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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
142
Silver
130
Bronze
127
Total
399
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.

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

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South 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

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

Medals

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* Purple border colour indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Most successful Olympians

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A South Korean volunteer at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad.
Athlete 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

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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

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Summer Olympics

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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

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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

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1988 Summer Olympics

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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

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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

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  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.
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See also

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