Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 866 - 620: Asian Athletics Championships

"19.97 meters!"

"Haha, Link has improved by five centimeters since last week."

At the No.2 track and field facility of Beijing Sports University, Coach Li Yabing stood on the sand, shouting. In the sand pit at his feet was the shot put just thrown by Link, farther than the last one, but still a tad short of the 20-meter red line.

"Link, keep it up, strive to break through 20 meters before the Asian Athletics Championships arrive."

Li Zhichun, the director of the track and field group, encouraged him. Beside her, several leaders from the Sports University's Athletics Academy watched Link with approving eyes, holding great expectations for him.

"Okay Director Li, I'll give it my best,"

Link said with a laugh.

Director Li Zhichun nodded and told the leaders from the academy that Link was not only an athlete in the track and field group but also a boxer in the National Team. Given this, they could consider increasing Link's living allowance, so that he could train without financial worries.

The leaders agreed with smiles, praising Director Li as someone who cherishes talent. They also encouraged Link to train hard and not to let down Director Li's nurturing efforts.

Link also promised Director Li and the leaders that he would achieve good results in the upcoming Asian Athletics Championships.

After the leaders left, Link continued training in the throwing sector, with Coach Li Yabing and a few assistants providing guidance and correcting his throwing posture on the side.

After half an hour of training, Link took a break to hydrate and strolled to the adjacent field to watch Bao Xiaohu, Jiang Weixing, and Chang Yijun practice hammer throw and javelin.

All three performed well, close to first-level athletes, but just close, still a substantial gap from the main athletes of the National Team.

"Link, you're strong, why don't you give it a try?"

Bao Xiaohu called out while holding a javelin.

"Sure, I will try it."

Link put down his water bottle and walked to the center, taking the javelin in his hand to feel its weight.

The javelin, like the shot put, is one of the older events in the Olympics, first appearing in the Olympic Games of Ancient Greece in 708 BC.

It was also one of the five most popular events at the time.

Nowadays, shot put and javelin are relatively niche events in the Olympics, practiced and followed by fewer people.

But they are still key events.

In athletics competitions, javelins are primarily made of metal or carbon fiber materials.

The javelin's overall structure is divided into three parts: the head, the shaft, and the corded grip. The front end of the shaft tapers progressively, ending in a sharp metal head that resembles the javelins used in the battlefields of Ancient Greece.

In terms of javelin specifications, the men's javelin weighs 800 grams, with a length between 260 to 270 centimeters. The women's javelin weighs 600 grams, with lengths of 220 to 230 centimeters.

Currently, there are two world records for men's javelin. The first, set before the equipment redesign, was at a distance of 104.8 meters, achieved by Uwe Hohn of East Germany at the East Berlin Olympic Athletics competition in 1984.

On April 1, 1986, the International Association of Athletics Federations moved the javelin's center of gravity forward by four centimeters. This reduced the javelin's gliding ability and increased the difficulty of the throw.

Since 1986, no one has been able to throw the javelin beyond 100 meters.

The men's javelin record after the redesign stands at 98.48 meters, set by Jan Železný from the Czech Republic at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, which remains unbroken to this day.

"Hold it here with your hand, secure it with your thumb and forefinger, pay attention to the release speed and angle when throwing, a higher angle can increase the lift from the air, give it a try,"

Chang Yijun instructed.

Link nodded, warmed up his shoulders and arms while holding the javelin, and on a signal from Bao Xiaohu and Chang Yijun that he could throw, he sprinted four steps forward in the throwing area, and heaved the javelin forcefully just before the boundary.

The javelin floated in the air for a few seconds before landing, with its head plunging into the turf.

For scoring, only the hit point of the javelin on the ground is measured, and it counts even if it does not stick.

Bao Xiaohu ran a few steps to measure the distance.

"How far?"

Chang Yijun asked.

"63.32 meters, haha, not bad, the standard of a second-level athlete, just a little short of a first-level one,"

Bao Xiaohu said, laughing.

According to the regulations of the sports bureau, a javelin throw over 51 meters qualifies as a second-level athlete; over 66 meters for a first-level athlete; over 71 meters as a sports master; and over 78 meters as an international-level sports master.

"63 meters is quite good, when we started we were barely over sixty meters, it took us more than two years to break 70 meters."

Chang Yijun remarked.

"Link, want to try again?"

Bao Xiaohu handed the javelin to him.

Link took it, did a few run-ups, and then threw it forcefully towards the triangular area ahead.

This time, the javelin stayed in the air a bit longer, around three seconds, before slanting into the ground.

"Holy cow! That throw was something special."

Bao Xiaohu, swaying his portly frame, rushed to the grassy area to measure again. freёweɓnovel.com

"71.74 meters, geez, Link, what did you eat to grow up so strong?"

Bao Xiaohu shouted.

Chang Yijun also watched Link with surprise. They had painstakingly practiced for several years to raise their scores above 70 meters, but Link managed to throw at the level of a sports master on his second attempt. That was really powerful.

"Link, try again. Let me see what your limit is."

Bao Xiaohu said.

"No need to try anymore. Even if I did it a few more times, I couldn't break 80 meters. It's still far from the Asian record."

The world record for javelin is 98.48 meters, and the Asian record is 87.6 meters.

