勇者的游戲

Two hours east of 1）Dallas， 2）sun-drenched 3）granite cliffs 4）loom high above the cloudy waters of Possum Kingdom Lake. A pair of diving platforms 5）jut from the gold and red stone， the higher of the two 6）perched 27 meters above the lake’s surface –– about the same height as an eight-story building. Again and again， watched by several thousand fans bobbing in the lake below， 7）svelte young athletes walk to the platform’s edge， wave to the crowd， and after taking a moment to gain their 8）composure they fling themselves over the edge.

For roughly three seconds they fall， twisting and tumbling， reaching speeds of nearly 60 miles per hour before striking the water’s surface. A ring of safety swimmers 9）closes in around them. Flashing “OK” signs， the safety crew waits for the divers to 10）pop up and flash an “OK” back. If the dive went well， the divers also will probably pump a fist and smile， then swim to shore and await their scores from judges on a nearby pontoon boat.

That was what happened on the second stop of the 2014 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. On June 28th and 29th， the tour stopped at the island of Inis Mór， off the Irish coast. The tour then went to Norway for dives off a 11）fjord， followed by stops in Portugal， Ukraine， Spain， and a season 12）finale in Brazil.

Despite the name， cliff divers do neither. Unlike， say， weekend daredevils or natives who dive to entertain the tourists in Maui and Acapulco， Red Bull athletes do not leap from natural stone ledges. They take off from 13）sturdy wood platforms covered by a non-slip 14）polyurethane surface.

They also do not dive. A dive， strictly speaking， means entering the water headfirst. Red Bull competitors may flip， pike， twist， twirl and triple-somersault on their way down， but they must enter feet-first， toes pointed， bodies rigid and straight， lest they crack a spine or bust a lung. Or， like， die. That’s why medical teams， 15）replete with Life Flight 16）helicopters， are always on standby at tour events. Three times at last year’s events， divers were knocked unconscious by the impact of hitting the water， and virtually all have tales of an 17）off-kilter entry that tears muscle from bone or rips skin from flesh.

High diving， however， is more than an exhibition of 18）derring-do. It’s a legitimate sport. Or， more accurately， it’s trying to become one， moving from a tourist spectacle to an accepted discipline in the already-established sport of diving. Last year， high diving made its 19）debut at the International Swimming Federation’s world championships. In August， Russia hosted the 20）inaugural edition of the High Diving World Cup， and there was a movement 21）afoot to add high diving as an event to the 2020 Olympic Games.

True， in the 1970s， the La Quebrada Cliff Divers of Acapulco were a popular feature on 22）ABC’s Wild World of Sports. The World High Diving Federation， established in 1996， is recognized by the Olympic Committee as the sport’s governing body. But it’s Red Bull， forming the World Series in 2009， that’s bringing cliff-diving to a mass audience by staging and sanctioning competitions around the world， while securing a three-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports.

Greg Louganis， four-time Olympic gold medalist， is also a judge on this year’s tour. Lakeside in Texas， baked by the heat， Louganis described how Red Bull got him to lend his credibility to the competition.

“When they approached， I was a little skeptical because I had been a commentator for Acapulco cliff diving. That was a very different atmosphere. It was party-ish. It didn’t really have the finesse. Red Bull was different. They had standardized the height of the platforms， standardized the rules. They were using the 23）FINA degree of difficulty. Sanctioning and running this event， they showed they were really taking the sport of diving seriously.”

Louganis is among those who want a high-dive event in the Olympics， and there is a compelling case. Olympic Diving currently includes competitions on 1-meter， 3-meter， and 10-meter platforms， plus a synchronized version of the sport. Leaping from 27 meters nearly triples the time that athletes spend in the air， allowing for dives that are far more complicated， difficult， and entertaining to watch.

But there are also arguments against having high-dives in the Olympics. Namely， there simply aren’t that many people who do it.

