The Korea Herald

Jin Jong-oh sets sights on Korea’s first gold in London

South Korea’s ace shooter Jin Jong-oh is ready to shoot for the country’s first gold medal of the London 2012 Olympic Games.He is reported to have trained in 10 m air pistol and 50 m pistol on the firing range of the Royal Artillery Barracks in London until Wednesday, then concentrated on the 10 m air pistol on Thursday afternoon. It was his last training session held in the afternoon before the event starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday.Athletes can train only in the morning on Friday when London will

July 27, 2012

Jin Jong-oh sets sights on Korea’s first gold in London

Japan beats Spain 1-0 in Olympic football

Japan's Yuki Otsu (L) celebrates with his team mates Maya Yoshida (partially hidden) and Hiroki Sakai (4) after scoring against Spain in their men's Group D football match at the London 2012 Olympic Games in Hampden Park, Glasgow. (Yonhap News)GLASGOW, Scotland _ Japan produced a major shock in men’s Olympic football on Thursday, beating medal favorites Spain 1-0.Japan forward Yuki Otsu broke away

July 27, 2012

Japan beats Spain 1-0 in Olympic football

Seven-year itch about to end as London set to kick off Summer Olympics

LONDON -- London's seven-year itch is about to end.The 2012 London Summer Olympics will officially kick off with a grand opening ceremony Friday night here, as the 80,000 capacity crowd is expected at the Olympic Stadium for an event that could last into early Saturday.London, selected as the host city seven years ago, will be home to some 16,000 athletes from 205 countries until Aug. 12. They wil

July 27, 2012

Rifle shooters take aim at first Olympic gold in two decades

(London Olympic Joint Press Corps)LONDON -- Make no mistake: South Korea's biggest shooting star is Jin Jong-oh, with one Olympic gold and two silver medals, in addition to a slew of other international titles in pistol events.Jin is expected to pick up more medals at the London Olympics.Meanwhile, his teammates in rifle events said they're also due for an Olympic gold.South Korea has sent three r

July 27, 2012

Rifle shooters take aim at first Olympic gold in two decades

Archers begin chase for gold on opening day of London Olympics

(London Olympics Joint Press Corps)LONDON -- South Korean archers begin their quest to add to the country's 16 Olympic gold medals on Friday, the opening day of the London Olympics.Im Dong-hyun, Oh Jin-hyek and Kim Bub-min will enter the men's ranking round, followed by the women's trio of Ki Bo-bae, Lee Sung-jin and Choi Hyun-joo. Scores in the rankings rounds will determine seeds for individual

July 27, 2012

Archers begin chase for gold on opening day of London Olympics

S. Korea draws Mexico in football opener at London Olympics

NEWCASTLE (Yonhap) -- South Korea played Mexico to a scoreless draw in the opening men's football match at the London Olympics here Thursday.In the Group B contest at St. James' Park, both teams played a lackluster opening half, but South Korea began the second half with a bit more juice. In the 50th minute, winger Kim Bo-kyung curled one past the left post from the top of the arc. In the 52nd, ca

July 27, 2012

S. Korea draws Mexico in football opener at London Olympics

ABU grants Olympic broadcasting rights to N. Korea

A non-government organization dealing with Olympic broadcasting rights for North Korea said Thursday it will allow the North to air the international sports events across the country.The decision came after Kim In-kyu, the president of South Korea's public broadcaster KBS and chief of the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), returned from a three-day visit to the North over the broadcasting issu

July 26, 2012

Koreas to square off in table tennis

LONDON (Yonhap News) ― South Korea and North Korea will face each other in the opening round of men’s table tennis team competition at the upcoming London Olympics.The Koreas were pitted against each other at a drawing Wednesday. The games start Friday and their first-round match is set for Aug. 3.The team competition was adopted for the first time at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but North Korea didn’t take part in that discipline. South Korea took bronze.Though the South Korean players have highe

July 26, 2012

Women’s soccer kicks off Olympics

LONDON (AP) ― Olympic competition finally kicked off Wednesday, two days before the London Games’ official opening ceremony, although the joy of the first day of sport was tempered by athletics’ ruling body saying it had suspended nine track and field competitors for what it called “sophisticated doping.”The Olympics got its first security scare ― a false alarm ― with Britain’s Ministry of Defense scrambling a Typhoon fighter jet to intercept a commercial airliner too close to the London Olympic

July 26, 2012

Flag row mars N.K. match

LONDON (Yonhap News) ― A women’s soccer match at the London Olympics between North Korea and Colombia was delayed by about an hour Wednesday after organizers mistakenly displayed the South Korean national flag on the scoreboard.North Korean players refused to take the field after the flag row took place during player introductions at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Organizers apologized for the mishap.“Today, ahead of the women’s football match at Hampden Park, the Republic of Korea flag was shown on a

