Almighty Coach

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.

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!”

…

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!”

“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.