Football: Starting from the 05 World Youth Championship

"Going out so late?"

Klaus Schön found it strange, as Lin Feng rarely took leave, especially during training.

"I'm going out to watch a game, and I'll be back before 10 o'clock!"

"Okay, just be careful."

If it were anyone else, the old man might have given them a few more words of advice, but with Lin Feng, there was absolutely no need for that.

It wasn't that Klaus Toppmöller was giving Lin Feng preferential treatment or special privileges, but rather that he believed in Lin Feng's character.

If all the team members could be as self-disciplined as him, the old man would have much less to worry about.

The Beijing Olympic Village is not far from the Bird's Nest, only three kilometers away as the crow flies.

After leaving the building, he found a shuttle bus that was in service. He took the shuttle bus to the outside of the Olympic Village, where a black Audi was already waiting for him.

"Son, over here!"

When Lin Feng came out, his mother rolled down the car window and waved vigorously at him.

Lin Feng assumed his father was driving and instinctively prepared to sit in the back seat.

"Go to the front, the back is full!"

Before my hand even touched the doorknob, I heard my dad's voice coming from the back seat.

Lin Feng was stunned for a moment, then saw the front window roll down, revealing a stunningly beautiful profile.

Wearing sunglasses, Liu Yifei turned around and glanced at him, then spoke with a confident air:
"Get in the car, we can't stay here for long!"

Lin Feng quickly got into the passenger seat. Although he was very curious, he saw Liu Yifei winking at him, so he suppressed his curiosity and didn't ask.

Heading east along Anxiang North Road, the three-kilometer journey will soon be complete.

Liu Yifei drove steadily and smoothly throughout the journey, and her driving skills were unanimously recognized by the two elders.

Lin Feng was speechless. How could he possibly tell anything from just a few kilometers?
My parents have really taken a liking to their daughter-in-law; they find her pleasing no matter what they look at. Even if she doesn't have any redeeming qualities, they'll find something to praise.

Liu Xiang gave them tickets to the VIP box. After parking their cars in the Bird's Nest's underground parking lot, they went directly to the VIP box on the fourth floor via the VIP elevator.

When going through security, the two security personnel clearly recognized Lin Feng, especially the female security officer, whose eyes never left Lin Feng.

However, since it was during working hours, they were too embarrassed to ask Lin Feng for an autograph or a photo.

Lin Feng naturally wouldn't offer it to them if they didn't want it; what if those two weren't his fans? That would be awkward.
People should have some self-awareness. Many celebrities think they are very famous, as if the whole world knows them. In reality, even the Secretary-General of the United Nations cannot make everyone remember his name.

However, as soon as they got on the elevator, the two security personnel couldn't help but start chatting.

Woman: "Was that Lin Feng who just passed by? He's even more handsome in person than on TV!"

Man: "Is that Lin Feng? I didn't pay much attention; I only noticed the woman behind him."

Woman: "Which woman? Young or old?"

Man: "The young man, the one standing next to him, doesn't he look familiar?"

Woman: "Now that you mention it, he does look somewhat familiar..."

……

"Luckily I was wearing a mask, otherwise I almost would have been recognized!"

Inside the elevator, Liu Yifei said with lingering fear.

Lin Feng casually put his hand on her shoulder and said nonchalantly:
"So what if they recognized us? We're already engaged. We can just go public with our relationship!"

The two had already been rumored to be dating earlier this month, but neither of them has publicly responded to the matter.

But in this day and age, with everyone owning a smartphone with a built-in camera, it's almost impossible to keep the relationship a secret forever, so it's only a matter of time before it's made public.

Lin Feng was quite unfazed by this. Since he didn't intend to use his single status to flirt around, the announcement was no big deal and wouldn't affect him much.

However, this may have some impact on Liu Yifei's career, since as a "fairy sister," she has an astonishing number of male fans.

If her relationship were to be made public, countless male fans would be heartbroken.

Upon opening the private room, they found that it was already occupied, and it was none other than Yao Ming's entire family.

After the two sides introduced themselves, Yao Ming nudged Lin Feng on the shoulder and gestured towards Liu Yifei with his lip:

"Your girlfriend?"

Lin Feng shook his head: "No, she's my fiancée!"

"Tsk, kid, you're something else! You managed to hook up with such a big star without making a sound!"

