Breaking the Black Monopoly

Facing the time of 9.87 seconds, Zhang Guan appeared very calm. He was not surprised by this result. He knew he could go faster, and with a slightly better condition, he should be able to run around 9.82 seconds.

Applause erupted from the audience, a tribute to Zhang Guan. Zhang Guan instinctively waved to the crowd, expressing his gratitude.

Subsequently, the television screen focused on Shawn Crawford.

The world's top sprinter looked bewildered, as if he still hadn't grasped what had just happened.

"A yellow-skinned person? Wearing red clothes, definitely Chinese, only Chinese people love to wear red like that. Who is he? Why don't I recognize him at all? A Chinese person, how can he run so fast? I can't catch up at all! Is he possessed by the devil?" Crawford's mind was flooded with countless thoughts.

As a top athlete, Crawford had participated in many competitions and had competed against the world's top athletes many times. Among those top sprinters, they were all black athletes. As for yellow-skinned people? Everyone in the world knew that Asians weren't good at sprinting.

But today's situation exceeded Crawford's comprehension. There was actually a yellow-skinned person who he couldn't catch up with! Crawford wanted to go up and grab Zhang Guan, to see if he was a black person disguised with yellow dye.

"This world is crazy! I completely don't understand." Crawford shook his head. He felt like his IQ needed a recharge.

In the just-concluded race, Crawford didn't hold back. He ran hard. When he passed Obadele Thompson, he thought he could secure first place in the group. But then he suddenly realized that someone had surged ahead of him. So he started to chase, giving it his all. But he found himself unable to catch up with the other person. Until the last twenty meters, he knew the outcome was set. He could feel a 0.05-second gap between them. At their level, it was very difficult to catch up before the finish line, so Crawford gave up chasing.

As for Zhang Guan, he had already confirmed after seventy meters that Crawford couldn't catch up with him even at full speed. So he appropriately eased off a bit and calmly crossed the finish line.

Neither of them made a final dive at the finish line. In fact, if Crawford had stretched his head out at the last moment, he might have crossed the line first. But as a champion, Crawford naturally had a strong sense of pride. Since Zhang Guan didn't make a diving motion, neither did Crawford. After all, this was only the second round of the group stage. Whether they got first or second place in the group wouldn't affect the result of advancing to the next round.

In the end, Zhang Guan finished first in 9.87 seconds, Shawn Crawford second in 9.89 seconds, and Obadele Thompson third in 10.12 seconds after slowing down at the last moment to secure his position.

9.89 seconds wasn't Crawford's limit, but in a typical track and field competition, this result would be enough to win the championship. Under normal circumstances, there was no need to achieve such a result in the Olympic qualifiers. But since the semifinals were scheduled for the next day, Crawford didn't need to deliberately conserve his energy.

The fourth to sixth-place finishers all clocked in at 10.26 seconds. But they didn't need to compare their results to each other by thousandths of a second anymore because, according to the rules, apart from the top three in each group, the athlete with the best result would advance. Ronald Bergeron, the fourth-place finisher in the first group from France, ran a time of 10.15 seconds, faster than them, so their Olympic journey was over.

As for Jeradi Chenofee from Kazakhstan, his time of 10.42 seconds placed him seventh in the group. But from his expression, there was no sign of disappointment. As an Asian athlete, being able to advance to the second round was already a very good result for him. He could be satisfied with ending his Olympic journey there.

Far away, Coach Yu stared at the final results in silence.

Coach Yu knew Zhang Guan was fast. If Zhang Guan had run a time around 9.95 seconds, Coach Yu would have been very happy but not surprised. However, Zhang Guan's time of 9.87 seconds was beyond Coach Yu's belief. Even though Zhang Guan had walked off the track and was about to approach him, Coach Yu still couldn't accept this number.

A time under 9.9 seconds was a number Coach Yu had never dared to think about. Even among black athletes in Europe and America, only a handful could break this barrier. Crossing this threshold meant becoming one of the world's top athletes, capable of winning championships in any track and field event other than the Olympics.

