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

Although Gu Ran had already won four gold medals, the number of spectators who came to the square to watch him accept the awards at the awards ceremony on the second night was more and more, tens of thousands of people.

The moment he stood on the podium, the cheers from the audience sounded particularly shocking.

Yu Jie joked about you: "Male celebrities don't even have so many people at their concerts."

Xu Qing's expression froze: "Which male celebrity is more popular than our little boy?"

Yu Jie quickly waved her hand: "No, no, now many celebrities are chasing him, sending messages to him on Weibo."

"However, the brat didn't reply to any of them, which made people feel very embarrassed."

Gu Ran looked nonchalant: "Which one are you talking about, why don't I know?"

Yu Jie counted for him with her fingers: "The new film star, C-debut trainee, love song queen, top niche..."

Gu Ran shook her head: "I don't know any of what you said."

Cheng Sen said: "In addition to training every day, you are code, calculus, and physics that we can't understand. How can you have time to pay attention to these?"

Yu Jie smiled and said, "It's okay, you are now the most popular male star."

Wherever the male celebrity went, a group of fans would come to see him, holding up a light sign: "Gu Ran YYDS!"

Cheng Sen asked Xu Qing: "What does YYDS mean?"

Xu Qing shrugged: "I don't know either."

Cheng Sen showed a suddenly realized expression: "I see!"

Xu Qing asked him, "What do you mean?"

"Gu Ran, always single!"

"!!!"

Gu Ran turned around and looked at his two coaches: "I really thank you all."

At this time, a person came running from behind and hugged Gu Ran's shoulder enthusiastically: "Hey, Xiao Ran!"

It sounds like this strange articulation is not something that Chinese people can shout out. Gu Ran looked back, and as expected, it was Marko of the Dutch team.

Gu Ran stretched out her hand: "Congratulations!"

Marco shook his hand back: "Thank you!"

Gu Ran knew Marco when he trained abroad in the Netherlands a few years ago, and later they often played together. Although they were opponents, they had a good relationship.

Gu Ran asked him: "Why don't you congratulate me?"

Marco shook his head: "Don't say it now."

"why?"

"Save it for the last game day."

This meaning is obvious. Marko's implication is that Gu Ran will win his fifth gold medal in the men's 5000-meter relay on the last race day.

In the first four races, the 1000-meter race was the first time for Gu Ran to stand on the highest podium in the Winter Olympics. The national flag was raised because of himself, the national anthem was played because of himself, and thousands of cheers in the square were raised because of him... …he felt like a hero in that moment.

Later, in the 2000-meter mixed relay, it was another joy to stand on the podium with my teammates.I heard Luo Mengyao say that she persisted in the three Winter Olympics and finally realized her dream.

At 1500 meters, he, Gao Ziyi and Lin Jiaxi won the first, second and third places, and three five-star red flags were raised at the same time.

500 meters, he broke the world record for the first time, or in the plain ice rink.

Finally, there is one men's 5000-meter relay left.

In Gu Ran's heart, this is the most important game.

He once said to Chi Lang: "Personal events are ideals, and relay races are responsibilities."

Ideals are important, but responsibilities are even more important.

So far, Gao Ziyi and Lin Jiaxi are the only men left with gold medals.No matter what, Gu Ran will take his good brothers to win this gold medal together.

The day before the game, Gu Ran received a message from Wei Yuening.

The message was sent at noon, but Gu Ran saw it at night.

"Next semester, our class will have an opportunity to go to Stanford for an exchange. Do you want to sign up?"

Gu Ran asked: "What are you communicating?"

Wei Yuening replied, "I didn't expect you to see my news."

Gu Ran said, "Special attention has been set."

Only then did Wei Yuening answer his question: "Theoretical computer."

Gu Ran went to the United States every year, but not to Stanford.The World Championships in March this year happened to be in the United States, and he asked again: "When is it?"

"It should be March and April, the time has not yet been determined."

March and April coincided with the end of the World Championships, and they were already on vacation.The time was right, so Gu Ran agreed: "Then let's go."

Wei Yuening smiled and said, "Then I will sign up for you."

"Okay!" Gu Ran remembered another thing and asked him, "Tomorrow is the last game day, will you come to see me play?"

Wei Yuening smiled and said, "I can't get a ticket."

Gu Ran was surprised and said, "This still needs to be robbed?"

"It may not have been needed before, but now as long as it's your game, it's hard to get a ticket, and the scalpers have doubled it several times."

Gu Ran said: "Then you should watch TV in the dormitory."

On the last competition day of short track speed skating, there were no other competitions. There were only two relays. The women's 3000m was the first and the men's 5000m was the finale.

