‘I was actually scared’: Im Ae-ji overcomes fear to secure boxing bronze

Im Ae-ji secured a thrilling 3-2 split decision victory against Yeni Arias of Colombia in the women's 54-kilogram quarterfinal bout at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Thursday night in the French capital. This achievement means South Korea will have its first Olympic boxing medal in 12 years, following the London Games where silver was won by Han Soon-chul, who is on hand at the Paris Games as Im's coach. As there is no match for third place in boxing, getting to the semifinals guarantees

More SportsAug. 2, 2024

Im Ae-ji secures S. Korea's 1st medal in women's boxing

Im Ae-ji has secured South Korea's first Olympic boxing medal in 12 years. Im defeated Yeni Arias of Colombia in a 3-2 decision in the quarterfinals of the women's 54-kilogram boxing event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday at North Paris Arena. By advancing to the semifinals, Im has assured herself of at least a bronze medal. There will be no third-place bout in boxing, and the two losers of the semifinals will each receive a bronze medal. It will be South Korea's first boxing med

More SportsAug. 2, 2024

3 S. Korean doubles teams eliminated in badminton quarterfinals

PARIS -- Three South Korean doubles teams were knocked out of medal contention at the Paris Olympics on Thursday with losses in the quarterfinals. In the men's doubles quarters, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, the 2023 world champions, lost to Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen of Denmark 2-0 (21-19, 22-20) at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. Kang and Seo had defeated the same Dane team for their world title last year, but couldn't get past them this time after a back-and-forth batt

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

Shin Yu-bin reaches women's singles semifinals in table tennis

PARIS -- Shin Yu-bin advanced to the semifinals of the women's singles table tennis tournament at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, moving within a win of grabbing her second medal in the French capital. Shin, world No. 8, edged out 13th-ranked Miu Hirano of Japan 4-3 (11-4, 11-7, 11-5, 7-11, 8-11, 9-11, 13-11) in the quarterfinals at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris. Shin, who won the mixed doubles bronze medal on Tuesday, will next play world No. 4 from China, Chen Meng, in the semifinals on Fr

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

Olympics archer from Chad expresses gratitude for Korean fans’ encouragement

Israel Madaye, an archer representing Chad who competed against a South Korean athlete at the Paris Olympics, posted his gratitude to Korean fans via social media on Wednesday. “Thanks you corea” his post said, with a photo showing him removing his arrows from the target at the Games. That post and other older ones on Instagram had several likes and comments in Korean expressing encouragement for his endeavors. Madaye did not get past the round of 64 in his Olympic debut, as he was e

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

S. Korea secures silver in badminton mixed doubles with all-Korean semifinal match set

PARIS -- South Korea has secured at least the silver medal in the mixed doubles event in badminton at the Paris Olympics, after an all-Korean semifinal duel as set up on Wednesday. Seo Seung-jae and Chae Yu-jung first advanced to the semifinals by defeating Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet of Hong Kong 2-0 (21-15, 21-10) in the quarterfinals at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. Moments later, Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun also reached the semifinals with a 2-0 (21-19, 21-14) win over Chen Tang Jie and

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

Sabre fencers strike gold, mixed doubles silver secured in badminton

PARIS -- They say all good things come in threes. At the Paris Olympics on Wednesday, South Korea collected its third consecutive gold medal in the men's sabre team event. Oh Sang-uk, Gu Bon-gil, Park Sang-won and Do Gyeong-dong pushed South Korea past France 45-41 in the final, making South Korea the first Asian country to win three straight team fencing medals in Olympic history. The streak started in 2012 in London. The men's sabre team event was not included in the 2016 Rio de Ja

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

Different members, same result for men's sabre fencing team: gold medal

PARIS -- The South Korean men's sabre fencing team at the Paris Olympics was much different than the one at the Tokyo Games three years ago. But the new-look team produced the exact same result on Wednesday: the gold medal. With half of the team from 2021 changed, South Korea defeated Hungary 45-41 in the gold medal match of the Paris Games at Grand Palais in the French capital. Oh Sang-uk, Gu Bon-gil and Park Sang-won, with Do Gyeong-dong as an alternate, gave South Korea its third conse

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

S. Korea wins 3rd consecutive gold in men's sabre fencing team event

  PARIS -- South Korea seized its third consecutive Olympic gold medal in the men's sabre fencing team competition on Wednesday in Paris, becoming just the second country ever to win at least three gold medals in a row in that event. World No. 1 South Korea defeated third-ranked Hungary 45-41 in the gold medal match of the Paris Summer Games at Grand Palais in the French capital. Oh Sang-uk, Gu Bon-gil and Park Sang-won started in the final, with Do Gyeong-dong subbing in for Gu later. Oh,

More SportsAug. 1, 2024

Korean shooter's cool aura captivates social media

Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji is experiencing overnight stardom, with social media swooning over her cool aura as she casually broke a world record at an air pistol competition earlier this year. A 27-second video of Kim performing in the 25-meter air pistol final at the ISSF World Cup, held in May in Baku, Azerbaijan, is circulating on social media, including X. One post by X user Del Walker, sharing the clip with a comment “most ‘Main Character Energy’ I've ever seen

