South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's seventeenth appearance at the Olympics. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest ever delegation to the Games in Olympic history since 1984. A total of 205 athletes, 103 men and 101 women, competed in 24 sports.
Medalists
The following South Korean competitors won medals at the Games. In the by discipline sections below, medalists' names are bolded.
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Medal Name Sport Event Date Archery Men's team Archery Women's team Fencing Men's épée Shooting Men's 50 m pistol Archery Women's individual Archery Men's individual Taekwondo Women's 49 kg Taekwondo Women's 67 kg Golf Women's individual Judo Women's 48 kg Judo Men's 66 kg Shooting Men's 50 m rifle prone Weightlifting Women's 53 kg Judo Men's 90 kg Fencing Men's sabre Archery Women's individual Wrestling Men's Greco-Roman 75 kg Taekwondo Men's 58 kg Taekwondo Men's 68 kg Badminton Women's doubles Taekwondo Men's +80 kg | style="text-align:left; width:22%; vertical-align:top;"|
Medals by sportSport TotalArchery 4 0 1 5Taekwondo 2 0 3 5Fencing 1 0 1 2Shooting 1 1 0 2Golf 1 0 0 1Judo 0 2 1 3Weightlifting 0 0 1 1Wrestling 0 0 1 1Badminton 0 0 1 1Total 9 3 9 21
Medals by dayDay TotalAugust 6 1 1 0 2August 7 1 1 1 3August 8 0 0 0 0August 9 1 0 0 1August 10 1 0 2 3August 11 1 0 1 2August 12 1 1 0 2August 13 0 0 0 0August 14 0 0 1 1August 15 0 0 0 0August 16 0 0 0 0August 17 1 0 1 2August 18 0 0 2 2August 19 1 0 0 1August 20 1 0 1 2August 21 0 0 0 0Total 9 3 9 21
Competitors The Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) selected a team of 204 athletes, 103 men and 101 women, to compete in 22 sports; it was the nation's smallest team sent to the Olympics since 1984, just six athletes relatively short of its size. South Korea did not qualify athletes in basketball, rugby sevens, tennis, and triathlon.
| width=78% align=left valign=top | The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games. Note that reserves in fencing, field hockey, football, and handball are not counted as athletes: SportMenWomenTotalArchery 3 3 6Athletics 10 5 15Badminton 7 7 14Boxing 1 0 1Canoeing 2 0 2Cycling 7 2 9Diving 1 0 1Equestrian 1 0 1Fencing 6 8 14Field hockey 0 16 16Football 18 0 18Golf 2 4 6Gymnastics 5 2 7Handball 0 14 14Judo 7 5 12Modern pentathlon 2 1 3Rowing 1 1 2Sailing 4 0 4Shooting 9 8 17Swimming 3 5 8Table tennis 3 3 6Taekwondo 3 2 5Volleyball 0 12 12Weightlifting 4 3 7Wrestling 5 0 5Total 103 101 205
Archery
South Korean archers qualified each for the men's and women's events after having secured a top eight finish in their respective team recurves at the 2015 World Archery Championships in Copenhagen, Denmark.
With a top eight placement at the Worlds, the spots for the three men and three women from South Korea will be determined in two national selection meets by April 2016. The South Korean archery team, led by London 2012 Olympic champion Ki Bo-bae, was announced on April 19, 2016. On August 5, 2016, Kim Woo-jin set a world record by scoring 700 out of a possible 720 in the seeding round of the men's individual recurve.
