VOA标准英语2010年-Emotional Comeback for US Speedskater

The 2010 Vancouver Olympics are the fourth Winter Games for American long track speedskater Jennifer Rodriguez.  She stopped skating after the 2006 Turin Olympics, but returned to competition in 2008 when she realized her speedskating career was unfinished.  Rodriguez' path back to the Olympics has been marked by heartbreak, tragedy and joy.

Three-time Olympian Jennifer Rodriguez hung up her skates four years ago after failing to win a medal at the 2006 Turin Olympics, where she was considered a strong contender for a podium finish in three individual events.  She says she did not enjoy her experience in Turin, "not one bit."

In 2008, the Miami native skated for the first time since Turin, and a short time later decided¹ to mount a comeback for the 2010 Olympics.  But this time around, things would be different. "Definitely, I'm having a lot more fun with skating.  I'm really enjoying myself.  I love my team.  I look forward to going to practice everyday, whereas before ... you go to practice because you have to," she says.

Rodriguez only recently has been able to talk about the renewed fun and enjoyment² she gets from skating and training for the Olympics.  In the space of a year after her decision to come back, she struggled with the crushing pain and grief of a divorce, near financial ruin, and worst of all, her mother's death last June.

The divorce came first.  Jennifer and her husband, fellow Olympic speedskater K.C. Boutiette, lived in Miami and owned a bicycle shop.  They had met years before while in-line skating.  Jennifer was a former (1993) world champion, and K.C. eventually convinced her to switch to speedskating.  The couple married in 2002. 

In early 2008, Boutiette one day asked Jennifer to help him work with children at a Miami skating club.  She agreed even though she had not been on skates for two years.  Once on the ice, Rodriguez says she was instantly in tears realizing she had stopped skating too soon. 

Within a few months she moved to Park City, Utah, where the U.S. National Speedskating Team trains year round.  Her divorce became final later that year.  After an initial adjustment period, Jennifer says she and K.C. became good friends, and their fellow skaters accepted the new relationship. "All my teammates, even those that knew us as a couple, they are all still friends with me and they are all still friends with K.C.  And I would never expect them to not be friends with him.  It's just the way it is, it is just a situation that happens, and unfortunately that's life, but we're making it work," she says.

The move to Utah left Rodriguez financially strapped³.  With most of her personal savings⁴ invested in the Miami bike shop, and no major sponsor, she was virtually penniless.  The small monthly stipend⁵ from the U.S. Olympic Committee and the speedskating team did not begin to cover her living and training expenses.  Rodriguez says this is a common problem of speedskaters and other Olympic athletes, who only get the public's attention every four years. "It's not that we train once every four years.  We train every single day, for four years, or eight years or 12 years or whatever, and so we need the support for all that time in-between," she says.

Jennifer managed to keep training through her divorce and financial troubles.  She now has a sponsor, which has given her the luxury of training without having to work.  But in June 2009, Rodriguez nearly ended her quest for a fourth Olympics when her mother, Barbara, died of breast cancer after a 16-year battle.  She was 59-years-old, just one month shy of her 60th birthday. 

Rodriguez was devastated⁶, but once again found the inner strength to continue training for Vancouver, knowing it was what her mother would have wanted.  Barbara had been Jennifer's biggest fan, traveling to Nagano, Salt Lake City and Turin during breaks in cancer treatments to see her daughter compete in the Olympics.
 
Her mother was there to see Jennifer make Olympic history in 1998 in Nagano when she became the first Cuban-American to compete in a Winter Olympics.

Jennifer again made history in 2002 when she won two bronze medals in Salt Lake City, which made her the first Latina to win a medal at a Winter Games.   Barbara also was in Turin in 2006 when Jennifer went home empty-handed and exhausted⁷ after over-training for the Games.  

Rodriguez qualified⁸ for four events in Vancouver - the 500, 1,000, and 1,500 meters, and the team pursuit.  It will be her first Olympics without her mother there to cheer her on.  Jennifer says she wears her mom's wedding ring on a chain around her neck.

At 33 years old, Rodriguez says coming back to a sport like speedskating after a two-year break is very difficult and physically⁹ demanding.  She says she has to pay attention and listen to her body now that she is in her 30's. "When I was younger, I didn't listen, I just did.  And I just went harder and harder and harder, and I did more and more and more.  And it was no big deal because I could always recover.  Now, when I start finding myself being really tired and broken down, I have to take a step back, which is hard for me because I am really stubborn," she says.

Her hard work has paid off. "I can do things this year that I wasn't able to do last year just because lack of strength.  So it's kind of fun to get the feeling back and be like, oh yah, remember kind of how this feels like," she says.

In the four years since the Turin Olympics, Jennifer Rodriguez has won and lost, grown and cried, and finally found what makes her happy.  The Vancouver Games will be her last as a competitor, and she intends to end her 16-year Olympic career on a high note of her own choice, motivated by something that has nothing to do with winning medals.

1 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。

2 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

3 strapped   

adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带

参考例句：

• Make sure that the child is strapped tightly into the buggy. 一定要把孩子牢牢地拴在婴儿车上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The soldiers' great coats were strapped on their packs. 战士们的厚大衣扎捆在背包上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

5 stipend   

n.薪贴；奖学金；养老金

参考例句：

• The company is going to ajust my stipend from this month onwards.从这一个月开始公司将对我的薪金作调整。
• This sum was nearly a third of his total stipend.这笔钱几乎是他全部津贴的三分之一。

6 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

7 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

8 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

9 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。