The chief organizer of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Sunday singled out the "low-cost, high-efficiency" opening ceremony as the most impressive moment of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. construction for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics (Yonhap)Lee Hee-beom, who heads PyeongChang's organizing committee, has been in Rio to promote the first Winter Games in South Korea. The Rio Olympics will draw to a conclusion with a closing ceremony later Sunday."The time has now come for the Pyeo

Aug. 22, 2016

South Koreans Son Myeong-jun and Shim Jung-sub finished well out of medal contention in the men's marathon at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Son came in 131st among 140 runners, finishing the race at 2:36:21, nearly 24 minutes slower than his personal best.Shim was 138th at 2:42:42, almost 30 minutes behind his personal record.Fifteen runners didn't finish the race.Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya won the gold medal at 2:08:44, followed by Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia

Aug. 22, 2016

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae finished fourth in the individual all-around final at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Son ended just shy of the country's first rhythmic gymnastics medal for the second consecutive Olympics. She scored 72.898 points from her hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon programs, while Ganna Rizatdinova of Ukraine took the bronze with 73.583 points.She finished fifth at the 2012 London Olympics.In Rio, Son was third among 10 fina

Aug. 21, 2016

Many athletes before him have accepted bronze medals begrudgingly, clearly not content to finish third when what they wanted was gold, but South Korean taekwondo fighter Cha Dong-min said Saturday he was grateful for his bronze.Having already won an Olympic gold eight years ago perhaps makes it easier for Cha to live with bronze. However, it's actually not the success from the past, but a failure that makes him enjoy his prize more, regardless of its color. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)By bea

Aug. 21, 2016

After closing out her first Olympic golf tournament on a disappointing note in Rio de Janeiro, South Korean Kim Sei-young said Saturday she has learned from her mistakes. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Namely, she perhaps wanted to win here so much that it actually proved detrimental to her game."I think I became too obsessed with results while I was preparing for the Olympics," Kim said after shooting an even-par 71 at Olympic Golf Course, for the four-day total of one-under 283.She ended in a

Aug. 21, 2016

It was only last month that South Korean LPGA star Park In-bee decided to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, despite nagging left thumb issues that had given her reservations for weeks.Golfer Park In-bee (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Turn the clock to Saturday, and Park is surely glad she made the call.The world No. 5 was crowned the first Olympic women's golf champion in 116 years, with a comfortable five-shot victory over the world No. 1 Lydia Ko.Park shot a five-under 66 in the final r

Aug. 21, 2016

South Korean Park In-bee cruised to the women's golf gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday.(Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Park shot five-under 66 in the final round at the par-71, 6,245-yard Olympic Golf Course, for a four-day total of 16-under 268. She beat Lydia Ko of New Zealand by five strokes for the first women's golf Olympic title awarded in 116 years.Feng Shanshan of China finished third at 10-under.Park started the day at 11-under, two shots over Ko and Gerina Piller of

Aug. 21, 2016

A highly-anticipated duel for the women's Olympic gold medal fizzled before it began on Saturday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)South Korean Park In-bee, world No. 5, opened the final round at 11-under, holding a two-stroke lead over the top-ranked Kiwi, Lydia Ko. Though American Gerina Piller was also at nine-under, the final round was largely expected to be the battle between the two stars who've been battling for LPGA supremacy in recent years.It didn't turn out to be much of a battle, as P

Aug. 21, 2016

South Korean badminton player Lee Yong-dae has hinted at his retirement from the international stage following his exit in men's doubles competition at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. Lee and his doubles partner Yoo Yeon-seong were eliminated in the quarterfinals at the 31st Summer Games. The world No. 1-ranked tandem suffered a stunning loss to Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong of Malaysia.  (Yonhap)Lee said on Thursday he decided to retire from the national team in order to give more international

Aug. 19, 2016

South Korea's Lee Dae-hoon won a bronze medal in men's taekwondo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday.Lee defeated Jaouad Achab of Belgium 11-7 in the men's -68kg bronze medal match at Carioca Arena 3.Earlier in the day, Lee lost in the quarterfinals to Ahmad Abughaush of Jordan 11-8. The South Korean moved into the repechage stage when Abughaush reached the final. (Yonhap)Lee, who won the 2012 silver in the -58kg, needed to win two matches to claim one of the two bronze medals at stake. H

Aug. 19, 2016

After guiding Japan to its first Olympic badminton gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the team's South Korean-born coach, Park Joo-bong, said Thursday it's "only the beginning."Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi captured the women's doubles gold medal Thursday, defeating Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark 2-1 (18-21, 21-9, 21-19). (Yonhap)In the decisive third game, the No. 1-ranked team from Japan rallied from a 19-16 deficit to clinch the country's first Olympic b

Aug. 19, 2016

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

Aug. 19, 2016

 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

Aug. 18, 2016

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

Aug. 18, 2016

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.

Aug. 18, 2016

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

Aug. 18, 2016

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

Aug. 18, 2016