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

After the women's 1000 meters, the men's 500 meters.All three players of the Chinese team successfully passed the semi-finals.

In the semi-finals, Gu Ran was in the first group, while Chen Yuze and Jiang Hao were in the second group.Gu Ran doesn't have any strong opponents, only his old opponent Marco.

Gu Ran successfully entered the finals, but Marco did not. He only took the third place in the group, and another promotion spot was won by a Russian teenager.

Many of the athletes who grew up with them have already retired.Some of them stood beside the coach's bench and became assistant coaches, some sat in the commentary, and some were even in the referee group.

There are not many people who are still persisting on the field, and their results are far from what they were back then.

Now, their position in the team is no longer the main force to get the ranking, but the support to protect teammates.

After the competition, Marco took the initiative to hug Gu Ran and said to him with a smile: "I am honored to be born in the same era as you. It is you who made us the most glorious era in the history of short track speed skating."

Gu Ran said: "I am also very happy to be friends with you."

Marco did not make it to the final, and the just-concluded semi-final was their last contest in individual events.

Marco is a good person. Gu Ran was injured last year, and it was the rehabilitation center that Marco recommended for him.

Although they were rivals on the field, Marco regarded him as a friend sincerely, and admired his professionalism and professional attitude very much.More than ten years have passed, and the relationship between the two has been very good.

"Little Ran!" Walking out of the ice rink, Marco called Gu Ran again: "Come on in the final, beat those brats!"

Gu Ran couldn't help laughing when she heard this. They have different nationalities. Although they are friends off the field, they have always been rivals on the field. In the last men's 5000-meter relay, they have to compete on the same field.

However, Marco said it as if the two were in the same camp from the perspective of age.Inexplicably, Gu Ran has an extra sense of mission—he wants to fight for his generation of short track speed skaters who have retired or are about to retire.

The competition in the second group semi-finals was much more intense than the first group. In addition to Jiang Hao and Chen Yuze, there were Canada's Brandon, South Korea's Guo Chengjun and Zhao Zhishuo.

None of the other three opponents was good, especially Zhao Zhishuo and Brandon.The whole team couldn't help worrying about Chen Yuze and Jiang Hao.

"This grouping is too dramatic."

"The group of death, I hope one of them can enter the final."

"Starting is important."

"My palms are sweating."

Gu Ran sat on the side calmly, looking at ease.Everyone was worried, but he didn't care.

Lin Jiaxi asked him: "You don't seem to worry about the little fanboy at all."

Gu Ran shrugged: "What is there to worry about?"

"Only by winning one of Zhao Zhishuo or Brandon can we have a chance to enter the final."

Gu Ran chuckled: "I practiced with me for a year, if he can't even make it to the finals, I'll..."

When he said this, he suddenly stopped, and Lin Jiaxi asked casually, "Slap him?"

Gu Ran shook her head: "I'll stick to it for another four years."

"..."

The referee raised his hand to signal the scene to be quiet.The starting gun sounded, and five players rushed out of the starting line at the same time.

Everyone knew in their hearts that the difficulty of standing out in this group was not much lower than winning the championship, so everyone worked hard.

Chen Yuze was in the third lane. When the kid heard the gunshot, he ignored the track and rushed forward fiercely.

This kid started at a fast speed, and before reaching the corner, he overtook Brandon on the left and came to the second position.

Lin Jiaxi leaned close to Gu Ran's ear and said, "I vaguely saw your shadow in him back then."

Gu Ran smiled and said: "He trains with me most of the time every day, and I taught him personally, and his technical movements must have many similarities with mine."

"I don't mean technical moves."

Gu Ran turned her head and looked at him with interest: "What is that?"

Lin Jiaxi tilted her head and thought for a while: "It feels like you used to disobey everyone and only see the champion in your eyes."

Gu Ran snorted and said, "He is still far behind, at least he needs to practice for another four years."

"That depends on who you compare with. Compared with you, that's true."

On the field, there are still two laps left in the race.Zhao Zhishuo was first and Chen Yuze was second.The two of them clenched very tightly. Looking at Chen Yuze's posture, it seemed that he couldn't be satisfied even if he was promoted, and he insisted on competing with Zhao Zhishuo for the first place in the group.

Lin Jiaxi said again: "His progress is too fast."

"When I first came to the national team, I was a child. It was my first time to participate in the World Cup. Zhao Zhishuo won the No.1. He didn't even make it to the final."

"It's only been a year and a half, and he's already able to compete with the opponent."

"That's a must!" Gu Ran looked at his little fanboy, "He knows the responsibility he bears. The growth of young players is not only technical, but also experience and mentality. Didn't we come here in the same way back then? ?”

"Hahaha!" Lin Jiaxi couldn't help laughing at these words, "It's us, but not you. Your strength is too heaven-defying, and you don't need to grow at all."

