Troubled Rio Olympics,Sports Spirit Is Still Moving 问题重重的里约奥运，体育精神依旧让人感动

Somewhere between the Zika stories,the doping stories and the stories about what a fetid, toxic swamp Rio really is,I got the message:I was supposed to feel cynical about these Olympics, the way we feel cynical about pretty much everything these days.在看到有关兹卡病毒、兴奋剂，以及里约其实是一滩散发恶臭的有毒沼泽的新闻时，我得到了这样一个信号：我应该对这届奥运会持冷嘲热讽的态度，如同我们现在对待几乎一切事物那样。I was supposed to marvel at our talent for making messes, cutting corners,evading responsibility,procrastinating.Rio was a testament to that,both as the host of the Games and as a sublime,wretched theater of humanity.All the promises we fail to keep,all the plans that go awry:They were and would be on vivid display.I was supposed to shake my head in disgust.Sigh in frustration.我应该惊叹于人类制造混乱、偷工减料、逃避责任和拖延的天赋。里约是这方面的一个证明，既是作为奥运会的主办地，也是作为一个令人无法容忍的展现人性的惊人剧场。所有没能兑现的承诺、所有出错的计划，它们都正在或即将得到生动的呈现。我应该厌恶地摇头，失望地叹气。Instead I cried,and I mean good tears.It was Monday morning, and I was telling someone what he’d missed on Sunday night: how the American swimmer Michael Phelps defied age and his own stabs at self-destruction to swim toward yet another gold,in a men’s relay.可我反倒哭了，我是说激动地哭了。那是周一上午，我在告诉别人他周日晚上错过了些什么：美国游泳运动员迈克尔·菲尔普斯(Michael Phelps)无视自己的年龄，摆脱之前的自毁行为，在男子游泳接力赛中夺得又一枚金牌。How the American gymnast Simone Biles,in the team qualifying round,responded to the gaudy expectations for her not by crumbling but by meeting,even surpassing,every one of them.美国体操运动员西蒙·拜尔斯(Simone Biles)在团体预选赛中回应了人们不现实的期待。她没有让希望落空，而是满足、乃至超越了所有期待。And then there was that tiny wisp of a Brazilian girl — 4-foot-4,16 years old — who floated onto the balance beam, whirled the length of it and turned in a near perfect routine that no one expected.The roar from her hometown crowd was so loud,so true,that I’m certain it crossed time zones.I bet it traversed the stratosphere.No lottery winner,no matter the purse,has ever matched the glow of elation on her face.还有那名身形纤小的巴西女孩——4英尺4英寸（约合1.32米），16岁——在平衡木上飘动，不停翻飞，完成一套出乎所有人意料的近乎完美的动作。来自她家乡的欢呼声如此响亮，如此真实，我确定它跨越了时区的界线。我打赌它穿透了云层。任何一个彩票中奖者，不管金额多大，流露的喜悦，都比无法媲美她脸上兴奋的光芒。I hadn’t even reached the part about the British gymnast who tumbled onto her head,stood up dazed and kept on going when I myself had to stop,because I was suddenly so choked up that I couldn’t get another word out.我还没有说到那名英国体操运动员的故事。她一头栽倒在地，起身之后头晕目眩，却坚持继续比赛。当时我瞬间动弹不得，因为突然哽咽住了，一个字也说不出来。Don’t tell me what’s wrong with the Olympics.Let me tell you what’s right with them.不要跟我说奥运会哪里有问题。让我来告诉大家哪里没问题。In a world rife with failure and bitter compromise,they’re dedicated to dreaming and to the proposition that limits are entirely negotiable,because they reflect only what has been done to date and not what’s doable in time.在一个充满失败和痛苦妥协的世界里，奥运会一心只为实现梦想，致力于极限无止境这一使命，因为极限反映的只是目前已成就的，而不是最终可实现的。They make the case that part of being fully alive is pushing yourself as far as you can go.Every Olympic record,every personal best and every unlikely comeback is an individual achievement,yes,but it’s also a universal example and metaphor.