distinguish oneself

distinguish oneself

卓球日本代表の福原愛選手は、交際が報じられていた台湾代表の江宏傑選手と結婚しました。福原選手は、国籍は変えないとのことです。

Table tennis star Ai Fukuhara marries Taiwanese fellow Olympian

Japanese table tennis star Ai Fukuhara, fresh from her bronze medal glory in women's team table tennis at the Rio Olympics, tied the knot with a Taiwanese athlete in the same sport earlier this month, it was learned on Sept. 8.
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Fukuhara, 27, and her groom Chiang Hung-chieh of the same age, who represented Taiwan at Rio, have already filed their marriage report.

In April this year, Fukuhara revealed her relationship with Chiang in her blog, and has kept their dating open, such as taking a photograph together with Chiang during the Rio Olympic opening ceremony.

A child table tennis sensation, Fukuhara took up the sport at age 3 and distinguished herself while earning the nickname, "Cry baby Ai-chan." She debuted in the Olympics at age 15 at the 2004 Athens Games, and at the 2008 Beijing Games served as the flag bearer for the Japanese delegation. Her team acquired the silver medal in women's team table tennis at the 2012 London Olympics -- the first ever Olympic silver in Japanese table tennis history.

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20160908/p2a/00m/0sp/009000c

取り上げる表現は"distinguish oneself"です。

"distinguish"と聞くと、「区別する」などの意味がすぐに思い浮かびますが、ここでは違った意味で使われています。

『ジーニアス英和辞典』第4版(大修館)で引いてみると、第4語義に「目立たせる、有名にさせる」とあり、例文では"He distinguished himself in the contest."で「彼はコンテストで名をあげた」とありました。

したがってここでは、「たった3歳で卓球で素晴らしいプレーを見せた福原選手は、「泣き虫愛ちゃん」というニックネームで有名となった」となるかと思います。(Akim)