Hip-Hop enthusiast and die-hard fan of running, Siyu Lai, is one of the most exceptional athletes at our school. Not only is he a gifted scholar, he also works tirelessly day and night in preparation for track season.
The OVS senior is clearly devoted to his sport.
From balancing on a plank with a 30-pound weight on his back to strengthen his core muscles to sprinting with ankle weights to enhance his speed and even subjecting his body to crazy dietary requirement, Siyu’s admiration for track athletes in the Olympics affected Siyu’s decision to try out for the sport.
Siyu considers sprinting and being involved in events such as the 100 meter dash and the 4 x 100 meter relay as his main job. 
“I believe track and field is the most honest sport of all,” he said, meaning that whoever works hardest during practice will be rewarded by better performance significantly unlike other sports that the growth would slow because of certain aspects of those other sports.
Evidently, he loves the fact that certain track and field is unique in a way it does not require special equipment or rule book for every play.
Beyond track and field, Siyu has also tried other sports during his student career. While he dabbled in sports such as baseball and soccer, he did not take any of these as seriously as he did track events.
“Soccer and baseball just weren’t my thing, and all I could do better than others was hit the ball and run,” Siyu said.
Siyu considers running to be the most fundamental skill that one needs to acquire in almost every sport, and he loves the simple fact that in terms of running, the more you put in, the more you are rewarded over time.
“Other sports require multiple skills and strategies to be successful, and it hurts my head when I have to think about all the plays that we have to learn,” Siyu said, “In track, however, you simply run and that’s it.”
It may be hard to believe judging by his incredible fitness, but Siyu’s intense track training started only last year.
“If you saw me during middle school or freshman year, I was considerably skinnier,” he said.
Lai’s love of running motivated him to hire a personal trainer in China, at which point he tried out a variety of training methods aimed at enhancing his sprinting speed,
“I think I threw up every single day after intense personal training,” Siyu said. “ I tried every single way to increase my speed, from putting crazy weights on my ankles to attaching a parachute on my back while running.”
His amazing affection for track encouraged him to consider training independently instead of joining the soccer or basketball teams like so many others.
“I was surprised when Mr. Floyd approved my independent sport suggestion,” Siyu said.
With a number of faculties supporting his passion, Siyu became even more motivated for the upcoming track season. He also expressed his ardent desire to deliver even better results than the year previous.
In contrast to last year when he suffered an unfortunate injury, Siyu’s ultimate goal for this season is to make CIF with his peers and compete against even more challenging opposition.
“We have a lot of talented new faces that are willing to devote themselves this season, and I have a strong feeling that we are going to have an even better season than last year,” he said.