The Start of the Olympic 100-Meter Race

After Director Guo and Secretary Zhao left, Zhang Guan furrowed his brows and began to ponder. Although he had been sharp-tongued during his confrontation with Director Guo just now, Zhang Guan was actually quite guilty. He didn't want to deal with Director Guo because it was obvious that such a person wouldn't listen to reason.

"Director Guo definitely won't just let it go like this," Zhang Guan thought carefully, but he realized that he didn't have a solution to deal with someone who wasn't prepared to listen to reason. If Zhang Guan were just an eighteen-year-old youth, he might have thought that Director Guo was quite foolish. Why was he so eager to label himself as soon as they met? Zhang Guan hadn't offended Director Guo, so why was he so stubbornly fixated on him? It was completely detrimental to both parties. But that's just how reality is; there are too many people who harm others without benefiting themselves. Even if you don't encounter them now, you'll eventually run into them over time.

"Perhaps it's that generation; when they were young, they did some reckless things without bearing the consequences, so even in old age, they continue to be reckless!" Zhang Guan closed his eyes. He knew that the best way to solve Director Guo's problem was to leverage something.

Leverage the momentum of an Olympic champion!

Winning an Olympic gold medal would solve everything.

Although Zhang Guan wasn't sure about Director Guo's position in the country, he could be certain that Director Guo was definitely not a high-ranking official. High-ranking officials wouldn't personally come to label someone like himself. Dealing with these small fry, using intelligence, reasoning, or experience was not advisable. The best method was to roar with a deterrent force like the king of the forest. Even if he wasn't the king of the forest, he could still be like a fox, luring the tiger to his side.

The contest between ordinary athletes and minor officials was unequal; similarly, the contest between a minor official and an Olympic champion was also unequal.

...

On August 17th, the national team did not win any gold medals. The fencing event, which was originally highly anticipated, was only a step away from the gold medal, earning two silver medals. It was also on this day that the American swimming prodigy Michael Phelps won two gold medals in the men's 200m butterfly and men's 4x200m freestyle relay, in addition to his previous 400m individual medley, bringing his total Olympic gold medal count to three.

Major European media outlets instantly shifted their focus of coverage. Newspapers began to predict that the Chinese Olympic team would decline, with European and American countries soon surpassing China. Many sports commentators even predicted that the Chinese team would not win more than twenty gold medals.

As for Zhang Guan, the media had stopped mocking him and instead turned to reporting on Phelps. These media outlets' memory span was evidently shorter than that of Chinese stock investors; Phelps became the darling of the media.

On August 18th, the Olympic track and field events officially began. The first event was the men's and women's shot put, with both the qualifiers and finals taking place on the same day. However, the track and field team failed to win any medals, with the men's shot put ending in the qualifiers and the women's shot put only achieving ninth place in the finals.

This result was not unexpected. While the national team was among the top in Asia in the shot put event, reaching the finals was considered normal performance in a competition like the Olympics.

On August 19th, no track and field events were scheduled. The Athens Olympic Stadium would be open in the morning for athletes to have their final venue adaptation, and in the afternoon, it would be closed for preparations for the upcoming matches.

Meanwhile, the battle for gold between China and the United States continued. The U.S. team won four gold medals in one day, with three coming from swimming events, including Phelps' 200m individual medley. On the same day, the Chinese team won three gold medals, two of which were from badminton events.

For the American team, the track and field events were about to begin, which were their traditional strong suits and major sources of gold medals. On the Chinese side, both table tennis and badminton had reached the finals stage, and the diving events had not yet begun, indicating that the Chinese team still had immense potential for gold medals.

On August 20th, two gold medals were decided in the track and field events, namely the men's 20-kilometer race walk and the men's 10,000-meter run. Additionally, various qualification rounds such as the men's triple jump, men's hammer throw, men's high jump, and women's discus throw were also held on this day.

On August 21st, the first round of the men's 100-meter sprint officially began!

...

According to the competition schedule, the 100-meter sprint on this day would consist of two rounds of competition. The first round would start at 10:35 a.m. Athens time.

The first round of the men's 100-meter sprint was divided into 10 groups. The top three from each round, along with the top ten performers from other groups, would advance to the second round. The second round would be held at 7:40 p.m. Athens time.

Regarding the Chinese athletes, Chen Jian was placed in the first group, which could be considered a favorable draw. Historically, the athletes appearing in the first group in major competitions were not usually very strong, so Chen Jian had a good chance of advancing to the second round.

