South Korea at the 2004 Summer Olympics

South Korea competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, except the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of its support for the United States boycott. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1992. A total of 264 athletes, 145 men and 119 women, competed in 25 sports.

South Korea left Athens with a total of 30 medals (9 golds, 12 silver, and 9 bronze), finishing ninth in the overall medal standings. Four of these medals were awarded to the athletes in archery, badminton, and taekwondo (South Korea's traditional sport), and three each in judo, shooting, and table tennis. South Korea's team-based athletes proved successful in Athens as the women's handball team climbed the podium with a silver medal for the second time, following its major setback in Sydney from a fourth-place finish.

Among the nation's medalists were taekwondo jin Moon Dae-sung in the men's super heavyweight division, archer Park Sung-hyun in both women's individual and team event, artistic gymnasts Kim Dae-eun and Yang Tae-young in the men's individual all-around, and trap shooter Lee Bo-Na.

Both North Korea and South Korea marched together in the parade of nations during the opening and closing ceremonies under the 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.

Medalists

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Archery
Three South Korean archers qualified each for the men's and women's individual archery, and a spot each for both men's and women's teams.


 * Men


 * Women

Athletics
South 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
 * Track & road events


 * Field events


 * Women
 * Track & road events


 * Field events

Badminton

 * Men


 * Women


 * Mixed

Women's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * Classification match (11th–12th place)

Boxing
South Korea sent seven boxers to Athens. They returned with two bronze medals, putting them in a four-way tie for 12th place in the boxing medal count. Three lost their round of 32 bouts, while the other four all won in the round of 16 to advance to the quarterfinals. Two more fell there, with the remaining two losing in the semifinals to finish with bronze medals. The combined record of the Korean team was 9-7.

Track

 * Sprint


 * Keirin


 * Omnium

Fencing
Twelve South Korean fencers (six men and six women) qualified for the following categories:


 * Men


 * Women

Men's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * 5th–8th place match


 * 7th place match

Women's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * 5th–8th place match


 * 7th place match

Men's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * Quarterfinals

Artistic

 * Men
 * Team


 * Individual finals


 * Women

Men's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * Quarterfinals


 * Classification semifinal (5th–8th place)


 * 7th place match

Women's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * Quarterfinals


 * Semifinals


 * Gold medal final

Judo
Thirteen South Korean judoka (seven males and six females) qualified for the 2004 Summer Olympics.


 * Men


 * Women

Modern pentathlon
Two South Korean athletes qualified to compete in the modern pentathlon event through the Asian Championships.

Rowing
South Korean rowers qualified the following boats:


 * Men

Qualification Legend: FA=Final A (medal); FB=Final B (non-medal); FC=Final C (non-medal); FD=Final D (non-medal); FE=Final E (non-medal); FF=Final F (non-medal); SA/B=Semifinals A/B; SC/D=Semifinals C/D; SE/F=Semifinals E/F; R=Repechage
 * Women

Sailing
South Korean sailors have qualified one boat for each of the following events.


 * Men

M = Medal race; OCS = On course side of the starting line; DSQ = Disqualified; DNF = Did not finish; DNS= Did not start; RDG = Redress given
 * Open

Shooting
Sixteen South Korean shooters (seven men and nine women) qualified to compete in the following events:


 * Men


 * Women

Swimming
South Korean swimmers earned qualifying standards in the following events (up to a maximum of 2 swimmers in each event at the A-standard time, and 1 at the B-standard time): Nam Yoo-Sun became the first ever South Korean swimmer to reach an Olympic final in the women's 400 m individual medley, setting up a new South Korean record.


 * Men


 * Women

Synchronized swimming
Two South Korean synchronized swimmers qualified a spot in the women's duet.

Table tennis
Nine South Korean table tennis players qualified for the following events.


 * Men


 * Women

Taekwondo
Four South Korean taekwondo athletes qualified for the following events.

Tennis
South Korea nominated a male and a female tennis player to compete in the tournament.

Women's tournament

 * Roster


 * Group play


 * Quarterfinals

Weightlifting
Eight South Korean weightlifters qualified for the following events:


 * Men


 * Women

Wrestling
Key:
 * VT - Victory by Fall.
 * PP - Decision by Points - the loser with technical points.
 * PO - Decision by Points - the loser without technical points.


 * Men's freestyle


 * Men's Greco-Roman


 * Women's freestyle