韓國“蒜城女孩”征服平昌冬奧會

In a Winter Olympics full of geopolitical drama, an authentic feel-good sports story is unfolding, courtesy of the “Garlic Girls”, as the media have dubbed the South Korean women’s curling team. A country that was barely aware of the sport a decade ago now has a team that is on the cusp of a gold medal, as South Korea advanced to Friday’s semi-final against Japan.

在充滿地緣政治戲碼的冬奧會上，被媒體戲稱為“大蒜女孩”的韓國女子冰壺隊，為我們帶來了一個真正美好的體育故事。10年前，韓國對這項運動還知之甚少?，F(xiàn)在，韓國冰壺女隊將于周五與日本在半決賽中對陣，有望角逐金牌。

The five-person team — four players and one alternate — finished the round-robin stage with a sterling 8-1 record, having beaten curling’s top five countries: Canada, Switzerland, Russia, Great Britain and Sweden.

由4名球員和1名替補組成的韓國女子冰壺隊，擊敗了在冰壺運動中排前五名的5個國家——加拿大、瑞士、俄羅斯、英國和瑞典，以8勝1負的優(yōu)異戰(zhàn)績結(jié)束了循環(huán)賽階段。

Even more surprising is that the athletes do not hail from one of South Korea’s global metropolises such as Seoul or Busan. The women’s team, as well as 14 out of the 15 South Korean representatives in Olympic curling, come from the tiny rural town of Uiseong, in Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, which, as the garlic growing hub of the country, sparked the athletes’ nickname.

更令人驚訝的是，這些運動員并非來自首爾(Seoul)或者釜山(Busan)這樣的國際性大都市。參加冬奧會冰壺項目的15名韓國選手中，有14名(包括女子冰壺隊的幾名選手)均來自慶尚北道的義城郡。這個鄉(xiāng)下小城是韓國的大蒜種植中心，“大蒜女孩”的綽號就是由此而來。

Uiseong’s success in becoming the curling capital of South Korea is a reflection of the country’s own rise from poverty — a triumph of the free market, combined with the right amount of government leadership and the people’s commitment to an overarching vision.

成為韓國冰壺之都的義城郡，是從貧困中崛起的韓國的縮影——這勝利屬于自由市場、恰到好處的政府領(lǐng)導(dǎo)以及人們對一個宏大愿景的執(zhí)著。

Uiseong-gun is a county with 53,000 people in an area slightly smaller than Greater London. It is sandwiched between two more prosperous cities — an industrial Gumi to the south, and Andong, better known as a popular tourist destination, to the north.

義城郡有5.3萬人口，面積略小于大倫敦。義城郡夾在兩個更繁榮的城市之間——南接工業(yè)發(fā)達的龜尾市，北鄰旅游勝地安東市。

Young people have abandoned the region in search of jobs elsewhere, and more than one-third of residents in Uiseong-gun are 65 or older, making it demographically the second-oldest county in South Korea.

為了找工作，年輕人紛紛離開義城郡。義城郡超過三分之一的居民年齡都在65歲或以上，這使義城郡成為韓國人口老齡化第二嚴重的郡。

In the early 2000s, in a desperate attempt to broaden the town’s appeal, the local authorities seized on an unlikely opportunity: becoming the site of South Korea’s first international competition-level curling stadium, which had been proposed to assist the country’s efforts to host the Winter Olympics.

2000年代初，不顧一切想要提高本郡吸引力的地方當(dāng)局抓住了一個令人意外的機會：成為韓國第一個國際競賽級冰壺場館的所在地，這一方案是為了助力韓國申辦冬奧會而提出的。

Professor Kim Gyeong-du, a former wrestler who first introduced curling to South Korea in 1994, lobbied for the stadium to be built in his home town, only to be met with puzzled reactions from the locals. Some wondered why Prof Kim was interested in a strange sport in which “you sweep in front of a chamber pot sliding on ice”.

