed. One of them chuckled and said, “Hey, did you guys see that gossip yesterday? Shao Xingchen came to watch Su Zhe’s finals yesterday. Today’s semifinals are so important, do you think Shao Xingchen might be right here at our venue?”

Hearing this, the other directors all laughed. Another person chimed in, “I actually know about this. The security team said they saw Shao Xingchen come again this morning. He was wearing a down jacket with a baseball cap and mask. But the security team handled it pretty low-key after spotting him, so no one has noticed yet.”

“Speaking of which, this Shao Xingchen is pretty good. He doesn’t make a fuss when he comes to the venue, just sits quietly and watches the games. Seems like he genuinely enjoys track and field events…”

While they were chatting, a camera caught a young man in the audience wearing a black down jacket with a baseball cap and mask. The directors were immediately stunned and quickly told the technicians to cut away from that shot, to avoid having such a high-profile celebrity discovered on site, which would be difficult for security to handle.

After the staff on the field finished adjusting and setting up the hurdle barriers, the next round of competition was about to begin.

The men’s 60m hurdles semifinals grouping wasn’t anything special. The 24 semifinalists were divided into 3 heats, with the top 2 from each heat directly advancing to the finals. Among the remaining athletes, the 2 with the best times would also qualify for the finals.

The three Chinese athletes were placed in two different groups this time. Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun were both in semifinal heat one, while Su Zhe was alone in semifinal heat three.

In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing, Wang Miaochuan, and Lü Fei started discussing the groupings.

Zhang Jing frowned and said, “As everyone knows, in today’s semifinals, only the top two from each group will advance directly to the finals, along with the next two fastest runners. So today’s first semifinal group is particularly challenging for our country’s Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun.”

Wang Miaochuan continued, “Yes, that means if both athletes want to secure spots in the finals, they must take the top two places in the first semifinal heat.” After a pause, he turned to Lü Fei and asked, “Coach Lü, what are your thoughts on the first semifinal heat?”

Lü Fei took over from Wang Miaochuan, thought for a moment, then said, “To be honest, having all three athletes reach the semifinals has already met our expectations for this competition. As for the finals, no one can say for sure they have a guaranteed spot. Looking at their current performances, Su Zhe is certainly the most promising of the three, but there are too many variables on the track. The final outcome still depends on how each of them performs.”

“Take Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun from this first semifinal group. One is still too young and reckless, while Ye Jun is much more stable overall. Although both of their times are still improving rapidly, they’re still a bit stretched for today’s 60m semifinal. To be realistic, even if they were placed in different groups, it’s uncertain whether either would make it to the finals.”

Unlike the praise from yesterday’s preliminaries, Lü Fei didn’t sugarcoat his assessment of today’s competition.

After all, progress was progress, but the current limits of their abilities were also the reality they faced.

The three rising stars of hurdles were shining, that was true, but none of them had reached their peak brilliance yet. They still had a long journey ahead before they could truly shine at the top.

While the three commentators chatted and provided introductions, the athletes from the first semifinal heat also entered under the staff’s guidance.

In this heat, aside from China’s Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun, competitors also included Brazil’s Gomez, the United States’ Train, and Spain’s Alcides. It was truly a gathering of top-tier athletes.

Each of these athletes had the ability to run under 7.55 seconds in peak condition, with Alcides and Gomez even boasting personal bests under 7.50 seconds.

To secure a spot in the finals, they had to defeat all these opponents in the semifinals.

After scanning the competitors on site, Ye Jun stood in lane 8, took a deep breath, and focused his mind, pushing aside all distractions.

With one athlete between him and Ye Jun, Zhou Tianjue was positioned in lane 6. He also looked around once before focusing his attention back on the track in front of him. The race was about to begin, and he didn’t have extra energy to spare for anything else.

The home crowd’s support and cheers for their national athletes remained enthusiastic, while on the track, all the athletes worked hard to block out the influence of these home cheers.

Soon, at the starter’s signal, the race was about to start, and the audience also quieted down as instructed.

At the starting line, in the sudden silence, the narrow lanes made it possible for the athletes to hear each other’s breathing.

Thump, thump.

Zhou Tianjue listened to his own heartbeat and calmly looked ahead.

“On your marks, set.”

After the starter’s call, what followed immediately was the starting gun representing the race start. “Bang!”

