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Park Tae-hwan celebrates after winning the men's 400-meter freestyle swimming final at the National Aquatics Center. /REUTERS
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There is already good news for Korean athletes at the Beijing Olympics, which opened on Friday. On Sunday, established sports icon Park Tae-hwan won Korea¡¯s first gold medal for swimming. Korean archers also secured gold in the women¡¯s team final, achieving their sixth consecutive Olympic victory.
On Saturday, Judoka Choi Min-ho became the first Korean gold medalist in the event by winning the men¡¯s 60-kg division, while sharpshooter Jin Jong-oh won a silver medal in the men¡¯s 10-m air pistol.
In the men¡¯s 400-m freestyle at the Beijing National Aquatics Center, Korean ¡°marine boy¡± Park secured an Asian record of 3:41:86, becoming the country¡¯s first Olympic swim champion. The victory consolidated his status as the world¡¯s 400-m freestyle champion, after his World Championships¡¯ win in Melbourne, Australia in March last year. Zhang Lin of China took silver in 3:42.78 and the U.S.¡¯ Larsen Jensen bronze in 3:42.78.
At the Olympic Green Archery Field, the Korean women¡¯s team beat China 224-215, winning its sixth consecutive team gold medal since the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The team consisted of Park Sung-hyun, Yun Ok-hee, and Joo Hyun-jung. France claimed the bronze medal by defeating Britain 202-201.
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Park Sung-hyun, center, Yun Ok-hee, right, and Joo Hyun-jung celebrate after winning the final of the women's team archery competition of the Beijing 2008 Olympics in Beijing on Sunday. /AP
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Judo champion Choi Min-ho won five consecutive matches by ippon before grabbing gold in the men¡¯s 60-kg competition. He beat Austria¡¯s Ludwig Paischer, this year¡¯s European judo champion, by ippon with morote-gari just two minutes and 14 seconds into the finals, held at the Beijing Science and Technology University Gymnasium, on Saturday. In the semi-final, he had defeated Ruben Houkes of the Netherlands, who was a finalist in the World Judo Championship last year, by ippon with morote-gari in only 24 seconds, earning the nickname ¡°man of ippon.¡±
In shooting, Jin Jong-oh won silver in the men¡¯s 10-m air pistol, finishing around four points behind Chinese gold medalist Pang Wei. North Korea¡¯s Kim Jong-su claimed a bronze medal. The women¡¯s handball team ended the first round of preliminary matches in a 29-29 tie with Russia after falling behind by nine points earlier.
As of 8:00 a.m. on Monday, Korea stood in second place with three gold and two silver medals, with the U.S. in third with two golds, two silvers and four bronze. China ranked first, with six gold medals and two silvers.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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