Before the men's 10,000m final, there was only one question — could Yu Shuiqing claim three golds and achieve his "want it all" goal at the National Games?

Of course, winning three golds in five days depended not only on Yu Shuiqing's strength but also on his opponents' tactical cooperation. Yu had expected it would be difficult, but he hadn't anticipated the process would be so twisty and arduous.

In the end he did not manage the feat of sweeping three golds. The men's 10,000m also produced a dramatic turn — Jiang Fakun crossed the finish first and, as he celebrated,20 years had passed since Yunnan last won a 10,000m gold; four hours later Shandong's appeal was successful, the referees applied TR 6.3.1, and Jiang Fakun's result was invalidated, with the placings adjusted accordingly.

In the end, Shandong's Tang Haoran posted 28:54.24  to win the title, and Yu Shuiqing posted28:55.28  to take second place.

When our interview with Yu Shuiqing began, he was still in third place. After a phone call midway, he became the 10,000m runner-up. He said he had never felt regret, but now he did.

When I answered the phone, Yu Shuiqing, who had just finished third in the 10,000m, said, "I let out a long sigh — these five days were too hard, too hard."

Originally, before the National Games, coach Sun Ripeng discussed the events with him and told him to "take it easy" — in other words, he wanted his athlete to prioritize which gold must be secured and which could be chased. Coach Sun was also trying to relieve some pressure; after all, three competitions in five days — the schedule and the stress were obvious.

But Yu Shuiqing's answer was — I don't want to back off, I want to win all three gold medals. "I only want to be uniquely myself. I want to do what others can't." We usually think that one gold is a perfect achievement, but for a talent like him, three golds match his ambition.

Over the past six months, he and coach Sun Ripeng prepared for the National Games assuming three hard battles. But even after more than half a year of meticulous preparation and planning to cope with difficulties, Yu Shuiqing's reflection after actually finishing a National Games was still:

"The difficulty of the National Games still exceeded my expectations. Only when I stepped onto the National Games arena could I really feel it — the feeling was completely different from any race I've taken part in before."

3000 m steeplechase gold was Yu Shuiqing's to take. Yu said that after the race ended a little after nine in the evening, when he returned to the hotel and lay down to rest, it was already the early hours of the new day. The excitement from the race hadn't faded, and the brief relaxation after full concentration left him sleepless that entire night.

Yu Shuiqing felt the National Games' omnipresent tests — not just the race against the clock on the track, but the need to maintain intense mental focus and then recover after depleting one’s inner energy. Their hotel was a half-hour from the venue; for someone dealing with consecutive high-density, high-intensity competition, that was all part of the challenge.

After taking 3000 m steeplechase gold — also his first gold — people thought Yu Shuiqing's pressure to win should have eased, right? But he says the pressure on him has actually been growing. After taking 5000 m gold, that pressure instead peaked — the 10,000m is the only one left to win.

But Yu Shuiqing knows that the battle over the 10,000m will be even harder.

"The difficulty of the 10,000m isn't about fighting at high intensity after your energy is spent; it's about team coordination and the various tactical strategies used to respond. Everyone is watching me run, and as soon as I follow I end up changing pace. I actually wanted to try to lead, but it was no use. So I could only run steady at first. Everyone adjusted their approach based on my characteristics."

As Yu Shuiqing said, from the start the opponents kept changing pace. Running almost solo, he found himself in a dilemma——if he didn't follow, sudden surges from others would leave him even more passive. If he did follow, his own rhythm would be relatively unstable.

With his body extremely fatigued, Yu Shuiqing felt his running muscles react after 5 kilometers, 'like they were going to cramp — a feeling I've never had before.'

The turning point came at the final moment. Yang Shaohui, who had been lapped, saw leader Jiang Fakun and moved up to surge and pull him along. That surge broke the following Yu Shuiqing. "I didn't expect him to go that fast; without that move I might not have fallen off. I suddenly couldn't keep up."

After the turning point, Yu Shuiqing said his mindset had already "relaxed" at that moment. "I felt like I had nothing left to pursue; in that instant I couldn't keep running." At the time of the interview, Yu Shuiqing was still third in the 10,000m. Then a phone call came — he realized the situation had changed.

In the end, as everyone knows — the Yunnan team's gold was disqualified for a violation, places were adjusted, Tang Haoran was promoted to second, and Yu Shuiqing took silver by 1 second. "With it turned out this way, after the appeal succeeded, I actually feel some regret."

