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Warmup Korean archers put on a show for baseball fans
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- Shortly before heading to Sydney, South Korea's Olympic archers conducted an unusual exercise: they shot arrows in front of thousands of cheering and booing fans -- that is, baseball fans. The six archers in white uniforms shot at several bull's eyes set up in the middle of Seoul's Chamsil Stadium for 40 minutes before a baseball game started last Sunday. Thousands of spectators cheered when the archers did well and booed when they did badly, as instructed by archery team officials. "We are creating a situation similar to the real one at the Olympics. This kind of exercise trains our archers not to be affected by the reaction of spectators at the real game," said Yoon Byong-sun, a spokesman for the Korea Archery Association. At the real thing, South Korea aims high -- a sweep of all the golds on offer. South Korea has dominated women's archery the past dozen years: in addition to all three team gold medals since the event was introduced, they won all four individual gold medals and eight of 12 individual medals overall since 1984. In Atlanta, Kim Kyong-wook hit and broke a couple of tiny camera lenses embedded in the center of the bull's eyes, drawing tumultuous cheers from amazed onlookers. The Korean men also excel: they have won one gold, three silvers and one bronze medal in the pat three Olympics. As for the Sydney Olympics, both the athletes and coach said they were ready. "There are many great foreign athletes. But I think we are better," said Kim Su-nyung, 29, the winner of three Olympic gold medals and one silver medal, who is making a comeback from a seven-year retirement. "My goal is winning a gold medal. I know it is not easy. But it is not as though we are inferior to foreign archers in terms of skill," said Oh Kyo-moon, 28, who won a team silver medal and an individual bronze medal at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. Jang Young-sool, the national archery team coach, says he has high expectations. "We will try to make a new record by grabbing all team and individual gold medals this time," he said. Jang said South Korea produces great archers by picking up young hopefuls and training them systematically. In contrast, he said, many foreign archers turn professional after enjoying the sport as a hobby instead of getting hard formative training. South Korea has tough opponents. Some female archers from China, Russia and Italy and male archers from France and Italy are considered top competitors. South Korean female archers include: Kim Su-nyung, Kim Nam-soon, 20, who won an individual first place at the World Junior Championships in 1998, and Yoon Mi-jin, 17, who last year won a team first place in International Silver Arrow competitions, one of archery's major events. The male archers are Oh Kyo-moon, Chang Yong-ho, 24, who also won a team silver medal together with Oh at the Atlanta Olympics and Kim Chung-tae, 20, who won a team first place at the World Junior Championships in 1996. South Korea is sending a total of 396 people, including 283 athletes and 113 officials, to Sydney next month, with a goal for 10 to 12 gold medals to place among the world's top 10. The South Koreans were fourth in 1988 in Seoul, seventh in 1992 in Barelona and eighth in 1996 in Atlanta.
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