Here are some of the highlights and headlines from the past two weeks or so of Korean athletes at the London 2012 Olympics:
25 July
North Korea’s Olympic women’s football team walked off the pitch for an hour at their opening London 2012 match tonight after organisers mistakenly introduced the players using South Korea’s flag. And who can blame them?
26 July
Lee Jae-Cheol, South Korea’s Olympic sailing coach, was caught drink driving after a welcoming party in Weymouth and was later sent back home.
South Korean journalists were excluded from an “open” training session for the North Korean table tennis team.
Enough bad news. On with the good.
27 July
First two world records broken at Games: South Korean archer Im Dong-hyun, who is visually impaired, set an individual record in Friday’s ranking round. He also joined forces with Kim Bub-min and Oh Jin-hyek to record a new best in the team event.
28 July
Day 1: there’s controversy as South Korean Olympic champion Park Tae-hwan is disqualified for a false start, then reinstated, and goes on to win silver in the 400m men’s freestyle.
South Korea’s record-breaking men’s archery team disappoints with a bronze, and South Korea’s first gold goes to Jin Jong-oh for men’s 10m air pistol shooting.
29 July
Day 2: The women’s archery team of Choi Hyeon-ju, Ki Bo-bae and Lee Sung-jin win gold.
The DPRK get their first two golds in judo (women’s 52kg) and weightlifting (men’s 56kg), as Om Yun-chol becomes only the fifth man in history to lift triple his own body weight, equalling the world record and setting an Olympic record in the clean-and-jerk element of the men’s 56kg.
30 July
Day 3: Heartbreak for Shin A-lam (ROK) in the individual women’s epee as a glitch with the clock denies her a place in the final; she is then beaten to bronze by the Chinese fencer. The International Fencing Federation later gave her a consolation medal.
Park Tae-hwan (ROK) wins his second silver, the men’s 200m freestyle. Kim Un-guk picks up the second of DPRK’s weightlifting golds, setting a new world record in the process. He’s happy.
31 July
Day 4: Kim Jae-bum (ROK) wins men’s sub-81kg judo.
Two South Korean women’s badminton teams get disqualified for not trying hard enough to beat their Chinese and Indonesian opponents, a tactic reportedly started by the Chinese to avoid a tougher draw in the next round.
At this stage in the games both Koreas were adjacent in the medals table. But the Korea north of the DMZ objected to being called “naughty” by the Australian freesheet mX. “Naughty Brisbane Metro Challenges Olympic Spirit,” blasted the KCNA, accusing the Aussies of bullying.
1 August
Day 5: A good day for Team South Korea: three gold medals (Kim Ji-yeon – women’s individual sabre, Song Dae-nam – men’s 90kg judo, and Kim Jang-mi – women’s 25m pistol) take their total tally to 6.
Rim Jong-sim takes DPRK’s gold tally to 4, winning the women’s 69kg weightlifting.
2 August
Day 6: Ki Bo-bae (ROK) follows up team gold with an individual gold in women’s archery.
3 August
Day 7. Oh Jin-hyek wins gold in men’s individual archery – South Korea’s third archery gold. Despite South Korea’s leading rankings in archery, this was the first men’s individual gold. News leaks out that he is romantically involved with fellow archery gold medallist Ki Bo-bae
The South Korean men’s sabre team add to the tally of golds.
4 August
Day 8. A consolation prize for Shin A-lam (ROK) as her epee team wins silver. The South Korean men’s football team beat the host nation on penalties.
5 August
Day 9, and with Jin Jong-oh’s gold in 50m pistol shooting (Jin’s second gold) South Korea meets its target of 10 gold medals. Choi Young-rae (ROK) got silver.
6 August
Day 10: Yang Hak-seon wins South Korea’s first ever male gymnastics gold with on the vault.
7 August
Day 11: Kim Hyeon-woo (ROK) won Greco-Roman wrestling gold in the 66kg class, despite a swollen eye incurred in a previous bout.
9 August
Some South Korean athletes including gold medallist Ki Bo-bae joined British Korean war veterans at the annual ceremony at St Paul’s Cathedral.
10 August
On the day that Lee Myung-bak visited Dokdo, South Korea beat Japan 2-0 to win bronze in men’s football, thus winning exemption from military service.
Tensions between the teams were already high, having been forced to share the same hotel, but Park Jong-soo entered into the spirit too much and won’t be permitted to collect his bronze:
Hwang Kyung-Seon reclaimed her gold in 67kg taekwondo – South Korea’s 13th of the games.
11 August
In an exhausting and nail-biting finish, after two separate sessions of extra time, the South Korean ladies’ handball team narrowly missed out on bronze to Spain.
One of South Korea’s most popular gymnasts, Son Yeon-jae, the first East Asian athlete to compete in the Olympic finals in rhythmic gymnastics, came in fifth. She was also one of 11 top beauties nominated by Olympic sponsor Proctor & Gamble.
Well done to all the medal winners from both Koreas
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