曾是一名摔跤手、在1994年第一個將冰壺引入韓國的Kim Gyeong-du教授，為將體育場建在自己的家鄉(xiāng)展開游說，當(dāng)?shù)厝藚s對他的這一舉動感到不解。一些人奇怪于金教授為何鐘情這么一項古怪的運動，“一個人在冰上把一個尿壺掃來掃去”。

Even with a world-class facility, the human element remained critical. Fortunately for Uiseong, five local high school girls began practising in the curling stadium, looking for a pastime in a small town with little else to do. They were talented and determined to overcome their lack of experience.

即使擁有了世界級的場館，人的因素仍然至關(guān)重要。對義城郡來說，幸運的是，5名當(dāng)?shù)嘏咧猩_始在這個冰壺館練習(xí)，在一個沒什么別的事可做的小城尋求消遣。她們很有天賦，并決心克服經(jīng)驗不足的問題。

When their team lost the tournament for the selection of the Korean national team for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, the five women nearly quit curling altogether. Yet just four years later, “Team Kim” — named for the fact that the athletes’ surnames are all Kim — is close to winning the gold medal.

2014年，當(dāng)她們的球隊輸?shù)袅怂髌醵瑠W會韓國國家隊選拔賽時，這5個姑娘幾乎放棄了冰壺運動。然而僅僅4年后，“金隊”(Team Kim)——得名于5名隊員都姓金——已得金在望。

Uiseong’s history traces that of South Korea. Devastated by the Korean war and separated from the industrial facilities located north of the demilitarised zone, the country began by rebuilding its light industry base, manufacturing wigs and textiles.

義城郡的這段歷史與韓國的發(fā)展歷程如出一轍。在朝鮮戰(zhàn)爭中飽受摧殘、又與朝韓非軍事區(qū)以北的工業(yè)設(shè)施分開了的韓國，在戰(zhàn)后開始重建輕工業(yè)基地，制造假發(fā)和紡織品。

Then, in the 1970s, South Korea embarked on what many thought a foolhardy venture, borrowing money to build a gargantuan shipyard on the empty, rocky beaches of Ulsan, Yeosu and Gwangyang.

之后，在20世紀70年代，韓國開始了一項許多人認為很魯莽的冒險，貸款在蔚山、麗水和光陽的石灘上建造一座巨大的造船廠。

At the time, the idea that the country would focus on shipbuilding, steelmaking and other heavy industry was as outlandish as building an Olympic-size curling stadium in the middle of the Uiseong garlic fields. Yet the bet — in both senses — paid off.

當(dāng)時，韓國要重點發(fā)展造船、煉鋼及其它重工業(yè)的想法，就像義城郡要在大蒜田中央建造一個奧林匹克規(guī)模的冰壺館一樣離奇。然而，這兩場賭博都得到了回報。

The 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics shows just how far South Korea has come. 2018年平昌冬奧會向我們展示了韓國的成就。

The games have been judged as one of the better-organised Olympics, rebounding from the construction difficulties and too-warm-for-skiing weather of Sochi.

本屆冬奧會被認為是一屆組織得宜的奧運會，相比遭遇場館建設(shè)困難和暖和得不適于滑雪的天氣的索契冬奧會，本屆冬奧會水準回歸。

Despite the initial distraction with North Korea, the Olympics is now solidly focused on sports, and the home team South Korea is making a strong showing in its favourite winter event, short-track speedskating. With the unexpected success of the Garlic Girls, the small town of Uiseong is also celebrating the vindication of its own quirky vision.

盡管最初與朝鮮相關(guān)的事情分散了人們的注意力，本屆冬奧會目前正一門心思關(guān)注于比賽本身，而東道主韓國在其鐘愛的冬季項目短道速滑上表現(xiàn)強勁。隨著大蒜女孩的意外成功，義城郡這個小城也在慶祝自己的冰壺夢并非異想天開。

The writer is an attorney based in Washington DC 本文作者是華盛頓一名律師