動人照片背后：與韓國選手合影的朝鮮姑娘是誰

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.

韓國，首爾――在一張在網(wǎng)上迅速傳播開來的自拍照片中，里約奧運會上的朝鮮體操運動員洪恩貞(Hong Un-jong)燦爛地微笑著，旁邊的韓國選手，17歲的李恩珠(Lee Eun-ju)拿著智能手機，為兩人拍下相擁的照片。

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.

這張自拍在社交媒體上廣為流傳，人們認為它展現(xiàn)了體育外交的力量，表明奧林匹克精神能令兩個長期處在戰(zhàn)爭邊緣的國家走到一起。

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，還因為對于一個朝鮮運動員來說，不管是不是出于本意，讓自己成為焦點是一件頗為不同尋常的事情;朝鮮人一貫傾向于自我封閉，即使在國際賽事上也是如此。

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.

外界對洪恩貞的身世經(jīng)歷所知不多，只知道她曾在2008年北京奧運會上獲得一塊跳馬金牌，在她的祖國被視為英雄。朝鮮一貫尊崇體育明星，特別是在如今的領袖金正恩的時代，他是個出了名的籃球迷。

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.

洪恩貞現(xiàn)年27歲，她本來有望在倫敦奧運會上收獲第二枚金牌。但在2010年底，朝鮮女子體操隊被禁止參加國際大賽兩年，其中也包括倫敦奧運會，原因是在另一位老運動員洪淑貞(Su-jong)的年齡上一再作假，她是洪恩貞的姐姐。

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.

朝鮮代表團被發(fā)現(xiàn)在不同的國際大賽上為洪淑貞申報了三個不同的年齡。其中，至少根據(jù)1989年3月9日這個出生日期，在2004年的時候，她應該沒有達到雅典奧運會規(guī)定的參賽年齡，而她在那屆奧運會上參加了團體和全能比賽。而且如果根據(jù)這個日期，她就成了洪恩貞的孿生姊妹。

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.

人們對洪恩貞在朝鮮的了解主要來自一本在西方罕為人知的書，《載譽歸國的奧林匹克冠軍》(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。書中介紹了13位奧運金牌獲得者，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.

書中洪恩貞的年齡似乎沒有和大賽資料中的年齡出現(xiàn)差異，但是又引出了另一個參賽運動員的年齡問題。(舉重運動員)嚴潤哲周日在里約熱內(nèi)盧獲得了一塊銀牌，2012年在倫敦獲得過一塊金牌。在里約奧運會的官方資料里，他的生日是1991年11月18日，現(xiàn)年24歲。這本書則說他是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.

這有可能是個錯誤，但是，如果他是1990年出生的，那就比2011年世界青年錦標賽所規(guī)定的年齡大一歲。如果不參加這項國際賽事，他可能就沒有資格參加倫敦奧運會了。這項年齡差異似乎已經(jīng)被人們忽略了。

The information on Hong seems more straightforward, yet illuminating.

關于洪恩貞的信息似乎更加簡單清晰，但也頗為說明問題。

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.

她出生在朝鮮北方咸鏡南道的港口城市端川，在工業(yè)城市咸興長大，書中說她是全家的寵兒，是三個孩子中最小的一個。她和姐姐因為在高低杠上身手敏捷，被一個教練相中，后者和她們的父親接觸，想讓兩個女孩都開始進行高強度訓練。

No, he said. We’re a musical family, not athletes. But the coach won him over, the book says. Hong was 6. 不，她們的父親說。我們是一個音樂之家，不培養(yǎng)運動員。但是這本書上說，這位教練最終說服了他。那年洪恩貞六歲。

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.

幾年后，姐妹倆被送到離家要坐火車走一天的首都，接受全天候訓練。在平壤，洪家姐妹師從朝鮮最著名的體操教練之一金春弼(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.”

洪恩貞“體格優(yōu)秀，充滿熱情，實力不凡”，這位不具名的作者在這篇長達六頁的介紹中寫道，“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.

書中說，一開始，年輕的洪恩貞想家，想念媽媽，夜里一直哭泣，第二天訓練時表現(xiàn)得一團糟。金教練充當了母親的角色，為她燉雞肉、兔肉湯，在她生病時為她煎藥，用冰袋給她冷敷。

She got over her homesickness and focused on training.

她最終克服了思鄉(xiāng)情緒，專心訓練。

The coach believed in tough love.

教練相信嚴師出高徒。

“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.”

“恩貞，你知道為什么別人都在睡覺的時候，我們還在訓練嗎?”她被問道。“因為我們肩負著為祖國贏得金牌的重任。”

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

洪恩貞終于在國內(nèi)和國際大賽上脫穎而出。

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.

參加北京奧運會那年，她19歲。兩年來，她一直在練一個以中國世界冠軍程菲命名的跳馬動作。在北京的那天，洪恩貞在程菲的地盤上，用“程菲跳”戰(zhàn)勝了對方，為朝鮮贏得了體操項目中的第一塊奧運金牌。

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.

朝鮮人將之視為一次政治勝利。這本書詳細描述了她如何被國家電視臺贊美為打敗了“勁敵”的愛國者，盡管中國往往被視為這個國家最主要的盟國。

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.

洪恩貞后來又贏得了一系列跳馬金牌，包括2010年的世錦賽冠軍，直到后來朝鮮遭到禁賽。在事業(yè)巔峰期遭到禁賽，她心里會有挫折感嗎?這篇文章中沒有提及。

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.

禁賽結束后，洪恩貞悄悄地回到了頂尖跳馬選手的行列，在2013年世錦賽上獲得銅牌，2014年奪冠，去年又獲得一塊銀牌。她以第二名的成績進入將在周日舉行的決賽，位列備受喜愛的美國運動員西蒙·拜爾斯(Simone Biles)之后。

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

這本書并沒有提到，空手而歸的運動員會面對什么樣的后果。

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.

但是本周早些時候，舉重運動員嚴潤哲的反應表明，第二名還不夠好。星期日，他在里約奧運會上獲得銀牌，未能成功衛(wèi)冕，坐飛機從平壤趕來參加奧運會的高官根本就沒有出席他的頒獎儀式。

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

“只拿一塊銀牌回去，人民是不會把我當做英雄的，”沮喪的嚴潤哲告訴記者們說。

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.

在韓國的網(wǎng)絡評論中，有人猜測如果洪恩貞不能奪冠，這張在國際上備受贊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，”韓國人猜測朝鮮領袖可能會對空手而歸的明星運動員這樣說。