Judo has been one of South Korea's most consistent source of Olympic medals, and the judokas will try to keep the tradition alive in Rio de Janeiro starting this weekend.
The judo competition will begin Saturday, the first day of action after the opening ceremony. Kim Won-jin in the men's -60kg and Jeong Bo-kyeong in the women's -48kg will be in action.
South Korea has grabbed 11 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze medals in Olympic judo, third all-time in both gold and total tallies behind Japan and France. South Korea picked up two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
This time, the country is expected to surpass that total, and could even do so in the men's competition alone. South Korea boasts world No. 1s in four of the seven weight classes: Kim Won-jin in -60kg, An Ba-ul in -66kg, An Chang-rim in -73kg and Gwak Dong-han in -90kg.
Japan has long been the judo powerhouse, with an Olympic-leading 34 gold medals, and the South Korean men will likely have to beat their Japanese rivals on their way to the podium.
Kim will be on a collision course with Naohisa Takato in the semis. Kim hasn't beaten Takato in four meetings.
Should Kim get past him, he will likely take on Orkhan Safarov of Azerbaijan, whom he has defeated in both of their meetings.
An Ba-ul may run into Masashi Ebinuma in the semis. The Japanese is 2-0 against the South Korean.
An Chang-rim's long-time nemesis, Shohei Ono, could be his semifinals opponent. An has lost his last four meetings against Ono.
Kim Jan-di is No. 2 in the women's -57kg and is South Korea's best bet for a medal on the women's side.
She will attempt to become just the second South Korean female to win an Olympic judo gold, after Cho Min-sun at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Her final opponent could be either world No. 1 Sumiya Dorjsuren or No. 3 Tsukasa Yoshida.
By Yonhap News
The judo competition will begin Saturday, the first day of action after the opening ceremony. Kim Won-jin in the men's -60kg and Jeong Bo-kyeong in the women's -48kg will be in action.
South Korea has grabbed 11 gold, 14 silver and 15 bronze medals in Olympic judo, third all-time in both gold and total tallies behind Japan and France. South Korea picked up two gold medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
This time, the country is expected to surpass that total, and could even do so in the men's competition alone. South Korea boasts world No. 1s in four of the seven weight classes: Kim Won-jin in -60kg, An Ba-ul in -66kg, An Chang-rim in -73kg and Gwak Dong-han in -90kg.
Japan has long been the judo powerhouse, with an Olympic-leading 34 gold medals, and the South Korean men will likely have to beat their Japanese rivals on their way to the podium.
Kim will be on a collision course with Naohisa Takato in the semis. Kim hasn't beaten Takato in four meetings.
Should Kim get past him, he will likely take on Orkhan Safarov of Azerbaijan, whom he has defeated in both of their meetings.
An Ba-ul may run into Masashi Ebinuma in the semis. The Japanese is 2-0 against the South Korean.
An Chang-rim's long-time nemesis, Shohei Ono, could be his semifinals opponent. An has lost his last four meetings against Ono.
Kim Jan-di is No. 2 in the women's -57kg and is South Korea's best bet for a medal on the women's side.
She will attempt to become just the second South Korean female to win an Olympic judo gold, after Cho Min-sun at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
Her final opponent could be either world No. 1 Sumiya Dorjsuren or No. 3 Tsukasa Yoshida.
South Korean judokas Lee Seung-su (L) and An Chang-rim smile as they talk at Santos Dumont Airport in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 3, 2016. (Yonhap)
By Yonhap News
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