Because there were dozens of athletes left in the stadium at this time, all of them were players who were about to participate in the 100-meter race. Although the preparation team of the sports meeting also prepared lunch for them, most athletes did not eat it immediately, but adapted to the venue and warmed up on the track.

On this side near the royal stand, the sports meeting staff inserted wooden poles at both ends of the track that had been measured, then tied them to the poles with long thin ropes, straightened them on the ground, and then the referees held iron spoons with long poles and drew straight lines on the solid mud along the thin rope...

"I was surprised before. There were neither starting stone slabs nor finishing stone pillars in this stadium. How to run the race? Now I know that the white lines drawn with white powder are the starting line, finishing line and tracks, which is very clear and clear!"

"But, I counted it and they only drew 6 tracks with white lines. Could it be that only 6 players were allowed to participate in the competition at a time? I remember that there were more than a dozen stone pillars at the end of other sports meetings, and more than a dozen players competed at the same time~——"

"It's nothing, just a few more rounds of competitions! The key is that there are fewer players in one game, which can avoid chaos and facilitate referees to supervise it. It seems that the Dionians have carefully referred to the disadvantages of other sports meets and are really trying to do a good job in this sports meet."

The person who spoke was Harpius, a middle-aged citizen from the city-state of Ocomanus in the Arcadia League. When he was young, he had participated in various sports competitions many times. Later, because he was old, he was keen on watching the competition. His biggest regret was that he failed to win the championship. Once, he was very close to the championship, but it affected his final results because the nearby athlete slapped his arm while waving his arm, and it affected his final results. He also complained to the referee, but it was useless. Therefore, he hated some of the disadvantages of the Greek Sports Games.

Harpius is a veteran sports game fan. When he learned that Dionys, the overlord of the Greek world, was going to hold a sports game, he came to watch without hesitation and was lucky to buy tickets for the opening ceremony. Before entering the arena, he was picky and prepared to pick the Dionys Games, but after the opening ceremony, his favorability for the Dionys Games increased greatly: the unprecedented novelty of the opening ceremony is second, and most importantly, he felt the real respect for the participating athletes of the Dionys Games.

As a veteran, he deeply understands the hardships of being an athlete. In addition to the hard work of persevering and hard training in daily life, he also has to rush to the arena alone before the sports meeting begins, spend money to arrange food and accommodation, register at the temple in time, accept detailed inquiries from the priests, and no one can resolve the cumbersome preparations before the start of the game. After the game, all the glory belongs to the championship, and no one can greet other losers even if they are injured...

However, the Dionia Games this time were obviously different. He had previously talked with athletes in the Arcadia League: Dionia not only provided all participating athletes with free and comfortable accommodation and diet, but also required the participating city-states to send officials to solve all the athletes' chores and chores, which means that athletes can devote themselves to the competition without worrying about other issues. At the opening ceremony, the Dionians arranged for athletes to circumnavigate around the stadium and accept tributes and cheers from so many spectators...

Harpius regretted that he had been born a few years ago and had not enjoyed such an honor.

Therefore, Harpius, who has a good impression of the Dionia Sports, of course, hopes that the Dionia Sports Games will also be outstanding after entering the competition stage. With his experienced competitive eyes, he carefully observed the layout of the arena and soon discovered some clues that were different from previous sports games.

"I heard before that the Dionia Sports Club not only had to hold a 100-meter race, but also 200 meters, 400 meters, 800 meters... After I entered this field, I found that there were no marks in the field, and I was wondering how they would run long-distance races (in the Greek sports meet, when the long-distance race was held, the athletes ran from the starting stone slab to the finishing stone slab, and then ran back and forth, until the distance was full, similar to the current back-and-forth run). Now I understand.

Look! The Dionians built a large circle with small stone bricks in the entire field, and then, like now, they used lime powder to draw tracks outside the entire circle. The contestants ran around the whole circle, not to mention hundreds of meters or thousands of meters, which was much easier than running around the stone pillars!”

Harpius was deeply touched by the way of long-distance racing in previous sports meets. With his decades of experience in sports meets, he spoke in an orderly and infectious manner, which naturally attracted a group of spectators, led by him and was seriously discussing.

