Orc Undead Sports Warrior

While waiting for the results on the sidelines, Swede Wiesmann walked up to Lu Wei, shook hands with him, and made a helpless expression. His French opponent from the same group also gave Lu Wei a meaningful look when shaking hands with him.

Lu Wei understood their meaning to be roughly that they had used up all their energy in the preliminaries, and now it was up to them to see how they would play in the later matches.

In Lu Wei's eyes, all their worries were unnecessary. He just needed to enjoy himself and absolutely could not be suppressed by anyone.

In the later heats, Varina was like a wound-up toy from the start of the race in the 5th heat, maintaining a consistent rhythm throughout the 400-meter stretch.

As with any race, the other competitors thought they had a chance, either launching aggressive attacks in the early stages or conserving their energy. But no matter what they did, Wariner would finish them off in the final 100 meters.

In the last 100 meters, Wariner's rhythm and speed were not much different from the beginning, while the speed of the other team members dropped significantly. This speed difference caused great psychological damage to the opponents. With 20 meters left, Wariner began to slow down slowly, and he still had a smile on his face when he crossed the finish line.

The electronic screen showed his time as 45.1 seconds, a time that was incredibly easy for him, 1.6 seconds slower than his final time. In sprinting, that difference represents almost 16 meters. No wonder he's known for his undefeated record in the 400 meters; he easily secured first place in his heat.

Varina's biggest rival for the title was Merritt in Group 7. Merritt also ran at full speed in the preliminaries. Like Varina, he almost stopped running in the last 10 meters, letting the momentum carry him across the finish line.

The athletes participating in the 400-meter preliminary rounds have varying abilities. In order to encourage countries with less developed sports, the organizing committee will issue wild cards to them, aiming to encourage these countries to actively participate in track and field.

In the preliminary rounds, neither the Somali nor Nicaraguan athletes managed to break 50 seconds; they practically collapsed at the start of the race. However, they were still very happy afterward. For them, competing alongside celebrities on television is the greatest joy sports can bring.

After the game, Japanese reporters interviewed the three players on the American team. During the interviews, the Japanese reporters all asked the same question: What do you think of Lu Wei as a player?

Angelo Taylor, 29, is a seasoned veteran with over a decade of experience in track and field. When asked the question, he laughed and said, "Let me think... Oh, I remember now, it's that strong boy. He shouldn't be 25 yet, right? What? Not even 20? That means he has a lot of room for growth. You know, there are no shortcuts in sports. How far he can go depends on how hard he works." His answer was, of course, flawless from every angle.

Although Varina is not old, he has already reached a different level compared to the other players. He only made an objective evaluation based on the reporter's introduction.

"Is that the young Chinese athlete? He ran well in the preliminaries, but you can tell that this time is close to his limit. As a talented athlete, he shouldn't unleash his full potential in the preliminaries. However, he is still young, and I believe he will grow a lot in this aspect after participating in this competition. I wish him good results."

People from two different levels each do their own thing, and Varina's comments on the performance of other team members can basically be summarized in four words: as long as they're happy.

If you ask him for his opinion on the team member's future, he'll give you a textbook answer. Even if you try to subtly get him to say something wrong, he'll always revert to his official response.

These two left the Japanese reporters completely stumped. They placed their last hope on Lashorn Merritt, a guy who's quick to anger and always ready to engage in a war of words.

Perhaps because he had just finished the competition, Merritt seemed very excited when interviewed by reporters. Upon hearing this question, he first asked a question in return: "Is this Chinese guy Lu Black?"

Upon learning that Lu Wei was of Asian descent, Merritt raised his face and shook his head repeatedly: "Don't blame me for being too frank, but the 400-meter race is not something just anyone can handle. I have some impression of him; he got first place in his heat in the preliminaries, but that doesn't prove anything."

He's already very good among Asian athletes, possibly even top-tier, but in a competition like this, he's nothing. I can only wish him fun here. A silver medal in shot put? Don't give me that nonsense. Do you expect everyone to run 400 meters with a shot put, and then the final throw counts as a result?

After saying that, Merritt swaggered away. But after a few steps, he turned back, a wicked grin on his face, and asked, "Help me see if he's in my group tomorrow. I want to show him what top-level skill is. What? He's in a group with Taylor? That's no fun. That old guy will only beat him by a meter. And Chris Brown! Oh, this kid's doomed. That old dog Brown bites every stranger. Just you wait, good luck to this kid. He's going to be in big trouble, haha!"

After shaking his head and finishing his speech, he ignored the reporter's reaction, turned around and left. Clearly, he had satisfied himself with the interview and achieved his goal.

However, this information already satisfied the Japanese journalist.

In addition to Lu Wei advancing to the men's 400m semifinals, Zhang Wenxiu easily qualified for the finals on the 30th in the women's hammer throw, a sport in which China excels.

In fact, China made breakthroughs in short hurdles and sprints a long time ago. The women's 400-meter hurdles is also a strong event for the Chinese track and field team, and Huang Xiaoxiao has been able to reach the finals of major competitions for many years.

In the evening competition, Huang Xiaoxiao entered the final with a personal best time of 54 seconds. However, in this era of numerous strong competitors in the 400-meter hurdles, this time can only guarantee him a place in the top 5 in each competition.

In the men's 200-meter preliminary round, one athlete caught Coach Jiang's eye as soon as he stepped onto the field. This tall Jamaican boy, over 1.95 meters tall, undoubtedly took the lead over his opponents after the start.

"This kid was 18 years old in 2004, and he ran a sub-20-second race in Bermuda! I didn't know where he had been all these years, I thought he had disappeared, but today I finally saw him again. Look at his leg strength, it's obvious he hasn't received much formal training." Coach Jiang said this as if he were showing everyone a treasured collection.

Looking over, Lu Wei saw that the big guy did seem to have little leg strength, but he ran very smoothly and effortlessly, leaving the other team members behind without him exerting much effort.

He ultimately finished first in his preliminary group with a time of 20.12 seconds.

"What's his name?" Lu Wei asked.

“Usain Bolt, perhaps he will become the nemesis of American sprinting for the next 10 years!” Coach Jiang crossed his arms, looking at the Jamaican athlete as if in a trance.