勇者的游戲

Two hours east of 1）Dallas， 2）sun-drenched 3）granite cliffs 4）loom high above the cloudy waters of Possum Kingdom Lake. A pair of diving platforms 5）jut from the gold and red stone， the higher of the two 6）perched 27 meters above the lake’s surface –– about the same height as an eight-story building. Again and again， watched by several thousand fans bobbing in the lake below， 7）svelte young athletes walk to the platform’s edge， wave to the crowd， and after taking a moment to gain their 8）composure they fling themselves over the edge.

For roughly three seconds they fall， twisting and tumbling， reaching speeds of nearly 60 miles per hour before striking the water’s surface. A ring of safety swimmers 9）closes in around them. Flashing “OK” signs， the safety crew waits for the divers to 10）pop up and flash an “OK” back. If the dive went well， the divers also will probably pump a fist and smile， then swim to shore and await their scores from judges on a nearby pontoon boat.

That was what happened on the second stop of the 2014 Red Bull Cliff Diving World Series. On June 28th and 29th， the tour stopped at the island of Inis Mór， off the Irish coast. The tour then went to Norway for dives off a 11）fjord， followed by stops in Portugal， Ukraine， Spain， and a season 12）finale in Brazil.

Despite the name， cliff divers do neither. Unlike， say， weekend daredevils or natives who dive to entertain the tourists in Maui and Acapulco， Red Bull athletes do not leap from natural stone ledges. They take off from 13）sturdy wood platforms covered by a non-slip 14）polyurethane surface.

They also do not dive. A dive， strictly speaking， means entering the water headfirst. Red Bull competitors may flip， pike， twist， twirl and triple-somersault on their way down， but they must enter feet-first， toes pointed， bodies rigid and straight， lest they crack a spine or bust a lung. Or， like， die. That’s why medical teams， 15）replete with Life Flight 16）helicopters， are always on standby at tour events. Three times at last year’s events， divers were knocked unconscious by the impact of hitting the water， and virtually all have tales of an 17）off-kilter entry that tears muscle from bone or rips skin from flesh.

High diving， however， is more than an exhibition of 18）derring-do. It’s a legitimate sport. Or， more accurately， it’s trying to become one， moving from a tourist spectacle to an accepted discipline in the already-established sport of diving. Last year， high diving made its 19）debut at the International Swimming Federation’s world championships. In August， Russia hosted the 20）inaugural edition of the High Diving World Cup， and there was a movement 21）afoot to add high diving as an event to the 2020 Olympic Games.

True， in the 1970s， the La Quebrada Cliff Divers of Acapulco were a popular feature on 22）ABC’s Wild World of Sports. The World High Diving Federation， established in 1996， is recognized by the Olympic Committee as the sport’s governing body. But it’s Red Bull， forming the World Series in 2009， that’s bringing cliff-diving to a mass audience by staging and sanctioning competitions around the world， while securing a three-year broadcast deal with Fox Sports.

Greg Louganis， four-time Olympic gold medalist， is also a judge on this year’s tour. Lakeside in Texas， baked by the heat， Louganis described how Red Bull got him to lend his credibility to the competition.

“When they approached， I was a little skeptical because I had been a commentator for Acapulco cliff diving. That was a very different atmosphere. It was party-ish. It didn’t really have the finesse. Red Bull was different. They had standardized the height of the platforms， standardized the rules. They were using the 23）FINA degree of difficulty. Sanctioning and running this event， they showed they were really taking the sport of diving seriously.”

Louganis is among those who want a high-dive event in the Olympics， and there is a compelling case. Olympic Diving currently includes competitions on 1-meter， 3-meter， and 10-meter platforms， plus a synchronized version of the sport. Leaping from 27 meters nearly triples the time that athletes spend in the air， allowing for dives that are far more complicated， difficult， and entertaining to watch.

But there are also arguments against having high-dives in the Olympics. Namely， there simply aren’t that many people who do it.

G r a n t e d ， t h e r e’s a n international flavor to the Red Bull series. Reigning champ Gary Hunt comes from the United Kingdom. David Colturi and Steve LoBue are from the USA. Artem Silchenko is Russian. And Orlando Duque is from Colombia.

Though wide， however， the talent pool is not deep. That’s partially because of sheer logistics. You can stage a springboard or platform diving meet virtually anywhere there’s a swimming pool， but it’s far more complicated and expensive to safely construct a platform 27 meters in the air. Water depth is also an issue. FINA guidelines require competitive diving pools to be at least five meters deep—or about 17 feet. That can be 24）knotty when you hit the water at 60 mph. High divers， really， need lakes and oceans.

They also need 25）a dash of crazy. Which is the other factor contributing to a small pool of talent. World-class divers are rare enough. Highdivers must not only perform dazzling midair gymnastics， they have to do it under the constant threat of death and serious injury. It takes a special kind of person to compete in a sport where even the practice can kill you. It demands monumental courage， a high tolerance for pain， and at least a touch of 26）insanity. With prizes on the Red Bull tour of just a few thousand dollars， the divers certainly aren’t in it for the money.

