1. ENGLISH 4 LISTENING
SPORT
MARC HERREMANS
FROM : CANVAS, 2004.
April 20, 2004-- The 2003 Ironman Triathlon World Championship
broadcast received three awards last night at the 25th Annual Sports
Emmy Awards Ceremony in New York City. (…) The show highlighted
several examples of athletes proving that "Anything is Possible."
Among those stories were Julie Moss, infamous for her crawl to the
finish line in 1982, Dick and Ricky Hoyt, an extraordinary father and
son team, Richard Holcomb, a legally blind athlete and Marc
Herremans, a former professional triathlete who overcame a
paralyzing bike accident to cross this year's finish line.
From : http://www.insidetriathlon.com/train/coach/articles/2166.0.html
1 In this small village of Kailua-Kona they arrive just before 5 am to register for the 2003 Ironman
2 Triathlon World Championship. Registration for the 25th anniversary of the Ironman Triathlon
3 continues. Everybody’s got a story to tell but some are, well, just more amazing. Marc Herremans
4 of Belgium. Two years ago his pride was (…) as he ran across the finish in 6 th place waving the
5 flag of his country. He dreamed of winning one day. Then last year it happened. A crash while
6 training left him paralysed. He still came back to Hawaii with a different goal : just finish using
7 only his arms.
8 Marc Herremans : Life isn’t always fair, I think, but yeah I want to prove to myself that I can
9 finish the Ironman. I need to get to that finish line.
10 Narrator : One moment he is one of the best athletes in the world. The next, he’s an inspiration.
11 Marc Herremans wears it well. To the great it takes 8 hours, others go the full 17 and they are all in
12 the same arena, the big black lava island of Hawaii. Marc completed the swim in 1 hour and 8
13 minutes using only his arms, the arms of a strong, Belgian body that two years ago finished the
14 Ironman in 6th place. Between then and now an accident leaves him paralysed from the chest down.
15 His heart and spirit survive.
16 Marc Herremans : Most of the people in Belgium say : Oh, he can handle it. He’s always smiling
17 and stuff like that but sometimes I feel really, really bad. Life isn’t always fair, I think but you can
18 do nothing about it. Sometimes, you have bad cards in life but you have to deal with it, you have to
19 play with the bad cards. I have to make the best of my life.
20 Narrator : This time, Marc Herremans is healthy and ready to be helped into position for the next
21 112 miles in his hand cranked bike and be ready to show the world what his body can do, that it can
22 be one of the fittest bodies in the world, just like it used to be.
23 Marc Herremans : I won’t quit the goal and I want to go to that finish line. When I have difficult
24 moments I think of people who are worse than me. I’m glad I can use my arms still and I can do the
25 race. Yeah, it gives me a lot of motivation.
26 Narrator : For someone like Marc the finish line becomes so important you wonder what happens
27 after that. Then you realize, you cross that line when you get there. The stark reality is that while
28 these people get their chills of success there are still so many out there miles and miles away from
29 their dream. For Marc Herremans it’s 26 miles 385 yards between him and that finish line. Come
30 on, Marc Herremans, it’s miles for sure but then again, you knew that.
31 Marc Herremans : When I have difficult moments I tell myself just keep going, keep going and
32 go to that finish line. The satisfaction after crossing that finish line will mean so much to me. I need
33 to get to that finish line.
34 Narrator : If you could push him, you would but Marc would say : don’t you dare. This is his
35 dream.
FOR MORE INFORMATION : http://www.marcherremans.be