Until 1991, no human had achieved a time under 9.9 seconds. Among the active athletes still competing globally, only a few could achieve this in official competitions, and they were mostly American athletes. Even in 2004, in sprinting powerhouse Jamaica, their national record in the 100 meters was still 9.91 seconds, yet to break the 9.9-second barrier. This meant that even current Jamaican sprinter Powell hadn't broken the 9.9-second mark in official competitions.

When Zhang Guan approached him, Coach Yu finally came to his senses. He looked at Zhang Guan, struggled to find the words, then with a "what a pity" expression on his face.

"Coach? What's wrong? Are you not satisfied with my run?" Zhang Guan asked.

"What a pity, such a pity! If you run like this in the semifinals, it would be great. You would definitely make it to the finals," Coach Yu lamented.

"Just for this?" Zhang Guan couldn't help but laugh at Coach Yu's reaction. Then he said, "I'll try even harder in the semifinals. I'm sure I can make it to the finals."

In the BBC studio, Erickson fell silent. There was no way around it; this was too embarrassing.

Erickson was considered an authority in British athletics, with his professorial and coaching credentials lending weight to his words. But now, with Zhang Guan, all his "expert judgments" had gone awry. It was painful for an expert to be wrong.

"That darned Chinese guy, why did he have to run so fast! How could he run so fast! This is a BBC broadcast, seen by the whole world. I'm going to lose face in front of everyone! What should I do?" Erickson glanced at the host, who was chatting happily with another guest.

"I didn't expect this Chinese athlete to be so fast. It's beyond everyone's expectations," the other guest, Edwards, remarked.

"Yes, the broadcast just showed the expression of the Chinese coaching staff. Although it was brief, I can confirm that the Chinese coaching staff was also surprised by this result," the host paused for a moment, then continued, "It's simply unbelievable."

Edwards immediately added, "As a yellow-skinned person, to achieve such a result in the 100-meter event is a miracle. We should congratulate him! Maybe he has the potential to break the black monopoly in the 100-meter sprint."

"Just a Chinese person wants to break the black monopoly in the 100-meter sprint? This idea is too naive!" a sarcastic voice suddenly chimed in, it was Erickson.

"Why not?" Edwards immediately retorted, "If I'm not mistaken, there are about five to six hundred million black people in the world, with less than forty million of them in the United States. But China has a population of twelve billion. If there can be so many talented athletes among the forty million black people in the United States, it's not impossible for one genius to emerge among the twelve billion people in China."

"What's the use of having so many people? After all, they're just yellow-skinned. It's impossible for yellow-skinned people to surpass blacks in physical fitness for sprinting!" Erickson snorted, then continued, "This Chinese guy ran so fast, maybe he used some special methods."

"Special methods?" The host was puzzled, clearly not understanding what Erickson meant by "special methods."

But Edwards understood Erickson's implication. For an athlete, the so-called "special methods" potentially referred to the use of prohibited substances to enhance performance.

The issue of doping was taboo for all athletes. It was a very serious topic. Erickson didn't explicitly mention "prohibited substances" or "doping" because he didn't have evidence. Clearly stating it would have a very negative impact.

Edwards spoke up, "Mr. Erickson, athletes are required to provide urine samples after the competition, and from what I know, the doping tests at this Olympics are very strict, conducted by a Nordic biotech company. Many of their patented technologies even surpass those of the United States."

"But the urine tests at the Olympics are not for everyone," Erickson seemed to have grasped at a lifeline, continuing, "The Olympics only test the medal winners. Obviously, this Chinese guy hasn't qualified for that yet. He might stop at the semifinals. And a yellow-skinned person, even if he uses some special methods, is unlikely to win a medal."

"Is that so?" Edwards smiled faintly. He didn't argue with the stubborn old man anymore but said, "Let's wait and see!"