DPRK′s Amnokgang Sports Team

[nggallery id=39]The Amnokgang Sports Team in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is greeting its 65th birthday. The Team was formed on September 19, Juche 36 (1947) with athletes who participated in the 1st World Festival of Youth and Students. It has made a big contribution to demonstrating the nation’s dignity and honor over the past 65 years.

The Team clinched some 430 gold medals in Olympiads, world championships and other international tournaments. Jong Song Ok, a DPRK Hero, won the title in the women’s marathon of the 7th World Track-and-Field Championship. Sin Kum Dan broke world records for 11 times at international women’s track-and-field tournaments, including the 1st GANEFO.

A boxer Ku Yong Jo took the gold in the 21st Olympiad, wrestler Kim Il in the 25th and 26th Olympiads, wrestler Ri Hak Son in the 25th Olympiad, weightlifter Pak Hyon Suk in the 29th Olympiad and weightlifter Om Yun Chol in the 30th Olympiad.

Ri Song Hui rose to fame as a “woman of muscle” at the 15th and 16th World Women’s Weightlifting Championships and paddlers Ri Pun Hui and Pak Yong Ok distinguished themselves in international table-tennis tournaments.

Hong Myong Gum, O Kum Hui and Ri Un Hyang of the Team played key roles in making the DPRK win in the 2006 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.

The Amnokgang Sports Team garnered more than 500 trophies and 20 000 odd medals in domestic sports contests, including Mangyongdae Prize Sports Games and national championships.

Honored with the Order ofKim Il Sungtwice, the Team boasts of seven DPRK Heroes and Labor Heroes, more than 100 People’s and Merited Sportspersons and over 440 aces.

Hong Sok Yong, head of the Team, told KCNA that it would make a bigger contribution to exalting the nation’s reputation.