Nation just one behind tally from Olympics four years ago and hopes taekwondo will prove fertile ground for more metal South Korea’s first week at London 2012 was marked as much by despair as elation, after two pairs of its badminton players were disqualified for trying to throw a preliminary-round match. A day earlier, one of the country’s fencers, Shin A-lam, staged a sit-in protest , inconsolable after a timing glitch deprived her of a last-gasp win. But as the Games enter their final stages, South Korea finds itself fourth in the medals table, just one place behind Team GB, and with a fighting chance of beating its record haul of 13 gold medals secured in Beijing four years ago.

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