Shooter Lee Gun-hyuk, who won two gold medals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, returned home without the medals after leaving them behind at his hotel in Japan.
Lee swept both the individual and team events in the men's 25-meter rapid fire pistol competition, taking home two golds.
He had earlier drawn attention by sharing an exchange with his wife, Kim Ye-ji, a silver medalist in shooting at the 2024 Paris Olympics, shortly after his individual victory. "My wife joked that she would change the passcode to our house if I didn't win gold," Lee said. "During the tense shoot-off, I thought of my wife and our 16-month-old baby. I want to get home quickly and put the medal around our baby's neck."
But when Lee flew home on the 2nd after the competition ended, he left the gold medals at his hotel in Japan. The medals were not lost and are being safely kept at the hotel, according to reports.
Kim, who came to the airport to meet her husband that day, joked upon hearing the news: "Shouldn't he be punished a little?" Lee smiled awkwardly and said, "I'm sorry that I did well but couldn't finish on a high note." Instead of the gold medals, he brought his wife a gift of sake, a traditional Japanese rice wine.
Lee and Kim are South Korea's leading couple in shooting. Lee's two-title performance at this Asian Games added further luster to the couple's record of medals at major multi-sport events.
Their next target is the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. "Now we want to go beyond Asia and become the best-shooting couple in the world," the two said, pledging to stand together on the Olympic stage in Los Angeles.
