“Phillip was the favorite to win the 400-meter event, but he only finished sixth!”
“Only sixth place! That’s really bad!”
There were many spectators came to see the race of the famous Blade Warrior, but they were disappointed by Phillip’s performance.
Standing at the terminal, Phillip looked at the scores on the screen. He was more than a second behind the first place today.
How did I run so slowly today? Looking at the celebrating winner, Phillip shook his head with disappointment and walked quietly down the aisle.
A sense of heaviness came from his legs. In fact, the two cheetah blades weighed less than a pair of normal legs, but he found it was difficult to walk with them now.
Phillip couldn’t help but look down at his artificial legs. At this moment, he could clearly feel them now.
Even though I can walk and run like a normal person, these are not real legs after all! A feeling of sadness burst into Phillip’s mind.
Walking down the stands, Steven came into the locker room and found Phillip.
Leaning back in his chair, Phillip’s face was filled with impatience.
“I came here to win the championship of such a small-size competition, but I ended with the sixth place! Damn it! How could I perform so badly!” Phillip clenched his fists in anger. He still hadn’t realized the root cause of his defeat.
“Barron, it’s just a small game. Never mind.” Handing Phillip a drink, Steven continued, “Maybe the opponents were so weak that you couldn’t get excited at all. Besides, it’s impossible for an athlete to perform at his best in every competition. It’s normal to not be in a good state for one or two races.”
Steven was as upset as Phillip, though he didn’t say so.
Phillip’s achievement was directly related to the number of sponsors.
Sponsors chose Phillip not only because he was inspirational, but also because he was successful. The United States didn’t lack disabled people who could be role models, but Phillip was the only one who could defeat able-bodied people in sports.
If he couldn’t defeat an able-bodied athlete, he would be no different from any other disabled athlete. At best, he would be a disabled athlete with good performance. He would lose the attention of the media and the public, and his sponsors also would leave him.
I hope this match does not affect the sponsor we just negotiated with! Steven prayed in his mind.
…
Randy Blake rushed into Dai Li’s office with a tablet computer.
“Dai Li, I just found this on the USA Track and Field; Barron Phillip just finished sixth in a match in New Mexico. It was just a small game without any top players, but Phillip still lost this match,” Blake said, pointing at his tablet.
“Ah.” Dai Li nodded without any sign of excitement.
“Hey, buddy! Say something!” Blake shouted.
“Say what? It was expected.” Dai Li didn’t lift his head and continued focusing on the training plan he was developing.
“Wonderful answer!” Blake pursed his mouth and turned out of Dai Li’s office.
As soon as Blake was out of his office, Dai Li couldn’t help opening the USA Track and Field website and finding the results of the match.
Phillip was more than a second slower than the first place runner. And the first place’s result was not excellent at all. Without the athlete patch, Phillip’s performance has gone down even more than I expected… Dai Li shook his head. As far as he knew, although Phillip’s performance still could rank first in the disabled races, it was a bad result against able-bodied runners.
Phillip must be depressed now, but it may be a good chance for me. It’s a rare opportunity to become famous by stepping on the most prestigious AP Training Center in the US.
…
The AP Training Center had many branches in the US, and the one in Los Angeles was just one of them. David Mills was the head of the center, and he had to follow the instructions from headquarters.
David Mills was on the telephone with headquarters now.
“Mills, that race in New Mexico was small, but Phillip just finished sixth. You should know what that means, right?” the voice on the phone was harsh.
“Phillip is new here, and he cannot adapt to the new training environment. We made a new training plan for him, and it should take time to work out. Right now our coaching group and Barron Phillip are still in the adaptation period. I believe that after this period, they will get familiar with each other and Phillip’s performance will improve drastically,” Mills explained.
“I hope so!” The voice was still serious. “Mills, you should know, as one of the most famous fitness training centers in this nation, we are viewed as a benchmark by our peers and competitors. We have no friends. I believe every fitness training center in North America wants to move higher by stepping on our shoulders. In fact, many of them have tried to do so, but they all failed! No one can step on the shoulders of a giant! So, I don’t want anyone to succeed in the future. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir.” Despite the phone conversation, David Mills still spoke with a composed face.
“Good! You should remember that we are the leader in this industry, so we can’t lose, even once. Any failure will cause people to doubt us and our peers to look at us more closely! The reputation we have built up over the years could also be destroyed,” the voice on the phone said.
“Sir, I assure you, we’ll never fail,” Mills said confidently.
