Ex-Olympic table tennis champion gains IOC membership

Former South Korean Olympic table tennis champion Ryu Seung-min has won his bid for International Olympic Committee membership, an impressive career transition for the former teen prodigy.Among 23 candidates, Ryu finished second in the voting by 5,185 of 11,245 participating athletes at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics to earn one of four seats available on the IOC's Athletes' Commission. (Yonhap)Ryu earned 1,544 votes, while the winner, former German fencer Britta Heidemann, had 1,603 votes. Hungari

Olympic GamesAug. 19, 2016

S. Korean team wins bronze in women's badminton doubles

 RIO DE JANEIRO -- The South Korean women's badminton doubles team of Jung Kyung-eun and Shin Seung-chan captured a bronze medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.Jung Kyung-eun and Shin Seung-chan celebrate after taking bronze in women's badminton doubles at the Rio Olympics. (Yonhap)   Jung and Shin defeated Tan Yuanting and Yu Yang beat 2-0 (21-8, 21-17). This was South Korea's first badminton medal in Rio and will also be the only one this Olympics.   Jung and Shin were the only tea

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Former teen phenom embraces pressure, earns hard-fought gold

With South Korea struggling to pick up gold medals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the pressure to end the drought rested squarely on the shoulders of a taekwondo fighter in the women's lightest weight class. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)And Kim So-hui, crowned the Olympic champion in the -49kg category on Wednesday, didn't disappoint.Kim defeated Tijana Bogdanovic 7-6 in the nervy final at Carioca Arena 3. It had an anticlimactic finish, too, as both athletes had to wait for the result of a

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Golf coach guides players with her cooking

Just like any coach will do for their players, South Korean Olympic women's golf team skipper Pak Se-ri analyzes the golf course, sets strategies and encourages her players to put on their best performance.But there's one more thing she does: she cooks for her players. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Pak, a World Golf Hall of Famer with 25 LPGA victories, is leading four world-class golfers at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.They are Park In-bee (world No. 5), Kim Sei-young (No. 6), Chun In-gee (No.

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Korean Kim Tae-hun wins taekwondo bronze

South Korean Kim Tae-hun won a bronze medal in men's taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday.The two-time world champion defeated Carlos Navarro of Mexico 7-5 in the bronze medal contest in the men's -58kg at Carioca Arena 3. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Kim fell into repechage after losing his first match of the day to Tawin Hanprab of Thailand. When Hanprab reached the final, Kim got a reprieve as the loser to the finalist in the round of 16.Kim first had to get past Safwan Kh

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Korean Kim So-hui wins taekwondo gold

Kim So-hui won South Korea's first taekwondo gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday. Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldKim defeated Tijana Bogdanovic of Serbia 7-6 for the women's -49kg title at Carioca Arena 3.This was the first day of taekwondo competition in Rio, and South Korea has already matched its gold medal total from the 2012 London Olympics. Eight countries split eight gold medals four years ago.Kim is a two-time world champion making her Olympic debut in Rio.Kim is 10th o

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Koreans enjoy benign conditions in women's golf

South Korean stars took advantage of relatively benign conditions in the first round of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic women's golf tournament on Wednesday.Park In-bee and Kim Sei-young are tied for second at five-under 66 after the first day at the 6,245-yard Olympic Golf Course. Both players picked up five birdies against no bogeys to sit one behind the leader, Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand. Golf player Park In-bee (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Park, former world No. 1 who has dropped to No. 5 wh

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Table tennis youngsters learn valuable lessons from Olympic debuts

After his team lost to Germany in Wednesday's bronze medal match for the Rio de Janeiro Olympic men's team table tennis, South Korean Jeoung Young-sik found himself on the wrong end of history.The loss meant South Korea had failed to win a table tennis medal for the first time since the sport was introduced to the Olympics in 1988.While it's not entirely Jeoung's fault that South Korea is leaving Rio empty-handed, the 26-year-old said he wants to atone for the missed opportunity at the 2020 Toky

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Korea loses in bronze medal match in men's team table tennis

South Korea finished just shy of a medal in the men's table tennis team event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Wednesday.Germany defeated South Korea 3-1 in the bronze medal contest at Riocentro-Pavilion 3, taking two singles and one doubles match.South Korea claimed one singles match.The men's team held South Korea's last hope for a medal in Rio, with all the singles players and the women's team having failed to deliver.This marks the first time South Korea has failed to win a medal in table t

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Medal pressure too much for S. Korean badminton player

