 South Korean archer Park Sung-hyun reacts after losing to China's Zhang Juan Juan in the women's individual final at the Beijing Olympics in Beijing, Thursday. / Korea Times |
By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
For 24 years, six Olympics and in the past six days, South Korean women were literally unbeatable in archery.
However, the streak of greatness was halted Thursday when defending Olympic champion Park Sung-hyun fell a point short of snatching the gold from local favorite Zhang Juan Juan of China in the women's individuals.
The bronze went to Park's compatriot Yun Ok-hee and the haul of hardware would have surely made Korean coach Moon Hyung-chul, who is fighting thyroid cancer, proud.
However, for Korean fans, who have long been spoiled by one of the most dominant runs in modern sports, the debate is surely to be more about what should have been than what was.
``It's regrettable that I failed to extend the gold streak to seven Olympics," said Park after the match.
``A silver is nothing to be ashamed about, but it would be a lie if I said I didn't want the gold. I think I will be hungrier after this," she said.
After winning the women's team competition in dominating fashion, expectations were high for Park, Yun and Joo Hyun-jung.
However, Zhang left no doubt as to who the best athlete was on Thursday, defeating Joo and Yun on her way to dethroning Park.
The unique structure of the Beijing archery venue, which has seats channeled toward the targets, also came into play Thursday.
The Korean archers have long suspected that the stadium was deliberately designed to allow spectators to influence the outcome. Their conspiracy theory was justified to some extent in the gold medal match, with the home crowd doing their best to distract Park on her attempts, but falling quiet on Zhang's turns.
However, the Koreans have been preparing for just this type of situation, remodeling their training grounds in Seoul to resemble the Olympic venue. They've had coaches shouting and stomping to the background of loud music during practices.
So Park clearly wasn't interested in making any excuses.
``I tried to block out the noise of the crowd, but it did bother me a little," she said. ``I didn't control myself well enough.''
Park held a narrow lead over Zhang after the first two ends, but shot an eight with one of her three attempts in the third end, allowing the Chinese ace to take the lead with two 10s.
Trailing Zhang 82-81 entering the fourth and final end, Park shot another eight with her second attempt, which pretty much determined the fate of the duel.
Zhang responded with a nine and Park gathered herself with a 10. Zhang's nine in her last attempt gave her the 110-109 win.
thkim@koreatimes.co.kr
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