日本跳臺滑雪宿將葛西紀(jì)明的不老雄心

At 41, Still Soaring, Still Rising

日本跳臺滑雪宿將葛西紀(jì)明的不老雄心

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — Japan’s top ski jumper, Noriaki Kasai, is already thinking four years ahead to the next Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

俄羅斯紅波利亞納——日本頂級跳臺滑雪選手葛西紀(jì)明(Noriaki Kasai)已經(jīng)開始考慮四年后參加韓國平昌冬奧會的事情了。

For most athletes, presuming that they will qualify for another Olympic team would be considered audacious. But Kasai is no ordinary athlete. At 41, he is taking part in a record-tying seventh Winter Games (along with the Russian luger Albert Demchenko), a remarkable feat in any sport, let alone one fraught with peril like ski jumping.

對于大多數(shù)運動員來說，假定自己有資格入選下一屆奧運代表隊會被看做是放肆的舉動，但葛西紀(jì)明并不是一名普通的運動員。41歲的葛西紀(jì)明是第七次出征冬奧會，參賽次數(shù)追平了俄羅斯無舵雪橇選手阿爾伯特·杰姆琴科(Albert Demchenko)的紀(jì)錄。這在任何體育運動中都屬于非凡成就，更不用說充滿危險的跳臺滑雪項目。

“I will try to get to an eighth Olympics,” Kasai said matter-of-factly three days before the opening ceremony.

在開幕式舉行三天前，葛西紀(jì)明坦率地表示，“我會努力第八次出征奧運會。”

It was hard to tell whether Kasai was serious or simply paying lip service to his reputation as the iron man of a sport in which many jumpers retire when they reach their 30s. But given the surprising success of a jumper who is twice the age of some of his rivals here, his ambition cannot be discounted.

很難確信葛西紀(jì)明的話是認(rèn)真的，還是為了維護鐵人聲譽說說而已。在跳臺滑雪運動中，很多選手都會在30多歲時退役。但考慮到他以一些對手兩倍的年齡所取得的驚人成績，他的野心不可小視。

He said he was motivated to take part in the Sochi Games because he had not yet won a gold medal.

他表示自己之所以積極參加索契冬奧會，是因為還沒有獲得過金牌。

Kasai’s quest for a second Olympic medal began on Sunday on the normal hill. He finished eighth. He will also jump in the large hill event and the four-man team event.

周日，參加普通臺比賽的葛西紀(jì)明開始了爭奪第二枚奧運獎牌的征途，最終獲得第八名。他還將參加大臺比賽和四人團體賽。

Whether or not Kasai wins a medal here or makes it to the Winter Games in 2018, his legacy is largely complete. In fact, his résumé reads like a road map of modern ski jumping in Japan, which rose to prominence in the 1990s as its jumpers took advantage of their small size to fly farther, and was then undone by new equipment and rule changes introduced a decade ago to deter unhealthy weight loss in jumpers.

無論葛西紀(jì)明能否在本屆冬奧會上摘得獎牌，能否參加2018冬奧會，他基本上都已經(jīng)取得了非常全面的成就。實際上，他的履歷展示了日本現(xiàn)代跳臺滑雪的發(fā)展史。日本從20世紀(jì)90年代開始在這項運動上嶄露頭角，日本運動員利用自身身材瘦小的優(yōu)勢飛得更遠(yuǎn)。但10年前，由于新裝備的出現(xiàn)，并且為了阻止跳臺滑雪運動員不健康的減重行為，規(guī)則也做出了改變，日本失去了優(yōu)勢。

Against all odds, Kasai, the captain of the Japanese team, has also been part of the revival of Japan’s jumping program, which has received a lift from the emergence of several top-ranked female jumpers.

盡管困難重重，葛西紀(jì)明作為日本隊的隊長，推動了日本跳臺滑雪運動的復(fù)興。日本出現(xiàn)了幾名頂級的跳臺滑雪女運動員，給這一項目帶來鼓舞。

He has done his part, too. In January, Kasai became the oldest jumper to win a World Cup event when he was victorious in Bad Mitterndorf, Austria. Kasai was ranked third in the world before the Olympics, his highest ranking since the 1998-99 season, and a leap from his 24th-place finish last season.

葛西紀(jì)明本人也取得了成就。今年1月，葛西紀(jì)明在奧地利巴特米特恩多夫取得勝利，成為贏得世界杯比賽的最年長的運動員。冬奧會之前，葛西紀(jì)明世界排名第三，這是他自1998–99賽季以來取得的最高排名，與上一賽季的排名第24名相比，有大幅提升。

“It’s been two years since my last victory,” Kasai said after winning an event last summer. “I was in my 30s then, and now I’m in my 40s, which makes me even happier and shows that I can still compete with the best in the world.”

“上一次獲勝是兩年之前，”葛西紀(jì)明去年夏天贏得一項賽事后表示。“當(dāng)時我30來歲，現(xiàn)在我已經(jīng)40歲了，這讓我更快樂，也說明我仍然能與世界頂級選手競爭。”

Kasai has been diligent about staying in shape as well as changing his jumping style. Early in his career, he earned the moniker “kamikaze” for a fearless approach.

