VOA慢速英语2012--PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Wilma Rudolph, 1940-1994: "The Fastest Woman in the World"

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Wilma Rudolph, 1940-1994: "The Fastest Woman in the World"

STEVE EMBER: I’m Steve Ember.

BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Wilma Rudolph, the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics.

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: They called her “the Black Pearl,” “the Black Gazelle” and “the fastest woman in the world.” In nineteen sixty, Wilma Rudolph became the first American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She was an extraordinary American athlete. She also did a lot to help young athletes succeed.

Wilma Rudolph was born in nineteen forty, in Saint¹ Bethlehem, Tennessee. She was born too early and only weighed two kilograms. She had many illnesses when she was very young, including pneumonia² and scarlet³ fever. She also had polio, which damaged her left leg. When she was six years old, she began to wear metal leg braces⁴ because she could not use that leg.

BARBARA KLEIN: Wilma Rudolph was born into a very large, poor, African-American family. She was the twentieth of twenty-two children. Since she was sick most of the time, her brothers and sisters all helped to take care of her. They took turns rubbing her crippled⁵ leg every night. They also made sure she did not try to take off her leg braces. Every week, Wilma's mother drove her to a special doctor eighty kilometers away. Here, she got physical treatments to help heal her leg.

She later said: “My doctors told me I would never walk again. My mother told me I would. I believed my mother.”

STEVE EMBER: Soon, her family’s attention and care showed results. By the time she was nine years old, she no longer needed her leg braces. Wilma was very happy, because she could now run and play like other children. When she was eleven years old, her brothers set up a basketball hoop⁶ in the backyard. After that, she played basketball every day.

As a teenager, Wilma joined the girl’s basketball team at Burt High School. C.C. Gray was the coach who supervised⁷ the team. He gave her the nickname⁸ “Skeeter.” She did very well in high school basketball. She once scored forty-nine points in one game, which broke the Tennessee state record.

Many people noted⁹ that Wilma was a very good basketball player and a very good athlete. One of these people was Ed Temple, who coached the track team of runners at Tennessee State University. Ed Temple asked C.C. Gray to organize a girl’s track team at the high school. He thought Wilma Rudolph would make a very good runner. She did very well on the new track team.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: Wilma Rudolph went to her first Olympic Games when she was sixteen years old and still in high school. She competed in the nineteen fifty-six games in Melbourne, Australia. She was the youngest member of the United States team. She won a bronze medal, or third place, in the sprint¹⁰ relay¹¹ event.

In nineteen fifty-seven, Wilma Rudolph entered Tennessee State University, where she joined the track team. The coach, Ed Temple, worked very hard for the girls on the team. He drove them to track competitions and made improvements to the running track with his own money. However, he was not an easy coach. For example, he would make the members of the team run one extra time around the track for every minute they were late to practice.

Wilma Rudolph trained hard while in college. She did very well at her track competitions against teams from other colleges. In nineteen sixty, she set the world record for the fastest time in the two thousand meter event. She said: “I ran and ran and ran every day, and I acquired this sense of determination, this sense of spirit that I would never, never give up, no matter what else happened.”

STEVE EMBER: That same year, Wilma Rudolph went to the Olympics again, this time in Rome, Italy. She won two gold medals -- first place -- in the one hundred meter and the two hundred meter races. She set a new Olympic record of twenty-three point two seconds for the two hundred meter dash.

Her team also won the gold medal in the four hundred meter sprint relay event, setting a world record of forty-four point five seconds. These three gold medals made her one of the most popular athletes at the Rome games. These victories made people call her the “world’s fastest woman.”

(SOUND - 1960 ROME OLYMPICS)

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: Wilma Rudolph received a lot of attention from the press and the public, but she did not forget her teammates. She said that her favorite event was the relay, because she could share the victory with her teammates Martha Hudson, Lucinda Williams and Barbara Jones. All four women were from Tennessee State University.

The Associated Press named Rudolph the U.S. Female Athlete of the year. She also appeared on television many times. Sports fans in the United States and all over the world loved and respected her. She said: “The feeling of accomplishment¹² welled up inside of me, three Olympic gold medals. I knew that was something nobody could ever take away from me, ever.”

