PARIS (ANN/THE KOREA HERALD/YONHAP) – South Korea secured its 10th consecutive gold medal in Paris on Sunday in the women’s archery team event, continuing a winning streak that started 36 years ago in Seoul.
The team, consisting of Jeon Hun-young, Nam Su-hyeon and Lim Si-hyeon, triumphed over China with a 5-4 set score after an intense shoot-off at Invalides in Paris.
The women’s team event in archery was added to the Olympics in 1988 in Seoul, and South Korea remained undefeated after holding off China.
South Korea leads all countries in Olympic archery with 28 gold medals and 44 medals overall.
South Korea survived a scare in the semifinals earlier Sunday, needing a late rally and then a shoot-off to fend off the Netherlands.
The final also went to a shoot-off after South Korea blew a 4-0 lead, and Jeon and Lim each hit a 10 with their last arrows to push South Korea to the top.
In archery team events, each of the three shooters takes two arrows per set, for a total of six arrows. A set win is worth two points, and a tie is good for one point. The first team to reach five points wins the match.
In case of a tie after four sets, the teams go to a shoot-off, where archers take one shot each to determine the winner.
South Korea won the first set 56-53, with Jeon hitting 10s with both of her arrows. South Korea then built a 4-0 lead by winning the next set 55-54, with Lim hitting a 9 with her last arrow for the narrow set victory.
China stayed alive by taking the third set 54-51. South Korea needed 29 points with its final three arrows to grab the one point needed to clinch the gold but settled for 26 points instead.
South Korea still appeared to be in the driver’s seat, but Lim went 8-8 with her two arrows in the fourth set, allowing China to win it 55-53, and tied the set score at 4-4. Lim held the final arrow, needing a 10 for the gold, but went well off the line.
More drama awaited the teams in the shootout, where arrows by Jeon and Lim were initially scored as 9s as they hit the line between a 9 and a 10. That left the score momentarily tied at 27-27, but China would have been declared the winner because one of its archers, Yang Xiaolei, had hit a 10 while no South Korean managed a 10.
After the target judge’s review, both Jeon and Lim were awarded 10s, giving South Korea a 29-27 win in the shoot-off and the legacy-building gold medal.
