2016年CRI Review of China's performance in first day in Rio

 

It sure is not a familiar feeling, but anyone who follows sports knows, there is no such thing as a guaranteed gold medal.

Chinese veteran shooter Du Li came out on top at the qualification rounds in Women's 10m Air Rifle with a new Olympic record, but ended up getting a silver medal. She says the new rules certainly affected¹ her.

"With the new rules, your score in the qualification rounds cannot be added to the final round, and that means the result purely² depends on the final round. It increases unpredictability and hurts the chances of those who did well in the qualification rounds."

Besides rules, plenty of human factors were at play too. For example, in the Women's epee event, Chinese fencer Sun Yiwen practically lost to the referee³.

"The referee already said stop. I stopped, and my opponent was still hitting me. In the end, the referee gave her the point. That was so frustrating⁴. I tried my hardest to adjust myself for the bronze medal match, but it was still so difficult."

And of course, the most jaw-dropping controversy⁵ came in courtesy⁶ of Australian swimmer Mack Horton. He was competing in men's 400m freestyle against Chinese superstar Sun Yang, who was the defending champion. Without any provocation⁷, not only did Horton call Sun a "drug cheat", he also continued to be disrespectful after winning the event by a thread, saying he simply defeated someone who took drugs.

"I used the word drug cheat because he tested positive. It's not specifically made against Mr. Sun. I just have a problem with athletes who tested positive."

Silver medalist Sun took the high road and refused to humor Horton with a spat⁸.

"We'll just do what we're supposed to do. The Chinese team is clean, period. Every athlete who comes here to compete needs to be respected, and trying to influence your opponent with mind tricks like that is just uncalled for."

But it wasn't all bad news on the first day. In tennis for example, Chinese player Zheng Saisai advanced to the second round of women's singles, defeating the current world number 4, Agnieszka Radwańska from Poland.

"I didn't know that I can play my first round this good. Really happy I can represent my country to play the Olympics. This is my dream. And I can play on the center court, court 1. It's a really amazing experience."

The Olympics will last longer than two weeks, so the first day was just that, the beginning. With a positive attitude and the real talent to back it up, the Chinese team will do just fine.

For CRI, this is Liu Yan reporting from Rio.

1 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。

2 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

3 referee   

n.裁判员．仲裁人，代表人，鉴定人

参考例句：

• The team was left raging at the referee's decision.队员们对裁判员的裁决感到非常气愤。
• The referee blew a whistle at the end of the game.裁判在比赛结束时吹响了哨子。

4 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 courtesy   

n.谦恭有礼，礼貌的举止，好意，恩惠

参考例句：

• She called on us merely for the sake of courtesy.她来访只是为了礼貌。
• After a few words of courtesy,they got down to business.双方客气了一番，就开始谈正事。

7 provocation   

n.激怒，刺激，挑拨，挑衅的事物，激怒的原因

参考例句：

• He's got a fiery temper and flares up at the slightest provocation.他是火爆性子，一点就着。
• They did not react to this provocation.他们对这一挑衅未作反应。

8 spat   

n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声

参考例句：

• Her parents always have spats.她的父母经常有些小的口角。
• There is only a spat between the brother and sister.那只是兄妹间的小吵小闹。