'First Archery Gold' An San: "If You Have Willpower, There's Nothing You Can't Do"

Last shot of the 4th set scores 9 points: "I aimed with the mindset to see only yellow clearly"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

"I thought, 'If you have the will, there's nothing you can't do.'" This is the reflection of Ansan (Gwangju Women's University), who won the first Olympic mixed team archery gold medal together with Kim Je-deok (Gyeongbuk Ilgo High School). At the press conference held with her first Olympic medal, she said, "I felt the pressure, but I did my best in the competition."

On the 24th, at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo, Japan, during the 2nd set of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic mixed team archery final, Ansan could have been overwhelmed by the pressure. She faltered in the 1st set, scoring 8 points and losing the initiative to the Dutch team of Steve Bayler and Gabriella Sluuser. She regained her composure through conversations with her partner Kim Je-deok and coach Hong Seung-jin. Especially in the 4th set, she nailed the second shot with a 9-point arrow, sealing the victory. Ansan explained, "I aimed with the mindset of only seeing the yellow (the target scoring 9 points or more), and the result came out that way." She added, "At the moment the victory was confirmed, the first person who came to mind was my team coach," expressing gratitude to Kim Seong-eun, the coach of the Gwangju Women's University archery team.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

She is challenging for a triple crown in this tournament, including the women's individual and team events. The atmosphere is favorable. The day before, in the women's individual ranking round (seeding round), she set a new Olympic record (680 points) and advanced to the main competition as the top seed. Ansan vowed, "I will face the remaining matches without nervousness and listen to the national anthem again."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.