North Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics

North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, held in Beijing, People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The country sent 63 athletes, competing in 11 sports."KCNA boosts DPRK Olympic athletes' morale", Xinhua, July 31, 2008

North and South Korea had initially intended to send a joint delegation to the Games,"North and South Korea to join forces in fight for Olympic gold", The Guardian, November 2, 2005"'One' Korea for Olympics", The Age, February 26, 2004 but were unable to agree on the details of its implementation."No progress on joint Korean Olympic team: officials", ABC News, April 4, 2006"Sides still at odds over joint '08 Olympics team", Associated Press, December 1, 2006 (see South Korea at the 2008 Summer Olympics)

Reportedly, North Korean athletes were barred by their government from mingling with other athletes at the Olympic Village, or from leaving the Village to sightsee."A lonely Olympics experience", The Oregonian, August 19, 2008

Medalists Medal Name Sport Event Pak Hyon-suk Weightlifting Women's 63 kg Hong Un-jong Gymnastics Women's vault An Kum-ae Judo Women's 52 kg O Jong-ae Weightlifting Women's 58 kg Pak Chol-min Judo Men's 66 kg Won Ok-im Judo Women's 63 kg

Archery

North Korea sent archers to the Olympics for the fifth time, after not qualifying any for the 2004 Games. Two North Korean women sought the nation's first Olympic medal in the sport. Kwon Un Sil and Son Hye-Yong earned the country two places in the women's individual competition by placing 9th and 24th, respectively, at the 2007 World Outdoor Target Championships.

AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankKwon Un-silWomen's individual6565 (60)W 106–96 (37)W 106–99 (12)W 105–100 (20)W 105–99 (1)L 106–109 (2)L 106–1094Son Hye-Yong61845 (20)L 107–112Did not advance

Athletics

Men AthleteEventFinalResultRankKim Il-namMarathon2:21:5142Pak Song-chol2:21:1640Ri Kum-song2:19:0833

Women AthleteEventFinalResultRankJo Bun-huiMarathon2:37:0448Jong Yong-ok2:34:5236Kim Kum-ok2:30:0112

Boxing

North Korea qualified one boxer for the Olympic boxing tournament. Kim Song Guk qualified in the lightweight class at the 2007 World Championships.

AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankKim Song-gukLightweightL 3–13Did not advance

Diving

Men AthleteEventsPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankKim Chon-man10 m platform328.8530Did not advance

Women AthleteEventsPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankKim Jin-ok10 m platform291.9018 Q259.4017Did not advanceKim Un-hyang316.2013 Q267.0016Did not advanceChoe Kum-huiKim Un-hyang10 m synchronized platformcolspan=4 308.106

Football

Women's tournament

Roster

Group play

Gymnastics

Artistic Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankCha Yong-hwaVault13.750colspan=2 13.750=74Did not advanceUneven barscolspan=2 15.17515.17512Did not advanceHong Un-jongAll-around13.85015.65014.10012.82556.42541Did not advanceVault15.725colspan=2 15.7252 Q15.650colspan=2 15.650

Judo

North Korea will send six judoka to Beijing,"Kye Sun Hui pinned high hope to win gold at Olympics for DPRK", Xinhua, July 30, 2008 including:

Men AthleteEventPreliminaryRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechage 1Repechage 2Repechage 3Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankKim Kyong-jin−60 kgW 1000–0000W 0022–0000L 0000–0020Did not advanceL 0001–0100Did not advancePak Chol-min−66 kgW 1000–0000W 0010–0001W 0002–0000L 0001–0210colspan=3 W 0100–0001Kim Chol-su−73 kgW 1000–0001W 0111–0110L 0000–0200Did not advanceL 0000–1011Did not advance

Women AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechage 1Repechage 2Repechage 3Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankPak Ok-song−48 kgW 0100–0000W 0011–0001L 0000–1021colspan=3 L 0001–01005An Kum-ae−52 kgW 0201–0000W 0010–0001W 0200–0000W 0001–0000colspan=3 L 0001–0011Kye Sun-Hui−57 kgW 1001–0001L 0010–0101Did not advanceWon Ok-Im−63 kgW 0020–0010W 0200–0000L 0000–0211colspan=3 W 0110–0001

Shooting

North Korea will be represented by six shooters, including Kim Jong-su, who won bronze in the men's 50m pistol in Athens."DPRK shooter Kim eyes top two at Beijing Olympics" , Xinhua, July 30, 2008 Kim Jong-su, who originally won a silver medal in the men's 50 metre pistol and a bronze medal in the men's 10 metre air pistol, was tested positive for the banned substance of propranolol, and subsequently stripped off his medals.

Men Athlete Event Qualification Final Points Rank Points Rank Kim Jong-su 10 m air pistol 584 3 Q 683 50 m pistol 563 2 Q 660.2 Kwon Tong-hyok 10 m air pistol 575 26 Did not advance Ryu Myong-yon 50 m pistol 551 27 Did not advance

Women Athlete Event Qualification Final Points Rank Points Rank Jo Yong-suk 10 m air pistol 382 15 Did not advance 25 m pistol 584 4 Q 783.4 6 Pak Jong-ran Skeet 66 9 Did not advance Pak Yong-hui Trap 56 18 Did not advance

Synchronized swimming

AthleteEventTechnical routineFree routine (preliminary)Free routine (final)PointsRankPointsTotal (technical + free)RankPointsTotal (technical + free)RankKim Yong-miWang Ok-gyong"Ballet on water", Xinhua, August 19, 2008Duet42.9171643.58486.50116Did not advance

Table tennis

AthleteEventPreliminary roundRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankJang Song-manMen's singlesW 4–0W 4–2W 4–2L 1–4Did not advanceKim Hyok-bongW 4–2W 4–1W 4–2L 1–4Did not advanceRi Chol-GukL 3–4Did not advanceKim JongWomen's singlesW 4–0W 4–1L 0–4Did not advanceKim Mi-yongL 3–4Did not advance

Weightlifting

Men AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRankResultRankResultRankCha Kum-chol−56 kg128515552835Ri Kyong-sok122———Im Yong-su−62 kg1383168138Kim Chol-jin−69 kg146=818063266

Women AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRankResultRankResultRankO Jong-ae−58 kg9561312226Pak Hyon-suk−63 kg10621351241Hong Yong-ok−69 kg103———

Wrestling

Men's freestyle AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechage 1Repechage 2Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankYang Kyong-il−55 kgL 1–3 Did not advance12Yang Chun-song−66 kgL 1–3 Did not advance15

Men's Greco-Roman AthleteEventQualificationRound of 16QuarterfinalSemifinalRepechage 1Repechage 2Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankCha Kwang-su−55 kgL 1–3 Did not advance15

External links "North Korea Heads for Best Olympics; Don't Say It in Pyongyang", Bloomberg, August 21, 2008 "A lonely Olympics experience", The Oregonian, August 19, 2008

References