sports

The Amnokgang Sports Club is the sports organization which was formed for the first time in the DPRK.

According to a state measure taken two years after Korea’s liberation, a sports club of the then Office of the Interior was formed as a standing organization by involving members of the football and basketball teams that returned home after participating in the first World Festival of Youth and Students in 1947. It is the ancestor of today’s Amnokgang Sports Club.

The sports club has undergone remarkable progress under the great care of the state for nearly 80 years, adorning its history with amazing sports achievements.

It produced many sports stars, including Sin Kum Dan, a “world track and field queen”, Jong Song Ok, a “world marathon queen”, and Om Yun Chol, an Olympic gold medallist and five-time world weightlifting champion.

It also brought forth the first winner of Kim Il Sung Prize, DPRK Hero, People’s Athlete and two-time Olympic gold medallist in the sports sector and Olympic gold medallist and five-time and three-time world champions in the weightlifting event.

It is also renowned as a sports club with the largest number of gold medallists of the Olympic Games and world championships and many heroes of the sports sector in the country.

For such achievements, it was awarded Order of Kim Il Sung, the top honour in the country, twice, and other high decorations.

The players of the Amnokgang Sports Club are now carrying forward the achievements made by sportspersons of the preceding generations. This year alone, the club collected over ten medals including eight golds in the international competitions.

The club will celebrate its 78th birthday on September 19.