Underdog Kim Yu-jin beats odds to climb to top of taekwondo world in Paris

Of the four members of the South Korean taekwondo team competing in the Paris Olympics, Kim Yu-jin was probably the one least expected to bring home the gold medal. Her Olympic Kyorugi Ranking as of June, which was used for seeding of the Paris event, was No. 24 in the women's -57-kilogram class, far below her teammates Seo Geon-woo, Lee Da-bin, and gold medalist Park Tae-jun -- each ranked No.4, No.4, and No.5 in their respective classes. But Kim used her long 183-centimeter frame to h

Aug. 9, 2024

[Photo News] More photos of two Koreas' Olympians together

A South Korean athlete takes a photo with a North Korean athlete on the podium at Stade Roland Garros in Paris, after they received bronze medals in the women's 54-kilogram boxing event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. South Korea‘s Im Ae-ji (25) and North Korea’s Pang Chol-mi (29) were defeated by Turkey’s Hatice Akbas and China’s Chang Yuan, respectively, on Sunday, resulting in Im and Pang winning bronze medals, as the Olympics awards bronzes to boxing athletes

Aug. 9, 2024

Unheralded athlete reaches top of taekwondo podium after taking detour to Paris

PARIS -- Kim Yu-jin, the latest Olympic taekwondo champion from South Korea, took a far more circuitous road to Paris than her teammates and many others who fancy themselves as medal contenders. Of the four South Korean taekwondo practitioners in Paris, Kim, who won the women's -57-kilogram gold medal on Thursday, had the lowest world ranking position at No. 24. Her three teammates, Park Tae-joon in the men's -58kg, Seo Geon-woo in the men's -80kg, and Lee Da-bin in the women�

Aug. 9, 2024

Woo Ha-ram finishes 11th in men's 3m springboard diving

Woo Ha-ram ended up well off the podium in the men's 3-meter springboard diving event at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Woo scored 374.15 points to finish in 11th place among the 12 finalists at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris. This was Woo's second straight appearance in the 3m springboard final. He had finished fourth in Tokyo in 2021, the best Olympic performance by a South Korean diver, but did not come close to topping that Thursday. He was in 11th place afte

Aug. 8, 2024

Tokyo bronze medalist Jun Woong-tae 4th after fencing ranking round in modern pentathlon

The reigning bronze medalist Jun Woong-tae ranked fourth after the opening fencing event of the modern pentathlon at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Jeon went 22-13 in his 35 fencing matches in the men's ranking round and earned 235 points to rank fourth out of 36 athletes. A win-loss record of 25-10 is worth 250 points. Athletes earn five points for each additional victory and lose five points for each additional defeat beyond the 10th. Jun won bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics to become

Aug. 8, 2024

Golf gold medalist Park In-bee misses out on IOC election

The 2016 Olympic women's golf champion Park In-bee has missed out on an election for membership on the Athletes' Commission of the International Olympic Committee, failing to earn enough support from fellow Olympians to join two other South Koreans at the top Olympic body. The IOC announced voting results for the Athletes' Commission on Thursday in Paris, and Park was not among the four newly elected members. Members on the Athletes' Commission have an eight-year term, and

Aug. 8, 2024

Diver Kim Su-ji misses out on final in women's 3m springboard

Kim Su-ji just missed out on the final of the women's 3-meter springboard diving at the Paris Olympics on Thursday. Kim finished 13th among 18 divers in the semifinal with 272.75 points at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, with only the top 12 moving on to the final. Kim finished 6.15 points behind the last qualifier, Yasmin Harper of Britain. Kim will be the first reserve in case a finalist cannot compete Friday. Kim ranked seventh after her first dive with 58.50 points

Aug. 8, 2024

Sport climber Seo Chae-hyun advances to final in women's combined event

Sport climbing medal hopeful Seo Chae-hyun qualified for the women's combined event final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday, making up enough ground in the lead portion of the competition after struggling in bouldering earlier in the week. Seo tied for fourth in the lead semifinal with 72.1 points at Le Bourget Sport Climbing Venue in Le Bourget, north of Paris. Combined with 44.2 points from the bouldering semifinal Tuesday, Seo finished eighth overall among 20 climbers with 116.3 points

Aug. 8, 2024

Badminton star An Se-young apologizes to fellow athletes for stealing spotlight

The Paris Olympic badminton champion An Se-young apologized to fellow South Korean athletes Thursday for stealing spotlight away from them with her recent criticism of the national badminton federation. Moments after winning the women's singles gold medal in Paris on Monday, An lashed out at her national team and the Badminton Korea Association for their poor handling of her knee injury, and for outdated and inefficient operations, among other things. She even said she found it difficult

Aug. 8, 2024

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