competing as an individual he beat 21 professional players

On September 3, 2017, Beijing time, the men's individual final of the triathlon at the Tianjin National Games took place. The Liberation Army team achieved a sweeping victory, with Bai Faquan winning the gold medal in 1 hour, 49 minutes, and 50.547 seconds. Xu Zheng won the silver medal in 1 hour, 50 minutes, and 5.170 seconds, and Li Mingxu from the Hebei team won the bronze medal in 1 hour, 50 minutes, and 5.913 seconds. Competing as an individual, Bas Li Pengcheng finished 17th out of 38 participants with a time of 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 51.193 seconds, making history!

————

Among all the participants, Bas was number 39, the last number. There was no number 13 (as 13 is considered an unlucky number, it is generally not used in major competitions).

Unlike the other 37 participants whose names were followed by information such as 'Liberation Army', 'Hebei', or 'Hong Kong', Bas's name was followed by the word 'Individual'. Bas was the last of the 38 participants, but he was also the 'first'.

As the first amateur athlete in the history of the National Games to participate in the triathlon event as an 'individual', Bas would make history regardless of his performance.

On August 31, three days before the competition, Bas arrived in Tianjin to acclimate to the venue. Unlike other professional athletes, Bas did not have a coach accompanying him, nor did he have strong backup support. When asked about his goals for the competition, Bas said he aimed to complete the race.

The triathlon at the National Games consists of a 1.5-kilometer swim, a 40-kilometer bike ride, and a 10-kilometer run. The bike ride consists of 6 laps, and any participant who gets lapped must immediately stop the race. In a previous women's cross-country cycling event, individual participant He Chong was lapped in the final stage and unfortunately did not finish.

The bike ride is the second event, and the first event is Bas's relatively weakest event—swimming, where the situation was not optimistic.

In the previous qualifying swim segment in Dongdaihe, Bas was a full 5 minutes behind the leading group. This time, he had to swim within 24 minutes to leave more time for the bike segment. To improve his swimming performance, Bas conducted closed training by himself for over a month before the National Games.

Unlike professional athletes who have dedicated coaches to formulate training plans and provide supervision and guidance, Bas had to rely on his self-discipline to complete all his training plans. To avoid accidentally consuming banned additives, he treated his diet like a monk. No one knew what kind of life he led, except for Bas himself.

At 10:00 AM, at Nanhu in Wuqing District, Tianjin, with the referee's signal, 38 participants simultaneously entered the water.

The 1.5-kilometer swim consisted of two laps. After the first lap, Bas was nearly 5 minutes behind the leader. After two laps, Bas finally emerged from the water a few minutes after the leading group, ranking last with a time of 22 minutes and 56 seconds. This time was better than Bas's expected time, but still not optimistic. Because the leading group had many participants, they might be more aggressive in the bike segment, which was not good news for Bas.

Indeed, after the first lap of the bike ride, Bas was at the back, with the leading group closely behind him, still at risk of being lapped!

Fortunately, Bas adjusted his pace in time, exerting more effort in the second and third laps. By the fourth lap, he had basically escaped the danger zone and had surpassed four professional athletes, rising to 34th place.

The turning point came in the fifth lap. After the 7-member leading group quickly passed, the originally scattered small groups formed a second group of more than twenty people. Even more surprisingly, Bas moved from the tail position to the middle of the second group, with an overall ranking around 20th!

After 6 laps of cycling, the leading group of four athletes, led by the Liberation Army's Bai Faquan, entered the running segment first.

Because Bas had to put on socks during the transition to running, he spent nearly 20 seconds more than other participants, falling to the last position again, entering the final running segment as the 38th participant. However, the gap with the second group ahead was not large, and there was still a chance!

If you have been following Bas closely, you would remember his stunning comeback in the final stage of the running segment at the 2017 Jintang Triathlon. Everyone hoped that Bas could make another comeback in today's running segment, surpassing more professional athletes, representing amateur athletes and the power of the masses, and achieving better results.

And Bas did not disappoint his supporters. At the first turnaround point, he surpassed 11 professional athletes; at the second turnaround point, he surpassed 15. In the end, he finished in 2 hours, 0 minutes, and 51.193 seconds, crossing the finish line in 17th place, surpassing 21 professional athletes, including a fellow athlete from the Sichuan team!

How could this not make people exclaim and make all his supporters cheer!

He even became as much of a focus as the champion Bai Faquan. The audience on-site cheered for him as he approached the finish line, shouting: 'Go Bas!'

As a signed athlete of Codoon, Bas also has many supporters on Codoon. In an interview, Bas said, 'I know many people are like me, amateurs, but so what? Even if we never have the chance to become professional athletes, as long as there is water, we can swim; as long as there are bikes, we can ride; as long as there are roads, we can run. If you want it, nothing is impossible. I am the best example!'

As the largest sports social platform in the country, Codoon has over 100 million users and many athletes to choose from. Why Bas? Why choose to sign and support such an amateur triathlete?

Because Codoon serves ordinary people like Bas.

In the past, we might have said, 'They are professional athletes; we can't compare.' But now, you might think, 'If Bas can do it, so can I.' This is the true essence of national fitness and mass sports, and it is what Codoon strives for.

In the triathlon community, especially the amateur triathlon community, Bas is known for his incredible self-discipline. Triathlon demands high standards for dietary and lifestyle habits. Unlike professional athletes who treat triathlon as their job, Bas also has his own job. He works hard to balance his job and triathlon. Late nights, takeout, and even his previously favorite video games are all off-limits in his world. The track and the pool have become the places he frequents most outside of work. Fortunately, all this effort has been worth it.

Training alone, preparing alone, competing alone, Bas appeared lonely and desolate on the National Games stage. Unlike the other 37 professional athletes who had teammates and coaches, Bas could only rely on himself.

Bas might have been underestimated in the past, but starting today, he is recorded in history as the first amateur triathlete to participate in and successfully complete the National Games. Whether it is the 21 people he surpassed or the 16 people ahead of him, they will surely respect this amateur triathlete who competed as an individual.

Congratulations to Bas, best wishes to Bas, and may all those who strive and persist for their passion, like Bas, be blessed.