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

At that time, many people paid attention to Gu Ran.Not only pay attention to his talent and achievements, but also pay attention to his appearance and figure.

Later, a netizen posted a post on the forum, which mentioned: "Here, I would like to appeal to everyone not to pay too much attention to his things outside the game, and not to have too much demand and pressure on him. This The Olympic cycle has just begun, let them concentrate on training and grow slowly. It takes four years to hone their skills and accumulate experience. I believe that after four years, they will definitely bring us surprises."

Four years later, a surprise came as promised, three competition days, three finals, three gold medals, and one Olympic record, all with Gu Ran's name written on them.

Not only him, but also not only short track speed skating, this is the most brilliant record of the Chinese delegation in the Winter Olympics so far.

However, this surprise is not over yet. There are two more games to come, both of which are Gu Ran's strengths. If nothing else, Gu Ran can still stand on the podium twice.

Throughout the night, netizens on major social platforms were having a carnival.Even if you are not an ice fan, watching the Winter Olympics for the first time, you will fall in love with this athlete after watching the short track speed skating competition in the past two days, and you will fall in love with this group of young people who dare to fight on the field.

The next day, in the evening, at the awards square, when the three five-star red flags were raised at the same time, not only the three athletes standing on the podium, but also the tens of thousands of spectators watching the award ceremony below could feel that feeling. A sense of national pride arises spontaneously.

Even the South Korean team, which has dominated the short track speed skating arena for decades, has never won the top three in any event, but in yesterday's competition, the Chinese team did it.

Netizens not only paid attention to Gu Ran, but also began to pay attention to every athlete of the short track speed skating team, and even the two coaches Cheng Sen and Xu Qing.

Find old articles about their athletes' deeds and share them as interesting stories.

It turned out that the two coaches met when they were teenagers. The two were brothers in the provincial team. Later, they entered the national team and competed in the international arena together.

Now, the two of them have become the coaches of the national team at the same time. Together, they selected the current group of players into the national team and trained them carefully for four years. dream come true.

This is not only the teaching and continuation of the technical level, but also the indomitable spiritual inheritance of generations.Foreign coaches cannot lead the Chinese team to glory. Only our own coaches can best understand what this team needs.

"So, whether you are a coach or a member of the short track speed skating team, everyone is not only strong enough, but also good-looking."

"I hope that after the Winter Olympics, they can participate in variety shows together. It must be very interesting."

"I want to see Xiaoran practice other sports."

"I want to see Xiaoran participate in "The Most Powerful Brain"."

"I want to see Xiaoran participate in the Poetry Conference."

"I don't know if Xiao Ran has any younger siblings..."

When Liang Kexin showed this comment to Gu Ran, they were eating.Gu Ran said: "I can barely understand "The Most Powerful Brain" and "Poetry Conference". What the hell is this underage brother and sister?"

Liang Kexin said in surprise: "Don't you know, variety shows with babies are very popular now."

Gu Ran thought about it, and felt that this variety show with a baby is also good, so she showed a meaningful smile: "Then I can take my son with me."

Several people at the same table were shocked: "Your son?"

Gu Ran raised her chin and pointed to Chi Lang who was buried in cooking: "Isn't that my stupid son?"

"Hey!" Liang Kexin glanced at Chi Lang, "They are all cute babies of how old they are in variety shows. Your son's hair is beyond the standard."

Gu Ran disagreed with her words: "Don't look at the size, the IQ level still meets the requirements."

Chi Lang showed a ferocious expression: "Nizi..."

Gu Ran asked: "The pay for this type of variety show should not be low."

Chi Lang immediately changed his words: "That's right, I'm just a baby, Dad, take me with you."

The people at the same table were dying of laughter, Meng Yuqiao gave him a look: "You are really promising."

Chi Lang drank half a glass of juice and wiped his mouth: "It doesn't matter if it's money or not, the main thing is that I like to go to variety shows with Gu Xiaoran, not to mention variety shows with babies, I go to variety shows when I'm in love."

Gu Ran crumpled up the napkin and threw it over: "Get out, love variety shows don't take you."

Chi Lang asked immediately: "Then who do you want to take?"

Gu Ran turned his gaze to the table next to him, and the others followed his gaze. Cheng Sen and Xu Qing were sitting face to face, discussing the evening relay race while eating.

The two had a disagreement again, Cheng Sen wanted Gu Ran to have sex, Xu Qing wanted Gu Ran to rest, the two argued for a long time, but neither could convince the other.

Everyone exchanged a look and reached a consensus - let the old couple go to the love variety show.

The fourth competition day also has three competitions, the first is the men's 500m qualifying competition, then the women's 1000m quarter-finals, semi-finals and finals, and finally there is a men's 5000m semi-final.

