South Korean golfer Tom Kim performed pretty darn well during the men’s golf tournament at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 22-year-old finished minus-13 throughout the four-day event. That included going for minus-three on the final day. Unfortunately, Kim put up a double bogey on the par-four 18th hole. This led to him missing out on earning a medal.
Overall, American Scottie Scheffler earned goal with Tommy Fleetwood winning silver and Hideki Matsuyama going for bronze at Le Golf National.
After learning that he did not medal, Kim was all sorts of emotional. Check it out.
There is a specific reason for that. By winning gold, Kim would have been exempted from mandatory military service in South Korea. It’s an odd law in the Asian nation.
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Tom Kim Emotional After Missing Out On Gold During Summer Olympics
South Korea makes all non-disabled men do 21 months of military service prior to the age of 35. It is due to longstanding tensions with neighbor North Korea dating back beyond the Korean War, which America was involved in.
You can get out of said service by winning a medal in the Olympics. Obviously, Kim will have another chance in 2028 when the Summer Olympics head to Los Angeles.
As for the South Korean, he pushed back against the idea that the emotions were due to missing out on being exempt for military service.
“Not at all. I wasn’t really thinking about that at all,” Tom Kim said after the final round from Paris. “Just try and make a medal for my country and not myself.”
Kim also took to Instagram to make a statement.