VOA标准英语2010年-Olympic History in the Making: Ghana's

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong skis around a gate during a photo opportunity at the Snow Centre, Hemel Hempstead, England, 28 Jan 2010

Africans have long played a dominant¹ role in the Summer Olympic Games. But the Winter Olympics are something else. Yet a man from Ghana is in Vancouver, Canada to take on some of the world's greatest skiers at this year's Winter Olympics (February 12-28).

Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong has only been skiing for six years. But the 35-year-old Ghanaian, known by his fans as the Snow Leopard³, is representing his country at this year's winter Olympics in downhill skiing. 

His Olympic journey began when he moved to Britain a decade ago. In order to earn a wage for himself and his young family, he got a job as a receptionist at an indoor snow center, where snow is manufactured from water and air.

It was there that he first sped down a snowy slope carried precariously⁴ on a pair of rented skis.

"Really it was like having some fun, not really skiing because I wanted to ski but it was there - like working here, having the free ski slope and I learned how to ski that way," he said.

But what started as a bit of fun, in the end turned into a serious pursuit⁵. Within two years he'd made his way into a real mountain range. 

It was then that he got a taste for what he says he loves most about skiing - waking up early on a crisp morning and gliding⁶ alone down a snowy slope. But he also loves the speed.

"When you get to the top of a racecourse and you've got all the gates and everything set up, it's a challenge, you know, it's a competition against yourself to see if you can actually get down to the bottom of the slope - not just get down but get down as fast as you dare," he said.

Richard Harpham is Nkrumah-Acheampong's manager and has been working with him for the last four years. He says watching the Snow Leopard develop as a skier² has been an inspirational adventure to watch.

"I guess over the last three or four years, he's established himself as a competitor, which is what is very important to him - he doesn't want to be the novelty⁷, he wants to be the middle dog. He's not going to achieve medal status - it's very unlikely - but he wants to come away with the respect of his fellow competitors and the fans," said Harpham.

But Nkrumah-Acheampong says, for him, the most important thing is for his experience to inspire future generations. He says he thinks it's important that young Africans know it's possible to branch outside of sports commonly played on the continent, like running and football.

"We do them because it's cheap. You get a field, you put a ball on, everybody can play - the ball doesn't cost as much as a ski. But I think maybe the African nations should start getting involved in different sports, just to see. Because I think in every 200 to 300 people there is a champion somewhere," he said.

And he says he hopes one day Ghana will produce a skier good enough to beat the world's best.

"For me, I'm a guinea pig really, an experimental guy opening a few doors, getting people to recognize that If I've taken six years to achieve what I've achieved, let's give somebody else ten years and let's keep on going and maybe in the next 10-15 years we shall get a racer from Ghana who can actually compete in the top 30-50 in the world - then I'll be very happy," he said.

Nkrumah-Acheampong's next goal, he says, is to open a grass ski slope or an artificial ski slope in Ghana to help young Ghanaian skiers to follow in his footsteps.

For many his plans may seem overly ambitious⁸, but this Ghanaian is determined⁹ to prove that wrong.  

 

1 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

2 skier   

n.滑雪运动员

参考例句：

• She is a skier who is unafraid of danger.她是一名敢于冒险的滑雪者。
• The skier skimmed across the snow.滑雪者飞快地滑过雪地。

3 leopard   

n.豹

参考例句：

• I saw a man in a leopard skin yesterday.我昨天看见一个穿着豹皮的男人。
• The leopard's skin is marked with black spots.豹皮上有黑色斑点。

4 precariously   

adv.不安全地；危险地；碰机会地；不稳定地

参考例句：

• The hotel was perched precariously on a steep hillside. 旅馆危险地坐落在陡峭的山坡上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The phone was perched precariously on the window ledge. 电话放在窗台上，摇摇欲坠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 pursuit   

n.追赶，追求，职业，工作

参考例句：

• They set off at once along the lane in pursuit.他们立即出发沿着小巷追赶。
• Life,liberty,and the pursuit of happiness have been called the inalienable rights of man.生命、自由和追求幸福被称为人类不可剥夺的权利。

6 gliding   

v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的

参考例句：

• Swans went gliding past. 天鹅滑行而过。
• The weather forecast has put a question mark against the chance of doing any gliding tomorrow. 天气预报对明天是否能举行滑翔表示怀疑。

7 novelty   

n.新奇事物，新奇（感），新颖廉价的物品

参考例句：

• My mother bought a novelty pen for me.我妈给我买了一支新颖的笔。
• At first I enjoyed all the parties,but the novelty soon wore off.起初我喜欢参加一切聚会，但这种新奇感很快就消失了。

8 ambitious   

adj.有雄心的，劲头十足的，有野心的

参考例句：

• One may be poor but never ceases to be ambitious.人穷志不穷。
• He is an ambitious young man full of enthusiasm and vitality.他是个充满热情与活力的有远大抱负的青年。

9 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。