Bobsledding (雪橇运动) is a fast and exciting winter sport. A bobsled has a two-person team or a four-person team and it goes at about 100 kilometers an hour. When a bobsled team goes down the course, the other teams wait and watch. Then each team tries to go down faster than the others. Each team can try several times. In the end, the fastest team wins the. prize.
This is a true story about a bobsledder, Eugenio Monti from Italy. The year was 1964. The place was the bobsled course at the Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. The two best teams were Eugenio Monti's Italian team and Tony Nash's British team. After their first two runs, these two teams were equal (同等的). Then the Italians made their third run, and it was the fastest of all. The British team got ready for their third run, but suddenly a bolt (螺栓) on their bobsled broke. The British bobsled could not go down.
When Monti heard this, he took a bolt from his bobsled and sent it to the British team. The British team put the bolt on their bobsled. They went down very fast and won. The British team got the gold medal (金牌), but everyone talked about Monti. They called him a great sportsman. He also got a special prize, the 1964 International Fair Play Trophy ( 国际公平竞赛奖杯). Many people think this trophy is a greater prize than a gold medal. It was new then, but now it is given every year to a great sportsman or sportswoman.
