World record holder Im Dong Hyun leads Medellin recurve field
Last time Im Dong Hyun competed internationally was in Belek 2013 at the World Archery Championships, from where he left with a sixth place individually and a fourth-overall finish in the team event.
After that – and because the selection process in Korea is probably one of the hardest in the archery world – Im didn’t make the official team that represents the Asian nation. He made the eight-athlete squad in 2015, though – the second team from which would shoot at the Medellin stage of the Archery World Cup and the Asian Championships.
Medellin would be Im’s first trip to Colombia and his grand return to the competition field.
He arrived in style, leading the recurve men’s qualification round from beginning to end – something that, he said, left him with a sense of satisfaction as he felt he had a responsibility to act as an example to the junior teammates that made up the Korean squad at the event.
“I’m the oldest,” he explained, and the most experienced. “I must give them a good example and share with them what I know.”
Im shot a total of 688 points: 346 over the first half and 342 over the second. He put just two arrows out of the yellow, central rings.
With a little wrinkle on his face that almost turned into a smile, Im said that coming back made him nervous but, that in the end, it was his experience that helped to keep him calm.
“I managed to score what I had in mind,” he admitted. “Concentration was key”.
Dong Hyun not only aims to podium in Medellin but to make the Korean team that will represent the nation at the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016, less than one year away. He caused quite a stir ahead of London 2012, when the media caught onto the story that his vision is less than perfect.
He went on to set a new 72-arrow 70-metre world record during qualification at those Games, scoring 699/720, but lost in the third round.
“Next week I’m going to Rio for the Olympic test event,” he said, although to spectate, not to shoot. “I want to get involved with the environment, to see how everything works there and to check out the competition venue. I want to be back at the Olympics!”
It’s a goal that the rest of the Korean alternate team – especially the juniors competing in Medellin – can relate to.
Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Champion Lee Woo Seok came second in qualifying with 682 points, 16 more than teammate Shin Jae Hun, who finished 12th with 666. Yankton 2015 team gold medallist Lee Seungshin scored 662.
Experienced archer Lee Tuk Young, who had an individual worlds silver in 2005 when she was just 15, led the recurve women’s ranking with 677 points. Teammates Jeon Sungeun, Hong Sunam and Park Mi Kyung, finished third, sixth and seventh with 674, 658 and 657 points, respectively.
