In the ever-changing world of women’s artistic gymnastics, there has been a gymnast for     1     three decades: Oksana Chusovitina.

The 48-year-old had said     2     that her final competition would be the Tokyo 2020 Games. With no fans in the stands to honor her legendary career, judges, coaches and other athletes     3     to give her a party     4     all she’d given the sport. After she thanked them through tears in her eyes, she told media that was her swansong (告别比赛).

However, just a few months after the Tokyo Olympics, Chusovitina said that she would return to training,     5     one final medal at a major competition—the Asian Games—for Uzbekistan. When     6     her return to gymnastics following a due retirement at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, she emphasized the importance of     7     one’s inner calling, “I like the excitement of pushing yourself to prove that you can do it despite your age,” Chusovitina said in an interview. And she mentioned on her Instagram story, “I just can’t finish my career without a medal for my motherland.”

Chusovitina first     8     the 1992 Olympics as part of the Unified Team and won a team gold medal there. Though she represented (代表) Uzbekistan in the 1996, 2000 and 2004 Olympics, her second Olympic me dal came some 16 years later in the 2008 Olympics. Chusovitina, then representing her third nation, Germany, where better medical treatment     9     her sick son, got the silver medal.

And now, her story continues. The historic eight-time Olympian, whose motto is “I     10     try today than regret tomorrow”, has started her ninth trip to the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Two outdoor basketball courts in a rural village in southwest China’s Guizhou province recently became popular for holding games with a/an     1     that rival the NBA.

Over ten thousand spectators (观众)     2     the courtside from morning to the next dawn and even at midnight,     3     on their feet when there was a score, eating     4     when hungry, and drinking home-made rice wine when thirsty. That’s why people call the games held in the courts CunBA,” a nickname similar to the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Taipan village,     5     in Taipan township, Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous county of Guizhou, is home to the two standard basketball courts and has hosted the basketball match for decades. The annual basketball event is part of a traditional Miao ethnic harvest festival. The festival       6     a series of traditional activities, including horse racing and traditional music performance.

Basketball games are the most attention-grabbing part of the festiva1. There was a unique opening ceremony. The games also had halftime shows     7     by cheerleaders of Miao ethnic groups, as well as halftime shooting games. Equipment       8     from the local bullfighting horns, gongs, drums, to even pans and basins was taken to the games for cheering. These all made the atmosphere totally comparable to that of professional games.

This year’s tournament attracted 16 teams from     9     villages to compete. Players     10     primarily for honor, although there were some rural prizes too-a 650-kilogram cow for the winner, a pair of sheep for the runner-up and two piglets for the third-placed team.