South Korea at the Olympics

Participation of athletes from South Korea in the Olympic Games
Sporting event delegation
South Korea at the
Olympics
IOC codeKOR
NOCKorean Olympic Committee
Websitewww.sports.or.kr (in Korean and English)
Medals
Ranked 18th
Gold
129
Silver
121
Bronze
116
Total
366
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.

History

The first 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. However, as Korea was under Japanese rule at that time, and, since both athletes were members of the Japanese team, 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

The Republic of 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

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

Medals

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

Medals by Summer Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1912–1936 as part of  Japan (JPN)
1948 London 50 0 0 2 2 32
1952 Helsinki 19 0 0 2 2 37
1956 Melbourne 35 0 1 1 2 29
1960 Rome 36 0 0 0 0
1964 Tokyo 154 0 2 1 3 27
1968 Mexico City 54 0 1 1 2 36
1972 Munich 42 0 1 0 1 33
1976 Montreal 50 1 1 4 6 19
1980 Moscow did not participate
1984 Los Angeles 175 6 6 7 19 10
1988 Seoul 401 12 10 11 33 4
1992 Barcelona 226 12 5 12 29 7
1996 Atlanta 300 7 15 5 27 10
2000 Sydney 281 8 10 10 28 12
2004 Athens 264 9 12 9 30 9
2008 Beijing 267 13 11 8 32 7
2012 London 248 13 9 8 30 5
2016 Rio de Janeiro 204 9 3 9 21 8
2020 Tokyo 237 6 4 10 20 16
2024 Paris future event
2028 Los Angeles
2032 Brisbane
Total 96 91 100 287 15

Medals by Winter Games

Games Athletes Gold Silver Bronze Total Rank
1928 St. Moritz as part of  Japan (JPN)
1932 Lake Placid
1936 Garmisch-Partenkirchen
1948 St. Moritz 3 0 0 0 0
1952 Oslo did not participate
1956 Cortina d'Ampezzo 4 0 0 0 0
1960 Squaw Valley 7 0 0 0 0
1964 Innsbruck 7 0 0 0 0
1968 Grenoble 8 0 0 0 0
1972 Sapporo 5 0 0 0 0
1976 Innsbruck 3 0 0 0 0
1980 Lake Placid 10 0 0 0 0
1984 Sarajevo 15 0 0 0 0
1988 Calgary 28 0 0 0 0
1992 Albertville 23 2 1 1 4 10
1994 Lillehammer 24 4 1 1 6 6
1998 Nagano 38 3 1 2 6 9
2002 Salt Lake City 48 2 2 0 4 14
2006 Turin 41 6 3 2 11 7
2010 Vancouver 46 6 6 2 14 5
2014 Sochi 71 3 3 2 8 13
2018 Pyeongchang 122 5 8 4 17 7
2022 Beijing 64 2 5 2 9 14
2026 Milan–Cortina future event
Total 33 30 16 79 15

Medals by Summer Sport

  Leading in that sport
SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Archery279743
Taekwondo123722
Judo11171846
Wrestling11111436
Shooting79117
Badminton67720
Fencing53816
Boxing371020
Weightlifting36615
Table tennis331218
Gymnastics24511
Handball2417
Swimming1304
Athletics1102
Baseball1012
Golf1001
Field hockey0303
Basketball0101
Football0011
Modern pentathlon0011
Volleyball0011
Totals (21 entries)9691100287

Medals by Winter Sport

  Leading in that sport
SportGoldSilverBronzeTotal
Short track speed skating26161153
Speed skating510520
Figure skating1102
Skeleton1001
Bobsleigh0101
Curling0101
Snowboarding0101
Totals (7 entries)33301679

Most successful Olympians

A South Korean volunteer at the Games of the XXIV Olympiad.
Athlete Sport Type Olympics Gold Silver Bronze Total
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
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

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

Summer Olympics

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

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

1988 Summer Olympics

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

The official logo of the 2018 Winter Olympics

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

  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.

External links

  • "Republic of Korea". International Olympic Committee. 27 July 2021.
  • "South Korea". Olympedia.com.
  • "Olympic Analytics/KOR". olympanalyt.com.

See also

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National Olympic Committees that have competed at the Olympic Games
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