North Korea at the 2016 Summer Olympics information
Sporting event delegation
North Korea at the 2016 Summer Olympics
IOC code
PRK
NOC
Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
in Rio de Janeiro
Competitors
31 in 9 sports
Flag bearers
Choe Jon-wi[1] (opening) Yun Won-chol (closing)
Medals Ranked 34th
Gold
2
Silver
3
Bronze
2
Total
7
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1972
1976
1980
1984–1988
1992
1996
2000
2004
2008
2012
2016
2020
2024
North Korean representatives at the Rio 2016 Olympic Village
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's tenth appearance at the Summer Olympics.
The Olympic Committee of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea sent the nation's smallest delegation to the Games since 2000. A total of 31 athletes, 11 men and 20 women, were selected for the North Korean team across nine different sports, marking the fourth straight Games to feature more female athletes than male.[2][3] North Korea did not register any of its entrants in boxing for the first time since 1972, but was represented in artistic gymnastics for the first time in eight years, after missing out of London 2012 due to a two-year suspension for age falsification.
Notable athletes on the North Korean roster included weightlifting champions Om Yun-chol (men's 56 kg) and Rim Jong-sim (women's 75 kg), twins Kim Hye-gyong and Kim Hye-song in the women's marathon, pistol shooter and three-time Olympian Kim Jong-su, and former gymnastics champion Hong Un-jong in the women's vault. Weightlifting rookie Choe Jon-wi was selected by the committee to lead the North Korean delegation as the flag bearer in the opening ceremony.[1][2]
North Korea left Rio de Janeiro with a total of seven medals (2 golds, 3 silver, and 2 bronze), signifying its most successful Olympic outcome based on the overall medal count, but falling short of the 12-medal target set by its sports commission.[4] Half of North Korea's medal haul was distributed to the weightlifters, while the rest to the competitors in artistic gymnastics, shooting, and table tennis. Among the medalists were Rim Jong-sim, who repeated her golden feat from London four years earlier in a heavier category, and double world champion Ri Se-gwang, who obtained the nation's first ever gymnastics title by a male after 24 years.[5][6]
^ ab"The Flagbearers for the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony". International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 5 August 2016.
^ ab"N. Korea makes restrained entrance at Rio Games". The Korea Times. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
^Taylor, Adam (10 August 2016). "The Olympics are tough for all athletes. For North Koreans, they're worse". The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
^Taylor, Julian (23 August 2016). "North Korean athletes fall short of Kim Jong-un's medal target in Rio Olympics". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
^"Weightlifter Rim Jong-sim wins N. Korea's 1st gold in Rio". Yonhap News Agency. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
^"Rio 2016 Olympics: North Korea's Ri Se-gwang wins men's vault title". EuroSport. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 3 November 2016.
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