Me? Commenting on badminton? 吓！我也來評羽毛球？

Lin Dan (left) and Lee Zhong Wei

I normally only watch sports on TV when there’s no escape. But the Olympic badminton final last night was a great match, and unexpectedly emotional for a game involving two guys taking turns whacking a bunch of feathers. Both China's Chen Long and Denmark's Axelsen broke down sobbing (hey, not just tears in the eye!) after defeating retiring icons Lee Zhong Wei and Lin Dan respectively to snatch gold and bronze. It was a moment.

家裡沒有電視，也一向不留意體壇的我，昨天偶然在酒樓看了奧運羽毛球決賽。太精彩了！諶龍和丹麥的 Axelsen 分別擊敗雄霸羽毛球壇十多年的李宗偉和林丹後，都激動得伏在地上哭不成聲。以為看兩個大男人追著一撮羽毛拍打，誰知幾乎看出眼淚。

Malaysia’s Lee and China's Lin, now in their 30s, have been competing at the top and dominating the sport for more than a decade. Lin won the last two Olympics. On each of these occasions, Lee had to settle for a silver. This year, Lin will go home empty-handed for the first time, while Lee gets yet another silver after losing to younger Chen Long. For someone with medals overflowing from kitchen cabinets, including three Olympic silvers, retiring without an Olympic gold is a hero's regret.

Arch-rivals Lee and Lin have become best friends through the game, challenging and encouraging each other to higher grounds, while competing fiercely over the years. They are soon to be defeated by time, leaving behind a legacy of athletic excellence, sportsmanship, and friendship in an arena increasingly tainted by money, arrogance, politics, vanity and drugs.

馬來西亞的李宗偉和中國的「超級丹」林丹都是30過外的「老將」。兩人雄霸球壇十年以上，在無數國際賽事上較量過。林丹是上兩屆奧運的金牌得主。李宗偉兩次都拿銀牌，笑問蒼天既生偉何生丹。今年林丹首次空手而回。李宗偉則命中注定地再擇銀牌。滿屋獎牌的他，終於與奧金無緣，是個英雄遺憾。

「死對頭」林丹和李宗偉是典型的識英雄重英雄，兩人球場上不讓寸分，私底下卻是至友，互相鼓勵，攜手更上一層樓。但兩位球壇巨人最後都敵不過時間。下一屆的奧運羽毛球場，將會是另一批健將的天下。但願林丹和李宗偉的天份，努力，體育精神和友誼，能夠在越來越被金錢，虛榮，霸道，政治和藥物污染的體壇上留下一點餘輝。

The photos were downloaded from the internet without source identification. Thanks anyways.

此文中的照片都是網上下载的。没有来源资料。反正感激借用！