Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 852 - 613: Grand Tournament Champion

After a brief rest, Link and seven other athletes who made it to the finals began the second round of the competition.

Like the first round, each contestant had three throwing opportunities, and based on the results, the champion, runner-up, and third place were determined.

For this round, they drew lots for the order, and Link was assigned the sixth spot.

By the time it was his turn, three athletes had already thrown beyond 19 meters, with Parker O'Brien of the American Team leading temporarily with 19.67 meters.

Thomas Majewski from the Poland Team was in second place with 19.21 meters.

Pavel Ashapatov of the Russia Team ranked third with 19.09 meters.

Seeing these scores, Coach Li Yabing and Team Leader Li Zhichun, who were originally hopeful for Link to win a medal, felt their hearts sink; Link's best throw in the first three attempts was also below 19 meters, and the second round seemed to offer little chance. freeweɓnovel.cѳm

Therefore, when it was Link's turn, the leadership only asked him to do his best, to handle it casually, and not to feel too much pressure.

Link expressed his understanding and did a set of warm-up exercises before going on stage to get all joints and muscle groups active.

In fact, boxing training and shot put training have many similarities, including ways of generating power and directions of force, all of which involve the combined movement of muscles in the waist, legs, and shoulders, turning the whole body's strength into a single force, and then using the arms and wrists to explode that energy outward.

The more fully the muscles throughout the body are mobilized, the greater the explosive power.

The gliding technique in shot put is also similar to the footwork in boxing, with both focusing on maintaining balance of the body and coordination of the limbs.

Additionally, his best technique, the 'Rear Hook Punch', shares some practice elements with the rotational shot put technique, helping him perfect the Rear Hook Punch and increase its lethality.

These commonalities also make it fun for Link when practicing shot put.

After the competition began, Link dusted his hands with anti-slip powder, picked up the shot put, walked to the throwing area, turned his back towards the throwing direction, stood with his feet slightly wider than his shoulders, and started rotating left around his body's left side—his left knee and left shoulder leading—compressing his upper body like a spring, putting his body in a maximally twisted tension.

As he released the shot put, Link shouted loudly, his body spinning 360 degrees all at once, his arm muscles bulging, fiercely pushing the shot put in the direction of the throw.

The 7.26-kilogram shot put left his hand, tracing a high parabolic arc in the air.

In less than a second, the shot put landed with a thud, creating a deep pit in the sand.

Officials and referees with flags entered the pit to measure the distance.

"19.51 meters!"

shouted the referee.

"What? 19.51 meters?"

"Link threw 19.51 meters?"

Coach Li Yabing was stunned by the side, looking incredulously at Team Leader Li Zhichun.

Accustomed to grand occasions, Team Leader Li Zhichun only paused briefly before standing up to applaud and cheer for Link.

With the current scores, Link was securely in the top three.

The giant screen also displayed Link's results, 19.51 meters, rapidly climbing to second place, only 0.16 meters behind Parker O'Brien in first place.

Link took a deep breath, getting ready for his second throw.

The second throw was slightly inferior, at 19.07 meters.

"Not bad, Link is only 18 years old, being able to consistently break 19 meters shows huge potential. Next year at the Athens Olympics, there will definitely be a spot for him," said Team Leader Li Zhichun, praising him.

"This kid really gave us a massive surprise," laughed Coach Li Yabing.

"Go Link!"

At the track and field sidelines, Jiang Weixing and teammates from the track team cheered loudly for him.

Link waved his hand and rested for a few seconds before preparing for his third throw.

During the third throw, when positioning for the rotational push technique, he pressed his upper body even lower, twisting his body to a greater degree.

This move is highly challenging, requiring the athlete to have excellent balance, and the muscle groups in different parts of the body also need to be well-developed; any weakness might cause the athlete to fall to the ground when pressing down or to push the shot put in the wrong direction during the rotational throw.

Luckily, Link had been training well recently, with all muscle groups throughout his body being well-exercised. Although not quite at his original level, his muscles were quite balanced without any weak points.

Two seconds after pressing down, Link suddenly rotated his body, shouted "Let's go", and the shot put once again flew from his hand, tracing a farther arc in the air.

The officials and referees re-entered the pit to measure.

"How much?"

Coach Li Yabing craned his neck to look into the field.

"19.81 meters!"

"Huaxia Team number 3201's third throw, 19.81 meters!"

shouted the referee.

"19.81 meters?"

"Link threw 19.81 meters, higher than Parker O'Brien from the American Team?"

Coach Li Yabing and the coaching assistants of the throwing events team were utterly astonished.

Although this score was still a long way from the world record, it exceeded the national record in this event by 0.05 meters, breaking the national record set by athlete Ma Yongfeng in 1986, and raising the national men's shot put record to 19.81 meters.

"Well done, Link!"

Team Leader Li Zhichun stood up and clapped.

"Link, awesome!"

Jiang Weixing shouted from the sidelines.

The media from Huaxia also turned their cameras towards Link, snapping several photos.

Although the Universiade's prestige is not as high as the Olympics or the Asian Games, the Universiade's participants are generally younger, and Link breaking the national record at 18 shows immense potential. Perhaps in a few years, he could break the Asian record and possibly win a medal for the Huaxia Team at the 08 Olympics.

The media had great interest in such a promising athlete like Link.

"Link, congratulations on breaking the national men's shot put record. Are you satisfied with this performance?"