长跑天才 Long-Distance Prodigy

英语自学网

The son of a farmer, Kenenisa Bekele was inspired to begin running by the athletic feats of fellow Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie. After setting a world junior record for the 3,000m in 2001, Bekele achieved his first senior success at the 2002 World Cross Country Championships in Dublin, where he became the first man to win the long and short races at the same championships. Bekele retained both titles in 2003 and again in 2004.
    At the 2003 World Championships of Athletics, Bekele won the 10,000m and finished third in the 5,000m. In the run-up to the Athens Games, during a 10-day period, Bekele broke Gebrselassie's world records in both the 10,000m and the 5,000m.
    At the Olympics, he entered the 10,000m along with his idol, Gebrselassie, and a third Ethiopian, Sileshi Sihine. The Ethiopians took charge halfway through the race. When Gebrselassie began to fade, Bekele slowed down to allow him to catch up.
        Eventually Bekele and Sihine pulled away from the other runners, while Bekele finally drove to victory by running the last lap in 53 seconds, setting an Olympic record in the process. Eight days later, he faced 1,500m champion Hicham El Guerrouj in the final of the 5,000m. Bekele took the lead from Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya on the final lap, but with 60m to go, El Guerrouj caught him and won by two-tenths of a second, while Bekele won the silver medal.
    凯内尼萨•贝克勒是一位农场主的儿子，因为受到前辈埃塞俄比亚著名田径运动员格布雷希拉西耶的影响开始田径训练。2001年，年仅19岁的他改写了3000米长跑的世界青年纪录。2002年，他在都柏林的世界越野锦标赛上取得了他参加成年组比赛的第一项冠军，他也因此成为世界第一位在同一项运动会上同时在长距离和短距离项目上都获胜的运动员。在2003年和2004年，贝克勒成功卫冕这两项桂冠。在2003年世界田径锦标赛上，贝克勒在10000米中夺冠，并且在5000米的比赛中名列第三。
    在为雅典奥运会热身的几场比赛中，贝克勒显示出良好的状态，十天内，他将格布雷希拉西耶保持的10000米和5000米的两项世界纪录同时打破。雅典赛场上，他和前辈格布雷希拉西耶同时站在了10000米的起跑线上。在比赛进行到一半之后，由三位埃塞俄比亚选手领先的第一集团就将其他选手远远抛开。当布雷希拉西耶逐渐慢下来的时候，贝克勒也放慢速度，等候布雷希拉西耶赶上。尽管经过了10000米长跑，但是贝克勒仍然显示出超凡的体力，在最后一圈的冲刺中，他跑出了53秒的成绩。这也创造了奥运历史。八天后他参加5000米项目的争夺，并最终夺取银牌。