國際奧會打安全牌選擇讓東京申請2020奧運成功
For 2020 Olympics, I.O.C. Picks Tokyo, Considered Safe Choice
(New York Times, Sept. 07, 2013) —BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Tokyo was selected Saturday to host the 2020 Summer Olympics in what was considered a safe rather than transformative choice in a time of political and economic uncertainty around the globe.
上週六在阿根廷的布宜諾斯艾利斯，東京被選為2020年夏季奧運會舉辦城市。人們認為在當今全球政治和經濟的不確定狀況下，這個選擇比較安全，但卻不具有變革的意義。
After Japan’s prime minister gave an emphatic assurance of safety regarding the country’s 2011 nuclear disaster and continuing concerns about radioactivity, Tokyo easily defeated Istanbul and Madrid to be named host of the Summer Games for a second time.
在日本首相給出強有力的安全保證之後，儘管人們仍對日本2011年發生的核安事故和放射問題心存擔憂，東京還是輕鬆地擊敗了伊斯坦布爾和馬德里，第二次獲得了夏季奧運會的主辦權。
“When I heard the name Tokyo, I was so touched, overwhelmed,” said Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister. “The joy was even greater than when I won my own election.”
「聽到東京這個名字的時候，我非常感動，還有些不知所措。」日本首相安倍晉三說，「喜悅的感覺甚至比我贏得首相競選的時候還要強烈。」
The decision was met with elation in Japan, where it was seen as a vote of international support for the nation’s efforts to pull itself out of a long economic and political decline and to overcome the devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident two years ago.
在日本，民眾對這個消息感到十分振奮，並視其為國際社會對日本的支持，支持該國努力擺脫漫長的經濟和政治衰退，並從兩年前的災難性地震、海嘯和核安事故中恢復。
Winning the Games also appeared to affirm Abe’s efforts to restore Japan’s confidence at a time when it has appeared increasingly eclipsed by neighboring China.
鑒於鄰國中國似乎越來越令日本黯然失色，贏得奧運會主辦權似乎也肯定了安倍晉三在恢復日本信心方面的努力。
“Japan has seemed to be overshadowed by the rise of China and other developing nations,” said Harumi Arima, an independent political analyst. “These Olympics will give Japanese a chance to feel reborn, to feel for themselves that Japan can still be vibrant.”
「日本似乎已被中國和其他發展中國家崛起的陰影所籠罩。」獨立政治分析人士有馬晴美說。「這屆奧運會將給日本人帶來感受重生的機會，讓日本人覺得自己的國家仍然可以充滿活力。」
For the International Olympic Committee, environmental concerns in Japan appeared less urgent than the Syrian war on Turkey’s border, a harsh crackdown against antigovernment protesters recently in Istanbul and Spain’s economic recession and high unemployment.
國際奧會看到了土耳其邊境的敘利亞戰爭，看到了伊斯坦布爾近日發生的殘酷鎮壓反政府示威者事件，以及西班牙的經濟衰退和高失業率，跟這些問題相比，日本的環境問題倒顯得不那麼緊迫。
Tokyo presented its bid as a “safe pair of hands,” an appeal that clearly resonated with Olympic officials.
東京在申奧時強調了「安全之手」的魅力，這顯然引起了奧會官員的共鳴。
“This is something that appeals to me as a surgeon,” said Jacques Rogge, the president of the Olympic committee and a retired orthopedist from Belgium, who did not vote Saturday, as is tradition.
「身為一名外科醫生，我覺得這很有吸引力。」國際奧林匹克委員會主席雅各斯·羅格說。他來自比利時，是一名退休的骨科醫生，根據傳統，他沒有參與上週六的投票。
Tokyo hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics, and Japan has twice hosted the Winter Games, in Sapporo in 1972 and in Nagano in 1998. Japan also hosted the 2002 World Cup with South Korea and has repeatedly shown it can organize the world’s largest sporting events. It has a reserve fund worth $4.5 billion to build stadiums for the 2020 Games.
