Morgan Hurd’s Path to Gymnastics Gold摩根·赫德的体操金牌之路

阿莉莎·如尼克 于承琳

Fresh off the biggest win of her short gymnastics career， 16-year-old Morgan Hurd and her coach， Slava Glazounov， landed at Philadelphia International Airport， headed to baggage claim and prepared for the hour-long drive home to Middletown， Delaware. It was a monotonous drill they’d performed hundreds of times before.

She’s that gymnast who competes wearing glasses. And braces. The one who’s so petite she looks tiny standing next to other gymnasts.

The one that Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling tweeted at and called “a real-life hero in glasses” after learning the self-described Potter junkie had won the women’s world all-around title.

Hurd had the distinction of being the first elite gymnast from the state of Delaware， and her adorably unique looks and creative floor routines have had some fans buzzing since 2014. But it was her surprise win at the 2017 world championships in Montreal that landed Hurd on an exclusive eight-woman list of U.S. world champions that includes Olympic gold medalists Simone Biles， Shawn Johnson and Shannon Miller.

“I didn’t have the best showing at nationals， so going into worlds camp， I was the underdog. I was not anyone’s first choice，” Hurd says. “That pushes me. I went home and worked my butt off and I’m here to make the team.”

At the camp， Hurd placed first in the mock competition and was selected to the four-woman world championship team， where her goal was simply to make the all-around final and one event final. Her teammate and roommate in Montreal， Ragan Smith， the 2017 national champion and an alternate on the U.S. Olympic team in Rio in 2016， was the heavy favorite to win the all-around in the absence Biles， a three-time winner who took a year off after the Olympics.

Then， moments before finals began， Smith injured her ankle while warming up for vault and was forced to withdraw from the competition. America’s only hope for an all-around medal now rested on the 4-foot-5 shoulders of Hurd， who was competing in her first world championship and had never won an individual title1 at an international meet. To add to the pressure， the U.S. team had won the past six world and Olympic all-around titles.

“Now Morgan alone represents the United States and all the talk is about how the U.S. has not lost a medal in so many years and it’s on her all. The national team coordinators are looking at her and me and there was so much nerves and fears.” Glazounov says.

What happened next surprised even Hurd. One by one， she hit all four routines and gritted out as consistent a performance as she has all year. Despite bobbles during her beam routine and a step out of bounds on floor， she finished .1 ahead of Canada’s Ellie Black， whom she trailed by .2 heading into the final rotation.

On the podium， Hurd’s eyes widened as 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci placed the gold medal around her neck. In elementary school， Hurd’s mother， Sherri， had bought her a book about Comaneci and， inspired by the story of the first “perfect 10，” Hurd pulled her hair back with a ribbon and wore her competition warm-ups to school. Dressed as Comaneci， she stood at the front of her third-grade classroom and gave a report on the book.

Since middle school， Hurd has had her mind buried in books—the actual ink-and-parchment type. Today， while other kids her age are saturated in social media， Hurd prefers the sanctity of stories.

Her love of reading， in fact， started as a salve2 for social media， a way to escape when she began competing at bigger meets and needed to focus on her routines instead of worrying about the harsh opinions of people she’d never met.

The night the official synopsis of the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was released to bookstores， Hurd donned her cape and wand and waited in line at her local Barnes & Noble to be one of the first in her town to own the book.” I like that I can forget about what’s happening in the real world and transfer to a different one，” Hurd says. “I don’t really watch TV or sports other than gymnastics. I’d rather read my books.”

She’s a massive fan of Hamilton the musical， loves to lip sync to its songs and has no interest in getting her driver’s license. Although she’s only a junior， she’s already committed to the University of Florida， where she hopes to compete on the gymnastics team after fulfilling her Olympic dreams in Tokyo. She’s a glasses-wearing， book-reading， self-possessed world champion who travels with two backup pairs of glasses and is keenly aware of her status as a real-life heroine to aspiring young gymnasts and awkward teens alike.

“No one is born perfect，” Hurd says. “You will have imperfections. I hope more people see me and try to do sports or gymnastics with glasses. Nothing should stop you from doing something you are passionate about.”

Hurd was 11 months old when her mom， Sherri， adopted her from Wuzhou， China， and brought her to Middletown. When Morgan was 3， Sherri began signing her up for various sports—gymnastics， soccer， T-ball， dance. Because of her size， most sports were tough. But at gymnastics class， being tiny and flexible was a gift. By fifth grade， her talent had outgrown her rec league4 classes， so Sherri brought her to First State5.

“She stood out from the start，” Glazounov says. “She exhibited that desire， she loves to impress and she wanted it always. No one ever had to tell her to work hard.”

A single mom， Sherri worked as a dental hygienist for 30 years until retiring and taking a job for Discover Bank that allowed her to work from home and support her daughter’s home-schooling and budding gymnastics career.

“Who would have known when I went to get that little girl in China that this was what was going to happen，” Sherri says. “This is our life now， but that is what I want for her， a life that is as fulfilling and happy as possible.”

