"Arise, Ye who refuse to be slaves!..."As Tang Yan stood under the national flag, the audience sang with him the national anthem or at least hummed along, as their voices filled the stadium.
Some of his teammates burst into tears not even controlling their emotions.
Brave the enemies" gunfire! March on!
Brave the enemies" fire! March on!
March on! March on!....."
As the "March of the Volunteers" ended the national flag rose to the highest point, and a burst of excited cheers sounded out.
This cheer lasted for almost half a minute.
"Come over please, lean in the middle and take a group photo." When the mood of the audience stabilized, a staff member moved up and called to them.
Julio Margolione stopped at the centre of the podium.
Because Tang Yan was relatively short, Park Tae-Hyun and Sun Yang were both half-bent, this coupled with Julio Margolione in front, Tang Yan smiled to himself looking at the star studded entourage he now found himself among.
....
According to the schedule, the men"s 400m freestyle final would be followed by the women"s 400m freestyle then the women"s 4x100m freestyle relay. Tang Yan could take a break after the award ceremony.
He gained a world record but sacrificed his physical strength. This race had taken a lot out of him.
Him and Sun Yang headed back and went to change clothes. The two rested in the locker room, fortunately there was a flat-screen TV in the locker room and they could watch the events outside.
The women"s 400m freestyle event wasn"t a strong event for the Chinese women"s team. Tang Yi, who made it to the finals, wasn"t even considered a contender for a medal.
The final result was as expected. Although Tang Yan and Sun Yang yelled their full support in the locker rooms, Tang Yi only finished 5th despite all her hard work.
"Ugh!"
The two sighed in unison.
Right then, a bunch of their teammates entered the locker. When they saw the two of them watching the broadcast, they soon surrounded them and squeezed together in front of the TV.
The women"s 400m freestyle final was followed by the women"s 4X100 freestyle relay final.
Ye s.h.i.+wen was the first swimmer for the Chinese team. Entering the water, Ye s.h.i.+wen showed off her strong freestyle ability, launching forward and entering the top three straight off the bat. In the final 20 meter sprint, accompanied by the wild cheering of the locker room group, Ye s.h.i.+wen went all out to surpa.s.s second place and was the second to touch the wall just behind the Australian swimmer in first.
After Ye s.h.i.+wen touched the wall, her time came out as: 53 seconds 12. This time broke the Asian record held by her teammate Pang Jiayin.
In fact, the charm of the relay race lied in this, it stimulated the athlete"s potential.
"That"s my Xiaowen!" Tang Yan couldn"t help but shout out, which immediately attracted Sun Yang"s gaze.
Ye s.h.i.+wen"s performance put the team off to a great start but the next few sticks were average. Tang Yi, the last swimmer could only bring them in for fourth place.
After the race, the girls of the women"s team cried together.
Looking at this scene, the men"s relay swimmers couldn"t help shaking their heads.
In fact, whether it was the men"s or women"s team the Chinese 4x100m relay team was a one grade worse than the world"s top level.
"Hey, why y"all are looking so dejected. Shaking your heads like that?" Tang Yan stood up and said seeing everyone becoming dejected.
As he spoke, everyone looked over at him.
"We haven"t even raced yet and you"re all losing hope, what is the difference between you and those who forfeit?" Tang Yan continued.
"Yeah, we need to do our best. Who says we will lose. Look at Tang Yan didn"t he win 400 meters!" Ning Zetao said reacting first.
"Yeah, we can"t be discouraged. As long as we swim well, we still have a chance." Lu Zhibin followed.
"This is our last shot of the day to win a medal, how can we go out without a fight!" Sun Yang said with a hint of ridicule, but also impa.s.sioned.
After a quick team chant, they were ready to compete with confidence.
The 4X100m men"s relay was the finale of the first day.
By the end of the women"s awards ceremony, the audience was already hungry and thirsty, as they waited to watch for the race.
A 100 metres measures the dominance of a swimmer, while a 100-meter relay race measured the dominance of a country"s overall swimming level.
Tonight"s 4X100m freestyle relay race, each team that reached the finals was among the most powerful swimming countries, such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, etc.
They were swimming teams with a glorious past.
Such a race was naturally a cl.u.s.ter of stars.
When the teams came out of the tunnels, the audience cheered.
Phelps, Magnussen, Rezac, Menal, Manado Jr. and other world-renowned swimmers all appeared in the lineup.
The Chinese team appeared last. Although in the preliminaries they didn"t rank high, the appearance of the boys instantly ignited the stadium.
This was the beauty of being home.
The swimmers soon started to undress down to their swimsuits and wore goggles.
On the Chinese side, when the process was done, Lu Zhibin brought everyone together. The four circled for one last chant before the race, Ning Xuantao, the first bat, immediately stepped onto the takeoff platform.
"Come on China!"
"Come on, Ning Zetao!"
"Come on, Lu Zhibin!"
"Come on, Sun Yang!"
"Come on, Tang Yan!"
There was cheering from the Chinese audience on site, their enthusiasm not discouraged by the defeat of the women"s team, instead it rose.
"I wish all the best for the Chinese team tonight! They are all young and represent the future of the Chinese swimming team!" The on-site commentator said excitedly.
After the referee signaled, the first bats of each team stepped onto the take-off platform.
The Chinese team finished seventh in the preliminary round, and their lane was also the worst lane 1.