CHENNAI: Do you have a stationary kit with you? A compass box maybe? If you do, take out a scale, put it out on the table and check out how much five millimetre is. Probably the thickness of your phone or the sharpener in the same stationary kit. That was the margin by which South Korean archer Kim Wojiin won the men's individual gold medal match against Brady Ellison of the USA to confirm his third gold medal of the Paris Games. With that, Korea completed the clean sweep of gold medals (six) at the Esplanade des Invalides. If you would have asked anyone who has followed recurve archery, this was expected. Koreans have been dominant in archery for years now. Whether it is the Archery World Cups or the Olympics, Korean dominance is expected. Even if you had asked anyone who has watched the sport throughout this edition of the Olympics would tell you that you can never count the Koreans out. They could be two sets down, or heading into a shoot-off, you can trust Koreans to somehow make a comeback and take the win.
Kim Woojin was no exception. After missing out on a podium finish in Tokyo, where none of the medalists in the individual event were from Korea, it felt like he came back with the singular aim of winning everything that was there. On Monday, he started with a defense of his team's gold from Tokyo. In the company of first-time Olympian Lee Woo-Seok and 20-year-old Kim Je-deok, Kim Woojin, who often took the last arrow for his team, looked like a zen on a mission. Even when his two teammates were celebrating each shot in the medal round against the loud French crowd, Kim meant business as Korea took the medal in just four sets. Similar scenes followed in the mixed team event where he partnered with ever-reliable Lim Si-Hyeon to bring home the glory.
However, the individual event is a bit different. It's more lonely. An archer only has the coach to trust there. A coach who cannot do anything to change the result and can only offer mindless affirmations. Coming into the final, Kim had faced the heat. After dominating the first three rounds, without dropping the set, he came across boy wonder Mete Gazoz, the reigning Olympic champion. In any other event, this would have been worthy of a final, but here it was just a match to make it to the semifinal.
The pressure was such that the Korean shot seven in the first set, which is mostly unheard of in Korean archery. It ebbed and flowed in such a way that it came down to the last two arrows. Kim's long hold came in handy to hit two back-to-back 10s. It was a great escape. Well, for one of them. In the semi-final against his compatriot, it was such close competition that it went to the one arrow shoot-off, where Kim's 10 beat Lee Woo Seok's 9. The 32-year-old looked tired. He had a shot at the gold medal, but his face could tell you, he was not ready for another escape. Somehow he managed to hold his emotions. That's what zens do, right? And then, there was Brady Allison. He had kept his nerve to deny India their first medal in archery alongside Casey Kaufhold in the mixed event.
His first in Paris, fourth overall. Each arrow from the American felt like he was shooting his final one. There was no next arrow and Ellison just wanted 10s after 10s. And why wouldn't he? He had been through an enormous weightage of injuries where nobody knew what was wrong. His doctors even suggested he quit the sport and the Arizona-born even considered working in a copper mine. Still, he was in Paris. In quest for the elusive gold in his fifth appearance at the games.
Unlike Kim Woojin, Ellison marched towards the final with absolute dominance. In the quarterfinals, where Kim was battling it out with Gazoz, the American flattered Kim's compatriot, Kim Je Deok 6-0, while shooting six 10s. Nobody had shot like that against any Korean in the competition, but hey, this is Ellison we are talking about. Such was his dominance that his semifinal against Florian Unruh felt like a tick of the box. That is how these two individuals made it to the gold medal match. One escaping the elimination, while the other dominating it.
Once the nerves of the occasion settled down in the first set (Ellison took it 29-27), Kim realised there was no other option but to shoot his best and he took the second set with 29-24. They say a better performance from your opponent forces you to bring the best out of yourself. It is too accurate when it comes to archery. Ellison learned it the hard way to take the third set and lead the competition. Kim had to respond, and respond. he did with two 10s and a nine.Two sets a piece. Three arrow competition. Whoever was gutsy enough to take it was about to be crowned champion. But something exceptional happened.
The final set on the final day of the competition in Paris was the epitome of archery from two men at the peak of their powers. Kim shot 10, and Ellison responded with 10. Kim shot 10, and Ellison responded with 10. Kim shot 10, and Ellison responded with 10. Thrice. It was a deadlock but everyone at the venue and watching all over the World had witnessed what elite archery can look like. It was off to a shootoff. While the volunteers at the venue were changing the target, there was a slight smile on the faces of the two competitors. It had boiled down to one arrow.
A man who came to Paris with a singular aim of winning every medal possible vs the man who was asked to leave the sport. Archery is not one of the shiniest sports of the Olympics. It goes with its own momentum. But for a minute before the shootoff, it was the best sport on the planet, because it pulled off such a spectacle. As per the rules, after one final shot, whoever was closer to the centre was about to be crowned the champion of the Olympics. Locked and loaded for the final arrow of Paris 2024, with a little wind blowing, Kim took a deep breath and shot his arrow.
The man from the middle of Korea had shot the most important 10 of his life. The man from the other end of the world, Glendale Arizona, responded with 10. The only distance that separated Kim's gold from Ellison's silver was five millimeters. What scenes! Kim was confused about whether he should celebrate or console his opponent. This was the first time Kim had looked confused since the start of the Games. Even then his opponent came to help him out. Ellison dropped his bow and rushed to hug Kim. Four men on the Podium, two archers and their coaches, acknowledged the 7000+ crowd together. Kim took Gold, Ellison took silver, but at Invalides, archery won in the most dramatic way.
"I am not upset that he barely beat me. We shot like Champions and that's what it's all about," Ellison just voiced what everyone was feeling after the final.
The final two arrows from Paris 2024 were as spectacular as the venue itself. So long, good sport. See you again in Los Angeles.