“Believe me， I know it，” I told him—and it felt good to say that to someone.
My Greatest Olympic Prize
It was the summer of 1936. The Olympic Games were being held in Berlin. Because Adolf Hitler childishly insisted that his performers were members of a “master race” ，nationalistic feelings were at an alltime high.
I wasnt too worried about all this. Id trained， sweated and disciplined myself for six years， with the Games in mind.
“相信我，我知道，”我对他说——和别人说这些话，我的心里感觉好了很多。
珍贵
奥林匹克运动会1936年夏天在柏林举行。阿道夫·希特勒可笑地认为他的选手是“优等民族”的成员，这使得民族主义情绪空前高涨。
但我对这一切并不太担心。6年来，我严格要求自己，为了取得好成绩，我一直在坚持刻苦训练，。
While I was going over on the boat， all I could think about was taking home one or two of those gold medals. I had my eyes especially on the running broad jump.
A year before， as a sophomore at the Ohio State， Id set the worlds record of 26 feet 8 1/4 inches. Nearly everyone expected me to win this event.
I was in for a surprise. When the time came for the broadjump trials， I was startledstartle v.震惊 to see a tall boy hitting the pit at almost 26 feet on his practice leaps！
He turned out to be a German named Luz Long. I was told that HitlerHitler n.希特勒(纳粹德国独裁者，18891945) hoped to win the jump with him.
I guessed that if Long won， it would add some new support to the Nazis “master race” (Aryan superiority) theory. After all， I am a Negro.
Angry about Hitlers ways， I determined to go out there and really show Der Fuhrer and his master race who was superior and who wasnt.
当我上船时，惟一的愿望就是带一两块金牌回家。尤其是急行跳远，我格外想夺金牌。
一年前，在俄亥俄州大学读二年级时，我就创下了26英尺81/4英寸的世界纪录。几乎所有的人都看好我。
然而，到了急行跳远预选赛时，发生了一件令我备感意外的事情：我吃惊地看见一个高个儿小伙子试跳时就落在了沙坑将近26英尺的地方！
他叫卢茨·隆格，是个德国人。有人告诉我，希特勒就希望靠他来获得跳远冠军。
我想，如果隆格获胜，那希特勒的“优等民族“（雅利安人优异）论不就得到证实了吗？毕竟，我是个黑人。
对于希特勒的那一套，我非常气愤，并暗下决心要一显身手，让“元首大人”和他的优等民族看个究竟。
An angry athlete is an athlete who will make mistakes， as any coach will tell you. I was no exception.
On the first of my three qualifying jumps， I leaped from several inches beyond the takeoff board for a foul foul n.犯规， 缠绕 . On the second jump， I fouled even worse.
“Did I come 3，000 miles for this？” I thought bitterly. “To foul out of the trials and make a fool of myself？”
Walking a few yards from the pit， I kicked disgustedly at the dirt.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned to look into the friendly blue eyes of the tall German broad jumper.
He had easily qualified for the finals on his first attempt. He offered me a firm handshake handshake n.握手 .
“Jesse Owens， Im Luz Long. I dont think weve met.” He spoke English well， though with a German twist to it.
每个教练员都知道，生气会使运动员犯错误，我也一样。
预赛共有三跳。第一跳时，我踏过跳板几英寸，犯了规。第二跳时，则犯规更严重。
“难道我从3000英里外跑到这儿就为了这个结局？”我痛苦地想道，“为了在预赛里就犯规出局丢自己的丑吗？”
我气愤地踢着沙土，从沙坑里走出几码远。
忽然，一只手搭在我的肩膀上。我转过脸去，瞧见了那个高个子德国跳远运动员一双友好的蓝眼睛。
第一跳他就轻松地取得了决赛资格。他主动用力地握了握我的手。
“杰西·欧文斯，我叫卢茨·隆格。我想我们以前没见过面。”他英语说得不错，尽管带一点德国味儿。
“Glad to meet you，” I said. Then， trying to hide my nervousness， I added， “How are you？”
“Im fine. The question is： How are you？”
“What do you mean？” I asked.
“Something must be eating you，” he said—proud the way foreigners are when theyve mastered a bit of American slang. “You should be able to qualify qualify v.(使)具有资格， 证明合格， 限制修饰 with your eyes closed.”
“Believe me， I know it，” I told him—and it felt good to say that to someone.
“很高兴认识你，”我说。随后我尽力掩饰自己的不安，紧接着又说：“你怎么样？”
“我很好。但现在的问题是：你怎么样？”
“你的意思是？”我问道。
“你肯定被什么事困扰，”他说——显得很得意，掌握了一点美国俚语的外国人都这样。“你就是闭着眼睛也能进入决赛。”
“相信我，我知道，”我对他说——和别人说这些话，我的心里感觉好了很多。
生活中的对手也会成为你的朋友，从而让你战胜自己赢得胜利。因为对手是揭示你短处的人，反而应该感谢他们。没有他们，我们就永远找不到个人症结在哪里。没有他们，我们就不知道该如何调整自己的状态，以取得胜利。
