Vol 9 Chapter 212: Out of the ordinary race (2)

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Because there are still dozens of athletes in the arena at this time, they are all athletes about to participate in the 100-meter race. Although the sports meeting preparation team also prepared lunch for them, most of the athletes did not eat immediately, but adapted on the track. Venue and warm-up.
On the side close to the royal grandstand, the staff of the Games inserted wooden poles at the two ends of the track that had been measured, and then tied them to the wooden poles with a very long string and stretched it straight on the ground. Then the judges Holding a long iron spoon, along the string, draw straight white lines 100 meters long on the solid mud...
"I was surprised before that there were no starting slabs and no end stone pillars in this stadium. How to race? Now I know that the white lines drawn with white powder are the starting line, the finishing line and the tracks. , This is very clear!"
"But, I counted them. They only traced 6 tracks with white lines. Could it be that only 6 players are allowed to participate in the competition at a time? I remember that in other sports games, there were more than a dozen stone pillars at the finish line, and a dozen players. Contest at the same time~"
"It's okay, just a few more rounds! The key is that there are fewer players in a game, which can avoid confusion and facilitate referees to supervise. It seems that the Dionians have seriously considered the drawbacks of other sports games and really want them. Make this sports meet well."
The person who spoke was a middle-aged citizen Harpius from the Arcadian Union Ocomenus city-state. When he was young, he participated in various sports races many times. Later, he could not participate because of his old age. Also keen to watch the game. His biggest regret was not being able to win the championship. Once, he was very close to the championship, but the final result was affected by a nearby player hitting him in the face when he waved his arm. He also appealed to the referee, but to no avail. Therefore, he hated some of the disadvantages of the Greek Games.
Halpius is a veteran sports game fan. After learning that the overlord of the Greek world, Dionia, was about to host the sports event, he came to watch it without hesitation and was lucky enough to buy tickets for the opening ceremony. Before entering the arena, he was prepared to challenge the Dionian Games with a critical attitude, but after the opening ceremony, his favor for the Dionian Games increased greatly: the unprecedented novelty of the opening ceremony was second. , The most important thing is that he felt the real respect of the athletes from the Dionian Games.
As a past person, he deeply knows the hardships of being an athlete, in addition to the usual perseverance and hard training, he has to rush to the stadium alone before the start of the sports meeting, spend his own money to arrange board and lodging, and register in the temple in time to accept the priests. The detailed questioning, the tedious preparations before the start of the game, tension and irritability were unresolved, all the glory after the game was attributed to the champion, and the other losers were not greeted even if they were injured...
But this time, the Dionian Games was obviously different. He had talked with the athletes of the Arcadian League before: Dionian not only provided all participating athletes with free and comfortable accommodation and food, but also asked the participating cities to send Officials are responsible for solving all the chores of the athletes, which means that the athletes can devote themselves to the game without worrying about other issues. At the opening ceremony, the Dionians arranged for the athletes to go around the stadium for a week to receive the tribute and cheers from so many spectators...
Harpius regretted that he had been born a few years earlier and did not enjoy such a privilege.
Therefore, Harpius, who has a good impression of the Dionian Games, certainly hopes that the Dionian Games will be able to shine after entering the competition stage. With his experienced competitive vision, he carefully observed the layout of the stadium and soon discovered Some clues are different from the previous sports games.
"I heard that the Dionian Games will not only hold the 100-meter race, but also the meter... After I entered this venue, I found that there was no stone pillar as a mark in the arena, and I was always wondering how they would do the long distance. (In the Greek Games, in the long-distance race, the athlete runs from the starting stone to the finishing stone pillar, then runs around the stone pillar and then runs back, and so on and so on until the full distance is run, similar to the current reentry run), now I understand.
You see! The Dionians used small stone bricks to build a large circle in the entire arena, and then, as it is now, they used lime powder to draw a track outside the entire circle. The contestants ran around the entire circle, let alone A few hundred meters or a few kilometers can be held easily. This is much simpler than running around a stone pillar! "
Harpius was deeply touched by the long-distance races of the previous games. With his decades of experience in the games, he was both methodical and contagious, and naturally attracted a group of spectators. Discuss seriously.
