pinnacle 復習
pinnacle
１２日、リオ五輪・競泳女子２００ｍ平泳ぎ決勝が行われ、金藤 理絵選手が金メダルを獲得しました。
OLYMPICS/ Moxie propels veteran Kaneto to 200-meter gold medal
RIO DE JANEIRO--Swimmer Rie Kaneto can now forever have the memory of standing atop the podium after winning the 200-meter breaststroke gold medal on Aug. 11 at the Rio Olympics.
It was the first gold for a female Japanese swimmer at the Rio Games.
"I have gone through many things over the past eight years, but I am really glad I stuck to it," said the 27-year-old, who never gave up and overcame two disappointing failures to reach the pinnacle of her sport.
The last Japanese swimmer to strike gold in the event was 14-year-old Kyoko Iwasaki, who captured the hearts of her nation with a stirring win at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
Compared to the teenaged Iwasaki, Kaneto is a veteran who traveled a bumpy road to Olympic glory.
At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Kaneto finished seventh in the 200-meter breaststroke, and she was the odds-on favorite to represent Japan at the London Games four years later.
However, in the qualifying meet for London, she first swam the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing ninth in the semis and failed to make the finals. She was unable to overcome her failure in the 100 and finished a disappointing third in the 200-meter finals, losing out on a spot for London because only the top two finishers were selected for the Olympic team.
Kaneto had intended to retire after London. But her failure to make the team made her more determined than ever to keep competing.
以下省略
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201608120061.html
今回取り上げる表現は、“pinnacle”です。『ウィズダム英和辞典』(第３版、三省堂)を引いたところ、「«仕事・業績の»頂点；絶頂 «of»」とありました。
LDOCEでは、“[singular] the most successful, powerful, exciting etc part of something”と定義されていました。
この単語は異なる意味で日本語にもなっており、「ピナクル」という建築用語であるようです。「小尖塔」とも呼ばれます。どんなものなのか「コトバンク」で調べてみたところ、ゴシック建築に用いられ，またそれを特色づけている塔状装飾のことだそうです。『ジーニアス英和辞典』では“pinnacle”の第１義にこの建築用語の意味が来ていたので、元々の意味から生まれたのが今回用いられている「頂点」という意味であるのだと思います。
(Blue Sky)
今回の表現は以前にも取り上げられております。語源についても説明されているので、ぜひご覧ください。
