Tokyo, Japan, July 24, 2021: Korea’s crack archery team made another bit of Olympic Games history on Saturday by winning the first mixed team gold medal at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field.
The young duo of Kim Je Deok, 17, and his partner An San, 20, saw off the Netherlands in the final 5-3 after four sets of tense competition.
The Netherlands, represented by Gabriela Schloesser and Steve Wijler, won the first set 38-35 before the Koreans fought back to take the second set 37-36 and make it 2-2 in set points.
The Koreans had scored only one perfect 10 to this point and managed only one more in the third set on the way to a 36-33 victory to lead 4-2.
In the race to five set points, Korea needed only point with a tie in the fourth set for victory and this is exactly what they did, 39-39, as both teams missed only one perfect 10.
Kim and An now have a chance to become the first archers to win three gold medals at a single Olympics with the women's and men's team and individual events still to come.
"It's an honour to be able to win the first gold medal for our country," An told Yonhap News. "I hope other athletes will be able to draw some positive energy from us and pick things up from here."
Kim, who lets out a tremendous roar before setting his sights on the target 70 metres away and follows it up with an equally impressive cry after recording a good score, said the key to success was his unwavering confidence.
"I kept telling An San that we should just stick to our own plans and shoot with confidence," Kim said. "I believed that even my misses would all be 9s."