美国国家公共电台 NPR Dick Fosbury Turned His Back On The Bar And Made A Flop A Success

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Fifty years ago today, a lanky¹ college student from Oregon won the high jump at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics and revolutionized his sport. NPR's Tom Goldman tells us the story of the Fosbury Flop².

TOM GOLDMAN, BYLINE³: For a man who professes⁴ to live in the moment, Dick Fosbury has spent this week deep inside the past on a tour commemorating⁵ the day he confounded the sports world.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: The location was Mexico City. All was normal until a gangly 21-year-old civil engineering student in mismatched running shoes did this.

GOLDMAN: Fosbury jumped, shockingly, with his back to the bar, his head and shoulders clearing first, his legs and feet trailing - you know, the way every serious high jumper does it now. But he was the first to do it internationally. And Fosbury remembers the buzz that day in the Estadio Olimpico.

DICK FOSBURY: They had started to notice me jumping at the early heights, and then everybody was telling all of their neighbors watch this, watch this.

GOLDMAN: He remembers how he felt landing after clearing the winning height of 7 feet, 4 1/4 inches - an Olympic and American record.

FOSBURY: Amazement⁶ and joy.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, here he is, Mr. Dick Fosbury.

FOSBURY: What?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Welcome back home.

GOLDMAN: Home is Medford, Ore. Naturally, it was one of the stops for Fosbury this week - a signing session for the new book "The Wizard Of Foz." High school classmates and hometown admirers showed up, including 84-year-old Cees Garrett. She cheered him on in Mexico City.

CEES GARRETT: And I'm thrilled to see you again.

FOSBURY: Yeah, thank you, glad we're still here.

GARRETT: I was one of the loudest voices when you made your jump (laughter).

FOSBURY: I understand and my mother nearly fainted.

GOLDMAN: Gold medals make everything right because, frankly⁷, it seemed a bit wrong to Garrett and others when Dick Fosbury started that cockamamie backwards⁸ jumping.

GARRETT: We thought, this is really weird⁹ (laughter).

GOLDMAN: And why wouldn't they think it was weird? Back then, high jumpers used two styles both facing the bar. The jumper either hurdled¹⁰ the bar doing a scissor kick with the legs or rolled over the bar. Fosbury preferred the scissors, but in high school, it wasn't working. He was losing a lot. Then at a track meet in 1963, something happened. Knowing he kept knocking off the bar with his rear end, his body responded instinctively¹¹ during a jump. Bob Welch wrote "The Wizard Of Foz" with Fosbury.

BOB WELCH: Dick is fond of saying I like to live in the moment, and that moment told him lift up your hips¹², pal¹³.

GOLDMAN: Lifting his hips leaning back farther, Fosbury soared higher with each jump. It was the start of a two-year evolution that ultimately had Fosbury doing a full back layout over the bar while other high jumpers leaned forward. When it all came to fruition in 1968, the flop seemed to be a perfect metaphor¹⁴ for that tumultuous time, says Bob Welch.

WELCH: I mean, Dick, you know, literally¹⁵ turned his back on the establishment.

GOLDMAN: The reality is far more basic. His parents' divorce and younger brother's death left Fosbury desperately¹⁶ wanting to belong. He needed his track team.

FOSBURY: That was really a strong drive for me; first of all, stop losing and, second of all, to stay on the team. And if I was going to be different from everybody else, so be it, but that would be the way that I play the game.

GOLDMAN: Ultimately, high jumpers everywhere played along.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: And here's American record holder¹⁷, Chaunte Lowe, at 198 - oh, really fast there, and she's over, so she's the first to clear.

GOLDMAN: When four-time Olympian Chaunte Lowe started high jumping in the late 1990s, she was scared of the flop. Flying backwards seemed dangerous and unnatural¹⁸. Luckily, she says, her coach convinced her otherwise.

CHAUNTE LOWE: I feel foolish looking back on it thinking that I could jump higher using a scissor technique when the Fosbury Flop has - I mean, it's allowed me to travel the world (laughter).

GOLDMAN: Lowe met Dick Fosbury in 2012 - a humble¹⁹ man, she remembers, who barely took credit for what he did for his sport. He does, however, take credit for his jump's name. He once saw a picture caption²⁰ in the Medford newspaper describing him flopping²¹ over the bar like a fish flops²² on dry land. So when people asked him, what do you call this thing, he started answering the Fosbury Flop.

FOSBURY: It's poetic²³. It's alliterative. It's a conflict.

