Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

Finland is located in northern Europe. Due to its high latitude and the influence of the ocean climate, the average daily temperature in August and September is around 16 degrees Celsius, and the weather is relatively cool.

The 10th World Athletics Championships was held in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. A total of more than 1,200 track and field athletes from 67 countries came here to participate in this event, which is also the largest track and field event besides the Olympics.

All events of the World Championships were held in the Helsinki Olympic Sports Complex for eight days.

On the first day of the competition, Link represented the Chinese team in the men's shot put event.

In the first round of throwing, Link's best score in three throws was 21.47 meters, which was 29 centimeters higher than the 21.18 meters thrown in the Olympic shot put final in August last year. The result was good.

However, this result was only ranked second in the first round of the competition.

The first place was the American team's shot put athlete Adam Nelson.

At the Athens Olympics last year, Nelson led everyone with 21.16 meters in the first round of throwing, and had great hope of winning the gold medal.

But in the second round, Nelson performed poorly and was overtaken by Link and Ukrainian player Bilonog, and finally won only a bronze medal.

Today, in the track and field stadium in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, Nelson performed exceptionally well. The best score of the first round of three throws reached 21.73 meters, 26 centimeters more than Link, basically securing the victory.

After the results came out, Nelson tore off his shirt and screamed loudly at the 32,000 spectators on the scene to express his ecstasy, and also beat Link on his chest.

Link looked at him expressionlessly and continued to do warm-up exercises in the rest area.

Compared with Kyoto, Helsinki is indeed not hot in summer, but once you sit down and don't move, you can feel waves of cold coming from all directions, like sitting in front of a refrigerator, wet and cold.

After a short rest, the second round of the competition began.

The eight players who entered the second round played in order from low to high scores. Link was second to last and Nelson was last.

In front of him were Ukrainian player Bilonog, Dutch player Rutger Smith, American team three consecutive world championship shot put champion Godina, German player Ralf Barthes and others.

Among the six players who played before Link, Dutch player Rutger Smith suddenly broke out in the second round and threw a personal best of 21.29 meters.

The remaining Bilonog and Godina performed poorly, with the best scores in both rounds below 21 meters, and they also missed the top three.

Link came on stage in seventh place.

When he came on stage, the audience gradually quieted down, and all the shot put athletes also looked over, wanting to see if he could create a miracle in this round of throwing and surpass Nelson.

Link's mentality was very stable during the competition. No matter how many people were watching, he still followed his plan.

Hold the ball, slide, switch, and finally push hard.

The first throw of the second round, 21.54 meters.

Second throw, 21.02 meters

Many people sighed with regret. Nelson clenched his fist and stared at Link tightly, as if he was exerting resistance on him from a distance.

In the third throw, Link held the ball and slid to switch. With a roar, he pushed the shot put into the sky. The shot put drew a long arc in the air and fell outside the 21-meter area, not far from 22 meters.

The referee measured on the spot.

"21.81 meters!"

After the results came out, the athletes of the Chinese team cheered loudly, and the Finnish audience also applauded and cheered.

In the past year, Link has shined in the boxing world, and even many Finnish media have reported on it. Before the start of the World Championships, the Finnish Commercial TV station made a special program to introduce Link's achievements in various sports.

Link is also the most famous sports star in this World Championships, more famous than Gatlin, Bekele, Liu Xiang and others.

Now he has surpassed Nelson in the second round, making the game more exciting.

The audience also applauded for his wonderful performance.

Link waved and walked out of the triangle throwing area. Adam Nelson of the American team took a few deep breaths and went on stage.

The audience also watched his performance quietly.

Unfortunately, Nelson performed poorly again. His best score in three throws was only 21.08 meters. The 21.73 meters thrown in the first round was more like an extraordinary performance.

However, when Nelson left the stage, the audience also applauded.

"Link, you are very good."

Nelson said to Link with regret.

"Mr. Nelson, you are not bad either!"

Link bumped fists with the other party.

Unlike the Chinese team, when the Chinese team players go abroad to compete, the national and local sports departments will provide support, and domestic sportswear brands will also provide some sponsorship. The Chinese team athletes do not need to worry about funding and food, clothing, housing and transportation when they go abroad to compete.

The American team players have to pay for their own competitions. Because Nelson has no sponsor, before participating in the World Track and Field Championships in Helsinki, Finland, he auctioned his sponsorship rights through eBay, and was later bought by a pharmaceutical company for $12,000.

It's not easy for Nelson to stand here and compete.

After the shot put competition, Link won a World Championship gold medal on behalf of the Chinese track and field team, which was also China's first World Championship gold medal in the shot put event.

In addition, there was a $60,000 bonus awarded by the IAAF.

The second place Nelson received $35,000, and the third place Rutger Smith received $22,000.

