Almighty Coach

Everyone was gathered around the bulletin board, where there was a notice about the move to Los Angeles.

“We have to go train in Los Angeles? We’re training until the start of the Olympics? That’s 20 days. Do we really need to train that long?” An athlete asked with a frown.

Someone next to him immediately consoled him and said, “You don’t have to worry, we’re not being forced to go. It’s voluntary. Don’t go if you don’t want to.”

“What I want to know is, if we’re training in Los Angeles until the start of the Olympics, what happens to the fourth training camp?” Another athlete asked.

“The training camp in Los Angeles will count as the fourth training camp. If you don’t go to Los Angeles, it means that you are voluntarily giving up on the fourth national team training camp.” A voice joined the conversation.

Chris Payton stood behind them. He had followed Dai Li to the U.S. National Track and Field Team. He was in charge of training athletes for the middle and long distance race, as well as the marathon.

“Coach Payton, if we go to training in Los Angeles, what’s in it for us?” An athlete asked directly. He sounded like the type of person who wouldn’t even get out of bed early unless there was something it in for him..

“What’s in it for you? You can receive the best training in the world,” Payton responded. “Our training center has the world’s best equipment and facilities. Moreover, Coach Li will personally create your training plans. I can guarantee that you will experience significant progress.”

A few people looked suspiciously at Payton. Clearly, they thought Payton was exaggerating.

“What? You think I’m lying?” Payton did not get angry. He continued saying, “You should know the results of training the past few days, right? Once we get back to Los Angeles, you will be able to use better training equipment, so the effects of training will be more apparent than they are now.”

No one said anything. All the athletes knew that the past few days of training had been unusually useful.

Payton continued, “You probably don’t know how high our fees are. It’s not an exaggeration to say that we have the most expensive training facilities in Los Angeles. Of course, the training services we provide are the best. If you go to train in Los Angeles, you will enjoy around 20 days of free training. That in itself makes it worth it, right?”

…

Payton turned around and left, leaving behind a group of athletes who couldn’t make a decision.

One of them pulled out his phone and searched Coach Li’s fitness centers.

After a few minutes, that athlete said, “Coach Payton isn’t lying to us. What he said is true.”

“Do they really offer the best training in the world?” Someone asked.

“No, I meant the cost. It’s really expensive. You guys take a look…” The person passed his phone to the others.

“Oh God, that’s really expensive! I couldn’t afford that.”

“That’s the most expensive training center I’ve ever seen.”

“Living in Los Angeles is expensive, so maybe other training centers in Los Angeles aren’t that much cheaper.”

“The other training centers in Los Angeles are definitely not that expensive. This is the price of the top-class training centers in New York.”

“Then I think that what Coach Payton said makes perfect sense. I could never afford this normally. This really is a bargain!”

“Besides that, food and lodging are completely free, even if we have to pay the airfare we could almost look at it as a vacation. Los Angeles has a considerable number of nightclubs. Who knows, we might even meet a Hollywood star! I’m going to sign up, right now.”

“Let’s sign up together. I’m also going to Los Angeles!”

The word “free” was as attractive word. It often tricked people into making bad deals. For example, some people would drive to get free cabbages, but the value of the cabbages earned might not even be enough for gas money.

For these not-so-famous athletes, the prospect of experiencing highly expensive training and using high tech training equipment was a great deal.

Of course, people were lazy. Since it wasn’t mandatory, even though it was beneficial, some would still choose not to do it. Not every athlete would prefer to train in Los Angeles.

…

“Coach Li, the registration deadline was yesterday. There is a total of 122 athletes going to Los Angeles to train.”

“Noted. Hand the list of the registered athletes to Manager Blake. Let him book the hotel room,” Dai Li said.

The number was better than Dai Li’s had hoped. After all, it wasn’t mandatory. Dai Li initially thought that it would be excellent if only half of the team was willing to go to Los Angeles. He never imagined the number that three-quarters of the team would want to.

