London Olympics 2012 - South Korea aims 10 gold medals at London Olympics

London Olympics 2012 - South Korea aims 10 gold medals at London Olympics

South Korea aims to capture more than 10 gold medals for a top-10 finish in the London Olympics, with hopes running high after the country's superlative performance at the last 2008 Beijing Games.

South Korea collected 13 golds in Beijing four years ago for a total of 31 medals and finished seventh in the medals table.

Around 250 South Korean athletes are expected to compete in the London Olympics July 27-Aug 12, Xinhua reported.

Among the athletes eagerly waiting for their chance to shine at the world's biggest sporting event, weightlifting champion Jang Mi-ran and swimming star Park Tae-hwan will seek to defend their 2008 gold medals.

Jang, the 28-year-old female lifter, won the gold medal in the over-75 kg division with a new world record by lifting 140 kg in the snatch and 186 kg in the clean and jerk.

However, Jang had to watch her world records broken by fierce contenders while she was battling with injuries and struggling to remain in form after the Beijing Olympics. Russia's Tatiana Kashirina now holds the world record in the snatch at 148 kg, while China's Zhou Lulu has the world mark in combined total at 328 kg.

Jang raised expectations for another Olympic gold medal in London after she became the first athlete to win the national championships nine times in a row last year.

Park Tae-hwan became a national sensation after he won the country's first ever Olympic swimming gold in the men's 400-metre freestyle final in Beijing.

However, Park failed to reach any stages of the finals at the World Championships in 2009. Brushing off worries, Park bounced back to win three gold medals at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. In 2011, he successfully retained his 400m freestyle title at the Shanghai Worlds.

Park will compete in the 200m and 400m freestyle in London.

Japan aims for top five finish at London Olympics

Japan is aiming for a top five finish at the London Olympics 2012 with its athletes fired up in an effort to rewrite the country's history in the Games.

Securing a place in the top five means Japan will have to win at least 15 gold medals.

Last time in Beijing, Japan only got nine gold medals and finished eighth. Japan's Olympic Committee this time have geared up for its new target and prepared a lot, including widening the athletes' age range.

Japan's two-time double Olympic champion, 29-year-old Kosuke Kitajima, earlier this month secured his fourth appearance in the Games, winning his qualifying race at the national swimming championships in Tokyo.

Kitajima said he gained more confidence as he improved his personal best record, but "it's not enough to compete against the top swimmers in the world, I'll do my best to improve further", he was quoted as saying by Xinhua.

Japan men's marathon team has also been finalized and will be made up of Arata Fujiwara, Ryo Yamamota and Kentaro Nakamoto.

The British Olympic Association (BOA) earlier announced its latest medals prediction for this summer's London Olympics, saying Japan will rank eighth with 11 gold medals.

The ranking, which is different than Japanese Olympic Committee's own target, was made based on results in Olympic sports, world championships and other major competitions in 2011.

The prediction said Japan will win gold medals in men's hammer throw, gymnastics, judo and wrestling.

Also, Japan women's football team, which just won the Women's World Cup in 2011 for the first time, was a potential gold medal winner.

Searching tag:-
London Olympics 2012, South Korea gold medals list in London Olympics,
Japan gold medals list in London Olympics, top winner list of London Olympics 2012, top 10 winner list 2012 in London Olympics, london olympics 2012 schedule, london olympics 2012 schedule, london olympics 2012 tickets register, South Korea Olympics world records, Japan Olympics world records, top ten winner list with name in london olympics 2012, london olympics 2012 stadium, london olympics logo, winner list of london olympics 2012, london olympics hockey qualifiers, world olympics 2012 london, London Olympics 2012 video

Read More

Lee Dae ho - South Korean Baseball Player set Home Run Guinness World Record

His grandmother, uncles, friend Choo Shin-soo, coach Shin Jong-se, coach Woo Yong-deok and his wife Shin Hye-jeong.

These are the people who made Lotte Giants third baseman Lee Dae-ho, who at the age of 29 set a new world record by hitting a home run during his ninth consecutive game. If Lee Seung-yup, who successfully made the transition from pitcher to hitter, grew up in a relatively well-off environment, Lee’s dark past growing up in an underprivileged environment makes his day shine even more.　

Lee’s family difficulties began at age 3. His father died, and when his mother remarried, he and his elder brother had to live with his grandmother, who sold vegetables and doenjang, soybean paste, in the Suyeongpaldo Market in Busan. His three uncles, understanding the difficulties faced by Lee, brought him to the baseball stadium, providing the setting for his baseball dreams. In third grade at Suyeong Elementary School, his friend suggested they both play baseball together when Lee hesitated to join the school baseball team due to his difficult family situation. That friend was Choo Shin-soo, who currently plays for the Cleveland Indians of the US Major League.

Shin Jong-se, currently the coach for Busan Technical High School, scouted Lee to Daedong

Middle School. The young Lee stayed at Shin’s home for two years and six months. A hitter through middle school, he became a pitcher when he entered Kyungnam High School. He won the Blue Dragon Flag National High School Baseball Championship in 1998, and together with Kim Tae-gyun and Choo Shin-soo helped South Korea win the World Youth Baseball Championship in Canada in 2000. In his second year of high school, however, his grandmother passed away, forcing him to take on greater responsibilities.

In 2001, he received a 210 million Won ($175,278) signing bonus in joining the Lotte Giants, but more setbacks awaited him. He threw so many pitches like other high school aces that he injured his shoulder. To transform himself into a slugger, he worked out intensely to drop weight off his over-100kg physique, and ruptured the ligament in his right knee. In 2002, he underwent surgery. Lee was unable to move comfortably, and he put on more weight, reaching his current 130kg frame. Last year, he married his girlfriend Shin Hye-jeong, who took care of him during that time.
The man who turned him into a slugger was former Lotte Giants coach Woo Yong-deok, who turned Lee Seung-yup into a slugger at Samsung. Former Lotte coach Yang Sang-moon, who put Lee, who used to be called the slightly humiliating nickname of “future home run king,” in the cleanup spot, also placed a part in making him who he is today.

“You have to play baseball all year. Even in winter, you must play. If you just play during the summer, it is not enough.” This is what Lee, who was reborn as South Korea’s top hitter in 2006 when he won the Triple Crown with a .336 average, 26 homers and 88 RBIs (and a slugging percentage of .571), said when asked during batting practice whether it was tough physically. Perhaps because he has overcome so much, he is always full of energy. Due to his unreserved manner of speaking, he has earned the nickname “mouth of fear.” One can see his intense concentration in the fact that of his nine homes, three were on his last at-bat. During every off-season, he helps the needy with coal deliveries, thinking of memories of his grandmother.

Read More