Legend

   By  Zhong  Wanting

It was the 8th century B.C, when civilization was still young. In the sacred mountains known as Olympus, where the Gods were said to dwell, sprang the first flames of the renowned sports meet, which first brought the spirit of peace and pursuit into the world.

The ancient Greek people woke the striving spirit in everybody’s heart, and the sacred torch bearing light and hope flickered and blazed, lighting the darkened hearts of many lost in poverty, famine or war. For out of the fallen embers a heavenly voice encouraged and soothed with the name Olympia, and weapons were strewn aside, replaced by laurels woven into a smile. Their hands held tightly together, people with different status and occupations came to the sacred Olympiads to compete for what was higher, faster and stronger. Above them, the sacred torch burned and flickered, casting its bright light down on the paths leading through mazes of history.

The torch spelt a legend in which many believed long before modern history. And when people unearthed the smoldering torch from the wreckage of years, they gave it a name.

From then on, it had been known as the Olympic Games, a name worshipped and cherished by many throughout the ages. Still, the torch shone, bright with eternal hope and the pursuit for what was higher, faster, and stronger. Through the years it had illuminated the darkened paths of many, sometimes scattered with ruins dilapidated because of poverty, sometimes covered in ashes of war. Yet the people never lost faith in this certain something, which meant unity, friendship, willpower and hope, burning ever so ardently in the shape of the Olympic torch.

Because they shared the Olympic spirit, they cherished the same ideal, the same dream. Because they held the Olympic fire, they had a reason to fight, to pursue the top of the world. They themselves spelt legends.

We shall never forget Xu Haifeng’s perfect shot, which forever extricated China from the humiliating title of being the ‘East Asian Patient’, coming in the most needed times to prove a country’s strength.

We shall never forget Jesse Owens’ four gold medals, which proved to the world that black people could also achieve what whites could, and perhaps achieve even more, coming in the days when the globe was suffocated by the deadly war cloud, when racial discrimination was poisoning the minds of all.

We shall never forget those people whose names were carved in the history of their own motherlands, as well as the history of the Olympics, the ones who firmly gripped the sacred torch, illuminating the path stretched before them while treading on the smoking ruins of the past.

In the days long before modern civilization, a legend was born in the grand ancient stadiums and sweet green laurels.

In the years long after the first Olympiads, legends were rewritten on the racetracks of the modern Olympics, echoing the spirit of higher, faster, and stronger.

And the torch still shines, over the heads of athletes who are never satisfied with their glory, over the firmly held hands of various people with different skin colors and adverse beliefs.

And in 2008, the flames shall be rekindled in the city called Beijing, where another legend shall be born.

I see the Olympic flag, flying high over the stadium, with the 5 Chinese mascots (Fu Wa) dancing to welcome the foreign friends who have arrived at the grand sports meet. The flames of pursuit are alight in the hearts of all, as well as the rays of friendship and goodwill. Hands held, the same dream rests in every heart, in this same world we share.

Let the torch burn more brightly in Beijing 2008.

Let the legend be retold, and be remembered in Beijing 2008.

  　广东实验中学  初三（1）班  钟琬婷