July 26, 2012

Much work goes into setting order for archery events

LONDON (Yonhap News) ― Archery seems to be a fairly straightforward sport: see target, hit target. Score more points than your opponent, and you’re declared the winner.But when it comes to team competitions, the story gets a bit more complicated.Each nation sends three archers to team events. They each fire per end, an equivalent of a set, for six arrows per team in each end. They compete in four ends for 24 arrows in total. And South Korean archers and coaches said on Wednesday, on the sideline

July 26, 2012

Nam looks to spoil Vezzali’s dream of 4th-straight gold

The following is the eighth in a series of articles on rival athletes in South Korea’s most competitive events at the London 2012 Olympic Games. -Ed.South Korea’s top fencer Nam Hyun-hee must beat Italy’s fencing superstar Valentina Vezzali to strike gold in London.Nam, ranked second in the International Fencing Federation standings of female foil fencers, will compete in her second straight Olympics in London.She first made the national roster in 1999. Her gold medal march started with the 2002

July 26, 2012

Nam looks to spoil Vezzali’s dream of 4th-straight gold

Organizers display S.Korea flag instead of N.Korea

This mobile phone photo provided by James Crossan, shows a mistakenly displayed South Korean flag on a jumbo screen instead of North Korea's, before a women's soccer match which prompted the North Koreans to refuse to take the field for nearly an hour on Wednesday in Glasgow, Scotland. (AP-Yonhap News)GLASGOW, Scotland _ London Olympic organizers mistakenly displayed the South Korean flag on a jum

July 26, 2012

Organizers display S.Korea flag instead of N.Korea

Federer, Azarenka top seeds at tennis

Roger Federer (Yonhap News)LONDON - Wimbledon champion Roger Federer and Australian Open winner Victoria Azarenka were named as top seeds for the Olympic tennis event on Wednesday.World number one Federer returns to the All England Club where he secured a seventh Wimbledon title this month and where he'll hope to add Olympic singles gold to the doubles he won with Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrin

July 26, 2012

Bolt gets all-clear from Jamaican doctor

(Yonhap News)BIRMINGHAM, United Kingdom - Usain Bolt has been declared fully fit to defend his three Olympic titles, with the Jamaican team doctor insisting that the sprint king's performance is "on track".Bolt has struggled with leg and back problems in recent weeks while world champion compatriot Yohan Blake beat him in the 100m and 200m at the Jamaican Olympic trials.But team doctor Winston Daw

July 26, 2012

Bolt gets all-clear from Jamaican doctor

Phelps battles for London headlines

(Yonhap News)LONDON - Michael Phelps will put the final gloss on a glittering Olympic career at the London Games, but he's not the only star set to shine when competition begins Saturday at the Aquatics Centre.Phelps's unprecedented eight gold medals at the Beijing Games led the United States to a 31-medal haul in 2008, including 12 golds from the 32 events, nine silver and 10 bronze.Phelps won't

July 26, 2012

Flag mistake marks first day of women's football

CARDIFF, Wales _ Gold-medal favorites United States, Japan and Brazil won their matches on the first day of women's football on Wednesday, but all the talk was about an embarrassing mistake by organizers who displayed the South Korean flag instead of the North Korean one before a game in Glasgow.The two-time defending Olympic champion Americans beat France 4-2, World Cup winner Japan got past Cana

July 26, 2012

Much work goes into setting order for archery team events

LONDON -- Archery seems to be a fairly straightforward sport: see target, hit target. Score more points than your opponent, and you're declared the winner.But when it comes to team competitions, the story gets a bit more complicated.Each nation sends three archers to team events. They each fire per end, an equivalent of a set, for six arrows per team in each end. They compete in four ends for 24 a

July 26, 2012

Young gymnast Yang adopts optimistic outlook to fight nerves

LONDON -- Yang Hak-seon, the slightly built artistic gymnast with a specialty in vault, is carrying the weight of the nation on his tiny shoulders these days.South Korea hasn't won an Olympic gold in gymnastics, and Yang, generously listed at 160 centimeters, is being seen as the one athlete who can end the drought at this year's Olympic Games here.High hopes are well warranted. Yang is the reigni

July 26, 2012

N. Korean football match delayed after S. Korean flag displayed

LONDON -- A women's football contest at the London Olympics between North Korea and Colombia was delayed by about an hour Wednesday after organizers mistakenly displayed the South Korean national flag on the scoreboard.North Korean players refused to take the field after the flag row took place during player introductions at Hampden Park in Glasgow. Organizers apologized for the mishap."Today, ahe

July 26, 2012