South Korean Athletes Arrive Home From Rio Paralympics

The South Korean athletes who were sent to Rio de Janeiro Paralympics arrived in South Korea with a warm welcome from the people

On Thursday, the main contingents arrived at Incheon International Airport at 4:20 p.m. after 12 days of competition in Rio. The team is composed of 70 athletes and sports officials who were given a warm welcome with hundreds of people waiting for them at the airport including the families and friends of the athletes.

Meanwhile, athletes who played in shooting, judo, boccia, weightlifting and other sports who finished their events earlier had already arrived at their respective homes. They returned home with separate flights from the main contingent.

The Rio Paralympics run from September 7 -18 with the South Korean representatives who were about 139 athletes and sports officials in 11 out of 23 sports. South Korea has already made a record of 10 gold medals and top 12 for the overall gold medal count in the first Paralympics held in South America.

The South Korea Paralympics team failed to meet their target spot despite of winning seven gold and 11 silver medals, and 17 bronze medals. The country got the 20th place out of 160 countries competed in the Rio Paralympics. However, the South Korean Paralympians garnered eight more medals which is greater than the number of medals they got compared from the 2012 London Games.

Four of South Korea's seven gold medals were from the Swimming competition. Ji Gi-seong won the men's 50m, 100m, and 200m freestyle events that gave him three gold medals. Lee In-kook won the men's 100m backstroke that made a new Paralympic record and gave him one gold medal as well.

At the quadrennial event for athletes with disabilities, South Korean athletes won gold medals in table tennis, judo, and boccia.

After Choung Jai-jun, who is the chef de mission of South Korea, reported about their performance at the Rio Paralympics and the flag was handed to the president of Korea Sports Association for the Disabled (KOSAD), Kim Sung-il, the delegation was officially disbanded.

 "We didn't reach our goal, but we did have meaningful achievements. We were able to finish the Paralympics, thanks to the support of our fans and the aid of the government," Choung said.