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

"Huh?" Gu Ran smiled, "You don't mean the one just now, do you?"

Qi Siyuan glanced at the time: "It's only been two hours since you put on the equipment. If you can score one point on me, isn't that called talent?"

Gu Ran hurriedly smiled and waved her hands: "It's too obvious that you let the water go."

"That's right, he really didn't really compare himself to you, but you are indeed very talented."

The two turned around following the sound, and a man in his forties came over from the door. Qi Siyuan smiled when he saw the person, "Director Duan! Are you here today?"

The director Duan smiled and said, "I saw it when you came in just now, but I have an appointment with a student and I just finished the class."

Qi Siyuan hurriedly pulled Gu Ran and introduced: "This is my first coach, and he was also with the national team before retiring."

Gu Ran smiled and said, "Hello."

Director Duan looked Gu Ran up and down: "The young man is really good, with good physical coordination, quick response, and high understanding. How old is this year?"

Gu Ran said, "I'm going to be 18 soon."

Director Duan nodded: "It's not too big, it's still too late to start learning now."

"Huh?" Gu Ran thought she heard it wrong, "But I'm almost an adult."

Director Duan waved his hand nonchalantly: "There are also many athletes who are late bloomers. Their talents were discovered by fencing coaches at the age of fifteen or sixteen. They switched to fencing from other sports and entered the national team in their 20s. They didn't delay the competition at all."

Gu Ran looked up and down the coach Duan, and saw that he was taller than himself, about 187 cm, and asked curiously: "Then you used to practice..."

"Basketball," Director Duan laughed, "I was a basketball player before I was 15 years old."

Gu Ran nodded: "I see."

Director Duan asked him: "How about it? Do you want to try it? It costs 800 yuan an hour, and you can sign up now. You are Xiao Qi's friend, and you can get a discount."

"???"

Gu Ran was a little smug at first, but after hearing the final quotation, it seemed as if someone had poured cold water on her head, and she suddenly became sober.With a thankful expression on his face, "No, no, no, I've been very busy recently, and time is tight."

Qi Siyuan touched his arm: "First ask him what discount he will give you?"

Gu Ran showed a noncommittal expression, but Director Duan on the opposite side smiled: "Seeing that you are so talented, let's try [-] lessons for free first."

Gu Ran: "!!!"

Xiao Gu understands a truth deeply, the free one is the most expensive!

"Thank you very much, but I really don't have time."

Qi Siyuan laughed and introduced to Director Duan: "He is a member of the national short track speed skating team and will soon participate in the Winter Olympics."

"No wonder..." Director Duan suddenly realized, and asked again, "Then when will you retire?"

Gu Ran smiled and said, "It will take more than ten years."

"Don't you want to have some new challenges after the Winter Olympics?"

"I don't want to for now."

Gu Ran only had short track speed skating in his mind, and he wanted to experience other sports. During the experience, all he thought about was how it would help short track speed skating, and he hadn't thought about changing to another sport.

After the long vacation, all the players returned to the team to start a new training cycle.

There are still five months to go before the next season. At this time, athletes mainly focus on recovery training, which is relatively easy.

Gu Ran would study with peace of mind when she was in school for a few days, and train seriously when she returned to the ice and snow park, but they did not affect each other.

It happened to be Saturday, and they practiced the relay race for a while in the afternoon, mainly for baton handover practice. Xu Qing also practiced new tactics with them to prepare for the Winter Olympics in advance.

There was a link in which Chi Lang couldn't remember. After the training was over, he wanted to stay and practice for a while, and he had to drag Gu Ran along with him.

Now the school is over, and we are waiting for the final exam.Gu Ran thought about it, and went back to read and review, so she stayed and practiced with him for a while.

Chi Lang is also 20 years old this year. Compared with when he first joined the national team a few years ago, his skills have improved a lot.

However, some things are doomed when the foundation is laid, and it is difficult to change when he grows up. Until now, he still has some details that cannot be corrected.

Every time Gu Ran watched him practice, he wished he could have an extra cane in his hand, and whipped him hard when he saw his movements were wrong.

In general, Gu Ran is still very patient with Chi Lang, and if there is anything she doesn't understand, she will take the trouble to emphasize it to him over and over again.

