羽生结弦的冬奥挑战

杨冠穹

2014年2月，俄罗斯索契冬季奥运会的花样滑冰赛场上出现了一位亚洲少年的身影。他身着精致的湖蓝色衬衫，以优美流畅的舞蹈动作，为观众展示了一段结合当代审美与高超技术的表演，一举夺得金牌，这是亚洲选手在冬季奥运会男子单人花滑项目中首次夺冠。2018年，他在韩国平昌冬奥会的赛事中再次获得金牌，卫冕奥运冠军。

这位选手名叫羽生结弦，1994年12月出生于日本仙台市。仙台不仅是鲁迅先生生活过的地方，同时也被认为是日本滑冰运动的发祥地。位于仙台市青叶山公园内的五色湖，一到冬天就会结上厚厚的冰。滑冰运动在明治维新后随着西方文化的传入来到日本，在这里留下了最初的印记。羽生结弦在姐姐的影响和仙台当地独特的滑冰文化的熏陶下，4岁时开始学习滑冰。2004年10月，他首次登上赛事舞台，在日本全国花滑新手赛男子单人B组中取得优胜，获得了人生中第一枚金牌。两个月后，又在芬兰坦佩雷参加国际赛事，并获得A组冠军，年仅10岁拥有了世界级金牌。

羽生结弦第一次接触滑冰的时候，正值日本滑冰运动兴起。2000年以后，日本在很多世界级别的花样滑冰项目上取得了出色成绩。2010年温哥华冬奥会上，日本花滑选手高桥大辅获得铜牌，这是亚洲选手第一次在冬奥会男子单人花滑项目上获得奖牌。还有比羽生结弦大四岁的浅田真央，在当时也非常受中国观众喜爱。她是亚洲第一个三次夺得世界花样滑冰锦标赛冠军的女子单人滑运动员，还以3个阿克塞尔三周跳打破过世界纪录。2018年的热播日剧《一半，蓝色》中，有一段女主角女儿学习滑冰的剧情，描绘的就是这样的背景。

如今，男子花样滑冰在日本已经成为非常受关注的运动项目。作为一项由技术和艺术相结合的运动形式，花样滑冰容易引起大众的观赏兴趣。而羽生结弦在完成高难度跳跃动作的同时，在艺术表现力方面又颇具感染力。根据舆论调查报告，羽生结弦是最受日本女性欢迎的运动员。日本男子花滑的竞技人口其实是比较少的，可以说，羽生结弦几乎凭借一己之力带动了一个时代。也有学者认为，这些活跃于世界舞台上的亚洲选手相比欧美选手身体轻盈娇小，因此在进行跳跃及旋转动作的时候会更有利，也更美观、更具观赏性。

北京冬奥会花滑男单比赛上，他试图挑战被称为是人类不可能完成的阿克塞尔四周跳（4A），也被称为是“四周半”，但未能成功。作为之前两届冬奥会花滑男单的冠军得主，羽生结弦是本届冬奥会花滑赛场上最受关注的明星之一，由于在短节目比赛中出现失误，羽生结弦已经无缘在本届冬奥会上实现花滑男单三连冠，但这位世界级巨星依然希望在北京留下永载花滑历史的一跳，羽生結弦挑战极限和挑战自我的精神依然令人尊敬。

赛前，他在接受NHK采访时说：“人生只有一次，这是我自己选择的路。小时候会说，我要跳四周半，要跳五周。那个孩子仍然在我心里，这个念头一直刺激着我。每当我越感到身体的极限，或是花样滑冰的极限到来，就越是想要超越给自己设置了上限的那个自己。”对于羽生结弦来说，四周半跳不仅是幼年时的梦想，更是作为体育选手挑战极限的精神追求。而要打破极限的关键一步，就是把梦想变成现实。

在奥运的舞台上，体育竞技固然是一种竞争，是选手及国家之间的竞争，同时也是一个相互沟通的机会，是选手和观众们相互了解与交流的桥梁。回顾中日两国在体育赛事方面的交流和相互影响，花样滑冰也许远远不及乒乓球在推动两国交流合作上的贡献，但羽生结弦却可谓是近二十年来在中国知名度最高的日本花样滑冰运动员之一，尤其很受年轻人喜爱，也提高了两国年轻人对该体育项目的关注度，有望成为体育竞技项目上中日交流切磋的重要新内容。他到中国参加比赛时，经常会用略带生硬的中文进行自我介绍，和大家打招呼。在一次接受采访中，当被问及是否喜欢中国时，他毫不犹豫地回答：“我爱中国。”

另一方面，根据日本《每日新闻》的报道，羽生结弦的日本粉丝在得知这次的北京冬奥会因疫情影响无法对国外观众开放后，在社交媒体上表示，虽然也有遗憾，但 “在中国也会有很多观众给他加油”“有很多热情的粉丝”，还说，“现场加油，就拜托中国观众了”。中国驻日本大使馆官方账号在社交媒体上转发了《每日新闻》的报道链接，并回应：“在北京冬奥会期间，我们会和在中国的日本民众，以及参加大会的日本志愿者一起，为日本运动员加油”，展现了两国象征着和平、友谊和团结的奥运精神在新冠疫情影响下依然熠熠生辉，在两国人民心中时刻闪耀。

对于现年27岁的羽生结弦来说，北京冬奥会也许是他人生中最后一次参加奥运会，无论他是否成功完成了四周半的竞技挑战，都祝福这位亚洲健儿今后的人生之路能更加顺利，也期待花样滑冰能成为中日两国在体育竞技项目上互相理解与交流的新起点，让我们见证更多友好合作、共同进步的故事。

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.