Hyundai Motor gives $1.4mn to archery champions

23 Aug, 2012

Hyundai Motor chairman Chung Mong-Koo gave 250 million won to Ki Bo-Bae, gold medallist in both the women's individual and team matches, and 200 million won to men's individual champion and team bronze medallist Oh Jin-Hyek.

Lee Sung-Jin and Choi Hyeon-Ju, who won a gold in the women's team event, received 120 million won each. Im Dong-Hyun, who is legally blind, and Kim Bub-Min were given 50 million won each for winning bronze in the men's team event.

The rest of the money was given to coaches and other support staff,

"If every archer and related personnel, including me, continue to work hard, the Korean archery team's great history will continue," said Chung Eui-Sun, company vice chairman, at a presentation Wednesday.

Chung Eui-Sun is also president of the Korea Archery Association.

Chung Mong-Koo, as the former and now honorary president of the association, has spent more than 30 billion won over the past 27 years to train the country's archers, the company said.

The Koreans have dominated the Olympic competition since the 1980s when team events were added to individual competitions for the first time, raising the number of golds at stake to four.

Since the 1988 Seoul Olympics, the Korean team has won a total of 18 gold, nine silver and five bronze medals. It has won every gold medal in the women's archery except for the individual event in Beijing in 2008.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2012

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