聚焦奧運 倫敦奧運金牌大猜想(3)
Hunting for Talent
搜尋人才The potency of the U.S. system is its ability to spread money and opportunity to the broadest spectrum of athletes. 'You've got this competitive system of clubs and coaches and schools all looking for talent,' says Chris Welton, chief executive of Helios Partners, a sports-consulting firm that works with Olympic organizations around the world. 'If you've got athletic talent in this country, it's so much harder to be missed.'
美國體育制度的潛能在於它能夠讓最大範圍的運動員獲得資金和機會。“我們有這種俱樂部、教練和學校都在尋覓人才的競爭機制，”體育諮詢公司赫利奧斯諮詢有限公司(Helios Partners)首席執行長克里斯•威爾頓(Chris Welton)說，“如果你有運動天賦的話，在這個國家很難被埋沒。”赫利奧斯公司與全球各地的奧運機構都有合作。The system largely leaves training up to the athletes, forcing them (and their parents) to be hungry and entrepreneurial in their search for the best coaching and money to fund their training.
該體制基本上將訓練事務交由運動員自己負責，迫使他們（以及他們的家長）迫切並積極地尋覓最好的教練並籌集資金來資助他們的訓練。
Jesse Williams, the NCAA high-jump champion in 2006, failed to make the final at the 2008 Olympics. When his career continued to sputter, Williams switched coaches to train with Cliff Rovelto at Kansas State University. Rovelto overhauled his training and jumping style. Williams did away with his 300-meter repetitions and now never runs farther than 60 meters leading up to a major competition. His regimen is focused on reaching maximum speed in his final steps before his jump as he sprints toward the bar, clawing the track with his whole foot instead of bounding into his jump while running on his toes.
傑西•威廉姆斯(Jesse Williams)是2006年全美大學生體育協會(NCAA)的跳高冠軍，但是他在2008年北京奧運會上未進入決賽。當他的職業生涯繼續停滯不前時，威廉姆斯換掉了教練，轉而在堪薩斯州立大學(Kansas State University)接受克里夫•諾維託(Cliff Rovelto)的訓練。諾維託改變了他的訓練方案和跳高風格。後來威廉姆斯不再進行300米重複跑，如今他在大型比賽之前的跑步距離絕不會超過60米。他的訓練方案集中於在全速跑向跳杆時，要在起跳之前的最後幾步達到最快速度，整個腳部都要抓住地面，而不是還在踮着腳尖跑步時就突然起跳。The changes helped Williams win the gold at the IAAF World Championships in South Korea last summer, and now he is headed for London. 'I feel like I can jump over Times Square,' he said in a recent interview.
這些改變幫助威廉姆斯在去年夏季的韓國世界田徑錦標賽上贏得金牌，如今他即將向倫敦進發。“我感覺自己都能跳過時報廣場(Times Square)了，”最近他在接受採訪時如是說道。Then there is Gabrielle Douglas, the 16-year-old who won the U.S. Olympic Trials competition in gymnastics. Her family cobbled together enough money and support to send her from her home in Virginia at 14 to West Des Moines, Iowa, where she lived with a host family and trained with Liang Chow, coach of 2008 gold medalist Shawn Johnson.
類似的例子還有加布裏埃爾•道格拉斯(Gabrielle Douglas)，16歲的道格拉斯在美國的奧運體操選拔賽上也獲得勝利。在她14歲時，她的家人就湊足了一筆錢，把她從弗吉尼亞的家送到艾奧瓦的西得梅因(West Des Moines)訓練。她在那和寄宿家庭住在一起，在2008年北京奧運體操冠軍肖恩•約翰遜(Shawn Johnson)的教練喬良的指導下訓練。Douglas is part of a U.S. Olympic gymnastics team that includes 2011 world all-around champion Jordyn Wieber (Michigan) and gold-medal hopeful Alexandra Raisman (Massachusetts).
如今，道格拉斯已經是美國奧運體操代表隊的一員，其隊友包括2011年世界體操錦標賽的全能冠軍喬婷•韋伯(Jordyn Wieber)(來自密歇根)以及金牌的有力競爭人選亞歷山德拉•萊斯曼(Alexandra Raisman)(來自馬薩諸塞州)。The team is favored to win the women's team gold medal in London, something few would have predicted eight years ago when the Chinese were ascendant.
這支隊伍很有希望贏得倫敦奧運會的女子團體冠軍，要是在八年前中國隊正處於上升態勢時，幾乎沒有人會做這樣的預測吧。Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, says the relatively decentralized American approach has created 'a system that has a pipeline that continues to bring new kids into the elite level.'
美國體操協會(USA Gymnastics)主席史蒂夫•潘尼(Steve Penny)說，美國這種比較分散的訓練方法創造了“一種擁有一個能源源不斷將新人領進精英行列的渠道的體制。”
