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Even the best athletes in the world, get it horribly wrong once in a while.
即使是世界上最好的运动员，也会时不时地表现不佳。
So, what happens when you take four top sprinters, and ask them to hand over a 30 centimetre baton,
那么，当你带着四个顶尖的短跑运动员，让他们在400米的短跑中，
three times, over 400 metres in a flat-out sprint?
递送三次一根30厘米长的接力棒时会发生什么呢？
Take the US women's 100m relay team at Athens 2004.
以2004年雅典奥运会，美国女子100米接力队为例。
They were favourites to win gold, but disaster struck.
她们是夺金热门，但不幸降临了。
Team USA were disqualified when this happened.
这种事情发生时，美国队便失去了比赛资格。
The baton transfer was just too late.
接力棒移交得太迟了。
Four years later in Beijing, another group of superfast women were dreaming of gold, until they dropped their chance.
四年后，又一队速度超快的女选手梦想夺冠，但她们却失去了机会。
Passing a baton around a track is pretty simple in principle, but doing it at light speed in front of millions can make for interesting viewing.
理论上讲，在跑道上传递接力棒很简单，但在数百万人面前以光速飞驰，就会带来有趣的观赏效果。
They should make the baton something really precious.
他们应该珍视接力棒。
You know, if it was a smartphone, no-one would drop it.
如果是一部手机的的话，没有人会把它扔掉。
Yeah, I'm going to tweet that.
说的是，我要发推文。
So what's the problem?
那问题出在哪呢？
It can't be lack of practice. Right?
不可能是缺少练习，对吧？
In fact, athletes put a lot of work into perfecting their relay technique.
事实上，运动员在完善接力技术上下了很大功夫。
Right to left.
从右到左。
Left to right.
从左到右。
Early take.
早接
Late take.
晚接。
Upswing.
上接法。
Downswing.
下接法。
Orthodox.
传统接法。
Unorthodox!
反传统式！
Now on to the 2012 Games in London.
现在我们看下2012年伦敦奥运会。
The US women's sprint team had to fix this.
美国女子短跑队不得不解决这个问题。
A third consecutive failure did not bear thinking about.
不能想象连续第三次失败。
Team selection would be key.
团队选择至关重要。
First up was Tianna Madison, a long jump world champion with impressive track speed.
第一棒是田娜·麦迪逊，全球跳远冠军，冲刺速度惊人。
Next, Allyson Felix, also not a 100m specialist, but as the 200m Olympic champion, no-one ran the bend better.
第二棒，艾莉森·费利克斯，她同样不是100米专业选手，但作为200米奥运冠军，没人能在弯道有更好的表现。
Third up, Bianca Knight, the world junior champion.
第三棒是世界青年冠军比安卡·奈特。
And finally, Carmelita Jeter for the last leg.
最后一棒是卡梅丽塔·杰特。
Her job was to close the deal.
她的工作就是顺利完成比赛。
Jeter had run the fastest 100m in the world in 2012.
杰特曾在2012年跑出过100米的世界纪录。
Their closest rivals, Jamaica, were led by 100m gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
她们的劲敌是由100米金牌得主雪莉·安·弗雷泽·普里斯率领的牙买加队。
Madison was to run leadoff against the champ.
麦迪逊要领先于这位冠军。
Fraser-Pryce off like a rocket for Jamaica with Madison outside her.
弗雷泽·普里斯像是牙买加队的火箭炮，麦迪逊在她外侧。
She's going very strongly around the bend.
她在弯道跑得太快了。
She held her own against the Jamaican on the first leg, handing over to Felix.
她在第一段赛程中与牙买加选手一较高下，然后把接力棒交给费利克斯。
The US had a super changeover there...
美国队此时出现逆转。
Felix ran an extraordinary bend, putting the Americans into the lead.
费利克斯弯道跑得极为出色，使美国队领先。
Allyson Felix here to Bianca Knight...
艾莉森·费利克斯此时把接力棒交给奈特。
Wow, terrific run, the Jamaicans are in second place,
哇，跑得棒极了，牙买加队位于第二位，
there's casualties further back but we'll come back to that later because this is a brilliant run.
后面出了点事故，但我们稍后再说，因为跑得实在太精彩了。
It's coming up to the final handover.
她们到达了最后的交接点。
Carmelita Jeter to take the baton.
卡梅丽塔·杰特接过接力棒。
One more to go. Just don't drop it.
还剩一个人，千万别掉棒。
And here they come now. Carmelita Jeter, this is a huge lead for the US.
她们来了，卡梅丽塔·杰特，这对美国队来说是一个巨大的领先优势。
Let's look at the time, this is special.
看下时间，太不寻常了。
This could be a world record by a huge margin.
这可能会成为世界纪录。
40.82.
40.82
We've witnessed history here tonight.
今晚我们在这里见证了历史。
What an amazing performance from the US women.
美国女队表现出色。
This perfect handover enabled Jeter to carry the baton home.
这个完美的交接使杰特能够把交接棒带回了终点。
Her split time over the final 100 metres was a sensational 9.70 seconds.
她在最后100米跑出了9.70秒的惊人成绩。
The US didn't just beat the world record, they shattered it.
美国以优异的成绩刷新了世界纪录。
The East Germans had owned this event in the '70s and '80s, setting a world record that lasted an amazing 27 years.
东德人在70年代和80年代独霸这项赛事，创造了持续27年的世界纪录。
Until now.
一直延续到此时。
It means we're the best in the world, in history and I'm just so happy.
这意味着我们是世界上，有史以来最好的组合，我太高兴了。
We haven't had one since '96 and we're glad to be the team to do it.
我们从96年后就没获胜过，我们很高兴能成为夺冠之队。
We got the stick around. That was the most important thing, and all I knew was I had to bring it home.
我们接住了接力棒，这是最重要的，我只知道我必须把它带到终点。
But I looked at that clock and I saw that we was moving!
但我看了看计时器，发现我们赢了！
Those four women took a massive half a second out of the longest-standing record in women's sprinting.
这四名女性把女子短跑长久保持的记录提升了半秒钟。
The only thing that dropped was the time on the clock.
唯一掉落的是计时器上的时间。
