《奮起》:紀念美國花樣滑冰隊1961年空難

On February 15, 1961, tragedy struck when the plane carrying the United States figure skating team, coaches and family members perished en route to Brussels, Belgium, killing all passengers.

1961年2月15日，一架載運美國花樣滑冰選手、教練和家屬的客機在飛往布魯塞爾途中墜毀，機上乘客全部遇難。

The American squad was on its way to the 1961 Figure Skating World Championships in Prague that was canceled after the accident. Fifty years later, the legacy of the crash still resonates with the skating community.

當時美國花樣滑冰隊正要前往匈牙利首都布拉格參加1961年世界花樣滑冰錦標賽。比賽在空難發生後宣佈取消。50年後的今天，美國滑冰界仍然難以忘懷這起悲劇。

Film chronicles 1961 plane crash that killed skaters

A documentary film, RISE, is being released nationwide Thursday night to commemorate those affected by the tragedy and to spread word of the sport’s inspiring tale of starting over.

一部名爲《奮起》的紀錄片目前正在全美國發行上映，紀念那次不幸事故的遇難者，並且講述美國花樣滑冰界東山再起的感人故事。

The crash devastated the U.S. figure skating community. All 18 members of the world team along with 16 international officials, judges, coaches and family members lost their lives, as well as the 27 other passengers and 11 flight crew members on the plane.

那次空難重創了美國花樣滑冰界。參加世界大賽的全部18名選手、16名國際滑冰組織的官員、裁判、教練和家人，以及27名其他旅客和機組人員，全部罹難。

The US Figure Skating Memorial Fund, started to support competitive skaters

Barely a week after the tragedy, a memorial fund was established for the 18 U.S. athletes who lost their lives. To this day, skaters are benefiting from the fund that aims to provide athletes with monetary assistance both on the rink and in the classroom.

災難發生後不到一個星期，18名遇難的美國運動員的紀念基金成立了。時至今日，這個基金仍在資助滑冰選手上場練習、比賽和上學學習。

Julie Schmitz, the U.S. figure skating teams coordinator, told VOA about the lasting influence of the 1961 team.

美國花樣滑冰隊的協調人朱麗·施米茨向記者談到1961年那支滑冰隊留下的持久影響。

"The memorial fund is really the 1961 team’s lasting legacy because it exists still today,” she said. “And it contributes over $300,000 every year to current skaters. Skaters can use that to supplement their training or academics. So that’s really sort of their lasting legacy."

她說：“這項紀念基金是1961年花樣滑冰隊留下來的長遠遺產，它到今天還在發揮作用。每年，它爲滑冰選手提供30萬美元。選手們可以用這些錢來補貼訓練和學習費用。所以，這確實是他們的長期遺產。”

Commerating 50 years

The 50th anniversary milestone will be brought into the public light when the documentary film RISE is released in theaters nationwide for a one-time showing. The commemoration has helped connect the younger generation of skaters to those who perished in 1961.

當紀錄片《奮起》在全國放映時，人們將記起今年是美國花樣滑冰隊遇難50週年。

Skating clubs across the United States have been promoting the film, whose admission proceeds go directly towards the memorial fund.

全國各地的滑冰俱樂部都在推介這部影片。門票收入將直接撥給紀念基金。

Schmitz believes the film speaks to both the past generation of skaters and the up-and-comers who may not understand the scope of the incident.

施米茨說，紀念活動把年青一代滑冰選手和1961年遇難的選手聯繫起來了。她相信，這部紀錄影片對老一代的滑冰選手以及對那場空難所知不多的年輕滑冰選手都有意義。

"We feel like this is a very significant moment in American history and in U.S. figure skating history,” she said. “It is telling the younger generation and younger skaters all about what happened. But it also is touching people who haven’t seen figure skating because it is such an interesting story."

她說：“我們覺得這是美國曆史和美國花樣滑冰史中一個非常重要的時刻。它告訴美國年青一代和年青的滑冰選手當年發生的事情，它也讓沒有看過花樣滑冰的人感動，因爲這是一個非常引人入勝的故事。”

The film also aims to capture the growth of American figure skating and how the sport rose from the tragedy.

這部紀錄片的目的也在於記錄美國花樣滑冰運動的成長過程，以及這項運動如何從悲劇中再生。

Many young coaches and retired skaters were forced into the spotlight and step up for their friends and family members that perished.

RISE depicts how every generation of figure skaters since the accident are connected to the 1961 team in some way.

《奮起》描述了從那場空難以來，每一代花樣滑冰選手都以某種方式下，和1961年選手隊發生着關連。

To Schmitz much of the figure skating community is linked by this event.

"The more and more you get into it, the more you learn about how everyone is connected, and to hear the stories from their surviving friends and relatives, the more real it becomes,” she said.

施米茨說：“你越是深入瞭解，你就越明白每個人是如何相互聯繫在一起的。那些遇難運動員和教練的親友們講述的故事，使你對這些事感同身受。”

Inspiration for future generations

Schmitz hopes that this film will serve as an inspiration to skaters and those who don’t follow the sport closely.

施米茨希望，這部影片能激勵滑冰選手和那些對滑冰運動不大瞭解的人們。

"It has a very inspirational tone and you’re going to want to walk away feeling like you want to get back up and try again. And you leave feeling very uplifted and excited to skate,” she said. “We hope that lots of people will want to go out and skate and learn to skate if they don’t currently skate. But also it just touches the human spirit. It's definitely going to be a significant experience for anyone who watches the film."

她說：“這部影片的基調非常奮發向上，你看完之後會有回到冰場、再努一把力的感覺；會興致高昂，想去滑冰。我們希望，人們想去滑冰，不會滑冰的人想學滑冰。電影也揭示了人類精神，每個人看過這部影片的人都會覺得不虛此行。”

In the first U.S. National Figure Skating Championships after the fatal crash, Barbara Roles Williams came out of retirement to win the gold medal. The program slowly returned to prominence, with all three entries in men's, women's and pairs finishing in the top 10 at the 1964 Olympics, with one bronze medal. In 1968, Peggy Fleming won the Olympic women's gold medal and fellow-American Tim Wood won the men's silver in Grenoble, France.

在那次空難之後舉行的第一次美國全國花樣滑冰錦標賽中，已經退役的巴巴拉·羅爾斯·威廉斯重新披掛上陣，贏得金牌。美國花樣滑冰運動漸漸恢復盛況。在1964年奧運會上，美國男子、女子和雙人滑選手都進入前十名，並且贏得一枚銅牌。1968年在法國格勒諾布爾奧運會賽場上，佩姬·弗萊明贏得女子單人滑金牌，迪姆·伍德贏得男子單人滑銀牌。