S. Korea wins Olympic gold in women’s archery team

Jul 26, 2021, 09:30 am

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South Korean archers An San, Kang Chae-young and Jang Min-hee (L to R) stand on the podium with their gold medals after winning the women’s archery team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 25, 2021./ Source: Yonhap

AsiaToday reporter Ji Hwan-hyuk

South Korea won a ninth consecutive gold medal in the women’s team archery event at the Tokyo Olympics Sunday. The 20-year-old South Korean archer An San became the first double gold medalist in any sports in Tokyo.

The South Korean team of Kang Chae-young, Jang Min-hee and An San beat the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the final by the set score of 6-0 (55-53, 56-53, 54-51) at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo.

The South Korean team showed perfect performance, winning every set in the final against the ROC, which was represented by Ksenia Perova, Elena Osipova and Svetlana Gomboeva. The South Korean easily won the first set 55-53, with Kang and Jang shooting 10 each.

As the South Korean archers dominated over the Russians from early on, the ROC team was shaken sharply. The ROC collapsed on its own in the third set, shooting 7 and 8s in the first three shots. The ROC took a second consecutive silver medal in the Olympics, failing again to beat the South Korean archers since the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

South Korea’s women’s archery team has won every gold medal since it was introduced in Seoul in 1988. South Korea is now tied for the longest gold medal streak in all sports at the Olympics, on par with the United States in the 4x100m medley relay in swimming and Kenya in the men’s 3000m steeplechase in athletics. South Korea has won 25 archery gold medals in the Olympics, more than any other sport. Short track speed skating is second on the list with 24 gold medals.

An, Jang and Kang are all competing in their first Olympics. This was the first time since Atlanta 1996 that South Korea fielded a women’s archery team of three first-time Olympians. The youngest member An, who won the mixed team gold medal Saturday, became the first double gold medalist in the Tokyo Games.

#womens archery #Olympic #gold medal #Tokyo Olympics #An San