勝者寥寥敗者眾，不以成敗論英雄

When the French aristocrat Baron Pierre de Coubertin restarted the Olympics in 1896， the motto he chose was \"Citius， Altius， Fortius，\" Latin words for \"Swifter， Higher， Stronger.\" Yet there are thousands more losers than winners in every Olympics. Compared to the swifter， the higher， and the stronger， they are the slower， the lower and the weaker. But like the winners， they also have goals and dreams.

當法國貴族皮埃爾·德·顧拜旦男爵于1896年創辦現代奧運會時，他為奧林匹克運動選擇的格言是“Citius，Altius，Fortius”，即拉丁文的“更快，更高，更強。”然而，在每屆奧運會上，總是勝者寥寥敗者眾。跟那些更快、更高、更強的運動員們相比，失利的運動員可以說是更慢、更低、更弱。但和獲勝者們一樣，他們也有自己的目標與夢想。

There are no 50-meter swimming pools in the Cook Islands， the scenic archipelago3) in the South Pacific where Petero Okotai was born. To Okotai， the best place to train was the Muri Beach Club Hotel， where there was a pool about 17 meters and sort of in the shape of the Red Cross sign.

Okotai thought \"It isn't too bad，\" since it was already an improvement from a nearby lagoon4)—with its currents5) and ankle-nibbling triggerfish6)—where Okotai had trained for his first big competition， the 2007 world championships.

Okotai is a 27-year-old businessman. Until 2006， Okotai had planned to compete in Beijing as a runner. But his plan changed due to an injury and he finally attended the 2008 Games as a wild-card7) swimmer， which means that he could enter only a single event.

Okotai chose the men's 100-meter breaststroke8). On the opening Saturday of the Games， though Okotai had practiced his starts， his dive was much closer to a flop9)， and by the time he had recovered and reached the midpoint of his first Olympic lap， he was trailing10) his opponents by close to 5 meters. He finished in 1 minute 20.20 seconds—2 seconds slower than his personal best and nearly 8 seconds slower than the 62 other men who completed the race.

Though some wild-card swimmers would have merrily accepted their fate and enjoyed the Games， Okotai could not. He struggled to sleep and returned to the practice pool two nights after his race and did a 50-meter time trial just to prove to himself he could start better.

\"I knew I couldn't be that slow，\" he said. \"And I wasn't.\"

Erica Bartolina， 28， is a pole-vaulter11) from the United States who lost an eye as an infant. On July 6， 2008， in Eugene， Ore.， she won the qualification12) for the United States Olympic team in the women's pole vault with a personal best of 14 feet 11.125 inches.

On the morning of Aug. 16， when Bartolina walked into the Bird's Nest to compete in the qualifying round with 35 other women， she knew that she had the ability to be among the 12 vaulters in the final， despite the fact that right before the Game in a training， she had got 4 stitches13)， a mild concussion14)， and doctor's orders to skip the opening ceremony.

However， she had trouble controlling her approach， hitting the bar on her first attempt， then running through on her second after reaching her takeoff point far too early. \"That's when I really realized， O.K.， my emotions are throwing off15) what my body is doing here，\" Bartolina said. \"I need to pull the reins back just a little bit and just execute the skill.\" This she did on her third attempt， at least for a little while.\"Then just in the middle of the jump， I stopped going with it to check to make sure I was going to be over the bar and not knock it off， which made me knock it off，\" she said. \"I was crying， I think， before I really stood up in the pit.\"

Her first and perhaps only Olympics were over without clearing a height. Even three days afterward， Bartolina could not discuss the competition without crying.

\"If I didn't care that much， it wouldn't hurt as much，\" she said. \"It's a hurt that really won't go away. It will always be there.\"

The opening morning of Olympic competition had just begun in Beijing， and Genny Pagliaro， 19， was already facing the Olympic void16).

Born to be a weight lifter's daughter in a place that is a power base for weight lifting， Pagliaro had already won a gold medal in the snatch17) at the European championships in April， lifting 194 pounds. But in Beijing， she failed her first three attempts in the snatch， which meant she would even have no chance to compete in the clean and jerk18) at 180.8 pounds， a weight that she would normally handle with ease.

Olympic rules are clear: fail to post a weight in either the snatch or the clean and jerk and you are eliminated19). Pagliaro， with a yelp20) of frustration， became the first lifter to go out. It was 10:26 a.m.， and with Beijing still coming to life after the opening ceremony the night before， Pagliaro's Olympics were already closed. The small group of Italian reporters who had come to see Italy's first success of the Games were suddenly left waiting to hear about failure.

Nearly an hour later， Pagliaro appeared， her brown hair in a ponytail and makeup on her tear-streaked21) face. \"There's no excuse; I was thinking of the bronze，\" she said. \"But for my first Olympics， I panicked22).\"

At least Pagliaro is young enough and talented enough to be able to look ahead quickly to London in 2012. For Okotai and Bartolina， a second chance in London is not nearly such a sure thing.

