South Korea’s An San (20) recorded a score of 680 points in the archery opener at the Olympics yesterday morning.
She beat the previous record of 673, held by Ukraine’s Lina Herasymenko for 25 years, set back in 1996.
Ranked number one in the world, San shot 36 10’s and 16 X’s to establish the new record.
Four archers surpassed the 25-year record. Jang Minhee finished second with 677 points, with fellow South Korean competitor, Kang Chaeyoung in third with 675 points.
San’s record wasn’t the only milestone reached yesterday. The team event, which uses the combined results of each country’s three archers, also has a new record set by South Korea with 2,032 points, ahead of Mexico (1,976) and USA (1,970).
Mexico’s Alejandra Valencia was the best non-Korean performer with 674 points.
The men’s ranking round concluded with South Korea snatching top spot again. Kim Je Dock scored 688 points to edge ahead of USA’s Bradley Ellison who managed to score 682 points after an impressive run of form towards the end.
Je Dock’s win sets up a round of 32 clash with Malawi’s David Areneo.
Oh Jinhyek, also of South Korea, came third in the men’s ranking with 681 points, which means the nation cemented five of the possible six top seeds across the men’s and women’s ranking rounds.
They top the charts in the team competition, with 2,049 points, ahead of Netherlands (2,012) and China (2,011).
With San and Je Dock topping their respective rankings, the new ‘mixed team’ competition is also led by South Korea with 1,368 points, with USA (1,350) second and hosts, Japan (1,343) third.
