DPRK Olympians won silver medals in all these events in Athens and could build on their experiences in Beijing.

However, there are never certainties at the Olympics as the extra-lightweight division of women's judo saw one of the biggest upsets of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

The overwhelming favorite was Japan's Ryoko Tamura, who entered the final with an 84-match winning streak.

Her opponent was 16-year-old Sun Hui- Kye, who had never competed outside her native country of DPRK. Kye had never heard of Tamura and had never seen her fight until she watched videos of her before the final. Kye startled Tamura by attacking from the start and the double world champion was unable to establish her rhythm. With 22 seconds left, Kye scored with a leg hook and won gold.

At the 2000 Sydney Games, Kye moved up to the half-lightweight division and earned a bronze medal. At Athens , Sun Hui- Kye won the silver medal in the -57kg.

Smashing success

When badminton was included as an Olympic sport for the 1992 Barcelona Games, doubles specialist Gil Young-Ah was in position to take advantage of the opportunity.

She and her partner, Shim Eun-Jung, had earned bronze medals at the 1991 world championships and they repeated their performance at the Olympics, as fellow Koreans Hwang Hye-Young and Chung So-Young took the gold.

At the 1993 world championships, Gil teamed with Chung and placed third again. Gil switched partners once more, joining Jang Hye-Ock.

Gil and Jang won the 1995 world championships, coming from behind to defeat an Indonesian pair in the final. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Gil and Jang qualified for the final, but lost to the Chinese pair of Ge Fei and Gu Jun.

For the 1996 Games, mixed doubles was added to the Olympic program for the first time. South Korea entered two teams, Gil and Kim Dong-Moon, and Ra Kyung-Min and Park Joo-Bong. The day after Gil earned her silver medal in women's doubles, she and Kim faced Ra and Park in the mixed doubles final. Ra and Park led the first game 9-5 and 14-9. Gil and Kim closed to 14-13 before succumbing 15-13.

Gil and Kim won the second game easily, 15-4, but the tiebreaker was full of drama. Ra and Park took a 10-5 lead, but Gil and Kim gradually fought back to an 11-11 tie. The two sides traded points before Gil and Kim moved ahead 14-12 and then converted their second match point.