![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
em-cavey.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
omonatheydid
This is slightly belated at this point but nonetheless now that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are committed to history, I thought it’d be fun to summarize a few highlights of the South Korean / Republic of Korea delegation.
🏹 SK WINS 4 OUT OF 5 GOLDS IN ARCHERY 🏹
An San & Kim Je-deok win gold in Mixed Team
Women’s Team wins 9th straight gold
Men’s Team wins gold
An San wins gold in Women’s Individual
Archery has traditionally been SK’s strongest sport at the summer Games and this year was no different. The men’s team (Oh Jin-hyek, Kim Woo-jin, Kim Je-deok) and the women’s team (Jang Min-hee, Kang Chae-young, An San) both won gold in the team events, with the women extending their win streak to nine gold medals and tying the all-Olympic record for most consecutive golds. SK women’s archery has won every gold medal in the team event since the event was first introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The men claimed their cumulative fifth gold medal in the team event.
The maknaes of the men and women’s teams, 17-year-old Kim Je-deok and 20-year-old An San, further went on to win gold in the mixed team finals against the Netherlands. In particular, women’s team standout An San emerged as a major star, going on to win yet another gold in the women’s individual event against Russia’s Elena Osipova, bringing her to a total of three gold medals - the most ever won by a single Korean archer.
Highlights - Mixed Team finals
Highlights - Women's Individual finals
However, since we can’t have nice things An’s triumphs were temporarily marred by some asinine "controversy," as she was attacked by some namcho (male-centric) online communities for her pixie cut and some images and language in her social media posts suggesting she might dare be a “radical feminist.” The backlash was met with more backlash, with lawmakers and other public figures condemning the attacks, including actor Jung Mansik, who notably posted a furious rant in An’s defense to his social media:
“You f*cking dumbass motherf*ckers, who cares if she has short hair or if she’s a feminist, is that a crime? None of you cowards are brave enough to say anything about the judokas’ hair bc they can kick your ass but you’re going after An San? What are we going to do with you all? Can’t you go outside and do something with your life? Do you guys have rice at home? Is someone feeding you? All of you just shut up and be thankful you’re even alive and breathing.”
An herself has yet to comment on the backlash, instead choosing to focus on her victories, thank her fans, and enjoy her new status as a superstar and a “successful” K-pop fan, with her favorite idols Mamamoo and WJSN congratulating her over social media.
https://instagram.com/p/CSCKM0QBob0
An San fangirling over WJSN Eunseo's comment on her IG
🤺 FENCING TEAMS RALLY FOR GOLD, SILVER AND BRONZE MEDALS 🤺
Men’s Sabre Team wins 2nd straight gold
Women’s Épée Team wins silver
Kim Jung-Hwan wins Men’s Individual Sabre bronze
Women’s Sabre Team wins bronze
Three out of four members of the women’s épée competitors (Choi In-jeong, Kang Young-mi, Lee Hye-in, Song Sera) previously suffered from cases of Covid-19, creating some concern as to whether their long-term health and athletic performance would be affected. At first those doubts seemed like they might be warranted, with all members being eliminated unexpectedly early from the individual events. The athletes were visibly very emotional after their losses, yet rallied in the team event to advance together through the semifinals against China. Ultimately they bowed to Estonia in the finals, landing on a silver medal, SK’s second silver in the women’s épée team event. The team’s challenges and willpower to overcome resonated deeply with pandemic-weary audiences, with many commending their focus and teamwork.