To break these records, it would take a lot of time and training, which could affect my boxing and shot put training. It would be better to focus on regaining my former strength, speed, and physical condition in boxing and shot put first.

If I could return to my previous level, I am confident that I could break the world records in shot put, javelin, hammer throw, discus, weightlifting, sprinting, and other events one by one.

Leaving the javelin training area, Link glanced at Jiang Weixing, who was training with the hammer throw. Jiang Weixing gripped the hammer's handle with both hands, twisted his body backward for two turns, let out a roar, and then hurled it towards the open space in front.

About 65 meters, which was the standard for a sports master, but still more than ten meters short of the national record.

Link returned to the shot put training field to continue his throwing practice.

According to his current situation, as long as he persists in his training, breaking 20 meters would not be difficult. However, to break the men's shot put world record of 23 meters, he would need several more years of practice.

While practicing shot put, the javelin team's coach Daley came over to chat with Coach Li Yabing.

"Link, did you just throw the javelin 71 meters?"

Coach Li Yabing asked after seeing him finish a round of shot put.

"I just threw it casually. What's up?"

"What's up? Many on the javelin team haven't broken 70 meters even after two years of training, and you casually threw 71 meters. Coach Daley has taken a liking to you and hopes that when you have time, you'll also spend some time practicing javelin. Maybe you have great potential in javelin as well," said Coach Li Yabing.

"Yeah, Link, you have innate strength. You are doing well in both boxing and shot put, showing that you have a strong sports talent and high potential for development. I think if you start practicing javelin, you could possibly become a world champion in the future," Coach Daley laughed and said.

"I'm practicing boxing and shot put, and don't have time to train in other events," Link said.

"It's okay, both shot put and javelin are throwing events. Although technique is also important, the key factor is still individual strength. Training for shot put is also a form of strength training. With your current ability, if you take some time to practice the javelin throwing techniques, your results will definitely improve, and you may even break 80 meters," Coach Daley persuaded.

After thinking about it, Link agreed.

To participate in another sporting event and win another championship not only helps the country to win honors but also earns him an extra bonus. Such a matter is worth agreeing to.

----

After finishing shot put practice, he took a nap in the dormitory at noon, and after finishing his afternoon general education classes, he went to the Sports University boxing training facility to practice boxing.

Zhang Wenlong and several other boxers from the school team were also there; some fooled around while others trained.

After seeing him arrive, Zhang Wenlong and the others came over to say hello, asking if he would practice sparring in the afternoon.

Sparring is practicing against a training partner on the boxing ring, where the partner holds the mitts, he punches the mitts, which helps boxers improve their offense and defense abilities on the boxing ring.

Because Link was skilled at boxing, after training with him for a while, Zhang Wenlong could clearly feel his own boxing skills improving. So every time Link came to train, he would be eager to be the training partner, never giving up this good opportunity until he was too tired to continue.

Link said he would warm up first and then practice for an hour later.

Zhang Wenlong hurriedly agreed and also went to warm-up, preparing for the sparring practice to come.

Link started with a half-hour of warm-up skipping rope, followed by practicing with the speed bag and the heavy bag. Since he had lifted weights in the morning before practicing shot put, he only did four sets of pull-ups and four sets of resistance exercises in the afternoon.

After finishing, he put on his gloves and went up on the boxing ring for some sparring practice.

Practicing six hours a day, he expected that it would take him a year to regain his former technique. As for strength and speed, it would probably require many more years of training.

After some time, at the end of September, the 15th Asian Athletics Championship was held in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. Link accompanied the Huaxia athletics team to Manila for the competition.

Because the Asian Athletics Championships were not as large or at as high a level compared to the Asian Games and the World Athletics Championships, most of the athletes who attended were younger members of the second team, preparing for next year's Olympics. Huaxia Sports Daily referred to it as "troop training."

There were 17 events set up for this athletics competition, including long and short races, high jump, long jump, throwing events, and race walking, with all events being completed within four days.

For this championship, Link signed up for two events: men's shot put and men's javelin throw.

On the first day during the shot put and javelin preliminaries, Link threw 20.62 meters in the first round of the shot put, breaking the Asian record set by the Qatari athlete Alsowadi at the 2000 World Championships and raising the Asian record for the men's shot put event to 20.62 meters.

He easily overpowered Sato Shouhei of Japan, Park Se-ho of South Korea, and others, advancing to the final with the first-place result.

In the eight-person final, he had an off performance on his first throw, landing 18.21 meters, followed by a 20.78-meter throw on his second, again refreshing the Asian record, and then 20.81 meters on his third, refreshing the Asian record for the third time.

In the men's javelin event, during the qualifying round, his three throws' best result was 78.38 meters, ranking him seventh among all contestants and successfully advancing to the finals.

In the second round of the final, his best throw was 79.05 meters, ultimately placing him fourth, just missing the medals.

However, this result made the leaders and coaches of the Huaxia athletics team very happy. Link could throw 79 meters in javelin with less than twenty days of practice. With a few more months of practice, he would definitely surpass 80 meters. With one or two years of practice, his performance would be even better.

For this reason, after the competition ended, the athletics team leaders approached him, urging him to train well and bring glory to the country in the future.

All Link could say was that he guaranteed to complete the mission.