Chapter 624: A Mother

It was March. Battle was brewing in many different sports.

At Dai Li’s training camp, March was considered a small test. The effects of the training camp would be identified and checked in the competitions coming up this month. It would be easy to see if an athlete had improved or not based on their results.

The competition results were announced one by one and the athletes who had taken part in Dai Li’s training camp all got outstanding results. Everyone’s results had improved. Even athletes who had already been the best in their respective sports, like Muller and Zouma, could feel that they were improving.

The results did not lie. When other athletes saw the amazing effects of Dai Li’s training camp, they came to register as well. Dai Li’s training camp accepted another batch of athletes.

By the time May came around, the Olympic qualifiers for various sporting events had begun.

Athletes who were part of the training camp continued to excel, winning and qualifying for various Olympic events.

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In June, another batch of athletes from Europe and South America arrived in Los Angeles to take part in Dai Li’s training camp.

These were athletes who had already qualified Olympics. All of them were impressed by the reputation of the training camp, and they took part in it as a last ditch of effort to prepare for the Olympics. There were only two months left before the opening ceremony, and there were those who were doing whatever they could before the Games began, like drowning men clutching at straws.

In a short amount of time, Dai Li’s training camp had become too packed.

…

A middle-aged Caucasian woman walked back and forth in front of the door to the training center. It seemed like she wanted to go inside but was very hesitant.

The woman was not tall, barely even 5 feet, and she was not fat, she seemed a little thin. She was definitely petite. It was rare to see caucasian women with petite bodies like that in the U.S.

After walking back and forth for a while, the middle-aged women finally built up enough courage to walk through the main door.

The moment she reached the door, it opened, and Dai Li walked outside. He was face-to-face with this middle-aged woman.

“Coach Li!” The middle-aged woman suddenly looked overwhelmed.

Dai Li, on the other hand, thought that the woman looked familiar. After a few seconds, he remembered her identity.

“You are Kpanova?” Dai Li asked cautiously.

“Hello, Coach Li. I am Kpanova,” the woman said, a little hesitantly.

A sense of respect appeared on Dai Li’s face. He asked, “Miss Kpanova, are you here to look for someone or are you planning to register for a training course?”

“I…” Kpanova hesitated for a dozen or so seconds before saying, “I want to register, I know that you started a training camp here, but…”

Kpanova seemed to have a hard time putting into words what she wanted to say.

“Why don’t we talk inside?” Dai Li extended his hand towards the door and led Kpanova into the reception room.

…

In the reception room, they sat at a table for two.

A cup of coffee was put in front of Kpanova. Then, Dai Li asked, “Miss Kpanova, since you plan on registering for the Olympic training camp, that means that you plan to take part in the Olympic Games this year?”

Kpanova nodded and said, “Yes.”

“You’ve already been in five Olympics, haven’t you?” Dai Li asked instinctively.

“It’s actually been six. If you include this year, it will be seven,” Kpanova answered.

“I’m sorry, do forgive me for asking this. You should be around 40 years old by now, shouldn’t you? Please do not misunderstand, I do not mean to offend. I just want to remind you that taking part in the Olympics at this age will be difficult,” Dai Li said.

“I’m 41 this year.” Kpanova did not dodge the question about her age. “I know that I will be facing athletes who are 20 years younger than me. Some of them are even younger than my son! I have to take part, however. I have already qualified.”

“Are you doing this for your son?” Dai Li asked.

“Yes. His disease is currently being managed, but he still needs to take drugs. As soon as the drugs stop coming in, his situation will take a turn for the worse. The drugs are expensive,” Kpanova answered honestly.

Dai Li sighed. He was touched by how much parents all over the world loved their children!

Kpanova said, “Coach Li, I know that you have the best physical fitness training center in the world. Many older athletes have returned to their prime after training with you, so I wish to take part in your training camp. I cannot afford your training fees, though. Is it possible to let me pay the training fees in installments?”

…

Dai Li had a lot of respect for Kpanova.

Kpanova was a legendary gymnast. She was one of the athletes who had participated the most times in the Olympics. If she chose to take part in the Olympics again this year, then she would be the athlete who had participated the most.

A female gymnast who might participate in the Olympics seven times? It was an incredible feat no matter how one looked at it!

