Jeju-Born, Jeju-Affiliated Athletes Shine at Asian Games as National Sports Festival Returns After 12 Years

[Financial News Jeju = Reporter Jeong Yong-bok] Jeju-born and Jeju-affiliated athletes won medals in soccer, swimming, shooting, judo and taekwondo at the 2026 Asian Games. The sporting momentum from the international stage will carry over to the 107th National Sports Festival, which opens in Jeju on Oct. 16.
According to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (KSOC) on Oct. 5, Jeju-born and Jeju-affiliated athletes represented South Korea at the Asian Games, held from Sept. 19 through Oct. 4, and reached the podium in several events.
Jeju-born soccer player Kang Sang-yoon won a gold medal. He entered the field as a substitute for Yang Min-hyuk in the 21st minute of the second half of the men's soccer final at Toyota Stadium in Japan on Oct. 3. South Korea defeated Japan 1-0 to win the Asian Games title for the fourth consecutive time.
Kang Sang-yoon, who attended Oedo Elementary School in Jeju, was brought on in the 21st minute of the second half. South Korea held on to Um Ji-sung's winning goal to secure the gold medal.
Jeju-affiliated athletes made particularly strong medal gains in swimming. Athletes representing Jeju in swimming and diving collectively won 10 medals.
Juho Lee of Seogwipo City Hall won the silver medal in the men's 200-meter backstroke with a time of 1:56.58. He finished just 0.16 seconds behind Japan's gold medalist Kodai Nishiono. Lee also won bronze in the 100-meter backstroke in 53.94 seconds, just 0.01 seconds behind the silver-medal time.

He also swam the first leg of the men's 400-meter medley relay, joining Choi Dong-yeol, Yang Jae-hoon and Kim Yeong-beom to win bronze with a Korean record of 3:31.97. With one silver and two bronzes added at these Games, Lee's career Asian Games medal tally rose to nine: three silver medals and six bronze medals.
An Se-hyeon of Jeju City Hall won bronze in both the women's 400-meter medley relay and the mixed 400-meter medley relay. Lee Ho-joon also contributed to Jeju's swimming medal haul by winning silver in the men's 400-meter freestyle relay and bronze in the 800-meter freestyle relay.
In diving, Kim Yeong-nam of the Jeju Special Self-Governing Provincial Office won silver in the men's 1-meter springboard. Kim Yeong-taek took bronze in the men's synchronized 10-meter platform, while Nayun Moon won bronze in the women's synchronized 10-meter platform. Lee Ye-ju of Namnyeong High School finished sixth in the women's 3-meter springboard final at her first Asian Games.
Jeju-born Oh Ye-jin, the women's 10-meter air pistol gold medalist at the 2024 Summer Olympics (Paris 2024), won two silver medals at her first Asian Games.
Oh Ye-jin teamed with Chu Ga-eun and Kim Bo-mi in the women's 10-meter air pistol team event, scoring 1,730 points to win silver behind China. In the women's 25-meter pistol team event, she joined Yang Ji-in and Bong Seo-rin to score 1,735 points and finish second behind China.
She finished 12th in the individual 10-meter air pistol event and 10th in the 25-meter pistol event, missing out on the finals. However, she reached the podium in both team events.

Lee Hyeon-ji, who grew up in Jeju and graduated from Sinjeju Elementary School, Jeju Seojung Middle School and Namnyeong High School, won silver at her first Asian Games.
In the quarterfinals of the women's over-78-kilogram category, Lee defeated Thailand's Thongthan Satchadet by ippon just six seconds into the match. She then beat Japan's Mukunoki Miki in the semifinals. In the final, Lee earned a waza-ari first against China's Niu Xinran but conceded ippon on an outside-leg trip and settled for silver.
Kang Sang-hyeon, a graduate of Ohyeon Middle School and Namnyeong High School, won bronze in the men's over-80-kilogram taekwondo category. A two-time world champion, Kang lost 0-2 in round scores to Uzbekistan's Marat Mavlonov in the semifinals of his first Asian Games and failed to reach the final. He nevertheless became the first Korean athlete to win an Asian Games medal in this weight class.
Jeju Gov. Wi Seong-gon thanked and encouraged the Jeju-born and Jeju-affiliated athletes after the Asian Games.
Governor Wi said, "More valuable than the color or number of medals are the sweat and determination of athletes who gave their all until the end on a major stage. I send a round of enthusiastic applause to the Jeju-born and Jeju-affiliated athletes who did their best every moment."
With the Asian Games now over, the sporting stage for Jeju athletes will shift to the National Sports Festival.

The 107th National Sports Festival will be held across Jeju for seven days, from Oct. 16 to 22. This will be the first time the National Sports Festival has been held in Jeju in 12 years, since the 95th festival in 2014.
The KSOC has counted 30,599 participants in total. Jeju will welcome 19,576 athletes, 9,468 officials and 1,555 athletes from overseas Korean sports organizations. Competitions will be held in 50 sports: 49 official events and one demonstration event.
The event is hosted by the KSOC and jointly organized by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, the Jeju Provincial Office of Education and the Jeju Provincial Sports Council. The opening ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. on Oct. 16, and the closing ceremony will start at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 22 at Jeju World Cup Stadium in Seogwipo.
Ahead of the opening, the torch will also travel across Jeju. The flame lit at Manisan on Ganghwa Island will pass through five outlying islands: Chujado Islands, Biyangdo Island, Gapado Island, Marado and Udo. After being combined with a separate flame lit at Jeju Stone Park on Oct. 13, it will be carried through 115 sections across the province by about 900 runners from Oct. 14 to 16.
The final torch will arrive at Jeju World Cup Stadium on Oct. 16 and light the cauldron at the opening ceremony.
Governor Wi said, "This time, Jeju will be waiting for the athletes. We will carry the inspiring spirit of the athletes' determination at the Asian Games into the National Sports Festival and cheer them on with all our strength alongside Jeju residents."


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