Although they used very simple tactics in the previous relay races, they are simple and easy to remember, and are not easy to make mistakes.

But this does not mean that they will not practice more complex tactical coordination in training.

This is preparing for the annual Winter Olympics. After all, the highest event held every four years is completely different from the World Cup and World Championships.At that time, each team will go all out and show their true abilities.They also have to prepare for various responses.

It was almost time to eat, Gu Ran slid up to Chi Lang and patted him on the shoulder: "Do you remember what I told you?"

Chi Lang shook his head: "Not yet, why don't you say it again."

"..."

Gu Ran raised her eyebrows: "Are you kidding me?"

Chi Lang was a little stupid, but not so stupid.If he really had a problem with his comprehension, Cheng Sen wouldn't call him into the national team, and it took him so many years.

Chi Lang slid behind him and squeezed his shoulders twice: "No, no, I was a little distracted just now, and I didn't hear it. Say it again, for the last time!"

Gu Ran sighed, and repeated to him what Xu Qing said this afternoon: "So, you just need to remember that Senior Brother Xiao Gao or Jiaxi will slide half a lap longer this time, so every handover The position of the stick will change."

Gu Ran slid forward for a while: "You should remember each division. The first time is here, and the second time is opposite. Just these two positions, you must remember clearly. You hand over the baton to him. It's too early, blocking other players, the referee is likely to call us a foul."

Chi Lang said: "Didn't you practice this before?"

"It's different this time. I used to skate half a lap less, so the total number of laps is the same, and the position of the baton is also fixed. Now the position of the baton has changed. You must keep it in mind, and you must not mess with it." wrong."

Chi Lang measured the distance from the curve back and forth between the two positions he mentioned: "It's really too complicated."

Gu Ran said: "Practice it ten times a day and you will remember it."

Chi Lang smiled and said, "Will you practice with me?"

"I'll practice with you."

Chi Lang rushed over and hugged his shoulder: "I think it will work!"

Gu Ran glanced at the wall clock on the wall, and urged: "Hurry up, hurry up, the cafeteria will close later. I don't want to be hungry after a long night."

The two of them went to the locker room to take a shower. Usually, Chi Lang was like fighting a war, and he came out after a rush. Today, he didn't come out after dawdling for a long time.

Gu Ran yelled at the bathroom impatiently: "Are you embroidering in it? Hurry up, I'm going to starve to death."

He is at the age when he can eat. After training all afternoon, he is already hungry, but Chi Lang doesn't know what he is doing today, he is whimpering.

"Okay, okay, don't rush!"

Two people, you change your clothes and come out of the skating hall.The sun was setting from the west, dyeing a large area of ​​the sky red.The weather was slightly cooler than during the day, and gusts of wind blew over, blowing the broken hair on Gu Ran's forehead, feeling very comfortable.

The two wandered around the training base, and Chi Lang was carrying the equipment of the two alone.No way, who told him to keep Gu Ran to train with him, so naturally he wanted to be a coolie for others.

After walking for about five or six minutes, I arrived at the cafeteria. Gu Ran took a closer look, and found that the cafeteria was closed. He slapped Chi Lang angrily: "Look, I said it should be closed."

He glanced at the time again, it was just after seven o'clock.Although I came here for dinner today a little later than usual, but it's not like I'm running out of food.

Looking back, today is Saturday, there will be no training tomorrow, and many staff members have left the base to go home. There are fewer people eating, and it is not surprising that the cafeteria closes earlier.

Chi Lang said: "Go over and have a look, maybe the door hasn't been completely closed yet."

When the two approached, they realized that the door of the cafeteria was ajar, and Chi Lang pushed it open to signal Gu Ran to go in quickly.

Gu Ran stood there without moving: "Why do I feel weird?"

Chi Lang urged: "Go ask the auntie in the cafeteria to see if there are any left."

Gu Ran said: "My mother came to see me last week and brought me some snacks. I'll go back and eat biscuits."

As soon as Chi Lang dragged him back, he pushed the door: "What's so delicious about biscuits? I've been tired all afternoon, and I've eaten them warm."

At this time, the light was blocked by the building next to it, and the lights in the cafeteria were not turned on, so it was pitch black.

Chi Lang was behind him, and closed the door with a bang.

