Chapter 206: Fight for My Father
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The face of the Qatari Team's coach was filled with shock, disappointment, anxiety, and helplessness.
Clark, Qatar's ace sprinter, had tumbled suddenly; when he fell, he had knocked down his teammate Oneida accidentally. All the members of the Qatari Team were wiped out in a blink.
Oneida was also an immigrant, a black athlete of Qatar from Africa. He was not as strong as Clark; however, because of his physical advantage and the gift many black athletes had in sprinting, Oneida also stood a chance at winning a medal.
But now, Clark's gold medal hopes were gone along with Oneida's medal. The Qatari Team coach experienced the feeling of falling between two stools suddenly.
Another guy who had the same expression was Li Xue, since Jun Xie from the national team had also been affected by this accident. Jun Xie had attended the Olympic Games with a result that had reached the standard A of the Olympic Games, so the probability for him to win a medal at the Asian Games was very high. Li Xue had planned to have Jun Xie receive a medal for the 100m sprint, but his hopes were dashed.
In comparison, the coach of the Japanese Team instantly became excited. Sasaki Akita was even cheering loudly.
...
On the track, Oda Sunshine couldn't hear Sasaki Akita's cheers at all. The area was so noisy that he couldn't clearly hear what people were shouting.
In fact, many sprinters' minds had gone blank during the 100m sprint; all they knew was that they had to keep running forward.
Those athletes who had more experience in competition would keep an eye on the position of their opponents, pay attention to their own pace, and make adjustments during the match.
However, Oda Sunsine knew his opportunity had come.
The three athletes who had just been knocked down had been strong enough to win medals, so they were faster than the rest of the runners. Therefore, Oda Sunshine who had been running behind them witnessed the collision. He also knew his opportunity to win the championship had come.
Champion of the Asian Games! This title flashed in Oda Sunshine's mind. The championship was his goal for the following four years, but he suddenly found that he could realize his dream that day!
Oda Sunshine couldn't help but look around. Now, five athletes were running on the track. The gap in ability among them was not large, so the space between them wasn't large enough to determine the winner.
A figure on the left of Oda Sunshine was especially advancing on him, shoulder to shoulder. It was Sijie Yang.
No wonder this Sijie Yang could enter the final match, he's really something. But in Asia, I'm the best among my peers. This Sijie Yang is a few months younger than me, so he's absolutely no match for me!
Before the match, Oda Sunshine had also looked through the materials of the other athletes who had entered the final match. He knew Sijie Yang was a few months younger than him. Oda Sunshine was quite confident of his power in front of his peers.
His self-confidence came from the flattery of others. Oda was born in Osaka, and he was regarded as the sprinting genius of Osaka when he was in middle school. When he was a high school student, he was even described as the sprinting genius of all of Japan.
As a sophomore during a national high school game, Oda Sunshine had created a record of 9.97 seconds with the help of high winds. At that moment, he had turned into the hope for the future of Japan's sprinting, and was even called the future best sprinter in Asia by the Japanese media.
From high school to university, Oda Sunshine kept wearing the halo of "genius." In addition, in order to refine his skills, Japan had sent him to attend many international matches. Oda Sunshine had even raced against Gittell, the best sprinter in the world. Although he was left in the dust by those powerful black athletes in every match, his overreaching attempts to improve had given Oda Sunshine abundant experience for large scale matches. At least he was the best among the young athletes in Asia who were under 20.
At this moment, Oda Sunshine was so confident that he believed he could leave Sijie Yang behind in the next 10 meters.
...
With his heart filled with fighting will, Sijie Yang didn't care about the three players who had tumbled to the ground at all. The only thing he wanted to do was defeat Oda Sunshine.
I shall never lose to this Japanese! I must win for the honor of my father!
At this moment, the figure of his father was in Sijie Yang's mind. Deep in his heart, Sijie Yang had always adored his father. Although he wasn't a great scientist like his father, he had always regarded his father as his role-model. When he thought of the unfair treatment his father received in those years, his chest was filled with righteous indignation, and he was also eager to get revenge for him.
