Orc Undead Sports Warrior

Chapter 215 100m Preliminaries

After the women's heptathlon's first event, the 100-meter hurdles, the men's 100-meter preliminary rounds will follow.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the men's 100-meter preliminary round is about to begin!"

As soon as the commentator finished speaking, cheers erupted from the stadium.

Among individual track and field events, the men's 100-meter dash is the most thrilling and exciting. Such competitions are most likely to capture the audience's attention. Because the men's 100-meter races were held on the first two days of the Olympics, tickets for the first two days of track and field events sold out in less than a day after they went on sale.

"Hey Lao Wang, the Olympic Games are really exciting, can you handle it?"

From the start of the men's 100-meter race check-in, Wang Qiao appeared very nervous. When people are nervous, their expressions tend to become unnatural. People who don't know Wang Qiao well might not notice, and he might be able to hide it. However, in front of Jiang Jianjun, his emotional changes were clearly visible to the latter.

"Yeah, it's alright! You'll get used to it."

Wang Qiao tried to appear calm, but this was his first time experiencing the Olympics. As a coach, he couldn't participate himself and could only watch from the sidelines, feeling nervous for his athletes. Therefore, this first experience was extremely challenging for Wang Qiao.

The thought of Lu Wei's upcoming 100-meter preliminary round made Wang Qiao's heart pound uncontrollably, and he broke out in a cold sweat. This was a first for him, and he felt like he was about to collapse.

At the end of the straightaway, the first group of men's 100-meter preliminary runners have begun to take their places on the track.

"Bolt is in the first group! The organizing committee is really good at riding the wave of popularity. The young man just broke the world record and was put in the first group of the major competition. He's a favorite to win!"

Seeing that Wang Qiao was putting on a brave face, Jiang Jianjun didn't intend to offer any words of comfort, as experience often shows that doing so would only make the person involved more nervous.

So Jiang Jianjun simply watched the situation on the field while also looking at the competition schedule and the groupings for the 100-meter race.

"Lu Wei is in Group 4, Shen Liang is in Group 6, and Zhang Yuanteng has been placed in Group 9. All three of these matches have a good chance of success."

After Wang Qiao finished speaking, Jiang Jianjun's eyes lit up. His eyes lit up not because Wang Qiao had memorized the grouping of the three team members; such a situation could be remembered in a few seconds, something a person of normal intelligence could easily do.

What surprised Wang Qiao was the program booklet in Wang Qiao's hand; "Oh my, you must have done a lot of homework, the program booklet in your hand is all wrinkled from reading it so much, young people are so energetic!"

Wang Qiao gave a wry smile: "There's nothing I can do. Neither Lu Wei nor I have experienced a competition like this before. His mental fortitude is better than mine. I've been almost suffering from anxiety since the start of the Olympics a week ago. I'm thinking about the competition all the time. To be on the safe side, I looked up information about Lu Wei's main competitors online."

As he spoke, Wang Qiao showed everyone the program booklet. But the moment he opened it, the coaches and players around him gasped in surprise. He had taken notes on almost every one of Lu Wei's main opponents.

"Bolt, 1.96 meters tall, 94 kilograms, this information is even detailed down to his weight, that must have been hard work for you!"

The other coaches glanced at the program booklet in Wang Qiao's hand, their eyes showing more approval. These materials could normally be found in a dedicated archive room, but Wang Qiao's notebook was filled with notes, indicating the considerable effort he had put into preparation.

"In the race where Bolt broke the world record, he ran very well throughout, especially at the start where he even took the lead over Gay. If we disregard race and muscle type, he is 6 kilograms lighter than Lu Wei. This weight difference, combined with his excellent explosiveness, makes it very difficult for other athletes to even beat him in the early stages."

Just as Wang Qiao finished speaking, Jiang Jianjun pointed to the 100-meter starting line: "The race is about to begin. Let's see how this wild kid starts today, and compare him with Lu Wei."

At this point, the commentator was already introducing the athletes. When he introduced Bolt, who was in lane 3, the entire audience erupted in enthusiastic cheers.

Bolt, who didn't receive much attention at this time last year, has become the focus of the track and field world in less than a year.

Among the other team members in the same group, only Daniel Bailey from Antigua and Barbuda and Brazilian veteran Lima are considered to be on par with Bolt in terms of ability. There are also some team members whose abilities are not on the same level as him.

