10 medals across all men's and women's events; men's sabre team wins 4th straight gold

24 years, 36 billion won in support — AI performance analysis deployed for first time

South Korea's fencing team poses with a national flag bearing cheering messages from the public after winning their fourth consecutive gold medal in the men's sabre team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. [SK Telecom]
South Korea's fencing team poses with a national flag bearing cheering messages from the public after winning their fourth consecutive gold medal in the men's sabre team event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. [SK Telecom]

South Korea's national fencing team, backed by SK Telecom for 24 consecutive years, claimed 10 medals at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games — a result the company attributed in part to its newly deployed AI performance analysis system.

SK Telecom said Monday that as the head sponsor of the Korea Fencing Federation, it supported the team's preparations for the Aichi-Nagoya Games by combining its long-running financial backing with AI-powered performance analysis and a public cheering campaign. South Korea's fencers took home medals in all disciplines — men's and women's sabre, épée and foil.

SK Telecom said the Games marked the first deployment of SKT-FAN, its in-house fencing AI performance analysis system. Built on AI computer vision and motion capture technology, the system performs athlete-by-athlete analysis through automatic detection of scoring and conceding moments in match footage, timeline and highlight generation, and sensor-free AI motion capture.

SKT-FAN was developed with the goal of cutting analysts' repetitive video review work by up to 90 percent. Coaching staff and athletes used the output to refine training and adjust in-competition strategy. SK Telecom also dispatched additional medical trainers and performance analysts to the Games venue.

A screen showing SKT-FAN, SK Telecom's in-house AI fencing performance analysis system. [SK Telecom]
A screen showing SKT-FAN, SK Telecom's in-house AI fencing performance analysis system. [SK Telecom]

SK Telecom has maintained its sponsorship of the Korea Fencing Federation since taking on the role of head sponsor in 2003, committing a cumulative 36 billion won ($26.5 million) to training equipment, overseas competition support and the creation of Olympic simulation environments. The SK Telecom International Grand Prix Fencing tournament, held for the 21st time since its launch in 2004, has served as a stage where Korean athletes compete against top international rivals. The company has also supported a club and recreational fencing competition that draws about 4,000 participants each year.

Beyond fencing, SK Telecom said it sponsors athletes across multiple sports under the "Team SKT" banner, including swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, weightlifter Park Hye-jeong, track and field athlete Namadi Joeljin, modern pentathlete Shin Su-min, sport climber Noh Hyun-seung and basketball player Eddie Daniel. As of Sunday, Team SKT athletes had combined for five gold medals, seven silver medals and six bronze medals at the Asian Games.

Team SKT athletes who won medals at the Games celebrated while draped in a national flag bearing cheering messages written by members of the public.

SK Telecom also produced a support video that drew strong viewership. The company released a clip on Sept. 18 featuring surprise messages of encouragement from family members, training partners and medical staff directed at the national team, under the title "The Best AI Supporters." The video had logged about 1.9 million views by Sunday, nine days after its release.

"The moment our team — after 24 years of sweat — wrapped themselves in the public's cheers and claimed a fourth straight gold in men's sabre is one I will never forget," said Kwon Young-sang, head of SK Telecom's communication support division. "Now that we have confirmed our AI technology contributes to improving athletic performance, we will continue to provide support on the ground going forward."


chami@heraldcorp.com