VOICE ONE:
The American state of Utah is busy making final preparations forthe Winter Olympics. The Olympic Games will open early next month.I’m Sarah Long.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Bob Doughty. The story of the Olympics is our reporttoday on the VOA Special English program, THIS IS AMERICA.
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VOICE ONE:
Athletes from around the world will compete for medals at theNineteenth Winter Olympic Games. The Winter Games will open in SaltLake City, Utah, on February eighth. They will continue untilFebruary twenty-fourth. An estimated three-thousand-five-hundredathletes and officials from about eighty countries will take part inthe games.
The athletes will compete to winmedals in seventy-eight events testing their skill in seven wintersports. The sports include skiing, ice skating, sledding and icehockey. Thousands of people will attend the events. Millions morearound the world will watch the Olympics on television.
VOICE TWO:
Salt Lake City, Utah is in the Rocky Mountains of the AmericanWest. Most of the state is dry. Average yearly rainfall is thirtycentimeters. Yet, a lot of snow falls in the mountains in winter.
The United States last held the Winter Olympic Games twenty-twoyears ago. The Nineteen-Eighty Games were in Lake Placid, New York.They were among the most exciting in history. American Eric Heidenwon all five speed-skating races. He became the first athlete to winfive individual gold medals at one Olympics. Also, the American icehockey team won an unexpected gold medal at the Lake Placid games.
VOICE ONE:
The modern Olympics are named after games held in ancient times.The games are said to have started in the ancient Greek city ofOlympia, about two-thousand-seven-hundred years ago.
The first thirteen Olympic games were foot races duringcelebrations to honor the Greek god Zeus. Winners were honored witha crown of olive leaves placed around their head. Greece continuedto hold the games every four years for the next one-thousand years.The ancient Romans finally banned them in the fourth century whenthey ruled Greece. They destroyed the Olympic centers and sportsfields.
VOICE TWO:
The first modern Olympics were held in Athens, Greece, inEighteen-Ninety-Six. A French diplomat, Baron Pierre de Coubertin,proposed a world celebration of sports like the ancient games ofGreece. He believed the international event would provide a way forathletes of all nations to become friends.
Today, the Olympics are the world’s most famous sports event. Thefive rings of the Olympic sign represent this athletic friendship.They represent the linking, through sports, of five parts of theworld: Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and the Americas.
The Olympics have many traditions. For example, a special Olympicflame always burns at the games. The Olympic flame was lit inOlympia, Greece. Runners are carrying it across the United States toUtah. The Olympic flame will arrive in Salt Lake City on the day ofthe opening ceremonies.
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VOICE ONE:
Utah is a popular holiday area. The state earns hundreds ofmillions of dollars from visitors each year. Many visitors travelthere to take part in winter sports.
Utah is one of the best places in the United States for skiing.Many skiing events at the Olympics will be held at the Utah OlympicPark, high in the Wasatch Mountains, about forty kilometers east ofSalt Lake City. It is about two-thousand-two-hundred meters abovesea level. The mountains receive an average of seven-and-one-halfmeters of snow each winter.
VOICE TWO:
The Utah Olympic Park has five areas for ski jump competitions.An Olympic-size track was built for bobsled and luge competitions.It is one of only three such tracks in North America. The track isclose to the ground and has fifteen turns. Its path is similar inshape to the land.
The Utah Olympic Park will hold four major events during theWinter Games. They are the Nordic skiing, bobsled, luge and skeletoncompetitions. The skeleton event has not been seen at the Olympicssince Nineteen-Forty-Eight. Officials expect it to be extremelypopular. Athletes competing in the skeleton ride down the track on aluge sled. But they ride head first on their stomachs, instead offeet first on their backs.
VOICE ONE:
One of the world’s top skeleton riders is Jim Shea of the UnitedStates. He is the first American to win a skeleton worldchampionship. He also is the third member of his family to competein the Winter Olympics. Jim Shea’s father, James, competed in threeevents at the Nineteen-Sixty-Four games in Innsbruck, Austria. JamesShea’s father, Jack, won two speed-skating races at theNineteen-Thirty-Two Games in Lake Placid, New York.
Jack Shea was to have been honored at the Olympics openingceremony as the oldest American to have won a gold medal at theWinter Olympics. But he died last week of injuries suffered in a caraccident. He was ninety-one years old.
Another athlete to watch at the Olympics is Michelle Kwan. Shehas been the top American women’s figure skater in recent years.Kwan has already won four world figure skating championships. Shehas been national champion six times. Now, pressure is building onKwan to win her first Olympic gold medal. She won a silver medal atthe Nineteen-Ninety-Eight Winter games in Nagano (NA-ga-no) Japan.
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VOICE TWO:
Olympic athletes spend many hours training for the games. Thiscan be very costly. In many countries, the government providesathletes with special trainers, equipment and economic support.
In the United States, athletes do not receive such support fromthe government. Instead, they depend on help from private groups andcompanies, or from the United States Olympic Committee. Thecommittee supervises all activities of the United States Olympicteams.
The United States Olympic Committee helps gain money to supportAmerican athletes who hope to compete in the Olympics. It does thisin several ways. The committee receives most of its money fromprivate companies. The companies pay the committee for the right touse the Olympic sign to help sell their products. The committee alsoearns money by selling sporting goods, clothing and other productswith the Olympic sign. Television companies also pay the committeefor the right to broadcast the Olympic games.
VOICE ONE:
The Salt Lake City Olympics had problems, long before the gameswere to open. Three years ago, an investigation found that topofficials of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee gave money andgifts to members of the International Olympic Committee. Thepayments were reportedly made in an effort to win votes for the cityto hold the Winter Games.
The findings badly damaged the image of Salt Lake City and theOlympics. The Salt Lake City Olympic Committee quickly re-organizedand continued making plans for the games.
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VOICE TWO:
Security at the Olympics has been a major concern since theNineteen-Seventy-Two Summer Games in Munich, Germany. That is wheneleven members of the Israeli Olympic team were killed in aterrorist attack. Six years ago, a bomb exploded at the Summer Gamesin Atlanta, Georgia killing one person. Many people still have freshmemories of the September eleventh terrorist attacks in the UnitedStates. Olympic organizers and Utah officials recognize that theWinter Games could be a target for terrorists.
Olympic officials say they are prepared for any security threat.The federal government, state of Utah and Salt Lake City OlympicCommittee are spending more than three-hundred-million dollars onsecurity. That total is a record for any sporting event in history.Thousands of federal, state and local law enforcement officials willbe protecting the athletes and people watching the events. Entrancesto all events will be heavily guarded.
VOICE ONE:
Mitt Romney is chairman of the Salt Lake City Olympic Committee.Mister Romney says it is necessary to hold the Olympics because ofwhat they represent. He says the Olympics represent civilization andthe family of mankind. He says the Olympics are more important nowthan ever.
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VOICE TWO:
This program was written by George Grow. It was produced by CatyWeaver. Our studio engineer was Dwayne Collins. I’m Bob Doughty.
VOICE ONE:
And I’m Sarah Long. Join us again next week for another reportabout life in the United States on the VOA Special English program,THIS IS AMERICA.