The main contingent of South Korean athletes to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics came home to a heroes' welcome Wednesday after 17 days of competition in Brazil.

The group made up of 70 athletes and sports officials arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at about 8:10 a.m.

Hundreds of people, including the athletes' families and friends, were on hand at the airport to welcome the delegation with cheers.

Wrestler Kim Hyeon-woo, who won a bronze medal in the men's under-75kg Greco-Roman competition in Rio, was the South Korean flag bearer at the airport. He was also the flag bearer in the Rio Games closing ceremony.

Athletes in archery, football, shooting, fencing, badminton, volleyball and other sports who finished their events early in Rio already returned home on separate flights before the main contingent's arrival. The South Korean taekwondo team, however, will return home on Thursday.

 South Korea was represented by 333 athletes and officials in

24 of 28 sports at the Aug. 5-21 Rio Games. The country had set out to capture at least 10 gold medals and place inside the top 10 in the gold medal count for its fourth consecutive Olympics.

It did not meet the gold medal target with nine gold medals, but it finished eighth place overall among the 206 countries that competed in Rio. Besides the gold medals, the country won three silver and nine bronze medals.

Four of the country's nine gold medals came from archery as South Korean archers completed an unprecedented title sweep at the Olympics. South Korea also won two gold medals in taekwondo and one each in fencing, shooting and golf. (Yonhap)