S. Korean shooting team fails to obtain more tickets to Tokyo Olympics

The South Korean shooting team is struggling with the aftermath of the spread of COVID-19 in the process of preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The South Korean shooting team with 14 tickets to compete at the Tokyo Olympics was planning to attend the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Cup to be held in New Delhi from March 15.

Nam Tae-yoon was looking to obtain more tickets to the Olympics through the 10-meter air pistol competition at the World Cup as the Indian government has suspended the issuance of new visa to nationals from South Korea, Japan, Iran, and Italy, where COVID-19 has been widely spreading, and nullified the effectiveness of their old visa from Wednesday. As players from the four countries have become unable to attend the event, the ISSF said world ranking points will not be given this year. Nam Tae-yoon was planning to fly to India on Wednesday with the previously-issued visa, but it has become impossible for him to attend the event at all due to the new measures.

World-ranking No. 18 Nam Tae-yoon was hoping to qualify for the Olympics based on his ranking as of May 31 by raising his ranking at the World Cup. “Nam would be able to compete at the Tokyo Olympics if he were to raise his ranking by two or three levels,” said a member of the Korea Shooting Federation. “There is quota by country to attend the Olympics while additional tickets are offered to high-ranking players besides the ones who have already qualified through world championships”


Yun-Cheol Jeong trigger@donga.com · Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com