Kpanova was an athlete from the Soviet era. Before the Soviet Union dissolved, she represented the Soviet Union and took part in the World Gymnastic Competition.

During the Olympics after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the individual countries that were part of the union formed a team. Kpanova participated in the Olympics that year as an athlete of that team, winning the Olympic gold medal as well. Four years later, she represented her motherland, Uzbekistan, and took part in the Olympics for the third time. After that, she chose to retire.

An unfortunate thing happened to Kpanova, however. Her son was diagnosed with leukemia. Anyone who watched “Dying to Survive” would know the disease could be combated as long as one took medication.

Patented medicines were expensive, so much so that Kpanova could not afford them at all. There were also other costs for medical treatments. As such, Kpanova chose to return to the gymnastic arena and took part in the Olympics for the fourth time.

After that, Kpanova obtained German citizenship, as the medical facilities of Germany were far better than those of Uzbekistan. She represented Germany in two Olympics, and by then, she was already 37 years old.

Germany was also a power in the sports world and talent was abundant in the country. Clearly, they did not need a 37-year old female gymnast. So, to continue her son’s treatment, Kpanova returned to Uzbekistan and represented Uzbekistan in the upcoming Olympics.

This was her seventh Olympic!

This year, she was 41 years old!

An athlete at her age, returning to compete in tournaments to treat her son’s illness, was rare, but she might not be the only one.

She was going to compete as a female gymnast, though!

The peak age for gymnasts was 16-20. Many female gymnasts start considering retirement after 20 years old. It was rare for anyone to persevere past the age of 30.

The 41-year-old Kpanova was still in the game! During the competition, she competed against a bunch of opponents who were at least 20 years younger than her.

Was this a miracle?

No! It was the greatness of a mother!

…

Dai Li agreed to Kpanova’s request and allowed her to pay by installments.

At the same time, Dai Li also gave her a remarkably lowered price to avoid creating extra burdens to Kpanova.

Dai Li sympathized with Kpanova’s situation. He helped her less out of sympathy and more from the immense respect he felt for her as a wonderful mother.

Dai Li also knew that if a 41-year old female gymnast were to compete in the Olympic stage, it would be difficult for her to obtain excellent results.

Female gymnastics was a sport that required the power of youth!

In shooting events, a 60-year old athlete could still win the gold medal as long as his eyes functioned properly.

In archery, a 40 or 50-year old veteran could still become the champion as long as he could still shoot accurately.

In table tennis or badminton, athletes who were in their 30s or 40s had become world champions.

In basketball and football, athletes reached their peak at around 30.

For track and field and swimming events, sports that heavily relied on the physical condition of the human body, athletes were at their strongest at around 25.

It was only in gymnastics, especially female gymnastics, that 20-year-olds were considered old. For the gymnastics team of China, it was normal for athletes to retire at 21 or 22 and become coaches.

What could the 41-year-old Kpanova do to compete against young ladies who were only 18 or 19?

Age being as much of an issue as it was, Dai Li decided to use an age-reduction card on Kpanova.

The age-reduction card’s limit was a reduction of 12 years and it could only last for a month.

The gymnastic events did not last for more than one month, so the age-reduction card’s length was sufficient. After reducing her 12 years, however, Kpanova was still 29 years old, which far exceeded the peak age for female gymnasts.

A 29-year-old female gymnast was still too old.

A 29-year-old will still be much better than a 41-year-old! Dai Li told himself.

In truth, Dai Li had another idea, which was to give Kpanova a few tens of thousands of dollars as funds for her son’s medicine. For Dai Li, that much money was expendable.

Dai Li, however, rejected his own idea.

It was because Kpanova was a great mother. She was worth Dai Li using an age-reduction card on. She deserved respect, not tens of thousands of dollars of charity.

Dai Li even decided that if Kpanova did not obtain good results in the Olympics, he would give her a job and hire her as a coach at the training center. That way she would be able to afford the medical cost of her son’s treatment.

Working as a coach in the U.S. was definitely more profitable than working as a coach in Uzbekistan.

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.

…

The quadrennial Olympics began once again.

