Fantastic Facts About South Korea's Sports

Did You Know...against the People`s Republic of China.
South Korea -one of the most modern countries in theJae-Wang Kang was one of the best handball players
Third World- is very successful in international sport.in the 20th century. Under his exceptional play, South
From 1976 to 2004, Korea has won 203 OlympicKorea won the silver medal in handball in the Olympics
medals, including 72 golds. It has more gold medals thanin 1988.
Cuba, Venezuela, Portugal and Nigeria combined.South Korea has won a gold medal in men´s
The team from South Korea won the gold medal inbasketball three times at the Asian Games (1970, 1982
the 4th World Junior Men`s volleyball Championshipand 2002).
held in Manama (Bahrain) in 1987. Suk-Eun Kim, bestThe Peruvian women`s volleyball team was coached
player of the tournament, helped his team towards firstby Man Bok Park, who was born in South Korea.
position, the best result ever for an Asian country sinceImmediately after Peruvian women`s team failed to
1981.qualify for the Olympic Games in 1972, the Peruvian
Seoul -the capital city of Korea- has hosted severalVolleyball Federation appointed Man Bok Park as head
international sports events including:coach of the senior national team. Man Bok Park said:
-The X Asian Games" In four years time I intend to make Peru one of the
-The VIII World Basketball Championshiptop six in the world". In just a few months the Peruvian
-The XXIV Olympic Gamesnational team changed. He was expecting dedication
Like Jorge Antonio Bell Mathey (Dominican Republic)and a banishment from their vocabulary of the word
and Oswaldo Jose Guillen Barrios (Venezuela) , Dong"vacation". He won the gold medal at the 1993 South
Won Choi was one of the best baseball players in theAmerican Championship, the silver medal at the 1982
1980s. Under his creative leadership, Korea won theWorld Championship, the silver medal at the 1986
silver medal at the 1980 World Championship in Japan.Goodwill Games, the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics,
Un Yong Kim -former Korean politician and diplomat-the bronze medal at the 1986 World Championship and
received the 2000 Sports Grand Prix of the Koreathe bronze medal at the 1991 Pan American Games.
Sports Press Union, in recognition of his contribution forThe Republic of Korea hosted the 27th Baseball
the historic joint parade of the Democratic People'sWorld Cup in 1982. The Korean team beat Japan to
Republic of Korea and South Korea on Olympic teamsclinch the first place. This was the first time in which a
during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games incountry other than Venezuela, Colombia or Puerto
Sydney. This great man of Korean sport has beenRico had won the World Championship.
honored several times in recognition of his efforts toYang Jung-Mo won the Olympic gold medal for
national and regional sports movement.freestyle wrestling at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal,
South Korea won the second Olympic title of itsCanada. However, he lost the chance to defend his
history in women`s handball in Barcelona'92 (the firsttitle when South Korea boycotted the Olympics in 1980
one was in Seoul'88). It defeated teams such asin the USSR.
Austria, Spain, Germany and Norway. The team alsoThe 2003 World University Games took place in
won the gold medal at the 1995 World Cup. In 1998,Daeju, Republic of Korea.
Korea won the gold medal at the Asian Games inKorea -one of the world`s poorest countries in the
Thailand.1950s- competed at the Asian Games for the first
The Korean baseball players were participants in thetime at the 1954 Asian Games in Manila, Philippines.
second Olympic tournament in Atlanta (Georgia,USA).The Republic of Korea sent 9 sportswomen to the
This Asian country is well-known for its sportswomenWinter Olympic Games in Lillehammer (Norway) in
in the world. Among these athletes are Kim Jin Ho1994.
(archery), Jang Ji-Won (taekwondo), Kim Hyun OkKim Hwa Soon is the best basketball player in the
(handball), Lee Bo-Na (shooting), Lee Eun-Sil (tablehistory of Korea. In 1984, she finally realized her dream
tennis), Jang Mi Nam (weightlifting), Jin Sun-Yu (skating),of competing in the Olympic Games, helping the
Seok Eun-Mi (table tennis), Byun Chun-So (skating), KimKorean team win a silver medal at the Los Angeles
Hyung Mee (handball), Hyun Tung-Hwa (table tennis),Games.
Suh Kwang-Mi ( field hockey), Jang Young-Ja (tableIn the 1980s, Korea had famous volleyball players in
tennis), Sun-Hee Lee (taekwondo), Se Ri Pak (golf),Asia. They were Jang Suk Han, Jong-Il Yoon,
Cho-Hyun Kang (shooting), Kim Soo Nyung (archery),Hee-Kyung Gae and Byung-Sun Lee.
Kim Hwa Soon (basketball), Lee Eun Kyung (archery),Korean sportspeople have performed excellent in
Bang Soo Hyun (badminton) and Hyun Sook Heeinternational events in sports such as archery,
(taekwondo).badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing , kayak, cycling,
Yoo Nam-Kyu won a gold medal in men`s table tennisequestrian, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, fencing,
singles at the Olympics in Seoul.field hockey, judo, karate, shooting, softball,
The 1st World Youth Women`s Volleyballsynchronized swimming, table tennis, volleyball, beach
Championship was won by South Korea in a finalvolleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.