Growing up as a badminton prospect with a famous mother, Kim Won-ho always tried hard to create his own identity. And he feels his first Olympic medal, silver in the mixed doubles won in Paris Friday night, could go a long way toward helping him finally move out of his mother's shadow. Kim is the son of Gil Young-ah, a three-time Olympic badminton medalist. She won the women's doubles bronze medal at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, and four years later in Atlanta, Gil captured the inaugural mixed doubles gold medal with her partner Kim Dong-moon, while adding a silver in the women's doubles. Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun lost to Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong of China 2-0 (21-8, 21-11) in Friday's final at La Chapelle Arena in Paris. A victory would have made Gil and Kim the first South Korean mother-son duo with an Olympic gold medal. Coming up one step short is something that will fuel Kim going forward. "Ever since I was a boy, my mom always told me, 'I don't want you to be known as Gil Young-ah's son. I w ant people to call me Kim Won-ho's mother,'" Kim said. "I think I would have made it possible with the gold medal here. It's a shame I couldn't get it done this time." Kim said growing up in a house with three Olympic medals in the trophy case inspired his own Olympic dreams. "My mom has a gold, a silver and a bronze, so I have some catching up to do," Kim said. "When I reached the final, I started feeling a bit greedy." When reached by Yonhap News Agency in Paris Friday, Gil said she was surprised that her son had remembered what she'd told him about growing up as a son of the Olympic medalist. "When I heard him say that, I got emotional. I was also proud of him," Gil said. "I guess he has moved out of my shadow now." Gil, who coaches her own son at a semi-pro club in South Korea, said Friday's loss can only help Kim going forward. "He wasn't even regarded as a medal contender. I am thankful for the silver medal," Gil said. "God won't give you everything at once. I think God just told Won-ho to try har der next time for the gold medal. And I see this as a good opportunity for Won-to to push himself again. I hope he will be happy playing badminton." Kim and Jeong didn't have an answer for Zheng and Huang, the world's No. 1-ranked pair. Kim said such a lopsided win was a rude wakeup call. "I learned so much. I realized how I should train and what kind of mindset I should have," Kim said. "Our opponents were better and they worked harder. We lost because we weren't good enough. But we should be able to start afresh after this." Jeong dedicated her first Olympic medal to her late mother. "On her phone, she saved my number under the name, 'Olympic gold medalist Jeong Na-eun,'" she said. "Even though I didn't get a gold medal here, I think she'd still be proud of me." This silver medal was South Korea's first medal in the mixed doubles since Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung won gold at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Jeong said she was pleased to have ended the drought. "We barely made it through the group stage an d never imagined we would even win silver," Jeong said. "I want to savor this for now. And if I do make it to the next Olympics, I'd like to do even better." Source: Yonhap News Agency