Jeon Hun-young leads S. Korean women’s archery as 'big sister'

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair and President of Korea Archery Association Chung Euisun (second from left) talks to South Korean national archers including Jeon Hun-young (second from right) at the Invalides Stadium on Saturday. (Korea Archery Association)

South Korea's female archers have swept all available gold medals at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, continuing to build on the country’s highly decorated legacy in the sport.

Although most of the spotlight has been focused on Lim Si-hyeon, who won three gold medals in the women’s team, mixed and individual events, Jeon Hun-young played an irreplaceable role as the "big sister" of the women’s archery team.

Jeon, 30, nine years older than Lim and 11 years older than Nam Su-hyeon, the youngest archer on the team, made her Olympic debut in Paris along with her teammates.

Her leadership stood out when she volunteered to share her room with another Korean national athlete from a different sport, as the three archers had to split into two rooms, which housed only two people each.

Jeon also took the first archer role throughout the team’s journey to the gold medal. As each team gets 120 seconds for each archer to shoot two arrows in a set, she had to control the tempo and save time for the remaining two archers. Jeon shot a 10 to help the team win the gold in the shootout in the final match against China.

After the single’s event was completed, Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun who doubles as the Korea Archery Association president encouraged and thanked Jeon for supporting her younger teammates throughout the Olympics. Hyundai Motor Group has sponsored the KAA since 1985.

“There were lots of concerns about the (women’s) national archery team but (we) eventually won the three gold medals in all events,” said Jeon.

“The pressure was big but we achieved our goal. From the perspective of a team, I’m satisfied that we had an excellent result.”

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun gives two thumbs up as he cheers on the South Korean archers competing in the round of 16 at the Olympic Games in Paris on Saturday. (Korea Archery Association)

By Kan Hyeong-woo(hwkan@heraldcorp.com)