Text 10

I. Read one of the texts and answer the questions after it.

Alexei Yagudin.

Yagudin’s mother Zoya was his first coach. She took Alexei to the local rink and taught him to skate at the age of 4. He was a small child and his mother heeded the advice of a doctor who said physical activity would lessen Alexei’s chance for illness. Yagudin developed as a skater under the tutelage of Aleksei Mishin starting 1994. At that time Mishin also coached 1994 Olympic champion Aleksei Urmanov and junior world champion Yevgeny Plushenko. Yagudin looked up to Urmanov from the start and often would travel and compete with the champion. The younger Plushenko would not compete at the same events as his training partners, but as he entered the senior ranks a natural rivalry emerged. Shortly after the Nagano Games Yagudin decided it was time for change and sought out legendary Russian coach T. Tarasova, who is based in the United States. They began working together in the summer of 1998, and Yagudin moved to New Jersey and recently to Newington, Connecticut.

Yagudin won three straight world titles from 1998 to 2000 – the first man to do so since Canada’s Kurt Browning did it from 1989-1991. Yagudin claimed his world title 15 days after he turned 18 to become the second –youngest men’s world champion in history (in 1963, Donald McPherson of Canada won nine days after his 18^thbirthday). Yagudin also won two European Championships (1998, 1999), one Grand Prix final (1999) and the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City (2002).

1. Who was his first coach?

2. Where did he develop as a skater?

3. Who were his main rivals?

4. Why did he decide to change his coach?

5. What titles did he win?

II.Put in the correct order as in the text.

1. Yagudin won three straight world titles from 1998 to 2000 – the first man to do so since Canada’s Kurt Browning did it from 1989-1991.

2. Yagudin developed as a skater under the tutelage of Aleksei Mishin starting 1994.

3. Shortly after the Nagano Games Yagudin decided it was time for change and sought out legendary Russian coach T. Tarasova, who is based in the United States.

4. Yagudin’s mother Zoya was his first coach. She took Alexei to the local rink and taught him to skate at the age of 4.

Larissa Lazutina.

Lazutina has won 11 world titles, her two most recent coming at the 2001 World Championships in Finland. She won the combined pursuit only after the original winner, Virpi Kuitunen of Finland, was disqualified after failing a doping test. She also was a member of the gold medal winning relay team.

After a disastrous performance at the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, Lazutina said she thought of quitting and becoming a housewife in Odinzovo (near Moscow) with her husband and daughter. But after Russian team leader Lyubov Yegorova was disqualified for a failed drug test the Russian Ski Federation invited Lazutina to join the team. She joined but only on the condition that she would be allowed to train alone. She had a long history of personal differences with the team’s head coach A. Grishin. She did indeed train alone but she was cut off from the financial support enjoined by the national team. She got another sponsor and hired a personal coach A. Kravtsov who, together with her husband, also a professional skier, trained her.

Salt Lake marked Lazutina’s fourth Olympic appearance. Upon her return to Russia from the Nagano Games, where she captured 5 medals (3 golds, 1 silver, 1 bronze), Lazutina was awarded the Hero of Russia medal - the country’s highest honor - for her Olympic performance. She had a total of seven Olympic medals up to 2002 dating back to the 1992 Albertville Games.

Lazutina said that the Olympic season (2002) was definitely going to be the last. She said: ”I took up skiing when I was 5 years old and after all these years my mind and body tell me it’s time to stop”.

1. How many world titles has Lazutina won?

2. What title was she awarded after the Nagano Games?

3. How did she train after the 1997 World Championship?

4. Is she going to continue her performance in sports?

II.Complete as in the text.

1. Lazutina has won …

2. After a disastrous performance at the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, Lazutina said …

3. … marked Lazutina’s fourth Olympic appearance.

4. She had a total of …

5. Lazutina said that the Olympic season (2002) …