No matter the time or place, sports fans love to debate. When the question popped up recently about     1     is the greatest athlete of all time, people’s arguments came fast and furious as they scanned the past for their     2     (favorite). Some said Serena Williams, the American tennis champ with a record-setting 23 Grand Slam titles. Others put forth American swimmer Michael Phelps, the most     3     (decorate) modern Olympian with 28 Olympic medals, 23 of them gold.

There’s just one problem. They and many other popular candidates, like Michael Jordan, Simone Biles, Usain Bolt, and Peléto     4     (name) a few, all come from the very recent past. What about the athletes from the very distant past? If the question is sincere about“of all time,” then taking a     5     (long) view is necessary.

Take these two star athletes from 2,000 years ago: the charioteers Flavius Scorpus and Gaius Appuleius Diocles. Some quick stats (统计):     6     his 10-year career, Scorpus racked up more than 2,000 victories before dying at age 27. After a 24-year     7     (race) career, Diocles retired at age 42 with more than 35 million sesterces in winnings,     8     sum that historian Peter Struck estimates could be worth     9     much as $15 billion. Scorpus and Diocles are just two of history’s many champions, and many more     10     (wait) to be discovered.

David Beckham, an English footballer, was born in London in 1975,     1     has played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, as well as representing his country 100 times. He moved to the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2007     2     (increase) the influence of football in America.

His talent was obvious from an early age and he signed with Manchester Union     3     his fourteenth birthday. He helped his team achieve     4     (consider) success in his eleven seasons with them. Beckham has been runner-up twice as world football best player. He won many championships with Manchester Union. The club, Real Madrid     5     (captain) by him, was popular with football fans at that time. In 2003, Beckham received     6     honour for services to football from Britain’s Queen.

Beckham has many interests off the soccer field and     7     (be) rarely out of headlines, especially concerning his     8     (marry) and children. He has established football     9     (academy) in Los Angeles and London. In 2006, he     10     (name) a judge for the British Book Awards. He is also a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

The home crowd erupted when China’s Eileen Gu won the women’s big air freeskiing gold in Beijing. Gu jumped into the top position with her third run,     1     ( score ) 94.50. Her total score was 188.25 in the event’s debut at the Winter Olympics. The 18-year-old,     2     also goes by her Chinese name, Gu Ailing, is a freestyle skier, model and grade-A student with     3     American father and a Chinese mother. She grew up in the United States. It was there     4     she grew to love skiing. By 2018, she was representing the US in the world cup for the sport. Then, she decided to switch from representing the US     5     representing China. It was a decision met with shock and     6     ( confuse ) from her growing fan base, but Gu was     7     ( determine ), sharing her reasoning on Instagram at the time. "This was an     8     ( incredible ) tough decision for me to make. Through skiing, I hope to unite people, promote common understanding, create communication, and forge friendships between     9     ( nation ). If I can help to inspire one young girl     10     ( break ) a boundary, my wishes will have come true."

With International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach’s applause and the cheering of flag-waving audience, China’s 18-year-old freestyle skier Gu Ailing, also known as Eileen Gu, with hands on her head and a look of     1    (excite), was crowned as the champion of Women’s Freeski Big Air final at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

The precious gold not only brings Team China to the top of the current Olympic medal table, with three gold medals, it is also a     2     (history) achievement as it is China’s first women’s Olympic gold medal ever on snow sports.

“This is the best moment in my life, moment like this makes everything so worthy, ” Gu said in a post-game interview and     3     (thank) the home audience for their support.

Gu finished fifth in the preliminary round on Monday to advance to the final. Some sports commentators played down expectations by     4     (say) the Freeski Big Air is not Gu’s strongest hand.

Gu’s performance was steady and     5     (fault) in the first two runs, giving her a good score for a podium finish.

On her final run,     6     has made Chinese spectators breathless, Gu nailed a double cork 1620, with unprecedented difficulty, to take over the first spot,     7     (surpass) the Mathilde Gremaud of Switzerland who finished third and Tess Ledeux of France who got the Silver.

Besides the fierce competition, the adorable post-game moment touched many people’s hearts. Gu and Gremaud were consoling Tess Ledeux. “Such class, compassion and camaraderie amongst these athletes… You love to see it,” said Associate Editor of The Athletic Lukas Weese on Twitter.

Gu’s gold medal also inspired Chinese netizens on Sina Weibo, in which discussions about Gu exploded     8     over 220 million reads and millions of comments soon after her historic victory.

“Congratulations! No one can stop a genius who tries her best to challenge     9     (she),” said a Weibo user.

“Every time I see her on TV, she’s smiling and confident and optimistic, which is really inspiring to us,” said another.

Gu is also favored     10     (win) gold medals in the upcoming Women’s Freeski Slopestyle and Women’s Freeski Halfpipe skiing events at Beijing 2022.

Chinese freestyle skier Eileen Gu was already a     1     (win) on the FIS World Cup circuit before competing at the Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) 2020. After winning YOG gold in both halfpipe and bigair, the 17-year-old has     2     (firm) established herself as one of the rising stars in the sport, and is now hoping to inspire others.

If I'm 80 years old and looking back at my life, I don't think     3     number of medals is going to matter as much as memories of reading messages from young girls     4     (say) that I was the one who inspired them to start skiing, or who showed them that it was possible to do bigger tricks and that     5     (woman) could do it too.

To be able to inspire them-that's a really big thing for me. And I also just want     6     (enjoy) the experience. I have a lot of things going on in my life,     7     I think it's important to be able to enjoy the road that I feel very     8     (luck)to be on. Not many people have the chance to compete at such a high-level event in front of the world. So, I'm really, really thankful     9     all the chances I've had. And my     10     (big) ambition is just to make a difference and to be able to use those chances for the greater good.”