Members of the national women's archery team (from left) -- Jeon Hunyoung, Lim Sihyeon and Nam Suhyeon -- on July 28 make the number 10 with their fingers at the Paris Summer Olympics' awards ceremony after clinching Korea's 10th straight title in the event at Les Invalides in the French capital.

By Xu Aiying
Photos = Yonhap News

The national women's archery team has made history at the Paris Summer Olympics with its 10th consecutive gold medal.

The trio of Lim Sihyeon, Nam Suhyeon and Jeon Hunyoung on July 28 defeated their Chinese counterparts, 5-4 (56-53, 55-54, 51-54, 53-55, 29-27), in the finals at Les Invalides in the French capital.

Since the event's debut at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics, Korea has won all 10 golds in the competition.

At the medals ceremony held at the joint media coverage area, Nam said, "It's an honor just to achieve my dream of standing on the Olympic stage, but truly a honor to make history with 10 consecutive team victories."

The national women's archery squad -- (from left) head coach Yang Chang-hoon and players Lim Sihyeon, Jeon Hunyoung and Nam Suhyeon -- holds the national flag Taegeukgi after claiming the team gold at Les Invalides in the Paris Summer Olympics. 

"I send a warm round of applause to national team members Lim Sihyeon, Jeon Hunyoung and Nam Suhyeon for achieving the milestone of 10 consecutive Olympic victories in women's team archery," President Yoon Suk Yeol on July 29 said in a congratulatory message on Facebook. 

"None of the three players had any prior Olympic experience, but passed perhaps the world's most difficult qualification of the Republic of Korea's national team, proving once again that No. 1 in Korea means No. 1 in the world."

As of July 29, Korea had six medals for fifth in the overall rankings: three golds in shooting, archery and fencing, two silvers in shooting and one bronze in swimming.

On the Olympics' opening day of July 27, fencer Oh Sanguk convincingly won the men's individual sabre for Korea's first gold of this tournament. Shooters Park Hajun and Keum Jihyeon also took the team silver in the mixed 10 m air rifle, and swimmer Kim Woomin grabbed his nation's second in history in the men's 400 m freestyle with the bronze.

Also in shooting, Oh Yejin on July 28 won the gold in the women's 10 m air pistol and teammate Kim Yeji the silver.

xuaiy@korea.kr