VOA常速英语2007-US Olympic Hopefuls Train For 2008 Games

By Roger Hsu
Colorado Springs, Co
02 October 2007
 

At the U.S Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, in the western state of Colorado, American athletes are honing their skills, as well as preparing their bodies and minds for an opportunity to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.  For producer Roger Hsu, Elaine Lu introduces us to some of America's Olympic hopefuls.

Olympic weightlifter Cheryl Haworth won her first competition when she was still a teenager. "I got involved in weightlifting, I think (it) was 1996, when I was 13 years old."

The two-time Olympian was the bronze medalist in her weight class at the 2000 Sydney games and hopes to represent the U.S. again next year in Beijing. "Living in an environment like this where you have so many amazing athletes around you, it's motivating," she says.

Weightlifter Casey Burgener won a silver medal in July's Pan¹ American Games and hopes to qualify² for his first Olympic games in 2008. "Whenever you have a bad day and you start to think about how far you've come along, everything you wanted to do, the Olympics has always kept me going and given me the motivation I need."

Being the best in the world takes more than hard work. Gymnast Yewki Tomita learned³ that when an injury kept him out of the 2004 Olympics. "That's the chance I am taking, that's a gamble⁴ we all take as athletes," he says. "We put our blood, sweat and tears into a path and sometime it works⁵ out great, we will make a team.  But only six guys out of the entire country can make that team.  So anything can happen, there is a lot of luck involved with it."

Training up to 12 hours a day, six days a week, is taxing -- physically⁶ and emotionally⁷ -- for these elite⁸ athletes. 

"When you go to a competition and you make it look so easy and you win and you stand on the podium. That's like the needlepoint of what people see, that's a small aspect of sport, they don't see the hours and hours you keep falling on your face, falling on your face, falling on your face to learn a skill," said Tomita.

Despite the pain and hard work, Olympic hopefuls continue to train because, for many of them, the spirit of competition is about more than just winning.

Cheryl Haworth says, "I think the idea of that I dedicated⁹ my life to something and have done my best, I think is something to be proud of." 

David Durante adds, "It's important to me not so much to win for America or for the United States but to perform at a level that's respected by the rest of the world."

"If I only thought about winning," Casey Burgener says, "then I don't think I would've really had the experience I had or the love of the sport that I have, and I do it because I love it, rather then doing it because I want to win."

Yet winning is the ultimate¹⁰ goal of all sports. And these athletes hope to have that opportunity at next year's Olympic games in Beijing. 

1 pan   

n.平底锅；v.严厉批评

参考例句：

• The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了，锅也烧坏了。
• The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。

2 qualify   

vt.取得资格，有资格，限定，描述；vi.取得资格，有资格

参考例句：

• I won't qualify until next year.我明年才具备资格。
• You must qualify yourself for the post.你必须使自己具备担任这一工作的资格。

3 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

4 gamble   

n.冒险；v.赌博，孤注一掷

参考例句：

• Setting up this business was a bit of a gamble.开办这样的公司有点冒险。
• Drive carefully and don't gamble with your life.小心驾驶，别拿你的生命冒险。

5 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

6 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

7 emotionally   

adv.感情上，情绪上，冲动地

参考例句：

• a special school for emotionally disturbed children 为精神异常儿童开办的特殊学校
• A wide range of emotionally stressful events may trigger a relapse. 多种令人情绪紧张的事情都可能引起旧病复发。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

9 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

10 ultimate   

adj.最远的；最后的；终极的；根源的，基本的

参考例句：

• What was his ultimate goal?他的最终目标是什么？
• The sun is the ultimate store of power.太阳是能量之本。