2006年VOA标准英语-US Aerial Skier Overcomes Injuries to Reac

By Jim Stevenson
Washington
25 January 2006

Perhaps one of the most physically¹ demanding sports at the Winter Olympics takes place off the ground. Freestyle Aerial Skiing requires extraordinary precision and balance at high speeds. Only a handful of athletes in the world can compete in the sport at the Olympic level. An American skier² will try to maintain her balance at the upcoming Turin Olympics after breaking both of her feet.

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

Emily Cook  
  

Although the U.S. Olympic team lists this season as her ninth, Emily Cook spent almost four years coming back from a devastating³ injury, an injury many believed would end her career.

Three weeks before the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics, Cook landed hard during training at Lake Placid⁴, New York. The 2001 U.S. Aerials champion tore ligaments in both feet while fracturing and dislocating bones in her left foot. It shattered her dream of competing in the Olympics.

"There were two major surgeries and just a small reduction in Lake Placid at the medical facility there. After each surgery, I was non-weight bearing on my left foot for three months. So a big problem that I had was a degeneration of the bone. You would relate it to osteoporosis. So coming back and starting to put weight on my leg, we had to be very careful with it so I would not cause any more fractures," she said.

That sort of experience might have ended Olympic dreams for other athletes. But Cook took her time to rehabilitate⁵. "I really just did everything I could to stay positive and enjoy my life in the three years that I took off. And I learned a lot about myself during that time. I definitely really would not want to redo it that way. But it was quite an experience not being an athlete for three years after being an athlete from age six to 23. It is very interesting being a student and being a normal person again for a little while," she said.

Eventually, it was time for Cook to get back on her skis. And getting started was not easy. "I was really scared. I really was. It is occasionally a scary sport anyway. But everyone has been through coming back from an injury, been through going for their very first jump. And fear is a part of our sport. And I am not going to lie. I was scared. But I trusted my training. I trusted I was strong enough and I had prepared well enough to come back to the sport," she said.

Cook assured herself a berth⁶ in the Turin Games by winning the freestyle aerials U.S. Olympic Trials on December 30th. The 26-year-old Cook hopes not only to perform well in Italy after her long detour⁷, but also to use her experience to help other athletes. "When you are coming back from an injury, there are a lot of small steps - coming back to (aerial) water (training) for the first time, coming back to snow for the first time, the first World Cup back. We have all done it. I hope now that I have been through it, I can help the other athletes who are coming back from injury as well," she said.

Since returning to the freestyle aerials World Cup circuit this season, Cook has turned in seven top-10 finishes. She also made her best personal performance at the 2005 World Championships with a seventh place finish. Cook is hoping her aerial talents will soar higher at the Turin Olympics.

1 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。

2 skier   

n.滑雪运动员

参考例句：

• She is a skier who is unafraid of danger.她是一名敢于冒险的滑雪者。
• The skier skimmed across the snow.滑雪者飞快地滑过雪地。

3 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。

4 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。

5 rehabilitate   

vt.改造(罪犯)，修复；vi.复兴，(罪犯)经受改造

参考例句：

• There was no money to rehabilitate the tower.没有资金修复那座塔。
• He used exercise programmes to rehabilitate the patients.他采用体育锻炼疗法使患者恢复健康。

6 berth   

n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊

参考例句：

• She booked a berth on the train from London to Aberdeen.她订了一张由伦敦开往阿伯丁的火车卧铺票。
• They took up a berth near the harbor.他们在港口附近找了个位置下锚。

7 detour   

n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道

参考例句：

• We made a detour to avoid the heavy traffic.我们绕道走，避开繁忙的交通。
• He did not take the direct route to his home,but made a detour around the outskirts of the city.他没有直接回家，而是绕到市郊兜了个圈子。