12 A2 three in one

CHAPTER 1 Three Sports in One Event THE WORD TRIATHLON IS FROM GREEK. TRI MEANS "THREE" AND ATHLOS IS SOMETHING BIG AND IMPORTANT THAT YOU HAVE ACHIEVED. A triathlon is a very difficult sports competition. A triathlon is three events in one: swimming, cycling, and running. The athletes, called triathletes, compete against each other in each part, or leg, of the competition and in two transition times. The first transition time is when the triathletes go from the water to the bike. The second transition time is from cycling to running. How long is a triathlon? Well, in an Olympic triathlon, competitors swim 1500 meters, cycle 43 kilometers, and run 10 kilometers. That may sound hard, but the famous Ironman triathlons are longer: a 3.8-kilometer swim, 180 kilometers on the bike, and then a full 42-kilometer marathon! The longest triathlon in the world is called the Ultraman World Championship. It is a three-day, 515-kilometer race held on the Big Island of Hawaii.

铁人三项一词来自希腊语。 Tri的意思是“三”，athlos是你取得的重大成就。 铁人三项是一项非常困难的体育比赛。 铁人三项是一项三项运动：游泳、骑自行车和跑步。 运动员，被称为铁人三项运动员，在比赛的每个部分或腿上和两个过渡时间内相互竞争。 第一个过渡时间是铁人三项运动员从水中转向自行车的时间。 第二个过渡时间是从骑自行车到跑步。 铁人三项要多长时间？嗯，在奥运会铁人三项比赛中，选手游泳1500米，骑自行车43公里，跑步10公里。 这听起来可能很难，但著名的铁人三项要长得多：游泳3.8公里，骑自行车180公里，然后是42公里的马拉松！世界上最长的铁人三项被称为奥特曼世界锦标赛。 这是在夏威夷大岛举行的为期三天，515公里的比赛。

It takes a lot of strength and endurance to do the Ultraman. Only 35 triathletes are invited to compete each year. The Xterra is a famous off-road triathlon. In off-road triathlons, the cycling and running legs are more difficult than usual. Competitors go through trees, over rocks, logs, and rivers, and up and down mountains. They are never on a road. The competitors need special bikes, and they can't go fast because the course is so difficult.

演奥特曼需要很大的力量和耐力。 每年只有35名铁人三项运动员被邀请参加比赛。 Xterra是一项著名的越野铁人三项。 在越野铁人三项中，自行车和跑步比平时更难。 选手们要穿过树木、岩石、原木和河流，还要爬上爬下山脉。 他们从不在路上。参赛者需要特殊的自行车，而且他们不能跑得很快，因为赛道太难了。

Triathlons take place all over the world: deserts, mountains, small towns, big cities. One of the most difficult triathlons is the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon in Hardangerfjord, Norway. The triathletes in this competition swim 3.8 kilometers in water that is 15.5 Celsius. After that, they cycle 180 kilometers and then run 42.2 kilometers up a mountain. The last 17.2 kilometers of the mountain run is an extreme climb up to 1,850 meters! The race is so difficult and so dangerous that the competitors cannot go on the mountain alone. They must have helpers follow them in a car with food, water, and clothes. In 2012, Henrik Oftedal of Norway won this competition with the best time in the race's history: 10 hours, 23 minutes, and 24 seconds.

铁人三项赛在世界各地举行：沙漠，山区，小城镇，大城市。 最难的铁人三项之一是在挪威哈当厄峡湾举行的挪威人极限铁人三项。 铁人三项选手在15.5摄氏度的海水中游泳3.8公里。 之后，他们骑车180公里，然后跑42.2公里上山。 最后17.2公里的山路是一次极限攀登，高达1850米！比赛既困难又危险，参赛者不能单独上山。 他们必须有帮手开车跟着他们，给他们送去食物、水和衣服。 2012年，挪威的亨里克·奥夫泰德尔以10小时23分24秒的最佳成绩赢得了这项比赛。

Triathletes compete in age groups. Each man or woman competes against the other athletes in his or her group. Because the competitors are amateurs, they are not in it for money. They practice and compete for many different reasons: to get stronger, to test their endurance, to be healthy, or just to have fun. Some triathletes compete for special reasons. When Jenn Sommermann was 41, her doctor told her she was very sick. Jenn was lucky: she didn't die. But she wanted to get money to help other people who were sick like her. She decided to compete in 50 triathlons in all 50 states in the United States in 2013. She wants to raise $100,000.