In the women's 3000m relay, the Chinese team lost to the Netherlands and Canada and won a bronze medal.

The girls prepared for four years, and finally won No.3. They failed to win the championship, and I feel somewhat regretful.

Cheng Sen and Xu Qing were very satisfied. Each of the four team members did their best, and they had reached their goal before the competition if they finally stood on the podium.

When the four girls returned to the coach's bench, Cheng Sen also said: "I will invite you to drink milk tea after returning."

Milk tea, a beverage with excessive sugar content, is beyond the imagination of everyone, let alone the coach's treat.

The girls happily surrounded Cheng Sen, who smiled like an old father.

Lin Jiaxi who was on the side whispered, "I want to drink milk tea too."

Cheng Sen glanced at him: "Don't think about it, it's not for you."

Lin Jiaxi pouted aggrievedly, and Gu Ran immediately pulled the person to her side: "I'll buy it for you, a big cup, with taro paste, bobo, and pearls..."

Chi Lang was very puzzled: "Then you can buy him a bowl of eight-treasure porridge."

Lin Jiaxi smiled and said, "Eight-treasure porridge is also good."

Lin Jiaxi didn't have to play today, he didn't even change his equipment, he was holding the national flag in his hand, he came to cheer for his teammates.

In the past, every time those media and marketing accounts reported on him, they had to mention the Canadian naturalized players.

Now, everyone has long forgotten that he used to be a member of the Canadian team.He is a member of the Chinese short track speed skating team, and even a Chinese.

The four players who played in the final were Gu Ran, Chi Lang, Meng Yuqiao and Gao Ziyi.

Because of the penalties in the second group of the final, five teams participated in the men's 500m final, namely the Netherlands, South Korea, the United States, China and Canada.

Among the five teams, the United States is relatively weak, followed by the Netherlands, South Korea and Canada all have the strength to compete for the championship.

Before, Gu Ran and Marco had several exchanges in private, although the other party did not say so.But it's not hard for Gu Ran to feel it.After the Dutch women's team won the relay race, they didn't have such high requirements for the men's team, as long as they could get on the podium, they were satisfied.

Therefore, in the final, the biggest rivals of the Chinese team are still the Canadian team and the South Korean team.

Before going on stage, everyone was very nervous, only Gu Ran, who was leaning on the stool like an old man, wearing a down jacket, was putting things in the tidy box, humming to the radio, and when he finally stood up, he said One sentence: "Let's go, I will leave work after the competition."

Chi Lang was surprised and said: "You only competed in five projects, and you want to get off work?"

Gu Ran said: "Five projects are not enough?"

Chi Lang waved his hand: "Give you five more events, and you can still get five gold medals."

Meng Yuqiao said, "Model worker."

Lin Jiaxi smiled and said, "Xiaoran is a champion harvester."

Gao Ziyi stood up first: "For the last match, let's cheer together!"

When he came out, Lin Jiaxi was standing in the middle. He didn't wear skates, so he looked quite a bit shorter than the four people around him.Finally, I high-fived my teammates one by one: "Xiaoran, I did a special search last night. The athlete who won the most gold medals in a single Winter Olympics in history is four. If you win this gold medal, you will be No. 1 in history!"

Relying on the fact that she was much taller than him now, Gu Ran put her hand on the top of his head and rubbed it, and said dotingly: "Listen to you!"

Before the game started, when everyone was warming up, there were as many as [-] athletes on the field.Coupled with referees, staff and various administrators, the ice is particularly crowded.

When the game officially started, the staff retreated, but there were still referees, corner administrators, and athlete administrators in the venue, and there were still quite a few of them.

The game has reached the middle and late stages, and the chaos on the field can be imagined.

Gu Ran could already guess the scene where the curve manager didn't dare to step forward to place the sign and stood shivering in the corner.

At the beginning of the race, it was okay. Everyone was not in a hurry to move forward. The US team led the slide, and the other teams followed.

But after ten laps, the tactics of each team gradually began to be reflected.The baton handover time is also staggered, with almost every team handing over the baton at different places. In many cases, there are as many as ten athletes skating on the track.

After [-] laps, each team is already very sensitive to the position.The US team fell behind, the Canadian team overtook the first place, the South Korean team was second, and the Chinese team was third.

Because of the handover of the two teams, every time the Chinese team wants to overtake, the players of the South Korean team who have completed the handover will always intentionally or unintentionally get stuck in the front position and deliberately slow down.

Strictly speaking, this is a foul action. After the baton is handed over, they should immediately exit the blue line and cannot occupy the track.

The Koreans are indeed pushing out of the blue line, but at a slower rate. It is really difficult to define this "first time".

