After Tang Yan got into the water, he started to kick 8 times in two breaths, his speed picked up.The Chinese team was in lane 1 and the German team was in lane 2. The Chinese team"s last shot was Tang Yan and Germany"s team"s last shot was Biedermann. It was beginning to look like a grudge match, everyone had forgotten they would meet again in the relay.
Tang Yan"s goal wasn"t fifth or forth, he was after a medal.
Biedermann seeing Tang Yan determinedly rus.h.i.+ng forward. He accelerated the frequency of his kicks to prevent Tang Yan from pulling away.
The audience saw them in the two lanes on the left side accelerating frantically and the distance between them and the fourth-ranked British team instantly decreased.
"Tang Yan is accelerating! He"s off again!" The on-site commentator shouted with excitement.
The British team"s Adam Brown was on the other side, in lane 6, although they were far apart after the first 20 meters, he noticed that the two were approaching quickly, nearly in line with him.
He had enough physical strength to start his sprint so he chose to dash in advance.
The three swimmers accelerated at an instant and the distance between them was drawn down to one click.
This continuous burst of sprints attracted crazy cheers from the audience.
Reaching the 30 meter mark, the three and the third-ranked French swimmer Fabien Gilot were only less than half an arm away.
Surprisingly, the French swimmer didn"t choose to accelerate in advance, and maintained his speed.
As they continued forward, when they reached 40 meters, Adam Brown, then Tang Yan and Biedermann all surpa.s.sed Gilot.
The next 10 meters, both Brown and Biedermann chose to reduce their speed, while Tang Yan maintained his original speed heading straight into the 50m turning, he flipped ahead of time.
This quick action surprised the audience on the sidelines, and even the a.s.sistant referees" eyes were wide.
Turning at such high speeds made it easy to skid. Tang Yan was a bit brave to do so!
With his speed following through, Tang Yan stepped firmly on the wall with his legs and then launched off, shooting forward.
Just then, the audience burst into a cheering burst of excitement.
Third!
Tang Yan grabbed third before Biedermann and Brown!
Finally hope for a medal!
However, surfacing after the turn, Tang Yan was overtaken by Brown and fell into fourth due to his height disadvantage.
Right after the turn, Fabien Gilot began his sprint in the second leg.
His momentum was extremely fierce and in just 5 meter, Biedermann was pa.s.sed immediately followed by Tang Yan.
Gilot was a well-known late-breaker.
At this time, both Biedermann and Brown found it difficult to maintain their original speed.
"Come on Tang Yan, Tang Yan! Come on!" Shouted the host.
This was their best chance to get a medal but even if they couldn"t can"t get a medal, getting fourth was already making history for the Chinese team.
Gilot faintly surpa.s.sed Tang Yan.
Tang Yan also felt the pressure at this time. The strength of these top freestyle swimmers couldn"t be underestimated.
He didn"t make any more reservations. He pushed his kick frequency from 8 to 9 times, his training sessions shown through.
His speed increased sharply and Gilot was thrown back.
This sudden change made it impossible for the audience to control their emotions. They stood up from their seats, waving their arms and cheered wildly at the pool.
When they saw Tang Yan rus.h.i.+ng at the beginning, they were excited, but at the same time they were worried. After all, the disadvantage of being behind was so great, Tang Yan was helpless and had to sprint off the bat, to be a contender.
If he could persist for the remaining 50 meters was the most worrying thing.
Tang Yan pa.s.sed Gilot and then pa.s.sed Brown after 5 meters.
He rushed to third place!
He had pulled them back into a medal position!
"Tang Yan! Tang Yan!"
The cheers echoed around the swimming pool, Tang Yan was using his full strength to create a miracle belonging to China!
At this time, the distance to the finish was less than 20 meters. There were still two men ahead of him, leading was Eamon Sullivan, who was more than two metres ahead of his position and Phelps was more than a metre ahead.
Heading into the final sprint, whether Sullivan or Phelps, they were sprinting for gold with all their strength.
Tang Yan was gaining slightly but the distance between him and Phelps being largely maintained.
With less than 10 meters to the finish, Phelps looked back whilst taking a breath and the two"s gazes interlocked for a few split seconds.
"Come on! Come on Tang Yan!"
"Come on! Come on Phelps!"
"Come on! Come on Sullivan!"
The cheers of the audience in the venue had ran unprecedented peak.
It was less than 5 meters to the end.
Sullivan had a clear lead and unless Phelps could pull a miracle it was looking like he would have to settle for second this time round.
Whilst Tang Yan was gaining slightly on Phelps, it was too late.
Sullivan with one final kick was the first to touch the wall. Phelps and Tang Yan both straightened their hands and turned up their hands. With the cheers of the audience, the two respectively made their finishes and touched the wall with Phelps taking 2nd and Tang Yan 3rd.
After Tang Yan and Phelps touched the wall, they both turned and looked at the electronic display.
(Aus) Lane 5, 3 minutes 11 seconds 14.
(US) Lane 3, 3 minutes 13 seconds 28.
(CHN) Lane 1, 3 minutes 15 seconds 04!
"Third! The Chinese team won bronze! Hahaha! From last to 3rd! The first Chinese bronze medal for the men"s 4X100 freestyle relay! The Chinese team has created new history! They did it They did it!!! "The Chinese commentator went completely crazy, excitedly shouting.
At this time, the scene was already full of tears of excitement among the audience.
The 4X100m freestyle relay was a race they normally found difficult to reach the finals for let alone to get a medal, even if it was bronze, a medal was a G.o.dd.a.m.n medal.