How it unfolded
Twenty-two-year-old An Se-young arrived in Paris as the reigning 2023 Copenhagen world champion and world No. 1, but had carried knee pain throughout the tournament from an injury suffered at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games. She beat Gregoria Mariska Tunjung 21-11, 21-13 in the semifinal to reach a final against China's He Bingjiao, who advanced after Carolina Marin, ahead in her own semifinal, retired with a knee injury — He drew attention on the podium by holding a Spanish-flag pin in tribute to Marin. An led the final throughout, taking the first game 21-13 and closing it out 21-16 in straight games. It was Korea's first women's singles gold since Bang Soo-hyun at Atlanta 1996, a 28-year gap. Immediately after the win, An publicly criticized the national federation's team management and injury-care practices, and her comments led to a government investigation and a push to reform the federation.
Why it still matters
This match took back a women's singles summit that China, Japan and Spain had shared for a generation, and established An Se-young as the sport's new benchmark. At the same time, the player's public criticism right after winning gold triggered a national-level investigation into the federation's operations, pulling the modern sport's hidden issues of athlete management and injury burden into a wider public debate in Korea.