Olympic archer to be given excellence award

Choi Mi-sun [YONHAP]

Archer Choi Mi-sun will receive a national award for her sporting excellence, Korea’s sports ministry said Friday.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said Choi, who helped the Korean women’s archery team win a gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, was named one of the nine recipients of the 55th Korea Sports Awards. The 21-year-old won the presidential honor in the sports competition category, it said.

The annual sports awards honor those who have contributed to sports development and promotion. The recipients are usually announced on the National Day of Sports, which falls on Oct. 15.

With her Olympic gold medal, Choi also helped Korea top women’s recurve archery team event at the Summer Universiade in Taiwan this year.

Korean national taekwondo team head coach Kim Jong-ki won the presidential honor in the coaching category. He guided both the men’s and women’s team to topping the World Taekwondo Championships in Muju, North Jeolla, in June. The lifetime achievement award went to Korea Skating Union Honorary President Park Sung-in, who previously helped Korea to win six gold medals at the 2006 Torino Winter Olympics.

The presidential award is given in seven different areas, including research, promotion and sports for the disabled.

Meanwhile, the ministry said archer Ki Bo-bae, who has three Olympic gold medals, will receive the highest decoration in the nation’s Order of Sport Merit. She is one of the 104 awardees to earn government recognition this year.

Ki won both the individual and team events at the 2012 Summer Olympics. She was also a member of the gold medal-winning Korean team at the 2016 Summer Games, along with Choi and Chang Hye-jin.

The ministry said the awards ceremony will take place Monday at the National Museum of Korea in central Seoul.

Yonhap