THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA’S ARCHERS OVERCAME THE UNITED STATES TO WIN THE MEN’S TEAM GOLD AT RIO 2016 ON SATURDAY AND RESTORE A DYNASTY BROKEN BY THE AMERICANS AT LONDON FOUR YEARS AGO.
The peerless trio of Kim Woo-jin, Ku Bon-chan and Lee Seung-yun roared to a 6-0 win on a baking hot Brazilian day to seal South Korea’s fifth team title and fourth in the last five Olympics.
The U.S., who shocked the Republic of Korea when they ended their run of three titles in the semi-finals in London four years ago, were left with a second successive silver after their opponents closed out the match in style with a run of perfect scores.
For a jubilant Korean team it was pay-back for the heartache of their failure to make it to the final in 2012 – and they were clearly in the mood to celebrate.
“I’ve been waiting for this moment, to get gold, for four years,” said Kim Woo-jin. “We trusted each other, and it happened. It just happened.”
“We say that we believe in each other. We talk all the time to cheer each other on. Bonchan Ku was outstanding, but this was teamwork. Everyone did good.”
While South Korea and the U.S. battled it out for archery’s greatest team prize Australia celebrated their first medal in the sport for 12 years by defeating China in the bronze medal playoff.