G r a n t e d ， t h e r e’s a n international flavor to the Red Bull series. Reigning champ Gary Hunt comes from the United Kingdom. David Colturi and Steve LoBue are from the USA. Artem Silchenko is Russian. And Orlando Duque is from Colombia.

Though wide， however， the talent pool is not deep. That’s partially because of sheer logistics. You can stage a springboard or platform diving meet virtually anywhere there’s a swimming pool， but it’s far more complicated and expensive to safely construct a platform 27 meters in the air. Water depth is also an issue. FINA guidelines require competitive diving pools to be at least five meters deep—or about 17 feet. That can be 24）knotty when you hit the water at 60 mph. High divers， really， need lakes and oceans.

They also need 25）a dash of crazy. Which is the other factor contributing to a small pool of talent. World-class divers are rare enough. Highdivers must not only perform dazzling midair gymnastics， they have to do it under the constant threat of death and serious injury. It takes a special kind of person to compete in a sport where even the practice can kill you. It demands monumental courage， a high tolerance for pain， and at least a touch of 26）insanity. With prizes on the Red Bull tour of just a few thousand dollars， the divers certainly aren’t in it for the money.

In truth， that 27）lunacy is a big part of the sport’s appeal. Audiences at an Olympic 10-meter diving competition are looking for grace and technical perfection according to a very specific set of rules. Most of the 6，700 Texans who bobbed and floated on Possum King Lake a few weeks ago weren’t there to see Gary Hunt’s winning front triple somersault threeand-a-half twist pike. Nor will the 20，000 spectators expected to show up for the series stop in Bilbao， Spain. They won’t want to see finesse. They’ll come for the dumb， vicarious， but undeniable thrill of watching human beings do something dangerous， and potentially deadly. That， if anything， is the very definition of an extreme sport. For Red Bull， who built their brand selling an 28）adrenaline-fueled lifestyle， that’s the whole appeal. But it’s also why highdiving might stay stuck in niche status， caught forever between a spectacle and a sport.

達拉斯以東兩小時車程，灑滿陽光的花崗巖峭壁在朦朧不清的負鼠王國湖上若隱若現。一塊金紅色的石頭上伸出兩個跳水臺，較高的那個高出湖面27米——高度約相當于一棟八層樓的建筑。在懸崖底下的湖上，幾千個涌動的粉絲正注視著。一次又一次，體態優美的年輕運動員走到跳臺的邊緣，向人群招手，稍花時間調息定氣之后，他們從跳臺邊緣縱身躍起。

在大約三秒鐘的時間里他們跳落、轉體和翻轉，在觸碰到水面之前速度約達60英里每小時。救援泳手隨即向他們游近。亮出“OK”的標識之后，救援隊伍等待跳水員游上水面，亮出一個“OK”的標識以示回復。如果這一跳表現不錯，跳水者可能會舉起拳頭，露出微笑，然后游上岸，在附近一艘平底船上等待評委們給他們打分數。

這就是2014年紅牛懸崖跳水世界系列賽在第二站開展的情景。6月28日到29日，巡回賽到達位于愛爾蘭海岸邊的伊尼什莫爾島。然后是到挪威站從峽灣上跳水，接著是葡萄牙站、烏克蘭站、西班牙站，最后在巴西結束這個賽季。

盡管冠著懸崖跳水這個名稱，但是懸崖跳水員們其實并不算從懸崖上起跳，也不算是跳水。與毛伊島和阿卡普爾科市那些為娛樂游客而從懸崖跳水的周末玩命俠或當地人不同，紅牛運動員從來不從天然的礁石跳臺上起跳。他們從堅固的、鋪有防滑聚氨酯表層的木材跳臺上起跳。

他們也并不算是跳水。跳水，從嚴格意義上講，是頭先入水的。紅牛競技者則可以在跳落過程中空翻、屈體、轉體、旋轉和轉體三周，但是他們必須腳先入水，腳尖伸直，身體繃緊，以免出現脊椎斷裂和肺部爆裂，甚至是死亡的情況?！?br>