Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 602: If you can’t get the gold medal, you might as well quit the competition (4K)

Finally, the China Tennis Sports Management Center announced that it agreed to allow Chen Ran to temporarily serve as a guest coach during the Yanjing Olympics.

As for the Guangzhou Asian Games in four years, since it is too early, we will hold a meeting to discuss it then.

Because Chen Ran himself also had competitions to attend, he was only responsible for coaching the women's singles competition.

All other matches such as women's doubles, men's singles and men's doubles will be handled by other coaches.

In fact, what Chen Ran really gave up was the men's singles competition.

After all, his poor doubles skills were known to everyone, and no one had much hope for him.

If I can't even collide with my teammates when I play doubles, how can I coach others?
As for the two singles players sent by the Chinese women's tennis team to participate in the Yanjing Olympics, there is no doubt that they are Zheng Jie and Li Na.

Although it cannot be compared with table tennis, the participation of these two people is a double insurance for competing for medals, right?

As for medals… not only gold medals count as medals, but silver and bronze medals also count as medals.

"and many more……"

Chen Ran seemed to remember something.

I remember that at the original Yanjing Olympics, after Li Na entered the semi-finals, she had a great chance to win a bronze medal.

As a result, she naively thought that there would be no third or fourth place finals, and as long as she made it to the semi-finals, the worst she could get would be a bronze medal.

Because there is never a bronze medal match in any other major tennis tournament.

So when she finally learned that there was a bronze medal match, she was completely confused and lost the third and fourth place final.

In fact, the bronze medal battle in tennis at the Olympics is not static.

Sometimes it will be set up, and sometimes it will be cancelled, it all depends on the mood of the organizing committee.

But the tennis competition at the Yanjing Olympics had a third and fourth place final.

In fact, from Chen Ran’s perspective, the third and fourth place finals were the most boring.

It is meaningless for two eliminated contestants to go through a tough battle just to decide who will be the third place.

"Besides, Zheng Jie already won the bronze medal in Athens, so she must improve this time."

Chen Ran thought about it and felt that the main hope should still be placed on Li Na.

In this star-studded era of the WTA, the competition is extremely fierce.

Every player works very hard and has almost tapped the maximum potential of his or her talents.

Ultimately, there are only two factors that determine how successful you are: your luck and the limits of your abilities.

In terms of upper limit, Li Na is obviously higher than Zheng Jie.

What's more, the former is still in its rising phase, while the latter has actually begun to decline.

Although Li Na is one year older than Zheng Jie.

But Federer was also a year older than Roddick, and as a result, the former retired nearly a decade later than the latter.

This has little to do with age.

"So if I want to make a breakthrough in the Olympics, I still have to put my hope on Sister Na." Chen Ran muttered to himself.

……

After the China Tennis Sports Management Center announced the news, many media and fans followed suit.

It’s a special case!
This is definitely an unprecedented exception for Chen Ran!
The so-called rules do not apply to some special talents.

Chen Ran is a special talent, and a special one among special ones.

Similarly, Chen Ran will make a historic debut by participating in the Olympic tennis competition as both a coach and a player.

This has never happened before in world history.

"Chen Ran finally got what he wanted. He took away the best resources of Chinese tennis."

"Should I thank the Serbian guy for his assist?"

"This is a must. If it weren't for the other party's slightly joking ridicule, these officials wouldn't have made up their minds so quickly."

"In fact, we have to thank the beautiful Ivanovic. Without her, the Serbian friend would not have jumped out."

"Yes, if Chen Ran really goes to coach Serbia's female players, who will be responsible for this?"

Compared with other national tennis associations which are basically non-governmental organizations, the leaders in China are basically established staff.

No matter who you are, you can't be hard on yourself, except for the official hat on your head.

When Chen Ran appeared, he also said that there was still more than a year and a half to go before the Yanjing Olympics, so there was ample time to prepare.

Although his coaching contract will only take effect during the Yanjing Olympics, during the next year or so of the WTA tour, Chen Ran will occasionally watch some game videos of Chinese players, and then tell them some of his suggestions in the form of text messages.

