South Korea risks fewest gold medals in 44 years at Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games

South Korea's delegation at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games is increasingly likely to finish with fewer than 40 gold medals — its lowest haul since the 1982 New Delhi Games, 44 years ago.

According to the official medal standings as of Thursday, South Korea had won 24 gold, 30 silver and 49 bronze medals through Wednesday, placing third overall. The gap with first-place China (151 gold, 67 silver, 59 bronze) and second-place Japan (50 gold, 77 silver, 73 bronze) is wide — South Korea trails Japan by 26 gold medals.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee had set a pre-Games target of 40 to 45 gold medals and an overall third-place finish. By sport, the targets included five golds in archery and four each in swimming, shooting, fencing and taekwondo, along with three in badminton.

The Games, spanning 43 sports and 469 events, close Sunday. South Korea is still chasing four to six more golds in archery, three to five in taekwondo and one to three in judo. The team also hopes to claim one gold each in esports, golf, sport climbing and men's football.

Based on current form, South Korea is projected to add roughly 10 to 15 more gold medals, putting its final total at 34 to 39 — short of the 40-medal target.

Falling below 40 golds would make this South Korea's worst Asian Games performance since the 1982 New Delhi Games, where it won 28 gold, 28 silver and 37 bronze medals.

South Korea had won at least 50 gold medals at every Asian Games from the 1986 Seoul Games (93 gold, 55 silver, 76 bronze) through the 2014 Incheon Games (79 gold, 70 silver, 79 bronze).

The decline began at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games, where South Korea won 49 gold, 58 silver and 70 bronze — its first time falling below 50 golds since New Delhi — and slipped to third overall. At the 2022 Hangzhou Games, held in 2023, the team managed 42 gold, 59 silver and 89 bronze for another third-place finish, trailing second-place Japan (52 gold, 67 silver, 69 bronze) by 10 golds.

With the remaining schedule at this year's Games, that gap with Japan could widen to more than 30 gold medals.

South Korea's gold medals have long been concentrated in a handful of sports at major international competitions. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, the country finished eighth overall with 13 golds, but most came from archery (five), shooting (three) and fencing (two). China finished second and Japan third at those Games.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee allocates support unevenly, giving preferential treatment to five priority sports — archery, shooting, fencing, swimming and badminton — over the rest.