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

Military exemption, irresistible perk for young Korean male Olympians

The South Korean duo of Shin Yu-bin and Lim Jong-hoon took the bronze medal in the mixed doubles table tennis event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, ending the country's 12-year Olympic table tennis medal drought. The win over Hong Kong not only extended the medal streak for the Koreans but also had a personal significance for 27-year-old Lim, who will now be exempted from his mandatory military service that was to commence next month. "I tried to think of it (bronze medal match) as

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

[Photo News] The two Koreas in the Olympics

South Korean table tennis player Lim Jong-hoon (2nd from left) briefly shakes hands with North Korean player Ri Jong-sik during the awarding ceremony for the mixed doubles table tennis event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. In the games, where a female and a male player form a team, Lim (27) and Shin Yu-bin (20) captured bronze medals, and the North Korean team, which consisted of Ri (24) and Kim Kum-yong (23), won silver medals. There had been some concerns over the South and North Koreans i

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

S. Korea finishes 6th in men's freestyle swimming relay

NANTERRE, France -- South Korea finished sixth in its first-ever final of an Olympic swimming relay race on Tuesday, unable to overcome an early gap. The team of Yang Jae-hoon, Lee Ho-joon, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo posted a time of 7:07.26 in the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay final at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, just west of the French capital. This was South Korea's first appearance in any Olympic swimming relay final. The four swimmers hoped to make even more histo

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

S. Korea claims 1st table tennis medal in 12 years, adds bronze in judo

PARIS -- South Korea extended its medal-winning streak to four days at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, picking up a bronze medal each in table tennis and judo. The first medal of the day was a drought buster, as Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin captured the bronze medal in the mixed doubles table tennis event for South Korea's first ping pong medal in 12 years. They defeated Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong 4-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 14-12) in the third-place contest. The South Koreans

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

Judoka not content with bronze in Paris, eyes gold in LA

PARIS-- Since making his senior international debut in 2022, South Korean judoka Lee Joon-hwan has picked up two bronze medals at world championships and a silver medal at the Asian Games. Falling short of a gold medal, however, is not something Lee wants to get accustomed to. The 22-year-old captured a bronze medal in the men's -81 kilograms at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday. The third-ranked Lee defeated world No. 1 from Belgium, Matthias Casse, in one of two bronze medal contests at Cha

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

Lee Joon-hwan wins bronze in men's judo

PARIS -- Lee Joon-hwan claimed a bronze medal in the men's -81-kilogram judo at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday for South Korea's second medal in the sport here. Lee, world No. 3, defeated the top-ranked Matthias Casse of Belgium in one of the two bronze medal contests at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. Lee scored the decisive "waza-ari," or a half point, 48 seconds into the sudden-death extra period. Lee ran into his old nemesis from Georgia, world No. 2 Tato Grigalashvili, in

More SportsJuly 31, 2024

S. Korea wins bronze in mixed doubles table tennis

Lim Jong-hoon and Shin Yu-bin captured the bronze medal in the mixed doubles table tennis event at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, giving South Korea its first table tennis medal in 12 years. Lim and Shin defeated Wong Chun Ting and Doo Hoi Kem of Hong Kong 4-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 14-12) at South Paris Arena 4 in Paris. Both players earned their first career Olympic medals. Lim and Shin had fallen to the bronze medal match after losing to the top-seeded pair from China, Wang Chuqin and Sun Yings

More SportsJuly 30, 2024

S. Korea qualifies for swimming relay final for 1st time

South Korea qualified for the final of the men's 4x200-meter freestyle relay swimming at the Paris Olympics on Tuesday, the country's first-ever appearance in a relay medal race. The quartet of Lee Ho-joon, Lee Yoo-yeon, Kim Yeong-hyeon and Kim Woo-min finished seventh overall in the heats with a time of 7:07.96 at Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, to punch their ticket to the final scheduled for Tuesday night. The top eight teams from the heats qualified for the final

More SportsJuly 30, 2024

Tall tales and theories on S. Korea's dominance in archery

South Korea on Monday notched its third-straight gold medal in the Olympic men’s team event, defeating host nation France and completing a sweep of the women's and men's team events at this year's Paris Olympics. Kim Woo-jin, Kim Je-deok and Lee Woo-seok hoisted the national flag after securing the 5-1 victory in the French capital. Since their more dominant female compatriots won the country’s 10th-straight gold in the women's team event on Sunday, Koreans have

More SportsJuly 30, 2024

Stings and arrows: Archer hits bullseye despite bee bother

Kim Je-deok remained calm and shot a perfect arrow despite a bee landing on the back of his hand during the men’s archery team event at the Paris Olympics on Monday. The bee distraction occurred during the semifinal against China. While the first set ended in a tie at 54 points apiece, South Korea rebounded in the second set, scoring 57 to China’s 53. The third set was crucial, as a victory would secure South Korea’s spot in the final. With the score at 36-53 and only two arr

More SportsJuly 30, 2024