Park Seong-Hyeon

Park Seong-Hyeon (sometimes spelled Park Sung-Hyun) is possibly the best female archer of the first decade of the 21st century. First selected for the strong South Korean national team in 2001, she immediately won the world title in Beijing, while also taking a bronze with the team. Park would go on to win medals in all six World Championship events in which she competed, winning team world titles in 2003, 2005 and 2007, individual silver in 2003 and 2007, and bronze in 2005. Her Olympic appearance in Athens was close to flawless. After setting a new world record in the 72-arrow ranking round, she easily beat most of her opponents in the elimination rounds, although briefly falling behind Lee Seong-Jin in the final. She complemented her individual gold with a team title. Park was close to matching the performance at Beijing Olympics. Again seeding first due to a win in the ranking round, she again reached the final. Pitted against home favorite Zhang Juanjuan, she lost the gold by a single point, 109-110. Park was able to take revenge in the team event, beating the Chinese (including Zhang) in the final for her third Olympic gold. In addition to her Olympic and World Championship medals, the “Queen of Archery” has also won three golds in the Asian Games, two golds in Asian Championships, and two in the 2003 Universiade. Park retired after the Beijing Olympics, and married fellow archer and Olympian Park Gyeong-Mo in December 2008.