For Gu Ran, the 500-meter preliminaries were not difficult. He, Meng Yuqiao, and Chi Lang all entered the next round smoothly.

The women's 1000m gold medal was won by a Dutch player. Although Yang Shanshan failed to win the championship, she won a bronze medal, which was considered to have met the expectations of her coach and herself before the game.

In the men's 5000m semi-final, Xu Qing wanted Gu Ran to rest, but Cheng Sen disagreed.There was no final event in the men's competition today, so there was no need for Gu Ran to rest. Participating in the competition would allow him to maintain his competitive state.

The most important thing is that to ensure that the relay race enters the final, the three short-distance players Gu Ran, Chi Lang and Meng Yuqiao must play, and the rotation is also among the two long-distance players Gao Ziyi and Lin Jiaxi.

After all, he is the head coach and has the right to make decisions.Xu Qing also stopped arguing with him, and in the end Gu Ran, Chi Lang, Meng Yuqiao and Lin Jiaxi came up to let Gao Ziyi rest.

The opponents of the Chinese team in the semi-finals are the Netherlands, Russia and Kazakhstan.Except that Kazakhstan is here to play soy sauce, Italy and Russia have certain strengths, but compared with the Chinese team, their strength is still slightly weaker, and the two of them can compete for a competitive spot.

The first half of the game went very smoothly, Russia ranked first, China ranked second, followed by Italy.

But when the race was on lap No.30, something happened suddenly—Meng Yuqiao fell down.

It was the Italian team who wanted to surpass from the outer lane, but this player's strength itself is average, and his ability to start continuously is not strong.

He failed to completely surpass Meng Yuqiao. When the two were tied, the Italian player kept cutting inwards, trying to squeeze Meng Yuqiao's position.

At this time, Meng Yuqiao would definitely not let him in. If he gave in further, one leg would soon be out of the blue line.

In previous competitions, there was no such blue line on the inside of the track. It all depended on the athletes' self-consciousness, and the referee's eyes were also tested when making penalties.

Moreover, there was no special referee camera system in the previous competitions. The referees watched the replays as they watched the broadcast replays. The angle given was more conducive to TV broadcasts, and they could not accurately see the tiny movements between the athletes.

But now there is an extra blue line, coupled with the arbitration camera system at a special angle, it is clear at a glance whether the athlete has suddenly crossed the track or squeezed other runners.

Just when the two were entangled, Meng Yuqiao kicked the marker block at the corner, lost his balance and fell on the ice, and brought down the Italian player who was very close to him.

Seeing this scene, the audience at the scene and in front of the TV panicked even more than the players on the field.

Once a player fell down on the field, the distance between him and other teams suddenly widened.

Although there is a certain gap in strength between teams, the gap is not that big. It is not so easy to recover.

But the two coaches of the Chinese team did not panic. It is not uncommon to fall on the field, especially in the relay race. It is not that there is no chance to save if you fall.

The guest commentator also said: "It's okay, it's okay, finish the game first, trust the referee, I think there will be a penalty."

Having said that, he still emphasized: "You can't pin all your hopes on the referee's penalty. The boys still have to try their best to catch up."

According to the rules, if an athlete falls during a relay race, his teammates can step forward and give him a high-five to complete the handover and continue the race.

Gu Ran rushed up immediately, touched the opponent lightly with her fingers, and then slipped out.

However, at this time, the Kazakhstan team, which had been playing soy sauce at the end, had slipped to second place, and the distance between the two teams and the falling team was at least half a lap.

Gu Ran could see clearly that it was the overtaking by the Italian team that caused Meng Yuqiao's fall, which should have constituted a foul.

But in the end, Meng Yuqiao fell because he kicked the marker block, and Gu Ran was not sure how the referee would ultimately judge.

Therefore, he didn't dare to block, he could only chase forward desperately.

In their usual training, they will take into account various emergencies in the game and how to deal with them.

In this case, it must be the first to finish the game and try to catch up with the opponent in front.

The other three players have the same tacit understanding with him.Although there were only [-] laps, the distance between them and Kazakhstan was opened by more than half a lap, but just after [-] laps of the race, they chased back with their excellent skating ability.

In the last two laps, Gu Ran successfully overtook his opponent by virtue of his personal ability and won No.2 in the group.

In the studio, the guest commentators were also excited: "I just said, you have to have confidence in the boys of our Chinese team. Their personal abilities are very outstanding, especially Gu Ran. Isn't it time to catch up?"

"Regardless of whether the referee will punish the Italian player or not, in the end we still entered the final with the second place in the group."

When several people came to the sidelines, they were also discussing the scene where Meng Yuqiao fell just now.

Chi Lang asked, "Big Joe, did that Italian push you?"

Meng Yuqiao shook her head: "I didn't reach out to push me on purpose."

