Orc Undead Sports Warrior

The Chinese delegation arrived in Valencia three days early, giving them three days to adjust before the match – more than enough time. The match wasn't particularly focused on physical impact; it was mainly about giving some players a chance to get into form and improve their physical condition.

Such competitions will be held in China for several consecutive years starting next month. Currently, each country holds its own World Indoor Championships around March.

Originally, there were no indoor events specifically set up when the track and field competitions started. Field events were passable, but track events felt really restrictive, as the 400-meter track was halved.

For example, in an outdoor track, running a 400-meter race only requires two turns, but in an indoor race, you have to go through four outer lanes, which is really hard to adapt to.

However, the experience of European and American countries has shown that holding indoor competitions during the adjustment period can greatly help athletes shorten the adjustment period, enter the active period, enhance their competitive awareness, and improve their technical level. Countries around the world have successively begun to hold some indoor track and field competitions during the daily adjustment period to help athletes adapt to the adjustment period as soon as possible.

The competition lasted for three days, which is definitely a large-scale event for indoor track and field. In general, indoor track and field competitions start with the preliminary rounds followed by the finals.

Due to the large number of participants, many matches in this competition still had a semi-final round.

Similar to the outdoor championships, the field events also have qualifying rounds. The IAAF treats these formative competitions with the same level of importance as the outdoor World Championships and the Olympics.

Lu Wei participated in the 60-meter dash and shot put events in this competition. The venue was too small to host many throwing events, so the javelin event was not included.

The 400-meter course has too many curves, so participating or not won't make a big difference.

Lu Wei believes that, apart from the Olympics, he should try not to participate in too many events in various competitions this year. If time is short, one track event and one field event would be enough.

After three days of preparation, everyone has adjusted to the time difference. Valencia is seven hours ahead of Beijing, so when the match is played here in the morning, it is already afternoon in China.

After reviewing the competition schedule, Lu Wei felt a pang of regret, as both events had to be completed on the first day, which was quite intense.

Generally, the organizing committee will consider arranging similar competitions separately so that participating athletes can allocate their physical energy reasonably during the competition.

Unexpectedly, there is such an oddball as Lu Wei, who was able to break down the huge gap in physical requirements between track and field events and maintain a top level in several competitions with such a large span.

Although male decathletes and female heptathletes participate in more competitions, they cannot achieve top-level performance in all competitions, and their results are still significantly different from those of top athletes in individual events.

Lu Wei can be considered a breath of fresh air in the world of track and field.

The first event of the competition was the men's shot put, so Lu Wei started his warm-up an hour and a half before the competition.

This is a principle he has always adhered to. Even with such a long preparation time, Lu Wei feels that it is just enough. In his words, half an hour is used for warming up, half an hour for stretching, and half an hour for check-in.

He didn't think that the 20-meter qualifying line in the preliminary round would be a problem for him, but it would be better to make it a habit.

Habits are very important; often, an athlete's instinctive actions in crucial moments are simply habitual actions from daily life.

Just as Lu Wei was stretching, he heard someone greet him. He turned around and saw Hoffa, an American shot putter: "Hey, old friend, long time no see, how are you?"

As he spoke, Hofa extended his fleshy hand. In last year's shot put final, the two did not decide the winner until the very last throw, and after the competition, they both felt a sense of mutual respect.

After this meeting, the two even felt as if they were old friends reuniting.

"I'm doing well, I've been training a lot, but you seem to have gained weight!"

Looking at Huo Fa, Lu Wei noticed he looked even more like a ball of flesh than last year. As he spoke, he pinched Huo Fa's arm.

"Dude, that hits home! I don't think you're as honest as you say. I've seen your boxing videos; you have a wide range of interests!"

Hofa's eyebrows were uneven, one higher than the other, and he held his hands apart, looking quite shocked.

"Why don't you participate in boxing matches sometime? We might even have a chance to coach each other in the boxing ring!"

Lu Wei smiled, clenched his fist, and stretched it out to demonstrate.

"Oh no! I don't want to go back to the life of getting beaten up every day. Boxing is only a small part of combat sports. The Olympic Games can't even be considered a real competition. Combat sports are very complex. I advise you not to get too involved even if you participate in competitions in the future. Once the competition goes from determining the winner to a life-or-death situation, it won't do you any good!"

Hofa still seemed lost in thought as he spoke, and the two did not continue the conversation on this topic.

Subsequently, several teammates who had met Lu Wei at last year's World Championships shook hands and hugged him. In less than a year, Lu Wei had become like a veteran player in the competition.

This tournament has attracted many strong players, and most of the top eight finishers from last year's World Championships have come to Valencia.

Because whether field events are held indoors or outdoors doesn't actually have a significant impact on athletes' performance, weather changes outdoors can actually affect their ability to perform at their best. For example, in last year's javelin final, many athletes were hesitant to exert themselves fully after the rain. In a sport that tests a team's overall physical capabilities, even a slight mishap could lead to injury. Therefore, weather problems in outdoor competitions can potentially hinder athletes' performance.

"The competition is about to start, so I need to warm up my body and try to finish the qualifying round in one go. I have to play 5 times a day, so missing one shot is an exception."

As Wang Qiao spoke, he glanced at the other team members who had come to participate in the competition.

"The athlete over there with Hoffa is called Cantwell. He's been quite strong these past two years. These athletes are all equally strong. The athlete who trains hard and focuses the most back then is almost guaranteed to win the championship."

Okay, you can go over there during check-in later. The morning match should be fine.

After Wang Qiao finished speaking with Lu Wei, he returned to the audience. The qualifying line was only 20.2 meters. With Lu Wei's current performance, he should have no problem entering the finals on his first throw, so Wang Qiao was not too worried this time. He believed in Lu Wei's ability.

Another point is that he wants to learn from Jiang Jianjun, who can pretend to be calm and collected, giving people the impression that he is confident. In previous competitions, he always felt that he couldn't keep his composure at crucial moments, and sometimes he was not as calm as Lu Wei.