“Good! I wish you success, but I also hope you will remember your promise. If anything goes wrong, someone will be held responsible.”
After hanging up this phone, Mills’s face was somber. Surely, “someone” meant David Mills.
The attitude of the headquarters made Mills realize the urgency of the matter. He felt more pressed and diffident, especially when he thought of Phillip’s performance.
Mills picked up the phone and dialed.
“I hope we can allocate more training resources to Barron Phillip. Charging standard? Don’t talk about charge. We’ll give him the best training even if we can’t make any money on this business! Tell the coaching team that they don’t need to think about the cost, just improve Phillip’s performance. I don’t want to see a sixth place again! I want a champion! Phillip the champion!”
…
The match in New Mexico was just a small race, and the West Bank Track and Field Classic held in Los Angeles was a big race.
It was not about the race’s size, but it’s prize. The West Bank was a rich area, and it often sponsored sports games. Tennis matches that they sponsored had prizes as large as the Grand Slam Tennis. The West Bank was also a big spender on track and field events, which made the prize of this event one of the biggest prizes in the United States.
A greater prize would obviously attract more competitors, which would make the game more exciting, and attract more spectators and even more media.
The 400-meter was the strength of the US, and there were many 400-meter athletes in this event. Therefore, the race was divided into two days, with the first day as the preliminary and the second day as the final.
When the commentator introduced Phillip, all the spectators gave him a warm welcome. Phillip waved his hand to the camera and managed to force a smile.
Several competitors around him were looking at him. They regarded Phillip as a strong contender for the final. However, Phillip didn’t pay any attention to them at all.
It only took about two minutes before the referee gave an order to the athletes to take their own places.
Phillip tried to concentrate on the game. He knew that his opponents today would not be easy to handle.
Finally, the match began with a gunshot. The athletes started running to the shouts of the crowded spectators.
……
The race entered into the final sprint stage once again. The front three athletes were still catching each other. Their relative positions were still not clear, as if the result would not be revealed until the finish line.
The preliminary was divided into three groups. The top two of each group and the best pair of third place runners would enter the final. No one wanted to be the third place if they could rank top two. The third place also had a two-thirds chance of entering the final, but it also had a one-third chance of being eliminated.
But all this had nothing to do with Phillip, because he was in last place.
Looking ahead, Phillip felt that the distance between the top three and him was so far that it would be impossible to catch up.
He realized that his pair of artificial legs were making him feel increasingly heavy. Pain also radiated from the joints between his knees and the artificial legs. Every step stirred Phillip’s nerves and made him want to give up.
He was a bit confused. This pair of artificial legs had been with him for years, and he thought of them as his own legs. Sometimes, he didn’t feel the existence of the artificial legs at all. But now, they felt unnatural.
The legs rubbed coldly against his knees, and this feeling constantly reminded Phillip that his legs were artificial and cold, not real ones!
They reminded Phillip that he was not able-bodied, but disabled.
In that moment, Phillip started doubting himself. His confidence was collapsing!
The top three runners had already crossed the finish line. The first two were naturally happy, while the third was nervous, not knowing whether he could enter the final or not.
Phillip, however, was not qualified to be nervous at all.
This time, he was last, even worse than sixth place.
Nevertheless, Phillip didn’t look depressed, but numb.
My legs hurt and I feel tired! I wish I could go back early. Phillip couldn’t even move. He didn’t want to move at all.
The eyes of spectators lingered on the top three and on the next group. As for Phillip, he had been completely forgotten by the audience.
Many famous athletes came to this game; the fastest runner, the farthest and the highest jumpers, the best athlete for hurdles, the strongest javelin thrower and shot putter and weight throw players, and so on. In a word, there was no shortage of star athletes in the eyes of the audience. At this moment, people were more concerned about the winners, and no one would remember the losers.
What’s more, there were women’s competitions. The female athletes were wearing tight sportswear, which showed their fit bodies well. Some lechers in the stands were already having indecent fantasies.
As for female lechers, there were also male athletes wearing tight sportswear, with ripped biceps, strong pecs, and bulging a*ses which shocked the female audience. They not only made the male audience envy and hate each other, but also boasted their length.
Under such circumstances, who would care about a disabled athlete who was eliminated in the preliminary?
…
Two weeks later, Phillip lost again in the Miami track and field game.
Phillip didn’t pass the preliminary in a Seattle sprint.
Phillip failed to make any achievements in the New Orleans Track and Field Classic.
Finally, a sports magazine ran the headline: Barron Phillip, A Fallen Star!