Olympic Archery Gold Medalist Ki Bo-bae Retires and Looks to the Future

Olympic archery gold medalist Ki Bo-bae smiles at a retirement press conference held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 14th. /News

“There are many talented players in our country, and I don’t even want to imagine surviving there.”

Archery queen Ki Bo-bae (36) said at the official end of her career as an athlete on the 14th, “I never want to do archery even if I am reborn.” However, he said, “If I am reborn, my love for archery will be the same.”

On the 14th, Ki Bo-bae’s retirement press conference was held at the Korea Press Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Ki Bo-bae came out in a black dress that day. He expressed his thoughts, saying, “I picked up a bow for the first time in 1997, and after 27 years of playing as an athlete, I’m now trying to return to my everyday life.”

Ki Bo-bae won a gold medal in the team event at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games. He then rose to the top of the world by winning two gold medals in the individual and team events at the London 2012 Olympics. At the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, he won them a gold medal in the team event and a bronze medal in the individual event.

The total number of medals swept in various international competitions, including the Archery World Championships and the World Archery World Cup Final, is 37 gold medals, 9 silver medals, and 10 bronze medals. In 2017, he received the Blue Dragon Medal (Grade 1), the highest rank of the Korean Sports Medal. Even after getting married and giving birth in 2017, his active duty life continued. Ki Bo-bae returned to the national team last year when the Hangzhou Asian Games were held, but ultimately decided to end his career.

Even among the spectacular days of active duty, there were some disappointing moments. That was when she faced teammate Jang Hye-jin in the semifinals of the individual event at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and lost. Ki Bo-bae said, “I saw myself falling on the verge of winning my second Olympic individual title in a row,” and “I wanted to turn back time.”

The most glorious moment was the shoot-off in the individual event final at the London Olympics. At the time, Ki Bo-bae was tied 5-5 with the Mexican Roman in the fifth set, and eventually went into a shootout where the winner was decided with one last shot. Ki Bo-bae, who drew the bowstring first, could not raise his head after shooting 8 points. However, Roman also shot 8 points, and Ki Bo-bae, whose arrow was closer to the center of the target, won the gold medal dramatically. Ki Bo-bae said, “It was a turning point in my archery life,” and “I remember that moment the most.”

Ki Bo-bae draws the bowstring in the individual final at the London 2012 Olympics. / SBS

Regarding the reason why he decided to retire, Ki Bo-bae said, “Participating in the Olympics comes with unimaginable hardships and burdens,” and added, “I had a hard time wearing the Taegeuk symbol in 2023, and I wanted give it application. “But I also had doubts about whether I could really prepare with the same mentality as I did for Rio and London.” He continued, “Thinking about my younger children who will succeed me, I thought, ‘I will step down and trust that they will do well.'”

Ki Bo-bae said, “In the past, I said that I would never let my daughter play every sport, but my daughter has a great competitive spirit, so I think she will do well in anything.”

Ki Bo-bae plans to focus on promoting archery to the public in the future. He said, “I want to return the outpouring of love and national interest that I received,” and “I want to create a culture where anyone can have easy access and enjoy archery.”

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