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

When Meng Yuqiao mentioned this, Gu Ran followed his words and made a joke without thinking too much about it.

Chi Lang on the side smiled like a big fool, and made a joke: "Maybe he is afraid that he will reveal Canada's tactics to us."

Gao Ziyi smiled and reminded him: "But we won against them, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the results on the big screen came out.The four turned their heads together, and looked at their teammates at the same time a second later, Chi Lang laughed and hugged Gu Ran: "This season's World Cup has reached the fourth stop, and finally, we also won a relay Tournament champion!"

Although these words are Chi Lang's unintentional emotion, Gu Ran knows that things are actually far from that simple.

Gu Ran turned his head to look at the coaching bench of the Chinese team. His two coaches and the team leader just looked away from the big screen. Yu Jie stood between them, and the three of them hugged each other. It is not difficult to see that the three people have expressions of relief on their faces.

Yu Jie even wiped the corners of her eyes, Xu Qing also said something, Gu Ran roughly guessed from the shape of her mouth, what he said seemed to be "too difficult".

It is indeed not easy for this young coaching team.

In July last year, Cheng Sen's team just became the head coach of the national team. After all, he is young, and he is not yet 31 years old.

The leaders of the National Winter Management Center appreciate his courage, the drive of young people who dare to think and do, and the two years of leading the National Youth Team have indeed produced good results.

In addition, he, Xu Qing and Yu Jie were once very good athletes, including his mother, who is also a banner of Chinese short track speed skating.

The leaders trusted him. Since Coach Yang failed to lead the Chinese team to win a gold medal in the last Olympics, it would be considered a waste of an Olympic cycle.

Cheng Sen carried out drastic reforms to the national team as soon as he took office. Except for a few retired players, he gave up more than half of the national team lineup for the Winter Olympics, and some of them were even at the age of achievement.

At the same time, they boldly used newcomers, and almost moved the entire lineup of last year's World Youth Championship into the national team.

At this time, some leaders were quite critical.Although there is no pressure to qualify for the Olympics in the first season after the Winter Olympics, the annual World Youth Championships can be regarded as a very important short track speed skating event.

Training small players belongs to training small players, but you can't completely let yourself go.

There was another reason, Cheng Sen did this, and the leaders at all levels of the local team also had opinions.Athletes from other countries practiced well in the national team, did not make mistakes, were not injured, and their results were not bad. Why did the new coach quit when he said no?

Therefore, Song Zhixin had a special talk with Cheng Sen: "It's a good thing that you have your own ideas, and we support you very much. But you can't be too aggressive. If you take too big a step, you will fall."

Cheng Sen just smiled and said, "I just know that if I take too long a step, I'll talk nonsense."

Song Zhixin: "..."

After he went back, even the few remaining former national team players were sent back to the local team.

Inappropriate is inappropriate, there is no human feeling at all.

The new season started very soon. In the first four races, they only won three gold medals in total, and the relay race was even more fruitless. The best result was only one silver medal.

The leaders couldn't sit still. This is the qualifying round for the World Championships. Training is the training. When the time comes, the Chinese team won't even be able to qualify for the rally. That will make old opponents like South Korea and Canada a big joke.

Before the Spring Festival, Cheng Sen was under unprecedented pressure from the winter management center. In the last two World Cups, he either recalled part of the former national team players or performed poorly. At the end of this season, he voluntarily resigned.

No one knew about this matter except Xu Qing and Yu Jie.Cheng Sen especially told him not to reveal a word to the players, which would affect their emotions and affect the game.

Xu Qing asked him, "What are your plans?"

Cheng Sen didn't answer, but instead asked, "You want to persuade me too?"

Xu Qing was noncommittal: "What should I advise you, I just happen to be in charge after you leave."

"Say it earlier, I'll give it to you now."

But Xu Qing said: "I will go with you, the head coach will let Xiao Yu."

Yu Jie on the side immediately jumped up: "You two are gone, why should I stay? Let's go together."

Therefore, in the last two World Cups, the coaching staff led the team to North America to participate in the competition with the mentality that if they did not perform well, they would leave in despair.

And all this, the players did not know.

The cubs were laughing and laughing all day long, as happy as a group of little fools, unaware that their coach was now at a critical moment of life and death, and he was so worried that he couldn't sleep.

But in fact, Gu Ran had noticed something early on.He does his homework every night, and when he is tired, he will open the window and look into the distance to rest his eyes.From time to time, two coaches can be seen chatting in the yard downstairs.

Sometimes, until he was ready to shower and go to bed, the two were still down there.

If it weren't for the occasional words such as "core strength", "sprint speed", and "differentiated handover", Gu Ran would almost have thought that the two of them were dating in the small garden downstairs.

"Hey! Hello, congratulations on winning the championship." The somewhat awkward Mandarin brought Gu Ran's thoughts back to the game scene.