In truth， that 27）lunacy is a big part of the sport’s appeal. Audiences at an Olympic 10-meter diving competition are looking for grace and technical perfection according to a very specific set of rules. Most of the 6，700 Texans who bobbed and floated on Possum King Lake a few weeks ago weren’t there to see Gary Hunt’s winning front triple somersault threeand-a-half twist pike. Nor will the 20，000 spectators expected to show up for the series stop in Bilbao， Spain. They won’t want to see finesse. They’ll come for the dumb， vicarious， but undeniable thrill of watching human beings do something dangerous， and potentially deadly. That， if anything， is the very definition of an extreme sport. For Red Bull， who built their brand selling an 28）adrenaline-fueled lifestyle， that’s the whole appeal. But it’s also why highdiving might stay stuck in niche status， caught forever between a spectacle and a sport.

達(dá)拉斯以東兩小時(shí)車程，灑滿陽光的花崗巖峭壁在朦朧不清的負(fù)鼠王國湖上若隱若現(xiàn)。一塊金紅色的石頭上伸出兩個(gè)跳水臺(tái)，較高的那個(gè)高出湖面27米——高度約相當(dāng)于一棟八層樓的建筑。在懸崖底下的湖上，幾千個(gè)涌動(dòng)的粉絲正注視著。一次又一次，體態(tài)優(yōu)美的年輕運(yùn)動(dòng)員走到跳臺(tái)的邊緣，向人群招手，稍花時(shí)間調(diào)息定氣之后，他們從跳臺(tái)邊緣縱身躍起。

在大約三秒鐘的時(shí)間里他們跳落、轉(zhuǎn)體和翻轉(zhuǎn)，在觸碰到水面之前速度約達(dá)60英里每小時(shí)。救援泳手隨即向他們游近。亮出“OK”的標(biāo)識(shí)之后，救援隊(duì)伍等待跳水員游上水面，亮出一個(gè)“OK”的標(biāo)識(shí)以示回復(fù)。如果這一跳表現(xiàn)不錯(cuò)，跳水者可能會(huì)舉起拳頭，露出微笑，然后游上岸，在附近一艘平底船上等待評(píng)委們給他們打分?jǐn)?shù)。

這就是2014年紅牛懸崖跳水世界系列賽在第二站開展的情景。6月28日到29日，巡回賽到達(dá)位于愛爾蘭海岸邊的伊尼什莫爾島。然后是到挪威站從峽灣上跳水，接著是葡萄牙站、烏克蘭站、西班牙站，最后在巴西結(jié)束這個(gè)賽季。

盡管冠著懸崖跳水這個(gè)名稱，但是懸崖跳水員們其實(shí)并不算從懸崖上起跳，也不算是跳水。與毛伊島和阿卡普爾科市那些為娛樂游客而從懸崖跳水的周末玩命俠或當(dāng)?shù)厝瞬煌t牛運(yùn)動(dòng)員從來不從天然的礁石跳臺(tái)上起跳。他們從堅(jiān)固的、鋪有防滑聚氨酯表層的木材跳臺(tái)上起跳。

他們也并不算是跳水。跳水，從嚴(yán)格意義上講，是頭先入水的。紅牛競技者則可以在跳落過程中空翻、屈體、轉(zhuǎn)體、旋轉(zhuǎn)和轉(zhuǎn)體三周，但是他們必須腳先入水，腳尖伸直，身體繃緊，以免出現(xiàn)脊椎斷裂和肺部爆裂，甚至是死亡的情況。這就是為什么在巡回賽中，醫(yī)療隊(duì)總是配備了救生直升機(jī)以隨時(shí)待命。在上一年的賽事中，出現(xiàn)跳水員因入水沖擊力導(dǎo)致不省人事的意外就有三宗。事實(shí)上，幾乎所有這些跳水員都有過曾經(jīng)因入水失衡而導(dǎo)致皮綻肉裂的悲慘故事。

然而，高空跳水卻遠(yuǎn)遠(yuǎn)不止是勇氣的一種展現(xiàn)。它是一種正統(tǒng)的運(yùn)動(dòng)?；蛘吒鼫?zhǔn)確地說，高空跳水正試著從一種游客觀賞性活動(dòng)走向?yàn)楸娙私邮艿囊环N正式跳水運(yùn)動(dòng)。去年，高空跳水在國際游泳聯(lián)合會(huì)的世界錦標(biāo)賽會(huì)上首次亮相。俄羅斯也于8月份舉辦了首屆高空跳水世界杯，同時(shí)有團(tuán)體正努力促成把高空跳水添加到2020年奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)項(xiàng)目中。

確實(shí)，20世紀(jì)70年代在阿卡普爾科市靠近奎布拉達(dá)一帶，懸崖跳水是一檔在美國廣播公司《瘋狂體育世界》欄目中熱播的特色節(jié)目。雖然世界高空跳水聯(lián)合會(huì)早在1996年就成立，是受到國際奧委會(huì)認(rèn)可的該項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)的管理機(jī)構(gòu)，但真正令該運(yùn)動(dòng)為大眾熟知的卻是在2009年開始的世界紅牛系列賽，此賽事為懸崖跳水賽制定了規(guī)則，在世界各地舉行比賽，同時(shí)爭取到福克斯體育頻道為期三年的廣播協(xié)議。