Liu Yifei, who was chatting with Ye Li, seemed to sense something, glanced in their direction, and smiled at Lin Feng. Her smile made the whole room seem brighter.

"Let me know in advance when you're getting married, so I can give you a gift!"

"Probably the year after next, I'll definitely let you know then!"

"Haha, great! Your sister-in-law and I will definitely come to give you our blessings when the time comes!"

Just as they were talking, a burst of enthusiastic cheers suddenly erupted outside the private room.

Everyone in the private room stopped talking and turned to look at the entrance of the Bird's Nest.

Wearing a red racing suit, Liu Xiang, with a confident smile, waved his hands to greet the audience as he skipped and hopped to the center of the track.

Beside him, other athletes participating in the men's 110-meter hurdles final at the Olympics also appeared one after another.

"It's Liu Xiang!"

"he came!"

"I heard that the Cuban guy is very strong and is Liu Xiang's biggest rival. Can he beat him today?"

"No problem, Liu Xiang is in excellent form for this Olympics. He has run under 13 seconds twice before. As long as he can perform normally, winning the championship should not be a problem!"

Lin Feng and Yao Ming both have high hopes for Liu Xiang. As athletes, they can tell at a glance whether the other is in good form or not.

Liu Xiang is not only in good form, but exceptionally good; his hunger for competition and honor is written all over his face.

After greeting the audience, Liu Xiang waved again towards the box where everyone was.

"Heh, this guy is greeting us!"

Liu Xiang was placed in lane five, with Cuban star Robles on his left and American star Oliver on his right.

The final match also featured players such as Payne from the United States, Doucoure from France, Morales and Richard from Jamaica.

As the camera panned across these people one by one, even though they smiled at the camera, the tense expressions on their faces revealed that they were very nervous.

Faced with Liu Xiang and Robles, two terrifying figures who have broken world records one after another, the rest of the team are basically cannon fodder. Even former American star Oliver will most likely be just there to make up the numbers.

In his current condition, it's unlikely that he poses a threat to Liu Xiang and Robles.

Barring any mistakes from either of them, the championship will most likely be decided between the two of them. The only suspense is: who will ultimately claim the title?

It is Liu Xiang, the former Olympic champion, competing on his home turf.

Or is it the current world record holder, Robles?

The suspense is about to be revealed!

"Everyone is in your place!"

As the starter's voice rang out, all the athletes crouched down in their positions, awaiting further instructions.

"preparation!"

With a loud bang, accompanied by the starter's gun, eight athletes shot off like arrows.

"Go Liu Xiang!"

"Go, Liu Xiang!"

The audience cheered and shouted with all their might for Liu Xiang.

At this very moment, hundreds of millions of households across China are watching the same video on their televisions, with the entire nation focused on this thrilling competition.

In 2008, Liu Xiang had not yet changed his starting technique and was still using the traditional eight-step approach to the hurdle.

However, thanks to his excellent reaction speed, Liu Xiang did not fall behind at the start and even led most of the athletes.

But Robles, as the world record holder, was in equally hot form. He not only kept up with Liu Xiang, but even seemed to be ahead of him.

When Liu Xiang was clearing the first hurdle, the camera from the side of the track showed him trailing his opponent by about half a body length.

But in this era, Liu Xiang's hurdling skills were the best in the world.

At the second barrier, the distance between the two did not increase; on the contrary, it seemed to be decreasing.

By the third hurdle, the distance between the two had noticeably narrowed, and they were now less than half a body length apart.

"Go, Liu Xiang!"

"Just a little bit more, almost overtake him!"

The stadium was filled with a cacophony of noise; the decibels created by the fans' cheers deeply stimulated every athlete present.

However, Liu Xiang remained remarkably calm on the track, as if he had entered a state of complete absorption.

At this moment, he no longer saw the stands, the audience, or even his opponents; only a straight track lay before him.

At this moment, his only opponent is himself!
Countless training sessions flashed through his mind like slides. With extreme focus and stability, Liu Xiang attacked the hurdle, descended the hurdle, and after maintaining a steady rhythm through the three steps between the hurdles, he attacked and descended the hurdle again...

There wasn't a single mistake, and the results were even better than during regular training!

How many seconds did it take him to go from the third hurdle to the fourth hurdle?

Liu Xiang's coach, Sun Haiping, hurriedly pressed his assistant coach for an answer, which left him speechless:

"0.97 seconds!"

