Sydney Olympics!

by Ami Komo
(Suginami, Tokyo)

In 2000, the 27th Summer Olympics was held in Sydney. Although this was held 10 years ago, I remember a specific scene, because Naoko Takahashi, who is a Japanese athlete, won a gold medal at this game!!

She is a hero for all Japanese! Her nickname is "Q-chan," after a Japanese character which is called "Ghost Q-chan." But I don't know why she is "Q-chan." Is she famous in countries besides Japan??

At that time I was only in the 4th grade in elementary school, but I was very moved by her. Almost all Japanese should have been impressed by her like me. But what makes us moved is not only her achievement.

She always has a sunny smile and thanks everybody around her and her fans. Her smile makes us very happy! Her smile is very impressive! And although she must have been exhausted after running for about 2.5 hours under strong sunlight, she said "my 42.195 km was very fun!" with a brilliant smile at the interview done after the game !!

Maybe this positive attitude also made us impressed. Her personality was an idol for me in my elementary school days.

Now she retired from marathons, but her work is still related to sports. I'm convinced she continues to encourage Japanese.

By the way, I have a TOEIC test tomorrow! I had better go to bed right now! I'm afraid I haven't prepared for Toeic so much, but this online project is good to improve my English abilities...

Good night!!!