Athens Celebration

（单词翻译）

Athens Celebration

 

Funny, isn’t it? An athlete aspires¹ to be the best his or her country has to offer, and ends up representing the best humanity has to offer.

 

That’s the strength I find in the Olympic Games!

—Christopher Reeve

 

The Olympic Homecoming

 

The world watched in eager anticipation², as the opening ceremony got under way at the Olympic Stadium. A drummer’s beat sounded out the welcome call, and then a ¹⁾fiery³ arrow hit the water, ²⁾igniting a giant flame. With the five Olympic rings ³⁾ablaze⁴ in the middle of a man-made lake, the summer games marked its homecoming in ⁴⁾epic⁵ style. As the ceremony unfolded, the ancient Greek god of love, Eros, ⁵⁾hovered over a procession of figures from Greek history. Moments later over ten thousand athletes started to stream into the stadium.

 

China’s team was lead by NBA superstar Yao Ming. The Chinese are expected to do well in Athens, and are aiming for third place in the medals table.

 

And then the moment everyone had been waiting for—the arrival of the Olympic flame. The final torchbearer was Greek Olympic wind-surfer Nikos Kaklamanakis. Running up the steps, he ignited the ⁶⁾cauldron, which ⁷⁾tilted to the heavens.

 

The ceremony finished in a blaze of fireworks. Let the Games begin.

 

 

China Rocked the World

 

It’s Just the Beginning

 

Shooting—Women’s 10 m Air Rifle / Men’s 10 m Air ⁸⁾Pistol

The battles for the first medals at Athens 2004. In the women’s ten meter air rifle, Du Li and Zhao Yinhui were to lead the Chinese charge for gold.

 

It’s all down to Du Li now. Anything above 10.1 she will win the gold medal. She’s won it!

 

In her first Olympics, the 22-year-old shot a new Olympic Record to win the first gold medal of the Games, outscoring the world number one and the European champion Kurkova.

 

The men’s ten meters air pistol event offered a chance to China to continue the gold rush. Veteran Wang Yifu started the final in second spot.

 

If Wang Yinfu can beat 9.7, he’ll win the gold medal. Nine-nine! (9.9)

 

After finishing second in Atlanta and Sydney, Wang finally won the gold medal he’d been waiting for, and gave his country the first two golds of the Games.

 

 

Swimming—Women’s 100 m Breaststroke

The start of the women’s one hundred breaststroke. Leisel Jones is going to have to call on all her breaststroke ⁹⁾expertise⁸ to get up and win this. She moves up alongside Tara Kirk of the USA. Amanda Beard of the USA is in lane two, and, it’s in fact Brooke Hanson of Australia, who looks the best of ¹⁰⁾the two Australians at the moment. This is going to be a ¹¹⁾battle royal. Liesel Jones is not in front at the moment…It’s Xuejuan Luo of the People’s Republic of China in lane one on the far side. This is exactly how she swam the semifinals…She went out very quickly, indeed, and she died coming home, but this field is starting to pick her up. Luo of China, the People’s Republic of China…Brook Hanson challenges…oh, and the dead ¹²⁾cert has been beaten. The dead cert! There is no such thing in sports as a dead cert. The gold has gone to Xuejuan Luo of the People’s Republic of China, out of lane one.

 

A surprise gold for China, with Brooke Hanson edging teammate Liesel Jones into the bronze medal position.

 

Breakthrough

 

Athletics⁹ – Men’s 110 m Hurdles¹⁰

Next up, the 110m hurdles final, and in lane four is the world championship bronze medallist, Liu Xiang of China. There he is—twenty-one years of age, and a strong chance for the medal here. And away they go…Liu out of the ¹³⁾blocks well…Doucoure of France this time leading…Olijars of Latvia… Doucoure is hitting a few hurdles…I think he’s going to fall…and Liu takes the gold for China…I think Olijars of Latvia came in for the sec…for second…He has Doucoure of France next to him…(replay) And there is Liu Xiang, who stormed away…and Doucoure of France…the gold to China. Here’s the gold medallist, coming through cleanly, for the gold medal.

