CHANG HYEJIN OUT OF TOKYO

The notoriously unforgiving Korean Olympic selection process eliminated the defending Olympic champion, Chang Hyejin, at an early stage of the penultimate selection tournament in Nam-gu, South Korea, when she finished 18th in a field that was then cut to 16.

Hyejin was previously eliminated from 2019’s selection process at an even earlier stage; however, after the postponement of Tokyo 2020, the Korea Archery Association reset its selection completely and she was allowed to compete in the trials again.

The defending male champion, Ku Bonchan, was similarly eliminated early, which means that neither will be able to defend their Olympic titles.

The Korean squad consists of eight men and eight women; a final Olympic selection is due in April.

Despite many attempts, no archer in the history of the Olympics has ever defended an individual Olympic title. Only one archer, the US’S Darrell Pace, has ever won the title twice, in 1976 and 1984; he was unable to defend the title in 1980 due to an Olympic boycott.