World's leading hurdlers safely advance in Daegu worlds

 　　DAEGU, South Korea¹, Aug. 28 (Xinhua) -- The world's three fastest hurdlers safely advanced in the heats of the world championships here on Sunday, but the best time was made by U.S. rising star Jason Richardson in 13.19 seconds.

　　China's Liu Xiang, the former world and Olympic champion of the men's 110m hurdles², was the fastest among the big three as he easily led heat one to finish in 13.20.

　　David Oliver, the world's leading athlete of the season, was in third place by 13.27 while world record holder³ and Olympic champion Dayron Robles was the only one among the three hot contenders who did not lead the group. The Cuban clocked 13.42 to cross the line just behind another U.S. runner Aries Merritt on 13.36.

　　Richardson beat teammate⁴ Oliver in the Diamond League Stockholm leg to win the gold medal and was the fourth fastest hurdler this year with a personal best of 13.08.

　　On the other hand, Ryan Brathwaite's defence⁵ of his world title came to a premature⁶ end when the 23-year-old from Barbados was run out in the heats.

　　Brathwaite, who enjoyed a dream run to take the gold medal in Berlin two years ago, finished fifth in the first heat in 13.57 and became the third world or Olympic champion in two days to make an early exit following the demise⁷ of Steve Hooker of men's pole vault⁸ and Christine Ohuruogu of women's 400m.

　　However, it was not a shock as Brathwaite came to Daegu with a personal season best of only 13.54.

　　The men's 110m hurdles is set to be the race of the Championships here in Daegu, featuring the three fastest men in history, who are Robles (12.87), Liu (12.88) and Oliver (12.89).

　　However, the final on Monday might be a fierce⁹ fight among four to five guys.

　　In seven Diamond League races up to and including London only Robles (three wins) has won more than once. Liu, Oliver, Merritt and Richardson have won once each.

1 Korea   

n.朝鲜(亚洲)

参考例句：

• Korea lies to the east of China.韩国位于中国东面。
• Korea and China are separated by only the Yalu River.朝鲜和中国只隔一条鸭绿江。

2 hurdles   

n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 )；跳栏；（供人或马跳跃的）栏架；跨栏赛

参考例句：

• In starting a new company, many hurdles must be crossed. 刚开办一个公司时，必须克服许多障碍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There are several hurdles to be got over in this project. 在这项工程中有一些困难要克服。 来自辞典例句

3 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

4 teammate   

n.队友

参考例句：

• He is a great teammate.他是一个伟大的队友。
• He missed the ball passed from his teammate.他没能接住队友传来的球。

5 defence   

n.保卫，防御，辩护

参考例句：

• The lawyer produced a clever defence of his client.律师机智地为委托人辩护。
• We must see that there is no gap in our defence.我们必须确保我们的防御没有漏洞。

6 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

7 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

8 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

9 fierce   

adj.凶猛的，残忍的；狂热的，强烈的

参考例句：

• The soldiers got ready for a fierce battle.战士们准备进行一场恶战。
• What he said met with fierce opposition.他的话语遭到激烈反对。