The South Korean team had an impressive start at the 2024 Paris Olympics, showcasing their prowess by clinching a total of five medals, including 2 golds, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze, over the first weekend of the event on July 27 and 28 (local time).
S. Korea Olymic team has won a gold medal on the first day of competition for five consecutive Summer Games, starting with the 2008 Beijing Olympics (judo athlete Choi Min-ho). These are the 97th and 98th gold medals in S. Korea’s Summer Olympic history.
The first gold medal was won by South Korea’s fencing star Oh Sang-uk (28). He triumphed over Farees Ferjani (Tunisia) 15-11 in the men’s sabre individual final held at the Grand Palais in Paris. Having been part of the gold-winning team at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Oh became the first South Korean to win gold in the men’s sabre individual event in his second Olympic appearance.
With this victory, he achieved an ‘individual grand slam’ in fencing, having previously won the 2019 World Championships, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Asian Championships in 2019 and this year.
Known as the “Formidable Fencer” for his impressive height of 192 cm and agility, Oh credited his coach, Won Woo-young, for the encouraging words during critical moments, such as the quarterfinals against Fares Arfa (Canada), telling him that no one could beat him. Despite struggling with ankle and wrist injuries since the Tokyo Olympics, Oh endured grueling training to win the gold medal.
On July 28, Oh Ye-jin (19) and Kim Ye-ji (32) swept the gold and silver medals in the women’s 10m air pistol event.
Competing at the Châteauroux Shooting Center in France, the two outperformed their rivals until the end, with Oh scoring 243.2 points and Kim scoring 241.3 points. This marked the first time since the 2012 London Olympics, when Jin Jong-oh (gold) and Choi Young-rae (silver) stood together, that South Korean shooters shared an Olympic podium.
Oh Ye-jin also set a new Olympic final record for S. Korea, the first since Jin Jong-oh’s record in the 50m pistol at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Interestingly, Oh and Kim are also roommates.
The first medal for South Korea in this Olympics also came from shooting. Park Ha-jun and Keum Ji-hyun, both 24, won a silver medal in the mixed 10m air rifle event, narrowly losing to Sheng Lihao and Huang Yuting (China) with a set score of 12-16 in the gold medal match.
Keum, who qualified for the Paris Olympics at the Cairo World Cup in Oct. 2022 while pregnant, and Park, who followed his shooting athlete sister Park Ha-hyanggi to become S. Korea’s rifle ace, teamed up to win this medal.
