With only the national women’s handball team qualifying, South Korean national sports teams, including volleyball, basketball, field hockey, soccer, rugby, and water polo, lost their chance to play at the Paris 2024 Olympics. 

Out of the seven sports, six teams were disqualified as they failed to secure their place in the Olympics. Many fans were shocked at the elimination of the men’s national soccer team since the team had not missed their chance to participate in the Olympics since 1984. Coached by Hwang Sun-hong, the national team suffered an unexpected defeat to Indonesia after losing 10-11 in the penalty shootout. This ultimately broke the ten Olympic qualification streak. In April, Hwang apologized for underachieving the team and their failure. 

Disqualification of women’s volleyball also surprised many since the national team even entered the semi-finals in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Facing higher-ranked countries such as Italy, the United States, and Poland without the star players Kim Yeon-koung and Yang Hyo-jin who retired after the 2020 Olympics, South Korea failed to win their place to compete in the Olympics. This came as a disappointment to the fans. 

“I enjoy watching international sporting events such as the World Cup and Olympics and look forward to watching the upcoming one this year,” Dyne Kim (10), olympic fan, said. “I was quite surprised when I heard this news. I obviously thought there would be more sports selected such as soccer and basketball that would qualify since they are popular sports in Korea.”  

Fortunately, in August, the national women’s handball had a successful victory against Japan. Led by coach Henrik Signell, they defeated Japan 24-25, qualifying for their 11th consecutive Olympics. 

With so many teams unable to enter the Olympics, the South Korean players competing in the event dropped to below 290 for the first time since 1976.