Paris 2024: Who is Kim Yeji? The South Korean pistol shooter going viral at the Olympic Games
By Ben McCrum
Published 02/08/2024 at 12:15 GMT+1
South Korea's Kim Yeji has stolen the hearts of Olympic fans across the world after claiming silver in the women's 10 metre shooting event at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. While her ability impressed viewers, it is Kim's style and calm persona that have caused fans to fall in love with the shooter. National teammate and Olympic village roommate Oh Ye Jin claimed the gold medal in the event.
Pistol shooter Kim goes viral for cool demeanour after clinching silver
Video credit: TNT Sports
Fans of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games have fallen in love with South Korea's Kim Yeji after watching her in the women's 10 metre air pistol event.
Competing in her first Olympic Games, the 31-year-old won the silver medal with an impressive score of 241.3, surpassing the previous Olympic record of 240.3 set by Russia's Vitalina Batsarashkina at Tokyo 2020.
Kim finished behind fellow Korean and Olympic village room-mate Oh Ye Jin, who scored 243.2 after eight of her final nine shots scored at least 10 points.
Winning the event crowned 19-year-old Oh as the first Olympic champion from South Korea.
Speaking after the event, Kim had nothing but respect for her national team-mate.
She said: "I do not view her as my rival. I always want to care for her and always be there for her. So when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy.
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old medalist Oh Ye Jin of Team Republic of Korea (R) and Silver medalist Kim Yeji of Team Republic of Korea (L) celebrate following the Women's 10m Air Pistol Final on day two of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 28, 2024 in Chateauroux, France.
Image credit: Getty Images
"This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver. When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans."
The Olympic champion echoed this sentiment, thanking Kim after claiming the gold medal.
“I’m very happy we scored first and second," Oh said.
"I thought this was really helpful because we could really help each other, so there was less pressure for us.
"She is my room-mate, and thanks to her, I could feel less pressure for the match.”
Kim has had an extremely successful year, securing the bronze medal in Munich in the 25m pistol, then following this up with a gold in Baku in the 25m pistol competition, setting a world record and a silver in the 10m air pistol competition.
The South Korean athlete also won the silver medal in the 2024 Asian Championships in Jakarta.
Shooting is one of the original nine sports of the Olympic Games and included rifle, pistol and shotgun events.
The athletes competing will aim for paper targets or if they are performing in the shotgun events then they will aim for 'clays' that fly through the air.
Why has Kim Yeji becOme a viral sensation?
While Olympic fans enjoyed watching Kim's talents with air pistols, it was her shooting style that has caused viewers to fall in love with her.
With an almost eerie level of calm, the South Korean competed wearing her black uniform, a baseball hat and wire-rimmed glasses designed for the sport.
Kim also performed whilst holding a small stuffed elephant close to her, which is one of her daughter's toys.
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Turkey's Olympic pistol shooter Dikec in action as casual star goes viral
Video credit: TNT Sports
After seeing her impressive performance and relaxed style in Paris, fans took to the internet to learn more about the shooter and found a 27-second clip from the Baku World Cup in May which has since gone viral.
One post sharing the clip on X has amassed over 35 million views, writing: The most "Main Character Energy" I've ever seen in my life.
"She can't even react to the being THE WORLD'S GREATEST, because she's just being too nonchalant and mysterious."
GQ magazine labelled the silver medallist 'the coldest style star of this year’s Games,' describing her as 'an ultra-contemporary, sportswear-wearing sci-fi assassin.'
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Kim will compete in Paris again on Friday in the preliminary rounds of the 25-metre shooting event, with the finals taking place the next day.
"I think I have become a bit famous now,” she joked to reporters.
“I am confident all the time. … I, Kim Ye-ji, am going to win gold no matter what.”
discovery+ is the streaming home of the Olympic Games, and the only place you can watch every moment of Paris 2024 this summer.
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