1 . Twenty years ago, Eric Moussambani became a global star. He swam a 100-metre freestyle in the Sydney Olympic pool so _______ that it appeared he might drown.

Eric was the first swimmer from Equatorial Guinea to _______ in the Sydney Olympics, because of a programme designed to encourage sport _______ in poor regions. In the 100 meters, three swimmers from the programme competed with each other. The two other competitors were disqualified for false starts, leaving Eric to swim _______. He started well but in the second lap, his freestyle became a crawl. The 17,000 crowd in the Aquatic Centre _______ him home in 1’52”. On that day, Dutch swimmer Pieter set a world record of 47.84 seconds. Yet ‘Eric the Eel’ became the _______of the world.

Eric learned swimming from a fisherman. When he heard the country was _______ swimmers for the Olympics, he went along. There wasn’t even a _______. Eric can only train himself in an irregular-shaped hotel pool for one hour every day.

When Eric first saw the Olympic pool, he thought it was so _______that he could never finish one lap. “During my training in Sydney, I took the ________ to watch how other swimmers moved their feet.” He said. He also lacked ________until his first race. A coach from South Africa saw him wearing Bermuda shorts and gave him a swimming costume and goggles. And that swim ________ Eric’s life.

It made him a symbol for swimming in Equatorial Guinea, where there are now two ________ Olympic- size pools. Being a national swimming coach, Eric tells the young swimmers the ________ he took from his lonely swim in Sydney. “When you have goals, you have to ________ to achieve them.”

2 . Fourteen-year-old Quan Hongchan has struck gold for China at the Tokyo Olympics. Starting the competition as a dark horse on the national team, she’s made _______ with amazing performances in the 10-meter women’s diving platform event. She _______ her name in the history books.

Quan is a genius who walked out of a small seaside town. She started _______ at the of seven. In her first training school, the springboard was made of _______ and it got burning hot in the summer. She could only use a towel to squeeze the water to _______ the springboard, and then jumped into the water again and again in the terrible _______.

“Even in such tough_______ Quan Hongchan’s hard work and seriousness in training slowly showed,”   Coach Chen Huaming said, “Her success is not entirely _______ talent”

“Our coach often reminds us that we should take those successful big brothers and sisters as our role models. However hard the training is, they just _______ it to the last second. ”   Quan told China Daily. With the role models in her heart, Quan Hongchan became more __________in training. She kept practicing physical stamina and basic skills, fuming on the tossing machine and jumping off   the platform repeatedly.

Having stood out in a series of competitions, Quan Hongchan managed to __________ the national team at the end of 2020. Due to the __________ training, talent and hard work could finally be perfectly __________ to achieve her goal. This little genius __________ the world with three perfect 10 scores out of five dives after she __________ a near splash-less dive.

3 . I have played soccer and other sports since I was about 5 years old. When I was younger, I thought I would be able to________doing all the sports I love into my teen years. Then I ________that once you get into high school, you have to just________a sport as coaches require pretty much training in the off season. If you are doing three to five days of________a week, this leaves little________for other activities.

And that one________then turns into a year-long commitment.

When I decided to play soccer year-round, we were ________five days a week, and we had games on the weekends. After about three months of this, I experienced a knee overuse ________. Four other players had knee injuries as well. We had worked so ________for so long, and then we went directly into club soccer in the off season. There was never a ________ !

This injury really pushed me ________,and I stayed at home for eight weeks. Because of this, I ________soccer training.

I also ________to take part in many activities while playing. ________widening my social circle and joining some clubs, I am on the field.

But even with these________, I still keep playing soccer year-round, it is an enjoyable experience that really lifts my spirits.

4 . In July 1984, the famous author and runner Jim Fixx died of a heart attack while running. One _________ from his death: just because you run does not mean you are safe from heart problems. Thirty-five years later, Boston Marathon race director Dave McGillivray is _________ that message. “Being fit and being healthy aren't the same things,” he says. McGillivray, a _________ runner, should know it. Six months ago, he had heart surgery after suffering chest pain and shortness of _________ while running. McGillivray's family had a long history of heart problems. “I honestly thought that _________ exercise, cholesterol-lowering (降固醇的) medicine, good sleep and the right diet, I'd be fine,” he says. “But you can't run away from your _________.”

Aerobic exercise (有氧运动) such as running, walking, _________ and swimming is known to reduce the risk of many health problems. But new research is questioning the value of “_________exercise”. In a study _________ in December, researchers in Spain found information suggesting that full marathons, __________ the famous Boston marathon, might injure the heart. Dr. Kevin Harris is a cardiologist (心脏病专家). He notes that running is a good activity,   __________ the act of running “doesn't make you invincible (不可战胜的)”. Harris adds that people who have a family history of heart problems should talk with their health care providers __________ running a marathon. “ __________,” he added, “men who are older than 40 and those people who have symptoms (症状) they're concerned about”.

McGillivray says his doctor allowed him to race in the upcoming Boston Marathon. He has __________ in it every year for 47 years. “My new mission,” he says, “is to create __________. If you feel something, do something...You might not get a second chance.”

5 . Anna Kiesenhofer became the first Austrian Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo 2020. She wasn’t considered a threat at all. “Finishing in the Top 25 would have been a _________ result.” She said later.

No one_________ she would win. For the whole 85 miles, she competed against a group of _________ competitors — cycling superstars, world champions... until some seemed not to know   she remained up the road, alone.

Confused? At least Van Vleuten was. When she crossed the finish line, smiling, arms _________, under the impression that she’d won gold, she didn’t _________ the race had been won by Anna, a math Ph.D.

Anna’s win was actually more_________. She was the only cyclist from her country, leaving her no teammates she could _________ in the race. At the beginning, there was little hope she might win, but it was only going solo for the last 40 kilometers when she_________ “riding for gold”. As it turned out, competing without much weight of_________ helped Anna win. She entered the race without a professional team and__________ with a gold medal. She wrote a (an) __________ of her own into the history of the Olympics.

Outside of cycling, Anna has earned a Ph.D in applied mathematics. As a successful

__________, she says she has been used to solving problems on her own. “I like to be __________, and that’s the way I approach cycling.” Asked what words she would share to an aspiring young rider, she responded, “I’m not __________ to accept what makes me unique. I dare to be different. This means I’m also__________, and that’s exactly what happened in the race.”