"These athletes from developing countries should really be grateful for the Olympics; otherwise, they might never have had the chance to compete against world champions in their entire lives!"

Yu Wei then slipped into the crowd. During the competition, he felt too constrained on the podium, so he made an excuse to come down and sit with the coaches and teammates.

After the starting gun fired, Bolt's start was not particularly impressive; he was placed at the back of his group.

On the contrary, the Italian runners started with great momentum, seemingly poised to take the lead from start to finish.

However, after running for several dozen meters, the situation on the track changed drastically. Bolt was like a playful child, taking long, lazy strides at the start, and only began to accelerate when everyone else had moved ahead of him and he felt challenged.

His ranking immediately jumped from the middle to the bottom of the group. In the last ten meters or so of the track, after seeing that the team members behind him had been left far behind, Bolt began to look left and right and take big strides.

After he crossed the finish line, the other team members gritted their teeth and fought for the limited spots to advance.

The top 3 teams in the group stage will advance directly to the semi-finals, and the 10 best-performing players from the remaining teams will also be promoted.

It's fair to say that, aside from Bolt, there were only two other players in the group who directly advanced to the second round. A group with superstars like Bolt certainly makes advancing difficult.

After Bolt crossed the finish line, he grinned and waved to a spot in the stands. This shot was a piece of cake for him.

Almost immediately after the race ended, the electronic screen displayed the results of the first group. Bolt's time was 10.2 seconds, second place went to Daniel Bailey of Antigua and Barbuda, and third place went to Brazilian veteran Lima, who was over thirty years old. All of them had times over 10.3 seconds.

However, the results show that Bolt's reaction time at the start was only 0.186 seconds, which was significantly lower than the rest of the group. The Italian athlete had the best reaction time at the start, but he only managed to get 30 meters ahead.

"Wow, that's amazing! He left everyone else behind without even running that far! If I ran like him, I'd probably get a time of 11 seconds!"

Zhang Yuanteng was stunned speechless by his opponent's shot.

"At this point, even if you are no match for your opponent, you must bravely charge forward!"

Lu Wei watched the large screen in the arena replaying the match, his eyes filled with a bloodthirsty fighting spirit. This opponent filled him with a fighting passion; perhaps he could finally challenge this formidable opponent.

After the replay on the big screen ended, the warm-up time for the second group of participants ended, and the referee called all eight participants back to the starting line.

"This competition is probably Powell's best chance to prove himself. He is 26 years old this year, which is the peak of a sprinter's performance. If he can't prove himself with his results now, he may have fewer opportunities to win championships in the future."

Jiang Jianjun looked at Powell, who was standing in lane 5, and said that he was standing behind the starting line and his attitude was much more serious than Powell's.

After the start, Powell immediately pulled away from the other runners. His running style was very aggressive, and he dominated his opponents from start to finish.

A few meters before the finish line, he saw that only Kim Collins of St. Kitts and Nevis was not far behind him, while the others were far behind, so he simply slowed down.

He finished almost at the same time as Kim Collins, while British athlete Craig Pickering came in third.

电子屏幕显示，鲍威尔预赛的成绩是10秒16，金.柯林斯的成绩是10秒17，英国选手的成绩是10秒21，其他对手的成绩都没有跑进10秒35。

"Look at this guy, his timing is so precise, he almost flawlessly secured first place in his group. In a major event like the Olympics, the skill levels of all participating athletes are quite different. If we only use results as the sole criterion, then probably no athletes from poorer, smaller countries would qualify for the Olympics, which would violate the original purpose of the Games."

Therefore, it's necessary to accommodate countries with relatively underdeveloped sports. Under these circumstances, it's far too easy for top-tier athletes like Bolt and Powell to advance from the preliminaries; their matches start in the semifinals. The real hardship is for athletes like Shen Liang and Zhang Yuanteng, who have to give their all in every shot. Even if they reach the semifinals, they'll likely struggle to defeat these physically superior Black athletes.

Yu Wei shared his thoughts after watching the second group's competition. The 100-meter race had greatly excited everyone watching.

In Group 3, Trinidad and Tobago's Richard Thompson ranked first in the group. His ability was also at a level of control, although he was not as strong as Bolt and Powell, but he controlled the rhythm very well.

