Chapter 6: Wait Until I Surpass the Nation’s Top Prodigy Before You Boast

In that year, the 100-meter dash in Athens still featured a Chinese presence. Although it was a decathlon, he managed to clock an 11.06. As for the other Chinese sprinters, none had yet risen to that level this year.

In the 100-meter final, there was not a single East Asian athlete competing. Yet athletes like Justin Gatlin, this so-called “biochemical man,” and Powell, both later became classic examples of ‘doped’ runners. Nowadays, technology just can’t detect it. But if you step onto the track, you have to compete with them.

At least back then, if they weren’t caught, you had no excuse.

Without the unbeatable prowess of “Lightning” Bolt, honestly, dealing with these “biochemical men” was a headache.

When Justin Gatlin won the championship in 9.85 seconds, all the boys in the small room excitedly discussed it.

They talked about how fast Gatlin was, how Powell peaked too early and seemed a bit fatigued in the final.

Yet the conversation inevitably returned to one question…

How fast can Asians run?

There was a popular theory circulating that East Asians simply could not break the 10-second barrier.

Though everyone believed that the newly dubbed “Glasses Flyer” might approach the 10-second mark, Su Shen knew…

The “Glasses Flyer” hadn’t come closer than 10.24 seconds, still far from truly near 10 seconds.

After the Olympics, Su Shen continued his daily training, paying particular attention to nutrition and strength. Unfortunately, his family circumstances didn’t allow for nutritious meals, so he could only supplement with more protein. Strength training, however, was something he could pursue.

This was the key to why he had been able to run so fast in his previous life.

Chinese athletes had to train their strong glutes.

But even though rumors were spreading online about “no more than three eggs a day,” his parents wouldn’t allow him to eat more, especially since newspapers might say the same. Su Shen, just a kid, couldn’t argue he was right.

Otherwise, his parents would probably think he needed a brain check.

So, whenever he trained at school, he asked Yang Yongqiang to bring him extra boiled eggs.

It was only scientific to match protein intake to body weight.

For high-intensity training like his, consuming 1.5 to 2 times the usual protein was normal. At just over 50 kilograms, he was still very skinny, but after this period of training and adjustment, he managed to increase his weight to 55 kilograms. Beyond that, time was too short to do better.

Though Su Shen felt progress was slow, Yang Yongqiang thought otherwise.

He believed Su Shen was… incredible.

The weight gain and strength improvements were astonishing.

While they hadn’t tested his limits much, focusing mostly on auxiliary training, Yang Yongqiang was confident the results were far better than before the summer break. Today, the final day of testing after two months of intensive summer training, Yang wanted to see exactly how much Su Shen had improved.

Su Shen’s stats had all increased.

His five measured attributes were:

Strength: 25.

Speed: 27.

Endurance: 25.

Reaction: 30.

Flexibility: 29.

Compared to when he first arrived, these were big improvements. Now, let’s see what level he could reach.

Su Shen took a deep breath, waiting for the starter’s pistol.

Bang—

At the sound of the gun, Su Shen exploded forward like a starving black panther.

His feet struck the ground forcefully, pushing hard, accelerating faster and faster, resembling a fiery whirlwind, gradually leaving a visual afterimage beneath him.

His driving power was much better than before the special training.

Yang Yongqiang watched from the finish line, noting that Su Shen’s start was quicker than usual.

His forward lean angle was also greater.

This clearly showed the benefits of strength training, giving his legs more power.

His arm swings now visibly possessed strength.

Previously, due to lack of strength, his movements were loose; now they had rhythm.

As he lifted his center of gravity, his acceleration formed a straight line.

This distance was also improved; before, he reached top speed just past 30 meters, but now it was slightly later.

Coordination had increased.

Hmm?

Watching Su Shen approach, Yang Yongqiang’s pupils suddenly contracted.

As Su Shen crossed the line—

Page 2

According to the stopwatch.

Su Shen surged forward, beginning to decelerate.