Other events also have prize money, and the amount of prize money varies depending on the level of attention paid to the event. The 100-meter sprint has the highest prize money, about 70,000 to 80,000 US dollars.

Rest for half a day.

The next morning, Link participated in the 1500-meter preliminaries at the Comprehensive Sports Center.

The preliminaries were 3 minutes 38 seconds 28, ranking third in the second group, and finally entered the finals with the 10th place.

In the afternoon, he continued to participate in the men's javelin competition.

In the first round of three throws, the best result was 88.23 meters, which was more than 2 meters higher than the best result of 86.02 meters in the Athens Olympics last year, and ranked first in the first round.

In the second round, among the seven athletes who threw in front of him, the best result was Estonian athlete Vanik, 87.17 meters, and the second was Russian athlete Makarov, 86.18 meters.

No one broke Link's record in the first round.

In the second round of three throws, Link's best result was 88.61 meters, refreshing his personal best and winning applause from the audience.

Link also won the second gold medal of this World Championships, and the first World Championships shot put champion for the Chinese track and field team.

There is also a $60,000 bonus from the IAAF.

In the 5000m preliminaries held on the fourth day, Link ran 13 minutes 25 seconds 96 and entered the finals with a seventh place.

In the men's 3000m hurdles held in the afternoon, Link performed poorly, ranking third with 8 minutes 15 seconds 22, and only won a bronze medal, which was also the first medal for the Chinese team in the World Championships.

In the men's 1500m final held on the morning of the fifth day, Link performed well. With his super endurance and physical strength, he took the lead and finally won the championship in the event with a score of 3 minutes 37 seconds 77.

He also became the first athlete of the Chinese team to run within 3 minutes 40 seconds in this event.

Take a half-day break in the afternoon and watch the men's 110m hurdles final on site.

After a fierce battle, Liu Xiang finished second with 13.08 seconds, only 0.01 seconds slower than the first place French player Doucoure, but also created the best result of Chinese male players in this event.

In third place was Liu Xiang's old rival Alan Johnson of the American team, whose score was 13.10 seconds, and the difference between the three was not much.

In the men's 5000m final held on the sixth day of the World Championships.

Link was once again double-teamed and targeted by several players from Ethiopia and Kenya.

When he ran to the penultimate lap, Ethiopian player Dejeni Berhanu collided with him from the side many times, but he cleverly avoided them, but he was delayed for a few seconds and fell from the first place to fifth place.

In the last lap, Link sprinted at full speed.

In the end, he ranked second with a score of 13 minutes 32.71 seconds, only 0.16 seconds slower than the first place Kenyan player Limo.

After the game, Ethiopian player Dejeni Berhanu's competition results were invalidated and he was warned by the IAAF.

On the seventh day of the World Championships, Link participated in the last event, the men's 10,000-meter race, at the track and field stadium.

After dozens of minutes of competition, Link relied on his super physical strength, endurance, persistence, and explosive power to shake off the entanglement of two Ethiopian athletes in the last lap and rushed across the finish line.

He finally won the first place with 26 minutes 59 seconds 43, and became the first athlete of the Chinese Track and Field Team to run under 26 minutes in the 10,000-meter race, and also broke the World Championship record of this event.

Ethiopian athlete Bekele won the runner-up with 27 minutes 01 seconds 33, and Bekele's teammate Sisine won the third place with 27 minutes 06 seconds 82.

After the 10,000-meter race, Link's six events in this World Championships were all over.

In the men's shot put, javelin, 1500 meters, and 10,000 meters, he won four gold medals, a silver medal in the men's 5000 meters, and a bronze medal in the 3000-meter hurdles.

A total of 4 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze medals were won.

As the Chinese men's track and field team performed generally in the World Championships, the six medals that Link won in this World Championships all created the best results of the Chinese track and field team in various events in the World Championships.

On August 16, the 10th World Athletics Championships closed successfully.

In the end, the US team ranked first with 13 golds, 9 silvers and 3 bronze medals, a total of 25 medals.

The Russian team ranked second with 7 golds, 8 silvers and 5 bronze medals, a total of 20 medals.

The Chinese team ranked third with 4 golds, 2 silvers and 1 bronze medals, a total of 7 medals.

Except for Link and Liu Xiang, the other 34 athletes in this World Championships unfortunately failed to win medals.

Although there were only 7 medals, it also created the best results of the Chinese track and field team in the World Championships.

This is the first time that the Chinese track and field team has been able to rank among the top three in international track and field events.

The future is promising.

In this World Championships, Link not only won 6 medals but also received a bonus of 288,000 US dollars, which was not a wasted trip.

"Link, you are awesome. Tell us how you practiced so that we can learn from you."

