Learning_the_Olympic_Standard_for_Love

1、LearningtheOlympicStandardforLoveNikolaiPetrovichAnikinwasnothalfasintimidatingasIhadimaginedhewouldbe.No,thissurelywasnottheex-Sovietcoachmyfatherhadshippedmeouttomeet.ButNikolaihewas,Petrovichandall.Heinvitedmeinsideandsatdownonthecouch,pattingtheblanketnexttohimtogetmetositnexttohim.Iwassonervous

2、inhispresence.Youareyoung,hebeganinhisRussian-styleEnglish.IfyouliketotryforOlympicGames,Iguessyouwillbeabletodothis.NaganoOlympicstoosoonforyou,butfor2002inSaltLakeCity,youcouldbeready.Yes,whynot?herepliedtotheshockedlookonmyface.Iwasapromisingamateurskier,butbynomeansthetopskierinthecountry.Ofcour

3、se,therewillbemanyhardtrainingsessions,andyouwillcry,butyouwillimprove.Tobesure,therewerecountlesstrainingsessionsfullofpainandmorethanafewtears,butinthefiveyearsthatfollowedIcouldalwayscountonbeingencouragedbyNikolaisamusingstoriesandsenseofhumor.Myfriends,theygointhemovies,theygointhedance,theygoo

4、utwithgirls,hewouldstart.ButI,hewouldcontinue,loweringhisvoice,Iampractice,practice,practiceinthestadium.Andbythenextyear,Ihadcut1-1/2minutesoffmytimeinthe15-kilometerrace!Myfriendsaskedme,Nikolai,howdidyoudoit?AndIreplied,Yougointhemovies,yougointhedance,yougooutwithgirls,butIampractice,practice,pr

5、actice.Herethestoryusuallyended,butononeoccasion,whichwelaterlearnedwashis25thweddinganniversary,hestoodproudlyinawornwoolensweaterandsmiledandwhispered,AndItellyou,Iam26yearsoldbeforeIeverkissagirl!ShewasthewomanIlatermarry.Romanticandotherwise,Nikolaiknewlove.Hisconsistentgoodhumor,quietgratitude,

6、perceptivity,andsinceritysetanOlympicstandardforlovethatIcontinuetoreachfor,eventhoughmyskiingdaysareover.Still,heneverbabiedme.OneFebruarydayIhadamassiveheadacheandfeltquitefatigued.Icameuponhiminaclearing,andafterapproximately15minutesofstridingintothecoldbreezeoverthewhitepowdertocatchhim,Ifussed

7、,Oh,Nikolai,IfeellikeIamgoingtodie.Whenyouareahundredyearsold,everybodydies,hesaid,indifferenttomypain.Butnow,hecontinuedfirmly.Nowmustbeski,ski,ski.And,onskis,Ididwhathesaid.Onothermatters,though,Iwasrebellious.Once,hepacked10ofusintoaFinnishbachelorstinyhomeforalow-budgetskicamp.Weawokethefirstmor

8、ningtofindNikolaimakingbreakfastandthenmadequickworkwithourspoonswhilesittingonmakeshiftchairsaroundatinycardtable.Whenwewerefinished,Nikolaistackedthestickybowlsinfrontofmysolefemaleteammateandme,asserting,Now,girlsdodishes!Ithrewmynapkinonthefloorandsworeathim,Askthedamnboys!Thisisunfair.Heneveras

9、kedthisofmeagain,nordidhetakemuchnoticeofmyoutburst.Hesavedhispassionforskiing.Whencoaching,hewouldsingouthisinstructionskeepingrhythmwithourstride:Yes,yes,one-two-three,one-two-three.Adearladyfriendofmygrandfather,afterviewingacopyofavideoofmetrainingwithNikolai,asked,Doeshealsoteachdance?Intrainin

10、g,IworkedwithoutresttocorrectmistakesthatNikolaipointedoutandIaskedaftereachpassifitwasbetter.Yes,itsOK.Butthefasterkneedown,thebetter.Butisitfastenough?Idpersist.Finallyhewouldfrownandsay,Billiontimesyoumakemotionthenbeperfect,remindingmeinanIve-told-you-a-billion-timestone,Youmustbepatient.Nikolai

11、spatienceandmyhardworkearnedmeafourth-placenationalrankingheadingintothepre-Olympicseason,butthenImissedthecutforthe2002Olympics.Lastsummer,IreturnedtovisitNikolai.Hemademetea.anddidthedishes!Wetalkedwhilesittingonhiscouch.MissingtheOlympicTeamthepreviousyearhadmademepauseandreflectonwhatIhadgainedn

12、ottheleastofwhichwasaquiet,indissolublebondwithashortmaninatropicalshirt.Nikolaitaughtmetohavethecourage,heart,anddisciplinetopersist,evenifittakesabilliontries.Hetaughtmetobethankfulinadvanceforacenturyoflifeonearth,andtoremindmyselfeverydaythatdespitethechallengesathand,Nowmustbelove,love,love.學(xué)習(xí)奧

