Korean archers take gold in women's team event to continue 36-year dynasty

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Korean archers take gold in women's team event to continue 36-year dynasty

Published: 29 Jul. 2024, 01:08 Updated: 29 Jul. 2024, 05:12

PAIK JI-HWAN
paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr

Korea's Lim Si-hyeon competes during the women's team archery gold medal match against China at the Invalides in Paris on Sunday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Korea's Jeon Hun-young, Lim Si-hyeon and Nam Su-hyeon beat Qixuan An, Jiaman Li and Xiaolei Yang of China in a shoot-out in the women’s team archery final at the Paris Olympics on Sunday at Les Invalides in Paris, winning Korea’s 10th straight Olympic gold in the event.

In the team competition, each team has to shoot an end of six arrows in two minutes. By winning a set, the team receives two set points. If both teams earn the same score, both teams earn one point. The first team to win five set points wins the contest.

Korea were off to a good start in the first set, shooting 56 to beat China’s 53 and taking two set points.

The Korean trio shot 55 in the second set, surpassing China by one point to add two set points.

Korea needed just one more set point in the third set to end the match, but they scored 51 to China's 54, forcing a fourth set.

The fourth set was neck-and-neck, but Korea’s 53 fell short of China’s 55, tying the set points at 4-4 and forcing a single arrow shoot-off in which each archer from both teams shoots once to decide the winner.

Korea shot 29 points in the shoot-off — although the score was not clear until the judge checked the two 10s at the end of the match — beating China’s 27 to win their 10th consecutive Olympic gold.

Korea celebrate after winning the women's team archery gold medal match against China at the Invalides in Paris on Sunday. [EPA/YONHAP]

The win continues Korea's dynastic domination of the sport — no other country has ever won women's team archery at the Olympics.

Sunday's women's team event was the first archery medal to be contested at the Paris Olympics. The men's team event will follow on Monday, with the round of 16 in the morning and quarterfinals, semifinals and medal matches in the afternoon. The early individual rounds will then be held on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, before the mixed team event on Friday, women's individual medal matches on Saturday and men's individual on Sunday.

Korea has dominated Olympic archery for decades, with 28 gold medals — double the No. 2 United States' haul — as of press time Sunday. Korea has never lost a women's or mixed team event, and the Olympic records in all five archery disciplines are currently held by Korean archers.

Korea won four of five available gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, missing out on only the men's individual title.

Sunday’s gold is Korea’s third at the Paris Olympics after a gold from fencer Oh Sang-uk and shooter Oh Ye-jin.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN AND JIM BULLEY [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]