A pair of South Korean artistic gymnasts have found themselves in surprise contention thanks to strong performances in the qualifying rounds at the Tokyo Olympics. And coach Shin Hyung-ook is so heartened by what he saw from Shin Jea-hwan in the men's vault and Ryu Sung-hyun in the men's floor exercise on Saturday that he believes they can both capture gold medals. Shin Jea-hwan won the men's vault qualifying with 14.866 points from his two attempts. Ryu ranked third among eight finalists in t

CHIBA -- Over the past two decades, South Korean-born taekwondo coach Choi Young-seok has transformed Thailand from a fledgling presence to an emerging force at international events. The culmination came Saturday with the country's first Olympic taekwondo gold medal, as Panipak Wongpattanakit won the women's 49kg title at the Tokyo Summer Games. Thailand had previously collected two silvers and three bronzes. And Choi, who has been coaching Thailand since 2002, is undergoing the naturalization

TOKYO -- Born in Tokyo to second-generation Japanese-Korean parents, judoka An Chang-rim has been representing South Korea internationally since 2014. The 27-year-old has been gearing up for just this kind of moment: a chance to win his first Olympic medal in none other than Japan, and likely against a Japanese opponent. An will enter the men's 73kg event on Monday at the Tokyo Olympics. And his path to the gold will likely go through the Japanese great and the defending Olympic gold medalist

South Korea claimed the very first Olympic gold medal in archery's mixed team event on Saturday in Tokyo, once again flexing its muscle in the sport it has dominated for decades. The 17-year-old Kim Je-deok and his 20-year-old teammate An San beat Gabriela Schloesser and Steve Wijler of the Netherlands by the set score of 5-3 at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in the Japanese capital. This was also the first gold medal by South Korea at these Olympic Games. Kim and An are the youngest members

SEOUL (AFP) -- A major South Korean broadcaster apologized Saturday for using offensive images and captions to describe participating countries during the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony on Friday night. Coronavirus restrictions meant a stripped back celebration with the traditional delegations of athletes masked and far smaller than usual, ranging from just a handful of people to a few dozen. MBC -- one of the largest national television networks -- used images of the 1986 Chernobyl nucl

South Korean shooter Jin Jong-oh's bid for a seventh Olympic medal came crashing down on Saturday in Tokyo, as he failed to make it past the qualification stage in the men's 10m air pistol event. Jin ranked 15th with 576 out of a maximum 600 points at Asaka Shooting Range, finishing well outside the top eight eligible for the final. He is the 2012 Olympic champion in this event. In the qualification, shooters each fired 60 shots, 10 per series, with a maximum score of 10 points per shot. Jin

A pair of top-10 fencers from South Korea got knocked out of the Olympic competition after their first matches on Saturday. Choi In-jeong, world No. 2 in women's epee, lost to Aizanat Murtazaeva of the Russian Olympic Committee 15-11 in the round of 32 at Makuhari Messe Hall B in Chiba, east of Tokyo, on Saturday. Also in the round of 32, the eighth-ranked Kang Young-mi fell to Nozomi Sato of Japan 15-14. Song Se-ra was the only South Korean to advance to the round of 16, thanks to her 15-12

Two young rifle shooters came up short in their bid to bring South Korea its first medal at the ongoing Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. Kwon Eun-ji and Park Hee-moon occupied the two last places in the women's 10m air rifle final at Asaka Shooting Range in Tokyo on Saturday. This was the first medal event of these Olympic Games. Park, 20, was the first shooter among eight finalists to be eliminated with 119.1 points, and the 18-year-old Kwon was next to go in the following elimination stage at 145

TOKYO (AFP) -- Ice-cold Chinese shooter Yang Qian claimed the first gold of the Tokyo Games on Saturday, keeping her cool while Russian Anastasiia Galashina lost hers in a dramatic finale. Galashina had looked poised to claim gold heading into the last shot, but stumbled with 8.9 on her final effort to allow Yang to seal victory. Yang looked the picture of serenity as she waited with eyes closed between shots, but she still had to overcome nerves to close out the win with an Olympic record sco

South Korean video streaming services are eyeing to boost their user base this summer by airing the Tokyo Olympics amid already heated competition. The Tokyo Summer Games, which officially kick off Friday, are available to watch live on multiple streaming platforms here, including Wavve, U+ Mobile TV and AfreecaTV. The Olympics present an opportunity for the homegrown platforms to diversify their watch list and catch up to market leader Netflix Inc. Netflix maintains a strong presence in Sout

Not that anyone needed more proof of their country's dominance, but South Korean archers broke two Olympic records in the preliminary stage at the Tokyo Summer Games on Friday. An San won the women's ranking rounds with 680 points out of a maximum 720 at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo, breaking a 25-year-old Olympic record by seven points. Archers took 36 arrows in each of the two halves, with a maximum 10 points per arrow. An's two teammates, Jang Min-hee and Kang Chae-young, rounded

TOKYO -- South Korean archer An San set an Olympic record to win the women's ranking round of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, while giving herself a shot at capturing three gold medals in the process. An, 20, scored 680 out of a possible 720 points in the ranking round at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in the Japanese capital. Archers each fired 72 arrows, 36 in each half. An's two teammates rounded out the top three. Jang Min-hee finished second with 677 points, and Kang Chae-young ended with

TOKYO -- Every country starts at zero in the medal count at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, the first full day of competition after the opening ceremony. By the end of it, South Korea is hoping it will have a crooked number next to it on the table. South Korea will look to grab a handful of gold medals in archery, fencing, shooting and taekwondo. Having won a record 23 gold medals in Olympic archery competitions, South Korea will seek to add to that total in the inaugural mixed team competitio

TOKYO -- The opening ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics scheduled for Friday evening will be founded on the host nation's hopes of bringing the world together through sport during the coronavirus pandemic. According to details shared by the local organizing committee last week, the concept for the opening ceremony has been titled, "United by Emotion." The organizers noted challenges that people around the world have faced over the past year due to the pandemic and said, "That is wh

KASHIMA, Japan -- Undone by an unlucky bounce and lack of clinical finish, South Korea lost to New Zealand 1-0 to kick off the men’s football tournament at the Tokyo Olympics on Thursday. Burnley striker Chris Wood potted the match‘s lone goal in the second half after a shot attempt went off a defender’s leg and landed on his feet, following a long stretch of South Korea's ball dominance at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium in Kashima, northeast of Tokyo. The loss in the first Gr