South Korean recurve archery concluded the Berlin 2023 World Championships with two gold medals, despite a poor showing from the women’s team.

The women’s team’s Ahn An (Gwangju Women’s University), Kang Chae-young (Hyundai Mobis), and Lim Im-hyun (Korea Gymnastics Federation) were all eliminated in the quarterfinals of their individual events on the final day of competition in Berlin, Germany.

It is the first time in 12 years since Turin 2011 that the Korean women’s recurve team has not won an individual medal at a World Championships.

Earlier, the women’s team lost to Indonesia in the round of 16 in the team event, and did not medal.

This is the first time in 44 years that the Korean women’s recurve team has not won a medal at the World Championships in either the individual or women’s team events, since their first appearance in Berlin in 1979.

The only medal won by the women’s team at the event was a gold medal in the mixed event, won by Lim Im-hyun with Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall).

Kim Jeduk was also eliminated in the quarterfinals of the men’s individual event, leaving the Korean team without a medal on the final day of competition.

Recurve won one gold medal in the men’s team event with Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall), Lee Woo-seok (Kolon), and Kim Jeduk, and one in the mixed event with Kim Woo-jin and Kim Im-hyun, but had to settle for ‘no medals’ in other events.

Korean recurve archery has been on a tear, sweeping four gold medals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and creating “myths” with a five-event gold sweep at the Yankton World Championships 2021.

With athletes like Kim Woo-jin, Kim Jeduk, Kang Chae-young, and Ahn An, who performed well at the Tokyo Olympics and the Yankton World Championships, leading the way for this year’s team, the expectation was for a ‘sweep of all events’.

However, the women’s team got off to a rocky start, falling to Indonesia in their first team event.

The women’s team, traditionally one of the strongest in the competition, were unable to handle the pressure and failed to make it to the final four.

“The bad weather in Berlin during the tournament, with strong winds and rain at times, may have been a factor,” said an official from the Korean Archery Association.

The higher threshold for qualifying directly to the Olympic team event from this tournament also seems to have increased the pressure on the athletes to some extent.

Until Tokyo, teams that finished in the top eight of the team event at the previous World Championships were given a direct ticket, but since Paris, the ‘cut-off’ has been raised to third place.

Of course, even if you don’t finish in the top three at the World Championships, you can still get a ticket by winning the Asian Championships or qualifying for the Olympic Games, but the pressure on Korean women archers to always be “the best,” bordering on obsession, seems to have been great.

Korean archery has a history of underperforming at world championships in the year before the Olympics.

At the 2019 Sertohenbosch Games, held before the Tokyo Olympics, the team won only one gold medal (two silver and two bronze).

Four years ago, Korean archers used the pain of their World Championship failure as motivation to move forward again, culminating in their best performance in Tokyo.

In the women’s individual competition, An was the first to 스포츠토토 compete in the quarterfinals, falling to Casey Coffold (USA) 4-6 (28-29 27-28 28-28 30-29 29-29) in straight sets.

Next up, Kang Chae-young fell 5-6 (26-27 28-29 29-27 28-28 28-27 <10-+10) to Japan’s Satsuki Noda, and Lee Im-hyun fell 0-6 (27-29 28-29 28-29) to Marie Horáčková (Czech Republic) in straight sets to reach the semifinals.

In the men’s individual competition, Kim Jeduk was the lone quarterfinalist, falling 0-6 (28-29 29-30 27-28) against Marcos Dalmeida (BRA).

The team will immediately travel to Paris, France, for a training camp in preparation for the Paris Olympics, which are just over a year away.

The team will then return home for the fourth edition of the Hyundai World Cup, also in Paris, from July 15-20.

Meanwhile, the non-Olympic compound team won a bronze medal in the women’s team event at the World Championships. Oh Yoo-hyun (Jeonbuk-do), So Chae-won and Song Yoon-soo (Hyundai Mobis) took home the medals.