In the same group as Chen Jian were athletes from the UK, Nigeria, Namibia, Ghana, Singapore, São Tomé and Príncipe, and the returning Japanese athlete, Matsuyo Shingo. Among the eight athletes, six had achieved the Olympic A standard, while the athletes from Singapore and São Tomé and Príncipe had achieved the Olympic B standard. The Singaporean, Baosheng Song, had also competed in last year's Asian Athletics Championships and had once competed against Zhang Guan.

In the preparation area, Chen Jian looked serious, taking deep breaths to calm himself. As the former top sprinter in the country and a veteran of international competitions, he was experienced. However, he still felt very nervous on the Olympic stage. For him, this was the most important race of his career.

"Come on, Chen Ge!" Zhang Guan patted Chen Jian on the shoulder.

Chen Jian nodded without saying a word, then walked onto the track.

Watching Chen Jian's back as he walked away, Zhang Guan sighed helplessly. He could sense that Chen Jian was nervous but not excited, which was not a good sign for an athlete.

According to the pre-match predictions, running under 10.30 seconds in the first round of the 100-meter sprint would almost guarantee qualification. Even if one couldn't secure a top-three position in the group, running within 10.30 seconds would likely place among the top ten additional performers. For Chen Jian, whose best time was 10.17 seconds, crossing the 10.30-second mark should be achievable with a slight improvement.

However, in his nervous state, Chen Jian failed to perform at his best. His final time of 10.45 seconds only placed him fifth.

From entering the arena, athlete introductions, preparing to start, to the actual race, the whole process lasted only a few minutes. Time passed so quickly that when Chen Jian walked off the field with a disappointed look, he seemed unaware that his Olympics had ended.

Years of rigorous training, coming to Athens to participate in the Olympics, Chen Jian only had two minutes in the spotlight, one minute of preparation, ten seconds of racing, and one last minute to leave the stage.

"Xiao Chen, there's still a chance, the competition isn't over yet. Besides the top three, there are still ten spots available!" Coach Yu comforted.

Chen Jian forced a wry smile. In fact, he knew that with his time of 10.45 seconds, except for the top three in each group and the ten fastest additional performers, he wouldn't stand a chance.

In the second group of qualifiers, British ace Lewis Francis easily took the first place, followed by Ghanaian athlete Aziz Zakari and Hungarian athlete Roland Nemeth. Fourth place went to Saudi Arabian athlete Mubarak, who ran a time of 10.36 seconds. However, Malta's Gilbert, who finished fifth, only ran 10.67 seconds. After two groups of competition, two athletes were already ahead of Chen Jian.

In the third group, a hot favorite for the championship, American athlete Justin Gatlin, finally made his appearance. Although Gatlin was currently the least favored among the three American sprinters, he ultimately won the men's 100-meter sprint at this year's Athens Olympics.

Perhaps due to Gatlin's presence, the overall level of this group instantly rose. Gatlin naturally took first place with a time of 10.07 seconds, followed by Simpson from the Cayman Islands and Mills from Ghana. After them, Brazil's Vincent Lima finished fourth with a time of 10.23 seconds, Russia's Andrei Yepishin finished fifth with a time of 10.29 seconds, and Greece's Sedoridis finished sixth with a time of 10.32 seconds. This meant that three more athletes had surpassed Chen Jian.

"This is just the third group! Truly the Olympics, where a result that could win in Asia can't even get you into the second round here." Coach Yu shook his head silently. By this time, he was already certain that Chen Jian had no chance of advancing.

In the fourth group of qualifiers, another American sprinting star, Shawn Crawford, took the stage and effortlessly clocked a time of 10.02 seconds, even faster than Gatlin's time, showing that he wasn't putting in full effort. After Crawford was Thompson from Barbados, who ran a time of 10.08 seconds, followed by Osinovka from Slovenia. Burkina Faso's Edrisa Sano, who finished fourth, was also faster than Chen Jian.

In the fifth group, European champion Portuguese athlete Obikwilu appeared. Obikwilu, originally from Nigeria, was also a hot favorite for the championship in this Olympics. In this group, there was also Japan's Hiroshi Doi, who ultimately finished fifth with a time of 10.37 seconds, still faster than Chen Jian.

With four consecutive groups featuring star athletes, the audience was thoroughly entertained. There were still big names like Maurice Greene, Asafa Powell, Jason Gardener, and Kim Collins yet to appear.

Halfway through the ten groups, perhaps to give the audience a breather, the organizers didn't arrange the above-mentioned big-name athletes in the sixth group. In the eyes of many professionals, the sixth group was the weakest in the qualifiers.

Zhang Guan was about to make his appearance in the sixth group.