[Olympics] Korean Boxing Dreams of Revival with First Medal in 12 Years
Following 'gender equality', men's weight classes increased from 8 to 7, women's weight classes increased from 5 to 6, only two players, Im Ae-ji and Oh Yeon-ji, competed in two consecutive competitions, challenging for the first medal in women's boxing.
Korean boxing aims to send up a small signal flare toward its revival at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
From Korea, flyweight Han Su-an (deceased in 1998) won a bronze medal at the 1948 London Olympics, becoming the first ever Olympic boxing medalist.
The golden age of Korean boxing was the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Kim Gwang-seon (flyweight) and Park Si-heon (light middleweight) won gold medals.
However, this was the first and last gold medal in Korean boxing history. 파워볼실시간
After that, it went downhill with two bronze medals at the 2004 Athens Olympics, one bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, and one silver medal at the 2012 London Olympics.
At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, not a single athlete made it through the regional preliminaries, and Ham Sang-myeong dramatically qualified as a wild card, but failed to win a medal.
At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, no male athletes participated, and only featherweight Im Ae-ji (25, Hwasun County Office) and lightweight Oh Yeon-ji (33, Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Council) earned qualifications in women's boxing.
Im Ae-ji and Oh Yeon-ji suffered defeat in the first round of the Tokyo Olympics.
The only Korean athletes who qualified for the Paris Olympics are Im Ae-ji and Oh Yeon-ji, just like in Tokyo.
Both Im Ae-ji and Oh Yeon-ji were able to earn their dream Olympic tickets after making it to the second round of world qualifiers.
If they can stand on the podium at the Paris Olympics, Korean boxing will win a medal for the first time in 12 years since Han Soon-chul won a silver medal in the lightweight division at the 2012 London Olympics.
She could also become Korea's first medalist in women's boxing, which was first adopted as an Olympic event at the London Games.
Lim Ae-ji, whose strength lies in her fast footwork, prepared for this Olympics while sweating bullets despite having difficulty maintaining her condition due to injuries to her left shoulder and leg.
Oh Yeon-ji, the 'strongest Korean female boxer' who has won the National Sports Festival 11 times in a row, is the gold medalist at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games.
Although she suffered a disappointing first-round elimination at the Tokyo Olympics, she is determined that this will be her last Olympics.
Kim Ho-sang, the head coach of the Korean boxing team, said, "If both Lim Ae-ji and Oh Yeon-ji show their skills in Paris like they did at the second World Preliminary Round in Thailand, they could very well win Olympic medals."
Coach Kim said, "Lim Ae-ji's strength lies in her steps, and Oh Yeon-ji's punches are powerful enough to spar with fighters in a higher weight class.
If both players just get their buttons right in their first match, they can go even higher."
The Paris Olympic boxing competition, which has a total of 13 gold medals, will be held from the 27th of this month to the 10th of August, local time.
The preliminary matches will be held at the North Paris Arena, while the semifinals and finals, where medals will be awarded, will be held at the Stade Roland Garros, famous for hosting the French Open tennis tournament.
The 2012 London Olympics included women for the first time, with three weight classes, and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics also had 10 weight classes for men and three weight classes for women.
The 2020 Tokyo Olympics adjusted the weight classes to eight for men and five for women, and the Paris Olympics reduced the men's weight class by one to seven, and increased the women's weight class to six.
The match time is three rounds of three minutes each for both men and women, and the full score for each round is 10 points.
If it goes to a decision, the winner is determined based on the scores given by the five judges.
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