剛刚获得短暂体操生涯中最大胜利的16岁女孩摩根·赫德和她的教练斯拉瓦·格拉祖诺夫在费城国际机场降落，前往行李领取处，准备坐一小时的车回特拉华州米德尔顿的家。这种单调的流程他们已重复过无数次。

她就是那个戴着眼镜和牙套比赛的体操运动员。她个子很小，站在其他体操运动员旁边，显得十分娇小。

她自称波特迷，在赢得了女子世界全能冠军后，《哈利·波特》的作者J. K.罗琳发推特提到了她，称她为“现实生活中戴眼镜的英雄”。

赫德享有特拉华州第一位精英体操运动员的殊荣，她可爱独特的长相和富有创意的自由体操动作使她自2014年就有了一群活跃的粉丝。但是在“2017蒙特利尔世锦赛”上出人意料的那次获胜使她成为第八位获得女子体操全能世界冠军的美国运动员，其中包括奥运会金牌获得者西蒙·拜尔斯、肖恩·约翰逊和香农·米勒。

“在全国性比赛中我表现并非最佳，因此进入世界级训练营，我不被看好。没有人把我作为第一人选。”赫德说。“这激励了我。我回到家拼命地训练，现在来到这里，成为团队的一员。”

在训练营，赫德在模拟赛中位列第一，入选世锦赛4人参赛阵容，她的目标仅仅是进入全能决赛和一个单项决赛。她在蒙特利尔的队友和室友拉根·史密斯是2017年全国赛冠军、2016年里约奥运会美国队替补。在世锦赛上三度夺冠、奥运会结束后休假一年的拜尔斯缺席的情况下，史密斯成了全能夺冠的热门人选。

后来，在决赛开始前不久，史密斯在为跳马热身时伤了脚踝，被迫退出比赛。美国队全能奖牌的唯一希望此时落到了身高4.5英尺的赫德肩上。这是她第一次参加世锦赛，还尚未在国际赛事上赢得过冠军。让她压力更大的是，美国队已经连续六度赢得世锦赛和奥运会全能冠军。

格拉祖诺夫说：“现在摩根一人代表美国，所有人都在说美国队已经连续多年没有丢掉过奖牌，所有的希望都在她身上。国家队协调员们看着她和我，非常紧张和担忧。”

接下来发生的事甚至让赫德都吃惊。一个接一个，她成功做出所有四个动作，平稳地完成表演，一如她一整年的表现。尽管平衡木动作有晃动，自由体操动作有一步出界，她以领先加拿大选手艾莉·布莱克0.1分的成绩完成比赛。在进入最后一轮前，她还落后于艾莉0.2分。

在领奖台上，当1976年奥运会冠军纳迪娅·科马内奇将金牌戴到她脖子上时，赫德瞪大了眼睛。小学时，赫德的妈妈谢丽给她买了一本关于科马内奇的书，受到第一个“完美10分”故事的鼓舞，赫德用发带束起头发，穿着她的热身运动服去了学校。她打扮成科马内奇的样子，在三年级的课堂上作了这本书的读书报告。

从中学开始，赫德便埋头读书——那种真正的油墨和羊皮纸书。今天，当同龄的孩子都沉浸在社交媒体中时，赫德独爱纸书故事的神圣感。

事实上，她爱上读书一开始是出于缓解社交媒体的压力，是一种解脱的方式。当她即将参加大型赛事时，需要把精力集中在练习动作上，而不是为那些从未谋面的人的苛刻言论担忧。

在舞台剧《哈利·波特与被诅咒的孩子》的官方剧情介绍发放到书店的那一晚，赫德穿上斗篷，拿着魔杖，在当地的巴诺书店排队等候，想成为小城里第一批拥有此书的人。“我喜欢忘掉现实世界发生的事而转到另一个世界的感觉。”赫德说。“我不怎么看电视或体操以外的运动赛事，宁愿读我的书。”

她还是音乐剧《汉密尔顿》的铁粉，喜欢对着口型跟唱里面的歌曲，也没兴趣考驾照。尽管她才是个初中生，她已经决心上佛罗里达大学，等她圆了东京的奥运会之梦后就加入该校的体操队。她是一个戴眼镜、爱读书、镇定自若的世界冠军，走到哪里都随身带着两副备用眼镜，深知自己是有志的年轻体操运动员和笨拙的青少年心目中现实生活中的英雄。

“没有人生而完美。”赫德说。“人都会有缺陷。我希望更多的人看到我之后，尝试戴眼镜做运动或者体操。没有什么能够阻挡你做你热爱的事。”

赫德11个月大时，她的妈妈谢丽从中国的梧州收养了她，把她带回米德尔顿。摩根3岁时，谢丽开始给她报名各种运动项目——体操、足球、儿童棒球、舞蹈。因为她体型娇小，大多运动都难上手。但是在体操课上，娇小灵活却成了一种才能。五年级时，她的水平已经超越了文体联盟班，于是谢丽带她去了第一州。

“她一开始就脱颖而出。”格拉祖诺夫说。“她展示出那样的求胜心，喜欢让人对她刮目相看，她一直是这样。不需要有人告诉她要刻苦。”

谢丽是一位单身母亲，做了30年的牙科保健师。退休后又在探索银行谋了一份差事，可以在家工作并支持女儿在家里上学并发展体操事业。

“当初去中国领养这个小女孩时，谁会想到她今天能成长为世界冠军。”谢丽说。“这就是我们现在的生活，但这也是我希望她能拥有的，一种尽可能充实和幸福的生活。”

（译者为“《英语世界》杯”翻译大赛获奖选手）