The pressure to deliver a badminton medal for South Korea at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics was too much to bear for Son Wan-ho on Wednesday.The world No. 8 was eliminated in the men's singles quarterfinals, as Chen Long of China, world No. 2, beat him 2-1 (21-11, 18-21, 21-11). Badminton player Son Wan-ho (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Son was the last South Korean player alive in the singles. On Tuesday, Sung Ji-hyun was knocked out of the quarterfinals in the women's singles. These results leav

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Korean man eliminated in badminton singles quarters

South Korean Son Wan-ho was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the men's badminton singles on Wednesday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Badminton player Son Wan-ho (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Chen Long of China defeated Son 2-1 (21-11, 18-21, 21-11) at Riocentro-Pavilion 4, stripping South Korea of its last player left in the singles.On Tuesday in women's singles, Sung Ji-hyun lost her quarterfinals to world No. 1 Carolina Marin.Chen scored the first three points of the opening game and quic

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

London taekwondo silver medalist to pursue gold in Rio

South Korean taekwondo fighter Lee Dae-hoon settled for silver at the 2012 London Olympics in the men's -58kg class, despite his favorite status. left: Taekwondo fighter Lee Dae-hoon (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)For the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Lee moved up to -68kg, and is still the title favorite. He will have a chance to finally live up to the tag on Thursday.Lee has often said he struggled so much to keep his weight down in London that he barely remembers anything else about his first Oly

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

Fencer promotes 'I can do it' mantra in his homeland

Sabre fencer Kim Jung-hwan (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)South Korean fencer Park Sang-young said Wednesday he wants to see more people using the "I can do it" mantra to overcome troubled situations, just like he did at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Fencer Park Sang-young (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Park defeated Geza Imre of Hungary 15-14 in the thrilling final to win an unexpected gold medal in men's individual epee at the Rio Games. Down 14-10 with less than three minutes remaining, he r

Olympic GamesAug. 18, 2016

[Newsmaker] Runners help each other after fall, lifting Olympic spirit

New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin was lying on the track, dazed after a heavy fall and with her hopes of an Olympic medal seemingly over. Suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder and a voice in her ear: "Get up. We have to finish this.''      It was American Abbey D'Agostino, offering to help.      "I was like, 'Yup, yup, you're right. This is the Olympics Games. We have to finish this,'" Hamblin said.      It was a scene to warm the hearts of fans during a qualifying heat of the women's 5,000

Olympic GamesAug. 17, 2016

Badminton singles player unable to change mood of slumping team

With the South Korean badminton team mired in a collective slump, it fell on Sung Ji-hyun, a women's singles player, to try and change the mood for the better with a win.And beating the world No. 1, Carolina Marin of Spain, in Tuesday's quarterfinals would have done the job, but Marin was too much for Sung to handle, as she prevailed 2-0 (21-12, 21-16) in just 45 minutes."I know we've not played well here, but I tried not to think too much about it," the emotional Sung said afterward. "I wanted

Olympic GamesAug. 17, 2016

Struggles continue in wrestling, badminton; volleyball

Time is running out for South Korea to meet its goal of winning 10 gold medals at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.South Korean came up empty-handed Tuesday, and it hasn't won a gold since last Friday -- when Ku Bon-chan won the men's individual archery title. The country is sitting at six gold medals, along with three silver and five bronze medals. The closing ceremony for the Rio Games is Sunday.Struggles continued in Greco-Roman wrestling, where former world champion Ryu Han-su lost to Rasul Chuna

Olympic GamesAug. 17, 2016

Greco-Roman title hopeful finishes out of medal

Korean Greco-Roman wrestling title hopeful Ryu Han-su came up short of a medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Tuesday.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldRyu lost to Rasul Chunayev of Azerbaijan 8-0 in the bronze medal match for the men's 66kg event at Carioca Arena 2.The 2013 world champion had fallen to the third-place match after losing to Migran Arutyunyan of Armenia in the quarterfinals.When Arutyunyan reached the final, Ryu got a reprieve and entered repechage, where he needed to win two matc

Olympic GamesAug. 17, 2016

Last Korean eliminated in badminton women's singles

The lone South Korean woman competing in badminton singles at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics got knocked out of the quarterfinals on Tuesday.Sung Ji-hyun was no match against world No. 1 Carolina Marin, who dispatched the seventh-ranked South Korean 2-0 (21-12, 21-16).Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldSung dropped to 1-6 all-time against Marin.Sung was the only South Korean alive in the quarterfinals in the women's singles. Sung went down 6-1 to start the first game, but fought back to make it 8-6 for

Olympic GamesAug. 17, 2016