The Opening Ceremony has not yet begun, but already some world records have been broken in the 2012 Olympics in London. Im Dong-hyun set a new 72-arrow mark in archery on Friday, breaking his own world record and was part of a new record in the team shoot. These new records came in the ranking round, and allowed South Korea to take the top three seeds in the individual men’s archery event.
Blind South Korean Archer Sets World Record At 2012 Summer Olympics
Im Dong-hyun set a new archery world record in the ranking round on Friday. The South Korean marksman is now ranked first in the individual men’s competition -- and is legally blind.
Getty Images
Bill Hanstock is a writer, author and Emmy Award-winning producer. He began writing for SB Nation in 2011.
Im broke his previous world record by three points and set the new mark at 699 points. This feat is made all the more impressive by the fact that Im is legally blind. As the Associated Press reports, the world record holder has just 10 percent vision in his left eye and 20 percent vision in his right.
Im is a two-time gold medalist, winning the team competition in 2008 and 2004. He’ll hope to capture gold in the individual competition this year. His toughest competition may be U.S. archer Brady Ellison, who is ranked No. 1 in the world. Ellison came in just 10th in the ranking round on Friday, according to the official Olympics website.
For complete coverage of the Summer Games in London, please stay tuned to SB Nation’s dedicated 2012 Olympics hub.
See More:
