Young archer eyes consistency after completing golden hat trick

South Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women's archery individual event at the Paris Olympics at Invalides in Paris, Aug. 3. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

All she does is win gold medals.

South Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon collected her third gold medal of the Paris Olympics on Saturday by winning the women’s individual title. She defeated her teammate Nam Su-hyeon 7-3 in the set score at Invalides to complete the hat trick.

Lim had earlier won the women’s team and the mixed team gold medals in Paris. But winning three gold medals at a competition is not a strange territory for Lim.

At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, Lim also bagged three gold medals, winning the individual, women’s team and mixed team titles. She became the first triple gold medalist in Asian Games archery in 37 years.

Less than a year later in Paris, Lim pulled off 스포츠 another trifecta of gold medals.

“It’s a huge honor to win three gold medals here, so soon after three gold medals in Hangzhou,” Lim said. “I didn’t think it could be done.”

The mixed team event was added to the Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, and South Korea’s An San became the first triple gold medalist in Olympic archery history by winning the same set of gold medals as Lim — women’s individual, women’s team and mixed team.

An, however, didn’t even survive the Olympic trials for Paris, an illustration of the deep archery talent pool in the country that has long dominated the sport.

Lim, still only 21, said she wants to be a consistent force. She said her mixed team partner, Kim Woo-jin, is her role model because of his long track record of success.

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