1 . Jim Thorpe is one of the greatest athletes of all time. He had amazing athletic abilities and was well-known during his lifetime, yet that did not make Thorpe a stranger to adversity.

Thorpe was an American Indian from Oklahoma who developed his extraordinary athletic skills in his youth through hard labor. It was also in his youth that he learned to endure hardship brought upon by racial prejudice. Many would say his childhood was not easy. He grew up poor and at age 9 his twin brother passed away and a few years later he lost both of his parents.

But that did not stop him from doing what he loved and pursuing his dreams. Nothing seemed to stop him, not even stolen shoes. Just hours before Thorpe was going to compete in the 1912 Olympics, somebody stole his shoes. Thorpe improvised (临时拼凑) by getting shoes out of the garbage. The shoes were two different sizes. He wore an extra pair of socks on one foot to even them out.

He still went on to win two gold medals—winning each event he competed in except for one, the javelin (标枪). The javelin was the only event he didn’t win, probably because he had never competed in that event before. It is interesting to note that Thorpe had tried to throw the javelin once before in the Olympic trials. At the time, he didn’t know that he could throw it with a running start. He threw it standing still and was placed second.

At the Olympics，he also took part in the decathlon (十项全能运动). He finished first in two events, third in four events, and fourth in two more. Thorpe ended up finishing third in the world. He was undoubtedly a dominating force that couldn’t be stopped and just kept on going.

I think Paul Dughi said it best, “It’s hard to imagine now that pro athletes get paid millions of dollars just to wear a particular brand of shoes. For Jim Thorpe, it didn’t matter what kind he wore.”

Today I will introduce two of the “Living Legends of Sports” to you, One is Lang Ping, and     1    other is Michael Jordan. Lang Ping is     2     (know) to Chinese people as a player and a coach. As a player, Lang Ping brought honour and glory to her country. As a coach, Lang Ping     3     (lead) her volleyball team to Olympic gold in Brazil in 2016.

Michael Jordan is famous as “Air Jordan”,     4    showed great mental     5     (strong) in the games. He says that the secret     6    his success is learning from failures. He also says that he can accept failures,     7    he can’t accept not trying.     8     (lose) games taught him to practise harder and never give     9    . Besides, he has learnt to share his success with others.

Although they are in different sports, they are both     10    (master) and set good examples for others.

3 . Kobe Bryant is no doubt a legend. How did he do it? Simply put his work principle. He showed up to training every day, no excuses. Without a doubt, it is quite evident that Kobe’s desire for success was directly correlated with his work principle.

Kobe Bryant’s work principle is what helped him become the legend he is today. But what also must be understood about Kobe Bryant is that he was relentless (不停的；严格的). He had a mental toughness and steely focus that was driven by his over-the-top competitiveness.

In short, Kobe wanted to be the best, and would do whatever it took to achieve this mental goal. If he had a weakness in one area, he would commit to mastering that weakness. If there was a lack of strength in his shot, he would get to work exhausting all options to correct that lack of strength, researching and then applying the routines that instructed him on how to get stronger. Similarly, if his weakness was a lack of   speed, he would put in the time and effort to overcome the limitation. And there lies his secret to success. The willingness to learn and then apply what he learned to move himself closer to his goals.

“When I am retired, I don’t want to have to say I wish I would have done more. I don’t want that.”— Kobe Bryant.

As such, Kobe Bryant’s success principle can be summarized as a relentless focus on the end result. The great news is the ability to be relentless is in all of you.

7 . Growing up in Joilet, Illinois, in the 1930s, George Mikan often felt everyone was staring at him. Tall and awkward (笨拙的), with thick glasses, he tried to hide by lowering himself when walking and sitting. But someday, everyone would know his name, The Tall Kid. By age 16, Mikan made the high school basketball team. Now 6 feet 8 inches tall and broad-shouldered, his specialty was guarding the basket and blocking shots.

At 6 feet 10 in a sport then dominated(主导) by much smaller men, George Mikan was the model for the dominating tall players of later decades. Towering over most of his competitors, he was one of the most effective scorers of his day, averaging 22.6 points over a professional career that lasted nine seasons. How dominant was Mikan? In his nine seasons, his teams won seven titles and in 1950 he was selected the greatest player of the half-century.

One of the legendary stories about Mikan concerns a game played on Dec. 13, 1949, between the Lakers and the New York Knicks. The grand screen over Madison Square Garden read: “Geo. Mikan vs. Knicks”. When Mikan walked into the locker room before the game, he found his teammates sitting around in their street clothes. One of them greeted Mikan by saying, “They’re advertising you're playing against the Knicks, so go play them. We’ll wait here.”

