2001级英语教育专业二班　苏炎奎

　　In modern society the competition is so enough, but team spirit can lead us to success, especially in Olympic games. The importance of team spirit is best demonstrated in the case of Chinese women’s volleyball team.

　　Chinese women were back to the top of volley world in Athens Olympic Game but the road to victory is not so flat. To the most extent, the team’ success is attributable to its team spirit. At the beginning, China lost Zhao Ruirui, known as “backbone” of the team and the MVP of 2003 World Cup. Her blocking and fast-attacking are so efficient that to some degree the team is a Zhao’s team. When the Chinese team lost Zhao in 2004 Olympic Game, a majority of people thought it would be difficult for the team to get gold medal. Without choice, Coach Chen Zhonghe chose Zhang Ping to play in the place of Zhao Ruirui. Zhang Ping said, “I’m Zhang Ping and I’m not Zhao Ruirui Second. Without Zhao Ruirui on the court, we are trying to learn to play as a team.” As a matter of fact, they really played as a team. The final match was between China and Russia. When the Chinese team lost the first two rounds, its members didn’t show any sign of giving up. They encouraged each other to strive until the last moment of the match. Finally, the girls of the Chinese team defeated the Russian team 3:2 and got the Championship once again 20 years after their predecessors got the gold medal for the first time in 1984. In a sense, their victory is due to their team spirit.

　　Chanting and crying in the lock room, running around the field with the national flags over their heads and showing their gold medals to the audience were Chinese players’ way of celebration upon their victory in Athens 2004 Olympic game. Their victory has evoked strong echoes in Chinese people’s minds. All of us should learn from their team spirit.