China Warms ...(1803b-1)

　　在温哥华，中国奥运健儿用一次次的胜利和突破感动着中国、震撼着世界！

China Warms Up to the Winter Olympics

　　It was a wonderful moment. Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo were the last couple to compete in the pairs figure skating event. They had been together for eighteen years. They had only won bronze medals in two previous Olympics. This was to be their last chance to win a gold medal.

　　The audience in the Olympic arena was very quiet as Shen and Zhao skated onto the ice. Shen and Zhao were the best in the world and the crowd was expecting something wonderful to happen. As soon as the music started, Shen and Zhao gave the performance of their lives. They skated around the rink with speed, grace, strength and style; every move was perfection. When the music stopped, the audience exploded into applause and cheers. Shen and Zhao were finally Olympic gold medal champions.

　　It was a great moment for the married couple from Harbin. It was also a great moment for China because it was the country’s first gold medal at the Vancouver games. Unlike the Beijing Summer Olympics, China had only modest ambitions for the Winter Olympics. Winter sports are not as popular here as they are in America and Northern European countries. So, China decided to send only 76 athletes to Vancouver  to compete in a few, carefully selected sports. It was a good decision and led to Wang Meng and Zhou Yang winning gold medals in the little known, but exciting, sport of short track speed skating.

　　China did not win a lot of medals at these Winter Games but the result must still be considered a great success. Most of the events are still very new to China and need to be developed. But Chinese athletes learn very quickly. China’s women’s curling team only began in 2003, but they came top at the 2009 World Women’s Curling Championship.

　　This shows that with hard work and a bit of luck, China’s winter stars could soon shine on the world stage.