The Su God of the Reopening of the Sports Arena

Chapter 2459 Shooting at the Bird's Nest! Project Begins

The National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest".

The track and field was bathed in a warm golden light by the setting sun.

The cheers of nearly 100,000 spectators echoed throughout the venue, focusing on the ultimate showdown in the first heat of the men's 110-meter hurdles preliminary round.

As the leading figure in the Chinese men's 110-meter hurdles after Liu Xiang's retirement, Xie Wenjun carried the expectations of the entire nation. Wearing a red competition uniform, she appeared on the track to compete against top athletes such as Jamaican rising star Omar McLeod and Braswhite.

Yang Jian said, "This preliminary round is not only a competition for qualification spots, but also a concentrated display of Xie Wenjun's years of technical refinement."

The starting blocks for the 110-meter hurdles are fundamentally different from those for flat running events. The starting explosiveness must be balanced with the stride point of the first hurdle, which places extremely high demands on the technical adaptability of the athletes.

During his pre-race warm-up, Xie Wenjun spent nearly ten minutes adjusting the starting blocks, the technical details of which revealed a hidden strategy. He used a "front leg against the hurdle" starting block layout, with the front starting block approximately 1.2 meters from the starting line and the rear starting block about 0.55 meters away from the front. This distance was the optimal value he had verified through training over the past few years.

This ensures sufficient power during the push-off and avoids delays in adjusting the center of gravity after the start due to excessive spacing, which could affect the stride frequency connection during the first hurdle.

Regarding the starting block angle adjustment, Xie Wenjun set the front starting block angle to 15 degrees and the rear starting block angle to 12 degrees. This setting is highly compatible with his leg power generation characteristics. As a 1.89-meter-tall athlete, Xie Wenjun's lower body strength is concentrated in the muscles on the front of his thighs and the back of his calves. The 15-degree front starting block angle allows his quadriceps to be fully pre-stretched, generating stronger explosive power when pushing off.

The slight tilt of the starting blocks allows him to quickly fold forward after his rear leg pushes off, shortening his acceleration time after the start. During the adjustment process, he stepped onto the starting blocks multiple times to simulate pushing off the ground, feeling the transmission path of the ground reaction force and fine-tuning the front and back positions of the starting blocks until he achieved the ideal state of "no delay in pushing off the ground and no jamming in the forward shift of the center of gravity".

The hurdle practice session during pre-competition warm-up is the core of Xie Wenjun's technical preparation.

Here he chose three consecutive hurdles for simulated training, with the hurdle spacing set at 9.14 meters and the hurdle height at 1.067 meters according to the competition standard, completely replicating the actual conditions of the preliminary round track.

From a technical perspective, Xie Wenjun's warm-up between hurdles is not simply a repetition of hurdles, but rather a targeted reinforcement of three key technical points:

One is the leg folding angle when attempting to hurdle.

During the simulated hurdles, after his take-off leg pushes off the ground, his lower leg quickly folds towards his thigh, maintaining a folding angle of about 45 degrees. This angle minimizes air resistance and stores kinetic energy for the push-off after the hurdle.

The coaching team observed his body posture at the moment of attacking the hurdle. His upper body remained upright, his core muscles were tightened, and his arms swung back and forth around his shoulders. The swing amplitude was controlled within 30 centimeters on both sides of his body, which ensured his body balance and avoided unnecessary movements that would consume energy.

Secondly, there's the cushioning technique for landing after hurdling. Xie Wenjun's hurdling motion is characterized by being "light, stable, and fast":

When the front foot lands, the heel touches the ground first, then quickly transitions to the ball of the foot. The ankle joint forms a 120-degree buffer angle, and the knee joint is slightly bent to about 110 degrees. Through the elastic buffer of the lower limb joints, the vertical impact force after hurdling is converted into horizontal propulsion force.

This cushioning technology not only reduces the risk of sports injuries, but also shortens the time interval between the fall of a hurdle and the next push-off, ensuring the continuity of rhythm between hurdles.

Thirdly, precise control of stride frequency between hurdles.

