[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korea going for multiple gold medals right out of the gate in Tokyo

TOKYO -- Every country starts at zero in the medal count at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, the first full day of competition after the opening ceremony. By the end of it, South Korea is hoping it will have a crooked number next to it on the table. South Korea will look to grab a handful of gold medals in archery, fencing, shooting and taekwondo. Having won a record 23 gold medals in Olympic archery competitions, South Korea will seek to add to that total in the inaugural mixed team competitio

Olympic GamesJuly 23, 2021

[Graphic News] Tokyo Olympics in numbers

  　Tokyo Olympics organizers have worked to slash the cost and scale of the 2020 Games after a historic postponement, but the numbers involved are still staggering. 　Here are some key figures from the sporting extravaganza, which opens on Friday: (1) 15,400 athletes 　Sportsmen and women from 205 countries and regions will compete at the Tokyo Games, with more than 11,000 Olympic athletes and 4,400 Paralympic athletes taking part. (2) 29 　South Korea will be represented by 232 athletes a

SportsJuly 23, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] Tokyo's opening ceremony built on hopes of uniting world during pandemic

TOKYO -- The opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for Friday evening will be founded on the host nation's hopes of bringing the world together through sport during the coronavirus pandemic. According to details shared by the local organizing committee last week, the concept for the opening ceremony has been titled, "United by Emotion." The organizers noted challenges that people around the world have faced over the past year due to the pandemic and said, "That is wh

Olympic GamesJuly 23, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korea lose to New Zealand to open men’s football tournament

KASHIMA, Japan -- Undone by an unlucky bounce and lack of clinical finish, South Korea lost to New Zealand 1-0 to kick off the men’s football tournament at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday. Burnley striker Chris Wood potted the match‘s lone goal in the second half after a shot attempt went off a defender’s leg and landed on his feet, following a long stretch of South Korea's ball dominance at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium in Kashima, northeast of Tokyo. The loss in the first Gr

Olympic GamesJuly 22, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] Tokyo Olympics kick off under the shadow of COVID-19

The trouble-laden Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to kick off Friday with a scaled-down opening ceremony amid deepening concerns about a surge of COVID-19 infections among athletes and other participants. After an unprecedented year-long delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 11,000 athletes from 206 countries are scheduled to compete in 33 sports at the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held at 42 competition venues through Aug. 8. But the mood remains jittery as the host city is in a state

Olympic GamesJuly 22, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] Slumping pitcher declares self healthy for Tokyo

After missing almost a full year with shoulder problems, LG Twins' left-hander Cha Woo-chan returned with a bang, with a 2-0 record and a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings over his first three starts. That impressive comeback, plus Cha's championship experience, helped him get picked as one of only two left-handers for the South Korean Olympic baseball team. But the 34-year-old struggled mightily over the next two outings, as he was shelled for 12 runs -- one unearned -- on nine hits in 6 1/3 innings comb

Olympic GamesJuly 22, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] Veteran fencer wants to dedicate medal to late father

CHIBA, Japan -- From time to time, South Korean fencer Jeon Hee-sook is reunited with her late father in her dreams. Whenever that happened, she always did well in following competitions. Jeon's father passed away in June 2008 and is buried not too far from his daughter's main practice facility, the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 90 kilometers south of Seoul. She paid him one last visit before leaving for Japan earlier this month and saw him in her dream that same night. "

Olympic GamesJuly 22, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korea aiming to make more Olympic archery history as competition opens with ranking rounds

TOKYO -- Five years ago at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, South Korea pulled off an unprecedented sweep of four archery gold medals. The national anthem, "Aegukga," was played at every medal ceremony, covering the men's and women's individual and team events. For this year's Tokyo Olympics, a fifth event, the mixed team, has been added. It can only mean one thing: a chance for South Korea, the most dominant archery power in the Olympics, to make even more history. Since the modern arch

Olympic GamesJuly 22, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korea poised for potential gold bonanza on 1st day of competition

TOKYO -- South Korea's objective at this year's Tokyo Olympics is to win six to seven gold medals. And more than half of that total could come on the first full day of the competition following Friday's opening ceremony. Barring major upsets, South Korean athletes should contend for medals in archery, shooting, fencing and taekwondo Saturday. The most optimistic prognosticator predicts five gold medals. Jin Jong-oh, one of the most accomplished pistol shooters in Olympic history, could be the

Olympic GamesJuly 22, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korean baseball team schedules 2 more tuneup games

The defending baseball gold medalist South Korea scheduled two additional tuneup games Wednesday in its preparation for the Tokyo Olympics. The Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) announced that South Korea will play the minor league military club Sangmu at 6:30 p.m. on Friday and then the KBO club LG Twins at 5 p.m. on Saturday. The team previously had only one scheduled game in the leadup to Tokyo, the 2 p.m. Sunday tilt against another KBO club, Kiwoom Heroes. All three games will be played

Olympic GamesJuly 21, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korean sabre fencers ready to defend throne in Tokyo: coach

