(Olympics) Women’s archery team chases 10th straight gold for S. Korea

South Korea will look to extend one of the longest winning streaks in Olympic history on Sunday, with the women's team archery competition scheduled in Paris. Lim Si-hyeon, Nam Su-hyeon and Jeon Hun-young have been tasked with bringing South Korea its 10th consecutive gold medal in the women's team event. It made its Olympic debut in Seoul in 1988 and South Korea has gone undefeated since, winning all nine gold medals so far. Concerns about a team of three Olympic debutantes gave way to buoyant optimism Thursday, after Lim set a world record in the women's ranking round. Lim scored 694 out of a maximum 720 points to finish first among 64 archers. Nam, the youngest member of the team at 19, finished second overall with 688 points, while Jeon finished 13th with 664 points. Their combined total of 2,046 points was an Olympic record and gave South Korea the top seed for the team event, which starts with the round of 16 at Les Invalides at 9:30 a.m. local time, or 4:30 p.m. in South Korea. Lim has more inter national experience than her two teammates, having swept up three gold medals -- in the women's individual, women's team and mixed team events -- at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China. Lim will have a chance to pull off the Olympic trifecta here, as she will partner with Kim Woo-jin, who won the men's ranking round Thursday, in the mixed team event. But first things first: in the team quarterfinals, South Korea will meet the winner of the opening knockout match between the United States and Chinese Taipei. China, coached by South Korean-born Kwon Yong-hak, is on the opposite side of the bracket and could meet South Korea in the final. At the first two Archery World Cup events of this season, China defeated South Korea in the women's team finals. The bronze medal match will start just before midnight in South Korea, and the gold medal match is scheduled to begin at 12:11 a.m. Monday in Seoul. Also on Sunday, freestyle swimmer Hwang Sun-woo, the current world champion in the men's 200 meters, will ente r the heats for his main event Sunday morning. The semifinals are set for Sunday evening, and the final will be Monday evening. Fresh off a 23-22 victory over Germany in the opening preliminary match, the South Korean women's handball team will face Slovenia on Sunday. Source: Yonhap News Agency