雷?尤里的橡皮人童話

I don't want to be companied by wheelchair all my life, even if I can walk only one step.

——Ray Ewry

我不想一輩子和輪椅做伴，哪怕只能走一步也好。

——雷·尤里

To many people, Forrest Gump, the Hollywood film remained fresh in their memories, what was not known over a hundred years ago, it really

happened in the history of Olympics. In those days, sports were rather pure and Olympics were elementary. The American, who had suffered from poliomyelitis1, made a myth from wheelchair to Olympic winner stand.

He was tall and good looking, his legs long and strong, not showing a little morbid2 or abnormal state. The reason why he was called "rubber man" was not only his graceful posture which was unfolding and extending in the air, but also he was not struck down by serious illness. After rebounding, he attended 3 Olympics from 1900 to 1908, keeping the record of 8 Olympic gold medals, illustrating the spirit of sports in the best way.

Ray Ewry was born in Lafayette, Indiana, USA on October 14, 1873. He was in poor health at early age and later got poliomyelitis. His legs suffered from muscular atrophy3 bit by bit, unable to support weight of his whole body. After many treatments, he was afflicted4 in the wheelchair all day long. Ewry had such strong consciousness:He can not spend his whole life in the wheelchair and he was not resigned to be a disabled man.

When he was 7, a doctor told him, "You must do physical training to ensure your muscles to stop atrophia, maybe you can stand up. " So he pushed away the wheelchair and crawled with great difficulties. Later, he tried to stand without leaning upon the wheelchair then he tried to walk. Gradually, he attempted to jump. Nobody knew how excited he became the first time when Ray sprang from the ground. Miracle really happened. After a long period of hard training, his muscles of legs not only recovered but also became stronger; at last, he could run and play like other children.

Although his simplistic actions could not be called "physical culture", active movement of his body gave him the second life and made him realize the endless possibilities of human body.

In addition, sports had become one part of Ray Ewry's life. After he entered the university, he became a rugby player and the captain of track and field team.

Rich physical atmosphere was the proud traditions in American cultures. In Purdue University, Ewry not only got degree in engineering, but joined Sigma Nu fratemity5, an activity group for man students, thus beginning to engage in sports and being enrolled as a member in New York Club.

Under the instruction of coach in the club, he decided to devote himself to 3 events:standing long jump, standing high jump and standing triple jump. There were no run-ups in these items. Athletes need to finish the competition by means of instant explosive power andcoordination of lower limbs, waist as well as arms, which had a high requirement for athlete's physical quality.

The second Olympics were held in Paris, France in July, 1900. The 27-year-old Ray Ewry entered the competition for the first time. On July 16, he won three championships in standing long jump, standing high jump and standing triple jump, which caused a sensation6 all over the world. 4 years later, he successfully won the titles of the 3 items in St. Louis Olympics, America in 1904. In 1908, standing triple jump was no longer the match in Olympics, but Ray Ewry won the other two gold medals with absolute superiority. Up to now, he had won 8 Olympic gold medals.

After 1908 Olympics, the 3 items which Ewry were good at were withdrawn from the Olympic competitions. Today people can never see standing long jump, standing high jump nor standing triple jump in the Olympic track and field, which made the achievements by Ray Ewry become records which can never be broken. He made an entire monopoly7 of all the standing jump events in Olympic history, becoming the real King of Standing Jumps. His record of standing long jump was 3.47m. This sports event was officially proposed to be cancelled in all international track and field evens in 1930, so Ewry's record became a number which can never be rewritten. Ray Ewry fully deserved one of the most successful 10 athletes in Olympic history.

In fact, in the first several Olympics, there were a few athletes and the competitive standard was not so high, to be honest, the difficulty to win 8 gold medals was less than that of today. On the other hand, Ray Ewry didn't get so many material benefits from these Olympic champion ships. Outside the competition field, he was a hydraulic8 engineer. The greatest wealth of spirit Ray Ewry left to Olympic sports was not the gold medals he won but the sportsmanship he presented. On September 29, 1937, Ray Ewry passed away at the age of 64. He told people with his actions and experiences that success forever belonged to those who didn't succumb to9 destiny and could defeat himself.

很多人都會(huì)對好萊塢電影《阿甘正傳》記憶猶新，孰不知100多年前，在奧林匹克歷史上就真的發(fā)生過這樣的傳奇。在那個(gè)體育還很單純，奧運(yùn)會(huì)還比較初級的年代，這個(gè)曾罹患小兒麻痹癥的美國人，創(chuàng)造了從輪椅到奧運(yùn)領(lǐng)獎(jiǎng)臺(tái)的神話。

他身材高大，相貌英俊，雙腿修長健壯，絲毫不顯病態(tài)。他之所以被昵稱為“橡皮人”，不僅僅是因?yàn)樵诳罩惺嬲估斓膬?yōu)美姿勢，更因?yàn)樗麤]有被病魔打趴下，反彈之后還參加了從1900年到1908年的3屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)，至今保持著8枚奧運(yùn)金牌的紀(jì)錄，用最好的方式闡釋了體育精神。