Dai Li could easily handle the food and lodging of over 100 people. Food didn’t cost much in the United States. In fact, Dai Li could just hire a catering service to make and prepare all of the meals for the athletes.

As for lodging, as long as he didn’t book the team a five-star hotel, the price would be reasonable. Dai Li could actually book a medium-sized hotel.

The cost of training for this many people was going to be a little tougher.

The training of over a hundred athletes would use up many of his centers’ resources. It would definitely decrease the number of resources that his paying clients would be able to use. Dai Li would have to stop receiving new clients temporarily. Of course, that would mean he might incur a loss during that period of time.

However, in the long term, this decision meant more advertising for Dai Li’s centers. This sort of publicity could, at the very least, attract some clients. However, the prerequisite was that the current national team had to have a decent enough result, only then would it be convincing.

If the current U.S. National Track and Field Team flopped, it would negatively affect Dai Li’s business. No one would want to train at the place a failed team trained. In the opinion of many, everything associated with a failure contributed to it. So, if the U.S. national team performed terribly during the Olympics, Dai Li’s training would have to shoulder most of the blame. Athletes who originally wanted to train at Dai Li’s place would cease to do so. He would lose a lot of potential clients.

The performance-enhancing drug scandal had decreased the strength of the U.S. national track and field team significantly. Even the general populace of the U.S knew something was off about the team; however, many were still relatively optimistic. They believed that even though many top-class athletes were unable to compete in the competition due to the performance-enhancing drug scandal, the U.S. national team could still achieve excellent results.

In truth, many Americans were oblivious to what was happening around them. They were used to immersing themselves in an idea, thinking that “The U.S. is number one in the world.” Living a life centered around the U.S., the things that they were exposed to were also limited to only products revolving around American culture.

The U.S. is a world leader in various industries. As such, most Americans are unaware of the things happening outside the U.S. They have no desire to learn about things outside the United States and might even reject them. A lot of fresh and new items created in foreign countries might even be considered odd and, as such, be rejected by the American populace.

However, the other countries did not think the current U.S. National Track and Field Team was going to do well.

The U.S. track and field team was the number one in the world. They had to be prepared for everyone to be gunning for the. The world would use them as their target.

At the same time, the world would treat the U.S. as a subject for research and study. It was like a class, the teachers and parents would want the weaker students to learn from the first-place student. Every parent-teacher conference, the parent of the first-place student would always get on stage and talk about the study methods of his or her child. Their explanation would often become the bible for many of the students and parents listening.

The U.S. track and field team was that “first-place student.” The track and field team of every country studied and imitated the U.S. team. They would learn about the strengths of the U.S. team as well as find the weaknesses. Often, the coaches of other foreign countries would know more about the U.S. national team than an American.

The strongest opponent of the U.S. national team was,, without a doubt, the Russian team.

In the past, the Soviet Union was undoubtedly the world’s strongest sporting nation. They would crush the American team in every Olympic Games. For example, during the 1972 Munich Olympics, the Soviet Union obtained 50 gold medals and the U.S. only got 33 gold medals. In the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the Soviet-Union got 59 gold medals and the U.S. got 34. After that, during the Moscow Olympics, as the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, the U.S. national team boycotted the Olympic Games and did not participate. The following year the Olympics were held in Los Angeles and the Soviet Union boycotted to get their revenge. At the Seoul Olympics, both the U.S. and Soviet-Union returned to participate and Soviet Union ended up with 55 gold medals and the U.S. ended up with 36 gold medals. In the Barcelona Olympics, after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Soviet Union participated in a joint team. The joint team took home 45 gold medals, which was still much more than the U.S.’s 37 gold medals.

Track and field events were always the strength of the Soviet Union. Before the 1980s, the three strongest track and field countries were the Soviet Union, West Germany, and the U.S. Back then, even West Germany was better than the U.S. in track and field. It was after the civil rights movement in America that the number of African-American athletes increased. After that, the U.S. surpassed West Germany and became the second strongest country in the world in track and field.

