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【原文题目】China turns the Games into its own gold factory
【原文登载媒体】西雅图时报
【原文链接】http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/stevekelley/2008112629_kelley14.html
【翻译方式】转载/摘译
【译文登载媒体】星岛环球网
【译文链接】http://www.singtaonet.com/ed_china/200808/t20080815_848361.html
China turns the Games into its own gold factory
Seattle Times staff columnist
BEIJING — Take a left out of the Main Press Center, walk down the street and watch the gold flow to China.
Walk into the National Indoor Stadium two blocks away and see thetiniest, youngest-looking group of Olympic athletes ever beat themore-experienced Americans in the women's team-gymnastics final.
Stroll next door to the Water Cube, during the non-Michael Phelpsportion of the program, and see the phenomenal Chinese men's 3-meterspringboard synchronized-diving pair of Wang Feng and Qin Kai rout thefield.
They could have done matching cannonballs on their sixth and final dives and still won easily.
China is winning.
Its athletes are following the script written seven years ago, as if this were Broadway, not Beijing.
China is hoarding gold. It had won 17 gold medals entering the latemen's individual gymnastics, almost halfway to its golden goal of 40.
Seven years ago, when it was awarded the Games, China targetedsports such as weightlifting, shooting, diving and gymnastics, sportswhere mining gold might be easier. It found the athletes and beganintensive training.
Four years ago, the plan already was working. China won thesecond-most golds at the 2004 Athens Games, finishing ahead of Russia.
I've never been a fan of medal counts. The Games, to me, are as muchabout the journey of Tacoma breaststroker Megan Jendrick, finding a wayto qualify for another final in 2008 after missing the Olympics in 2004.
The Games are about an Iraqi sprinter, Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq,earning the opportunity to escape the horror in her country, crouchinto the starting blocks and run one race against the world.
But China has staked its honor on these Games. It seems as if so much of its self-esteem is tied up in gold.
Not silver. Not bronze. Just gold.
The Chinese government will pay its athletes bonuses for goldmedals. It has been reported that gold-medal winners on thetable-tennis team will make $25,000 in bonuses.
Still, you have to wonder about the price China is paying.
"The Chinese women's gymnastic team made history today," coach LuShanzhen said, "showing the world that China's women's gymnastics isthe greatest."
It's also the youngest and the tiniest. The average size of theChinese gymnasts is 4 foot 9 and 77 pounds. The average Americanwomen's gymnast is 3 ½ inches taller and 30 pounds heavier.
"We have no proof," U.S. coach Martha Karolyi said sarcastically ofthe Chinese gymnasts, "but one of the little girls has a missing tooth."
There is almost a Cold War feel to China's pursuit of gold. For thiscountry, these are the turn-back-the-clock Games, reminiscent of thebig Soviet bear of the 1960s and '70s. There are the same successes andthe same suspicions, the same factorylike sports-training institutes.
To answer critics who say their gymnasts are too young, China hasproduced passports proving each is at least 16, the required minimumage.
But the secretive nature of Chinese sports makes coaches like Karolyi justifiably suspicious.
It has been raining gold for China. Take away the amazing Phelps'five, and China has a 12-gold-medal lead over the United States afterfive-plus days of competition.
At the Water Cube, Wang and Qin were spectacular. Except for thedifferent hairstyles, it was like watching one man diving alongside amirror. They were that perfect. After their final dive, they wrappedeach other in a long embrace on the pool deck as another sellout crowdscreamed its appreciation.
"We performed very well today," Wang said. "We've coordinated formore than 20 months. That's all for this event. This gold is soimportant to my life."
It's now a world where silver is considered failure.
Chinese swimmer Zhang Li won a silver earlier this week in animpressive race in the 400-meter freestyle, but reacted without joy. Henever smiled during the medal ceremony.
And when the winner, Korean Taehwan Park, pulled him into thepictures that the photographers demanded after the medal ceremony,Zhang sadly stared at their lenses with his disappointment.
