Korea wins first mixed team competition at an Olympic test event
Top seeds Kim Woojin and Jeon Ina beat Russia’s Artem Makhnenko and Ksenia Perova in straight sets in the recurve mixed team final at the Ready Steady Tokyo test event for the 2020 Olympic Games.
“He is a great leader and it is good for me to be in a team with him. I gave a lot in the competition,” said Jeon. “Winning [next year] will be a lot harder but I think Korea is the best.”
Woojin and Ina never surrendered a set point through their four matches. In the final, the Korean pair dropped just three points in 12 arrows, one point in each of the three sets. And only once during the course of the day did they shoot a set that scored less than 38 points.
The mixed team event will make its debut on the Olympic programme at Tokyo 2020. It brings the total number of gold medals available in the archery competitions to five.
Many teams are able to field one elite athlete in each gender so the first Olympic mixed team competition is expected to be highly competitive. But if the Korean representatives at the Games shoot like this pair, they will be tough to beat.
“I think I have gained a lot of experience in this test event in preparation for the Olympics in Tokyo next year,” said Woojin.
“There will be many things changed here but the environmental factors will not change. That is why I am here to practise and if I am able to take part next year, this experience will not be wasted. It will be a big help.”
Colombia beat Chinese Taipei in the recurve mixed team bronze medal match.
Daniel Pineda and Ana Maria Rendon shot sets of 38, 38 and 39 points to beat an off-pace performance from Tan Ya-Ting and Kao Hao-Wen.
Conditions during this test event remain relatively cool and a little damp. The rain is not heavy but it is near-constant. This is unlikely to be the same come Games time in 2020.
The Olympics take place a few weeks later in the year when the full heat of the Japanese summer is expected to have arrived.
The Ready Steady Tokyo test event takes place on 11-18 July 2019 in the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic venue in Tokyo, Japan.