After the crisp gunshot, Zhou Tianjue powerfully pushed off the starting blocks with his right leg, using his explosive power to launch himself forward and smoothly transition into the eight-step approach to the first hurdle.

Thud, thud, thud.

His height and long legs allowed him to easily and smoothly complete the entire pre-hurdle phase with a comfortable rhythm, without falling behind the others!

In lane 8, Ye Jun’s reaction to the gun was also very steady, but his starting explosive power was still slightly lacking. For him, if he wanted to significantly improve his times, reforming his pre-hurdle steps was also essential.

For years, he had been using the eight-step approach to the hurdles. First, when he started hurdle training, the seven-step technique wasn’t widely used even in Europe and America. Second, he had tried explosive starts with his left leg before and found it difficult. After years of technical conditioning, it would be much harder for him to complete a technical transformation than it would be for Su Zhe and Zhou Tianjue. So after Lü Fei and his coach discussed the eight-to-seven conversion plan, he still hadn’t completely made up his mind.

He still wanted to see how far he could go with the eight-step approach technique.

In the pre-hurdle phase, Ye Jun’s steps were just as smooth and efficient, a testament to his years of practice. But compared to Zhou Tianjue, his explosive power and acceleration were slightly inferior. On this world-class stage, even this small difference meant he was already falling behind, landing in the bottom four.

At the front of the pack were Alcides and Gomez, while Zhou Tianjue and Train battled fiercely for third place, locked in a speed battle that was too close to call!

Everyone had already settled into the rhythm of the hurdles. Each athlete pushed themselves to their fastest speed and tempo, leaping continuously across the five short, narrow gaps between the hurdles.

Both Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun performed well in this race. They leaned their bodies forward, and after their lead legs crossed the hurdle, they quickly pulled up their trail legs. Then when their lead legs’ forefeet touched the ground, their trail legs were already swinging over the hurdles, swiftly connecting to the next stride between barriers.

Both of them were clearing each hurdle in the most precise and efficient way possible. This was also one of the important techniques they had mastered during winter training.

But even so, Zhou Tianjue was still locked in battle with Train, and the gap between them was impossible to distinguish with the naked eye!

In the stands, the audience’s cheers continued endlessly. Even though the two Chinese athletes weren’t in advantageous positions on the track, the crowd still poured out their wholehearted passionate support for them!

The thunderous shouts rushed into Zhou Tianjue and Ye Jun’s eardrums.

Faster.

They both wanted to push themselves to go even faster!

Zhou Tianjue gritted his teeth and looked ahead, his eyes fixed on the finish line not far in front.

He wanted to be even faster. He wasn’t ready to give up his hope of reaching the final!

In lane 8, Ye Jun was also looking at the finish line ahead. He needed to be faster, to repay these blood-pumping encouraging cheers with quicker steps and greater speed!

Everyone was working hard to control their rhythm and movements on the track!

The belief in victory burned in the heart of every competitor.

At the front of the track, Alcides also wanted to completely shake off Gomez and secure his position as first in the heat.

In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing nervously watched the track. He called out in a low voice, “Zhou Tianjue! He’s fighting with Train for third place! They’re crossing the line! Alcides and Gomez crossed the line one after another, while Zhou Tianjue and Train hit the line almost simultaneously. Right behind them, Ye Jun also caught up, but unfortunately was still a step too slow, finishing only in fifth place.”

Wang Miaochuan and Lü Fei were also very focused on Zhou Tianjue and Train’s results. After all, if Zhou Tianjue could place third, he would still have a slim hope of making it to the finals!

Soon, Wang Miaochuan received a message from the broadcast director, “Come on, let’s see together who the final third place finisher of this race really is!”

On the venue screen, the moment Zhou Tianjue and Train crossed the finish line was shown in slow motion. The footage clearly showed that the one who crossed the line first was Zhou Tianjue!

“Well done! Zhou Tianjue provisionally takes third place in the first semifinal heat of the men’s 60m hurdles! If his final time can rank in the top two among the remaining athletes, then he will qualify for the finals!”

In the commentary booth, Zhang Jing and Wang Miaochuan felt a surge of joy. The stadium erupted in enthusiastic cheers from the audience. Only Lü Fei, who was still looking at the group list in his hand, frowned slightly.

They could only hope everything would work out smoothly