[Short track speed skating] From academic master to Winter Olympic champion

Unlike the 4×100-meter and 4×200-meter relay races in track and field or swimming, the rules of the short-track speed skating relay race are particularly complicated.

There are about 5000 laps in the men's 45-meter relay.There must be a baton change after the first lap, there must be a baton change in the last three laps, and the last two laps must be completed by a single athlete.

The four players in the more than 40 laps in the middle are randomly assigned, and there is no limit to the number of laps each player can skate, and there is no limit to the number of times they play.

Such rules endow the short-track speed skating relay with a high degree of freedom. Each team is concentrating on the reasonable allocation of passes and more unexpected tactics.

It is precisely because of this that the game has added more suspense and drama, the process is ups and downs, and the final champion is unpredictable.

14-16岁年龄组男子5000米接力是最后的压轴大站。所有500米、1000米和1500米三个单项的优秀运动员都聚集在这里，来自四支队伍的16名队员将进行最后的角逐。

Before going to the inspection, Xu Qing called the four team members to his side, and finally told him: "Although Province H is very strong, there will always be various unimaginable accidents in the relay race. You must always remember the two point."

"Number one, don't give up on the game no matter what happens."

"Second, don't be influenced by others, you must follow your own rhythm."

"Did you hear clearly?"

Four people said in unison: "Listen clearly!"

"Go check it out."

There are too many people gathered in the inspection room, all of them are about fourteen or fifteen years old, and they are full of energy.We have participated in so many games together, even if we are not a team, we are already familiar with it.

There are opponents on the court, and buddies off the court, chatting and fighting with each other, so noisy that the staff on the side can't help but step forward to stop them.

"Whoever makes any more noise, I will disqualify him from the competition."

Gu Ran only sat with his three teammates from the beginning to the end, discussing their tactics in the game.

When Xu Qing formulated tactics for them, he said: "The simplest is the most effective."

After all, they only had two weeks to practice the relay race together. Firstly, they might not be able to understand the complicated tactics, and secondly, they might not be able to remember them. After all, there are too many laps, and mistakes are easy to make.

Generally speaking, the absolute speed of athletes is about one and a half laps, that is, they can maintain the fastest speed in one and a half laps of skating, and after one and a half laps, the speed will drop.

Therefore, the most mainstream handover method in the short track speed skating relay race is to handover once a lap and a half.

Calculated in this way, the last rod will be the turn of the player who skates the second rod.He needs to complete two laps alone, and finally cross the finish line.

Therefore, the second bat is the main bat, and it must be the most explosive and fastest player in this relay team.

Without exception, the four teams all chose the 500-meter main event to skate the second leg.

Province H is Chi Lang, and Province J is Gu Ran.The other two provinces are Province R and Province L, both of which are very strong teams, and most of the players are also opponents that Gu Ran has encountered in previous individual competitions.

He made a general observation, and finally decided to face the reality and try his best to win a medal. As for No.1, let's not think about it this time.

Before playing the game, Gu Ran had already thought that the game screen would be very chaotic, but he didn't expect that it would be like this when he really stood on the field.

The first shot started, and Province J fell to the end.This was expected by Gu Ran, but the other three provinces also fought fiercely.

Gu Ran, the first person in the H provincial skating, was very impressive. He was a 1500-meter skater. He was not outstanding in the first half, but he worked hard in the second half, and finally took second place.

This is a pure endurance player. Explosive power is not his strong point. After the start, he failed to grab the first place, but fell to the second place.

The first lap was only about ten seconds away, and Gu Ran immediately merged into the track to prepare for the handover.The moment he was pushed out by his teammates, Wuyang Wuyang was full of people in front of him, which made him dizzy.

The skating distance is one and a half laps, and there are only three curves. Gu Ran doesn't need to save his energy, he just skates at the fastest speed.

The first three people were entangled in the inner way, and he had no chance at all.I had no choice but to cut off the outside lane and take advantage of my own speed. For the second time today, under the watchful eyes of everyone, an outside lane overtook.

At the top of the stands, Cheng Sen saw this scene, and the smile on his face became more obvious: "He is really... very confident."

Song Zhixin said: "Young people, self-confidence is a very good quality."

"Fine, I like his confidence."

Gu Ran surpassed the opponent from Province L in front of him, but they were about to come out of the corner, so he could only merge into the inner lane first to prepare for the next handover.

He thought that Chi Lang was still in second place, but when he took a closer look, he had rushed to the first place at some point.

Immediately afterwards, the third and fourth rods appeared one after another. After several handovers, Province H has firmly established itself as the leader.

Behind, the other three teams competed for the second position and took turns to move forward.

The results of the three teammates were mediocre, and Gu Ran didn't have a single complaint. As long as he played, he would desperately chase after him.Even if they knew, the four players from Province J were equally strong, and even the one with the weaker speed was still the 1500-meter champion.

However, the game is not at the end, he still has to go all out.

Almost every time he plays, there will be an overtaking. If the inner lane has a chance, he will overtake from the inner lane.

At the end, the audience in the stands were looking forward to his great play:

"Look, look! The No. 194 contestant is about to take over again."

