South Korea finished 12th in the overall medal tally of the London Paralympics that came to an end in London on Sunday.South Korean Paralympians won a total of 27 medals -- nine gold, nine silver and nine bronze -- from the Aug. 29-Sept. 9 Paralympics.A total of 135 athletes and officials in eight sports, including sailing, archery, shooting and tablet tennis, participated in the 2012 Paralympics,

Sept. 10, 2012

South Korea's top sports governing body said Wednesday that it has further reduced penalties on badminton players involved in a match-throwing scandal at the London Olympics.The Korea Olympic Committee (KOC) said that the four female players -- Jung Kyung-eun, Kim Ha-na, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung -- will be suspended from international play for one year, removing an additional six-month domesti

Sept. 5, 2012

LONDON (AP) ― Just hours after the close of the Olympics, a female shot putter from Belarus was stripped of her gold Monday in the first case of an athlete losing a medal for doping at the London Games.With the disqualification of Nadzeya Ostapchuk, the gold medal was awarded to Valerie Adams of New Zealand ― who winds up as Olympic champion for the second time in a row.The International Olympic Committee said Ostapchuk, a former world champion, tested positive for steroids both before and after

Aug. 14, 2012

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) ― The Olympic flag touched down on Brazilian soil on Monday, marking the start of four years of preparations ahead of the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes waved the five-ringed flag as he and other top officials disembarked from the flight that brought them back from London, where they attended the games’ closing ceremony on Sunday.Speaking at a packed news conference at Rio’s Tom Jobim international airport, Paes called it an “important moment” for Rio and

Aug. 14, 2012

The International Olympic Committee’s suspension of a medal award to a South Korean footballer reverberates beyond sports to disputes on a touchy historical issue between Korea and Japan.Park Jong-woo of South Korea carried a banner handed to him by a spectator, which read “Dokdo is our land,” right after his team won the Olympic bronze medal match against Japan. The IOC raised an issue about his picketing and barred him from the medal ceremony, citing his violation of the Olympic charter which

Aug. 13, 2012

LONDON -- Korean athletes wowed the crowd at the London Olympics with their medal-winning performances.But they also made headlines with other, at times less flattering, issues on and off the field.In the opening week, Korea found itself at the center of high-profile judging disputes. First, freestyle swimmer Park Tae-hwan, the 400-meter freestyle gold medalist from Beijing, was disqualified for a

Aug. 13, 2012

LONDON  -- After the opening weekend of the London Olympics in late July, it seemed for a moment that Korea would have more difficulty meeting its gold medal target than anticipated.But the country's athletes saw to it that the mission, which was to win at least 10 gold medals for a top-10 finish in the medal table, would be accomplished -- with relative ease, it turned out.At this year's Summer O

Aug. 13, 2012

The head of South Korea's top sports body has vowed to investigate badminton and fencing officials for their roles in off-field controversies.Park Yong-sung, president of the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC), said he will look to hold badminton coaches responsible for the match-throwing scandal that saw four South Korean female doubles players disqualified from the London Olympics earlier this month

Aug. 12, 2012

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has questioned some of the judging at the London Olympics, specifically in boxing and weightlifting.Mutko pointed to Irish lightweight Katie Taylor's 10-8 win over Russia's Sofya Ochigava in the women's boxing final on Thursday.``How can you give such scores? You'd have to be blind,'' Mutko was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.The head of Russia's Ol

Aug. 12, 2012

The IOC has postponed accepting four elected athletes as new members after Japan appealed its candidate's exclusion for campaigning too hard at the London Games.International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said ``legal issues'' prevented the new athletes' representatives from joining on Sunday.Rogge says ``there is no doubt that rules were infringed,'' prompting the IOC to remove Japane

Aug. 12, 2012

Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich won the men's Olympic marathon on Sunday.Kiprotich timed 2hr 08min 01sec on the course around the streets of central London, with two-time defending world champion Abel Kirui claiming silver in2:08.27.Another Kenyan, Wilson Kipsang, took bronze in 2:09.37.(AFP)

Aug. 12, 2012