Yun Ok-Hee tied the Olympic 12-arrow record with 114 points in her individual elimination match against Marie-Pier Beaudet from Canada at the Olympic archery field on Tuesday.
"I didn't know I tied it. I don't care about that record. I want to get a higher score in the next round. I want to get a gold medal, but I think gold medals are decided by God," said Yun, No. 2 seed here, on tying the Olympic 12 arrow record set by South Korean Kim Soo-Nyung in Barcelona 1992.
Yun's coach, Moon Hyung-Chul, put off further treatment of thyroid cancer for the sake of Beijing Games.
"When I heard the news in December about his cancer, I was really worried about him, but he keeps saying, 'I'm OK, don't worry'. I really want to get a medal for him. I want to show him how much I appreciate him," said the 23-year-old.
Apart from Yun, the most notable archers advancing to the 1/8 women's individual elimination matches on Aug. 14 include Khatuna Lorig from United States, Berengere Schuh of France, Zhang Juanjuan of China and Joo Hyun-Jung of South Korea.
Lorig was the biggest surprise of the day, triumphing over Alison Williamson of Britain 112-109 in the 1/16 elimination round. Lorig, the No. 26 seed, is a four-time Olympian and team bronze medallist from Barcelona in 1992.
Williamson, the No. 7 seed, is a five-time Olympian and the individual bronze medalist in Athens in 2004. Lorig beat Virginie Arnold of France, the team bronze medalist from Saturday, in the 1/32 elimination round.
Schuh shot the most impressive back-to-back scores of the morning, beating Pia Carmen Lionetti of Italy 112-107 and Japan's Sayoko Kitabatake 112-100.
Chinese Taipei archer Yuan Shu Chi's hopes for an Individual medal were dashed when she lost her 1/16 elimination match to Zhang 110-105. Yuan was fourth at Athens in 2004.
Before facing Yuan, Zhang, a clear crowd favourite, won her 1/32 match against Tetyana Berezhna of Ukraine 109-97.
South Korean archers Joo and Yun made it through the first two rounds easily. Joo clinched her 1/32 match 108-98 against Sigrid Romero of Colombia even before the last arrow was shot. Joo then took out Natalia Valeeva of Italy, the reigning world champion in the 1/16 elimination match by 110-108.
In the elimination matches, archers shoot 12 arrows for a total possible score of 120 points, alternating each arrow. Yun set the world record of 119 at the 2008 World Cup in Antalya, Turkey.
(Xinhua News Agency August 12, 2008)