Aylwin was optimistic about his return.
As the former dominator of the 400m event, Aylwin was indeed much stronger than other athletes, outstripping them by multiple levels.
In previous Olympics, the athletes who entered the final could be cla.s.sified into three categories. The third category were those who were not Americans. They could usually get within 45 seconds. Those who could get within 44.50 seconds were top athletes, who could compete for the bronze medal.
The second category were American athletes. The United States had absolute dominance in the 400m event. Therefore, all the athletes who attended the Olympic Games had to get within 44.50 seconds, even close to 44 seconds. They were among the best even in America.
And the first category was only Jimmy Aylwin, who could get within 44 seconds, even 43.50 seconds if he performed well.
Athletes who entered the final of the Olympic Games were supposed to be at the same level. Even if there was a difference, it was unlikely to be large. But if one got 45 seconds while another got 43.50 seconds with a gap of 1.5 seconds, that meant 0.4-second slower every 100 meters. That was a big gap.
On that condition, Aylwin felt that he still could attend the Olympic Games again, even if he was about 34 years old.
...
In late June, the US track and field champions.h.i.+ps were held in Eugene, the holy land of track and field. It was also a qualification trial of the Olympic Games.
For American fans of track and field, every time of year was important for track and field. Especially in the year of the Olympic Games, it was quite important for the selection of Olympics athletes. Athletes had worked hard for four years in order to attend the Olympic Games. Moreover, the difficulty for American athletes was even higher.
As the strongest country of track and field in the world, the United States also had the most athletes in the world. It was no exaggeration to say that there would be just as many athletes competing in the US qualification trials as in the real Olympic Games, and the compet.i.tion might be even more fierce than the Olympic Games.
The 400m sprinting was divided into preliminary, quarter-final, semifinal, and final, with one round every day. The event in the Olympic Games only consisted of three rounds, one less than the US qualification.
In the preliminary compet.i.tion, there were nine groups with forty places for promotion, which meant that over half the athletes would enter the quarter-final. It was not difficult.
Naturally, it was also not so attractive to the audience. Because of the gaps among different athletes, powerful athletes would move up easily. There would be no fierce compet.i.tion at all, let alone the existence of a dark horse.
But today was totally different. Not only was there a large audience here, but it was also the last game of the preliminary that would be broadcast live in the United States.
Because Jimmy Aylwin would appear in that round.
It was really exciting to know that Aylwin would return back, but people didn"t know how Aylwin would do now. For a senior athlete about 34 years old, it was really difficult to attend the Olympic Games, let alone the extremely fierce 400m sprints.
When Aylwin stood on the track with the camera on him, all the audience stood up and cheered for him. At this time, all the other athletes became indifferent to each other and their relative positions on the track. n.o.body cared about such things. They all focused on Aylwin. The audience hoped that he could achieve a good result.
Aylwin was calm now. He was a little nervous, even a bit uneasy, maybe because he hadn"t attended any games for a long time.
Not far away, the referee looked at Aylwin carefully as if he was asking Aylwin: Hey, big name! Are you ready? Let"s start if you are ready. It"s okay if not, we can wait for you.
Obviously, the referee knew what kind of game he was playing. As a referee with enforcement power though, he had to wait until a legendary athlete like Aylwin could get ready fully.
All the other athletes beside Aylwin on the track were looking at him with respect. Two of the young men even came to Aylwin and took a photo with him. Only Aylwin could make other athletes ask him to take a photo with them before the compet.i.tion.
In the eyes of all the other 400m athletes, Aylwin was their goal and idol. The athletes with him might not be qualified for the next round, but it seemed more important to them that they got to run on the same track as Aylwin.
Aylwin was ready and the referee nodded. As the referee gave the order, all the athletes stood on their starting blocks.
Aylwin felt a little rigid. In fact, he didn"t have enough confidence either. As a 34-year-old athlete, he didn"t know how he would perform after three years off the track.
Standing outside, Dai Li began to use the age-reducing card on Aylwin.
