Chapter 524: 524
Muller successfully jumped over the bar and fell on the thick mat while the bar above remained stable .
"6 . 13m high . Franz Muller! He made it! He seized his only chance! He cleared the bar at 6 . 13m high!"
Muller stood up on the mat . First, he looked up to confirm that he had not knocked down the bar . When he confirmed his success, he immediately raised his hands and screamed . Although he hadn't won yet, he had jumped 6 . 13m high, which meant that he had gone farther than he thought was possible . At this moment, he really was a winner .
The audience was so excited . This was exactly the kind of nail-biting drama they had come to see .
"He succeeded! We succeeded!" The U . S . team leader Downey was so excited that he gave Dai Li a big hug . Downey thought Muller would fail just as Pat Riley had . To his surprise, Muller had made it .
The camera zoomed in on Riley's face . In this competition, both Muller and Pat Riley had been put in the same situation . They had both failed their first two attempts, passed on the height, and moved on to the next height . They both chose to use their last chance to challenge the height .
However, where Pat Riley had failed . Muller succeeded .
"Now Pat Riley is really in a bad mood . Maybe he will say he wasn't lucky enough," said the commentator in a jocular tone .
On the Russian team, the head coach Merkulov, the deputy head coach Igonagave, and the world champion Kurayev were all serious .
Before Muller had jumped, Kurayev had already been celebrating his victory . However, Muller's jump had been successful, which meant that Kurayev not only lost his gold medal but also had to challenge that same height .
Now, the situation was completely different . A minute ago, Kurayev had the advantage, but now the situation was not looking good for him . He had to successfully complete this jump to catch up to Muller .
6 . 13m was only 0 . 03m lower than the world record in men's pole vault . Even for the world champion Kurayev, it was an extreme challenge . Although he had the ability to clear that height, he wasn't positive he'd succeed . He needed to get lucky in order to succeed at that height .
Standing at the starting area, Kurayev grasped the long pole firmly and encouraged himself .
That American newbie could jump over that height . I, as the world champion, also must make it .
After thinking this, Kurayev started to run .
However, 6 . 13m was really high . After he jumped up, Kurayev realized that he had not jumped high enough to pass over the bar .
Failed . Kurayev got up from the mat . He shook his head ungratefully and then returned to the starting area .
Since Muller had already completed this jump, there was only one athlete left on the field . Kurayev didn't get a break before he had to jump again .
As an experienced athlete with the strength of a world champion, Kurayev knew the problem with his first attempt and he also knew where he needed to make some improvements . He murmured to himself in order to remember when he needed to do .
Kurayev took a moment before he started his second attempt . He tried to restore his strength as much as possible and he wanted to give himself more time to prepare .
According to the rules, when there were less than three athletes, the time of preparation could be extended to three minutes . Therefore, Kurayev started his second attempt three minutes later .
However, this jump was very difficult . If he wanted to clear this height, he must combine his strength and his skill . He had to be very lucky as well .
Kurayev was unlucky, however, and he failed again this time .
A second failure was really a deadly strike to Kurayev . Now, he was in the same situation as Muller and Pat Riley had been . He only had one chance now and, if he failed this time, he lost the gold medal . If he succeeded, he didn't win . He had to continue to compete with Muller at the next height .
Kurayev was now also facing a choice on whether to pass on this height .
In pole vaulting, the athlete could choose to pass on the height after two failed attempts and attempt the next height, which was a choice of maximizing returns . Even if he succeeded in his third attempt, the athlete also needed to challenge the next height . However, if he chose to pass at that height, he could come to the next height and stand at the same level as the rest competitors .
. . .
The Russian coaching team was having a heated debate .
"We should pass on the height . Once you fail twice it is the best option . Both Pat Riley and that American Muller did so . I think we have no other choice," said one Russian coach .
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However, another coach shook his head, "I don't think passing on the height is a good idea . You should remember that the height for Pat Riley after passing was 6 . 08m and the height for Muller was 6 . 13m . However, if we choose to pass on this height, the next height is 6 . 18m . The world record is only 6 . 16m now, which means that Kurayev needs to create a new world record . That's really difficult, no different from giving up . "
"But if Kurayev cleared the height of 6 . 13m, he'd still have to jump 6 . 18m high . Therefore, we can't avoid confronting the world record," said the first coach .
"So, do you think that American guy can jump over 6 . 18m? That's a new world record . I don't think he can make that . Therefore, we only need to jump over 6 . 13m . When the height comes to 6 . 18m, if both Kurayev and that American guy can't jump over it, the height of the bar will be lowered . Then, it will be more favorable for Kurayev!"
According to the rules, if all the competitors failed their three attempts at a certain height, then there would be a tie-breaker . The bar would be lowered and the competitors would begin their attempts again .