Gu Ran shook her head lightly: "Until now, I am still learning and growing."

Unexpectedly, Brandon fell to the fourth place, ahead of him was Jiang Hao.

In terms of personal strength, Jiang Hao is not as good as him.But as Gu Ran said, Jiang Hao is a very steady player with a clear mind and knows what he should do when.

He is trying to maintain his speed limit. Although he can't keep up with Zhao Zhishuo and Chen Yuze in front of him, through his own observation of Brandon, he can get stuck in every corner and hold people firmly in place. In the fourth position, don't give him any chance to surpass himself and make trouble.

In other words, although he is a very inconspicuous athlete, he only participated in this one competition in the entire Winter Olympics.But he never forgot his responsibilities, and executed the tactics arranged by the coach before the game very well.

In the end, Zhao Zhishuo and Chen Yuze entered the final with first and second place respectively.The third is Jiang Hao, and Brandon only got fourth. As for Guo Chengjun, he is no longer competitive with these young athletes.

Gu Ran glanced at the big screen, Zhao Zhishuo's time was 40 seconds, and Chen Yuze's time was 251 seconds. The two people's times were very close, with only a sharp gap.

After a while, Chen Yuze and Jiang Hao returned to the stands.The teammates stretched out their hands and gave Chen Yuze a high five, congratulating him on entering the final.He also comforted Jiang Hao, saying that he played very well, but he was a little bit unlucky.

Jiang Hao just smiled at everyone, took the towel and water and sat down nearby.

He happened to sit in front of Gu Ran.Gu Ran patted him on the shoulder and asked, "Are you satisfied with your performance today?"

Jiang Hao immediately turned around and smiled at him: "Very satisfied, I did what I should do."

Gu Ran leaned forward, looked into his eyes and asked, "Why did you slow down instead of fighting for the finish line?"

This is asking knowingly, but Gu Ran still wants to hear the answer from him.

Jiang Hao said: "Because I was sure that Brandon was behind me at that time, and I slowed down, he would have no chance to rush to the finish line, and Chen Yuze could advance to the final smoothly."

Gu Ran asked him: "Haven't you thought about entering the finals yourself?"

"I thought about it, but the situation at the time was that Zhao Zhishuo had already determined a promotion spot. What I should do is not to compete with my teammates, but to ensure that he can advance smoothly."

He bit his lower lip, looked into Gu Ran's eyes, and restrained his smile: "In a team, not everyone can be Senior Brother Gu, you need to be like Director Gao, Director Meng and Senior Brother Lin. character of."

"I am very clear about my position, and I am willing to obey the coach's tactical arrangement, and I will do my best to complete it well."

Gu Ran stretched out her hand to him, and said with a smile, "You are better than I imagined."

"Thank you!"

"But I hope you can remember that no matter who, including me, the role in the team is not static. Don't give up your dream at any time."

Jiang Hao nodded solemnly: "Brother, I remember."

At this time, Cheng Sen and Xu Qing also came to the stands, and greeted Gu Ran and Chen Yuze to discuss the upcoming finals together.

Xu Qing said: "Zhao Zhishuo is still very strong. If he loses the gold medal in the 1000 meters, he will definitely give it a go in the 500 meters."

Chen Yuze smiled at Gu Ran: "Don't worry, senior brother, the gap between me and him is not that big now, and I will definitely protect you well."

Gu Ran put his shoulder on his shoulder: "Be bold, there is no gap between you and him now."

Chen Yuze's eyes lit up: "Really?"

"Really." Gu Ran patted him on the shoulder twice, "You can even win a gold medal."

Chen Yuze quickly waved his hands: "I dare not think about it, I dare not think about it."

Gu Ran laughed loudly: "I just asked you to fight for it, but I didn't say you could really beat me."

"..."

The equipment technician adjusted the skates for Gu Ran, and Dr. Lin checked his muscle condition, and then patted him on the shoulder: "Please start your performance."

Gu Ran blinked at him: "Then you can see, I have never lost in 500 meters." After speaking, he picked up Chen Yuze and walked directly off the stands.

After two days of adjustment, compared to two days ago, Gu Ran's physical fitness has almost recovered, and his muscle symptoms have basically disappeared completely. Now he is in his best competitive state.

When they were in the inspection area, they met that Zhao Zhishuo.Gu Ran felt that he was looking at her, and turned her head to look at him, but the other party quickly looked away.

Chen Yuze smiled and said, "He admits to being cowardly."

Gu Ranbai glanced at him: "The match is about to start."

Gu Ran put on the helmet, just as his name was being called on the radio.He is the first, the first to enter.

The moment he stepped onto the ice rink, the whole skating hall erupted with the warmest applause and shouts.The venue with thousands of people was just to watch Gu Ran's last solo performance.