Aylwin was at his peak when he was 26 years old and got 43.50 seconds. If I want to reduce his age to 26, I need to reduce 8 years for him, but that wouldn"t be worthwhile because the duration of the card would be too short.
He was 30 years old when he won the champions.h.i.+p four years ago in the Olympic Games with a result of 43.85 seconds. He was quite good at that time. Well, I"ll use the first age-reducing card to reduce six years to return his body to 28 years old. His body then must have been better than at 30 years old.
According to the formula of the age-reducing card, subtract six from 13, we get seven, and multiply seven by three to get 21. So, the duration of the first card is 210 days, enough to make it to the beginning of next year. The next two age-reducing cards can return him to 30 years old. He can dominate the world with that.
...
With the gunshot and crazy shouting, Aylwin rushed off the starting line.
The moment Aylwin stepped out, he suddenly felt that all the cells in his body were starting to activate, pumping power into his arms and legs continuously. He felt vital instead of rigid.
What happened? I suddenly feel that I am years younger. This feeling is so familiar, really familiar.
Aylwin thought about it for a while, and finally he remembered that it was exactly what he felt when he ran before retirement.
I feel the taste of youth! I haven"t felt it for a long time! I even feel that I"m returning back to my peak time. Is it an illusion?
Aylwin didn"t believe that with 34 years old, he still could return back to his peak. After all, time was irreversible.
The next second, however, he suddenly realized that Kevin Taylor had also found his peak again despite being in his thirties.
I went to Coach Li in order to return to the state of my youth. Oh my G.o.d! I made it now! Incredible! Coach Li is incredible! Aylwin was so excited. Dai Li was a G.o.d to him now.
...
Sebastian was also watching this game from the central stand. He wanted to know how Aylwin would perform now.
Four years ago, Aylwin won the champions.h.i.+p at the Olympic Games with 43.85 seconds. , Now, four years later, his result must be worse than four years ago. And that"s not even taking his long retirement into account. After all, he is Jimmy Aylwin. I believe he can get within 45 seconds. However, this is just the preliminary. I don"t think he will try his best unless the other compet.i.tors are powerful enough.
Sebastian stared at Aylwin. Aylwin had entered into the straight.
His sprinting is still fast. Why do I think that his speed at the first straight today was no different from four years ago? Sebastian suddenly felt nervous.
After the straight, Aylwin entered the bend again, which was his advantage.
During the 400m event, the most difficult period was between 200m and 300m. After running for 200 meters, an athlete"s body had already been in a hypoxic state, and his muscles would become sore and his body would be exhausted. But the next 100 meters was a sprinting period. Therefore, an athlete also needed to save strength for this period. Actually, it was against the body"s physiological system to store strength in a hypoxic state. That was a huge challenge to athletes.
Normally, athletes would slow down at this period. Aylwin, however, was different. He still ran fast in the third 100 meters, and he also could store strength. He was still much faster than the others in the last sprint. Therefore, it was quite common that Aylwin took the lead as he entered the last straight and crossed the finish line.
Today was no different. When he entered the last straight, he was far ahead.
Aylwin is still so fast! Sebastian was so shocked that Aylwin was nearly the same as four years ago.
Aylwin deliberately slowed down in the final sprint. Since he could be qualified to advance to the next round, it was unnecessary to waste more strength. Therefore, Aylwin"s final result was 45.36 seconds. Judging by his peak time, it was really bad. But everyone present knew that Aylwin slowed down on purpose at last.
Sebastian"s expression became complicated. As the chief coach of the national team, he naturally hoped that Aylwin could keep a good state. It was better if he could perform as well as four years before, which could a.s.sure that the US would get the gold medal in the 400m sprint.
However, the better Aylwin"s state was, the more Sebastian would think that Dai Li had a new type of effective excitant, which couldn"t be detected by existing technology.
Dai Li must have a new type of excitant. As things stand now, that excitant is so effective that it even take a retired player back to youth. If I don"t do anything now, it will be not long before Dai Li surpa.s.ses me and becomes the best coach in the United States! No, I must get that excitant. The most advanced excitant in the world! Only I deserve it! Sebastian thought fiercely.