GOLDMAN: And a nice conflict it is when a flop is such a success. Tom Goldman, NPR News.

1 lanky   

adj.瘦长的

参考例句：

• He was six feet four,all lanky and leggy.他身高6英尺4英寸，瘦高个儿，大长腿。
• Tom was a lanky boy with long skinny legs.汤姆是一个腿很细的瘦高个儿。

2 flop   

n.失败(者)，扑通一声；vi.笨重地行动，沉重地落下

参考例句：

• The fish gave a flop and landed back in the water.鱼扑通一声又跳回水里。
• The marketing campaign was a flop.The product didn't sell.市场宣传彻底失败，产品卖不出去。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 professes   

声称( profess的第三人称单数 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉

参考例句：

• She still professes her innocence. 她仍然声称自己无辜。
• He professes himself to be sad but doesn't look it. 他自称感到悲伤，但外表却看不出来。

5 commemorating   

v.纪念，庆祝( commemorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was presented with a scroll commemorating his achievements. 他被授予一幅卷轴，以表彰其所做出的成就。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The post office issued a series commemorating famous American entertainers. 邮局发行了一个纪念美国著名演艺人员的系列邮票。 来自互联网

6 amazement   

n.惊奇，惊讶

参考例句：

• All those around him looked at him with amazement.周围的人都对他投射出惊异的眼光。
• He looked at me in blank amazement.他带着迷茫惊诧的神情望着我。

7 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

8 backwards   

adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地

参考例句：

• He turned on the light and began to pace backwards and forwards.他打开电灯并开始走来走去。
• All the girls fell over backwards to get the party ready.姑娘们迫不及待地为聚会做准备。

9 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

10 hurdled   

vi.克服困难（hurdle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The horse hurdled both the fence and the ditch. 这马连篱笆和沟都跳过去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The runner hurdled the fence. 跑步者越过篱笆。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 instinctively   

adv.本能地

参考例句：

• As he leaned towards her she instinctively recoiled. 他向她靠近，她本能地往后缩。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He knew instinctively where he would find her. 他本能地知道在哪儿能找到她。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 hips   

abbr.high impact polystyrene 高冲击强度聚苯乙烯，耐冲性聚苯乙烯n.臀部( hip的名词复数 )；[建筑学]屋脊；臀围（尺寸）；臀部…的

参考例句：

• She stood with her hands on her hips. 她双手叉腰站着。
• They wiggled their hips to the sound of pop music. 他们随着流行音乐的声音摇晃着臀部。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 pal   

n.朋友，伙伴，同志；vi.结为友

参考例句：

• He is a pal of mine.他是我的一个朋友。
• Listen,pal,I don't want you talking to my sister any more.听着，小子，我不让你再和我妹妹说话了。

14 metaphor   

n.隐喻，暗喻

参考例句：

• Using metaphor,we say that computers have senses and a memory.打个比方，我们可以说计算机有感觉和记忆力。
• In poetry the rose is often a metaphor for love.玫瑰在诗中通常作为爱的象征。

15 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

16 desperately   

adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地

参考例句：

• He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
• He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。

17 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

18 unnatural   

adj.不自然的；反常的

参考例句：

• Did her behaviour seem unnatural in any way?她有任何反常表现吗？
• She has an unnatural smile on her face.她脸上挂着做作的微笑。

19 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

20 caption   

n.说明，字幕，标题；v.加上标题，加上说明

参考例句：

• I didn't understand the drawing until I read the caption.直到我看到这幅画的说明才弄懂其意思。
• There is a caption under the picture.图片下边附有说明。

21 flopping   

n.贬调v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的现在分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• The fish are still flopping about. 鱼还在扑腾。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• What do you mean by flopping yourself down and praying agin me?' 咚一声跪下地来咒我，你这是什么意思” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

22 flops   

n.失败( flop的名词复数 )v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的第三人称单数 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅

参考例句：

• a pair of flip-flops 一双人字拖鞋
• HPC environments are often measured in terms of FLoating point Operations Per Second (FLOPS) . HPC环境通常以每秒浮点运算次数(FLOPS)加以度量。 来自互联网

23 poetic   

adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的

参考例句：

• His poetic idiom is stamped with expressions describing group feeling and thought.他的诗中的措辞往往带有描写群体感情和思想的印记。
• His poetic novels have gone through three different historical stages.他的诗情小说创作经历了三个不同的历史阶段。