"Team Korea Wearing Uniforms Causes National Embarrassment" Archery Venue Misbehavior Controversy

Controversy Over Eyewitness Account of Men's Individual Archery at Paris Olympics
Local Sports Council Officials Call It "Unsportsmanlike Conduct Interfering with Opponent"

At the archery venue of the Paris Olympics, eyewitness accounts have emerged that some executives and staff members of sports associations displayed rude behavior while watching the event, drawing attention.

On the 6th, a netizen A posted a review on Meta's social networking service (SNS) Threads about watching the men's individual archery event held on the 4th (local time) at the Les Invalides venue in Paris, France. Having purchased a ticket package worth about 600,000 won, A said that many Korean elders wearing uniforms with "Team Korea" written on their backs filled the first few rows of Category A seats. At that time, A thought, "These must be passionate and admirable elders."

On the 4th (local time), during the shoot-off situation in the men's individual archery final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Korean archer Kim Woo-jin is taking his last shot.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

However, when the quarterfinal match featuring Korean athletes began, their inappropriate behavior started. A said, "Category A seats are close enough to talk to the athletes. Archery requires intense concentration, so even children know to be quiet before a shot." He added, "But these people began shouting scores like 'nine' and 'ten' even before the announcer announced them, as if they were shamans."

A also claimed that they disrupted the match with rude behavior that provoked the opposing athletes. According to A, at a crucial moment when the Italian athlete competing against Lee Woo-seok needed to shoot a 10 to tie with the Korean player, they loudly shouted "nine," provoking the opponent. In the quarterfinal between Kim Woo-jin and the Turkish athlete, they also made provoking sounds like "woi" whenever the opposing player drew the bowstring.

Part of the post A posted on Thread [Photo by Thread capture]

As the inconsiderate and rude cheering toward the opponents continued, other spectators frequently asked them to be quiet, but throughout the match, their bad manners persisted with ringing phone calls, messenger notifications, and loud conversations, A revealed. He lamented, "I really wanted to hide in a hole witnessing the moment when our proud homeland, the Republic of Korea, became a nuisance to the world."

A clarified, "This post is not meant to blindly target Korean elders," and claimed, "Surprisingly, these individuals are presidents, vice presidents, and secretaries under local government sports associations affiliated with the national sports council, who received accommodation and game tickets funded by taxpayers." He also shared photos of them wearing name tags with the name of the "○○ Sports Association" and their titles.

He continued, "I wonder what the purpose of attending the games is when they disgrace the country," and criticized, "National athletes train and strive for years to bring honor to the country, but the association people who are supposed to support and help them instead bring shame to the nation."

A’s review quickly spread across social networking services (SNS) and online communities. Netizens responded with comments such as, "I thought it was really rude to hear booing during Olympic archery, but to find out it was Koreans was shocking," "Collect all the money spent on those people and properly support young athletes," and "The sports association’s practices need to be completely overhauled."