据美联社报道，在东京奥运会的马术赛场上，因为障碍物旁出现颇具日本风格的相扑雕塑，有选手抱怨自己的马被“吓到”。
 


美联社报道称，对于马术比赛的骑手而言，并不喜欢出现“惊喜”，马儿们也一样。多年的训练中，也是为了避免马匹轻易受到惊吓。不过，也许马儿们此前也从来没有见识过东京奥运赛场上10号障碍物旁这样的东西。

Equestrian jumpers aren’t keen on surprises. Neither are the horses, and it takes years of training to keep them from getting spooked. Of course, no horse in Tuesday night’s Olympic jumping qualifier had ever seen anything like obstacle No. 10.

骑手们说，在周二的比赛中，几乎真人大小的相扑雕塑，就在10号障碍物旁（共14跳），好几匹马都因此分心。其中几组人马停在了障碍物前，导致被扣分而失去晋级资格。

Riders say a life-size sumo wrestler positioned next to the 10th obstacle on the 14-jump Olympic course may have distracted several horses in qualifying for the individual jumping final Tuesday night. A few pairings pulled up short of the barrier, accumulating enough penalty points to prevent entry into Wednesday’s finals.

日本NHK电视台的画面显示，确实有马在雕塑附近犹豫不前：



美联社报道称，相扑雕塑位于障碍横杆左侧，赛场一角。“相扑”弓起身子，似乎准备发动进攻，其面部背对着骑手。然而，当骑手们在结束上一个急弯之后，迎面撞见的就是“相扑”的腰带。

The statue is positioned to the left of a jump placed in the corner of the arena. Hunched over and seemingly ready to attack, the wrestler is facing away from approaching riders, meaning that when they complete a sharp turn to take on the jump, the first thing horse and human see is the wedgie created by the wrestler’s mawashi.

英国选手哈里•查尔斯说：“你骑马过来，就看到这个家伙的（屁股）。我看到4、5匹马被吓到了。”以色列选手泰迪•弗洛克则补充：“这太像真的了。就像个真人，有点阴森。马儿们并不愿意看到一个这样的人，就好像要跳起来，准备攻击似的。”

“As you come around, you see a big guy’s (butt),” British rider Harry Charles said. “I did notice four or five horses really taking a spook to that,” Charles said. “It is very realistic,” echoed Israel’s Teddy Vlock. “It does look like a person, and that’s a little spooky. You know, horses don’t want to see a guy, like, looking intense next to a jump, looking like he’s ready to fight you.”


8月3日，中国选手张兴嘉在比赛中。当日，东京奥运会马术个人场地障碍赛开赛，李振强、张兴嘉和张佑三名中国选手参加预赛。新华社记者 朱峥 摄

美联社报道称，场地内装点着不少独具日本特色的元素：艺妓和服、微缩的日式宫殿以及太鼓等。但是，这些比不上“相扑”惹眼。

Most of the course’s hurdles are decorated with a distinctly Japanese feel — geisha kimonos, a miniature Japanese palace, taiko drums. None caught the eye quite like the sumo wrestler.

图源：视觉中国

不过，就一定是“相扑”吓到马了吗？

《今日美国》网站体育版则指出，并不一定，还有很多其他因素，甚至于是整个比赛本身。

Not necessarily! It might not be. It could just be some other element of the course spooking horses. It could even be the overall course itself.

这篇报道选择的配图，也相当有冲击力，而且将雕塑形容为“十分狂野（It’s pretty wild-looking.）”。
 


当然，人们很难知道马到底在想什么，此外有选手认为障碍设计的距离不妥，还有选手抱怨场地灯光有问题。

Of course, it’s hard to know what’s in a horse’s head. Some riders chalked up the troubles to how close the jump was positioned to the turn. Others blamed the stadium’s bright lights that also led to concern at jump No. 1.

综合来源：中新网，美联社，今日美国