History
North Korea made its first Summer Olympic appearance in 1972 and has competed ever since with the exceptions of 1984 where it participated in the Soviet Union led boycott and 1988 where it boycotted the games. The nation sends a medium-sized delegation with 2-5 dozen athletes competing in a variety of sports, including, athletics, boxing, judo, shooting, weightlifting and wrestling.
North Korea has won at least one medal at each Summer Olympics it has participated in. In total the nation has won 54 medals across 8 sports. The most successful sports are weightlifting (17), wrestling (10), boxing (8) and judo (8). The most successful athlete is judoka Kye Sun-hui whom won three medals at three Olympics in three different weight classes. In 1996 she won gold in women’s -48kg, in 2000 she won bronze in women’s -52kg and in 2004 she won silver in women’s -57kg. In 2016 North Korea won 7 medals.
Qualified Quotas
Archery
Athletics
Men’s Events
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Men’s Marathon |
Ri Kang-bom |
|
Women’s Events
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Women’s Marathon |
Ri Kwang-ok |
|
| Jo Un-ok |
|
| Kim Ji-hyang |
|
Diving
Gymnastics
Shooting
Table Tennis
| Event |
Qualifying Athletes |
Selected Athletes |
| Women’s Singles |
From Team Quota |
|
| From Team Quota |
|
| Women’s Team |
Cha Hyo-sim
Kim Song-i
Kim Nam-hae
Pyon Song-gyong |
|
Wrestling