Summary
19 August 2013
The World Athletics Championships have ended in Moscow with a third gold medal for Usain Bolt. The first of three big international sporting events hosted by Russia over the coming years was described by the head of world athletics as a "wonderful celebration".
Reporter:
Alex Capstick
"Usain Bolt is number one, there's no question about that" - Michael Johnson
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Report
Usain Bolt's brief address appreciated by his audience inside the Luzhniki stadium, where the atmosphere significantly improved after a flat opening few days. People came in relatively large numbers.
There was vociferous support for Russian competitors. With more gold medals than any other nation there was plenty for the home fans to shout about. This is a country where athletics has not been a popular spectator sport. Maybe this event has helped change that.
This has also been a championship without a major drugs scandal. Doping controversies had marred the build-up.
There was one issue which stubbornly refused to go away. Some foreign athletes openly protested against Russia's law banning the promotion of gay and lesbian relations.
The country's sports minister said the whole topic had been blown out of proportion by the Western media. But with the Sochi Winter Olympics just six months away this contentious subject is set to linger.
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Vocabulary
- address
announcement to an audience
- flat
not exciting, not interesting
- vociferous
spoken with great energy and determination, expressing views loudly and many times
- shout about
become excited or pleased about
- spectator sport
a sport that people find interesting to watch
- major
serious, significant
- marred
spoilt, made something less good
- stubbornly
in a way that is difficult to deal with or change
- blown out of proportion
exaggerated, made worse than it actually is
- contentious
causing disagreements or arguments
- linger
continue without being solved
