Robbers Thwart Kenyan Boxer's Olympic Dreams
时间：2018-11-29 作者：英语课 分类：VOA2004（下）--雅典奥运
By Raymond Thibodeaux
A Kenyan boxer 1 widely regarded as his country's best hope for a boxing gold medal in the Athens Olympics has had to withdraw from competition after being injured in a robbery while training in Nairobi.
Kenya's flyweight boxing champion Suleiman Bilali doesn't have much trouble in the ring. For five years, he's never lost a bout 2 in Africa, and last October he took home a gold medal from the All Africa Games in Nigeria. He made it to the quarterfinals at the Sydney Olympics four years ago, losing by only a few points to a Spaniard who went on to win the gold.
Bilali was considered a likely contender for a gold medal in Athens. But that was before a gang of six robbers attacked him during training near his home in Kibera, one of several sprawling 3 tin-shack slums in Nairobi. Nairobi is nicknamed "Nairobbery" for its rampant 4 crime.
Bilali spoke 5 by telephone from a Nairobi hospital, where he is being treated for his injuries.
"When they approached me and one of them he said to me, 'You think this time you go for the Olympics. We are sorry.' I know that they all knew who I was," he said.
A Kenyan police officer as well as a boxer, Bilali said he was able to fight off his attackers, some of them armed with machetes. But during the fight, Bilali aggravated 6 a previous ankle injury, sustained in a car accident four months ago.
The new injury forced him from competition at the Athens Games.
Bilali's chiseled 7 good looks are a testament 8 to his speed and agility 9 in the ring. When he is fighting he knows how to keep from being hit.
Out the ring, it's a different story. In 1998, he was hit by a car and sustained a serious knee injury. He was on crutches 10 for two-and-a-half months, but still managed to put in a good performance two years later at the Sydney Games.
His coach Albert Matito doesn't dwell on the misfortunes that have befallen one of his most talented boxers 11. He's more concerned with what's next, which includes several upcoming competitions in Africa and abroad.
"He has improved, and you know he's a stylish 12 boxer and very good with his punches. He's accurate. He can box well. We are now treating him," he said. "He's still young---he's 27 right now. And he knows he'll do good and he can do better than where he is now. Only that injury, if it heals, there will be no problem."
Bilali had hoped for a chance to bring a new boxing gold medal to Kenya, a former boxing powerhouse that hasn't won a gold medal in boxing since 1988.
"They are all hoping that when I go there I come back with the gold medal. But it's unfortunate that I'm not going there for the Athens Games, but I pray for David Munyasia," he said.
David Munyasia, a featherweight fighter, is now the only Kenyan boxer at the 2004 Games. Kenyans will now pin their hopes of Olympic boxing glory on him.
Raymond Thibodeaux for VOA News, Nairobi.
注释：
robbery 抢劫
Nairobi 奈洛比，肯尼亚首都
flyweight 51公斤级，特轻量级
bout 一个回合
All Africa Games 全非运动会
Nigeria 尼日利亚
quarterfinal 四分之一决赛
Spaniard 西班牙人
contender 竞争者
slum 贫民窟
nickname 给……起绰号
rampant 猖獗的
machete 大砍刀
aggravate 使恶化, 加重
chiseled 轮廓分明的
agility 敏捷
crutch 拐杖
dwell on 详评
befall 降临
featherweight 57公斤级，次轻量级
glory 荣誉
- The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
- He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。
- I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
- That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。
- He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
- a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇
- Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
- You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。
- They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
- The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
- If he aggravated me any more I shall hit him. 假如他再激怒我，我就要揍他。
- Far from relieving my cough, the medicine aggravated it. 这药非但不镇咳，反而使我咳嗽得更厉害。
- Woltz had chiseled the guy, given him peanuts for the book. 乌尔茨敲了这个作家的竹杠，用了他的书，却只给微不足道的一点点钱。 来自教父部分
- He chiseled the piece of wood into the shape of a head. 他把这块木头凿刻成人头的形状。 来自辞典例句
- This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
- It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。
- The boy came upstairs with agility.那男孩敏捷地走上楼来。
- His intellect and mental agility have never been in doubt.他的才智和机敏从未受到怀疑。