South Korea took the gold medal in the Olympic men’s team archery competition yesterday, matching the feat of its women a day earlier.
The team of Im Dong-hyun, Lee Chang-hwan and Park Kyung-mo defeated Italians Mauro Nespoli, Ilario Di Buo’ and Marco Galiazzo by 227 points to 225, winning gold for South Korea for the third Olympics in succession.
After 12 of the 24 arrows, the South Koreans led the Italians by seven points. However, the South Koreans collapsed and the teams were level with three arrows each remaining.
PHOTO: AFP
Italy’s final shot — a seven by Nespoli — proved the difference between the two teams.
China defeated Ukraine to take the bronze, the nation’s first ever archery medal.
Earlier in the day Taiwan were eliminated from the competition by Ukraine. Taiwan coach Lin Cheng-hsien (林政賢) said the team had placed too much pressure on themselves.
The Taiwanese archers started strongly with Kuo Cheng-wei (郭振維), Chen Szu-yuan (陳詩園) and Wang Cheng-pang (王正邦) hitting the 10-point center circle. But the Taiwanese failed to repeat their success over the next five rounds, leaving them four points adrift.
Chen was also unhappy with the performance, saying that the team lacked confidence throughout.
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