The Award Ceremony

The figure of 13.7 million euros left Fraglesks stunned, and he was momentarily speechless, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the shock. It wasn't until Osédores on the other end of the phone kept calling out to him that he came back to his senses.

"Three bets, with a total prize exceeding 20 million euros!" Fraglesks had never handled such a large transaction before. At this moment, his mind was flooded with various plans. He was confident that, through some tax avoidance techniques, he could help Zhang Guan ultimately secure more than 15 million euros in net income.

In Europe and America, one of the main tasks of accountants is to help the wealthy save money. However, for an average accountant, opportunities to handle transactions involving tens of millions of euros are rare. Those who can come up with such large sums of money in one go are typically big companies, and they usually have top-notch accountants or professional accounting teams, rendering Fraglesks unnecessary. Therefore, this deal exceeding 20 million euros was an invaluable experience for Fraglesks. He had already decided to spare no effort to execute this deal flawlessly, making it a classic case for himself and a stepping stone to securing more large transactions in the future.

Although the Greek government was perpetually borrowing money, there were still plenty of wealthy individuals among the Greek populace.

Osédores continued, "I have arranged for Zhang Guan to come to the OPAP headquarters tomorrow morning. Mr. Snoris, the chairman of the Greek Betting Committee, will personally hand over the check to Zhang Guan."

"I understand," Fraglesks replied, "I will head over to your place shortly and will prepare a more detailed tax reduction plan for our dear client..."

...

At this moment, in the neighborhood where Zhang Guan lived, hundreds of reporters had gathered. Zhang Guan's parents had long since closed their doors to visitors. When the reporters couldn't interview Zhang Guan's parents, they turned to his neighbors. The elderly ladies who usually strolled and basked in the sun at the community gate were only too happy to talk at the sight of so many reporters. They spoke at length about Zhang Guan's past, mixing a few true stories with mostly fabricated ones.

At Zhang Guan's former high school, there were no students on campus due to the summer vacation, but the school leaders had arrived early and invited all the reporters in. The principal wore a happy smile, seizing this opportunity to promote the school. Zhang Guan's former homeroom teacher was even more ecstatic. Having a student who became an Olympic champion, especially one who set a record in the 100 meters, was a rare honor.

The media didn't have enough budget to travel to Athens, but they had enough to cover domestic stories. Television stations, newspapers, sports magazines, and online media all mobilized their resources.

However, the coverage that day was mainly handled by television, radio, and online media. The 100-meter race had ended at around 4 a.m. in China, which meant the newspapers missed the reporting window. Many newspapers had already been printed or were being packed for distribution by 4 a.m., so they missed the opportunity to report on the event.

Fudan University promptly announced that Zhang Guan had been admitted and would start attending classes there next semester. As one of the most prestigious universities in China, Fudan wasn't usually keen on recruiting Olympic champions. However, Zhang Guan's achievement in winning the 100-meter gold and breaking a world record was considered a historic breakthrough in the country's sports history. This had a significant impact far beyond that of an average Olympic champion, making Fudan very enthusiastic about Zhang Guan's enrollment.

In Western media, Zhang Guan also became a hot topic of discussion for the day.

Track and field, especially sprint events, had long been out of reach for Asian champions. Zhang Guan's victory was undoubtedly the biggest upset of these Olympics. Although the women's 100 meters also saw an upset, the winner was from Belarus, a former Soviet Union country. During the Cold War, Soviet athletes had dominated various sports, making it easier for Europeans to accept a champion from a CIS country. However, Zhang Guan, an Asian athlete from the mysterious and underdeveloped China in the eyes of many Europeans, won, which seemed unbelievable and sparked even more intense discussions. European media had mixed reactions to this event.

"That a Chinese athlete won the Olympic men's 100 meters is unbelievable, but when you see the winning time of 9.77 seconds, a new world record, you won't doubt the truth of this news. A world record breaker winning the Olympic gold is only natural," commented France's Le Figaro.