But actually, those things had occurred over twenty years ago, so they had nothing to do with Oda Sunshine. In addition, scientific research and sports belonged to two totally different fields. Personally, it was childish for Sijie Yang to vent his resentments about Oda Sunshine.
As a matter of fact, this was quite like those airhead fans who adored handsome young males. If their idol was criticized by anyone, these fans would denounce the criticizer definitively. In case dispute arose between fan groups of two idols, a crazy flame war would be triggered between the fan groups. People had even become accustomed to physical confrontation between the fans.
Now, Sijie Yang was a diehard fan of Lin Yang. As Lin Yang's son and the person nearest and dearest to him, Sijie Yuang had been living in the radiance of his "Noble Prize father" since his childhood. His adoration of his father was no less than the religious beliefs of fanatical religious believers.
Now is my father still in the laboratory or has he come home? I suppose he's at home. Maybe he's sitting in front of the TV and watching me! As he thought of this, Sijie Yang's eyes were burning.
Sijie Yang was eager to get attention from his father, but he was more eager to prove himself in front of his father. He was just like a fanatic groupie who was too excited to sleep for days because a celebrity had waved at him.
My father is watching my match! I won't fail, and I won't ever lose to that Oda Sunshine!
This strong belief kept Sijie Yuang focused. At this moment, he felt he was full of inexhaustible strength.
...
One second had passed, and the athletes on the track had moved forward another 10 meters.
The UAE athlete, Sarafa, looked to his left, and suddenly found the two players in lanes two and three were a body-length lead ahead of him.
Those 2 Asian players are even faster than me! Suddenly, Sarafa was anxious.
Also an immigrant athlete from Africa, Sarafa was born in Uganda, which was one of the world's least developed countries. Agriculture was the main industry of Uganda, but this country had to import agricultural tools, fertilizers, and even seeds.
Moreover, Uganda was a country full of all kinds of infectious diseases, slike dengue fever, malaria, plague, yellow fever, cholera and schistosomiasis. For every hundred adult Ugandans, there were six people infected with AIDS. Even the recent rampant Ebola virus was fermented in Uganda first.
Such a country was indeed not suitable for living, so Sarafa had decided to change his nationality. At first, he had wanted to join the United Kingdom, since Uganda was formerly a colony of the United Kingdom and had a strong influence on Uganda.
However, Sarafa was not one of the world's top-notch sprinters. His results in the 100m sprint were over 10 seconds. Therefore, the United Kingdom was obviously not inclined to take him in. After several setbacks, Sarafa managed to become an immigrant athlete for the United Arab Emirates.
Besides Sarafa's performance in the 100m sprint, the UAE placed high value on his technique in the 200m sprint. In comparison with Qatar's Clark, Sarafa's explosive force was a bit weak. However, Sarafa's curve running technique was better.
The best result of Sarafa's in the 200m sprint was 20.07 seconds, which had been the best result in Asia, and would have been good enough for him to enter the final heat in the Olympic Games or the World Championships.
However, the 200m sprint was not held frequently, and it wasn't as influential as the 100m sprint, so Sarafa was not as renowned as Clark, but this would not change the fact that Sarafa was the biggest favorite for the 200m sprint gold medal at this Asian Games.
At this moment, Clark and Oneida had dropped out of the match. As the only black athlete on the track, Sarafa naturally thought he already had the championship in his hands. However, when he was 20 meters away from the finishing line, Sarafa saw two indigenous Asian athletes taking the lead.
Am I going to lose to those two Asian athletes? No! Failure isn't for me! In the last 20 meters, Sarafa also did his best.
...
Oda Sunshine noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sijie Yang was still running shoulder to shoulder with him.
I've still failed to create distance between us? Don't I have a little bit of an advantage? Oda Sunshine was a bit anxious and angry.
Among the young people my age in Asia, I'm the fastest sprinter! This Sijie Yang is several months younger than, he can't be faster than me! I must win!
Oda Sunshine's expression became ferocious. He wanted to defeat Sijie Yang in the last 20 meters.
