…will we see a 14th gold medal winner this weekend?
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games have entered their final “Golden Week” as the curtain comes down. Tai Chi warriors are making a last-minute spurt to write a new Paris mythology beyond Beijing-London.
Taekwondo’s Lee Da-bin, 27, is ready to make his country proud with a golden kick. Athletics high jumper Woo Sang-hyuk (28) dreams of breaking the Asian barrier.
Seong Seung-min (21) and Jeon Woong-tae (29), the world’s No. 1 and No. 2 modern pentathletes, are also among the medal favorites. Weightlifter Park Hye-jung (21) is hoping to reestablish her country’s medal streak in the heavyweight category.
There could also be some surprises. In breaking, which is new to the Games, South Korean b-boy sensation Kim Hong-yeol “HONG10” Kim (39) will be looking to stir up some excitement in Paris. Sports climbing’s Seo Chae-hyun (20) will be looking to turn the tables.
As of this morning (Aug. 9), South Korea has won 13 gold, eight silver, and seven bronze medals at the Paris Olympics. In terms of gold medals, South Korea is ranked sixth overall. This is the most gold medals in a single Olympics, tying the previous record set at Beijing 2008 and London 2012. With the closing ceremony on Wednesday, South Korea needs just one more gold medal to make history as the best-performing team of all time.
Luckily, there are still a few Taijiquan Warriors left to look forward to. First up is Lee Da-bin, who will go for gold in the women’s taekwondo 67-kilogram overweight event, which begins at 5:47 p.m. on Tuesday. Lee is an experienced taekwondo warrior, having won a silver medal in this event at the Tokyo Games three years ago. She is also ranked fourth in the world, which is an objective indication of her skill.
In fact, an Olympic gold medal is the final piece of his career puzzle. Having won the 2016 Asian Championships, the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games and the 2019 World Taekwondo Championships, he needs an Olympic title to complete the grand slam.
Earlier, Park Tae-joon (20) won gold in the men’s 58kg and Kim Yoo-jin (24) in the women’s 57kg. Lee Da-bin is also determined to join the golden kicks and add to the beauty of Yuzong.
Woo Sang-hyuk and Jeon Woong-tae, who met at the athletes’ village and became best friends, are also medal favorites. “We’re in frequent contact with him and meet whenever we can,” Woo said, “and before the Olympics, we encouraged each other, saying, ‘Let’s win a medal together and take a commemorative photo.
The two athletes also have a specific time frame for their medal hunt. First, Woo will attempt to become the first track and field athlete to win an Olympic medal when he competes in the men’s high jump final at 2 a.m. on Nov. 11. Only two South Korean athletes have secured a medal since the country’s liberation: Hwang Young-jo in Barcelona in 1992 (gold) and Lee Bong-ju in Atlanta in 1996 (silver).
Woo finished third (2.27m) in the qualifying round on July 7, raising his 메이저사이트 hopes of winning a medal. Traditionally, Westerners are favored in athletics due to their physical condition, but Woo is determined to overcome this bias in Paris.
Jeon Woong-tae, who finished third in Tokyo, will also be looking to win gold. He will compete alongside Seo Chang-wan (27) in the men’s individual pentathlon. Korean pentathletes have been performing well in recent international competitions. At the World Championships in June, the country won four gold medals.
In addition to Jeon Woong-tae, Seong Seung-min and Kim Sun-woo (27) will be competing in the women’s pentathlon on the same day, with the former becoming the first woman to win an individual medal. South Korea’s four modern pentathletes have enough quality to make the medals.
Park Hye-jung, dubbed the “post-Joseulan” of weightlifting, is also a medal favorite in the women’s 81kg+ category. Park Hye-jung is the reigning world champion in the women’s heavyweight category, having won last year’s World Championships and the Hangzhou Asian Games. Her challenge will take place at 6:30 p.m. on the 11th, just before the Games close in Paris.
If she wins a medal at this stage, she will reestablish a lineage of Olympic medalists in the heavyweight category that has been broken since Jang Jang-ran was vice minister of culture and sports. Jang Yeon-hak (27) in the men’s 102kg and Kim Soo-hyun (29) in the women’s 81kg will also try to secure a medal.
Kim Hong-yeol, a textbook example of breaking, will cross the line between art and sport in what could be the first and last Olympic breaking event. Breaking was first recognized as an Olympic sport in Paris, but will be excluded from the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
In fact, Kim, who was born in December 1984, is the oldest of the 16 b-boys competing at the Olympics. He is 23 years older than the youngest competitor, Jeff Dunn (AUS), who was born in October 2007. Still considered the “best of the best” in the 1020 generation, Kim’s medal chances are good.
After finishing eighth in the semifinals of the Women’s Sport Climbing Combined (Bouldering & Lead), Seo Chae-hyun (South Korea) will climb at 17:15 on Tuesday at the Le Bruxet Climbing Arena in a bid for an upset medal.