After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia inherited the success of the Soviet Union. Although Russia wasn’t as strong as the Soviet Union had been, they were still the only country that was able to contend against the United States. The rise of Central and South American countries, as well as countries in the Caribbean in sprinting, further weakened the Americans as they snatched up many medals. It was also the reason why Russia could stand shoulder to shoulder with the U.S. in track and field events.

The Soviet Union implemented a nation-run sports system back a long time. When the Soviet Union first dissolved, Russia began to imitate and learn from the West when it came to politics, economy, culture, sports, and various other aspects. The nation-run sports system was rejected. However, Russia became worse. In the 1990s, the sports of Russia basically relied on the leftovers of the Soviet Union.

It was only after a powerful person became president that the Russians rediscovered their nation-run sports system. Then, Russian sports recovered and gradually became strong again. In truth, the current system used by the Russians isn’t the same as the nation-run system deployed by the Soviet Union, though.

Russian policy encourages athletes to explore outside the country, to compete in foreign competitions or join foreign professional sports clubs. For example, the reputable CSKA Moscow was a football team with Russian military background. It was, without a doubt, a product of the nation-run sports system. However, the club doesn’t just use foreign talent to boost their rank and playing standard. As soon as a player receives an opportunity to play in a higher level football league, CSKA Moscow is certain to encourage the player to venture towards it.

Apart from investments from the country, a lot of Russian billionaires have also started investing in sports. This has resulted in some Russian coaches who were working in other countries to return to Russia.

The current Russian National Track and Field Team head coach, Coach Melklov was exactly such a person. He used to be a long distance running world champion, and he received multiple honors during the period of the Soviet Union. The disintegration of the Soviet Union was coincidentally the year of his retirement. Back then, he did not know how to do anything apart from long distance running. As such, he was forced to leave Russia, going to Europe to earn a living. Later, as the economy of Russia recovered, he returned to Russia and became the head coach of the Russian National Track and Field Team.

The track and field events that Russia excelled in included women’s middle and long distance running, the marathon, race walking, high jump, and the hurling events. As a long distance runner, Melklov was more familiar with coaching middle and long distance running, the marathon, as well as race walking. After he took over the Russian National Track and Field Team, they team has seen better results. In the previous world championship, Russia took nine gold medals, trailing behind the U.S. which won 12 gold medals.

For the current Olympic Games, Melklov’s original target was also second place. However, plans change. The sudden appearance of the performance-enhancing drug scandal greatly weakened the strength of the American team. Melklov also saw a glimmer of hope for, once again, surpassing the U.S.

…

An old bearded middle-aged man walked into Melklov’s office with a roster in his hands.

“Coach, the roster submitted by the U.S. National Track and Field Team to the International Olympic Committee has been finalized. Just as you expected, compared to the qualifying round, there has been a drastic change in personnel. There is less than a quarter of the athletes left from the qualifying round. The rest of them are new additions to the U.S. team,” the bearded man said.

The bearded man was called Ignagave. He was Melklov’s deputy and also the deputy head coach of the Russian National Track and Field Team.

“There really is a drastic change in their personnel. I haven’t even heard of many of these athletes. I’m guessing these athletes aren’t even famous in the U.S.,” Melklov said.

“However, the 400m sprint king, Jimmy Irwin is still on the list. Based on his results in the qualifiers, he’s still the favorite for winning the 400m sprint in the Olympics. There’s also Justin Alexander. He has been banned for so long. He returned this year, and I heard that his time is still around 9.80 seconds. After Kittel’s retirement, this is a competitive time,” Ignagave stated.

“Although the U.S. team has Irwin, I feel that this is the weakest U.S. National Track and Field Team in history. It is such a shame the events that the U.S. team is good are not the same ones we are. If we were to win one gold medal, it would be the equivalent of increasing the gap by two gold medals.” Melklov put down the roster with a relaxed face. He then said, “Now, we can only hope that the British pull their weight. I hope that they can snatch a few gold medals away from the Americans.”

…

Great Britain is also a track and field powerhouse. However, the track and field events the British excelled in overlapped with the Americans.

