Korean Archers stamp their Name on Competition with Universiade and World Records in Gwangju!

 Ki Bobae, the world number one ranked archer and the Olympic medalist in Korean archery team for Universiade Gwangju 2015 broke the world record

GWANGJU – Breaking a world record is a momentous career achievement.  Doing it in your home country, in front of a local crowd, makes the moment one to savour.

Ki Bo Bae scored 686 out of a possible 720 points in the women’s recurve individual rounds on the first day of the 28^th Summer Universiade archery competition on Saturday.  Much more than that, she is considered a leader of the Korean team.

She says the pressure never went away, but it was fantastic to be back on the field again.

“As the oldest team member, I had a lot of pressure, but I put the Korean flag on my chest and joined the team again with a sense of pure joy in my heart.  It was my comeback to an international competition. ”The previous record had stood since Athens 2004, with another Korean in Park Sung-Hyun holding the honour. Ki Bo Bae says the environment was an influence in helping her perform at the top of her game.

“As I have set world records, I thought that it was a very good experience, and the environment around me supported me during today’s performance.  I was worried when I arrived in Gwangju that my teammates would be affected negatively, as my condition was not very good.”

That mindset can be put into the past now, as Ki Bo Bae can focus on celebrating this occasion.  It was also a team first mentality that allowed the record to fall into her hands.

“Instead of being greedy about my own goals, thinking about the team has resulted primarily in good outcomes. I thought I would be able to make myself the same as my teammates, as I saw my friends around me breaking world records.”

Another World Record was also broken, with the Korean women’s recurve team of Ki Bo Bae, Choi Misun and Kang Chaeyoung scoring 2038, six more points than the previous world record of 2032, set in 2014.

Korea also took home a 1-2-3 result in the men’s recurve individual ranking round. Lee Seungyun set a new Universiade record of 693, toppling yet another statistic in the history books. The first official day of competition has been a glorious moment for the home nation.

Davis Harrigan (AUS), FISU Young Reporter