Age is just a number, but in Kim Ok Geum’s case, it makes her achievement all the more remarkable. The 65-year-old world number three in women’s W1, who spent most of her career in compound, won her first world gold at Gwangju in the women’s doubles team event with Lee Eunhee, on home soil, and one splashed widely across Korean media.
Kim only began archery in her fifties, yet an unprecedented willingness to work and compete at the very highest level has led her to multiple team and individual medals ever since her international debut in 2014, including a Paralympic silver team medal. She placed fourth in Paris 2024, competing as one of the oldest Paralympians.
It goes to show that attitude is everything in sport.
“It’s my first gold medal at the World Championships, so it’s even more precious, and I was moved to tears during the awards ceremony as I remembered the difficult training I went through,” she told Korean news.
“It was especially encouraging that the mayor and the sports association staff came to cheer me on. I will do my best to achieve good results at the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games.”
Not finished yet. Just getting started.