Back in the day, the British Empire had colonies all around the globe. Even now, the scale of the Commonwealth Games is not in any way inferior to the Asian Games. The competition is actually more intense.

A lot of athletes from less developed Commonwealth countries hoped to move to Great Britain. Among them, most were African athletes from countries like Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, and Jamaica. These countries used to be colonies of the British Empire and these were places that produced strong athletes. These strong athletes brought multiple Olympic medals to Great Britain.

Athletes of African descent were good at similar events, whether they were American or British. The events they excelled at were sprints, the long jump, and various other sports events that required high amounts of explosive power. However, African American athletes tended to have a slight edge over African athletes who had moved to Britain to play for them in the Olympics.

Moreover, there are a lot of similarities between the sports culture of Great Britain and the U.S. Citizens from both countries get very involved in the competition.

The head coach of the British National Track and Field Team was named Alex. He was a legend in British track and field. He used to be an athlete in charge of training para-athletes. Later, due to his success in leading the team through the Paralympics, he was promoted to become the head coach of the British National Track and Field Team.

At that moment, Alex also received the roster of the U.S. National Track and Field Team.

“I don’t recognize many of the names here on this list. I haven’t even heard of them. There’s a rumor saying that the current U.S. National Track and Field Team is their weakest team in history. It looks like the rumor isn’t baseless.” A polite smile appeared on Alex’s face when he spoke.

“Coach, I’ve taken a look and, in this Olympics, it is possible for us to surpass the U.S. team and win the gold medal in a couple of events,” the assistant said in excitement.

“We are, of course, going to compete for gold medals. The more, the better. However, I’m fairly interested in the new head coach of the U.S. team. This is, after all, the first time the U.S. hired a non-American track and field head coach, isn’t it?” Alex said.

“You’re talking about the Chinese coach, aren’t you? I sure don’t think he has the ability to command the U.S. national track and field team. After all, track and field isn’t a strength of the Chinese,” the assistant said.

Alex maintained his polite smile and said, “The reason I’m following this Chinese coach is that his experience is similar to mine. You should know, four years ago, I was training para-athletes, and the competition I participated in was the Paralympics. The first product of this Chinese coach is also a para-athlete. You’ve heard of the name ‘Blade Warrior’ Phillip before, right? He’s the only para-athlete in the world who could compete against normal athletes. He was personally discovered and groomed by this Chinese coach.”

“That means that this Chinese coach excels at training for sprinting events. The sprinting events have always been the strength of the U.S. team!” The assistant suddenly had a solemn expression.

Alex instantly consoled the assistant and said, “Don’t worry. Our sprinters don’t have sufficient ability to become the champion in the Olympics anyway. We only have to do well in the relay races. However, the Jamaicans might think differently! After all, Kittel has retired. The Jamaicans need a new leadership icon. They want the title of the world’s fastest man to remain in Jamaica, and not to return to the U.S.!”

…

The Jamaican National Track and Field Team.

At that moment, the head coach, Fraser, was in the middle of lecturing his athletes. He looked excited. His held his fists tight and said, “The current U.S. National Track and Field Team is the weakest in history. This is a chance for our Jamaican squad. Although we have lost Kittel, I believe that among all of you, there is someone who can take Kittel’s place, and become the new world’s fastest man! The 100m, 200m, and 4×100 relay races. A total of six gold medals. This time, we’ll get them all!”

…

A bowl of soy milk in front of Li Xue was empty. He patted his stomach and burped.

“The previous U.S.National Track and Field Team was filled with superstars. However, the current U.S. is, without a doubt, the weakest ever. Old Xue, the public account that I’m following just published an article that says that the current U.S. National Track and Field Team is ridiculously weak. They will be destroyed in the Olympics. Looks like that apprentice of yours won’t last long as the head coach. Will he be fired by the Americans?” An instigator asked.

“Don’t listen to the bullsh*t from that account. They don’t know sh*t!” Li Xue pouted and said, “That is my apprentice, after all. Even if it is the weakest U.S. national team ever, it will obtain the best results!”