Brooklyn is home to an encouraging handcycling (手摇自行车运动) team, whose members are all athletes with disabilities.
You can hear the happiness in Maurice Evans’ voice as he moves through the hills and paths of Prospect Park. He is part of a handcycle team called Prevailers Sports, an organization founded in 2018 out of a love for adaptive sports. At 55 years old, Evans is hoping to win 12 medals by his 60th birthday. “When I cross that finish line, I feel like I’ve really achieved something very few people can do,” he said.
Peneliope Richards is the captain of the team. She says, “There’s no other team like us here in Brooklyn. We want to make sure that handcycling is present in the community that we love, and people get to know more about us as they quickly pass by us in the park.”
The Prevailers take part in a variety of races, and most have been accepted to the New YorkCity Marathon. “It’s like a family. We get along; we support each other. Some of us make it in some races. Some of us don’t, but we still cheer each other on,” says team member Trisa Harris.
One of the biggest challenges, team members say, is finding a place to store their handcycles and getting them to the places they need. That’s when a local company stepped in to help. Roadway Moving, founded in the Bronx, is supporting the storage and transportation of the equipment to make their training and racing possible.
Their other difficulty is finding able-bodied volunteers to help on the big days. Still, despite the difficulty, the team is doing what it was created to do — growing, training, and finally succeeding.
“I think everyone should get out and run a marathon, walk a marathon, and crawl (爬) a marathon,” says Evans with a smile. “Just get your marathon done!”
【小题1】Which of the following can best describe Evans?| A．He is selfless and open-minded. |
| B．He is humorous and easy-going. |
| C．He is encouraging and dreams big. |
| D．He is honest and strict with himself. |
| A．She promises to be a good captain. |
| B．She hopes the team will get attention. |
| C．She plans to play a match in Brooklyn. |
| D．She has high expectations of her team. |
| A．Proud. | B．Sorry. | C．Anxious. | D．Surprised. |
| A．It buys sports equipment for them. |
| B．It starts a company to support them. |
| C．It stores and transports their handcycles. |
| D．It trains them to use handcycles correctly. |