The men’s sabre individuals got off to a similarly shaky start, with most participants crashing out in earlier rounds, including world no.1-ranked Oh Sang-uk (who also suffered from Covid-19 earlier in the year). However, Kim Jung-hwan ultimately won a bronze medal in the sabre category against Georgia’s Sandro Bazadze. As the top-ranked team in the world, the men’s sabre team (Oh, Kim, Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jun-ho) were under high expectations to deliver and those expectations were comfortably met. SK easily defeated Italy 45-26, defending their gold medal from the 2012 London Olympics (the event was not in the 2016 Games). As one of the few resounding golden victories of the Games (and not bad-looking either), the sabre team has been riding a wave of attention in domestic media, already being nicknamed as the “Afengers” and the “Fencing F4” (…)
Finally, the women’s sabre competitors faltered yet again in the individual events, with all members failing to advance past the 16-rounds. The sabre team (Kim Ji-yeon, Yoon Ji-su Choi Soo-yeon, Seo Ji-yeon) was less practiced and experienced than the other fencing teams, in addition to recovering from several recent injuries, and thus were not widely expected to medal in the team event. However they pushed through to the semi-finals, eventually overcoming an 25-15 deficit in a dramatic reversal against Italy to win bronze, the first-ever medal for SK in the women’s sabre category.
🤸♀️ HISTORIC MEDALS IN GYMNASTICS🤸
Shin Jea-hwan wins gold in Men's Vault
Yeo Seo-jeong wins bronze in Women's Vault
Though not originally considered a serious contender for gold, artistic gymnast Shin Jea-hwan become the second-ever male SK gymnast to win an Olympic gold medal, attaining an average score of 14.783 on two vaults. Shin turned in a unexpectedly outstanding performance throughout the Olympics, despite battling chronic pain issues from a traumatic back injury five years ago that required major reconstructive surgery and nearly ended his career.
Artistic gymnast Yeo Seo-jeong won the bronze medal in the vault, becoming the first-ever SK female gymnast to win an Olympic medal. Long touted as the future of women's gymnastics in SK, Yeo is the daughter of Korean gymnastics legend Yeo Hong-chul, who won silver in the men's vault at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Her win makes the two of them SK's first father-daughter duo of Olympic medalists and, as KBS's broadcast analyst for gymnastics, Yeo Hong-chul was watching and commentating on Yeo Seo-jeong's winning performance. Yeo Seo-jeong averaged 14.7333 across two vaults, the first of which featured her own namesake skill with a 720-degree twist.
Shin Jea-hwan's vault performance
(His second vault features the Yeo 2, one of Yeo Hong-chul's namesake skills)
Yeo Seo-jeong's vault performance
(The extended wordless howling after the first vault is her dad lol)
🏐 WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL FIGHTS TO 4TH PLACE 🏐
Though a very domestically popular sport, Korean women's volleyball had a rough year. Several key players spent much of the season grappling with major injuries, but the biggest blow came with the sudden, scandalous departure of two of the sport's biggest talents, twin sisters Lee Jae-yeong and Lee Da-yeong, after they admitted to committing severe school violence in the past (omona post). On top of their questionable international competitiveness, the team faced a lot of doubt from viewers about how well their revised roster would physically and psychologically adjust to the challenges of the Olympics. Still, many fans placed their faith in the talent and leadership of team captain Kim Yeon-koung, a beloved national celebrity who is widely considered one of the best female volleyball players in the world.
The team's Olympic run started off discourangingly; their first match in the group stage ended in a 0:3 straight-set loss to Brazil in which they were so thouroughly routed that the rest of their group stage matches were pulled from the TV schedules. However, they subsequently beat Kenya and the Dominican Republic and, crucially, won an absolute nail biter of a match against Japan, coming back from a 0:2 set deficit to win 3:2 (and making Korean audiences especially happy). The highlights of the Japan match quickly went viral and got them reinstated to the TV schedules and the team then went on to upset the very strong Turkish national team in the 8-rounds and advance to the semi-finals.
Though they lost their subsequent matchups against Brazil and Serbia and ultimately failed to medal, the team achieved the highest Olympic standing in Korean volleyball history at 4th place and brought a dignified end to Kim Yeon-koung's 17-year term on the national team, as she announced this Olympics would be the end of her international playing career.