He looked up and saw that American Miller Brown, who had just slid over from the other side, was greeting them with a smile.

When Chi Lang saw him, he pretended he didn't see him. He completely took the person as a tone, put his hands around Gu Ran's waist, but turned his face to the other side.

He has strong hands and wears gloves.Gu Ran was uncomfortably strangled by the small buttons on his gloves, and patted the back of his hand: "Release!"

Chi Lang then let go of his hand kindly, and when he raised his head, he gave Miller-Brown a very unfriendly look, then turned to the other side, and had nothing to say to Meng Yuqiao.

The atmosphere was a bit awkward, Gao Ziyi was the first to be unbearable.He is a gentle person, and he is not easy to flirt with others for no reason.So, he nodded very politely: "Thank you!"

Miller-Brown said with a smile: "I am half Chinese, and I have loved Chinese culture since I was a child. I am also very happy to see you winning the championship."

When he spoke, he still had a sunny smile on his face. He was a Chinese-American mixed race, and he was really good-looking, giving people a feeling that what he said was very sincere.

Reaching out without hitting the smiling face, Gu Ran also smiled politely: "Your performance today is also very good, especially in the 1000 meters."

Miller-Brown shrugged: "I originally wanted to overtake you to maintain the advantage, but you are too strong, and you overtook the past all at once."

Gu Ran said: "Then you will work harder next time."

The next stop is Salt Lake City in the United States, which can be regarded as Miller Brown's home court.He immediately puffed out his chest, and said confidently, "I will compete with you in a week."

At this time, Cheng Sen patted the crash pad behind them: "There will be an award ceremony later, go and change clothes."

The award ceremony is concentrated after the competition, and medals and souvenirs are awarded project by project.

Gu Ran won the championships of three events in one breath, two relay races, and one individual competition. She stood next to the podium and did not leave, waiting to stand up three times.

The eyes of the audience were all focused on him at the moment, he took off his helmet and goggles, a boy in a white sportswear, aged between a teenager and a young man, clean and beautiful, with crooked eyebrows and two cheeks when he smiled. a small dimple.When looking at teammates, the kind of radiant gaze is particularly contagious.

After the 1000m award ceremony, Miller Brown was interviewed on the sidelines.Gu Ran and Chi Lang passed by him, he spoke English, Chi Lang couldn't understand, but he was a little curious, so he asked Gu Ran beside him in a low voice: "What is he talking about?"

Gu Ran temporarily acted as an interpreter for him: "He said that he was very happy to be on the podium with two Chinese players. His mother is of Chinese descent. Although he has never been to China, he is very interested in China."

After hearing this, Chi Lang felt a little self-doubt: "I always feel that this American is a bit..."

When he said this, he paused for a moment.Gu Ran asked, "What's the matter?"

"It's a bit fake." Chi Lang shook his head, "I don't like it."

Gu Ran said: "You are prejudiced against others."

Chi Lang didn't take it seriously: "Who said that, I think that Canadian kid is kind of cute."

Gu Ran smiled at him: "I think so too."

Although Chi Lang is often complained by Gu Ran that he has developed limbs but a simple mind.But he has an almost animal-like sensitivity to sense the kindness or malice of others.

Although he couldn't explain why, Gu Ran understood what he meant.

It is not difficult to see from the game that Miller Brown has a lot of eyes.There is a mask on the face, and the expression is always impeccable, always giving people a sincere feeling.

In comparison, Lin Jiaxi had to show a lot of her emotions, whether she liked it or not, whether she was happy or not, was all written on her face, so she didn't have to guess at all.

Of course, these are Chi Lang's intuition and Gu Ran's guess.Maybe Miller Brown is just like what he said, he likes China very much and is also very friendly to the Chinese team.

The last award ceremony was the men's 5000-meter mixed relay. Together with Liu Fei, the five of them stood on the podium together.They are the team with the youngest average age among all the participating teams in this World Cup. Liu Fei, the oldest, is not yet 21 years old. In other teams, he is a young player.In the Chinese team whose average age is only eighteen or nineteen, he is already considered a veteran.

After the awards ceremony was over, Gu Ran passed by the stands when an audience member called his name.

Gu Ran looked up and saw a Chinese lady who was waving at him and shouted, "Come on, you are the best!"

Gu Ran threw the mascot up without any hesitation, and it fell into the arms of the young lady.

At the same time, screams rang out from the stands, and all the phones were pointed at him, clicking and clicking.

The nearby Canadian girls cried with envy. Who doesn't like such a strong and good-looking boy?

Gu Ran was enjoying the cheers from the ice fans when she was suddenly caught by the team leader Yu Jie: "Quickly, go to an interview."

"Ah?" Gu Ran was taken aback, "What interview?"

"Of course the post-match interview."

Gu Ran was dragged by her to the mixed interview area: "That...what did I say?"

