修文乔

When you are born with congenital heart failure the odds are stacked against you. No one would expect you to be a superstar athlete， and any thoughts of being an Olympic winner are dismal. Yet， snow boarder Shaun White has proven that he can be that and more.

[2] White was born with a congenital heart defect called tetralogy of fallot， in which the heart has four abnormalities. Within his first year of life White had undergone two open heart surgeries. It was a mere five years later that he stepped foot on a snow board and found his calling. From ages 6 to 12 White racked up snow and skate boarding trophies all over California， eventually going pro at the age of 13. Not only is White the first two-time Olympic gold medalist in his sport he was also the first person to compete in the 2003 Summer and Winter X games.

[3] It seems that for Shaun， his heart condition as a child hasn’t stood in the way of something he was destined to do. In actuality it’s just a tiny part of what makes him the success he is today.

[4] After wining his second gold White was interviewed by Oprah and said of his accomplishments：

“It brings me back to all the kinds of strange times， because when my parents first got introduced to snow boarding and I started snow boarding there were no Olympics， no X games， no money or anything in the sport， they just basically knew I had a talent and went for it.” White goes on to say： “I had some heart conditions when I was born so going from that struggle to now letting me go out there and do all these things…you put a dream in front of somebody and it just seems so close and I said I can do this and I just took every step towards it.”

如果生來就患有先天性心脏衰竭，那么你成功的机会将非常渺茫。没有人会指望你成为超级体育明星，成为奥运冠军的想法更是遥不可及。然而，单板滑雪选手肖恩·怀特却向我们证明，他不仅能够实现这些目标，而且可以做得更好。

[2]怀特是先天性心脏缺陷患者，他所患的法洛四联症由心脏的四种畸形组成。怀特1岁时就接受过两次心脏手术。仅仅五年之后，他就开始练习单板滑雪，找到了毕生的追求。从6岁到12岁，怀特横扫加利福尼亚州单板滑雪和滑板运动奖杯，最终在13岁时成为职业单板运动员。在他的运动生涯中，他不仅是首个两次摘得冬奥会单板滑雪项目金牌的运动员，而且也是2003年夏季和冬季极限赛双料金牌第一人。

[3]对于肖恩而言，他童年时期的心脏病似乎并未成为他命运的羁绊。事实上，那只是他成功道路上的小插曲。

[4]怀特第二次夺金后，面对奥普拉的采访，他这样谈及自己的成就：

“这让我回想起过去的点滴时光，因为当我的父母开始接触单板滑雪，我开始参加这项运动时，单板滑雪还没有成为奥运项目，没有设立极限赛，也没有经济回报或其他任何好处，他们只是认为我有天赋，鼓励我参加。”怀特继续说：“我患有先天心脏疾病，一路与病魔抗争，现在终于能够远离疾病，全身心投入运动……你把梦想放在一个人面前，梦想离他那么近，我说我可以，于是一步一个脚印地实现了。”  □

[译者单位：中国石油大学（北京）]