Korea's oldest Olympian, shooting medalist in 2004, ends likely last Games

Olympic Sports

Korea's oldest Olympian, shooting medalist in 2004, ends likely last Games

Published: 31 Jul. 2024, 20:06

Lee Bo-na competes in the women's trap shooting qualification round at the Paris Olympics at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Paris on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

Korea’s oldest Olympian, sport shooter Lee Bo-na, failed to qualify for the women’s trap final at the Paris Olympics, placing 24th in a pool of 30 athletes in the qualification round Wednesday at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre in Chateauroux, France.

Lee scored 113 points over five rounds, 10 points behind Mar Molne Magrina of Spain, who placed first.

Korea’s Kang Gee-eun, 33, also failed to make the finals, scoring 114 points.

At 43 years old, Lee was the oldest athlete among the Korean delegation at the Paris Games. She made her Olympic debut in 2004, three years before the youngest member of the Korean shooting team, Ban Hyo-jin, was born.

Lee won bronze in women’s trap and silver in women’s double trap at the 2004 Athens Olympics and competed at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

But she failed to make the top-six in the women’s trap contest Wednesday, ending her journey at what she previously said would likely be her final Olympic Games.

Korean B-boy Hong 10 is the second oldest member of the delegation in Paris. He will turn 40 years old in December. Korean archer Oh Jin-hyek won gold with the men's team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021 at 39 years old.

Korea has four sport shooting medals as of press time Wednesday — silver in the mixed 10-meter air rifle, gold and silver in the women’s 10-meter air pistol and gold in the women’s 10-meter air rifle.

BY MARY YANG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]