The evening swimming competition featured four events, all finals.
The men’s and women’s 400-meter freestyle individual events, as well as the men’s and women’s 4x100-meter freestyle relay.
In these four events, the women’s 400-meter freestyle had already suffered a complete defeat, with none of the athletes advancing. The queen of this event, Li Bing Jie, underperformed. On the other hand, the men’s 400-meter freestyle saw Fei Li Wei, who was not favored before the competition, achieve a personal best of 3:44.
Although he might not win a medal in the finals, he had already accomplished his pre-race goal.
His goal was to make it to the finals, and now his mind was at ease.
Previously, China had absolute dominance in this event. Sun Yang was the undisputed king of the 400-meter freestyle and held absolute reign over the 200, 400, 800, and 1500-meter events. He was the undisputed champion.
The reason why Europe and America have so many divisions in track and field and swimming, like 100 meters, 200 meters... they even want to include 60 meters in track and field, is because these two major sports can generate over 80 gold medals at each Olympic Games.
Europe and America are the absolute gold medal contenders in these two major sports.
They restrict China in table tennis, weightlifting, and diving because they don’t want China to win more gold medals in these advantageous events.
No one can ignore Olympic gold medals. Europe and America, especially, prioritize them. So they keep adding events in their strong sports. Keep in mind, in the early stages of the Olympics, track and field and swimming were mandatory events, but they didn’t have so many divisions.
They added them year after year, all in an effort to suppress the rise of other sporting powerhouses besides Europe and America.
They relentlessly cut back on their weaker events and added more events to their strong ones.
Liu Xiang’s 110-meter hurdles did not shake the dominance of Europe and America in track and field. However, the emergence of Sun Yang truly frightened Europe and America.
Swimming has 35 gold medals, and if Sun Yang performs at his peak, he could potentially win several medals in a single Olympics. That’s why they are so crazy about subjecting him to surprise inspections. Even an organization without an authorized license can conduct routine checks on him.
A few years ago, there was another event that Europe and America wanted to add to the Olympics: the 60-meter sprint in track and field.
But they realized that China’s Su Bing Tian ran faster than Bolt in the 60 meters and immediately withdrew their proposal. They haven’t mentioned it since.
This event would have been very dangerous if it were included in the Olympics.
It’s not like the 110-meter hurdles, which doesn’t receive much attention. The 60 meters is the second most anticipated event after the 100-meter sprint. If they lost this event, the Europeans and Americans would be very embarrassed.
So, for a long time, Europeans and Americans have essentially held the absolute right to modify the Olympic Games.
But in recent World Swimming Championships, China’s swimming team has emerged as a powerful force with diverse talent, which has clearly made them nervous. They never expected that after suppressing one Sun Yang, there would be even stronger athletes.
The “extra care” Paris has shown towards China is the reason for this, and they even resort to framing them.
…
Soon, the evening swimming competition started.
Fei Li Wei ultimately finished sixth in the men’s 400-meter freestyle. His time was about the same as in the preliminaries: 3:44… The champion was Germany’s Meltens with a time of 3:41. In the London Olympics, Sun Yang clocked in at 3:40.
In other words, if Sun Yang had participated, this event would have been a sure win for him.
As for the 800-meter freestyle and the 1500-meter freestyle, the current world records are still held by Sun Yang.
Just as the United States sanctioned China in various industries, they also sanctioned Sun Yang before the Tokyo Olympics. They were afraid that he would outperform Phelps, who won multiple medals across several Olympics, in both Tokyo and Paris.
And, if he participates, Sun Yang will definitely win more gold medals.
After all, he was only 30 years old in the Tokyo Olympics, and he’ll be 33 in Paris. He can still compete.
But in 2028 in Los Angeles, he will be 37, and he certainly won’t be as strong as he once was. It’s worth noting that the 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, the United States, their home turf.
It would be extremely embarrassing if they were slapped in the face.
“Let me tell you the order in which you’ll be swimming!”
Cui Deng Rong didn’t bother with the upcoming women’s 100-meter freestyle relay. That event was handled by another coach. Moreover, the women are more likely to win medals in this event compared to the men. Therefore, if the men wanted to compete for a medal, Cui Rong Deng would personally arrange the tactics.
“Chen Shu, you’re first!”
“Any questions?”
Cui Deng Rong looked at Chen Shu. Chen Shu was stunned for a moment, but his heart was filled with joy: “Yes, Coach Cui!”
Being the lead swimmer allowed him to break a personal record.
Chen Shu had been coveting the first position for a long time. Even if he couldn’t break the world record of 46.78 seconds set by Pan Zhan Le in the afternoon, a world junior record would be good.
Chen Shu was confident that he could push for a time of 47.56 seconds.
“Second, Wang Hao Yu!”
“No matter what place Chen Shu finishes in, you need to keep up, don’t let his position drop, understand?”
“Yes, I understand!”
Wang Hao Yu’s time was around 48 seconds, so he could definitely hold his own.
The weakest link was undoubtedly the third swimmer.
“Jun Er, don’t feel any pressure, just stick with the others, try not to fall too far behind. One or two opponents, Xiao Pan will help you catch up!”
The final swimmer, of course, was the absolute finisher, Pan Zhan Le.
This was Cui Deng Rong’s favorite starting lineup. In the past, they didn’t have someone to guard the first position. Now, with Chen Shu’s emergence, he saw hope that the first swimmer could stay close to the other seven groups.
As long as the first and second swimmers hold their ground, even if the third swimmer falls behind, the ultimate weapon, Pan Zhan Le, can catch up.
After all, he was a force to be reckoned with, the absolute number one in this event!
“Okay, go!”
“I’ll be here waiting for your good news!”
“Hu!”
The four of them shouted in unison, then clasped their hands and pressed them together with force: “One, two, three, China must win!”
Boom!
With this unwavering spirit, Chen Shu, Pan Zhan Le, and the other two walked into the athletes’ preparation area.
Next, the 4x100-meter men’s and women’s freestyle relays were about to begin!