This time, Dai Li did not take part in the Olympics as a head coach, but he was more than a spectator. Among all the Olympians, over 200 of them were clients of Dai Li’s training center.

The gymnastic events were some of the most competitive events that began early in the Games. The vault event was one of the most important events in gymnastics.

The vault event was a competitive event in the first modern Olympic games in 1896. It was considered one of the more historical competitions in modern sports history. Over the past few years, female vaulters have started to use more and more male actions, which made the female vault events increasingly exciting.

The vault competition in the Olympics was clearly the highest level vault competition in the world. It was also one of the most watchable vault competition around. Notably, in the finals of the female vault event, the abilities of the athletes were exceptional. It was rare for anyone to try a move with a difficulty rating of below six. Highly difficult moves, with a difficulty rating of 6.4, were common occurrences.

The final was also a gathering of stars and talents. The defending champion from Russia, Natalia, and the seven-time Olympic veteran, a “mother” contestant, the 41-year-old Kpanova, were both there.

The one who garnered the most attention, however, was Simmons, an athlete from the U.S.

Simmons was a black athlete. The 19-year-old Simmons appeared for the first time in the adult group competition three years ago. In three short years, she had already won ten gold medals in the World Gymnastic Competition, surpassing Russia’s “Queen of Gymnastics” and America’s “Gymnastic Princess.” She became the female gymnast with the most world championship gold medals in history.

Considering that Simmons was only 19 years old, she could still compete for at least another three years. It was natural for her to win more gold medals.

Simmons was an almighty competitor whose best event was the vault!

Most ordinary people believed that the balance beam was the most difficult event in female gymnastics. It was extremely difficult for a normal person to try and balance him or herself on it, but athletes were able to perform highly difficult moves on top of it. It was more like an acrobatic performance.

In truth, for professional athletes, the vault was the most difficult event. This was because the event needed athletes to finish an entire set of continuous actions the moment they leaped into the air. It was unlike the balance beam or the uneven bars, where athletes had sufficient buffer time before they executed a set of actions.

Regardless of the sport, consecutive combination moves were always difficult.

The higher the level of the competition, the higher the difficulty rating of the techniques. The difference between a difficulty rating of 5.8 and 6.0 was the difference between heaven and earth even though the gap between them was only 0.2.

In the U.S., was one of the world’s best countries in terms of gymnastics standards, no athlete had ever won the female vault gold medal.

That day, Simmons was expected to become the first American to win an Olympic gold medal in the female vault event.

…

The first athlete up was a young 16-year-old Canadian athlete. She had never participated in a world championship or the Olympics before, so it was her first time appearing in a competition on the global stage. For her, getting to the final was already incredible.

The Canadian youngster’s strength was also not to be trifled with. She chose a technique with a difficulty rating of 6.0 for her first attempt and obtained a score of 8.766. On her second attempt, she chose a move with a difficulty rating of 6.3 and obtained a score of 8.666.

In the vault event, athletes were required to complete two jumps consecutively. The techniques used could not be the same for both. Before athletes jumped, they had to tell the referee the difficulty rating of their jump before proceeding to the execution of the jump.

The difficulty rating points added to the completion score. Subtracting points for errors to that score would produce the final score for the athlete’s jump. Adding the final score of the two jumps together and dividing it by two would produce the average score, which would become the final outcome of the athlete.

Take, for example, the Canadian youth’s score. Her first jump had a difficulty rating of 6.0 and a completion score of 8.766, so her total score for the jump was 14.766. The difficulty rating of her second jump increased by 0.3 points, but her completion score decreased by 0.1 points. The final score of her second attempt was 14.966 points.

If she were to make any errors during her jump, then, when calculating the score, points would be deducted. For example, if she had stepped out of bounds when she landed the jump, a 0.1 point deduction would be recorded.

For an athlete taking part in the finals of the Olympic games for the first time, this Canadian youngster’s performance could be regarded as perfect. The only thing was that, in a world-class competition like this, even a perfect performance on jumps with 6.0 and 6.3 difficulty ratings was not enough to be crowned champion. One could even say that it was not enough to challenge for a medal.

As expected, the contestants that came later all chose techniques with much higher difficulty ratings. They also executed them excellently. The final score of the contestants all exceeded 15 points, some even exceeded the score of 15.5 points.

