S. Korea wins 9th consecutive gold in women\'s archery team event

South Korea\'s women archers have done it again, for the ninth time since the 1988 Seoul Games

An San (left), Kang Chae-young (center) and Jang Min-hee of the Korean women’s archery team celebrate after winning the gold medal match in three straight sets against the Russian Olympic Committee team on Sunday at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo. (pool photo)

Members of the women's archery team competing in the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo handed South Korea its second gold medal at the Games.

South Korea's women archers have now won gold at all nine of the Olympics since the archery team event was first introduced at the 1988 Games in Seoul.

The 2021 women's archery team — consisting of Kang Chae-young, 25, Jang Min-hee, 22, and An San, 20 — blanked their tough Russian Olympic Committee competition by a score of 6-0 (55:53/56:53/54:51) at the women's team finals held Sunday at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo.

Russia is participating under the "Russian Olympic Committee" banner at this year's Olympics due to a previous scandal involving the manipulation of doping samples.

The latest medal extends South Korea's women's team archery win streak to nine in a row. Since the event was introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the South Korean flag has been raised at Barcelona, Atlanta, Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London, Rio de Janeiro, and now Tokyo. The team has repeatedly shrugged off the weight of expectations that come from being considered a shoo-in.

It was the first-ever Olympics for all of the South Korean squad members competing in the event Sunday — yet they appeared unruffled by the magnitude of the Olympic stage. Indeed, they appeared cheerful, smiling and laughing through the competition.

As competitors, they were a juggernaut. The team steamrolled Italy 6-0 in the quarterfinals and routed Belarus — which had defeated host country Japan — by a score of 5-1 in the semifinals.

The final match was likewise an utterly one-sided 6-0. It was a flawless victory without so much as a set lost. At the archery team competition, teams win two points for a set and one point for a tie.

An San (left), Jang Min-hee (center) and Kang Chae-young of the Korean women’s archery team pose for a photo with their gold medals for the women’s team event at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo. (Kim Myoung-jin/The Hankyoreh)

The performance was the result of thorough training. Since last winter, the team had been undergoing daily special training at a dedicated field in the Athletes' Village that essentially recreated the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field.

Members also underwent a varied and detailed course of psychological training to prepare for special situations such as earthquakes. Due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic, they were barred from leaving the facility and interacting with outsiders.

With young ages to go with their enormous talent, many are watching to see what they accomplish in the future. Their strength and physical conditioning are especially strong, with archery team coach Ryu Soo-jeong describing them as the "best in Korean women's archery history."

All three team members stand at over 170cm in height: Kang at 171, Jang and 175, and An at 172. In contrast, the top archers selected in the past tended to be of average height, with the notable exception of Ki Bo-bae (168cm).

"They're all as strong as they are tall. Archers like Kang Chae-young and Jang Min-hee barely flinch when they use the heavy bows and arrows that men use," Ryu said.

The strong ocean winds on Sunday at the event's Yumenoshima venue — an artificial island in Tokyo Bay — further played into the team's strengths. The remaining women's events are also taking place there, which puts them at a strong advantage.

The men's archery team will be competing for team gold at the same venue Monday.

By Lee Jun-hee, staff reporter

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