The Unforgettable Dream Games

The Unforgettable Dream Games

It doesn’t matter where you come from, who your family is, what you wear, or how good you are at math. All that matters is that you give it everything you’ve got.

To me, that’s why the Olympic Games rock!

—Avril

The Timeless Olympic Moments

The Stockholm Olympics of 1912; a new event has been added to the program—the 1)decathlon—the ultimate test for an athlete. A combination of strength, speed and endurance. Ten events—running, jumping and throwing. The winner earning the title of the finest athlete in the world.

Jim Thorpe, an American Indian, was the first winner of the decathlon.  Jim Thorpe’s decathlon record wasn’t broken until the Amsterdam Games of 1928. 

London, 1948. The Olympic Games are renewed after a twelve year 2)moratorium 2 because of World War Two. Thirty-eight year old Captain Karoly Takacs is a member of the Hungarian Team. His performance would be one of the most dramatic in the history of the Olympic Games. Before the war, Takacs was one of the finest pistol shooters in the world. But, while on military 3)maneuvers, a grenade exploded in his right hand. It had to be 4)amputated. Nevertheless, during the war, he trained himself to shoot with his other hand. Now, here in London, Captain Karoly Takacs would attempt to fulfill 4 the dream he had before his accident. When the rapid-fire pistol shooting event was over, Captain Karoly Takacs stood atop the victory platform. He’d finally won his gold medal.

Before the L.A. Games in 1984, no American woman had ever won an individual gymnastics gold medal. Representing the U.S. that year, though, was a tiny, but 5)muscular, Italian-American, named Mary-Lou Retton. Injury had prevented her from taking part in any international competitions in her short career. But, the sixteen-year old would get overwhelming vocal 6 support from the home crowd. 6)Up against World Champion Katy Szabo from Romania, the four foot eight inch American would dig deep here in the all-around competition, earning a series of 10-pointers that would finally give America its long sought after Olympic gymnastics gold medal.

Up until the Barcelona Olympics of 1992, no male gymnast had been able to win six gold medals at one Olympics. But a young Byelorussian, named Vitaly Scherbo, was about to change all that. Here, in the all-around competition, Scherbo was unmatched. He went on to take gold in the all-around competition, along with four individual and one team gold, for a new record of six gold. 

The 1988 Seoul Olympics will be remembered for the drug cheats, who were caught, like Ben Johnson, and those who weren’t caught. The 100 meter sprint 7 is probably the most anticipated of all Olympic finals, yet, it only lasts about 10 seconds. Here in Seoul, Florence Griffith-Joyner was undoubtedly 8 the favorite. At the U.S. Olympic trials, she ran a wind assisted 10.49 seconds to 7)smash the world record. The Olympic final would prove a walk in the park. 

The Invincible 9

When Fu Mingxia was just nine years old, she was taken from her home, in Wuhan, to a diving school in Beijing, where she practiced seven days a week. At the Barcelona Olympics of 1992, Fu’s main threats would come from American, Mary-Ellen Clark and Russian, Yelena Miroshina. But, the Chinese, who only just turned the legal Olympic age of 14, while at Barcelona, produced near-flawless diving. She won the gold ahead of Miroshina by a margin of more than 50 points. Fu followed up that gold with a gold medal in Atlanta. Victory would also come in Sydney. 

注释：

1) decathlon [di5kAWlCn] n. 田径十项全能

2) moratorium [7mCrE5tC:riEm] n. 活动中止

3) maneuver 3 [mE5nu:vE] n. 演习，military maneuver 军事演习

4) amputate [5Ampju7teit] v. 切除（手臂，腿等）

5) muscular [5mQskjulE] a. 肌肉的, 强健的

6) up against 面临

7) smash [smAF] v. 粉碎，打破