A North Korean table tennis mixed doubles team made history on July 27, 2024 (CET) at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
North Korea, which did not participate in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics due to the COVID-19 pandemic, returned to the games for the first time in eight years since the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The North Korean table tennis teammates Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong were the first of the North Korean athletes to compete in the international tournament. They faced Japan’s defending champions, Hina Hayata and Tomokazu Harimoto, who were considered strong contenders for the gold medal.
Unranked and with little known about them, the Ri-Kim pair didn’t spark much anticipation…
…but the two stunned the world, eliminating the Japanese team—ranked number two in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF)—with a score of 4-1 in the first round.
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Next, the North Korean team will go up against Sweden in the quarter-finals.
Source: The Athletic and Financial News
