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.

The story of Ni Xialian, the 59-year-old member of Luxembourg’s national sports team and the     1     (old) Olympic table tennis player in the Chengdu World Table Tennis Championships competition, has gone viral on Chinese social media.

Born in Shanghai in 1963, Ni Xialian     2     (successful) won several championships as part of China’s national table tennis team. She later moved to Germany and then     3     (settle) down in Luxembourg in 1991.

“I retired from China’s national team in 1986. Since table tennis was not listed as an event at the Olympic Games     4     1988, I missed the chance     5     (fight) for our country,” Ni said in an interview with Xinmin Evening.

Ni attended the Summer Olympics in Sydney     6     a representative of Luxembourg in 2000,     7     (kick) off her career as an Olympian at the age of 37. She then joined four more Olympic Games, including those in Beijing and London.

Ni said she believes she stands as a symbol on the field for Chinese everywhere. “I was born in China and received systematic training in Shanghai,     8     developed my solid skills and capability of reading games. It’s very important.” Ni told The Migu Sports News in the Shanghai dialect. “I just feel     9     (honor) to compete in the Olympics. Even though I don’t represent Team China anymore, I think that may be more meaningful because we need the     10     (communicate) between East and West.”

What makes one a great person? The legendary volleyball coach Lang Ping     1    (give) the answer in the documentary (记录片) The Iron Hammer released (上映) last year.

The documentary displays Lang’s     2     (inspire) journey from her gold medal victory as a volleyball player in the 1984 Olympics to her excellent career as a successful coach for both team USA from 2005 to 2008     3     China since 2013.

Glory and challenges go hand     4     hand. Troubled by several     5    (injury) to her back, waist and keens, the 60-year-old     6     (take) more than 10 surgeries so far. But illness is certainly not the only difficulty she has faced. In 2005, to look after her daughter who studied in the USA, she decided to work for USA Volleyball,     7     brought her a lot of negative comments. “I am proud of being Chinese.” Lang responded in     8     interview. Later she returned     9     (head) the Chinese women’s volleyball team in 2013, leading the team     10     (successful) defending its World Cup crown last year.

Benjamin Alexander is Jamaica’s first Olympic alpine skier (高山滑雪运动员), but he was a late     1     (develop). The 38-year-old only discovered his love     2     the sport at 32. “I never skied before at that time,” Alexander said. “They     3     (fly) us up in the helicopters at the top of the mountain to meet the skiers...”

For more than two years, Benjamin Alexander pursued a dream of becoming the first person     4     (present) Jamaica at the Winter Olympics. For him, competing in the Olympics is something he never thought about as a kid. He grew up in England and began working as a DJ as     5     17-year-old teenager, but he stopped doing so as he grew tired of the violent scenes at local nightclubs. After     6     (study) engineering at University College London, he moved to Hong Kong. Then Alexander booked a month-long trip to ski,     7     he met former Europa Cup lever ski racer, Gordon Gray, who criticized Alexander’s technique but said that he was     8     (absolute) fearless.

Gray added: “If you’re afraid you’re never going to get any work     9     (do), even with all the technique in the world.     10     if you’re fearless, then we can teach you technique and I think there’s a chance.”

It was a successful afternoon all-round for France on Sunday. The team     1     (book) its ticket to the quarterfinals of the 2022 World Cup with    2    3-1 victory over Poland. And members of the team hit a number of historic marks.

France’s goalkeeper Hugo Lloris made his 142nd appearance,    3    (come) level(平齐的) with Lilian Thuram as his country’s most-capped player. Up front, Olivier Giroud became France’s     4    (lead) men’s scorer with his 52nd goal for Les Bleus, breaking Thierry Henry’s record.

    5     , the star of the show on Sunday was Kylian Mbappé,    6     continued his record-setting pace with a forceful double. At just 23 years of age, Mbappé is one of the most exciting talents in world football, and     7     (consistent) delivers on the biggest stage for France.

Having helped secure the nation’s second World Cup title in 2018 as a 19-year-old, he is continuing his     8    (dominate) four years later. His double in the match    9    Poland means he has scored five goals at this year’s tournament(锦标赛), as he leads the race for the Golden Boot award, two goals ahead of Lionel Messi, Giroud and a host of other players.

However, more significantly, Mbappé has scored nine goals in World Cups, becoming the first player     10    (reach) that mark before his 24th birthday. Mbappé passed two footballing legends with his double. Both Diego Maradona and Cristiano Ronaldo have eight World Cup goals to their names.

Stephen Curry was thought by many people to be unsuitable for a career in professional basketball. However,    1    (select) for the NBA in 2009, he joined the Golden State Warriors and performed    2    everyone’s expectations with his accurate shooting and continuous efforts. In 2015, Stephen    3    (win) his first NBA championship, and he led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975.