Throughout the practice of three consecutive hurdles, Xie Wenjun maintained a stable rhythm of "three steps over the hurdle," with each step length controlled at around 2.8 meters and a stride frequency of 3.8 steps per second.

He reinforced his muscle memory by repeatedly practicing this rhythm, ensuring that he could connect naturally when facing hurdles on a real race track without having to consciously adjust his stride length.

During the warm-up, he also added two hurdle-clearing exercises to simulate his ability to adjust his rhythm when encountering opponents' attacks in a competition, demonstrating his technical adaptability to different competitive scenarios.

after all.

Bird's Nest.

The match is being held here.

This was his first time.

This might be the last time.

Must go all out.

call----------

In the final stages before the race, Xie Wenjun walked to the edge of the track, turned her back to the audience, and took deep breaths to adjust.

His hands hung naturally at his sides, palms facing inwards, his shoulders relaxed and lowered, and he adjusted his breathing rate.

Inhale for 4 seconds, hold your breath for 2 seconds, and exhale for 6 seconds.

Maintaining a stable heart rate of around 120 beats per minute is the "optimal competitive heart rate range" that Sun Haiping summarized from Xie Wenjun's many years of training.

While adjusting his breathing, he quickly replayed the key points of the entire technical movement in his mind:

The reaction rhythm at the start, the timing of the first hurdle takeoff, the stride frequency control between hurdles, and the sprint connection at the last hurdle—all these are achieved through psychological suggestion, transforming the muscle memory of technical movements into instinctive reactions during the race.

It is worth noting that Xie Wenjun specifically observed the warm-up of her opponents in the same group before the competition, especially the hurdling technique of Jamaican athlete Omar McLeod.

By quickly analyzing his opponent's stride frequency between hurdles and his attacking techniques, he psychologically anticipated the technical moves.

In response to McLeod's fast stride frequency between hurdles, Xie Wenjun was determined to maintain her technical advantage of "steady rhythm and strong connection" in the competition, and not be disrupted by her opponent's rhythm, demonstrating the technical confidence and tactical wisdom of a mature athlete.

All eight competitors in the first group of the preliminaries have taken to the track. Xie Wenjun was assigned to lane 4, a position that was extremely advantageous for him.

This avoids the impact of the curves on the inside lane and allows for a clear observation of the real-time status of opponents on both sides, making it easier to adjust the pace of the game in a timely manner.

When the referee gave the signal, Xie Wenjun quickly walked onto the starting blocks, leaned forward, and placed his hands naturally on the ground in front of the starting line, with his fingers spread out in a "claw" shape for support. His palms were about 5 centimeters from the ground. This support posture allowed him to exert force quickly after hearing the gunshot, reducing the time it took for his center of gravity to shift forward.

call--

Xie Wenjun adjusted her breathing.

Although it was a preliminary round.

However, they should not be underestimated.

After all, a good start is also very important.

After the “set” command is issued.

Xie Wenjun shifted her body weight further forward, and her quadriceps in her front leg and gastrocnemius in her hind leg simultaneously entered a state of high tension, with the contraction speed of the muscle fibers increasing to its peak.

From a biomechanical perspective, his center of gravity was projected 10 centimeters in front of the starting blocks at this point.

This center of gravity position allows him to instantly generate a forward tilting moment after the gunshot, which, combined with the force of his legs pushing off the ground, enables him to start quickly.

The moment the starting gun fired.

Xie Wenjun's reaction time was 0.138 seconds!
This time ranks second among the competitors in the same group, only behind Jamaican athlete McLeod's 0.132 seconds.

From a technical perspective, his reaction movements exhibit both "synchronicity" and "explosiveness":

Within 0.02 seconds of the gunshot, his hands were the first to push off the ground, his arms swinging forward rapidly, while his back legs pushed off the ground with force. The ground reaction force at the moment of pushing off the ground reached 2.3 times his body weight, and this powerful reaction force propelled his body forward to accelerate.

