Return to 2002: Freestyle Superstar

Chapter 649: A Truce for Both Sides (4K)

In late January, Chen Ran went to Australia as usual to participate in the first Grand Slam event of the year.

However, after he won the Super Grand Slam last year, his whole body seemed a little bit unexcited and he was unable to get into the best form for the game.

Some matches were always bumpy. Although we didn't enter a five-set battle with our opponents in the early rounds, several games were fiercely fought and won with difficulty.

However, Chen Ran had extremely fierce matches with Murray and Nadal in the quarterfinals and semifinals respectively, and all matches lasted five full sets.

Especially, the two opponents were very good at grinding, and they could grind until almost day and night, which resulted in both games lasting a full five hours.

This almost exhausted the physical strength that Chen Ran had worked so hard to store up during the winter training.

In the final, Chen Ran really couldn't hold on facing Djokovic who was well-rested.

The scene from last year's year-end finals group stage was repeated once again.

After winning the first set, Chen Ran was defeated by his opponent in three consecutive sets and finally won the runner-up of the Australian Open.

Just like in his previous life, Djokovic won his first Grand Slam title at the 2008 Australian Open.

Chen Ran was only one step away from winning his fifth consecutive Australian Open title, but still had to stop, winning the Grand Slam for the second time in his career.

So far, his record in Grand Slam finals is 14 wins and 2 losses.

At the award ceremony after the game, Chen Ran also generously congratulated the other party and teased him as a troublemaker.

After all, for a long time, people generally believed that professional tennis would be a competition between Chen Ran, Federer, and Nadal.

But Djokovic just rushed into their territory.

In addition, since Federer had just recovered from mononucleosis, his physical endurance was greatly insufficient, so in the other semifinal, he was directly defeated by Djokovic 3-0.

Compared with the fierce competition between Chen Ran and Nadal, as well as Murray, the other side can just take advantage of the situation.

After the Australian Open, Chen Ran’s team suddenly announced that Chen Ran would withdraw from the Middle East and North American seasons.

This is also the first time in his history that he has withdrawn from the "Sunshine Double", known as the fifth Grand Slam.

The reason is injury.

As the Yanjing Olympics drew closer, Chen Ran decided to give himself a short vacation to sort out the various injuries he had.

There are elbows, thighs, and ankles.

After all, the interval between the two Grand Slams, the Australian Open and the French Open, is the longest. Chen Ran might miss the clay court season and even make a surprise appearance at the French Open.

At about the same time, Liu Xiang also announced that he would miss track and field events in the next few months.

The reason is simple. He had too many injuries and had to undergo surgery to recover and start preparing for the Yanjing Olympics early.

The two most watched athletes in the local Olympics announced their participation, which also caused rumors to spread from outside.

"It should be. After all, the Yanjing Olympics is the top priority."

"Even though tennis is a very special sport, Chen Ran has already won 14 Grand Slams and achieved the feat of a super annual Grand Slam. He should really focus on the Olympics."

"Fuck, I was counting on Chen Ran to achieve the Super Annual Golden Slam, but he lost in the Australian Open final, so that's impossible."

"You really treat him like a donkey, not giving him a break. Graf won the annual gold slam, and Chen Ran won the super annual grand slam. The gold content is already the same. There is no need to exhaust yourself for an annual gold slam."

"Chen Ran's team said his injury was not serious and he did not need surgery, but Liu Xiang had to undergo surgery. It seems that his injury was already very serious. He has been holding on. I wonder if it will affect this year's Olympics."

"So the surgery was performed just after January this year, and it was for the Olympics a few months later. But the problem is that there is a long recovery period after the surgery, and will it affect the performance in the Olympics?"

"There's nothing we can do about it. After all, injuries and illnesses can have an impact on people, and no one can decide. God can't give you a healthy body just because this Olympics is held in Yanjing."

This sentence was not first coined by netizens.

Chen Ran said this when he announced his truce due to injury.

