Volume 3 The King of Athletics Chapter 67 The Predecessor Appears
Last year's IAAF Japan Grand Prix sparked a doping scandal in the United States, which caused the collapse of half of the track and field circle in the United States. The outside world may not know the details of this incident, but many athletes and coaches in the track and field circle have a general understanding of what happened, including Kondo Kamezo found out that Gatling was in trouble, including President Nihonmoto's deliberate concealment, including picking up the robbery case, and so on.
Perhaps because of this incident, many track and field athletes see Osaka as a bad place. It is said that Chinese people are superstitious, and foreigners are even more superstitious, especially those athletes who secretly used doping, and they dare not come to Japan to compete, so the popularity of the Japanese Grand Prix dropped instantly, and there are no well-known athletes to participate this year.
In the absence of competitors, Zhang Guan easily won the championship of the 100-meter sprint event, earned a sum of bonus and appearance fee and returned to China.
A week later, the IAAF Super Grand Prix Qatar was held in Doha.
Qataris are not short of money, and they give a lot of appearance fees, so they still attract some outstanding athletes to participate, and Zhang Guan is of course the biggest star of this competition, and he is also received by the highest standard.
However, there are still no well-known players in Europe and the United States in this race, and the only one who is more powerful is the American Tyson Gay. However, Guy is still a level behind Zhang Guanlai, so Zhang Guan once again won the championship in the 100-meter sprint event.
In addition to Tyson Gay, another competitor also caught Zhang's attention, a Nigerian who ran just 10.24 seconds in the race, and his name is Samuel Francis.
Had it not been for Zhang, Nigeria's Francis would have been naturalised in Qatar and would have broken the Asian record in the 100m dash in 2007, becoming the first Asian runner to run under 10 seconds and reaching the semi-finals of the 2008 Olympics. After that, the Gulf countries, which tasted the sweetness, began to naturalize a large number of athletes of African descent. African naturalized athletes have been found in track and field events such as sprinting, middle running, long-distance running, and jumping, and after 2010, the African "naturalized legion" has become the main opponent of the national track and field team in Asia.
Although Francis is still a Nigerian player, his appearance on the field in Qatar obviously shows that the naturalization corps of Middle Eastern countries is coming!
……
On May 23, in Barcelona, Spain, Zhang Guan and Sharapova appeared together at the Laureus Sports Awards.
This time, Zhang Guan was nominated for the Best Male Athlete Award, which is also the most prestigious award in the Laureus Awards. And Zhang Guan's competitors are stronger than the other.
Judging from last year's results, Schumacher became one of the weaker nominees, he did not win the Formula 1 championship, but it is said that he will retire after this season, as a legendary athlete, retirement can definitely add points to the selection.
Golfer Tiger Woods entered his primeday last year, winning the Buick Invitational, Ford Championship, Masters of the United States, British Open, WGC Championship and many more.
But comparatively. Woods' results last year were still worse than that of tennis king Federer. Federer's overall record last year was 81-4, second only to McEnroe's 82-3, and Federer won 11 singles titles the previous year, including two Grand Slam titles and four Masters Series titles. The results are absolutely impressive. Moreover, the Laureus Award has always favored tennis players, and Federer has an advantage in this regard.
But the most popular athlete in the Best Male Athlete nomination is not Federer, but footballer Ronaldinho. Ronaldo led Barcelona to an unstoppable finish last season. Not only did they defend their La Liga titles, but they also beat Arsenal to win the European Championship. Ronaldo also won two awards last year, the European Footballer of the Year and the World Footballer of the Year, and this year's Laureus Award was held in Ronaldo's home stadium of Barcelona. This added a lot of momentum to Xiao Luo.
When it comes to the achievements made last year, none of the above athletes can compare to Zhang Guan. In the previous year, Zhang Guan broke the world record in the men's 100-meter sprint three times, the men's 60-meter world record twice, and the Asian records in the 200-meter dash and the 400-meter dash.
This is a feat that no one has ever achieved in history, and the mere fact that he broke the world record in the men's 100-meter dash three times a year was enough to sweep the other nominees.
The awards ceremony finally began, and one award after another was revealed. Best Para Athlete Van Dijk, Best Economic Spirit Award Rossi and Lifetime Achievement Award Cruyff are all footballers, Best Effort Award Hingis and Best Newcomer Award Nadal are all tennis players, Best Team Award goes to Renault Racing Team, and Best Female Athlete is Alpine skier Kostelridge.