After the front leg pushes off the starting block, it quickly folds forward and swings forward, creating a synergistic force effect with the push-off action of the rear leg, thus avoiding the center of gravity shift caused by the force exerted by a single limb.

The acceleration phase after the start.

Xie Wenjun's core technique is to "rapidly increase step frequency and gradually increase step length" to achieve a steady increase in speed.

In the first three steps after the start, his stride lengths were 1.5 meters, 1.7 meters, and 1.9 meters respectively, with a stride frequency of 4.2 steps per second, quickly establishing initial speed through small steps and high frequency.

Starting from step 4, the stride length gradually increases to 2.2 meters, and the stride frequency is finely adjusted to 3.9 steps per second.

While maintaining its accelerating momentum.

Prepare for the transitions in the upcoming first column.

Observe her body posture during the acceleration phase. At this time, Xie Wenjun's upper body gradually transitions from a forward-leaning state to an upright state.

The tilt angle gradually decreases from 45 degrees at the start to 15 degrees, and this change in posture is perfectly matched with the increase in speed.

Bang bang bang bang bang bang bang.

Xie Wenjun's large lean angle at the start of the race reduces air resistance and improves acceleration efficiency.

As speed increases, the body gradually straightens, making it easier for the core muscles to engage and maintain balance during high-speed movement.

Arm swing plays an important role in the acceleration phase. Xie Wenjun's arm swing is in a "straight forward and backward swing" pattern, and the swing speed and stride frequency are in a 1:1 ratio.

The momentum of the arms propels the body forward, further enhancing the acceleration effect.

The first hurdle in the 110-meter hurdles is a crucial point for technical transition. Athletes need to precisely control their stride during the acceleration phase to ensure that their position and timing when taking off to attack the hurdle are just right.

Xie Wenjun's distance from the starting point to the first hurdle is 13.72 meters. According to his technical characteristics, he needs to accelerate in 7 steps to complete the hurdle. This requires that the step length error of each step does not exceed 5 centimeters. Otherwise, the timing of the hurdle take-off will be too early or too late, affecting the quality of the hurdle.

In the actual process, Xie Wenjun achieved precise control of her steps through the dual effects of visual feedback and muscle memory.

His eyes were always fixed on the top of the first hurdle. By judging the changes in the distance between himself and the hurdle, he would fine-tune his stride: when he found that his stride was slightly short, he would increase it by 3-5 centimeters by pushing off the ground with his lower legs.

When the stride length is too long, the stride frequency is increased to shorten the time interval between two steps, ensuring that the 7th step lands exactly on the starting point. The starting point is about 1.5 meters away from the hurdle, a distance that Xie Wenjun determined to be the optimal value through extensive practice.

It ensures that the take-off leg has enough space to push off the ground, and allows the hurdle-attacking action to be natural and smooth, avoiding insufficient hurdle height due to being too close, or wasting acceleration energy due to being too far.

The hurdles in the men's 110-meter hurdles are a comprehensive contest of technique, physical fitness, rhythm, and speed.

In this preliminary round, Xie Wenjun faced the challenge of 9 hurdles and 8 sections between hurdles, relying on precise rhythm control and smooth technical transitions.

This showcases his improved hurdling skills over the past few years.

From a technical perspective...

His hurdle performance can be broken down into three core elements: taking off and attacking the hurdle, clearing the hurdle in mid-air, and advancing after the hurdle.

Every step embodies the technical characteristics of "precision, efficiency, and stability".

The hurdle takeoff is the starting point of hurdle technique and directly determines the quality of the hurdle movement and the subsequent rhythm.

Xie Wenjun's hurdling technique exhibits a distinctive technical style: at the moment of take-off, the take-off leg pushes off the ground forcefully, with the push-off time being only 0.12 seconds. Through the rapid contraction of the lower limb muscles, a powerful ground reaction force is generated.

From a biomechanical perspective, his stride and push-off are "explosive push-offs," with the quadriceps, gluteus maximus, gastrocnemius, and other muscle groups working together to achieve a muscle contraction speed of 5.8 meters per second and a peak push-off power of 2800 watts.

