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Zakia Nassar, the 21-year-old Palestinian swimmer who last week fulfilled her lifelong ambition to compete at the Olympics, deserves a gold medal for her tenacity.
Having had neither a coach nor access to an Olympic-sized pool for the past year, Nassar, who is currently studying dentistry, had no option but to train on her own at a 12 m public pool.
The coach Nassar had a year ago left her to her own devices when the 25 m pool in Bethlehem closed down.
"There is no pool in Jenin where I am studying," she said.
"So I can swim only once or twice a month when I go back to my parents' home in Bethlehem."
There is a 50 m pool in nearby Nazareth, but the Israeli government does not permit her to use it.
Nassar said it was often embarrassing trying to train at the public pool, with other people swimming and splashing around.
"Sometimes people cut across me, and others would get angry when I swam into them. But quite a few made way for me," she said.
"I got so depressed sometimes I couldn't help crying, but my parents and friends encouraged me, reminding me that I had to keep training if I really wanted to go to the Olympics."
It was only when Nassar arrived in China a month ago that she finally got the opportunity to swim in a 50 m pool and enjoy the benefits of having a coach.
When she at last took part in the Games, she swam the 50 m in 31.97 seconds, an improvement of 7 seconds on her personal best.
Despite her time being good enough only for 79th place, Nassar said it was "the most beautiful moment" of her life.
"Participating in a race at the Olympics was a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said.
"It felt like I was flying."
But she is not sure if she will go to the next Olympics.
"I won't compete unless I've done the right training. But as swimming is in my soul, I'll probably be a coach in my spare time," she said.
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(China Daily)
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21歲的巴勒斯坦游泳運(yùn)動員扎奇婭?納塞爾上周終于如愿以償?shù)卣驹诹藠W運(yùn)會的賽場上。她堅(jiān)韌不撥的精神值得金牌的禮遇。
納塞爾目前還是一名牙科學(xué)生，在過去的一年里，她既沒有教練指導(dǎo)，也無法到符合奧運(yùn)會規(guī)格的游泳池中進(jìn)行訓(xùn)練，她只能在12米的公共泳池內(nèi)獨(dú)自訓(xùn)練。
納塞爾的教練在一年前伯利恒的25米游泳池關(guān)閉后離開了她。
她說；“我在杰寧上學(xué)，那里沒有游泳池?！?/font>
“所以我只能在每個(gè)月回到伯利恒的家時(shí)訓(xùn)練一兩次?！?/font>
拿撒勒附近倒是有個(gè)50米的游泳池，可是以色列政府的管控不允許她去那里練習(xí)。
納塞爾說，在公共泳池訓(xùn)練是很尷尬的事情，因?yàn)楹芏嗳嗽谥車蝸碛稳セ蛘咄嫠覒颉?/font>
她說：“有時(shí)候會有人突然擋在我前面，也有人會因?yàn)槲易驳剿麄兌鷼狻５灿泻芏嗳藭槲易尩?。?/font>
“有時(shí)候我會覺得非常失落，忍不住想哭。可我的父母和朋友都鼓勵(lì)我，他們說如果想?yún)⒓訆W運(yùn)會，我就必須堅(jiān)持訓(xùn)練?！?/font>
納塞爾在一個(gè)月前到了中國以后才終于有機(jī)會能在50米的泳池里游泳，而且還有了個(gè)教練。
這一次，她終于能參加奧運(yùn)會比賽了。在50米的比賽中，她游出了31秒97的成績，比她的個(gè)人最好成績提高了7秒。
雖然她的成績只能排第79名，但納塞爾說這是她一生中“最美好的時(shí)刻”。
她說：“能參加奧運(yùn)會比賽是人生中難得的經(jīng)歷?！?/font>
“那感覺就好像我在飛?！?/font>
不過，她并不確定自己是否會參加下一屆奧運(yùn)會。
她說：“不經(jīng)過適當(dāng)訓(xùn)練，我是不會參賽的。但是，因?yàn)橛斡疽呀?jīng)成為我生命的一部分，可能我以后會在業(yè)余時(shí)間去當(dāng)教練。”
（實(shí)習(xí)生吳昭文 英語點(diǎn)津Helen編輯） |
