'SKT-FAN' AI fencing analysis system unveiled ahead of Asian Games

At around 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon-gun, North Chungcheong Province, an AI system tracked the movements of national fencing team member Do Gyeong-dong in real time on a large screen. Each time Do scored a point, a dot appeared in the upper right corner of the display — and tapping it instantly replayed the scoring moment. Every movement the athlete made was layered into data, which was then fed back into match strategy.

The system is SKT-FAN (Fencing AI Nexus), an AI match analysis platform SK Telecom unveiled to support the national fencing team at the Asian Games.

With less than a month to go before the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, SK Telecom — the official sponsor of the Korea Fencing Federation — introduced SKT-FAN, which dramatically cuts fencing match analysis time.

Powered by the company's own large language model, A., SKT-FAN converts video footage of players' movements into data and delivers the results as an "AI tactical judgment report." The key feature is that it requires no wearable devices on athletes — the AI extracts player analysis and highlights directly from match footage, presenting everything at a glance.

Specifically, the AI delivers a single-screen analysis report covering a match situation overview, key technical and tactical movements, the basis for scoring decisions, and remarks by coaches and referees. SK Telecom has cut fencing match analysis time from one hour to around 10 minutes.

Looking further ahead, SK Telecom plans to use SKT-FAN at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics not only for post-match analysis but also for real-time in-match feedback.

"There are many matches to analyze but limited time for analysts to review them — that's what drove us to develop this," said Choi Jong-hyeok, manager of SK Telecom's sports marketing team. "The core of SKT-FAN is converting video information into analyzable data and linking that data back to match strategy."

A send-off ceremony for "Team SKT" ahead of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games was also held that day at the Jincheon National Training Center.

Eight national team athletes attended, including fencers Oh Sang-uk, Do Gyeong-dong, Song Se-ra and Jeon Ha-young, weightlifter Park Hye-jeong, swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, track and field athlete Namadi Joel-jin, and sport climber Noh Hyeon-seung. The 230-seat auditorium was packed, and the crowd broke into applause at the athletes' every move.

The fencing athletes in particular said SKT-FAN's analytical capabilities had been a major asset in their preparation for the Games.

Song Se-ra, the senior member of the women's épée team, said the AI analysis saved her significant time during training. "If I type in the name of an opponent I want to study before a match, the data analysis comes up right away, so I can assess them in a short amount of time," she said.

Oh Sang-uk, who won two gold medals — in the men's sabre individual and team events — at the 2024 Paris Olympics, said fencing footage can make it hard to follow the blade even in high definition. "This time, the AI did a great job of capturing exactly when a hit landed or a touch was made, which was really helpful," he said.

Kwon Young-sang, SK Telecom's executive vice president, said the company has partnered with the Korea Fencing Federation for 24 years. "This year in particular, SKT-FAN technology was introduced to the national team, and I hope the system will serve as a great opportunity to help our athletes raise their performance," he said.

Meanwhile, the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games open in Nagoya, Japan, on Sept. 19 and run through Oct. 4. South Korea plans to send 792 athletes competing across 41 sports.