Chapter 535: The Twenty-Three Meter Line

Chapter 535: The 23-Meter Line

"Foul?"

"You must be joking!"

"Damn, this is stirring up trouble!"

"Was it intentional?"

"That's so Meng Fan!"

The stands buzzed with excitement from the casual spectators, while the experts saw the underlying truth.

Meng Fan's move was indeed a foul, but it wasn't egregiously so, and technically, such a foul offered no real advantage to the distance of the shot put. In other words, this throw was a true display of his actual ability!

That was terrifying!

Meng Fan absolutely had the strength to break through the 23-meter barrier!

The three titans stared down at Meng Fan with exaggerated expressions. Buddy, we asked you to give us a jolt, not a heart attack, alright?

Even if you threw your personal best again, even if you improved a bit more, we could accept it. But going straight for the 23-meter mark on your first attempt—what are you trying to do?!

And sure enough, someone was indeed stirred up.

Ahe Zhuo, who went first in the second round, was stirred—well, more accurately, inspired. His second throw shot straight past 21 meters—21.06 meters.

He set a new personal best.

Two years ago, he had broken into 21 meters, with a previous best of 21.02 meters.

This result might not mean much compared to the three titans, but it firmly secured his place in the second tier behind them. If he could produce such a result next time, and if the three titans and Meng Fan weren't competing, his chances of winning the championship would be huge. Well, that's still hard to say—the odds of an extraordinary performance are too low.

Regardless, Ahe Zhuo was in high spirits at that moment, and the other athletes on the field congratulated him.

Ahe Zhuo's second throw seemed to set a good precedent again, and the following athletes performed well, except for two whose minds might have been shattered by Meng Fan's first throw. They probably didn't know what they were thinking—Meng Fan's results had long ceased to have anything to do with them.

The main event, of course, still revolved around the three titans and Meng Fan. Wallace's first throw looked like it was heading past 22 meters, but he fouled and got no result. His second throw, again with the Maori war dance, was just as decisive and smooth. The shot put landed, his footwork was textbook, and the referee raised the flag to signal a valid throw, announcing 22.09 meters—the second throw over 22 meters in the competition, barely surpassing Kovacs's first throw of 22.08 meters.

Right after, Ryan Crouser remained steady with 21.89 meters, 19 centimeters better than his first throw.

Kovacs's second throw was unusually stable—though not as good as his first, it still crossed 22 meters at 22.02 meters.

The three titans' second-round momentum was impressive, and industry insiders and seasoned sports fans erupted. Most of them had never seen a shot put competition where throws consistently crossed 22 meters like this. The last time such a scene occurred was at least thirty years ago.

Competitions with all three titans happen every year, but often one or two, or even all three, underperform. A second round where they were locked in a back-and-forth chase was unprecedented.

Many sensed the flavor of a battle of the gods in the shot put world.

No.

If the three titans' rivalry was a battle of the gods, what did Meng Fan's addition mean?

Meng Fan's second throw began again under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

"Bro, don't foul again!"

"We'll see if he's stirring up trouble this time!"

"Watching weightlifting and then shot put, I always feel like Meng Fan is about to become a PE teacher giving a math lesson."

"Haha, you mean his weightlifting stunts with all those gimmicks and number symmetries?"

"Did you know his best shot put result last time was 22.66 meters? Oh, by the way, that number is currently the Asian record for men's shot put."

"Stop it! The current world record for shot put is 23.12 meters. Whenever I think of the Iron God possibly breaking the record, a number pops into my head."

"Hahaha, is it 2333?"

"...That number is way too far! The shot put record hasn't moved in thirty-one years. Just moving it a little would be great, let alone improving it by over 20 centimeters—too hard!"

"Getting off track. Let's see if the Iron God can break 23 meters first... Damn!"

Before the discussion in the stands could finish, Meng Fan completed his throw. The shot put landed, the referee raised the flag to signal a valid throw, and then announced the result—

23.05 meters!

"23.05 meters! Meng Fan's second throw is 23.05 meters! He has broken through the 23-meter barrier! No foul, no foul—this result counts!"

The CCTV5 commentator for this match could no longer control his voice.

"This is Meng Fan's personal best! His previous PB was 22.66 meters—an improvement of... 49 centimeters! Nearly half a meter! What kind of improvement is that!"

"This is a new Asian record for men's shot put!"

"This is a new meet record for the Diamond League!"

"This is the best result in men's shot put in nearly twenty-six years!"

"Meng Fan, truly worthy of being called the strongest man in the world! In strength-related sports, he always displays unparalleled ability... Sorry, I miscalculated just now—it's not 49 centimeters but 39 centimeters... I believed from the start that Meng Fan chose this event not just to aim for a national or Asian record. I believe he set his sights from the very beginning on this world record that has been untouched for thirty-one years! I still remember what Meng Fan said when he won the Laureus World Sportsman of the Year—he would continue to climb the peaks of sports and keep challenging human limits! He didn't just say it; he has been putting it into practice!"

The CCTV5 commentator had developed a very mature knack for hyping up Meng Fan, and they were happy to do so—no matter how much they praised him, it never seemed excessive, and they never got slapped in the face.

"Meng!"

Meng Fan returned to the sidelines, and the three titans and the others finally snapped out of their shock and rushed toward him.

The scene was so intense that the shot put team's coach hurried over, fearing they might gang up on Meng Fan, but then he stopped—not because he thought they wouldn't attack him, but because he figured even if they tried, they couldn't beat Meng Fan.

The three titans and the others weren't rushing over to attack him, of course. They simply didn't know how to express their excitement. If it weren't for the ongoing competition, they would have lifted Meng Fan up and celebrated.

"Meng! Thank you!"

"Thank you for letting us witness shot put crossing the 23-meter line!"

"In the past two years, especially after the 20 Olympics, I started to waver—even though I won the championship and broke the Olympic record—wavering in my confidence to break the 23-meter line. I even began to doubt that the three people who had crossed the 23-meter line in history ever existed, suspecting that world record was a fabrication, at best a beautiful lie achieved through various factors. The 23-meter line was a huge lie!"

Ryan Crouser suddenly burst into tears as he spoke. Not just Meng Fan, but the other two titans were taken aback. For a moment, the circle of a dozen or so burly, muscular men stood there, completely at a loss.

(End of chapter)