Korean coaches lead global archery teams to Olympic success

The most frequently heard language in the Paris Invalides archery arena is Korean. Athletes from various countries greet each other with “An-nyeong-ha-se-yo,” meaning ‘Hello,’ when meeting Korean coaches and athletes.

Watching athletes from different countries train together, one might momentarily wonder if the event is taking place in Korea rather than France, as Korean coaches frequently gather and hold their own "alumni" in the archery arena.

Beyond South Korea, eight other countries have Korean coaches leading their archery teams in the Olympics: Oh Seon-taek (France), Kwon Yong-hak (China), Kim Sang-hoon (Japan), Lee Jae-hyung (Malaysia), Park Chae-soon (Vietnam), Park Young-sook (Bhutan), Hong Seong-chil (Iran), and Lee Kyung-chool (Indonesia). Including countries that qualified for the Olympics but did not make it to the final event, such as India, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Mongolia, there are 10 national teams guided by Korean coaches.

As these coaches, who have trained in the “world’s best” Korean archery system, spread their expertise globally, the sport is evolving to a new level. Training methods, technology, and techniques in archery are no longer exclusive to South Korea.

The French national archery team, led by Oh Seon-taek, faced South Korea in the men's team final, where South Korea was vying for its third consecutive gold medal. Oh, a prominent coach who also led the Korean national team at the Sydney 2000 and London 2012 Olympics, remarked, "There is a clear difference in competence compared to the Korean athletes. However, our goal was to meet South Korea in the final, and we’re satisfied to have achieved that."

South Korea and France collaborated in preparation for the Olympics. The French athletes trained jointly with the Korean team in Jincheon, and the Korean athletes used the French national team’s training facilities near Paris during field training.

For the first time during the Olympics, the Korean coaches, who had been too busy even to take a photo together, gathered at a designated time for a group picture. "Korea’s archery excellence makes us proud abroad," they said. "The strength of Korean archery is our strength as well."


Heon-Jae Lee uni@donga.com