Chapter 540: This Time It Was the Worst Draw

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

Williams had never thought the U.S. track and field team could win 25 gold medals at the Olympics. When Lamon won the champions.h.i.+p, he was so excited that he opened a bottle of whiskey he had kept it hidden for many years.

As long as they don’t make any mistakes in the relays, they will surely win 25 gold medals. Williams smiled, then picked up his gla.s.s and took a gulp. The pungency of the wine entered his throat, but Williams closed his eyes in enjoyment.

The alcohol made Williams a bit sleepy, and his consciousness gradually blurred. Williams was so faint that he saw himself sitting in his office with lots of sponsors coming to him and putting their sponsors.h.i.+p contracts in front of him. Williams couldn’t help laughing.

At that moment, the national anthem of the United States suddenly rang out. Williams, who had fallen asleep, woke up quickly. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at the screen of the television.

A star-spangled banner was rising slowly on the TV screen.

Isn’t the award ceremony done? Williams thought. He had just been watching the awards ceremony for Lamon and had had a drink to celebrate.

Suddenly, Williams saw a female athlete standing on the podium and looking into the sky with tears, a gold medal hanging around her neck.

“That is not Lamon! Who is she? She looks familiar.” Williams was surprised and he looked at the female athlete carefully until he recognized her.

“She is Serena Jones! She’s an athlete in the women’s 800-meter!” Williams screamed.

He realized that the women’s 800-meter was held after the men’s 1500-meter.

“I fell asleep, did the U.S. team win another gold medal?”

…

Serena Jones was the only American athlete who had advanced to the finals of women’s 800-meter. Still, she had gotten another gold medal for the U.S. team.

The compet.i.tion had been thrilling. At the beginning of the compet.i.tion, Serena had been lagging behind others. She was even last until the second half of the last lap.

In the middle of the second lap, Serena’s started to pa.s.s people. In the final 100-meter sprint, she reached the top three. It wasn’t until the final 30 meters that she overtook her two other rivals and won the champions.h.i.+p.

This gold medal went beyond Dai Li’s expectation. He had not expected that Serena Jones would win the gold medal.

The unpredictability is part of what makes sports so fun! Dai Li sighed and began to prepare for the next event.

The U.S. track and field team had won four gold medals in a row, including the gold medal for women’s 800-meter. Now, it may not be able to win the gold medal in the men’s 5000-meter.

There was an athlete that dominated the men’s 5000-meter. His name was Ramsey, “the king of long-distance running,” and he was from Ethiopia.

Ethiopia was the world-famous kingdom of long-distance running. Many long-distance running champions came from there. For most Ethiopians, long-distance running was seen as a way to escape poverty, so many Ethiopians had practiced long-distance running since childhood. When they became a professional athlete, they went to various countries to partic.i.p.ate in compet.i.tions to earn bonuses.

This was the story of Ramsey. He had been born into a poverty-stricken family and later had changed his life through long-distance running. Ramsey, “the king of long-distance running,” had won the champions.h.i.+p of the men’s 5000-meter and the men’s 10000-meter at both the World Champions.h.i.+p and the Olympics. In addition, he had also won numerous awards at the IAAF Grand Prix and the IAAF Diamond League. Since he had started his career, he had won almost every long-distance running compet.i.tion he had entered.

There was no doubt that Ramsey was an S+ level athlete or that he absolutely dominated men’s long-distance running. Therefore, it would be extremely difficult for other athletes to beat him and win the gold medal.

Dai Li knew that it was almost impossible for his American athletes to beat Ramsey and win the champions.h.i.+p. Apart from Ramsey, there were two more Ethiopian runners that had advanced to the finals. Ethiopia was very good at using alternating the lead in long-distance running to control the race’s pace. When Ethiopia used this tactic, they manipulated the other runners into exerting too much energy and gave themselves a big advantage.

The only country that could compete with Ethiopia in long-distance running was Kenya, another powerhouse in long-distance running. However, the Kenyan athletes had done poorly in the preliminaries, so none of them had advanced to the finals. For the athletes from other countries, they had lost a strong compet.i.tor. For the Ethiopian athletes, they had lost their only compet.i.tion.

Without the compet.i.tion from Kenya, Ethiopia planned to win all three medals.

…

Dai Li scratched his head and couldn’t figure out a way to s.n.a.t.c.h the gold medal from Ramsey, “the king of long-distance running.”

Dai Li really wanted to win, but he couldn’t. It was a terrible feeling.

The other coaches must feel the same way about the 4×400 relays!

The U.S. team had a trump card in the men’s 400-meter. Aylwin, “the king of men’s 400-meter,” dominated the event. Aylwin was seen as invincible to coaches from other countries.

How about drawing lots again? Dai Li thought of the prophecy box.

Dai Li logged in the system and began to use the box.

I hope I can get the luckiest draw so that I can s.n.a.t.c.h the gold medal from Ramsey, Dai Li thought. A bamboo stick fell from the box to the ground, and this time he thought it was “the luckiest draw” again.

The luckiest draw again? Dai Li was delighted, but he saw that the bamboo stick had fallen to the ground in the opposite direction. In other words, it was the worst draw.

It’s the worst draw! Dai Li became glum.

The worst draw means the worst choice. I want to win, not lose, so drawing lots was useless. Dai Li shook his head helplessly, but he still looked at the stick.

There was a small line of words that read “let the athletes follow the pace set by the others.”

Is this the worst draw? That’s what I was planning on doing!