Gu Ran said, "But he still committed a foul."

Lin Jiaxi was surprised and said: "You can see all this when you slide in front of them?"

Gu Ran shook her head: "At that time, I saw clearly on the inner circle. He had a sudden crosscut and kept squeezing Qiaomei's track. Qiaomei's skates were already on the blue line."

They walked out of the ice rink one after another, and the results on the big screen came out.As analyzed by Gu Ran, the Italian team penalized a foul and canceled the score. The code corresponding to the penalty was a cross-cutting block.

Chi Lang hugged Gu Ran's shoulder excitedly: "As expected of a master who has taught the coach, he knows every rule by heart."

Gu Ran gave him a white look: "You think they are all like you, with the left ear going in and the right ear going out."

Chi Lang said, "How can I have it?"

Gu Ran gave him a meaningful look: "Don't you have one?"

Chi Lang sighed: "Give me another chance to choose, I still want to go, knowing that I may be punished, I will still go."

Gu Ran also put his arms around his shoulders: "I just like the bloodiness of this desperado in you."

Chi Lang frowned: "Why do you say that I'm not a good person?"

Gu Ran snorted and said, "It's really not like that."

When they returned to the coach's bench, Cheng Sen glanced at everyone with a half-smile: "Fortunately, there is no danger."

Gu Ran is very relaxed now: "It's nothing at first, fifteen laps, it shouldn't be difficult to catch up with Kazakhstan."

Xu Qing said: "It's just that the course of the final may not be very good."

Cheng Sen said with a smile: "In the 5000-meter relay, the pass is not that important. It still depends on the baton."

Next came the second group of competitions. The three teams from the Netherlands, South Korea and Canada all entered the final.

As a result, five teams appeared in the final.The distance is long, the time is too long, and there are so many people. It is not difficult to imagine that they will have a fierce battle on the last match day.

But that's not what Gu Ran needs to worry about now. What he needs to worry about now is the 500-meter final the day after tomorrow.

This event has always been his strong point. Whether it is the World Cup or the World Championships, he rarely loses the gold medal, and there is no reason to lose to others in the Olympics.

Strange to say, Gu Ran didn't have such great psychological pressure in the previous 1000 meters and 1500 meters.

But on the night before the 500-meter race, he also experienced the feeling of being so nervous that he couldn't sleep.

The more I am strong, the more I care about it, the more I care about it, the more nervous I am, I am afraid of accidents, and I am afraid that I will not get this gold medal.

He attributed this to the mental burden brought to him by the previous three gold medals. He kept thinking about what to do if he could not get this gold medal, and things would inevitably develop in a negative direction.

Just don't think about anything, it's over when you get to the arena.

Thinking of this, he quickly fell asleep.

The quarter-finals on the second day also went well, and the three entered the semi-finals together.

Gu Ran and Meng Yuqiao were in the first group. Apart from them, there were South Korean player Guo Chengjun and Canadian player Curtis Johnson.

Curtis is also 28 years old this year. He lost to Hwang Jae-hyun in the last World Cup and only took No.2.

At that time, he had made up his mind to train hard for four years, and at this Winter Olympics, he would stand with Hwang Jae-hyun again, vowing to win the gold medal.

Unexpectedly, in the past four years, Gu Ran, an astonishingly talented young man, was born out of nowhere, and there was no room for him and Huang Zaixian, who were once the number one and number two in the world, to be suppressed.

He once also won a 500-meter gold medal in the World Cup. Huang Zaixian, in the past year or so, has been on the podium a handful of times.

His goal now has changed from winning the championship to being on the podium, even if it is just a bronze medal, he can accept it.

Gu Ran was in the first lane. As soon as the competition started, he led the skate smoothly.

The 500m is an anaerobic event purely for strength. The higher the level of competition, the less tactics there are.

Gu Ran led the skater in front. At first, Meng Yuqiao followed him. However, on the fourth lap, Curtis and Guo Chengjun rushed up together.

Gu Ran originally wanted to slow down a bit and cooperate with Meng Yuqiao so that the two of them could enter the final together.

But the accidents increased sharply at this moment, and Meng Yuqiao fell down without warning.

Gu Ran didn't know what happened in the front, he could only finish his game first.

Meng Yuqiao's fall was not serious, when Gu Ran crossed the finish line and looked back, he had already stood up.

Gu Ran quickly slid to his side: "What's going on?"

Meng Yuqiao didn't speak, but looked at the big screen.

At this time, what happened at the last corner was being replayed repeatedly on the big screen.

Gu Ran was at the front, and behind him, Guo Chengjun was overtaking Meng Yuqiao.

I have to admit that Xiao Guo has made rapid progress in the past four years.From a young player who couldn't play, he quickly grew to be able to defeat his older seniors and enter the list of the Winter Olympics.

