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Scott Baird，the oldest Winter Olympian
in the history of the Games
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When Scott Baird steps on the curling rink next week he will become the oldest
Winter Olympian in the history of the Games.
Aged 54 and 282 days, the
white-haired curler from Minnesota will beat the previous record set by
Briton James Coates who at the 1948 Winter Games at the age of 53 and 328
days competed in the skeleton,
finishing seventh.
"I am the oldest member of the U.S. men's curling team and that is
exactly one of the reasons I love curling," a smiling Baird told Reuters
on Sundaysaid ahead of the start of the Turin Olympics, his first.
"Curling is like golf, it's a lifetime sport."
Baird is from
Bemidji, Minnesota, which prides itself as the curling capital of the U.S.
and has another four of its citizens on the men's and women's Olympic
teams.
He said while he taught the younger players a thing or two about the
sport, he was also picking up a lot from them.
"The game is always evolving and I am still learning from watching them
play," Baird said. "The strategy is constantly evolving."
As for the
team's chances of a medal, Baird said if they played well they could
surprise everyone.
"We are hopeful if we play to the top of our game. If we can be
consistent we will have good results," he said.
The team, including Baird, finished sixth at the 2005 world
championships which were won by Canada. Scotland, competing in the Turin
Olympics for Britain, were second and Germany third.
Despite his veteran status, Baird is not considering putting an end to
his curling career.
"I want to keep going. At least for another decade or two," he said
with a smile. "At least at club level."
(Agencies) |
下周，踏上冰壺比賽場(chǎng)的斯科特·貝爾德將成為冬奧會(huì)歷史上年紀(jì)最大的參賽選手。
這位滿頭白發(fā)的冰壺選手來(lái)自明尼蘇達(dá)州，年齡54歲零282天。白他將取代1948年冬奧會(huì)上的英國(guó)選手詹姆斯·科茨，成為冬奧會(huì)歷史上年紀(jì)最大的運(yùn)動(dòng)員。詹姆斯當(dāng)時(shí)53歲零328天，參加了俯式冰撬項(xiàng)目，在比賽中獲得第七名。
都靈冬奧會(huì)開幕前，貝爾德笑著說(shuō)："我是美國(guó)男子冰壺隊(duì)中年紀(jì)最大的運(yùn)動(dòng)員，這也正是我喜歡這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)的原因之一。"這是他第一次參加冬奧會(huì)。
"和高爾夫一樣，冰壺運(yùn)動(dòng)是終生可以參加的運(yùn)動(dòng)。"貝爾德來(lái)自明尼蘇達(dá)州的伯米吉市，當(dāng)?shù)靥?hào)稱是美國(guó)冰壺運(yùn)動(dòng)之城，在奧運(yùn)參賽隊(duì)伍中還有另外四名選手來(lái)自此地。
貝爾德說(shuō)，當(dāng)他教年輕運(yùn)動(dòng)員這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)的一些知識(shí)時(shí)，他也從他們身上學(xué)到了很多。
貝爾德說(shuō)："這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)始終在發(fā)展之中，通過看年輕人比賽，我仍然在學(xué)習(xí)。運(yùn)動(dòng)技巧一直在不斷發(fā)展。"
談到自己的隊(duì)伍能否獲得獎(jiǎng)牌時(shí)，貝爾德表示，如果隊(duì)員們發(fā)揮得好，他們會(huì)給所有人帶來(lái)驚喜。
他說(shuō)："如果發(fā)揮到最佳狀態(tài)，我們很有希望（獲得獎(jiǎng)牌）。如果我們配合默契，我們會(huì)取得好成績(jī)的。"
在2005年世界錦標(biāo)賽中，加拿大隊(duì)獲得冠軍，貝爾德所在的美國(guó)男隊(duì)獲得第六名。當(dāng)年，蘇格蘭隊(duì)第二，德國(guó)隊(duì)第三，在今年的比賽中他們將和加拿大隊(duì)一決雌雄。
貝爾德雖然是老隊(duì)員，但是他認(rèn)為他的冰壺運(yùn)動(dòng)生涯并沒有結(jié)束。
他微笑著說(shuō)："我想繼續(xù)參加比賽，至少會(huì)再堅(jiān)持一二十年。至少到達(dá)俱樂部級(jí)吧。"
(中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站編譯) |
Updated: 2006-02-07 10:00