 

Athletics—Women’s 10,000 m

Next up, the women’s 10,000 meters. Now the Chinese runner, starting to make her move…they’re on the last lap…it’s now or never…and Xing Huina is starting to move forward…she came into this race with a very average personal best—her personal best was set last year. So, they round the bend for the final stretch…and it’s gonna be a ¹⁴⁾sprint¹¹ for the line…and it looks like Xing Huina has more left in the tank…and she’s gone past Dibaba of Ethiopia…And this will be a clear cut victory for the young Chinese. Xing Huina of China—a personal best of 30:24.36. So, ¹⁵⁾a bolt from the blue! The most unexpected winner from this pack—the relatively¹² known and very young Xing Huina wins the gold for China.

 

Tennis—Women’s Doubles

The women’s doubles final was a battle between the Chinese pair Li Ting and Sun Tian Tian, and Spain’s Conchita Martinez and Virginia Ruano Pascual.

 

Li Ting saw that Martinez was going to try and tip it down the line, ¹⁶⁾volleys back, and the Chinese—the number eight seeds, take set one 6:3 of this women’s doubles gold medal final.

 

The first round conquerors¹³ of ¹⁷⁾reigning¹⁴ champions Venus Williams and Chandra Rubin had their sight fixed¹⁵ on gold.

 

China with their first ever tennis medal, and it is gold. Li Ting, Sun Tian Tian capture the women’s doubles gold medal, in surprisingly easy fashion, over Conchita Martinez and her partner Virginia Ruano Pascual—the number one ranked doubles player in the world. Ting and Tian Tian’s victory confirming China’s first ever tennis medal.

 

Taekwondo—Women’s under 49 Kg

Taekwondo is being contested at the Olympics for only the second time. Chinese Taipei Chen Shin Hsin is taking on Cuba’s Yanelis Labrada Diaz in the women’s gold medal match.

 

This gold medal match has come alive. Chen getting in early with the right foot…the judges think it didn’t not enough force on it…Chen stays on top…6:4

 

And that’s the way it stayed: an emotional Chen claiming Chinese Taipei’s first-ever Olympic gold medal.

 

The men’s final featured another Chinese Taipei athlete, Chu Mu Yen¹⁶, who took on Mexico’s Oscar Blanco.

 

Blanco cannot keep up to the speed of Chu’s kicks. Under 90 seconds now, for Chu Mu Yen and Oscar Blanco…that left foot—finding the mark…a four point lead for Chu, as he closes in on Olympic gold…

 

Chu holding on to win 5:1 on a day that will go down in Olympic history for the people of Chinese Taipei.

 

The Last Laugh

 

Volleyball—Women / Diving—Men’s 10 m Platform

China won further golds in the women’s volleyball and men’s diving, bringing their Olympic gold medal ¹⁸⁾tally¹⁷, as of Sunday morning, to 31. The volleyball team beat Russia in a marathon ¹⁹⁾encounter in the final. China came back from a two sets to nil¹⁸ down, to win in five. They came within two points of defeat in the fourth, but ²⁰⁾clung on to win. And, there was another diving gold—the sixth in total. This time Hu Jia came from behind to win the men’s 10m ²¹⁾platform.

 

Taekwondo – Women’s Over 67 Kg

China had the last laugh in the Taekwondo arena¹⁹. Chen Zhong took on Myriam Bavarel of France in the over 67 Kg contest. The 21-year-old Chen won the battle 12:5 to give China its second Taekwonodo gold of the Games. It was the perfect end to a highly successful games for China, which finished second in the medal standings, with 63 medals, 32 of which were gold.

 

The Miracle Makers²⁰

 

Swimming—Men’s 100 m Butterfly

Michael Phelps is looking for another gold medal to add to the four he’s already got. We said that Crocker would go out extremely quickly, and that’s exactly what he’s done. Let’s see if Michael Phelps can track him down over the last 25 meters. Phelps ²²⁾has got his work cut out for him. Oh! Phelps might have beat him! How on earth…How on earth has he timed his finish exactly right! What a perfect lesson on the way to finish a race. That’s unbelievable!