"I'm really looking forward to it. They are currently in third place, and they should be able to surpass the second place in this lap and a half."

"His route and timing are too precise. Every time he overtakes the opponent, his body moves forward, and he is quick and neat, super handsome!"

"..."

Gu Ran's eyes passed over the players in front, staring at Chi Lang.Even if you can't beat them, make them your goal.

Sliding down lap after lap, the further back the race got, the more chaotic it became.I don't know if some teams have other tactical arrangements, or the players make their own decisions.

After more than [-] laps in the race, even the passing of the baton began to become chaotic. Some began to hand over the baton in one lap, and some passed the baton in two laps.

When he wasn't playing, Gu Ran kept observing his opponent. Although the situation on the field was a mess, he was still mobilizing his brain cells at a high speed, trying to remember the situation on the field as much as possible.

At this time, another accident happened on the field, and his teammates had slight physical contact with a player from Province L.

"Danger!!!"

The audience in the stands couldn't help but exclaimed.During high-speed skating, even slight physical contact can cause athletes to lose their balance and fall off the field.

In order to pursue extreme speed, the skates under their feet are extremely sharp. Although the athletes' onesies and gloves are anti-cutting, it is still dangerous to wrestle during the competition.

Fortunately, the two reacted quickly enough and adjusted in time without causing serious consequences of flying off the track.

But this also directly caused them to fall to the end, and distanced themselves from the No.2 Province R.The H province in front is already far ahead, and there are still nine laps left in the race.

Seeing this scene, the two teammates next to them were a little frustrated. They could have won No.2 after a hard fight, but now they are back to the familiar fourth place.

What Xu Qing said to them before the game flashed in Gu Ran's mind: "No matter what happens, don't give up the game."

Before handing over the baton, he put one hand on the shoulders of the two teammates, and quickly whispered in their ears: "Don't worry, the game is not over yet, and no one knows what will happen."

"If you don't give up, there may be miracles. If you give up, you will have no chance at all."

At the final stage of the game, in addition to cheering from the audience, the coaching area on the sidelines also kept shouting.

"Steady, pay attention to the back!"

"Go, go, don't hesitate!"

"..."

The coaches loudly conveyed information to their players, but with the noise level in the entire stadium and the high tension, the athletes couldn't hear what they shouted at all.

Gu Ran was still working hard to catch up. After he took over the baton, he overtook Province L at the first corner and returned to the third place.

Accidents continued on the field, especially in the final stage, when the athletes' physical fitness was severely reduced and mistakes were frequent.

The speed of province H, which is as strong as H, also began to slow down. The players from province R behind them seized the opportunity, increased their speed again, and competed with province H for the first position.

Seeing this scene, eight words suddenly flashed in Gu Ran's mind - snipe and clam fighting.

Why can't he be that profitable fisherman?

Seeing this in the game, Song Zhixin shook his head and sighed: "These young players are still too young. If they encounter a little problem, the whole person, and even the whole team, will be in chaos. None of them is calm."

Cheng Sen shook his head: "Yes, Chi Lang and Gu Ran are very calm. In this relay race, the champion will definitely be between province H and province J."

"Province J?" Song Zhixin frowned, "They probably have no chance."

"If it was the province of J before, there would be no such thing. But in this relay race, they have an extra Gu Ran, that's for sure."

Song Zhixin's eyes fell on Gu Ran involuntarily, even though it was not his best time now: "You really like this Gu Ran."

"He is so good, I believe every coach will like him."

"If I remember correctly, you said not long ago that he had an insurmountable defect."

Cheng Sen was noncommittal: "There is no shortcoming that cannot be overcome. I mean, if he cannot overcome this shortcoming, it will be difficult to reach the pinnacle of his career."

He thought for a while and added: "However, he is born with certain qualities, and if he doesn't have them, he will never have them, and he can't get them if he asks for them."

What he said was too mysterious, and Song Zhixin really didn't know what some of the qualities he said were.

Let's continue to watch the game, in the end there are still...

This mess, I don't know how many laps are left.

Not to mention that the audience in the stands didn't know, the players on the field had no idea about the number of laps long ago.

In short-track speed skating, when the baton is handed over, the next player merges into the track, and the previous player is behind him, pushing his body to complete the handover.

At this time, the next handover is about to take place on the field, and the members of the other three teams have lined up and are ready to merge into the track, including Chi Lang.

Someone behind him gently pushed Gu Ran: "What are you in a daze for, hurry up, this is the last list."

Gu Ran stood there without moving. The competition on the field became more and more intense, and the nervousness of the other players in the marker block also reached its peak.

Province L fell to the end and had no chance to compete for medals, while provinces H, R and J were almost the same and all had hope.

The teammate was in a hurry: "Don't be dazed, hurry up!"

Gu Ran shook his head lightly: "No." Instead, he gave his teammates a hand: "It's your turn!"

The teammate was dumbfounded: "But you are the main force, and you should complete the sprint in the last two laps!"

Gu Ran didn't have time to explain to him, so she pushed the person over.The teammates had no choice but to merge into the track and start skating, preparing to hand over the baton.