Firsts in Korea's Olympic history

This year, summer in South Korea is even more sizzling with excitement as its athletes have delivered outstanding performances at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Major milestones in Korea’s history of participation in the Summer Games -- like shooter Ban Hyo-jin’s win of the country's 100th gold medal and the men’s saber fencing team's win of Korea's 300th medal of any type -- have sparked awe. But equally if not more deserving of recognition are the firsts i

Aug. 5, 2024

Cho Yeong-jae wins silver in men's 25m rapid fire pistol shooting

Cho Yeong-jae was on target for silver in the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol shooting at the Paris Olympics on Monday for South Korea's sixth medal in the sport. Cho finished in second place behind Li Yuehong of China, 32-25, at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris. With Cho's medal, South Korea has now won more shooting medals at the Paris Games than at any other Olympics before. The country had previously won five medals at the 2012 London Olympics wi

Aug. 5, 2024

Hyundai Motor chief touts Korean archers' Olympic wins

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, who doubles as the president of the Korea Archery Association, on Sunday emphasized the importance of believing in the association, the athletes and the staff, as well as the association's system itself, as he thanked the Korean national archers after they won all five available gold medals at the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris. “First and foremost, I want to thank our athletes,” said Chung. “I’m most glad about the fac

Aug. 5, 2024

Overachieving S. Koreans aim for more Olympic gold

South Korea's Ahn Se-young won the gold medal in the women's singles event in badminton at the Paris Olympics on Monday. The country has now won 11 gold medals and is within reach of matching its record of 13 gold medals in an Olympic Games. Ahn, the current No.1 in the women's singles category of the World Badminton Federation ranking, defeated He Bingjiao of China 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) to win her first Olympic gold medal. Her win, and Cho Young-jae's silver medal in the men&#

Aug. 5, 2024

Archer Kim completes golden hat trick to become winningest Korean in Olympics

South Korean archer Kim Woo-jin won the men's individual title Sunday at the Paris Olympics, bagging his third gold medal and making Korea the first win in five Olympic archery events. With Sunday's win, Kim became the third Korean ever to win three gold medals in a single Summer Olympics -- after his mixed team partner Lim Si-hyeon achieved the feat a day earlier -- and solidified his place as winner of most gold medals in the country's history. This also marked the second time S

Aug. 5, 2024

S. Korean table tennis star captures hearts with sportsmanship, charm

Table tennis player Shin Yu-bin failed to win an Olympic medal in the women’s singles event in Paris, but she seemed to have won many hearts with her sportsmanship and charm. The 20-year-old South Korean finished fourth in the women’s singles at the Paris Olympic table tennis tournament on Saturday, falling short of her second medal in France after losing to Hina Hayata of Japan in the bronze medal match. Shin won a bronze medal in the team event in Paris. However, after the 4-2 loss

Aug. 5, 2024

Im Ae-ji takes bronze in women's boxing

Im Ae-ji grabbed a bronze medal in the women's 54-kilogram boxing event at the Paris Olympics on Sunday, giving South Korea its first medal ever in women's boxing after losing her semifinal bout. Im couldn't get past Hatice Akbas of Turkiye in the semifinals at North Paris Arena in Paris on Sunday, losing by a 3-2 split decision.. There are no bronze medal bouts in Olympic boxing, and the two losers of the semifinals each receive a bronze medal. This was South Korea's first b

Aug. 5, 2024

Kim Woo-jin wins men's individual archery title for 3rd gold in Paris

PARIS -- Kim Woo-jin captured the men's individual archery title Sunday for his third gold medal of the Paris Olympics, giving South Korea a clean sweep of archery gold medals in the process. Kim defeated Brady Ellison of the United States in a shoot-off in the final at Invalides in Paris and became the second triple gold medalist for South Korea at the ongoing Olympics, joining fellow archer Lim Si-hyeon. Kim previously won the men's team and mixed team gold medals in Paris, while L

Aug. 4, 2024

Lee Woo-seok wins bronze in men's individual archery for 2nd medal in Paris

Lee Woo-seok claimed bronze in the men's individual archery event Sunday for his second medal of the Paris Olympics. Lee defeated Florian Unruh of Germany 6-0 in the set score in the bronze medal match at Invalides in Paris. Lee fell to the third-place contest after losing to fellow South Korean Kim Woo-jin in the semifinals earlier Sunday. Lee previously helped South Korea win the men's team gold medal.

