One-in-a-million Robin Hood goes on display at Olympic Museum

The Robin Hood shot by the Korean mixed team at Tokyo 2020 has been put on public display at the Olympic Museum in Lausanne as part of an exhibition of artefacts from the last Olympic Games.

‘Robin Hood’ is the term used to describe one arrow being split by another in the target.

Triple gold medallist An San hit an arrow shot by her teammate, Kim Je Deok, during the semifinals of the first Olympic mixed team event in a match against Mexico. Both arrows scored a maximum 10 points.

The pair went on to take an historic gold.

The arrows were then donated by the archers to the Olympic Foundation for Culture and Heritage and are now on display in the Olympic Capital.

An San and Kim Je Deok’s Robin Hood in Tokyo is thought to be the first time the phenomenon has ever been captured on camera in competition.

“I said sorry to him afterwards,” An San joked during an interview after the Games, calling it the highlight of a competition that she dominated.

The chances of a Robin Hood occurring are extremely rare – particularly considering both archers were using Easton X10 arrows, which are barrelled. (The ends of the arrow are slightly thinner than the centre.)

George Tekmitchov, the engineer who designed the X10, calculated that An San’s shot must have been no more than 0.2mm away from the dead centre of Kim Je Deok’s arrow – and almost perfectly aligned.

No small feat in the Olympic arena, over 70 metres – outdoors in the wind.