Chapter 136: The 4x100 Relay Final

The morning of January 20th. The 4x100m relay preliminaries were held at the Galaxy Stadium in Yangcheng. The Nanyue team qualified for the finals, placing second in their group.

The afternoon of January 21st, 6:30 PM. The 4x100m final took place under the spotlight of public anticipation. The race was broadcast live.

The Nanyue Provincial Television station had recently observed that, with the National Games underway, sports programs were becoming immensely popular across the province. Whenever a household-name sports star appeared, viewership ratings would immediately jump to a new level. This list of stars included 110m hurdler Liu Yu, table tennis champions like Li Nina, the women’s volleyball team, and the handsome and talented diving stars. However, on the viewership trend charts, the waveform representing Luo Su rose with particular prominence.

It stood almost like a solitary peak, towering above all other fluctuating lines. This was likely because Luo Su was a local athlete from Nanyue Province; his rise and his miracles had been witnessed firsthand by the people of Nanyue, fostering a deep, simple sense of participation and pride that made them particularly attentive to his performance. Consequently, footage of Luo Su winning the 100m, 400m, and 200m events had been replayed repeatedly by the station. During the 4x100m preliminaries on January 20th, every time the camera cut to Luo Su, the ratings spiked, prompting the station's live reporters to keep their lenses fixed on him.

During the race on the 21st, besides Luo Su, another athlete drew significant attention and viewership: Liu Yu.

In the studio, the host and a guest commentator were discussing the event. Among the competitors in the 4x100m relay, aside from Luo Su—who had already secured three gold medals—the most discussed figure was Liu Yu, the Olympic and World Championship gold medalist in the 110m hurdles, who was representing the Shanghai team.

"Liu Yu’s Olympic-winning time in the 110m hurdles is 12.91 seconds. If you subtract the 10 meters and the time spent clearing the hurdles, he should be able to run a 100-meter dash in about 10.20 seconds, right?" the host joked.

"I’m not that optimistic," the expert replied. "The 100-meter dash requires explosive power and raw speed, whereas the 110m hurdles are primarily about technique and rhythm between the barriers. They are completely different athletic disciplines. Based on Liu Yu’s performance in the 4x100m preliminaries, I would estimate his 100-meter speed to be around 10.40 seconds."

"That slow? Only 10.40?" the host asked, surprised.

"Before the emergence of a new generation of athletes like Luo Su, Pan Kai, and Gong Wei, a 10.40 was a time that could qualify you to represent the country in the Asian Games," the expert explained.

While the host and the expert chatted on air, the audience at home focused their attention. This was a showdown between Liu Yu and Luo Su—a battle between their local champion and a world champion.

Luo Su glanced at Liu Yu, who was a few lanes away. He realized he had been overlooking something. If Liu Yu could run the 4x100m, he could certainly try his hand at the 110m hurdles. It wasn't about the goal of defeating Liu Yu specifically, but rather that every victory in a new event earned an attribute point; he should be developing all his sprint disciplines comprehensively.

*Bang!*

The starting gun fired. Luo Su pulled his focus back, watching his teammates sprinting toward him.

Tian Shiwei ran the first leg. He started with the baton in his right hand, ran along the inside of the bend, and used an "upsweep" pass to hand the baton to the second runner, Lin Lishuo. Lin Lishuo had a 10-meter acceleration zone; he reached his arm back, fingers together, palm facing backward with his thumb down, waiting while he ran. The moment he gripped the baton, he had already reached full speed. After receiving it, Lin Lishuo ran along the outside of the track and used a "downsweep" pass to hand the baton to the third runner, Qian Feng. Qian Feng held his palm upward with his thumb pointing backward; once Lin Lishuo placed the baton into his hand from above, he swung his arm directly backward to complete his acceleration.

Now, Qian Feng would cut in from the inside of the track and use his right hand to pass the baton to Luo Su’s left hand using the "upsweep" technique. While the upsweep is advantageous because the backward-reaching posture is natural and allows for a smooth transition into a running gait, its downside is that the target is less obvious for the passer. However, Qian Feng executed the technique perfectly this time.

By the time Luo Su gripped the baton, more than half of the third and fourth runners in the other seven lanes had already completed their exchanges. The fastest among them was Liu Yu, who had already surged ten meters ahead.

"...The baton is now in Luo Su's hands. We can see the Nanyue team is currently in fifth or sixth place, but there is no need to worry. During the preliminaries, it was also Luo Su who, through his own sheer effort, pulled the entire team up to second place in the group...

"Great! We see Luo Su starting to overtake! Just as he reached the curve, he passed the runner from E Province! Entering the straightaway, Luo Su continues to accelerate. In this scenario where he needs to chase, we can clearly see that Luo Su is in a different rhythm and state than everyone else! Everyone is fast, but compared to Luo Su, they seem almost stationary. We see Luo Su has passed the runner from Qiong Province; now, only the runners from Shu, Su, and Shanghai are ahead of him! Keep pushing!"

As the host spoke with mounting excitement, the audience watched as Luo Su, clad in a red jersey, made one overtake after another with a powerful, unstoppable stride. If there is any moment in track and field that is truly heart-pounding, it is this—a desperate counterattack, surging from fifth or sixth place to the front of the pack. Some viewers were so excited they stood up, cheering along with the background noise from the television: "Catch them! Catch them!" This moment would become a rare and cherished memory for them.

If the atmosphere was intense before the screens, the Galaxy Stadium itself was alive with a thunderous roar that shook the heavens. From the moment Luo Su received the baton, watching him overtake his opponents one by one felt like witnessing a general on the battlefield, charging on a swift steed with a long blade, single-handedly cutting down formidable foes. The crowd couldn't help but rise to their feet, chanting, "Luo Su! Catch them! Luo Su! Catch them!" The noise merged into a river, then a waterfall, then a crashing wave, boiling over like the sea.

Luo Su felt as though he were being propelled toward the finish line by the deafening roar of the crowd. The last person he overtook was Liu Yu in his green jersey. As an Olympic and World Champion, Liu Yu had likely rarely experienced the despair of being caught and overtaken from behind. Through the perception granted by his "Sharpness" skill, Luo Su felt Liu Yu's momentary sense of powerlessness and frustration.

Then, Luo Su dipped his head and crossed the finish line.

He had won.