Aug. 4, 2024

Top-ranked shuttler comfortable playing from behind

In her women's singles semifinal match of the Paris Olympics on Sunday, An Se-young, the world's top-ranked female badminton player, dropped the opening game against Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia. In other words, An had Tunjung right where she wanted. An went on to defeat Tunjung 2-1 (11-21, 21-13, 21-16) and advanced to the final scheduled for Monday. After struggling to find her rhythm in the first frame, An was a completely different player in the next two games, making shot

Aug. 4, 2024

Most dominant Korean Olympians, by gold medals won

Archer Lim Si-yeon of South Korea won her third gold medal Saturday at the Paris Games, joining an elite group of athletes from the country who have won multiple Olympic gold medals. Kim Woo-jin, her mixed team partner, has already bagged two gold and is also seeking to complete the golden hat trick by winning the individual men's archery event, slated for later Sunday. If Kim wins the individual event, it would be the fifth gold medal of his career, more than any other athlete in South Kor

Aug. 4, 2024

Jeon Hun-young leads S. Korean women’s archery as 'big sister'

South Korea's female archers have swept all available gold medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, continuing to build on the country’s highly decorated legacy in the sport. Although most of the spotlight has been focused on Lim Si-hyeon, who won three gold medals in the women’s team, mixed and individual events, Jeon Hun-young played an irreplaceable role as the "big sister" of the women’s archery team. Jeon, 30, nine years older than Lim and 11 years older t

Aug. 4, 2024

From cold shoulder to selfie together, two Koreas' encounter at Olympics

During the women's vault at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, South Korean artistic gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong approached North Korea's An Chang-ok to congratulate her performance. But as Yeo rose from her seat, An walked right past her to embrace her coach. An did not comment on this matter, and Yeo said she missed the timing to embrace An despite wanting to shake hands. It was among the few encounters between the two Koreas at the Summer Games in the French capital, where both sides share

Aug. 4, 2024

S. Korea takes silver in women's sabre fencing team event

South Korea took silver in the women's sabre fencing team event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, after blowing a late lead against Ukraine in the final. South Korea, world No. 4, lost to third-ranked Ukraine 45-42 at Grand Palais in the French capital. Jeon Eun-hye, Jeon Ha-young, Choi Se-bin and alternate Yoon Ji-su tried to give South Korea its first gold in the women's sabre team event. South Korea won bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics but Yoon, 31, was the only carryover from tha

Aug. 4, 2024

S. Korea wins bronze in judo mixed team event

South Korea defeated Germany for the bronze medal in judo's mixed team event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, its first medal in the event that made its Summer Games debut three years ago. This was South Korea's fifth medal in judo in the French capital, after two silver medals and two bronze medals in individual events. With the score tied at 3-3 after six matches involving three male and three female judokas each, the teams went to a sudden-death match in the men's -73-kilogra

Aug. 4, 2024

Lim Si-hyeon wins gold in women's archery individual event for 3rd gold in Paris

PARIS -- Lim Si-hyeon captured the gold medal in the women's archery individual event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, beating fellow South Korean Nam Su-hyeon to become the country's first triple gold medalist in France. In the first all-South Korean final in women's archery in 20 years, Lim defeated Nam 7-3 in the set score at Invalides in Paris. Lim had earlier won gold medals in the women's team and mixed team events. She became the third athlete overall to win at lea

Aug. 3, 2024

Yang Ji-in wins gold in women's pistol shooting

CHATEAUROUX, France -- Yang Ji-in captured the gold medal in the women's 25-meter pistol shooting event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday for South Korea's third shooting gold of the competition. Yang defeated Camille Jedrzejewski of France 4-1 in a shoot-off after the two finished the 10 series of shots in the final all tied at 37-37 at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, south of Paris. This was the eighth gold medal overall for South Korea at the ongoing Olympics. In t

Aug. 3, 2024

World No. 1 An Se-young reaches semifinals in badminton women's singles

PARIS -- World No. 1 An Se-young advanced to the semifinals of the women's singles badminton event at the Paris Olympics on Saturday after knocking off her longtime rival from Japan. An, the 2023 world champion, defeated Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 21-8) in the quarterfinals at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. Yamaguchi was in control of the first game, getting An to move all over the court with some deft shotmaking. Each time An got close, Yamaguchi pulled away with a series of her own w

Aug. 3, 2024

Kim Min-jong wins silver in men's judo

PARIS -- Kim Min-jong won the silver medal in the heaviest weight class in men's judo at the Paris Olympics on Friday, after falling to French legend Teddy Riner in the final. Kim lost by an ippon (a full point) to Riner in the men's +100-kilogram final at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Riner clinched his third Olympic gold medal with a decisive "harai-goshi," or a hip throw, with 16 seconds left in the four-minute battle. Kim's was the second judo medal of Friday for S

Aug. 3, 2024

Kim Ha-yun wins bronze in women's judo

PARIS -- Kim Ha-yun earned a bronze medal in women's judo at the Paris Olympics on Friday, after battling her way through the repechage. Kim, world No. 4 in the women's +78 kilograms, defeated third-ranked Kayra Ozdemir of Turkiye in the bronze medal contest at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Kim had earlier lost in the quarterfinals but then won a match in the repechage round to reach one of two bronze medal matches. And then Kim defeated Ozdemir by scoring two "waza-ari," o

Aug. 3, 2024