SEOUL, South Korea — In a selfie that has gone viral, the North Korean gymnast Hong Un-jong smiles brightly as a South Korean competitor at the Rio Olympics, Lee Eun-ju, 17, holds up her smartphone and snaps a picture of them hugging.

韩国，首尔――在一张在网上迅速传播开来的自拍照片中，里约奥运会上的朝鲜体操运动员洪恩贞(Hong Un-jong)灿烂地微笑着，旁边的韩国选手，17岁的李恩珠(Lee Eun-ju)拿着智能手机，为两人拍下相拥的照片。

The selfie, which ricocheted across social media, was held up as an example of the power of sports diplomacy and the Olympic spirit bringing together two countries perpetually on the brink of war.

这张自拍在社交媒体上广为流传，人们认为它展现了体育外交的力量，表明奥林匹克精神能令两个长期处在战争边缘的国家走到一起。

But it also stood out because it was unusual for a North Korean athlete, intentionally or not, to draw such attention to herself; the North Koreans tend to stick to themselves, even at international competitions.

但它之所以引人注目，还因为对于一个朝鲜运动员来说，不管是不是出于本意，让自己成为焦点是一件颇为不同寻常的事情;朝鲜人一贯倾向于自我封闭，即使在国际赛事上也是如此。

And very little of Hong’s biography has been shared with the outside world, despite her winning a gold in vault at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and her hero status in a country that reveres its sports stars, particularly in the era of its leader, Kim Jong-un, who is known to be an avid basketball fan.

外界对洪恩贞的身世经历所知不多，只知道她曾在2008年北京奥运会上获得一块跳马金牌，在她的祖国被视为英雄。朝鲜一贯尊崇体育明星，特别是在如今的领袖金正恩的时代，他是个出了名的篮球迷。

Hong, 27, was expected to earn a second gold at the London Olympics four years later. But in late 2010, the North Korean women’s gymnastics team was barred from international competition for two years, including the London Games, for repeatedly falsifying the birth date of one of its veteran competitors: Hong’s sister, Su-jong.

洪恩贞现年27岁，她本来有望在伦敦奥运会上收获第二枚金牌。但在2010年底，朝鲜女子体操队被禁止参加国际大赛两年，其中也包括伦敦奥运会，原因是在另一位老运动员洪淑贞(Su-jong)的年龄上一再作假，她是洪恩贞的姐姐。

It turns out the North Korean delegation had submitted three different birth years for Hong Su-jong at various international competitions. At least one of the birth dates, March 9, 1989, would have made her too young to qualify for the Athens Olympics in 2004, where she competed in the team and all-around events. It would also make her Hong Un-jong’s twin.

朝鲜代表团被发现在不同的国际大赛上为洪淑贞申报了三个不同的年龄。其中，至少根据1989年3月9日这个出生日期，在2004年的时候，她应该没有达到雅典奥运会规定的参赛年龄，而她在那届奥运会上参加了团体和全能比赛。而且如果根据这个日期，她就成了洪恩贞的孪生姊妹。

Most of what is known about Hong Un-jong back home comes from a book rarely seen in the West, “Olympic Champions Who Bring Glory to the Motherland,” published in Pyongyang in 2014 by the Kumsong Youth Publishing House. It profiles 13 Olympic gold medalists, including Hong.

人们对洪恩贞在朝鲜的了解主要来自一本在西方罕为人知的书，《载誉归国的奥林匹克冠军》(Olympic Champions Who Bring Glory to the Motherland)，2014年由金城青年出版社(Kumsong Youth Publishing House)在平壤出版。书中介绍了13位奥运金牌获得者，其中就包括她。

There does not seem to be a discrepancy about Hong’s age in the book, but it raises one about another competitor profiled, Om Yun-chol, who won a silver medal Sunday in Rio and gold in London in 2012. His official Rio profile lists him as 24, born Nov. 18, 1991. The book, however, cites his birth year as 1990.

书中洪恩贞的年龄似乎没有和大赛资料中的年龄出现差异，但是又引出了另一个参赛运动员的年龄问题。(举重运动员)严润哲周日在里约热内卢获得了一块银牌，2012年在伦敦获得过一块金牌。在里约奥运会的官方资料里，他的生日是1991年11月18日，现年24岁。这本书则说他是1990年出生的。

While it could be a mistake, that age would have made him one year too old to compete in the world junior championships in 2011. And without competing in that international event, he would not have qualified for the London Olympics. The age discrepancy appears to have gone unnoticed.

这有可能是个错误，但是，如果他是1990年出生的，那就比2011年世界青年锦标赛所规定的年龄大一岁。如果不参加这项国际赛事，他可能就没有资格参加伦敦奥运会了。这项年龄差异似乎已经被人们忽略了。

The information on Hong seems more straightforward, yet illuminating.

关于洪恩贞的信息似乎更加简单清晰，但也颇为说明问题。

She was born in the port city of Tanchon in South Hamgyong Province in the far north and raised in the industrial city of Hamhung, and is described in the book as the baby of the family, the youngest of three children. She and her sister were spotted for their agility on the uneven bars by a coach who approached their father about putting both girls into intensive training.

