FT社評：奧運獎牌——血汗與投資Editorial_Blood, sweat and investment @ 【精英翻譯】的部落格

倫敦奧運會賽程過半，獎牌榜呈現出人們熟悉的格局。中美兩國遙遙領先，拼搶著最終的榜首位置。作為奧運會東道主的英國位居第三，該國運動員看來將要為投資在他們身上的2.35億英鎊帶來超出預期的回報。上周末，英國運動員收獲多塊金牌，英國上下舉國歡騰。

Halfway through London’s Olympics, the medals table has taken on a familiar look. China and the US are way out in front and scrapping between themselves to end the games on top. Britain, host of the games, is third, its athletes now poised to deliver over and above the expected return on £235m invested in them. A cascade of gold medals over the weekend has generated waves of national euphoria and goodwill.

法國令人意外地取得了不錯的成績，而傳統的奧運強國德國、俄羅斯和澳大利亞則表現不佳。

France is having a surprisingly good games. Germany, Russia and Australia – traditionally strong Olympic competitors – are not.

奧運會長期被統治者視為表達民族自豪感和實力的場合。這種情形延續到了21世紀，盡管如今不像冷戰時期那樣，在比賽背後涌動著地緣政治緊張的暗流。弗朗索瓦•奧朗德(François Hollande)用英法兩國誰將贏得最多的金牌來刺激戴維•卡梅倫(David Cameron)。弗拉基米爾•普京(Vladimir Putin)刻意拒絕參加奧運開幕式，但以非官方身份觀看了柔道比賽。

The Olympics has long been regarded by rulers as an outlet for the expression of national pride and virility. This has continued into the 21st century though without the undercurrent of geopolitical tension of games from the Cold War era. François Hollande goaded David Cameron over which of their countries would win the most gold medals. Vladimir Putin pointedly declined to attend the opening ceremony but came in an unofficial capacity to watch judo.

還有就是葉詩文風波。這位16歲的中國游泳選手在比賽首日以較大優勢打破世界紀錄贏得金牌，這依然是本屆奧運會的有爭議時刻，引發人們私下裡猜測服用興奮劑的可能，最終一位美國高級教練形容葉詩文的表現“令人不安”。由於中國游泳選手曾被發現服用興奮劑，人們傾向於毫無根據地認定葉詩文是又一個違規者。奧運會官員們對這種觀點不以為然，表示沒有任何證據支持此類觀點。

Then there is the case of Ye Shiwen. The 16-year-old Chinese swimmer’s blistering world record victory on the first day of competition remains these games’ moment of controversy, setting off a whispering campaign about doping that culminated in a top US coach describing her performance as “disturbing”. Because Chinese swimmers have been caught doping in the past, the inclination was to assume, without evidence, that Ye was another culprit. Olympic officials have dismissed the notion, saying there is nothing to support such a suggestion.

然而，無可辯駁的是，她是一個舉國培訓體制下由國營工廠流水線製造的運動員產品。在該體制下，選拔人員找出具有優異運動天賦的孩子們，並把他們培養成奧運會冠軍。

What is beyond dispute however, is that she is a product of a state-run factory line of athletes created under the juguo training programme, which identifies children with a propensity to sporting excellence and nurtures them into Olympic champions.

葉詩文在7歲時被選中。她在倫敦奧運會上贏得的兩塊金牌，將給自己及家人帶來財務收益，這是9年艱苦訓練以及聽從教練的成果。其他許多接受同類訓練的運動員未能成功，而他們的學業和身心成長卻被打斷。這才是一個真正可形容為“令人不安”的社會後果。

Ye was seven when she was chosen. She and her family will reap the financial benefit of the two gold medals she won at the London games, the fruits of nine years of intense training and obedience to her coaches. Many others who went through the programme did not succeed and their schooling and upbringing have been disrupted. This is a social consequence that can truly be described as “disturbing”.

但那些急於指責為追求金牌而進行如此殘酷訓練的人應該停下來想一想。英國因上周末取得的體育成功而舉國歡騰，表明瞭所有國家體育機構都會感覺到的培養勝利者的壓力。在獎牌榜上名列前茅的國家都知道，要發現潛在的奧運選手並訓練他們提高成績，就需要精心制定計劃，使用科技增強對個體體質的理解。

But those who rush to condemn such rigour in the pursuit of gold medals should pause for thought. The jubilation in Britain at its sporting success on Saturday and Sunday show the pressure all national sporting bodies feel to produce winners. All countries clustered at the top of the medals tables know that finding potential Olympians, training them to go faster involves carefully calculated programmes that use science and technology to better understand the physique of individuals.

電影《烈火戰車》(Chariots of Fire)的主題曲是奧運會期間反復播放的歌曲之一。它令人想起一幅浪漫的場景：奧運選手努力拼搏、發揚奧運精神，最終在求勝意志的指引下獲得勝利。但即便是影片的主角之一哈羅德•阿夫拉姆斯(Harold Abrahams)，也是一位奧運選手聘請專業教練的早期例子。現代男女運動員身邊簇擁著一批心理學家、技術專家和營養學家。他們的教練在企業的支持下開發設備來提高訓練技術，所有這些都可能讓運動員獲得超出競爭對手的微弱優勢。

The theme tune from the film Chariots of Fire has been one of the recurring sounds of the Olympics. It conjures a romantic view of the Olympian whose endeavour, spirit and will to win triumphs in the end. But even Harold Abrahams, one of the film’s protagonists, was an early example of an Olympic athlete hiring a professional coach. The modern sportsman and sportswoman is surrounded by a retinue of psychologists, technicians and dietitians. Their coaches enlist companies to develop equipment to improve training techniques, all to give athletes perhaps a tiny fraction of advantage over their rivals.

中國由於人口規模龐大，總是比其他國家擁有的人數優勢。龐大的人才儲備將讓中國足以在其選擇的任何奧運項目中展開強勁的競爭。

China will always have a numerical advantage over other countries because of the size of its population. Its talent pool is going to be big enough to compete strongly in any Olympic sport it chooses.

現代體育是正兒八經的事情。那些擁有資源的人將尋求盡可能擴大贏取獎牌的幾率。有時，失敗者就得與勝利者握手並祝賀對方。

Modern sport is serious business. Those with the resources will seek to maximise their medal-winning chances. Sometimes, the loser just has to shake the hands of the victor and offer congratulations.

譯者/鄒策