Highlights - VS. Japan
Highlights - VS. Turkey
🏃♂️PIONEERS IN OBSCURE SPORTS RISE TO PROMINENCE 🧗♀️
Seo Chae-hyun finishes 8th in Women's Sports Climbing
Jeon Woong-tae wins bronze in Men's Modern Pentathlon
Seo Chae-hyun, SK's sole representative in women's sports climbing, garnered national attention for her unexpectedly strong results in the event, despite it not being televised or very familiar to most audiences. Seo's cumulative scoring got her to 2nd place going into the finals but she ultimately finished the event in 8th place. Though recreational climbing has gained some popularity in Korea recently, competitive climbing is still very novel and Seo's Olympic accomplishment is expected to significantly boost the profile of the sport. Furthemore, as Seo is only 17 years old, fans are looking forward to a bright future for her and a possible medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Meanwhile, the two representatives in the men's modern pentathlon, Jeon Woong-tae and Jeong Jin-hwa, placed 3rd and 4th respectively in a complex sport (comprised of fencing, swimming, equestrian show jumping, laser shooting and sprinting) that the majority of Korea's population has likely never seen broadcast or even heard of. Jeon and Jeong had actually been predicted as possible medalists by commentators due to their strong performances in other international pentathlon competitions, yet the general obscurity of the sport lead to the bronze medal coming as an utter surprise to most viewers.
In addition to Seo, Jeon and Jeong's achievements, recent years have seen a spate of Korean athletes excelling in more rarified or obscure sports, such as curling and skeleton. Many domestic sports fans are hopeful that these results are a sign that the culture and structure of competitive athletics in SK is moving away from the near-absolute prioritization of conventionally profitable sports and allowing for more diversity and opportunity in high-level athletics.
In recognition of his accomplishment as SK's last and most unexpected medalist of the 2020 Games, Jeon was chosen as the flag-bearer for South Korea in the closing ceremonies.
AND AFTERWARDS
It wasn’t a smooth or conventionally successful Olympic year for South Korea’s typically high expectations. The delegation also saw several shockingly early eliminations in historically strong sports, with several stars and favorites crashing out of judo, shooting, taekwondo, and wrestling. The national teams in popular sports such as soccer/football, baseball, and badminton also ended their runs with disappointing performances.
However, while some media outlets and audiences excoriated the worse-than-expected performances and standings (SK’s ranking of 16th is it’s the lowest in 37 years), many viewers, especially younger ones, chose to focus on the achievement and will on display during the events and praise the athletes for their efforts during a uniquely difficult Olympics. This split in public opinion is reflective of an slow but ongoing generational shift from the traditional perception of athletic excellence as a symbol of nationalistic strength and pride to a less politicized and pressurized appreciation of sport. Along with this gradual shift in public attitudes, as well as the emergence of new stars and goodbyes to beloved ones, the rise of the obscure and the decline of the popular, SK’s 2020 Olympic run was threaded with narratives of teamwork, perseverance, surprise, and change. In all, these were maybe eerily relevant outcomes for an Olympic Games held during one of the most unexpected and strange stretches of contemporary history.
You can expect Korean popular media to be very Olympics-heavy in the immediate future. So far, the Olympians’ slated TV appearances include the fencing F4 on Knowing Brothers, Kim Yeon-koung on I Live Alone, An San and Kim Je-deok on Masters in the House and several members of the national teams, including the men and women’s archery teams, and gymnasts Shin Jeahwan and Yeo Seojeong, on You Quiz on the Block.
