Having bagged his first Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro, South Korean judoka An Ba-ul said Monday he'll try to do one better at the next Olympics in Tokyo."My lifelong goal has been to win back-to-back gold medals in Rio and Tokyo," An said at a press conference at the Korea House for South Korean journalists. "I'll try to win gold in Tokyo four years later."Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldAn lost in the final of the men's 66kg event Sunday, with Fabio Basile of Italy upsetting the world No

Defending Olympic fencing champion Kim Ji-yeon suffered a shocking third-round loss at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Monday.Kim, the women's individual sabre gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, lost to Loreta Gulotta of Italy 15-13 in the round of 16 at Carioca Arena 3.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldKim went down 2-0 early in the bout before going ahead 9-5.Gulotta, though, ate into the deficit and made it an 11-11 tie.Then Gulotta scored three unanswered points to take a 14-11 lead. With

Kim Woo-jin, the No. 1-ranked male archer from South Korea, was upset in the second round of the individual event at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Monday.Kim fell to Riau Ega Agatha of Indonesia by the set score of 6-2 (27-29, 28-27, 27-24, 28-27). In the set system, each set consists of three arrows. A set win is worth two points and a draw is worth one point. The first archer to reach six points wins the match.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldKim helped South Korea win the men's team gold medal in

Two South Korean judokas in action on Monday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics suffered early elimination.An Chang-rim, the world No. 1 in the men's 73kg, lost in the round of 16 to Dirk van Tichelt of Belgium by waza-ari (half a point).Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldAn, regarded as a gold medal favorite here, had been 2-0 against the 18th-ranked van Tichelt before Monday's loss.The Belgian picked up his half point 2:47 into the taut contest, and held his ground for the narrow victory.In the women's

In benign conditions with little breeze, archers good enough to qualify for the Olympics will more often than not hit high scores.It's when the going gets tough, with wind blowing in from every which way, that true talent rises to the top.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldSuch has been the case in the two days of the archery competition so far at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics.  South Korea won both the men's and women's team gold medals over the weekend, as their archers stayed on the mark desp

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) -- Michael Phelps has to clear out more space in his medal case.Time to make room for gold No. 19.　With yet another dazzling performance, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history added to his staggering haul Sunday night in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay, giving the United States a lead it never relinquished.　“When I was on the block, I honestly thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest,” Phelps said.　“I was so hyped tonight and so excited.”Michael Phelps (l

South Korean rhythmic gymnast Son Yeon-jae has been listed among the “five most stylish Olympic stars” charted by international fashion magazine Vogue last week, according to its Internet edition on Sunday.(LG Electronics)The 22-year-old star was placed on the fashion magazine‘s stylish Olympic athletes’ list with four others -- American track and field star Allyson Felix, Canadian tennis champion Eugenie Bouchard, American sabre fencer ace Ibtihaj Muhammad and British track and field star Jazmi

President Park Geun-hye on Monday congratulated three South Korean archers for winning the gold medal in the women’s team competition at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday, saying the country's eighth consecutive win in the event is an "honorable record” that will go down in history.Park Hae-mook/The Korea Herald"The eight consecutive win that the women’s archery team, which stayed focused till the end, clinched is an honorable record that will go down in history," the chief executive said in

Weightlifter Om Yun-chol won silver for North Korea's first medal at the ongoing Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday.Om finished second in the men's 56kg at Riocentro-Pavilion 2, lifting 134 kg in the snatch and 169 kg in the clean and jerk for 303 kg total.Long Qingquan of China won the gold with a world record total of 307 kg, denying Om his second straight Olympic title. Long lifted 137 kg in the snatch and an Olympic record 170 kg in the clean and jerk.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldOm is one o

Despite blowing a late lead to end in a 3-3 draw with Germany in the Rio de Janeiro Olympic men's football competition on Sunday, South Korea can still clinch a quarterfinals berth with a draw against Mexico in the final group match.Head coach Shin Tae-yong said, however, he won't take anything less than a victory when his team faces Mexico on Wednesday in Brasilia."If we try to take a draw (in a tied game), we may end up losing with one minute remaining," he said at a press conference at Fonte

South Korea were held to a 3-3 draw by Germany in men's football at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday, blowing a chance to clinch a quarterfinals berth.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldForward Suk Hyun-jun gave South Korea a 3-2 lead in the 86th minute at Fonte Nova Arena in Salvador, some 1,600 kilometers north of Rio, but Serge Gnabry scored the equalizer in added time to foil South Korea's bid for a knockout spot.South Korea remained atop Group C with four points. They won the first match ov

South Korean weightlifter Yoon Jin-hee won bronze in the women's 53kg at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday.Yoon lifted 88kg in snatch and 111kg in clean and jerk for a total of 199kg, finishing 1kg behind Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines for the bronze.Hsu Shu-Ching of Chinese Taipei won the gold with 212kg total.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldThis was Yoon's second career Olympic medal, after silver in 53kg at the 2008 Beijing Games.She came out of retirement in 2014 to make the national team

South Korean An Ba-ul won the silver medal in the men's -66kg judo at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Sunday.The world No. 1 An lost to the 26th-ranked Fabio Basile of Italy by ippon in the final at Carioca Arena 2.An had defeated his nemesis, Masashi Ebinuma, in the semifinals, his first victory over the Japanese in three meetings.With the gold at stake, however, An faltered in just 84 seconds.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldSouth Korea has won two silver medals in two days of the judo competition

Another day at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and another gold medal for South Korean archery.On Sunday, it was the women's team coming through with the title, a day after the men's team got the ball rolling with a gold.The trio of Chang Hye-jin, Choi Mi-sun and Ki Bo-bae beat the Russian team of Tuiana Dashidorzhieva, Inna Stepanova and Ksenia Perova in the final by the set score of 5-1 (59-49, 55-51, 51-51) at Sambodromo.Park Hae-mook/The Korea HeraldWith a set win worth two points and a draw wo

In Korean, her name means "treasure."South Korean archer Ki Bo-bae has won her share of titles, but the team gold medal she captured at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics Sunday -- her third career Olympic gold -- may just be the crown jewel, a prize that punctuates her return to archery greatness.Ki made her first international splash in 2010 by winning the team gold medal at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. She then became the double gold medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, winning both the team and