她出生在朝鲜北方咸镜南道的港口城市端川，在工业城市咸兴长大，书中说她是全家的宠儿，是三个孩子中最小的一个。她和姐姐因为在高低杠上身手敏捷，被一个教练相中，后者和她们的父亲接触，想让两个女孩都开始进行高强度训练。

No, he said. We’re a musical family, not athletes. But the coach won him over, the book says. Hong was 6. 不，她们的父亲说。我们是一个音乐之家，不培养运动员。但是这本书上说，这位教练最终说服了他。那年洪恩贞六岁。

Within a few years, the sisters were sent to the capital, a day’s journey by train, for round-the-clock coaching. There, in Pyongyang, the Hong sisters were taken under the wing of one of North Korea’s most famous gymnastics coaches, Kim Chun-pil.

几年后，姐妹俩被送到离家要坐火车走一天的首都，接受全天候训练。在平壤，洪家姐妹师从朝鲜最著名的体操教练之一金春弼(Kim Chun-pil)。

Un-jong had “the right physique as well as passion and ability,” the unnamed author notes in the six-page profile. “But her willingness to do her best was lacking.”

洪恩贞“体格优秀，充满热情，实力不凡”，这位不具名的作者在这篇长达六页的介绍中写道，“但是她缺乏拼搏的意志。”

Initially homesick and missing her mother, the young Un-jong stayed up crying at night and was a mess at training the next day. Kim, the coach, stepped in as a surrogate mother, cooking her chicken, rabbit soup and medicine, and cooling her down with cold compresses, the story goes.

书中说，一开始，年轻的洪恩贞想家，想念妈妈，夜里一直哭泣，第二天训练时表现得一团糟。金教练充当了母亲的角色，为她炖鸡肉、兔肉汤，在她生病时为她煎药，用冰袋给她冷敷。

She got over her homesickness and focused on training.

她最终克服了思乡情绪，专心训练。

The coach believed in tough love.

教练相信严师出高徒。

“Un-jong, aren’t you aware of why we train when everyone else is sleeping?” she demanded to know. “We have the burden of winning a gold medal for our nation.”

“恩贞，你知道为什么别人都在睡觉的时候，我们还在训练吗?”她被问道。“因为我们肩负着为祖国赢得金牌的重任。”

Hong made her way up the ranks in national and international competitions.

洪恩贞终于在国内和国际大赛上脱颖而出。

She was 19 when she was sent to Beijing. For two years, she had been practicing a vault made famous by the Chinese world champion Cheng Fei. That day in Beijing, Hong beat Cheng on her own home turf, with the vault that bears her name, bringing home North Korea’s first Olympic gold in gymnastics.

参加北京奥运会那年，她19岁。两年来，她一直在练一个以中国世界冠军程菲命名的跳马动作。在北京的那天，洪恩贞在程菲的地盘上，用“程菲跳”战胜了对方，为朝鲜赢得了体操项目中的第一块奥运金牌。

The North Koreans treated it as a political win. The book recounts how she was praised on state television as a patriot for defeating “a great rival,” though China is often assumed to be the country’s main ally.

朝鲜人将之视为一次政治胜利。这本书详细描述了她如何被国家电视台赞美为打败了“劲敌”的爱国者，尽管中国往往被视为这个国家最主要的盟国。

Hong went on to win a string of gold medals in vault, including the gold at a World Cup championship in 2010, before the team was barred from competition. The profile makes no mention of any frustrations she might have harbored about being barred at the peak of her career.

洪恩贞后来又赢得了一系列跳马金牌，包括2010年的世锦赛冠军，直到后来朝鲜遭到禁赛。在事业巅峰期遭到禁赛，她心里会有挫折感吗?这篇文章中没有提及。

Since the ban was lifted, Hong Un-jong has quietly reasserted herself as a top contender in vault, earning a bronze at worlds in 2013, gold in 2014 and silver last year. She goes into Sunday’s finals in second place, just behind Simone Biles, the heavily favored American.

禁赛结束后，洪恩贞悄悄地回到了顶尖跳马选手的行列，在2013年世锦赛上获得铜牌，2014年夺冠，去年又获得一块银牌。她以第二名的成绩进入将在周日举行的决赛，位列备受喜爱的美国运动员西蒙·拜尔斯(Simone Biles)之后。

The book does not say anything about the consequences athletes face if they come home empty-handed.

这本书并没有提到，空手而归的运动员会面对什么样的后果。

But the reaction earlier this week of Om, the weight lifter, suggests that second is not good enough. He won silver in Rio on Sunday, failing to successfully defend his title, and the high-ranking official who flew in from Pyongyang for the Olympics did not bother to attend his medal ceremony.

但是本周早些时候，举重运动员严润哲的反应表明，第二名还不够好。星期日，他在里约奥运会上获得银牌，未能成功卫冕，坐飞机从平壤赶来参加奥运会的高官根本就没有出席他的颁奖仪式。

“I don’t think I can be a hero to my people with a silver medal,” a dejected Om told reporters.

“只拿一块银牌回去，人民是不会把我当做英雄的，”沮丧的严润哲告诉记者们说。

In comments posted online in South Korea, there was speculation that if Hong failed to bring home a gold, her internationally lauded selfie would not suffice in keeping her safe.

在韩国的网络评论中，有人猜测如果洪恩贞不能夺冠，这张在国际上备受赞美的自拍也不能保障她的安全。

“Off to the coal mine,” one South Korean imagined North Korea’s leader telling his star athlete when she returned home.

“挖煤去，”韩国人猜测朝鲜领袖可能会对空手而归的明星运动员这样说。