13、林匹克愛的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)尼克萊彼得羅維奇安尼金一點(diǎn)都不像我想象的那么嚇人。不，他不可能是我父親特地送我來見的那位前蘇聯(lián)教練?？伤拇_是尼克萊彼得羅維奇安尼金本人。他請(qǐng)我進(jìn)門，在沙發(fā)上坐下，又拍了拍身邊的墊子，讓我坐在他旁邊。在他面前，我真的很緊張。你還年輕，”他的英語帶著俄語口音：如果你愿意試著向奧林匹克運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)進(jìn)軍，我想你能行。長野奧運(yùn)會(huì)來不及參加了，但你可以準(zhǔn)備參加2002年鹽湖城奧運(yùn)會(huì)?！蓖耆梢裕皇菃?？”看到我臉上驚愕的表情，他又說道。我那時(shí)是一個(gè)很有前途的業(yè)余滑雪運(yùn)動(dòng)員，但在國內(nèi)決不是頂尖選手。當(dāng)然，你需要進(jìn)行很多艱苦的訓(xùn)練，你會(huì)哭鼻子，但你一定會(huì)進(jìn)步的。”的確，后來我經(jīng)歷了無數(shù)痛苦的訓(xùn)練，還

14、為此流了不少眼淚。但在后來的五年里，我總能從尼克萊講的有趣故事和他的幽默感中得到鼓勵(lì)。他開始總是說：我的朋友們常去看電影，去跳舞，去和女孩子約會(huì)，然后他會(huì)壓低嗓門接著說：我就在運(yùn)動(dòng)場上訓(xùn)練、訓(xùn)練、再訓(xùn)練。第二年，我的15公里滑雪比賽成績縮短了1.5分鐘?！薄芭笥褌儐栁遥耗峥巳R，你怎么做到的呢？我回答：你們?nèi)タ措娪?、跳舞、和女孩子約會(huì)，而我一直在訓(xùn)練、訓(xùn)練、再訓(xùn)練?！惫适峦ǔ５竭@兒就結(jié)束了。但有一次后來我們知道那天是他結(jié)婚25周年紀(jì)念日他穿著一件舊的毛衣，很自豪地站著，微笑著輕聲說道：“告訴你們，我可是在26歲那年才第一次親吻女孩子。她后來就和我結(jié)了婚?！辈还芩遣皇嵌美寺峥巳R知道什么是愛

15、。他以一貫的幽默、默默的感恩、敏銳的感覺和真誠的態(tài)度為愛設(shè)立了奧林匹克般的標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。即使在我結(jié)束了滑雪生涯之后，我仍一直努力去達(dá)到那個(gè)標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。但他又從不嬌慣我。二月里的一天，我頭很疼，感到十分疲倦。我在一片空地上遇見了他，在寒風(fēng)中的雪地里滑了大概十五分鐘后，我趕上了他，有點(diǎn)小題大做地說：“嘿，尼克萊，我感覺我要死了?！薄叭绻畹揭话贇q，人人都會(huì)死的，”他對(duì)我的痛苦無動(dòng)于衷，態(tài)度堅(jiān)決地接著說：“但你現(xiàn)在必須滑、滑、再滑?！痹诨┌迳?，我照他說的去做。但在其他事情上我會(huì)反抗他。在一次經(jīng)費(fèi)并不寬裕的滑雪露營活動(dòng)中，他讓我們十個(gè)人擠在一個(gè)單身漢住的芬蘭式屋子里。第一天我們醒來時(shí)發(fā)現(xiàn)尼克萊正在做早餐。然后我們

16、坐在臨時(shí)拼湊起來的椅子上，圍著張小小的牌桌，用勺子很快地吃完早飯。吃完后，尼克萊把摞起來的油膩膩的碗向我和我唯一的另一個(gè)女隊(duì)友前一推，武斷地說：“女孩子們，現(xiàn)在去洗碗吧！”我把餐巾往地上一扔，向他罵道：“讓該死的男孩子們?nèi)ハ窗?！這不公平！”他沒再讓我去洗碗，也沒對(duì)我的大發(fā)脾氣顯得太在意。他只在滑雪時(shí)才顯露出強(qiáng)烈的情感。訓(xùn)練的時(shí)候，他會(huì)隨著我們邁步的節(jié)奏大聲發(fā)出指令：“對(duì)，就這樣，一二三，一二三?！蔽易娓傅囊粋€(gè)好朋友一位上了年紀(jì)的女士一一看了尼克萊帶我訓(xùn)練的錄像帶后問道：他也教舞蹈嗎？”在訓(xùn)練時(shí)，我一刻不停地糾正著尼克萊指出的錯(cuò)誤。每完成一個(gè)動(dòng)作，我都會(huì)問他自己是否有了進(jìn)步。是的，還行。但如果膝蓋能屈得更快些就更好了?！笨晌一脡蚩炝藛幔俊蔽覉?jiān)持問他。最后他會(huì)皺起眉頭說：你得無數(shù)次地重復(fù)，動(dòng)作才能達(dá)到完美?！彼嵝盐冶仨氂心托摹?，言語之間流露出我已經(jīng)告訴過你無數(shù)次了”的意思。尼克萊的耐心和我的勤奮使我贏得了全國第