Monge1980 its really strange to see 2 different versions of the official question. Since the question from the original poster did not have that choice you should have posted this question as a separate topic or mentioned clearly to avoid ambiguity.

However since its already been done... here is why C cannot be the answer.

are geared to enhance athletes' performance and their preparation

use of "their" is justified and apparently they seem to be parallel too. however there is a serious problem in the parallelism which is changing the meaning of the sentence.

the programs are geared to enhance (athletes' performance) and (their preparation).

how can programs enhance athletes' preparation for international competition. (you can enhance a trait, eg: enhance the skill)

the sentence wants to convey that

programs .....are geared toward enhancing performance ..........and preparing athletes for competition.

Thanks force5, this makes sense. I am not a native-english speaker, thus I need to make a lot of efforts sometimes to spot the right meaning.

Thanks again.

No problem mate. its the effort that counts.

I hope everyone has understood.



please post or PM me in case you need any further explanations. People Following me know what i am talking about....

all the best