"China is leading the gold medal tally with 24 golds, while the U.S. has only 20, which is surprising to everyone. However, considering the just-concluded men's 100 meters final where a Chinese athlete won and set a world record, this result seems inevitable. An American only managed to get the silver. I think this signals China's rise and America's gradual decline. Perhaps, in a few years, China will indeed replace the U.S.," noted Russia's Pravda.

"A stunning race! A stunning result! This is not an April Fool's joke; the winner of the men's 100 meters at these Olympics is a Chinese! China has produced the first Asian sprint star of this century. Many believe this is just a flash in the pan, but it's important to note that this Chinese athlete, Zhang Guan, is only 18 years old! His body hasn't even reached its peak, which means he still has room for improvement. Anyway, we congratulate this young man," reported Switzerland's Geneva Tribune.

"Asian athletes have always been mediocre in sprint events, and China only broke the 10-second barrier last year. We consulted sports experts, and under normal circumstances, we couldn't think of any reason they could achieve such a significant breakthrough in such a short time. Of course, using abnormal means could yield astonishing results. In history, athletes have often resorted to unethical methods to improve their performance, and the previous world record holder in this event, Montgomery, is now mired in a doping scandal," stated the UK's The Sun.

The Sun, the UK's largest-circulation newspaper, often used sensationalism to boost sales, exhibiting a sour grapes attitude by continuously questioning Zhang Guan and implying he might have used performance-enhancing drugs to achieve such results. Many other European media outlets also featured defamatory remarks.

However, a few hours later, the IOC announced the results of the post-race urine tests, confirming that Zhang Guan was clean. The questioning media quickly fell silent, as they wouldn't risk offending the IOC for irrelevant reasons. Negative coverage after the Olympics was inevitable, though.

The medal ceremony for the 100 meters took place at 8:45 p.m. Athens time, which was 1:45 a.m. in Beijing. Despite the late hour, many people in China stayed up to watch the ceremony on television and witness this historic moment.

CCTV started its live broadcast of the medal ceremony an hour in advance. In just one day, CCTV had produced a 40-minute documentary on Zhang Guan, featuring limited footage of him but many interviews with his parents, teachers, provincial sports coaches, and Mr. Chen. Footage of Zhang Guan at the Asian Athletics Championships was also obtained from Japanese media and included in the documentary, along with repeated clips of Zhang Guan's Olympic victory.

"Today, I want to tell the world that what others can do, we Chinese can also do! Not only can we do it, but we can also do it better!" These stirring words and images kept the audience wide awake and excited.

Finally, the medal ceremony began.

Zhang Guan walked to the podium and took his place in the center, on the highest step.

Lamine Diack, the president of the IAAF, stepped forward to personally award Zhang Guan the medal.

"Congratulations, young man! You have created a miracle. You have shown me that Asians can also win championships in sprinting. I believe that the future of Asian athletics is bound to rise, and I look forward to you and your country achieving even more brilliant results in the future," Lamine Diack said.

"Thank you, Mr. President. I think it won't be long before there is another Chinese sprint Olympic champion!" Zhang Guan replied with a smile.

"If that happens, I will be there to award the medal! Congratulations again!" Lamine Diack said, embracing Zhang Guan before turning to leave.

Next was the flag-raising and anthem-playing ceremony.

The bright national flag was slowly raised, and the solemn anthem began to play. Zhang Guan, watching the flag and singing the anthem, couldn't help but feel a little tearful.

At that moment, Zhang Guan was incredibly moved, far more than when he broke the record and won the day before.

Because, for the first time, this national flag was raised in the main stadium of the Olympics, and the familiar national anthem was played!

...

"I am very excited, extremely excited. Especially when I heard the national anthem and saw the national flag being raised, I couldn't help but cry," Zhang Guan said to the camera, with a female reporter from CCTV holding out a microphone in front of him.

After composing himself, Zhang Guan continued, "I think this is just the beginning. This is the first time our national anthem has been played here, but I know it won't be the last. I believe that soon our national flag and anthem will return here again. Our national team athletes will stand on the highest podium again! In track and field, we will definitely have more Olympic champions. We will get stronger and stronger! Go, Chinese athletes!"