Ki Bo-bae

{{Infobox sportsperson

| name = Ki Bo-bae

| image = Korea Olympic KiBobae 01 (7730588128).jpg

| image_size = 200

| caption = Ki at the 2012 Summer Olympics

| nationality = South Korean

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth-date and age|February 20, 1988}}

| birth_place = Anyang, South Korea

| death_date =

| death_place =

| height = 167 cm{{cite web|url=https://www.rio2016.com/en/athlete/bo-bae-ki|title=Ki Bo-bae |access-date=2016-08-15|website=Rio 2016|publisher= Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Rio 2016|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160818121525/https://www.rio2016.com/en/athlete/bo-bae-ki|archive-date=August 18, 2016}}

| weight = 57 kg

| education = Gwangju Women's University

| sport = Archery

| event = Recurve archery

| coach = Park Chae-soon{{cite web|url=https://worldarchery.org/athlete/6887/ki-bo-bae|title=Ki Bo-bae|access-date=2016-08-15|publisher=worldarchery.org}}

| headercolor = lightsteelblue

| show-medals = yes

| medaltemplates =

{{MedalCountry | {{KOR}} }}

{{MedalCount

|Olympic Games|3|0|1

|World Championships|5|0|2

|World Cup Final|3|0|1

|Asian Games|1|0|0

|Universiade|5|1|0

|Total|17|1|4

}}

{{MedalCount

|Women's individual|7|0|2

|Women's team|5|1|2

|Mixed team|5|0|0

}}

| module3 = {{Infobox Korean name

| hangul = 기보배

| hanja =

| rr = Gi Bobae

| mr = Ki Popae

| child = yes}}

}}

Ki Bo-bae ({{Korean|hangul=기보배}}; {{IPA|ko|ki.bo.bɛ̝}} or {{IPA|ko|ki|}} {{IPA|ko|po.bɛ̝|}}; born February 20, 1988) is a South Korean recurve archer and three-time Olympic gold medalist. She was the winner of the women's team and women's individual events at the 2012 Summer Olympics and of the women's team event again at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she also took bronze in the individual competition. Her tally of four Olympic medals places her among the most decorated archers in Olympic history.

Ki was introduced to archery in primary school and by 2010 was a member of the South Korean national team. In addition to the Olympics she has achieved gold medals at the World Archery Championships - becoming the women's recurve world champion in 2015 - the Asian Games, and the Summer Universiade, and is a three-time winner at the Archery World Cup finals. From 2015 to 2017 she held the world record score for the women's 72-arrow round and has twice held the position as the women's world number one in the World Archery Rankings.

Early and personal life

Ki Bo-bae was born on February 20, 1988. She was introduced to archery at eleven years old when the sport was offered by her primary school.{{cite web|url=https://archivepyc.nbcolympics.com/news/who-ki-bo-bae|title=Who is... Ki Bo-Bae|website=NBC Olympics|publisher=NBCUniversal|first=Eric|last=Scatamacchia|date=2 April 2016|access-date=19 February 2020}}

In 2015, Ki was a graduate student at Gwangju Women's University, which allowed her to compete at the 2015 Summer Universiade,{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/11/660_182197.html|title=Why 27-year-old Lee can compete|website=The Korea Times|first=Ji-youn|last=Kwon|date=5 July 2015|access-date=1 March 2020}} and as of 2017 she was pursuing a doctorate degree.{{cite web|url=https://worldarchery.org/news/147474/ki-bo-bae-only-60-international-career|title=Ki Bo Bae only 60% into international career?|publisher=World Archery Federation|first=Chris|last=Wells|date=31 January 2017|access-date=29 February 2020}} She has expressed an interest in working with athletes of the Paralympic Games and teaching disabled children, as well as joining the International Olympic Committee as a member to assist in future bids by South Korea to host the Summer Olympics.

Ki announced her forthcoming marriage shortly after winning her third Archery World Cup in September 2017. She wed in a ceremony held two months later.{{cite web|url=https://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2017/09/05/2017090500943.html|title=Bride-to-Be Ki Bo-bae Wins Archery World Cup|website=The Chosun Ilbo|first=Hyung-sik|last=Joo|date=5 September 2017|access-date=2 March 2020}}

Ki acted as a torchbearer for the 2018 Winter Olympics torch relay.{{cite web|url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20180111003751320|title=PyeongChang Olympics torch to arrive in capital city|work=Yonhap News Agency|date=11 January 2018|access-date=19 February 2020}}