This power output allows him to gain sufficient vertical and horizontal speed at the moment of takeoff, laying the foundation for clearing the hurdle.

Xie Wenjun demonstrated exceptional core strength and balance in controlling her body posture when starting and hurdling.

When taking off, the upper body should lean towards the hurdle at an angle of about 20 degrees. This angle allows the projection of the body's center of gravity to fall in front of the take-off point, creating forward momentum and reducing energy consumption during hurdling.

At the same time, his swing leg swings rapidly forward and upward at a speed of 4.5 meters per second, with a swing height exceeding the top of the hurdle by 15 centimeters. The toes of his swing leg are hooked up, and his heel is facing the hurdle, which reduces air resistance during the swing process and shortens the swing time.

The arm swings and leg movements are perfectly coordinated:
When taking the first step, the arm on the same side swings forward and the arm on the opposite side swings backward.

The swing amplitude is directly proportional to the leg swing amplitude. Balance is achieved through the arms.

To counteract the centrifugal force on the body during stride.

Make sure your body is stable and doesn't sway.

It is worth noting that Xie Wenjun demonstrated excellent technical consistency in her take-off and hurdle attack movements across different hurdles.

Whether it's the initial hurdle in the first column.

In the continuous hurdles between the middle hurdles, the error in key technical parameters such as the take-off time, body tilt angle, and swing leg height does not exceed 3%. This technical consistency stems from the muscle memory formed by his years of repetitive training and also reflects his precise control over the rhythm between hurdles.

Even when he hears the footsteps of his opponents approaching from both sides during the match, he is still able to maintain his own technical rhythm.

Do not blindly accelerate or adjust your movements.

It demonstrated the technical composure of a mature athlete.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

During the takeoff and hurdle-clearing phase, Xie Wenjun's core technology is "optimizing the takeoff trajectory and reducing energy loss".

As a 190-meter tall athlete, his center of gravity is relatively high, which is both an advantage and a challenge in hurdles, as it provides ample clearance height. Excessive time in the air may affect his rhythm. To balance this contradiction, Sun Haiping and Xie Wenjun adopted a "low and flat" flight trajectory, where the highest point of their center of gravity is about 1.3 meters above the ground.

It is only 23 centimeters higher than the height of the railing.

This trajectory design minimizes takeoff time.

At the same time, ensure the safety of hurdling actions.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

Continuous hurdle crossing.

Observing its body posture as it leaps over the hurdle, it exhibits a "streamlined" characteristic:
Keep your head upright, look at the railing in front of you, relax your neck muscles, and avoid shifting your body's center of gravity due to head shaking.

The upper body and lower limbs form a straight line, the core muscles are continuously tightened, and the tension of the abdominal and back muscles is kept at a moderate level, which ensures both body rigidity and flexibility in adjusting the airborne posture.

The legs are in a "split-leg" position, with the take-off leg behind and the lower leg folded towards the thigh, and the swing leg in front with the knee slightly bent and the toes pointing towards the ground. This split-leg position reduces air resistance during take-off and prepares the body for landing after dismounting.

Xie Wenjun excelled in controlling his airtime. His airtime was only 0.38 seconds, far below the average of 0.42 seconds for athletes in his class. This advantage stemmed from two technical details.

First, the horizontal speed is maintained well during takeoff. By exerting a strong push-off force, more energy is converted into horizontal propulsion, reducing energy consumption in the vertical direction and thus shortening the time in the air.

Secondly, body posture adjustment during the airborne phase involves fine-tuning the core muscles to ensure the body's center of gravity moves along the optimal trajectory, preventing excessive airborne distance due to postural imbalance.

This is a "short-time, high-efficiency" take-off technology.

This will allow Xie Wenjun to maintain a faster pace during the intervals between hurdles.

This will create conditions for accelerating the transitions between columns.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

Bang bang bang bang bang.

The hurdle push is the final step in the hurdle technique and a key link connecting the two hurdles. Its core requirements are "quick landing, quick force exertion, and quick connection".