 

He did indeed, get up to take the gold, by four one hundreds of a second (0.04 sec) and secure his fifth gold medal at the Athens Games. Phelps earning gold number six, after only swimming in the ²³⁾medley²¹ relay ²⁴⁾heat. So, Michael Phelps, falling one gold short of equaling Mark Spitz’s record of seven from the Munich Olympics.

 

Athletics—Women’s 100 m

…one of the most open women’s one hundred meters finals in recent years.

 

An explosion of flash, lights and sound, and Lauryn Williams is away like a flash…Lauryn Williams is doing all the running now…there comes the woman…Nesterenko…and it’s going to be Lauryn Williams…Williams gets it on the line! A…a fantastic performance by the young…it was very close…but might have been Nesterenko. I thought it was Williams…It’s a camera man thinks it’s Nesterenko, and everybody’s chasing her. This woman, Yuliya Nesterenko, she won it in 10:53. She’s the new Olympic Champion.

 

注释：

1) fiery [5faiEri] a. 火的

2) ignite [i^5nait] v. 点燃，点火

3) ablaze [E5bleiz] a. 着火的

4) epic [5epik] a. 史诗般的

5) hover⁶ [5hCvE] v. 盘旋

6) cauldron [5kC:ldrEn] n. 大锅

7) tilt⁷ [tilt] v. 倾斜，翘起

8) pistol [5pistl] n. 手枪

9) expertise [7ekspE5ti:z] n. 专门知识或技能

10) the two Australians  Liesel Jones和Brooke Hanson都是澳大利亚的选手。

11) battle royal 指直到最后始见分晓的混战

12) cert [sE:t] n. <英俚> 必然的事

13) block [blCk] n. 起跑器

14) sprint 长距离赛跑中的冲刺

15) a bolt from the blue 大出意外的事

16) volley [5vCli] v. （网球）截击空中球

17) reigning champions Venus Williams 威廉姆斯姐妹是上届奥运会的女子双打冠军

18) tally [5tAli] n. 记录，点数

19) encounter [in5kauntE] v. 相遇，遇到

20) cling [kliN] v. 坚持

21) platform [5plAtfC:m] n. 跳台

22) have one’s work cut out for one （口语）计划实行中

23) medley relay 混合泳接力赛

24) heat [hi:t] n. 预赛

梦幻雅典

 

很有趣，对不对？一个运动员立志要成为自己国家的最出色的代表，但最终体现的却是人类最优秀的品质。

 

那就是我从奥林匹克运动中发现的力量！

——克里斯托弗·里夫

 

奥运回家

 

全世界都把关注的目光投向在雅典奥林匹克运动场的奥运会开幕式。鼓手敲出的鼓声向世界各国的人们表示欢迎，接着，一支燃烧着的箭射向水中，水中立刻燃起了巨大的火焰。随着人工湖上奥运五环被点燃，夏季奥林匹克运动会以史诗般的气势回家了。随着开幕式的进行，希腊爱神厄洛斯在由希腊历史人物组成的行进队伍的上盘旋。不久后，过万名运动员进入运动场。

中国代表团在NBA超级明星姚明的引领下出场。中国代表团有望能在雅典取得好成绩，中国代表团的目标是奖牌榜第三名。

最后，到了所有人都期待的一刻：奥运圣火的到来。火炬最后一棒的接力者是希腊风帆运动员尼科斯·卡卡拉马纳基斯。他跑上台阶，点燃火炬，奥运会火炬针随后指向天空。

开幕式在焰火中结束。雅典奥运会开始了。

 

为中国喝彩

 

开门红

 

