SK Wins First Rio Olympic Gold from Men's Archery Team
On the first day of the 2016 Rio Olympics on Saturday, South Korea proved to be one of the most competitive teams in the event, bringing home the country's first gold medal courtesy of the Men's Archery Team.
According to a report from Korea Herald, Ku Bon Chan, Kim Woo Jin, and Lee Seung Yun of South Korea overcame the game against the trio of Zach Garrett, Jake Kaminski, and Brady Ellison of the United States and clinched the gold medal with a set score of 6-0 at Sambodromo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is the fifth Olympic gold in the South Korea's men's archery team.
In Judo, Jeong Bo Kyeong got the silver medal for the women's -48kg event held at Carioca Arena 2. She lost to Argentina's Paula Pareto by waza-ari in the final. Pareto also beat Jeong during the semifinals of the world championships held last year.
The women's volleyball team won over Japan 3-1 (19-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-21) in their Group A match. It is considered a revenge win for South Korea after their 2012 London Olympics loss to Japan. Attacker Kim Yeon Koung led all players by scoring 30 points.
However, there are some athletes who were not able to live up to the expectations of the fans and other sports professionals as they bid early goodbyes in the medal contention for their respective sports.
Swimmer Park Tae Hwan, the 2008 Olympic champion and 2012 Olympic silver medalist in the 400m freestyle category, have not even reached the final in the said category this year. He finished 10th in the heats, 2 slots away for qualifying in the final round which is only open for the top eight qualifiers.
In the 10m air pistol category, Jin Jong Oh was not able to create history by having a back-to-back Olympic gold victory, ranking fifth after an up-and-down final at the Olympic Shooting Centre.
Shin A Lam, who won silver in the fencing team event during the 2012 Olympics, was ousted in the round of 32 of the women's individual epee event and lost to Ukraine's Olena Kryvytska, 15-14. Her teammates, Kang Young Mi and Choi In Jeong, also lost in the round of 16 and quarterfinals, respectively.