This is advice from the world's number one person.

After all, the number one female player is only the number one in the WTA, while the number one male player is the real number one in the tennis world.

For example, Li Na, whose husband Jiang Shan is not even a top figure in the men's professional tennis world, can be her coach, let alone Chen Ran.

Chen Ran also spoke, saying that he was very honored to compete in the Olympics held in his own country as both a player and a coach, and hoped to achieve good results.

Pressure also follows closely.

You know, upsets happen all the time in WTA women's tennis.

This is even characteristic of women's tennis, where higher-ranked players often lose to those lower down the list.

Perhaps this is because the mental ups and downs of female players are greater than those of male players.

However, during the winter training, Ivanovic joked somewhat disappointedly: "Dear, I really thought you would come to coach our Serbia."

"Haha, you really believed it." Chen Ran smiled faintly, "Especially for next year's Olympics, they will definitely not allow it. Even I can't bear the pressure of public opinion on the Internet."

"I think you have contributed to this!"

"My credit?" Ivanovich's pretty face tilted slightly, revealing curiosity.

"Because of your presence, they made a mistake in their judgment." A cunning look appeared on Chen Ran's face.

Chen Ran was just using the media to launch a propaganda war, letting these internet trolls lead the rhythm on the Internet, saying that Chen Ran might really be working part-time as the coach of the Serbian women's tennis team during the Yanjing Olympics.

In fact, this possibility does not exist at all.

Even if China did not allow Chen Ran to be a part-time coach in the end, it would be impossible for him to go directly to Serbia.

Chen Ran's situation is completely different from that of Lang Ping, the current head coach of the U.S. women's volleyball team.

He knew this very well.

However, as the saying goes, those in power are the most confused. These officials always play it safe and dare not take risks easily.

Especially when they thought that Chen Ran's current girlfriend is a female tennis player from Serbia, and that the two are still in love and often show their affection, this led them to make a very serious misjudgment.

If Chen Ran is unable to work part-time as a coach for China, he might really run to the other side.

When the misjudgment occurred, this group of old foxes who had been in the officialdom for a long time seemed to have entered a dead end and were getting deeper and deeper into trouble.

So he could only agree to Chen Ran's somewhat harsh conditions. "Thanks to the Internet's troll army, they have stimulated public opinion!" Chen Ran thought to himself.

He increasingly felt that choosing journalism as his major was a wise choice.

Look at other Chinese world champions and Olympic champions. Their majors in college were either business administration or civil engineering. What a use.

Only when you control public opinion can you do whatever you want.

The NBA's executive vice president of goat has never bullied me.

Anyway, Chen Ran has strong financial strength, and now he has a very profitable Internet company. Wouldn't it be easy for him to control public opinion and guide the Internet trolls in the future?
After a moment of trance, Ivanovich understood what Chen Ran meant.

She was not aware of the public opinion offensive launched by the Internet troll army, but she was a little surprised that it was because of her that the Chinese officials made a misjudgment.

This is a very novel thing.

"Then I wish you good luck in your coaching career." She smiled calmly, "Anyway, my main goal at the moment is still to compete in the Grand Slam tournaments. The Olympics... well, the most important thing is to participate."

For a Serbian, an Olympic gold medal is attractive, but it is the only thing that is valuable.

Silver medals, bronze medals, or other results mean nothing to an athlete of Ivanovich's level.

To be precise, for most tennis players, which is more important, an Olympic gold medal or a Grand Slam title, is a matter of personal opinion.

In short, although many people think that Grand Slam titles are more important, the Olympic gold medal can also make them excited and eager.

But the Olympic silver medal is far inferior to the runner-up of the Grand Slam, and the bronze medal is not as good as the semi-finals, and the same goes for the following nouns.

The reason is simple, bonuses and points.

The points for Olympic Games are already low, and there is no prize money.

For most players, any achievements other than the Olympic gold medal seem unattractive or of little value.

