Morgan Hurd’s Path to Gymnastics Gold摩根·赫德的體操金牌之路

阿莉莎·如尼克 于承琳

Fresh off the biggest win of her short gymnastics career， 16-year-old Morgan Hurd and her coach， Slava Glazounov， landed at Philadelphia International Airport， headed to baggage claim and prepared for the hour-long drive home to Middletown， Delaware. It was a monotonous drill they’d performed hundreds of times before.

She’s that gymnast who competes wearing glasses. And braces. The one who’s so petite she looks tiny standing next to other gymnasts.

The one that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted at and called “a real-life hero in glasses” after learning the self-described Potter junkie had won the women’s world all-around title.

Hurd had the distinction of being the first elite gymnast from the state of Delaware， and her adorably unique looks and creative floor routines have had some fans buzzing since 2014. But it was her surprise win at the 2017 world championships in Montreal that landed Hurd on an exclusive eight-woman list of U.S. world champions that includes Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles， Shawn Johnson and Shannon Miller.

“I didn’t have the best showing at nationals， so going into worlds camp， I was the underdog. I was not anyone’s first choice，” Hurd says. “That pushes me. I went home and worked my butt off and I’m here to make the team.”

At the camp， Hurd placed first in the mock competition and was selected to the four-woman world championship team， where her goal was simply to make the all-around final and one event final. Her teammate and roommate in Montreal， Ragan Smith， the 2017 national champion and an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team in Rio in 2016， was the heavy favorite to win the all-around in the absence Biles， a three-time winner who took a year off after the Olympics.

Then， moments before finals began， Smith injured her ankle while warming up for vault and was forced to withdraw from the competition. America’s only hope for an all-around medal now rested on the 4-foot-5 shoulders of Hurd， who was competing in her first world championship and had never won an individual title1 at an international meet. To add to the pressure， the U.S. team had won the past six world and Olympic all-around titles.

“Now Morgan alone represents the United States and all the talk is about how the U.S. has not lost a medal in so many years and it’s on her all. The national team coordinators are looking at her and me and there was so much nerves and fears.” Glazounov says.

What happened next surprised even Hurd. One by one， she hit all four routines and gritted out as consistent a performance as she has all year. Despite bobbles during her beam routine and a step out of bounds on floor， she finished .1 ahead of Canada’s Ellie Black， whom she trailed by .2 heading into the final rotation.

On the podium， Hurd’s eyes widened as 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci placed the gold medal around her neck. In elementary school， Hurd’s mother， Sherri， had bought her a book about Comaneci and， inspired by the story of the first “perfect 10，” Hurd pulled her hair back with a ribbon and wore her competition warm-ups to school. Dressed as Comaneci， she stood at the front of her third-grade classroom and gave a report on the book.

Since middle school， Hurd has had her mind buried in books—the actual ink-and-parchment type. Today， while other kids her age are saturated in social media， Hurd prefers the sanctity of stories.

Her love of reading， in fact， started as a salve2 for social media， a way to escape when she began competing at bigger meets and needed to focus on her routines instead of worrying about the harsh opinions of people she’d never met.

The night the official synopsis of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released to bookstores， Hurd donned her cape and wand and waited in line at her local Barnes & Noble to be one of the first in her town to own the book.” I like that I can forget about what’s happening in the real world and transfer to a different one，” Hurd says. “I don’t really watch TV or sports other than gymnastics. I’d rather read my books.”

She’s a massive fan of Hamilton the musical， loves to lip sync to its songs and has no interest in getting her driver’s license. Although she’s only a junior， she’s already committed to the University of Florida， where she hopes to compete on the gymnastics team after fulfilling her Olympic dreams in Tokyo. She’s a glasses-wearing， book-reading， self-possessed world champion who travels with two backup pairs of glasses and is keenly aware of her status as a real-life heroine to aspiring young gymnasts and awkward teens alike.

“No one is born perfect，” Hurd says. “You will have imperfections. I hope more people see me and try to do sports or gymnastics with glasses. Nothing should stop you from doing something you are passionate about.”

Hurd was 11 months old when her mom， Sherri， adopted her from Wuzhou， China， and brought her to Middletown. When Morgan was 3， Sherri began signing her up for various sports—gymnastics， soccer， T-ball， dance. Because of her size， most sports were tough. But at gymnastics class， being tiny and flexible was a gift. By fifth grade， her talent had outgrown her rec league4 classes， so Sherri brought her to First State5.

“She stood out from the start，” Glazounov says. “She exhibited that desire， she loves to impress and she wanted it always. No one ever had to tell her to work hard.”

A single mom， Sherri worked as a dental hygienist for 30 years until retiring and taking a job for Discover Bank that allowed her to work from home and support her daughter’s home-schooling and budding gymnastics career.

“Who would have known when I went to get that little girl in China that this was what was going to happen，” Sherri says. “This is our life now， but that is what I want for her， a life that is as fulfilling and happy as possible.”

