2006年VOA标准英语-E-Mail Connection Sparks Olympic Dreams fo

By Steve Schy
Washington
11 January 2006
 
 
Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov
  
Were it not for the Internet, ice dancers Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov would probably never have met.  Whether it was fate or destiny that brought them together, the husband and wife team are hoping to make their mark at next month's Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.

-------------------------------------------

Though they lived half a world apart, Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov were both successful junior ice dancers before fate brought them together.

Melissa grew up in a Chicago suburb and started as a singles figure skater at the age of seven.  When she was 10, a coach told her that she was good enough to make it to the juvenile¹ Nationals.  There was just one catch -- she needed to compete as an ice dancer.

Despite her initial apprehension² about skating with a boy, Melissa teamed up with James Shuford.  They consistently improved and reached the top level of the junior U.S. Nationals by 1998.  But two years later, when James decided³ he wanted to go back to school, Melissa was left without a partner.
 
In Kirov, Russia, Denis Petukhov started skating at the age of eight and later became an ice dancer with Oksana Potdykova.  But after two medals at the World Junior Championships and reaching as high as third place at the senior level of Russian Nationals, Oksana decided to make a change.  That left Denis without a partner at the end of the 2000 season.

Both skaters looked for other partners but without much success.  Neither found a partner they really "clicked" with.  Melissa says she was about ready to give up.

"I had actually told my coach and my Mom at the time that if I did not have a partner by September first that I was going to apply and go on to college, because I did not want to spend my entire life waiting if it was not supposed to be," she said. 

Denis Petukhov was also getting discouraged, even to the point of making alternate plans.

"I was thinking to go do shows, maybe in Europe, if I was not successful in my tryout.  So I kind of did not know what to expect.  I was just waiting for something to happen," he said.

But fate stepped in.  Melissa answered a "partners wanted" ad that Denis had posted on the International Skating Union's website.  They started e-mailing back in forth⁴, mainly keeping their messages technical, talking about things like height and weight, skating styles, goals.  They finally decided to meet for a tryout together in Colorado Springs, one day before Melissa's self imposed deadline of September 1.

"He arrived on August 31st at 11 pm and we started skating the next day and we knew immediately," she recalled.  "Just the first practice, the first time we skated together.  We went by ourselves, without a coach, without family or friends.  And we decided without them, 'this is it, we are going to do it'.  By the time our coach came into the rink we were already a team."

Prior to skating with Melissa, Denis had scheduled a tryout with another potential partner.  But after seeing his chemistry on the ice with Melissa, Denis changed his plans and canceled the other workout.  He never used his return ticket to Russia.

"Thank God that happened to me," he said.  "I met Melissa and we started skating together and everything kind of went back on track."

The art of ice dancing is very different from pairs figure skating.  It combines the couples' chemistry with the athleticism⁵ of skating and the beauty of dancing.  Skating together led to dating within two weeks, and the couple soon fell in love.  They have now been married for five years.

In their first international competition together, Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov captured the silver medal at the Nebelhorn Trophy⁶ in Germany.  The rhythm and grace of their on-ice performances has led Gregory and Petukhov to numerous medals since then, including two silver and two bronze medals at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships between 2002-2005.  In 2005 the pair also claimed the Skate Canada bronze medal and silver at the Four Continents Championships. 

2005 was also special because Denis was sworn in as an American citizen, making them eligible⁷ to qualify for a spot on the 2006 U.S. Olympic team.  But Melissa says rule changes since the Salt Lake City Games have changed the sport.

"Ice dancing has improved so much even since the last Olympics," she explained.  "And you know they have this new system going on right now and all these elements and they are trying to up the levels and the difficulties, so they are really pushing the envelope."

To upgrade their own routines, Melissa Gregory and Denis Petukhov moved from Chicago to Newington, Connecticut in order to "train as they have never trained before" with coach Nikolai Morozov and 2003 World ice dancing champion Shae-Lynn Bourne.  They are hoping their hard work will pay off with a trip to the Turin Olympics.
 
 

1 juvenile   

n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的

参考例句：

• For a grown man he acted in a very juvenile manner.身为成年人，他的行为举止显得十分幼稚。
• Juvenile crime is increasing at a terrifying rate.青少年犯罪正在以惊人的速度增长。

2 apprehension   

n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑

参考例句：

• There were still areas of doubt and her apprehension grew.有些地方仍然存疑，于是她越来越担心。
• She is a girl of weak apprehension.她是一个理解力很差的女孩。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

5 athleticism   

n.运动竞赛，崇尚运动，竞技热

参考例句：

• He brings defense. He brings talent. He brings athleticism. That's a lot. “他带来的防御，他带来了人才，他带来了身体，这是很多”。 来自互联网
• Each of these sports isn't won through sheer athleticism alone. 每个体育项目无法凭借纯粹的运动能力而获胜。 来自互联网

6 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。