Challenges

Match the words to their meanings.

Choose the correct answer. It’s a total ___ that Bethany is able to surf again.

Choose the correct answer. Bethany Hamilton ___ challenges that other surfers don’t have in her sport.

Choose the correct answer. He's lucky to have survived this horrible ___.

Choose the correct answer. Learning foreign languages requires patience and a positive ___.

Choose the correct answer. Have we got any chances to ___ a competition?

Choose the correct answer. Tom ___ bruised his spine in a car accident.

Choose the correct answer. My experience allows me the opportunity to assist students who faced ___ with disabilities.

Choose the correct answer. Just five minutes without oxygen may result in severe ___ damage.

Choose the correct answer. Panic attacks are a very devastating and terrifying ___.

Read the text and put each sentence into the correct group. Top athletes push themselves to their limits to achieve their goals. So athletes who work with a disability are even more to be admired. One name in particular that comes to mind is Russia's greatest Paralympic hero, Roman Petushkov. Born in Moscow in 1978, Petushkov was pursuing his athletic career when he lost his legs in a car accident in 2006. But he was determined not to let this stop him. He began training for cross-country skiing and the biathlon as sitting events. It paid off; in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada, Petushkov won a silver medal for skiing and a bronze in the biathlon. His huge success, however, came at the Sochi Paralympic Games of 2014, when he won no fewer than six gold medals! The first of these was for the 7.5-kilometre men's skiing event, sitting. The medal was Russia's first ever gold at the Sochi Olympics, and the Russian president sent Petushkov a telegram to congratulate him. Roman Petushkov's determination to perform despite the obstacles he had to face has earned him numerous awards and honours. He is now a top name internationally, and in 2015 he was named Sportsperson of the Year with a Disability.