The Korea Herald

Golfer Park In-bee returns home with Olympic gold

Aug 23, 2016

Olympic golf champion Park In-bee returned home to South Korea to a hero's welcome on Tuesday. Park was crowned the first Olympic women's golf champion in 116 years, with a comfortable five-shot victory over the world No. 1 Lydia Ko in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday. The victory made Park the only golfer, male or female, with an Olympic gold and a career grand slam -- which entails winning four different majors at least once."In Korean time, I played the game early in the morning," Park said after s
Rio de Janeiro celebrates athletic feats with Brazilian music as Olympic Games end

Aug 22, 2016

Olympics closing ceremony (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics drew to a conclusion Sunday with a closing ceremony celebrating great athletic feats with Brazilian music.At the iconic Maracana Stadium, the Olympic Flame was extinguished and Rio de Janeiro handed over the Olympic Flag to Tokyo, host of the next Summer Games in 2020, as the Brazilian city wrapped up the first Olympics in South America.The show's creative minds ended the Games by paying tribute to the hos
Korean archers, pistol shooter make Olympic history

Aug 22, 2016

South Korean archers and a veteran pistol shooter were on target at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games, as they made their way into the record books.South Korea completed an unprecedented title sweep in archery.It all started with the men's team victory, followed by the women's team gold.Chang Hye-jin overcame some disastrous scores in windy conditions to take the women's individual gold. Ku Bon-chan capped off the historic run by capturing the men's individual title.In the process, Ku became the f
Korea comes up short of gold medal target in Rio

Aug 22, 2016

With a combination of a slow start and underachieving athletes, South Korea came short of its gold medal target at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.The Rio Games drew to a conclusion Sunday, with 306 gold medals handed out in 28 sports.Nine of those gold medals were won by South Koreans -- four in archery, two in taekwondo and one each in fencing, shooting and golf.The country had set out to capture at least 10 gold medals and place inside the top 10 in the gold medal count for its fourth consecutive
New stars emerge, veterans fall in Rio

Aug 22, 2016

At every Olympics, new stars will emerge, while others will fade away. South Korea saw fresh faces step up as heroes at the Rio de Janeiro Games, but former Olympic champions failed to deliver on their promise of medals. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Epee fencer Park Sang-young came out of nowhere to win the men's individual gold. In a memorable final against Geza Imre of Hungary, Park overcame a 14-10 deficit -- one point from defeat -- with under three minutes remaining, scoring five unansw
North Korea disappoints in Rio

Aug 22, 2016

Before the start of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Yun Yong-bok, a senior North Korean sports official, offered a bold prediction on his country's performance."We didn't come all the way here to win a meager five gold medals," Yun said on July 28, when the North Korean athletes landed in Rio.Yun talked the talk, but his athletes couldn't walk the walk.North Korea ended its Rio campaign with two golds, three silvers and two bronzes. At the 2012 London Olympics, the country had won four golds, three
PyeongChang impressed with 'low-cost, high-efficiency'

Aug 22, 2016

The chief organizer of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics on Sunday singled out the "low-cost, high-efficiency" opening ceremony as the most impressive moment of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. construction for the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics (Yonhap)Lee Hee-beom, who heads PyeongChang's organizing committee, has been in Rio to promote the first Winter Games in South Korea. The Rio Olympics will draw to a conclusion with a closing ceremony later Sunday."The time has now come for the Pyeo
Koreans finish well out of contention in marathon

Aug 22, 2016

South Koreans Son Myeong-jun and Shim Jung-sub finished well out of medal contention in the men's marathon at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Son came in 131st among 140 runners, finishing the race at 2:36:21, nearly 24 minutes slower than his personal best.Shim was 138th at 2:42:42, almost 30 minutes behind his personal record.Fifteen runners didn't finish the race.Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya won the gold medal at 2:08:44, followed by Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia
Korean rhythmic gymnast finishes fourth in all-around

Aug 21, 2016

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae finished fourth in the individual all-around final at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Son ended just shy of the country's first rhythmic gymnastics medal for the second consecutive Olympics. She scored 72.898 points from her hoop, ball, clubs and ribbon programs, while Ganna Rizatdinova of Ukraine took the bronze with 73.583 points.She finished fifth at the 2012 London Olympics.In Rio, Son was third among 10 fina
Taekwondo medalist grateful for bronze at final Olympics

Aug 21, 2016

Many athletes before him have accepted bronze medals begrudgingly, clearly not content to finish third when what they wanted was gold, but South Korean taekwondo fighter Cha Dong-min said Saturday he was grateful for his bronze.Having already won an Olympic gold eight years ago perhaps makes it easier for Cha to live with bronze. However, it's actually not the success from the past, but a failure that makes him enjoy his prize more, regardless of its color. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)By bea
Disappointed golfer learns from mistakes in Rio

Aug 21, 2016

After closing out her first Olympic golf tournament on a disappointing note in Rio de Janeiro, South Korean Kim Sei-young said Saturday she has learned from her mistakes. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Namely, she perhaps wanted to win here so much that it actually proved detrimental to her game."I think I became too obsessed with results while I was preparing for the Olympics," Kim said after shooting an even-par 71 at Olympic Golf Course, for the four-day total of one-under 283.She ended in a
LPGA star overcomes injury concern to claim Rio gold

Aug 21, 2016

It was only last month that South Korean LPGA star Park In-bee decided to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, despite nagging left thumb issues that had given her reservations for weeks.Golfer Park In-bee (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Turn the clock to Saturday, and Park is surely glad she made the call.The world No. 5 was crowned the first Olympic women's golf champion in 116 years, with a comfortable five-shot victory over the world No. 1 Lydia Ko.Park shot a five-under 66 in the final r
Korean Park In-bee wins gold in women's golf

Aug 21, 2016

South Korean Park In-bee cruised to the women's golf gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday.(Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)Park shot five-under 66 in the final round at the par-71, 6,245-yard Olympic Golf Course, for a four-day total of 16-under 268. She beat Lydia Ko of New Zealand by five strokes for the first women's golf Olympic title awarded in 116 years.Feng Shanshan of China finished third at 10-under.Park started the day at 11-under, two shots over Ko and Gerina Piller of
Much-anticipated women's golf duel fizzles

Aug 21, 2016

A highly-anticipated duel for the women's Olympic gold medal fizzled before it began on Saturday. (Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald)South Korean Park In-bee, world No. 5, opened the final round at 11-under, holding a two-stroke lead over the top-ranked Kiwi, Lydia Ko. Though American Gerina Piller was also at nine-under, the final round was largely expected to be the battle between the two stars who've been battling for LPGA supremacy in recent years.It didn't turn out to be much of a battle, as P
Men's marathon last event for Korea in Rio

Aug 21, 2016

The 2016 Summer Olympics will draw to a conclusion Sunday with men's marathon as the final event for South Korea.The country's last marathon medal came at the 1996 Atlanta Games, where Lee Bong-ju grabbed silver.The drought will likely continue in Rio. Son Myeong-jun and Shim Jong-sub will be in action for South Korea. Son's personal best is 2:12:34, set in February this year, and Shim's personal best is 2:13:28, from March last year.Their realistic hope would be to try to crack the top 10. (Yon