- Myanmar and China have lowest internet freedom, says study
- UK inflation hits three-year low, fuelling rate-cut hopes
- Pakistan tail frustrates England to reach 358-8 at lunch
- Discovery of Shackleton's lost shipwreck brought to big screen
- Markets mixed after Wall Street losses as tech fears weigh
- World heading into 'the Age of Electricity': IEA
- Spiralling Sudan bloodshed sparks refugee surge into Chad
- Lee wary of Ko challenge at BMW Ladies in South Korea
- Kenya Senate begins debate on deputy president impeachment
- Italy's migration policy under far-right Meloni
- Israel strikes Beirut after rejecting ceasefire
- New assisted dying bill introduced in UK parliament
- China set to post slowest quarterly growth this year: analysts
- The Bishnoi gang: the notorious syndicate Canada says is India's proxy
- Fake AI history photos cloud the past
- First defeat for Pochettino as US beaten 2-0 in Mexico
- 'Mysterious black balls' close Sydney beaches
- First loss for Poch as US beaten in Mexico
- South Korea's Han sells one million books after Nobel win
- Israel strikes south Beirut after Netanyahu vows 'no ceasefire'
- Yankees outlast Guardians for 2-0 lead in MLB playoff series
- Three elements that shaped Thierry Neuville's drive to win
- Rugby's red card rift splitting opinions across the world
- North Korea claims more than a million people joined army this week
- Asian markets track Wall Street losses on worries over tech rally
- Climate change solutions not always good for biodiversity
- In Indonesia, French poet Rimbaud's voyage still a mystery
- Vintage Messi nets hat trick as Argentina hit Bolivia for six
- Record number of women run for Japan general election
- India's fireworks boom ahead of Hindu festival of lights
- Egyptian geese spread wings in France, threatening biodiversity
- Canada marine protection plan aims to serve as global model
- Lab-grown frogs: a Colombian's response to wildlife trafficking
- Hissed off: San Juan cat removal plan prompts outcry, lawsuit
- TV channels in Afghan province stop showing living things
- Infighting and inflation ahead of Iraqi Kurdistan vote
- Stylish Colombia put four past Chile, Sanabria double for Paraguay
- 'Nowhere is safe': Lebanon Christian villiage reels from Israel strike
- Portrait by humanoid robot to sell at auction in art world first
- Mexico touts foreign investments as IMF warns about reforms
- 'Ainadamar' brings death and dance to the Met Opera
- Trump's crypto platform falters on first day of sales
- Stylish Colombia put four past hapless Chile
- NFL owners approve Brady becoming part-owner of Raiders
- Spain reach Nations League quarters, Ronaldo's Portugal held by Scotland
- NFL Jets reunite Adams with Rodgers as Bills add Cooper
- Angola, Egypt, Senegal qualify, but Ghana in trouble
- Ronaldo frustrated as Scotland hold Portugal
- United announces $1.5 bn share buyback as earnings top estimates
- Spain thump Serbia to reach Nations League quarter-finals
RIO | -1.85% | 66.47 | $ | |
CMSC | 0.68% | 24.86 | $ | |
BTI | -0.11% | 35.41 | $ | |
SCS | -0.23% | 12.95 | $ | |
NGG | 0.4% | 67.16 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.33% | 25.062 | $ | |
GSK | -0.44% | 38.96 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.71 | $ | |
BP | -4.07% | 30.74 | $ | |
AZN | -0.32% | 77.85 | $ | |
RYCEF | 0.28% | 7.05 | $ | |
BCE | 2.54% | 33.41 | $ | |
JRI | -0.43% | 13.03 | $ | |
BCC | -0.53% | 142.23 | $ | |
RELX | 1.74% | 48.22 | $ | |
VOD | -0.41% | 9.64 | $ |
Olympic archery at Invalides opens with a little history
The first competition at one of Paris' postcard Olympic venues, opened on Thursday with the first records of the Games as Lim Si-hyeon topped women's archery qualifying at the Invalides.
The ancient martial competition is being held on the lawn in front of the gilded dome of France's military museum, where Napoleon is entombed.
In an event in which South Koreans have won nine of the last 10 Olympic golds, the records the 20-year-old Lim shot down as she scored 694 out of a maximum of 720 belonged to her compatriots.
She broke the world record of 692 set by Kang Chae-young in 2019 and shattered the Olympic mark of 680 set in Tokyo by An San.
"I was very nervous because it was my first Olympics, and I tried to enjoy the game as much as I could," Lim said.
Her closest challenger was, inevitably, a second South Korean, Nam Suh-yeon, with 688.
Yang Xiaolei of China was third on 673, 17 points behind Lim. Casey Kaufhold of the United States, who won the test event on the same site last year and entered the Olympics the top-ranked woman, was on 672.
The qualifying rounds in archery are something of a phoney war as all 64 competitors still advance to the knockout stage.
The scores on Thursday determined seedings for the singles and doubles. Some nations, including South Korea, always select their highest-scoring qualifier in mixed doubles, so Lim gave herself a chance of three golds.
"I am grateful for the opportunity to take on the mixed match challenge. I will try to seize the opportunity," she said.
Lim shot 72 times on Thursday. In the head-to-head knock-out, where the winner is the first to take three 10-arrow sets, Lim might only shoot 30, in victory or defeat, when she faces the lowest-ranked qualifier, Alondra Rivera of Puerto Rico in the first round.
"I shot with the idea of preparing and not being greedy, and I am grateful that I was able to maintain my performance until the end," she said.
Organisers dodged one potentially thorny issue on Thursday when the Israeli entrant Mikaella Moshe qualified 18th and, in a draw that includes Indonesians, among others, a Malaysian, a Saudi, an Egyptian and a Tunisian, will face Madalina Amaistroaie of Romania.
A World Archery official told AFP that they had made no provision to avoid politically sensitive matchups, and that their experience suggested there were unlikely to be problems.
The qualifying also represented the lull before the likely tumult because it uses the 32 targets and was held on the practice range, which has no room for spectators.
For the knockout rounds, competition will move to the main arena with a capacity of 8,000. Even though the Olympic arenas in 2016 and 2021 had similar capacity, Rio's archery did not sell out and Tokyo 2020 was hit by Covid.
US coach Chris Webster said he was sure the atmosphere would bring out the best in athletes who spend much of their time working to control their adrenaline.
"It doesn't matter if there's 50,000 people there. It's still for the Olympic Games."
O.Norris--AMWN