Chapter 534: Excitement

Chapter 534 Stimulation

At 7:31 PM, the men's shot put event of the IAAF Diamond League Shanghai station began.

Including Meng Fan, there were a total of 16 athletes in the men's shot put at this Shanghai station, making it the event with the most participants among the 16 events.

In the men's shot put, each athlete had six attempts, with the highest result used for ranking.

The order of attempts was based on the current cycle's results. Meng Fan was last, while Wallace, who had thrown 22.67 meters, was ranked fourth from last due to the event's level not being high enough for that record to count, so another result was used for sorting.

The first to attempt was the bronze medalist from the men's shot put at the Asian Athletics Grand Prix that Meng Fan had previously participated in, a Kazakh athlete named Akhmet. With a loud shout, he threw, and the referee raised a flag indicating no foul, announcing a result of 20.07 meters. This result thrilled the athlete and drew applause and encouragement from the other competitors.

The first person breaking the 20-meter mark on their first attempt was seen as a good start, a very positive sign.

This result also set Akhmet's best performance in the past three years, just a bit short of his personal best. With such a good start, he was very happy.

After stepping down, Akhmet high-fived the athletes who extended their hands to him, and finally bumped fists with Meng Fan, smiling and saying in broken Chinese, "Meng, this time I can, um, PB!"

Probably meaning he could refresh his personal best this time.

"I can see you're in great form," Meng Fan said. During the check-in earlier, the big shots had surrounded Meng Fan chattering away, while this guy stood at the edge smiling at him. Only now did Meng Fan have a chance to ask, "By the way, where's little Onsa? Didn't he come with you this time?"

"No, no, he's in school," Akhmet said, looking at Meng Fan with gratitude.

There was a small story from the last Asian Athletics Grand Prix—a minor episode for Meng Fan, but a huge deal for Akhmet.

Akhmet had a nickname, "Akhmet with the little boy," because he always brought his son wherever he competed. It wasn't that he wanted to take his son on world tours; rather, his son couldn't bear to be apart from him. If more than 12 hours passed without seeing him, the boy would become extremely unstable. If a whole day went by without seeing Akhmet, he would break down emotionally, even resorting to self-harm or suicidal behavior. The reason was that his mother, who had loved him dearly, suddenly abandoned him and ran away, leaving a deep psychological shadow—he was terrified that Akhmet would also abandon him. As for other more detailed reasons, outsiders didn't know.

During the last competition, the boy almost had an accident in the athletes' apartment, but Meng Fan happened to see it and stopped him. After some understanding, Meng Fan casually gave him a "mental spa" package, clearing away the shadows. As long as no particularly severe situation occurred, it wouldn't relapse. Moreover, during the boy's growth process, the effects of Meng Fan's treatment would persist, and he would also heal himself.

Because of this, little Onsa could now stay home with his grandparents. He would still miss his father like any normal child, but he wouldn't lose control.

Akhmet was amazed at how Meng Fan could do this. Meng Fan smiled and said he had magic. Akhmet thought about it and believed him!

Back to the competition.

With Akhmet's good start, the next few athletes also threw well, all performing above their usual level.

By the time the "Troika" was about to appear, the competitive state of the twelve athletes was generally on point. Including Akhmet, a total of seven had broken the 20-meter mark in the first round, but none had entered the 21-meter barrier.

The 21-meter barrier remained a difficult peak for most shot put athletes.

Here are two numbers: Meng Fan's previous national record was 20.41 meters, and the Asian record was 21.13 meters. This shows how daunting the 21-meter barrier is. Breaking into the 21-meter mark undoubtedly represents world-class level. Take the Troika, for example—though their current PBs all exceed 22.5 meters, in many competitions they could only manage results under 22 meters.

Finally, the first of the Troika, Wallace, stepped up.

Wallace had the fewest world-class event championships among the Troika, but he was the fastest and most aggressive in achieving results. Perhaps he was just unlucky—his extraordinary performances always came in lower-level competitions, while in top-tier events, he always fell a bit short.

It couldn't be said that his mental toughness in major events was poor, nor that his competitive state was lacking, especially in terms of mindset. On the contrary, it could be said to be very good. First, he never complained about his timing; second, look—he even performed a Maori war dance as he stepped onto the field. After so many near-misses, he could still be like this; it really wasn't appropriate to say his mindset was bad.

Ha!

Wallace threw, and the shot put flew, drawing exclamations from the watching athletes.

His form was good, the throw was beautiful, and the landing point exceeded the 22-meter line!

This result, while not extraordinary, was certainly a very good performance. Breaking the 22-meter barrier would be a medal-winning or even championship-winning result in any top-tier event.

But...

After Wallace's attempt, the referee raised a flag indicating a foul—a foot fault after the throwing motion. It was clear to see the regret in the referee's eyes.

Sigh.

There were sighs from the crowd below as well.

Wallace was optimistic. As he stepped down to the other athletes, he laughed and said, "I'm in great form today. I feel like I can achieve a very good result." Then he looked at the other two members of the Troika and Meng Fan, "You guys have to explode today! I need your stimulation! I can lose the competition, but I must refresh my PB!"

The other two members of the Troika chuckled, then looked at Meng Fan and chuckled again, a very... harmonious scene.

After Wallace came Ryan Crouser. He was almost the opposite of Wallace—his current PB was the lowest among the three, but he had won two consecutive Olympic gold medals, in 2016 and 2020. It wasn't that he was particularly lucky; rather, his performance was much more stable than the other two. He had fewer extraordinary performances, but far more consistent ones.

Crouser's first attempt was as stable as usual, throwing a good 21.7 meters, his best since the Olympics. Calling it stable was no exaggeration, though it was still a bit short of his PB of 22.61 meters—which was also the new Olympic record.

Following Crouser was Kovacs, who, aside from Meng Fan, held the best result of the past decade at 22.65 meters, just 0.01 meters short of Meng Fan's current best of 22.66 meters. In terms of official results, their strength was nearly identical.

Kovacs was in even better form than the other two, performing exceptionally well. His first attempt directly broke the 22-meter mark with a result of 22.08 meters, and it was valid with no foul.

Breaking the 22-meter barrier on the first attempt—this hadn't happened in the past thirty years, let alone ten.

The men's shot put was a key focus of live broadcasts. Except for a few countries with their most important athletes competing in the men's 400 meters at the same time, all TV broadcasts were fixed on this event. Commentators were passionately spitting out words.

Then Meng Fan stepped up. As the biggest star in this men's shot put event and the biggest star of the entire Diamond League Shanghai station, he naturally commanded absolute attention. Moreover, this was Meng Fan's first crossover into the track and field arena for a world-class competition.

Whether Meng Fan's performance at the Asian Athletics Grand Prix was a flash in the pan or whether he would continue his terrifying momentum of dominating any field he entered—that was what everyone wanted to know.

Meng Fan threw, and the answer came.

The greatest impression Meng Fan's movement gave was one of fluidity—broad and expansive fluidity. The shot put flew along the extension of his arm as if it had grown wings. Everyone's eyes followed the shot put as it rose and fell, watching it crash heavily onto the 23-meter line. Everyone stood up in exclamation!

But before the exclamation ended, the referee raised a flag indicating a foul, turning it into sighs of regret.

This wasn't Meng Fan putting on an act; it was indeed a foul in the movement. Fouls in throwing events are common, and Meng Fan was no exception.

He stepped down with an awkward smile, looked at the Troika, and said, "Didn't I say I'd stimulate you? Was that stimulating enough?"

(This chapter ends)