‘Korean archery’s pride preserved’ Lee Woo-seok achieves first-ever individual gold… double crown following team title [Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games]

*This content was translated by AI.

He ultimately preserved the pride of Korean archery. Lee Woo-seok (29, Kolon), the flagship star of South Korea’s men’s archery team, finally reached the top of the individual event at the Asian Games on his third attempt.

On the 3rd, Lee Woo-seok defeated home favorite Nakayama Junya (Japan) by a set score of 6-2 (29-26, 27-27, 29-29, 29-27) in the final of the men’s individual recurv event at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held at the Multi-Purpose Plaza of Okazaki Central Comprehensive Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, to win the gold medal.

Lee Woo-seok, who had shared the men’s team gold medal the previous day with Kim Woo-jin (Cheongju City Hall) and Kim Jae-deuk (Yechun County Hall), achieved a double crown at this tournament. He became the fifth South Korean athlete to win a double crown at these Asian Games, following Jo Gwang-hee, Kim Hyo-bin (both canoeing), Oh Sang-wook (fencing), and Lee Geon-hyeok (shooting), and secured the 35th gold medal for the South Korean delegation.

Lee Woo-seok, who had won a double crown in the men’s team and mixed team events at the previous 2022 Hangzhou Games, achieved a double crown for two consecutive tournaments, bringing his total number of Asian Games gold medals to four.

With this, Lee Woo-seok achieved a double crown following the team victory the previous day, preserving even the last shred of pride for Korean archery, which had faced a shocking crisis of winning no gold medals.

Most importantly, he quelled his intense thirst for an individual gold medal. Lee Woo-seok, who had lost to senior Kim Woo-jin in the final during his military service at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Games to win silver, and settled for bronze at the 2022 Hangzhou Games, finally hit the golden target on his third stage. In doing so, he set a historic record by collecting gold, silver, and bronze medals in individual events at the Asian Games.

This gold medal was the decisive blow that rescued Korean archery, which had been pushed to the brink. South Korea’s archery team, which had achieved the feat of sweeping all events at the 2024 Paris Olympics, suffered an unprecedented defeat at this tournament. The Yeo Ja (CEO) team failed to extend their eight-peat in the team event, settled for bronze in the mixed event, and even fell short of gold in the individual event after a shoot-off, resulting in silver. They received a shocking report card of ‘no gold’ in the women’s division for the first time in the 48th-year history of the Asian Games. The men’s division also faced growing crisis as Kim Jae-deuk was eliminated early in the round of 16 of the individual event.

Under the pressure, Lee Woo-seok’s bowstring did not waver as he entered the final Japan-South Korea match. He took the initiative with a 29-26 lead in the first set by hitting two 10-point arrows. Maintaining a set score lead of 4-2 after drawing the second set 27-27 and the third set 29-29, Lee Woo-seok put an end to the match with a 6-2 victory in the fourth set, shooting 29 points including two 10-point arrows while Nakayama settled for 27.

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*This content was translated by AI.