3 . What’s the meaning of the “dark horse”? It is someone who wins when no one expect it.

Han Xiaopeng took China’s first gold on snow. He became an Olympic “dark horse” by winning the gold medal in men’s freestyle skiing aerials (自由式滑雪空中技巧) at Turin in Italy. He made two almost perfect jumps for the highest score. Han had never won a world gold medal before, let alone in the Olympics!

“I never thought this would happen,” said Han Xiaopeng, “I feel like I’m in a dream.” It’s China’s second gold medal at the Turin Olympic Winter Games. But more important, Han’s gold was the country’s first ever in a snow sport. In 2002, China’s Yang Yang won the gold for speed skating at the Winter Olympic in Salt Lake City, US.

That Han’s win was unexpected doesn’t mean that he didn’t work hard.

Han grew up in Jiangsu Province. Before he started his training on snow, he used to be an acrobat (杂技演员) at a circus. In 1995, a coach found his talent. The coach, Yang Er’qi, said Han had the agility (灵活性) and courage to be a ski jumper. When Yang first took the 12-year-old boy to northern China, he couldn’t swim, skate or ski. But he wasn’t afraid of the high platform and kept on training.

Han almost left the sport after hurting his knee months before the Salt Lake Games. In that Olympics he only got 24^th. “I was hopeless at that time, but my family and the coach stood behind me, helping me through,” he recalled.

Han Xiaopeng worked so hard that he won the gold medal in the Olympics at last. Because of his success, more and more people in China are becoming interested in skiing. We are proud of him.

4 . It was May 23,2016. Arnot, the 32-year-old mountain guide, reached the top of Qomolangma without the use of oxygen (O₂) equipment. It was achieved after seven years, three previous attempts, and fourteen straight hours of climbing.

After 15 minutes at the top, Arnot began her descent (下坡). Eight hours later, she reached the camp at 7, 600 meters and became the first American woman—and only the seventh woman ever—to successfully reach Mount Qomolangma without oxygen equipment.

“There are so many reasons for her impressive achievement, especially the physical and emotional efforts that she’s put forth over the years to make this happen,” says the professional climber and photographer Richards. “The mental courage that it requires is something very few people have.”

Arnot didn’t start climbing until she was 19 years old. Money was tight in her family, and climbing mountains never occurred in her mind. After graduating from college, Arnot was invited by her friend to climb a mountain. “It totally changed my life,” says Arnot. “I always know that if you want something, you can achieve it, but knowing what you want is a whole different thing,” she says. “I am athletic but not competitive. After my first climbing, I knew immediately that mountains are what I want — as that is where I felt home for the first time in my life.”

After that first climb, she devoted herself to learning how to climb and move through mountain. It was during her second trip to Qomolangma in 2009 that she first set her sights on a no-oxygen attempt. However, while hiking into Qomolangma Base Camp that year, she hurt her leg and wasn’t able to climb without oxygen. In 2013 she nearly made it to the top, but was forced to take oxygen at 8, 504 meters while helping another climber.

When Arnot finally stood atop Qomolangma, she called her best friend, “I reached the top and I’m not using any oxygen.” Then, tears began to stream down from her eyes. So much of Arnot’s life has been about pushing the limits of her abilities, and in this case, she’s also pushed up against the outer limits of the human spirit.

5 . Roberto Clemente is the greatest baseball player of all time. He had an unbelievable batting average(击球率)in all seasons he played. Having won four batting titles, Gold Glove Awards twelve times, and a Most Valuable Player Award, he is certainly the best player that has ever played.

Besides being the best baseball player, Roberto Clemente was also a great man and a hero. In 1972, there was an earthquake in Nicaragua. On December 31 of that year, Clemente flew to Nicaragua to take supplies to the people. Almost immediately after take-off, the plane crashed into the Caribbean Sea.

The best honors for Clemente came after he died. He was the first Latino voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. In 1999, the city of Pittsburgh, where he played baseball, renamed a bridge after him—a bridge that leads to the city’s beautiful new stadium.

No one summed up the life of Roberto Clemente and the baseball commissioner(总干事)when, at Clemente’s Hall of Fame award ceremony, said, “He was so great a man. as a leader and humanitarian, so great an inspiration to the young and to all in baseball, especially to the proud people of his homeland, Puerto Rico.” The commissioner further honored Clemente by creating a sportsmanship award in his name.

6 . Thomas Panek has completed 20 marathons, however, he made history on Sunday at the New York City Half Marathon.

While visually impaired（视觉障碍）runners usually use human guides, Mr Panek became the first person to complete the race supported by guide dogs. A trio of Labradors - Westley, Waffle and Gus - each accompanied (陪伴) him for a third of the race. The team finished in two hours and 21 minutes.

Mr Panek, who lost his sight in his early 20s, showed that while he appreciated the support of human volunteers, he missed the feeling of independence. In 2015, Mr Panek established the Running Guides programme which trains dogs to support runners.

When selecting his companions for the race, Mr Panek chose siblings Waffle and Westley to join Gus, who is his full-time guide dog. “The relationship is really important. You can’t just pick up the harness (挽带) and go for a run with these dogs,” Mr Panek said. “You’re training with a team no matter what kind of athlete you are, and you want to spend time together in that training camp.”

Each dogs sets its own pace — Westley runs an eight minute mile, while his sister Waffle can cover the same distance in six minutes—and helps Mr Panek avoid obstacles such as kerbs（路缘）and cones (锥体). Each dog wears a special harness and set of running boots, to protect their paws.

Gus was chosen to run the final leg of the race and cross the finish line with Mr Panek. He retired from his duties as a guide dog at the end of the race.

According to Mr Panek, guide dogs give visually impaired people the freedom to “do whatever it is a sighted person does, and sometimes, even run a little faster than them”.

7 . Liu Xiang, an athlete, born in 1983

Liu Xiang made his name by winning the 110-meter hurdles gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. This was the first time an athlete of non-African descent (血统) had gone under 13 seconds for the event. In the same year, Liu set a new 110-meter hurdling world record at the Super Grand Prix in Lausanne, with a time of 12.88 seconds.

Lang Lang, a pianist, born in 1982

Lang Lang began piano lessons at age three. His father quit his job to accompany his boy to Beijing. At 11, Lang Lang was awarded first prize for his outstanding performance at the Fourth International Young Pianists Competition in Germany. In 1995, at 13, he won first place at the Tchaikovsky International Young Musicians’ Competition in Japan. At 17, Lang Lang made his breakthrough in the West and has performed with many of the world’s major orchestras since then.

Li Yuchun, a singer, born in 1984

Born into a middle-class family, Li was not encouraged by her parents to pursue a career in entertainment. The turning point came when she entered the Super Girl contest in 2005. This competition drew the largest audiences in Chinese television history. She rose above 120,000 applicants with her tomboy style and Latin-flavored performance. Her win came as a surprise to many people because she didn’t fit the stereotype of female singers. She has millions of fans of all ages all over the country. Her haircut and manners have been copied by tens of thousands of girls. Her first album sold more than 430,000 copies in the first month.

Ding Junhui, a snooker player, born in 1987

Ding quit school at 13, after his father insisted he concentrate on snooker. His parents then sold their house to help Ding kick-start his career. In March 2005, he celebrated his 18th birthday by reaching the final of the China Open in Beijing, along the way beating world top-16 ranked players Peter Ebdon, Marco Fu and Ken Doherty. In the final, he defeated the world No.3, Stephen Hendry, ranking first in the tournament. After shooting to fame, questions were raised over the father’s decision for Ding to quit school.

(China Daily10/31/2012)