疯狂英语阅读: The Unforgettable Dream Games

The Unforgettable Dream Games

 

It doesn’t matter where you come from, who your family is, what you wear, or how good you are at math. All that matters is that you give it everything you’ve got.

 

To me, that’s why the Olympic Games rock!

—Avril

 

The Timeless Olympic Moments

 

Endurance

The Stockholm Olympics of 1912; a new event has been added to the program—the ¹⁾decathlon—the ultimate test for an athlete. A combination of strength, speed and endurance. Ten events—running, jumping and throwing. The winner earning the title of the finest athlete in the world.

 

Jim Thorpe, an American Indian, was the first winner of the decathlon.  Jim Thorpe’s decathlon record wasn’t broken until the Amsterdam Games of 1928. 

 

Persistence

London, 1948. The Olympic Games are renewed after a twelve year ²⁾moratorium because of World War Two. Thirty-eight year old Captain Karoly Takacs is a member of the Hungarian Team. His performance would be one of the most dramatic in the history of the Olympic Games. Before the war, Takacs was one of the finest pistol shooters in the world. But, while on military ³⁾maneuvers, a grenade exploded in his right hand. It had to be ⁴⁾amputated. Nevertheless, during the war, he trained himself to shoot with his other hand. Now, here in London, Captain Karoly Takacs would attempt to fulfill the dream he had before his accident. When the rapid-fire pistol shooting event was over, Captain Karoly Takacs stood atop the victory platform. He’d finally won his gold medal.

 

Unprecedented

Before the L.A. Games in 1984, no American woman had ever won an individual gymnastics gold medal. Representing the U.S. that year, though, was a tiny, but ⁵⁾muscular, Italian-American, named Mary-Lou Retton. Injury had prevented her from taking part in any international competitions in her short career. But, the sixteen-year old would get overwhelming vocal support from the home crowd. ⁶⁾Up against World Champion Katy Szabo from Romania, the four foot eight inch American would dig deep here in the all-around competition, earning a series of 10-pointers that would finally give America its long sought after Olympic gymnastics gold medal.

 

Up until the Barcelona Olympics of 1992, no male gymnast had been able to win six gold medals at one Olympics. But a young Byelorussian, named Vitaly Scherbo, was about to change all that. Here, in the all-around competition, Scherbo was unmatched. He went on to take gold in the all-around competition, along with four individual and one team gold, for a new record of six gold. 

 

At Ease

The 1988 Seoul Olympics will be remembered for the drug cheats, who were caught, like Ben Johnson, and those who weren’t caught. The 100 meter sprint is probably the most anticipated of all Olympic finals, yet, it only lasts about 10 seconds. Here in Seoul, Florence Griffith-Joyner was undoubtedly the favorite. At the U.S. Olympic trials, she ran a wind assisted 10.49 seconds to ⁷⁾smash the world record. The Olympic final would prove a walk in the park. 

 

The Invincible

When Fu Mingxia was just nine years old, she was taken from her home, in Wuhan, to a diving school in Beijing, where she practiced seven days a week. At the Barcelona Olympics of 1992, Fu’s main threats would come from American, Mary-Ellen Clark and Russian, Yelena Miroshina. But, the Chinese, who only just turned the legal Olympic age of 14, while at Barcelona, produced near-flawless diving. She won the gold ahead of Miroshina by a margin of more than 50 points. Fu followed up that gold with a gold medal in Atlanta. Victory would also come in Sydney. 

