2004 Athens Olympics: Kim Dong-Moon and Ha Tae-kwon Advance to Badminton Final

South Korea added two silver medals and one bronze medal in weightlifting and gymnastics.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics 69kg weightlifting class held at the Nikaia Olympic Weightlifting Hall on August 19, Lee Bae-young (Kyeongbuk Development Corp.) lifted a total of 342.5 kilograms (snatch at 152.5kg, clean and jerk at 190kg), but gave the gold to Zhang Guozheng (347.5 kilograms) of China.

Lee’s silver medal was the first Korean medal in weightlifting in 12 years since Jun Byung-kwan won the gold in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

A silver and a bronze was achieved in men’s gymnastics.

At the men’s individual all-around final held at the Olympic Indoor Hall, Kim Dae-eun (Korea National Sport University) scored a 57.811 and Yang Tae-young (Kyeongbuk Sports Council) a 57.774, earning a silver and bronze, following the gold medal winner Paul Hamm (USA, 57.823).

This is the first time in Olympic history for South Korea to earn a medal in the individual all-around event, counting both the men’s’ and women’s event.

At the men’s doubles semifinal match of the badminton tournament, Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon (Samsung Electro-mechanics) won over Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele from Indonesia by a set score of 2-0 (15-8, 15-2) and advanced to the finals, securing at least a silver medal.