葛西紀(jì)明堅持不懈地保持體型健康，調(diào)整跳躍方式。在職業(yè)生涯早期，他因為無所畏懼的態(tài)度贏得了“神風(fēng)”的綽號。

As with most jumpers, injuries have taken their toll. In 1994, he broke his left shoulder while training, and he broke it again four months later, forcing him to sit out the season. Balky knees have curtailed his workouts. Last week, he did not take practice jumps at the Olympic facility, deciding instead to go shopping, see friends and relax, while still tending to his duties as team captain.

就像大多數(shù)跳臺滑雪運動員一樣，傷痛給他們帶來了不利的影響。1994年，葛西紀(jì)明訓(xùn)練時摔傷了左肩。四個月后，因為左肩再次受傷，他被迫退出了那個賽季的比賽。由于膝蓋不適，葛西紀(jì)明減少了鍛煉。上周，他沒有到奧運場館進行跳臺練習(xí)，而是決定購物、見朋友、放松，與此同時，他仍然承擔(dān)著隊長的責(zé)任。

Kasai’s more judicious training schedule may have extended his career, said Satoshi Okazaki, a Japanese journalist who has written a book about Kasai.

日本記者岡崎敏(Satoshi Okazaki)曾寫過一本關(guān)于葛西紀(jì)明的書。岡崎敏表示，可能是嚴(yán)謹(jǐn)?shù)挠?xùn)練計劃延長了他的職業(yè)生涯。

“It is an amazing fact that Kasai got a ticket to the Olympics seven times in a row,” he said by email. “However, the more surprising thing is that he is 41 years old and his condition for this Olympics seems to be the best compared to the previous six Olympics.”

“葛西紀(jì)明連續(xù)七次參加奧運會，這令人感到震驚，”他在郵件中寫道。“然而，更令人吃驚的是他已經(jīng)41歲了，但與前六屆奧運會比，他這次的狀態(tài)似乎是最好的。”

Kasai said the reason for his success has less to do with his training and more to do with his desire for continual improvement.

葛西紀(jì)明表示，自己的成功與訓(xùn)練沒那么大的關(guān)系，更多是出于不斷提高的欲望。

“There is no secret to my long career,” Kasai said on Saturday. “My regrets are my motivation.”

“沒有什么保持漫長運動生涯的秘訣，”葛西紀(jì)明周六表示。“遺憾就是我的動力。”

Kasai’s road to the Olympics began in the small town of Shimokawa, in a remote part of Hokkaido, the northernmost of Japan’s four largest islands. He took up ski jumping just a few years after Japan swept the men’s normal hill event at the Games in Sapporo in 1972, the year he was born.

葛西紀(jì)明的奧運之路始于北海道偏僻的小鎮(zhèn)下川町，北海道是日本四大島嶼中最北端的島嶼。1972年，也就是葛西紀(jì)明出生的那一年，日本隊在札幌冬奧會男子普通臺比賽中大獲全勝，幾年之后，葛西紀(jì)明就開始練習(xí)跳臺滑雪。

Kasai made his debut in a World Cup event in 1989 and made his Olympic debut in 1992 in Albertville, France, where he finished fourth in the four-man team event. In 1994, Kasai was part of another four-man team that won a silver medal at the Games in Lillehammer, Norway.

葛西紀(jì)明于1989年在世界杯賽中首次亮相，1992年在法國阿爾貝維爾首次參加冬奧會。1994年，葛西紀(jì)明在挪威利勒哈默爾參加冬奧會四人團體賽，并贏得銀牌。

After falling as far as 51st in the world rankings and finishing as low as 49th in the Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, Kasai, who is 5 feet 10 inches and 137 pounds, has worked to stay in shape. A member of the Tsuchiya Home Ski Team, a corporate ski jump team in Hokkaido, he has also become a role model to younger jumpers who admire his ability to think of the long term.

葛西紀(jì)明的世界排名一度曾降至51名，在2002年鹽湖城冬奧會中排名49。之后，葛西紀(jì)明仍然一直努力鍛煉保持體能，他身高5英尺10英寸(約合1.76米)，體重137磅(約合62公斤)。作為北海道一家由企業(yè)贊助的跳臺滑雪俱樂部，土屋住宅滑雪隊(Tsuchiya Home Ski Team)的成員，葛西紀(jì)明也是年輕運動員的一個榜樣，他們欽佩他眼光長遠(yuǎn)。

“It’s not possible in Europe for someone to have the same career as Kasai, over 40 years old,” said Janne Vaatainen, the Finnish coach of Tsuchiya Home Ski Team. “He’s seen so many things in his career. This is unbelievable that he’s willing to change.”

“在歐洲，運動員不可能擁有像葛西紀(jì)明一樣長的運動生涯，他已經(jīng)年過40，”土屋住宅滑雪隊的芬蘭籍教練揚內(nèi)·韋泰寧(Janne Vaatainen)說。“他在職業(yè)生涯中經(jīng)歷了很多事情。他愿意去改變，這令人難以置信。”