1 . People always ask me how I got into the sport of weightlifting. I know it sounds weird, but I’m so focused on lifting that everything else _______. Because I was super depressed, weightlifting helped me manage those mood swings.

Now, being bipolar (双相情感障碍) is something I’m proud to say. And I would like to _______ the shame on all mental disorders. As I grew up, sports played a vital role in my life. And I spent 11 years doing gymnastics, which I found just to stay in _______, so when I was 15 years old I decided to _______ it. My current coach recruited (招募) me to get into weightlifting competitively. About two years into my career I _______ realized I could go places with this. My first _______ came in 2018, when I had my first International medals at the Junior World Championships, from where it took off. In 2019 World Championship I had my _______ year.

Last year I had a minor meet in Cuba but not feeling motivated, I definitely _______, which meant I didn’t make a lift. In fact, I had been fighting _______ for probably two years at that point — I was ________ with bipolar disorder type two. One of the first things in my mind was that I was ________ because there was a fixed image around people that ________ with the mental health. ________, it didn’t take me long to realize that there’s nothing to be ________ of. I could go to train and focus on weightlifting, ________ on whether I’m gonna feel great or awful.

At this point, I’m all but ________ for the Olympics. There are some days that I ________ have to push to my maximal ________. It can be very painful, but when it ________ it, it is the days that get you stronger. And then it’s really ________ to just put everything into those few seconds that you’re competing.

2 . I came to the sport of triathlons late in life. I spent years accompanying my super-fit brother to triathlons and waiting for him on the hot sidelines while he swam, biked and ran for hours. Then a light bulb turned on in my brain. I could _________, too, instead of suffering intense _______.

Starting with what I knew best, I began swimming. I swam up and down, _________ my54-year-old body that my skills haven’t _________. Thankfully, muscle memory was _________, leaving me confident for the first session. For the bike part, cycling wasn’t as enjoyable as I remembered, but I didn’t _________. Tough as it was, all I cared about was finishing the ride. To exercise for the run, I joined a running group. In the beginning, I could merely run 3 miles, but I kept moving forward. I could _________ achieve the goal in a couple of months. Still, I remained rather _________. How would I swim 1.2miles, bike 56 miles and then run 13.1 miles in one day?

When I carefully _________ my crazy idea to my brother, he jumped on board immediately. The final __________ was painful and the big day eventually arrived this summer. At first, I finished swimming a few minutes ahead of my brother. However, I __________ during the bike ride. After about 22 miles, I stopped, got off my bike and __________, “I think I’m going to quit.”

“You know you won’t let yourself do that”, he replied. __________, I got back and slowly pedaled (蹬车) to the end. The run was more like a walk. My brother chose to stay with me. The sun burning, we talked, laughed and waved to the __________. We crossed the finish line together, and a great cheer went up from the crowd. It was a (n) __________ experience for me.

3 . Lying in my hospital bed, I was flicking through (快速转换) the channels when I suddenly paused. Muscular women were competing in a body sculpting competition on the _______ . “Wow, they are _______ ,” I thought in amazement.

It was 2004, and I’d been hospitalized with asthma, which gave me the desire to _______ a more healthy lifestyle. I didn’t know how to exercise correctly and found it hard to _______ healthy diets. But now at 49, it was time for a _______ . Therefore, the day after I left the hospital, I joined the gym with one _______ : to look like the women I’d seen on TV.

The first sessions were so _______ that I could barely walk back down the stairs afterwards. But I kept _______ for several hours, four days a week, slowly building my strength. After six months of training, I _______ my first competition—Masters Over Forty. Standing on the stage, my heart nearly leapt from my chest when they ________ I was the winner.

Over the next 14 years, I ________ 35 titles in body sculpting competitions worldwide. During this time, I decided to use my experience to help other women over 40 achieve their ________ goals. I became a personal trainer and wrote a book to help people eat ________ food during their training. With the right diet, everyone can stay healthy and strong longer.

I know many older women have never been in the ________ or picked up a weight. But it’s never too ________ to make changes.

4 . The greatest sports moments often have a wonderful flow state behind the victories or performances. Being in flow refers to the moments where distraction reduces, and concentration ________ .

It was a _______ summer camp ping pong tournament where I was not only down I set, but 7 points behind my opponent (对手), who had only 3 points left to ________ the set, and the tournament. For a comeback, I had to win at least 10 points, without making ________ !

