Domination in America, Starting from being a Boxing Champion-Chapter 887 - 632: The First Gold Medal_2

Link waved his hand and left the throwing area to watch the three throws of Klaus, the Australian player, in the waiting area.

In the first round, Klaus's best result was 20.92 meters, unable to break the 21-meter barrier.

The second round was the same, with the best throw being 20.89 meters, ranking seventh in that round.

After Klaus's results were out, the men's shot put event came to an end.

Link, with a result of 21.18 meters, ranked first among all competitors, and effortlessly won the men's shot put championship.

The silver medal went to the Ukrainian player Bilonog, and the bronze to the American player Adam Nelson.

After the competition, the Olympic Organizing Committee held an awards ceremony at the Ancient Olympia Stadium, where Link, dressed in the Huaxia Team uniform, ascended to the highest podium and was awarded a gold medal by the president of the International Olympic Committee, Rogge.

The Ancient Olympia Stadium also heard the Huaxia national anthem for the first time in history, considered a historical convergence of two great ancient civilizations, carrying significant commemorative importance.

As the Five-star Red Flag was raised, Huaxia media also focused their cameras on Link, broadcasting the image of him standing on the top podium to the nation.

At this moment, countless people were cheering for Link's success.

Link's image was broadcasted to countless Huaxia households for the first time, even more attention-grabbing than becoming a pop star or appearing on Capital City TV's Spring Festival Gala.

"Link has become the men's shot put champion?"

"How did he do it?"

"Incredible, isn't he a boxer?"

In the stands, Sean Gibbons, Bob Arum, Dmitry Salita, Eddie Hearn, Frank Warren and others looked at Link on the podium in shock.

If Link's victory in the top 16 with a two-round knockout was surprising,

his claiming the men's shot put championship now is purely shocking and unbelievable.

Though both boxing and shot put rely on arm strength, the difference between them is too significant, even greater than that between humans and monkeys.

In the history of world sports, there has never been a boxer who is also an outstanding shot put athlete, nor a shot put athlete who turned into an outstanding boxer.

Now Link has accomplished this, proving to be extremely proficient not only in boxing but also as the Olympic champion in shot put.

Bob Arum frowned, somewhat worried.

When Link debuted last year, he audaciously asked for a signing bonus of five million US dollars, showing extreme greed and confidence.

Now he has become the Olympic champion in shot put, a sports star.

If he also achieves decent results in boxing, his asking price might be even higher; five million US dollars might not satisfy him.

Bob Arum thought it wise to contact Link beforehand to gauge his attitude.

At this time, Eddie Hearn, Nora Duwa, and Frank Warren were thinking the same; Link's potential is vast, and it would be best to sign him early to prevent him from falling into competitors' hands.

——

After the award ceremony, Link, wearing his gold medal and holding a bouquet, left the scene, receiving cheers from the Huaxia audience, praises and congratulations from his teammates, and was surrounded by numerous media reporters.

A CCTV5 reporter asked him how he felt.

Link said he felt great.

The reporter continued to ask him about only participating in the Universiade and Asian Championships prior to the Olympics, without experience in major track and field events, and his best result being only 20.81 meters. Were he surprised to unexpectedly win the men's shot put gold medal?

Link said no, his goal was to break the world record. This competition was merely about getting a gold medal, not setting a new record, so it wasn't too surprising for him.

The reporter asked if he had ever thrown better than 21.18 meters in training.

Link said it was a secret.

An Associated Press reporter asked him, being only 69 kilograms and not having achieved good results in past international competitions, why he could win the championship this time? Did he use magic?

Link smiled, knowing what the question implied—the suspicion of doping.

It's a habitual practice for Western journalists in sports competitions, always suspecting Huaxia athletes of using performance-enhancing drugs whenever they achieve good results in domains typically dominated by Western athletes.

