South Korea set out to win 40 to 45 golds at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and to close the gap on Japan. It managed neither. The Games ended on Sunday 4 October with Korea on 39 golds, a third consecutive third-place finish behind China and Japan, and its lowest gold haul since the 28 of 1982. India, in fourth, had 21.
Where the golds went missing
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) had expected Japan to benefit from home advantage, but hoped to trim a deficit that stood at 52-42 in 2023 and 75-49 in 2018. Japan pulled away early instead. Swimming gave Korea a single gold in the first week, against six in 2023.
Archery brought three, one compound and two recurve, the fewest since compound debuted at the Games in 2014. For the first time since the sport joined in 1978, Korea also failed to win a women’s archery gold. Shooting yielded three of the five golds Korea had targeted. Taekwondo produced three, only one of them in kyorugi sparring. Table tennis and wrestling gave nothing.
Judo looked like a chance. Japan sent its top athletes to the overlapping world championships, yet Korea settled for one gold, from Huh Mimi, as other hopefuls lost to athletes from China, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
What went right
Basketball did the most to soften the blow. Korea took both the men’s and women’s titles, the first sweep in 12 years, and added the men’s 3×3 gold. Baseball, men’s football and women’s handball also delivered golds. Fencing brought four golds and ten medals in all, after six golds at each of the previous two editions.
The KSOC’s reading
KSOC president Ryu Seung-min spoke to Korean media in Nagoya after the closing ceremony. “It is no longer just China and Japan; teams from Central and Southeast Asia are improving rapidly,” he said. He admitted Korea fell short in some sports and called the Games a useful check on where the team stands with the Los Angeles Olympics two years away. The KSOC will analyse the results in detail, he said, including training systems and sports science, and will listen more closely to athletes and coaches.