它们证明，真正地活着，有一项任务就是要推动自己尽可能走得更远。没错，每一项奥运会记录、每一项个人最佳成绩，以及每一次不太可能的复出都是个人成就，但它也是普世的榜样与象征。The swimmer Dana Vollmer,a gold medalist in 2012,stopped training,became a mother and attended to her newborn.But the pool still beckoned,and last weekend,just 17 months after giving birth,she won a silver and a bronze in Rio.Good for her. Good for all women who don’t want to obey some timeline that they never signed on to or stay in a box of someone else’s construction.曾在2012获得奥运金牌的游泳运动员达娜·沃尔默(Dana Vollmer)一度停止训练，成为了母亲，在家照顾自己的新生儿。但她又感受到了泳池的召唤，上周末，也就是刚刚生产17个月之后，她在里约赢得一枚银牌和一枚铜牌。真是好样的。所有不想屈从于自己从来不认同的时间表，或不愿待在别人设定好的框框里的女性，都是好样的。These champions usually aren’t children of extreme privilege.Biles was separated from her mother, who battled drug and alcohol addiction,at an early age.Others had worse odds and more daunting setbacks.这些冠军通常不是上苍特别眷顾的人。拜尔斯从小就与吸毒和酗酒问题缠身的母亲分开。其他一些人运气更差，遭遇过更加令人气馁的挫折。But they had a drive more powerful than that.They swapped resentment for goals.And they worked.By God,did they work.We tend to marvel at their freakish gifts,but we should marvel even more at their freakish devotion.That’s what made the difference.但他们有一种更强大的驱动力。他们将怨愤化作对目标的追求。他们做到了。上天作证，他们做到了。我们往往对他们异于常人的天赋感到惊奇，但我们更应该惊叹的是他们非凡的投入。那才是差别所在。They invested hour upon hour,day after day.They sacrificed idle time and other pursuits.They honed a confidence that eludes most of us and summoned a poise that we can only imagine. They took risks, big ones.他们一刻不停、日复一日地投入。他们牺牲空闲时间，放弃其他追求。他们打磨出一种我们大多数人不具备的信心，培养出一种我们只能幻想自己拥有的泰然自若。他们承担风险，很大的风险。And they pressed on,because there was this thing that they wanted so very,very badly and the only way to know if they could get it was to put everything on the line.他们持续前进，因为有一样他们非常非常渴望拥有的东西，而知道自己能否得到它的唯一方式就是堵上一切。I know that there are flaws in the system,even corruption. I’m reading and I’m hearing plenty about that,about the inane remarks that NBC’s commentators have made,and about the excessive commercial breaks that the network builds into the prime-time telecast.A certain crassness and greed have taken over.It’s true.我知道这个体系存在缺陷，乃至腐败。关于这一点，我在看，也听了很多。我知道NBC评论员发出的愚蠢言论，也知道这家电视台在黄金时段插播了过多的商业广告。某种粗俗与贪婪在占据上风。这是事实。But I fear that with the Olympics,as with so much else,we’ve let the language of complaint supplant the language of wonder, and there’s wonder aplenty here.但我担心，在奥运会上，正如很多其他方面一样，我们用抱怨的话语取代了惊叹的言辞，而这里满是令人惊叹的东西。Just watch Phelps kick or Biles vault heavenward,a force of will seemingly bound for the stars.Just think about what it means to aim that high,commit that much and invite the eyes of the world to see it all come together or all fall apart.只需看菲尔普斯腿部打水或拜尔斯跃向天穹的动作，看看其中展示出的好似要奔向星辰的意志力。只要想想他们定下那么高的目标，投入那么多，邀请全世界见证梦想成真或分崩离析，到底意义何在。If that doesn’t put a lump in your throat and a tear in your eye,you’re made of stone.如果这都不会让你喉头一紧，眼眶湿润，那你的心便是石头做的。 ------>||source:http://www.anseryan.com/news/528.html