Veteran South Korean fencer laments early exit in last hurrah

As he was getting ready for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, South Korean veteran fencer Jung Jin-sun knew all along it would be his last hurrah.He just didn't want it to end the way it did Tuesday.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldThe 2012 bronze medalist in the men's individual epee couldn't repeat the feat this time, falling to Enrico Garozzo of Italy in the round of 32."I've prepared so hard for my last Olympics, and I am upset at myself for getting only this far," he told Yonhap News Agency after h

Aug. 10, 2016

South Korean Park Sang-young wins gold in epee fencing

South Korean fencer Park Sang-young won gold in the men's individual epee at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Tuesday, powered by a furious comeback that erased a late deficit.Park defeated Geza Imre of Hungary 15-14 in the thrilling final at Carioca Arena 3 for South Korea's first fencing medal in Rio.Down 14-10 with under three minutes remaining, Park reeled off five unanswered points to complete the unlikely comeback and give South Korea its third gold medal here."I wasn't even thinking about t

Aug. 10, 2016

Struggling swimmer hints at return for 5th Olympics in Tokyo

Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldStruggling South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan on Tuesday hinted at returning for his fifth Olympics, saying he owes it to himself and fans to perform better than he has at the ongoing Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.Park missed out on the semifinals in the 100m freestyle on Tuesday at Olympic Aquatics Centre, the third time he failed to make it out of the heats in Rio. At 49.24 seconds, Park was only 32nd among 59 swimmers.Afterward, Park said this isn't the kind of an

Aug. 10, 2016

Reigning gold medalist fails to reach pistol shooting final

 South Korean shooter Kim Jang-mi failed to defend her 25m pistol gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Tuesday.Kim finished ninth in the qualification rounds at Olympic Shooting Centre, unable to join the top eight that moved on to the final.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldKim shot 582 points -- 288 points in the precision portion and 294 points in the rapid fire portion. She was tied in total points with Heidi Diethelm Gerber of Switzerland and Ekaterina Korshunova of Russia, but they hit

Aug. 10, 2016

South Korean archer Lee Seung-yun reaches round of 16 in men's individual

South Korean archers Lee Seung-yun and Chang Hye-jin cruised to the round of 16 in the men's and women's individual competitions at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Tuesday.Lee, who helped South Korea to the team gold medal Saturday, won both of his elimination matches at Sambodromo and will resume his gold medal quest on Friday.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldLee, world No. 8, began the day by defeating Daniel Rezende Xavier of Brazil by the set score of 6-2 (28-22, 30-27, 27-28, 28-26).Each set co

Aug. 10, 2016

Star-crossed handball player out of Rio Games with shoulder injury

Star-crossed South Korean handball player Kim On-a has been ruled out of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics with a shoulder injury.The Korean Olympic Committee said Tuesday Kim, one of the top offensive weapons on the women's team, will miss the rest of the Olympics with the injury suffered against Sweden on Monday.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldSouth Korea will name Kim's replacement momentarily.South Korea lost that game 31-28, their second straight loss in the preliminary round. South Korea lost to R

Aug. 10, 2016

Stielike says S. Korea should not settle for draw in Mexico match

Uli Stielike, the head coach of the South Korean senior national football squad, said Tuesday the Olympic football team should not settle for a draw against Mexico. South Korea will face Mexico at Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia on Wednesday for their last Group C men's football match at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. South Korea lead the group with four points after beating Fiji 8-0 last Thursday and having a 3-3 draw with Germany on Sunday.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldMexico, the 2012 Olympi

Aug. 10, 2016

[Newsmaker] Phelps bids for astonishing 20th gold

Michael Phelps will set his sights on a record-extending 20th Olympic swimming gold on Tuesday when he tries to wrest back the 200m butterfly title from Chad le Clos.Katie Ledecky will also be battling for another key swimming title on an Olympic day in which 14 golds will be up for grabs.Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time has already topped the podium in Rio after the USA's 4x100m win, and will now go for individual glory at the age of 31. United States` Michael Phelps competes in

Aug. 9, 2016

Korea reels from shock Rio defeats

Monday was barren day for South Korea at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, with a handful of medal contenders unable to deliver on expectations.With no medals won Monday, South Korea remained stuck at two gold, two silver and one bronze. The country has set out to grab at least 10 gold medals and finish in the top 10 in the medals table for the fourth consecutive Olympics.South Korea is now eighth in the medal standings. The U.S. led the medal standings for the second straight day with five golds, se