Yang Yongqiang peeked down and nearly dropped his eyes in shock.

11.33 seconds.

Although hand-timed, the electronic timing was surely around 11.5 seconds.

This fast? A national second-level athlete already?

And he’s only a middle schooler who hasn’t even graduated.

An 11.5 hand-timed result qualifies as a second-level athlete. Su Shen had definitely surpassed it, and if better prepared, he might shave off a little more time.

“How much, Coach Yang?” Su Shen asked on his return.

“11.33 seconds.” Yang Yongqiang looked at him with a new expression. He was now certain the boy still growing before him was a sprinting prodigy. But in his hands...

He might just hold him back.

He really wanted to send Su Shen to the Xiangshan City Sports School immediately, but…

Well, just about two months left. Once Su Shen clinched a city-level championship, entry would be legitimate. It would also help build the boy’s confidence as an athlete.

What Yang didn’t know was that Su Shen hardly needed that confidence boost. Even if he went to the sports school, he’d train harder his own way. Besides nutrition and equipment, the differences weren’t that big.

“Did you reach your limit just now?” Yang asked casually.

“I don’t think so. At the start, a grain of sand got into my shoe, which may have affected the launch,” Su Shen said seriously, flaunting his cool demeanor. Yang Yongqiang sighed—geniuses were truly extraordinary.

You can’t think with a normal mind.

Su Shen’s rapid progress wasn’t just due to more scientific training than in his past life; his running technique was years ahead of the current standard. That explained such swift improvement.

“Two months left—train well and aim to stabilize at 11.3,” Yang said.

But Su Shen’s thoughts were beyond that. He wanted to break the 10-second barrier as soon as possible.

11 seconds? What’s that?

He used to run faster than that with his eyes closed.

...

At the start of ninth grade, Lin Yanfang noticed Su Shen and was momentarily stunned. She circled him, placing her hand by her lips in a thinking pose.

“Xiao Tian, have you grown taller?”

“Ah?” Honestly, Su Shen hadn’t really cared about that. Over the summer, he’d focused on improving his sprint times, not his height.

“After school, I’ll measure for you. I brought a tape measure.”

Su Shen wanted to ask why she carried a tape measure, but held back. Many girls carried them nowadays, gathering after class to measure this and that—quite the mystery.

After class, Lin Yanfang measured his height. Su Shen stood with his back against the wall while she extended the tape from his feet up.

After a moment, she exclaimed, “Xiao Tian, you’re 171 cm now? You grew quite a bit over summer.”

171?

He clearly remembered that when he entered ninth grade in his previous life, he was only 166 cm.

He barely surpassed 170 cm after graduating high school.

Now, at ninth grade, he was already 171 cm?

This was definitely good news. Increased height meant longer strides. As long as he maintained his stride frequency, he could enter a new stage.

“What are you thinking? Happy to be taller?” Lin Yanfang teased. “I won’t be able to call you short anymore—one less thing to tease you about.”

“No problem,” Su Shen replied cheerfully. “You’re better than me anyway—you’re the top student, forever my goddess.”

He almost said, “You’re my forever goddess,” but swallowed the words.

Now in ninth grade, Lin Yanfang couldn’t take the sports school route like him, but that wasn’t the time to talk about it.

Anyway…

It was only a matter of time.

No rush.

No rush at all—haste makes waste.

“I noticed you’ve gotten better at coaxing people lately. Did you go out with others over the summer?” Girls always noticed these things quickly—the sixth sense was scary.

“Playing with Coach Yang every day counts?” Su Shen joked. Lin Yanfang playfully hit him, and they laughed together. These young affections were light but sweet.

“Oh, Xiao Tian, this is your birthday gift. I was at my grandmother’s when you had your birthday, so I’m giving it to you now.” Lin Yanfang handed him a neatly wrapped small box. Su Shen was about to open it, but she said, “Wait until I leave, then open it.”

Su Shen nodded. After she left, he opened the box.

Wow—a fountain pen.

