The Paris Olympics broke through three bad news. A perfect start for the first Taegeuk Warriors. 8 gold + 10th overall, pessimistic outlook gone
Jul 28, 2024
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At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the South Korean team made a perfect start. On the second day of the competition, I harvested the gold medal. There is one gold, one silver, and one bronze. They are doing well in unexpected events.
Shooting gave the South Korean team its first medal on the 27th (Korea time).
Park Ha-joon (KT) and Geum Ji-hyun (Gyeonggi Provincial Office) won a valuable silver medal in the 10-meter mixed air rifle event held at Chatoru Shooting Center in France on the 27th (Korea time).
South Korea's shooting is double the pressure at the Olympics. There is a reason.
How quickly the medals come out has a huge impact on the morale of the entire Olympic squad. Due to the schedule of the competition, shooting is an event where you can aim for your first medal. The 10-meter air rifle mixed event was expected to win a medal, but in a cool way, it was an event that could be mixed in a moment. However, he won his first medal at the Paris Olympics with great performance. In addition to shooting, it brings a positive synergy effect to the entire Korean team.
The effect was immediately apparent.
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And, finally, the first gold medal went off in an unexpected place.
On the same day, Oh Sang-wook (Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall) won a gold medal in the men's sabre individual fencing event held in Grand Palais, Paris, France. At the Tokyo Olympics, where he was ranked No. 1 in the world, he swallowed up his anger in the quarterfinals.
Korean fencing has won three individual gold medals, but the men's sabre is the first gold hunt. As such, it was an impossible place for Korean fencing. Oh Sang-wook did it.
In fact, the prospects for the Paris Olympics were pessimistic.
The Korean Olympic Committee aims to '5 gold medals, 15th place or higher in overall performance' It is predicted that two to three gold medals are possible in archery, a traditional strong sport, and two to three gold medals in taekwondo, swimming, shooting, and fencing.
Of course, there were some events where an unexpected player did well and there was a possibility of a surprise gold medal, but it is also true that it was not coolly high in terms of probability.
There are several reasons for this.
First of all, it's a slump in the last international competition. At the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, South Korea ranked 16th overall with six gold, four silver, and 10 bronze medals. The competitiveness of the international sports arena has generally declined. Three years later, it was judged that the current point fell further.
have a basis. He expected more than 45 gold medals at the Hangzhou Asian Games, but eventually only 42.
The second was the squad atmosphere and fraud. 144 athletes from 22 sports will participate in this competition. It is the smallest team since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. It is natural that the smaller the size of the team, the worse the arithmetic performance. Public interest also decreased as the 'Big 4', which leads Korean professional sports such as baseball, soccer, basketball, and volleyball, failed to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Last but not least, it was a disadvantage of the venue. The athletes competing in the Olympics are very skilled. When held on the same continent, the grades improve. This is because jet lag is easier and adaptation speed is faster. Of course, the tournament in Paris is one of the bad news for the team.
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In the end, Korea broke through various bad news and made a perfect start. The atmosphere in the squad heated up. There is taekwondo as well as traditional medal field archery. On top of that, Oh Sang-wook, who reported his first gold medal, can win an unexpected medal in the men's sabre team event, swimming, shooting, and badminton.
sfryu@sportschosun.com
