South Korea ended up sweeping all the gold medals of this year’s archery. South Korea ranked first on the medal standings in archery by taking four gold medals and one bronze medal. United States marked second by winning one silver medal and one bronze medal, and France ranked third by winning one silver medal.

On August 6th, the men’s team match was the first final of the Rio Olympic Games. A. Potts, T. Worth, and R. Tyack from Australia won a bronze medal against People’s Republic of China. B.C. Ku, W.J. Kim, and S.Y. Lee from South Korea and Z. Garrett, B. Ellison, and J. Kaminski from United States competed for the gold medal. The United States seemed to play strong in the gold medal match, but South Korea blocked the United States from getting the gold medal. Woo-Jin Kim scored a perfect 60 in the first set and 177 out of a possible 180, making it quite difficult for the United States to reach the gold. The final set score was 6-0, South Korea taking the gold medal.

South Korea also showed its strength in the women’s team match the next day. Chinese Taipei won a bronze medal against Italy, and M.S. Choi, H.J. Chang, and B.B. Ki from South Korea won a gold medal against T. Dashidorzhieva, K. Perova, and I. Stepanova from Russia. South Korea obliterated from the beginning. On the first set, South Korea totaled 59 out of a possible 60 and four tens after that provided them a 4-0 lead over Russia, who was unable to catch South Korea.

On August 11th, the final for the women’s individual match was held. Ki Bo-Bae from South Korea won a bronze medal against Mexico. Chang Hye-Jin from South Korea and Lisa Unruh from Germany battled for the gold medal. After two sets, the score was tied 2-2. But Chang defeated Unruh by winning the next two sets. The final score was 6-2. South Korea took another gold medal from archery.

On August 12th, the final for men’s individual match was held. Brady Ellison of the United States won a bronze medal against Sjef van den Berg of Netherlands. Ku Bon-Chan of South Korea and Jean-Charles Valladont met on the final. Ku of South Korea seemed to win the medal easily, winning first two sets handily. A score changed in the third set, a tie, giving Valladont his first set point. Valladont also took the fourth set, but at the end, Ku took the individual gold medal. Sweeping all four gold medals reminded people that South Korea still remains the top in the archery.

<Julia NaWon Yoon University High School 10th Grade>