Brazilian sprinter realizes Olympic dream

 　　RIO DE JANEIRO, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Brazilian sprinter¹ Rosangela Santos has revealed her winning formula for Olympic qualification: cinema and popcorn².

　　The 21-year-old earned her ticket to London on Sunday by winning the 100m event at the Brazil Grand Prix in Rio with a time of 11.21 seconds, one hundredth of a second inside the Olympic qualifying standard.

　　"Until now I have been preparing for the Games just like any other athlete: concentrating on my events and eating the right things," Santos said.

　　"But on Saturday night I went to the cinema to eat popcorn. I think that is the reason why I won."

　　Making the performance even more meritorious³ was the quality of opposition⁴ at Sunday's event.

　　Second place went to Bahamas rising star Sheniqua Ferguson (11.30 seconds) while American Lauryn Williams, silver medalist at the 2004 Athens Olympics, finished third in a time of 11.32 seconds.

　　The result came after a testing past few months for Santos, who had fallen painstakingly⁵ short of the qualifying time in her previous attempts this year.

　　"It's a big relief. Now I have to work hard to try to get the time down to the 10.90s or 11s. That's the time you generally need to make the Olympic final."

　　Born in the United States, Santos moved to Rio with her family as a child.

　　Having finished fourth in Brazil's 4x100m relay at the Beijing Games four years ago, Santos won gold at the Pan American Games in Mexico last year with a personal best time of 11.22 seconds.

　　Immediately after her triumph on Sunday, the Brazilian ran to the stands of the Engenhao stadium to embrace her boyfriend, who made a No.1 gesture with his hand.

　　Santos admitted to being overcome with emotion and even shedding a tear.

　　"I have come so close in my previous results and now finally I've achieved my goal," she concluded.

1 sprinter   

n.短跑运动员，短距离全速奔跑者

参考例句：

• He is more a sprinter than a swimmer. 他是短跑健将，而不是游泳选手。 来自辞典例句
• The sprinter himself thinks he can run the race at 9.4 seconds. 这位短跑运动员自认为可以用9.4秒跑完比赛。 来自互联网

2 popcorn   

n.爆米花

参考例句：

• I like to eat popcorn when I am watching TV play at home.当我在家观看电视剧时，喜欢吃爆米花。
• He still stood behind his cash register stuffing his mouth with popcorn.他仍站在收银机后，嘴里塞满了爆米花。

3 meritorious   

adj.值得赞赏的

参考例句：

• He wrote a meritorious theme about his visit to the cotton mill.他写了一篇关于参观棉纺织厂的有价值的论文。
• He was praised for his meritorious service.他由于出色地工作而受到称赞。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 painstakingly   

adv. 费力地 苦心地

参考例句：

• Every aspect of the original has been closely studied and painstakingly reconstructed. 原作的每一细节都经过了仔细研究，费尽苦心才得以重现。
• The cause they contrived so painstakingly also ended in failure. 他们惨淡经营的事业也以失败而告终。