One of the early stories of the 2012 Summer Olympics in London has been North Korea’s refusal to participate until England stops calling them South Koreans. After today’s archery ranking round, maybe being South Korean won’t sound as bad.
Simultaneously bringing to life the dreams of The Hunger Games, The Avengers and Brave fanboys and girls across the Internet, South Korea’s Im Dong-hyun broke his own 72-arrow world record with a score of 699. His team followed his lead, breaking the team world record, scoring a combined 2,087. South Korea won the gold at the 2004 and 2008 games, and if this (and that scene in Best Of The Best where South Korean national teams train by shirtlessly chopping trees in the snow) is any indication, 2012 will be more of the same.
The best part? Im Dong-hyun can’t even see what he’s shooting at.
The Korean, who suffers from strong myopia and just aims at a “blob of yellow color” in the center of the target 70 meters away, was happy to be at the top of the ranking round but was not about to get carried away.
“It’s just the first round so I won’t get too excited about it,” he said.
Im’s team mate Kim [Bub-min] would also have broke the record after shooting 698, while the third member of the team Oh finished with 690.
Who gets to face off with the new World Record holder in round one? Why, Emanuele Guidi of San Marino, of course, ranked 64th in the world. Good luck with that, San Man.
[via Reuters, h/t to Yahoo Sports]
