Kim Je-deok ( ko, 김제덕; born 12 April 2004) is a South Korean archer. He is a two-time Olympic gold medalist, winning in the mixed team and men's team events at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

.He was the youngest archer competing at the

Career

Kim got into archery in 2013 when he was nine. After an appearance on SBS's variety show "Finding Genius" in 2016 at the age of 12, he was nicknamed as " Archery Genius ". He participated in

2019 World Archery Youth Championships The 2019 World Archery Youth Championships was the 17th edition of World Youth Archery Championships. The event was held in Madrid, Spain 19-25 August 2019, and was organised by World Archery. Junior events were held for those under 21, and Cadet f ...

, received attention by winning a gold medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the individual event. At the end of 2019, in the national selection for the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

, he placed 14th in the first round, but withdrew from the competition due to shoulder impingement syndrome. However, in March 2020, as the Tokyo Olympics were delayed by one year due to the pandemic of COVID-19, Kim recovered from his injury and was able to participate again in the national team competition held in 2021. He participated in the national team selection at the Gwangju International Archery Center on March 27, 2021, succeeded in getting into the national team by placing 5th.Then, in the Tokyo Olympic national team selection match held on April 23rd, he finished third and was promoted to the Tokyo Olympic team. This was the youngest record among male archers participating in the Olympics. At

, Kim scored 688 points in the men’s ranking round, beating the world record holder

Brady Ellison Brady Ellison (born October 27, 1988) is an American archer who competes in recurve archery. He is currently a Resident Athlete at the United States Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, California. He holds the record for the longest conti ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

(682 points) to take first place. He paired with An San in mixed team competition. The two became " Olympic Champions " after defeating Steve Wijler and

Gabriela Schloesser Gabriela Schloesser ( Bayardo, born 18 February 1994) is a Mexican-born Dutch recurve archer from Tijuana who represented Mexico before 2016, and has represented the Netherlands since 2017. In 2021, Schloesser and Steve Wijler won the silver ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in the final round. Meanwhile, in the semifinals of the mixed team event, the so-called 'Robin Hood arrow', in which an arrow from An San penetrates the arrow fired by Kim Je-deok, drew attention. The arrows were donated by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

along with the uniforms of the two athletes and displayed at the IOC Olympic Museum in

Lausanne , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR-74), ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. At the age of 17 years and 3 months, he became the youngest medalist in Korean men’s archery history. He won second gold medal in men's team event, with his senior archers,

Oh Jin-hyek Oh Jin-hyek ( ko, 오진혁; , Hanja: 吳真爀; born 15 August 1981) is a South Korean archer. Oh first competed for the Korean national team in 1999, but did not win a major individual international tournament un ...

and Kim Woo-jin.Despite his goal to win third gold medal in

individual An individual is that which exists as a distinct entity. Individuality (or self-hood) is the state or quality of being an individual; particularly (in the case of humans) of being a person unique from other people and possessing one's own Maslow ...

round, he lost to Florian Unruh of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

by the set score of 7-3 in the round of 32. Although he wasn't able to place himself on the podium, by the end of the Olympics, Kim Je Deok gained fame as the guy who passionated cheered "Fighting" 15 different times to cheer for his teammates.

Awards and nominations

2004 births Living people South Korean male archers Archers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic archers of South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in archery Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics 21st-century South Korean people

References

{{Olympic Champions Archery Men Team