After diagnosing Wade, Chen Yu didn’t return directly to Phoenix. Instead, he took a flight to the United Kingdom.
After a seven-hour flight, he arrived in Birmingham at eight o’clock at night.
The 9th World Indoor Championships in Athletics would be held from March 14th to the 16th.
Liu Xiang would be representing China in the 60-meter hurdles.
If his mother hadn’t been unexpectedly injured, Chen Yu would have flown directly from the United States to the United Kingdom with Liu Xiang and the others at the beginning of the month to meet up with the Chinese delegation.
But now, he could only let them go ahead of him.
The plane landed at Birmingham Airport. As he was going through immigration, the border agent took Chen Yu’s passport and was about to stamp it when he suddenly stopped.
Chen Yu froze for a moment, thinking there was a problem with his passport.
But the next moment, the bearded agent suddenly stood up, holding the passport and comparing it closely with Chen Yu’s face.
"Is there a problem?" Chen Yu asked with a frown.
The agent suddenly gasped, covering his mouth, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "Oh my god, you’re Chen Yu!"
"Mitch, look! It’s Chen Yu!" He even turned his head and shouted to the agent at another booth.
"Who?" The chubby guy at the other booth asked, turning his head in confusion.
"Chen Yu! The one from the United States! The doctor! The Chen Yu who cured David! Oh my god, it’s really him!" the bearded agent shouted excitedly.
And then, Chen Yu was surrounded.
Almost all the staff members from the immigration area ran over, insisting on taking photos with Chen Yu. It caused quite a commotion, making Chen Yu feel like some kind of huge celebrity.
"Dr. Chen, you’re a hero in England! Without you, David never would have made it to the World Cup last year," said a middle-aged man with glasses, shaking Chen Yu’s hand, beside himself with excitement.
"And Gerrard!" a young man next to him chimed in.
"And Neville!"
Someone else chimed in.
Chen Yu didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he dealt with them. After a while, once they had calmed down, he asked if he could enter the country. It was getting late, and he needed to get to his hotel.
"Of course, right away." The middle-aged man with glasses hurriedly told the agent to stamp Chen Yu’s passport and thoughtfully asked if Chen Yu wanted him to drive him to the hotel.
Birmingham Airport is located between Birmingham and Coventry, quite a distance from the city center, and it wasn’t easy to get a taxi at this hour.
Before Chen Yu could answer, the man cheerfully declared, "Great, it’s settled then!"
Chen Yu complained internally, ’What’s so great about it?’
Four people were squeezed into the narrow backseat of a red Beetle.
Adding himself and the driver, the car was already overloaded.
Chen Yu kindly pointed it out.
"It’s fine, the traffic police are already off duty at this hour," said the middle-aged man with glasses, whose name was Opot, with a nonchalant expression.
Chen Yu couldn’t help but complain to himself, ’Am I worried about you getting a ticket? I’m worried about my own safety, okay?’
But the guys were just too enthusiastic. They were definitely the type of football hooligans who’d get drunk and cause trouble on the streets. They were so excited they looked like they wanted to pull out a couple of bottles of wine to celebrate, leaving Chen Yu unable to refuse.
Once the car was on the road, the four men couldn’t wait to start asking about all the gossip related to Beckham and the England National Team.
"Chen, is David really a germaphobe?"
"And does he have OCD? I read in the media that he’s obsessed with tidying things up."
"Did he really receive an envelope with bullets in it?"
The men all spoke at once, bombarding him with a pile of questions.
Chen Yu shook his head inwardly. ’I’m a doctor, not some gossip columnist.’
Not all the star athletes he’d met had become his friends. After all, some of them weren’t the same in private as they were in public. Chen Yu only spent more time with those whose personalities were compatible with his.
Otherwise, it was purely a doctor-patient relationship.
"What you’re talking about... I think I remember the media reporting on that," Chen Yu said, deflecting with a vague answer, as he certainly wouldn’t reveal any specific private details.
Fortunately, the rest of the ride was uneventful, and they arrived safely at the hotel.
He didn’t expect that it wasn’t over yet.
The hotel, on its own initiative, had upgraded Chen Yu to the most expensive suite.
The lobby manager, who had a very pronounced English accent, explained with a smile that this was on their boss’s orders. He said their boss was a die-hard fan of the England National Team and, to thank Chen Yu, his entire stay at the hotel would be free of charge.
Chen Yu thanked him, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
’The way he says it, you’d think the entire United Kingdom is full of England fans.’
In Europe, especially in the countries with the Five Major Leagues, the football atmosphere was truly intense.
Liu Xiang and Sun Haiping were also staying at this hotel; it was a higher-rated one.
The Chinese delegation had also arrived, but they were staying at a different hotel.
Chen Yu had paid for their lodging specifically so Liu Xiang could get better rest.
It was a small sum, and Chen Yu didn’t mind.
It was quite late, so Chen Yu didn’t go looking for Liu Xiang. He let Lexi know he’d arrived safely and then went to bed early.
The next day, because of the jet lag, Chen Yu didn’t wake up particularly early. By the time he got to the restaurant, Liu Xiang and Sun Haiping had already eaten.
But they hadn’t left; they were sitting and waiting for him.
After greeting them, Chen Yu went to get some food. Thankfully, the hotel was high-end enough to have a wide selection. Otherwise, in a culinary desert like the United Kingdom, Chen Yu might have starved.
As he sat down to eat, Chen Yu noticed that Sun Haiping’s expression was off.
"Coach Sun, you look a little nervous to me," Chen Yu asked casually.
Today was the 12th; the competition would start the day after tomorrow.
’The competition is so close, and even Liu Xiang, the athlete, isn’t nervous, yet you, the coach, are the one getting tense.’
