Oh Jin-hyek won South Korea’s first Olympic gold in the men’s individual archery on Friday for a near clean-sweep for his country in London.
Oh’s comfortable 7-1 victory over Japan’s Takaharu Furukawa claimed a third title out of four at Lord’s cricket ground for the dominant South Korean archers.
The country also won gold in the women’s individual and women’s team events and was the bronze medalist in the men’s team.
Oh’s victory in the last archery match at the London Games ended a long wait for South Korea’s first individual men’s Olympic title and delighted South Korean fans after top seed and favorite Im Dong-hyun was surprisingly knocked out earlier on Friday.
“My dream was to compete at this Olympics. On top of that I have a gold medal, so I am very happy man,” said the third-seeded Oh, who was at his first Games. “If you talk about the secret to strong archery in [South] Korea, I don’t know, but many Koreans are very strong at perseverance and I am one of them.”
Dai Xiaoxiang of China took bronze with a come-from-behind 6-5 victory over Dutchman Rick van der Ven in the third-place match following a shoot-off. Having been 4-0 down, Dai hit a 10 in the sudden-death shoot-off at the end of the tense contest, piling the pressure on Van der Ven, who only managed an eight.
However, Dai had just missed out on a chance at gold, when he fell in a shoot-off to Oh in the semi-finals.
“This is not what I wanted,” Dai said of his bronze.
Top seed and new world record holder Im was beaten by Van der Ven in the last 16 earlier on the final day. Im set a 72-arrow world best in the Olympic ranking round last week but slipped up against Van der Ven, losing 7-1.
However, Oh’s win continued South Korea’s dominance after Ki Bo-bae took women’s individual gold on Thursday to follow up on the gold and bronze in the team events.
“The first thing will be to have some time with my teammates ... and congratulate each other,” Oh said after being asked about his celebration plans.
Oh was unworried for most of the final — played in bright sunshine and again in front of packed stands on the final day of archery at the famous cricket ground in north London. He won the opening two sets with 29 out of a possible 30 points in both.
Furukawa forced a tie in the third set, with the archers sharing the two set points to make it 5-1.
However, Oh responded with a maximum 10-point shot in the middle of the target in the fourth set — one of seven for him in the gold medal match — to carry him to victory.
The 2025 International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness (IFBB) Mr Universe Chinese Taipei competition began yesterday at Xinzhuang Gymnasium in New Taipei City, with more than 150 athletes showcasing their physiques. It is the first time in 16 years that the IFBB has held a competition in Taiwan, the last being the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung. The professional bodybuilding contest is bringing together athletes from Taiwan and 16 other countries, including Malaysia, Japan, the US, France and Mexico. IFBB Chinese Taipei president Hsu An-chin said in an interview yesterday that the event came to Taiwan thanks to his lobbying efforts at last
Top seeds Alexander Zverev of Germany and American Coco Gauff on Tuesday advanced to the third round of the Canadian Open after both players were pushed hard by their opponents. World No. 3 Zverev, playing in his first match since his first-round loss at Wimbledon, was far from his best, but emerged with a 7-6 (8/6), 6-4 win over Adam Walton under the lights in Toronto. Momentum shifted firmly in Zverev’s favor when he won a 52-shot rally in the first set tiebreak and he sealed the win on a double fault by the Australian in the second set. “It was a very
Cycling great Marianne Vos won the opening stage of the women’s Tour de France with a brilliant late attack on Saturday. The 38-year-old Dutchwoman overtook her Visma–Lease a Bike teammate Pauline Ferrand-Prevot approaching the line, and then held off Mauritian rider Kim Le Court in the closing meters of a grueling uphill finish. Ferrand-Prevot looked set to win the stage, but the Frenchwoman attacked too early from 600m and could not withstand the late surge from Vos, who punched the air with her left fist as she crossed the line. Moments later, Vos hugged an exhausted-looking Ferrand-Prevot, the Paris-Roubaix winner. “I didn’t know if
TAIWANESE EXITS: Fellow Australian Christopher O’Connell joined Tristan Schoolkate as a winner following his 6-1, 6-2 defeat of Tseng Hsin-chun Australian qualifier Tristan Schoolkate on Monday dispatched rising Brazilian talent Joao Fonseca 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 at the ATP Toronto Masters, ensuring a breakthrough into the world top 100. The 24-year-old from Perth moved to 98th in the ongoing live rankings as he claimed his biggest career victory by knocking out the ATP NextGen champion from November last year. Schoolkate, son of a tennis coach, won his first match over a top-50 opponent on his sixth attempt as he ousted the world No. 49 teenager from Brazil. The qualifier played a quarter-final this month in Los Cabos and won through qualifying for his
RSS