Link stated he doesn't use magic; his winning the championship was the result of countless training sessions. If relying on magic were enough to win, then the American team would dominate the sport, as they have many magicians.

The British team is fine too; they have Harry Potter, Hermione, Voldemort, and the renowned Hogwarts Magic School.

A burst of laughter erupted from the scene.

The "Harry Potter" series movies, with two released so far, have already amassed over a billion US dollars in global box office, turning a group of magicians into famous movie characters.

Link responded in a way that not only skirted the sharp question posed by the Associated Press reporter but also connected with "Harry Potter".

A CCTV reporter asked him how he managed to perform better with each throw from the first to the sixth, eventually surpassing his opponents and also his own result from the fifth throw, and what drove him to do so?

Link said it was belief, honor, and a sense of responsibility.

Standing on the Olympic track and field, it's not just about competing as an individual, but also representing all the track and field athletes from Huaxia, and only by giving it his all can he live up to everyone's expectations.

Clap clap clap!

A round of applause and cheers filled the surroundings.

Then, media from various countries started to ask other questions. At this Olympic Games, in addition to the shot put, he also participated in boxing, 5000 meters run, and javelin -- making him the first athlete in Olympic history to report for multiple different types of sports.

Especially since he just won the championship in the shot put event.

That made him a subject worth exploring.

Due to time constraints, Link selectively answered a few questions before leaving with his coaching team.

Upon returning to the hotel where he was staying, top promotion, main events, sports promotion companies sent representatives to discuss signing deals, explicitly stating that he would immediately receive five million US dollars upon agreeing to sign.

Link did not meet with them but told them over the phone that he wanted to focus on preparing for the games until the end of the Olympics, and he was not interested in discussing signings at the moment. If they were interested in collaborating, they could talk after the games.

——

On the second day of the Olympic Games, the Huaxia sports delegation added another two gold medals and one silver medal to their tally.

These three medals came from men's shot put, women's judo in the 52 kg category, and men's weightlifting in the 56 kg category.

Currently, the Huaxia team has amassed 6 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze, temporarily ranking first.

On August 16th, the second day, Link arrived at the Kalliska Gymnasium to participate in the men's boxing 69kg class round of 16.

Influenced by the shot put competition, he became a star of this Olympic Games, enjoying good popularity in Greece as well.

About five thousand spectators were present in the audience seats during this match.

His opponent for this match was the South Korean boxer, Kim Jin-Ju, 23 years old, 178 cm tall, with a reach of 182 cm, who had won a gold medal in the boxing event at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. He is the second 69 kg class boxer in Asia outside of Link.

The opponent is a technical-type boxer, with flexible movements, skilled at combination punches, and has good defense, which has led to consecutive wins in amateur competitions.

However, there are clear drawbacks, the strength of his punches is average, and his physical strength and resistance to hits are not high.

He is a typical elite amateur.

Once the match started, Link still adopted an aggressive attacking strategy, using quick and heavy punches to break through the opponent's defense.

Considering that the opponent had average toughness but good technique.

During the match, Link did not rush to knock down his opponent. Instead, he made use of his excellent boxing and defensive skills to engage in a highly technical match with his opponent.

In the first round, he threw 126 punches, hitting the opponent's valid points 26 times, while his opponent threw 168 punches, hitting valid points on him only 3 times.

He won the first round by a large margin.

In the second round, he continued to compete in technique against the opponent, utilizing excellent combination punches and nimble footwork and dodging skills to avoid the opponent's attacks while firmly controlling the pace of the match, driving the opponent to sweat profusely around the boxing ring.

82 seconds into the second round, using nimble dodging skills, he caused the opponent to lose balance, stumbling and falling onto the boxing ring.

In this round, Link threw 95 punches, hitting the opponent 21 times and causing the opponent to fall three times.

The opponent threw 121 punches, with only 2 being effective hits.

The third round did not start, as the opponent's coach conceded the match.

Link easily won the match and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 69 kg category.