Who Will Be South Korea's Shining Star to Win a Medal in Paris? [Paris Olympics]

Most Anticipated Archery... Im Si-hyeon and Kim Woo-jin Lead the Charge
Fencing's Oh Sang-wook Aims for Two Wins in Individual and Team Events
Korean Swimming Targets Medal in Men's 800m Relay as Well

The Republic of Korea will send 144 athletes to compete in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. This is the smallest delegation since the 1976 Montreal Games (50 athletes). However, this does not signal a red light for medal prospects. Many athletes have achieved excellent results with world-class skills at international competitions such as the World Championships. They are adjusting their condition to peak at the Olympics and dream of glorious moments.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The most anticipated sport is undoubtedly archery. Lim Si-hyun (Korea National Sport University), Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall), and others aim to sweep all events. Lim Si-hyun is the Korean women's archery ace who won the triple crown (individual, team, mixed team) at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year, the first in 37 years. This year, she also won the individual events at the first and second World Cup stages consecutively. Although she faced the disappointment of being eliminated in the round of 32 at the third World Cup stage, she remains the top favorite for the women's individual title. She said, "Once you taste a gold medal, you keep wanting more."

Lim Si-hyun will challenge a 10th consecutive team event victory alongside Jeon Hun-young (Incheon City Hall) and Nam Soo-hyun (Suncheon City Hall). Generally, coaches place the strong-willed archer first and the veteran third in the shooting order. The first shooter role is assigned to Jeon Hun-young, who has shown bold archery skills in domestic competitions. Although he had little international experience until last year, he significantly improved his performance by participating in three World Cups. He said, "Everyone has a 'first time,' and since I prepared well from the World Cup, I am not worried." The second shooter, who plays the pivotal role, is the youngest, 19-year-old Nam Soo-hyun. He predicted a strong performance, saying, "I had no experience shooting in front of large crowds, so noise adaptation training at a professional soccer stadium was very helpful."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Woo-jin is a veteran with rich Olympic experience. He has won nine gold medals at the World Championships alone. He also contributed to the men's team gold medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro and 2020 Tokyo Games. This time, he is determined to win gold in both the team and individual events. He said, "If luck is on my side, I hope for a miracle that allows me to stand on the podium in the individual event as well."

His teammates in the team event are Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office) and Lee Woo-seok (Kolon). Kim Je-deok is a strong-willed archer who won two gold medals in the mixed team and men's team events at the Tokyo Games at the age of 17. Now in his twenties and returning to the Olympic stage, Kim Je-deok said, "I will do my best to showcase my skills and come back with good results." Lee Woo-seok has proven his competitiveness on the international stage, including the Asian Games, since he was younger than Kim Je-deok. With both skill and major competition experience, he is considered a dark horse. Lee Woo-seok pledged, "Rather than focusing too much on the results, I will trust the process and give it my all."

Another sport with high gold medal potential is fencing. The athlete to watch is Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall). He won the men's sabre team gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games. However, despite being ranked world No. 1 and considered a favorite in the individual event, he was eliminated in the quarterfinals. Due to injuries and limited participation in competitions, his world ranking dropped to 9th. Nevertheless, he remains the leading figure in men's sabre, having won two gold medals at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games. He aims to capture both individual and team gold medals.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The women's ?p?e team is also expected to perform well. Song Se-ra (Busan Metropolitan City Hall), Lee Hye-in (Gangwon Province Office), Kang Young-mi (Gwangju Seo-gu Office), and Choi In-jeong (Gyeryong City Hall), who won silver at the Tokyo Games, will challenge for gold again. In particular, Song Se-ra is also a medal contender in the individual event. Ranked third in the world, she won two titles at the 2022 World Championships.

Korean swimming expects three medals in Paris. Leading the charge is Hwang Sun-woo (Gangwon Province Office), who won medals three consecutive times (one gold, one silver, one bronze) at the World Championships. He has consistently reached the podium at major competitions recently and has emerged as a favorite to win the men's 200m freestyle. Kim Woo-min (Gangwon Province Office) is also showing remarkable progress. He won the men's 400m freestyle at this year's World Championships with a personal best of 3 minutes 42.71 seconds. Along with Lukas Martens (Germany) and Eliza Winnington (both Australia), he is mentioned as a favorite for the title.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

They will also compete for medals in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay alongside Lee Ho-jun (Jeju City Hall), Lee Yoo-yeon (Goyang City Hall), Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon Province Office), and Kim Young-hyun (Anyang City Hall). The momentum is smooth. In February at the World Championships, they finished second with a time of 7 minutes 01.94 seconds. The difference from first-place China (7 minutes 01.84 seconds) was only 0.1 seconds. Hwang Sun-woo predicted, "If we sum up the individual records of the relay members, it looks like we will compete with Australia and China for third place in Paris." Kim Woo-min expressed hope, saying, "All six relay members have trained well, and if we adapt well locally, our dream will come true."

In athletics, Woo Sang-hyeok (Yongin City Hall) will challenge for Korea's first track and field medal in the men's high jump. This is his third Olympic appearance. He narrowly missed a medal by finishing fourth at the Tokyo Games. His personal best is 2.36 meters, and his best performance this year is 2.33 meters. In his last competition before the Paris Olympics, he cleared 2.28 meters. Although he did not achieve his desired mark, he is still considered a favorite alongside Hamish Kerr (New Zealand), Mutaz Essa Barshim (Qatar), Gianmarco Tamberi (Italy), and Jovan Harrison (USA). He said, "The most important competition is the Paris Olympic final," showing his determination.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In modern pentathlon, Jeon Woong-tae (Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall) aims for his second consecutive Olympic medal. The men's bronze medalist at the Tokyo Games, he won individual and team gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games and recently earned an individual bronze at last month's World Championships. He said, "I feel like I am getting into my rhythm," adding, "I want to make a mark in sports history."

In judo, attention is focused on Kim Min-jong (Yangpyeong County Office) in the men's over 100kg category and Heo Mi-mi (Gyeongbuk Sports Council) in the women's 57kg category. Kim Min-jong won the World Championships this year. He has achieved significant results in every international competition he has entered recently, rising to world No. 1 in his weight class and securing an Olympic berth. Heo Mi-mi also won the World Championships this year, defeating world No. 1 Christa Deguchi and No. 2 Jessica Klimkait (both Canada) consecutively to claim the title.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

In taekwondo, expectations rest on Park Tae-jun (Kyung Hee University) in the men's 58kg category and Seo Geon-woo (Korea National Sport University) in the men's 80kg category. Park Tae-jun is the next-generation ace who secured an Olympic spot by surpassing Korea's taekwondo star Jang Jun (Korea Gas Corporation). Seo Geon-woo is considered a dark horse after winning the World Grand Prix Final last December.