Legendary Korean archer Oh Jin Hyek has officially retired from the sport, aged 43.
He was the first Korean man to become individual Olympic Champion – at London 2012.
Oh had previously announced that his career would be coming to a close in April, but he finally received a formal send-off from the Korea archery federation on 23 September at their annual national all-star tournament.
His late-blooming career was notable for its longevity and his unconventional shooting style, designed around his unique frame.
Korea’s dominance of Olympic archery began in the 1980s, but until 2012, they had never won a men’s individual gold medal.
Oh was already thirty years old, and had only made the national team for the first time in 2009. By Korean standards, he was a long-in-the-tooth veteran, but it would be Oh who finally came through a tough series of matches to take the biggest prize of all in London.
No-one seemed more surprised than him.
“When I was younger, I imagined being a gold medallist at the Olympics,” he said afterwards. “But as the time went by, my results weren’t good enough to make it to the Olympics.”
“It was a long way to come till this moment. I wanted no regrets. I shot every arrow as if it were my last. I was not expecting this at all.”
As well as the Olympic win, he took the 2013 Archery World Cup Final title and the Incheon 2014 Asian Games individual title, as well as many team golds in international competition.
One of his biggest frustrations was never managing to win the individual World Archery Championship – he took a silver medal in the competition in both 2011 and 2013.
He narrowly missed out on making the Korean team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games – according to him, by just a single arrow.
Despite hinting that his career could be over as far back as 2015, and battling against long-term shoulder problems more than once, Oh managed to make the frontline Korean teams for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021, and the Asian Games in 2022.
He won team gold medals in both.
The veteran attempted, once again, to make the Olympic team during the Korean trials in 2024, managing to make the last eight.
“Younger archers will be able to do better,” he said after the trials ended. “I wish the best for them.”
Oh had already worked as a player-coach for his professional team, Hyundai Steel, and like former teammate Im Dong Hyun, is moving into full-time archery coaching.
Like Im, who coached the men's team to gold at Paris 2024, Oh Jin Hyek’s Olympic story may not be quite over yet.
