North Korea competed as the Democratic People's Republic of Korea at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's seventh appearance at the Olympics since its debut in 1972. North Korean athletes did not attend the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, when they joined the Soviet boycott, and subsequently, led a boycott at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, along with six other nations.

Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea sent a total of 36 athletes, 13 men and 23 women, to compete only in 9 sports. For the second time in Olympic history, North Korea was represented by more female than male athletes due to its stark team size of women in diving and artistic gymnastics. Former basketball player and National Olympic Committee official Kim Song-Ho became the nation's flag bearer in the opening ceremony. Both North Korea and South Korea marched together in the Parade of Nations at the opening and closing ceremonies under the Korean Unification Flag, a white flag showing the united Korean peninsula in blue. They had two flagbearers carrying the flag together at each occasion, one representing the North and the other representing the South. The female athletes and staff wore red blazers, while their male counterparts wore blue. Although they marched together, the teams competed separately and had separate medal tallies.

North Korea left Athens with a total of five Olympic medals (four silver and one bronze), failing to claim a single gold for the second consecutive time since Sydney. All of these medals were awarded to the athletes in boxing, judo, shooting, table tennis, and weightlifting. Lightweight judoka Kye Sun-Hui managed to complete a full set of medals in her sporting career with a silver, in addition to her gold in Atlanta and bronze in Sydney.

Medalists Medal Name Sport Event Date Kye Sun-hui Judo Women's 57 kg Ri Song-hui Weightlifting Women's 58 kg Kim Hyang-mi Table tennis Women's singles Kim Song-guk Boxing Featherweight Kim Jong-su Shooting Men's 50 m pistol

Athletics

North Korean athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event at the 'A' Standard, and 1 at the 'B' Standard).

Key Note–Ranks given for track events are within the athlete's heat only Q = Qualified for the next round q = Qualified for the next round as a fastest loser or, in field events, by position without achieving the qualifying target NR = National record N/A = Round not applicable for the event Bye = Athlete not required to compete in round

Men AthleteEventFinalResultRankJong Myong-cholMarathon2:19:4735

Women AthleteEventFinalResultRankHam Bong-silMarathonJo Bun-hui2:55:5456Jong Yong-ok2:37:5221

Boxing

Kim Song-Guk was a surprise finalist in the featherweight class, beating the European bronze medalist in the second round and the All-Africa Games silver medalist in the quarters before edging World runner-up and European champion Vitali Tajbert in the semifinals. In the final, Tichtchenko pulled out into an early lead over Kim and never looked back, easily taking victory and leaving Kim to the silver medal.

AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankKwak Hyok-juLight flyweightL 7–21Did not advanceKim Song-gukFeatherweightW 25–14W 32–11W 29–24L 17–39

Diving

North Korean divers qualified for four individual spots in the following events.

Men AthleteEventPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankChoe Hyong-gil10 m platform419.5816 Q600.3615Did not advancePak Yong-ryong414.3317 Q596.0117Did not advance

Women AthleteEventPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankJon Hyon-ju10 m platform272.0122Did not advanceKim Kyong-ju263.5225Did not advance

Gymnastics

Artistic Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankKim Hyon-ilPommel horse9.112colspan=4 9.11256Did not advanceParallel barscolspan=4 9.5379.53735Did not advanceRi Jong-songFloor9.675colspan=5 9.67514Did not advanceVaultcolspan=3 9.162colspan=2 9.16262Did not advance

Women Team AthleteEventQualificationFinalApparatusTotalRankApparatusTotalRankHan Jong-okTeam9.5378.000colspan=3 Did not advanceHong Su-jong9.0759.2008.2128.47534.96250Kang Yun-mi9.637 Qcolspan=2 8.850colspan=2 Kim Un-jong9.1259.4758.4129.05036.06236Pyon Kwang-sun9.2009.600 Q9.0628.65036.51223 QRi Hae-yon8.7628.8628.6008.68734.91152Total37.03737.81234.28635.237144.37212

Individual finals AthleteEventApparatusTotalRankKang Yun-miVault9.381colspan=2 9.3815Pyon Kwang-sunAll-around 8.5259.5878.8508.90035.86217Uneven barscolspan=2 9.6009.6004

Judo

Six North Korean judoka (one man and five women) qualified for the following events.

Men AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechage 1Repechage 2Repechage 3Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankPak Nam-chol−60 kgL 0001–1000Did not advance

Women AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsRepechage 1Repechage 2Repechage 3Final / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankRi Kyong-ok−48 kgL 0021–0111Did not advanceRi Sang-sim−52 kgL 0000–1000Did not advanceW 0020–0000L 0010–0011Did not advanceKye Sun-hui−57 kgW 1010–0000W 0031–0010W 1010–0010W 1000–0000colspan=3 L 0010–0011Hong Ok-song−63 kgW 0001–0000W 1000–0000L 0010–0100Did not advanceW 0010–0001L 0000–1010Did not advanceKim Ryon-mi−70 kgW 1010–0000L 0100–1000Did not advanceW 0100–0011L 0030–0110Did not advance

Shooting

Three North Korean shooters (two men and one woman) qualified to compete in the following events:

Men AthleteEventQualificationFinalPointsRankPointsRankKim Hyon-ung10 m air pistol583=4 Q682625 m rapid fire pistol57216Did not advance50 m pistol553=18Did not advanceKim Jong-su10 m air pistol582=6 Q681.2850 m pistol564=3 Q657.7

Women AthleteEventQualificationFinalPointsRankPointsRankRi Hyon-okSkeet68 (2)7Did not advance

Table tennis

Four North Korean table tennis players qualified for the following events.

AthleteEventRound 1Round 2Round 3Round 4QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankO IlMen's singlesW 4–0L 1–4Did not advanceKim Hyang-miWomen's singlesW 4–1W 4–2W 4–0W 4–2W 4–3L 0–4Kim Hyon-huicolspan=2 W 4–2L 0–4Did not advanceKim Yun-miW 4–1L 2–4Did not advanceKim Hyang-miKim Hyon-huiWomen's doublescolspan=3 W 4–1L 1–4Did not advance

Weightlifting

Four North Korean weightlifters qualified for the following events:

AthleteEventSnatchClean & JerkTotalRankResultRankResultRankIm Yong-suMen's −62 kg140=2170140Choe Un-simWomen's −48 kg82.5=495=10177.58Pak Hyon-sukWomen's −58 kg95=6122.5=5217.56Ri Song-hui102.5=2130=1232.5

Wrestling

Key - Victory by Fall. - Decision by Points - the loser with technical points. - Decision by Points - the loser without technical points.

Men's freestyle AthleteEventElimination PoolQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankO Song-nam−55 kgL 1–3 W 3–1 W 5–0 2Did not advance8

See also North Korea at the 2002 Asian Games

References

External links Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad