Research has shown that silver medalists are significantly less happier than bronze medalists at Olympic Games, despite their better performances. That's based on expectations, because the most easily imagined alternative for silver medal winners is the gold, while that for bronze medalists is not winning any medal. South Korean judoka Kim Min-jong was so determined to win his first Olympic gold in Paris that, when he ended up with a silver medal instead Friday night, he shed tears of disappointment. Kim lost to Teddy Riner of France in the final of the men's +100-kilogram event at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris. And to be sure, there's no shame in losing to Riner because a whole bunch of others before Kim had also lost to the French hero. This was Riner's third Olympic gold medal in the men's heaviest weight class, and his fifth medal overall. He is so beloved in his country that he was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony on July 26. "I just wasn't good enough," Kim said, figh ting back on tears. "I lost today because Riner is still better." In the days leading up to the Olympics, Kim, 23, often spoke about "impressing heaven" enough to win the gold medal in France. Kim once said, "I think I've trained hard enough to impress heaven, and maybe heaven will gift me something in return." After falling short of his ultimate goal, Kim said, "I guess heaven wasn't so impressed. I will try to do a better job of that and reach the top of the podium." Kim competed in a hostile environment, with virtually the entire arena cheering on their national hero. But Kim said he wasn't fazed by the noise. "I told myself that they were rooting for me and that all that screaming and chanting were for me," Kim said. "Once I settled on that thought, the crowd noise didn't bother me a bit." At 183 centimeters, Kim stands about 20 centimeters shorter than Riner. Kim had confidently declared back in June that he would have something up his sleeve to exploit Riner's weaknesses against shorter opponents. B ut Kim never had a chance to execute it, because Riner beat him with a lightning-quick hip throw for the ippon (a full point). "He must have done a lot of work on me, whereas I didn't do as good of a job with my analysis," Kim said. "He likes to use this particular technique but I couldn't defend against it because I am not good enough yet." Kim said going up against Riner was a learning experience in and of itself. "Meeting him in the gold medal match should help me a great deal when I prepare for future events," Kim said. "I will try to take another step forward at the next Olympics." Source: Yonhap News Agency