Shooter Park Sea-kyun (right) and Lee Joo-hee (left) boasting gold and silver, respectively.
Korea took 13th place at the 13th Summer Paralympic Games in Beijing, winning 10 gold, eight silver and 13 bronze medals, the result of much passion and sweat no less than that of the regular Olympic Games.
China ranked first, scoring 87 gold medals, Britain 42 and the United States 36. The event went on for 11 days from Sept. 6 to 17.
Korea wrapped up its medal competition on Wednesday after the finalization of the T54 level, 42.2 kilometer wheelchair race. The Korean team had originally hoped for 13 golds.
The final result was three medals short. Nonetheless, it was made up for by a higher than expected ranking. Korea's goal was to make it to the top 14. The team also broke three world records.
“Our team successfully attained its goal by taking 13th place at the Paralympics,” Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said during the state meeting on Thursday (Sept. 18) morning. “Be thorough in preparing the welcome ceremony. It should be no less in volume than the sending off ceremony. Other related ministries should work harder from now on to provide an even better environment for these athletes to concentrate on training.”
Big boom in shooting, archery and boccia
Shooter Lee Ji-seok and his wife Park Kyung-sun
A total of four gold medals came in the field of shooting alone, proving to be the most fertile ground for medals at the latest global sporting event. Archery and boccia came next, netting two gold medals each. Athletics (track and field) and table tennis added one gold meal each.
Both Lee Ji-seok and Park Keon-woo each won not just one, but two gold medals, in shooting and Boccia respectively.
It didn't seem to go well in the shooting on Sept. 7, the first day, when Lee Joo-hee and Kim Im-yeon, the two candidates for gold medals settled for a bronze medal and 7th place respectively in the men and women's' R1-10m Air Rifle Standing.
Then came Moon Ae-kyung the next day, winning a silver medal in the Women's' 10m Air Rifle Standing and raising the team's morale. The real triumph came on Sept. 9, as Lee Yun-ri and Kim Im-yeon swept both gold and silver in the Women's' R8-50m Sport Rifle 3x20-SH1 Final. Lee Yun-ri, especially, delighted in breaking the world record.
Two more golds were added by Lee Ji-seok. He had his devoted wife Park Kyung-sun near him as assistant throughout the event. Park Sea-kyun and Lee Joo-hee won gold and silver respectively for the Mixed P4-50m Free Pistol SH1. The Korean rifle team therefore finished with four golds, three silver and two bronzes.
By contrast, archery, typically a gold mine for the Korean team, was limited to just two gold medals this time.
Boccia was the unexpected venue for gold. One gold medal was all Korea hoped for. Park Keon-woo, the youngest player of the team, went beyond that expectation to bag two golds, both in individual and group matches.
Hong Suk-man won two golds in the 100- and 200-meter wheelchair races back in the 2004 Paralympics in Athens, and showed off once again by winning gold for the 400-meter T53 race with a time of 47.67 seconds, setting a new world record.
Hong was in the spotlight once more by entering the 400-meter relay race and 800-meter individual race and bringing home two bronze medals.
Korea's final gold medal, just a day before the closing, came with a winning smash by Jeong Eun-chang in table tennis with China. The male table tennis team defeated rival China by 3-1 in the finals of the M4-5 wheelchair table tennis on Tuesday (Sept. 16). The three-member male team was formed together with Kim Byung-young and Choi Gyung-shik
Star players
Kim Ji-eun, mermaid of the Paralympic Games
Although small in scale, some players showed new potential to emerge as sports stars back home, despite their disabilities.
Kim Ji-eun, the Korean representative for the Paralympic Games in swimming, failed to win a medal this time. That didn't prevent her from winning the hearts of the audience with her good looks and speaking manner.
It was Min Byeong-eon who was viewed as a perfect candidate for gold. He ended up with silver in the 50m S3 race, despite having broken two world records before. Like Park Tae-hwan he, too, was nicknamed “marine boy.”
Park Keon-woo, winner of two gold medals in boccia, has a severe form of cerebral palsy and also attracted much attention for his bright attitude despite his disability.
Gold medalist shooter Lee Ji-seok, for his part, even received an offer from a TV station to make a documentary film out of his love story with his wife Park Kyung-sun, who stood by him throughout the highs and lows. Lee reportedly presented the medal to his wife after receiving it.
Some star athletes are to bid farewell to competitive sport after the Beijing Games.
Korea's winning weightlifter Jung Keum-chong, who won bronze in the 56-kilogram class, received medals for his seventh straight Olympics. He wrapped up his three decade-long sporting career together with Park Jong-chul, his other sports colleague, and kissed goodbye to the barbell.
Korea dispatched a total of 77 athletes to the latest Paralympic Games. The next games take place in London in 2012.
By Kim Hee-sung
Korea.net Staff Writer