人物点滴－Clement:400m Record Breaker

 　　Florida sophomore¹ Kerron Clement² broke Michael Johnson’s world 400-meter record Saturday night(2005-3-12), an unexpected display of speed that overshadowed team titles for the Arkansas men and Tennessee women at the NCAA Indoor track and field championships.

　　Clement, just 19 years old, outran a strong field and stunned³ the crowd with a 44.57-second clocking, breaking Johnson’s mark of 44.63 set on March 4, 1995, at the U.S. Indoor championships in Atlanta.

　　Clement, born in Trinidad, moved to the United States and was a highly sought high school athlete at La Porte, Texas, both as a hurdler and sprinter⁴. He chose Florida over LSU, Texas, Tennessee and Baylor.

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　　Terry Gatson of Arkansas was second in 45.29 and Kelly Willie of LSU third at 45.41. Darold Williamson, anchor of the Olympic gold medal 1,600-meter relay team in Athens, was fourth at 46.26.

　　It was the first world record set at the Randal Tyson Track Center, which opened in 2000.

　　Clement capped his magnificent night by anchoring the victorious⁵ Florida 1,600-meter relay team in a collegiate record 3:03.51.

　　Clement, who wants to become a U.S. citizen and compete for the United States internationally, won the NCAA 400-meter hurdles⁶ outdoors last year as a freshman⁷, and had considered that his best event at least until Saturday night.

　　There was a collective gasp⁸ from the crowd as the time was shown on the event scoreboard after he crossed the finish line.

　　Clement’s previous best in the 400 was 45.29 on the same track at the Southeastern Conference championships two weeks ago. He was sixth in the 200 meters on Friday night.

1 sophomore   

n.大学二年级生；adj.第二年的

参考例句：

• He is in his sophomore year.他在读二年级。
• I'm a college sophomore majoring in English.我是一名英语专业的大二学生。

2 clement   

adj.仁慈的；温和的

参考例句：

• A clement judge reduced his sentence.一位仁慈的法官为他减了刑。
• The planet's history contains many less stable and clement eras than the holocene.地球的历史包含着许多不如全新世稳定与温和的地质时期。

3 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

4 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

5 victorious   

adj.胜利的，得胜的

参考例句：

• We are certain to be victorious.我们定会胜利。
• The victorious army returned in triumph.获胜的部队凯旋而归。

6 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

7 freshman   

n.大学一年级学生(可兼指男女)

参考例句：

• Jack decided to live in during his freshman year at college.杰克决定大一时住校。
• He is a freshman in the show business.他在演艺界是一名新手。

8 gasp   

n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说

参考例句：

• She gave a gasp of surprise.她吃惊得大口喘气。
• The enemy are at their last gasp.敌人在做垂死的挣扎。