Here is Audio Word Study #052 from Jane Lawson at DailyStep.com
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I hope you enjoyed the audio article above about the Olympics! In this DailyStep Audio Word Study, you can learn the correct way to use common expressions related to the Olympics and sport. Remember, always learn the whole structure of an expression, including the prepositions – those little words such as in, on and atare so important if you want to speak correct English!
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1. Win a gold medal
Meaning: You don’t need me to tell you what winning a gold medal means! It means that you an Olympic champion!
Example: Andy Murray won the gold medal in the men’s singles tennis, beating Roger Federer in straight sets at the Queen’s Club in Wimbledon. This was great for Murray, as he had lost to Federer on the same tennis court only a few weeks earlier, in the Wimbledon final.
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2. To be a gold, silver or bronze medallist
Meaning: If you win a medal, you become an Olympic medallist.
Example: Two brothers, Alistair and Jonny Brownlee, were both medallists in the Olympic triathlon, with Alistair taking the gold medal and Jonny being the bronze medallist. Their mother must be very proud!
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3. Be in first place / Come first in a competition
Meaning: If you are in first place, you win the competition. If you are in last place, you lose the competition.
Example: Bradley Wiggins came first in the Tour de France cycle race recently, and then he was also in first place in the Olympic Road Time trial cycling event, winning the gold medal. What a year for Bradley Wiggins!
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4. Beat someone at something
Meaning: If you beat someone, you win against them, achieving a better result in the competition.
Example: In the women’s 100 metre hurdles, the Australian Sally Pearson narrowly beat American Dawn Harper, but only by 0.2 of a second. It was an extremely close race but Sally took the gold! (note: if you narrowly beat someone, you beat them by a very small amount.)
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5. Beat your personal best
Meaning: If you beat your personal best, you achieve a better score than you have ever achieved before.
Example: Dawn Harper won the silver in the women’s 100 metre hurdles and she also beat her personal best by two tenths of a second. (note: this means that her race time was 0.2 seconds faster than her previous fastest time.)
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6. Reach the final in something
Meaning: If you reach the final in an Olympic competition, you reach the last stage, where the winner will get the gold medal.
Example: It was great to see Kirani James of Grenada not only reach the men’s 400 metre final, but then go on to win Grenada’s first ever gold medal as well!
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7. Be knocked out in a heat
Meaning: To leave the competition because you did not reach the final stage
Example: Chinese former champion Liu Xiang was knocked out in the first heat of the 110 metre hurdles, as he had an injury. He had to leave the track in a wheelchair. (note: a heat is a qualifying round in a competition. The winners of the heats are the ones who reach the final.)
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Now, try to write your own sentences using these expressions. Perhaps you can make sentences about your own country’s Olympic team, as this will help you to remember them better.
Hello, I’m Jane at DailyStep English and welcome to my Audio Blog.
The 7-year build up to the Olympic Games in London has not been easy. Since the news in 2005 that we would be hosting the Games, there has been a global financial crash and a long recession. The cost of hosting the Games has risen from the original estimate of two point four billion pounds (£2.4