Yu Jie said: "Didn't I ask you to recite your acceptance speech?"

"That's too stupid."

While talking, Gu Ran was pushed in front of the reporter.Fortunately, it was a Chinese reporter who asked him the question, which saved the step of mentally translating the acceptance speech.

The reporter is an enthusiastic young lady, and Gu Ran recognized it at a glance. It was also this young lady who asked him questions at the press conference after the World Youth Championship in Amsterdam last year.

"First of all, I would like to congratulate you. You participated in the short track speed skating World Cup for the first time, and you won four gold medals in one go. Share with us, how do you feel now?"

Gu Ran smiled and said, "I'm in a good mood, very happy."

The reporter asked again: "It's the first time to participate in an international competition, to be honest, are you nervous?"

Gu Ran thought for a while: "I still... I really don't feel nervous."

"In yesterday's 500-meter final, facing the world's number one Huang Zaixian and the world's second-ranked Curtis Johnson, what did you think at that time?"

Gu Ran asked back: "Really? They are ranked first and second in the world? I don't know."

"Yes," the reporter couldn't figure out whether he really didn't know or was in Versailles, "Now that I know, what do you think?"

Gu Ran chuckled twice: "Since he's on the stage, whoever he is, it's over."

The reporter also laughed with him: "The mentality is very good! We are young, we just come out to play, and we are not afraid of anyone!"

"Yes!" Gu Ran followed her words, "It's just for fun, the most important thing is to be happy."

The reporter asked again: "Then this competition, when was the moment that made you feel the happiest?"

She thought that Gu Ran would think about it, and then talked about the last moment when he won the men's 5000-meter relay.Because that was his highlight moment, and he just relied on his own speed to surpass Curtis.

When Gu Ran heard this question, what was in his mind was how Chi Lang would answer this question if asked.

So, he raised his eyebrows and said, "When the Korean team fell off the track hand in hand."

reporter:"!!!"

Although, how can such words be said in front of the camera?

Gu Ran said what she said, without any intention of making up for what she just said.

He and the female reporter stared wide-eyed, as if they were asking: "Do you have any other questions? If not, I'll leave."

The reporter could only follow his will and said, "Congratulations to you and your teammates again, thank you!"

At the end of the interview, Gu Ran bowed politely, turned around and returned to the coach and teammates.

The last race was in Salt Lake City, USA, just next week, and the time was very tight. Instead of returning to China, they temporarily found a training venue in Montreal for a few days.

After the game, the coaching staff had no other arrangements in the afternoon, so they gave the players half a day off to let them have a good rest.

After lunch, Gu Ran went back to her room and took a nap.He was exhausted from the morning game.Cubs are now in the golden stage of growth and development, and they especially need adequate sleep.

Gu Ran slept soundly, with one cheek sunk in the fluffy pillow, and the broken hair on her forehead hanging down to block her eyes.

Gao Ziyi couldn't help laughing when he looked at him, he was not asleep, he was knocked out with a stick.

He went to help him pull up the quilt, and it was not good to stay in the room for a long time, for fear of waking him up by making some noise accidentally.So he went out lightly and went to Meng Yuqiao's room next door to play for a while.

Gu Ran didn't know how long he slept this time, anyway, he was woken up by someone.After waking up, I still had the illusion of not knowing where I was. When I looked out the window, it was already dark.

Gao Ziyi smiled and pulled him up from the bed: "Let's go, go eat."

Gu Ran was injured and covered her face, and rubbed her hands vigorously: "How long have I been asleep?"

"Three or four hours." Gao Ziyi waited for him to get dressed, "Can you still sleep at night?"

Gu Ran bent over to tie her shoelaces: "No problem! Just touch the pillow."

After dinner, Cheng Sen called all the team members to the room and held a short meeting for them.Let's talk about the next arrangement first, and then talk about this competition.

He sorted out everyone, every game.Finally, I talked about the men's relay: "Although there are still many mistakes in the middle, the details are not well grasped. Generally speaking, everyone is making progress visible to the naked eye. I am very satisfied."

"However, after you go back, you have to practice what you should practice. There are still two months until the World Championships. That's right for you..."

Having said that, he paused, and added: "It is also the biggest test for me."

He looked at his notebook, and he had already finished what he needed to say.He raised his head again and glanced at the boys one by one: "What else do you have to say?"

Gu Ran bit her lower lip, and suddenly said: "Yes, I have."

"Well," Cheng Sen finally fixed his eyes on his face, "tell me."

So, everyone looked at Gu Ran, and saw that he had a rare serious expression, without a trace of a smile on his face.

The junior brother is usually everyone's pistachio, his appearance is pleasing to the eye, and his mouth is sweet. From the coaching staff to the senior brothers and sisters, who doesn't like him.

Suddenly seeing him frowning and looking unhappy, everyone was a little confused and couldn't guess what he was going to say.