Archery World Record & Handball Thriller... "Didn't Expect, But Explosion of Fun" [Paris Olympics]

Women's archer Lim Si-hyun (21, Korea National Sport University) set a new world record in her first Olympic competition, while the South Korean women's handball team achieved a thrilling comeback victory against Germany, raising national expectations for Olympic medals.

Archer Lim Si-hyeon (21, Korea National Sport University) set a new world record by scoring 694 points in the individual ranking round.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

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On the 25th, Lim Si-hyun ranked first among 64 competitors with a total score of 694 points in the women's archery ranking round at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at Les Invalides in Paris, France. This surpassed the previous world record of 692 points set by Kang Chae-young at the 2019 World Championships. She also easily broke the Olympic record of 680 points set by An San at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Nam Su-hyun (19, Suncheon City Hall) also surpassed An San's record with 688 points, securing second place.

As the top seed in the ranking round, Lim Si-hyun will enter the individual tournament as the number one seed. She will face Alondra Rivera (Puerto Rico), who ranked last (64th), in the first round. Lim said, "I was very nervous since it's my first Olympics, but I'm glad to have shown a good performance. This is just the beginning. I will do better in the upcoming matches."

Additionally, with the support of Lim Si-hyun, Nam Su-hyun, and Jeon Hun-young (Incheon City Hall, 664 points), the women's team set a new Olympic record with a total score of 2046 points, securing first place in the team event as well. The women's archery team aims for their 10th consecutive team event victory. Since archery was first introduced at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the women's archery team has won the team event nine times in a row. The women's archery team will compete in the team event on the 28th.

In the men's ranking round, Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall) scored 686 points to take first place, followed by Kim Je-deok (Yecheon County Office, 682 points) in second, and Lee Woo-seok (Kolon, 681 points) in fifth. The men's team also achieved the highest total score of 2049 points. Lim Si-hyun and Kim Woo-jin have laid the groundwork to challenge for the Olympic triple crown in individual, team, and mixed events.

Cheering South Korean women's handball players. [Image source=Yonhap News]

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On the 26th, at South Paris Arena 6 in Paris, France, South Korea secured a thrilling comeback victory over Germany with a score of 23-22 in the first match of Group A in the women's handball preliminary round. South Korea started the game brightly with an opening goal by Kang Kyung-min (SK). Leading 11-10 at halftime, thanks to Kang Kyung-min's outstanding performance with 5 goals and 2 assists, South Korea held a narrow lead. Germany scored on their first attack in the second half to tie the game at 11-11, and the score remained tied at 14-14 until the 10th minute of the second half. Afterwards, Germany scored three consecutive goals, taking control of the game and widening the score gap.

However, South Korea did not give up and closed the gap to one point with consecutive goals by Ryu Eun-hee (Gy?ri Audi ETO KC, Hungary) and Jeon Ji-yeon (Samcheok City Hall). Kang Eun-hye (SK) scored the tying goal about 8 minutes before the end. The one-goal difference continued until South Korea created a two-goal lead with a 7-meter throw goal by Woo Bit-na (Seoul City Hall) 4 minutes before the end and a goal by Kang Kyung-min 22 seconds before the final whistle, completing the "comeback drama." Notably, Kang Kyung-min and Ryu Eun-hee each scored 6 goals, leading the team to victory. By defeating the European powerhouse Germany, the South Korean women's handball team boosted their chances of reaching the quarterfinals and will face Slovenia in their second match on the 28th.

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