铁人三项运动员按年龄组参赛。 每个男子或女子在他或她的组中与其他运动员比赛。 因为参赛者都是业余的，他们参加比赛不是为了钱。 他们练习和比赛有很多不同的原因：为了变得更强壮，为了测试他们的耐力，为了健康，或者只是为了好玩。 有些铁人三项运动员参加比赛是出于特殊原因。 珍·萨默曼41岁时，医生告诉她，她病得很重。 珍很幸运，她没有死。 但她想要得到钱来帮助其他和她一样生病的人。 2013年，她决定参加美国所有50个州的50项铁人三项比赛。 她想筹集10万美元。

CHAPTER 2 The Ironman THE IRONMAN IS THE WORLD'S MOST FAMOUS TRIATHLON. The first Ironman race took place in 1978 in Honolulu, Hawaii. There were 12 competitors, and the winner finished in 11 hours, 46 minutes, and 58 seconds. Today, there are 28 Ironman Triathlons in different places around the world, but the World Ironman Championships are held in Kona, Hawaii. Who first had the idea for an Ironman triathlon? There was already a long bike race, a long swim race, and a marathon in Hawaii, but not all three events together on the same day. In 1977, US Navy Commander John Collins decided to test the strength and endurance of the athletes from these races. He said that a person who can win all three races a 3.8-kilometer swim, a 180-kilometer bike ride, and a 42-kilometer run— is an "Iron Man." In 1982, the Ironman competition became famous. Julie Moss was in first place in the women's race.

铁人三项是世界上最著名的铁人三项。 第一届铁人赛于1978年在夏威夷的檀香山举行。 共有12名选手，获胜者以11小时46分58秒的成绩完成比赛。 今天，在世界各地有28个铁人三项赛，但世界铁人锦标赛在夏威夷的科纳举行。 是谁首先想到铁人三项的？ 夏威夷已经举行了一场长距离自行车赛、一场长距离游泳赛和一场马拉松赛，但这三场比赛不是在同一天举行的。 1977年，美国海军指挥官约翰·柯林斯决定测试这些比赛中运动员的力量和耐力。 他说，能在游泳3.8公里、自行车180公里和跑步42公里三项比赛中都取得胜利的人就是“钢铁侠”。 1982年，铁人比赛出名了。 朱莉·莫斯在女子比赛中获得第一名。

A few meters before the end of the race, she fell down, exhausted. Kathleen McCartney won the race, but Moss crawled over the finish line on her hands and knees. There are many other inspiring stories about Ironman competitors. One example is father and son, Dick and Rick Hoyt. Rick has a medical problem, and he can't use his legs or arms. His father pulls Rick in a special boat for the swimming leg. For the biking leg, he carries Rick in a special seat in front of the bicycle. Finally, Dick runs and pushes Rick in a wheelchair in the last leg. They have completed six Ironman Triathlons together.

在比赛结束前几米，她摔倒了，筋疲力尽。 凯瑟琳·麦卡特尼赢得了比赛，但莫斯用手和膝盖爬过了终点线。 关于铁人三项选手还有许多其他鼓舞人心的故事。 一个例子是父子，迪克和里克霍伊特。 里克有健康问题，他不能使用他的腿和手臂。 他的父亲把瑞克拉上一艘特殊的船去游泳。 骑自行车的时候，他把瑞克放在自行车前面的一个特殊座位上。 最后，迪克跑过去，在最后一段推着轮椅上的里克。 他们一起完成了六次铁人三项。