Sudden upsets rock Korean archery as 15-year-old middle schooler heads to 2026 AG! 'Olympic triple gold medalist' Lim Si-hyun and An San shockingly eliminated

*This content was translated by AI.

Upsets continued to occur during the 2026 South Korea national archery team selection trials. In the compound event, which gained attention after being adopted as an official sport for the 2028 Los Angeles (LA) Olympics, a middle school student national team member was born.

Kang Yeon-seo (15, Bucheon G-Sports) finished third in the final second evaluation round of the 2026 archery national team selection trials held on the 17th at Jinho International Archery Field in Yecheon, Gyeongbuk, securing her spot for the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. Kang Yeon-seo had previously placed third in the third selection trial held last month and was selected for the national team, which consists of 32 members—eight men and eight women each in recurve and compound.

At that time, it was already the first time a middle school student had earned the Taegeuk mark in Korean archery history. The female middle school archer, along with Park Ye-rin (Korea National Sport University) and Park Jeong-yoon (Changwon City Hall), who finished first and second respectively, headed to Nagoya, Japan, after securing their Asian Games (AG) qualification.

Changes were even more dramatic in the women's recurve division. Lim Si-hyun (23, Hyundai Mobis), the 2024 Paris Olympics triple gold medalist, failed to make the national team, finishing 10th in the selection trials. Even An San (25, Gwangju Bank Tenten), the 2020 Tokyo Olympics triple gold medalist, failed to secure her Asian Games qualification, finishing fifth in the final evaluation round.

World No. 1 and 2020 Tokyo Olympics recurve team gold medalist Kang Chae-young (30, Hyundai Mobis) once again claimed first place, serving as a solid pillar. In the spots left by the Olympic triple gold medalists, Oh Ye-jin (23, Gwangju Bank) and Lee Yun-ji (25, Hyundai Mobis) finished second and third, respectively. Both Oh Ye-jin and Lee Yun-ji are making their first Asian Games appearance.

In the men's compound division, Choi Yong-hee (42) and Kim Jong-ho (32, both Hyundai Steel) succeeded in qualifying for the Asian Games for the fourth consecutive time. With Choi Eun-gyu (33, Ulsan Nam-gu Office) joining them, the team aims to sweep all events.

The men's recurve division saw the fewest upsets. 2024 Paris Olympics gold medalists Kim Woo-jin (34, Cheongju City Hall), Lee Woo-seok (29, Kolon), and Kim Je-deok (21, Yecheon County Office) are once again going after gold. This trio has now qualified for four consecutive major international multi-sport events since the Hangzhou Asian Games.

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*This content was translated by AI.