剛剛獲得短暫體操生涯中最大勝利的16歲女孩摩根·赫德和她的教練斯拉瓦·格拉祖諾夫在費城國際機場降落，前往行李領取處，準備坐一小時的車回特拉華州米德爾頓的家。這種單調的流程他們已重復過無數次。

她就是那個戴著眼鏡和牙套比賽的體操運動員。她個子很小，站在其他體操運動員旁邊，顯得十分嬌小。

她自稱波特迷，在贏得了女子世界全能冠軍后，《哈利·波特》的作者J. K.羅琳發推特提到了她，稱她為“現實生活中戴眼鏡的英雄”。

赫德享有特拉華州第一位精英體操運動員的殊榮，她可愛獨特的長相和富有創意的自由體操動作使她自2014年就有了一群活躍的粉絲。但是在“2017蒙特利爾世錦賽”上出人意料的那次獲勝使她成為第八位獲得女子體操全能世界冠軍的美國運動員，其中包括奧運會金牌獲得者西蒙·拜爾斯、肖恩·約翰遜和香農·米勒。

“在全國性比賽中我表現并非最佳，因此進入世界級訓練營，我不被看好。沒有人把我作為第一人選?！焙盏抡f。“這激勵了我。我回到家拼命地訓練，現在來到這里，成為團隊的一員。”

在訓練營，赫德在模擬賽中位列第一，入選世錦賽4人參賽陣容，她的目標僅僅是進入全能決賽和一個單項決賽。她在蒙特利爾的隊友和室友拉根·史密斯是2017年全國賽冠軍、2016年里約奧運會美國隊替補。在世錦賽上三度奪冠、奧運會結束后休假一年的拜爾斯缺席的情況下，史密斯成了全能奪冠的熱門人選。

后來，在決賽開始前不久，史密斯在為跳馬熱身時傷了腳踝，被迫退出比賽。美國隊全能獎牌的唯一希望此時落到了身高4.5英尺的赫德肩上。這是她第一次參加世錦賽，還尚未在國際賽事上贏得過冠軍。讓她壓力更大的是，美國隊已經連續六度贏得世錦賽和奧運會全能冠軍。

格拉祖諾夫說：“現在摩根一人代表美國，所有人都在說美國隊已經連續多年沒有丟掉過獎牌，所有的希望都在她身上。國家隊協調員們看著她和我，非常緊張和擔憂。”

接下來發生的事甚至讓赫德都吃驚。一個接一個，她成功做出所有四個動作，平穩地完成表演，一如她一整年的表現。盡管平衡木動作有晃動，自由體操動作有一步出界，她以領先加拿大選手艾莉·布萊克0.1分的成績完成比賽。在進入最后一輪前，她還落后于艾莉0.2分。

在領獎臺上，當1976年奧運會冠軍納迪婭·科馬內奇將金牌戴到她脖子上時，赫德瞪大了眼睛。小學時，赫德的媽媽謝麗給她買了一本關于科馬內奇的書，受到第一個“完美10分”故事的鼓舞，赫德用發帶束起頭發，穿著她的熱身運動服去了學校。她打扮成科馬內奇的樣子，在三年級的課堂上作了這本書的讀書報告。

從中學開始，赫德便埋頭讀書——那種真正的油墨和羊皮紙書。今天，當同齡的孩子都沉浸在社交媒體中時，赫德獨愛紙書故事的神圣感。

事實上，她愛上讀書一開始是出于緩解社交媒體的壓力，是一種解脫的方式。當她即將參加大型賽事時，需要把精力集中在練習動作上，而不是為那些從未謀面的人的苛刻言論擔憂。

在舞臺劇《哈利·波特與被詛咒的孩子》的官方劇情介紹發放到書店的那一晚，赫德穿上斗篷，拿著魔杖，在當地的巴諾書店排隊等候，想成為小城里第一批擁有此書的人。“我喜歡忘掉現實世界發生的事而轉到另一個世界的感覺?！焙盏抡f?！拔也辉趺纯措娨暬蝮w操以外的運動賽事，寧愿讀我的書?！?/p>

她還是音樂劇《漢密爾頓》的鐵粉，喜歡對著口型跟唱里面的歌曲，也沒興趣考駕照。盡管她才是個初中生，她已經決心上佛羅里達大學，等她圓了東京的奧運會之夢后就加入該校的體操隊。她是一個戴眼鏡、愛讀書、鎮定自若的世界冠軍，走到哪里都隨身帶著兩副備用眼鏡，深知自己是有志的年輕體操運動員和笨拙的青少年心目中現實生活中的英雄。

“沒有人生而完美?！焙盏抡f。“人都會有缺陷。我希望更多的人看到我之后，嘗試戴眼鏡做運動或者體操。沒有什么能夠阻擋你做你熱愛的事。”

赫德11個月大時，她的媽媽謝麗從中國的梧州收養了她，把她帶回米德爾頓。摩根3歲時，謝麗開始給她報名各種運動項目——體操、足球、兒童棒球、舞蹈。因為她體型嬌小，大多運動都難上手。但是在體操課上，嬌小靈活卻成了一種才能。五年級時，她的水平已經超越了文體聯盟班，于是謝麗帶她去了第一州。

“她一開始就脫穎而出?！备窭嬷Z夫說。“她展示出那樣的求勝心，喜歡讓人對她刮目相看，她一直是這樣。不需要有人告訴她要刻苦?！?/p>

謝麗是一位單身母親，做了30年的牙科保健師。退休后又在探索銀行謀了一份差事，可以在家工作并支持女兒在家里上學并發展體操事業。

“當初去中國領養這個小女孩時，誰會想到她今天能成長為世界冠軍。”謝麗說。“這就是我們現在的生活，但這也是我希望她能擁有的，一種盡可能充實和幸福的生活。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎選手）