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: Wilma Rudolph was a fine example for many people inside and outside the world of sports. She supported the civil rights movement -- the struggle for equality between white and black people. When she came home from the Olympics, she told the governor of Tennessee that she would not attend a celebration where white and black people were separated. As a result, her homecoming parade and dinner were the first events in her hometown of Clarksville that white people and black people were able to attend together.

After she retired¹³ from sports, Wilma Rudolph completed her education at Tennessee State University. She got her bachelor’s degree in elementary education and became a teacher. She returned to coach the track team at Burt High School. She also worked as a commentator¹⁴ for women’s track competitions on national television. In nineteen sixty-three she married her high school boyfriend Robert Eldridge. They had four children, but later ended their marriage.

Wilma Rudolph won many important athletic¹⁵ awards. She was voted into the Black Athlete’s Hall of Fame and the United

States Olympic Hall of Fame. She was also voted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame. In nineteen seventy-seven, she wrote a book about her life called “Wilma.” She wrote about her childhood problems and her athletic successes. NBC later made the book into a movie for television.

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: Rudolph said her greatest success was creating the Wilma Rudolph Foundation in nineteen eighty-one. This organization helped children in local communities to become athletes. She always wanted to help young athletes recognize how much they could succeed in their lives.

She said: “The triumph can’t be had without the struggle. And I know what struggle is. I have spent a lifetime trying to share what it has meant to be a woman first in the world of sports so that other young women have a chance to reach their dreams.”

Rudolph also influenced many athletes. One of them was another African American runner, Florence Griffith Joyner. In nineteen eighty-eight, Griffith Joyner became the second American woman to win three gold medals in one Olympics. She went on to win a total of six Olympic medals. Wilma Rudolph was very happy to see other African American female athletes succeed. She said: “I thought I’d never get to see that. Florence Griffith Joyner – every time she ran, I ran.”

(MUSIC)

STEVE EMBER: Wilma Rudolph died of brain cancer in nineteen ninety-four in Nashville, Tennessee. She was fifty-four years old. She influenced athletes, African Americans and women around the world. She was an important example of how anyone can overcome barriers and make their dreams come true. Her nineteen sixty Olympics teammate, Bill Mulliken, said: "She was beautiful; she was nice, and she was the best."

(MUSIC)

BARBARA KLEIN: This program was written by Erin Braswell and produced by Caty Weaver¹⁶. I’m Barbara Klein.

STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans at our Web site, voanews.cn. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 saint   

n.圣徒；基督教徒；vt.成为圣徒，把...视为圣徒

参考例句：

• He was made a saint.他被封为圣人。
• The saint had a lowly heart.圣人有谦诚之心。

2 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

3 scarlet   

n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的

参考例句：

• The scarlet leaves of the maples contrast well with the dark green of the pines.深红的枫叶和暗绿的松树形成了明显的对比。
• The glowing clouds are growing slowly pale,scarlet,bright red,and then light red.天空的霞光渐渐地淡下去了，深红的颜色变成了绯红，绯红又变为浅红。

4 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

5 crippled   

adj.跛腿的，残废的

参考例句：

• He was crippled by polio as a child. 他幼年患过小儿麻痹症，结果腿就瘸了。
• It is not decent to laugh at a crippled person. 笑话一个瘸子是不得体的行为。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

7 supervised   

v.监督，管理( supervise的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The architect supervised the building of the house. 建筑工程师监督房子的施工。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He supervised and trained more than 400 volunteers. 他指导和培训了400多名志愿者。 来自辞典例句

8 nickname   

n.绰号，昵称；v.给...取绰号，叫错名字

参考例句：

• She called me by my nickname.她叫我的外号。
• Why do you fasten such a nickname on her?你为什么给她取这样一个绰号？

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

11 relay   

n.接力赛，中继转播（设备）；vt.转述，转播

参考例句：

• They will relay your message.他们会转达你的口信。
• This metal tower is used to relay television signals to distant villages.这个金属塔是用于向遥远的村子转播电视讯号的。

12 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

15 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

16 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。