+++ PRESS RELEASES +++ FITA Press Release No. 04 / 20.08.2004 Dynasty continues as Korean women triumph Korea’s women confirmed their archery greatness by winning their fifth successive team gold medal today, defeating China 251-250 in a dramatic 27-arrow final at Panathinaiko Stadium. Befitting the quality of competition during the day, the final came down to the last arrow. As the crowd hushed, individual gold medalist Park Sung Hyun shot a perfect ten to give Korea the narrowest of victories. The Korean trio of Park, Yun Mi Jin and Lee Sung Jin proved unstoppable all day, defeating host nation Greece and surprise semi-finalists France (249-234) on their way to the final. China and Chinese Taipei met in the other semi-final. In a battle to challenge Korea, it was China that prevailed 230-226. In the bronze medal match, Chinese Taipei’s trio of Yuan Shu Chi, Wu Hui Ju and Chen Li Ju proved too consistent for France’s Berengere Schuh, Aurore Trayan and Alexandra Fouace. They won 242-228. This left only the gold medal match. Entering today, Korea had won every team gold medal since the event was introduced to the Olympics in 1988. They are also reigning world champions. However, China had won the 2001 world championships and its trio of He Ying, Lin Sang and Zhang Juanjuan are among the world’s best. But Korea was to prove too formidable an opponent for their Asian rivals. While the scores stayed close, Korea led slightly after every end, leaving Park to perform her fairy-tale finish with the final arrow. Park said she did not watch her gold medal winning arrow on to the target. "Before my final shot I prayed to God," she said. "I didn’t see my last arrow’s score, I just looked behind and saw my teammate Yun was celebrating. It was only then that I realized we had won the gold medal." While Park and Lee are both 21, Lee is the youngest on the gold medal team at 19. "I am very happy and I want to thank my two teammates," Lee said. "I promised my parents before I came here that I would achieve something good at the Olympics." Both China and Chinese Taipei featured athletes who had been unlucky in the individual event. Chinese Taipei’s Yuan Shu Chi reached the semi-finals but ended up missing a medal, while China’s He Ying lost all chance in her quarter-final match after receiving a zero score for an arrow for shooting out of sequence. Yuan expressed her delight in becoming an Olympic medalist. "After our defeat by China in the semi-final we felt like we had lost our tempo," she said. "But my teammate Chen was feeling very confident and that helped us achieve this result." For Korea’s Park, it was her second gold medal in three days. She beat team-mate Lee in the individual final on Wednesday. Yun, the individual and team gold medalist from Sydney 2000, won her third gold medal. The team win continues Korea’s incredible streak of Olympic success in women’s archery. Since 1984, they have won 11 consecutive medals in individual events. The Korean women are yet to enter an Olympic event and not win the gold medal. They stand alone as the greatest Games dynasty of the modern era. The final event of archery, the men’s team event, is contested tomorrow (Saturday). 20.08.2004 / Travis Cranley - FITA Media --

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