VOA标准英语2010年-Uhlaender Overcomes Tragedy, Injury to

USA's Katie Uhlaender slides down the start ramp¹ at the women's Skeleton World Championships at the Olympic Sports Complex in Lake Placid², N.Y. Thursday, Feb 26, 2009. (Photo/Todd Bissonette - usabobsledphotos.com)

U.S. Skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender has known both triumph and tragedy in her career.  Since the last Olympics, she has won the World Cup title twice, but also lost the biggest influence in her life - her father Ted³.  She has also had to overcome a devastating⁴ knee injury that nearly ended her Olympic hopes.  Uhlaender recovered and made the U.S. Olympic team, where she hopes to proudly represent her family and her country.

Katie Uhlaender wears a large ring around her neck.  It is far too large for the petite slider to have ever worn.  But she keeps it close to her heart and periodically touches it or twirls it in her hand.

The ring belonged to the man who had the most influence on her life and career - her late father and former Major League Baseball player Ted Uhlaender.

Katie told VOA Sports her dad was the one who instilled⁵ in her the values she needs to compete in the Olympics - perseverance⁶, determination, honor and respect.  The ring she wears is a World Series Ring he and his Cincinnati Reds teammates won in the mid⁷ 1970s. 

Katie followed in her father's athletic⁸ footsteps, and even played baseball as the only girl on the McGregor High School team in Texas. Uhlaender says that her dad always urged her to do her best in everything.

"You know, if you are going to represent the Uhlaender name ... what did he tell me one time, I remember I was doing something and he stopped me and said, 'do it right or don't do it at all.'  And I was like 'I've got to do it, so I might as well do it right,'" said Katie Uhlaender.

Katie took her dad's values and hard work and turned them into World Cup success.  She dominated the women's skeleton World Cup tour during the 2006-2007 season, winning five gold medals and claiming the overall World Cup crown.  In the 2007-2008 season, Uhlaender once again placed first in the World Cup standings.  She placed second in the 2008 World Championships.

But 2008 was also the year her father - who was working as a scout⁹ in the San Francisco Giants organization - was diagnosed with bone marrow¹⁰ cancer (multiple myeloma). 

He fought the disease, with stem cell transplants and medication, but died just days before Katie was set to compete in the 2009 World Championships in Lake Placid, New York.  Katie was not with him when he died - she was instead on a track in Park City, Utah, winning a silver medal in the last World Cup race of the season.

Katie and her family had to prepare for Ted's funeral at the same time she had to prepare for the World Championships.  A special funeral at Colorado's Coors field had more than 200 people - including several Major Leaguers show up after only a couple days' notice.

Katie told VOA Sports that the tributes showed a side of her father that she did not always know was there.

"It really showed me that soft side of my father that I rarely saw," she said. "I thought I was the only one who knew [that].  But it was obvious that he had made an impact on a lot of people's lives in a similar way to mine and it really made me want to do the same."

Katie finished seventh at the 2009 World Championships, and finished the World Cup season third.  She planned to spend some time mourning her father.

But in April, Katie was riding a snowmobile when she wrecked¹¹ and shattered her knee cap.  It could have ended her Olympic dreams.  But she was able to recover in time to compete on the World Cup circuit this season.

Dr. Peter Millett is an orthopedic surgeon specializing in knee, shoulder and sports injuries at the Steadman Hawkins Clinic in Colorado.  He says injuries like Uhlaender's usually take a year to heal.

"It's a remarkable¹² recovery that would allow somebody to compete at the Olympic level in such a short time," said Dr. Millett. "It's a testament¹³ to a motivated patient, good surgical¹⁴ treatment and excellent rehabilitation¹⁵."

Katie Uhlaender says without the excellent treatment she received, her Olympic dreams - like her kneecap - would have been shattered.

"For my knee to go from being in nine pieces to having three pins, two screws and wire [in it], to then back into four pieces and having four screws in it - I was on crutches¹⁶ in mid-September!  I think I have come a lot farther than I thought I would in this amount of time and I am extremely grateful," said Katie Uhlaender.

Katie Uhlaender was able to overcome her injury to finish seventh on this year's World Cup circuit.  Her best finish was a fifth place in Cesana, Italy.  But it will take all her skill and determination to challenge the twisting Whistler track near Vancouver.

Teammate Noelle Pikus-Pace told VOA that the Whistler track allows for no mistakes - if a slider is off by just a few centimeters it can mean disaster.

"This track is really crazy, " said Noelle Pikus-Pace. "It is super fast, it's the fastest track in the world.  And the turns are just so close together that it makes it really dangerous.  It makes it dangerous for us because we can flip¹⁷ very easily.  If you are maybe six inches higher than you need to be [coming out of a turn] you are going to come out on your back."

Katie Uhlaender has written in her weblog that facing the Olympics without her father is going to be difficult.  Opening Ceremonies are on the first anniversary of Ted Uhlaender's death, and Katie says she will be emotional.  But she writes she will also walk in "as the daughter of Ted Uhlaender, American athlete, and ambassador of what the U.S. represents - strength, honor, perseverance, and the Olympic Spirit."  In her words "It is game time."

 

1 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。

2 placid   

adj.安静的，平和的

参考例句：

• He had been leading a placid life for the past eight years.八年来他一直过着平静的生活。
• You should be in a placid mood and have a heart-to- heart talk with her.你应该心平气和的好好和她谈谈心。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 instilled   

v.逐渐使某人获得（某种可取的品质），逐步灌输( instill的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Nature has instilled in our minds an insatiable desire to see truth. 自然给我们心灵注入了永无休止的发现真理的欲望。 来自辞典例句
• I instilled the need for kindness into my children. 我不断向孩子们灌输仁慈的必要。 来自辞典例句

6 perseverance   

n.坚持不懈，不屈不挠

参考例句：

• It may take some perseverance to find the right people.要找到合适的人也许需要有点锲而不舍的精神。
• Perseverance leads to success.有恒心就能胜利。

7 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

8 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

9 scout   

n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索

参考例句：

• He was mistaken for an enemy scout and badly wounded.他被误认为是敌人的侦察兵，受了重伤。
• The scout made a stealthy approach to the enemy position.侦察兵偷偷地靠近敌军阵地。

10 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

11 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

12 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

13 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

14 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

15 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

16 crutches   

n.拐杖, 支柱 v.支撑

参考例句：

• After the accident I spent six months on crutches . 事故后我用了六个月的腋杖。
• When he broke his leg he had to walk on crutches. 他腿摔断了以后，不得不靠拐杖走路。

17 flip   

vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的

参考例句：

• I had a quick flip through the book and it looked very interesting.我很快翻阅了一下那本书，看来似乎很有趣。
• Let's flip a coin to see who pays the bill.咱们来抛硬币决定谁付钱。