NZ medallists rewarded with ’black gold’ 紐西蘭奪牌選手獲得「黑金」獎賞

NZ medallists rewarded with ’black gold’ 
紐西蘭奪牌選手獲得「黑金」獎賞
2012-08-27◎管淑平

New Zealand competitors who win medals at the London Olympics have been offered an unusual reward - food parcels containing jars of Marmite.
在倫敦奧運贏得獎牌的紐西蘭選手，獲得一項特別獎賞：裝著Marmite酵母醬的食品包裹。

The spread has been in short supply since March, after the manufacturer was forced to close its only factory because of earthquake damage.
製造商因為地震受損而被迫關閉唯一的工廠後，這種抹醬3月起就供應短缺。

The shortage of Marmite has been dubbed "Marmageddon" by the media.
Marmite缺貨被媒體暱稱為「酵母醬末日」。

Since the shortage began, New Zealand media has been filled with stories of newly discovered Marmite stashes in corners of supermarket storerooms.
自從缺貨後，紐西蘭媒體就充斥各超市倉庫角落新發現酵母醬存貨的消息。

Rather than selling its remaining supplies, executives at the Pak’nSave supermarket chain decided to give their stash to customers they felt were deserving of a treat.
Pak’nSave連鎖超市主管決定將剩下的存貨送給他們覺得值得獲此款待的人，而非銷售出去。

Members of the eventing team, who won the country’s first medal, were the first to collect their Marmite.
第一批拿到Marmite酵母醬的，是贏得該國首面奧運獎牌的馬術隊選手。

"Who could be more deserving than our Olympic medallists," said Steve Anderson of the supermarket’s parent company Foodstuffs New Zealand.
「誰能比我們贏得奧運獎牌的選手更值得」，這家超市母公司「紐西蘭食品」公司的史帝夫．安德森說。

"To come to London and prove to the world that they are the best in their discipline is no mean feat. And we thought that a few home comforts after all their hard work wouldn’t go astray."
「到倫敦向世界證明他們是訓練成效最卓著的，這不是件容易的事。我們認為，經過這些辛苦努力後，給一點家鄉味慰勞他們並不為過。」

新聞辭典：

stash：動詞，存放、儲藏在秘密地點；名詞，儲藏物。例句：He stashed large amounts of stolen money away in that warehouse.（他把大筆偷來的錢藏在那間倉庫裡。）

no mean feat：名詞片語，不容易的事，很大的成就。例句：It was no mean feat for the gymnast to perform such a difficult act.（這名體操選手要做出如此困難的動作並非易事。）