Career

=2010–2011: Early accolades=

Ki was selected for the South Korean archery team alongside Joo Hyun-jung and Yun Ok-hee to contest the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou. Although eliminated by Cheng Meng of China in the quarter-finals of the women's individual competition, she won the gold medal in the women's event with Joo and Yun after the trio defeated the Chinese team in the final.{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2019/11/312_76868.html|title=Jung grabs first athletic gold in long jump|website=The Korea Times|first=Chul|last=Yoon|date=23 November 2010|access-date=4 December 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20101125000977|title=Putting mind over matter|website=The Korea Herald|agency=Yonhap News Agency|date=25 November 2010|access-date=4 December 2019}} At the 2011 Archery World Cup's second stage in Antalya she achieved a further team gold medal as well as a silver medal in the individual competition, finishing as runner-up to teammate Jung Dasomi.{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2011/06/600_88828.html|title=Women archers win World Cup team event|website=The Korea Times|first=Chul|last=Yoon|date=13 June 2011|access-date=5 December 2012}} She later took what would be the first of three mixed team titles at the 2011 World Archery Championships.{{cite web|url=https://worldarchery.org/news/126062/ki-bo-bae-adds-world-champion-title-collection|title=Ki Bo Bae adds world champion title to collection|publisher=World Archery Federation|first=Chris|last=Wells|date=2 August 2015|access-date=29 February 2020}}

=2012: Double Olympic Champion=

File:KOCIS Korea London Olympic Archery Womenteam 01 (7682353680).jpg (centre) and Choi Hyeon-ju (right)]]

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London was Ki's first appearance at the Olympics. She began the preliminary 72-arrow ranking round with a score of 671 points from a maximum of 720, tying her at the top of the standings for the women's individual event with teammate Lee Sung-jin and Chinese Taipei's Tan Ya-ting. Ki was however ranked first and awarded the number one seed for the elimination rounds on countback after landing a higher number of arrows in the central ring of the target. With a combined score of 1,993 points, Ki, Lee, and Choi Hyeon-ju also secured the number one seed for South Korea in the women's team competition.{{cite web|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120728000058|title=S. Korea men, women earn high seeds in archery|website=The Korea Herald|agency=Yonhap News Agency|first=Hyun-hee|last=Shin|date=28 July 2012|access-date=4 August 2019}}

Ki and her teammates Lee and Choi delivered a narrow win over China in the final of the women's team event, which was contested prior to the individual event, to claim their nation's seventh consecutive Olympic gold medal in the discipline. As the third and final archer in the team's shooting sequence Ki was responsible for what became the final arrow of the match, securing victory over their Chinese rivals for the third successive Olympics by a single point.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oly-arch-arwtea/archery-south-korean-women-win-gold-number-seven-idUSBRE86S0PR20120729|title=Archery: South Korean women win gold number seven|work=Reuters|first=Peter|last=Rutherford|date=29 July 2012|access-date=3 December 2019}} Ki won her second gold medal of the Games in the women's individual event contested later in the week, defeating Mexico's Aída Román in a closely fought final which necessitated a one-arrow shoot-off to determine the winner. Having tied 5-5 on set points over the preceding five sets of three arrows each, Ki and Román were both required to shoot a single tie-breaking arrow at the target with the archer firing closest to the centre winning. The pair both proceeded to shoot their arrows into the 8-ring of the target, but as Ki's effort was judged to have landed marginally closer to the centre, she was awarded the gold medal.{{cite web|url=https://www.espn.com/olympics/summer/2012/archery/story/_/id/8225579/2012-london-olympics-south-korea-ki-bo-bae-wins-gold-medal-women-individual-archery|title=Ki Bo-bae wins archery gold|website=ESPN|agency=Associated Press|date=2 August 2012|access-date=5 December 2019}}{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-oly-arch-arwind-wrap-day6/archery-korean-ki-wins-gold-in-final-shoot-off-idUSBRE8711JQ20120802|title=Archery: Korean Ki wins gold in final shoot-off|work=Reuters|first=Peter|last=Rutherford|date=2 August 2012|access-date=1 August 2019}}

Ki was the sole member of the South Korean women's archery team to win two Olympic medals in London. Speaking in a press conference after the final Ki tearfully apologised for her final arrow, stating that "Koreans do not shoot eights".{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2012/aug/12/london-2012-olympic-games-review|title=The story of London 2012: Guardian writers' Olympic Games review |newspaper=The Guardian|publisher=Guardian Media Group|first=Eddie|last=Butler|date=12 August 2012|access-date=27 July 2019}} She also admitted she did not watch Roman's shoot her arrow because she was too deep in prayer.

