Dutch Breaks Record, American Lands Jump, Norway Leads Medal Count

 

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The Winter Olympics are supposed to be cold, but not this cold. During the first weekend of competition in South Korea, strong winds and icy conditions forced the cancellation¹ of many outdoor events.

But, there was still a lot going on.

Amid² the strong winds, American Red Gerard crashed on his first two runs in the snowboard slopestyle event. In his third run, the 17-year-old stayed on his feet and completed a series of jumps to win the first gold medal for the U.S. at the PyeongChang Games. He became the youngest Olympic snowboarder ever to win a gold medal.

And figure skater Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to successfully perform a triple³ axel jump at the Olympics. This complex jump requires a skater to begin jumping from a forward position and complete three and a half turns in the air before landing⁴.

Only two other women ever have landed a triple axel at the Olympics. Japan’s Midori Ito did it in the 1992 Games in Albertville, France. And Mao Asada – also from Japan – completed the jump at both the 2010 Games in Vancouver, Canada, and the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

Nagasu’s parents are immigrants⁵ from Japan. After her performance Sunday, she said, "Maybe it's the Japanese genetics — but lucky for me I'm American, so I'll be the first U.S. lady.”

Also this weekend, Dutch speedskater Sven Kramer broke his own Olympic record in the men’s 5,000-meter event. He became the first man to win three straight gold medals in the event.

Nineteen-year-old Perrine Laffont became the first French woman to win a gold medal in moguls in the 26-year history of the event.

And Norway, a country of just over 5 million people, continues to lead the medal count at the Games. After three days of competition, Norway has nine medals. Germany, the Netherlands and Canada are tie for third. All three have won seven medals so far.

And that's What's Trending Today.

I’m Ashley Thompson.

Words in This Story

amid - preposition⁶. in or into the middle of (something)

figure skater - n. an ice skater who performs various jumps, spins, and dance movement

snowboard - n. a board like a wide ski that is used for sliding down hills of snow while standing⁷

tied - adj. having an equal number of points in a contest

1 cancellation   

n.删除，取消

参考例句：

• Heavy seas can cause cancellation of ferry services.海上风浪太大，可能须要取消渡轮服务。
• Her cancellation of her trip to Paris upset our plan.她取消了巴黎之行打乱了我们的计划。

2 amid   

prep.在…中间，在…之中，被…围绕

参考例句：

• The government collapsed amid budget quarrels.政府因预算问题争吵不休而倒台。
• This book was written amid many difficulties.这本书是在困难重重中写成的。

3 triple   

n.三倍之数，三个一组；adj.三倍的

参考例句：

• Twelve is the triple of four.十二是四的三倍数。
• He received triple wages for all his extra work.由于额外的工作他领取了三倍的工资。

4 landing   

n.登陆；着陆；楼梯平台

参考例句：

• Owing to engine trouble,the plane had to make a forced landing.由于发动机出了毛病，飞机不得不进行迫降。
• When are we landing?我们什么时候着陆？

5 immigrants   

n.移民( immigrant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Illegal immigrants were given the opportunity to regularize their position. 非法移民得到了使其身份合法化的机会。
• Immigrants from all over the world populate this city. 这个城市里生活着来自世界各地的移民。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 preposition   

n.介词

参考例句：

• You should cancel this preposition in the sentence.你应该删去句子中的这个介词。
• We use different preposition to talk about time,days,months and seasons.我们用不动的介词来谈论时间，日，月和季节等。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。