Archery's Lee Woo-seok becomes South Korea's 5th double gold medalist… Gold medals added in golf and sailing as well

Hwang Sujin Reporter

hwang075609@gmail.com | 2026-10-03 18:42:54


The South Korean athletic delegation added three gold medals on what was effectively the final day of the medal race at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.

Lee Woo-seok (Kolon) captured the gold medal by defeating Junya Nakanishi (Japan) with a set score of 6-2 (29-26, 27-27, 29-29, 29-27) in the final of the men's individual recurve archery event, which concluded on the 3rd at the multipurpose plaza of the Okazaki Chuo Sogo Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.

Having teamed up with Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall) and Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office) to win gold in the team event the day before, Lee thus became the South Korean delegation's 5th double gold medalist, following canoeists Cho Gwang-hee and Kim Hyo-bin, fencer Oh Sang-uk, and shooter Lee Geon-hyuk.

Earlier in the women's individual recurve archery event, Oh Ye-jin (Gwangju Bank) won a silver medal after losing a single-shot shoot-off duel to an Indian opponent.

This marks the first time in history that South Korean archery has failed to secure a single gold medal at an Asian Games.

Including Kim Jong-ho's (Hyundai Steel) gold medal in the men's individual compound event, South Korean archery concluded this tournament with 3 gold medals, 3 silver medals, and 3 bronze medals.

Choi Ji-woon, a 15-year-old sailing athlete, delivered a surprise gold medal after finishing with a total of 25 points through 12 races in the youth division dinghy event.

This is the first time in 12 years—since Park Sung-bin in the under-16 (U-16) Optimist event at the 2014 Incheon Games—that South Korean sailing has captured a gold medal in a youth division event at the Asian Games.

Rising as a "next-generation ace" of South Korean sailing despite being a third-year middle school student, Choi tied with Ian Koh (Singapore) at 25 points. According to the tiebreaker rule—which compares the best finishes in descending order when scores are tied—Choi claimed the gold medal thanks to a greater number of higher-ranking finishes.

Kim Joo-hyung, who competes on the PGA Tour, shot 6-under-par 64 with 1 eagle, 5 birdies, and 1 bogey in the final round of the men's individual golf event, which ended at the East Course (par 70) of the Kasugai Country Club in Aichi Prefecture, claiming victory with a final total of 18-under-par 262.

By winning the men's individual golf title 16 years after Kim Min-hwi at the 2010 Guangzhou Games, Kim Joo-hyung—as a South Korean athlete—will now be able to comfortably continue his PGA Tour career, having earned military service exemptions.

Along with Kim Joo-hyung, Moon Do-yeop and Kim Seong-hyeon added a silver medal in the team event behind China.

For the team event, rankings are determined by combining the scores of the two best-performing players from each country in every round.

Kim Yu-jin, a strong favorite in taekwondo kyorugi and the 2024 Paris Olympic champion (Ulsan Metropolitan City Council), suffered a shocking defeat in the quarterfinals of the women's 57kg division.

Moon Jin-ho (Korea National Sport University) in the men's 68kg division and Kang Sang-hyun (Ulsan Metropolitan City Council) in the men's over-80kg division each added bronze medals for South Korea.

As of 5 p.m., South Korea remained in 3rd place with 36 gold medals, trailing far behind China (165 golds) and Japan (76 golds).

These Asian Games, held in Japan for the first time in 32 years, will draw to a close with the closing ceremony at 6 p.m. on the 4th.

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