射击——女子10米汽步枪/男子10米汽手枪

争夺2004年雅典奥运会首金的战斗打响了。在女子10米汽步枪的比赛中，杜丽和赵颖慧准备为中国代表团向金牌发起冲击。

现在就看杜丽了，只要她能打10.1环以上，她就能赢得金牌。她赢了！

这名22岁的选手首次参加奥运会，就战胜了世界头号选手以及欧洲冠军库尔科娃，以打破奥运会纪录的成绩夺得本届奥运会的首枚金牌。

男子10米汽手枪的比赛给中国代表团继续夺取金牌的机会。老将王义夫以第二名的成绩进入决赛。

如果王义夫能打出9.7环以上的成绩，他就能赢得这枚金牌。9.9环！

王义夫在亚特兰大奥运会和悉尼奥运会上都屈居亚军，这次，他终于获得了他盼望已久的金牌，并与另一名队友一道，为自己的祖国夺得本届奥运会的头两枚金牌。

 

游泳——女子100米蛙泳

女子100米蛙泳决赛开始。莱瑟尔·琼斯必须要用尽她在蛙泳方面的技能才可能赢得比赛。她与美国选手塔拉·柯克齐头并进，另一名美国选手阿曼达·比尔德则在第二泳道。而此刻，在两名澳洲选手中，布鲁克·汉森比琼斯游得更快。这将会是一场胜负难测的赛事。莱瑟尔·琼斯此时并没有领先……在最前面的是中华人民共和国的罗雪娟，她在远处的第一泳道。她半决赛时采取的也是同样的战术……她（琼斯）入水确实很快，但在游回终点时却慢了下来，不过在这场决赛中，其他人也开始赶上来了。领先的是来自中华人民共和国的罗雪娟……布鲁克·汉森开始赶超……噢，定局被改写了。所谓的定局！在体育比赛中根本就没有定局这回事。金牌落入第一泳道的中国选手罗雪娟的手中。

中国选手出人意料地获得了金牌，莱瑟尔·琼斯比队友布鲁克·汉森稍微慢了一点，获得铜牌。

 

突破

 

田径——男子110米跨栏

下一个比赛项目是110米跨栏决赛，在第四跑道的是世界锦标赛铜牌获得者，中国的刘翔。他就在那边。他今年21岁，这次很有机会获得奖牌。他们起跑了，刘翔起跑非常迅速……现在是法国的杜库尔领先……然后是拉脱维亚的奥里加斯……杜库尔踢倒了几个栏……我想他快跌倒了……刘翔为中国赢得了金牌……我想获得第二名是拉脱维亚的奥里加斯……法国的杜库尔紧跟其后……（重放）看刘翔快速起跑……接着是法国的杜库尔……中国获得了金牌。这就是这个项目的金牌得主，无可争议的冠军。

 

田径——女子10000米

下一个项目是女子10000米赛跑。现在中国的一名运动员开始发力……她们正在跑最后一圈……现在不加速就没有机会了……邢慧娜的正开始向前冲……在参加这次比赛前，她的个人成绩很一般……她个人的最好成绩是在去年创造的。现在，她们跑过弯道，冲向最后的直道……马上就是最后冲刺了……现在看来，邢慧娜后劲充足……她现在超过了埃塞俄比亚的迪巴巴……对这名年轻的中国选手来说，这是一次优势明显的胜利。来自中国的邢慧娜创造了她个人的最好成绩，30分24秒36。这真是出乎意料！这一组中最不可能的胜利者，名气不大的年轻选手邢慧娜为中国赢得了这枚金牌。

 

网球——女子双打

网球女双的决赛是在中国的李婷和孙甜甜与西班牙的孔切塔·马丁内斯和弗吉尼亚·鲁娅诺·帕斯奎尔之间展开的。

李婷发现马丁内斯欲打出擦边底线球，凌空把球挡了回去。这样，中国这两名排名第八的种子选手在女双决赛第一局以6:3的比分胜出。

这对在第一轮就战胜了上届冠军维纳斯·威廉姆斯和珊德拉·鲁宾的中国选手目标就是夺取金牌。

中国赢得了首枚奥运网球奖牌，而且是一枚沉甸甸的金牌。李婷和孙甜甜异常轻松地战胜了世界女双头号种子马丁内斯和帕斯奎尔，摘取了网球女双金牌。李婷和孙甜甜的胜利使中国获得首枚网球奖牌成为不争的事实。

