The International Olympic Committee (IOC) highlighted a photo taken at the awards ceremony showing North and South Korean athletes who won silver and bronze medals in table tennis mixed doubles at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On August 2, the IOC posted on its official Instagram Korean account photos of South Korean players Lim Jong Hoon and Shin Yu Bin, who won bronze, and North Koreans Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong, who won silver, including a selfie they took together on the podium.
Lim Jong Hoon and Shin Yu Bin secured their bronze medal by defeating Hong Kong’s Wang Chun-ting and Du Hoi Kem 4-0 (11-5, 11-7, 11-7, 14-12) in the mixed doubles bronze medal match held at South Paris Arena 4 on Tuesday, marking the first Olympic table tennis medal for South Korea in 12 years.
Although North Korea’s Ri Jong Sik and Kim Kum Yong lost to China’s Sun Yingsha and Wang Chuqin in the finals, they still earned a silver medal, allowing athletes from both Koreas to stand on the podium together. They made headlines by taking a selfie with a Samsung phone as part of the Olympics’s newly introduced Victory Selfie program.
The IOC shared photos of the athletes taking their selfies during the ceremony.
In the photo released by the IOC, Lim Jong Hoon, the photographer, adjusts the angle and position to fit everyone’s face in the frame.
Despite the recent tensions in inter-Korean relations, the athletes’ faces in the photo radiated smiles as they took their picture on the podium together.
The IOC also shared selfies of other South Korean athletes who achieved notable successes. These include Oh Ye Jin, who won gold in the women’s 10m air pistol shooting; Kim Ye Ji, who earned silver in the same event; Heo Mi Mi, who took silver in women’s judo (57kg); Lee Jun Hwan, who secured bronze in men’s judo, and Ban Hyo Jin, who won gold in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting.
