Irene Schouten did what most people expected of     1     (she) at the Olympics: winning gold for the Netherlands at Beijing 2022.

But the speed skater was not satisfied     2     just being an Olympic champion. She quickly and       3     (elegant) established her position as the queen of the Ice Ribbon with three gold medals and a bronze (铜牌).

It has been a busy period for the Dutch star     4     had her days fully occupied (被占用) between training     5     skating in Beijing. She has also been busy     6     (plan) for her upcoming wedding.

Here is something you should know about Irene Schouten who won the first and last speed skating     7     (event) in Beijing.

Schouten let out a scream (尖叫) and threw her hands in the air as she crossed the finish line of the women’s mass start. Her     8     (three) gold medal at Beijing 2022 was hard-earned. It was worth all the effort. A natural-born long-distance skater, Schouten started skating when she was 8. Watching her first Olympics, Salt Lake 2002, she     9     (attract) by Gretha Smit’s silver winning moment in the 5000m.

That Olympic moment encouraged her interest in the long-distance races in speed skating. “When I was young, I had a strong wish     10     (win) Olympic gold and now I have it,” she said after her 5000m gold in Beijing.

How deep can a person dive underwater without any     1     (breathe) equipment? As one of the world’s top female freedivers, China’s Xu Tongtong’s answer is beyond the limit.

Freediving is gaining     2    (popular) across the world. Divers rely only on their lung capacity to plunge as far as they can-either in open water in so-called “depth” events or in the swimming pool,     3     (simple) called “pool” events.

This year, the 35-year-old Xu     4     (dive) 100 meters underwater successfully in both constant weight (CWT) and constant weight bifin (CWTB) contests, becoming only the third female freediver on the planet     5    (reach) this depth. “When I dived 100 meters and grabbed the depth tag, I knew I had done it and     6    (swim) back to the surface with a smile,” Xu joyfully recalled of her     7     (history) feat (壮举).

Hailing from East China’s Anhui province, Xu changed from swimming to freediving in 2014. “I was able to enter the three-dimensional world from a two-dimensional space. That is     8     I fell in love with freediving,” she told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview. The biggest attraction of freediving lies     9     facing up to and overcoming our fears. The training is a process of constantly knowing oneself, said Xu. After three months of training and competing this year in Panglao, Xu decided to stay on the island to continue her training and coaching,     10     major source of income for this world-class freediver.

Gail Devers, an American athlete and also a three-time Olympic gold medalist in track and field, got her first one in 1992.     1     made Devers’ win so special was not just the nature of the race but also the journey she had taken     2     (get) there.

In the years leading up to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Devers experienced a series of     3     (extreme) unpleasant health complications (并发症) which brought her close to retirement before her athletics career had even begun. It was not until she visited many health experts     4     Devers finally learned she had Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder (自身免疫紊乱). She cried the moment she knew it. Luckily, somebody appeared and had a     5     (solve) for her.

Thirty years went by. Today, Devers wants to raise awareness for the disease and     6     (it) symptoms (症状). “If there are 10 million people who could have Graves’ disease, then our job is to make sure that 10 million people can     7     (treat),” says Devers.

She also says, “My Graves’ disease has made me who I am. Therefore, I always tell people that if I had my life to live over, I would ask for this disease again,” she says. “I believe I’m stronger at     8     (have) to go through what I went through. Everybody is faced     9     challenges. We all feel like sometimes walls are closing in on us     10     there’s no way out. What do you do? You remember that strength and resilience that you have when you step on the line.

Apart from chasing medals and glory, another wish of Chinese Olympic and world champion Zhang Yufei at the Asian Games is     1     (send)a gift to Japanese swimming star Rikako Ikee, and to establish a deeper bond between two of female swimming’s Asian powerhouses. Zhang said, “I wish to send her a gift     2     represents the traditions and customs of China, and which she will like. I really can’t make up my mind and I hope maybe the public can help me to choose one.” Ikee knows what kind of gift she would like, saying on Wednesday, “Pandas! I would like to take some cute panda     3    (souvenir) as gifts back to Japan.”

Ikee was the     4    (bright) star in pool at the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games. As an 18-year-old back then, she     5     (name) MVP for bagging six gold medals.     6    , in 2019, Ikee was diagnosed with leukemia(白血病).     7     has not been easy for the star to return to the pool, and she has struggled to reach her peak.     8    (compete) against Zhang in the women’s100m butterfly, Ikee wasn’t at her best on Wednesday, finishing in fifth place with a time of 58.98s. So, when Ikee     9    (stand) on the podium in Hangzhou for winning silver in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay on Sunday, the Japanese star received     10     warm reception from the crowd.

Wu Yanni,     1     young hurdler (跨栏运动员), has run into the hearts of Chinese people and became an internet hit. On Aug 4, 2023, Wu won the silver medal with a personal best of 12.76 seconds in the women’s 100m hurdles at the FISU World University Games,     2     (help) her get into the Paris Olympics in 2024.

Despite her athletic achievements, some online comments moved to     3     (she) style. Wu wears light makeup and ties her hair into small twist braids, unlike     4    (tradition) image of athletes. In response     5     this, however, Wu told CGTN that she believes “it is my muscles     6     make me widely known, not my face. Ability is the most important. The battle for strength is my fashion.”

As an athlete, Wu looks much more at ease than many of her peers and becomes     7     (strong) when facing challenges. Before each competition, she     8     (see) turning her head around and pointing her index fingers at the sky. She explained that the gesture shows her ambition for the coming Paris Olympics. Wu told China Daily that she got     9     (inspire) from Liu Xiang. She desires to stand out in women’s hurdles on the global stage. “It’s not just about me; I want Chinese female hurdlers     10     (gain) more international recognition,” she emphasized.

Seemingly ageless gymnastics legend Oksana Chusovitina of Uzbekistan     1     (narrow) missed a medal in the Vault (跳马) Final in Hangzhou Asian Games on Thursday. “I still need to improve in order to quality for the Olympics, but I feel I have more energy than before,”     2     48-yesr-old told Xinhua after the match, who is still taking part in such a challenging event for her motherland despite the fact that most of her     3     (compete) are less than half her age.

Chusovitina     4     (impress) the audience as the tried a routine with a difficulty of 5.0 and she landed well to get a score of 13.533, but the difficulty in her second routine dropped to only 4.4. “I am not feeling regret     5     missing a medal in Asian Games. Life is not over and I will continue to train.” she said.

Chusovitina has a storied history at the Asian Games,     6     (win) eight medals, including two golds in 2002. When     7     (she) son was diagnosed with leukemia (白血病) in 2002, Chusovitina adopted German citizenship to compete at     8     (globe) events for a higher income and better medical treatment. After her son’s recovery, she continued her gymnastics journey out of love for the sport. With Paris 2024 fast     9     (approach), Chusovitina said she’s aiming for next year’s Paris Olympics,     10     she would be 49.