Silver doesn't spend.
What happens to Zhang after the Games?
China has staked its reputation on success in these Olympics. Thisis its chance to slake the insecurities built during the isolationistyears of the Cultural Revolution.
Instead of wilting under this enormous pressure, many of the Chinese have embraced it, and made it their home-court advantage.
In the National Indoor Stadium Wednesday morning, the fans chanted, "Chi-na. Chi-na. Chi-na." When veteran Cheng Fei fell off the balance beam, the crowd gasped as if it were watching a Wallenda walk across a canyon.
It erupted lustily on every Chinese dismount.
Finally, after American Alicia Sacramone's second tragic mistake —falling at the end of a tumbling run — practically assured the Chinesethe gold, Deng Linlin, Jiang Yuyuan and Cheng put on a tumbling showfor the home folks that had fans shrieking their approval. Their floorexercises almost felt like an end-zone dance.
China is chasing gold in Beijing and celebrating like it's the arrival of a great new era.
离开媒体中心，看看流向中国的金牌吧。
走进国家体育馆，看看最娇小的、看上去最年轻的一群奥运选手在体操女团决赛中击败了富有经验的美国人。
在水立方，在没有菲尔普斯参赛期间，看王峰、秦凯称霸男子双人3米板跳水。
中国在赢。
它的运动员在按照七年前写好的剧本表演，似乎这里是百老汇而不是北京。
中国在囤积金牌。
七年前，当它获得奥运主办权的时候，中国就盯紧举重、射击、跳水和体操等项目，因为在这些项目掘金可能更加容易。它寻找运动员并开始密集的训练。
四年前，这个计划就已经在运作。中国在雅典奥运金牌榜排名第二，超越俄罗斯。
我从来不是奖牌数爱好者。对我而言，奥运是蛙泳选手扬德里克（Megan Jendrick）旅程，是伊拉克赛跑选手黛娜·侯赛因·阿比杜尔-拉扎克（Dana Hussein Abdul-Razzaq）暂避家乡惨事的机会。
但中国把它的荣誉和奥运联系起来。似乎把它的自尊和金牌捆绑起来。
不要银牌。不要铜牌。只要金牌。
中国政府奖励获得金牌的运动员。据说乒乓球团体赛的金牌得主将获得2.5万美元的奖金。
你不禁想知道中国付出的代价。
中国女子体操队的队员们几乎是最年轻、最娇小的。美国教练卡罗利（Martha Karolyi）语带讽刺地表示：“我们没有证据，但其中一个小女孩少了一颗牙齿。”（译注，这是暗指中国队员可能未满16岁。）
中国对金牌的追求几乎带有冷战感觉，令人想起六七十年代的苏联熊。苏联曾同样成功，同样招致猜疑，同样有工厂般的体育训练机构。
中国在下金雨。经过五天多的比赛，如果刨除菲尔普斯的五枚，中国的金牌数领先美国12枚（译注，该文写于14日）。
如今，这是一个把银牌视为失败的世界。
中国游泳选手张琳本周初在男子400米自由泳比赛中取得银牌，却没有表现出喜悦。在颁奖仪式上他没有笑。当夺得冠军的韩国选手朴泰桓拉他照相时，张琳悲伤地对着镜头。
中国已经把它的名声与奥运的成功联系起来。这是它消除文革期间那段孤立主义岁月所造成的不安全感的机会。
很多中国人没有因巨大的压力而萎蔫，反而拥抱它，把它化为主场优势。
中国在北京追逐金牌，庆祝伟大新时期的到来。（作者 Steve Kelley） |
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狗仔卡
发表于 2008-8-18 03:31
提升卡
变色卡
抢沙发
千斤顶
显身卡
楼主
还有脸说。。都是拜美利坚所赐
发表于 2008-8-18 04:29
发表于 2008-8-18 10:08
