mediocre 復習

　スピードスケート男子5000メートルの試合が行われ、一戸誠太郎選手は9位という結果でした。

Ichinohe buoys hope for team

Budding speed skater Seitaro Ichinohe finished ninth in the men’s 5,000 meters at the Pyeongchang Olympics on Sunday, raising hopes for the team pursuit, in which Ichinohe and Japan are seeking to medal.

Ichinohe, a 22-year-old student at Shinshu University, managed to keep his 400-meter splits under 30 seconds until the final few laps to clock 6 minutes 16.55 seconds, his best time in low-lying rinks.

After crossing the finish line, Ichinohe looked tired but satisfied as he waved to fans and pumped his fist.

“It felt so good to be cheered by this crowd,” Ichinohe said.

Hailing from Bihoro, Hokkaido, Ichinohe initially focused on short-distance races during elementary school. He described himself at that time as a “mediocre skater,” and had thought of quitting the sport around the time he entered junior high school.

以下省略

http://the-japan-news.com/news/article/0004240040

　mediocre /mìːdióʊkɚ/ を取り上げます。中学校に入学した頃には競技をやめようと思っていたことから、自分のことを何でもない普通の選手だと思っていたことが伺えます。『ライトハウス英和辞典』（第5版　研究社）で調べると「（軽べつ的）並みの、平凡な、二流の」とありました。
　Merriam-Websterには “of moderate or low quality, value, ability, or performance” と定義されています。
　mediocreのmedioはmiddleを表す接頭辞です。ちなみにmediocreの名詞の形であるmediocrity /mìːdiάkrəṭi/ は「1平凡、並み、凡庸　2凡人」を意味します。（『ライトハウス英和辞典』）（aqua）