Orc Undead Sports Warrior

On August 8th, the Golden League kicked off in Shanghai.

The Golden League is the most popular competition among track and field athletes, second only to the Olympics and the World Championships.

In order to attract the world's best track and field athletes and better promote the sport globally, the IAAF merged several traditional European Grand Prix events in 1998. These separate competitions were linked together, hence the name "League."

The top eight invited athletes at each leg of the competition receive prize money, and those who win the entire league also receive a 50-kilogram pure gold ingot. The influence of the Gold League soared from then on, and in 2003, the IAAF increased the prize money to $1 million.

Before the competition started, the track and field stadium was already full of spectators.

Today's competition was truly star-studded, with almost every event featuring some of the world's strongest athletes. Tyson Gay and Jamaican sprinter Campbell, seemingly invincible in the 100m; Jeremy Wariner, the undisputed champion in the 400m; and pole vault queen Isinbayeva—all these big names participated in today's competition.

However, the biggest highlight of the competition is the hurdles battle between Liu Xiang and Cuba's Robles in the 110-meter hurdles.

In the shadow of these people, Lu Wei was just an unnoticed young athlete.

The entrance ceremony for the superstars was also extremely luxurious, with star athletes from various sports entering in convertible luxury cars and circling the track. Every time the stadium commentator called out each name, it was met with cheers and screams from the audience.

When Liu Feiren entered the arena, the atmosphere was one of overwhelming force and unstoppable momentum. The audience showered the world champion from Shanghai with their screams.

"Is it really that exaggerated!" Lu Wei stood next to Wang Qiao and Coach Jiang, feeling both envious and a little jealous of Liu Feiren's star power. He felt that one day he could also gain such influence.

In the first 100-meter race, Tyson Gay, who was so confident before the race, only ran 10.02 seconds and won the silver medal. Another American athlete, Wallace Spearman, took first place with a time of 9.96 seconds.

After the race, Tyson Gay angrily shouted at the finish line, making the whole audience laugh. Lu Wei was one of them. In his eyes, this cool and stylish Gay was just a complete clown.

After looking at the schedule, Lu Wei realized that it wasn't that the organizers didn't invite him, but that there were no shot put or javelin events scheduled for today's competition.

Shot put has never been a traditional gold medal-winning event for China. Although female athletes occasionally win a bronze medal in world competitions, most of the athletes are overweight, and their physiques don't attract attention. Throwing an iron ball around in a small area makes it difficult to capture the attention of Chinese sports fans.

After all, we're not a track and field powerhouse with a deep-rooted tradition...

Javelin competitions are even more dangerous. The participants all have amazing arm strength and can easily throw 80 meters each time. With such strong strength, if they run around with a javelin and make a mistake in positioning or aiming at the wrong target, it could cause a major accident if the javelin hits someone.

Such things happen quite often. Our Chinese team has never even touched the edge of the podium before, so we simply don't bother.

After the men's and women's 1500-meter races, the 400-meter races are about to begin.

Under the watchful eyes of the audience, eight athletes took to the track.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next event is the men's 400-meter race. In lane 2 is Gary Kikaya from the Democratic Republic of Congo, in lane 2 is Clement Clement from the United States, in lane 3 is Tyler Christopher from Canada, and in lane 4 is the 400-meter god who has never lost in major competitions in recent years, Jeremy Varina!"

When the commentator mentioned Wariner, his voice rose in excitement. The audience immediately responded with enthusiastic applause. Everyone in the world of athletics knows Wariner, and seeing the superstar in person naturally ignited their passion.

The commentator then announced Lu Wei's name, and the audience immediately cheered for the young Lu Wei with the highest level of encouragement.

"That's more like it. It's one thing how well I run, but I deserve this kind of treatment right here in my own backyard!" The audience's enthusiasm for their own people finally made Lu Wei feel a little better.

In this race, Lu Wei was assigned to lane 5, which means the organizers made full use of their home advantage and found Lu Wei a prime lane.

The organizers clearly put a lot of thought into assigning Lu Wei a suitable lane. The purpose of this competition was to let the young athletes experience the atmosphere of a major tournament. The best experience is undoubtedly being alongside superstars, and such a competition opportunity is something that countless training sessions could not bring back.

If Lu Wei's ability is comparable to Warina's, then Lu Wei can be placed in a forward lane. This way, Lu Wei can keep an eye on Warina throughout the game and anticipate any tactical changes the opponent makes.

The current situation is that Lu Wei can't beat Varina. If Dao Ci is ranked ahead, he will be left behind by his opponent as soon as he comes up, which is the same as not putting him aside.

Placing Lu Wei in the lane adjacent to Varina's was to give Lu Wei more time to observe the master's gameplay.

In a standard race, the track width is about 1.2 meters, and the starting distance between two adjacent lanes is about 7 meters. If Warina wants to overtake Lu Wei, he will probably have to wait until the later stages of the race. Therefore, putting Lu Wei in lane 5 is the best choice.

Of course, Lu Wei doesn't see it that way.

On the way to the starting line, Lu Wei had a special observation of Varina: "This guy looks to be only about 1.85 meters tall. His physique is just average. I saw him run a few times during warm-up and there was nothing special about him. Today, we'll teach him a lesson."

After the starting gun fired, Lu Wei immediately ducked and sprinted. He kept his head down for the entire starting distance until he entered the straight section and his speed stabilized before slowly raising his head.

After looking up, Lu Wei glanced at the two lanes to his right out of the corner of his eye. The two American athletes also had sharp starts. Lu Wei hadn't expected their starting ability to be so strong. With Lu Wei's current ability, if he participated in another domestic competition, he would definitely be able to establish a clear advantage after the start. He didn't expect that he couldn't even close the gap with his opponents now.

Before the competition, Lu Wei didn't know much about the two athletes. He only knew that in the United States, any 400-meter athlete he picked would be among the top eight in world competitions. It has to be said that the country's track and field strength is really strong.

Lu Wei dared not look back at Warina now. In a duel between experts, even glancing sideways to observe the opponent could put him at a disadvantage. It seems that the real reveal will have to wait until the second half of the match.