Only if you win a gold medal will it be meaningful.

Although Ivanovic also wanted to win an Olympic gold medal, she felt that she couldn't win it with her own strength.

So she will participate in the Olympics with a more relaxed attitude, and her main focus will still be on the Grand Slam events.

If she was eliminated earlier, she could go to the United States earlier to prepare for the US Open.

"Actually, dear...I'm under a lot of pressure, too."

Chen Ran's heart moved, he shrugged, and suddenly said, "Because to me, the silver medal has no meaning."

"If God told me that you wouldn't win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics next year, I would have wanted to withdraw from the competition and prepare for the US Open!"

This is not the pressure put on him by netizens across the country.

Chen Ran's situation is completely different from Liu Xiang and the table tennis team.

For a table tennis team, no matter how many world championships you have won, if you stumble in the Olympics and miss the gold medal, those previous world championships will seem very useless.

Only the Olympic champion can add the finishing touch.

As for Liu Xiang, his 110-meter hurdles will certainly attract everyone's attention and be highly anticipated by everyone.

It may become the event with the highest ratings among all individual events in the Olympics.

If Liu Xiang failed to win the championship and instead won a silver or bronze medal, most Chinese people would actually be able to accept that.

This result is not bad.

In a sprint event like this, it is normal for the results to vary and fluctuate.

If Liu Xiang failed to win the championship and only got the second or third place, he would not be able to become a god for the second time and his popularity would reach new highs, but he would not fall from the altar either.

Of course, if I don’t get a medal, my popularity might be affected and weakened a lot.

But Chen Ran's situation is a little special.

The Olympics aren't everything to him.

Even some netizens who claim to be tennis experts like to make irresponsible remarks online: In tennis, the Olympics is just a younger brother, and its points are not even as good as those of the Masters Tournament.

So the Golden Slam is just the icing on the cake.

From Chen Ran’s perspective, it’s an Olympic silver or bronze medal.

Because there is no bonus, and those pitiful points are of no use.

Only the gold medal is valuable and can help him achieve the great achievement of the double gold slam.

Chen Ran was very sure of this.

His positioning on winning Olympic gold medals is completely different from that of Liu Xiang and the table tennis team.

This was not a battle that determined his fate, but just another brilliant achievement in his honor roll.

If we want to add icing on the cake, then of course the only option is the gold medal. The silver medal is of no use at all.

……

After making up his mind, Chen Ran once again controlled public opinion, mobilized his online troll army, and began to stir up trouble on the Internet.

First, he used an interview of his own to see the outside world's reaction.

Although fans have been trying to relieve Chen Ran's pressure, saying that Chen Ran doesn't have to win the gold medal.

But Chen Ran's interview surprised everyone.

“I really hope that I can achieve the double lap gold grand slam.”

"For me, winning gold is the only option, there is nothing to hide about it."

Some media said: "The silver medal is not bad, the silver medal is also very good."

Chen Ran scoffed at this: "What's the point of a silver medal? There is no prize money, and only 400 points. If I knew I could only get a silver medal, I might as well just withdraw and prepare for the US Open."

"Gold medal, my only goal is gold medal."

"Without a gold medal, how can I achieve the double gold slam?"

"Besides, my current winning rate in Grand Slam finals is 10 wins out of 11. Tell me, what's the point of getting a silver medal? For the Silver Slam?"

"..." Everyone was speechless, "And what is this Silver Grand Slam?"

"I can't just win a silver slam and win a runner-up in each of the four major slams? Is it necessary to be so boring?"

It seems that what Chen Ran said makes sense.

However, the term "Silver Slam" should have been coined by Chen Ran. It's a pity that he could come up with it.

That's not a good word.

From now on, can we use this word to describe players who have won runner-up titles in all major tournaments?
This is too humiliating.

Chen Ran's remarks also caused quite a stir on the Internet.

This guy is really bold.

Everybody is preparing seriously for the Olympics, but you are the only one creating news everywhere!
……

(End of this chapter)