Korea clinch every archery gold as Kim Woo-jin wins high-drama shoot-off

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Korea clinch every archery gold as Kim Woo-jin wins high-drama shoot-off

Published: 04 Aug. 2024, 22:04 Updated: 04 Aug. 2024, 22:20

Korea's Kim Woo-jin shoots during the quarterfinals of the men's individual archery contest at the Paris Olympics Sunday, moments before securing his first individual medal at the Games. [NEWS1]

Kim Woo-jin took gold in the men’s individual archery contest at the Paris Olympics Sunday, cementing Korea’s spot in history as the first-ever country to take all five gold medals across the discipline at a single Games — winning a high-drama shoot-off by 5 millimeters.

It was an intense final battle, with Kim coming from behind twice to challenge longtime rival Brady Ellison of the United States for the top spot. Both shot three straight 10s in the final round to put the board at 5-5, forcing a single-arrow shoot-off.

And victory was Kim's, his final arrow landing 55 millimeters from the bullseye, while Ellison's sat 60 millimeters away, according to an initial call.

It was the 32-year-old veteran archer's third gold medal of the Paris Games, with Kim matching his mixed team partner Lim Si-hyeon's perfect score. The two won the mixed team event, both had won their respective men's and women's team contests and both sealed their 2024 Olympics with individual gold.

Kim's win came moments after Korea’s Lee Woo-seok beat Germany’s Florian Unruh 6-0 for bronze with three straight 29s.

Lee Woo-seok reacts after winning bronze in the men's individual archery contest at the Paris Olympics on Sunday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

A single arrow determined which of the two Korean archers would have a shot at gold, with the two Korean archers facing off in the semifinals. Lee grabbed an early lead, but Kim fought back to tie things up at 5-5, forcing a shoot-off.

Kim landed a perfect 10 while Lee fell short by one point, his 9 sending him into the bronze-medal match. Lee immediately went to congratulate Kim, with whom he had notched a gold medal in the men’s team event — two Games in a row.

Korea's Kim Woo-jin, second from left, embraces Lee Woo-seok after winning the Korean-on-Korean semifinals in a shoot-off. [NEWS1]

Lee was the first to make the semifinals, coming from behind to beat Italy’s Mauro Nespoli 6-4.

Minutes later, Kim, the most senior member of the men’s team, guaranteed at least one medal for Korea in the men’s individual contest after beating Turkey’s Mete Gazoz 6-4 in the quarterfinals — and at least one spot for a Korean athlete in the gold-medal round.

Their work kept alive Korea’s hopes for becoming the first-ever country to win all five gold medals across the archery discipline at the Games. Korea had already won gold in the mixed team, women’s team, men’s team and women’s individual events.

But the final member of the gold medal-winning men’s team, Kim Je-deok, failed to join his teammates in the semifinals after losing 6-0 to eventual silver-medalist Ellison in the quarterfinals, ending a shot for a total Korean sweep of the event at the Paris Olympics.

Still, the Korean men’s team bested their performance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, where zero reached the podium.

Kim Woo-jin, 32, entered the individual men’s contest on the back of two gold medals in Paris, winning the mixed team event with three-time Paris Olympics gold-medalist Lim Si-hyeon and the mens’ team event with Lee and Kim Je-deok.

Kim Woo-jin was also on both of Korea’s gold-medal-winning men’s teams in Tokyo and at the 2016 Rio Olympics, where he became the first-ever archer to record 700 points in the 72-arrow qualification round.

Archery has been Korea's most successful sport in Paris, with archers adding five gold, one silver and one bronze to the medal count.

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