Ki Bo-bae in focus
South Korean archer Ki Bo-bae can't walk the streets back home without being recognised and is often praised for her beauty as much as her sporting excellence. The 29-year-old Olympic gold medallist must have been feeling like home as she was the attention of the Bangladeshi media during yesterday's training session at the Maulna Bhasani Hockey Stadium ahead of the 20th Asian Archery Championships which begin here today.
Ki will undoubtedly hog the limelight light in Asia's biggest show of bows and arrows as she becomes one of the few select group of sporting superstars to have come to Bangladesh. She is the biggest name in these championships for South Korea, the dominant force in world archery especially in recurve bow events.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Since being attracted to the sport during her early school years, Ki has won a lot of medals at international level. She won gold medal in both recurve individual and recurve team event in the 2012 London Olympics before repeating the feat in the team event in 2016 Rio Olympics while winning a bronze medal in the Individual event there.
She has also won five gold medals in world archery championships apart from a team gold medal in Guangzhou Asian Games in 2010. However, she had to witness the 2014 Incheon Asian Games at home from sidelines.
“I came here to win two gold medals even though I know I have to compete against some great opponents. But I am ready to give my best,” Ki told reporters through interpreter-cum-team physio Kim Jintaek.
In 2011, Ki became number world number one, but she has slumped to fourth position at the moment and she has not been considered for the Korean team which will be competing in the upcoming World Archery Championships.
Replying to a question on her secret to success, Ki said hard training is the only way to success.
“Training hard is the only way to get success as there is no short-cut way,” said Ki, who shoots 500 arrows a day all winter in sub-zero temperatures under the watchful eyes of her coach.
“There were times I had to train and study until midnight, so I envied kids who had spare time once they finished their schedule. I never slacked for once in training. Even if I was in a slump, instead of reminding myself about it, I carried a positive mindset throughout. That really played a big role,” Ki was quoted in an international archery web portal.
However, Korea's head coach Kim Sunghoon is not expecting too much from Bo-bae due to her recent wedding which kept her out of training for a few weeks.
“Actually she got married just a week ago, so I don't want to put extra pressure on her,” Sunghoon said. “But we came here only to win gold medals in all events -- both recurve and compound.”
Physio Jintaek informed that there are 1500 archers in Korea who are in continuous training as there is a national archery training centre in Seoul and some archery academies are operated by individuals.
Archer Lee Seung-Yun is the other member of the 16-member Korean contingent who grabbed gold medal in men's recurve team event in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
In the last edition of Asian Archery Championships, South Korea grabbed six gold medals out of 10, followed by India who bagged three gold medals while one went to Chinese Taipei.