Facing the desperate situation, I could ________ it a day and let my opponent win. Perhaps my opponent had already focused on the ________, but failure wasn’t an option! Thus, I ________ it out, hoping for the best. I told myself, “Let’s just try and win the next point, nothing else.” ________ deep, I stared at the ball with a clear mindset and keen ________. I took it, hit it back and scored!

5 points to go, 4 points to go... My opponent started getting visibly ________ and made mistakes. Point by point I was getting closer to being even.7-8. I was one point away from doing the ________. My mouth was shut and my eyes stayed ________ the entire set. He made another error. 8-8. The comeback was complete. The crowd went ________! Winning the next 3 points, I managed to win that set. In the last set, my opponent turned restless again. ________ the flow, I ended up winning the final set, and the tournament.

Despite a small game, it inspired me a lot. Not being able to control how our opponent plays, we can _______ how to react. Don’t be there, where you are not. Instead, be here and now! Stay in flow! Be concentrated!

5 . As the sun sinks towards the horizon, casting long shadows across the dusty football pitch (足球场) in Kakuma refugee camp in north-western Kenya, one player — Abdirahman —   _______ not just for his skills but because most of the other players tower over him.

“When I play with kids my age, I don’t feel _______. However, I gain a lot of skills playing with older players,” _______ Abdirahman.

At just 14 years old, Abdirahman’s _______ to compete against older boys_______ his ambition and passion for the beautiful game. With incomparable skills, his feet move _______ across the dry, uneven ground, and _______ defenders, leaving clouds of dust behind. His coach proudly gives him a(n) _________.

Abdirahman was born in Kakuma in 2010, just two years after his parents and older siblings _______ the border into Kenya ________ conflict in Somalia.

“In Kakuma, we all have ________: some want to be great footballers and relocate to other places; some want to be great musicians,” he said. ________, they do not get the opportunity to ________ their talents.

Football has become an important part of Abdirahman’s life and a(n) ________ force among the diverse communities in the camp where he lives, bringing together players from different cultures and backgrounds.

“When I play football, I feel ________, I feel famous, and I feel like I’m the best in the game.”

6 . When I was five, my parents began to place me in a variety of different sports. The first ________ was gymnastics, which was a complete ________. The second was track and field. Track was fun at first, I actually liked to run and I was pretty fast. When I joined the team, the ________ was going to begin soon, only giving me three weeks to ________ for my first track meet.

I ________ for a while and then the day of the track meet arrived. Arriving at the stadium I was ________ to see how huge it looked. Before my race I did my warm ups while watching the other kids run their races with a few hundred audience. The ________ of the stadium was something I never felt before.

While ________ the starting line to run the 400m dash, I started to feel ________! At the starting line, we sat there silently waiting for the gun to ________. In that silence I continued to ________ myself and I felt like I was going to win. The gun finally shot and racers began a(n)________ dash to the finish line. The first 100 meters I was doing great. Then came the 200m mark, and my legs were dying. I was slowing down still trying to run. Alone ________ I was on the track, I still walked to finish line. When seeing my mother, I burst into tears. That race was probably the most ________ one in my life. Even though I gave up running track and field, I am grateful for what I experienced when I was 5 because it ________ me who I am today.

7 . Born with no right leg, Anthony Robles, one of the best wrestlers in the NCAA, started wrestling when he was in high school. When his cousin first ________ him to wrestling, Robles wasn’t a/an ________. However, he gradually fell in love with it and he has been doing it ever since .

While some people might have ________ his decision to take on the sport, his family was a huge ________ of support and encouragement. He said: “They ________ in me from a young age that I could do whatever I ________ my mind to. “They didn’t give me any special ________. They raised me like others.”

While the physical aspects of the sport seemed to be the most challenging part, at one point Robles realized he needed to be ________ tougher. After ________ seventh at nationals in his junior year, he took a ________ from wrestling for a little while. He said. “I was ________. That really just helped me to mentally get back to the sport.”

Then came the last match. Robles was so scared that he was almost starting to cry. When he defeated defending national champion 7-1, the ________ were quite different. “I couldn’t even ________ it.” He said, “It was just a great experience.”

