With an incredible score of 700 points Kim Woojin (KOR) broke the four year old record, set by his fellow country men Im Dong Hyun in London 2012, and topped the leader board after the ranking round.
Kim Woojin showing he is still #1
With a few men exchanging the lead after the first few ends it could be anyones record. However as the Woojin train got going he took the lead once again and never looked back. Kim Woojin had previously said he was keying in on the record in Rio – and had his eye on the 700-mark for the duration of the 72-arrow round at the Olympics. With 12 arrows left to shoot, he needed 118 out of a possible 120 points. He shot 59/60 in the penultimate end – and needed the same with his last six arrows to break the record.
After the 72 qualification arrows he left the field with a ten point lead and the world record.
“I practised more than everyone else and I gave my best for the entire round,” he said in the mixed zone. “Tomorrow there is a more important match. In terms of celebrating today – I want to focus on tomorrow’s match.”
Kim shoots with Ku Bonchan and Lee Seungyun in Korea’s top-ranked recurve men’s team on 6 August.
Brady Ellison finished second in the men’s ranking round, with 690,David Pasqualucci third on 685, Sjef van den Berg fourth on 684 and Atanu Das fifth with 683.
Sjef van den Berg was a little disappointed but ranked 4th nonetheless.
The afternoon was the stage for the 64 women.
Korea’s women took the top three spots in the individual ranking round and seeded first as a team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Choi Misun was top with 669/720 points, Chang Hye Jin finished second with 666 points and defending Olympic Champion Ki Bo Bae third on 663.
Choi Misun well on her way to win her first Olympic medal
“We have the best players, we have talent and skill,” said the women’s leader. “It was so windy that people can get overwhelmed but we did well in the end.”
It looked like the Olympic record (673) might be under threat. Choi found herself weaving around the average line, though any shot at breaking Ki Bo Bae’s world record of 686 was quickly unlikely. But as the wind picked up towards the end of the afternoon, as it has done through recent practice days, it slipped just out of reach as the round drew to a close.
Source: World Archery
