Jeju Aims for Best-Ever Results at First Home National Sports Festival for the Disabled

Record 301 Athletes Compete Across 26 Events
Goal: Over 150 Medals, Top 12 Overall Finish
Cycling Preliminaries Begin the Campaign... Resolution Ceremony Set for September 1

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province delegation, competing for the first time at home in the 46th National Sports Festival for the Disabled, has dispatched a record 301 athletes across 26 events. Starting with the cycling preliminary match on the 25th, they have embarked on their campaign with the goal of winning more than 150 medals and achieving their best-ever overall ranking of 12th place or higher.

The Jeju Special Self-Governing Province delegation, participating in the 46th National Disabled Sports Festival held in Jeju, has dispatched 301 athletes across a record 26 events. Aiming to achieve their best performance ever with over 150 medals and a top 12 overall ranking, they embarked on the grand journey starting with a preliminary cycling competition on the 25th. Provided by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Disabled Sports Association.

The 46th National Sports Festival for the Disabled will be held throughout Jeju Special Self-Governing Province for six days from September 11 to 16, 2026. A total of 9,141 participants—including 5,677 athletes as well as officials and staff—from 17 cities and provinces nationwide will compete across 31 events.

This year, Jeju has formed its largest-ever delegation for the competition, with a total of 475 members, including 301 athletes and 174 officials and staff.

Building on last year's growth—when the team collected a record 45 gold medals as part of a total haul of 108 medals at the 45th festival held in Busan—the goal now is to use their home ground advantage to earn more than 150 medals and dramatically improve their overall ranking.

In particular, as most events—except for shooting, track cycling, and rowing—will be held at stadiums within the province, the team expects to minimize fatigue from travel and fully leverage home-ground advantages such as familiarity with the venues and enthusiastic support from local fans.

The competition officially began with the women's track cycling individual pursuit 4km preliminaries, featuring the pair Kang Jin-i and An Sun-jin, held at Changwon Leisure Sports Park on the 25th.

On the 26th, the duo Kim Jiyeon and Jung Eunhye will compete in the women's track time trial 1km and the 200m sprint, aiming to win medals, while from the 31st, Wheelchair Basketball preliminaries will be held at the Halla Gymnasium. The Jeju delegation will hold a resolution ceremony on September 1st to strengthen their determination to achieve their goals.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.