Seoul, Korea, March 14, 2024: Reigning Olympic champion An San has been eliminated from contention for the Korean team for Paris 2024 as the shortlist was cut to 16 per gender at the halfway point in the final open selection event in Gwangju this week.
Eight men and eight women will be named to the national squad on Thursday, March 14.
Two further tournaments, in late March and early April, will decide the six archers that the sport’s leading competitive nation will send to the upcoming Olympics – where the recurve women’s team will attempt to win an historic 10th consecutive title at the Games.
Three-time World Archery champion Kim Woo-jin and last year’s breakout star Lim Si-hyeon currently lead the standings.
An San, ranked 21st at the time of the cut, finished bottom of the 24 remaining recurve women. Her 9.09-points per arrow average over the trials trailed leader Lim’s 9.33 by a wide margin.
Despite winning an unprecedented three gold medals – including the first mixed team title – at Tokyo 2020, the 23-year-old An is a casualty of Korea’s famously ruthless selection process, which annually selects only the highest-performing athletes irrespective of past results.
After a choppy season in 2023, which saw the Korean women produce their worst result ever at the World Championships and only secure an Olympic ticket later in the process, it is critical that Korea gets this team selection right.
As well as An San, Tokyo team gold medallist Jang Min-hee missed the cut, as did Rio 2016 Olympic champion Ku Bon-chan.
Source: World Archery