 

注释：

1) decathlon [di5kAWlCn] n. 田径十项全能

2) moratorium [7mCrE5tC:riEm] n. 活动中止

3) maneuver [mE5nu:vE] n. 演习，military maneuver 军事演习

4) amputate [5Ampju7teit] v. 切除（手臂，腿等）

5) muscular [5mQskjulE] a. 肌肉的, 强健的

6) up against 面临

7) smash [smAF] v. 粉碎，打破

 

 

梦幻奥运

 

不管你来自何方，不管你的家族背景是怎样，也不管你穿的是什么，或者说你的数学是不是很棒。重要的是你为此付出一切。

 

对我来说，那就是奥林匹克运动震撼人心的原因！

                                      ——艾薇儿

 

非凡瞬间

 

超人耐力

    在1912年的斯德哥尔摩奥运会上，十项全能成为新的正式比赛项目。这是对运动员极限的考验。十个项目包括赛跑、跳跃和投掷三大类，是一项对运动员的力量、速度和耐力的综合考验。胜者将当之无愧地成为世界上最优秀的运动员。

    美国印第安人吉姆·索普是第一个在十项全能比赛中胜出的运动员。他的十项全能记录直到1928年的阿姆斯特丹奥运会才被打破。

 

不可不服

    被第二次世界大战中断十二年之久的奥运会于1948年在伦敦重新举行。38岁的老将卡乐里·塔卡克斯上尉是匈牙利代表团中的一员。他的比赛表现在奥运史上最具戏剧性之一。二战前，塔卡克斯是世界上最优秀的手枪射手之一。可是，在一次军事演习中，一颗手榴弹在他的右手中爆炸，导致其右手被切除。然而，在战争期间，他开始练习用另一只手射击。在事故发生之前，卡乐里·塔卡克斯上尉就怀有夺取射击桂冠的梦想，在伦敦奥运会上，他向实现这一梦想发起了冲击。在快速手枪射击比赛结束后，卡乐里·塔卡克斯上尉登上了冠军的领奖台。他终于为自己赢得了一枚金牌。

 

史无前例

    在1984年的洛杉矶奥运会之前，还没有一个美国女选手赢得过个人体操项目的金牌。那一年代表美国出场的是一个叫玛丽·卢·雷顿的意裔美国人，她个头虽小却结实有力。在她此前短暂的职业生涯中，她因伤痛无法参加国际赛事。然而，这个16岁的小将在主场观众震天的呐喊声中出场。面对罗马尼亚的世界冠军埃·萨博，这个身高仅四英尺八英寸的美国姑娘在全能比赛中拼尽全力，一连得到了几个10分，最终实现了美国在奥运体操项目上夺金的夙愿。

    直到1992年巴塞罗纳奥运会之前，还没有一名男子体操运动员能够在一次奥运会上拿到六枚金牌。但是一个叫维塔利·谢尔博的白俄罗斯年轻人改变了这一事实。在全能比赛中谢尔博傲视群雄，他不仅在全能比赛中夺得金牌，同时还囊括了其它四项单项比赛和一项团体赛金牌，创造了一人独得六枚体操金牌的新纪录。

 

轻而易举

    1988年汉城奥运会上的兴奋剂丑闻让人记忆犹新，本·约翰逊被查出服用兴奋剂，还有其他一些运动员得以逃脱。百米跑也许是奥运决赛中最令人期待的赛事，尽管比赛只进行约10秒钟。佛罗伦斯·格里菲斯·乔伊纳无疑是汉城奥运会上的宠儿。在美国的奥运选拨赛上，她在风速助力下跑出了10秒49的成绩，打破了世界纪录。在奥运会的决赛中夺金对她而言实在是轻而易举。

 

屡战屡胜

    伏明霞在九岁时被选拔进北京的一所跳水学校，她离开武汉的家来到北京，在那里日日苦练。在1992年的巴塞罗纳奥运会上，她的主要对手是美国的玛丽·埃伦·克拉克和俄罗斯的叶莲娜·米罗申娜。尽管这位中国姑娘在到达巴塞罗纳后才满14岁，刚够奥运会参赛年龄，但她展示了近乎完美的跳水动作。她以比米罗申娜领先50多分的成绩摘得了金牌。在亚特兰大和悉尼奥运会上她又相继蝉联了两届冠军。

 

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