Kim Je-deok (right) and Ansan, who competed in the mixed archery team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics
With the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony just three weeks away, the South Korean team will be the smallest ever. However, they are aiming to win five gold medals in their “best sports.” So who has been the main character who has won gold medals for South Korea in the past?
On the 26th, the Summer Olympics will be held in Paris, France for the first time in exactly 100 years since 1924. Paris previously hosted the Summer Olympics in 1900 and 1924, making this the third Olympics to be held in Paris.
South Korea, which is participating in this Olympics, is about to win its 100th gold medal in Olympic history. Currently, Korea has a total of 96 gold medals in the Summer Olympics. If it adds 4 more in this Paris Games, it will win its 100th gold medal. Since it is highly likely that it will win its 100th gold medal, who has been the main character who has been delivering ‘golden news’ to Korea so far?
Korea officially participated in its first Summer Olympics in 1948 at the London Games after liberation. At that time, Korea won two bronze medals in boxing and weightlifting. Then, in 1976, at the Montreal Games, Yang Jeong-mo won Korea’s first ever Olympic gold medal in the 62kg freestyle wrestling class.
Korea, which had not participated in the 1980 Moscow Games held during the height of the Cold War, won six gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Games, including Yu In-tak and Kim Won-gi (wrestling), Shin Jun-seop (boxing), Seo Hyang-sun (archery), Ahn Byeong-geun, and Ha Hyeong-ju (judo).
Korea, which had started its full-fledged ‘gold-hunting’ through the Los Angeles Games, won three gold medals in archery led by Kim Soo-nyung at the 1988 Seoul Games held domestically, and two each in table tennis, judo, boxing, and wrestling, for a total of 12 gold medals, the most ever, and came in 4th overall.
Korea began to rise to the ranks of a “sports powerhouse” after the Seoul Games, and won two gold medals each in wrestling, badminton, shooting, and archery at the 1992 Barcelona Games, and one gold medal each in weightlifting, judo, and track and field (men’s marathon), recording a total of 12 gold medals. Through these games, stars such as “little giants” Jeon Byeong-gwan (weightlifting) and Hwang Yeong-jo (marathon) were born.
2012 London Olympics Wrestling Men’s Greco-Roman 66kg Gold Medalist Kim Hyun-woo
The 1996 Atlanta Games also produced new stars. Korea won a total of 7 gold medals, including gold medals from wrestling, Shim Kwon-ho, and badminton, Bang Soo-hyun, and finished the competition in 10th place overall.
In the 2000 Sydney Games, they won 8 gold medals, one more than the previous games. In this game, Kim Kyung-hoon, Jeong Jae-eun, and Lee Sun-hee won 3 gold medals in Taekwondo, protecting the pride of the ‘dominant nation’. In addition, they won 3 gold medals in archery, led by Yoon Mi-jin, who performed well in both the individual and team events, and Shim Kwon-ho won the top prize in two consecutive games.
At the 2004 Athens Games held in the birthplace of the Olympics, Park Sung-hyun emerged as a popular star with her outstanding performances in the individual and team events, and archery played the role of a marquee event with three gold medals. In addition, news of gold medals in various events including Jeong Ji-hyeon (wrestling), Kim Dong-moon, Ha Tae-kwon (men’s badminton doubles), ‘the man of one game’ Lee Won-hee (judo), Moon Dae-sung (taekwondo), and Ryu Seung-min (table tennis) were delivered, adding a total of nine gold medals.
Korea, which re-entered the top 10 overall through the Athens Games, achieved its best results in two consecutive Games by winning 13 gold medals in both the 2008 Beijing Games and the 2012 London Games.
Korean national team players celebrate after winning the gold medal by defeating Cuba in the baseball final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
In particular, Korea received national attention at the Beijing Games by winning the gold medal in baseball with 9 wins in 10 games. In addition, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jeong (badminton mixed doubles), Jin Jong-oh (shooting), Jang Mi-ran (weightlifting), Park Tae-hwan (swimming), and Choi Min-ho (judo) won gold medals, announcing the birth of new sports stars.
At the London Games, the women’s archery team of Ki Bo-bae, Choi Hyun-joo, and Lee Sung-jin defeated China to win the gold medal in the team event, setting a record of seven consecutive wins in the event. In judo, Kim Jae-beom won the 81 kg class, achieving the feat of a Grand Slam (Olympic Games, World Championships, Asian Championships, Asian Games).
Jin Jong-oh, who emerged as the star of men’s shooting, won two gold medals, and Yang Hak-seon won the men’s gymnastics vault, recording Korea’s first gold medal in 52 years. Kim Ji-yeon achieved the feat of winning Korea’s first gold medal in women’s fencing in the women’s sabre final.
Korea, which swept 13 gold medals at the London Games and finished fifth overall, its best away performance, has continued to win gold medals since then, but its overall ranking has been on a downward trend.
Medals to be awarded to Paris Olympic and Paralympic winners
Ahead of the Rio Olympics, Korea aimed to win at least 10 gold medals and finish in the top 10 overall. At the Games, Korea achieved the feat of winning gold medals in all events for the first time ever in archery, and Jin Jong-oh set a new Olympic record in the men’s 50m pistol, winning his third consecutive individual title.
In fencing, Park Sang-young won Korea’s first gold medal in the men’s epee event, and two gold medals were also awarded in taekwondo. Inbee Park won first place in golf, which returned to the Olympic stage after 116 years, and brought Korea a gold medal. With this, Korea achieved half the success of finishing in 8th place overall.
The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled to be held in 2020, were postponed for one year due to the spread of COVID-19, and after many twists and turns, they were finally held in 2021.
At the Games, Korea sent a team of 354 athletes to compete in 29 events, winning four gold medals in archery, and finishing 16th overall with a total of six gold medals, with the men’s sabre team in fencing (Kim Jung-hwan, Gu Bon-gil, Oh Sang-uk, and Kim Jun-ho) and men’s gymnastics vault athlete Shin Jung-hwan taking the top spot on the podium.
Photo = Yonhap News
This article’s categories follow the newspaper’s classification.
The category to which an article belongs is classified by the news agency.
A news organization may categorize an article into more than one category.
2024-07-03 23:40:42
#2024파리 #Korea #verge #winning #100th #Olympic #gold #medal.. #people #golden #performances #history #ZUM #News
