An Australian who trained with kangaroos instead of reindeer has won this year's Santa Claus world championships. They were held in the Swedish town of Gallivare.
"Three years in training to be a Santa, and now it's all paid off," Dave Downey said.
The international field of 30 Santas showed off their skills in chimney climbing, reindeer racing, sled racing, porridge eating and planning for Christmas Eve.
Downey said his training included "kangaroos, sheep, porridge eating and, of course, the usual Santa activities. It's just a bit harder in the heat, that's all."
Competition official Elisabeth Landby said Downey took part last year and in 2005. This year he finally won.
"He was in third place during most of the time during the competition, but ... the judges [thought he was good] during the chimney climbing and [he] jumped to first place," Landby said. "The children thought he was a good Santa." (DPA)
一名澳州人以袋鼠替代馴鹿一起訓練，在今年的世界耶誕老人錦標賽奪得了冠軍。這次的錦標賽在瑞典的耶利瓦勒鎮舉行。
「三年來為了當耶誕老人而接受的訓練，現在終於都得到回報了，」戴夫．唐尼說。
在這場國際賽事中，三十名耶誕老公公各自展現他們的絕活，如爬煙囪、賽馴鹿、駕雪橇、吃粥和計畫耶誕夜活動等。
唐尼說，他的訓練包括了「袋鼠、綿羊、吃粥練習，當然還有耶誕老人的例行活動。只是大熱天下，接受這些訓練比較辛苦而已。」
大會人員伊麗莎白．藍碧說，唐尼去年和前年都曾與賽，今年他總算贏了。
「他在大部分項目都是排名第三，但是…評審們對他在爬煙囪項目的表現感到很滿意，他因此躍居第一名，」藍碧說：「小孩們都覺得他是個稱職的耶誕老公公。」
（德通社／翻譯﹔楊鴻泰）
1. championships n.
錦標賽 (jin3 biao1 sai4)
例: I entered the snowball championships this year.
(今年我打進了雪球錦標賽。)
2. paid off v. phr.
獲得回報 (huo4 de2 hui2 bao4)
例: Sam's extra study really paid off when he took the test.
(山姆特別認真苦讀，真的在這次的考試中獲得了回報。)
3. chimney n.
煙囪 (yan1 cong1)
例: Chimneys help smoke escape from fireplaces.
(煙囪有助於排放壁爐內的煙。)
4. activity n.
活動 (huo2 dong4)
例: We have lots of activities planned.
(我們已經有很多計畫好的活動。)
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