Koreans Advance to Olympics

South Korea qualified for the Olympics in men’s gymnastics on Wednesday.

The Korean teams earned a trip to Beijing by placing eighth at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships Tuesday in Stuttgart, Germany. The Koreans totaled 360.400 points as team in six qualifying events, defeating some of the world’s strong rivals, including France ㅡ which finished with 359.900 points ㅡ Italy and Canada.

It is the fifth straight time the Koreans have qualified for the Olympics in men’s gymnastics. That gives Korea it’s longest string of Olympics berths in the sports since its gymnastics team made its first Olympic appearance in 1964 in Tokyo.

The Koreans have now qualified for every Olympics since the 1992 Games in Barcelona, Spain.

The six-member national team went through difficult competitions against international rivals, such as Germany and Spain in qualifications.

Despite a favorable match schedule, three Koreans struggled with their performances at the beginning. Some made mistakes in the pommel horse by touching their hands on the ground, causing them to lose points. They also had less-than-satisfying performances on the rings.

But after earning 62.875 points in the vault, the Koreans gained momentum with strong performances on the parallel bars (63.650), which was regarded as a strong event for Korea, helping the team to finish with 360.400 points en route to advancing to the final round of the 2008 Olympics.

Yang Tae-young, who was deprived of a golden medal in the 2004 Athens Olympics after some controversial decisions, made great contributions.

Despite making some mistakes by touching the ground in the pommel horse, he had a strong performance on the parallel bars, recovering the previous faults to stir up the morale of the team.

Korea’s remaining five gymnasts also contributed to their team’s success, despite being plagued by injuries.

The Olympic champions will be crowned in Beijing next year by calculating scores from six categories ㅡ floor exercise, horizontal bar, parallel bars, pommel horse, rings and vault.

The Koreans hope to be raked fifth or higher entering the Olympics.

China took first at the Artistic World Championship with 374.275 points, followed by Japan with 370.725 and Germany with 364.350.

The U.S., Russia, Romania, Spain, France, Italy, Canada and Bulgaria also won tickets for the final rounds of the Beijing Olympics.