This makes the Chinese team very uncomfortable.Chi Lang had clearly seen the opportunity and wanted to try to overtake Zheng Minyu, but Guo Chengjun blocked in front of him. In order to avoid hitting him directly, Chi Lang had to slow down. Guo Chengjun took advantage and retreated immediately.

After completing the handover, Chi Lang was still cursing: "The Koreans are so fucking disgusting. If he stops me later, I'll knock him away."

Gu Ran quickly calmed him down: "Don't be impulsive, maybe they will be behind us next time."

Chi Lang glanced at him: "You mean..."

Before he finished speaking, Gu Ran left.

After Meng Yuqiao, it was Gu Ran's best time.Because Gao Ziyi always has to skate half a lap more in the whole team, so the position of each of them handing over the baton is different. This needs to be firmly kept in mind by the athletes. The rhythm will be disrupted.

It was very difficult for Chi Lang to memorize the number of laps at the beginning. After training every day, Gu Ran accompanied him in extra training. It took him a long time to remember it.

When Gu Ran and Meng Yuqiao handed over the baton next time, they happened to be with the Korean team ahead.

When Gu Ran was pushed out by Meng Yuqiao, Huang Zaixian was blocking his route again intentionally or unintentionally.

But this time, behind him was the Dutch team, and Gu Ran had appeared on his left side at some point, overtaking him from the inside.

Caught off guard by this, Huang Zaixian was taken aback for a moment, and then remembered that he had already passed the baton, so he couldn't appear on the track.

After a brief hesitation, he exited the blue line. At this time, the Dutch team had to slow down because of his illegal occupation of the track, and was almost overtaken by the American team behind.

Gu Ran just saw the right moment. When the South Korean team was handing over the baton, he rushed up from the inner lane.

He didn't swing his arms when he was pedaling. Even if the Korean team tightened the route very tightly and there was only a little space inside, Gu Ran didn't feel cramped when he rushed up.Although the sign blocks on the curve had already been scattered, Gu Ran was still able to pass the curve outside the virtual line in strict accordance with the rules of the game.

After more than 20 laps of the race, the Chinese team has risen to the second place, leaving only Canada in front.

At this time, the South Korean team still did not give up. They were chasing closely behind the Chinese team every time, and they would try to overtake as long as there was a chance.

There were constant collisions between the players, and the speed could not be increased. On the contrary, the Canadian team in front, without any threat, skating faster and faster.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Gu Ran quickly greeted his teammates: "We have to increase our speed and surpass Canada as soon as possible, and let them entangle with the Korean team."

When he said this, Meng Yuqiao and Chi Lang also increased their lap speed.Although the Koreans also followed suit, they are now ahead of the Korean team, and the latter's handover will not affect the Chinese team at all.

In addition, the position and time of each baton handover are different. Using this difference, the Chinese team can reduce the mutual interference between many players.

Both Meng Yuqiao and Chi Lang pushed their absolute speed to the limit without any reservations.

Gao Ziyi is still the honest person who works hard and bears no complaints, and he undertook the final with the longest skating distance in the team.

To complete the surpassing of Canada, the heavy responsibility fell on Gu Ran.

At this time, thirty laps of the race had passed, and there were still fifteen laps left.

Through the efforts of the four players, the Chinese team has opened a certain distance from the Korean team. Although the Korean team is still chasing after them, there is still the Dutch team behind them. It is not easy to catch up in a while.

The Chinese team just took advantage of this opportunity to quickly narrow the gap with the Canadian team.

Soon, the race came to No.30 for seven laps, and there were only eight laps left before the end.

After completing the handover from Meng Yuqiao, Gu Ran has already caught up with the Canadian team, skating behind them, and can go up and overtake if he finds an opportunity.

At this time, Canada also sensed the crisis from behind, and began to speed up.At the final stage of the race, the lap speed even slipped to less than 8 seconds.

All the contestants on the field still have the last time to hand over the baton. As the main baton, Gu Ran will not play in the front. What he has to skate is the last two laps.

According to his observations in the semi-finals, he has a general idea of ​​the final candidate of the other four teams, but judging from the current game situation, he does not know whether it is a tactical arrangement or a wrong number of laps. He found that the US team and The South Korean team's main bats are still on the field at the moment.

After three attempts to hand over the baton, Meng Yuqiao, Chi Lang and Gao Ziyi failed to surpass the Canadian team. The race is about to enter the No.40 four laps, and the last hope falls on Gu Ran.

Gu Ran originally thought that Hwang Jae-hyun was the last kicker for the South Korean team, but it was Zheng Minyu who played in the end.

This is a middle-to-long-distance player. His starting and explosive power are not his strong points, but his endurance is very good. The later he gets, the more he can slide out a very impressive lap speed without being affected by his physical fitness.

