By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

The 17-day festival has finally come to an end, and as is usually the case, the Athens Olympics have left us with another memorable bunch of moments we will be busy talking about for quite a while.

At the quadrennial sports competition full of drama and sometimes scandal-laden disputes, South Korea won a total of nine gold medals, 12 silvers, and nine bronzes, which put the country in ninth place in the medal standings.

Though less than the 13 golds the delegation originally aimed for, it was a result good enough to resume a top-10 status after South Korea placed 12th at the Sydney Olympics in 2000. The delegation also earned the most medals, 30 in total, since it had 33 when it hosted the Games in 1988 in Seoul.

Broadening the competitiveness in events resulted in the rich harvest for South Korea at the Athens Olympics. South Korea won golds in six different fields compared to Sydney where it won eight golds in just the four sports of archery, wrestling, fencing and taekwondo.

Another point that should not be missed is the cooperative steps taken between the two Koreas. By once again holding joint marches at the opening and closing ceremonies following the Sydney Games in 2000, the rival Koreas have paved the way for an improved dimension of cooperation, including a positive chance of forming a joint team for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.

However, what is really of significance comes from the non-gold medals earned from previously unexplored fields, raising high hopes for the next Summer Games. Shooting led the way with Lee Bo-na winning one silver and one bronze in women’s trap shooting and Jin Jong-oh in men’s air pistol, none of which South Korea has ever won a single medal before.

Weightlifters Lee Bae-young and Jang Mi-ran broke a 12-year medalless record with two silvers. After Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon snatched a gold in men’s badminton doubles in an all-Korean final, Ryu Seung-min in table tennis men’s singles brought the delegation a precious gold over dominant China.

The women’s archery squad extended their gold sweeps to six Olympics and defined themselves as ``invincible,’’ earning Park Sung-hyun duel gold medals. The badminton mixed pairing of Kim Dong-moon and Ra kyung-min with the same credit, however, had to meet a shocking elimination in the quarterfinals to a Danish duo.

In taekwondo, athletes struggled more than expected but all earned medals to two golds and two bronzes overall and save face.

Nam Yoo-sun made one of the biggest breakthroughs in the country’s sports history, marking the first ever swimmer to reach the final in the women’s 400-meters individual medley and placed seventh. In other fields, however, it proved that South Korea still has a long way to go before its athletes can compete in the main sports of athletics and swimming.

To some veteran players the event was also their last stage and some ended on a high note while other didn’t.

Badminton player Ra got to finish her career without an Olympic gold in the end while marathoner Lee Bong-ju didn’t make his way onto the podium at the last Olympics for the 34-year-old. But some of the women’s handball team members, in their 30s and with children, displayed one of the best matches of the whole Olympic Games in the final with Denmark, moving innumerable fans here.

Shin Bak-je, manager of the South Korean Olympic team, said he is happy with the outcome, calling it a ``half success,’’ at a press conference held Monday. ``It is a very inspiring result in that we saw a positive sign of superiority in sports,’’ Shin said.

``For the better, we need to benchmark the cases of our neighbors. For example, Japan made distinguished results in fields like athletics and swimming. I heard it concentrated on improving those basic sports over the last several years and that’s what we need to do, too,’’ he said. ``Also I will make a proposal on building more club teams of so-called `unpopular sports’ to our government after I’m return home.’’

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr