London Olympics Conclude, IOC Grateful

 LONDON — The London Olympics have come to a close with the International Olympic Committee pleased with nearly all aspects of the organization and the running of the 30th Summer Games. And the United States finished first in the medals standings.  

At his closing news conference on Sunday, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said he is “happy” with the way these Olympics went, except for some of the ticketing distribution, and that he is grateful to the London organizers.  “A splendid village, state of the art venues¹, 44 world records, 17 Olympic records and I would say history is being written by many, many athletes," he said. 

Among those Rogge pointed² out were U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, Jamaican sprinter³ Usain Bolt and British cyclist Chris Hoy.

Phelps won six medals in London, four gold and two silver, taking his Olympic career total to 22, surpassing⁴ the record of 18 Olympic medals held by former Soviet⁵ gymnast Larisa Latynina.  Eighteen of Phelps’ medals are gold, twice as many as any other Olympian.

As he did in Beijing, Bolt won the 100 and 200-meters and was on Jamaica’s world record-setting 4 x 100-meter relay⁶ team to become the first man to win six Olympic gold medals in sprinting⁷.

Hoy won two gold medals at the Olympic Park Velodrome to bring his career total to six, making him the most successful British Olympian in history.

The United States topped the medals table with 46 gold, 29 silver and 29 bronze for a total of 104.  On Sunday’s final day of competition, the Americans won golds in men’s basketball and freestyle wrestling.

Although the United States won the most medals four years ago at the Beijing Games with 110 to China’s 100, China won the gold medal count with 51 to the USA’s 36.

U.S. Olympic Committee Chief Executive⁸ Officer Scott Blackmun said he is pleased with the London results. “We had very, very high expectations coming into the Games, and I think our expectations have been exceeded both on the field of play and off.  One of our primary objectives⁹ is getting as many American athletes on the podium as we can," he said. 

Blackmun said that when you include the team sports, the United States had more than 200 athletes at these Olympics stand on the podium with either a gold, silver or bronze medal.

He said the biggest disappointment for the U.S. team was in the boxing ring. “We have a pretty strong and rich history in boxing.  I think in L.A. [i.e., the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics], we won gold in every weight class except one.  This is the first time, I think, in history that we haven’t had any men on the podium.  We have to fix that.  We have to change that.  We’re going to sit down and take a hard look at why we are where we are and make some changes," he said. 

USOC Chairman Larry Probst said it was good to see the United States top the London medal standings. “My opinion is the American public has high expectations for our Olympic team and our Olympic athletes.  There was a lot of speculation¹⁰ about where we would finish as a team, and a lot of people predicted that we would finish second, and some even suggested third.  So we are extremely proud of what our team has accomplished¹¹ and what our athletes have accomplished, and yeah, we love to come in first," he said. 

China was second in London with 38 gold in its total of 87 medals.   Host Britain was third with 29 gold and  a total of 65 medals.  In all, 85 countries won medals in London compared to 80 nations that won at least one Olympic medal in Beijing. 

During his final remarks at the Closing Ceremonies Sunday night, London Olympics Committee organizing chairman Sebastian Coe repeated the theme of these Summer Games, saying “the spirit of these Olympics will inspire a generation.”  And he added, “when our time came, Britain, we did it right.”

1 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 sprinter   

n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者

参考例句：

• He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句
• The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网

4 surpassing   

adj. 胜过的, 卓越的, 优秀的 动词surpass的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Social research nowadays has a practical urgency surpassing even that of cancer research. 当今社会研究的现实迫切性甚至超过对癌症的研究。
• These adjectives mean surpassing all others in power, influence, or position. 这些形容词的意思是指在力量、影响或地位方面超出其他一切。

5 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

6 relay   

n.接力赛，中继转播（设备）；vt.转述，转播

参考例句：

• They will relay your message.他们会转达你的口信。
• This metal tower is used to relay television signals to distant villages.这个金属塔是用于向遥远的村子转播电视讯号的。

7 sprinting   

v.短距离疾跑( sprint的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Stride length and frequency are the most important elements of sprinting. 步长和步频是短跑最重要的因素。 来自互联网
• Xiaoming won the gold medal for sprinting in the school sports meeting. 小明在学校运动会上夺得了短跑金牌。 来自互联网

8 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

9 objectives   

n.目标( objective的名词复数 )；[光学]（望远镜、显微镜、照相机及其他光学仪器上的）物镜；[语法学]1)。 宾语 2)。 宾格；[军事]出击目标

参考例句：

• Our objectives need to be precisely delineated. 我们的目标需详细解释清楚。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives. 要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。