東京曾主辦過1964年夏季奧運會。日本曾兩次舉辦冬季奧運會，分別是1972年的札幌冬季奧運以及1998年的長野冬季奧運。該國還跟韓國一起舉辦了2002年世界盃，多次證明自己能夠舉辦世界上規模最大的體育賽事。它為興建2020年奧運會場館準備了45億美元的資金。
“The members wanted to have a choice between a bid addressing tradition and stability and another bid that was addressing new projects,” said Thomas Bach, an I.O.C. delegate from Germany who is expected to succeed Rogge as president. “In today’s political and economic situation, the clear tendency was toward tradition and stability.”
「委員們要在兩個申辦提案之間做出選擇，一個強調傳統和穩定，另一個強調新項目，」有望接替羅格成為主席的德國奧會代表湯瑪斯·巴赫說。「在今天的政治經濟形勢下，明確的趨勢是指向傳統和穩定。」
Kevan Gosper, an I.O.C. delegate from Australia, said Tokyo represented “a pretty secure option and demonstrates a shift in world activity and economics and sport toward Asia.”
澳大利亞國際奧會代表凱凡·葛斯伯說，東京代表著「一個相當安全的選項，並且展示了世界活動、經濟和體育朝向亞洲的轉變」。
Although Istanbul, the Turkish metropolis, did better than many expected in finishing second to Tokyo, it lost a fifth attempt to host the Games. They would have been the first held in a predominantly Muslim country.
土耳其大都市伊斯坦堡的表現比許多人預計的都要好，在東京之後名列第二。儘管如此，它卻已是第五次申奧失敗。如果它取得成功，奧運會就將第一次在以穆斯林為主體的國家舉行。
Some I.O.C. delegates had expressed reluctance trying to forecast Turkey’s political situation seven years from now, given regional instability, what some critics in the country call the autocratic governing style of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and a divide between secularists and Islamists.
一些國際奧會成員曾經表示，他們不願預測七年之後的土耳其政局，原因是該地區很不穩定，此外還有該國一些批評人士所說的總理雷傑普·塔伊普·埃爾多安的獨裁執政風格，以及世俗主義者與伊斯蘭主義者之間的鴻溝。
Madrid was considered to be making a late charge, but ultimately it was the first city eliminated, failing for a third consecutive time to be named an Olympic host.
馬德里據信會在最後時刻發起強力衝刺，最終卻還是成了第一座被淘汰的城市，這是它連續第三次申奧失敗。
Apparently, Madrid was unable to allay concerns by the Olympic committee that it could stage a successful Games, even at a relatively low cost, in a climate of recession and high unemployment that has left half of Spain’s youths without jobs.
顯然，雖說花費相對較低，由於衰退和高失業率的經濟氣候已經導致半數的西班牙年輕人失業，馬德里無法消除奧會的顧慮並讓其相信它可以成功地舉辦一屆奧運會。
Some analysts said they hoped winning the 2020 Olympics would give Tokyo the same sort of economic boost, and rebirth in spirit, that the city experienced the last time it hosted the Summer Games, in 1964.
一些分析人士表示，他們希望，贏得2020年奧運會主辦權能讓東京再次體驗舉辦1964年夏季奧運會時的經歷，並給這個城市帶來同樣的經濟增長和精神重生。
Those Olympics are still vividly remembered as proclaiming the success of Japan’s recovery from the ashes of World War II and launching the modern city of highways and bullet trains.
那一屆奧運會仍然歷歷在目，它宣告日本從二戰的廢墟中成功復甦，建起了一座具備高速公路和高速鐵路的現代化城市。
Shusei Tanaka, a political scientist at Fukuyama University, said that Tokyo would get not only an expected economic boost of $30 billion in new growth, but also a chance to reinvent itself in the 21st century.
福山大學政治學專家田中秀征說，東京由此收穫的將不僅是300億美元的經濟新增長預期，還有在21世紀重塑自身的機會。
“I feel like I did during the last Olympics, when I was still a university student,” Tanaka, 72, said. “Why am I so excited this time? I think it’s the natural disaster. We have a chance to build a new economy, hopefully without nuclear power, and to build a new urban lifestyle.”
「我的感覺跟上一次奧運會一樣，那時我還是一名大學生，」72歲的田中秀征說。「這一次我為什麼如此激動？我想是因為之前的自然災害。我們將有機會建設一種新的經濟，希望其中沒有核能，還有機會建立一種新的城市生活方式。」
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