VOA标准英语2010年-Bobsledder Holcomb Gains New View on L

Steve Holcomb almost lost his chance at Olympic success to congenital eye disease, but thanks to revolutionary operation he will compete in Vancouver.

David Byrd | Washington 06 January 2010

 Photo: Amanda Bird
Steve Holcomb, bottom center, with bobsled crew members on the trophy¹ stand

 American bobsled driver Steve Holcomb knows what it is to be a champion.  He and his crew took the four-man World Championship last February in Lake Placid², New York.  But Holcomb almost lost his chance at Olympic success to a congenital eye disease. A revolutionary operation has given Holcomb the chance to compete in Vancouver and see the world in a whole new way.

Steve Holcomb is a quiet, unassuming man with a powerful build and a laid back demeanor³.  But his reserve hides a fierce competitor.  The Park City, Utah native calls himself a thrill seeker at heart who competed in downhill skiing and was an alternate for the 1998 and 2002 U.S. Ski teams.  His experience on the slopes taught him how to make the fastest trip downhill.  Holcomb would later employ that knowledge in the men's bobsled.

Because bobsled is expensive, Holcomb joined the Utah National Guard in 1999.  He was part of the U.S. Army's World Class Athlete Program for seven years, and credits the program with allowing him to compete.

VOA - D. Byrd
Steve Holcomb

The Army's investment paid off.  Between 2002 and 2007, Holcomb rose through the ranks to become the top U.S. bobsled driver.  He placed sixth in the two-man event at the 2006 Olympics, which made him the top U.S. driver at the Turin Winter Games.  He finished atop the World Cup two-man standings in 2007.  He was second in the 2007 World Cup in the four-man bobsled.  But later that year, his Olympic prospects⁴ literally⁵ began to dim.

Holcomb suffers from a degenerative eye condition called keratoconus which distorts vision by changing the shape of the cornea.  Holcomb had tried Lasik surgery, but it only aggravated⁶ the condition.  By 2007, his vision had deteriorated⁷ to 20/500.  A cornea transplant would make his eyes too fragile for bobsledding.  Holcomb decided⁸ that retirement⁹ was his only option.

But U.S. coach Brian Shimer - a five-time Olympian and a 2002 bronze medalist - did not want to lose Holcomb.  Shimer consulted with a former bobsledder turned doctor Scott Stoll, who told him about an operation that would save Holcomb's vision.  Part of the procedure is still experimental, but Holcomb told VOA Sports he knew he had to take the risk.

"At the time I really didn't have any options," he said. "It was either retire and go blind, or have this procedure and either go blind or have my eyes saved and continue my career.  So I ended up getting lucky and it works fabulous¹⁰, and I see 20/20 right now.  I had the surgery in March of 2008 and a year later I won the World Championships."

Dr. Brian Boxer¹¹ Wachler of Beverly Hills pioneered and performed the surgery.  The ophthalmologist told VOA that there were two stages to Holcomb's operation - one of which involved putting a contact lens behind the irises¹² of his eyes.

"Keratoconus is essentially¹³ like having a hernia, but instead of being in the groin it is on the cornea lens that you look through," he explained. "We stabilized¹⁴ it with the C-3-R vitamin light treatment that we do.  And then Steve came back three months later and that's when we did these revolutionary contact lens implants¹⁵ called the Vision ICL, and that's what really restored his vision so that he does not have to wear any lenses at all now."

Because the operation lacks U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, Holcomb's health insurance would not pay its $15,000 cost. Steve Holcomb almost turned it down because of the expense.  But the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Bobsled Federation¹⁶ donated to his operation and he underwent the surgery.

The effect on Steve Holcomb's vision was immediate¹⁷.  He went from not being able to read the largest letter on a standard eye chart to what he calls life in high definition.

Charlie Booker
US Men's bobsled team during competition

But his new-found sight also affected¹⁸ his bobsled driving.  Holcomb had learned to drive by the feel of the track instead of sight because of his vision problem.  Now with clear vision, he is sometimes distracted by things he could never see before.  Ironically, Steve Holcomb has scratched the visor on his helmet to avoid relying too much on his eyes.

"And this year, I just threw in [added in] the vision all of a sudden and it really threw me off.  And I have my helmet here and it's all scratched up and the visor's not clear.  But I have to almost take away the eyes a little bit, it's too much.  There's too much information I don't need, and I have to get back to the way that I learned how to drive, so it's been pretty difficult," he said.

Holcomb's teammate Steve Mesler says that he did not know about the driver's vision problems, when he first joined the squad¹⁹.  Mesler told VOA Sports he's glad Holcomb can see well, but is also happy the driver has gone back to "driving with his butt²⁰."

"It actually makes me feel more confident in bad weather situations," he said. "If it's snowing, as it did last year.  Last year in Altenburg it snowed, it was like a blizzard²¹.  And he took it down the track and I think we went eight-10ths of a second faster on our second run when the weather was terrible.  Now that his eyes are fixed²², he says he tries not to react to what he sees.  I guess he's got the best of both worlds now - learn how to drive blind and now he can see."

Whether driving by feel or vision, Holcomb and his team won the World Championship in 2009 in Lake Placid, New York.  Holcomb and his team of Justin Olsen, Steve Mesler and Curt²³ Tomasevicz beat Germany's No. 2 sled driven by Andre Lange - who had won the world title five of the previous seven years - by nearly one second.

It was the first time in 50 years a U.S. team won the four-man world championship.  The USA has not won Olympic gold in four-man bobsled since 1948.  Steve Holcomb now has his sled - and his new-found sight - set on ending that drought in Vancouver.

1 trophy   

n.优胜旗，奖品，奖杯，战胜品，纪念品

参考例句：

• The cup is a cherished trophy of the company.那只奖杯是该公司很珍惜的奖品。
• He hung the lion's head as a trophy.他把那狮子头挂起来作为狩猎纪念品。

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 demeanor   

n.行为；风度

参考例句：

• She is quiet in her demeanor.她举止文静。
• The old soldier never lost his military demeanor.那个老军人从来没有失去军人风度。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 aggravated   

使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火

参考例句：

• If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
• Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。

7 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。

10 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

11 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

12 irises   

n.虹( iris的名词复数 )；虹膜；虹彩；鸢尾（花）

参考例句：

• The cottage gardens blaze with irises, lilies and peonies. 村舍花园万紫千红，鸢尾、百合花和牡丹竞相争艳。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The irises were of flecked grey. 虹膜呈斑驳的灰色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

14 stabilized   

v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The patient's condition stabilized. 患者的病情稳定下来。
• His blood pressure has stabilized. 他的血压已经稳定下来了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 implants   

n.（植入身体中的）移植物( implant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Hormone implants are used as growth boosters. 激素植入物被用作生长辅助剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Perhaps the most far-reaching project is an initiative called Living Implants From Engineering (LIFE). 也许最具深远意义的项目，是刚刚启动的建造活体移植工程 (LIFE)。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 医学的第四次革命

16 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

17 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

18 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

19 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

20 butt   

n.笑柄；烟蒂；枪托；臀部；v.用头撞或顶

参考例句：

• The water butt catches the overflow from this pipe.大水桶盛接管子里流出的东西。
• He was the butt of their jokes.他是他们的笑柄。

21 blizzard   

n.暴风雪

参考例句：

• The blizzard struck while we were still on the mountain.我们还在山上的时候暴风雪就袭来了。
• You'll have to stay here until the blizzard blows itself off.你得等暴风雪停了再走。

22 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

23 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。