North Korea at the 2016 Summer Olympics

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North Korea at the
2016 Summer Olympics
Flag of North Korea.svg
IOC codePRK
NOCOlympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors31 in 9 sports
Flag bearers Choe Jon-wi[1] (opening)
Yun Won-chol (closing)
Medals
Ranked 34th
Gold
2
Silver
3
Bronze
2
Total
7
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
North Korean representatives at the Rio 2016 Olympic Village

North Korea, officially the Democratic People's 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 tenth appearance at the Summer Olympics.

The Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 2000. A total of 31 athletes, 11 men and 20 women, were selected for the North Korean team across nine different sports, marking the fourth straight Games to feature more female athletes than male.[2][3] North Korea did not register any of its entrants in boxing for the first time since 1972, but was represented in artistic gymnastics for the first time in eight years, after missing out of London 2012 due to a two-year suspension for age falsification.

Notable athletes on the North Korean roster included weightlifting champions Om Yun-chol (men's 56 kg) and Rim Jong-sim (women's 75 kg), twins Kim Hye-gyong and Kim Hye-song in the women's marathon, pistol shooter and three-time Olympian Kim Jong-su, and former gymnastics champion Hong Un-jong in the women's vault. Weightlifting rookie Choe Jon-wi was selected by the committee to lead the North Korean delegation as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1][2]

North Korea left Rio de Janeiro with a total of seven medals (2 golds, 3 silver, and 2 bronze), signifying its most successful Olympic outcome based on the overall medal count, but falling short of the 12-medal target set by its sports commission.[4] Half of North Korea's medal haul was distributed to the weightlifters, while the rest to the competitors in artistic gymnastics, shooting, and table tennis. Among the medalists were Rim Jong-sim, who repeated her golden feat from London four years earlier in a heavier category, and double world champion Ri Se-gwang, who obtained the nation's first ever gymnastics title by a male after 24 years.[5][6]

Medalists[]

Medal Name Sport Event Date
 Gold Rim Jong-sim Weightlifting Women's 75 kg 12 August
 Gold Ri Se-gwang Gymnastics Men's vault 15 August
 Silver Om Yun-chol Weightlifting Men's 56 kg 7 August
 Silver Choe Hyo-sim Weightlifting Women's 63 kg 9 August
 Silver Kim Kuk-hyang Weightlifting Women's +75 kg 14 August
 Bronze Kim Song-guk Shooting Men's 50 m pistol 10 August
 Bronze Kim Song-i Table tennis Women's singles 10 August

Archery[]

Main articles: Archery at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Archery at the 2016 Summer Olympics �� Qualification

One North Korean archer qualified for the women's individual recurve by obtaining one of the three Olympic places available from the 2015 Asian Archery Championships in Bangkok, Thailand.[7]

Athlete Event Ranking round Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Score Seed Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Opposition
Score 		Rank
Kang Un-ju Women's individual 643 15  Nikitin (BRA)
W 6–0 		 Bjerendal (SWE)
W 6–2 		 Chang H-j (KOR)
L 2–6 		Did not advance

Athletics (track and field)[]

Main articles: Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korean athletes have so far achieved qualifying standards in the following athletics events (up to a maximum of three athletes in each event):[8][9]

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
Track & road events
Athlete Event Final
Result Rank
Pak Chol Men's marathon 2:15:27 27
Kim Hye-gyong Women's marathon 2:28:36 11
Kim Hye-song 2:28:36 10
Kim Kum-ok 2:38:24 49

Diving[]

Main articles: Diving at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Diving at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korean divers qualified for the following individual spots and synchronized teams at the 2016 Olympic Games by having achieved a top three finish from the 2015 World Championships.[10]

Athlete Event Preliminaries Semifinals Final
Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank
Kim Kuk-hyang Women's 10 m platform 263.20 25 Did not advance
Kim Un-hyang 289.45 18 Q 343.70 5 Q 357.90 7
Kim Kuk-hyang
Kim Mi-rae 		Women's 10 m synchronized platform N/A 322.44 4

Gymnastics[]

Main articles: Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Gymnastics at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification
North Koreans observed women's artistic gymnastics training in Rio.