"This young man is also quite good. Island nations in Central and North America do tend to produce excellent sprinters. Three out of their four athletes have best times under 10 seconds. On the surface, Jamaica seems to be very strong overall in this Olympics, but Trinidad and Tobago is actually not bad either!"

After watching the competition in this group, Zou Zhen also expressed his feelings, saying that Jamaica and the United States, two sprint superpowers, have an unshakable advantage in the 4x100m relay.

To win a medal, they have to compete with strong teams like Trinidad and Tobago, Great Britain, and Japan. Upon closer examination, the prospects are actually quite perilous.

Suddenly, everyone realized that Wang Qiao was acting strangely. He seemed to be isolated from everyone else, ignoring everything they said.

When the fourth group started warming up, he was already looking towards the starting line from the railing.

"No wonder Xiao Wang is so nervous. Although this group doesn't have any card game stars, it's actually the strongest group out of the 10. There's Jamaican star Michael Flatt, the 2005 World Championship silver medalist, another star from Trinidad and Tobago, Daryl Brown, plus Pierre Brown from Canada and Nobuharu Asahara from Japan. Lu Wei's opponents could fill a mahjong table."

Zou Zhen smiled and patted Wang Qiao on the shoulder, saying that in terms of the intensity of the group competition, this group does have many strong opponents. If you want to advance directly from the group, you need to defeat at least one of the three black players.

"You dragged Asahara Nobuharu over here just to set up a mahjong table, didn't you? Don't even mention Lu Wei, Zhang Yuanteng and Shen Liang might not lose to him now. We still have the advantage over them!"

Before the commentator's passionate introduction had even finished, the entire stadium was filled with cheers from the audience.

So much so that nobody paid any attention to the names of the other three contestants that Lu Wei introduced afterward.

Since their country has finally produced a sprinter who can stand on the world stage, the audience naturally spares no effort to cheer for Lu Wei.

Lu Wei was in lane 5. To his left were Jamaican Michael Fratt and Canadian Pierre Brown, and to his right were Trinidadian and Tobagoan Daryl Brown.

The commentator gave a warning before the shot was fired, which quieted the audience down.

Just as the referee gave the starting signal, Nobuharu Asahara suddenly dashed off the starting line alone a second later.

"This kid is trying his luck by controlling the recoil, and if all else fails, he can at least affect the starting position of others. He's a cunning guy."

Lu Wei stood up with a smile, ran forward a few meters slowly, and then slowly walked back.

Another false start would result in immediate disqualification, so after the starting gun fired, the other athletes held back somewhat.

The fastest starters were Lu Wei and the Trinidad and Tobago athlete, who were the first to cross the starting line. Next up were Michael Flatt and Pierre Brown, who closely followed the two runners ahead of them.

In the early stages of the other groups' matches, everyone didn't exert themselves too much. But when this group started, it was as if everyone was fighting for a spot in the finals, and everyone gave it their all.

Four people are vying for three direct qualification spots, and all four are aware of this.

In the early stages of the race, Lu Wei was overtaken by Daryl Brown and Michael Flatt.

Having weathered the most nerve-wracking start, Wang Qiao felt a slight sense of relief on the starting block. This was Lu Wei's weakest point in the entire 100-meter race, and Wang Qiao was afraid that this moment would cause the race to collapse, especially since his opponents had become some of the world's strongest athletes.

Fortunately, Lu Wei kept up with the three main rivals in the first half of the race, and then surged ahead in the second half, overtaking them to take the lead in the group.

Michael Flatt had originally intended to compete with Lu Wei for first place in the group, but when he realized that Lu Wei showed no signs of slowing down in the final moments, he simply slowed down his pace and ran past Lu Wei at the finish line.

In the first preliminary round of the 100-meter race, Lu Wei won first place in his group with a time of 10.10 seconds, ranking first among the first four groups.

Michael Flatt and Pierre Brown also qualified directly. Daryl Brown and Nobuharu Asahara didn't seem too disappointed looking at the electronic screen; their times were both under 10.25 seconds, currently the top two among those who hadn't qualified, basically guaranteeing their advancement to the semi-finals.

However, there was a hint of doubt in Yuan Xuanzhi's eyes when he looked at Lu Wei: "It's only been less than three months, and his starting speed has improved again compared to last time. Is this guy a monster?"

Thinking of this, he shook his head with a wry smile. He used to think he was very talented, but now it seems that he is just a qualified sprinter.