She’s a Pole Vaulter， and She’s Blind

For three years， Charlotte Brown has been chasing a medal. She has been trying to jump over a bar[長棍] she couldn’t see.

The senior pole vaulter[撐桿跳高運動員] finally cleared that bar. She earned a third-place finish at the Texas state high school championships[錦標(biāo)賽]. And joining her on the podium[指揮臺] was her guide dog， Vador.

Brown is blind. Yet that’s not stopped her quest to become one of the best in an event that would seem so difficult.

“I finally did it，” Brown said. “If I could send a message to anybody， it’s not about pole vaulting and it’s not about track. It’s about finding something that makes you happy despite whatever obstacles[障礙] are in your way.”

Brown had qualified[使具有資格] for the state meet[比賽會] each year since 2013. She attends Emory Rains High School. She finished eighth as a sophomore and improved to fourth as a junior.

At her hotel room before the finals， Stori Brown tried to give her daughter some helpful advice. Her mom wanted her to know that it was important to remember that she was one of the few to make it this far. And that was whether she won a medal or not.

“No，” Charlotte replied. “I need to be on that podium.”

Brown was born with normal vision. She developed cataracts[白內(nèi)障] when she was 16 weeks old. That led to the first of several operations. Her vision was alright until she was about 11. Then it started to worsen.

By 2013， she still had a small window of sight. But she couldn’t see color or tell shapes from shadows. Brown is now blind. While not faced with total darkness， her mother described what remains as a “jigsaw puzzle[七巧板]” of mixed up shades of light and dark.

Despite her disability[殘疾]， Brown takes pride in her fierce[強烈的] spirit of independence[獨立]. It comes from growing up in a family with two older brothers. They pushed her to help herself in the rural[鄉(xiāng)下的] town of Emory.

Run down a track and hurtle[猛沖] herself more than 11 feet into the air？ No problem.

Brown first took up pole vaulting in seventh grade. Why？ She wanted to do something a little “dangerous and exciting.”She counts the seven steps of her left foot on her approach[靠近]. She listens for the sound of a beeper[發(fā)出嗶嗶聲的儀器] placed on the mat. That tells her when to plant the pole and push up.

At the state meet， Vador walked her to the warmup area.

Brown missed her first attempts[嘗試] at 10-0 feet and 10-6. She cleared them both on her second try. She cleared 11-0 on her first attempt. Then she made it over 11-6. She guaranteed[保證] herself a medal when two other vaulters couldn’t reach that height， leaving Brown among the last three in the field.

She made three attempts at 11-9 but missed each one. She briefly dropped her shoulders and shook her head after her final attempt. Then she got to her feet to thank the crowd for their ovation[歡呼]. It came from several hundred fans she could hear but not see.

“She came to win，” said her father， Ian Brown.“As parents， we are thrilled[極為激動的] she got on the podium.”

“I don’t know how many people could do that，”Sydney King， who won gold at a height of 12-3， said.“Her story， she’s what keeps me going when things aren’t going right for me.”

Brown is headed to Purdue University on an academic[學(xué)術(shù)的] scholarship[獎學(xué)金]. She plans to walk on in track.

“It took me three years to get on the podium. And I finally did it，” Brown said. “This story...really wasn’t about me. It was about everybody that struggles with something.”

三年來，夏洛特·布朗都在追求一塊獎牌。她一直試圖跳過一根她看不見的竿。

這位高四撐桿跳運動員終于戰(zhàn)勝了那根橫竿。她在（美國）德克薩斯州高中錦標(biāo)賽中獲得了第三名。和她一同站到領(lǐng)獎臺的還有她的導(dǎo)盲犬維達。

布朗是一名盲人。盡管這項運動對盲人而言似乎難于登天，然而這阻止不了她想成為個中翹楚的決心。

“我終于做到了?！辈祭收f。“如果我能向所有人傳達一條信息，那它絕對不是關(guān)于撐桿跳或田徑，而是關(guān)于哪怕障礙重重，也要找到讓你快樂的東西?！?/p>

自2013年以來，布朗每一年都成功躋身州比賽。她就讀于埃默里雷恩斯高中。高二的時候她拿到第八名，到高三時就上升到第四了。

總決賽前夕，斯托里·布朗在酒店房間里希望為女兒提供一些有用的建議。她的媽媽希望她明白，能走到這一步的人屈指可數(shù)，她就是其中一個，記住這點很重要。能不能拿到獎牌并不能改變這個事實。

“不。”夏洛特回答道?！拔乙呱夏莻€領(lǐng)獎臺?！?/p>

布朗出生時視力正常，16周的時候才出現(xiàn)白內(nèi)障。她隨后接受了幾次手術(shù)。一直到11歲左右，她的視力還算可以，但此后就開始惡化。

到了2013年，她還有零星視力，但無法看見顏色或辨認陰影。布朗現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)看不見東西了。她的母親形容說，盡管夏洛特面對的不是完全黑暗，但她看到的是明暗混雜、“七巧板”那樣的圖像。

盡管身患殘疾，布朗強烈的獨立性格讓她引以為傲。這種精神得益于其成長環(huán)境—她有兩個哥哥，是他們促使她在埃默里這個鄉(xiāng)村自力更生的。

跑過一段跑道，然后縱身一躍跳過11英尺（3.35米）？沒有問題。

布朗讀7年級的時候開始玩撐桿跳。為什么玩撐桿跳？因為她想做些有點“危險刺激”的事。跑向橫竿時，她會數(shù)著左腳跑了七步；她還會聽擺在（橫竿處）墊子上的一個發(fā)聲儀的聲音，那個儀器會告訴她什么時候插竿、起跳。

在州比賽中，維達帶著她走到熱身區(qū)。

在10英尺（3.05米）和10英尺6英寸（3.2米）這兩個高度，布朗的第一跳均沒有成功，都是在第二跳通過的。11英尺（3.35米）這個高度她第一跳就成功了；然后她又跳過了11英尺6英寸（3.5米）。當(dāng)另外兩名選手沒能跳過這個高度時，布朗肯定能拿到獎牌，因為賽場上只剩下三名選手了。

她在11英尺9英寸（3.58米）這個高度試跳了三次，但都沒有成功。最后一跳之后，她垂下肩膀，搖了搖頭，然后站起身來，感謝觀眾的歡呼。這些歡呼聲來自數(shù)百名她能聽見但看不見的粉絲。

“她來就是為了贏?！彼母赣H伊恩·布朗說?！白鳛楦改?，她能走到領(lǐng)獎臺上，我們非常激動。”

“我不知道有多少人能做到?！币?2英尺3英寸（3.72米）的成績贏得金牌的悉尼·金說。“她的故事……當(dāng)我遇到任何不順時，她就是我堅持下去的動力?！?/p>

拿到學(xué)業(yè)獎學(xué)金的布朗即將進入普渡大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)，她打算繼續(xù)她的田徑事業(yè)。

“我花了三年時間才走上領(lǐng)獎臺。我最終做到了?！辈祭收f?！斑@個故事……講的其實不是我，而是和困難奮戰(zhàn)的每一個人。”

Rnow More

在美國，高中一般有四年，各年級學(xué)生的稱呼如下：

9th Grade student =Freshman

10th Grade student =Sophomore

11th Grade student =Junior

12th Grade student =Senior