The Internationalization of Athletes

Although Sharapova is a Grand Slam winner, as a female player, it is still somewhat challenging for her to return balls exceeding 120 mph. She may struggle with controlling the angle and placement of the shots. However, Zhang Guan, being a novice, clearly has bigger issues. In Sharapova's eyes, if Zhang Guan manages to return the ball, it would already be considered a significant success.

Sharapova returned the ball over the net, and Zhang Guan quickly scurried over with small steps and hit a steady return. The return wasn't particularly tricky in terms of angle; it was quite standard. But for a novice, this return was already of very high quality.

"The ball is coming back! The angle is pretty decent," Sharapova thought as she instinctively moved toward the ball and returned it over the net once more.

Then Zhang Guan scurried over again, making another steady return. The angle was still not tricky, but the placement was steady.

"This return is also good! Could it be that the previous return wasn't a fluke? What's going on? Just a few minutes ago, he was playing terribly, with no tennis talent at all. How did he suddenly improve so much in both serving and returning in just a few minutes? Could it be that he was pretending not to know how to play?" Sharapova suddenly felt that Zhang Guan might have been pretending all along.

"I remember I used to teach him hand by hand!" Sharapova recalled how she taught Zhang Guan the moves with their bodies close together, and Zhang Guan seemed to enjoy it a lot.

The tennis outfits had a great texture and accentuated the body, so Sharapova pressing up against him naturally felt good to Zhang Guan.

"That despicable guy, no wonder he couldn't learn it! It was all intentional, he was pretending! Such a rascal…" Sharapova's face turned slightly red, and then in the next return, she added a tricky sidespin.

Zhang Guan clearly didn't know how to handle this sidespin. He used his usual method, causing the ball to naturally go high.

"Take that, for pretending you couldn't play!" Sharapova smashed the ball down with a powerful overhead shot.

"Ouch!" Zhang Guan was caught off guard, and the tennis ball bounced off his face…

…

After learning tennis, Zhang Guan and Sharapova found more to talk about. Sharapova began to share funny anecdotes from previous matches with Zhang Guan, such as winning against Davenport at Wimbledon, defeating Jankovic in Birmingham, and making a comeback against Serena Williams at the year-end finals. Now that Zhang Guan had some tennis knowledge, he wasn't completely clueless when Sharapova discussed professional tennis matters.

They chatted together, went shopping together, played tennis together, exercised together—did all sorts of activities together. And just like that, they entered 2006. Sharapova had to start preparing for the Australian Open again, and Zhang Guan also ended his vacation and said goodbye to Sharapova, returning to China.

As usual, the indoor athletics season ran from late January to early March. This year, the first stop of the IAAF Indoor Tour was still the Moscow Indoor Athletics Meet. However, Zhang Guan did not plan to participate this year. The only noteworthy event in this season was the 11th IAAF World Indoor Championships in March. For the remaining time, Zhang Guan thought it was more important to focus on training for the 400 meters.

Regarding outdoor athletics, the competitions in the first half of the year were relatively scattered. For example, before the IAAF Golden League, there were six IAAF Grand Prix events held in Senegal, Japan, Brazil, the Netherlands, the United States, and the Czech Republic. With such scattered locations, athletes couldn't attend all of them; they typically chose the nearest events. Zhang Guan planned to participate only in the IAAF Grand Prix in Japan.

…

At Xinzhuang Training Base.

In the large screen of the multimedia room, Zhang Guan was intently watching the video of Jeremy Wariner's race.

"How do you feel about it?" Coach Yu asked.

"He has very strong endurance!" Zhang Guan exclaimed.

"You noticed that too," Coach Yu continued. "This was Wariner during the Athens Olympics, when his running style was similar to the other two American athletes. He didn't have a leading advantage in the first 200 meters. After entering the second curve, see, here, his teammate began to accelerate slightly earlier. Only then did Wariner start to accelerate. American runners have been accelerating earlier recently."

Coach Yu continued the analysis while playing the video: "Look, when they enter the straight path, Wariner is still in second place, about a meter behind his teammate Harris. But in the final sprint, Wariner caught up to Harris. I'll rewind it; you can see that Harris's sprint speed is actually not slow. He's even faster than the other athletes, but Wariner still managed to surpass him."

"Let's look at Wariner's performance at last year's World Championships." Coach Yu switched to another video.

