By Honorary Reporter Ena Sofia Azcona Castillo from Mexico

Photo = World Archery

The Korean Olympic archery team comprises (from left to right) Oh Jin-hyek, Kim Woo-jin, Kim Je-deok, Kang Chae-young, Jang Min-hee and An San.

The 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics will begin its archery competition on July 23. This tournament will be the first to use biometric data to visualize the adrenaline and stress of the athletes through cameras that analyze changes in skin color, which reflects blood circulation.

The Korean Olympic archery delegation has many objectives in Tokyo. The Korean women is the only country to win the team gold medal since the event's official adoption at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics. The women have also dominated the individual competition, taking eight of the nine gold medals they competed for. During the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Korea also swept the men's team and individual golds.

The following are brief profiles of the six members of the Olympic archery team.

Kim Woo-jin in Medellin, Colombia, competes in the first stage of the 2019 Hyundai Archery World Cup held from April 22-28.

Kim Woo-jin

Kim Woo-jin started his archery career in 2001 and made his international debut in 2009 at the World Youth Archery Championships, where he won the gold. At 29, he is ranked fifth in the world rankings and has earned 64 international medals: 33 gold, 16 silver and 15 bronze. His last tournament was the Asia Cup in Gwangju, where he won the gold in the team competition and silver in the individual.

In Rio 2016, he won the team gold medal with teammates Lee Seung-yun and Ku Bon-chan. His average score is 9.6 points per arrow and he has won 126 of 156 matches for a winning percentage of 81%. Additionally, he was the first recurve archer to exceed 700 out of 720 points.

Oh Jin-hyek approaches the shooting line at the 2017 Hyundai Archery World Cup held from Oct. 15-22 in Mexico City, Mexico.

Oh Jin-hyek

A veteran archer and gold medalist at the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Oh Jin-hyek is making the Tokyo Olympics his last competition before retirement. He began the sport in 1992 and his first international competition was the 1998 World Archery Youth Championships, where he won the individual and team golds. Through this year, his international medal tally is 29 gold, 15 silver and 10 bronze with a winning percentage of 74% and an average of 9.4 points per arrow. His world ranking is 57th.

Kim Je-deok competes at this year's Asian Cup in Gwangju from June 6-11.

Kim Je-deok

Both the youngest member of the team and a highly touted prospect, Kim Je-deok made his debut in 2019. At just 17, he will be the youngest archer to represent Korea. His best mark is 688 out of 720 points with an average of 9.5 points per arrow and a winning percentage of 88%. Despite his youth, he has four international medals including the gold in the team and individual competitions in this year's Asian Cup in Gwangju.

Though 210th in the world rankings, he has shown enormous potential and could show impressive results in Tokyo. 

Kang Chae-young competes at the 2019 Asian Archery Championships held from Nov. 22-28 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Kang Chae-young

Ranked third in the world with an 85% winning percentage, Kang Chae-young is a favorite for the gold in Tokyo. Just like teammate Kim Je-deok, Kang is making her Olympic debut this month.

She started archery in 2005 and first joined the national team in the first leg of the 2015 Archery World Cup in Shanghai, China. Kang achieved a triple crown by sweeping the individual, mixed team and team golds to become just the fifth archer in history to accomplish the feat. She is also the first female archer to break 690 points for the 72-arrow 70-m qualifying round at the 2019 Hyundai World Archery Championship, where she scored 692 out of 720.

She has won 28 gold, five silver and four bronze medals in international play. The media has nicknamed her "The Destroyer" as one of the best archers of her generation.

Jang Min-hee on June 19 won the recurve women's gold at this year's Asia Cup in Gwangju.

Jang Min-hee

The gold medalist at this year's Asian Cup and holder of five international medals, Jang Min-hee is also making her Olympic debut in Tokyo. In her first international competition, the 2019 World Archery Youth Championships, she won the team gold and the individual bronze. Her average is 9.4 points per arrow and she has won nine of 12 matches. Her personal best is 682 points and her world ranking is 143rd. 

An San on July 17 last year won the gold at a test event in Tokyo.

An San

World No. 9 An San has won eight international medals and is one of Korea's best young prospects. She won her first medal at the 2017 World Archery Youth Championship. Her average is 9.4 points per arrow with a winning percentage of 76%. Her personal best is 686 out of 720 points, a mark she set at the Rosario 2017 World Archery Youth Competition in Argentina. At this year's Asian Cup in Korea, she won the gold in the team competition and silver in the individual.

enny0611@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things Korean.