PARIS - Lim Si-hyeon won her third gold medal at the Paris Olympics on Saturday, securing a historic victory in the women's archery individual event by defeating compatriot Nam Su-hyeon.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the final was a monumental all-South Korean matchup, the first in women's archery in two decades, where Lim prevailed with a score of 7-3 at Invalides, Paris. This win follows her earlier triumphs in the women's team and mixed team events, making her the first South Korean and the third athlete at the Paris Games to win three gold medals. This elite group includes French swimmer Leon Marchand, with four golds, and Australian swimmer Mollie O'Callaghan, with three.
South Korea has dominated the archery events in Paris, securing all four gold medals awarded so far. The nation nearly swept the podium in the women's individual archery event, a feat only previously achieved at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and the 2000 Sydney Olympics. However, Jeon Hun-young, another South Korean archer, fell short in the bronze medal match against France's Lisa Barbelin.
The match between Lim and Nam was intense from the start, with each archer scoring 29 in the opening set. Lim gained the upper hand in the second set, leading to a crucial third set where she scored a perfect 30, establishing a commanding 5-1 lead. Despite Nam's comeback in the fourth set, Lim secured the match with consistent high scores in the final set.
This victory not only underscores Lim's remarkable skill and precision but also highlights the Olympic archery program's recent expansion to include a mixed team event, introduced in Tokyo 2021. This change has opened the door for archers to win up to three gold medals in a single Olympics, a milestone first achieved by South Korea's An San in Tokyo.
The Paris Olympics will conclude its archery events with the men's individual competition on Sunday, where Kim Woo-jin will seek to replicate Lim's triple gold achievement.