羽生結弦的冬奧挑戰

楊冠穹

2014年2月，俄羅斯索契冬季奧運會的花樣滑冰賽場上出現了一位亞洲少年的身影。他身著精致的湖藍色襯衫，以優美流暢的舞蹈動作，為觀眾展示了一段結合當代審美與高超技術的表演，一舉奪得金牌，這是亞洲選手在冬季奧運會男子單人花滑項目中首次奪冠。2018年，他在韓國平昌冬奧會的賽事中再次獲得金牌，衛冕奧運冠軍。

這位選手名叫羽生結弦，1994年12月出生于日本仙臺市。仙臺不僅是魯迅先生生活過的地方，同時也被認為是日本滑冰運動的發祥地。位于仙臺市青葉山公園內的五色湖，一到冬天就會結上厚厚的冰?；\動在明治維新后隨著西方文化的傳入來到日本，在這里留下了最初的印記。羽生結弦在姐姐的影響和仙臺當地獨特的滑冰文化的熏陶下，4歲時開始學習滑冰。2004年10月，他首次登上賽事舞臺，在日本全國花滑新手賽男子單人B組中取得優勝，獲得了人生中第一枚金牌。兩個月后，又在芬蘭坦佩雷參加國際賽事，并獲得A組冠軍，年僅10歲擁有了世界級金牌。

羽生結弦第一次接觸滑冰的時候，正值日本滑冰運動興起。2000年以后，日本在很多世界級別的花樣滑冰項目上取得了出色成績。2010年溫哥華冬奧會上，日本花滑選手高橋大輔獲得銅牌，這是亞洲選手第一次在冬奧會男子單人花滑項目上獲得獎牌。還有比羽生結弦大四歲的淺田真央，在當時也非常受中國觀眾喜愛。她是亞洲第一個三次奪得世界花樣滑冰錦標賽冠軍的女子單人滑運動員，還以3個阿克塞爾三周跳打破過世界紀錄。2018年的熱播日劇《一半，藍色》中，有一段女主角女兒學習滑冰的劇情，描繪的就是這樣的背景。

如今，男子花樣滑冰在日本已經成為非常受關注的運動項目。作為一項由技術和藝術相結合的運動形式，花樣滑冰容易引起大眾的觀賞興趣。而羽生結弦在完成高難度跳躍動作的同時，在藝術表現力方面又頗具感染力。根據輿論調查報告，羽生結弦是最受日本女性歡迎的運動員。日本男子花滑的競技人口其實是比較少的，可以說，羽生結弦幾乎憑借一己之力帶動了一個時代。也有學者認為，這些活躍于世界舞臺上的亞洲選手相比歐美選手身體輕盈嬌小，因此在進行跳躍及旋轉動作的時候會更有利，也更美觀、更具觀賞性。

北京冬奧會花滑男單比賽上，他試圖挑戰被稱為是人類不可能完成的阿克塞爾四周跳（4A），也被稱為是“四周半”，但未能成功。作為之前兩屆冬奧會花滑男單的冠軍得主，羽生結弦是本屆冬奧會花滑賽場上最受關注的明星之一，由于在短節目比賽中出現失誤，羽生結弦已經無緣在本屆冬奧會上實現花滑男單三連冠，但這位世界級巨星依然希望在北京留下永載花滑歷史的一跳，羽生結弦挑戰極限和挑戰自我的精神依然令人尊敬。

賽前，他在接受NHK采訪時說：“人生只有一次，這是我自己選擇的路。小時候會說，我要跳四周半，要跳五周。那個孩子仍然在我心里，這個念頭一直刺激著我。每當我越感到身體的極限，或是花樣滑冰的極限到來，就越是想要超越給自己設置了上限的那個自己?！睂τ谟鹕Y弦來說，四周半跳不僅是幼年時的夢想，更是作為體育選手挑戰極限的精神追求。而要打破極限的關鍵一步，就是把夢想變成現實。

在奧運的舞臺上，體育競技固然是一種競爭，是選手及國家之間的競爭，同時也是一個相互溝通的機會，是選手和觀眾們相互了解與交流的橋梁?；仡欀腥諆蓢隗w育賽事方面的交流和相互影響，花樣滑冰也許遠遠不及乒乓球在推動兩國交流合作上的貢獻，但羽生結弦卻可謂是近二十年來在中國知名度最高的日本花樣滑冰運動員之一，尤其很受年輕人喜愛，也提高了兩國年輕人對該體育項目的關注度，有望成為體育競技項目上中日交流切磋的重要新內容。他到中國參加比賽時，經常會用略帶生硬的中文進行自我介紹，和大家打招呼。在一次接受采訪中，當被問及是否喜歡中國時，他毫不猶豫地回答：“我愛中國。”