 

跆拳道女子49公斤以下级

这是跆拳道第二次作为奥运会的比赛项目。中国台北的陈诗欣正在与古巴的拉夫拉达·迪亚斯进行争夺金牌的比赛。

金牌决战非常激烈。陈中率先飞起右脚……但裁判裁定为力量不够……陈诗欣的比分依然领先……比分6:4。

双方形势没有太多变化，情绪激动的中国台北选手陈诗欣获得了中国台北历史上的首枚奥运金牌.

男子跆拳道决赛的双方是中国台北选手朱木炎和墨西哥选手奥斯卡·布兰科。

布兰科跟不上朱木炎踢腿的速度。还剩90秒了, 朱木炎对阵奥斯卡·布兰科……朱木炎左脚飞起，又得一分……现在朱木炎领先四分了，离奥运金牌越来越近了……

朱木炎继续保持优势，最终以5:1的比分赢得了金牌。这一天将载入中国台北民众的奥林匹克史册。

 

锦上添花

 

女子排球/跳水——男子十米跳台

中国赢得了女子排球和男子跳水的金牌。这样，到星期天早上为止，中国的金牌总数是31枚。中国女子排球队在与俄罗斯的马拉松遭遇战中战胜对手，赢得决赛。中国队在0比2先失两局的情况下，连扳三局，反败为胜。在第四局，她们在对手还差两分就拿下这场比赛时,锲而不舍地拼搏，终于赢得了比赛的胜利。另外，中国又获得了一块跳水金牌，这是他们在这个项目的第六块金牌。在男子十米跳台的比赛中，胡佳后来居上，赢得了比赛。

 

跆拳道——女子67公斤以上级

昨天晚上，中国奥运代表团在跆拳道比赛馆笑到最后。在67公斤以上级的比赛中，陈中迎战法国的米里昂·巴维雷尔。21岁的陈中最终以12比5的成绩为中国夺取了本届奥运会的第二枚跆拳道金牌。这对已经是凯歌高奏的中国代表团来说，是一个圆满的大结局。中国最终以32枚金牌，奖牌总数62的成绩名列奥运会奖牌榜第二。

 

奇迹创造者

 

游泳——男子100米蝶泳

迈克尔·菲尔普斯已经获得了四枚金牌，现在他想再多夺一枚。我们说过了，克罗克起跳入水的动作会很迅速，而他确实这样做了。我们来看看迈克尔·菲尔普斯能否在最后的25米追上他。菲尔普斯把一切都安排好了。啊！菲尔普斯有可能击败克罗克！这究竟……他到底是如何把冲刺时间掐得这么准！他真的是完美地展示了如何在比赛中夺冠。让人难以置信！

他真的做到了，他以0.04秒的优势获得了这块金牌，同时，这也是他在雅典奥运会获得的第五块金牌。接着，菲尔普斯只参与了混合泳接力赛的预赛，就为自己赢得了第六块金牌。这样，与马克·施皮兹在慕尼黑奥运会上夺得七块金牌的记录相比，迈克尔·菲尔普斯还少了一块。

 

田径——女子100米

……这是近年来难得的一场什么结果难料的女子百米短跑决赛。

随着号令枪的一声令下，劳伦·威廉姆斯闪电般地冲了出去……她在全力以赴……有一名女选手赶上来了……她是内斯特兰科……威廉姆斯将赢得这场比赛……威廉姆斯已经到达终点……这位年轻运动员跑得太棒了……结果非常接近……冠军有可能是内斯特兰科。我开始以为是威廉姆斯……但摄像显示是内斯特兰科，现在所有人都跟在她身后。这样，虞莉娅·内斯特兰科以十秒五三的成绩赢了这场比赛。她成了奥运会冠军。