Injuries are unpredictable and will not stay away from Chinese athletes just because the local Olympics are approaching.

Even because of the sharp increase in psychological pressure, injuries may occur inadvertently.

Chen Ran even joked during an interview with CCTV reporters: "I am very careful now, fearing that injuries will affect my performance in the Olympics. This year is very special, and I have to withdraw from some competitions. It doesn't matter even if I lose the year-end bonus."

"Compared with national interests, personal interests are nothing."

He was so righteous and put national interests first. Both CCTV and other major official media were very impressed and gave him all kinds of praise and high compliments.

Chen Ran is so good at talking.

Take a break, recuperate and give up this year's year-end bonus, just to fight for the country in the Olympics.

Such athletes are representatives of the motherland's outstanding athletes in the new era.

It is said that after hearing this, some high-level leaders also praised this leading figure of Chinese sports and called him a role model for young people across the country.

Almost at the same time, the leaders of the Track and Field Association quietly found Chen Ran through Sun Jifang, took the initiative to express their goodwill, and stated that the unpleasantness that occurred in Sanya that day was the personal matter of the team doctor and had nothing to do with the Track and Field Association.

They have already fired the team doctor.

"I'm really sorry about what happened that day. We were also deceived by the team doctor!"

"His disrespectful behavior that day was his own decision and does not represent us."

"We apologize to you on behalf of the Athletics Association."

The other party was very humble and of course hinted to Chen Ran not to disclose this matter to the media.

Since the other party had taken the initiative to show goodwill and dealt with the arrogant team doctor, Chen Ran naturally could not reach out to hit the smiling person, and could only take advantage of the situation to back off.

It is said that faced with Liu Xiang's strong demand for surgery, the officials of the Track and Field Association had no choice but to compromise.

After all, there is only one Ziweixing. If the officials don't rely on him, who can they rely on? Moreover, there is solid evidence that the team doctor concealed the injury, and the officials are also worried about being exposed by the media.

The various sports association departments in China do not enjoy press immunity and they always live under close media supervision.

……

"Whether you are in the system or outside the system, if you are irreplaceable, you have the capital to negotiate. As Chen Ran said, I am also a Purple Star, not just an ordinary Olympic champion."

At this moment, Liu Xiang, who was lying in the hospital, couldn't help but think.

The main reason was that he had preconceived ideas and had seen what happened to Tian Liang.

He is also an Olympic champion, but he was forced to leave the national team by the head coach of the national diving team, the old lady named Zhou. He had to return to the provincial team in disgrace, and then had to announce his retirement last year.

But they are the diving dream team, and they have never lacked world champions and Olympic champions.

Even if you are demoted to a local team, we can still use the world-class national team resources to train another one. The same is true for table tennis.

As for badminton, in fact, China's badminton team has always been just one of the world's powers, not a superpower like table tennis.

The reason why people thought that China's badminton was as strong as table tennis for a period of time was because of the emergence of Lin Dan. But at this moment, Lin Dan was not yet an Olympic champion, so he had no bargaining power, and his teammates were all strong.

At present, only Chen Ran and Liu Xiang meet this condition.

From a certain perspective, Liu Xiang even has better conditions than Chen Ran.

Because in the field of tennis, Chinese women's tennis has already reached the top level in the world, but in the hurdles event, except for Liu Xiang, not to mention the men, even the women have no competitiveness at all. No one can enter the finals, not even Shi Dongpeng's level.

Liu Xiang knew that he was unique.

"I have been fighting for four years and have accumulated many injuries. Now, my physical condition can no longer continue high-intensity competitions. I must undergo surgery, otherwise I may even miss this year's Olympics."

He was also smart enough to give sports fans a heads-up first.

My current condition is not good, and if I have to undergo surgery, my recovery in the later stages is also unknown. All of this will affect my performance in the Olympics.

Of course, this operation also sends a signal to the outside world.

For the Yanjing Olympics, he will give it a try.

As for the results, Liu Xiang cannot guarantee it.