Artistic[]

North Korea has qualified one male and one female artistic gymnast each for of the following apparatus and all-around events through the 2015 World Championships.[11][12]

Men
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank
F PH R V PB HB F PH R V PB HB
Ri Se-gwang Vault N/A 15.433 N/A 15.433 1 Q N/A 15.691 N/A 15.691 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Women
Athlete Event Qualification Final
Apparatus Total Rank Apparatus Total Rank
V UB BB F V UB BB F
Hong Un-jong Vault 15.683 N/A 15.683 2 Q 14.900 N/A 14.900 6
Floor N/A 12.533 12.533 71 Did not advance

Judo[]

Main articles: Judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Judo at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korea has qualified three judokas for each of the following weight classes at the Games. Hong Kuk-hyon and Kyong Sol were ranked among the top 22 eligible judokas for men and top 14 for women in the IJF World Ranking List of 30 May 2016, while Kim Sol-mi at women's extra-lightweight (48 kg) earned a continental quota spot from the Asian region as the highest-ranked North Korean judoka outside of direct qualifying position.[13]

Athlete Event Round of 64 Round of 32 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Repechage Final / BM
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Hong Kuk-hyon Men's −73 kg  Duprat (FRA)
L 000–100 		Did not advance
Kim Sol-mi Women's −48 kg N/A  Dolgova (RUS)
L 000–001 		Did not advance
Sol Kyong Women's −78 kg N/A Bye  Tcheuméo (FRA)
L 000–100 		Did not advance

Shooting[]

Main articles: Shooting at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Shooting at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korean shooters have achieved quota places for the following events by virtue of their best finishes at the 2014 and 2015 ISSF World Championships, the 2015 ISSF World Cup series, and Asian Championships, as long as they obtained a minimum qualifying score (MQS) as of March 31, 2016.[14]

Athlete Event Qualification Semifinal Final
Points Rank Points Rank Points Rank
Kim Jong-su Men's 10 m air pistol 575 27 N/A Did not advance
Men's 50 m pistol 548 24 N/A Did not advance
Kim Song-guk Men's 10 m air pistol 577 17 N/A Did not advance
Men's 50 m pistol 557 5 Q N/A 172.8 3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Jo Yong-suk Women's 10 m air pistol 381 12 N/A Did not advance
Women's 25 m pistol 582 6 Q 12 7 Did not advance
Pak Yong-hui Women's trap 65 12 Did not advance

Qualification Legend: Q = Qualify for the next round; q = Qualify for the bronze medal (shotgun)

Table tennis[]

Main articles: Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Table tennis at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korea has fielded a team of three athletes into the table tennis competition at the Games. Kim Song I and 2012 Olympian Ri Myong-sun scored a second-stage draw victory each to book two of six remaining Olympic spots in the women's singles at the Asian Qualification Tournament in Hong Kong.[15]

Ri Mi-gyong was awarded the third spot to build the women's team for the Games by virtue of a top 10 national finish in the ITTF Olympic Rankings.[16]

Athlete Event Preliminary Round 1 Round 2 Round 3 Round of 16 Quarterfinals Semifinals Final / BM
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Kim Song-i Women's singles Bye  Grzybowska (POL)
W 4–0 		 Ishikawa (JPN)
W 4–3 		 Chen S-y (TPE)
W 4–2 		 Yu My (SIN)
W 4–2 		 Ding N (CHN)
L 1–4 		 Fukuhara (JPN)
W 4–1 		3rd place, bronze medalist(s)
Ri Myong-sun Bye  Lovas (HUN)
W 4–1 		 Solja (GER)
W 4–0 		 Fukuhara (JPN)
L 0–4 		Did not advance
Kim Song-i
Ri Mi-gyong
Ri Myong-sun 		Women's team N/A  Australia (AUS)
W 3–0 		 China (CHN)
L 0–3 		Did not advance

Weightlifting[]

Main articles: Weightlifting at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Weightlifting at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korean weightlifters have qualified a maximum of six men's and four women's quota places for the Rio Olympics based on their combined team standing by points at the 2014 and 2015 IWF World Championships. The team must allocate these places to individual athletes by 20 June 2016.

On 22 June 2016, the International Weightlifting Federation decided to strip one men's and one women's entry place each from North Korea to the Olympics because of "multiple positive cases" of doping throughout the qualifying period.[17][18]

Men
Athlete Event Snatch Clean & Jerk Total Rank
Result Rank Result Rank
Om Yun-chol −56 kg 134 2 169 2 303 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Kim Myong-hyok −69 kg 157 3 196 DNF 157 DNF
Kwon Yong-gwang 137 16 176 11 313 14
Choe Jon-wi −77 kg 153 8 190 8 343 8
Women
Athlete Event Snatch Clean & Jerk Total Rank
Result Rank Result Rank
Choe Hyo-sim −63 kg 105 3 143 2 248 2nd place, silver medalist(s)
Rim Jong-sim −75 kg 121 1 153 1 274 1st place, gold medalist(s)
Kim Kuk-hyang +75 kg 131 1 175 2 306 2nd place, silver medalist(s)