Sun Haiping sighed and said helplessly, "Dr. Chen, you don’t understand. For this competition, my original plan was to focus on gaining experience and then concentrate on aiming for the World Championships in Athletics in Paris at the end of August."
In other words, they were strategically forgoing this Indoor Athletics Championship, with no intention of pushing for results.
Last November, Liu Xiang had surgery and only recovered in January. He then started training under Chen Yu’s guidance, and the focus of that training was to refine his hurdling form.
They were nitpicking details and adjusting his hurdling posture.
For an athlete at Liu Xiang’s level, suddenly changing his existing running style would have a huge impact on his performance.
The original plan was to use half a year to adapt, which would be just in time for the IAAF Grand Prix in August.
"But yesterday I spoke with Director Luo from the Athletics Management Center on the phone. They want Liu Xiang to push for a good result and aim for a medal. Given Liu Xiang’s current situation, that’s going to be difficult," Sun Haiping sighed.
He had changed his running style, and he’d been practicing the 110-meter hurdles the whole time. He had barely practiced the 60-meter hurdles at all. No one knew what kind of time he could run.
Not to mention, the competition this year was very strong.
There was the king of the 110-meter hurdles, the famous American athlete Alan Johnson.
Then there was his great rival, the legendary British star and world record holder, Colin Jackson.
And Colin Jackson is getting old. Last year, he announced his retirement from the 110-meter hurdles after a disqualification. This year’s 60-meter indoor hurdles will be his final swan song in international competition. He will definitely give it his all to end his career on a high note.
There’s also the 2000 Sydney Olympics 110-meter hurdles gold medalist, the famous Cuban athlete Anil Garcia.
Those three will probably sweep the medals.
And there are plenty of other strong competitors among the rest of the field, like Stanislavas Olijars from Latvia. He once ran the 60-meter hurdles in 7.49 seconds. That’s a full 0.12 seconds faster than Liu Xiang’s personal best of 7.61, which he set at the Stockholm International Indoor Athletics Meet last year.
So no matter how Sun Haiping calculated it, it would be very difficult for Liu Xiang to win a medal.
Chen Yu frowned slightly. "What happens if he doesn’t win a medal in the end?"
Medals are something Americans certainly value too; after all, it’s a major sporting nation.
But Americans place an even greater emphasis on gold medals and being number one. Just look at how much flak the Dream Five Team caught after they lost.
But Chen Yu clearly sensed that China placed even more importance on medals.
They’d let a severely injured player like Liu Yudong play through his injury, and then there was Yao Ming, who was required by the Basketball Association to be ready to return to China at any time for National Team games, even after making it to the NBA.
Chen Yu’s question stumped Sun Haiping.
How could he answer that?
When the leadership has spoken and said they think you can win a medal, that’s a decision they’ve made after a comprehensive evaluation, believing you’re capable.
Of course, if you really don’t win a medal, no one can do anything to you. But can you live with letting down the leadership that cultivated you, and disappointing the expectations of the entire nation?
So Sun Haiping really didn’t know how to answer the question. After holding it in for a long time, he finally said, "Well, it’s still best to try and fight for one."
That’s why he had such a headache.
If he had known it would be like this, he would have been better off not changing the running style at all.
Since last year, although Liu Xiang had hit a plateau, his results had been steadily improving overall. If he had stuck with his previous style, he might have actually had a shot at a medal this time.
Chen Yu understood the subtext. He turned to look at Liu Xiang and asked him for his thoughts.
Liu Xiang fiddled with the straw in his juice, glanced at Sun Haiping first, and then said, "In any case, I’ll definitely give it my all."
He said the words, but Chen Yu could hear the lack of confidence in his voice.
After all, he had just adjusted his hurdling form and had only been practicing it for two months. His performance was bound to be inconsistent.
Chen Yu thought for a moment, then put down his knife and fork. "First of all, you’re very healthy right now, and you’re in great shape, right?"
Liu Xiang nodded.
He had undergone surgery and recovered for a long time. Under the care of a world-class doctor like Chen Yu, he was in explosively good shape.
"Second, I’ve been telling you throughout your training that hurdling, unlike the 100-meter dash, is less of a test of raw physical condition and talent. It’s a sport with a very high technical component, and that is precisely your strength."
"We’ve worked hard together to adjust your style, and we’ve achieved some great times in training."
In training, Liu Xiang had once run a great time of 13.10 seconds, breaking his personal record.
"So don’t think you’re not ready. The truth is, you are. As long as you get your mentality right, forget just winning a medal—you can even make a run for the gold."
Chen Yu said with an encouraging smile.
"Gold?" Liu Xiang was taken aback and quickly shook his head.
He didn’t dare to even think about that.
Coach Sun, sitting beside them, also shook his head repeatedly. He certainly believed in Liu Xiang’s potential, but as things stood now, gold was still a long way off.
Chen Yu frowned imperceptibly.
He always felt that Liu Xiang lacked a certain deep-seated confidence.
Or maybe not confidence, but a kind of swagger.
It was probably related to his overly reserved personality. Yao Ming was the same way.
In competitive sports, where only first place matters, sometimes you really need that "who else but me" kind of spirit.
Bolt was good in that respect. The young man didn’t talk much, but he was incredibly ambitious. Not even 17 years old yet, he was already proclaiming that he wanted to be number one in the world and break the world record.
People might see it as arrogance, but if you’re not a little arrogant, how can you surpass yourself? How can you break your limits?
They chatted a bit more, but seeing it wasn’t having much effect, Chen Yu waited until after breakfast, when Liu Xiang and the others had returned to their rooms. He thought for a moment, then dialed a number on his phone.
"Alan, it’s Chen Yu. Can you do me a favor?"
On the other end of the line was none other than the king of hurdles, Alan Johnson.

Comments

Loading...