One and Only Archery Champion

Sandra Song (Chantilly HS, 11th)

“It’s okay. She only needs more than 8. Is she going to make it? Yes! VICTORY!” Ki Bo-Bae has nervously released her final arrow and led her team to victory. Her fellow teammates, Jang Hye-Jin and Choi Mi-Sun, hugged altogether with tears of joy rolling down their cheeks.

In the summer of 2016, all of the attention, which seemed hotter than the summer heat, went towards Rio, Brazil. It was the 8th of August in Sambadrome when the South Korean women’s national archery team has won its 8th gold medal. It was another exciting moment for Koreans, who have been watching with bated breath. Ever since the South Korean national archery team joined the Olympics in the Seoul Olympics of 1988, they have never given up their championship title.

Then why is Korea so successful in archery? One of the most important reasons is because the players are selected by a fair competition. Usually in other sports, a player might be selected based on personal connections with the coaches, the amount of private education the player has received, or their best score. However, in Korean archery, the players are only selected based on their ability to handle the bow well.

Even if the best player accidentally missed a point because of the thunder, they would be immediately eliminated from the Olympic player selection list. Most importantly, Korean players practice more than any other players. According to a survey, most players shoot 100 arrows per day while Korean players shoot 300 to 500 arrows per day. As there is a well-known saying that goes, “your efforts will never betray you,” Korean archery players’ endeavors have led to successful results.

It is very common for a country to be strong in certain sports. The case of the South Korean archery team is a notable one, because it was hard for any other countries to defeat South Korea’s record. Upset by Korea’s exclusive monopolizing, World Archery Federation (FITA) has changed the game rules and other elements such as cutting the time limit, decreasing the number of players from four to three, creating a system of forcible deprivation of the 3rd place winner in case Korea takes all of the medals in individual matches. However, the South Korean national archery team adapted perfectly to these modifications, and still remains to be in their top position.