【题目】Out of Africa

1 When Tegla Loroupe returned home to Kenya from winning the New York City Marathon in 1994 , she was presented with nine cattle , 16 sheep and some land by the grateful people of her hometown. But it was the words of the ordinary womenfolk which Loroupe valued the most. “You did a good job ,” they told her. “You showed us that women can be successful just like men. We are not useless. “

2 In a country where most people think women are supposed to stay home and care for the kids , Loroupe’ s victory meant a lot. It was the first time a black African woman had ever won a major marathon , and the triumph provided her independence , both financially and culturally. It also gave her the opportunity to stand up for herself and her Kenyan sisters.

3 Male athletes have made Kenya synonymous with success in long-distance running , but women are discouraged from competing beyond the age of 16 , when they are expected to start a family. Most people think that if a woman goes out of the country , she will be spoiled , that she will learn more than the others , and that when they tell her to do something, she will say no. Due to this situation , Kenyan male runners have gained international success , while the female runners have been left at home.

4 The Kenyans’ success in distance running began at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, where Kep Keino captured the gold in the 1.500-meters. The domination by Kenyan men across all distance running, from road races to cross-country, stems from youngsters running many miles to school each day , a nutritious diet, the benefits of living at high altitude and having no diversions from other sports.

5 Loroupe , now 25 , recalls her early running days and the discouragement she received from others. When she ran to school , the men in her tribe would tell her she was wasting her time. “They didn’t want me to do sports ,” she said. But Loroupe , from a town called Kapenguria on the Ugandan border, about 400 miles from Nairobi , began running for the same reason most of the men did – to avoid being late for school. “If you were late , they beat you ,” she said.

6 One of seven children , Loroupe’ s was a traditional family, and her parents took a long time to be convinced that she was not wasting her life. They wanted their daughter to give up the idea of finishing school so she could stay at home and look after her younger siblings. But she insisted on going and continuing to run even though , as a child , she developed problems with her lungs.

7 Loroupe’ s family is a member of the Bokot tribe , nomads who once drove their cattle across the plains of Kenya. Now they graze them on ranches like the one Loroupe grew up on. As a child , Loroupe used to chase the family’ s cattle herd for up to 12 miles , and looking back on it now , she says it was great training. The more she ran however, the more distance Loroupe put between herself and the expectations of her society. And having been overlooked four times by the Kenya Amateur Athletics Association for major championships both nationally and internationally, she eventually had to travel abroad for opportunities. It was in Germany that Anne Roberts, the elite-athlete coordinator of the New York City Marathon, first discovered Loroupe’ s huge talent.

8 The launching pad for her success began in 1994 when Roberts invited Loroupe to take part in the New York City Marathon. Winning it gave her the determination and courage to pursue her dreams ,despite the problems back home. Roberts has marvelled at Loroupe’s determination to succeed , and the obstacles she has overcome. “I think she has a very strong sense of what’ s fair and what isn’t ,” she said. “When you’ re running everywhere, to school , to get the cows in , all over the thousand acres of farm , and you’ re running with your brothers and you’ re beating, them” she fought long and hard to get out of the country to compete.

9 Her victories m New York and Rotterdam have smoothed wrinkled relationships back home. In April 1997 , Loroupe won the New York Central Park City Marathon. In October of the same year , she won the World Half Marathon in Slovakia , setting a world championship record of 1 hour , 8 minutes and 14 seconds. Although Loroupe developed a knee injury from overuse during the fall of 1997 , she recovered , and in April1998 she set a world record of 2 hours , 20 minutes , 47 seconds in the Women’ s Marathon in Rotterdam. Now many people expect Loroupe to go further and become the first woman to run under 2 ,20,00 – a barrier only broken by a male marathon runner in 1953 , when Britain Jim Peters clocked 2 :18:40. These world records and her promising future have changed the attitudes of Kenyan people.

10 Loroupe now lives in Germany, where she shares a house with Tanzanian and Ethiopian male runners , as well as other Kenyans. These days Loroupe is showing confidence about her career in running , but is taking it step by step. She trains 100 miles per week, while many of her rivals log 180 miles. At 25 years of age , she realizes that she is still young and inexperienced , and knows there is plenty of time. As a Kenyan woman, she knows the meaning of the words patience and strength , especially patience.

 

 Kenyan men are not known for distance running on an international scale.

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