格雷格·洛加尼斯，四屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)金牌得主，在今年的巡回賽上擔(dān)任裁判。德克薩斯州的湖邊，熱浪逼人，洛加尼斯描述著紅牛賽贏得其心的原因。

“當(dāng)他們找我時(shí)，我有些許懷疑，因?yàn)槲以前⒖ㄆ諣柨剖袘已绿慕庹f員。那是截然不同的氣氛，就像是開派對(duì)一樣，并不具有很高的專業(yè)技巧。紅牛賽則不同。他們?yōu)樘_(tái)的高度制定標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，制定比賽規(guī)則，他們采用的是國際泳聯(lián)的難度系數(shù)。這項(xiàng)賽事獲得批準(zhǔn)并得以開展，充分表現(xiàn)了他們十分重視這項(xiàng)跳水運(yùn)動(dòng)?！?/p>

洛加尼斯也很贊成把高空跳水列入奧運(yùn)會(huì)項(xiàng)目，理由很充分。奧運(yùn)會(huì)跳水項(xiàng)目目前包括1米、3米和10米跳臺(tái)競賽，還有雙人1米、3米和10米跳臺(tái)。從27米高度跳水，幾乎是把運(yùn)動(dòng)員在空中的時(shí)間拉長三倍，這樣就可以欣賞到更為復(fù)雜、更具高難度和觀賞性的跳水動(dòng)作。

但是把高空跳水列入奧運(yùn)會(huì)，還存在著爭議。因?yàn)楦緵]有多少人從事這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)。

當(dāng)然，紅牛系列賽中的選手非常國際化。衛(wèi)冕冠軍加里·亨特來自于英國。大衛(wèi)·柯圖瑞和史蒂夫·洛布來自美國。阿提姆·斯?fàn)柷倏剖嵌砹_斯人。還有奧蘭多·杜奇來自于哥倫比亞。

雖然范圍廣，但是人才儲(chǔ)備不夠深。部分原因在于設(shè)施資源。任何地方只要有游泳池，你就可以在那里進(jìn)行彈板跳水或跳臺(tái)跳水，但是要在空中建一個(gè)27米高的安全跳臺(tái)則十分復(fù)雜和昂貴。泳池的水深也是個(gè)問題。國際泳聯(lián)指導(dǎo)方針要求競技跳水游泳池至少要5米深——或者大約17英尺深。當(dāng)你跳水的速度達(dá)到60米每小時(shí)，這便是個(gè)棘手的問題。高空跳水，確實(shí)是需要湖泊或者是海洋。

他們同時(shí)需要一點(diǎn)瘋狂勁兒，這一點(diǎn)也是高空跳水人才短缺的另一原因。世界級(jí)的跳水運(yùn)動(dòng)員是罕見的。高空跳水運(yùn)動(dòng)員不僅僅要在半空中表演眼花繚亂的體操動(dòng)作，還要冒著重傷和生命危險(xiǎn)。這需要極具特質(zhì)的人才能在這項(xiàng)甚至是練習(xí)都得冒著生命危險(xiǎn)的運(yùn)動(dòng)中競技。這需要非比尋常的勇氣，對(duì)疼痛的高度忍耐，和至少一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)的瘋狂勁兒。紅牛系列巡回賽的獎(jiǎng)金僅僅是幾千美金，跳水選手們參加比賽肯定不是為了獎(jiǎng)金。

事實(shí)上，那股瘋狂勁兒正是這項(xiàng)運(yùn)動(dòng)最吸引人之處。奧運(yùn)會(huì)10米跳臺(tái)的競賽場上，觀眾觀賞的是優(yōu)雅和完美技巧的呈現(xiàn)，鑒于這項(xiàng)跳水運(yùn)動(dòng)具有一套非常細(xì)致嚴(yán)格的規(guī)則。幾周前，在負(fù)鼠王國湖上涌動(dòng)的6700名德州人中的大多數(shù)，絕不是為了看加里·亨特完美的向前轉(zhuǎn)體三周和三周半轉(zhuǎn)身屈體。估計(jì)出現(xiàn)在系列賽西班牙畢爾巴鄂站的兩萬名觀眾也一樣。他們不想看完美的技術(shù)。他們是為了看令人震撼、引起共鳴但無疑是最刺激的人類表演，十分危險(xiǎn)還可能致命。那才是極限運(yùn)動(dòng)真正的定義。紅牛系列賽，他們建立自己的品牌，賣的是一種令腎上腺素激增的生活方式，這就是它最大的吸引力。但是這也是高空跳水也許只能局限于小眾，永遠(yuǎn)陷于觀賞性活動(dòng)和運(yùn)動(dòng)項(xiàng)目之中間地帶的原因。