The Republic of Korea were on top of the shooting world at the London 2012 Olympic Games.
It was the first and only time the nation finished top of the medal table in the sport, thanks to three golds and two silvers, supported by one of their greatest Olympians, Jin Jong-oh.
London could be seen as the second peak in Korean shooting after winning its first medal in the sport at their home Games in Seoul in 1988 through Cha Young-chul, before Yeo Kab-soon and Lee Eun-chul struck gold at the Barcelona 1992 Olympic Games; but Paris is undisputedly the next great peak.
After an incredible showing in 2012, the team won a gold and silver at Rio 2016 before hitting its lowest result in 21 years at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics – a solitary silver.
While this was an achievement to celebrate in 1988, it was far below the standards of the national team over 30 years on, and they had three years to fix it before athletes headed to Chateauroux in 2024.
That acceptance that change was needed, came to fruition this year. Three gold medals were won by three female athletes – Oh Ye-jin, Yang Ji-in and Ban Hyo-jin. Their victories were not an overnight success, as explained by Korea Shooting Federation vice-president, the Barcelona 1992 gold medallist, Lee Eun-chul.
"Only four [individual] athletes won gold medals from the 1992 Barcelona Games to the 2020 Tokyo Games,” said Lee to Maeil Business Newspaper.
“However, in this competition, three athletes from different events reached the top of the podium.
“The results came right after making changes so that talented athletes could participate in the Olympics.”
Lee, who chaired the Performance Improvement Committee which selected the Olympic team, found that athletes who responded well to the new final formats were preferable for the Olympic Games, utilising his experience in data analysis and IT engineering to change the fortunes of the team through their youth development.
In 2023, a new format was introduced prior to the Olympic Games for rifle and pistol shooting which saw a 24-shot final, reverting back to what was used in Tokyo three years ago, rather than the top two battling it out in a “First to 16” points format. Effectively, it made every shot in the final important to win the gold medal rather than just a hunt to make the top two.
“If I put the players' data together, I can see for sure what I lack and what I need to develop,” he said.
“One of the tasks left for me in the future is to create a system that links all the players' training processes.
“As there is a record of how he has developed since he was a child, we will try to establish a transparent training system that helps leaders such as national teams and their teams quickly identify the players.”
It does not stop at statistics, there is a blend of holistic practices too. While athletes are inspected based on their skills, there is also a warm approach to selecting the correct leaders in Korean shooting. Athletes are asked anonymously who they wish to see part of the national set-up, which helped them reach their potential in time for Paris 2024.
It all led to the Republic of Korea’s greatest Games in shooting. The London 2012 tally of three golds and two silvers was bettered this time with three golds and three silvers.
But most of all, Lee understands looking at other sports to be key to shooting’s success in Korea. Another precision sport loved in the country is archery, with the country sweeping the gold medals in every event in Paris. In fact, Korea has won 14 of the 15 golds at the past three Olympics and has been top of the medal table in the sport at every Games since Seoul 1988. A dominance now so hard to break.
"I think the future of Korean shooting will be decided in the next three years," said Lee.
“In order to continue Korean archery, a competitive atmosphere and a solid compensation system that anyone can wear the national flag must be created.
"It is also the job of the Korean Shooting Federation to bring a good chairman.
"If the chairman and the youngest temple move together as one, Korean shooting will be able to reign as the world's strongest like Korean archery.”
To get there in shooting, Korea must overcome the recent Chinese success, the nation that has had the target on their backs since first topping the medal table in Sydney. It’s a long road to match the archery dominance, but if Paris was the start of this resurgence, Los Angeles could rewrite the nation’s definition of excellence once again.