Gu Ran was about to ask him what he was doing, but a cluster of small flames suddenly lit up at the other end of the cafeteria.

Gu Ran: "..."

This... what is it for?It's not like it's April Fools' Day today.

That cluster of flames was a lit candle, inserted on a double-layered cake, held by someone's hands, and walked towards him full.

Where the candlelight passed, someone sang a song, from one person to several people to a group of people: "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you..."

It was only then that Gu Ran remembered that although today is not April Fool's Day, it is his 18th birthday.

At this time, the people holding the cake were already standing in front of him, they were Xu Mei and Gu Changfeng.

"Dad, Mom, why are you here?"

Xu Mei said, "Make a wish first, then blow out the candles!"

Gu Ran closed her eyes obediently, paused for a moment, and blew out the candle.

There was warm applause and cheers all around, and the atmosphere was full.

Afterwards, the lights in the cafeteria hall were turned on, and there were many people standing around. Apart from the short track speed skating team, teammates from the training teams of several other sports were also there.

The entire cafeteria has also been carefully decorated, with "happy birthday" posted on the wall, surrounded by ribbons and balloons. Gu Ran even found the lanterns and small decorations left over from the Spring Festival. Everyone really knows how to save costs.

Xu Mei put the cake on the table: "Director Xu called us in the morning and said that today is your 18th birthday, and he wants to surprise you."

Xu Qing asked him, "Are you surprised?"

Gu Ran said: "It's not just a surprise, it's a huge surprise!"

He turned his head and asked Chi Lang again: "So you were delaying time on purpose just now?"

Chi Lang waved his hand: "This is what Director Cheng ordered. Do you think I like to play dumb?"

Gu Ran chuckled lightly: "Certainly play the role."

At this time, everyone came up to send blessings to him, Gao Ziyi, Lin Jiaxi, Meng Yuqiao, Liang Kexin, Yang Shanshan, Liu Fei, and Cheng Sen, Xu Qing, Yu Jie... His closest coaches and teammates hugged him one by one, laughing She patted his head, pinched his cheeks, and said that he would be an adult in the future, not a child anymore.

Xu Qing even smiled and sighed: "I don't need to accompany you to take urine samples from now on."

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" All the members of the national training team present understood what was going on when they heard him say that.

Gu Ran wanted to shut his mouth quickly, and saw the food on the table, knowing that everyone had prepared a birthday surprise for him, and he hadn't eaten yet, so he hurriedly told everyone to sit down and eat first.

Gu Changfeng brushed the hair sticking out of his ears: "Do you remember what Dad told you a few years ago?"

Gu Ran shrugged: "There are too many, which sentence do you only have?"

Gu Changfeng said: "Mom and Dad prepared a birthday present for you."

Gu Ran looked around: "Where is it?"

Xu Mei touched her son's face and said with a smile, "It's where it should be."

Gu Ran couldn't understand: "What does it mean where it should be?"

Gu Changfeng said: "You will know later."

"Huh?" Gu Ran looked at him suspiciously, "What kind of gift is so mysterious?"

At this time Cheng Sen came over, he took Gu Ran's hand, and slapped a red envelope into his palm: "Your master asked me to give it to you."

Gu Ran was not polite, and accepted the red envelope: "Thank you."

Cheng Sen said: "He asked me to tell you, happy birthday, bravely pursue your dreams, and Master will always support you."

Gu Ran nodded and said nothing, Cheng Sen said again: "This is what Director Xu and I want to say to you..."

Xu Qing finished the second half of the sentence for him: "Master will always support you."

Gu Ran opened her arms and hugged his two coaches tightly: "Thank you, Master!"

That night, Gu Ran received many birthday wishes from family, classmates and friends.Even under the automatically sent birthday post on Weibo, there were tens of thousands of comments wishing him a happy birthday.

It is only a moment to change from a carefree child to an adult. All the aura and praise of youth should be left in yesterday. Tomorrow is a brand new beginning. He has to shoulder more missions and responsibilities like an adult. Go to the Winter Olympics.

At the beginning of July, the whole team flew to Kunming and started this year's plateau training at the Haigeng training base.

Compared with last year, this year's Haigeng training base is much more lively, with the National Swimming Team and National Track and Field Team present.

