South Korean women’s archery team seek 9th straight gold

HIGHLIGHTS FROM RIO: The winner of the men’s individual competition was Ku Bonchan of South Korea. Jean-Charles Valladont of France earned silver and American Brady Ellison the bronze. In the women’s competition, Chang Hyejin of South Korea was the gold-medal winner, while Lisa Unruh of Germany took silver and Ki Bobae of South Korea bronze. South Korea won both the men’s and women’s team competitions. The U.S. placed second in the men’s event with the trio of Zach Garrett, Ellison and Jake Kaminski.

WHAT’S NEW: The mixed team event will make its Olympic debut in Tokyo, featuring one male and female competing together.

TOKYO EXPECTATIONS: South Korea’s recurve women are 8 for 8 in gold medals since the event was introduced in 1988. A good bet to lead the charge for a ninth straight is Kang Chae Young, who was the runner-up at the last world championships. Korea, China and Chinese Taipei elected to sit out international competitions ahead of the Olympics. That begs the question: Could those nations be rusty or could they wind up on the podium?

ATHLETES TO WATCH: On the men’s side, Kim Woojin, South Korea, a two-time world champion; teenager Kim Je Deok, South Korea; Ellison, a three-time Olympic medalist; and Nicholas D’Amour, U.S. Virgin Islands. On the women’s side, world champion Lei Chien-Ying, Chinese Taipei; Deepika Kumari, India; Ana Vazquez, Mexico; Casey Kaufhold, United States; and Michelle Kroppen, Germany.

GOLD MEDAL MOMENT(S): Mixed team (July 24), women’s team (July 25), men’s team (July 26), women’s individual (July 30), men’s individual (July 31).

__

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports