They promised to win the swimming championship, but what's with this "Grand Slam" thi

Chapter 61 Even CCTV was alarmed!

"Oooo!"

"First!"

"Holy crap, 22.01 seconds, I almost got it to 22 seconds!"

"This guy broke his Personal Best again!"

"Three records in hand..."

"..."

The Chinese swimming team members on the field were cheering excitedly, while the faces of the swimming team members from other countries were not so pleasant.

Especially in Russia.

Popov's return to the top at this World Championships is a triumphant return. He just won the 100m freestyle and is in incredibly strong form. Moreover, in this semi-final, everyone could feel his desire for first place.

Unlike the other contestants in his group, he wasn't just aiming for a spot in the next round.

Two of the guys clearly let go in the last few meters.

Even the audience can see that.

After all, it's only a semi-final, there's no need to fight to the death. The real showdown will be in the final two hours later!
Popov, on the other hand, fought Wu Jin to the very last moment, maintaining the level of skill expected of a world record holder in this event.

Unfortunately... it was still almost 0.1 seconds slower in the end.

Popov's time remains at 22.09 seconds!

His results were exactly the same as in the group stage, but he actually swam even harder than in the group stage. Wu Jin's first place had some influence on him.

This effect may seem subtle, but in fact, Popov swam better in the later stages of the race than he did in the group stage.

The reason why the results didn't change is that the rhythm, acceleration in the early stages, and other aspects were not as smooth as in the group stage.

"Mark, I take back what I just said!"

In the stands, David Saroo of the US team spoke seriously to his head coach, Mark Schubert, beside him.

This semifinal group also includes American athletes, and there are three of them: the black and white duo who won gold medals in this event at the last Sydney Olympics—Anthony Irwin and Gary Hall—as well as the young Jason Lezak!
Old Hall was even Mark Schubert's teammate back then.

Unfortunately, apart from Jason Lezak, the other two did not perform well this time. Anthony Irwin even came in last place, swimming only 22.39 seconds, and is likely to miss the final.

Gary Hall finished fifth, a bit faster than Thorpe, with a time of 22.20 seconds!

Advancement will depend on the performance of the next group of contestants.

Conversely, Jason Lezak, the young athlete whom the American team felt had the least hope before the competition, and who is a future gold medalist in the 100m freestyle at the Beijing Olympics, unexpectedly won third place.

Meanwhile, Cesar Cielo, who is expected to be the top performer, finished seventh with a time of 22.35 seconds, which was a bit slower than his group stage performance, meaning he will likely miss the final as well.

This guy's peak hasn't arrived yet; his average time is around 22.30 seconds.

The so-called best PB of 21.99 seconds can only be achieved in other countries.

"If this young Chinese athlete achieves this time in the final, 22.01 seconds should be enough to place in the top three!"

After David Salo finished speaking, Mark Schubert's expression became very serious: "This kid is definitely a strong contender for the gold medal in the 50-meter freestyle event in the future!"

We were all wrong!

"That's right!"

"At least that's how it is for now!"

"Some people of East Asian descent don't reach puberty until they are 15 years old, which means..."

David Saroo glanced at Schubert, who said calmly, "Athens!"

A strong contender for a medal in the men's 50m freestyle at the Athens Olympics.

While gold medals are important at the World Championships, two World Championship gold medals are not as valuable as one Olympic gold medal.

This is true all over the world.

The popularity of the Olympic Games means that the value derived from a small country winning a gold medal can far exceed the cost of advertising.

Take China as an example. Even though Zhang Lin won gold at the World Championships and broke the world record, along with an Olympic silver medal, the first medal for men in swimming, and many other honors, his fame and status are still far inferior to those of several later Olympic swimming champions.

Not to mention Sun Yang, Wang Shun and Xu Jiayu are much more famous than him.

The US team has always placed the greatest emphasis on swimming events at the Olympics.

This is their key to winning gold.

Not a single piece could be spared.

Another one is track and field, which is also a major gold medal event for the Americans. Bolt is so amazing that he was tested more than 200 times a year!

These days, anyone who tries to outdo the Americans will pay a heavy price.

"I need detailed information about this child!"

Schubert pressed his thumb to his brow, a habitual gesture when he was thinking: "He is our greatest short-range threat in Athens!"

"This concept of 'early stage' and 'late stage' applies to the entire freestyle leg of the race!"

That is, 50, 100, 200, and even 1500 are all applicable.

Participating in the 50-meter race now doesn't mean you'll only swim the 50-meter race in Athens!

With advantages in both the early and late stages, if Schubert were to train this child, he would definitely have him compete in both the 100m and 50m butterfly events!

If this 100-meter dash produces good results, it will be much more meaningful than the 50-meter freestyle.

Because of 100, you can participate in countless projects.

Relay, individual, mixed relay... one person can win 2-3 medals.

To be honest, 50 meters is still too monotonous!

"Okay, I'll tidy it up when I get back!"

"With this kind of future talent, if his journey were any longer, I can't even imagine how fierce his final burst of power would be?"

In the eyes of professionals, Wu Jin's talent is overflowing.