Wrestling[]

Main articles: Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics and Wrestling at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Qualification

North Korea has qualified a total of four wrestlers for each of the following weight classes into the Olympic competition. Three of them finished among the top six to book an Olympic spot each in the men's freestyle 57 kg, men's Greco-Roman 59 kg, and women's freestyle 53 kg at the 2015 World Championships, while the other had claimed the remaining Olympic slot to round out the North Korean roster at the initial meet of the World Qualification Tournament in Ulaanbaatar.[19]

Key:

  • VT – Victory by Fall.
  • PP – Decision by Points – the loser with technical points.
  • PO – Decision by Points – the loser without technical points.
  • ST – Technical superiority – the loser without technical points and a margin of victory of at least 8 (Greco-Roman) or 10 (freestyle) points.
Men's freestyle
Athlete Event Qualification Round of 16 Quarterfinal Semifinal Repechage 1 Repechage 2 Final / BM
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Yang Kyong-il −57 kg  Higuchi (JPN)
L 1–4 SP 		Did not advance  Lachinau (BLR)
W 3–1 PP 		 Bonne (CUB)
L 1–4 SP 		Did not advance 8
Men's Greco-Roman
Athlete Event Qualification Round of 16 Quarterfinal Semifinal Repechage 1 Repechage 2 Final / BM
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Yun Won-chol −59 kg Bye  Mahmoud (EGY)
W 3–1 PP 		 Tasmuradov (UZB)
L 0–4 ST 		Did not advance 10
Women's freestyle
Athlete Event Qualification Round of 16 Quarterfinal Semifinal Repechage 1 Repechage 2 Final / BM
Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Opposition
Result 		Rank
Kim Hyon-gyong −48 kg  Dadasheva (RUS)
L 1–3 PP 		Did not advance 13
Jong Myong-suk −53 kg  Gallays (CAN)
W 4–0 ST 		 Gün (TUR)
W 4–0 ST 		 Maroulis (USA)
L 1–3 PP 		Did not advance Bye  Zhong Xc (CHN)
L 1–3 PP 		Did not advance 7

References[]

  1. ^ a b "The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
  2. ^ a b "N. Korea makes restrained entrance at Rio Games". The Korea Times. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  3. ^ Taylor, Adam (10 August 2016). "The Olympics are tough for all athletes. For North Koreans, they're worse". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  4. ^ Taylor, Julian (23 August 2016). "North Korean athletes fall short of Kim Jong-un's medal target in Rio Olympics". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Weightlifter Rim Jong-sim wins N. Korea's 1st gold in Rio". Yonhap News Agency. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Rio 2016 Olympics: North Korea's Ri Se-gwang wins men's vault title". EuroSport. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  7. ^ "First Rio 2016 continental qualifier adds 5 more nations from Asia". World Archery Federation. 8 November 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015.
  8. ^ "iaaf.org – Top Lists". IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  9. ^ "IAAF Games of the XXX Olympiad – Rio 2016 Entry Standards" (PDF). IAAF. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
  10. ^ "Rio 2016: Diving – Participating Athletes". FINA. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  11. ^ "Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers in Men's Artistic Gymnastics: See the updated list!". FIG. 16 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  12. ^ "Rio 2016 Olympic qualifiers in Women's Artistic Gymnastics: See the updated list!". FIG. 17 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  13. ^ "IJF Officially Announces Qualified Athletes for Rio 2016 Olympic Games". International Judo Federation. 23 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 August 2016. Retrieved 24 June 2016.
  14. ^ "Quota Places by Nation and Number". www.issf-sports.org/. ISSF. 30 May 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  15. ^ Marshall, Ian (16 April 2016). "Strong Opposition Ended Earlier Hopes, Later DPR Korea and Thailand Enjoy Success". ITTF. Archived from the original on 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
  16. ^ "Team Quota Places for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games" (PDF). ITTF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  17. ^ "Strong statement by the IWF Executive Board". International Weightlifting Federation. 22 June 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
  18. ^ "Rio 2016 Weightlifting – List of Athletes by Bodyweight Category" (PDF). International Weightlifting Federation. Retrieved 21 July 2016.
  19. ^ "Wrestling for Rio 2016". United World Wrestling. Archived from the original on 1 December 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2015.

External links[]

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