45 Seconds

At this moment, Zhang Guan's speed was akin to a sprinter in the final stretch of a 200-meter race.

"Is he really running a 400-meter race? Why does his sprint at the end look so much like a 200-meter sprint? How on earth does he still have so much energy left for the final sprint? How is this even possible?" Director Ma stared in disbelief, eyes wide with astonishment.

In a 400-meter race, by the time athletes reach the final straightaway, their energy is typically almost entirely depleted. Some athletes rely on sheer willpower to complete the race. Even the world's top sprinters spend the most time in the last 100 meters of the race, usually taking around 11 to 12 seconds, provided they have enough stamina left. If an athlete is already exhausted by the 350-meter mark, even the best will struggle to finish the last 100 meters in under 12 seconds.

However, Zhang Guan was clearly not in this state. He still had a lot of energy left, allowing him to maintain a much faster pace. On the final straightaway, he could save one to two seconds, maybe even more, compared to other athletes. This was enough to compensate for any time he might have lost by starting his sprint later than usual.

In other words, Zhang Guan's strategy involved maintaining a consistent pace through the two bends and the straightaway, leveraging the "Partial Sprint Activation" skill to conserve energy. Then, on the final straightaway, he could unleash a burst of speed that allowed him to reclaim any lost time.

This strategy was impossible for others to replicate because they didn't have the advantage of Zhang Guan's unique system skill, which allowed him to have much more energy left for the final straight.

Director Ma silently watched as Zhang Guan crossed the finish line. It took several seconds for him to react, and then he realized that Zhang Guan had just pioneered a new running strategy.

The reason this was considered a new strategy was because the speed of the final sprint was astonishingly fast. In the old-fashioned pacing strategy, athletes couldn't sprint this fast at the end of the race.

"What kind of strategy is this? He didn't run fast in the first part of the race, which seemed like a time loss, but his final sprint compensated for it all. He sprinted at the end like it was a 100-meter dash. How does he have so much energy left? What are the results?" Director Ma turned his attention to the electronic timer.

"45 seconds flat!" Director Ma exclaimed.

Currently, the national record for the 400-meter dash in China was 45.25 seconds. Zhang Guan had just shattered this record by 0.25 seconds.

"It seems like this strategy works! If Zhang Guan can lengthen his stride, increase his arm swing, and improve his straight-to-bend technique, he could be even faster! How much more could his time improve? Half a second? A full second?"

Director Ma started calculating in his mind. If Zhang Guan could improve by another half-second, he would break the Asian record. If he could improve by a full second and run under 44 seconds, the implications were immense. Currently, only five people in the world had ever run under 44 seconds, and all of them were retired.

The world record for the 400 meters was held by the legendary American sprinter Michael Johnson, with a time of 43.18 seconds—a record thought to be nearly unbreakable. In high-level international competitions today, running around 44.5 seconds is usually enough to contend for the championship, unless up against an extraordinary athlete like Jeremy Wariner.

"100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters! These events seem quite varied! But if it's possible to excel in them all, plus the 110-meter hurdles, we could dominate the men's sprint events at next year's Doha Asian Games!" Director Ma closed his eyes, envisioning the possibilities.

Japan

"Everyone, the East Asian Games are about to begin! Although it's not a very significant competition, we can use it as a training ground for next year's Asian Games," said Coach Kazuhiro Kobayashi, looking around at the gathered crowd. "Japan has many capable track and field athletes, but due to the limited number of entries, we can't send everyone. So, we've convened this meeting to discuss the selection of athletes for the East Asian Games."

"Let's start with the men's 100-meter event. Any suggestions?" Kobayashi asked.

The first to speak was Coach Satoshi Inoue, a former top sprinter in Japan in the early 1990s.

"Regarding the 100-meter sprint, China will definitely field Zhang Guan. His strength is overwhelming. Even if we send our best sprinter, we won't win the gold in this event. Therefore, I suggest we send some young athletes. Competing against the world record holder is a rare learning opportunity for them. Meanwhile, we can focus on stronger performances in the 200-meter and 400-meter events against weaker opponents. The Chinese have a saying for this strategy," Inoue said.

