Having finished the 2024 Paris Olympics without any gold medals, North Korea s looking forward to the next Olympics by emphasizing the need to cultivate talented athletes through scientific training.
North Korea’s state-run media, Korean Central Television, reported that “to ensure all athletes achieve better performance, we are strengthening the material and technical foundations,” highlighting the Pyongyang Sports Team, the Sosong District Extracurricular Sports School, and the Dongdaewon District Extracurricular Sports School.
These institutions serve as specialized training centers for sports in North Korea, where athletes of various ages train in international sports, such as table tennis, gymnastics, wrestling, taekwondo, volleyball, and basketball.
Korean Central TV reported that these facilities are “actively developing specialized sports skills and improving the quality of sports education to nurture competent athletic talents.”
The report highlighted the need to nurture promising athletes by applying scientific methods to their training. It recommended introducing customized training approaches suited to each athlete’s age and physical capabilities and encouraging them to develop multiple specialized skills.
Additionally, coaches address athletes’ issues daily and work on finding solutions. They also tailor the training volume and intensity to each athlete’s characteristics, aiming to help them acquire a range of fundamental skills.
A Dongdaewon District, Extracurricular Sports School representative, stated, “The development of future athletes is a very important task related to the future of the nation’s sports development,” adding, “Students are being prepared as promising reserve athletes.”
North Korea, which dreams of becoming a sports powerhouse, won a total of six medals at the Paris Olympics, the first Olympics they have participated in after eight years. The medals included two silver medals (in diving and table tennis) and four bronze medals (in diving, wrestling, and boxing). This placed North Korea at a combined 68th overall, the lowest ranking in North Korea’s Olympic history.
Despite emphasizing nurturing sports talents even during the four-year hiatus from international competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the country’s border closure, North Korea failed to perform well on the most crucial stage. Notably, it has been 20 years since North Korea last failed to win a gold medal at the Olympics, which was in the 2004 Athens Games.
Perhaps due to this performance, there have been no reports of any celebratory event for the North Korean Olympic team’s return from Paris. It seems there was no welcoming event at the airport either. Instead, they seem to be pushing to improve their sports skills and prepare for the next competition.