USSTers Shine on 2019 Track and Field Championships

2019 Shanghai University Student Athletics Championships were held at Minhang campus of East China Normal University. After two-day intense competition, nine female and seventeen male athletes of our school won 2 gold medals, 6 silver medals and 6 bronze medals. Besides, the results of two athletes and two events reached the national level of athletes, and four athletes broke five records for school track and field team.

Every weekday at 3PM, the playground is full of athletes who are ready to practice. Yu Feng, one of the coaches of the team, will develop different training methods for students in different projects. "However, track and field, which is more boring than ball games, is the foundation of any sports project, hence perseverance is important,” Yu mentioned. It is often the case that they will run the 100-meter race in seconds. But in usual time, they will spend over 1.5 hours in warming up. Normally, it will take a few months for the preparation, which is divided into three stages. The first stage is the "preparation period", including some physical training. It's time for them to lay the foundation. The second stage is to "build up energy". They will do special training according to different projects. The final stage is the "assault period". They will increase the intensity of the exercise while reducing the corresponding amount of exercise. When competition is around the corner, they even have intense training. Inevitably, some of the athletes will be stressed out. However, the coach always tells them to relax and calm down. All they need to do is to exceed themselves rather than care about the competitors, medals or prizes. As long as they strive for their excellence, they can obtain their medals sooner or later.
Luckily, their hard work finally paid off. Men's and women's group scored a total of 216 points (women: 107 points; Men: 109 points) and ranked third in the high-level group, followed by Shanghai University of Sport and East China Normal University. After the competition, they reflected on themselves carefully and found that "the devil is in the details". The timer has been accurate to one thousandth!

Finally, they also showed heartfelt gratitude to the school that has always offered supports to them. For instance, the school management teacher will negotiate the time of the course with the physical education department in advance. Accordingly, it ensures that every athlete has the chance of being present at the training.
When it comes to plans, Wu, one of the athletes said, "I just want to study hard and join in the training every day. If possible, I am looking forward to obtaining my certificate of teacher license." Zhu, who is a star athlete，mentioned that he just wanted to keep learning in the university as long as he could. "I've been studying and practicing in USST for almost 4 years. It's hard for me to bid farewell to them all," he said with a smile.
Xu, another one of the coaches, mentioned, "In the 13th National Games in 2017, a total of twenty-one athletes were selected, and seven of them came from our school, accounting for one third. The 14th National Games will be held in Qingdao next year. Selections are about to begin. Best wishes to our athletes. Let's wait and see."