South Korea may have a bit of a redemption heading into the Paris Olympics this weekend as some of its stars take on one final challenge in Budapest, Hungary, the second of a two-part Olympic qualifying series that will determine qualification for arguably the most glamorous sport at the Games.
Around 460 athletes are vying for a ticket to Paris through the Olympic Qualification Series, a “festival-style” event that doubles as qualifiers for four sports: breaking, BMX freestyle, skateboarding and sport climbing.
South Korea failed to qualify for any of the four categories.
The series, run by the International Olympic Committee, is the first such tournament introduced ahead of the Paris Olympics and will be the final chance to qualify for the games for athletes who have not already done so through other means, such as winning a recent world championship or a regional qualifying tournament.
The first leg of the series took place in Shanghai, China last month, where the Korean contingent delivered outstanding performances. Korean sport climbers Lee Do-hyeon and Seo Chae-hyeon won the men’s and women’s lead finals respectively, while B-boy Hong10 finished fourth in the men’s competition.
All of them will now travel to Budapest to try and gain more points towards qualification in Paris.
Breaking, or breakdancing, debuted as an event at the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and will make its Olympic debut this summer. In Paris, 32 b-boys and b-girls will compete for the gold medal – 16 in the men’s tournament and 16 in the women’s tournament.
A maximum of two representatives from each country may participate in each competition.
South Korea’s Kim Hong Yul (aka B-boy Hong 10) was the best performing Korean representative in Shanghai, finishing in fourth place with 38 points.
Hong 10 is 40 years old, making him the oldest athlete competing in the men’s division.
He is the only South Korean to win a medal at the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, winning silver despite losing the final to Japan’s B-Boy Shigekix and Nakarai Shigeyuk, who qualified through the tournament.
South Korea’s Kim Hong-woo of B-boy Wing finished in 11th place in the men’s competition with 30 points, while Park In-soo of B-boy Kill placed 30th with 11 points.
In the women’s competition, South Korea’s B-girl Fresh Bella Jeong Ji-ae finished the Shanghai qualifiers in 18th place with 23 points, while B-girl Starry Kwon Seong-hee is in 30th place with 11 points.
South Korean sport climbers are also strong contenders to qualify for Paris, particularly in the combined bouldering and lead event. Sport climbing will feature for the first time at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but South Korea has yet to win a medal. This year will be the first time that speed climbing will be run separately from the more technical bouldering and lead categories, following a controversial decision to combine the three events in Tokyo.
The 20-year-old South Korean athlete is one of the athletes in Budapest hoping to secure a ticket to Paris and become a two-time Olympic champion.
She finished eighth in the women’s sport climbing in Tokyo following a remarkable performance at the 2019 World Cup, where she won the lead event at age 16.
The split between the speed and combined bouldering and lead categories bodes well for Seo, who advanced to the final in Tokyo after topping the qualifiers in lead, placing fifth in bouldering and 17th in speed.
After the first round in Shanghai, Seo won the lead final and finished seventh in the bouldering competition, putting him in second place in the bouldering and lead qualifying series with 45 points.
Lee, a 21-year-old climber also from South Korea, won the lead final and placed fourth in bouldering to take the lead in the men’s bouldering and lead combined event with 50 points.
Jung Jeongwon and Song Yunchan will also compete in the men’s division, while Kim Jain, Seo Yeju and Sasol will compete in the women’s division.
South Korea is not known for its speed climbing, but Shin Eun-cheol and Jeong Yong-jun competed in the men’s qualifying round, while Jeong Ji-min placed fifth in the women’s qualifying round along with Song Han-ahreum and Noh Hee-ju.
Skateboarding will also return as an Olympic sport, debuting alongside sport climbing in Tokyo, but South Korea is not yet represented in the event, having not sent any athletes for either the men’s or women’s categories in 2021.
Both skate parks and skate streets will return to Paris as separate categories.
There are just two Korean skateboarders competing for a place in Paris through the qualifying series: teenager Cho Hyun-ju in the women’s skateboard park category and Ha Si-ae in the women’s skateboard street category.
However, skateboarding qualification will be determined primarily by each skater’s position in the world rankings, with points from the qualification series being a secondary factor.
In BMX freestyle, which was added as an Olympic event for the 2020 Tokyo Games, South Korea has zero entries in both the men’s and women’s events.
The qualifying series begins in Budapest on Thursday and runs through Sunday.
Mary Yang [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]