On the plane back to China, Liu Xiang came over and said.

"I can't explain it clearly. After I was injured in 2002, I rested for more than a year. Later, my physical strength got better and better. I could learn anything. The bureau gave me a comprehensive physical examination, but they couldn't find the reason. The doctor said that I might have opened my mind."

Link said.

"Opened my mind? Could it be the legendary opening of the Ren and Du meridians?"

Shi Dongpeng, a member of the 110-meter hurdle team, asked.

"How about we try it too?"

"How to try? Break your own legs and see if you can regain consciousness?"

"Don't be ridiculous. Link is born with divine power, like Xiang Yu and Li Yuanba in the past. How can ordinary people compare to him?"

"Li Yuanba is a fictional character"

Several people were noisily talking about historical figures.

After Link won the championship, there were a lot of news in foreign media that suspected Link of using illegal drugs, but not many people suspected it on the national team, because if such a drug really existed, there was no reason to give it to only Link. .

In addition, no matter what kind of illegal drugs are used, there will be huge sequelae. After repeated use, the body will become weak or even collapse.

Link has been participating in competitions since 2003, and his results are getting better and better.

In this World Championships, Link competed with high intensity for seven consecutive days. If he really used banned substances, he would not be able to survive.

In addition, the skills and strength displayed by Link in boxing are also effects that illegal drugs cannot achieve.

If this kind of medicine really existed and was used on soldiers, the Chinese army could sweep across the world.

In the past year, the country would not let Link go to the United States to participate in competitions.

This is why even though foreign media are skeptical, no one believes it.

On the morning of the 17th, Link and the members of the track and field team took a flight back to the capital from Hong Kong Island. Due to their good performance in the competition, they set many historical records for the Chinese track and field team. Link and Liu Xiang were also sought after by the media.

Under the arrangement of the National Sports Administration, Link participated in seven newspaper interviews and TV program interviews within five days. CCTV media used the label "Superman Link" for the first time in the interview.

It is said that this was an evaluation given by a leader after watching Link's competition results.

The media also learned from it and called Link 'Superman'.

"Link, how does it feel to be Superman?"

Xia Yu asked holding a beer bottle in Houhai Music Bar.

"fine."

Link shrugged.

"Link, you are really good. You are talented in both culture and sports, and you are so handsome. I really don't know how you did it."

Gao Xiaosong shook his folding fan and looked at Link's handsome face with envy.

"What I admire most is Link's ability to make money. The news said that he played a game with that guy Hawking and earned 20 million US dollars in less than three minutes, which would be converted into more than 100 million yuan. It's so enviable."

Sun Nan, who had a haircut and shook his legs, said.

"Making money is nothing. Link won 7 gold medals in the Olympics and World Championships. No amount of money can buy this honor."

Zheng Jun said.

"Link, is a boxing match really that profitable? More than 100 million in less than three minutes?"

Pushu asked while sipping his beer.

"Of course it's impossible. First of all, it costs money to promote a match, just like making a movie and releasing an album, you need to spend money to promote it, and the money spent is deducted from the match bonus. In fact, more than 60% of professional boxing matches are in debt.

In addition, I am a boxer for a top promotion company. The company helps promote and organize competitions. The money earned is divided between the company and the coaching team. I can get half of it afterwards. "

Link said.

"Half is not bad. You can earn 10 million in one game, 100 million US dollars in ten games a year. Oh my god, if you participate in a few more games, you may not become the richest man in the country."

Xia Yu exclaimed.

Link shook his head, having to educate a few boxing novices.

A boxing match is like a singer releasing an album. If you release one or two albums a year, fans may pay for it. If you release five or ten albums in a row, fans won’t have that much money to support them.

The same goes for boxing matches. After becoming the world boxing champion, you can have two or three matches a year, but no matter how many more, no one will support you.

The expenses spent on publicity and promotion may not be recovered, and the company will lose money.

In addition, like celebrities, a boxer's reputation and appearance fees in the boxing world will fluctuate and cannot last forever.

When it was popular, it cost millions of dollars per show, but after it became popular, it cost 100,000 per show and no one watched it.

For example, in the boxing world, Tyson and John Ruiz have both been WBA world boxing champions, and their appearance fees differ dozens of times.

Because Link is a Chinese boxer, he is popular at home but not necessarily abroad, so it is impossible to predict the prize money for the next game.

After hearing his explanation, a few people understood that the process of making money from boxing matches is similar to that of a singer releasing an album.

Everyone no longer envies him for making money quickly. In fact, among the more than ten people here, the speed of making money is not slow.

"Link, I'm going to hold a concert in November. Do you have time to be my supporting singer?"

Pushu asked.

"It doesn't matter as long as I'm not competing."

Link nodded. (End of chapter)