The South Korean taekwondo team secured its first gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, reaffirming its status as the leading nation in the sport.
On October 3, at the Toyohashi General Sports Center in Aichi Prefecture, Song Da-bin (Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Council) triumphed in the women's +67kg final, delivering the first gold medal for the South Korean taekwondo sparring team at this event.
Earlier, in the semifinals, Song easily defeated Iran's Fatemeh Ahmadi with a round score of 2-0 to advance to the final, where she showcased bold attacks and solid defense to win against China's Mu Wenzhe 2-1.
This marks the first time South Korea has won a gold medal in this weight class since Lee Da-bin at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, continuing a streak of medal wins in this category with Lee's gold in 2018 and a silver at the 2023 Hangzhou Games.
With Song's victory, South Korea has now won gold medals in all ten Asian Games where taekwondo has been an official event since its introduction in the 1986 Seoul Games.
In the men's -68kg category, Moon Jin-ho (Korea National Sport University) faced a tough semifinal against Thailand's Banlung Thuptimthang, ultimately losing with a round score of 1-2 and securing a bronze medal. Similarly, Kang Sang-hyun (Korea National Sport University) also fell short in the semifinals of the men's +80kg category, adding another bronze medal to the team's tally.
Thus, the South Korean taekwondo team has made a strong showing on the first day of the competition, following gold medals in both the men's and women's individual poomsae events (Yoon Gyu-seong and Jeong Ha-eun), along with the first gold and two bronze medals in sparring.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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