'My haters? I reply to all of them': How viral Olympic sports shooter Kim Ye-ji takes aim at critics

Television

'My haters? I reply to all of them': How viral Olympic sports shooter Kim Ye-ji takes aim at critics

Published: 05 Sep. 2024, 12:06 Updated: 05 Sep. 2024, 15:01

Left: Kim Ye-ji waits during the women's 10-meter air pistol gold medal match at Chateauroux in France on July 28. Right: Kim during an appearance on MBC talk show ″Radio Star″ on Wednesday. [JOINT PRESS CORPS, SCREEN CAPTURE]

Korean sports shooter Kim Ye-ji has been inundated with both commercial deals and hateful comments since the recent Olympics in Paris, always providing a personal response to the latter, according to her recent appearance on an MBC talk show.

Kim, who earned a silver medal in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event at the Paris Olympics, appeared on the MBC talk show "Radio Star" to share behind-the-scenes stories on Wednesday.

“In the slow round, you need to shoot five times within five minutes, while in the rapid round, you have just three seconds per shot,” Kim said, recounting the time she didn’t qualify for the 25-meter women’s final at the Paris Olympics.

“I’m typically a slow shooter, but I got greedy, aimed for precision and ended up missing a shot by just 0.01 seconds, resulting in a zero score.”

Kim failed to advance to the 25-meter women’s final at the Paris Olympics after missing the timing on one of her shots during the rapid round, finishing in 27th place out of 40.

In a post-match interview right after the game, she said, “Even if you shoot a zero, it’s not the end of the world,” which drew significant attention and backlash.

Kim shared that she received many comments and messages questioning whether she took the Olympics seriously and criticizing her performance, such as “You think the Olympics was a joke?” and “Why take an unskilled athlete to the Olympics?”

“I reply to all of them,” she said. “I say I never took the Olympics lightly. I believe in the power of words, so I mentioned this to avoid negativity and reassure myself, but I apologize if it was perceived negatively by the public.”

Kim said that most of the time, critics respond with, “I’m sorry if my words were harsh. I will support you in the future.”

Kim is currently in discussions to appear on several broadcast interviews and shows.

She also addressed rumors about being offered roles in films, which she confirmed are untrue.

“I did not receive any movie offers,” Kim said. “However, I thought, ‘There is a limit to being an athlete,’ hoping that shooting becomes a more popular sport. If I receive an offer, I told my agency that I would consider it as long as it didn’t interfere with my training, because I like to challenge myself.”

Kim also revealed she has received more than 20 advertising offers for products such as cosmetics, hats, game jewelry and health foods.

"I have postponed them because I still have competitions left," she said.

Kim recently signed with the agency Plfil on Aug. 19 to assist with her promotional activities.

BY JUNG SI-NAE, WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]