Paris.-South Korea’s Lim Sihyeon, 21, broke Olympic and world records at the Paris Games by scoring 694 points in archery in the qualifying round, the best female record in history.
In Thursday’s session on the Esplanade des Invalides, Lim Sihyeon achieved a record in the 70 metres with 72 arrows. Her 694 points are two points better than the current world record and 14 points better than the Olympic record, held by her compatriots Kang Chaeyoung in 2019 and An San in 2021, respectively.
Nam Suhyeon (688) took second place, also for South Korea, while Yang Xiaolei (China) shot 673, good for third place. World No. 1 Casey Kaufhold (USA, 672) was seeded fourth. Also posting personal bests were Elif Gokkir (Turkey, 671) and Diananda Choirunisa (Indonesia, 670), respectively, in fourth and fifth place.
“It’s my first Olympics, so I wanted to give it my all. I prepared for it and then tried to enjoy it. The result came,” said Sihyeon, the current world number 2, who holds a team gold medal from the 2023 world championships and a bronze in singles from the same year. The South Korean has an impressive match win percentage (89%) and a score of 9.4 out of 10 for each arrow throw.
In near-perfect weather, Lim scored just seven points from her first 36 arrows and was on track to finish a round of over 700 and 72 arrows. Only two archers, both men, have ever achieved that significant feat. “It’s not that I prepared any differently. But people’s expectations for this competition were different,” she said.
As the only goalkeeper on the Korean women’s team with international experience prior to this season, Sihyeon has had the pressure to deliver a field-leading performance at these Olympics. She rose to that challenge from the start.
While Lim was unable to maintain her blistering early pace, she still put in a fantastic performance, which will no doubt help dispel any doubts surrounding the Korean women as they attempt to win their 10th consecutive Olympic title in Paris. “Qualification is just the beginning of everything. So instead of feeling pressured, I will try to overcome it, one by one,” Sihyeon concluded.
Reigning world archery champion Marie Horackova (Czech Republic) finished in mid-table in 31st place on 651, while reigning European Games champion Penny Healey (Great Britain, 631) came in 52nd. Korea, China, Mexico and India took the top four spots in the women’s recurve team competition and will receive a bye into the quarter-finals. Competition continues with the men’s recurve qualifying this afternoon at the Invalides.
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2024-07-28 22:14:08
