《奋起》:纪念美国花样滑冰队1961年空难

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，一架载运美国花样滑冰选手、教练和家属的客机在飞往布鲁塞尔途中坠毁，机上乘客全部遇难。

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.

当时美国花样滑冰队正要前往匈牙利首都布拉格参加1961年世界花样滑冰锦标赛。比赛在空难发生后宣布取消。50年后的今天，美国滑冰界仍然难以忘怀这起悲剧。

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.

一部名为《奋起》的纪录片目前正在全美国发行上映，纪念那次不幸事故的遇难者，并且讲述美国花样滑冰界东山再起的感人故事。

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.

那次空难重创了美国花样滑冰界。参加世界大赛的全部18名选手、16名国际滑冰组织的官员、裁判、教练和家人，以及27名其他旅客和机组人员，全部罹难。

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.

灾难发生后不到一个星期，18名遇难的美国运动员的纪念基金成立了。时至今日，这个基金仍在资助滑冰选手上场练习、比赛和上学学习。

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

美国花样滑冰队的协调人朱丽·施米茨向记者谈到1961年那支滑冰队留下的持久影响。

"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."

她说：“这项纪念基金是1961年花样滑冰队留下来的长远遗产，它到今天还在发挥作用。每年，它为滑冰选手提供30万美元。选手们可以用这些钱来补贴训练和学习费用。所以，这确实是他们的长期遗产。”

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.

当纪录片《奋起》在全国放映时，人们将记起今年是美国花样滑冰队遇难50周年。

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

全国各地的滑冰俱乐部都在推介这部影片。门票收入将直接拨给纪念基金。

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.

施米茨说，纪念活动把年青一代滑冰选手和1961年遇难的选手联系起来了。她相信，这部纪录影片对老一代的滑冰选手以及对那场空难所知不多的年轻滑冰选手都有意义。

"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."

她说：“我们觉得这是美国历史和美国花样滑冰史中一个非常重要的时刻。它告诉美国年青一代和年青的滑冰选手当年发生的事情，它也让没有看过花样滑冰的人感动，因为这是一个非常引人入胜的故事。”

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

这部纪录片的目的也在于记录美国花样滑冰运动的成长过程，以及这项运动如何从悲剧中再生。

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.

《奋起》描述了从那场空难以来，每一代花样滑冰选手都以某种方式下，和1961年选手队发生着关连。

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.

施米茨说：“你越是深入了解，你就越明白每个人是如何相互联系在一起的。那些遇难运动员和教练的亲友们讲述的故事，使你对这些事感同身受。”

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，这部影片能激励滑冰选手和那些对滑冰运动不大了解的人们。

"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."

她说：“这部影片的基调非常奋发向上，你看完之后会有回到冰场、再努一把力的感觉；会兴致高昂，想去滑冰。我们希望，人们想去滑冰，不会滑冰的人想学滑冰。电影也揭示了人类精神，每个人看过这部影片的人都会觉得不虚此行。”

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.

在那次空难之后举行的第一次美国全国花样滑冰锦标赛中，已经退役的巴巴拉·罗尔斯·威廉斯重新披挂上阵，赢得金牌。美国花样滑冰运动渐渐恢复盛况。在1964年奥运会上，美国男子、女子和双人滑选手都进入前十名，并且赢得一枚铜牌。1968年在法国格勒诺布尔奥运会赛场上，佩姬·弗莱明赢得女子单人滑金牌，迪姆·伍德赢得男子单人滑银牌。