With the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games about a month away, Korean athletes and sports officials said Tuesday they are determined to carry on a strong Olympic tradition.
The countdown to the first Olympics in South America will reach 30 days Wednesday, and the pre-Olympic media day at the National Training Center in Seoul on Tuesday provided an opportunity for the delegation leaders and medal hopefuls to discuss their goals.
Kim Jung-haeng, co-president of the Korean Olympic Committee, said Korea will do its best to post its fourth consecutive top-10 finish in the Summer Olympics medal race, despite challenges ahead.
"I am certain that our athletes' dedication and hard work will bear fruit next month," he said. "They will have to overcome the 12-hour time difference and the flight of more than 20 hours. With political and social unrest, we foresee more difficulties this year than at any of the previous Olympics."
Korea has set its sight on winning at least 10 gold medals, but will have to do so with perhaps its smallest Summer Olympics delegation in three decades.
As of Tuesday, 194 Korean athletes in 21 out of 28 sports have secured Olympic berths. Korea will not be represented in basketball, tennis, rugby sevens and triathlon. The teams for golf and swimming haven't been finalized. Two boxers are still trying to qualify.
When it's all said and done, there could be about 210 athletes, the smallest delegation since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. There were 245 athletes at the 2012 London Olympics.
Chung Mong-gyu, the head of the Korean delegation, said he feels "a strong sense of responsibility" to help the athletes perform to the best of their abilities.
"For our athletes, taking part in the Olympics is a great honor but it also puts a lot of pressure on them," Chung said. "As the head of the delegation, I will serve as their caretaker and spare no effort to make sure they will leave the Olympics with no regrets."
Chung, also the president of the Korea Football Association, said the athletes, more than anything else, will need the people's support and interest.
"Our athletes are pushing their limits every day," Chung added. "And I believe they will be able to feed off fan support." One of the athletes counted on for gold is archer Ki Bo-bae.
She was the double gold medalist in London, winning both the women's individual and team gold medals, and she will try to become the first female archer to win back-to-back Olympic individual gold.
"(Defending the Olympic gold) has been mentioned so much in the media, but I can't afford to get caught up in that talk," she said.
"I think my two teammates (Choi Mi-sun and Chang Hye-jin) also have a great shot at winning the individual gold, because they're so talented and they survived the tough national team trials."
An Chang-rim, the world's No. 1-ranked judoka in the men's 73kg, will be competing with a chip on his shoulder. The 22-year-old, born to second-generation Japanese-Korean parents in Kyoto, rejected an offer to join the Japanese national team in 2013 because of discrimination, and will be trying to fend off Japanese rivals on his way to the podium.
"I came here from Japan to win an Olympic gold," he said. "I will consider this my last Olympics and do the best I can."
The national team launching ceremony is scheduled for July 19, and the first batch of the delegation will depart for Rio on a chartered flight on July 27. (Yonhap)