VOA慢速英语2021 心理健康问题在奥运会上备受关注

American Simone Biles is widely considered to be the greatest gymnast of all time.

美国运动员西蒙·拜尔斯被普遍认为是有史以来最伟大的体操运动员。

In the United States, she is the "face" of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. When the games began, she was expected to win five gold medals.

在美国，她是2020年东京奥运会的“代言人”。奥运会开始后，她有望赢得五枚金牌。

But on Tuesday, she pulled out of the team final.

但周二，她退出了团体决赛。

She made the choice after having trouble landing¹ her vault² in the competition's first round.

她在第一轮跳马比赛时遇到困难，于是做出了退赛选择。

She later said her mind was not in the right place to let her safely perform the difficult moves she is known for.

她之后表示，她的思想不适合让她安全地完成她闻名于世的高难度动作。

In other words, her mind was not letting her body do what it needed to do.

换句话说，她的思想不让她的身体做需要做的事。

Cameras caught her telling her trainers Tuesday during the team final, "I just don't trust myself."

摄像机拍到她在周二的团体决赛比赛期间告诉她的教练，“我就是不相信自己。”

So, she made the decision to protect her mental health and, she said, to give her teammates a better chance at earning a medal.

因此，她决定保护自己的心理健康，她表示，这也让队友有更好的机会获得奖牌。

Biles' three teammates went on to place second behind the gymnasts representing the Russian Olympic Committee.

比尔斯的三名队友获得了第二名，俄罗斯奥运队夺得冠军。

Biles is not the only Olympian in recent months to talk about the pressure and mental effects of competing at the highest level.

比尔斯并不是近几个月来唯一一位谈论最高级别比赛所带来的压力和心理影响的奥运选手。

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka decided³ not to compete at the French Open earlier this summer.

日本网球明星大阪直美今年夏初决定退出法国网球公开赛。

She made that choice after French Open organizers were critical of her decision to not speak to the media during the event.

在法网公开赛组织者批评她在比赛期间不接受媒体采访的决定后，她做出了这一选择。

She made that decision, she said at the time, to protect her mental heath.

她当时表示，她做出这个决定是为了保护自己的心理健康。

This week, Osaka lost in the second round of Olympic competition.

本周，大阪直美在奥运会第二轮比赛中失利。

She said she felt extreme pressure to win for Japan, where the Olympics are taking place.

她表示，她承受着为本届奥运会东道主日本赢得胜利的巨大压力。

Many Olympic athletes have discussed the stress they have felt from the pandemic.

多名奥运会运动员谈论了新冠疫情给他们带来的压力。

COVID-19 has greatly changed the way the Games are being held.

新冠肺炎极大地改变了奥运会的举办方式。

Liz Cambage is a top basketball player for Australia.

利兹·坎巴奇是澳大利亚顶尖的篮球运动员。

She left her team one week before the start of the Games

她在奥运会开幕前一周退出球队，

because she was worried about entering the Olympic "bubble⁴" in Tokyo without the support of her friends and family.

因为她对在没有朋友和家人支持的情况下进入东京“泡泡”奥运会感到担心。

Biles, who competed in the 2016 Games in Brazil, said the Tokyo Olympics are very different from past Olympics.

拜尔斯参加了2016年巴西奥运会，她表示，东京奥运会与以往的奥运会大不相同。

This time, the American gymnastics team is not staying in the Olympic Village. The team is in a hotel, away from other people.

这一次，美国体操队不住在奥运村。体操队住在远离工其他人的酒店里。

Talking about the daily life in this Olympics, she said "there are no outlets⁵." In other words, there is little else for her to do than think about gymnastics.

在谈到本届奥运会的日常生活时，她表示，“没有出路”。换句话说，除了想着体操，她没有别的事可做。

Earlier this week, Biles wrote on Instagram that she felt like she had the "weight of the world" on her shoulders.

本周早些时候，拜尔斯在Instagram上写道，她感觉“整个世界的重量”都压在了她的肩上。

On Wednesday, Biles announced she was pulling out of her next big event, the individual all-around, to "focus on her mental health."

周三，拜尔斯宣布退出下一场重大赛事“个人全能”比赛，以“专注于自己的心理健康”。

The IOC, or International Olympic Committee, said it is paying more attention to the mental health of athletes.

国际奥委会表示，他们将加强对运动员心理健康的关注。

A spokesman⁶ said, "Are we doing enough? I hope so. I think so."

一名发言人表示，“我们做得够吗？我希望如此。我想会的。”

The IOC said it has websites and phone numbers athletes can call if they need help with a mental health problem.

国际奥委会表示，如果运动员在心理健康问题上需要帮助，有专门的网站和电话号码可为运动员提供帮助。

Naoko Imoto is a Japanese swimmer who competed at the 1996 Olympics. She has been working with the Tokyo Olympic Committee.

井本直步子是日本游泳运动员，曾参加1996年奥运会。她一直在东京奥林匹克委员会工作。

She said that when Naomi Osaka talked about her mental health in May,

她表示，大阪直美在5月份谈到她的心理健康时，

it presented a chance to have a more open discussion⁷ about problems athletes face, especially in Japan.

为更开放地讨论运动员面临的问题提供了机会，尤其是在日本。

"In Japan, we still don't talk about mental health," Imoto said.

井本直步子表示，“在日本，我们仍然不会谈论心理健康。

"I don't think there's enough of an understanding on mental health, but I think there are a lot of athletes coming out right now and saying it is common."

我认为人们对心理健康的了解还不够多，但我认为现在有很多运动员站出来说这一问题很普遍。”

I'm Dan Friedell.

丹·弗里德尔报道。

1 landing   

n.登陆；着陆；楼梯平台

参考例句：

• Owing to engine trouble,the plane had to make a forced landing.由于发动机出了毛病，飞机不得不进行迫降。
• When are we landing?我们什么时候着陆？

2 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。

3 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

4 bubble   

n.泡，水泡，气泡；泡影，妄想；v.(使)起泡

参考例句：

• The water begins to bubble.水开始起泡了。
• Their hopes of success have burst like a bubble.他们成功的希望已经成了泡影。

5 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

7 discussion   

n.讨论，谈论；论述

参考例句：

• It is certain he will come to the discussion.他肯定会来参加讨论。
• After months of discussion,a peace agreement is gradually taking shape.经过几个月的商讨，和平协议渐渐有了眉目。