(LEAD) (Olympics) S Korea-archery gold
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| ▲ South Korean archers Kim Je-deok, Kim Woo-jin and Oh Jin-hyek (L to R) hold up their gold medals from the men's team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean archers Kim Je-deok, Kim Woo-jin and Oh Jin-hyek (L to R) celebrate their victory in the gold medal match for the men's team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Oh Jin-hyek of South Korea competes in the final of the men's archery team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ South Korean archer Oh Jin-hyek (R) takes a selfie with other medalists after South Korea won the gold medal in the men's team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Woo-jin of South Korea competes in the final of the men's archery team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ Kim Je-deok of South Korea competes in the final of the men's archery team event at the Tokyo Olympics at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Tokyo on July 26, 2021. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) (Olympics) S Korea-archery gold
(LEAD) (Olympics) S. Korea wins 2nd consecutive gold in archery men's team event
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By Yoo Jee-ho
TOKYO, July 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea won its back-to-back Olympic gold medal in the men's archery team event on Monday, giving the country a third gold from the sport in as many days in Tokyo.
Kim Je-deok, Kim Woo-jin and Oh Jin-hyek teamed up to defeat Chinese Taipei by the set score of 6-0 at Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in the Japanese capital on Monday.
South Korea earlier collected gold medals in the mixed team event on Saturday and the women's team event on Sunday.
The country is now men's and women's individual titles away from sweeping all archery gold medals in Tokyo.
Kim Je-deok, 17, has joined the women's team member An San as a double gold medalist. The two won the mixed team title together, and then An helped the women's team to the top of the podium.
Oh and Kim Woo-jin also have two Olympic gold medals to their credit now. Oh is the 2012 individual champion and Kim was on the 2016 gold medal-winning men's team.
The men's team event was added to the Olympics in 1988, and South Korea has now won the men's team gold six times out of nine.
The team competitions in archery are now complete. The individual events begin with the round of 64 matches on Tuesday.
In the team event, each of the three shooters takes two arrows per set, for a total of six arrows. A set win is worth two points, and a tie is good for one point. The first team to reach five points wins the match.
In case of a tie after four sets, the teams go to a shoot-off, where the arrow with a higher score or the one closer to 10 is declared the winner.
Against Chinese Taipei, South Korea won the first set 59-55, with only Kim Je-deok missing a 10 with his first arrow.
Kim made up for it in the second set with South Korea putting up a perfect 60 in the second set, two better than the opponents, and taking a 4-0 lead.
Shooting first, Chinese Taipei put up a 55 in the third set. Holding the final arrow, Oh only needed a 9 to get the clinching one point, but the veteran hit a 10 to cap off the victory.
"I knew for sure that final arrow was going to hit a 10," Oh deadpanned afterward.
South Korea literally came within inches of not making the final.
In the semifinals, South Korea and Japan went to a shoot-off, after completing four sets tied at 4-4.
Kim Je-deok of South Korea and Yuki Kawata for Japan each shot a 10, and Kim's arrow was ruled to have been closer to the center of the target, just barely.
"Je-deok is our hero today," Oh said. "He kept hitting 10s whenever the other team tried to take the momentum back. He did such a great job and I am very thankful for him."
Kim Je-deok said all he did was to follow Oh and Kim Woo-jin.
"I have so much to learn from these two," he said. "It's been a fun ride so far."
Given the long winning tradition for South Korean archery, there is always pressure on archers, from one Olympics to the next, to keep the streak alive.
"I kept telling myself not to think about winning medals because then I would get all wound up," Kim Je-deok said. "And if that happens, I wouldn't be able to perform the way I am capable of. So I tried to stay relaxed as much as I could."
They will now turn into foes as the individual event begins Tuesday. Kim Woo-jin said, however, he won't regard it as a competition with his two teammates.
"I think we're going to push each other in a positive way," he said. "We're not going to try to beat each other. Hopefully, all three of us will perform well there."
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