It’s not a chocolate coin wrapped in gold foil, people. That’s actual metal that composes that Olympic medal, so why do athletes bite them?
大伙兒，這可不是包裹在金箔紙里的金幣巧克力，奧運(yùn)會(huì)金牌是貨真價(jià)實(shí)的金屬制品，那為什么運(yùn)動(dòng)員熱衷于咬金牌?
There’s actually a few reasons, but the most obvious is that it’s a pose photographers really, really like to capture.
還真有幾種解釋，但最明顯的一個(gè)原因是，這是一個(gè)攝影師非常喜歡捕捉的拍照造型。
“It’s become an obsession with the photographers,” David Wallechinsky, the president of the International Society of Olympic Historians and co-author of “The Complete Book of the Olympics” told CNN in 2012. “I think they look at it as an iconic shot, as something that you can probably sell. I don’t think it’s something the athletes would probably do on their own.”
國(guó)際奧林匹克歷史學(xué)家協(xié)會(huì)主席、《奧運(yùn)大全》的合著者戴維沃利金斯基在2012年接受CNN采訪時(shí)說：“這已成為攝影師癡迷的拍照造型，我覺得他們把這看作一種標(biāo)志性的鏡頭，認(rèn)為這樣的照片會(huì)比較受歡迎。不過如果讓運(yùn)動(dòng)員自己選的話，我覺得他們還真不一定會(huì)這么做�！�
Biting down on a hunk of metal is more likely something someone might have done during the Gold Rush to test whether the shiny golden rock they just panned for was actually pyrite or fool’s gold. Human teeth are harder than gold but softer than pyrite, according to the Mohs Hardness Scale. This means a quick gnaw to real gold would actually leave an indentation. A hard chew of pyrite, meanwhile, might damage your teeth.
對(duì)著大塊的金屬咬下去，這更像是淘金熱時(shí)期的人可能做的事情，目的是測(cè)試剛淘出來的金光閃閃的石塊是否只是黃鐵礦或者愚人金。根據(jù)莫氏硬度表，人類牙齒的硬度比黃金大但比黃鐵礦小。這意味著迅速咬一下真正的黃金，會(huì)留下牙印。而使勁咬黃鐵礦則可能會(huì)毀掉你的牙齒。
The practice also once served to see whether coins were solid gold or just gold-plated over a cheaper metal, Today I Found Out explains.
《今日發(fā)現(xiàn)》解釋稱，這一做法也曾用來判斷硬幣是純金的，還是用較便宜的金屬鍍金的。
With that in mind, it’s likely that Old West/pirate lore led to someone once biting their Olympic medal in a spontaneous, “Is this real life?” moment, and the photographers thought it was cute. Because if someone really was hoping to discover whether that gold medal is pure gold, their smiles would quickly fade.
考慮到這一點(diǎn)，在懷疑“這一切都是真的么?”的獲獎(jiǎng)時(shí)刻，很可能是西方古代或海盜的傳說曾使某個(gè)人自發(fā)地咬了一下奧運(yùn)金牌，而攝影師認(rèn)為這個(gè)動(dòng)作很可愛。因?yàn)槿绻嬗腥讼Ｍ麥y(cè)試那枚金牌是不是純金的，他們的笑容很快就會(huì)消失。
Olympic gold medals are actually just 1.34 percent gold. The rest is sterling silver. And much of it is recycled silver this time around, which makes the 20-16 Rio medals “the most sustainable ever made,” according to Forbes magazine contributor Anthony DeMarco. DeMarco says the materials that make up a “gold” medal are worth $564.
奧運(yùn)金牌實(shí)際上含金量只有1.34%，其余的都是標(biāo)準(zhǔn)純銀。福布斯雜志撰稿人安東尼德馬科稱，本屆奧運(yùn)會(huì)大部分用的是回收銀，這使2016年里約奧運(yùn)金牌成為“有史以來最可持續(xù)的”。德馬科表示，一枚“金”牌的制作材料價(jià)值564美元。
花絮：有人因此崩斷門牙……
咬金牌的傳統(tǒng)也曾造成意外。在2010溫哥華冬奧中贏得仰式雪橇銀牌的德國(guó)選手默勒(David Moeller)，就在拍照時(shí)不小心咬斷了他的門牙。部分選手也選擇親吻金牌。
最讓人難忘的是美國(guó)游泳名將羅切特，2009年7月30日，在意大利羅馬舉行的第13屆世界游泳錦標(biāo)賽男子200米個(gè)人混合泳決賽中，美國(guó)名將羅切特以1分54秒10的成績(jī)奪冠并打破由隊(duì)友菲爾普斯保持的原世界紀(jì)錄，在領(lǐng)獎(jiǎng)臺(tái)上羅切特戴鉆石牙套咬金牌，成為亮點(diǎn)。
Vocabulary
fool's gold：“愚人之金”，是像金子般發(fā)光卻沒有任何真金的一種石頭的名稱。