South Korean sabre fecing team cheers after beating Romania to claim gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games. The victory brought the country its 100th Olympic gold medal. (Yonhap News)
South Korea claimed its 100th Olympic gold medal on Friday, as the men's sabre fencing team beat Romania for the country's ninth gold at the London Games.
The country's first Summer Olympics under its own flag was the 1948 London Olympics. It has since competed in 14 Summer Games before this year's Olympics and 15 Winter Games.
Freestyle wrestler Yang Jung-mo won South Korea's first gold medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. After boycotting the 1980 Games in Moscow, South Korea began to emerge as a consistent top-10 threat at the Summer Olympics, starting in Los Angeles in 1994.
It hosted the 1988 Olympics and ranked fourth in gold medals.
Its record for gold medals at a single Olympics is 13 from Beijing.
But having won nine gold medals in London with nine days of competition left, South Korea may set a new standard this year.
South Korea's first Winter Olympics gold came from the men's short track speed skating at the 1992 Albertville Olympics in France. South Korea has since added titles in speed skating and figure skating.
Archery and short track have brought home the most titles, with 19 apiece, followed by 11 from judo and 10 from wrestling.
South Korea is one of 16 nations with more than 100 gold medals from the Winter and Summer Olympics. (Yonhap News)
