Archers Ki Bo-bae, left, and Oh Jin-hyek pose with their medals at a press conference in London. Ki won two golds in the women’s team and individual events, while Oh has one gold from the men’s individual competition and a bronze from the team event. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo


Oh Jin-hyek claimed South Korea’s first Olympic title in the men’s individual archery on Saturday morning (KST).

In the final, the 30-year-old, who survived a single arrow shoot-off against China’s Dai Xiaoxiang in his semifinal, comfortably beat Japanese archer and three-time Olympian Takaharu Furukawa, 7-1. Dai won bronze after edging Dutchman Rick van der Ven in a shoot-off tiebreaker.

The win gives archery powerhouse Korea its maiden gold in the men’s individual competition of the quadrennial event since the sport made its Olympic debut in 1988.

Korean archers have claimed 19 Olympic titles and leave the London Games with three golds and one bronze with the women victorious in both the individual and team competitions, while the men took bronze in the team event.

Despite their dominance, Korea’s male archers have failed to live up to the billing in the individual event, managing three silvers and a bronze.

“My dream was to compete at this Olympics. On top of that I have a gold medal, so I am a very happy man,” said Oh on his first appearance at the Summer Games.

“If you talk about the secret to strong archery in Korea, I don’t know. But many Koreans have very strong perseverance and I am one of them.”

With world-record holder and favored compatriot Im Dong-hyun crashing out in the round of 16 and Kim Bub-min eliminated in the quarterfinals, it appeared that Korea would miss out on the top podium spot again.

However, Oh cruised to the penultimate round before the 21-year-old Dai gave him a scare.

Oh forced the tiebreaker after winning the fifth set 29-27, where both men shot a nine but the Korean’s arrow was closer to the center sending him through. The final turned out to then be an easy ride to capture the desired Olympic title.