Take his start against Thorpe as an example. After emerging from the water at 9 meters, he was faster than Thorpe. If he had maintained a long underwater glide of 14 meters like Thorpe, he would have gained a greater boost in stamina in the later stages.

And with his abnormal explosive power that can reach its maximum value at 9 meters, what kind of acceleration is this?
To put it simply, Thorpe's starting ability is arguably the best in the world among active players. After all, Thorpe's starting ability is widely recognized as the best in the world today.

Wu Jin just completely blew him away.

The key point is that Wu Jin still has a lot of room for improvement, which makes it seem even more exaggerated.

David Saroo seemed to drift off into a trance as he thought about it.

Meanwhile, the second heat of the 50m freestyle semifinals was about to begin.

Hogenband, who was considered a strong favorite to win the tournament before the competition, made his appearance in this group.

The previously noisy atmosphere instantly fell silent again.

At this moment, Wu Jin was in the back field when Xu Guoyi excitedly picked him up again and led him towards the competition inspection area.

"Follow me! Lots of reporters wanted to interview you, but I chased them away!"

"What a joke! The finals are just around the corner. I think these guys are doing this on purpose!"

Xu Guoyi was cursing and talking at the same time.

Meanwhile, Luo Qing, the CCTV special correspondent for the World Championships whom he mentioned, looked helplessly at the empty backstage area of ​​the swimming team and said to his assistant, "Quickly call the station, we have a male swimmer who has made it to the finals, and this result is medal-worthy!"

"I'll look again!"

He was determined to get an interview with this prodigy who broke two Asian records in one day.

As a CCTV sports reporter who is often on the road, he is also a bit of a data expert.

22.01 seconds. The previous Olympic record before the Sydney Olympics was 22.03 seconds. That means that, except for the previous Games, it would have been a champion-level time. Even in Sydney, it would have been a third-place finisher.

Gary Hall and Anthony Irwin swam a tie of 21.98 seconds, breaking the Olympic Games record.

Therefore, this result definitely puts them in contention for the championship.

How could CCTV possibly miss a match like this?

Especially since it's late at night or early morning, it's quite normal to add a live broadcast of the Chinese swimming finals, as CCTV has already obtained the broadcasting rights for this World Championships.

……

At the same time, in the imperial capital.

CCTV's famous host and commentator Han Qiaosheng is preparing for the upcoming Barcelona World Swimming Championships, specifically the women's 4x100m medley relay race.

The Chinese women's swimming team has a good chance of winning a medal in this event, and Luo Xuejuan, the breaststroke queen who just won two gold medals a couple of days ago, will also be competing.

Many swimming enthusiasts stayed up all night waiting for the start of this competition.

Han Qiaosheng was no exception.

He and Zhang Mengmeng were responsible for the commentary of the two matches where Luo Xuejuan won the championship a few days ago.

Although Zhang Mengmeng is a retired synchronized swimmer, she has obtained a swimming referee certificate and studies at the Communication University of China, making her a highly professional commentator for swimming events.

She was specially transferred from Shandong TV because of the special circumstances of the World Swimming Championships.

Jingle Bell!
The phone on Han Qiaosheng's desk rang.

He flipped through the materials of the athletes in front of him, looked up at the incoming call, and then reached out to pick up the microphone.

"Teacher Han, this is a notice from the station!"

"We urgently need to arrange a live broadcast of the World Swimming Championships. One of our male swimmers has qualified for the 50-meter freestyle final!"

"50 meters? Who?"

Han Qiaosheng blinked; he had clearly been doing live streams for a while: "Wu Jin? That 12-year-old who broke the Asian record?"

"Correct!"

"Wu Jin broke the Asian record again in the semifinals and is now aiming for the gold medal!"

"Good boy!"

Han Qiaosheng pushed up his glasses and a smile appeared on his face: "Okay, I'll organize the data on the 50-meter freestyle athletes right away!"

"Teacher Han, what's the good news? Why are you so happy?"

Zhang Mengmeng, who was standing next to her, also turned her head.

"That young athlete who just broke the Asian record this morning has made it to the finals!"

"The station is going to broadcast this match live!"

"what?"

Zhang Mengmeng's eyes widened: "50 meters? You've made it to the finals?"

"Yes, unexpected, right?"

"I'm more surprised than you!"

"I didn't expect that..."

Han Qiaosheng laughed heartily: "The 50m freestyle final in Atlanta is still fresh in my mind, and now someone else has made it to the final in this event!"

"He's only 12 years old!"

"12 years old..."

To be honest, when Han Qiaosheng saw the news from the station that morning, he had to read it several times before he believed it.

Unexpectedly, they've made it to the finals, and it's said they might even be able to compete for a medal!

"That's something to celebrate!"

"It's not easy for the men to make it to the finals!"

There are very few male swimmers who have made it to the finals of the World Swimming Championships.

Not to mention he was only 12 years old and broke two Asian records!
"Get ready quickly, let's see who the experts are!"

Han Qiaosheng had already put aside the data from the 4x100m mixed relay and started asking his assistant to help compile the list of athletes who had advanced to the finals... especially their resumes, etc., which he needed to know by heart.

　There's one more chapter. If you can't wait, read it tomorrow morning... I've deleted the draft... I need to revise and rewrite it now!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)