There is local analysis that the reason France won its first-ever medal in the men’s team archery event is because of the appointment of a Korean coach. The
French men’s archery team, consisting of Thomas Ciro, Jean-Charles Valadon, and Baptiste Eddis, lost 1-5 (57-57 58-59 56-59) to Korea in the 2024 Paris Olympics men’s team archery event held at Les Invalides in Paris, France on the 30th (Korean time), and took home a silver medal. Although
it was not a gold medal, it was a valuable achievement as the first medal in the men’s team archery event in French archery history.
Here in France, there are reports praising the level of Korean archery, and saying that the silver medal was possible thanks to the Korean coach.
According to French daily Le Monde and Ouest France on the 28th of last month (local time), the French Archery Federation (FFTA) appointed coach Oh Seon-taek while looking for a coach to win at least one medal ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The media explained that coach Oh is well-known in the industry.
Coach Oh coached the Korean national team in the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics. Coach Oh has led several athletes to the highest positions on the Olympic podium, including Yoon Mi-jin in Sydney in 2000, Oh Jin-hyeok in London in 2012, and Jang Hye-jin in Rio in 2016. In particular, while coaching the men’s national archery team in 2012, he brought Korea’s first gold medal in the men’s individual archery event in 28 years. French national archery team captain Jean-Charles Valadon said, “In Korea, there is a high density of professional and semi-professional archers, but in France, it is more of a hobby,” and added, “There are many stars among Korean archers, such as Teddy Riner (French judo legend). It is a completely different world.” The media explained that Korea is the “reference point” for archery, noting that the Korean national team has won 27 out of 45 gold medals since archery returned as an official Olympic event in Munich in 1972. They analyzed that the history of Korean archery began at the 1988 Seoul Olympics. They said that the starting point was when the Korean government supported the development of specific sports, including archery, in the early 1980s in order to raise Korea’s status. Ouest France also cited the early discovery of talent to secure top-level archery players, the inclusion of archery in the school curriculum from elementary school to university, and the encouragement of private companies, including Hyundai Motors, to sponsor archery teams as factors in the strength of Korean archery. The French players said in a press conference immediately after the game, “(Since Coach Oh took charge of the team) we have been shooting much more than before and training systematically,” and “We have regrouped and have a new attitude and stance for the archery competition. And we have worked hard. That is why we were able to stand side by side with the strong archery teams.” 카지노사이트