As experts showed their skills, the competition reached its climax.

The defending champion, the Russian contestant Natalia, took her first jump. She chose a back handspring round-off, back straight body somersault, and 900-degree spin, which had a difficulty rating of 6.3.

The defending champion’s strength was not to be underestimated. She obtained a high score of 9.250 for her completion score, with a final score of 15.550.

In her second attempt, Natalia increased the difficulty. She chose a back handspring round-off with a 180-degree spin and a front straight body somersault with a 540-degree spin. It had a difficulty rating of 6.5. This was a set of very difficult moves. Normal professional athletes did not even have the ability to attempt it and, with a difficulty rating of 6.5, it was also the highest difficulty rating in the finals so far.

Natalia obtained a final score of 15.750 with that jump. She moved up to first place. Her final score, 15.650, was really hard to surpass.

Many people who were there felt that Natalia had successfully defended her title.

…

Then, it was Simmons’ turn.

Natalia’s 15.650 points high score made Simmons feel a lot of pressure.

Her first set of techniques had the same difficulty rating of 6.3. She did a back handspring round-off and a back straight body somersault with a 900-degree spin.. It was the same as Natalia’s first jump.

Then, Simmons showed Natalia who was the better gymnast.

It had been the same jump, but Natalia had earned a 9.250 completion score while Simmons had managed a stunning 9.6 points!

That was 0.35 points more!

It was the difference in their abilities.

Her first attempt was already a frightening 15.9 points. This result made her worthy of being called “The World’s Strongest!”

With a lead of 0.35 points, in a competition of this level, it was practically impossible to overcome.

Everyone thought that the gold medal had fallen into the hands of Simmons.

With a 0.35 points lead, Simmons had every right to choose a technique with a slightly lower difficulty rating for her second attempt.

Natalia had chosen a technique with a difficulty rating of 6.5 for her second attempt. As long as Simmons selected a technique with a difficulty rating of above 6.2, she would safely hold first place.

Under the gaze of the entire stadium, Simmons indicated to the referee her next move.

The referee looked shocked and, after discussing for a while, it was decided.

She would do a 180-degree round-off with a front straight body somersault with a 720 degrees spin. It had a difficulty rating of 6.4. It was also a new move, created by Simmons herself.

If Simmons completed this jump, then this set of techniques would be named after Simmons!

Simmons took a deep breath and started her run. She jumped and flew in the air. Her height was perfect and her posture was comparable to art!

Both her feet hit the ground, Simmons stood firmly on the ground and puffed her chest up, while raising both her hands in the air. She had finished the set.

It was an execution that was near-perfect!

The judges gave a super high score of 9.633. With the 6.4 points of difficulty rating, Simmons’ score for her second attempt was 16.033 points!

This was a crazily high score!

In the vault event, scores surpassing the 16-point mark only existed in the men’s vault competitions.

Simmons, who was a female athlete, had succeeded in producing a score that was only seen in male competitions!

Even the TV commentator could not help but say, “The competition is over, we can congratulate Simmons now for winning the gold medal of this event!”

At that moment, however, one contestant still had yet to make her appearance.

It was the 41-year-old veteran, Kpanova, taking part in the Olympics for the seventh time!

…

Kpanova knew what kind of opposition she faced.

She had appeared on the international stage when she was only 14 years old. In the 27 years of her professional career, she had seen way too many top-class athletes.

When the “Queen of Gymnastics” of Russia had first appeared, Kpanova had been the world champion. By the time the “Queen of Gymnastics” retired, Kpanova was still fighting the fight. Then, it was the “Gymnastics Princess,” who had taken the place of Russia’s “Queen of Gymnastics.” Kpanova still managed to remain until after the “Gymnastics Princess” had retired.

One could say that Kpanova was a first-hand witness to the rises and falls in the gymnastics world over the past three decades. She had witnessed the rise of multiple almighty individuals and then saw them move out of her way.

Now, another individual had appeared in the world of women’s gymnastics. It was Simmons, who was even stronger than the “Queen of Gymnastics” and the “Gymnastics Princess.”

Kpanova could not help but admit that the girl named Simmons was definitely the most gifted female gymnast she had ever seen.

