It was the year 2036, Planet Earth…
Again, it was a Summer Olympics tournament year.
This time, it was held in Los Angeles in the United States, the sprawling Southern California city which was renowned as the center of the nation's film and television industry.
The Olympic tournament was already on for some time and now, it was time for one of the most monumental events of every Olympic championship tournament, the 1×100m relay race after the 100m and 200m races.
Again, it was a familiar country name that was the favorite and competing for the gold medal, Jamaica.
Jamaica still dominated, producing the fastest men on planet earth.
Having produced the fastest man alive in history already through the period of 2008-2017 when the great Usain Bolt dominated the track, Jamaica was about to produce another all-time great in the form of Justin Alex.
The atmosphere for this 1×100m relay was even more feverish not just because of the rekindled fierce rivalry between the Jamaican and U.S national teams, but also because of what Justin Alex already achieved.
Just like his idol, the great Usain bolt, Justin Alex already did a clean sweep of gold medals of the 2 previous iterations of the Summer Olympic tournament.
In the 2028 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles, Justin Alex burst into the scene, claiming all 3 gold medals in the 100 meters, 200 meters, and 1×100 meters relay in scintillating fashion.
Then, comparisons to the great Usain Bolt started being made but none of it was concrete until the 2032 Summer Olympics held in Australia.
It was not until Australia when Alex repeated the feat, claiming a clean sweep of all 3 gold medals again that his credentials truly rose to the level of the all-time greats of the Olympic tournaments.
Alex didn't just repeat the feat, claiming a clean sweep though, he did it in even more dominating fashion as he broke the record of his idol in the 100 meters, creating a new 100 meters world record with a crazy time of 9.55.
Alex ran the 100 meters 3 seconds faster than the great Usain Bolt!
With that, Alex became the fastest man to live in the 100 meters.
And in this year's tournament, Rio 2036, almost an exact replica of the stage where his idol and mentor, the great Usain Bolt immortalized his name into the annals of history, Alex Justin was about to create his own legend.
The atmosphere of the stadium was feverish because Alex already claimed gold medals for the 100 meters and 200 meters in this tournament.
If he could claim his 3rd gold medal of the tournament with the Jamaican national team, earning another clean sweep, officially, he would finally sit on the same pedestal as the great Usain Bolt.
This is why the atmosphere was so feverish.
"On lane 1 lines up the national team of athletes from Trinidad and Tobago. They did a great job in the qualifications, now they're in the final, keen to prove their credentials as part of the top running nations in the world".
"Occupying lane 2 is team Great Britian".
"On lane 3 is team U.S.A, like usual one of the main favorites of this final".
"While on lane 4 is team Jamaica, led by one of the all-time greats in racing history, Justin Alex himself. Nesta Paul is the one with the baton". The commentator's voice rose up a pitch on getting to this point.
"Just like his idol, the great Usain Bolt, this is Alex's shot at immortalizing himself in the annals of history as a true track legend and G.O.A.T".
"Does he have what it takes to do it?"
"Can he create history?"
The atmosphere became even more heated as the other national teams occupying the other lanes were introduced, and then, the time came.
"On your marks!"
All the athletes in the first lap of the relay race took to their starting lines as they bent, entering the sprinting form.
At this point, the gigantic stadium seemed to become as still as ice, then…
"Set!"
Bam!
Immediately after the gunshot reverberated, like a trigger to ignite gunpowder was just pressed, the athletes exploded.
The stadium erupted with it.
"Team U.S.A starts on a high, what acceleration from Liam Fury!"
"Can Nesta Paul recover?"
On lane 3 and lane 4 respectively, the 2 main favorites of this relay race exploded with speed immediately after the gunshot but it was U.S.A who prevailed as Liam Fury ran a record-breaking first lap.
Despite starting behind, Fury was able to close the gap, somehow handing his baton over before Nesta Paul could.
The battle was on!
"Team U.S.A hands the baton first! Did Fury just create the catalyst to greatness? A first national relay win in 12 years?!"
On the 2nd lap, Jamaica and the U.S.A finally proved their overwhelming superiority as they dug in, pulling ahead of the others before handing their batons to their teammates in the 3rd lap and again, U.S.A was still ahead.
On the 3rd lap, with both favorites ahead already, team U.S.A pushed even further ahead as the superstar athlete, Tyson Gay Jnr. who was the widely recognized 2nd best of the United States created another record-breaking sprint.
And finally, it was the 4th lap.
"U.S.A is still ahead!" The commentator's voice dripped with excitement.
"What a run from Gay Jnr!"
"And he finally hands the baton over to Arnold James!"
"Arnold moved! Arnold moved first!" The commentator was literally screaming.
"Is this it?!"
"Is this it for the Jamaican team?"
"Alex is already running! The baton finally gets to his hands, can he do it?"
There was a significant gap between James, the best sprinter of the United States team and Alex already but the moment that he got his hand on the baton, only one answer to the commentator's question rang in his head.
'Yes!'
Staring James down from behind with such an intense glare that could kill, abstraction occurred in Alex's head.
In computing, a programmer hides all but the relevant data about an object in order to reduce complexity and increase efficiency. In computing, they called it the process of abstraction.
At this moment, Alex experienced abstraction.
All the noise, the feverish atmosphere, the pressure, everything faded, sinking into his body; saturating his bone, blood, and flesh till his body ramped up and geared into the state of zone.
In this state, only 2 things remained in Alex's head after abstraction.
The 2 things were Arnold James and the finish line.
And then, he started.
Thud!
His leg hit the ground and the sound seemed to reverberate in his head. Before his brain could fully register it, his other leg already hit the ground.
Before his brain could register his other leg, the first leg already hit the ground again.
At this moment, Alex didn't run, he floated!
"What acceleration!"
"Alex has left his post like a speed bullet!"
"Did he already hit his top speed? Yes, he did!"
"James is still ahead, it seems impossible, he can't possibly do it can he? Can Alex do it?!"
On that day, the Summer Olympics witnessed something legendary.
Despite starting at such a great deficit against one of the best sprinters in track racing history, Justin Alex was able to do it, eating yards of space like they were not there in mere seconds till somehow, he ran shoulder to shoulder with James!
By then, they were just milliseconds from the finish line.
And then, they crossed the finish line.
"My God!"
"Who won?!"
"Did he do it? Did he seriously do it?!"
"And yes, the computer confirmed it! Justinnnn Alexxxx has done it!" The commentator roared. "He is now immortal!"
"Team Jamaica did it!"
"That's a new world record for the 1×100 meters relays!"
"What a race!"
As soon as the commentator announced it, Nesta Paul ran towards Alex before lifting him up the next moment in celebration.
Feeling his legs in the air, Alex cared about nothing else but the euphoria at this moment as the feverish atmosphere that was abstracted out of his perception finally came flooding in with full force.
Alex felt excited, he felt drugged, he felt on top of the world.
"We did it!" He screamed shrilly.
Amid his excitement, that was when it happened.
All of a sudden, he felt dizzy, almost like something from afar was calling towards his soul, and then he lost consciousness.
In history, it would be recorded that right after becoming an Olympic champion and legend, Justin Alex died while celebrating.
But in reality, Alex's soul was sucked into time!
{…your soul has been kidnapped!}
{Your new name is Runner 87!}
{Your color is red!}
{Now…, run for your life!}
Silence.
'Wait, what the f*ck!'