South Korea at the 2004 Summer Olympics

South Korea at the
2004 Summer Olympics
IOC codeKOR
NOCKorean Olympic Committee
Websitewww.sports.or.kr (in Korean and English)
in Athens
Competitors264 in 25 sports
Flag bearer Ku Min-jung[1]
Medals
Ranked 9th
Gold
9
Silver
12
Bronze
9
Total
30
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)

South Korea competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, attending every Summer Olympics held during the country's existence up to that point with the exception of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of its support for the United States-led boycott. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1992. A total of 264 athletes, 145 men and 119 women, competed in 25 sports.

South Korea left Athens with a total of 30 medals (9 golds, 12 silver, and 9 bronze), finishing ninth in the overall medal standings.[2] Four of these medals were awarded to the athletes in archery, badminton, and taekwondo (South Korea's traditional martial art), and three each in judo, shooting, and table tennis. South Korea's team-based athletes proved successful in Athens as the women's handball team climbed the podium with a silver medal for the second time, following its major setback in Sydney from a fourth-place finish.

Among the nation's medalists were taekwondo jin Moon Dae-sung in the men's super heavyweight division,[3] archer Park Sung-hyun in both women's individual and team event, artistic gymnasts Kim Dae-eun and Yang Tae-young in the men's individual all-around,[4] and trap shooter Lee Bo-Na.

Both North Korea and South Korea marched together in the parade of nations during the opening and closing ceremonies under the Unification Flag, a white flag showing the united Korean Peninsula in blue. They had two flagbearers carrying the flag together at each occasion, one representing the North and the other representing the South. The female athletes and staff wore red blazers, while their male counterparts wore blue. Although they marched together, the teams competed separately and had separate medal tallies.[5]

  1. ^ Cho, Jin-Seo (30 August 2004). "Moon's Gold Lifts Korea Into Ninth". Korea Times. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  2. ^ "2004 Athens: Medal Tally". USA Today. Retrieved 1 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Moon takes taekwondo gold". BBC Sport. 29 August 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  4. ^ Macur, Juliet (22 August 2004). "Summer 2004 Games: Gymnastics-All-Around, Judges Suspended for Error, But Hamm Will Keep Gold". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  5. ^ "North and South Korea to march together at Olympic opening ceremony". Pravda. 7 February 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2014.