Chinese media delivered a stark self-assessment of the Chinese women’s archery team, which secured the runner-up position to South Korea after South Korea’s remarkable streak of ten consecutive Olympic victories in women’s archery. The media commented, “They did well, but it wasn’t enough to surpass Korea.”
Sina.com, operated by China’s Xinhua News Agency, reported that the Chinese women’s team lost 4-5 to the South Korean team in the women’s archery team final at the Les Invalides venue in Paris during the Paris Olympics.
They also remarked on the Chinese team: “We came close to beating the Korean team. Nevertheless, we’ve sparked hopes for the revival of Chinese archery in Paris.”
The Chinese team prepared extensively, even bringing in coach Kwon Yong Hak from South Korea, to exceed South Korean archery.
In practical terms, there were significant achievements. China emerged as a strong contender by defeating South Korea and securing wins in the first and second stages of this year’s Archery World Cup.
Building on this positive trajectory, China aimed to end South Korea’s decade-long winning streak by reaching the finals but ultimately fell short. Despite maintaining competitiveness and forcing a shoot-off, victory eluded them.
Since its debut as an official Olympic event at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the South Korean women’s archery team has continuously clinched victories at every subsequent Olympics, including Barcelona in 1992, Atlanta in 1996, Sydney in 2000, Athens in 2004, Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, Rio in 2016, and Tokyo in 2020.
This achievement by the South Korean women’s archery team sets the record for a single country’s most consecutive Olympic victories in a specific sport. Previously, the U.S. men’s swimming team held a similar record, with ten straight victories in the 400m medley relay from the 1984 Los Angeles Games to the 2021 Tokyo Games.