Korean archers departed for Paris on Tuesday with a modest medal target in mind.
Korea will send six archers: Kim Woo-jin, Kim Je-deok and Lee Woo-seok on the men’s side, and Lim Si-hyeon, Jeon Hun-young and Nam Su-hyeon for the women’s competition.
They will be vying for medals in the men’s and women’s individual events, plus the mixed team event, which made its Olympic debut in Tokyo three years ago.
Korea leads the all-time archery medal tables with 27 gold medals and 43 medals overall.
The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has said it hopes for about five gold medals, which would be the country’s lowest total since 1976, and the archery team is expected to do the heavy lifting on that front.
After winning four out of five archery gold medals in Tokyo, Korea is taking aim at three gold medals this time, head coach Hong Seung-jin said.
“Our athletes have been working extremely hard, and I think we should be able to accomplish our goal easily,” Hong told reporters at Incheon International Airport. “With a bit of luck, we could surpass that goal.”
The Olympic archery competition first offered four gold medals — in the individual and team events for men and women — in 1988 in Seoul. Korea 스포츠 pulled off a gold medal sweep in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.
In 2021, Korea fell one gold medal shy of a sweep of five titles, missing out on the men’s individual event.
While running the table may prove difficult in Paris, Korea will look to extend its winning streak in the women’s team event. Korea has remained undefeated there since it was added to the program in 1988.
All three women will be making their first Olympic appearance. At least Lim has some international experience, highlighted by her three gold medals at last year’s Asian Games. Jeon and Nam have never been at any major international event.
