VOA标准英语2012--US Marathoner Aims for Another Olympic Medal

 

US Marathoner Aims for Another Olympic Medal

Meb Keflezighi has had a very successful athletics¹ career since moving to the United States with his family at age 12. His two biggest highlights² are a silver medal in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Olympics and the 2009 New York City Marathon title. In January, he finished first at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to book his ticket to London. Keflezighi says he wants to win another Olympic medal.

“I’m running my best time ever and I’m going to London to give it one more shot and whatever happens there, I hope I get a medal. I’m not going to be choosey over what color the medal is going to be, but I hope to be on the podium,” Keflezighi said.

To increase his chances of being on the podium in London, Keflezighi moved his family three years ago to Mammoth³ Lakes, California, where he trains at high altitude in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains.

“Living up here in Mammoth Lakes and training, I always say this is distance runners' heaven. I mean if you’re going to be a distance runner in the United States, why not here? We’re [at an altitude of] 9,000 feet [2,743 meters] right now with the beautiful trees and the mountains, less oxygen. And then when you go down to sea level you have more oxygen so, you know, Mammoth is a small town but it’s also peaceful, quiet and very supportive people, and you get fit and strong up here and you go down to sea level and test yourself to the limits,” Keflezighi said.

The 37-year-old Keflezighi will be testing his limits against younger athletes in London, but there is precedent⁴ for Olympic marathon success. Portugal’s Carlos Lopes was the same age when he won the gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. And Romania’s Constantina Dita was 38 when she won the gold medal in the women’s marathon at the 2008 Beijing Games. Keflezighi has been running about 209 kilometers a week in his build-up to the London Olympics, but he says that’s only part of his training.

“It’s not just the running part but the little details such as stretching, drills, planks⁵, weight training and the ice bath and all that stuff⁶ … massage⁷, that you take care of yourself 24-7 because the rest, the nutrition and all of the stuff that goes on. It’s not just the running that people see, you know. We try to make it easy when we run 26.2 miles in two hours and nine minutes or faster but the work that goes into it year round is a lot. You better hope you nail it that day,” Keflezighi said.

Meb Keflezighi hopes to nail it on August 12 in London and once again stand on the Olympic podium. 

1 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。

2 highlights   

n.头发挑染部分；全球知名儿童刊物及相关产品的发行和销售商的名称、商号及商标

参考例句：

• The report highlights the major problems facing society today. 报告特别强调了当今社会所面临的主要问题。
• The report highlights a number of instances of injustice. 这篇报道重点列举了一些不公正的实例。

3 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

4 precedent   

n.先例，前例；惯例；adj.在前的，在先的

参考例句：

• Is there a precedent for what you want me to do?你要我做的事有前例可援吗？
• This is a wonderful achievement without precedent in Chinese history.这是中国历史上亘古未有的奇绩。

5 planks   

（厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点

参考例句：

• The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
• We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。

6 stuff   

n.原料，材料，东西；vt.填满；吃饱

参考例句：

• We could supply you with the stuff in the raw tomorrow.明天我们可以供应你原材料。
• He is not the stuff.他不是这个材料。

7 massage   

n.按摩，揉；vt.按摩，揉，美化，奉承，篡改数据

参考例句：

• He is really quite skilled in doing massage.他的按摩技术确实不错。
• Massage helps relieve the tension in one's muscles.按摩可使僵硬的肌肉松弛。