There is a high probability that I won't get the gold medal, as those competitors are too strong.

After all, unlike Chen Ran, Liu Xiang’s main competitors are a group of black uncles who are good at jumping around.

Today, Liu Xiang's competitive state is much different than it was four years ago.

As for the reason?

There are too many competitions to participate in.

There is no other way. Not only does the association require it, but sponsors also demand increased exposure.

……

"So... whether it's Chen Ran or Liu Xiang, their chances of winning the Beijing Olympics are very slim, right? Because of the impact of injuries."

"As for Chen Ran, since he didn't undergo surgery, his condition should be fine, but his competitive state is definitely affected. Look at him, he lost to his valet Djokovic at the Australian Open this time."

"I thought their chances of winning the gold medal were as good as in table tennis!"

"Table tennis has double and triple insurance, but they don't. Apart from the two of them, other Chinese athletes are not competitive at all in men's tennis and men's 110-meter hurdles."

"But these two guys have won all the major championships in these two events."

"That's really a star from the sky. We are so far ahead that others can't even see our backs."

It was not until the two announced their suspension due to injuries that netizens realized there were no replacements for these two events.

They thought they had secured the gold medal, but now they can’t even get past the first round.

It's so hard.

"This shows the strength of table tennis and diving. If one player is not in good shape, others can immediately take over."

"There's no other way. Both of these sports require talented players, and they can't be produced with just training resources."

……

The news that Chen Ran and Liu Xiang were sidelined due to injuries cast a shadow on their prospects at the Yanjing Olympics.

Coincidentally!

At this moment, Yao Ming, who was playing for the NBA Rockets, also suffered a serious injury and had to undergo surgery, and was announced to be out for the season.

But judging from the recovery time, Yao Ming has a high probability of catching up with the Yanjing Olympics.

Without this big guy, the Chinese men's basketball team would definitely be a gift-giver in the Olympic Games. The only difference is how many points they give to their opponents in each game.

However, no one knows what kind of competitive state Yao Ming will be in to participate in the Yanjing Olympics after his recovery.

"Three superstars, all of them are plagued by injuries."

"A shadow hangs over Chinese sports and the Yanjing Olympics."

"Tsk..." Some fans disagreed, "Even if Yao Ming was not injured, the best luck for the Chinese men's basketball team would be the quarterfinals. What's there to look forward to?"

"This is so different from Chen Ran and Liu Xiang!"

But no matter what, injuries will always be a psychological barrier for athletes.

Because of the injuries of these three people, other Chinese athletes are also still in fear.

Most of them also hope that this Olympics will help them change their destiny and make a breakthrough.

Therefore, everyone paid great attention to protecting their bodies to avoid injuries before the competition.

……

In early March, Chen Ran missed the "Sunshine Double Competition" for the first time since his debut.

During his recovery period, he hardly touched tennis except for treating his injuries and doing some restorative exercises.

But this feeling was great, a long-lost sense of hunger was growing in his heart.

To be precise, he felt itchy and had an urgent urge to pick up the racket and play again.

But Chen Ran still indulged in this itchy and hungry feeling and continued not touching the racket.

One day in mid-to-late March, Kingslam announced that it would transfer the agency rights of World of Warcraft for the remaining one and a half years to Penguin.

The reason was just as Chen Ran had planned before. Due to the preparation for the Olympics, he no longer had much energy to participate in the negotiations for the renewal rights of "World of Warcraft".

Chen Ran controlled the media to hint that the main reason was that the Americans were too picky.

Various complex and unacceptable conditions came one after another.

He was tired and didn't want to continue negotiating. He simply couldn't afford to waste the energy.

For the benefit of the majority of players, he transferred the game agency rights to Penguin.

Since the two companies are almost in sync, the handover of agency rights was almost seamless and there was no downtime at all.

This also made the Chinese players praise each other.

They don't care who is the agent, as long as the game is not delayed, not stopped, and does not affect the gaming experience.

Only this time, Blizzard was furious.

……

(End of this chapter)