Koreans excel at Paris Games
Athletes praised for performance and sportsmanship
Despite the scorching summer weather, most Koreans appear to be enjoying the ongoing Olympic Games, buoyed by a series of positive developments from Paris. Their excitement started when fencer Oh Sang-uk clinched the first gold medal for Team Korea with an exceptional performance. Additionally, the Korean men’s fencing team won its third consecutive gold medal by defeating Hungary 45-41 on Wednesday.
The Korean men’s and women’s archery teams reaffirmed their status as the world’s top by securing their third and 10th consecutive victories, respectively. Sixteen-year-old Ban Hyo-jin captivated the world with her gold medal performance in the women’s 10m air rifle event. Pistol shooting silver medalist Kim Ye-ji also became a global sensation, celebrated for her calm and composed demeanor, even drawing praise from Tesla CEO Elon Musk. “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” Musk wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Team Korea is also performing exceptionally well in other sports, including badminton, table tennis, and swimming.
Earlier, expectations for the Korean team at the 2024 Paris Olympics were low. This sentiment was heightened by the withdrawal of team sports, such as football. Consequently, Korea has sent its smallest delegation since the 1976 Montreal Olympics, with 90 fewer athletes compared to the Tokyo 2021 Games and 170 fewer than the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Given this situation, the Korean team set a modest goal of winning five gold medals and finishing 15th in the overall medal standings. As of Thursday, the nation has already surpassed this target by securing six gold medals and is likely to achieve even more, thanks to the strong performances of its athletes.
Besides the better-than-expected performances, the Korean athletes deserve acclamation for their demeanor that well represents the archetype of Olympic sportsmanship. For starters, Oh demonstrated such a graceful manner by extending his hands to
help up his fallen competitor in the final match instead of attempting to attack him to easily score. His action is worthy of applause for displaying the true Olympic spirit.
People appear to be relieved to watch the Olympics this time, regardless of the outcome, compared to the previous Games. In the past, Korean athletes often struggled with sportsmanship due to the intense pressure to win medals. However, they are now demonstrating their full potential with a positive attitude and a noticeable sparkle in their eyes.
Team Korea is outperforming previous expectations, largely due to the “fair competition” in the selection process for the Olympic team. There is a saying that making it onto the national archery team is more challenging than competing in the Olympics itself. In archery, athletes face a rigorous selection process to qualify for the Games. For example, a female athlete who won three consecutive titles at previous Olympics did not qualify for the Paris Games.
In contrast, athletes in ball sport
s, including football players, have struggled to secure Olympic spots largely due to a lack of fairness and transparency in the selection process. Competitive sports lose their significance if they are not underpinned by fairness.
It is time to spread the value of fairness, as recently seen within the Korean Olympic team, to other areas such as politics and the economy. Regrettably, in these areas we are witnessing a range of illegalities and unfair practices. For example, the political sector is caught up in intense conflicts and exchanges of criticism. The major political parties have failed to issue even a congratulatory message to the archery team, despite its record-setting performance in Olympic history.
Furthermore, we need to intensify our efforts to enhance competitiveness in the sports arena. It is crucial to strengthen efforts to maintain the nation’s reputation in sports. Many economically advanced countries are also major sports powers.
We extend our warm gratitude to the Korean athletes who a
re making such outstanding achievements. We expect them to continue their successes and verify their sportsmanship during the remainder of the Olympic Games, thus delighting the people and providing them with hope and happiness to beat the scorching summer weather.
Source: Yonhap News Agency