麻将或成为北京冬奥会比赛项目

China is considering the idea of putting forward a formal application to the International Olympic Committee to consider the traditional Chinese game of Mahjong as an Olympic event.

中国正在考虑向国际奥委会提出正式申请，将中国传统娱乐项目麻将列为一项奥运会比赛项目。

"With Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, we hope that 'mind sports' could become Olympic events at this time," said Chen Zelan, a deputy director of the General Administration of Sport.

国家体育总局副局长陈泽兰表示：“在北京举办2022年冬奥会时，我们希望智力运动也能成为奥运项目。”

Mahjong recently became the sixth officially-recognized 'mind sport' by the International Mind Sports Association (IMSA), following bridge, chess, Go, Chinese chess and international checkers.

最近麻将正式获得了国际智盟认可，成为继桥牌、国际象棋、围棋、象棋和国际跳棋之后的第六项智力运动。

In an effort to support and promote 'mind sports,' Chen Zelan says authorities have put forward Mahjong and other 'mind sports' as an option to make the Games more interesting.

为了支持和促进“智力运动”，陈泽兰表示，当局应当将麻将和其他智力运动作为一个选项，让奥运会更加有趣。

"Some tropical countries, due to various limitations, won't take part in the Winter Olympics. Thus, the IOC is always looking at ways to expand the global reach of the Winter Games. Snow and ice events, plus indoor events, could increase the coverage," said Chen.

陈泽兰表示：“由于种种限制，一些热带地区的国家不能够参加冬奥会。因此，国际奥委会一直在寻找扩大冬奥会全球影响力的方法。冰雪项目加上室内项目，则可以扩大冬奥会的覆盖面。”

"Beijing is to host 2022 Winter Olympics, so at this point we're only discussing the option with Beijing organizers," said Chen.

陈泽兰说道：“北京将主办2022年冬奥会，因此目前我们只和北京东奥主办方商讨这一可能性。”

"But because the host country is traditionally allowed to put forward demonstration sports to Olympic Games, if the IMSA can reach an agreement with the IOC, then we might consider putting Mahjong forward as a test event."

“但是由于在传统上，东道国可以在奥运会上举办表演项目，因此如果国际智盟可以和国际奥委会达成协议，我们也许就能把麻将作为一个实验项目了。”