Hunting Medals with Guns, Bows, and Fists... Korean Sports, Women's Momentum Builds Strongly [Paris Olympics]

'Day 12 of the Competition' 11 Gold, 8 Silver, 7 Bronze
22 of 39 Medalists Are Women
Archery, Shooting, Boxing, Badminton Set 'Best Records'

As of 8 a.m. on the 6th during the 2024 Paris Olympics, South Korea is ranked 6th overall with 11 gold medals, 8 silver medals, and 7 bronze medals. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee set a goal of winning 5 gold medals, but they have already surpassed this target well before the halfway point, sailing smoothly. A notable feature this year is the remarkable performance of female athletes. Among the total 39 medalists, 22 are women. Especially noteworthy is the emergence of stars in shooting, archery, boxing, and badminton. Sports, which were once male-dominated, are no longer the exclusive domain of men. ‘Cool female athletes’ with fiery performance, refined manners, and positive vibes are receiving intense attention.

Bang Bang Bang! The ‘Golden Gunfire’ Echoing in Paris

Korean shooting achieved its best results in 12 years since the 2012 London Olympics by winning 5 medals (3 gold, 2 silver) at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Oh Ye-jin (IBK Industrial Bank) won gold in the women’s air pistol, Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Physical Education High School) took gold in the women’s air rifle, Kim Ye-ji (Imsil County Office) earned silver in the women’s air pistol, and Park Ha-jun (KT) - Geum Ji-hyun (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) won silver in the mixed air rifle team event. Kim Ye-ji emerged as the biggest star of the Paris Olympics. Her consistently cool demeanor attracted online attention and became a hot topic. As reactions compared her black windbreaker and hat-wearing, tightly pursed lips while aiming her gun to an assassin from the movie ‘John Wick’ (2015), Tesla CEO Elon Musk showed interest, saying, “She looks like an action movie protagonist,” and major foreign media such as The New York Times highlighted her as ‘cool’ and ‘stylish.’

With teenage golden shooters, the next Olympics in four years also look promising. Ban Hyo-jin won a medal at the age of 16, becoming the youngest shooting gold medalist, surpassing Kang Cho-hyun (silver medalist at the 2000 Sydney Olympics at age 17). Oh Ye-jin, ranked 35th in the world, was relatively unnoticed before the competition but gained attention by clinching gold at the age of 19.

Judo athlete Heo Mimi [Photo by Yonhap News]

The South Korean women’s archery team achieved a monumental 10 Olympic gold medals in Paris. Jeon Hun-young (Incheon Metropolitan City Office), Lim Si-hyun (Korea National Sport University), and Nam Soo-hyun (Suncheon City Office) won gold in the women’s team event, continuing a 40-year Olympic gold medal streak. Lim Si-hyun won gold in the women’s team, mixed team, and individual events, while Nam Soo-hyun added a silver medal in the individual event. This marks four consecutive Olympic Games since the 2012 London Olympics where South Korea has won both the women’s individual and team events.

A New History Written with a ‘Fierce Blow’

In Paris, the fists of South Korean female athletes were fiercer than ever. Lim Ae-ji (Hwasun County Office) earned a meaningful bronze medal in women’s boxing 54kg category. She became the first female boxing medalist and the first Olympic medalist in 12 years since Han Soon-chul’s silver in men’s 60kg boxing at the 2012 London Olympics. Heo Mi-mi (Gyeongbuk Sports Council) won silver in women’s judo 57kg category. This is the first silver medal in Korean women’s judo in 8 years since Jeong Bo-gyeong’s 48kg silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. She is the fifth-generation descendant of independence activist Heo Seok (1857?1920), who was imprisoned for posting anti-Japanese leaflets during the Japanese colonial period. Following her grandmother’s last wish, she chose to come to Korea and won her first medal.

The women’s sabre fencing team succeeded in winning silver. The South Korean women’s sabre team, consisting of Yoon Ji-su, Jeon Ha-young (both from Seoul Metropolitan City Office), Choi Se-bin (Jeonnam Provincial Office), and Jeon Eun-hye (Jung-gu Office, Incheon Metropolitan City), lost a comeback match to Ukraine and took silver. This is the best result ever, surpassing the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

Korean player An Se-young, who won the women's singles badminton final at the Paris Olympics by defeating China's He Bingjiao, is running around the stadium holding the Taegeukgi flag.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

World No. 1 in badminton, An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), delivered a golden smash in the women’s singles. It is the first time in 28 years that a South Korean female badminton player has won Olympic gold since Bang Soo-hyun at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Including doubles, it is the first achievement in 16 years since the mixed doubles team of Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. With this, An Se-young has completed a ‘Grand Slam’ in Korean badminton history by winning the World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships, and now the Olympics.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.