The more red blood cells, the greater the body's oxygen-carrying capacity, and the better the athlete's endurance.The stimulant commonly used by athletes is erythropoietin.

However, high altitude training can also increase the number of red blood cells in the blood of athletes to improve physical fitness.

Therefore, sports such as swimming, track and field, and football, which test the physical fitness of athletes, often go to plateau areas for training. The most suitable altitude and environment are naturally the Kunming Haigeng Training Base.

In recent years, the national swimming team has achieved excellent results in the international arena. Last year's Olympic Games even won five gold medals.

Gu Ran is sometimes curious, and when passing by the swimming pool, she will stand at the floor-to-ceiling windows and look inside.

He saw a champion of last year's Olympic Games at a glance. He was sitting by the pool, his face was flushed, his nose was flaming, his chest was heaving violently, and one hand was relieving himself from top to bottom.The team doctor squatted beside him and kept asking him how he felt.

Later, Gu Ran ran into this team member in the cafeteria. He was a handsome and fair-looking boy. When he was wearing swimming trunks, his upper body was muscular and well-proportioned. When he was wearing clothes, he was a soft and cute little boy.

Gu Ran sat down and chatted with others: "I noticed you lying on the ground today, looking very uncomfortable."

The other party was a little surprised when he saw him at first, but when he saw that Gu Ran was wearing the same T-shirt as him, he let down his guard and nodded: "I have a little altitude sickness. It is very difficult to hold your breath in such an environment. After a little longer, I feel like I can’t breathe.”

The other party sighed again, with a sad face, and said pitifully, "My lactic acid test exceeded the standard again today."

They are all athletes who have been training all year round. They will not have any reaction in normal life at such an altitude, and their physical fitness will be better than ordinary people.However, under high-intensity training, symptoms such as shortness of breath and slow lactic acid metabolism will appear.

Gu Ran said: "You're not alone, my blood lactic acid level is also on the verge of exceeding the standard and I'm frantically testing."

As long as Gu Ran is willing, he only needs a few words to please others.Cutie saw the dimples on his face and thought he was good-looking, so she was very kind: "I swim short distances and need explosive power. Endurance is not my strong point."

Gu Ran said: "Compared to you, our long distance can only be regarded as a short distance."

He smiled at the other party again: "Seeing that the Olympic champion has the same troubles, I feel that the psychological pressure has been relieved a lot."

Cutie waved her hand: "Don't feel pressured, in fact, everyone will, to varying degrees."

Gu Ran smiled and said: "The results have improved by leaps and bounds. If I compete here, I will definitely break the world record."

"Ah?" Cutie didn't understand, and asked curiously, "Why?"

"Because the air is thinner, there is less resistance. If the quality of the ice surface is good enough, it is very beneficial for the leading skaters."

The other party had an expression of "I don't understand, but I think it's very powerful".

Gu Ran suddenly thought that the other party was the Olympic champion, and he was playing with an ax at the door of the class. She smiled embarrassedly, and handed over the yogurt in front of her: "This is for you."

The little cutie smiled happily: "Thank you, I like this flavor the most."

When Gu Ran got up to leave, the other party stopped him again: "I think...you can break the world record in other places, come on!"

"Thank you!"

During the two days of training, Cheng Sen discovered that Gu Ran had a problem - he kept his hands behind his back at all times during training.

He didn't take it seriously at the beginning. This training stage is mainly technical skating. The players generally lean forward and slide with their hands behind their backs.

Later, he discovered that Gu Ran was testing at full speed on the fourth lap and the seventh lap. In the individual tests, except for the starting stage, most of the time he kept his hands behind his back. action.

Cheng Sen thought it was a bit interesting, so he called Xu Qing over to discuss it: "Have you noticed that this kid has become lazy recently."

"Lazy?" Xu Qing couldn't believe that this word could be used on Gu Ran one day, "He trains during the day and goes back to write codes at night. I have never seen anyone who is more diligent than him. You actually called him lazy."

Cheng Sen said, "You wait."

At the end of the training, Cheng Sen casually called out the names of a few men's team members: "Gu Ran, Chi Lang, Liu Fei, Da Qiao...the four of you test a 500-meter race."

The four of them felt that it was extremely fast. What does it mean to let the four of them measure 500 meters at this time.

