South Korea’s 13 golds in Paris Olympics secure historic success

Gold medalist South Korea’s Ban Hyojin poses at the end of the shooting 10m air rifle women’s final during the Paris Olympics 2024 at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 29, 2024. (Photo by ALAIN JOCARD / AFP)

South Korea’s Olympic team, comprising 144 athletes across 21 events, achieved at least 13 gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, placing seventh overall, with athletes in shooting, fencing and archery playing pivotal roles in the country’s success.

Despite sending its smallest delegation since 1976, South Korea marked the nation’s first double-digit gold medal haul in a Summer Olympics since the 2012 London Games.

South Korea’s record-breaking achievement in gold medals was largely due to the outstanding performances of athletes in the so-called “weapon sports” categories. Out of the 13 gold medals won by the South Korean team, 10 were secured in shooting, fencing and archery events.

On the opening day of the Olympics, shooters Park Ha-jun and Keum Ji-hyeon displayed exceptional teamwork to win a silver medal in the 10-meter air rifle, making them the first South Korean medalists in the Olympics.

The following day, in the women’s 10-meter air pistol shooting, Oh Ye-jin won a gold medal, while Kim Ye-ji secured a silver medal.

On July 29, 16-year-old Ban Hyo-jin made headlines by winning the women’s 10-meter air rifle gold medal. Her victory marked several significant milestones: it was South Korea’s 100th gold medal in Summer Olympic history, she became the youngest South Korean to win a gold medal, and she set the record as the youngest female shooter to win gold in Olympic history.

On Aug. 3, Yang Ji-in, who ranked second in the world in the 25-meter pistol, lived up to expectations by winning the gold medal. Two days later, Cho Young-jae won a silver medal in the 25-meter rapid fire pistol.

The fencing team achieved the valuable feat of winning two gold medals and one silver medal, earning a “multi-gold” performance in France.

On July 28, the strong gold medal contender, Oh Sang-uk won the men’s individual saber event in fencing, securing the first fencing gold medal of the tournament for Korea.

The men’s saber team led by ace fencer Oh, which included Gu Bon-gil, Park Sang-won and Do Kyung-dong, also achieved their third consecutive victory in the team event on Aug. 1.

The women’s saber team, consisting of Yoon Ji-su, Jeon Ha-young, Choi Se-bin and Jeon Eun-hye, defeated the world’s top-ranked team, France, in the semifinals to reach the final for the first time in history, ultimately winning a silver medal.

South Korea’s fencers Oh Sanguk, Gu Bongil, Park Sangwon and Do Gyeongdong celebrate on the podium after winning the gold medal of the men’s team sabre competition during the 2024 Summer Olympics at the Grand Palais, Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

South Korea, known for having the world’s strongest archery team, made history by sweeping all five gold medals.

Starting on the second day of the Olympics, South Korea’s archery team swept the gold medals one by one: first in the women’s team event, followed by the men’s team event, mixed team event, women’s individual event (won by Lim Si-hyeon) and finally the men’s individual event (won by Kim Woo-jin).

In addition, they secured a silver medal in the women’s individual event (won by Nam Su-hyeon) and a bronze medal in the men’s individual event (won by Lee Woo-seok).

Following their success at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, this marks the second time in history that South Korea has won all the gold medals in archery. It is also the first time that a country has swept all the events since the introduction of the mixed team event, which increased the total number of archery gold medals to five.

The women’s archery team has achieved an unbroken streak of 10 consecutive victories in the team event since it was first introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

An Se-young won the gold medal in the women’s singles badminton at the Olympics, defeating world No. 9 He Bingjiao of China.

This marks the first time in 28 years that a South Korean female player has won the Olympic gold in women’s singles since Bang Soo-hyun’s victory at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. It is also the first gold medal for South Korea in badminton overall in 16 years, since the mixed doubles victory by Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Korea’s Taejoon Park celebrates after winning a men’s 58kg Taekwondo final match against Azerbaijan’s Gashim Magomedov during the 2024 Summer Olympics, at the Grand Palais, Wednesday, Aug. 7, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Andrew Medichini)

In taekwondo, the team secured two gold medals and one bronze, overcoming the disappointment of winning no gold at the Tokyo Olympics and restoring the pride of the sport’s home country.

Park Tae-joon in the men’s -58-kilogram and Kim Yu-jin in the women’s -57-kilogram both stood at the top of the podium with gold medals. Meanwhile, Lee Da-bin, the silver medalist from the Tokyo Olympics, secured a bronze medal in the women’s +67-kilogram, marking her second consecutive podium finish.

Led by star player Shin Yu-bin, South Korea’s table tennis trio of Jeon Ji-hee and Lee Eun-hye defeated Germany and captured a bronze medal in women’s team table tennis for the first time since the 2012 London Olympics.

Although there were no gold medals in judo, the team won two silver and three bronze medals, marking the most medals it has secured since the 2000 Sydney Olympics, signaling a strong resurgence for the sport.