Xie Wenjun's current technique for advancing the ball down the hurdle demonstrates a "seamless connection between buffering and power generation".

Bang bang bang.

The first is the elastic control of the landing buffer.

When descending the hurdle, Xie Wenjun's swing leg lands first, about 1.4 meters from the hurdle. This distance allows him to quickly enter the next push-off phase after landing.

Upon landing, the forefoot contacts the ground first, followed by elastic cushioning from the ankle, knee, and hip joints. The cushioning angles of the three joints are 110 degrees, 100 degrees, and 90 degrees respectively, forming a "three-level cushioning" mechanism that absorbs the impact force after takeoff layer by layer, preventing injury to the body.

At the same time, the lower limb muscles are in a "pre-stretched" state during the cushioning process, which stores elastic potential energy for subsequent push-off force.

Bang bang bang.

Secondly, the rapid transition of force exertion from pushing off the ground. After the buffering phase, Xie Wenjun's lower limb muscles quickly shifted from a stretched state to a contracted state to exert force by pushing off the ground.

When pushing off the ground, use the ankle joint as a fulcrum, and the calf muscles contract quickly to propel the body forward.

With knees straight and quadriceps engaged, push your body weight forward and upward.

Hip extension and coordinated gluteus maximus muscle activation further enhance propulsion. The entire push-off process lasts only 0.15 seconds, demonstrating the rapid response capability of muscle contraction.

From a technical point of view, his push-off and cushioning at the hurdle are now seamlessly connected. He starts pushing off the ground the instant the cushioning ends, without any time interval, ensuring the continuity of rhythm between hurdles.

Bang bang bang.

Third, maintain a stable pace between hurdles.

Throughout the eight hurdle intervals, Xie Wenjun maintained a "3-step hurdle clearing" rhythm, with each step length consistently between 2.8 and 2.9 meters, a stride frequency of 3.8 to 3.9 steps per second, and an average speed of 8.5 meters per second between hurdles.

This stable stride frequency between hurdles allows his body to develop a regular movement rhythm, reducing energy consumption and also making it easier for him to observe his opponents' condition during the competition and adjust his competitive strategy in a timely manner.

Even when encountering slight rhythm fluctuations during the middle hurdle phase, he can quickly regain a stable rhythm by finely adjusting his step length, with an error of no more than 3 centimeters.

This demonstrates an exceptional ability to control the rhythm between hurdles.

At least during the preliminary rounds.

He quickly gained the upper hand.

"Xie Wenjun did a good job!"

"Keep in the top three!"

"Keep moving forward, keep moving forward, second place!"

The distance from the last hurdle to the finish line in the men's 110-meter hurdles is 14.02 meters. This stage is a comprehensive test of sprinting technique and physical reserves.

After clearing the 10th hurdle, Xie Wenjun quickly entered the sprint stage, maintaining the stability of her previous movements.

It exhibits the characteristics of "full release and precise control", bringing its competitive potential to the extreme.

The quality of the final hurdle directly affects speed performance in the final sprint, and Xie Wenjun optimized his technique for this crucial moment. Compared to his hurdling of the first nine hurdles, he made two significant adjustments in the take-off and attack phase of the final hurdle.

First, the takeoff and push-off force was appropriately increased. Considering that stronger horizontal propulsion is needed in the sprint stage, Xie Wenjun increased the contraction intensity of her lower limb muscles by about 10% compared to the previous hurdles when taking off and pushing off the ground in the last hurdle. The peak power of the push-off reached 3000 watts. By increasing the push-off force, the horizontal speed during the airborne phase was increased to 8.8 meters per second, laying a faster initial speed for the sprint stage.

From a technical point of view, his knee joint extension angle when he pushes off the ground reaches 170 degrees, which is 5 degrees higher than the previous hurdles. The greater extension angle allows the muscle contraction to be longer, thus producing a stronger force.

