Turning Point for the Paris Olympics... South Korea's Future Medal Prospects? [Paris Olympics]

Expect Gold Medals in Men's Archery Team and Badminton's An Se-young
Taekwondo Starts from the 7th... Aiming for at Least One Gold Medal
Weightlifter Park Hye-jung, High Jumper Woo Sang-hyeok, and Women's Golf Also Strong Contenders
Additional Medals Expected in Sports Climbing and Modern Pentathlon

The 2024 Paris Olympics has passed the halfway mark. So far, the performance of the Korean delegation has exceeded expectations. With 9 gold medals, 7 silver medals, and 5 bronze medals, Korea is currently ranked 6th. The Korea Sports Council initially set a goal of 5 gold medals, but this has already been surpassed by a wide margin. In the total medal count, Korea is ranked 7th with 21 medals.

It is expected that additional gold medals will be won in the remaining second half, though perhaps not as many as in the first half. Korea can aim for its best performance since the 2012 London Olympics, where it finished 5th overall with 13 gold, 9 silver, and 8 bronze medals.

On the 4th, the 10th gold medal is anticipated. Archery representatives Kim Woo-jin, Lee Woo-seok, and Kim Je-deok have all advanced to the round of 16. Starting at 4:43 PM Korea time, Lee Woo-seok will be the first to compete in the round of 16. If Korea wins gold in the men's individual event as well, it will be the second time in history, after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, that Korea sweeps all archery events.

Archery national team member Kim Woo-jin [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 4th, medals are also possible in golf. Male representative Kim Joo-hyung is tied for 6th place, 4 strokes behind the leader after three rounds, so a strong performance in the final round could put him in medal contention. Ahn Byung-hoon is tied for 17th, 7 strokes behind the leader, but he aims to continue the momentum of reducing 5 strokes in the third round.

Im Ae-ji, Korea's first female boxing Olympic medalist, will compete in the semifinals at 11:34 PM. If she wins, she will compete in the final at 5:51 AM on the 9th.

On the 5th, badminton women's singles world No. 1 An Se-young is expected to continue the gold medal streak. On the 3rd, An Se-young won a tough quarterfinal match against Japan's Akane Yamaguchi 2-1 (15-21, 21-17, 21-8) in a comeback victory.

At 3:30 PM on the 4th, she will face Indonesia's Gregoria Tunung in the semifinals. Tunung is ranked 8th in the world and is considered an easier opponent than Yamaguchi. If An Se-young wins against Tunung, she will compete in the final at 4:45 PM on the 5th against the winner of the match between Spain's Carolina Marin, ranked 4th, and China's He Bingjiao, ranked 9th.

Badminton National Team Player An Se-young [Photo by Yonhap News]

Table tennis team events begin on the 5th. The Korean team will play the round of 16 starting on the 6th. The women's team, ranked 3rd in the world, will face Brazil, ranked 10th, at 3 AM on the 6th. The men's team, ranked 5th, will face Croatia, ranked 11th, at 5 PM the same day. The men's path to a medal looks difficult, as they are likely to face world powerhouse China in the quarterfinals. The women's team is scheduled to meet China in the semifinals, so even if they lose, they can expect to compete in the bronze medal match. After Brazil, the women's team is likely to face Hong Kong, ranked 6th, in the quarterfinals.

On the 5th, sports climbing, a strong medal contender, will also begin. Seo Chae-hyun, Lee Do-hyun, and Shin Eun-cheol, all competing in sports climbing, are considered medal candidates. Seo Chae-hyun and Lee Do-hyun won silver medals at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games.

Sports climbing was first included as an official event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The number of medals has increased from 2 then to 4 this time.

At the Tokyo Olympics, lead, bouldering, and speed were combined into one combined event for men and women, but at the Paris Olympics, speed is held as a separate event, and the combined event medals are decided based on lead and bouldering results only.

The medalists for the men's speed event, in which Shin Eun-cheol competes, will be decided on the 8th. The men's combined final will be held on the 9th, and the women's combined final on the 10th.

Wrestling competitions begin on the 5th. Korea is challenging in three weight classes: men's Greco-Roman 97kg with Kim Seung-jun, over 130kg with Lee Seung-chan, and women's freestyle 62kg with Lee Han-bit. Korea did not win any medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for the first time since the 1972 Munich Olympics. The medal prospects at the Paris Olympics are somewhat uncertain as well.

