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South Korea at the Olympics

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South Korea at the
Olympics
IOC codeKOR
NOCKorean Olympic Committee
Websitewww.sports.or.kr (in Korean and English)
Medals
Ranked 18th
Gold
129
Silver
121
Bronze
117
Total
367
Summer appearances
Winter appearances
Other related appearances
 Korea (2018)

The Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea) first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for 1980 which they boycotted. South Korea has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1948, except for the 1952 games.

For the first Korean athletes to win medals did so at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, when Sohn Kee-chung and Nam Sung-yong won gold and bronze respectively in the men's marathon. However, as Korea was under Japanese rule at that time, and, since both athletes were members of the Japanese team, the IOC credits both medals to Japan.

South Korea won its first medals as an independent nation at its first appearance in 1948, and won its first gold medal in 1976. South Korean athletes have won a total of 287 medals at the Summer Games, with the most gold medals won in archery, and 79 medals at the Winter Games, a majority in short track speed skating. The nation has won more medals in this winter sport than any other nation since it was introduced to the Olympic program in 1992.

The National Olympic Committee for Korea is the Korean Olympic Committee, and was founded in 1946 and recognized in 1947.

During the 1998-2007 Sunshine Policy era, South Korea and North Korea symbolically marched as one team at the opening ceremonies of the 2000, 2004 and 2006 Olympics, but competed separately.

Hosted Games[edit]

The Republic of Korea has hosted the Games on two occasions:

Games Host city Dates Nations Participants Events
1988 Summer Olympics Seoul 17 September – 2 October 160 8,391 263
2018 Winter Olympics Pyeongchang 9 – 25 February 92 2,952 102

Unsuccessful bids[edit]

Games City Winner of bid
2010 Winter Olympics Pyeongchang Vancouver, Canada
2014 Winter Olympics Pyeongchang Sochi, Russia

Medals[edit]

See also: All-time Olympic Games medal table
* Purple border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Most successful Olympians[edit]

A South Korean volunteer at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad.
Athlete Sport Type Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
Jin Jong-oh  Shooting Summer 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 4 2 0 6
Kim Soo-Nyung  Archery Summer 1988, 1992, 2000 4 1 1 6
Chun Lee-Kyung  Short track speed skating Winter 1992, 1994, 1998 4 0 1 5
Choi Min-jeong  Short track speed skating Winter 2018, 2022 3 2 0 5
Park Sung-hyun  Archery Summer 2004, 2008 3 1 0 4
Ahn Hyun-Soo  Short track speed skating Winter 2002, 2006 3 0 1 4
Ki Bo-bae  Archery Summer 2012, 2016 3 0 1 4
An San  Archery Summer 2020 3 0 0 3
Jin Sun-Yu  Short track speed skating Winter 2006 3 0 0 3
Yun Mi-Jin  Archery Summer 2000, 2004 3 0 0 3
Kim Ki-Hoon  Short track speed skating Winter 1992, 1994 3 0 0 3

Notes[edit]

On 11 February 2014, Lee Sang-hwa won the gold medal for the women's 500m longtrack speedskating race at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, having previously won the one at the 2010 Games. She became the third woman and first Korean woman to win back-to-back golds at the 500m.[1][2]

Participated event by competition[edit]

Summer Olympics[edit]

Nation 48 52 56 60 64 68 72 76 84 88 92 96 00 04 08 12 16 20
 Archery • • • • • • • • •
 Athletics • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Badminton d e • • • • • • •
 Baseball d d d d d • • •
 Basketball • • • • • • • • • •
 Bowling d
 Boxing • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Canoeing and kayaking • • • • • • • •
 Cycling • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Diving • • • • • • • • • •
 Equestrian • • • • • • • •
 Fencing • • • • • • • • • •
 Field hockey • • • • • • • •
 Football • • • • • • • • • •
 Golf •
 Gymnastics • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Handball • • • • • • • • •
 Judo • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Modern pentathlon • • • • • • • • •
 Rowing • • • • • • • • • •
 Sailing • • • • • • • • •
 Shooting • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Swimming • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Synchronized swimming • • • •
 Table tennis • • • • • • • •
 Taekwondo d d • • • • •
 Tennis d d • • • • • •
 Triathlon •
 Volleyball • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Water polo •
 Weightlifting • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Wrestling • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
  • d : demonstration sports
  • e : exhibition sports

Winter Olympics[edit]

Event 48 56 60 64 68 72 76 80 84 88 92 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22
 Alpine skiing • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Biathlon • • • • • • • • •
 Bobsleigh • • •
 Cross country skiing • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Curling • •
 Figure skating • • • • • • • • • • • • •
 Freestyle skiing • • • •
 Ice hockey •
 Luge • • • • • •
 Nordic combined •
 Short track speed skating d • • • • • • • •
 Skeleton • • • • •
 Ski jumping • • • • • •
 Snowboarding • • •
 Speed skating • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
  • d : demonstration sports

Hosted Olympic logo and motto[edit]

1988 Summer Olympics[edit]

The 1988 Summer Olympics, held in the capital of Seoul, marked the first time the Olympics were held in South Korea.

The logo consists of a rounded tricolor which represents the Olympic rings. The motto of the games was Harmony and Progress (화합과 전진).

2018 Winter Olympics[edit]

The official logo of the 2018 Winter Olympics

The 2018 Winter Olympics saw the Olympics return to Korea when it was held in Pyeongchang.

The logo consists of five intertwined wings which represent the continents (Africa, America, Asia, Europe and Oceania). The motto of the games was Passion. Connected. (하나된 열정; Hanadoen, Yeoljeong).

References[edit]

  1. ^ James O'Brien (2014-02-11). "Heather Richardson falls short of medal, Lee Sang-hwa wins 500m gold". NBC News.
  2. ^ Yonhap News Agency (2014-02-11). "(Olympics) Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa poised for gold in women's 500 meters". GlobalPost.

External links[edit]

See also[edit]

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