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A magnificent closing ceremony brought the 2008 Beijing Olympics to an end on Sunday. About 10,500 athletes from all over the world who have competed for 16 days over a total of 302 gold medals in 28 events met at the Beijing National Stadium -- the "Bird's Nest" -- where they promised to meet again in London in four years' time.
South Korea finished seventh in the total medal tally with 13 gold, 10 silver and eight bronze medals, ranking second among Asian nations after China but ahead of Japan. South Korea's performance far exceeded its original goal of winning 10 golds and reaching the top 10 in the overall ranking and was its best performance in Olympic history.
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Dancers wait their turn to perform at the National Stadium during the closing ceremony for the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Sunday. /AP
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Team Korea's last gold medal came in baseball, with a 3-2 victory over powerhouse Cuba, the 2004 winner, at the Wukesong Baseball Main Field on Saturday evening. With an unbroken nine-game winning streak, South Korea won the last Olympic gold medal in baseball, which will be dropped from the next games in London. The win was made possible by slugger Lee Seung-yuop's two-run homer in the first inning and outstanding performances by pitchers Ryu Hyun-jin and Chong Tae-hyon, who confined the world's leading team Cuba amid a series of questionable decisions by the umpire. Earlier, Japan suffered an upset defeat in the semifinals against the U.S. 4-8, bagging no medal in the game.
All four South Korean taekwondo athletes won gold, defending the country's pride as the birthplace of the martial art. Following Lim Su-jeong, Son Tae-jin and Hwang Kyung-seon, Cha Dong-min beat Alexandros Nikolaidis of Greece 5-4 in the men's 80 kg class on Saturday.
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Lee Bong-ju (fourth from right) and others run toward the Beijing National Stadium in the 2008 Beijing Olympics marathon race on Sunday morning. /Yonhap
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In the men's marathon on Sunday, Lee Bong-ju, the 38-year-old veteran marathoner, silver medalist of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and gold medalist in the 2002 Busan Asian Games, finished 28th with a time of 2:17:56. Lee Myong-seung finished 18th at 2:14:37.
A welcoming parade for the South Korean athletes will be held on Taepyeongro Street and Seoul Plaza from 6:40 p.m. on Monday. Some 20,000 people are expected to cheer their return. The Seoul Metropolitan Police say if there is a large crowd, traffic will be controlled in some sections on Sogong-dong Street near the Plaza Hotel.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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