After the award for the best female athlete, it was time for the award for the best male athlete.
In the guest area, Sharapova whispered to Zhang Guan: "You have great hopes, football and tennis have won several important awards, and there are no track and field awards at present." ”
Zhang Guan nodded, and then shook his head again: "The chances of a football player winning the best male athlete are not high, and Xiao Luo is far from the prestige of Pele or Maradona, it is estimated that Xiao Luo is unlikely to win the best male athlete." But Federer's chances of winning the prize are still very high. ”
"There are a total of four female athletes in track and field nominated for the best female athlete, including Isinbayeva and long-distance running queen Dibaba, but none of them won the best female athlete, I think the judges should give a total number of places in the track and field event!" Sharapova spoke.
It was at this point that the award presenters began to announce the winners.
"The winner of the Best Male Athlete Award at the 7th Laureus World Sports Awards is Zhang Guan!"
The camera immediately focused on Zhang Guan, and Sharapova next to him immediately gave Zhang Guan a kiss first.
Subsequently, Zhang Guan stood up and hugged Federer, Ronaldo, Schumacher and others, and came to the stage to accept the award amid the applause of the audience.
This Laureus Best Male Athlete is definitely well deserved for Zhang Guan, who is also the first Asian to win the Laureus Best Male Athlete Award, and the fifth athlete to win this award.
The Laureus Sports Awards have been held for the seventh time, and the Laureus Best Male Athlete Award has only won the Laureus Best Male Athlete Award (twice), the car king Schumacher (twice), the Tour de France King Armstrong and the tennis king Federer, these four people are also the nail households nominated for the best male athlete award every year, and they are nominated for the best male athlete in almost every year.
……
After the Laureus Awards ceremony, Zhang Guan did not choose to return to China, but continued to stay in Europe, because in a week, he will travel to Norway to participate in the opening match of this year's IAAF Golden League. Sharapova is also separated from Zhang Guan, and she is going to France to participate in this year's French Open.
A week later, Oslo, Norway.
Director Yu handed a list of participants to Zhang Guan, and then said, "Look at it, there are people you didn't expect this time." ”
Zhang Guan took the entry list and looked closely, first spotting Powell's name, and the other Jamaican player was Michael Flat.
"Powell's injury has been healed for seven or eight months! I don't know how he's doing now. Zhang Guan asked.
Director Yu thought for a while and said: "In the Commonwealth Games a few days ago, Powell won the championship in 10.02 seconds, but this result has no reference value for him. ”
Zhang Guan lowered his head and recalled carefully, Gatlin was originally banned in 2006, and because of this, Powell didn't seem to have met a decent opponent in 2006. It wasn't until the rise of American Tyson Gay in 2007 that Powell began to produce real power races, and set a new world record of 9.74 seconds.
Another Jamaican player, Michael Flat, who also participated in the Athens Olympics and was eliminated in the semi-finals, was directly ignored by Zhang Guan, and his 100-meter dash is about the same as Kim Collins, which is considered a first-class athlete, but not to the top.
Zhang Guan continued to look down the list, and old acquaintances Obikwiru and Kim Collins were on the list.
"Olusoki Fasuba, Nigerian? Is it the guy who competed at the World Athletics Championships last year? Zhang Guan asked.
"Yes, Fasuba is two years older than you, a bronze medalist in the men's 4x100m relay at the Athens Olympics, who ran 9.85 seconds the other day, breaking the African 100m sprint record." Director Yu said, glared at Zhang Guan with a smile on his face, and then said: "He is called 'African Zhang Guan' by the Nigerian media."
"African crown?" Zhang Guan said with some tears and laughter: "I didn't expect my African brothers to look up to me so much!" ”
"If it weren't for the fact that the Americas and Europe have their own well-known 100-meter athletes, maybe the 'American Crown' and 'European Champion' would have come out a long time ago. However, Australia does not have a sprinter, maybe there will be an 'Australian champion' in the future! Director Yu said with a smile.
Zhang Guan shook his head helplessly, and then continued to read.
"The United States sent three people! Is Sean Crawford coming? He's quite strong, and he's on the same level as Morris Green. And Tyson Gay is also here, Tim Montgomery? Montgomery? Is it the same name? Or is it the same Montgomery? Zhang Guan raised his head in surprise.
Director Yu nodded very seriously: "Yes, it's that Montgomery!" The former men's 100m world record holder can also be said to be your ex. (To be continued.) )
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