Greatest Olympians 杰出的奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)員們
Jesse Owens is considered to be one of the greatest Olympians
Beijing 2008 will prove a test for the cream of the world's sporting talent but will any of the athletes be able to go beyond mere victory and attain greatness?
Here are some Olympic legends that set the benchmark by which future Olympic hopefuls must be measured.
Britain's Sir Steve Redgrave is the only athlete to win a gold medal at five consecutive Olympic Games from Los Angeles in 1984 to Sydney in 2000. As a rower he pushed himself to his physical limits and even defied his doctors by continuing to compete at the highest level after being diagnosed with diabetes .
In a TV interview immediately after finishing the race in which he won his last gold medal, an exhausted Redgrave memorably invited the public to "shoot him" if they ever saw him in a rowing boat again.
American Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, setting a 20-year world record in the process. He also made a mockery of the distorted racial theories of the German Nazi party which was in power at the time by proving a black athlete could be as good as, or better than, a white one.
But what of China? Who are their great Olympians?
Probably the most recent contender for the position of China's greatest Olympic athlete is Liu Xiang, the 110m hurdler.
Liu Xiang took gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, tying for a world record time of 12.91 seconds. It was China's first Olympic gold medal in track and field for a male athlete.
Will Liu Xiang win a second gold medal? Will other Chinese athletes taste glory ? The answers will be revealed in August in Beijing.
GLOSSARY 詞匯表
cream
精華，精髓
attain greatness
達(dá)到境界
consecutive
連續(xù)性的
physical limits
生理局限
diabetes
糖尿病
shoot
開槍
made a mockery
嘲弄，諷刺
Nazi
納粹，法西斯
hurdler
跨欄選手
track and field
田徑
mere victory
僅僅是勝利
benchmark
水平點(diǎn), 基準(zhǔn)
rower
賽艇運(yùn)動(dòng)員
diagnosed
被診斷為
exhausted
筋疲力盡
world record
世界紀(jì)錄
distorted racial theories
扭曲的種族理論
contender
（有望獲勝的）競爭者
tying
打平
taste glory
取得成功，爭得光榮
Jesse Owens is considered to be one of the greatest Olympians
Beijing 2008 will prove a test for the cream of the world's sporting talent but will any of the athletes be able to go beyond mere victory and attain greatness?
Here are some Olympic legends that set the benchmark by which future Olympic hopefuls must be measured.
Britain's Sir Steve Redgrave is the only athlete to win a gold medal at five consecutive Olympic Games from Los Angeles in 1984 to Sydney in 2000. As a rower he pushed himself to his physical limits and even defied his doctors by continuing to compete at the highest level after being diagnosed with diabetes .
In a TV interview immediately after finishing the race in which he won his last gold medal, an exhausted Redgrave memorably invited the public to "shoot him" if they ever saw him in a rowing boat again.
American Jesse Owens won four gold medals at the Berlin Olympics in 1936, setting a 20-year world record in the process. He also made a mockery of the distorted racial theories of the German Nazi party which was in power at the time by proving a black athlete could be as good as, or better than, a white one.
But what of China? Who are their great Olympians?
Probably the most recent contender for the position of China's greatest Olympic athlete is Liu Xiang, the 110m hurdler.
Liu Xiang took gold at the 2004 Athens Olympics, tying for a world record time of 12.91 seconds. It was China's first Olympic gold medal in track and field for a male athlete.
Will Liu Xiang win a second gold medal? Will other Chinese athletes taste glory ? The answers will be revealed in August in Beijing.
GLOSSARY 詞匯表
cream
精華，精髓
attain greatness
達(dá)到境界
consecutive
連續(xù)性的
physical limits
生理局限
diabetes
糖尿病
shoot
開槍
made a mockery
嘲弄，諷刺
Nazi
納粹，法西斯
hurdler
跨欄選手
track and field
田徑
mere victory
僅僅是勝利
benchmark
水平點(diǎn), 基準(zhǔn)
rower
賽艇運(yùn)動(dòng)員
diagnosed
被診斷為
exhausted
筋疲力盡
world record
世界紀(jì)錄
distorted racial theories
扭曲的種族理論
contender
（有望獲勝的）競爭者
tying
打平
taste glory
取得成功，爭得光榮