Men AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankKim Woo-jinIndividual700 WR1W 6–0L 2–6Did not advanceKu Bon-chan6816W 6–0W 6–0W 6–4W 6–5W 6–5W 7–3Lee Seung-yun67612W 6–2W 7–1W 6–4L 4–6Did not advanceKim Woo-jinKu Bon-chanLee Seung-yunTeam20571colspan=2 W 6–0W 6–0W 6–0
Women AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankChang Hye-jinIndividual6662W 6–0W 6–2W 6–2W 7–1W 7–3W 6–2Choi Mi-sun6691W 6–0W 6–2W 7–3L 0–6Did not advanceKi Bo-bae6633W 7–1W 6–2W 6–0W 6–2L 3–7W 6–4Chang Hye-jinChoi Mi-sunKi Bo-baeTeam19981colspan=2 W 5–1W 5–1W 5–1
Athletics
South Korean athletes have achieved qualifying standards in the following event (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
Track & road events Men AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRankByun Young-jun20 km walkcolspan=6 1:30:3861Choe Byeong-kwangcolspan=6 1:29:0857Kim Hyun-sub20 km walkcolspan=6 1:21:441750 km walkcolspan=6 Kim Kuk-young100 mcolspan=2 10.377Did not advancePark Chil-sung50 km walkcolspan=6 Shim Jung-subMarathoncolspan=6 2:42:42138Son Myeong-juncolspan=6 2:36:21131
Women AthleteEventFinalResultRankAhn Seul-kiMarathon2:36:5042Jeon Yeong-eun20 km walk1:36:3139Lee Da-seulLee Jeong-eunLim Kyung-heeMarathon2:43:3170
Field events AthleteEventQualificationFinalDistancePositionDistancePositionKim Deok-hyeonMen's long jump7.8214Did not advanceMen's triple jump16.3627Did not advanceWoo Sang-hyeokMen's high jump2.2622Did not advanceYun Seung-hyun2.1743Did not advance
Badminton
South Korea qualified a total of fourteen badminton players for each of the following events into the Olympic tournament based on the BWF World Rankings as of 5 May 2016: two entries each in the men's and women's singles, as well as the men's, women's doubles, and one in the mixed doubles.
Men AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankLee Dong-keunSinglesL (11–21. 13–21)L (19–21, 21–17, 16–21)2Did not advanceSon Wan-hoW (21–9, 21–15)W (21–10, 21–10)1 QW (23–21, 21–17)L (11–21, 21–18, 11–21)Did not advanceKim Gi-jungKim Sa-rangDoublesW (21–15, 21–18)W (21–14, 21–15)L (21–17, 23–25, 18–21)1 QL (21–11, 18–21, 22–24)Did not advanceLee Yong-daeYoo Yeon-seongW (18–21, 21–13, 21–18)L (17–21, 21–19, 16–21)W (21–14, 21–16)2 QL (21–17, 18–21, 19–21)Did not advance
Women AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankBae Yeon-juSinglesW (21–11, 21–8)W (21–11, 21–7)1 QL (6–21, 7–21)Did not advanceSung Ji-hyunW (21–13, 21–14)W (21–17, 21–11)1 QW (21–15, 21–12)L (12–21, 16–21)Did not advanceChang Ye-naLee So-heeDoublesW (21–18, 14–21, 21–11)W (24–22, 21–15)W (21–18, 18–21, 21–17)1 QL (26–28, 21–18, 15–21)Did not advanceJung Kyung-eunShin Seung-chanW (21–10, 21–14)L (16–21, 18–21)W (21–14, 21–12)1 QW (21–13, 20–22, 21–14)L (16–21, 15–21)W (21–8, 21–17)
Mixed AthleteEventGroup StageQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankKo Sung-hyunKim Ha-naDoublesW (21–10, 21–12)W (21–10, 21–10)W (25–23, 21–17)1 QL (17–21, 18–21)Did not advance
Boxing
South Korea entered one boxer to compete in the men's bantamweight division into the Olympic competition. Ham Sang-myeong received a spare Olympic berth, as the next highest-ranked boxer, not yet qualified, in the AIBA Pro Boxing (APB) rankings, as France's top boxer Khedafi Djelkhir decided to withdraw from the Games and thereby announce his retirement from the sport.
AthleteEventRound of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultOppositionResultRankHam Sang-myeongMen's bantamweightW 2–1L 0–3Did not advance
Canoeing
Sprint South Korea qualified a single boat in men's K-2 200 m for the Games at the 2015 Asian Canoe Sprint Championships in Palembang, Indonesia, as the quota spot had been passed to the highest finisher not yet qualified.
