US Women Take First-Ever Gold in Olympic Beach Volleyball

 

By Rebecca Ward¹

Misty² May and Kerri Walsh gave the United States its first-ever women's gold medals in beach volleyball at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. The Brazilian team of Shelda Bede and Adriana Behar took silver, while another American team - Holly³ McPeak and Elaine Youngs won the bronze.

A packed house at the seaside stadium in Athens saw the two U.S. women overtake their Brazilian rivals in straight sets - 21-17 and 21-11. Although the Brazilian team had the most supporters the crowd, it did not seem to matter that the Americans had won the gold. All sides of the stadium erupted into cheers.

Speaking shortly after winning the gold, Walsh said no matter whose side they're cheering for, the stadium crowd is part of the game.

"That's what beach volleyball is all about," she said. "It's so interactive⁴ between the crowd and the players. Typically everyone whose at an event has so much passion for the sport and it's infectious and it really helps Misty and I. People can be booing us they can be cheering us on, it really doesn't matter. We just feed off their energy."
 
Walsh and May gave a lot credit to the Brazilian team, saying they're very, very good - especially on their serves. May says their strategy against the Brazilians was to try to attack on each of their serves.

"But also defense⁵, we have to hold a lot longer," she said. "And make them think instead of us trying to guess what they're doing. We did a great job, Kerri did a great job at the net and it made my job easy in the back."

Beach volleyball got its Olympic start just eight years ago in Atlanta. Since then, it has become one of the most popular events at the Olympics - playing to full stadiums in nearly all the games here. Few events offer such a feel-good atmosphere - disco and rock music blasts through speakers between plays - an energetic announcer gets the entire stadium to do the wave - and every once in a while, a group of 12 young female dancers come out to entertain the crowd.

But, make no mistake, the four women hitting the volleyball back and forth⁶ over the net are first class athletes and the fast-scoring game would be entertainment enough without all the extras.

Rebecca Ward, VOA News, Athens, Greece.

注释：
Brazilian 巴西的
silver 银牌
bronze 铜牌
stadium 体育场
rival 竞争对手
erupt 爆发
interactive 互相作用的
passion 热情
infectious 有感染力的
strategy 策略
energetic 充满活力的
entertain 使娱乐

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

2 misty   

adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的

参考例句：

• He crossed over to the window to see if it was still misty.他走到窗户那儿，看看是不是还有雾霭。
• The misty scene had a dreamy quality about it.雾景给人以梦幻般的感觉。

3 holly   

n.[植]冬青属灌木

参考例句：

• I recently acquired some wood from a holly tree.最近我从一棵冬青树上弄了些木料。
• People often decorate their houses with holly at Christmas.人们总是在圣诞节时用冬青来装饰房屋。

4 interactive   

adj.相互作用的，互相影响的，（电脑）交互的

参考例句：

• The psychotherapy is carried out in small interactive groups.这种心理治疗是在互动的小组之间进行的。
• This will make videogames more interactive than ever.这将使电子游戏的互动性更胜以往。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。