(L-R) Park Kyung-mo, Lee Chang-hwan and Im Dong-hyun
The Republic of Korea men beat Italy and set a 24-arrow Olympic record of 227 en route to their fourth Olympic Team gold medal. The Men's semifinal and medal matches provided an incredible afternoon filled with nail-biting matches that came down to the very last arrow at the Olympic Green Archery Field on Monday, August 11.
In the gold medal match, the ROK and Italy were tied going into the last three arrows when Mauro Nespoli (ITA) shot a seven, handing the gold medal to the ROK (227-225). For Ilario Di Buo' (ITA), the loss was a flashback to the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games when the ROK defeated Italy in the gold medal match. Di Buo' is the only remaining archer from either team.
Im Dong-hyun celebrates winning the gold medal.
In the bronze medal match, Ukraine was unable to defend the Team bronze medal they won in 2004. Ukraine climbed back from a six point deficit at the halfway point, only to lose to the crowd favorite, China, on the last arrow, 222-219.
The ROK beat China in an energy-filled semifinal. Halfway through the match, China was tied with the ROK, but the pressure eventually caught up with China and they were unable to deny the ROK's a fourth shot at team Olympic gold, losing the match (221-218).
In the semifinals, Italy assured itself a Men's Team medal by beating Ukraine, 223-221. To advance to the gold medal final, Italy needed to shoot a nine on the last arrow and it was Nespoli, the newcomer to the Italian team, who calmly nailed a 10 to the delight of the crowd.
En route to the semifinals, the ROK had a bye in the 1/8 Elimination Round and beat Poland in the 1/4 Elimination Round. Italy beat Canada in the 1/8 Elimination Round and Malaysia in the 1/4 Elimination Round. China beat Russia in the 1/4 Elimination round and Great Britain in the 1/8 Elimination Round. Ukraine had a bye in the 1/8 Elimination Round and then beat Chinese Taipei in the 1/4 Elimination Round.
The US lost to Chinese Taipei in the 1/8 Elimination Round.
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