佩特羅·奧科塔伊出生在庫克群島，這個群島位于南太平洋上，風景優美，但群島上卻連一個50米的泳池(編者注：標準泳池)都沒有。對奧科塔伊而言，訓練的最佳場所是穆里海灘俱樂部飯店，那里有一個形似紅十字標志、長約17米的游泳池。

奧科塔伊認為“這不算太壞”，因為這兒已經比附近的那個湖強了不少——湖里除了有水流的干擾，還有會咬人腳踝的“扳機魚”——但奧科塔伊正是在那個湖里，為他的首個重要賽事——2007年世錦賽——進行了訓練。

奧科塔伊是位27歲的商人。直到2006年，奧科塔伊都在計劃參加北京奧運會的徑賽。但受傷使奧科塔伊改變了初衷，最終他以“外卡”選手的身份進入了2008年奧運會的游泳比賽，而“外卡”則意味著他只能參加一個單項的角逐。

奧科塔伊選擇了男子100米蛙泳比賽。盡管他練習過入水動作，但在奧運比賽正式開始的那個星期六，他的入水還是很像失足落水。等他調整好泳姿游完他在奧運會上的第一個50米時，他已經落后對手將近5米的距離。他以1分20秒20的成績結束了比賽——比他的個人最好成績慢了2秒，比參賽的其他62名選手慢了接近8秒。

盡管以“外卡”身份參賽的一些游泳選手會欣然接受這樣的結果并對賽會樂在其中，但奧科塔伊卻不能。他努力使自己入睡，并在兩天之后重返訓練池游了一次50米計時練習，只為向自己證明，自己的入水可以做得更好。

“我知道自己不可能那么慢，”他說，“我確實沒那么慢。”

28歲的埃里卡·巴托里娜是來自美國的撐桿跳高運動員。還是個嬰兒的時候，她就單目失明了。2008年7月6日，在俄勒岡州的尤金市，她以14英尺11.125英寸(約合4.55米)的個人最好成績取得了進入美國奧運代表隊的資格，參加女子撐桿跳高項目的比賽。

8月16日上午，當巴托里娜步入鳥巢，與其他35名女運動員一起參加撐桿跳高資格賽時，她知道自己有實力躋身12名決賽選手之列，盡管她剛剛在賽前的一次訓練中受傷，縫了4針，得了輕微腦震蕩，并應醫生要求沒有出席開幕式。

然而，她的助跑出了問題，第一次試跳撞上了橫桿，第二次試跳又因為過早到達起跳點而從橫桿下鉆過。“那時我才真正意識到，好吧，我的情緒使我的動作走樣了，” 巴托里娜說，“我得控制住自己的情緒，正常發揮技術。”她在第三次試跳時就是這樣做的，至少有一瞬間做到了。“可就在我騰空躍起時，我走神了，我停下來想確認自己會越過橫桿而不是撞掉它，正是這次走神害我撞落了橫桿，”她說，“我哭了，我想，我還沒從墊子上站起來就已經哭了。”

沒有一次成功過桿，她的第一次、可能也是唯一一次的奧運經歷就這樣結束了。即使是在三天之后，一提起這場比賽，巴托里娜仍然禁不住掩面而泣。

“如果我不是這么在乎，也不會這么難過，”她說，“這是種永遠揮之不去的傷痛，永遠不會消弭。”

北京奧運會第一個比賽日的上午才剛剛開始，19歲的熱尼·帕利亞羅已經在感受著奧運會失利后的惆悵了。

作為舉重強國的一位舉重運動員的女兒，帕利亞羅已經在4月份的歐洲錦標賽上以194磅(約88公斤)的成績獲得了一枚抓舉金牌。但是在北京，她在先進行的抓舉比賽中，三次試舉失敗——這意味著她將無緣參加180.8磅(約82公斤)的挺舉比賽，而平時她毫不費力就能舉起這個重量。

奧運會的比賽規則很明確：只要在抓舉和挺舉比賽中有一項沒有成績，運動員就會被淘汰。伴隨著一聲失望的叫喊，帕利亞羅成為了第一個被淘汰的選手。此時是上午10點26分，北京正從前一晚的開幕之夜中醒來，帕利亞羅的奧運之旅卻已經終結。原本趕來見證意大利在本屆奧運會上的首場勝利的那些意大利記者，突然就只能等來失敗的消息了。

將近一個小時之后，帕利亞羅現身了，梳著棕色馬尾辮，化了妝的臉上猶有淚痕。“沒有什么借口。我期望獲得銅牌，但第一次參加奧運會，我太緊張了。”

不管怎樣，帕利亞羅既年輕又有足夠的實力，可以很快將目光投向2012年倫敦奧運會。而對奧科塔伊和巴托里娜來說，在倫敦重獲機會就不是那么有把握的一件事了。