Korea confident for second place finish at Incheon Asiad

We can finish second for the fifth straight time without difficulty, but getting more than 90 gold medals won`t be easy," said Park Soon-ho, head of Korean delegation of the Incheon Asian Games, at a press conference held Monday for interim review of the event.

Initially, Korea had ambitiously set up a plan to win over 90 medals and even 100 by surpassing the previous record 96 medals gained at the 2002 Busan Asian Games. But Park said, "We picked up eight gold medals in the strategic category of shooting, but that was short of expectations. Performance also lagged behind what we had achieved in the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games in swimming, gold and bowling."

Initially, 13 golds were anticipated in shooting. Korea had won four gold medals in the previous two straight Asian Games but this year picked up only one in the women individuals. In swimming, there was no gold. In gymnastics, no athlete has won gold yet and the only event left is rhythmic gymnastics.

Park who is also serving as the chairman of the Korea Sailing Federation said, "I believe four gold medals will be won in yacht. Please keep up hope." On claims that the athletes are experiencing inconvenience due to weak facilities including the cafeteria, he said, "It would be better if the restaurant could serve soybean paste soup. There are many types of food but not much for Korean athletes to enjoy. In some sports categories, the athletes are having food delivered or using outside restaurants."

Though not gold, Korean athletes are continuing to pick up medals. In kayak, Cho Gwang-hee won gold in 200-meter singles race. In the 500-meter race for four-woman kayaks, Lee Sun-ja, Kim Yoo-jin, Lee Hye-ran and Lee Min added a silver medal. Lee Sun-ja additionally collected a bronze medal in a female kayak single.

In the kayak finals on Monday, the athletes failed to arrive at the venue on time due to traffic congestion. They left the athletes` village in Incheon and headed for the Misari Boat Race Course north to Seoul but arrived the venue an hour late. Kim Young-nam and Woo Ha-ram, a high school student pair, grabbed silver medal in men`s synchronized 10-meter platform diving competition.