"What? Say that again!?"

Sun Haiping immediately became excited. Two years ago, at the IAAF Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, Liu Xiang broke the world record, and his average time for each hurdle was 0.98 seconds.

It's even faster now than that time. What does that mean?
When Liu Xiang cleared the fourth hurdle, he had almost caught up with Robles.

He sensed the Cuban opponent closing in out of the corner of his eye and was clearly getting anxious.

His strongest move is his explosive power at the start, which establishes an unshakeable lead during the first three hurdles.

However, now, not to mention the first three hurdles, I'm about to finish the fifth hurdle and I still haven't shaken off my opponent?

How could he not be anxious? You have to know that Liu Xiang's hurdling technique is unparalleled, his control over the rhythm of each hurdle is extremely strong, and he rarely makes mistakes.

If I keep running, it will be almost impossible for me to shake him off; in fact, I might even be overtaken by him.

The Cuban, whose mentality was affected, almost made a mistake when jumping the fifth hurdle due to excessive fluctuations in his center of gravity.

Robles' performance in the second half of the game was consistently weak, making him easily susceptible to interference from his opponents.

If he maintains a lead throughout the race and doesn't see any opponents, he can continue running smoothly.

However, once a competitor gets close enough to put pressure on him, his weakness of unstable mentality will be exposed.

But no matter how anxious he was, it was no use. Liu Xiang, who had a better rhythm between hurdles, had already overtaken the Cuban by a slight margin when he cleared the sixth hurdle.

"Go, Liu Xiang!"

The audience in the stands went almost crazy the moment Liu Xiang overtook Robles, and their voices suddenly rose a lot.

At this moment, their biggest worry is that Liu Xiang will make a mistake, trip over the hurdles, or have his rhythm affected.

When we were behind, we were worried about whether Liu Xiang could catch up. But after he caught up, we were worried about whether he would make a mistake.

The entire nation is incredibly worried about Liu Xiang!
However, what everyone feared did not happen, and Liu Xiang steadily cleared the seventh and eighth hurdles.

With only two hurdles and a 10-meter sprint distance behind them in front of him, Liu Xiang was just 30 meters away from his second Olympic gold medal!
By the seventh hurdle, Liu Xiang's lead had grown to almost half a body length.

These advantages continue to amplify when crossing the eighth and ninth hurdles.

Robles was in a hurry, but the more anxious he became, the less effective it was.

Because of the barrier, his explosive power advantage could not be utilized.

Trying to speed up will only disrupt your rhythm and make you run slower.

By the time he cleared the eighth hurdle, Liu Xiang's lead had expanded to more than half a body length.

By the ninth hurdle, Liu Xiang was already a full body length ahead of his opponents.

At this point, no one doubted who had won the gold medal; everyone had only one question in their minds:
Can Liu Xiang break Robles' world record?
The answer was quickly revealed: after successfully clearing the tenth hurdle, Liu Xiang activated his acceleration sprint mode the moment he landed, becoming the first to rush towards the finish line.

Robles only started sprinting when he had sprinted more than a meter, almost two meters.

Even Usain Bolt couldn't save us from this gap.

Without any suspense, Liu Xiang was the first to cross the finish line.

After Liu Xiang crossed the finish line, the once noisy stadium suddenly fell silent.

Everyone held their breath, watching the electronic timer screen beside the runway with a mixture of anticipation and fear.

A string of bright red numbers appeared on the electronic screen: 12:80 seconds!
A new world record has been set!
This time is a full 0.07 seconds faster than the previous world record held by Robles!
Liu Xiang not only defeated his former self, but also world record holder Robles, pushing the limits of the men's 110-meter hurdles forward by a significant margin!

The wind speed measured at the scene was 0.1 meters downwind, which is within the normal range. This means that this achievement is recorded in the trophy and becomes a new world record!
Robles ran a time of 12:93 after giving it his all, a full 0.13 seconds slower than Liu Xiang. If Liu Xiang hadn't affected his mentality, he might have been even faster.

But no matter how fast he is, he can't shake Liu Xiang's position.

Because this is a height he has never reached before!
After the race, a photo of Liu Xiang draped in the national flag and posing against the electronic display screen showing the new world record became a classic memory for the nation of this Olympic Games. (End of Chapter)