雷·尤里，1873年10月14日出生于美國印第安納州的拉法耶特，他從小體弱多病，后來患上了小兒麻痹癥，雙腿肌肉漸漸萎縮，不足以支撐他的身體的重量。雖經(jīng)多方求治，卻仍然只能整天困在輪椅上。尤里內(nèi)心深處有一種強(qiáng)烈的意識：自己的一生絕不能在輪椅上度過，他不甘心做一個(gè)“殘疾人”。

在他7歲的時(shí)候，一位醫(yī)生告訴雷：“你需要鍛煉，使你的肌肉不再萎縮，也許你還能站起來?！庇谑撬_始推掉輪椅，用力爬行，后來他努力讓自己不依靠輪椅也能站立了，再后來他嘗試著行走，漸漸地他能嘗試跳躍了。沒人知道，當(dāng)雷第一次跳離地面時(shí)，他興奮成了什么樣子。奇跡真的發(fā)生了，經(jīng)過長期的苦練，他的腿部肌肉功能不但真的恢復(fù)了，而且變得更加有力，他終于能和其他的孩子那樣奔跑、嬉戲了。

盡管這個(gè)時(shí)候他所做的那些簡單的動(dòng)作還不能稱為“體育”，但積極活動(dòng)肢體帶給他第2次生命，讓他看到了人體無窮無盡的可能性。

不僅如此，運(yùn)動(dòng)已經(jīng)成為雷·尤里生活中的一部分。在進(jìn)入大學(xué)后，他成為一名橄欖球運(yùn)動(dòng)員，同時(shí)是校田徑隊(duì)隊(duì)長。

濃厚的體育氛圍是美國大學(xué)文化引以為豪的傳統(tǒng)。在普渡大學(xué)，尤里不僅獲得了工程學(xué)位，重要的是在加入SigmaNu兄弟會(huì)(男同學(xué)的社交活動(dòng)團(tuán)體)后，他才開始真正深入體育，并被紐約運(yùn)動(dòng)員俱樂部吸收為該會(huì)成員。

經(jīng)俱樂部教練指點(diǎn)，他決定讓自己專注于立定跳遠(yuǎn)、立定跳高和立定三級跳遠(yuǎn)3個(gè)項(xiàng)目。這是3個(gè)完全沒有助跑，僅憑下肢、腰部和手臂在一瞬間的爆發(fā)力和協(xié)調(diào)性來決定成績的項(xiàng)目，對運(yùn)動(dòng)員的基本身體素質(zhì)要求極高。

1900年7月，第2屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)在法國巴黎舉行，27歲“高齡”的雷·尤里初次參賽。7月16日一天，他一舉奪得立定跳高、立定跳遠(yuǎn)和立定三級跳遠(yuǎn)3項(xiàng)冠軍，轟動(dòng)世界；4年后，1904年美國圣路易斯奧運(yùn)會(huì)上，他成功衛(wèi)冕3項(xiàng)冠軍；1908年，立定三級跳不再是奧運(yùn)項(xiàng)目，但尤里以絕對優(yōu)勢衛(wèi)冕另外兩項(xiàng)。至此，他共獲得8枚奧運(yùn)金牌。

1908年奧運(yùn)會(huì)后，尤里擅長的3個(gè)項(xiàng)目都退出了奧運(yùn)舞臺(tái)，今天人們再也不能在奧運(yùn)田徑賽場上看到立定跳遠(yuǎn)、立定跳高和立定三級跳，這讓尤里此前取得的成績，成為永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)被打破的紀(jì)錄：他包攬了奧運(yùn)會(huì)歷史上所有立定跳項(xiàng)目的金牌，成為真正的“立定跳之王”；他創(chuàng)下的3米47的立定跳遠(yuǎn)紀(jì)錄，在該項(xiàng)目于1930年正式退出所有國際田徑賽場后，成為人類運(yùn)動(dòng)史上一個(gè)無法被改寫的數(shù)字。雷·尤里當(dāng)之無愧地成為奧運(yùn)史上最成功的10名運(yùn)動(dòng)員之一。

事實(shí)上，在起初的幾屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)上，參賽運(yùn)動(dòng)員并不多，競技水平也不高，憑心而論，奪取8金的難度比今天要小。另一方面，雷·尤里也沒有從這些奧運(yùn)冠軍中獲得什么物質(zhì)利益。在奧運(yùn)賽場之外，他是一位水利工程師。雷·尤里留給奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)的最大精神財(cái)富，不在于拿了多少金牌，而在于充分體現(xiàn)了體育精神。1937年9月29日，雷·尤里辭世，終年64歲。他用自己的行動(dòng)和經(jīng)歷告訴人們，成功永遠(yuǎn)屬于那些不屈服于命運(yùn)，并能夠戰(zhàn)勝自己的人。

注釋：

①poliomyelitis：n．小兒麻痹癥；骨髓灰質(zhì)炎

②morbid：adj．病態(tài)的，生病的

③atrophy：n．萎縮癥

④afflict：v．使苦惱，折磨

⑤fraternity：n.友愛，互助會(huì)，兄弟會(huì)

⑥sensation：n.引起轟動(dòng)的事(或事物等)

⑦monopolyn.壟斷專利

⑧hydraulic：adj.水力的，水壓的

⑨t(yī)o succumb to: 屈服于，屈從