10-10 1996年亚特兰大奥运会

1996 Olympics, Atlanta

The Atlanta Games were certainly the largest (a record 197 nations and areas competed) Olympics to date and perhaps the most hyped1 and overcommercialized as well. Despite all the troubles that organizers faced, from computer scoring snafus2 and transportation problems to a horrific terrorist attack, these Olympics had some of the best stories ever.

The Games began so joyously 1 with Muhammad Ali, the world's best-known sports figure then stricken by illness, igniting3 the Olympic cauldron4. Sadly, just eight days later horror was the prevailing 2 mood after a terrorist's bomb ripped apart a peaceful Friday evening in Centennial5 Olympic Park. In the explosion, one woman was killed, 111 people were injured and the entire world was reminded of the tragedy of Munich in 1972.

As they did in '72, the Games would go on. In track and field, Michael Johnson delivered on his much-anticipated, yet still startling, double in the 200 and 400 meters. One thing that many didn't foresee is that he would be matched by France's Marie-Jose Perec, who converted her own 200-400 double, albeit 36 with much less attention. Carl Lewis pulled out one last bit of magic to win the long jump for the ninth gold medal of his amazing Olympic career. Donovan Bailey set a world record in the 100 and led Canada to a win over a faltering7 U.S. team in the 4×100 relay. The U.S. women's gymnastics squad 58 took the team gold and Amy Van Dyken became the first American woman to win four golds in a single Games.

China collected 16 golds, 22 silvers and 12 bronzes, ranking fourth both in gold medals tally 69 and in the total number of medals won. 18-year-old diver Fu Mingxia proved her superiority in both the women's 3m springboard and 10m platform diving and rose as a new “queen of diving” since the retirement 7 of Gao. Also in Atlanta, 26-year-old Lee Lai-Shan won the women's boardsailing to become the first gold medallist in the 44-year Olympic history of Hong Kong.

注释：

1. hype [haip] vt. 大肆宣传，（耍花招等）为……做广告

2. snafu [snA5fu:] n. [美俚] 混乱，一团糟，明显的大错，拙劣的工作

3. ignite [i^5nait] vt. 点燃，点火于，使燃烧

4. cauldron [5kC:ldrEn] n. [英]（尤指带柄的）大锅

5. centennial [sen5tenjEl] a. 一百周年庆祝（或纪念）的

6. albeit [C:l5bi:it] conj. 尽管，即使

7. falter 4 [5fC:ltE] vi. 蹒跚，踉跄，站不稳，摇晃

8. squad [skwCd] n. 小队

9. tally [5tAli] n. 记数牌，记分卡，机械计数器

1996年亚特兰大奥运会

亚特兰大奥运会无疑是迄今为止规模最大（有创纪录的197个国家和地区参赛），也许还是被媒体炒作最多、过度商业化的一届奥运会。尽管组织者经历了各种各样的麻烦，从电脑记分混乱和交通不畅到一次可怕的恐怖袭击，但是本届奥运会还是谱写了奥运史上一些最为精彩的篇章。

穆罕默德·阿里——这位闻名世界但当时已病魔缠身的体坛巨星——点燃了奥运圣火，在欢乐的气氛中揭开了本届奥运会的帷幕。然而，令人悲伤的是，仅仅8天之后，一名恐怖分子的炸弹撕破了奥林匹克百年纪念公园周五平静的夜空，一切都随之被蒙上了恐慌的阴影。在这次爆炸中，一名妇女丧生，111人受伤。此次事件令人不禁想起1972年发生在慕尼黑的那场悲剧。

同1972年一样，奥运会比赛仍然继续进行。在田径项目中，迈克尔·约翰逊在200米和400米比赛中赢得了虽然是意料之中但仍然是令人惊叹的两块金牌。最令人称奇的是，居然有人在本届奥运会上也取得了堪与他媲美的佳绩。那是法国选手马里耶·若泽·珀雷克。她没有赢得太多的注意，但却悄然勇夺女子200米和400米的两项桂冠。卡尔·刘易斯最后神奇的一搏，用跳远冠军的成绩为其令人惊羡的奥运生涯赢得了第9枚金牌。多诺万·贝利在100米短跑中创造了新的世界记录，并在4×100米接力赛中率领加拿大队战胜了跌跌撞撞的美国队。美国女子体操队赢得团体金牌，埃米·范戴肯则成为在一届奥运会中独揽4枚金牌的第一位美国女子运动员。

中国代表队共获得了16枚金牌、22枚银牌和12枚铜牌，在金牌榜和总奖牌榜上都名列第四。18岁的跳水运动员伏明霞在女子3米跳板和10米跳台跳水比赛中表现出众，成为继高敏之后又一名“跳水皇后”。此外，在亚特兰大奥运会上，26岁的李丽珊获得女子帆板比赛第一名，成为香港44年奥运会参赛史上第一个获得金牌的运动员。