Aug. 9, 2016

Korea falls to Russia in women's volleyball

South Korea has fallen to Russia in women's volleyball at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, unable to contain the opponent's relentless attack in the late stage.After an early seesaw battle, Russia came out on top 3-1 (25-23, 23-25, 25-23, 25-14) at Maracanazinho on Monday for its second consecutive victory in Pool A.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldSouth Korea, which defeated Japan to open the Olympics, dropped to 1-1. It will next face Argentina on Wednesday at the same venue.Neither team led by more

Aug. 9, 2016

Korean sailors say Rio waters cleaner than before

South Korean sailor Ha Jee-min has been coming to Rio de Janeiro for three years for competitions, and he remembers seeing debris floating in the polluted waters of the Brazilian city.But when he began his Olympic campaign Monday in the Laser event at Marina da Gloria -- the starting point for sailing events in Guanabara Bay -- Ha found the waters "very clean."Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald"My first year here, the waters were extremely bad, and there were sofas in them," Ha said. "But they weren

Aug. 9, 2016

European Tour young gun arrives in Rio, eyes Olympic medal

An Byeong-hun, South Korean young gun on the European Tour, arrived in Rio de Janeiro, eyeing a medal in golf's long-awaited return to the Olympics."Now that I am wearing the national flag on my chest, this feels different than any other competition," An said at Galeao International Airport on Monday. "I must never taint the honor of the national flag."Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldAn, the 2015 European Tour Rookie of the Year, said his goal is to win a medal, "and a gold medal, while I am at it

Aug. 9, 2016

Korea arrive in Brazilian capital for final group match in men's football

With an eye on their second consecutive Olympic knockout berth, Korea arrived in Brasilia on Monday for their final group match at the Rio de Janeiro Games.Korea will face Mexico at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia, some 1,200 kilometers northwest of Rio. Korea lead Group C with four points, after beating Fiji 8-0 last Thursday and having a 3-3 draw with Germany on Sunday.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldMexico, the 2012 Olympic champions, also have four points, but Korea hold

Aug. 9, 2016

After silver in Rio, young judoka turns eye to Tokyo in 2020

Having bagged his first Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro, South Korean judoka An Ba-ul said Monday he'll try to do one better at the next Olympics in Tokyo."My lifelong goal has been to win back-to-back gold medals in Rio and Tokyo," An said at a press conference at the Korea House for South Korean journalists. "I'll try to win gold in Tokyo four years later."Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldAn lost in the final of the men's 66kg event Sunday, with Fabio Basile of Italy upsetting the world No

Aug. 9, 2016

Defending Olympic fencing champ upset in 3rd round

Defending Olympic fencing champion Kim Ji-yeon suffered a shocking third-round loss at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Monday.Kim, the women's individual sabre gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, lost to Loreta Gulotta of Italy 15-13 in the round of 16 at Carioca Arena 3.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldKim went down 2-0 early in the bout before going ahead 9-5.Gulotta, though, ate into the deficit and made it an 11-11 tie.Then Gulotta scored three unanswered points to take a 14-11 lead. With

Aug. 9, 2016

Top-ranked archer suffers stunning defeat in individual event

Kim Woo-jin, the No. 1-ranked male archer from South Korea, was upset in the second round of the individual event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Monday.Kim fell to Riau Ega Agatha of Indonesia by the set score of 6-2 (27-29, 28-27, 27-24, 28-27). In the set system, each set consists of three arrows. A set win is worth two points and a draw is worth one point. The first archer to reach six points wins the match.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldKim helped South Korea win the men's team gold medal in

Aug. 9, 2016

Two South Korean judokas knocked out early

Two South Korean judokas in action on Monday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics suffered early elimination.An Chang-rim, the world No. 1 in the men's 73kg, lost in the round of 16 to Dirk van Tichelt of Belgium by waza-ari (half a point).Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldAn, regarded as a gold medal favorite here, had been 2-0 against the 18th-ranked van Tichelt before Monday's loss.The Belgian picked up his half point 2:47 into the taut contest, and held his ground for the narrow victory.In the women's

Aug. 9, 2016

In tough, windy conditions, South Korean talent rises to top in archery

In benign conditions with little breeze, archers good enough to qualify for the Olympics will more often than not hit high scores.It's when the going gets tough, with wind blowing in from every which way, that true talent rises to the top.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldSuch has been the case in the two days of the archery competition so far at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.  South Korea won both the men's and women's team gold medals over the weekend, as their archers stayed on the mark desp

Aug. 9, 2016