Ban Hyo-jin, at just 16 years and 10 months old, has become the youngest member of the South Korean Olympic team to win a gold medal at the Paris Olympics. This marks South Korea’s fourth gold medal of the event and the 100th gold medal in the country’s Summer Olympics history, making South Korea the 13th nation to achieve this milestone.
Ban competed in the women’s 10m air rifle final at the Châteauroux Shooting Center in France, facing a close contest against 18-year-old Huang Yuting from China. She ultimately secured victory by a narrow margin of 0.1 points in a shoot-off. This victory follows earlier gold medals by South Korean athletes in men’s fencing sabre (Oh Sang-uk), women’s 10m air pistol (Oh Ye-jin), and women’s team archery.
Ban’s gold medal win also makes her the youngest South Korean athlete to achieve such a feat in the Summer Olympics. The previous youngest was archer Yun Young-sook, who won at the age of 17 years and 26 days during the 1988 Seoul Olympics. In the Winter Olympics, the youngest gold medalist was short track speed skater Kim Yun-mi, who won at age 13 during the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics.
Initially, Ban was set to compete in the mixed 10m air rifle event with Park Ha-jun (24), but her partner was changed at the last minute to Choi Dae-han (20) due to strategic decisions by the head coach. This change was made because of Ban’s inconsistent performance during the training camp. As a result, Park and Keum Ji-hyeon (24) won a silver medal, while Ban and Choi finished 22nd in the qualifiers and failed to advance.
Despite the disappointment, Ban bounced back in the individual event, setting an Olympic record (634.5 points) in the qualifiers. In the final, she battled neck-and-neck with Huang. The final involved each shooter taking 10 shots, followed by elimination rounds where two shots are fired, and the lowest-scoring athlete is eliminated. Ban clinched victory by scoring 10.4 points in the shoot-off against Huang’s 10.3 points.
Reflecting on her win, Ban said, “I didn’t expect to miss so much on the last two shots. I was shocked but saw the shoot-off as a chance given by heaven. I cherished that one shot and gave it my all.”
Ban’s journey to the Olympic gold medal began just three years ago, in July 2021, when she was in her second year of middle school and took up shooting at a friend’s suggestion. She never imagined competing in the Olympics, watching the finals of the Tokyo Olympics on TV shortly after joining the shooting team. Encouraged by her coach’s challenge to work ten times harder than others, she quickly excelled, winning a local competition within two months. She won first place in the Olympic trials last March and secured a silver medal at a World Cup event before shining at the Olympics.
Ban is known for her confidence and determination. Her mother, Lee Jung-sun, described her as a strong-willed child who excelled academically. Despite initial reservations about her daughter taking up shooting, she recalled Ban’s promise to prove her wrong.
Grateful for her achievements, Ban said, “I approach every competition with humility and a desire to learn. Today’s gold medal was a stroke of luck.” She expressed her excitement about returning to South Korea to reunite with her family and indulge in her favorite foods like tteokbokki, malatang, and fried chicken.
