Decoding South Korea's archery mixed team's dominance at Olympics
South Korea, also known as the Republic of Korea, struck gold in the mixed-team archery competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. It was a blustery final at the Esplanade des Invalides as the pair of Lim Si-hyeon and Kim Woojin piped Germany's Michelle Kroppen and Florian Unruh in three straight sets. Let's decode South Korea's dominance in the mixed-team archery event (Olympics).
Second successive gold for South Korea
It was the second time the mixed archery team event was held at the Olympic Games and the second time South Korea won it. The contingent also triumphed at the 2020 Tokyo Games as the duo of Kim Je-deok and An San brought glory to the nation. South Korea's mixed team further enhanced their tally in the 2024 event.
Staggering run at 2020 games
The pairing of the then 17-year-old Je Deok and San gave a hard time to several oppositions in the 2020 competition. They demolished the Bangladesh duo of Ruman Shana and Diya Siddique 6-0 in the 1/8 elimination round before getting the better of the Indian pair of Pravin Jadhav Deepika Kumari (6-2) in the quarter-final match.
Dominance in semi-final and final
South Korea advanced to the summit clash after thrashing Mexicans Luis Álvarez-Alejandra Valencia 5-1 in the semi-final. Je Deok and San held off Netherlands's Gaby Schloesser and Steve Wijle in the final match with a tally of 5-3 to secure the gold medal.
Si-hyeon and Woojin dominated proceedings at Paris Games
As mentioned, Si-hyeon and Woojin represented South Korea's mixed team in the 2024 games and claimed the gold medal. The duo started its campaign with a 5-4 win over the Chinese Taipei pairing of Tai Yu-hsuan and Lei Chien-ying in the 1/8 elimination round. They then beat Italians Mauro Nespoli and Chiara Rebagliati 6-2 in the quarter-final.
Retention of the gold medal
Indian archers Dhiraj Bommadevara and Ankita Bhakat challenged South Korea in the semi-final match but lost the game 2-6. Lim Si-hyeon and Kim Woo-jin swept the floor 6-0 with their German opponents Florian Unruh and Michelle Kroppen in the final to retain the gold medal.