Secondly, there was a slight adjustment to the takeoff trajectory. In order to shorten the takeoff time of the last hurdle and start the sprint earlier, Xie Wenjun further lowered the takeoff trajectory of the last hurdle, with the highest point of her body center about 1.25 meters from the ground, only 18 centimeters higher than the hurdle, reducing the takeoff time to 0.35 seconds, which is 0.03 seconds less than the previous hurdles.

This minor adjustment ensured the safety of hurdling while minimizing time loss, demonstrating his accurate judgment of the technical requirements at different stages of the competition.

In the final push after the hurdle, Xie Wenjun's technique became more compact and efficient. The landing cushioning time was shortened to 0.1 seconds, 0.05 seconds less than the previous hurdles. Immediately after the cushioning, she launched her push-off, increasing the speed of the push-off by 8% compared to the previous hurdles. Through the combination of "short cushioning and fast power generation," she quickly converted the kinetic energy after clearing the hurdle into sprint speed.

At this point, his upper body leans slightly forward, increasing the angle of inclination from 20 degrees during the hurdle phase to 25 degrees. By increasing the forward lean angle, he further reduces air resistance and improves sprint efficiency.

Entering the pure sprint stage, after the last bar, we arrive at the finish line.

Xie Wenjun's core technique has shifted from "controlling the rhythm between hurdles" to "releasing full speed".

Its technical movements exhibit a triple characteristic of "explosiveness, continuity, and stability".

Judging from his leg movements, his stride frequency and stride length were optimally matched. During the sprint phase, his stride frequency increased to 4.2 steps per second, 0.4 steps higher than during the hurdle phase, while his stride length remained at around 2.9 meters. Through the combination of "high frequency and long stride length," his sprint speed continued to climb to 9.2 meters per second.

Observe its pushing-off action. After the forefoot lands, the ankle joint quickly plantarflexes, and the knee and hip joints quickly straighten, forming a "three-joint coordinated push-off" power generation mode. This power generation mode can maximize the mobilization of the lower limb muscle groups and efficiently convert muscle energy into propulsion.

At the same time, the swing amplitude of his lower leg increased significantly. After the swinging leg pushed off the ground, the lower leg quickly folded towards the thigh and then extended forward. The cycle speed of folding and extending reached 2.1 times per second, which accelerated the swing rhythm of his leg.

Upper limb movements played a crucial role in balance and assist during the sprint phase. Xie Wenjun's arm swing amplitude increased by about 20 centimeters compared to the hurdle phase, and the swing speed increased to 4.8 meters per second. Her arms swung back and forth with a large amplitude around the shoulder axis, and the swing direction was consistent with the direction of the leg push-off, using the inertia of the arms to propel the body forward.

At this moment, his hands are in a semi-fist position, and his elbows are bent at a stable angle of about 90 degrees. This posture can reduce air resistance when swinging the arms, while keeping the shoulder muscles relaxed and avoiding stiffness caused by excessive tension.

Observe the state of his shoulders. They remain level and stable throughout, without any side-to-side swaying or up-and-down movement. Through the coordinated exertion of the core muscles and shoulder muscles, he ensures that the upper limb swing and the lower limb push off the ground form a perfect mechanical synergy, maximizing sprint efficiency.

"Xie Wenjun!"

"Cover the line!"

"They should be second in the group!"

"Let's see the final results."

Yang Jian glanced at the final score given by the director and immediately shouted—

"Shane Braswait, first in the group, 13.28."

"Chinese athlete Xie Wenjun finished second in her group with a time of 13.35!"

"Direct advancement!"

"Jamaican athlete Omar McLeod is third with a score of 13.43..."

"Liu Xiang, what do you think?"

"He did a good job." Liu Xiang smiled. "He's much more mature than before. Look at the slow-motion replay. He was able to maintain his speed calmly after the final moments, without wasting energy. That's quite impressive."

"His ability to perform like this in a major competition shows that he has a plan for the entire competition."

"I'm still really looking forward to the upcoming matches."

"Yes, this can be considered a good start for the short track speed skating event."

"I hope the other contestants can build on this foundation and continue their efforts."

"Unleash your best self at the Bird's Nest!"