"See here, Wariner's running style has changed. After entering the first straight path, his stride length significantly increased, but the rhythm remained unchanged. Now, watch as he enters the curve; his stride shortens and frequency increases, starting to speed up. I mentioned earlier that American athletes have been accelerating earlier. Previously, they started accelerating at about 250 meters, but some now start at 230 meters. Wariner, however, starts accelerating as he enters the curve," Coach Yu continued to analyze.

"This running style is very scientific, using larger strides in the straight path to maintain speed. Other athletes typically adjust first and then accelerate in the curve. He accelerates first and then adjusts, but this requires very high physical fitness, right?" Zhang Guan asked.

Coach Yu nodded, "Yes, this requires very high physical capabilities. At least for now, I haven't seen any other athletes able to do this. But Wariner's style ensures he can still maintain a good burst of power in the end. Look here, they're entering the final straight from the curve. Wariner actually enters the straight almost simultaneously with the second place runner, but his sufficient stamina allows him to win the race during the final sprint."

"This running style is very unique," Zhang Guan added.

Coach Yu glared at Zhang Guan, "Your running style is even more unique!"

Zhang Guan awkwardly smiled. He wished he could use a more standard running technique, but he couldn't manage the precise distribution of effort required.

400-meter runners develop their sense of rhythm through years of training, becoming very familiar with their own bodies. They know when to go faster or slower and what rhythm to use at different times. This is a sort of sprinting instinct. But Zhang Guan's training time had been too short, so he hadn't yet developed this sense. Therefore, he relied on the skill "Partial Sprint | Activate" to control his running rhythm.

In general, Zhang Guan's current running style required the least technical skill. He used "Partial Sprint | Activate" to run the first part and then dropped the skill to sprint as fast as he could in the last part. The whole process required minimal physical adjustments, focusing mainly on maintaining basic form and running trajectory.

Coach Yu continued, "Every runner has their own preferred running style. I won't force you to change yours, but I believe there's still much room for improvement in your current style. First, on the straight paths, you could try to increase your stride length while maintaining the same rhythm, like Wariner. Second, you could adjust your sprint point to be slightly earlier, perhaps in the curve. Even a five or ten-meter adjustment could make a difference."

Zhang Guan thought carefully. Increasing stride length while maintaining rhythm on the straight paths was a challenging technique that he couldn't master in the short term. However, starting the sprint earlier was something he could consider.

"If I use the stamina potion to boost my stamina above 90, I should be able to start the sprint earlier, which would increase my speed even further. I should be able to break 44 seconds," Zhang Guan thought silently.

…

The 2006 New Year was at the end of January, and since Zhang Guan didn't have any major competitions in the first half of the year, he took an early vacation, about ten days before the holiday.

However, Zhang Guan didn't go home immediately. He had two commercials to shoot—one for an air conditioner and another for insurance. Additionally, he had an endorsement deal for a watch. The watch endorsement was for an international brand, and the final deal amounted to $3 million.

Since winning the Golden League final prize last year, some international brands had started contacting Zhuge Wenbo to discuss Zhang Guan's endorsement deals. This shift was undoubtedly a good sign. For Chinese athletes, sponsors usually aim for the Chinese market, and even multinational companies wouldn't feature Chinese athletes in ads in the US or Europe. Recently, these international brands' interest in Zhang Guan wasn't solely for the Chinese market; many were considering him for global campaigns.

Few Chinese athletes truly achieve international recognition. Even Liu Xiang's endorsements are mainly for the domestic market. It's rare to see Chinese athletes in ads for major global brands abroad.

In many domestic advertisements, especially for international brands or luxury goods, foreign famous athletes are often featured. This highlights the disparity in international recognition between athletes.

This disparity is also reflected in financial terms. Liu Xiang's endorsements start at 4 million yuan per year, with the highest being 15 million yuan per year for a luxury car brand, all calculated in domestic currency. On the other hand, Usain Bolt's endorsements start at around $2 million, with the highest reaching the tens of millions. Bolt doesn't have a huge Chinese market behind him, yet he earns several times more than Liu Xiang, showcasing the advantages of international recognition.

Being part of global campaigns by major international brands, visible to people worldwide, naturally commands higher endorsement fees compared to just targeting the Chinese market.

Zhuge Wenbo, having worked at CAA, understood how much international recognition could enhance an athlete's income. He had been working on related matters for the past six months, and Zhang Guan's latest watch endorsement was a result of Zhuge Wenbo's efforts.