Leading Ahead !

The starter signaled the athletes to get ready for the start, and the arena instantly fell into a quietness, the audience holding their breath, waiting for the moment when the starting gun would go off. The starter raised the gun, and the athletes focused their attention on their ears, waiting for the sound of the gunshot.

At this level of competition, the start is crucial. Naturally, world-class athletes won't have poor starts, and it's almost impossible for them to gain an advantage through the start. However, if there's a mistake in the start, there will definitely be a disadvantage, like rowing against the current.

"Bang!" The starting gun went off! Immediately after, the referee blew the whistle to pause the race; someone had false-started!

"Morris Green! Morris Green actually false-started!" The voice of the host came from the TV.

"I don't think this is surprising!" Beside the host, Erikson continued, "Green consumed too much energy in the semifinals, so he chose to use the 'pressure gun' method to gain an advantage. It seems that Green hasn't given up on competing for the championship!"

Morris Green slowly walked back to the starting line. As Erikson said, the main reason he chose the "pressure gun" method was that he had consumed too much energy in the semifinals, but ultimately, he failed.

After another minute of preparation, the athletes stepped onto the starting blocks again. Morris Green closed his eyes, carefully recalling the situation at the start just now.

Gatlin sneakily glanced at Green. He could feel that Green had become very focused at this moment. In the previous false start, Green almost succeeded, which also showed how focused he was.

"Set..." The starter raised the gun again, then pulled the trigger.

The gunshot sounded, and the athletes started!

"Green!"

Morris Green's start was excellent; he was the first to start. Then, the start reaction time showed that Morris Green's reaction time was 0.127 seconds, a reaction time less than 0.13 seconds, obviously another "pressure gun" start!

"No wonder he's Morris Green, daring to use the 'pressure gun' start twice! And the second time was successful too, such strong mental resilience!" The audience thought one after another.

Among the other athletes, Powell's start was very poor, but the starts of the other athletes seemed relatively conservative. It can be said that the biggest beneficiary of this start was Green. However, the start is just part of the race; the real competition is just beginning.

....

"The race begins, Zhang Guan's start is quite good!" The CCTV commentator spoke up. In fact, given his current exhausted state, he couldn't really see clearly the situation of the athletes' start, but just felt that Zhang Guan wasn't falling behind, so he casually said, "The start is quite good."

The rhythm of the athletes' first three steps was almost the same, basically on the same plane, but in the following few meters, the Portuguese athlete Obikwelu clearly had a slight advantage, and the Jamaican sprinter Powell also caught up. As for the three American athletes, they weren't surging at the front.

This kind of short-distance acceleration seemed not to be the strong suit of the three American athletes, but everyone knew that the advantage in the first thirty meters couldn't really be considered an advantage. The strength of the Americans lay in their ability to sustain speed in the later stages. After thirty meters, the Americans' advantage would begin to show.

"Come on, Zhang Guan, keep up the momentum!" Seeing that Zhang Guan wasn't falling behind, the commentator's voice became a bit louder.

At the thirty-meter mark, the American Gatlin had already caught up with the Portuguese athlete Obikwelu. From the speed perspective, Gatlin was clearly faster than Obikwelu. Meanwhile, Powell slowed down and was overtaken by Morris Green beside him.

Beside Morris Green, Zhang Guan slightly surpassed Green by half a body length, almost neck and neck with Gatlin. Gatlin had clearly passed Obikwelu, and another American athlete, Crawford, had also caught up with Obikwelu's pace, running side by side with him.

However, the leader was not Gatlin but a red figure on the outermost lane. That was Zhang Guan!

At the forty-meter mark, the Ghanaian runner Ariza might have sprained his foot or suddenly cramped, as he slowed down, apparently preparing to withdraw from the race. However, this didn't affect the overall situation. Ariza was originally at the back, and the runners ahead didn't even know that Ariza was withdrawing.

At this moment, the period of American dominance finally arrived. Gatlin had already taken a lead of about half a meter from Crawford, and Crawford was still running side by side with Obikwelu. As for Morris Green, it was evident that he was affected by the semifinals, his speed being affected.

