17日間に及んだシドニー五輪は今月1日にその幕を閉じましたが、その間、数々の感動的なドラマで、世界中の人たちを熱狂させました。地元の人々にとってこの五輪は、国の英雄を応援する場であるとともに、世界の人たちを歓迎する機会でもあったようです。
When the Olympic Torch reached Sydney on Sept. 15 after
its 100 day voyage around Australia it was time to
celebrate. No matter where you were in Australia during
the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, people gathered to watch
the television coverage and cheer: "Aussie, Aussie,
Aussie - Oi, Oi, Oi."
The media had 2,450 days before the Olympics to
speculate about what would happen in Sydney. They
picked up on all of the Sydney Organizing Committee
for the Olympic Games' (SOCOG) blunders - from
self-serving Committee members, to ticket sales
fiascoes and international uproar about how many
American and Japanese musicians would be in the Olympic
marching band.
When the countdown reached zero and the Games began, 120
stockmen rode into the Olympic stadium on horseback to
say "G'Day" to the world. It was a celebration of
Australia's heritage - from the Aboriginal Dreamtime
culture to the outback. Thousands of performers took
part in the performance. The Olympic marching band alone
was made up of 2,000 musicians and was the largest
marching band ever to perform.
Australian Aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman lit the
flame at the opening and went on to win gold in her main
event - the 400 meter race. This made her the only person
in history to light the opening flame and go on to win
gold at the same Olympics.
Japanese marathon runner, Naoko Takahashi, set a new
benchmark when she won gold in the women's marathon. The
Australian team's head coach, Chris Wardlaw,
described Takahashi's performance as one of the
greatest distance races he has ever seen. "She took
on the field, just blew them away, and ran so
aggressively. This was the benchmark race for future
distance running," he said.
There were many highlights for the Japanese team
including medals for softball, synchronized swimming,
judo, wrestling and swimming. Australians were strong in
beach volleyball, shooting, equestrian, water polo,
cycling, archery and so on. The first women's 49-kg
taekwondo gold medal was won by Australian Lauren
Burns.
An estimated 200,000 overseas visitors came to
Australia for the Games. The Aussies who bought tickets
and went to Sydney came back with raving reports about
the experience.
My brother, Darren, flew down to Sydney from the Gold
Coast to meet two friends and watch the water polo and
volleyball events. He said there was a terrific
atmosphere around the city. "Huge television screens
were set up for the public at Darling Harbor and there
was continuous live music and entertainment, and a
fireworks display every night," Darren said.
His friend, Kurt, said: "There was free train travel all
over the city so we moved around a lot and joined in the
celebrations. There were Olympic officials everywhere at
Olympic Park directing people to different events."
It was fascinating to watch the physical prowess and
incredible skill, focus and dedication of the
competitors. Before they can win, Olympic athletes must
train their minds to believe they can win. However, some
competitors become desperate under pressure and choose
to use illegal performance enhancing drugs.
The world's best female gymnast, 16-year-old Romanian
Andreea Raducan, was stripped of her gold medal on
Sept. 26 when a drug test showed she had taken cold
medicine prior to her event. The International Olympic
Committee (IOC) admitted the drug, which was given to her
by her team doctor, would not have enhanced her
performance. Drug testing is a complex issue. People
are questioning whether the IOC may be punishing the
wrong competitors.
Scientific research is underway to find out how to test
for two of the most common illicit drugs - EPO and
human growth hormone. The problem is we all have these
substances in our body which makes them difficult to
trace.
Some Australian scientists believe the IOC is taking a
conservative approach toward doping because it is
scared what the results will find. SOCOG Team Doctor
Peter Larkins stated the Olympics rely heavily on the
commercial support of the media and sponsors who do not
want to be associated with a bad image. "If it was
shown that there was a lot of drug use, you would expect
those companies to withdraw and the Olympics' future
would be very much under threat," he said.
Hopefully the spirit of the Games won't continue to be
tarnished by doping. The Olympics is about more than
just competing at an international level - it is about
holding hands with other countries around the world to
celebrate our great human achievements together.
chu.htm
- hoopla
- 大騒ぎ
- Olympic Torch
- 聖火
- voyage
- 旅
- television coverage
- テレビ放送
- Aussie
- オーストラリア人
- speculate
- 予測する
- picked up on
- 取り上げる
- Sydney Organizing Commettee for the Olympic Games
- シドニー五輪組織委員会
- blunders
- へま
- self-serving
- 私腹を肥やす
- fiascoes
- 混乱
- uproar
- 騒動
- stockmen
- 牧夫
- "G'Day"= Good day
- 豪のあいさつ
- heritage
- 伝統
- Aboriginal Dreamtime
- 先住民族アボリジニの神話に出てくる人類創生期のこと
- outback
- 内陸部
- performers
- 演奏者
- took part in
- に参加した
- lit the flame
- 炎を点灯した
- set a new benchmark
- 新記録を打ち立てた
- head coach
- 監督
- described
- 叙述した
- distance races
- 長距離走
- took on the field
- 敵と戦った
- blew them away
- 皆を打ち負かした
- aggressively
- 攻撃的に
- shooting
- 射撃
- equestrian
- 乗馬
- water polo
- 水球
- taekwondo
- テコンドー(朝鮮の護身術)
- estimated
- 約
- raving
- 絶賛の。
- flew down to
- まで飛行機で行った
- terrific atmosphere
- 素晴らしい雰囲気
- Darling Harbor
- ダーリーン・ハーバー(シドニーの観光スポットの港)
- continuous
- ぶっ続けの
- fireworks
- 花火
- directing
- に案内する
- fascinating
- 魅力的な
- physical prowess
- 素晴らしい肉体的能力
- incredible
- 信じられない
- focusand dedication of the competitors
- 競技者が集中し打ち込むこと
- desperate
- 自暴自棄の
- performance enhancing drugs
- 競技能力を向上させる薬物
- gymnast
- 体操選手
- was stripped of
- をはく奪された
- cold medicine
- 風邪薬
- International Olympic Committee
- 国際オリンピック委員会
- complex
- 複雑な
- issue
- 問題
- may be punishing
- を罰しているかもしれない
- is underway
- 行なわれている
- illicit
- 違法な
- EPO
- エリスロポエチン
- human growth hormone
- 成長ホルモン
- substances
- 薬物
- trace
- 追跡する
- conservative approach
- 保守的な手段
- doping
- 禁止薬物使用(「麻薬を与える」の dope から)
- be associated with
- と関わる
- withdraw
- 手を引く
- (be)under threat
- 危機的状況になる
- be tarnished
- 汚れる
- achievements
- 成し遂げるもの。