▲ South Korea's Song Sera poses with her fist clenched on the podium after winning the gold medal in the women's individual épée event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games held at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, on the 22nd.
The protagonist of South Korea's 6th gold medal at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was female fencing star Song Sera (Busan City Hall).
Song defeated Tikana Kiria of Singapore 15-8 in the final of the women's individual épée held at the Aichi Sky Expo in Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture, Japan, today (the 22nd), claiming the gold medal.
This follows previous gold medals won by modern pentathlon women's individual competitor Seong Seung-min, the men's team event in the same sport, teqball men's singles player Lee Jun-seok, the men's basketball team, and swimming competitor Kim Young-beom in the men's 50m freestyle, marking the South Korean delegation's 6th gold medal.
This is the first individual gold medal in an international multi-sport competition for Song, who has already reached the top of the World Championships twice.
With this victory, South Korean fencing maintained its top spot in this event for the third consecutive time, following Kang Young-mi at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games and Choi In-jeong at the 2022 Hangzhou Games held in 2023.
Men's foil fencer Yoon Jung-hyun (Hwaseong City Hall) also secured a bronze medal in the individual event, stepping onto the Asian Games podium in this category for the first time for a South Korean athlete in 8 years, following Son Young-ki (bronze) at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games.
South Korean fencing kicked off the competition with 1 gold medal and 1 bronze medal.
Ban Hyo-jin (Daegu Public Facilities Management Corporation) and Park Ha-jun (KT) scored 252.6 and 250.3 points, respectively, in the shooting 10m air rifle mixed team event, combining for a total of 502.9 points to win the silver medal behind China, which set a world record with 507.1 points.
Ban, the bronze medalist in the women's individual event of this discipline, secured her second medal of the competition. Park, who won a bronze medal in the men's team event the previous day, also collected a multi-medal and his 5th career Asian Games medal.
The South Korean swimming relay team consisting of Lee Ju-ho (Seogwipo City Hall, backstroke), Choi Dong-yeol (Gangwon State Government, breaststroke), Yang Jae-hoon (Gangwon State Government, butterfly), and Kim Young-beom (Gangwon State Government, freestyle) combined for a time of 3 minutes 31.97 seconds in the men's 400m medley relay final held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre in Japan, finishing third behind China (3 minutes 27.89 seconds) and Japan (3 minutes 28.70 seconds).
Kim Young-beom stepped onto the podium for three consecutive days following his silver medal in the 100m freestyle on the 20th and gold medal in the 50m freestyle on the 21st, collecting one gold, one silver, and one bronze medal.
South Korean middle-and-long-distance swimming star Kim Woo-min (Gangwon State Government) pushed ahead with competing in the 1,500m freestyle despite a shoulder injury, finishing 8th out of 8 finalists with a time of 15 minutes 16.52 seconds.
It was revealed that Kim competed in the Asian Games without publicly disclosing that he suffered a partial tear of the rotator cuff and labrum in his left shoulder, drawing sympathy from those around him.
Kim is reportedly discussing with the coaching staff and adjusting his schedule to focus only on the 400m freestyle.
The South Korean women's badminton team, led by shuttlecock queen An Se-young (Samsung Life Insurance), defeated Malaysia 3-1 in the team event quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
In the team event where the country that first wins 3 matches out of 3 singles and 2 doubles games takes the victory, South Korea secured two singles matches through An Se-young and Kim Ga-eun (Samsung Life Insurance) while adding one win in doubles.
South Korea will compete against Japan tomorrow (the 23rd) for a ticket to the final.
The women's volleyball team lost to Thailand 0-3 in set scores (20-25, 19-25, 23-25) in the bronze medal match, returning home empty-handed for the second consecutive Asian Games for the first time in history.
Unlike volleyball, the women's basketball team, attempting to reclaim the top spot for the first time in 12 years, defeated Chinese Taipei 73-59 to secure their third consecutive win and advance to the quarterfinals as the top team in Group C.
The men's football team defeated Saudi Arabia 2-0 to advance to the quarterfinals as the top team in Group D, where they will face Vietnam for a spot in the semifinals.
The baseball team thoroughly defeated underdog Hong Kong 13-0.
In particular, they achieved a rare team perfect game record without allowing a single hit or walk, extending their winning streak to two games in the group stage.
South Korea has won 6 gold, 4 silver, and 17 bronze medals, maintaining 3rd place in the medal standings behind China (31 golds) and Japan (11 golds).
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.