S. Korea earns 2 medals on final day, finishes 1 shy of record

Published : Aug 11, 2024 - 21:41 Updated : Aug 11, 2024 - 21:46

Seong Seung-min of South Korea celebrates on the podium after winning bronze in the women's modern pentathlon during the victory ceremony at Chateau de Versailles in Versailles, France, on Aug. 11, 2024. (Yonhap)

PARIS(Yonhap) -- South Korea capped its better-than-expected run at the Paris Olympics with two more medals on the final day of the competition Sunday.

Seong Seung-min grabbed bronze in the women's modern pentathlon and became the first Asian to reach the podium since the women's event was added to the Olympics in 2000.

After equestrian show jumping, fencing, swimming and laser run, which combines running and laser pistol shooting, Seong finished in third place with 1,441 points, behind Michelle Gulyas of Hungary (1,461) and Elodie Clouvel of France (1,452).

Seong, the 2024 world champion, was in third place entering the laser run, the last event of the final. Clouvel had been in the lead, but Gulyas moved ahead of her thanks to a strong performance in shooting. Seong and Clovel were neck and neck midway through the 3-kilometer run, but the South Korean's trouble with shooting allowed the French woman to pull away for silver.

Park Hye-jeong of South Korea celebrates on the podium after winning silver in the women's +81-kilogram weightlifting event at the Paris Olympics at South Paris Arena 6 in Paris on Aug. 11, 2024. (Yonhap)

Moments later in weightlifting, Park Hye-jeong claimed silver in the women's +81-kilogram event, with a total weight of 299kg, a new national record.

Park also broke the snatch national record with 131kg and had 168kg in the clean and jerk. Park finished 10kg back of Li Wenwen of China, who grabbed her second straight gold.

With these two medals, South Korea finished the competition with 13 gold, nine silver and 10 bronze medals for 32 medals total, one shy of its Summer Games record.

South Korea collected 33 medals as the host of the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. It won 32 medals in Beijing in 2008, while also establishing its Summer Olympic record with 13 gold medals.

South Korea matched that total in 2012 in London and again this year in Paris.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had set out to win five gold medals and finish around 15th in the medal table. After its two medals Sunday, South Korea ranked eighth, with more medals to be awarded in cycling, water polo and basketball later in the evening.

KSOC President Lee Kee-heung thanked the South Korean people for their support, and credited athletes and coaches with performing with "a sense of urgency and determination" to deliver strong performances for their nation.