A Life Beyond Sports超越运动的人生

I’ve had second thoughts2， and my second thoughts have done double-takes3， wondering why the cliche “do or die” has been allowed to go on this long in sports vocabulary. In three words， the most affirming of joys of sport get killed， and are replaced by a sense of bitter desperation to succeed that puts indescribable4 pressure on athletes competing at any level. Do-or-die needs to be replaced by play-and-live as sport’s clarion call5.

我曾有疑惑，这种疑惑让我犹豫之下再度思考，为什么我们能任由“不成功毋宁死”这个陈词滥调在体育词汇里存在了那么长时间。短短六字，体育运动中最确定的快乐被扼杀，取而代之的是对成功的苦涩渴求。所有运动员，无论他们参加的比赛是何种级别，都因这种渴望而承受难以形容的重压。我们应当摒弃“不成功毋宁死”这句口号，让“快乐运动，过好人生”成为呼吁运动的号角。

I have been witness to the pressures of competition and seen how unrealistic expectations can get when everyone is trying to be the “next Saina6” or the “next Sindhu7” when they take up badminton. Likewise， have we really succeeded in finding the “next Sania Mirza8 or Leander9 or Bindra10”？ No. Because young kids need to take up badminton， tennis and every other sport to learn the sport， not be told that they will be a world champion on day one. Junior competitions in India need to be calibrated11 when used to see actual elite potential. But this should never reflect on the coach’s face that makes young vulnerable kids feel like failures.

我见识过竞技的压力，也曾目睹，当每个人自踏上羽毛球之路开始就拼命成为“下一个塞娜”或“下一个辛杜”，期待能变得多么不切实际。那我们又真的找到过“下一个萨尼娅·米尔扎、林达或宾德拉”吗？并没有。让小孩子参与羽毛球、网球等运动，需要的只是学会这项运动，而非从第一天起，就被灌输未来成为世界冠军的想法。印度的青少年比赛要想发掘真正的精英苗子，就要做出调整。但教练的神情永远不应泄露这一意图，否则会让年幼脆弱的孩子感到挫败。

Education and the opening up of careers suited to different aptitudes and likings have made it possible that more and more eventually succeed when moving out of the system. Sports， on the other hand， suffers from a very low success rate.

人们上学受教育，能从事各种面向不同能力和爱好的职业，因此越来越多人在退出体坛后仍能收获成功。而另一方面，在体育领域取得成功的概率却很低。

In some ways， the very process of trying to become a champion is more beneficial than becoming a champion itself—benefits that far outlive12 a career that could go on till 30 at best.

在某种程度上，恰恰是全力以赴夺冠的过程比夺冠本身更为有益。此中益处，令人受惠之长，远超那最多只能持续到30岁的体育生涯。

The value of this diminishes when you hang on to a sport more than is ne-cessary， where it turns detrimental13， as it is not possible to start a new career if one overstays their welcome14 in sports. Feeling lost then is a common occurrence.

若你对一项运动的坚持已超出必要的程度，这种益处就会减弱，坚持下去甚至会变得有害。因为，如果你的身体条件已不适合比赛，但你仍坚持留下，这时候你就不可能开始另一番事业。于是，你会感到茫然失措，这是很常见的事情。

So in my opinion the answer lies in the way we look at sports， and identify talent. As a matter of fact， the words talent identification should not be spoken of at an early age and scientific sporting analysis should not be done at a young age as is the norm.

所以，在我看来，问题的答案在于我们怎么看待体育运动，以及如何发掘人才。事实上，我们不应在运动员年幼时就提及人才选用，也不该对他们进行科学的运动分析，但这却是惯常做法。

Instead of this， imagine a scenario15 where children are exposed to several sports， grow a healthy relationship with physical activity， and then we use sports science at age of 17 or 18 to check if the kids have the potential to be world-beaters or not. This will ensure that only those who have a realistic chance to make it to the top at the world level continue chasing the difficult dream beyond 17/18， even accounting for late bloomers16， whose potential will be clear by this age.

不妨设想换个做法：孩子们自小能接触多种运动，同体育活动建立起健康的联系，长到十七八岁时，我们再利用体育科学去检测他们有无潜力成为世界级选手。这能够确保，只有那些确有可能达到全球顶尖水平的人在十七八岁以后艰难逐梦。即便是晚熟者，到了这岁数，其潜质也已显露无遗。

This could change for some sports， but by and large at 17 or 18， the decision has to be made whether you are good to be world-class or you need to look at other careers. I am sure with the right kind of scouting and sports science， we will be able to guide students/parents to make the right choice and to use the learnings of sports to find a new and more successful career which would serve them their whole lifetime. Even top individuals who are in the system should be taken care of by giving them exit routes at various levels—at 22， at 25 even.

某些运动可能有所不同，但总的来说，到十七八岁时，你是已经具备足够实力要去成为世界级运动员，抑或是要另择出路，你必须做出决定了。我相信，借助合适的运动员物色方法和体育科学，我们将能引导学生或父母做出正确的选择，运用体育知识找到新事业，取得更大成功，令其受用终身。即便是那些顶尖职业选手，我们也应该加以关注，为他们提供不同阶段（如22岁，乃至25岁）的退役路线。

At each of these stages， we should have programmes which will ensure that these sportspersons are taking the learnings of sport and using them in other fields which are beneficial to themselves and to society at large.

我们应在各阶段分别设置课程，确保运动员能够学习体育知识，并将这些知识运用在有益于其个人与全社会的其他领域。

Although sports itself has huge opportunities whether it be coaches， commentators， sports administrators etc， I would encourage sportspersons to even look at different fields altogether， not necessarily only from the sporting ecosystem. The exit from sports at various levels needs to be supported and celebrated so that we have more people using sports as a jumping board for bigger and brighter careers. The shelf-life17 of a sportsperson is short， unpredictable and hugely beneficial， but unless used properly it can be detrimental to his or her own growth.

体育界有大量就业机会，如教练、解说员、体育管理人员等，尽管如此，我仍然鼓励运动员们放眼所有领域，不必把目光局限于体育生态圈。运动员无论在哪个阶段退役，我们都要给予支持和赞赏，如此，才会有更多人以体育作跳板，迈向更宏大耀眼的另一番事业。运动员的花期短暂且莫测，亦可带来巨大益处，但若运用不当，可能会阻碍运动员自身的成长。