Some of South Korean athletes aiming for Olympic medals started weak on the first day of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Saturday.
 
Swimmer Park Tae-hwan was eliminated from the heats in the men’s 400 meter freestyle by finishing tenth overall in three minutes 45-point-63 seconds, failing to join the final open of the top eight qualifiers.
 
Park won the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and the silver medal in the 2012 London Olympics in the event.
 
In shooting, Olympic gold medalist Jin Jong-oh was eliminated in the eight-man final in the ten meter air pistol. He finished fifth with 139-point-eight points at the Olympic Shooting Center.
 
He will compete in the men’s 50 meter air pistol on Thursday.
 
In Judo, world ranking No. 1 Kim Won-jin was defeated in the quarters in the men’s minus-60 kilogram event. He lost to Beslan Mudranov of Russia by an ippon.
 
In the women’s epee fencing, Shin A-lam was eliminated in the round of 32 by losing 15-14 to Ukraine’s Olena Kryvytska.
 
With the defeat, Shin blew a chance at redemption after a controversial elimination at the previous Summer Games.
 
At the 2012 London Olympics, Shin lost to Britta Heidemann of Germany in the semifinals and her chance at a gold medal due to a timekeeping error.