Morris Green clearly felt a bit out of breath. He had been exerting himself, hoping to be faster, but his body told him that he had reached the limit of his speed.

"Darn it, I consumed too much energy in the semifinals! Now I can't pick up speed," Morris Green thought to himself. But the next moment, he found that Zhang Guan on his right was already a meter ahead of him.

"How can this Chinese guy be so fast? His consumption in the semifinals must be greater than mine, so why does he seem so energetic now? Could he have recovered his energy in just two hours? No, he's even faster than in the semifinals!" Morris Green looked at Zhang Guan in shock. He was closest to Zhang Guan, and he could clearly feel that Zhang Guan's speed was much faster than in the semifinals.

....

"He's surpassed them! Zhang Guan is in the lead, he's leading! Zhang Guan! Zhang Guan!" The commentator started shouting. Even though Zhang Guan was only barely neck and neck with Gatlin at that moment, it was enough to excite the commentator.

Ten meters later, Zhang Guan not only maintained his distance from Morris Green but also widened the gap and was on the verge of overtaking Gatlin, who was in first place. At this moment, Zhang Guan was clearly in the lead.

"He's passed! He's leading! Go, go!" Coach Yu suddenly roared. At that moment, Coach Yu caught a whiff of the Olympic gold medal and was suddenly struck by an inexplicable sense of nervousness that quickly spread throughout his body.

Gatlin, running in lane three, had his view blocked by Obikwelu from Portugal, who was in lane five. As he began to gain a leading position, he noticed that Zhang Guan, running on the outermost lane eight, seemed to be slightly ahead of him.

"How is this possible! It's that Chinese guy, he's ahead of me! How can he still be running so fast! How did he recover his energy so quickly?" Gatlin was shocked, not by Zhang Guan's speed—after all, Zhang Guan had previously run at world-class speeds—but by his stamina.

"Two hours ago, the semifinals were so intense that even Green was affected. The Chinese guy should have been even more impacted. He must have expended a lot of energy, so how is he performing so well now? How does it seem like his energy level is even better than it was in the semifinals? This is impossible! Absolutely impossible! No one can recover to peak physical condition in just two hours after such intense effort—that's a limitation of human physiology!" Gatlin clung to this thought like a lifeline, constantly reassuring himself: "Trust in science. The Chinese guy may be fast now, but he's surely at his limit. He will definitely slow down in the second half, and for me, the real effort begins in the second half."

With this thought, Gatlin's confidence surged. American sprinters' greatest strength is not their initial acceleration but their sustained explosive power in the second half of the race. This is a technical characteristic of American athletes. Therefore, in a race, Americans may not necessarily lead in the first half, but they will inevitably overtake other runners in the second half to secure first place.

In the 100-meter sprint, maintaining high speed and explosive power in the second half is known in sports science as "speed endurance." For top international coaches, aspects like athletes' start reactions, running techniques, and explosive power can be improved through targeted training. However, speed endurance is the most challenging aspect for sprint coaches worldwide. Only American trainers have managed to develop extremely effective training methods for speed endurance.

...

"Zhang Guan is already in the lead!" A look of disbelief flashed in Morris Green's eyes. Just a short time ago, in the semifinals, he had fought fiercely with Zhang Guan. As a direct participant, he was acutely aware of the energy drain from that level of competition. It was impossible to recover from such fatigue in just two hours, yet Zhang Guan seemed even better now than he did during the semifinals.

Meanwhile, Morris Green was starting to feel fatigued. As the race entered its second half, the problem of his large energy expenditure was finally beginning to show.

"No! I have to keep going! If a Chinese guy can do it, I can too! I am the world's best! I am Morris Green, the world's number one! I want the championship!" At this moment, Green's pride turned into an unwavering belief in victory. It was as if his body had been hypnotized, allowing him to unleash a powerful burst of energy.

...

Fast enough!

Simply fast!

No frills, just fast!

This was Zhang Guan at this moment.

He was incredibly fast and already in the lead.

But he wanted to be even faster!

He didn't just want that Olympic gold medal.

He wanted the world record!