From the 7th, competitions in taekwondo, weightlifting, and women's golf, which will strengthen the final medal race, will begin.

Korea's pride as the birthplace of taekwondo was tarnished at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. With only one silver and two bronze medals, Korea failed to win a gold medal in taekwondo for the first time since it became an official Olympic sport at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. This time, Korea aims to restore its pride by winning at least one gold medal.

On the 7th, Park Tae-jun (men's under 58kg), on the 8th Kim Yoo-jin (women's under 57kg), and on the 10th Seo Geon-woo (men's over 80kg) and Lee Da-bin (women's over 67kg) will compete. Gold medals are expected from Park Tae-jun and Lee Da-bin. Lee Da-bin won a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Taekwondo National Team Member Park Tae-jun [Photo by Yonhap News]

Taekwondo competitions will be held at the Grand Palais. It is hoped that the good energy from the fencing team, which achieved its best-ever results at the same venue, will continue. The fencing team, which completed all its events on the 3rd, matched its best-ever performance from the 2012 London Olympics with 2 gold, 1 silver, and 3 bronze medals.

Weightlifting, with 10 gold medals at stake, begins on the 7th. Park Hye-jung, known as the 'post Jang Mi-ran,' competing in the women's over 81kg category on the last day of the competition, the 11th, is a strong medal contender and is likely to win silver.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, China's Li Wenwen comfortably won gold with a total of 320kg in this event. Li lifted 37kg more than Emily Campbell of Great Britain, who won silver with 283kg. Li Wenwen, the absolute powerhouse, is expected to win gold again at the Paris Olympics unless there is an upset.

Park Hye-jung has consistently won international competitions recently without Li Wenwen. In April, at the 2024 International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) World Cup in Phuket, Thailand, she lifted 130kg in the snatch, 166kg in the clean and jerk, totaling 296kg, finishing second behind Li Wenwen, who totaled 325kg (145kg snatch, 180kg clean and jerk).

Korean weightlifting did not win any medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Park Hye-jung is expected to bring Korea its first Olympic weightlifting medal in 8 years since Yoon Jin-hee's bronze in the 53kg category at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Along with Park Hye-jung, Korea will compete in five weight classes: women's 81kg Kim Soo-hyun, men's 73kg Park Joo-hyo, 89kg Yoo Dong-joo, and 102kg Jang Yeon-hak.

Women's golf, with Ko Jin-young, Kim Hyo-joo, and Yang Hee-young challenging for gold, will start its first round on the 7th and conclude with medalists decided on the 10th.

The modern pentathlon, with two gold medals at stake, is also expected to add medals in the final stages of the competition. Jeon Woong-tae, who won bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, becoming Korea's first Olympic medalist in modern pentathlon, is aiming for a second consecutive Olympic medal. He won two consecutive individual gold medals at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games. Seo Chang-kwan, also competing, is ranked 8th in the world. Jeon Woong-tae is ranked 2nd.

Modern Pentathlon National Team Jeon Woong-tae [Photo by Yonhap News]

Medals can also be expected in the women's division. Seong Seung-min won the world championship in June in Zhengzhou, China, becoming the first Korean female to do so. Kim Sun-woo, who placed in the top 10 in the last two Olympics, hopes for a higher ranking at the Paris Olympics. She won an individual silver medal at last year's Hangzhou Asian Games.

The modern pentathlon schedule begins on the 8th with the fencing ranking round. On the 9th, the men's semifinals will be held, followed by the men's final and women's semifinals on the 10th, and the women's final on the 11th.

Kim Hong-yeol (stage name Hongten), a veteran B-boy in his 40s, will aim for a medal in breaking, which is an official Olympic event for the first time at the Paris Olympics on the 10th. 'Smile Jumper' Woo Sang-hyeok will aim for Korea's last medal at the Paris Olympics. He will compete in the qualifiers on the 7th and the final on the last day of the competition, the 11th. Woo Sang-hyeok is aiming for Korea's first Olympic medal in athletics track and field. His personal best is 2.36 meters. He is well positioned to enter the medal zone, and if he surpasses his personal record, a gold medal is also possible.