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.
South Korea at the Olympics | |
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IOC code | KOR |
NOC | Korean Olympic Committee |
Website | www |
Medals Ranked 18th |
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Summer appearances | |
Winter appearances | |
Other related appearances | |
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The first ethnic 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 as members of the Japanese team. As Korea was under Japanese rule at that time, making them both Japanese subjects, 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
editSouth 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
editGames | City | Winner of bid |
---|---|---|
2010 Winter Olympics | Pyeongchang | Vancouver, Canada |
2014 Winter Olympics | Pyeongchang | Sochi, Russia |
Medals
edit- * Purple border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.
Medals by Summer Sportedit Leading in that sport
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Medals by Winter Sportedit Leading in that sport
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Most successful Olympians
editAthlete | Sport | Type | Olympics | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Kim Woo-jin | Archery | Summer | 2016, 2020, 2024 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
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 |
Lim Si-hyeon | Archery | Summer | 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Kim Je-deok | Archery | Summer | 2020, 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Oh Sang-uk | Fencing | Summer | 2020, 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
Gu Bon-gil | Fencing | Summer | 2012, 2020, 2024 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
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
editOn 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
editSummer Olympics
editNation | 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
editEvent | 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
edit1988 Summer Olympics
editThe 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
editThe 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- ^ James O'Brien (2014-02-11). "Heather Richardson falls short of medal, Lee Sang-hwa wins 500m gold". NBC News.
- ^ Yonhap News Agency (2014-02-11). "(Olympics) Speed skater Lee Sang-hwa poised for gold in women's 500 meters". GlobalPost.
External links
edit- "Republic of Korea". International Olympic Committee. 27 July 2021.
- "South Korea". Olympedia.com.
- "Olympic Analytics/KOR". olympanalyt.com.