SEOUL, South Korea — Lee Eun-ju was not expected to be one of South Korea’s big names at the Rio Olympics. She joined the country’s gymnastics team as a last-minute replacement after another athlete was injured. Indeed, she failed to advance to the finals.

韩国首尔——没人料到李恩珠(Lee Eun-ju)会在里约奥运会上成为韩国的名人之一。她是在最后一刻替换另一名受伤的运动员，加入该国体操代表队的。实际上，她未能晋级决赛。

But Ms. Lee, 17, has found herself in the spotlight at home and abroad, thanks to a symbolically significant selfie.

但因为一张具有重要象征意义的自拍照，17岁的她发现自己受到了国内外的关注。

Last week, before the Games started, Ms. Lee approached a North Korean gymnast, Hong Un-jong, 27, during a training session. As the women from opposite sides of Korea’s divide posed, smiling, for a photograph on Ms. Lee’s phone, journalists snapped pictures of the moment, which has since been hailed as capturing the Olympic spirit.

上周，在奥运会开幕前的一次训练期间，李恩珠走到27岁的朝鲜体操运动员洪恩贞(Hong Un-jong)面前。当这两个来自对立国家的姑娘微笑着用李恩珠的手机自拍时，记者用镜头记录下了这个时刻。人们纷纷称颂这一刻体现了奥运精神。

“This is why we do the Olympics,” Ian Bremmer, president of the political risk consultancy Eurasia Group and a frequent commentator on Korean issues, wrote on Twitter.

“这就是我们举办奥运会的原因，”政治风险咨询公司欧亚集团(Eurasia Group)总裁、经常评论韩朝问题的伊恩•布雷默(Ian Bremmer)在Twitter上写道。

It is hardly unprecedented for athletes from the two countries, which have technically been at war for decades, to mingle at international sporting events. But in recent years, inter-Korean relations have been at a low point.

严格说来，韩国和朝鲜几十年来一直处于交战状态。两国运动员在国际体育赛事上交谈并非没有先例。但近年来，两国关系一直处于低点。

So, when the two athletes put aside national differences in a friendly encounter, many found it unexpected and heartwarming.

因此，当两名运动员在一次友好的相遇中暂时把国家分歧放在一边时，很多人觉得意外和感动。

A South Korean news report said that despite Ms. Lee’s elimination, she was being “reborn as an Olympic icon.” Despite such sentiments, the photo has not led to a noticeable thaw between the two Koreas, and neither government has commented on it.

韩国的一篇新闻报道称，被淘汰的李恩珠“正以奥运象征的身份获得重生”。然而，尽管激起了这样的情绪，这张照片尚未促使两国关系出现明显的缓和。两国政府均未就此发表评论。