At this moment, someone shouted: "Look at it! Oh my God, the Dionians are going to cover the sky!"
The Gentile audience raised their heads, and then opened their mouths, revealing surprises: above the main arena, long strips of white cloth were slowly converging toward the center of the arena, pieced together into one. A thin white cloth cover covers the sky above the arena, blocking the direct sunlight at noon and bringing shade to the audience.
Xenophon, who came to the Dioria Arena for the first time, was surprised like other Gentile audiences, and couldn't help asking, "How did this happen?"
Davers replied calmly: "In fact, this is very simple. There are 200 wooden poles erected on the edge of the top of the arena, and each wooden pole is connected to the wooden pole on the opposite side of the center of the arena. When encountering On days when the sun is exposed to the sun and there are competitions, the management staff of the arena will tie a special cloth strip to the string of each wooden pole, and then rotate the pulley to push the cloth strip to the upper empty center... But just in When we are enjoying all this with peace of mind, don’t forget that there are hundreds of managers at the top of the arena, serving us under the scorching sun..."
"Although it sounds simple, the design is very clever!" Plato sighed sincerely on the side: "The key is that this kind of difficulty is not willing to endure, but to try to solve the difficulties and strive to be the best. It’s rare! We Greeks are relatively rough and not very particular about life, but the Dionians are different. They have high demands on life, which makes their hard-working and inquisitive spirit permeate all aspects of the entire kingdom. …So I am full of confidence that Dionia will host the Games. Not only will it be successful, but it will also give all Greeks a new understanding of the Games!"
"Hahaha..." Daves smiled heartily: "Well, you Plato, you can tell a lot about a little thing!"
Xenophon did not speak, he looked at the sky thoughtfully.
Just when the Gentile audience marveled at the clever design of the main arena, the athletes began to withdraw from the arena, which caused some audiences to wonder: "Aren't the races held anymore?"
And some spectators as experienced as Harpius said firmly: "No, the race is about to begin!"
Just as they said, the athletes came to the lounge next to the entrance of the arena. Since the Dionian ball game is held every year, the room dedicated to the players’ rest is very comfortable, but the athletes have no intentions. Feeling this, they took off the costumes they had used for the entrance ceremony, then put on shorts specially provided by Dionia, and then began to apply olive oil on their bodies carefully and evenly. After all this was done, everyone They all began to pray devoutly to Apollo, so that their nervousness was soothed.
after awhile. A priest walked in and said loudly: "Dear contestants, it's time for the game, please come in!"
Siriteos, who had already calmed down, heard this, UU reading www. uukanshu.com suddenly began to beat faster.
Dozens of athletes returned to the arena again, and the priest gathered them together. Since this is the first game of the Dionian Games, in order to ensure its smooth progress, Calcidis, the head of the refereeing team, personally served Host, the always amiable old priest looked serious at this moment. He said in a powerful tone: "Dear players, I think you should have a good understanding of the rules of the Dionian Games after a period of practice. But I still want to emphasize it again before the game-only the players whose names are called can participate in the game, and the rest of the players must stay away from the track and must not interfere with the game; the players can start after the referee issues the order of'start of the game'; before the start, Foot cannot step on the starting line; after the start, the runners cannot deviate from their own track, cannot interfere with other runners, and cannot deliberately hinder or hurt...
As long as you violate any of the above regulations, you will be disqualified! If the violation is deliberate and the circumstances are extremely serious, the referee team will report the player’s situation to the games preparation team, and they will decide whether to carve the player’s appearance on the disciplinary wall of the upcoming Dionian Games Memorial Hall as A warning to the players who will participate in the Dionian Games in the future! Did you hear clearly? ! "
"Clear!" The players nodded in response.
Calcidis just showed a slight smile at this time, palms facing the sky, and said gently: "May Hades bless you!"
Then, a priest took the roster of athletes and said loudly: "Please pay attention, I have called the player with the name to participate in the first round of the competition-Siriteos! Track 1!"
Siriteos was taken aback: he was called to the first one, so luck would be great!