Kpanova knew that, even if she were still at her peak, she might not be able to defeat her opponent. She was also 41 years old, it was practically like trying to beat a rock with an egg.

Kpanova still went into the arena. She needed to fight for her son one more time.

Kpanova indicated to the referee the moves and techniques she was going to do. She was doing a handspring and 360-degree body somersault with no hands. It had a difficulty rating of 6.4.

It was a set of techniques used in male vault competitions. Due to the high difficulty, no female gymnast had ever succeeded in this set of techniques before.

The first to use this set of technique was Kpanova. This set was also the first to be named after Kpanova herself.

years ago, Kpanova once relied on this set to win the world championship. This was her signature move. For her, this set was familiar.

There was a run and then a leap into the air. While floating in the air, Kpanova smoothly completed the set of familiar moves without any error!

She managed a completion score of 9.30 points. It was a really high completion score, that surpassed the score of the Russian competitor, Natalia.

Perhaps from the standpoint of execution and completion, Kpanova was not perfect. With the image of being “a 41-year-old mother who was determined to participate so that she can treat her son’s illness,” however, the judges gave her a few tenths of points in sympathy.

A difficulty rating of 6.4 added with a completion score of 9.3. Kpanova’s final score was 15.7 points. It was a fantastic score!

It was still far from getting the gold medal. This was because the first jump of the American contestant, Simmons, had gotten 15.9 points. Compared to that, Kpanova was still behind by 0.2 points.

More importantly, Simmons’ second jump had a score of 16.033. It was incredulous, there was simply no way of surpassing that!

Kpanova took a deep breath. Of course, she knew that it was practically impossible to close the 0.2 points gap. If she wanted to win the gold medal, her second attempt needed to surpass 16.233 points. Only then would she be able to beat Simmons in her final score.

Even among male contestants, 16.233 points was a high score. It was all but impossible for female athletes.

Kpanova had no way out. Getting the gold medal meant that she would receive a bigger reward from her country. It was the medical fee for her son, it was her son’s life!

Initially, Kpanova had planned to do a handspring and a straight body somersault with a 540-degree spin, which had a difficulty rating of 6.4. It was also a set that Kpanova had used first.

Kpanova had trained with this set for over a decade and she was immensely familiar with it. She was confident that she could execute it flawlessly.

This set, however, could not get her 16.233 points!

One needed a completion score of 9.833 to get 16.233 points with 6.4 difficulty rating.

Nobody could do that! Even if she was better than ever before, there was still no way to get a 9.833 completion score.

Kpanova was forced into a dead end.

In an instant, a determined look appeared on her face.

Then, she indicated to the referee the techniques she would use in her second attempt.

“A Handspring – forward somersault with body tucked in for two circles!”

The referee was stunned for a good ten seconds. He was sure he had heard her wrong.

“Can you repeat that?” The referee asked.

“A handspring – forward somersault with body tucked in for two circles!” Kpanova answered.

“Are you sure? A handspring – forward somersault with body tucked in for two circles!” The referee couldn’t believe it.

“Yes!” Kpanova nodded seriously.

If she were a rookie, the referee would think she had messed up the name for a different technique, but the woman was a few years older than him. She had spent more time training as a gymnast than the referee had been a referee and an athlete combined. There was no way she would make a mistake like that.

The referee opened his mouth and tried to advise Kpanova. As the words reached the tip of his mouth, he remembered his responsibilities. After that, he sighed in resignation and informed the group of judges of Kpanova’s selection.

…

The big screen in the stadium showed the difficulty rating of Kpanova’s next jump.

.0!

A set of moves with a difficulty rating of 7.0 in the women’s vault competition!

In front of the TV, Dai Li widened his eyes.

He did not come from the gymnastics world, but he knew what a 7.0 meant!

At that moment, a set appeared in Dai Li’s mind. It was widely accepted as the world’s most difficult and most dangerous gymnastic move of all time, for men or women.

This set had a nickname, the “Leap of death!”

…

A handspring – forward somersault with body tucked in for two circles. A set with the highest difficulty rating in the history of the women’s vault event.

The handspring move was hard enough. Before the 90s, the handspring onto the vault was a specialty distinctly in the men’s vault competitions. The key to this technique was the after-flight. If the effects of the after-flight were terrible, then it would be difficult to complete the rest of the techniques.