Cheng Sen put the whistle in his mouth and held up the stopwatch: "Those who need to time the time will be punished for the second, third and fourth places."

While the team members were skating, Cheng Sen touched Xu Qing's arm: "Look at your apprentice."

Gu Ran slid down the entire 500 meters, keeping her hands behind her back the whole time. Even when she was pushing hard on the ice, she did not swing her arms to increase the kinetic energy.

Xu Qing glanced at the stopwatch, and smiled with a smile on his lips: "But the speed is not slow."

Cheng Sen also took a look, 39 seconds 957, very close to the world record.Although the performance in the plateau area will improve, it is already very good to be able to slip out of this result in training.

"So, is he being lazy?"

"Of course not!" Xu Qing thought for a moment, "He has his own ideas."

Cheng Sen said: "He is too confident."

Xu Qing kept staring at the results on the stopwatch, "I think our child will soon make history."

"Huh?" Cheng Sen was very surprised, "Isn't our child creating too little history?"

"I mean..." Xu Qing glanced at him, then looked at the four people standing in a row with their hands behind their backs, "Hurry up, I'm waiting for you to report your grades."

Cheng Sen told the grades of the four people one by one: "The grades are not bad, let's change clothes."

Gu Ran asked: "Isn't there still punishment?"

As soon as he spoke, Chi Lang next to him covered his mouth.

Cheng Sen tapped his leg with the stopwatch strap: "You are the worst kid. I won't punish the three of them, but I will punish you."

Gu Ran asked, "What am I going to punish?"

"Punish you to help Director Xu write this week's work summary."

"..."

Before school started, Qi Siyuan asked Gu Ran to go to the fencing club again. Gu Ran said, "Now I only have half a day off every week, and I can't leave the training base yet."

Qi Siyuan asked him: "Do you still want to continue the class?"

Gu Ran asked: "Why not?"

"I thought you would choose to take a break from school and concentrate on preparing for the Winter Olympics."

Gu Ran remembered that Qi Siyuan was supposed to take the college entrance examination last year, but he suspended his studies because he participated in the Olympics.

He suddenly realized that he also had to face this problem.Although there will only be four races in the next season, from the end of October to the beginning of December, it will take more than a month in total, which is supposed to be more time than in previous years.

However, these four World Cups are not ordinary competitions, but are related to the qualifications for the Winter Olympics.He is the absolute main force in the team, and he must go all out, and no mistakes are allowed in every stop.

After the World Cup, there will be training camps, team qualifying matches, and preparations for the Winter Olympics... He may not even have time to go back to school to take the final exam.

After thinking about it, Gu Ran couldn't make up his mind, so he planned to ask Xu Qing for his opinion.

At this time, Wei Yuening called him.The other party discussed with him the two papers he had read recently.Gu Ran suddenly asked: "Tell me, should I take a year off from school?"

Wei Yuening was taken aback: "Why did you take a year off from school?"

Gu Ran's grades are actually pretty good. Although he has to balance studies and training, he hasn't lost the knowledge he needs to learn.Among them, Wei Yuening contributed a lot. After college, he helped Gu Ran no less than when he was in high school.

Gu Ran sighed: "The Winter Olympics is held every four years, which is very important to me, and I don't want to be distracted by other things."

"Well," Wei Yuening asked, "what else?"

Gu Ran was silent for a long time before expressing her true thoughts: "I'm also worried that I won't be able to take care of my studies, and I won't even be able to take the final exam, which will embarrass the school."

On the other end of the phone, Wei Yuening was a little surprised: "You... have such worries?"

Gu Ran said, "Isn't it normal for me to have such worries?"

"It's not necessary."

"..."

Wei Yuening continued: "The final exam is at least half a month before the Winter Olympics, and there are only two days. I think you can set aside two days, and taking the exam will not have a great impact on training."

"Freshmen, freshmen and sophomores are all basic courses, and you are not bad at learning. The point is, what are you afraid of when I am here? When you are not in school, I will organize the content of the class and send it to you..."

Having said that, he paused for a moment before continuing: "If you need it, I can send it to you right now."

Gu Ran asked: "The class hasn't started yet, have you finished your notes?"

"Well, almost."

Gu Ran laughed loudly: "Actually, I've read it almost as well. If you send it over, I'll check it out."

"..."