Mikan was so dominant that the NBA made two big rule changes during his career. They tried to make it more difficult for him to score by expanding the width of the key from 6 feet to 12 feet and they started the 24-second clock after a game in 1950, when the Fort Wayne Pistons decided that the only way they could win was to hold onto the ball and not let the Lakers have it. They ended up winning, 19-18, in the lowest-scoring game in NBA history.

Mikan was in the first class elected to the basketball Hall of Fame in 1959. “Frankly, without George Mikan, the Los Angeles Lakers would not be the organisation we are today,” Lakers owner Jerry Buss said. Magic Johnson also paid tribute to Mikan: “He started the championships. You’ve got to start with Mikan first before you name any Laker. He paved the way for all of us who came after him.”

In 2021, Su Bingtian did what no Chinese runner had done before. The 32-year-old runner set     1     new Asian record of 9.83 seconds in the Men’s 100m Semifinals(半决赛) at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Although he finished     2    (six) in the final with a time of 9.98 seconds, he still made history. “    3    (actual) I’m very happy to run under 10 seconds twice in such a short time”, Su said after the race. “Making it into the finals, I have already given all I have.”

Known     4     the “Asian flying man”, Su has been working hard to achieve his dream. In 2015, Su became the first Chinese     5    (run) 100m in less than 10 seconds. After that, Su competed in many international events and won a number of     6    (medal). Sadly, at the same time, he suffered serious     7    (injure) problems and his determination to go on running     8    (test). He even planned to leave the field, but the wish to run in the 100m final in the Olympics brought him back to the field.

In his third Olympic Games, Su,     9     amazing performance excited people both at home and abroad, has finally achieved his long-time goal. Su Bingtian is really a     10    (live) legend (传奇人物) and his success will surely encourage more young players who are pursuing their goals.

9 . Wembley Stadium, London, a final between Barcelona and Manchester United—the ball was with Lionel Messi, about 25 metres from the United goal. United players had been sticking to him, but when losing concentration for a moment, they gave him a couple of metres of space, and Messi made full use of that chance and scored Barcelona’s second goal in what would finally be a 3-1 victory.

Most football experts say Messi has the potential to become the best footballer of all time—a title they usually give either to the Brazilian Pelé or the Argentinian Diego Maradona. Some have even suggested he is already the greatest ever.

Born in Argentina in 1987, Messi shares some similarities with Maradona. Messi is also short (about 1.70 metres) and has a great ability to dribble (运球)—he can run around or through the other players with the ball under his control. There are physical differences, however: Maradona was very strong, but Messi is not. When Messi got into the Barcelona first team, at first sight he looked less like a professional footballer than a teenage fan, but he gave a different impression as soon as he touched the ball.

When Messi was a boy, doctors believed he might not grow taller than 1.5 metres because of some illness. His parents could not afford the expensive treatment the doctors recommended, so they hoped a major football club, seeing his potential, would sign him and agree to pay for it.

That was exactly what happened when 13-year-old Messi flew to Spain to try his luck in Barcelona. The coach was so amazed by Messi’s abilities that he wanted Messi to join the club immediately, but he didn’t have a contract (合同) for him to sign. In fact, he didn’t even have a piece of paper. Messi’s first contract with Barcelona was written on a napkin (餐巾纸). Since then, Messi has had a career in football.

10 . What Makes a Soccer Player Great?

Soccer is played by millions of people all over the world, but there have been only a few players who were truly great. How did these players get that way — was it through training and practice, or are great players “born not made”?

Firstly, these players came from places that have had famous stars in the past — players that a young boy can look up to (敬仰) and try to imitate. In the history of soccer, only six countries have ever won the World Cup, three from South America and three from Europe. There has never been a national team or a really great player from North America or from Asia.

Secondly, these players all had years of practice in the game. Alfredo Di Stefano was the son of a soccer player, as was Pele. Most players began playing the game at the age of three or four.

Finally, many great players come from the same kind of neighbourhood — a poor, crowded area where a boy’s dream is not to be a doctor, lawyer or businessman, but to become a rich, famous athletes or entertainer. For example, Liverpool, which produced the Beatles, had one of the best English soccer teams in recent years. Pele practised in the street with a “ball” made of rags. And George Best learned the tricks that made him famous by bouncing the ball off a wall in the slums (贫民区) of Belfast.

All great players have a lot in common, but that doesn’t explain why they are great. Hundreds of boys played in those Brazilian streets, but only one became Pele. The greatest players are born with some unique qualities that set them apart from all the others.