But thinking about it, giving pens and notebooks as gifts was really popular now, a nostalgic throwback.

...

Page 3

September arrived with the start of school, and the Zhongshan City middle school track meet drew near. Su Shen was making his final preparations and improvements.

His training mainly focused on physical conditioning.

Without improvement here, breaking through his limits was nearly impossible. He vividly remembered that the first thing they had him do when exposed to the most advanced training system in the U.S. was…

Strength training.

He was told he was too skinny, with insufficient muscle mass, preventing him from breaking his limits.

So in this life, Su Shen paid special attention to this area from an early stage.

Although Guzhen Junior High School had average conditions and limited training equipment, Su Shen made full use of what was available.

Even Yang Yongqiang thought…

This kid was pushing himself way too hard.

Such a strong desire to win was rare in a middle schooler. The key was that he could persist day after day without anyone pushing him. With talent like his, if he didn’t succeed, who would?

By now, Yang Yongqiang’s expectations for Su Shen had risen to the provincial team level. He believed Su Shen could reach it.

If Su Shen knew this, he’d probably say, “Coach, why not raise the bar even higher?”

Time flew, and November came quickly. Su Shen’s body was even stronger than at the start of school, now nearing 60 kilograms—a weight he never dared imagine at 15.

At first, Yang wondered if Su Shen was overdoing strength training, since he was a sprinter.

But Su Shen proved it didn’t affect his speed; instead, he was getting faster.

“All right, next week is the competition. Let’s do the final test,” Yang said.

Bang—

Launching from the starting blocks, Su Shen’s power felt far stronger, appearing more professional than ever.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tap.

Wearing the professional sprint shoes Yang had given him, his swift strides kicked up a fine dust trail on the cinder track.

Yang Yongqiang watched closely, aiming to minimize error and predict Su Shen’s best possible time.

Three.

Two.

One.

Go.

According to the stopwatch.

Whoosh—

A gust of wind seemed to follow him, but Yang ignored it, quickly looking at the watch.

11.25 seconds.

After a short rest, they tried again.

This time: 11.27 seconds.

“Good,” Yang exclaimed, unable to hide his joy. His initial goal was for Su Shen to stabilize around 11.3 seconds. But after two months, he had improved again and could now consistently clock around 11.2+ seconds.

That meant the electronic time likely hovered well within 11.5 seconds.

“Xiao Tian, very good. You know I rarely praise anyone. Among middle schoolers, you're the only one I’ve seen reach this second-level athlete standard,” Yang said. Though he hadn’t competed on big stages himself, reaching second-level athlete status as a middle schooler was rare even in a small town. In Xiangshan City, that was outstanding talent.

“Coach Yang, you’re praising me a lot,” Su Shen said.

Yang paused, then laughed heartily. “Don’t get arrogant. I’m telling you, there are always others better. Take Zhao Haohuan from our province’s Wuyi district—back in August 2002, at the National Middle School Games, he ran 10.35 seconds. That broke the previous record by 0.51 seconds. He was only one year older than you, just 14 and a half when he set that record.”

“But I’m not asking you to compare yourself to a national-level genius. I just want you to avoid complacency—that’s the biggest obstacle to an athlete’s progress.”

“Don’t worry, Coach Yang. Until I break his record, I won’t get cocky,” Su Shen replied, making Yang smile. Somehow, this fifteen-year-old always gave him a sense of equality.

Though Yang was already 40, well, mature beyond his years was common enough in China.

Geniuses were probably like that.

“Zhao is the country’s top sprinting prodigy. You’ve got big ambitions, kid,” Yang said, not minding at all. He knew it was good to educate but impossible to suppress youthful drive and passion. Athletes needed spirit and ambition.

…

And so, in mid-November, the Xiangshan City Middle School Track Meet began.

It was Su Shen’s first time stepping beyond his small town to a city-level stage.

In his previous life, he was the champion.

This time, what level could he reach?

Su Shen felt hopeful.

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