Kenya's Rono eyes victory in World XC in Poland

 　　NAIROBI, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Prior to Saturday, there was very little to write or say about Kenya's Philemon Rono, the Kaptagat ( Rift¹ Valley) based distance runner.

　　However, the beauty of Kenyan athletics² is stories of rags to riches replicate³ each other every season.

　　This time, the wheels of fortune landed on the 22-year-old police officer when he vanquished⁴ a loaded field in the senior men 8km race at the National Cross Country Championships.

　　Topping the signature race at an event dubbed⁵ mini-World Cross has duly accorded Kiptoo the spotlight⁶ ahead of the global showpiece that will be held in the Polish city of Bydgoszcz on March 24.

　　"It is my first time in the team having tried for a number of years without success. I have competed in various road races including half marathons outside the country but this is the first time I will be travelling with the national team.

　　"What remains⁷ for me is to train hard and from there, we shall see how things will come," the freshly minted Kenyan cross titleholder stated, still not believing what he accomplished⁹.

　　On Saturday, Rono, who was nowhere among the listed pre-race favourites, put together a tactical master class through the opening five of the six 2km laps before opening up his legs to fashion a devastating¹⁰ sprint¹¹ for the finish during the event held at Nairobi's Uhuru Gardens.

　　Until the bell, he was involved in a 3 way tussle¹² for the honors, with Kenya Prisons athlete, Timothy Kiptoo and Geoffrey Kirui completing the unlikely front runners.

　　"I wanted to just hang with the pace and when I saw the guys maintaining (the same pace) I started to increase mine. I was not having any problem; I did not plan before what I wanted to do.

　　"I increased the pace since I felt strong and when I realised they were not following me, I decided¹³ to go for it," he told of his calculated racing¹⁴ that saw him arrive at the tape unchallenged in 35:21.5.

　　Kiptoo and Kirui trailed him across the finish to complete the unexpected podium in a race that scorched¹⁵ among others, the 2010 World Cross winner, Joseph Ebuya, the silver winner from 2008, Leonard Komon and world 5000m junior record holder⁸, Isaiah Kiplangat Koech among other luminaries¹⁶.

　　"It was tough out there, I saw the people I started against and knew that I had to be at my best," the winner acknowledged the arduous¹⁷ task at the start.

　　His credential coming to the event read of a versatile¹⁸ distance runner with personal best of 8:02.38 (3000m), 13:36.23 (5000m), 28: 53.6 (10000m), 42:52 (15K) and 60:58 (half marathon).

　　He was only 8th in his institutional cross championships on Jan. 19 and only made the Kenya Police squad¹⁹ after high profile withdrawals²⁰ among them the winner, Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor and runner-up Geoffrey Mutai who competed at the Ras-Al-Khaimah Half Marathon in the UAE last Friday.

　　Kipsang who won the race will join Kiptoo at the Kenya's World Cross team training camp in Kigari, Embu from Wednesday after he was given wildcard selection by Athletics Kenya selectors.

　　Last year, Kiptoo missed out on London Olympics after he could only finish eighth at the Police track and field championships but he did run his career best over the half marathon when he won in Paderbon.

　　In the race for the last World Cross in Punta Umbria, he was not even in the reckoning for selection when he finished 19th during the 2011 National Cross Championships at the same venue²¹ of his triumph on Saturday.

　　With odds²² stuck against winners of the Kenya championships going on to win the World Cross, Kiptoo's victory will at least make the world sit and take notice.

1 rift   

n.裂口，隙缝，切口；v.裂开，割开，渗入

参考例句：

• He was anxious to mend the rift between the two men.他急于弥合这两个人之间的裂痕。
• The sun appeared through a rift in the clouds.太阳从云层间隙中冒出来。

2 athletics   

n.运动，体育，田径运动

参考例句：

• When I was at school I was always hopeless at athletics.我上学的时候体育十分糟糕。
• Our team tied with theirs in athletics.在田径比赛中，我们队与他们队旗鼓相当。

3 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

4 vanquished   

v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制

参考例句：

• She had fought many battles, vanquished many foes. 她身经百战，挫败过很多对手。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I vanquished her coldness with my assiduity. 我对她关心照顾从而消除了她的冷淡。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

5 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 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。

9 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

10 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

11 sprint   

n.短距离赛跑；vi. 奋力而跑，冲刺；vt.全速跑过

参考例句：

• He put on a sprint to catch the bus.他全速奔跑以赶上公共汽车。
• The runner seemed to be rallied for a final sprint.这名赛跑者似乎在振作精神作最后的冲刺。

12 tussle   

n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩

参考例句：

• They began to tussle with each other for the handgun.他们互相扭打起来，抢夺那支手枪。
• We are engaged in a legal tussle with a large pharmaceutical company.我们正同一家大制药公司闹法律纠纷。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

14 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

15 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

16 luminaries   

n.杰出人物，名人（luminary的复数形式）

参考例句：

• In that day there will be no light; the luminaries will dwindle. 亚14:6那日、必没有光．三光必退缩。 来自互联网
• Includes household filament light bulbs & luminaries. 包括家用的白炙灯泡和光源。 来自互联网

17 arduous   

adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的

参考例句：

• We must have patience in doing arduous work.我们做艰苦的工作要有耐性。
• The task was more arduous than he had calculated.这项任务比他所估计的要艰巨得多。

18 versatile   

adj.通用的，万用的；多才多艺的，多方面的

参考例句：

• A versatile person is often good at a number of different things.多才多艺的人通常擅长许多种不同的事情。
• He had been one of the game's most versatile athletes.他是这项运动中技术最全面的运动员之一。

19 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

20 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

21 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

22 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？