He didn't feel any relief from moving up a place; instead he felt that a one-second difference had put his dream of three golds on hold. "If I had finished third, I wouldn't have cared — it would have been nothing. But now that it's second, I was so close to achieving the three golds."

Yu Shuiqing said, whose four years aren't four years? His, Jiang Fakun's, Tang Haoran's. Fate played a small joke in the 10,000m showdown — a duel of mixed joy and sorrow: some were happy, some were heartbroken.

Guangzhou was something of Yu Shuiqing's coming-out battle. Although he didn't pull off the feat of three golds, by taking 2 golds and 1 silver, he announced himself as the king of middle- and long-distance running.

But for Yu Shuiqing, the turning point in his life came four years ago in Xi'an. At that time, still an inexperienced young man, he ended up under the tutelage of coach Sun Ripeng and witnessed all the pressure the coach endured while preparing for the National Games.

Although he wasn't a mainstay of the team and the future was uncertain, the driven Yu Shuiqing, after experiencing the harsh realities of life, resolved to prove to the world — I will win a gold medal too.

Soon, under Coach Sun's guidance, Yu Shuiqing's talent for middle- and long-distance running became undeniable. He earned a sponsorship from Nike, set the fastest Chinese men's half marathon time in Renshou, and became the "backbone" of the Liaoning athletics team. Yu Shuiqing believes the root of all this transformation was the seed planted in his heart four years ago.

After settling in Liaoning, Yu Shuiqing felt valued — the team leaders treated him like one of their own, taking his every major and minor matter as their own. Even before he had fully delivered results, when he was short on gear, the leaders didn’t hesitate to give him the team's equipment.

After he signed with Nike, many things moved in a better direction. "They solved my training gear needs and provided financial support. To me, Nike cares about an athlete's inner growth — they bring surprises and warmth at many moments, which makes me feel they are a brand with heart."

When Yu Shuiqing talked about his relationship with Coach Sun he described, "We don't communicate that much in daily life and keep a certain distance. Off the field we get along like father and son, but once we step onto the training ground it's only training. I also hope he can be stricter with me — that way I'll be more disciplined with myself."

The development of a prodigy often seems to have something exceptional. Yu Shuiqing said that he 98% of his training meets Coach Sun's expectations. In other words, his training seems "flawless".

Yu Shuiqing used six months of training sessions as an example: "For the more difficult workouts, I always wear a heart rate strap, and the coach analyzes the data from my heart rate. For example, during mixed-oxygen runs, my heart rate has always been at aerobic levels, and is 20-30 lower than others."

After monitoring it for a while, Yu Shuiqing initially thought the heart rate strap was broken and even swapped with teammates. He later found out the data wasn't wrong — his cardiopulmonary system was just exceptionally strong.

This February , Yu Shuiqing set the national best in the half marathon in Renshou, becoming one of Coach Sun's trump cards. However, to him, the half marathon record is less important than a National Games gold medal. "Not because the National Games are held only once every four years, but since I came to Liaoning everyone instilled in me that the National Games are crucial — a seed planted four years ago has now sprouted."

Geniuses often have somewhat unusual ideas. We assumed Yu Shuiqing would be focused on grand plans for the future. But he says he'd rather be an ordinary person, to experience the simple, everyday routines and the warmth of ordinary life.

"Our daily life is just training, eating and sleeping; sometimes I feel disconnected from society. Sometimes the leadership uses Eliud Kipchoge to motivate me, saying he kept going even at 40. But those words don't resonate much with me — I just want to focus on the present and live well in the moment."

As the undisputed leader of middle- and long-distance running for Liaoning, and even for China’s future, Yu Shuiqing’s athletic credo is this — as long as you’re an athlete, you must give it your all. “I’m still very young now; I won’t give up on my future.”

Yu Shuiqing said that winning 2 gold medals is only a new beginning. His biggest goal is to one day qualify for the Olympics and showcase his talent on the sport’s highest stages.

Compared with the tedium of track training, Yu Shuiqing prefers the marathon. But unfortunately he won't be old enough to race until October 1  next year.

"I originally signed up for this year’s Shanghai Marathon health run just to have some fun, but it was canceled." Off the track, this gear-conscious young man also bought a smart device to monitor sleep duration and quality.

During the hour-long interview with Yu Shuiqing he experienced a change from bronze to silver, but no matter how the medal’s color changed, the regret in his heart remained. So much so that this regret made the honor of two golds "not worth mentioning" — "If I'd won three gold medals, I think there'd be something to talk about, but right now, it's really nothing."