人人都愛勝利者 重在參與的奧運精神長存
Everybody loves a winner. Across the world, countries are greeting their Olympic gold medallists with joy and acclaim. In Singapore, Joseph Schooling, the city-state’s first ever gold medallist, has become a national hero and was greeted with a standing ovation in parliament. In the US, the extraordinary gymnast, Simone Biles, who has won four gold medals in Rio, has become the face of the Games. Meanwhile, the British were astonished and delighted to find Team GB, heading into the last weekend of the Olympics, in second place in the medal table.
人人都愛勝利者。世界各地的國家現在正愉快地以歡呼聲迎接着他們的奧運冠軍。在新加坡，這個城市國家有史以來第一位奧運金牌得主約瑟夫•斯庫林(Joseph Schooling)成爲了民族英雄，在議會受到了集體起立鼓掌歡迎。在美國，出類拔萃的體操運動員、里約奧運會4塊金牌得主西蒙娜•拜爾斯(Simone Biles)，成爲了里約奧運會的象徵。與此同時，英國人驚喜地發現，英國代表隊在奧運金牌榜上竟然排名第二。
Yet amid all this celebration of triumph and victory, it is important to remember the words of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympics, who said: “The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning, but taking part.”
不過，在慶祝成功與勝利之際，重要的是記住現代奧運會創始人皮埃爾•德•顧拜旦(Pierre de Coubertin)曾經說過的話：“奧林匹克運動會最重要的不是取勝，而是參與。”
Some might dismiss de Coubertin’s words as belonging to a bygone age, when Olympic athletes were amateurs. It is certainly the case that Britain’s run of success has come from lavish funding of Olympic sport, which has allowed potential champions to concentrate full-time on their disciplines, even in sports where little professional infrastructure exists. This week, Piers Morgan, a British journalist, embraced an ugly new ethos, when he commented that he was interested only in gold medal winners.
一些人可能會不把顧拜旦的話放在心上，認爲這話只適用於一個已經逝去的時代——那時參加奧運會的運動員都是業餘選手。誠然，英國在奧運會上的成功源自對奧林匹克運動的大量資金投入，這些資金使得潛在的奧運會冠軍能夠全職投入到自己的體育項目訓練中——哪怕是幾乎沒有職業基礎架構的體育項目。上週，英國資深媒體人皮爾斯•摩根(Piers Morgan)擁抱了一種醜陋的新思潮，他評論稱自己只對金牌得主感興趣。
Mr Morgan’s comments provoked a justifiable backlash. But they were not merely graceless. They also failed to reflect the reality that the Coubertin spirit is alive and well — and has yielded some of the most inspiring moments of these Olympics.
摩根的評論自然引發了強烈反應。但是這些話不只是不得體，也沒能反映出這一事實，即顧拜旦精神依然鮮活地存在着，並激發出了這屆奧運會中一些最鼓舞人心的時刻。
In the heats of the women’s 5,000m, when Abbey D’Agostino of the US and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand tripped and fell — the two athletes helped each other to get up and finish the race. Both women have received more worldwide attention for their outstanding display of the Olympic spirit than they would have done for winning medals.
在女子5000米長跑比賽競爭最激烈的時刻，美國選手阿比•達戈斯蒂諾(Abbey D’Agostino)和新西蘭選手尼基•漢布林(Nikki Hamblin)雙雙摔倒——兩名選手互相攙扶着起身後完成了比賽。她們因爲突出展現了奧運精神而獲得的來自全世界的關注，超過了獲獎所能帶來的關注。
This was not an isolated example of a case where somebody losing in the right spirit has garnered more acclaim than a gold medallist. The Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui has become a worldwide celebrity because of her exuberance in defeat, as well as victory. Her joy in winning a bronze medal and her light-hearted comment that perhaps her arms were a little too short to carry her to victory demonstrated that there are ways to win worldwide respect that do not necessarily involve winning gold.
這並非個例——多位雖然輸掉比賽但是展現了運動精神的運動員，都得到了比金牌得主更多的讚譽。中國游泳運動員傅園慧因爲在失敗和勝利時同樣興高采烈而在全世界出了名。她贏得銅牌時的快樂和她輕鬆愉快的評論（自稱沒得銀牌大概是因爲手太短了）表明，贏得全世界尊重的方式有很多，未必非得贏得金牌。
The stories of Fu, D’Agostino and Hamblin made headlines. But these Olympics have thrown up many other examples of grace under pressure. Piotr Malachowski, a Polish discus thrower won a silver medal at the Beijing Games in 2008. In Rio in 2016, he led the competition throughout until a German rival, Christoph Harting, snatched victory with his very last throw. Yet Malachowski’s reaction to seeing his dream of a gold medal disappear was to shake his head wryly and then to embrace his rival and to celebrate alongside him. That demonstration of how to cope with disappointment was an example not just to other athletes, but to all those who strive to achieve a goal, in any field, and fall just short.
傅園慧、達戈斯蒂諾和漢布林的故事登上了頭條。不過，這屆奧運會還出現了很多在壓力下展現風度的例子。波蘭鐵餅運動員彼得•馬瓦霍夫斯基(Piotr Malachowski)在2008年北京奧運會時拿到了銀牌。在本次里約奧運會上，他一直領先，直到德國選手克里斯托夫•哈廷(Christoph Harting)在最後一擲中一舉取勝。不過，馬瓦霍夫斯基看到自己金牌夢破滅後，先是苦澀地搖搖頭，然後擁抱了對手、跟對方一起慶祝。這種應對失望的表現，不僅值得其他運動員學習，也值得任何領域所有努力實現目標但與成功失之交臂的人學習。
The truth is that any athlete who has made it to the Olympics — let alone an Olympic final — has achieved something remarkable. Simply to qualify for the Games requires enormous levels of dedication and effort. That, in turn, makes it even harder to accept defeat with good grace. Those athletes who remain true to the spirit of de Coubertin, despite all these pressures, are just as inspirational as the winners of gold medals.
事實上，任何一個參加奧運會的運動員——更不用說進入奧運會決賽的運動員——都已經取得了令人矚目的成績。單單取得奧運會參賽資格，便需要巨大的投入和努力。因此，以良好的風度接受失敗更顯難能可貴。那些在壓力之下仍然堅持顧拜旦精神的運動員，和金牌得主一樣鼓舞人心。