At this moment, someone shouted, "Look at it! Oh my God, the Dionians are going to cover the sky!"

Gentile audiences raised their heads one after another, then opened their mouths wide, showing surprise: Over the main arena, long white cloth strips were slowly gathering towards the center of the field, pieced together into a thin white cloth cover, covering the sky above the arena, blocking the sunlight from the head at noon, bringing shade to the audience.

Xenophon, who came to the Arena of Dioria for the first time, was as surprised as other Gentile spectators, and couldn't help asking, "How did this be done?"

Davers replied calmly: "Actually, this is very simple. There are 200 wooden poles erected at the edge of the top of the arena. Each of them is connected to the wooden poles opposite the center of the field. When there is sunlight and competition, the arena managers will tie a special cloth strip on the string of each wooden pole, and then turn the pulleys to push the cloth strips to the center of the sky... However, just when we enjoy all this with peace of mind, don't forget that there are hundreds of managers at the top of the arena who are serving us in the scorching sun..."

"Although it sounds simple, the design is very clever!" Plato, who was standing by, exclaimed from the bottom of his heart: "The key is that when encountering difficulties, it is not willing to endure them, but to try to solve them, and to strive to be the best spirit is very rare! We Greeks are relatively rough and not very particular in life, but Dionians are different. They have high requirements for life, which makes their spirit of exploration that strives to be the best in permeating all aspects of the entire kingdom... So I am full of confidence in Dionia's hosting sports meetings. It will not only succeed, but will definitely allow all Greeks to have a new understanding of the sports!"

"Hahaha..." Davers smiled heartily: "Okay, Plato, you can tell a big truth in just a small matter!"

Xenophon didn't say anything, he looked up at the sky, thinking.

Just as the Gentile audience was amazed at the clever design of the main arena, the athletes began to withdraw from the stadium, which caused some spectators to wonder: "Is the race race not held?"

And some audiences who are as experienced as Harpius said confidently: "No, the race is about to begin!"

As they said, the athletes came to the lounge next to the entrance of the arena. Since the Dionia ball game is held every year, the room dedicated to players to rest is very comfortable, but the athletes have no intention of feeling this. They took off their previous costumes for the entry ceremony, changed into shorts specially provided by Dionia, and then began to carefully apply olive oil to their bodies evenly. After all this, everyone began to pray devoutly to Apollo, so that their nervousness could be comforted.

After a while, a priest came in and said loudly: "Dear contestants, the time for the competition is up, please come in!"

When Cilitios, who had already calmed down, heard this, his heart began to beat faster again.

Dozens of athletes returned to the stadium again, and the priests gathered them together. Since this was the first game of the Dionia Games, in order to ensure that it could go smoothly, Carlsidis, as the head of the referee team, was the host. The always amiable old priest looked serious at the moment. He said in a powerful tone: "Dear players, I think you should have a good understanding of the rules of the Dionia Games after this period of practice, but before the competition, I still have to emphasize again - only the players named can participate in the competition, and the rest of the players must stay away from the track and do not interfere with the competition; after the referee issued the order to "start the competition", the players can start; before the start, the players cannot cross the starting line; after the start, the players cannot deviate from their own track, interfere with other players, and cannot deliberately obstruct and hurt...

Any violation of any of the above regulations will be disqualified! If the violation is intentionally made and the circumstances are extremely serious, the referee team will report the player's situation to the sports meeting preparation team, and they will decide whether to carve the appearance of the player on the punishment wall of the Memorial Hall of the Dionia Games to be built as a warning to the players who will participate in the Dionia Games in the future! - Have you heard it clearly?!"

"I'm clear!" The contestants nodded in response one after another.

Karcidis smiled at this moment, his palms looked to the sky, and said warmly: "May Hades protect you!"

Then, a priest held the athletes' list and shouted: "Please note that the player I called my name to participate in the first round of the competition - Silitios! Runway 1!"

Cilitios was stunned: He was called the first one, and his luck was too good!
Chapter completed!