Kim Ye-Ji: Nothing has changed after the Olympiav fame

Kim Ye-Ji: Nothing has changed after the Olympiav fame

Imagine a tailor-made box that offers a further valuable place for a first Olympiamedaille . But for kim years-ji this is not the case. The talented shooter made her silver medal casually from the deepest inside of her backpack.

an unconventional handling of fame

"Oh, here is the medal," says Kim and smiles. "No wonder that my backpack was so heavy!" The 32-year-old presented the brilliant souvenir proudly CNN Sport at her shooting range, which is located in the middle of endless trees on the slopes of the province of North-Jeolla, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul.

one of the best shooters in the world

On the streets of Imsil County, banner commemorates Kim's Olympic fame and her viral celebrity that she achieved this summer. There are far louder sounds from their photo shoots with luxury brands and numerous appearances on Korean television. At the beginning of this year, the Internet fell in love with the South Korean due to her cool appearance at a World Cup event in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May, and even more at the Olympic Games in Paris, where her "main character energy" and her "incomparable aura" were praised.

a modest beginning

Kim started her sports career when she replied in primary school when asked by her sports teacher: "Who would like to shoot a bit?" At that time, shooting in South Korea was not yet a mainstream sport and the country had only won a total of seven medals in the four Olympic Games up to Kim's entry in 2005-two gold, four silver and one bronze. "I was so young at the time and thought it was just funny," she explains. "I didn't think about taking it seriously and becoming a world-class athlete, it was just fun."

The way to professionalism

Although Kim started shooting without great ambitions, she quickly showed great talent and decided to strive for it professionally. "At first I only worked to make money. While I did it as a fun activity as a student, I shot in the business team to make money," she explains. Shooting was only a job for Kim until 2019 until she scored her current coach KWAK Min-Su with the IMSIL County Office team. "After meeting coach Kwak, I started working hard. He is a very credible coach, and I wanted to work hard and pay it back," said Kim proudly.

emotions at the Olympic Games in Paris

The big stage of the Olympic Games can often make athletes nervous, especially in their first participation. But that was not true for Kim. "I didn't have a lot of emotions during the 10-meter event, I really enjoyed the games," she says. While the shooters fired their destinations almost simultaneously, the participants were eliminated with the lowest points until Kim and their South Korean teammate Oh YE-Jin were the last to compete for the gold medal. Kim reached 241.3 points and remained 1.9 points behind Oh, but likes to remember this competition as a "very happy moment".

a style icon

Kim's charisma not only attracted the spectators at the games, but also their unique style - a towel in the form of an elephant with her name tag, an inverted cap and futuristic shooting glasses. Although she presents a look during the competition that seems to come directly from a Blade Runner film, Kim describes herself as a "simple clothing wearer" who loves crop tops and white jeans on days off. "I simply put on, but people say I look good," she says. Her towel in elephant form, which always hangs on her hip, is a must for her, as is your cap, glasses and shoes.

a promise to the daughter

Despite the numerous photo shoots, interviews and commercials, Kim never forgets that she is first a shooter. "I am grateful that I am called a fashion icon. But I'm athlete and shooting is part of my life," she explains. During her time in shooting sports, South Korea has produced many heroes and hopes Kim to continue to make sport popular. She is already planning to work step by step to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028. In this regard, she promised her six -year -old daughter that she will win the gold medal next time after her daughter joyfully announced after winning the silver medal in Paris: "Mama, you won silver!" And then wished she would get gold next time. "Wait only, mom will win gold," promised Kim.