溫網選手順手牽羊 毛巾告急

Despite being among the wealthiest athletes in the world, Wimbledon's biggest names all clamour over the same must-have freebie at Wimbledon: the tournament towel.

儘管參加溫網的選手都屬世界上最富有的運動員之列，但他們卻都鍾情於相同的比賽必備用品：那就是比賽用的毛巾。

At least 4,000 towels go missing each year as players - including the likes of Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams - stash away as many as they can fit in their holdalls.

每年都會有至少4000條毛巾在賽後無法收回，因爲很多諸如安迪•穆雷、諾瓦克•德約科維奇和小威廉姆斯這樣的運動員會把很多毛巾私藏進網球包裏帶走。

However, this year the All England Club has come up with a new ploy to put off younger players from joining the craze - by offering them plain white towels, instead of the senior players' brightly-coloured versions.

對此，全英網球俱樂部今年想出新的對策，他們爲年輕選手提供的不再是老選手那種色彩鮮亮的毛巾，而是普通的白毛巾，以防止他們跟風效仿，賽後順走毛巾。

George Spring, Wimbledon's Court Attending Manager, told how he has come to expect that the club will only get back three quarters of the 6,000 towels they produce for the tournament each year.

溫布爾登網球場主管喬治•斯普林告訴記者，每年他們都會爲比賽準備6000條毛巾，但最後預計能收回的只有四分之三。

He said: "The juniors for many years I believe were having a competition to see how many they can get. But our policy now is that if they do ask for another towel we will give them a white towel and they soon don't ask for another when that happens.

斯普林說：“我覺得年輕選手之間這麼多年來一直存在一種攀比現象，他們會比賽看誰拿到的毛巾最多。所以我們現在規定，如果他們想索要第二條毛巾，我們只爲其提供普通白毛巾，這樣他們很快就不會再索求更多的毛巾了。

"We are trying to break in the next generation of towel connoisseurs."

“我們正想方設法阻止順毛巾這一不良風氣在年輕一代中蔓延。”

The biggest towel fiend of all is Serena, Mr Spring, now on his 16th championship, added. "Serena is a legend as far as towels go and she would have to buy a second house... The towel thing has always been a little bit kept in secrecy."

參與了16屆溫網賽事的斯普林先生補充說，小威廉姆斯可以說是順毛巾的一把好手。“小威廉姆斯可以算是順毛巾的‘傳奇’，她得再買套房子（來裝毛巾）……但對於拿毛巾一事溫網組委會通常表示默許。”

He said there was no limit on how many towels a player could ask for and that both the Williams sisters had "a reputation" when it came to walking away with towels.

斯普林先生說，以前運動員索要毛巾的數量是沒有限制的，威廉姆斯姐妹都經常索要毛巾。

"Imagine Serena Williams, if the chair umpire said Serena, that's your limit, that would make headlines."

“設想一下，如果主裁判對小威廉姆斯說，你不能再拿毛巾了，她保證可以上第二天的頭條。”

The players make no secret of their appetite for the towels.

運動員們倒是對他們順毛巾的事毫不避諱。

Murray said on Saturday that he picked up towels for his wife and friends, adding: "I got one for her in the first round. Gave one to my physio."

穆雷週六說他拿了毛巾給他的妻子和朋友們，“在打第一輪的時候我就拿了一條給我的妻子，另外一條給了隊醫。”

"I normally take one each day and give it to someone on my team. I don't keep them. But my wife likes them. I think they're quite good quality towels."

“我通常每天都會拿一條毛巾給我隊裏的其他人。我不會把它們佔爲己有，但我的妻子很喜歡這些毛巾，我想是因爲這些毛巾質量很不錯。”

Meanwhile, Djokovic said: “I kind of plan in advance space in half of a bag or an entire new bag for the towels that I take from Wimbledon."

同時德約科維奇也說：“我會提前騰出半個包或者拿個新包來裝溫網的毛巾。”

Serena's sister Venus also admitted: "Well, I've got a lot at home. Got some since '97. Got some men's towels, too. You can do a barter program, trade 'em up. Black market on towels."

大威廉姆斯也承認說：“恩，我也拿了很多帶回家，從1997年開始我就這麼幹了。我也拿過男士毛巾。你可以拿它作爲交換，或者拿去賣。黑市上有很多交易溫網毛巾的。”

Mr Spring, now on his 16th championship, said that some players were taking as many as eight towels a game and although in the past it may have been frowned upon this means they now "go all around the world to advertise this wonderful tournament".

斯普林先生如今參與了16屆溫網賽，他表示，一些運動員在一場比賽後會拿走大約八條毛巾。雖然在過去人們對這一行爲感到不滿，但現在這意味着他們會通過“帶着毛巾走遍世界來宣傳溫網這一精彩賽事”。

The towels that are not taken are laundered and sold to charity.

而那些留下的毛巾會在洗滌後賣給慈善機構。