(Olympics) archers-S Korea
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| ▲ This composite photo shows South Korean archers Kim Je-deok (L) and An San during the the men's and women's ranking rounds at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This composite photo shows South Korean archers Kim Je-deok (L) and An San after they won the men's and women's ranking rounds at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean archer Kim Je-deok competes in the men's ranking round at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean archer An San competes in the women's ranking round at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 23, 2021. (Yonhap) |
(Olympics) archers-S Korea
(Olympics) Youth rules for S. Korea in early archery competition
By Yoo Jee-ho
SEOUL, July 23 (Yonhap) -- The two youngest archers for South Korea at the Tokyo Olympics made the most noise Friday in the preliminary rounds, setting themselves up for a potentially career-defining moment on the weekend.
An San, 20, scored an Olympic record 680 points to win the women's ranking round at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on Friday. Hours later, the 17-year-old phenom Kim Je-deok won the men's ranking round with 688 points.
They will be paired for the inaugural mixed team event on Saturday and will be the top seed in the 16-team, single elimination tournament.
An and Kim are both competing in their first Olympics, and they both have a chance to make history as the first triple archery gold medalist at a single Olympics.
"I now have a chance to win three medals, and my goal is to do just that," Kim said.
In the mixed team event, each match will be contested over sets of four arrows, two per archer in each set. The team with the higher score in a set earns two points. If the two sides are tied in a set, they each get a point.
The first team to reach five points wins the match. In case of a tie after four sets, the match will be decided in a tiebreaker, with archers each shooting one arrow. If the score is still tied, then the arrow closest to the center is declared the winner.
On top of obvious skills, it takes a considerable amount of guts to break a 25-year-old Olympic record from the very start, the way An did. After leading everyone in the ranking event, An sounded almost embarrassed to be in first place, saying, "I don't think I am the best in the field here. I was only trying to do my best, and I am happy that I was able to post a good score."
An said only a few words without allowing so much as a peek into her personality. The collegiate athlete repeatedly discussed her faith in her hard work and how she thinks it will all pay off in the end.
That seems to be the mantra for the whole archery team. Kim, too, spoke about letting the hard work and preparation do their thing at the Olympics, but he definitely sounded more self-assured in saying those words.
"I may not have much international experience, but I think it will allow me to sneak up on people," he said. "I am going into the mixed team event with confidence because hard work will not lie."
Asked how he dealt with the one-year postponement of the Olympics due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kim said he chose to look on the brighter side of things.
"I took it as an extra opportunity to prepare myself," he said. "I wanted to stay the course and continue to grow as an athlete."
Nothing will help an athlete grow more than winning an Olympic medal.
(END)
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