"The Chinese term is 'Tian Ji horse racing' (田忌赛马)," Jun Takano added. "Since we can't win the 100-meter sprint, we should use this opportunity to train our young athletes. We can then focus on the 200-meter and 400-meter events, where our athletes are more likely to win gold."

Everyone agreed, and two young Japanese athletes were selected to compete in the 100-meter event at the East Asian Games.

Kobayashi then asked, "Who do we recommend for the 200 meters?"

"Kodai Tahara is the best candidate for the 200-meter race. Tahara is only 21 years old but has already posted excellent times. Last year, his time of 20.59 seconds was the best in Japan for the 200 meters. Sending him to the East Asian Games will surely secure us the gold medal," someone suggested.

"As for the other spot, I recommend Yusuke Omae. At 23, he has less experience than Ryo Matsuda, but Matsuda's performance has declined since he started graduate school last year. Sending Yusuke to the East Asian Games will be a great learning experience for him," another person added.

Ryo Matsuda, a strong contender, had previously competed in the Athens Olympics and met the Olympic A standard.

After some discussion, Kobayashi decided on Kodai Tahara and Yusuke Omae for the 200-meter event.

"Now, for the 400 meters, any recommendations?" Takano looked directly at Jun Inoue.

Inoue, who still held the national record for the 400 meters with a time of 44.78 seconds set in 1991, had the most authority on the matter.

"The 400 meters isn't strong for China, Korea, or North Korea, but Japan's 400-meter performance is top-notch in Asia. We should easily win the gold in this event! I recommend sending Yuzo Kanemaru to claim victory," Inoue said enthusiastically.

Yuzo Kanemaru was Japan's top 400-meter sprinter and would dominate the event for the next decade.

"We should also send Mitsuhiro Sato to partner with Kanemaru as a backup. With this duo, the gold in the 400 meters will definitely be ours!" Inoue added.

Mitsuhiro Sato was actually faster than Kanemaru and had been Japan's top 400-meter runner before Kanemaru.

Japan's 400-meter performance was indeed among the best in Asia. While individual athletes from West Asia might be faster, Japan's overall level was the strongest. In most Asian competitions, Japan consistently won medals in the 400 meters, and in the 4x400-meter relay, Japan was often the favorite to win.

The idea for the East Asian Games was first proposed by the Japanese, with the inaugural event held in China in 1993. It was initially planned to be biennial, but the 1995 event in Pyongyang, North Korea, was canceled due to certain factors, and the Games were shifted to a four-year cycle.

In the early years, the East Asian Games were highly competitive, with countries like Korea, Japan, and North Korea fiercely vying for dominance, which kept the level of competition high. However, over time, it became harder to sustain the event.

In the early 1990s, East Asian countries had relatively poor sports performance and often didn't qualify for major international events. Thus, they created their own games, essentially because they weren't strong enough to compete on a larger stage.

As sports development progressed and East Asian countries began to compete in more international events, the East Asian Games struggled to attract high-level athletes, leading to a decline in viewership and participation. Eventually, the event evolved into the East Asian Youth Games, focusing on training young athletes.

This fourth edition of the East Asian Games, held in Macau, was still taken seriously by the participating countries, although a decline in interest was evident. For instance, in the men's 10,000-meter race, only one Japanese and one Korean athlete registered, forcing the organizers to find a local Macau runner to make up the numbers. This runner unexpectedly won a bronze medal simply for participating. In the men's pole vault, only three athletes competed, and after one won the gold on his first attempt, the other two failed all their attempts, resulting in no silver or bronze medals being awarded.

Hosting the games in Macau gave the Chinese team a home advantage. The local population was eager to see the country's top athletes in action. Therefore, the national team aimed to send well-known athletes to various events. Zhang Guan and Liu Feiren were certain to compete, marking Zhang Guan's debut in the 200-meter and 400-meter events.