Hyundai Motor chief touts Korean archers' Olympic wins

S. Korean national archers, members of the Korea Archery Association, coaching staff and former national archers each hold up five fingers to celebrate the country's five gold medals won at the 2028 Olympic Games in Paris on Sunday. (Korea Archery Association)

Hyundai Motor Group Executive Chair Chung Euisun, who doubles as the president of the Korea Archery Association, on Sunday emphasized the importance of believing in the association, the athletes and the staff, as well as the association's system itself, as he thanked the Korean national archers after they won all five available gold medals at the 2024 Olympics Games in Paris.

“First and foremost, I want to thank our athletes,” said Chung. “I’m most glad about the fact that they achieved their dreams by bringing out the best in themselves.”

He pointed out that the KAA’s system has existed since Chung Mong-koo, his father and the honorary chair of Hyundai Motor Group, became the KAA president in 1985. The current chair became KAA president in 2005.

The KAA’s system is best known for its integrity and transparency in terms of selecting the best archers through fair competitions, leaving no room for unreasonable selection of athletes in any regard.

Hyundai Motor Group has sponsored the KAA over the last 40 years to support the archery sector and young athletes’ growth. Using the automaker’s latest technology, Hyundai Motor developed a personal shooting robot for the archers to compete against during practices, a multiangle camera that can analyze each archer’s shooting form to find the best posture and a portable arrow-diagnosis machine that checks the archer’s equipment anywhere.

“I think what’s more important is the belief in the KAA, the athletes and every staff member,” said Chung. “Because we trusted one another and worked together as one, we were able to do better."

The KAA chief also expressed wholehearted appreciation for the support from Koreans who came to the Invalides Stadium as well as those who were watching the matches through the screen.

Asked about the next Summer Olympic Games slated to take place in Los Angeles in 2028, Chung said the KAA should get together to discuss strategies and conduct analysis on various factors.

With the Korean archers’ sweep at the Paris Olympics, the country’s total medals in the sport have multiplied as well. Korean archers have claimed a total of 32 gold medals, 10 silver medals and eight bronze medals at the Summer Olympic Games since 1984, solidifying its status as the country with the most Olympic medals.

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