Only half an hour ago I was in Uchisaiwaicho a few minutes' walk from Metro Shimbashi Station in Central Tokyo, cheering on elite athletes who raced in the Tokyo Marathon 2020. I'm now at a Starbucks Cafe on Corridor Street between Ginza and Shinbashi, reflecting on the excitement of the last 2 kilometers of the race. By now the crowd at finish line must be going wild as they welcome home one finishing running after another.
内幸町での応援を終え、銀座七丁目はコリドー通りにある珈琲屋で寛いでいる。今頃ゴールは歓喜と興奮に沸き立っているだろう。
The race this year was a sheer joy for someone who enjoys watching a marathon. My eyes were particularly riveted to the expressions runners showed as they passed by. They are so rich in variety. Also, I was once again totally knocked out by how beautiful some elite female runners were.
さるにても今年の大会は見どころが満載だった。分けても目を引いたのは、選手達の見せる表情の豊かさと、女子アスリートの美しさだ。
Runners run in all kinds of expressions. Some look straight head, as if saying, "I mean business." Others smile at you as you cheer them on. Others looked fatigued and weak, looking down as if to avoid the eye contact with cheerers. Yet others ran in grimace, looking like a philosopher torn between two horns of moral dilemma. The variety of their expressions almost seems tantamount to the diversity of insects in a tropical jungle.
レース中のランナーの表情は実に多様だ。口を真一文字に結んで真っ直ぐに前を見つめてひた走る者、声援に笑みを浮かべて目線で応える者、疲労と落胆に打ちひしがれ下をうつむき走る者、幻の星を掴もうと手を伸ばす熱病の人のように悩ましい苦悩を眉間の皺に滲ませる者…。かくも単純な「走る」という行為をしながら、一人ひとりのランナーが見せる表情の多様性は、熱帯の密林に潜む昆虫の種類のように千差万別で、またロシア文学の長編小説のように豊かな奥行きに満ちていて圧巻だ！
And let's not forget how beautiful women are when they run!! They beauty can be divided into two categories. One is beauty of their dynamism. Their smooth move forward makes it look almost effortless. Smoothness is paramount in African female runners. They make their surrounding, which consists of ugly grey concrete buildings, look like the African savanna of red soil and blue sky where low bush grows and animals eat it. Their beauty is natural beauty of a wild cherry tree that blooms in the middle of a spring mountain without the aid of human care.
そして、女子アスリートの美しさ。それは二種類に分類できた。一つはアフリカ勢トップ選手達の美しい躍動感だ。その美しさは、内幸町のコンクリートジャングルを一瞬にして赤土と青空のサバンナに錯覚させる魔法の呪文のような神秘に溢れていた。その美しさは、生まれ持った身体的な才能を素直に伸長した結果辿り着く自然美のような美しさで、誰も手入れをしないのに山の中腹で見事に咲き誇る山桜のような美しさだった。
On the other hand, there is also a static beauty of muscle that well-trained female athletes show. I particularly admire their well-toned calf and hamstring, and the beauty they radiate the moment their foot strikes the land. Well-shaped bundles of muscle tissues get clearly carved out, looking as if the top of an aged mountain range. The skin, wet with sweat and slightly tanned from thousands of hours of hard training under the sun, glitters in the sun, giving their muscles melancholic and yet almost divine shades. It is a man-made beauty as opposed to natural beauty. It is the beauty of a 'bonsai' tree that has been carefully grown into a particular shape with ultimate intent and care.
一方もう1つの美しさは、訓練されたアスリートの肉体そのものの美しさだ。分けても着地の瞬間に怒張する脹脛と腿裏の筋肉の美しさは私の目を釘付けにした。ある日本人女性アスリートの脚の筋肉は、着地の瞬間筋繊維の一本一本が見事に隆起して、その姿はまるでなだらかな山脈の山波を模したジオラマを見ているようだった。また練習で日焼けした肌は、滲む汗が強い陽射しを照り返して、隆起した筋繊維の一本一本に、ほとんど神々しいまでの陰影を添えるのだった。アフリカ勢の躍動感の美しさが山桜の美しさだったらば、彼女の美しさには、意図を待って練磨された肉体の最高峰の美の形、考えに考え抜いて到達した肉体美の究極、言わば「盆栽」のｴﾛｽとも言うべき美が、滴り落ちるように感じられた。・・・。
The Japanese female runner who is the owner of the beautiful calf and hamstring I rambled on raced away, but her back was radiating pride. She makes me think that the body that is disciplined with a sense of purpose and commitment inevitably acquires pride as its inseparable quality.
美しい筋肉の幻影を残して走り去る女性ランナーの後ろ姿は、誇りに輝いていた。私は思う。意図をもって練磨された肉体は、自尊心を獲得するのだと。まる。
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