Under the rules, if Kurayev jumped over 6 . 13m, the next height was 6 . 18m, which exceeded the world record . If Kurayev couldn't make it, young Muller couldn't jump over it either . Under this condition, the bar would be lowered . With more experience and more strength, Kurayev would have an advantage over Muller after the bar was lowered .
If Kurayev chose to pass on the height, he would have to face 6 . 18m height with only one chance . If he failed, he would lose the game . Faced with a height exceeding the world record, nobody would be confident .
After a long discussion, they all looked at the head coach Merkulov, hoping that he could decide .
Merkulov shook his head and said, " Let Kurayev make the choice himself . "
. . .
The referee asked Kurayev whether or not he was going to pass .
Moments later, Kurayev was back on the field, and the height of the bar remained the same .
Kurayev had chosen not to pass on the height . He wanted to try 6 . 13m again .
Kurayev doesn't seem confident enough to attempt to break the record . Dai Li became a little more relaxed .
"I think Kurayev made a wise choice . " Looking at the field nervously, Downey told the coach his opinion . "6 . 18m would exceed the world record and nobody will make it . Under the condition that neither Muller nor Kurayev can jump over that height, the bar will be lowered . That's going to benefit Kurayev . "
"However, all that depends on Kurayev successfully jumping over 6 . 13m on his third attempt," said Dai Li disdainfully . "Kurayev is a world champion, a top athlete of men's pole vault, so his target should not be the height of 6 . 13m, but the world record . Today, he quit his chance of confronting the world record . The moment he chose to try his third attempt, he lost the game and lost his confidence . He doesn't have the heart to pursue the championship!"
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. . .
Standing on the starting area, Kurayev rotated the pole to make sure it didn't slide .
The next height is 6 . 18m and it exceeds the world record . I can't jump over that height and Muller also can't make it . The height will be lowered and I will need to compete with Muller again!
Kurayev took a deep breath and began to run . He started to run and accelerate . While the long pole stuck into the ground, Kurayev's body was above the bar . Then he began to cross the bar .
"He crossed it!" the audience shouted with exclamation .
"I made it!" Kurayev wanted to celebrate even as he was falling to the ground .
However, the bar fell to the ground .
Kurayev had touched the bar and failed .
"Gosh!" The audience groaned and they felt sorry for Kurayev .
However, the cameras didn't focus on Kurayev . All the photographers gave all their attention to Muller .
Young Franz Muller won the championship even though this was his first world-class competition!
The newbie athlete had become the king of pole vaulting .
. . .
In an American bar, people began to exult . A rich man wanted to buy everyone a drink .
"Yes, we won! Franz Muller, good job!"
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"Franz Muller was the guy who was recruited to the national team without attending the qualification trial . I remember that someone even doubted the fairness of him joining the team . In my view, we couldn't have won the gold medal if we had the people from the pole vaulting qualifiers on the team . "
"Let alone the gold medal . I didn't think we'd win any medal!"
"Who cares about the fairness of it all . We want the championship, the gold medal! We are watching the Olympic Games here and hoping our nation can get more gold medals!"
. . .
The awards ceremony was over and Downey was excited as he looked at the stars and stripes above .
"We got one gold medal, one silver medal and one bronze medal today!" said Downey .
"No, you are wrong," Dai Li shook his head . "This is not the end of the day's competition! We'll gain more . "
The first round of women's 100m dash was on at the same time the men's pole vaulting was . This was just the first round of women's 100m, so the audience paid more attention to the finals in men's pole vaulting . Therefore, few people cared about the first-round competition of women's 100m dash, even the broadcasters ignored it .
The American team had a high likelihood of winning this event . The American team was also strong in the 400-meter hurdle and the 400-meter dash . Normally, it was common that three American athletes entered the final of 400-meter hurdles .
Then came the final of men's 800-meter event, the fourth gold medal of the day .
As the defending champion of this event, Kenya had three athletes in the final and America had two . This event was basically the competition between Kenya and America .
Kenyans were indeed better at medium and long-distance running . The Kenyan athlete won the championship by a slim margin of 0 . 8 seconds . One American athlete won the silver medal and another Kenyan athlete won the bronze medal .
After the men's 800-meter event, there came the final in women's 400-meter dash . This was the last competition of the day .
The American team was also unstoppable at 400-meter event, with three athletes entering the final . The Jamaican team also improved a lot in recent years with two athletes entering the final this year . However, they couldn't threaten American team at all .
At last, the American team won the gold and silver, while the bronze medal was won by the Jamaica team .
The fourth day of the Olympic track and field competition ended there . In the six finals, the American team won two gold medals, three silver medals and one bronze medal . It was still going well .Please download our sponsor's game to support us!