AthleteEventHeatsSemifinalsFinalTimeRankTimeRankTimeRankCho Kwang-heeMen's K-1 200 m35.4025 Q35.8698 FB37.26512Cho Kwang-heeChoi Min-kyuMen's K-2 200 m33.8256 Q33.7674 FB33.8129 Qualification Legend: FA = Qualify to final (medal); FB = Qualify to final B (non-medal)
Cycling
Road South Korean riders qualified for a maximum of three quota places in the men's Olympic road race by virtue of their top 4 national ranking in the 2015 UCI Asia Tour. One female rider was added to the South Korean squad to compete in the women's Olympic road race by finishing first at the 2016 Asian Championships.
AthleteEventTimeRankKim Ok-cheolMen's road raceDid not finishSeo Joon-yongDid not finishNa Ah-reumWomen's road race3:58:0330
Track Following the completion of the 2016 UCI Track Cycling World Championships, South Korean riders have accumulated spots in the men's team sprint and men's omnium. As a result of their place in the men's team sprint, South Korea assured its right to enter two riders in both men's sprint and men's keirin. Although South Korea failed to win a quota place in the women's team sprint, they managed to claim a single place in the women's keirin, by virtue of their final individual UCI Olympic rankings in that event.
Sprint AthleteEventQualificationRound 1Repechage 1Round 2Repechage 2QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)OppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankKang Dong-jinMen's sprint10.09271.34320Did not advance
Team sprint AthleteEventQualificationSemifinalsFinalTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankOppositionTimeSpeed (km/h)RankIm Chae-binKang Dong-jinSon Je-yongMen's team sprint9Did not advance
Keirin AthleteEvent1st RoundRepechage2nd RoundFinalRankRankRankRankIm Chae-binMen's keirin6 R2Did not advanceKang Dong-jin3 R3Did not advanceLee Hye-jinWomen's keirin2 Q48
Omnium AthleteEventScratch raceIndividual pursuitElimination raceTime trialFlying lapPoints raceTotal pointsRankRankPointsTimeRankPointsRankPointsTimeRankPointsTimeRankPointsPointsRankPark Sang-hoonMen's omnium9244:29.079121814141:04.231121813.48914141688
Diving
South Korean divers qualified for the following individual and synchronized team spots at the 2016 Olympic Games through the World Championships and the FINA World Cup series.
AthleteEventPreliminariesSemifinalsFinalPointsRankPointsRankPointsRankWoo Ha-ramMen's 3 m springboard364.1024Did not advanceMen's 10 m platform438.4511 Q453.8512 Q414.5511
Equestrian
South Korea entered one dressage rider into the Olympic equestrian competition by virtue of a top national finish from Asia and Oceania at the FEI qualification event in Perl, Germany.
Dressage AthleteHorseEventGrand PrixGrand Prix SpecialGrand Prix FreestyleOverallScoreRankScoreRankTechnicalArtisticScoreRankKim Dong-seonBukowskiIndividual68.65743Did not advance
Fencing
South Korean fencers have qualified a full squad each in the men's and women's team épée and women's team sabre by virtue of being the highest ranking team from Asia outside the world's top four in the FIE Olympic Team Rankings.
London 2012 Olympians Gu Bon-gil, Kim Jung-hwan, and Jeon Hee-sook, along with 2008 Olympic silver medalist Nam Hyun-hee, had secured their individual spots in the men's sabre and women's foil, respectively, by finishing among the top 14 fencers in the FIE Adjusted Official Rankings. They were joined by four-time Asian men's foil champion Heo Jun as one of the two highest-ranked fencers from Asia outside the world's top eight qualified teams. Other fencers also featured London 2012 sabre champion Kim Ji-yeon and bronze medalist Jung Jin-sun in men's épée.
The fencing team was officially named to the South Korean roster for the Games on June 22, 2016.
Men