Team Korea Awaits 'Golden Shower' on the 29th [Paris Olympics]

Post Park Tae-hwan Swimming Kim Woo-min·Hwang Sun-woo
Competing in Main Events 400m·200m on 27th·29th
'Smile Jumper' Athletics Woo Sang-hyeok Finale

The most anticipated event at the 2024 Paris Olympics is swimming. Many expect a new star to emerge following Park Tae-hwan (35), who won one gold and three silver medals at the Olympics. Hwang Sun-woo (21) and Kim Woo-min (23) are challenging for South Korea's second Olympic gold medal in swimming history. In particular, the men's 200m freestyle final, Hwang Sun-woo's main event, will be held on the 29th, which is also the golden day when South Korea expects the most gold medals at this Olympics.

Hwang Sun-woo will compete in the 200m freestyle heats starting on the 28th. The final, where medals will be decided, is scheduled for 8:40 PM local time on the 29th, which is 3:40 AM on the 30th Korean time. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hwang placed 7th in the 200m freestyle and 5th in the 100m freestyle. Notably, in the 200m final, he led until the 150m mark but dropped sharply in ranking during the last 50m, showing a failure in pace control. Many experts expect better results in his second Olympics with more experience.

Kim Woo-min (left) and Hwang Sun-woo of the men's swimming national team [Photo by Yonhap News]

According to the International Swimming Federation, Hwang Sun-woo's 200m time this year is 1:44.75. He ranks 4th behind David Popovici (20, Romania, 1:43.13), Lukas Martens (23, Germany, 1:44.14), and Matthew Richards (22, UK, 1:44.69). Duncan Scott (27, UK, 1:44.75) shares the same time as Hwang.

Hwang's 1:44.75 was set at the 2024 FINA World Championships final held in Doha, Qatar, in February. At that time, Hwang won the gold medal by pushing Martens and Scott to 4th and 6th place respectively. However, Popovici and Richards did not participate then. Hwang and Popovici clashed again at the Mare Nostrum 2nd meet in Barcelona, Spain, last May. Popovici won with a time of 1:44.74, while Hwang finished second at 1:45.68, 0.94 seconds behind.

The 29th is also the day the archery team will attempt to win their third consecutive Olympic gold in the men's team event. Kim Woo-jin (32), Lee Woo-seok (27), and Kim Je-deok (20) will compete. The final is scheduled for 5:11 PM. On the same day, Heo Mimi, the fifth-generation descendant of independence activist Heo Seok (1857?1920), will aim for gold in the women's judo 57kg category. Shooting athletes Park Ha-jun (men's 10m air rifle) and Ban Hyo-jin (women's 10m air rifle) are also targeting medals.

Before their individual events, Park Ha-jun and Ban Hyo-jin will also compete for medals in the mixed 10m air rifle event on the 27th, the day after the opening. If they win a medal, they will be the first medalists for the Korean delegation. The mixed 10m air rifle event will determine medalists starting at 10:30 AM.

If Park Ha-jun and Ban Hyo-jin fail to win medals, Kim Woo-min is likely to be the first medalist. Kim will compete in his main event, the 400m freestyle, on the 27th.

On May 2nd, Kim Woo-min set a personal best (3:42.42) and won the 400m at the 2024 Mare Nostrum Series 3rd meet in Monte Carlo, Monaco. His 3:42.42 ranks 4th this year behind Lukas Martens (3:40.33, Germany), Elijah Winnington (3:41.41), and Samuel Short (3:41.64, both Australia). However, Kim won the 400m freestyle final at the 2024 FINA World Championships in Doha, Qatar, in February with a time of 3:42.71, beating Winnington and Martens.

Men's fencing national team members Gu Bon-gil (left) and Oh Sang-wook [Photo by Yonhap News]

Shortly after Kim Woo-min's medal, fencing is also expected to produce its first medal. Individual fencing events run from the 27th to the 29th, with team events from the 30th to August 4th. On the first day of fencing, the 27th, men's sabre fencers Oh Sang-wook (27) and Gu Bon-gil (35), and women's ?p?e fencer Song Se-ra (31) will compete for medals. Starting at 8:40 PM, the women's ?p?e bronze medal match, men's sabre bronze medal match, women's ?p?e final, and men's sabre final are scheduled at 25-minute intervals.

On the 28th, the women's archery team will attempt to win their 10th consecutive gold medal in the team event. The Korean women's archery team has swept gold medals from the 1988 Seoul Olympics through the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Im Si-hyun (21), Nam Su-hyun (19), and Jeon Hun-young (30) will compete. The final starts at 5:11 PM.

Archery Women's National Team's Lim Si-hyun [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 30th, Hwang Sun-woo and Kim Woo-min will aim for medals in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay. The final is scheduled for 10:01 PM. At the Doha World Championships in February, Hwang, Kim, Yang Jae-hoon (26), and Lee Ho-jun (23) teamed up to finish second in the men's 4x200m freestyle relay. Their time of 7:01.94 was just 0.01 seconds behind first-place China. On the same day, table tennis player Shin Yu-bin (20) will challenge for South Korea's first medal in mixed doubles with Lim Jong-hoon (27). Fencer Song Se-ra will also compete for another medal in the women's team ?p?e event. On the 31st, Gu Bon-gil and Oh Sang-wook will attempt to win their third consecutive Olympic gold in the men's sabre team event.

Starting on the 2nd, the badminton team, aiming for up to three gold medals, will begin their medal hunt. On the 2nd, the pair Chae Yoo-jung (29) and Seo Seung-jae (27) will compete for a medal in mixed doubles. The archery team will also target gold in the mixed event.

On the 3rd, badminton will aim for gold in women's doubles, and archery will target gold in the women's individual event. Yeo Seo-jeong (22) will attempt to win a medal in the women's vault, following in the footsteps of her father Yeo Hong-chul (53), who won silver in men's vault at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Male gymnast Ryu Seong-hyun will also compete for a medal in the floor exercise on the same day. Shin Yu-bin will challenge for a medal in the women's individual table tennis event.

Badminton Women's National Team's An Se-young [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 4th, badminton will aim for gold in men's doubles, and archery will compete in the men's individual event, the last competition of the Games. Golf will also hold its final round on this day to decide medals.

On the 5th, women's badminton world No. 1 An Se-young will challenge for gold. Her final match starts at 9:45 AM.

From the 7th, gold medals are expected in taekwondo. South Korea suffered its first no-gold outcome at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning only one silver and two bronze medals. At the Paris Olympics, they aim to restore national pride by winning at least one gold medal. However, only four athletes have secured Olympic spots, the fewest since the lifting of country-specific athlete limits. On the 7th, Park Tae-jun (men's 58kg), on the 8th Kim Yu-jin (women's 57kg), on the 9th Seo Geon-woo (men's 80kg), and on the 10th Lee Da-bin (women's over 67kg) will compete for medals. On the 10th, the women's golf team will also decide their medal colors. Shin Yu-bin will team up with Jeon Ji-hee (32) to challenge for the last medal in women's doubles table tennis.

National high jump athlete Woo Sang-hyeok [Photo by Yonhap News]

“Smile Jumper” Woo Sang-hyeok (28) is expected to be the last medalist for the Korean delegation at the Paris Olympics. Woo will compete for South Korea's third Olympic medal in men's high jump. His final starts at 7:10 PM.