Chapter 233: The Highest State
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Baojun Sha used to think that if Dai Li chose one athlete among Kun Shen, Yueyang Zhu, and Tingshan Chen, his apprentice, Kun Shen, would beDai Li's last choice, since Kun Shen was the eldest among them. Even if Dai Li wanted to choose two athletes, the possibility that Dai Li would choose Kun Shen was still low.
However, Dai Li's suggestion to focus on the relay generated a strong sense of crisis in Baojun Sha's heart.
A relay race needed four athletes. Once Weidong Chu accepted Dai Li's suggestion, the track and field team would definitely give four athletes to Dai Li, along with substitutes, so five or six athletes would be under Dai Li's management.
If so, not only Tingshan Chen, who was trained by Guodong Li, but Yueyang Zhu who was trained by Hua Liu, and Kun Shen who was trained by Baojun Sha would be chosen by Dai Li. Excellent athletes trained by other coaches might also be chosen by Dai Li for the relay practice.
I underestimated this Dai Li. His suggestion of focusing on the relay race was really unexpected. If I had known, I would've agreed with Guodong Li's advice yesterday to form an alliance against him. The objection of many would make a stand against Dai Li. Now, we're on our own. Without a unified statement, we'll be in big trouble.
Baojun Sha rolled his eyes. He didn't start a verbal duel like Guodong Li, instead acting smoothly but sinisterly. With smile on his face, he said, "Coach Li, I have a question. The Thai Team won a championship during the Asian Games eight years ago. Their achievements today should be more accomplished as a result of prolonged training. The experience they've accumulated should also be difficult for us to master in a short time. Is there still enough time for us to learn from Thailand? We have at most three months before the start of the National Games' qualification round. If we start training for the relay now, isn't time a little bit tight?"
The magic key that Dai Li relied on was still his title of "The Interlinked Iron Chain." However, he could only convince Baojun Sha on a factual basis here.
"This is Coach Baojun Sha," someone beside Dai Li gave introduced him.
Dai Li nodded, "Coach Sha, I understand your concerns. You're worried that we couldn't replicate the Thai Team's experience if we start training now, right? Actually, in recent years, the coaches in the national team were also studying Thailand's relay team. They performed a lot of professional analysis and collected materials from many aspects. We can say that our national team has acquired a full training system from the Thai Team.
"On the national team, a plan similar to the plan of Thailand's Team was also formulated. However, the athletes on the national team have to participate in individual events, so they can't just focus their stamina on relay training like Thailand. Therefore, this plan was not implemented." As Dai Li said this, he looked at Weidong Chu.
"But now, we could copy the plan formulated by the national team directly and use the plan on our team so that we could enjoy the research results of the national team. Even if we can't reach the level of the Thai Team in such a short time, the plan is more than enough for us to achieve a good result at the National Games."
Weidong Chu nodded and said enthusiastically, "The coaches of the national team are top figures in the industry. The training plan they formulated should be much better than ours. Li, we were lucky to have you on the national team; you found a secret weapon for us!"
Baojun Sha worked out his next question immediately. He asked, "Coach Li, this training plan formulated by the national team will also be known by other coaches on the national team. As far as I know, all provincial teams have called their coaches on the national team back to prepare for the National Games; that is to say, this training plan is also available for the other provincial teams. In case they also give up individual events and focus on the relay race, we won't have any advantage, right? "
In the meeting room, many coaches were nodding along. Training plans were not patented technologies. They were available not only for Dai Li, but also for anyone else who knew them. Any coach who knew this plan could implement it in practice without any opposition. This training plan was available for everybody, so it couldn't be regarded as a "secret weapon."
Dai Li looked at Baojun Sha. He had realized that this Baojun Sha was pretending to be nice and keep a low profile, but he was actually trying to challenge Dai Li, hiding daggers in his smile.
Dai Li continued to say, "Indeed, other coaches on the national team know of this training plan to focus resources on the relay. Some of them even participated in the formulation of this plan. However, what I can guarantee is that my training is definitely better than that of our opponents. Under the same conditions, our result will be better than theirs."
"Coach Li, are you confident about that?" Baojun Sha smiled, but his eyes were cold.
From beside him, Guodong Li added, "The national team has a galaxy of talents. Coach Li, I don't think your qualifications and experience are advantageous on the national team. What makes you think the training effect of other coaches on the national team is inferior to yours? Are you also the coach of the relay team that won a championship, like the 200m sprint?"
"How did you know that?" Dai Li pretended to be surprised, then said, "During the Asian Games, our sprinters suffered a lot of accidents. Jun Xie was knocked down and dropped out of his events because of injury; Zitao Wei had a serious fever before the match. These incidents were reported in the news. Before the relay race, the national team had only three sprinters left. In desperation, we had to ask Haiquan Fang, who is a long-jumper, to reach the required number."
"We knew all these issues, but what does that have to do with you?" Guodong Li asked improperly. He had made up his mind to find a fault in Dai Li.
Without rushing, Dai Li continued, "The temporary entry of an athlete causes a big problem in the cooperation of a relay team. More importantly, our training time to enhance the cooperation among the runners was limited to a couple hours on that day, and the one who was responsible for their training on that day was me!"
"Gosh!" Dai Li heard someone gasp in the meeting room.
"I guess you watched that match. The cooperation among the athletes was great, right?" Dai Li added.
Everyone in the meeting room was a professional coach; of course they knew how terrible it was to put a long jumper on a relay team. What Dai Li had said obviously implied that he had managed to help the relay team win at the Asian Games with only one day of training.
Furthermore, the cooperation among the four runner had been flawless in the match, looking perfect to all the coaches. Dai Li could improve the cooperation among the athletes to that degree in one day, so he should be regarded as the best coach on the national team. Even calling him the best coach in Asia would not be an overestimation.
Isn't the champion of the Asian Games just the best in Asia?
As the old saying goes, the best fighter is as hard to determine as the second best fighter. Athletes in competitive sports should be classified as fighters, as there's always a winner. The championship meant number one, and therefore, the best. Dai Li's reveal of his identity as the coach of the relay team that had won the championship at the Asian Games totally convinced everyone in the meeting room at that moment.
He was also the coach of the relay team! Guodong Li was so embarrassed. Just now, he had spoken thoughtlessly; he hadn't expected the gold medal of the relay team to really be attributed to Dai Li's training.
Beside him, Baojun Sha could sense an invisible pressure. He had realized that Dai Li was a tough opponent, although he looked ageless.
Just now, Dai Li didn't mention his identity as the coach of the relay team which had won the championship of the Asian Games until I questioned him. His acting was perfect! He kept a low profile at the beginning and then revealed his remarkable achievements in the end, which imperceptibly raised his profile. This is the highest form of acting; I give him a full score!