DANTZSCHERS SEE BRIGHT SIDE.Byline: KAREN CROUSE SYDNEY, Australia - They've stopped wars for the Olympic Games Olympic games, premier athletic meeting of ancient Greece, and, in modern times, series of international sports contests. The Olympics of Ancient Greece Although records cannot verify games earlier than 776 B.C. . Alas, there can be no stopping life from invading sport's grandest stage. Nigerian hurdler Glory Alozie Glory Alozie Oluchi (born December 30, 1977 in Amator, Nigeria) is a Spanish athlete competing mostly in hurdling. The world junior champion from 1986, she went on to have a successful senior career, although she has never won a major international event. found out how heartless heart·less adj. 1. Devoid of compassion or feeling; pitiless. 2. Archaic Devoid of courage or enthusiasm; spiritless. heart life can be when her fiance was struck and killed by a car here a week before the 2000 Olympics opened. In light of what Alozie has had to go through, the Dantzscher family - formerly of Palmdale and now of San Dimas - considers itself fortunate. The Dantzschers still can hope for a happy ending. John, the patriarch, was seriously injured last week and daughter Jennifer required hospitalization hospitalization /hos·pi·tal·iza·tion/ (hos?pi-t'l-i-za´shun) 1. the placing of a patient in a hospital for treatment. 2. the term of confinement in a hospital. when the taxi they were riding in was sideswiped by a city bus. Jennifer was hospitalized with lower-back injuries but was well enough to return home Friday. John remains in the hospital in critical condition with brain injuries and a punctured lung. The good news is he emerged recently from a perilous 48-hour period in better shape than his doctors would have dared to predict. Not long afterward, Joyce Dantzscher was talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to" lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to her husband when he turned his head in the direction of her voice and squeezed her hand. That was a gold-medal moment right there. John's Aussie doctors found it no less inspiring than Cathy Freeman's 400 meters victory or Ian Thorpe's 400-meter freestyle world record swim. The bad news is his doctors estimate it'll be close to Thanksgiving before John is able to make the trip to L.A. ``We're so excited at the progress he's made,'' Joyce said between hospital visits. ``It's a long road but I feel really optimistic op·ti·mist n. 1. One who usually expects a favorable outcome. 2. A believer in philosophical optimism. op .'' Seven children who nearly lost their father will be without their mother for the foreseeable future. Joyce is going to stand by her man's bedside for however long it takes him to get well. And for at least the foreseeable future, Jamie, an 18-year-old Olympic gymnast, won't be able to see her crowning athletic achievement for all the grief and guilt. ``We hold no resentments, we have no regrets in coming here,'' Joyce said. ``I've told Jamie that her father could have gotten hurt driving to work.'' He didn't, though. He got hurt halfway around the globe. He was in that taxi, on that road, in the path of that swerving bus because he wouldn't have missed seeing his daughter compete in the Olympics for the world. A family of nine is lucky if it can travel to a restaurant together, much less a foreign country. This was a once-in-a-lifetime trip for the Dantzschers. They had all kinds of plans. But who plans for a cataclysm? ``It's absolutely shocking to think this happened,'' Joyce said. ``The first three days I was thinking, `This has to be a nightmare.' '' In her lowest moments, Jamie, who qualified for the Games by finishing fifth at the U.S. Trials, could be forgiven for wishing she had retired last year when she was seriously considering it. These Olympic Games had been a mixed bag for Jamie even before the accident. She competed in the team event, earning scores of 9.700 on the uneven bars Noun 1. uneven bars - a pair of parallel bars set at different heights; used in women's gymnastics uneven parallel bars bars, parallel bars - gymnastic apparatus consisting of two parallel wooden rods supported on uprights , 9.712 in the floor and 9.424 in the vault "In the Vault" is a short story by American horror fiction writer H.P. Lovecraft, written on September 18, 1925 and first published in the November 1925 issue of the amateur press journal Tryout. to help the U.S. to a fourth-place finish. She wasn't chosen to compete this week in the individual all-around competition and that was heartbreaking heart·break·ing adj. 1. Causing overwhelming grief or distress. 2. Producing a strong emotional reaction: heartbreaking loveliness. at the time. A week later, she has a much better idea how the heart feels when it's really shattered shat·ter v. shat·tered, shat·ter·ing, shat·ters v.tr. 1. To cause to break or burst suddenly into pieces, as with a violent blow. 2. a. . Gymnastics taught Jamie that when disaster strikes you pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep on going. So that's what she's doing. In January, she'll enroll at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , as scheduled. Before that, she'll honor a commitment to participate in a national gymnastics tour. Jamie told her mother over the phone a couple days ago that she had decided to go ahead with the tour. Joyce took it as a sign that the healing has begun. ``You know, Jamie,'' she told her daughter. ``That's wonderful. Your dad would really want you to do that.'' G'DAY From Australia So that's what the Opera House looks like. On the penultimate pe·nul·ti·mate adj. 1. Next to last. 2. Linguistics Of or relating to the penult of a word: penultimate stress. n. The next to the last. day of the Olympics, I finely got my first look at Sydney's most famous landmark. Sydneysiders say the roof's post-modern design reminds them of two white turtles engaging in mating rituals usually seen only on the Discovery Channel. I can't answer to that, but viewed from any angle it is a breathtaking site to behold. On this day, the roof's Swedish ceramic tiles reflected the sunshine like 1,056,000 mirrors. For artistry, it rated a perfect 10. Catch ya later, Karen Crouse CAPTION(S): box Box: G'Day from Australia (see text) |
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