SOUTH KOREA'S FINAL STANDINGS
🥇🥇🥇 Gold medals - 6 🥇🥇🥇
Archery - Mixed Team, Women's Team, Men’s Team, Women’s Individual
Gymnastics - Men’s Vault
Fencing - Men’s Sabre Team
🥈🥈 Silver medals - 4 🥈🥈
Fencing - Women’s Épée Team
Judo - Men’s -100 kg
Shooting - Women’s 25m Pistol
Taekwondo - Women’s +67 kg
🥉🥉🥉🥉🥉 Bronze medals - 10 🥉🥉🥉🥉🥉
Gymnastics - Women’s Vault
Badminton - Women’s Doubles
Fencing - Men’s Épée Team, Men’s Sabre Individual, Women’s Sabre Team
Judo - Men’s -66 kg, Men’s -73 kg
Taekwondo - Men’s +80 kg, Men’s -58 kg
Modern Pentathlon - Men’s Individual
Total medals - 20
Medal ranking - 16th
Sources: Yonhap - Archery 1 2 3 4 / Fencing 1 2 3 4 / Gymnastics 1 2 / Volleyball 1 2 / Misc 1 2 3, @ssaaaann__22, 국민일보, 머니투데이, SBS News 1 2, SUBUSU Sports, KBS 스포츠, SBS NOW 1 2 , olympics.com
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 12:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 12:38 am (UTC)“You f*cking dumbass motherf*ckers, who cares if she has short hair or if she’s a feminist, is that a crime? None of you cowards are brave enough to say anything about the judokas’ hair bc they can kick your ass but you’re going after An San? What are we going to do with you all? Can’t you go outside and do something with your life? Do you guys have rice at home? Is someone feeding you? All of you just shut up and be thankful you’re even alive and breathing.”
A legendary rant, I think
An San's IG interaction with Eunseo is amazing! Good for her. I tried archery once, it was hard lol
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 02:29 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 12:44 pm (UTC)I've been fangirling over her and Yeo Seojeong for days 🥰
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 07:31 am (UTC)it was also very satisfying to see korea beat my country in archery since the sports commentator was overestimating my country's team so much lol!
“You f*cking dumbass motherf*ckers, who cares if she has short hair or if she’s a feminist, is that a crime? None of you cowards are brave enough to say anything about the judokas’ hair bc they can kick your ass but you’re going after An San? What are we going to do with you all? Can’t you go outside and do something with your life? Do you guys have rice at home? Is someone feeding you? All of you just shut up and be thankful you’re even alive and breathing.”
jung mansik said: touch grass, cowards
i'm so happy that the hate an san received from those male communities only rendered her to receive more support from the public.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 12:50 pm (UTC)You mean the Netherlands, right? They did great! They were definitely the toughest competition the SK team had. But yeah it's never a good idea to bet against SK on archery lol, they are unreasonably good 0_0
i'm so happy that the hate an san received from those male communities only rendered her to receive more support from the public
Oh the namchos missed on this one. They came for a super popular gold medalist who for better or worse is a national hero to the Korean media and gp. Like it's super shitty she had to go through that at all and there will be a few sad lost souls who hate her now but in terms of wider public discourse, they fucked up. All they ended up doing was underscoring that she's the best in the world at what she does and people love her for it, meanwhile they're nobody with nothing of value to do with their time and energy and more people than ever are sick of their bullshit. You love to see it. And I am so happy that she hasn't even dignified them with a response
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 01:29 pm (UTC)yess love that this bit them in the ass!
And I am so happy that she hasn't even dignified them with a response
right! probably necessary for her too to keep focus on the game. she handled it better than so many korean companies regarding the 🤏 complaints these male online communities consistently put out
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 02:18 pm (UTC)impeccable taste
her dying at bona commenting is everything. like she's an actual bona stan lmao i found out about bbo's fencing drama from this.
i've been obsessively watching competition climbing explainers on youtube and it's such a pity that it only became an olympic event this year (and even that, the way they implemented the scoring system treating lead, bouldering and speed as the same just isn't truly representative of the sport). one of my favourite climbers to watch is kim jain and if it was even just one olympics earlier, she would've smashed it imo.
no subject
Date: 2021-08-13 06:13 pm (UTC)Kim Jain!! I don’t know a lot about the sport but I’ve definitely heard of/seen her and she’s incredible. And yeah, it’ll always be a shame that climbing didn’t get to the Olympics in time for her to compete 😔
no subject
Date: 2021-08-14 05:40 am (UTC)