But it was not so easy for him to catch up with Gu Ran, and Gu Ran did not focus on Team Guo's attention on him, but stared at Curtis in front of him, ready to overtake him at any time.

Curtis is a very experienced athlete. He is not tall, but he has a strong body and a solid ground. It will take a lot of work to surpass him.

Now the race has reached the last two laps, with a lap speed of 8 seconds. After so many laps of the race, the physical fitness has not allowed the players to overtake from the outside lane.

There is still one and a half laps left before the finish line, and everyone knows what strength Gu Ran is now. Curtis has used all his abilities to stay in position as much as possible to prevent him from surpassing him.

He tightened the inner passage tightly, leaving no room for Gu Ran.

However, at the corner of the last lap, what he thought was impossible happened, unexpectedly happened.

Gu Ran really increased the strength and frequency of pedaling before entering the curve. The quality of his pedaling is very high, and his ability to speed up instantly is particularly strong.

He was still behind Curtis before entering the corner, and the moment he entered the corner, he had already cut to the outside lane.

Not only does his speed-up ability explode instantly, but his ability to continue to speed up is also terrifying. He does not drop his speed when entering a curve, and his body is controlled very well, which is visible to the naked eye.Whether it is the audience in the stands or the audience watching the game through the high-definition TV broadcast, there will be no worry at all. He will fall off the track because of such a fast speed and cannot control his body.

Not only did Gu Ran not fall off the track, but when he came out of the corner, he slashed twice and slid in front of Curtis with ease.

From kicking off the speed, to entering the corner with Curtis side by side, to starting again when exiting the corner, to completing the final overtaking.The whole process is smooth and flowing, which is pleasing to the eye.

Gu Ran not only showed his super personal ability to the fullest, but also showed his big heart to the world.

Who would have thought that at this time, he would unexpectedly surpass from heretics.

This confidence and calmness, there is no second person on the field.

The race is not over, there is still one last corner left.

Just when the Canadian team fell to No.2, Zheng Minyu of the South Korean team also caught up.

He was very good at seizing the opportunity. The moment Gu Ran surpassed Curtis, he also wanted to fish in troubled waters and pass the two people in front of him in one go.

However, Gu Ran's speed is too fast, let alone overtake, it would be great if he could catch up.

But he also took advantage of it - on the straight before the last corner, he was almost tied with Curtis.

At the next corner, he even relied on his skating speed to get into the corner before Curtis.

The two were entangled, they kept adding knives under their feet, and they kept colliding when their arms were swinging.

In the final sprint stage, Gu Ran crossed the finish line before them, and the two of them sent out the ice skates almost at the same time.

Afterwards, the Dutch team and the US team also crossed the finish line, and all the short track speed skating competitions in this Winter Olympics have come to an end.

Gu Ran stood there with his waist in his arms. Even though the stands were shouting his name in unison, he still maintained his rationality.

In the 5000-meter relay, another five teams participated. Although he was confident that the four players of the Chinese team finished the race cleanly, he was not clear how the referee would judge him.

However, from the audience's point of view, there is no suspense about the championship, but no one can see whether No.2 is the Korean team or the Canadian team.

Gao Ziyi, Meng Yuqiao and Chi Lang slid to Gu Ran's side.

Chi Lang opened his arms and wanted to have a passionate hug with Gu Ran, but the other party put his hands on his hips and was not very passionate.

Chi Lang was surprised and said: "If I'm not mistaken, you are the first to cross the finish line, why are you so calm?"

Meng Yuqiao on the side said: "I have won too many championships, and my heart is at peace."

Gao Ziyi is probably the one who knows Gu Ran best among them: "He is waiting for the final result."

The score didn't come out for a long time, and several people slid to the sidelines. Xu Qing and Cheng Sen looked at the four of them through the crash pad: "It was changed to another team, and the moment we crossed the finish line, we started celebrating."

Chi Lang opened his arms: "Come on, hug one."

Xu Qing touched Cheng Sen: "Hurry up and give your little fan a hug."

Cheng Sen snorted softly: "No hug."

Gu Ran took off the helmet and stroked her hair from the front to the back: "I don't think it's a problem for us to win the championship, you can celebrate now."

Xu Qing asked curiously, "Then why don't you celebrate?"

Gu Ran raised her eyebrows: "You really want to know?"

The more he was like this, the more curious Xu Qing became: "Tell me."

Gu Ran said, "I'm waiting."

Cheng Sen asked, "What are you waiting for?"

Gu Ran's eyes fell to the other side of the ice rink, and the South Korean team also gathered in front of their coach's bench, looking even more anxious than them.

Gu Ran laughed and said, "They must think that they are either number one or number two."

"But I don't think they get anything."