Now Robles is ready for the next page in his life, “I really want to help other people achieve things in their lives that others might say are ________.” Robles plans to put his amazing attitude and energy to ________ as a motivational (激励) speaker.

8 . On Sept. 17, 2022, a father and son set out to begin the first of three legs of the Ironman competition in Cambridge, Maryland. Jeff Agar, 59, and his son, Johnny Agar, 28, weren’t the ______ participants. Johnny has cerebral palsy (脑瘫), resulting in his difficulty walking and muscle weakness. Jeff would act as his arms and legs, ______ carrying the weight of his son throughout the race. To ______ as completion, competitors must complete a(n) ______ 140 miles of swimming, bicycling and running in under 17 hours.

From the day Johnny was born, Jeff and his wife refused to let their son be ______ by disability. ______ to show Johnny that he could pursue his dream of being an athlete, when he was 15 years old, they ______ him up with my Team Triumph, an organization that helps kids with ______ engage in endurance (耐力) sports.

Johnny became ______ to racing, and Jeff wanted to be a part of it. Jeff began waking up at 4 am to run while ______ Johnny in a racing chair. Every morning, he ______ himself to run increasingly longer distances.

After 16 hours, 55 minutes and 35 seconds, the father and son ______ the finish line together. As the crowd ______ and congratulated Johnny, Jeff kept a low ______ . “He didn’t want attention to his finish line moment,” says Johnny. “He wanted it to be ______ .”

9 . Only positive thinking is not enough to attain our goals. Our _________ act as beacons (灯塔) that tell us where we want to go, but we need some “negative” thinking to light up that _________ and to expose the obstacles we will face along the way.

In the 2008 summer Olympics, Michael Phelps was ready to _________ his own record for the 200-meter butterfly swimming race. After Phelps’s first turn, his goggles (游泳镜) _______ water and he couldn’t see. To stop and _________ his goggles would mean disqualification. _________ without his sight, how was he supposed to know exactly when to turn? This misfortune could cost Phelps _________ seconds each lap (圈). So, what did he do? Had he done anything to _________ him for this moment? Yes. Phelps had been practicing something he _________ for himself: negative visioning. During his training. Phelps had already imagined in __________ how he would respond in this moment of crisis. He already knew __________ how many strokes (划水) he would take before he reached the next wall. So, though unable to see, he __________ his strokes and made quick turns. And at last he won the gold medal.

In psychology, the __________ of balancing learned optimism with practical realism — or acting against the __________ thought with the “negative” one —is called “mental contrasting”. It __________ us to lower our strong expectations about a (n) __________ outcome. So we can make wiser __________ and maintain motivation while working toward our goals.

Mental contrasting can make sure we consider realistic obstacles when __________ our plan for the future. In this way, the obstacles in our way __________ us to think more critically and __________ become the means by which we achieve our goals in the first place.

10 . On August 2nd when Indonesia got its only gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the winning team of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu fell to their knees and cried with relief. Some 3,500 miles away, Indonesia _________ with joy. The president _________ their success in the women’s doubles game of badminton to be an early “birthday gift” to the nation, whose independence day is on August 17th.

In England, where the modern version of the sport _________, badminton is a lawn (草坪) game. In Asia it is a serious business. At the Badminton World Championships in 2019, Asian countries won 19 of 20 medals. In recent decades, China has _________ as a heavyweight. But Indonesia is the sport’s _________. It has won more titles at the Thomas Cup, the most _________ tournament, than any other country.

Badminton is the only sport in which Indonesia has ever won gold at the Olympics — and it has done so at all but one since the sport became an official _________ of the Olympics in 1992. Indonesia is the “home of badminton”. “Wherever you travel in Indonesia, within a _________ you can find people playing badminton. Racquets (球拍) and balls can easily be bought or made, and once a clothesline and a challenger have been _________, the match is on,” says Raja Sapta Oktohari, president of the Indonesian Olympic Committee.

It is little wonder then that badminton is Indonesia’s __________. It is also the most developed in the country, which owns the only national team for which the government __________ a training centre. Parents also encourage their children to take it __________. The rewards for skill and hard work are __________. It’s said that players of the national team earn more than $2,000 a month, ten times the average income. Perhaps most importantly, badminton is a __________ of national pride. It is the only sport to __________ a string of heroes; Rudy Hartono, for example, has won eight titles at the All England men’s singles, more than any other player.