Orc Undead Sports Warrior

Chapter 217 Teammates Advance

They've all made it to the semi-finals, which is hard for many foreign coaches, athletes, and media to believe.

Historically, China's men's 1-meter sprint has not yielded any notable results in major international competitions. Usually, one athlete wins the medal but is then eliminated in the preliminary rounds.

This is a true reflection of the performance of Chinese men's 1-meter athletes in major competitions in the past. Even in Asia, Chinese athletes do not have much of an advantage, and winning a medal is the best result they can achieve.

So today's results surprised the world's media. Of the three players who entered the semi-finals, apart from Liu Wei, the other two athletes were not favored. Unexpectedly, the three Chinese players were able to enter the semi-finals together.

It's worth noting that, besides China, only four other countries—Jamaica, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Trinidad and Tobago—have all three of their players making it to the semi-finals.

With three athletes advancing to the semifinals, Chinese men's sprinting has finally come into the global spotlight. China's biggest Asian rival, Japan, only has two athletes qualified.

"The men's sprint has given the Chinese track and field team a great start at the Olympics!"

Cui Dayong was very satisfied with the results of the Chinese men's sprinters. After the race, he personally came down to shake hands with the team members.

In the two events that started in the morning, the members of the Chinese track and field team both advanced to the next round, which made Cui Dayong particularly happy.

However, of the five events held in the morning, only two had athletes advance to the finals. No Chinese athletes qualified for the women's heptathlon, men's hammer throw, or women's 800m.

After the morning's competition, the athletes had an afternoon of rest before the evening competition started at 7 p.m.

Before the evening match began, the entire stadium was filled with spectators again. Because it was an evening game, all 91 seats were truly sold out.

"Good evening, viewers. You are now watching CCTV Sports Channel's broadcast of the Olympic track and field events. Today is the first day of the Olympic Games, and two gold medals will be awarded tonight in the men's shot put and the women's 1-meter race."

Today, Liu Wei, the Chinese athlete who garnered much attention, secured first place among all 45 competitors in the morning's qualifying rounds. As the silver medalist at the Osaka World Championships, he is considered one of the favorites to win the gold medal in this competition. In the morning's races, the performance of the other athletes was only average, with only six athletes reaching the qualifying time of 20.35 meters.

Yang Li, the host of the track and field events, appeared full of energy. As a professional commentator for track and field events, he made his first appearance on screen at this Olympic Games.

"It's that chubby young man again. He seems to have gained weight since I saw him on TV last year!"

6. Dad blew on the freshly brewed tea and then took a sip.

"Finally, we can see our family's 6-star team competing. Track and field events are usually only broadcast on the scale of the World Championships and the Olympics."

6. After cleaning up the kitchen, Mom also sat down in front of the TV.

On the field, the athletes participating in the 1-meter semi-finals had finished their warm-up and were beginning the check-in process.

"Fortunately, we trained according to this schedule for the months leading up to the competition. Otherwise, this time of day would be right after we've eaten and are digesting our food, so who would have the energy to run!"

The speaker was Zhang Yuanteng, who liked to relieve stress by muttering to himself. The evening's competition was clearly much more difficult than the morning's.

The 4 athletes who entered the semi-finals were divided into 5 groups. The top 3 from each group directly advanced to the semi-finals, and the best-performing member among the other team members also qualified for the semi-finals.

Liu Wei shook his head helplessly. This guy's way of relieving stress was really unbearable for others. He had been in this state ever since dinner.

"Why are you being so indecisive? Just go out there and fight in the match, what are you afraid of?!"

Shen Liang is a straightforward person, and after enduring it for a while, he finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"What do you know! This is called distraction. If you're always on edge like this, you'll eventually break down if your mental state can't hold up."

Liu Wei's expression was very calm. During the competition, he always gave people the feeling that the next match was an exhibition match.

In his eyes, there was really nothing to be nervous about in such a competition.

"I wish I had Liu Wei's mindset. Look at you, you're even older than him, how come you've progressed so slowly these past two years?"

The 1-meter semi-finals were the second event of the evening. After the men's 15-meter race ended, the first group of runners quickly entered their lanes for their final warm-up before the race.

"We must give it our all in tonight's competition. This is our final. I'm satisfied with getting this far in the individual competition."

As Zhang Yuanteng entered the arena through the competition tunnel, Shen Liang loudly reminded him.

"Don't worry, I feel like I have a chance. I might even make it to the semifinals!"

Zhang Yuanteng smiled; it seemed that the way he was diverting his attention made him feel very relaxed.

In Group 1, where Zhang Yuanteng is located, Jamaican star Michael Fratt and Dutch Antilles player Kuranti Martina are both formidable opponents. This group also includes Japan's old rival Tsukahara Naoki and British player Williamson. The chances of advancing will basically be among these few players.

The competition began, and Michael Flat took the lead, ranking first in his group.

Following behind him was Kuranti Martina. Zhang Yuanteng in lane 7 was on par with Tsukahara Naotaka at this point. Williamson of the British team seemed to be underperforming this time, failing to keep up with the main group since the start of the match and showing a tendency to fall further and further behind.

The top two players gradually pulled away from the players behind them, and their advancement to the next round was a foregone conclusion.

The battle for the direct qualification spot was between Zhang Yuanteng and Tsukahara Naoki. Tsukahara Naoki had a better start, but he was only a body length ahead of Zhang Yuanteng.

In the later stages of the race, Zhang Yuanteng seized his advantage and staged a comeback.

The moment he crossed the finish line, Zhang Yuanteng was certain that Tsukahara Naotaka was firmly pinned behind him, and excitedly swung his fist.

His time was 10.21 seconds, just about one body length ahead of Naoki Tsukahara.

This was his first appearance in the second round of a major competition, and he was very excited to have defeated the Japanese team.

"It's surprising that this kid made it to the semifinals. I think Liu Wei is also fine. The question is whether anyone can make it to the finals this time!"

Zou Zhen looked at Zhang Yuanteng walking towards them from afar, and couldn't suppress a smile on his face.

Everyone finally got to hold their heads high for once.

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