Born in Samcheok,South Korea,Hwang was a promising track athlete in his junior years,but after his first marathon in 1991,which he won,decided to specialize in marathon.
The Barcelona Olympic marathon was only fourth of his career. He had won two and placed second in his three previous marathon competitions. In Barcelona,Hwang was in the leading pack from the start,but in a slowly run race,this group still numbered thirty runners at the halfway mark. However,runners gradually lost contact with the leaders in the second half of the race,until at 35km,only Hwang and Kōichi Morishita from Japan remained. They had quite a memorable struggle,until Hwang broke free after 40km to win a gold medal.
Hwang raced sparingly after Barcelona,and he retired after injury prevented him from representing South Korea in the 1996 Olympics.
Hwang was depicted on the 2006 Berlin Marathon medal to commemorate his victory in the 1992 Olympic marathon event.
Sohn Kee-chung was an Olympic athlete and long-distance runner. He became the first ethnic Korean to win a medal at the Olympic Games, winning gold in the marathon at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He was born in the Korean Peninsula, but he competed as a member of the Japanese delegation because Korea was under Japanese occupation at the time. Sohn set an Olympic record of 2 hours 29 minutes 19.2 seconds.
Nam Sung-yong was a Korean Olympian who won a bronze medal in the marathon at the 1936 Summer Olympics, completing the run in 2 hours, 31 minutes, and 42 seconds.
Josia Thugwane is a South African retired long-distance runner, best known for winning the gold medal in the marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Thugwane, who is of Ndebele heritage, is the first black athlete to earn an Olympic gold for South Africa.
The 1936 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Berlin, Germany, from 1 August to 16 August.
South Korea, as Korea, competed at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, West Germany. 42 competitors, took part in 24 events in 8 sports.
South Korea competed as Korea at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. 226 competitors, 154 men and 72 women, took part in 134 events in 24 sports.
South Korea competed as Korea at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. Athletes from North and South Korea marched together in the opening ceremony under the Korean Unification Flag. 281 competitors, 175 men and 106 women, took part in 144 events in 26 sports.
Lee Bong-Ju is a South Korean marathoner.
The Republic of Korea first participated at the Olympic Games in 1948, and has sent athletes to compete in every Summer Olympic Games since then, except for 1980 which they boycotted. South Korea has also participated in every Winter Olympic Games since 1948, except for the 1952 games.
The men's marathon at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta was held on Sunday August 4, 1996. The race started at 07:05h local time to avoid excessively hot and humid conditions. A total number of 111 athletes completed the race, with an injured and limping Abdul Baser Wasiqi from Afghanistan finishing in last position in 4:24:17.
The men's marathon at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, was held on Sunday August 9, 1992. The race started at 18:30h local time. One hundred and ten athletes from 72 nations started; 87 athletes completed the race, with Pyambuugiin Tuul from Mongolia finishing in last position in 4:00:44. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Hwang Young-Cho of South Korea, the nation's first Olympic men's marathon medal. Koichi Morishita's silver was Japan's first medal in the event since 1968. Stephan Freigang of Germany took bronze, the first medal for Germany in the event though East Germany had won two golds during partition.
Suh Yun-bok was a South Korean marathoner, who is best known as the winner of the 1947 Boston Marathon.
Ham Kee-yong was a South Korean marathoner, best known as the winner of the 1950 Boston Marathon.
The men's marathon event at the 2000 Summer Olympics took place on 1 October 2000 in Sydney, Australia. One hundred athletes from 65 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Gezahegne Abera of Ethiopia, the nation's first victory in the event since winning three in a row from 1960 to 1968. Ethiopia's fourth gold medal in the men's marathon moved it out of a tie with France and the United States into sole possession of the most men's marathon gold medals. Ethiopia also became the first nation to have two medalists in the men's marathon in the same Games since South Africa did it in 1912, as Tesfaye Tola took bronze. Kenya won its third men's marathon medal in four Games with Erick Wainaina's silver. This made Wainaina the sixth man to earn two medals in the event, after his bronze in 1996.
The men's marathon event at the 1936 Summer Olympic Games took place August 9. Fifty-six athletes from 27 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The race was won by Sohn Kee-chung, a Korean athlete competing for Japan; Sohn refused to acknowledge the Japanese anthem at the victory ceremony. Sohn was the first Korean athlete to win an Olympic gold medal, though the medal remains credited as Japan's first victory in the Olympic marathon. Finland (barely) missed the marathon podium for the first time since World War I, with its top two runners placing 4th and 5th.
The Chuncheon International Marathon is an annual marathon race which is held in late October in the city of Chuncheon, South Korea. First held in 1946, it is the second oldest marathon in the country after the Seoul International Marathon. Sponsored by The Chosun Ilbo, a major daily newspaper in South Korea, the race is one of two in the country which holds IAAF Silver Label status, along with Gyeongju International Marathon.
The Seoul International Marathon, also known as the Dong-A Ilbo Seoul Marathon or Seoul Marathon is an annual marathon race that takes place in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of two annual races over the 42.195 km classic distance in the city, alongside the JoongAng Seoul Marathon which is held in November. It holds World Athletics Platinum Label Road Race status. First held in 1931, it is the third longest-running road running competition in Asia after the Hakone Ekiden and Chugoku Yamaguchi Ekiden in Japan.
South Korea competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from July 27 to August 12, 2012. This was the nation's sixteenth appearance at the Olympics, having missed the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow because of its support for the United States boycott. The Korean Olympic Committee sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 1992. A total of 248 athletes, 135 men and 113 women, competed in 22 sports.
The marathon at the Summer Olympics is the only road running event held at the multi-sport event. The men's marathon has been present on the Olympic athletics programme since 1896. Nearly ninety years later, the women's event was added to the programme at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
