The Sweetness of the Seventies-Chapter 1224 - 1192 "Blowing the Whistle

He Tiantian, as expected, achieved first place again, with a female athlete from Korea taking second.

However, when the results were announced, He Tiantian was astonishingly disqualified for a rule infraction, making the Korean athlete the winner.

The Korean female athlete, who had been somewhat despondent, immediately burst into tears, overwhelmed with emotion, and knelt facing the stands that housed most of the Korean audience to bow down.

Tiantian, however, was somewhat stunned, thinking to herself, "I can’t believe Huo Yingjie was right about ’blowing the whistle’!"

Country H’s side didn’t accept this and immediately filed a complaint, demanding a reassessment of Tiantian’s performance.

With technological advances, there is video recording both above and below the water.

"That’s utterly shameless," Coach Wu cursed, "Those stick-in-the-muds are trying to steal a victory from the jaws of defeat!"

"Teacher He is the rightful first place. If Teacher He’s result doesn’t count, then they become the winners," Zhu Zhitao raged, "They show no sportsmanship. Whatever rule they say was broken, we didn’t see it; we demand to view the video recording."

"Hmm, I believe Teacher He wouldn’t have violated any rules," Coach Wu confidently stated, his usual training was proper, and he had already won medals before, so he had every right to lodge an appeal.

In the past, the Olympic Committee might have been dismissive of appeals from Country H, but this time it was about He Tiantian’s performance.

He Tiantian was the sensation of this Olympic session and had significant international influence.

Additionally, the fact that a Korean judge was the one who invalidated He Tiantian’s result made things quite intriguing.

The Olympic Committee immediately accepted the complaint for review since it involved the awarding of medals, and thus, Coach Wu from Country H, Director Li, along with He Tiantian, and her coach, Zhu Zhitao, were all present.

The female Korean athlete and the relevant Korean officials also accompanied her into the room.

The Olympic Committee’s task force brought up the video to watch the entirety of Tiantian’s swim.

From the starting gun, Tiantian dove into the water with a perfect posture and then swam swiftly; every action was extremely precise, and her turns were even more graceful, her whole body’s muscles radiating strength and aesthetic beauty.

At that moment, everyone saw what seemed to be a sprite in the water.

From start to finish, in that brief time, everyone watched the video intently, focused until Tiantian touched the wall first in the end, displaying a race time without any issue, nothing short of perfect.

"Wow!" an Olympic Committee staff member exclaimed after the video ended, "Utterly perfect, Ms. He’s performance stands valid."

The others present nodded in agreement, casting their affirmative votes.

Seeing such a video silenced the Korean officials; disappointment and anger evident on their faces, especially the Korean athlete who looked at Tiantian with resentment, even a touch of abasement.

Tiantian herself was a bit surprised; so many expressions could be discerned on a single face.

With Country H’s successful appeal, Tiantian’s result was validated, and she won the gold medal.

And in the subsequent competitions, Tiantian’s performance was nothing less than perfect.

To avoid any bias similar to that of the Korean judge, the Olympic Committee used judges from Europe and America for the rest of the events.

It wasn’t just fair treatment but the fact that Tiantian’s performances were impeccable, leaving no room for any judge to find fault, demonstrating absolute strength.

He Tiantian had already captured seven gold medals, causing a major stir both domestically and internationally.

The final event was the freestyle relay.

Zhu Zhitao was thrilled, his athlete He Tiantian had won seven gold medals, and Xie Feifei’s performance was also outstanding; she amazingly won a gold medal in the 1500-meter freestyle, a silver in the 800-meter freestyle, and a bronze in the 400-meter freestyle. Xi Rongrong and Liu Yihua also won bronze medals; their results were quite satisfactory.

Because Jiao Lihong and Cai Fenfang withdrew from the competition, the relay team could only consist of Xi Rongrong and Liu Yihua.

All were athletes under Zhu Zhitao’s guidance; it was the last stretch of the swim team’s competition.

"Do not be nervous," Zhu Zhitao said, "Give your all for the first three legs, and leave the last leg to Teacher He; that should assure us a medal."

Rather than easing everyone’s tension, Zhu Zhitao’s words made them even more anxious.

He Tiantian came over, calm and composed. Seeing Xie Feifei, Xi Rongrong, and others like this, she smiled and asked, "What’s wrong?"

"Teacher He... I... I’m nervous," Xi Rongrong said. "I haven’t won a gold medal before, and I want to bask in your glory through this relay race to win one."

"Haha," He Tiantian chuckled. "Don’t worry. I’ve calculated that as long as you deliver your usual training performance plus my final sprint, we’ll definitely win the gold."

"Really... Really?" Liu Yihua was excited, as she hadn’t won a gold medal yet; her best result was a bronze.

Although the swim team’s overall performance was quite good, hers was not and did not stand out.

"Of course, it’s possible," He Tiantian said. "Trust me! Appropriate tension can help in a competition, but being overly nervous like this isn’t good. Just do your best and don’t stress. Besides, I’m here!"

Xie Feifei, ever since winning a gold medal, had gained some confidence in her own abilities and said, "With Teacher He here, we’ve got nothing to worry about. Let’s do this."

"Right, let’s do this, for the gold!" Xi Rongrong and Liu Yihua said in unison.

He Tiantian extended her hand, and the other three placed theirs on top, and together they said, "Let’s do this!"

The race started, and the first leg was swum by Xie Feifei, who was neck and neck with a swimmer from the United States team, almost reaching the turn at the same time.

Coach Wu and Zhu Zhitao nodded their heads, satisfied with such a performance.

Next up was Xi Rongrong, who tried her best but was in second place.

The least favored Liu Yihua performed exceptionally well this time. Though she was in third place in the third leg, she was only half a body length behind the second, which could be considered a stellar performance.

The last leg belonged to He Tiantian, and everyone from Country H in the audience, along with all fans who admired He Tiantian’s miraculous swimming feats, stood up to watch the sprite in the water.

He Tiantian demonstrated with her action that as long as one has strength and determination, a successful comeback is possible!

Before the 100-meter turn, she had already passed the second place swimmer and, after the turn, went all out to chase down Country M’s team, which was in the lead.

This gold medal wasn’t much for He Tiantian, but she didn’t want the few young ladies by her side to be disappointed. With this gold medal, perhaps she could help them go further on their swimming journey.

Indeed, He Tiantian was a miracle of swimming. During the 50-meter return leg, she had already overtaken the first place.

It was that effortless, done with ease!

As He Tiantian reached the finish line, the whole audience stood up. She was the most dazzling sports star of this Olympic Games.

The entire audience stood and applauded He Tiantian.

These people included fans, friends of He Tiantian, her teammates, colleagues, and the staff.

During the award ceremony, Liu Yihua and Xi Rongrong crowded around to give He Tiantian several big kisses!

Indeed, basking in He Tiantian’s glory, they too could stand at the highest podium, singing the national anthem, receiving their medals, with shiny gold medals hanging around their necks.