各国名人英文介绍-Oscar Pistorius

Oscar Pistorius is the South African Paralympic runner famous for trying to compete at the Olympics. He is known as "Blade Runner" because of the artificial limbs he uses to sprint¹. He is also dubbed² "the fastest man on no legs". Pistorius is the double amputee world record holder³ and in the 100, 200 and 400 metres. He won gold medals in these events at the Beijing 2008 Paralympics.

Pistorius was born in 1986 with the fibula bone missing in both of his legs. When he was 11 months old, doctors amputated his legs halfway⁴ between his knees and ankles. His disability did not stop him from enjoying sports. At school he was very keen on rugby, water polo and tennis. He started running in 2004 and says he has "never looked back".

He runs on a pair of specially-developed carbon-fibre blades. At the 2004 Summer Paralympics, he won the 200-metre final with a world record time. In 2005, he finished first in the able-bodied South African Championships over 400 metres and won the 400-metre gold at the Paralympic World Cup. He decided⁵ to compete at the Beijing Olympics.

Pistorius tried to prove he could compete with the best able-bodied runners in the world. His biggest obstacle was the international athletics⁶ federation⁷ who decided his blades were a “technological aid” and therefore illegal. He now has his sights set on the 2012 London Olympics. His motto is: "You're not disabled by the disabilities you have, you are able by the abilities you have."

1 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。

2 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》

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 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

5 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。

6 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。

7 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。