South Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon set a world record in the women's ranking round of the Paris Olympics on Thursday, as her Summer Games debut got off to a rousing start. Lim scored 694 out of a possible 720 points at Les Invalides in Paris, finishing first in the ranking round. Another South Korean archer, Kang Chae-young, owned the previous record of 692 points, set in June 2019. Lim, a triple Asian Games gold medalist last fall, will be the top seed in the individual competition, which begins Tuesday with the round of 64. Lim will also represent South Korea in the mixed team event on Aug. 2. Her partner will be the top South Korean archer in the men's ranking round, set to begin later Thursday. The mixed team event was introduced for the first time at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, and South Korean An San became the first triple gold medalist in Olympic archery history by winning the women's individual, women's team and mixed team gold medals. An did not make the South Korean team for Paris, and L im will now take a crack at winning three gold medals. "I'm grateful for this opportunity. I will try to make the most of it," Lim told reporters. "All three male archers are in great form at the moment." Lim admitted that she was nervous about competing in her first Olympics but she did the best she could to enjoy the experience. "I told myself not to try to do too much, and I am thankful that I was able to maintain good form from start to finish," she said. "I am happy to have done well in this phase but this is only the beginning." In the ranking round, Lim led everyone with 48 10s and earned 21 Xs for hitting the innermost gold ring on the target. Archers each fired 72 arrows, six arrows each over 12 ends, and Lim scored nothing but 10s and 9s until hitting an 8 with the last arrow of her 10th end. Also in Thursday's ranking round, Nam Su-hyeon of South Korea finished second overall behind Lim with 688 points. The third member of the South Korean team, Jeon Hun-young, ranked 13th with 664 points. W ith the three archers' scores combined, South Korea finished first as the team with an Olympic record score of 2,046 points, 50 points ahead of the runner-up China. South Korea will be the top seed in the women's team event on Sunday. South Korea had set the previous Olympic record in Tokyo with 2,032 points. "I was such a nervous wreck because this is my first Olympics. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn't hurt the team," said Nam, the youngest of the trio at 19. "It's an honor to be part of the Olympic record." Jeon, the oldest on the team at 30, added, "My teammates did a great job and I tried to hold up my end of bargain. I will try to do my best the rest of the Olympics. By virtue of grabbing the top seed, South Korea will advance straight to the quarterfinals, and will meet the winner of the round of 16 match between Chinese Taipei and the United States. South Korea is undefeated in the women's team event and will try to win its 10th consecutive gold medal. South Korea has been the most successfu l nation in Olympic archery history, with 27 gold medals and 43 medals overall. Source: Yonhap News Agency
Sunday, September 08, 2024