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Once upon a time, the Beijing Olympics was 5 years away, 2 years away,
1,000 days away, 489 days away.
All of a sudden, of course, it's three days from now. I've been to the
Opening Ceremony rehearsals and so I feel it's actually here. So therefore, let
me share with you some Olympic notes to gear you up for the occasion.
First of all, 更快、更高、更强 is not a Chinese invention. The somewhat petty idea
of 夺取金牌，为国争光 (Winning gold to make your country proud) is (I wonder if someone
ever tells all athletes that by representing China, they are making their
country proud, winning or losing. But then again, this is perhaps telling too
much and besides, looking past the perks of mega-bucks that comes with winning
today is perhaps not so healthy after all – at any rate, it is more difficult of
accomplishment than winning the medals). The idea of更快、更高、更强 is not. It is,
instead, a transliteration of the universal Olympic motto of Faster, Higher,
Stronger (Citius, Altius, Fortius in Latin).
Here are some Olympic notes I've collected for share, event by event:
ARCHERY
Ancient Chinese poem:
When the archer shoots just for fun he has all his skill.
But when he shoots for score he finds his hands trembling, his breath
uneasy.
And when he shoots for a grand prize he becomes mad and blind.
His skill did not diminish.
The vision of the prize changed him.
ATHLETICS
Jesse Owens (1913-80), black American:
Although I wasn't invited to shake hands with Hitler, I wasn't invited to
the White House to shake hands with the President either.
BADMINTION
Tip:
So many Chinese play this sport that it's perhaps useful to offer something
practical. When you hit (or rather mishit) the shuttle with the frame of the
racket, it's called a wood shot because in the olden days the badminton racket
was made of wood.
It's a legal shot.
BASEBALL
Woody Allen, comedian:
When we played softball (a junior version of baseball), I'd steal second
base, feel guilty and go back.
BASKETBALL
Michael Jordan:
I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games.
26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed... I've
failed over and over and over again... And that is why I succeed.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Perhaps this is reassuring to the small man/woman who wants to play the
two-a-side sandy version of volleyball:
You don't have to be tall or as fast as other sports. You just have to have
the skills (Misty May-Treanor, American, 2004 Olympic champion).
BOXING
Muhammad Ali:
I am the greatest. I said that even before I knew I was.
CANOE (KAYAK)
Yes, this is an Olympic sport:
A whalebone and driftwood frame, with a sea-lion skin stretched tautly over
it and waterproofed with whale fat, hardly suggests a budding Olympic sport. Yet
the kayaks that meant life to the Inuits in the Arctic for centuries have become
the racing kayaks of the modern world - even if the building materials have
changed.
The link was 19th century British barrister John MacGregor. He studied the
ancient kayaks, designed a similar boat and disappeared into the rivers and
lakes of Europe's wilderness to become a noted travel writer of his time. When
others copied his boat, he founded the Royal Canoe Club, and canoe regattas
began a year later in 1866.
Canoe/kayak, consisting solely of the sprint, was a demonstration
competition at the 1924 Olympic Games before gaining full-medal status in
1936.
(Credit: IOC)
CYCLING
Diane Ackerman, American writer, naturalist:
When I go biking, I repeat a mantra of the day's sensations: bright sun,
blue sky, warm breeze, blue jay's call, ice melting and so on. This helps me
transcend the traffic, ignore the clamorings of work, leave all the mind
theaters behind and focus on nature instead. I still must abide by the rules of
the road, of biking, of gravity. But I am mentally far away from civilization.
The world is breaking someone else's heart.
DIVING
Guo Jingjing, on winning more medals on home soil:
"I feel no particular pressure because I will only be competing with
myself."
EQUESTRIAN
Pat Perelli, American advocate of natural horsemanship:
"If your horse says no, you either asked the wrong question, or asked the
question wrong."
FENCING
Moliere:
"The essence of fencing is to give, but by no means to receive.
FOOTBALL (SOCCER)
Bill Shankly, Scottish:
Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you,
it's much more serious than that.
GYMNASTICS ARTISTIC
Plato:
Let us describe the education of men. What then is the education to be?
Perhaps we could hardly find a better experience of the past which expresses the
body than gymnastics. I believe, in gymnastic, for the body and music for the
mind.
GYMNASTICS RHYTHMIC
Differentiation:
Artistic (艺术) gymnastics (体操) is not what we call艺术体操. Rhythmic (韵律)
gymnastics is. Rhythmic gymnastics, an Olympic item since 1984, was also once
(during the mid-20th century) called "modern gymnastics."
To be continued. |
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发表于 2016-7-9 23:51:37