Kim Je-deok Secures Comeback Victory in Round of 32, All Advance to Round of 16

Kim Je-deok (20, Yecheon County Office), who is challenging for two gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, advanced to the round of 16 in the individual event, securing all six members of the Korean archery men's and women's teams in the round of 16 of the individual event.

Jeon Hun-young, Lim Si-hyun, and Nam Su-hyun are holding the Taegeukgi flag after securing victory in the women's team archery final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, held on the 28th (local time) at the Les Invalides Archery Stadium in Paris, France. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 2nd (Korean time), Kim Je-deok defeated Federico Mussolesi (Italy) 6-4 in set score (26-27 29-29 29-28 29-27 28-28) in the men's individual round of 32 held at Les Invalides in Paris, France.

Originally, Kim Je-deok was scheduled to compete in the individual round of 64 and round of 32 on July 31 local time. However, the matches were postponed by one day due to the possibility of thunderstorms.

Kim Je-deok, who started the individual event the latest, also secured a spot in the round of 16, joining Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Office) and Lee Woo-seok (Kolon), who contributed to the men's team’s three consecutive championships, all advancing to the round of 16.

Earlier, in the women's division, Lim Si-hyun (Korea National Sport University), Jeon Hoon-young (Incheon City Office), and Nam Soo-hyun (Suncheon City Office), who contributed to the women's team’s ten consecutive championships, all joined the round of 16.

On the 29th (local time), at the Les Invalides Archery Stadium in Paris, France, the men's team archery final between Korea and France took place at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The Korean team, who won the gold medal, is celebrating while holding the Taegeukgi. [Image source=Yonhap News]

The women's individual round of 16 through the finals will be held on the 3rd. The men's individual round of 16 through the finals will take place on the 4th.

Kim Je-deok started the first set with 8 points, then scored 9 points on the next two arrows. Mussolesi scored 9 points on all three arrows, winning the first set 27-26.

In the second set, the score was tied 29-29. Kim Je-deok shot two consecutive 10s first, and Mussolesi also hit two 10s. Both players scored 9 points on their third arrows.

Kim Je-deok showed concentration in the third set, shooting two 10s first and scoring 29-28, leveling the set score at 3-3.

In the fourth set, Kim Je-deok shot two arrows scoring 10 points first, then one arrow scoring 9 points. Mussolesi, who scored 9 and 10 points on his first two arrows, hit an 8 on the last arrow, giving Kim Je-deok the set.

In the fifth set, Mussolesi started by scoring 10 points. However, a sudden gust of wind caused him to score 8 points on the second arrow, shaking his rhythm. He finished the set with 28 points by scoring 10 on the third arrow. Kim Je-deok scored 9, 10, and 9 points, sharing one point each in the set.

However, Kim Je-deok, who first reached 6 points, secured his advancement to the round of 16.

Earlier, in the round of 64, he defeated Bian Le (South Africa) 6-0 in set score (29-25 29-25 30-29). In the first and second sets of the round of 64, Kim Je-deok hit four 10s out of six arrows, leading 4-0 in set score. In the third set, he hit all three arrows with 10 points, showing perfect performance.

Kim Je-deok, who won two gold medals in the team and mixed team events as a high school student at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, won the gold medal in the men's team event at this competition. If he also wins the individual event, he will become a two-time two-gold medalist consecutively.