《雲雀高飛》
作者：金妍兒
有留意國際新聞的朋友，近來應該會不時看到平昌冬奧的消息，兩韓關係發展成為了其中焦點。比起夏季奧運，冬奧冷門得多，在香港有留意的人應屬少數。然而，今屆平昌冬奧的大使你也許會聽過她的名字——金妍兒。
金妍兒雖已退役，但其實現在僅是芳齡27。有「花滑女王」之稱的她年輕貌美，演員張根碩、泳手朴泰桓，以至足球員朴智星都與她傳過緋聞，使得「金妍兒」這個名字不只出現在體育版，更在很多八卦娛聞之中。
然而，怎樣也不能否認金妍兒是個極出色的花樣滑冰運動員。在2010年，她在未退役，2018冬奧主辦國亦未揭盅之時，就寫下了她的自傳《雲雀高飛》，回顧自己13年在花滑世界的成長歷程。
「雲雀高飛」其實是金妍兒2006至07賽季參賽用的樂曲名稱，而這也正是她首個在成人組的賽季。在此之前她在青少年組的幾個賽季，參與全部賽事非冠即亞，從未落空，早已聲名鵲起。在自傳中，讀者會看到她在這段時期是付出了幾多努力才能換取如此成就。花滑運動員的體育生命非常短暫，20多歲已被視為「老將」。可以想像到，金妍兒自小就要離鄉別井訓練和比賽，這對一個小女孩與其家人來說都是相當深刻的歷練。
雖然名成利就，但金妍兒寫《雲雀高飛》一刻其實只得20歲。在書中，讀者不難體會到一份少女情懷飄散於字裡行間。尤其是書末附錄，這位花滑女王大談自己的愛好與心境，其實也與一般少女無異。冬奧開幕前，讀讀這位宣傳大使的心聲，會令你對花滑運動有更深刻的認識。
The Lark Ascending by Yuna Kim
You might not have paid very close attention to the news about the upcoming Winter Olympics, but you’d probably have heard of the name Yuna Kim, Ambassador of the 2018 Games which will take place in PyeongChang.
Having won multiple championships and silver medals early in her career, the young and beautiful Kim has been deemed the Queen of Figure Skating. The Lark Ascending is an autobiography of Kim with the title taken from the song she competed with during the 2006-07 season. In this book, Kim gives an account of the 13 years of her life she spent figure skating, offering readers a glimpse of the hard work and effort she put in that make her such a success. Kim is already a retired athlete despite the fact that she’s only 27, because figure skaters generally have a very short professional sporting career. One can imagine how unforgettable an experience it must have been for Kim as she had to leave her country and family to train and compete at a very young age.
Kim wrote the book when she was 20, so despite her fame and success, readers can see that she’s no different from an ordinary young girl. This is evident when Kim talks about her hobbies towards the end of the book. Read The Lark Ascending to deepen your understanding of figure skating, now with the Winter Olympics about to open.
蝦叔 