Park Tae-joon wins S. Korea's first-ever men's 58-kg Olympic gold in Taekwondo

  Overcoming his archrival, an upset in the semifinals, relative inexperience on the international stage -- after it all, South Korea's Park Tae-joon finally stood alone atop the taekwondo world in becoming the first Korean ever to win the men's lightest weight class at the Olympics. In the finals of the men's 58-kilogram (flyweight) event Wednesday, Park was declared the winner after Gashim Magomedov of Azerbaijan threw in the towel due to an apparent injury in the second round. Park had b

Aug. 8, 2024

Taekwondo's next big thing bursts onto Olympic scene with gold

PARIS -- Unlike many other athletes, Park Tae-joon, freshly crowned an Olympic taekwondo champion in Paris on Wednesday, doesn't have pre-match rituals or superstitions. The 20-year-old instead likes to give himself a positive pep talk. Messages such as "I can do this," "I will get it done," or "This is going to be fun" will float through his mind as he prepares for matches. At Grand Palais in the French capital Wednesday night, Park spoke his first Olympic g

Aug. 8, 2024

Diver heads to 3rd straight final in men's springboard event

Diving medal hopeful Woo Ha-ram qualified for his third straight Olympic final in the men's 3-meter springboard event Wednesday. Woo finished ninth among 18 divers in the semifinal with 432.00 points at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, as the top-dozen divers advanced to the final scheduled for Thursday. Fellow South Korean diver, Yi Jae-gyeong, will not join Woo in the final, after ranking 17th in the semifinal with 366.50 points. Woo finished fourth in the 3m springboar

Aug. 7, 2024

High jump medal contender Woo Sang-hyeok cruises into final

SAINT-DENIS, France -- High jump medal contender Woo Sang-hyeok cruised into the Paris Olympic final Wednesday, moving closer to grabbing South Korea's first medal in the event. Woo finished tied for third place with Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar, the defending co-gold medalist, at 2.27 meters in the qualification at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. The top 12 among 31 jumpers booked their spots in the final, scheduled for Saturday back at the main stadium. Woo cleared 2.15m, 2

Aug. 7, 2024

Badminton gold medalist says she's not picking fights with natl. federation

The Olympic badminton champion An Se-young insisted Wednesday she is not trying to pick fights with her national team or the sport's national federation, after she'd leveled criticism against them for archaic systems and inefficient operations. An returned home Wednesday evening from the Paris Olympics, where she captured the women's singles title for her first career gold medal. Moments after the crowning moment on Monday, An took shots at the national team staff for their poor h

Aug. 7, 2024

Samsung Olympic phones popping up for resale

The Olympic Edition of Samsung Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is appearing on online secondhand marketplaces, according to the French news outlet Le Parisien on Tuesday. Samsung, the official sponsor of the ongoing Paris Olympics has distributed nearly 17,000 phones to athletes and their teams. According to the report, dozens of the phones are being sold as new and sealed on platforms like eBay and Leboncoin. Some listings even include the original welcome note and tote bag that came with the phone. P

Aug. 7, 2024

S. Korea beats Croatia in men's table tennis team event; China next in quarterfinals

South Korea cruised past Croatia in its first knockout match of the men's table tennis team event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, with the top-ranked China up next in the quarterfinals. Jang Woo-jin, Cho Dae-seong and Lim Jong-hoon carried South Korea past Croatia 3-0 after one doubles match and two singles matches in the round of 16 at South Paris Arena in the French capital. In the opening doubles, Jang and Cho dispatched Filip Zeljko and Andrej Gacina 3-0 (11-4, 11-7, 11-6) without bre

Aug. 6, 2024

Diving medal hopeful Woo Haram reaches semifinal in men's springboard

South Korean diving medal hopeful Woo Haram and teammate Yi Jae-gyeong advanced to the semifinal in the men's 3-meter springboard event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. With the top 18 divers out of 25 in the preliminary advancing to the next phase, Woo finished 12th with 389.10 points after six dives at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. Yi finished 16th with 381.40 points. The semifinal is Wednesday, and the top 12 divers from there will qualify for the final Thursday. W

Aug. 6, 2024

Olympic Badminton champion An criticizes federation, denies retirement rumors

A day after she shocked South Koreans with candid criticism of the country's badminton authorities, An Se-young said Tuesday that her words do not necessarily imply that she will retire and that she simply wants the national team to manage its players better. "Please do not twist my words with the phrase ‘retirement.’ I just hope there are people who can contemplate what I have to say and set out to solve these issues," the 22-year-old said via her Instagram account,

Aug. 6, 2024

SBS slammed for pointing out bow mark on female archer's face during interview

Local broadcaster SBS is under fire for pointing out a bow mark on the face of female Olympic multi-gold medalist archer Lim Si-hyeon during an interview. In a short video posted to SBS’ YouTube channel on July 27, the interview features Lim answering questions about her determination for the competition. At one point, the interviewer points out, “There is a bow mark on your chin.” Lim explains that where the bowstrings repeatedly hit her chin, the skin has developed pigmenta

Aug. 6, 2024

[Graphic News] South Korea dominates archery with five golds in Paris

South Korea’s archery team showcased their unparalleled prowess in the sport at the Paris 2024 Olympics, sweeping all five gold medals in the event. This remarkable achievement marks the best performance by South Korea’s archers in Olympic history. The team clinched the gold in the men’s and women’s team events, mixed team event and women’s individual event. The final gold was secured by Kim Woo-jin, who triumphed over Brady Ellison of the United States in a thril

Aug. 6, 2024

Badminton champion hints at retiring from natl. team over injury treatment

Moments after capturing her first Olympic gold medal in Paris on Monday, South Korean badminton player An Se-young hinted at retiring from the national team over its poor handling of her knee injury. An defeated He Bingjiao of China 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in the women's singles final at Porte de La Chapelle Arena in Paris. It came about 10 months after An tore a ligament in her right knee during the Asian Games women's singles final in China. The 22-year-old returned to action about a mont

Aug. 5, 2024

An Se-young wins gold medal in badminton women's singles

The world's top-ranked shuttler An Se-young soared to her first Olympic gold medal in the women's singles in Paris on Monday, giving South Korea its first badminton singles title in 28 years. An defeated He Bingjiao of China 2-0 (21-13, 21-16) in the final at Porte de La Chapelle Arena in the French capital to become just the second South Korean woman to win an Olympic singles title, joining Bang Soo-hyun from 1996. South Korea now has 11 gold medals overall, just two shy of matching i

Aug. 5, 2024

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