Korean athletes, fans now value passion, endeavor over medals
Posted : 2021-08-05 16:20
Updated : 2021-08-05 17:47
Korean women s table tennis team player Shin Yu-bin, right, performs a forehand attack in the round of 16 of the Olympics at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Monday. Yonhap
Olympics, it s not all about winning or losing
By Lee Min-hyung
Korean athletes who fail to win Olympic medals can usually expect to see their names cursed and dragged through the mud, but the usual online defamation seems to be at an all-time low during the 2020 Olympics.
As of 2 p.m. on Thursday, Team Korea was ranked 12th in terms of the medal count, three notches lower than the final tally of the previous Olympics in 2016. Korean athletes have so far clinched 19 medals ― including six golds.
Olympics-Wrestling-Greco-Roman champ Borrero falls to Zoidze in day of upsets reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Six South Korean wrestlers positive for COVID-19 after Asian Championships Sunday, 25 April 2021
Seven COVID-19 infections have been reported among the South Korean delegation which attended the Asian Wrestling Championships in Almaty earlier this month.
Six male wrestlers and a coach have been found to have the virus,
Yonhap News Agency reports, citing a Korea Wrestling Federation official.
Five of the wresters and the coach have returned to South Korea, while a sixth athlete remained in Kazakhstan, planning to compete at an event in Bulgaria next week.
Sofia, Bulgaria s capital, is then due to host the global qualification tournament from May 6 to 9.
Asian Olympic qualifiers: Which Indian wrestler can make it to Tokyo 2021?
Asian Olympic qualifiers: Which Indian wrestler can make it to Tokyo 2021?
Sonam Malik (in blue) competes against Hanbit Lee (KOR) in the 62 Kg category during the Senior Asian Wrestling Championship in February 2020 in New Delhi.
Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times via Getty Images
From India s first individual medallist (KD Jadhav, 1952) to the only double individual medallist (Sushil Kumar, 2008 and 2012), wrestling has been one of India s most successful sports at the Olympics.
In 2016, India sent its largest contingent to the Games yet eight, including eventual bronze medallist Sakshi Malik. This year, as things stand, four have already qualified for Tokyo Ravi Dahiya (men s 57kg freestyle), Bajrang Punia (men s 65kg), Deepak Punia (men s 86kg) and Vinesh Phogat (women s 53kg). The contingent could be significantly bigger this time as another 14 wrestlers will get a chance to add to that number at the