After the handspring, came the forward somersault, which was also a challenge. More importantly, it needed a tucked body forward somersault in which she spun twice.

As the human body flew into the air, it was hard to control when it was tucked in. Somersaulting with the body tucked in made it so that the entire body moved like a cannon. It moved fast, had terrible balance, and was hard to control. If one were careless, the entire body would hit the ground like a ball.

That was why the set of technique was very dangerous. Ever since the day it appeared, someone in the gymnastic world had advocated for the abolishment of the move. Many world-class athletes had wanted to try this move, but they were all denied by their coaches.

As for this set, only five persons had ever completed it. Kpanova was one of them.

When she completed this move, she had been 28. Now, she was 41!

…

The live audience saw a difficulty rating of 7.0.

People who were familiar with the sport immediately understood that Kpanova had chosen to try the “Leap of Death.”

“Has she gone crazy? She actually chose the leap of death!”

“Oh my God, did she forget that she is 41?”

“She’s going all in. Kpanova’s putting her life on the line!”

This seemed to start a riot. No one would have ever thought that Kpanova actually would actually choose this move.

Why? Why did she choose this set? Is it just for that gold medal? Simmons widened her eyes. She knew that it was practically impossible for Kpanova to surpass her current score unless she chose some crazy top-class difficulty moves.

Simmons did not understand why Kpanova put in so much effort!

It was just a competition and she was putting her life on the line!

Even for an Olympic gold medal, one did not need to wager one’s life!

Simmons had grown up with her maternal grandmother. She had never felt the love of a mother when she was a child so she could not empathize with Kpanova.

For her son to live, Kpanova was willing to throw her life away!

Everyone’s gaze focused on Kpanova. Everyone who knew of Kpanova’s experience could feel the greatness of the petite woman in front of their eyes.

Standing on the stage, Kpanova was no longer just an athlete, she was a mother!

…

The live camera closed in on Kpanova’s face. At that moment, her determined gaze was focused on a faraway place.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

From the crowd, someone started clapping in a rhythm. Following that, like a contagious disease, the rhythmic claps spread all over the entire stadium.

On the other side, the pommel horse competition stopped. Their gaze turned towards Kpanova.

On the judges stand, a female judge could not help but stand up and look at Kpanova with teary eyes. She was also a mother and she knew Kpanova’s situation, so she could understand Kpanova’s choice.

Some people made praying hand gestures. They prayed for Kpanova and wished her success.

On the other hand, Kpanova seemed to have not perceived anything that was happening around her.

She was thinking about her son. In her memories, he always smiled at her, gently. Even as he lay on the bed while receiving chemotherapy, enduring great pains, he always smiled gently at her!

Kpanova knew that that smile was something that she would gladly trade her life to protect.

She ran. She did a handspring on the vault and, immediately after that, she tucked her body and made two rounds of a forward somersault. As she landed, Kpanova fully regained control and took a slight step forward.

Kpanova used up all her strength in this jump and completed the entire set of moves. Although it was not perfect, there were no mistakes!

She had completed the 7.0 difficulty rated leap of death!

The moment Kpanova landed on the ground, she did not feel even the slightest tinge of joy. She was mostly filled with anxiety.

She needed 16.233 points. Including the 7.0 difficulty score, she needed a completion score of 9.233.

So, Kpanova looked toward the screen immediately. Anxiety, unease, nervousness, were written on her face.

The camera also focused in on Simmons. She seemed calm, she would be amazed if Kpanova’s moves could get her a 9.0 completion score.

In the next second, the big screen displayed Kpanova’s results.

Difficulty Rating: 7.0.

Completion Score: 9.333.

Total Score: 16.333.

Kpanova won!

…

Why? How is it possible that she got such a high completion score! Simmons stared in disbelief at the big screen. To her, Kpanova’s jump did not deserve such a high completion score.

The American coach patted Simmons on the shoulder and consoled her. “Child, you did not actually lose in this competition!”

Simmons stared at her coach, puzzled. She did not understand what her coach meant.

The coach looked at the crying Kpanova and said, “You did not lose because you were worse, but you lost because she is a mother!”