另一方面，根據日本《每日新聞》的報道，羽生結弦的日本粉絲在得知這次的北京冬奧會因疫情影響無法對國外觀眾開放后，在社交媒體上表示，雖然也有遺憾，但 “在中國也會有很多觀眾給他加油”“有很多熱情的粉絲”，還說，“現場加油，就拜托中國觀眾了”。中國駐日本大使館官方賬號在社交媒體上轉發了《每日新聞》的報道鏈接，并回應：“在北京冬奧會期間，我們會和在中國的日本民眾，以及參加大會的日本志愿者一起，為日本運動員加油”，展現了兩國象征著和平、友誼和團結的奧運精神在新冠疫情影響下依然熠熠生輝，在兩國人民心中時刻閃耀。

對于現年27歲的羽生結弦來說，北京冬奧會也許是他人生中最后一次參加奧運會，無論他是否成功完成了四周半的競技挑戰，都祝福這位亞洲健兒今后的人生之路能更加順利，也期待花樣滑冰能成為中日兩國在體育競技項目上互相理解與交流的新起點，讓我們見證更多友好合作、共同進步的故事。

Yuzuru Hanyu， Top Asian Figure Skater of Goodwill

By Yang Guanqiong

In February 2014， at the Sochi Olympic Winter Games， a young man from Asia appeared gracefully on the figure skating ring. Wearing an exquisite shirt of lake blue， he delivered a program combing contemporary aesthetics and top-level techniques with smooth and elegant moves， which won him a gold medal. That made him the first Asian figure skater to win an Olympic gold in men’s single skating. Four years later， he won another gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games.

That man is Yuzuru Hanyu， born in Sendai， Japan in December 1994. Sendai is the cradle of Japan’s skating， introduced to Japan along with other Western culture after the Meiji Restoration. Influenced by his sister and Sendai’s unique skating culture， Hanyu began to learn skating at the age of four. In October 2004， he made his debut and won his first-ever gold medal at the “2004 Japan Novice Championships”. Two months later， he participated in an international competition in Tampere， Finland， becoming a world champion at just ten.

Hanyu’s learning skating coincided with a bloom of skating in Japan. At the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics， Takahashi Daisuke won a bronze medal， the first time for an Asian player to win a medal in men’s single figure skating at the Olympics. There was also Asada Mao， popular with Chinese fans as well. She is the first Asian woman skater to win the World Figure Skating Championships three times and broke the world record by pulling off three triple Axels.

Nowadays， men’s figure skating has drawn much attention in Japan. A combination of technique and art， it easily arouses public interest. Which is especially true with Hanyu， who excels in both difficult moves and appealing artistic expression. No wonder he is the most popular athlete among Japanese women， according to a public survey.

In order to successfully land a quadruple loop in his adult debut， Hanyu worked so hard to the point that he practiced once every minute on average， falling down and getting up repeatedly. In 2021， he won the domestic competition with overwhelming lead and was able to play at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. In the men’s single figure skating event， he challenged the so-called impossible quad axel （4A）， “four and a half rotations in the air”， and failed. Due to mistakes in the short program， he had dim chances to win a third gold in Beijing. But the superstar still hoped to take the challenge， which was respectable. In an interview with NHK， he said， “This is something no one has done before， and everyone says it is impossible. Turning the impossible into possible is like walking alone in the dark.”

“We only live once， and this is the way I choose for myself. When I was a child， I would say： I want to try quadruple， no， quintuple loops！ And that child is still within me， pushing me with his whimsical ideas. Whenever I feel the limit of my body or the limit of doing figure skating， I just grow the urge to overcome my old self who has set the upper limit.”

On the Olympics stage， it is both a competition between athletes across countries and an opportunity for athletes and audiences to communicate with and understand each other. Yuzuru Hanyu is definitely one of the most famous Japanese figure skaters in China in the last two decades. He is especially loved by young people. When coming to China for competitions， Hanyu often introduces himself by saying “hello” in Chinese. In an interview， when he was asked whether he liked China， he replied without hesitation： “I love China.”

Hanyu’s Japanese fans said on social media that although it’s a pity that the Beijing Olympic Games are not open to foreign audiences due to the epidemic， they believe enthusiastic Chinese audiences will cheer for him. During the Olympic Games， the official social media account of Japanese Embassy in China wrote， “During the Beijing Winter Olympics， we will cheer for the Japanese athletes together with the Japanese people in China， and the Japanese volunteers.” In the face of difficulties brought about by the epidemic， the two countries still hold fast to the Olympic spirit of peace， friendship and unity.

For the 27-year-old Hanyu， the Beijing Winter Olympics may be his last Olympics. We sincerely wish that he could scale another peak in his career by executing a successful 4A and witness a new high for mutual understanding and exchanges between China and Japan.