Outside of the Olympics Ki delivered a strong performance in the 2012 Archery World Cup, beginning the competition with gold medals in the women's team and individual events at the opening stage in Shanghai.{{cite web|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20120415000286&ACE_SEARCH=1|title=Korean archers win 2 golds at World Cup|website=The Korea Herald|first=Kyu-wook|last=Oh|date=15 April 2012|access-date=5 December 2019}} She qualified for the final stage held in Tokyo in September, where she advanced to the gold medal match and came from behind to defeat India's Deepika Kumari.{{cite web|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/index.php/articles/1011000/south-korean-archers-complete-golden-season-at-world-cup-final|title=South Korean archers complete golden season at World Cup final|website=Inside the Games|publisher=Dunsar Media Company|first=Duncan|last=Mackay|date=23 September 2012|access-date=5 December 2019}}

=2013–2015: Break and world record=

In 2013 Ki won two gold medals at that year's World Archery Championships in Belek, taking her second mixed team title with Oh Jin-hyek and achieving the women's team title.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/news/archer-ki-bo-bae-aiming-for-a-historic-double|title=Archer Ki Bo-bae aiming for a historic double|website=Olympic.org|publisher=International Olympic Committee|date=4 August 2016|access-date=22 April 2020}} Defeat to Denmark's Maja Jager however eliminated her from contention for the individual crown.{{cite web|url=https://www.lexpress.fr/actualites/1/sport/mondiaux-2013-de-tir-a-l-arc-la-france-bat-la-coree-du-sud-pour-le-bronze-en-arc-classique-messieurs_1288541.html|title=Mondiaux-2013 de tir à l'arc: la France bat la Corée du Sud pour le bronze en arc classique messieurs|language=fr|trans-title=2013 Archery Worlds: France beats South Korea for bronze in men's recurve|website=L'Éxpress|agency=Agence France-Presse|date=10 June 2013|access-date=22 April 2020}}

After shooting poorly in the national trials for the upcoming Asian Games in Incheon Ki was not selected for the national team in 2014, marking the first time in four years she had not been chosen.{{cite web|url=https://www.lemonde.fr/jeux-olympiques-rio-2016/article/2016/08/07/jo-2016-ki-bo-bae-la-fine-mouche-sud-coreenne_4979485_4910444.html|title=JO 2016 : Ki Bo-bae, la fine mouche sud-coréenne|language=fr|website=Le Monde|first=Elisabeth|last=Pineau|date=7 August 2016|access-date=27 April 2020}} In an interview in the newspaper JoongAng Ilbo published at the end of the year Ki reflected that her initial response to her non-selection was one of relief, having gained freedom the strict training regimen by which team members had to abide.{{cite web|url=https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/article/article.aspx?aid=3013521|title=Archer sets sights on making Olympics history|website=Korea JoongAng Daily|first1=Hyo-Kyung|last1=Kim|first2=Kyung-Don|last2=Joo|date=5 January 2016|access-date=11 February 2020}} She later acknowledged that she had "relaxed too much" during the trials and lost her mental focus. Watching the archery competitions at the Asian Games that September, in which she performed commentary duties for the Korean broadcaster KBS,{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/08/207_164158.html|title=Sports stars take commentator jobs at Asiad|website=The Korea Times|first=Ji-youn|last=Kwon|date=4 September 2014|access-date=19 February 2020}} motivated her to work to return to the national squad. Her absence from the Korean team resulted in the loss of her position at the top of the World Archery Rankings, where she had held a rank of at least second since the end of the Olympics in 2012.{{cite web|url=https://en.yna.co.kr/view/AEN20150811009600315|title=Archer Ki Bo-bae back at world No. 1|work=Yonhap News Agency|first=So-jung|last=Park|date=11 August 2015|access-date=19 February 2020}}

In 2015 Ki returned to the national team after finishing the national trials in first place. At July's Summer Universiade in Gwangju she set two new world records in the ranking round, her score of 686 points for the 72-arrow round surpassing Park Sung-hyun's eleven-year-old record set at the 2004 Summer Olympics by four points, while the combined total of 2,038 points achieved by her and teammates Kang Chae-young and Choi Mi-sun set a new world's best for the women's team event.{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/nation/2018/08/660_182499.html|title=Archer's world record gets recognized|website=The Korea Times|first=Ji-youn|last=Kwon|date=10 July 2015|access-date=25 July 2019}} Ki's subsequent victory over Choi in the final of the women's individual event represented her first gold medal win since the Archery World Cup almost three years earlier.{{cite web|url=https://worldarchery.org/news/124624/ki-bo-bae-collects-first-individual-gold-2012|title=Ki Bo Bae collects first individual gold since 2012|publisher=Word Archery Federation|first=Chris|last=Wells|date=8 July 2015|access-date=1 March 2020}} She additionally won gold in the mixed team event.

