Chapter 537: 100-Meter Record

Chapter 537: The 100-Meter Record

"Meng! Congratulations!"

"Thank you! Thank you for letting me witness such an amazing competition!"

"Meng of China, from today you are my idol! Your achievements will guide my progress!"

After finishing all his events, Meng Fan came down, and the shot put athletes gathered around him again. This time, without any restraint, they directly lifted Meng Fan up.

For the Troika, after Meng Fan's fourth trial throw, they no longer regarded him as a competitor—the gap was simply too evident—and instead saw him as an idol, a spiritual idol.

This was not just empty talk. The Troika's last two trial throws were excellent, all exceeding 22.6 meters, with the highest, Wallace, reaching 22.91 meters. It was as if they had been injected with adrenaline, a dual explosion of mental and physical energy, nearing the 23-meter mark!

From this battle onward, the Troika all saw hope of crossing the 23-meter barrier and became confident that they could reach it before their competitive peak faded.

Their shared goal had always been to break through the 23-meter mark together, and now that goal was even clearer.

After the competition, a simple award ceremony was held, and Meng Fan earned 8 individual points in the men's shot put for this year's Diamond League, temporarily ranking first in the event. Following the 2017 reforms, the top eight in each event's individual meets received points, with the champion earning 8 points, and so on.

After the men's shot put concluded, the other athletes exited in turn, while Meng Fan hurriedly completed his check-in and returned to the field to compete in the javelin event.

It should be noted here that the men's javelin event was held at a different venue from the men's shot put. Although the men's javelin started later than the shot put, under normal circumstances, Meng Fan would have had a short rest after the shot put before competing in the javelin. However, this time, the number of participants in the men's shot put was unusually high, extending the time required.

Thus, Meng Fan went straight to the javelin field as soon as he finished, with no rest at all. He had just completed his check-in when his turn arrived!

Additionally, it is worth mentioning that the women's javelin event took place earlier than the men's javelin, while the women's shot put was later than the men's. In the just-concluded women's javelin, Chinese athlete Lü Shuanghui won the event, setting a new Asian record of 68.12 meters.

Lü Shuanghui has long dominated the women's javelin in Asia, first breaking the Asian record in 2012 and repeatedly improving it since. She has also achieved excellent results on the world stage, and with this victory, she has won four Diamond League meet titles, including one at the Shanghai station in 2015.

Returning to Meng Fan, based on this year's rankings, he was still the last to compete. When he rushed over, the first round of the men's javelin had already been completed by all other athletes. If he had not been called, he would have missed the first round. Missing a round would not have mattered much to Meng Fan, but he took the competition seriously, wanting to throw as many times as possible, just as he had in the shot put, not stopping after breaking the world record.

The men's javelin had fewer participants than the shot put, with nine athletes including Meng Fan. Among them was another Chinese athlete, Liu Qizhen, the best Chinese javelin thrower since the former Asian record holder (89.15 meters) Zhao Qinggang. Liu had won a silver medal at the Asian Games, with a personal best of 82.22 meters, a gap from the world's top athletes, but still enough to stand on the world stage.

The first-round results were better than in previous years, with the best throw at 86.45 meters by German athlete Röhler, the 2016 Olympic champion in this event. He was the best performer since the world record holder, former Czechoslovakian athlete Jan Železný, having thrown 93.90 meters in 2017.

Yet 93.90 meters was still far from the world record of 98.48 meters, set in 1996, a gap of nearly 5 meters.

This shows how formidable the world record is. Though not as old as the shot put record, it is even harder to break!

No one could approach it, let alone challenge it.

Because of this difficulty, Železný is hailed as the god of javelin!

Meng Fan's personal best was 92.29 meters, set at the previous Asian Grand Prix, still far from the world record and also behind Röhler's best.

Röhler regarded Meng Fan as a rival, believing he would be his greatest opponent for a long time, perhaps his entire career. But he did not think Meng Fan could achieve much in this competition.

He knew Meng Fan had just broken the shot put world record, but precisely because of that, he believed Meng Fan's energy would be depleted.

Though shot put seems like a simple twist and throw, high-intensity competition consumes a lot of energy. After such an event, even with Meng Fan's stamina, he would surely be compromised in the javelin and unable to throw his best.

Röhler, on the other hand, was confident he could throw over 90 meters in this competition. As had been the case for the past twenty-odd years, any throw over 90 meters in any competition would guarantee victory—his 2016 Olympic gold came with a throw of 90.30 meters.

Röhler looked at Meng Fan, already in position on the javelin runway, and was curious about what kind of throw Meng Fan could manage under these circumstances. He was also intrigued and puzzled by how Meng Fan's large physique could handle the javelin.

Javelin differs greatly from other throwing events in its pursuit of speed, leading to a different body type for javelin athletes. In shot put, discus, and hammer, athletes tend to be bulky, even obese, with large frames and heavy weight. Javelin athletes, by contrast, are relatively smaller and lighter, and it is rare to see large-bodied athletes in the javelin.

Not to mention the run-up before the throw, which is beyond the capability of athletes in other throwing events. This created a peculiar "size discrepancy" for Meng Fan: compared to other throwing athletes, he appeared agile and light, but compared to javelin athletes, he was much larger and taller.

Röhler had the standard build of a javelin thrower: robust but not massive, with arm length rivaling basketball players and thighs as powerful as sprinters or long jumpers, standing around 180 cm tall.

Javelin demands not only strength but also high speed.

Röhler had watched videos of Meng Fan's previous competitions. Meng Fan's running speed was not slow, and he was adept at controlling his power.

All this made Röhler wonder how Meng Fan could still achieve such speed.

On the runway, Meng Fan raised his javelin and asked the audience for applause. The crowd clapped in rhythm with his movements, and Meng Fan began his run. As he neared the foul line, he stopped, and the javelin left his hand, propelled by the transformation of his power.

In javelin, technique is as important as strength and speed.

What Röhler saw was the fluidity of Meng Fan's motion!

The javelin soared into the air, climbing at an angle of about forty degrees, then began its descent. The tip struck the ground, embedding itself at the outermost line of the throwing area.

That line represented 100 meters!

(The chapter ends)