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"Kim Woo-jin, Visiting Alma Mater, Also Fears Archery Team May Disappear"
Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall), who won the archery triple crown at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is reported to have his alma mater's archery team facing the threat of disbandment due to a decrease in the number of students.
Born in Iwon-myeon, Okcheon-gun, Chungbuk Province, Kim Woo-jin graduated from Okcheon Iwon Elementary School, Iwon Middle School, and Chungbuk Physical Education High School, and joined Cheongju City Hall in 2011.
The Iwon Elementary School archery team, founded in 1980, is a prestigious archery program that produced not only Kim Woo-jin but also Park Kyung-mo (playing director at Gongju City Hall), a gold medalist in the men's team archery events at the Athens (2004) and Beijing (2008) Olympics. Park Kyung-mo graduated in the 67th class (1988), and Kim Woo-jin in the 84th class (2005).
Iwon Elementary identifies promising archers in the 2nd and 3rd grades and shares training facilities with Iwon Middle School, providing systematic training until middle school graduation. Coach Choi Seong-ha of the archery team explained to Yonhap News, "The training program connecting elementary and middle school is well organized, allowing students to solidly build their fundamentals."
However, recently, the total number of students at Iwon Elementary has dropped to 33, putting the archery team in jeopardy. Currently, there are 9 members on the archery team, but 5 of them were selected as reserve players in June. Considering that only 3 new students enrolled this year, the team's existence could be threatened in a few years.
Similarly, Iwon Middle School barely fills the team event roster (3 members) to participate in competitions, but if even one member is absent, they cannot compete. Coach Choi said, "Securing a thicker pool of players is the most urgent issue."
In response, the school has been conducting 'archery experience classes' for students from nearby elementary schools since last year to maintain the archery team's legacy. The aim is to let students feel the appeal of archery by shooting arrows themselves and observing the players' training.
Principal Bae An-sik of Iwon Elementary told Yonhap News, "Through experience classes, we recently accepted 2 transfer students in the 6th grade, but the number of new students is declining sharply, which is worrisome," adding, "Even Kim Woo-jin, who visited his alma mater a few years ago, was concerned about the archery team's legacy being cut off."
Meanwhile, Okcheon-gun is considering designating the section from Iwon-myeon intersection to Bamtijae, which passes through Kim Woo-jin's hometown (Midong-ri, Iwon-myeon), as 'Kim Woo-jin Ro (Road)'.
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