In this transcendence, his target was not Meng Yuqiao, but Gu Ran in front of him.

At that time, Gu Ran happened to slow down and got stuck in front of him, and he was overtaking from Meng Yuqiao's outside to Gu Ran's inside at the same time. This was a similar "S"-shaped route, which was very dangerous. Bring down two people.

In order to protect Gu Ran, Meng Yuqiao collided with Guo Chengjun and fell off the track at a bend.

"Damn it!" Seeing this slow-motion replay, Gu Ran couldn't help but swear, "This Guo Chengjun not only resembles Huang Zaixian in skating, but also imitates his character. How shameless."

Meng Yuqiao looked at him: "So, what good does it do him?"

"Huh?" Gu Ran didn't realize what he meant immediately, but soon he understood, "I'm in the first place, he just needs to squeeze you down, why is he still talking to me?" Do it?"

Meng Yuqiao nodded: "I can't figure it out."

Gu Ran looked at the big screen again, and the director was still playing this collision repeatedly.In fact, it is not difficult to see that everyone's lap speed was very fast at that time. With Gu Ran's cooperation, it is not very likely that Guo Chengjun would want to surpass Meng Yuqiao.

But at this time, instead, he passed Meng Yuqiao and set his sights on Gu Ran.

Just when they couldn't figure out the reason, the final results of this group came out. Gu Ran was first and Curtis was second. The two advanced to the final. Meng Yuqiao was sentenced to the next round. Guo Chengjun's name was followed by not only "PEN", and a yellow card.His action just now was too dangerous, and the referee couldn't see it, and gave him a yellow card for warning.

In the end, both he and Meng Yuqiao entered the final, and Gu Ran was very satisfied with the result.

When the two walked out of the ice rink, Gu Ran suddenly turned around and called out, "Sister Qiao!"

Meng Yuqiao frowned: "What's wrong?"

"I see."

"Ok?"

Gu Ran said, "I know why he did that."

Meng Yuqiao frowned even deeper: "Why?"

The scene was a bit noisy. Even if there was no competition on the field for the time being, the audience saw that two Chinese players entered the final and the Korean team was disqualified. They were still enthusiastic.

Gu Ran hugged Meng Yuqiao's shoulders, and whispered in his ear: "Guo Chengjun knew very well in his heart that at that time, if he didn't foul, the possibility of him surpassing you was very small."

"But as Chi Lang said, in this case, even if there is a possibility of fouling, you have to take a gamble."

Meng Yuqiao not only frowned, but also moved the corners of her mouth: "Although Chi Dali is an idiot, you don't need to compare him with Koreans."

"Yes!" Gu Ran changed his words in a polite manner, "Chi Lang's purpose is not to foul, but to give himself a chance to advance. However, Guo Juncheng is not, he obviously wants to foul on purpose, and this is what the referee gave him. The reason for a yellow card."

After listening for a long time, Meng Yuqiao still didn't understand: "Then what is the purpose of his foul?"

The corner of Gu Ran's mouth twitched, revealing a mocking smile: "Because of the final round."

"!!!"

Meng Yuqiao looked at him in shock, understood what he meant, but couldn't believe it: "You mean..."

Gu Ran nodded: "If I am the first in the total score, I will be the first in the final. But if I am sentenced to the final, then I will be the last."

"This is a 500-meter race, the first track and the last track are very different."

Meng Yuqiao said: "He thinks Huang Zaixian will definitely get No.1 in another group."

Gu Ran said: "Even if I can't get it, I will be very beneficial to them in the last one."

"..."

Meng Yuqiao didn't know what to say. At that time, he instinctively wanted to protect Gu Ran. Now that he thought about it, he was very glad that he did so and did not let the Korean conspiracy succeed.

Meng Yuqiao pondered for a moment, then asked another question: "Is this a temporary idea on his part, or was it planned in advance?"

Gu Ran didn't answer and asked instead: "How can there be so many impromptu ideas in the short track speed skating arena?"

Indeed, although there are many accidents in short track speed skating, each player will preset various accidents and how to deal with them during training.Guo Chengjun must have been instructed by the coach to do this, at least for fouling Gu Ran.

Meng Yuqiao said in a sarcastic tone: "It's not easy to do this. He has true love for Huang Zaixian."

Gu Ran put her arms around his shoulders and pulled him to her side: "You are the one who loves me. I don't even know what happened when you fell down suddenly. I only knew after watching the replay."

Meng Yuqiao gave a rare chuckle: "It's good to know."

On the field, another set of matches began.This group includes Hwang Jae-hyun, Marko, Chi Lang, and American player Jason Glazer.

Looking at this lineup, Gu Ran can already guess the final contestant. It seems that Chi Lang's classmate is in danger.