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Kim Woo-jin (right) congratulates Lim Si-hyeon after winning a gold medal in his men’s individual archery event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Yonhap)

Korean archery still reigns supreme. Korean athletes medaled in all five archery events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, securing five gold medals, one silver, and one bronze, making for a total of seven medals in archery alone. This is the most successful archery team in Olympic history. 

The women competed first. Lim Si-hyeon (KNSU), Nam Su-hyeon (Suncheon City Hall), and Jeon Hun-young (Incheon City Hall) beat the Chinese team in a shoot-off, remaining undefeated for the 10th consecutive Games. The women of South Korea’s archery team have not relinquished the top podium spot since the 1988 Olympics in Seoul — and that includes team events. As this was the first Olympics for all the athletes on the women’s team, skeptics were worried about their lack of experience. It turns out these worries were completely unfounded.  

The men’s team built on the momentum of the women’s team. Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall), Lee Woo-seok (Kolon Group), and Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office) exhibited the highest caliber of archery to remain undefeated in the team events for the third consecutive Olympics. Kim emerged victorious in the 2016 Rio Olympics with teammates Ku Bon-chan (Hyundai Steel) and Lee Seung-yun (Gwangju, Nam District Office). He then took gold in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics with teammates Oh Jin-hyek (Hyundai Steel) and Kim Je-deok. Lee shared his struggles with missing an Olympic opportunity in Tokyo. Despite being selected for the national team, the one-year delay in the Games caused by the COVID-19 pandemic caused him to miss his chance.  

Kim Woo-jin stands on the medal podium after besting US archer Brady Ellison and winning the gold in the men’s individual event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (pool photo)

Kim Woo-jin and Lim Si-hyeon also took gold in the coed event, which was introduced during the Tokyo Olympics, where An San and Kim Je-deok took gold. 

The individual female event turned into a contest among the Korean athletes. The star Lim Si-hyeon faced off with Nam Su-hyeon. Having already won a gold and a silver in other events, Lim lived up to her reputation by taking an additional gold. 

Since Seo Hyang-soon won a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, Korean athletes have dominated all individual female archery events, with the exception of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. When including the coed events, the South Korean women have taken the top spot in 22 out of the past 23 Olympic events. They are truly the world’s best. 

Kim Woo-jin and Lee Woo-seok provided the finale. Kim took gold, his first one for an Olympic individual event. Kim took team gold with Ku Bon-chan eight years ago in Rio. Ku also won an individual gold in Rio. Lee Woo-seok was knocked out during the final four by Kim Woo-jin. Lee then took bronze. This is the first time that two Korean male athletes have stood on the Olympic podium at the same time in the individual event. That’s how good the team for the Paris Olympics is.  

From left to right, Kim Je-deok, Kim Woo-jin and Lee Woo-seok stand on the medal podium after winning the gold in the men’s team event on July 29, 2024, at the Paris Olympics. (pool photo) 

South Korean athletes undergo a brutal selection process to qualify for the national team. Not even those who’ve won gold at past Olympics aren’t exempt from the selection tournament, and are given no legs up on their competition. An San, the three-time gold-winner from the Tokyo Games, was unable to make this year’s Olympic team. 

This process of judging athletes only on their present capabilities, not their past performances, is what has allowed Korea to maintain its status as the world’s archery powerhouse for nearly 40 years. One could say that fairness and transparency made the Korean archery team we’re watching dominate in Paris today. 

The rigorous training that Korea’s archery team went through in preparation for the Games has also contributed to their sweep of gold medals. The Korea Archery Association created a 100% accurate replica of the Paris archery grounds — down to the stadium’s announcers, cheers from the crowd, and other possible distractions in both French and English — at their training center in Jincheon ahead of the Olympics to acclimate to the game-day conditions ahead of time. That preparation allowed Korea’s archers to step up and take their shots so calmly even in the high-stakes environment of the Olympics.

The archers’ training against an AI archery robot developed by their corporate sponsor, the Hyundai Motor Group, also proved effective. 

“I felt pressure from the fact that the archery bot hit 10 points 100% of the time,” said Lim Si-hyeon. “It felt the same as a real competition.”

Korea’s gold-winning women’s archery team celebrates their win in the team event on July 28, 2024, at the Paris Olympics. From right to left are Nam Su-hyeon, Lim Si-hyeon and Jeon Hun-young. (AP/Yonhap)

By Jang Pill-su, staff reporter; Kim Yang-hee, staff reporter

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