Chapter 25: Wang Xiaoming Narrowly Defeated, Mocked by the Entire Internet?
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The sudden turn of events brought the passionately cheering spectators to an abrupt silence.
They had all assumed that Wang Xiaoming had already secured the bronze medal.
It was only bronze, not gold.
But even so, it was already an excellent result.
The main event everyone had been looking forward to in this swimming competition was Pan Zhanle’s 100-meter race.
He was the country’s hope for a gold medal.
As for the 50-meter event, our country had always struggled to make an impression.
After all, when it came to explosive power, it was difficult for us to compete with those foreign athletes.
Yet from Wang Xiaoming’s performance, it was not hard to see that his endurance was extraordinarily strong.
In most swimming races, the explosive phase came during the first half.
By the second half, everyone, no matter who they were, would begin to feel their strength failing.
Wang Xiaoming, however, only grew more formidable as the race went on.
At the beginning, he had been a full body-length behind the leader. By the end, he had forced his way into third place.
How could that not be thrilling?
And yet, once the race ended, a slight twist seemed to have emerged.
The judges were all painstakingly reviewing the footage and making meticulous comparisons.
Looking at the rankings on the screen, it was clear that the gold and silver medals were no longer in doubt.
Wang Xiaoming had missed out on the top two places. After all, he had fallen too far behind at the start.
The real dispute was over third place.
The judges continued watching the footage, trying to determine who had touched the wall first.
The spectators waited in silence.
At last, the judges reached their final decision.
The final rankings appeared on the screen.
Men’s 50-meter freestyle, third place: Vitas Bird of the Romantic Nation!
Fourth place: Wang Xiaoming of Huaxia!
“What? How is that possible? This is rigged! It has to be rigged!”
“I don’t believe it! Wang Xiaoming had clearly overtaken the third-place swimmer. How could this be?”
“Did the referee take a bribe? Brother Ming should have been third!”
“I don’t believe it! I want to see the replay!”
Every spectator was stunned.
After all, the bronze medal that had seemed certain was suddenly gone.
Who could accept that?
It might only have been a bronze medal, but it would still have broken the historical record of Huaxia failing to place in the men’s 50-meter freestyle.
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This drove most of the spectators into a fury. They all believed the result had been rigged.
However, the Olympic judges on site had reached their decision only after carefully reviewing the replay countless times.
At that moment, the giant screen displayed the footage of the final touch between the swimmers who had finished third and fourth.
After the image was slowed down countless times, everyone could see which finger had touched the wall first.
It was unmistakably the Romantic athlete’s fingernail that had made contact first.
Seeing this, everyone clenched and shook their fists in frustration.
They had been so close to witnessing a miracle, only to lose by the length of a fingernail.
It was truly heartbreaking.
“Damn it! Doesn’t that count as cheating? That bastard should cut his nails!”
“Holy crap, as sad as this is, I nearly lost it when I read the comment above!”
“I can’t hold it in either. Honestly, it really is a shame, but they lost by exactly one fingernail’s length.”
“Hahaha, report him! Brother above, let’s report that athlete from the Romantic Nation together!”
“Exactly! Swimmers should cut their nails before competing. What if his nails were too long and scratched someone? Even if he didn’t scratch anyone, he might have damaged the flowers and plants!”
Once the result was announced, the teammates gathered around to comfort Wang Xiaoming.
But Wang Xiaoming’s mood had barely changed. He merely patted a few of them on the shoulder and said calmly, “How long until the 800-meter race begins?”
Everyone froze.
Come on, brother. You were only a tiny distance away from winning a medal. Aren’t you even a little disappointed?
Not only that, but Wang Xiaoming’s remarks during his subsequent interview left everyone dumbfounded.
As the most talked-about athlete at the Olympics, Wang Xiaoming was destined to be the media’s next target, whether or not he had won a medal.
The media would of course interview the athletes who had won medals first.
But Wang Xiaoming would be next.
Especially since, before the competition, his teammates from the shooting team had made some outrageous claims.
They had said that Wang Xiaoming intended to compete in every event and win every gold medal.
But what about now?
He had not even placed in his first event.
Was this some kind of joke?
“Hello, Wang Xiaoming. May we ask you a few questions?”
Speak of the devil, and he appears.
A foreign reporter with what seemed like a bloodhound’s nose was the first to track Wang Xiaoming down.
Wang Xiaoming nodded.
The reporter’s first question was extremely pointed.
“Hello. Before you competed, we interviewed your teammates from the shooting team. They said that you had entered the swimming events intending to sweep all the gold medals. Is that true?”
Wang Xiaoming paused when he heard the question.
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Not far away, several members of the shooting team were just walking over. The moment they heard the reporter’s question, they grew anxious.
“W-What is this, an attempt to drive a wedge between us? When did we ever say that?”
“Exactly, Captain! What we said was that we hoped Brother Ming would do well and try to win a gold medal! When did we ever say he was going to sweep them all?”
The two teammates angrily tried to rush over, but Zhao An stopped them.
“We’re live right now. Keep calm and wait until the broadcast is over!”
Although Zhao An said this, he was furious inside.
That foreign reporter was blatantly trying to stir up trouble and drive a wedge between the Huaxia athletes!
Yet Wang Xiaoming’s answer left everyone utterly stunned.
He nodded at the camera. “My teammates from the shooting team were right. I entered the swimming events intending to win every gold medal.”
Then he sighed. “It’s just a shame that there will be one fewer gold medal now.”
The instant he said this, viewers across the foreign internet burst into laughter.
“Hahaha, Wang Xiaoming, what a joke! You still want to win gold? You didn’t even place!”
“Honestly, if this guy entered a competition for bragging, he’d probably come first every time!”
“Does he really think he’s Superman?”
“Isn’t he just humiliating himself by saying things like that?”
Everyone mocked Wang Xiaoming.
The foreign reporter nearly laughed aloud as well, but professional discipline kept him going.
“So you failed in your very first event. Will that put you under any pressure?”
“Pressure?” Wang Xiaoming shook his head. “No pressure at all.”
“I originally intended to take all the gold medals, but after thinking it over, I decided to give athletes from other countries a chance.”
“And judging by the result, your athlete was pretty good. He managed to seize the opportunity I gave him.”
In an instant, the live-stream chat erupted.
All kinds of insults poured into the foreign broadcast like falling snow.
Words beginning with “f” and “b” flooded the chat.
The viewers relentlessly mocked and cursed Wang Xiaoming.
Wang Xiaoming, naturally, knew nothing about any of it.
He had seen through the foreign reporter’s intentions at a glance.
Since that was the case, there was no reason for him to show them any courtesy.
Besides, the upcoming event was the 800-meter freestyle, which was completely different from the 50-meter race.
At that moment, the foreigners still had no idea what kind of Wang Xiaoming they were about to face.
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