摔跤－1896年成為奧運會項目

　　If the Olympic Games are a history of mankind, wrestling is the prologue. When the ancient Games of the Olympiad were born, wrestling already was an ancient game. Widely recognised as the world's oldest competitive sport, wrestling appeared in a series of Egyptian wall paintings as many as 5000 years ago. When the Games began in 776 BC, more than two millenniums later, it included wrestling, and, in the years that followed, wrestling featured as the main event.

　　如果說奧林匹克運動是一部人類的歷史，那么摔跤就是這部歷史的序幕。當古代奧林匹克誕生之時，摔跤早已是一項古代的運動了。摔跤被公認為是世界上最早的競技體育運動，早在5000年前，埃及就出現了一系列含有摔跤場面的壁畫。又過了2000多年，當古代奧運會在公元前776年誕生之時，摔跤就是其中的一項比賽，而且一直是歷屆奧運會的主要比賽項目。

　　The sport would return in a similar role when the Olympic Games returned after a 1500-year absence in 1896. Organisers, seeking direct links to ancient times, found a natural in the sport that had enjoyed popularity across much of the ancient world, from Greece, Assyria and Babylon to India, China and Japan. They resurrected Greco-Roman wrestling, a style they believed to be an exact carryover from the Greek and Roman wrestlers of old.

　　在古代奧運會中斷1500年后，現代奧運會于1896年興起，摔跤也隨即找回了在奧運會中的位置。組織者在尋找與古代奧運會的直接聯(lián)系過程中，自然而然地選中了摔跤運動，因為它曾在古代風靡世界大多數地方，從希臘、亞述、巴比倫到印度、中國和日本。所以他們原封不動地模仿古希臘和古羅馬摔跤手的遺風，重現了“古典式摔跤”。

　　In Greco-Roman wrestling, the wrestlers used only their arms and upper bodies to attack. They could hold only those same parts of their opponents. It worked nicely from a historical perspective, but another breezier style was sweeping across Great Britain and the United States by then. Known as "catch as catch can", it had become standard fare - and popular professional entertainment - at fairs and festivals in both countries.

　　在古典式摔跤比賽中，摔跤選手只能用雙臂和上半身去攻擊對手，也只能扭抱對手的這些部位。從歷史的角度來說，古典式摔跤是一項不錯的運動。但同時另一種更加自由的摔跤形式風靡了整個英國和美國。這種自由式摔跤被稱為“想抓哪就抓哪”的運動，而且在這兩個國家里成為了人們在市集和節(jié)日里常見的節(jié)目，甚至成為流行的娛樂職業(yè)。

　　In 1904, the Olympic Games added the second wrestling event and called it "freestyle". Now, wrestlers could use their legs for pushing, lifting and tripping, and they could hold opponents above or below the waist.

　　1904年，奧運會增添了一項摔跤項目，名為“自由式摔跤”。自由式摔跤允許選手用腿來壓迫、挑起和絆倒對手，也允許扭抱對手腰部以上或腰部以下的部位。