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塞内加尔女运动员出征奥运会

Wrestling matches in Senegal usually take place between large men on a sandy surface in front of massive crowds.

在塞内加尔，摔跤通常是膀大腰圆的男子汉们展示自己力量的运动。

But a petite woman on a mat will be representing the country in front of the world at the London Summer Games. At 48 kilograms, six-time African champion Isabelle Sambou is one of the country's best chances for an Olympic medal in London.

但身材娇小的伊莎贝拉将代表塞内加尔站在伦敦奥运会的比赛场上。

Sambou started wrestling in the southern region of Casamance, where women sometimes participate in the traditional matches. There, she was recruited by the coaching staff at an Olympic training center in the northern city of Thies.

伊莎贝拉最早在南部的卡萨芒斯参加传统摔跤比赛，后来被北部城市捷斯的一个奥运会训练中心的教练挑中了。

"They saw me down there and they brought me up here. They said that I can do Olympic wrestling, because I was good at traditional wrestling," said Sambou.

伊莎贝拉说：“他们看到我比赛，然后把我带到这儿来了。他们说，我擅长传统摔跤，可以参加奥运会。”

Nearly 12 years later, she qualified¹ for her first Olympic Games at this year's African Championship and will represent Senegal in London.

将近12年过去了，伊莎贝拉在今年的非洲锦标赛中赢得了一张奥运会入场券。

Even with her success, the gender² barrier persists in the male-dominated sport. But like her opponents, Sambou overcomes challengers off the mat as well.

在她得到的所有荣誉中，她最珍惜非洲锦标赛冠军这个头衔。

"People here criticize women who wrestle³ a lot," said Sambou. "They say, 'you are not a man, so you can't do this.' But they're wrong because it is a sport like any other sport, so a woman can do it and there's no harm in it."

尽管成绩出众，但性别障碍在这个男人为主的运动中仍存在着。不过，这难不倒伊莎贝拉：“人们说，你不是男人，你不能摔跤。但他们错了。摔跤和其他任何运动一样，妇女完全可以参加。”

Her coach, Victor Kodei, says the women at the center do better than the men on the world stage, partly because male wrestlers focus on commercialized traditional wrestling. He has particularly high hopes for Sambou at the London Olympics.

伊莎贝拉的教练科戴说，训练中心的女运动员在世界比赛中的成绩普遍比男运动员好，部分原因在于，男运动员太看重商业化的传统摔跤。科戴对伊莎贝拉在伦敦奥运会上取得好成绩充满希望：

"Isabelle is one good wrestler⁴ that I am hoping to get something from," said Kodei. "Gold medal, silver medal, bronze medal…one person is not winning all at a time. We must take one. We must take one, by the grace of God."

“伊莎贝拉是名优秀摔跤选手，我希望她出色发挥，金牌，银牌，铜牌，每人是常胜将军，但上帝保佑，我们必须得一块奖牌。”

Sambou agrees that God will decide her place on the podium. But for her part, she says she is ready.

伊莎贝拉也同意，上帝将决定她站在领奖台的那个位置。但她说，她已经做好准备了。