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9. Team Korea Ranks Within Top 10 in Rio Olympics Medal Tally

2016-12-29

Team Korea Ranks Within Top 10 in Rio Olympics Medal Tally

South Korea achieved its goal of finishing within the top ten in the medal tally for the fourth consecutive Summer Olympic Games.

Though it wasn’t able to reach another goal of securing ten gold medals, South Korea ranked eighth in the overall medal tally with nine gold, three silver and nine bronze medals, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The biggest booster for Team Korea at the first Olympics in South America was archery, where the country made a historic gold sweep, winning all four gold medals up for grabs.

All of the country’s five Taekwondo athletes also won medals, including two golds. South Korea also took the gold in fencing, shooting and women’s golf.

Meanwhile, South Korea came up empty handed in judo, wrestling and badminton which are traditionally strong events for the country. The less than stellar performance is regarded as the main reason South Korea couldn’t meet its goal of securing ten gold medals. Team Korea also failed to grab the golds in swimming, gymnastics and table tennis, indicating that more importance was placed on certain events over others.

Calls have been made for the nation to expand investments in less popular events and advance the process of training, selecting and managing athletes to be more scientific.

Overall, the level of South Korea’s sports is steadily improving, raising expectations about what results Team Korea will bring in the next Summer Olympic Games.