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At the beginning of the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, South Korea was particularly anticipating the performance of its star athletes Park Tae Hwan, Son Yeon Jae, and Yang Hak Seon. While Park Tae Hwan and Yang Hak Seon were unable to win gold for their country, Son Yeon Jae shined in first place for rhythmic gymnastics, rivaling retired figure skater Kim Yuna as the "queen" of the nation.
Despite Park Tae Hwan's and Yang Hak Seon's disappointment, the two were still able to earn medals for their country. Swimmer Park Tae Hwan finished with six medals; none were gold, but the swimmer made history nevertheless for being the first South Korean athlete to have won 20 Asian Games medals. He lost to Chinese gold-medal winner Sun Yang and despite the competition the two were friendly, with Sun Yang even gifting Park Tae Hwan a birthday cake as seen in the picture below.
Vaulter Yang Hak Seon was known as a consistent gold-medal winner, but had to settle for silver this time around. He lost to Hong Kong's Shek Wai Hung. Despite his disbelief at his loss, Yang Hak Seon was still able to defeat his biggest rival, North Korea's Lee Se Kwang, who came in fourth.
Meanwhile, South Korea also won gold in men's baseball, men's basketball, and men's soccer, with its baseball team winning its fourth Asian Games gold medal against Taiwan, basketball team winning against Iran, and the soccer team winning in an intense game against North Korea.
Overall, while China came in first place with 151 gold, 108 silver, and 83 bronze medals for a total of 342 medals; South Korea came in second with 79 gold, 71 silver, and 84 bronze for a total of 234 medals. Japan came in third with 47 gold, 76 silver, and 77 bronze for a total of 200 medals. North Korea was able to rise in rankings since the last Asian Games with 11 gold, 11 silver, and 14 bronze for a total of 36 medals.
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