I am a genius. I'm a genius that only comes once every century. Even Coach Sasaki used to say I would definitely go beyond him and become the new best sprinter in Asia. How could I lose to these losers?
The relentlessness in the Japanese's bones broke out completely. Oda Sunshine's strides quickened suddenly along with his running speed.
...
"Well done, Oda! You're taking lead!" Sasaki Akita shouted excitedly. At this moment, Sasaki Akita saw his younger self.
Sasaki Akita had used to be the best sprinter in Asia, and the representative figure of the Golden Generation of Japan. At that time, Japan's sprinters dominated all of Asia. In some Asian matches, the Japanese Team could even take the top three.
However, after their retirement, the Japanese Sprint Team suffered a serious downturn. They couldn't even dominate East Asia, let alone the powerful immigrant legion of the West Asia.
Now, Sasaki Akita seemed to see the hope of Japanese sprinters rise again.
"Only 20 meters left, Oda, hang on!"
...
Li Xue also started to feel nervous.
Although Jun Xie had been knocked down by the others, Sijie Yang had sprung up and was taking the lead, running shoulder to shoulder with Oda Sunshine.
"Come on!" Li Xue also couldn't help yelling.
However, Oda Sunshine's stride rate quickened a bit at this moment.
Oh, no! Maybe we'll lose. Li Xue felt a twinge in his heart. In the last 20 meters of the race, the result could be determined by even the smallest advantage.
...
Back in the city of Huajing, Lin Yang purposely went home earlier to watch his son's race.
At that moment, Lin Yang couldn't help standing up from the sofa to stand in front of the TV. He didn't even notice how nervous he was.
As a Noble Prize winner, Lin Yang had experienced many big moments. He had long been able to be calm in his hour of peril. However, today he couldn't calm himself down at all, for it was his son who was struggling on the track.
Lin Yang suddenly noticed his nervous mood. He remembered that during the half hour before the Nobel Prize winner was announced, he had known he was on the list of the final three candidates; at that time, he was as nervous as he was at this moment.
Lin Yang couldn't help exhaling a breath and murmuring to himself, "This brat always makes me worry!"
...
On the track, Sarafa finally used his advantages to the fullest. As a black athlete, he had explosive force in the second half of match that the Asian athletes didn't have. With this explosive force, he caught up to Oda Sunshine.
On the other side, Sijie Yang also had noticed the quickening of Oda Sunshine's strides.
He didn't want to be outdone, so he used all his strength to dash forward. In the last 10 meters, the three athletes were running shoulder to shoulder.
I am a genius, the hope of Japanese sprinting. How could I lose to a peer? Oda Sunshine's mind was filled with these thoughts.
As an immigrant athlete, I should be faster than the indigenous Asian athletes, and that's also where my value is. How could I lose to these indigenous athletes? I don't want to go back to Uganda! The blood was surging in Sarafa's heart.
Father, look at me! I can win, I'm sure to win! I'm your son. I won't let you down! You will be proud of me! The finish line wasn't the only thing in Sijie Yang's eyes, but also the figure of his father.
In the next second, or less than 1 second, the three runners dashed to the finishing line simultaneously.
They lowered their heads and hit the tape with their chests. They crossed the finishing line in a single moment.
The time was frozen at 10.24 seconds, which wasn't a very good result according to the standard of the Asian Games. If Clark hadn't tumbled and knocked down another two runner, this result wouldn't have been good enough to win a championship.
With his arms raised high, Sijie Yang gestured a one with his finger.
Then, the audiences in the stadium abruptly erupted, just like the sudden eruption of a volcano which had been suppressed for a long time.
"Victory! We won!" Looking at Sijie Yang in the distance, Dai Li knew how hard his victory was gained.
Among the three athletes, Sijie Yang's abilities were the least impressive. Even his explosive force could not fill the gap between him and Sarafa and Oda Sunshine, but Sijie Yang had won the match by outdoing himself again.
"Sijie Yang, finally, you managed to make it." Dai Li smiled. Dai Li's happiness wasn't only because of Sijie Yang's winning the Asian Games, but also due to another upgrading of his system.