Olympics: South Korea aims to maintain high standing

SEOUL: With an impressive tally of 13 gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, South Korea has been ranked in the top 10 medal—winning nations in six of the past seven Olympics.

With a squad of some 370 athletes representing their country at the London Games, the South Korean team is aiming to maintain that high standing.

Having trained hard over the last four years and with the hopes of their nation on them, the athletes are confident they will bring home at least 10 gold medals from the London 2012 Summer Olympics.

South Korea’s archery team is aiming to win all four titles in the individual and team events in London.

Archery is one of the sports in which South Korea excels. The country has won 16 archery gold medals in past Olympic Games —— more than any other nation.

The team has been practising in different environments ahead of the summer games, like at a military camp in front of hundreds of soldiers and even at a baseball game.

"We have always been training in quiet places. But at the Games itself it’s very noisy and so we are here to train our minds and learn to concentrate in places as noisy as this," archery team member Choi Hyun Joo said.

Wrestler Kim Hyun Woo, who is participating in the Men’s Greco—Roman 66 kg, has trying to build up his strength ahead of the Games with the help of a tire that weighs more than 10 kilograms.

"After this training, I’m knocked out and my mind is blank. All I think of during training is to win the gold medal at the Olympics," he said.

And one of Korea’s biggest stars at the games is Park Tae Han, who won the country’s first Olympic gold medal for swimming four years ago in Beijing

South Koreans will also be keeping a close eye on reigning Olympic champion Jang Mi Ran as she aims for a medal in the women’s over 75 kilogram category in weightlifting.

— CNA/wm