God of Sprint

Chapter 119: Zhao Yun's First Year Diamond League, First Stop in Doha

Chapter 119: Zhao Yun's First Year: The First Stop of the Diamond League in Doha

After the competition in Shenzhen in March and Shanghai in April, the time for the Diamond League is getting closer.

During this period, Wang Zijie, Liu Xiangdong, and Zhao Dehan searched for information and watched videos day and night to find Zhao Yun's weaknesses in the game, and urged Zhao Yun's training more strictly. Even the chef in the cafeteria felt that the atmosphere had become more intense recently. The food was prepared more carefully.

Recently, Su Bingtian, Xie Zhenye, Zhang Peimeng and Guo Zhongze also came to Yandu University to train with Zhao Yun in order to improve their performance.

On May 8, Zhao Yun and the national team's Su Bingtian, Zhang Pei, Meng Xie Zhenye began to gather and fly to Doha to participate in this year's Diamond League's first stop on May 10. Guo Zhongze, Yang Lei and other players were not arranged to compete because of the huge gap between them.

Qatar is an Arab country in southwest Asia. Doha is the capital and largest coastal city of Qatar, a West Asian country. It is also one of the famous ports in the Persian Gulf and the center of Qatar's politics, economy, culture and transportation. The climate here is hot and humid in summer and cool in winter.

The current weather is the best for Doha, but it is not so friendly to the flower growers.

After getting off the plane, several people were sweating profusely. They took the bus to the hotel arranged by the event group. Qatar, as a country that began to rise after its son usurped power, has relied on oil and natural gas resources and its economy has taken off rapidly in recent years. The hotels arranged for the players who come to the competition are all relatively good. The facilities inside are all top-notch.

Since the population is not large, there are few pedestrians on the street. In addition, because the country is rich in oil, there are even fewer taxis. There is no noise of large and small vehicles, no crowded people going to work. The city is quiet, so quiet that when the sun comes out, it is still hard to believe that it is no longer night.

Wang Zijie, Liu Xiangdong, and Zhao Dehan did not use the government funding, but stayed in a nearby hotel. Although Zhao Yun used the school funding, he lived with Su Bingtian and others.

Now the gymnasium in Doha has been vacated. Zhao Yun, who had adjusted to the jet lag overnight, followed the coaching staff to the stadium to practice the track. Due to the hot weather in Doha, the track was designed to be a bit hard to cope with thermal expansion and contraction. Zhao Yun practiced starting, jumping, and running on the track, and felt pretty good, with little impact on him.

At this moment, two old acquaintances of Zhao Yun came towards Zhao Yun—Bromell and Michael Norman from the United States.

The two men walked up to Zhao Yun and hugged him tightly. After all, Zhao Yun was quite nice to these two people.

Bromell excitedly said to Zhao Yun, "Hi man, I knew you would come to participate in the competition. Ha! Ha! Ha!"

Zhao Yun’s English is not at the same level as last year. Under Liu Yifei’s day-to-day training and Li Tiantian’s guidance, he has no problem with ordinary communication, but it is far from the IELTS level.

"Ha! Ha! Ha! You two are here to participate in the competition too? I saw the news. You two performed very well in the competition in the beautiful country this year! Bromell made great progress, and Michael also made great progress."

"Yeah! We started training together after we got back. I stayed at Michael's house, and we shared the same coaching staff!"

"Well! I'm very happy that you two can run well. Have you two finished the track test?"

"It's over!" said Michael Norman.

"I'll run a few more times, you two wait for me, we'll go out for dinner later!"

"OK!"

"OK!"

The two happily agreed.

Zhao Yun tried the track a few more times and then went to the hotel with Michael Norman, Bromell and the coaching staff for dinner. During the meal, the two expressed their admiration for Zhao Yun and kept praising Zhao Yun for his extraordinary talent. Zhao Yun was very pleased with their flattery. After all, he was just 18 years old. How could he not be happy to be recognized by foreigners?

The gymnasium is open from 3 to 5 pm, and Zhao Yun called Bromell and Norman to go together to get accustomed to the venue.

This time when adapting to the venue, Zhao Yun saw his old rivals Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin, Tyson Gay, Nesta Carter, Steve Mullins, Oluso Kifasuba, Richard Thompson, and other players. After the last World Championships, they came to the unfamiliar venue again. After meeting each other, everyone greeted each other and sent their blessings.

Zhao Yun looked at the veterans who were training in the venue and felt mixed emotions. After this year's Diamond League, many famous athletes might retire from the track and field stage. After all, Tyson Gay, Asafa Powell and Justin Gatlin are already 32-year-old veterans. Even Steve Mullins, whom Zhao Yun disliked the most, is 32 years old. They will most likely not appear in the 2016 Olympics. In the current Diamond League, these old players know that their future is gone, so they treat the competitions they can participate in as their last dance.

After shaking his head to give up the messy thoughts in his mind, Zhao Yun began to actively find his form. This was his first serious competition abroad. Although he had won the World Championships before, many people were still a little dissatisfied with his victory at home this time. There were too many tricks. As for the championship of the World Youth Championship in Korea, that was a child's game and they were not interested in it.

After an hour of training, Zhao Yun regained his form. In the evening, Zhao Yun couldn't stand Bromell and Norman's love of curry, so he didn't eat with them, but ate with Su Bingtian and others.

The night came very late, which was also related to the environment they were in. This city was too quiet and too comfortable. After dinner, several people walked on the road, looking at the night view of this coastal city.

"Zhao Yun, how are you feeling now? Are you okay with the jet lag?" Zhang Peimeng said as they walked.

"I'm fine. I feel like there's not much else to this game except the heat."

"It's good to be young! You have strong adaptability! I feel like it takes longer to adapt every year." Zhang Peimeng said with emotion

"You guys should work hard and strive to win more honors for the country! Especially Zhao Yun, I don't have the ability to bring anything to the country anymore, but you are all in your rising period. I hope you will not let your talents down and train hard to win an Olympic gold medal in the track and field competition. Liu Xiang has proved that we yellow people can play track and field. I hope you can let the world know that yellow people can dominate track and field!"

Several people listened to the big brother's words very seriously, and felt a sense of heroism rising in their hearts.

"Don't worry, Brother Zhang! We will create brilliance with the spirit of the older generation of track and field athletes who never give up and work hard." Su Bingtian replied.

"Yes! Zhao Yun! I see the future of athletics in you. Come on! The future depends on you! Please!"

"Thank you for the send-off, senior!"

This is a unique way for track and field athletes to encourage their juniors. Whenever these words are spoken, a senior athlete will announce his retirement. Although Zhao Yun has never been in the national team, he has heard about this from Wang Zijie and others. Zhao Yun also bowed to Zhang Peimeng seriously with Su Bingtian and Xie Zhenye.

Under the light, four shadows bowed to each other, letting the city remember the heritage of flower-growing family athletics.