TOKYO -- South Korea is going into the Tokyo Olympics ranked world No. 1 in the men's sabre fencing. The ace of the squad, Oh Sang-uk, is at the top of the individual rankings, too. The country has earned the favorite status in both the team and individual events here. And to hear coach Kim Hyoung-ryul tell it on Wednesday, all the prescouting work is complete. "We came here all prepared," Kim said. "For the final few days before the competition, it will come down to repeating w

Olympic GamesJuly 21, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korea to keep opening ceremony delegation to minimum amid COVID-19 concerns

TOKYO -- When the opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics takes place Friday night, South Korea will only have a modest-size delegation representing the country. Citing COVID-19 infection concerns, South Korea will have six officials and around 50 athletes marching in at Olympic Stadium in the Japanese capital, an official from the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) said Wednesday. South Korea is sending 232 athletes and 122 officials to the competition. Volleyball star Kim Yeon-koun

SportsJuly 21, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] Officials quitting in disgrace, sponsors reduce presence in scandal-marred buildup

TOKYO -- Tokyo remains under a state of emergency due to a rising number of novel coronavirus cases. At this rate, the Olympic Games the Japanese capital is hosting this summer may be under a similar state before the competition even starts. The list of Olympic officials quitting in disgrace grew Monday, when Keigo Oyamada, the composer for the opening ceremony, resigned over the bullying of disabled children in the past. The departure came only four days before the opening festivities. Oyamad

Olympic GamesJuly 21, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] From gymnast to baseball star to fencer, 2nd-generation athletes look to do families proud

South Korean artistic gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong will try to match in Tokyo this summer what her father did 25 years ago in Atlanta: win an Olympic medal. The 19-year-old Yeo won an Asian Games gold medal in the women's vault in 2018, adding it to the two Asian Games gold medals that her father, Yeo Hong-chul, won in 1994 and 1998. Her mother, Kim Yoon-ji, was also a gymnast, and she won bronze in the women's team event at the 1994 Asian Games. In that gymnast family, the senior Yeo is the only one

Olympic GamesJuly 20, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korea to kick off 2nd Olympic football medal bid vs. New Zealand

TOKYO -- South Korea's quest for a second Olympic medal in men's football will kick off Thursday against New Zealand. The Group B match between the two will begin at 5 p.m. at Kashima Stadium in Kashima, about 110 kilometers northeast of Tokyo. Though the opening ceremony isn't until Friday, preliminary action in football will begin early for scheduling purposes. This will also be the first event for South Korea at this year's Summer Olympics. South Korea's best Olympic showing to date is th

Olympic GamesJuly 20, 2021

[Tokyo Olympics] S. Korean Olympic chief assures of IOC's written pledge in banner row with Japan

NARITA -- South Korean Olympic chief Lee Kee-heung insisted on Monday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has promised in writing that it would ban the display of a Japanese imperialist flag during the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, a pledge made when South Korea was asked to remove banners the IOC believed to be political. Upon arriving in Japan on Monday, Lee, president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and also an IOC member, said the IOC is hoping both South Korea and the host cou

Olympic GamesJuly 19, 2021

Coach of KBO club Wiz tests positive for COVID-19

The South Korean baseball club KT Wiz announced Monday one of their coaches tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The coach began exhibiting symptoms on Friday and didn't attend the club's practices on Saturday and Sunday. The coach was tested Sunday and got his positive result back Monday, the Wiz added. The club said it immediately informed the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) of the result. All KT players and front office staff will be tested and remain isolated until further notice.

BaseballJuly 19, 2021

7 more from Seongnam FC test positive for COVID-19

Seven additional people from South Korean football club Seongnam FC have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, bringing the total caseload on the team to 22. Seongnam announced Monday that five players and two staffers have been diagnosed with COVID-19. After the first case from the K League 1 club was reported on July 11, the rest of the team received tests. The team now has 14 players and eight staffers on the COVID-19 list. Those who initially tested negative have since exhibited sympt

SoccerJuly 19, 2021

Main S. Korean Olympic delegation arrives in Tokyo

NARITA -- The main South Korean delegation to the Tokyo Olympics arrived in Japan on Monday, four days ahead of the opening ceremony for the competition delayed one year by the coronavirus pandemic. Jang In-hwa, head of the delegation, led a team of 69 athletes and officials from sports such as archery, gymnastics, table tennis and fencing. South Korean athletes in sailing, football and shooting, among others, traveled to Japan earlier in the month. Swimmers and badminton players arrived on Mo

Olympic GamesJuly 19, 2021

S. Korea bracing for tough pitching vs. Israel in 1st game at Tokyo Olympics

The importance of the first game in South Korea's Olympic baseball title defense isn't lost on manager Kim Kyung-moon. South Korea's first game in Group B is against Israel on July 29. On paper, the third-ranked South Korea should have little trouble against the 24th-ranked Israel. But Kim thinks South Korea will be in trouble if his players take their opponent lightly. In particular, Kim said his hitters should be on guard against Israeli pitching. That's the preliminary report he received fr

Olympic GamesJuly 19, 2021