Chapter 468: Truly Losing Weight This Time

Chapter 468: This Time, He Really Lost Weight

Ye Liwei left, returning to the capital with a very complicated state of mind.

On this trip, he had personally witnessed Meng Fan’s astonishing shots, beyond imagination, and had also seen the hope of China’s men’s throwing events standing at the pinnacle of the world.

—China’s women’s throwing events were already formidable and stable; though there was no superstar dominating an era, it was an indisputable fact that China’s women’s throwing events ranked among the world’s best. Taking the World Championships as an example, over the years, the medals won in women’s throwing events accounted for more than a third of all medals earned by the track and field contingent!

This trip was not in vain!

It was just that the outcome left Ye Liwei somewhat pained—this experience of going back to “wait for notification” was indeed agonizing.

Fortunately, Ye Liwei could still console himself: the man was in China, at least he couldn’t run away. Besides, he had said he would consider it. Let him consider it; at least he hadn’t outright refused.

But still, ah—

“Still uneasy, still melancholy; the golden hoop on my head, wanting to speak yet holding back; what use is this javelin to me, what use is this iron god to break records?”

Humming a song to match his mood, Ye Liwei boarded the flight back to the capital. The head of the throwing project department, who had come along, felt even more conflicted. He cast a glance at Ye Liwei’s back—still in the mood to sing, huh!

After Ye Liwei and his companion left, Dean Zhan, who had remained silent all along, spoke up about the events that the Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo department had arranged for Meng Fan. They had largely respected Meng Fan’s opinions, scheduling the events around his time—truly unprecedented.

And the premise for this was merely to ensure Meng Fan’s competitive form; winning medals was just a casual bonus.

Since this year was an Olympic year, there were few events after the Olympics. The biggest events in the coming months were mostly invitationals, masters, and championships. In terms of event level, they were indeed meant to maintain Meng Fan’s competitive state.

Meng Fan’s “response” to Dean Zhan, representing the Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo department, was quite simple and direct: he wouldn’t go to events that were too long in duration or too far away; domestic events were fine, and events in the “Asia-Pacific” region were generally acceptable. The Weightlifting, Wrestling, and Judo department was quite satisfied with this “response” and quickly arranged Meng Fan’s full schedule before the New Year. They scheduled one event for each of the three disciplines—two and a half months, three competitions. Overall, it wasn’t too much, and Meng Fan could certainly accept it.

The first arranged event was at the end of this month, an International Judo Federation Masters Invitational on October 25th. The location was a bit awkward—Busan, South Korea—a place where Meng Fan had once shattered the martial arts world of South Korea.

The next day, when Meng Fan saw the schedule at Fengji Martial Arts Gym, he couldn’t help but ask Dean Zhan: “Hey, about that—I was forcibly deported before. Are you sure I can get through customs?”

Dean Zhan, of course, knew the ins and outs of Meng Fan’s previous deportation and couldn’t help but laugh: “You have an athlete visa, and you’re invited by the event organizers. If they block you at customs, the International Judo Federation certainly won’t stand for it.”

“Is that so? Alright then, I’ll go.” Meng Fan felt a bit embarrassed. “I thought I’d never be able to go to that country again in this lifetime. Who knew I could still go? I have a feeling something interesting will happen on this trip to South Korea.”

Dean Zhan shot Meng Fan a sideways glance, then said seriously: “Go boldly! Just don’t fight outside the arena. On the arena, don’t hold back!”

Well, it was safe to say that no Chinese athlete had any goodwill toward the South Korean sports world.

Meng Fan scratched his head: “Listen to you—I’m going to compete, not to fight.”

Dean Zhan gave him another sideways look, a look that said, “Can you even believe your own words?” Then he waved his hand and left Meng Fan’s private training room: “Keep training.”

“Hey, wait!”

Dean Zhan stopped at the door, turned around, and looked at Meng Fan with a puzzled expression. He scanned him up and down, shook his head, and started to walk out again. But after two steps, he stopped, frowned, and asked Meng Fan: “Have you been losing weight lately?”

Meng Fan chuckled: “Seems like I’ve lost a bit.”

Hearing this, Dean Zhan immediately turned and rushed back to Meng Fan’s side, eyes wide: “You’re cutting weight? Why didn’t you tell us?”

For athletes, especially those in weight-class sports like weightlifting, wrestling, and judo, weight control is extremely strict. Moving up or down a weight class is a big deal, and cutting weight without authorization, like Meng Fan did, is a very serious matter—almost a breach of discipline!

Dean Zhan was genuinely anxious: “Where’s your nutritionist? Why didn’t he tell us either?”

“Uh, that’s not his fault.” Seeing Dean Zhan’s expression, Meng Fan knew this was a big deal to them and quickly said, “Dean Zhan, don’t worry! I’ve been training too hard and didn’t tell him about my training plan. I did think about losing weight, and I’ve been using my recent training for data comparison. I planned to share the results with you after losing some. I didn’t expect you to be so sharp-eyed—I’ve only lost two kilograms, and you already noticed! Impressive! The older, the wiser, huh!”

“Don’t give me that!” Dean Zhan took a long breath and exhaled. “Tell me, what are you trying to do? Have you never understood the relationship between weight and strength? Why would you think of losing weight?” He paused to calm down, then coaxed, “Are you dissatisfied with your current weight for mobility or appearance? Don’t you have any idea how good you look? And you’re not fat at all!”

Meng Fan scratched his head: “Actually, I’m mainly thinking about losing fat. The weight loss is just a side effect, and I’m fine with it. Here’s my idea: after losing fat, my body agility will definitely improve. In all three events—weightlifting, wrestling, judo—speed is crucial. With faster speed, explosive power will naturally increase. I want to try losing some and see the effect. Don’t worry, no matter how much I lose, I’ll ensure my strength doesn’t drop. What do you think? Besides, there aren’t any major events right now. It’s better to try early than late. If my strength really drops, I’ll switch back soon.”

Dean Zhan looked at Meng Fan with disbelief: “Are you sure?”

Meng Fan nodded very firmly. He was very confident in his strength. After the Olympics, he had already started a regular and scientific fat-loss and weight-loss regimen. He said two kilograms, but in reality, he had already lost nearly five kilograms.

His idea was simple: try to get his weight down to under 100 kilograms. Would it affect his weight class? Well, even if he didn’t drop down, he would still need gold medals as “justification.” If he could dominate the heaviest class, surely he wouldn’t lose a gold medal by dropping down a class.

As for events like weightlifting—

“Dean Zhan, I was thinking: if my weight drops to the second-heaviest class in weightlifting, and then I achieve better results in that class than in the heaviest, and also snatch the world records in the second-heaviest class along the way, wouldn’t that be pretty cool? Don’t you think it’s exciting?”

Dean Zhan was stunned for a moment, then his eyes widened even more: “Don’t you dare think about these wild tricks!”

(End of chapter)