The Last Runner
The last runner finished the ____ more than an hour before.
“There will be no more runners coming,” the officials ____.
They ____ the tape at the finish line and started to prepare for the closing ceremony for the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics in the United States.
____ shouted, “Look! There comes another runner!”
A runner was just entering the ____, but there was something wrong with his legs.
____, he kept going toward the finish line.
The band and the volunteers ____ their preparations for the closing ceremony.
All eyes were on the runner.
Suddenly, the band started playing celebration music, and the ____ cheered.
“Go! Go! Go for it!” Two volunteers ran to the finish line with a ____.
Finally, the runner ran ____ the tape and then fell to the ground.
His name was Abdul Baser ____. He was from Afghanistan.
Reporters came up to Wasiqi and started asking ____ questions.
What ____ to you?
I ____ my leg during a practice run.
The injury ____ worse during the race, but I couldn’t give up.
Why not? You knew that you were too far behind to ____ a medal.
I’m the only athlete here representing ____.
There was no ____ I could give up.
Reporter: Afghanistan is still at war, isn’t it?
Yes, we have been at war for 16 ____.
That’s why we were not able to send athletes to the Barcelona Olympics four ____ ago.
I was sad for my ____ back then when I could see no Afghan athletes in the opening ceremony.
Were you ____ marathons then?
No. I started running after ____.
I ran in lots of races. Finally I won a ____ in Germany.
As a result, I was able to ____ to Atlanta.
How do ____ feel now?
I’m proud of myself and proud to be ____ Afghanistan.
For me and my ____, it was important not to give up.
I ____ come here to win. For me, it was enough to be here and to finish the race.