Ki won two further gold medals at the 2015 World Archery Championships held later that summer in Copenhagen, earning a third mixed team gold with Ku Bonchan after defeating the pair of Lin Shih-chia and Kuo Cheng Wei from Chinese Taipei. She later defeated Lin for a second time in the women's individual recurve final. By mid-August she had returned to the top of the World Archery Rankings.

=2016–2017: Third Olympic gold=

Ki entered the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the sole returning member from South Korea's 2012 Olympic archery team.{{cite web|url=http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20160808000217|title=3rd Olympic gold punctuates return to greatness for archer|website=The Korea Herald|agency=Yonhap News Agency|date=8 August 2016|access-date=27 April 2020}} She was considered one of the favourites to win gold medal in the women's individual and team events,{{cite web|url=https://archivepyc.nbcolympics.com/news/top-archers-watch-rio|title=Top archers to watch in Rio|website=NBC Olympics|publisher=NBCUniversal|first=Eric|last=Scatamacchia|date=1 August 2016|access-date=4 March 2020}}{{Dead link|date=May 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} success in which would make her the first archer to defend an individual Olympic title and bring her level with the four career Olympic gold medals achieved by Kim Soo-nyung, regarded as the finest archer in the sport's history. Ki ended the ranking round with 663 points from 720, earning her the third seed for the women's individual event. With her teammates Choi Mi-sun and Chang Hye-jin finishing ranked first and second respectively, the trio also earned the top seed for the women's team competition.{{cite web|url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/sports/2017/12/670_211262.html|title=Rio 2016: S. Koreans finish 1-2-3 in women's archery preliminaries|website=The Korea Times|agency=Yonhap News Agency|date=6 August 2016|access-date=21 July 2019}}

Ki, Chang, and Choi concluded the women's team event with victory over Russia in the final, securing her third Olympic gold medal and South Korea's eighth consecutive Olympic women's team title.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympic.org/news/south-korean-archers-extend-their-olympic-reign|title=Republic of Korea's archers extend their Olympic reign|website=Olympic.org|publisher=International Olympic Committee|date=August 7, 2016|access-date=August 13, 2016}} Afterwards she spoke of the high expectations and pressure placed on the team to continue their winning streak, but noted "we just continued working together and having very strong team work and it proved to be right".{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-archery-w-team-idUSKCN10I0WN|title=Archery: Unflappable South Koreans protect proud legacy|work=Reuters|first=Ian|last=Ransom|date=7 August 2016|access-date=4 March 2020}} Ki's bid to become the first Olympic archer to retain their individual title was ended by Chang in the semi-finals, who outshot Ki in what Reuters described as an "upset" result.{{cite web|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-archery-w-ind-ki/archery-champion-ki-eliminated-from-semi-finals-idUKKCN10M28D|title=Archery: Champion Ki eliminated from semi-finals|work=Reuters|first=Ian|last=Ransom|date=11 August 2016|access-date=6 March 2020}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}} Ki went on to defeat fellow losing semi-finalist Alejandra Valencia of Mexico in the third-placed match to win the bronze medal.{{cite web|url=https://eu.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/2016/08/11/south-korean-captures-womens-archery-gold-at-olympics/88590738/|title=South Korean captures women's archery gold at Olympics|website=USA Today|agency=Associated Press|date=11 August 2016|access-date=6 March 2020}}

Ki won her second Archery World Cup title in Odense in September, defeating Choi in the final to become the second female repeat winner in the tournament's history.{{cite web|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1042033/ellison-continues-remarkable-archery-world-cup-final-record-with-fourth-mens-recurve-title|title=Ellison continues remarkable Archery World Cup final record with fourth men's recurve title|website=Inside the Games|publisher=Dunsar Media Company|first=Max|last=Winters|date=25 September 2016|access-date=26 April 2020}} The following year she achieved her third World Cup title in Rome with victory over Ksenia Perova.{{cite web|url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1054953/south-korea-unbeatable-in-recurve-events-at-archery-world-cup-final|title=South Korea unbeatable in recurve events at Archery World Cup Final|website=Inside the Games|publisher=Dunsar Media Company|first=Mike|last=Rowbottom|date=3 September 2017|access-date=26 April 2020}}