I was first going into this final day, the Junior Sled Dog Championship. We’d trained two years and wanted to beat Blake. I knelt down to pat Kenai and my hands ______ from nerves and excitement. Kenai tipped up his face to lick my chin. “You are ______, aren’t you?”

Just before the count down started, Blake shot me a _____ grin, hands trembling too. Then I heard, “Go!”______ I could yell   “Hike!”, Kenai leaped forward. The rest of the dogs _____ after. We started last. We flew down the long hill. Then we ______ a corner. I leaned to keep the sled steady. Kenai saw Blake’s team before I did. His tail flew up, and he ______ . Seeing his tongue still flopping forward, I let him go all out. We closed the ______. A bridge later, we inched closer. On the next hill, Kenai drew even with Blake’s sled and then we passed it.

____ our sled hit a branch. The runners caught. I lost my ______ and fell off the sled. Witnessing the sled come to a stop, I struggled through the deep snow to Kenai. I ____. His shoulder was bleeding.

“Kenai! No!” My voice came out a howl. Kenai ______ to stand. He looked at me, his blue eyes______ to keep on. He would do it, too. For one frozen moment I saw myself on the winner’s stand with the trophy (奖杯). But no. I bent and gently ______ Kenai in a blanket.

The race vet examining Kenai, I watched Blake accept the trophy. Kenai squirming in my lap, I leaned over upon him. Just at that moment, I felt a warm tongue on my wet cheek. I smiled and realized that I had the ____ that really counted.

Felicia Grimmenhag of Sweden doesn’t let anything get in her way — even a life-changing injury. After surviving a serious car accident, Felicia had to _________ getting around in a wheelchair. But it didn’t stop her from _________ her dream as a champion horseback rider and Paralympic (残奥会) hopeful.

Felicia was 17 when she was _________ by a car while riding her motorbike. Despite being legally dead for 15 minutes, she _________ pulled through. When she finally _________ three days later, she discovered her legs had disappeared. While this new reality would be a(n) _________ pill for anyone to take, Felicia focused all her energy on getting back on the horse! She’d _________ as a little girl and decided to try again. And shockingly, about 10 weeks after the _________, she was riding once again! “Horses have meant a lot to me, both _________ and also physically,” she told Great Big Story. “When I sit on a horse, I don’t feel like the __________ Felicia, but the horse-riding Felicia.”

Felicia has since taken part in competitions around the world, proving she doesn’t need __________ to win. In 2020, the 25-year-old won the silver at the Swedish Championships. Now she __________ to compete at the Paralympics! “What I have learned from all this is that you should dare to __________ yourself, and remember that it’s only you who sets your own __________,” she said.

It’s true that when you want something, all you need is the __________ and drive to achieve it.

In the sport of track and field, athletes compete not only with ore another but against themselves. And with each race they ____ to achieve a new personal best.

For one Nebraska ____ running in what would likely be his final cross country outing before graduating from high school, his personal best ____ not to be about marking the fastest time but displaying the biggest ____.

Last Thursday, Bellevue East senior Brandon Schutt knew if his ____ was good enough that day, he still had the ____ to qualify for the upcoming state meet. Another runner Blake Cerveny was from Omaha Burke High School. Aiming to beat his own personal ____，after a fast start, he continued to ____ himself hard .

With less than 400 meters to ____ , Cerveny’s legs cramped up and failed him. ____ to finish, Cerveny rose from the ground and continued on, only to ____ again alter another 150 meters.

____ his coach asked Cerveny if he wanted to ____. He didn’t. Before Cerveny’s dad could reach his son , another runner—Brandon Schutt —was at his side to ____a helping hand . His first ____ to get Cerveny up failed, but like Cerveny, he too ____ to quit. With a second try, Cerveny was on his feet. The two ____ the final 75 meters of the course. "Brandon is an excellent person," Bellevue East's head track coach Rachel Carraher told KETV-7. “He is really kind and a great leader on the team.”

In today's ____ world in which the emphasis in athletics is ____ put on breaking records, it was ____ to see that for an athlete like Brandon Schutt, the value of true sportsmanship still had legs.