▲ Kwak Geon-hwi
Kwak Geon-hwi has won a gold medal in archery at the Nagoya Asian Para Games, cutting through heavy rain.
Today (the 24th), Kwak defeated Zhao Lixue of China with a set score of 6-4 (23-22, 23-29, 27-29, 27-26, 27-26) in the men's recurve final held at the multi-purpose ground of the Okazaki Central Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan.
This marks the second gold medal for South Korean archery at this competition—following the victory by Kim Ok-geum (66, Gwangju Metropolitan City Hall) and Park Hong-jo (43, Seoul City Hall) in the W1 mixed team event on the 21st—and the 29th gold medal for the South Korean delegation as a whole.
Competing in his second Asian Para Games following the 2022 Hangzhou Games, Kwak dispelled past disappointments of repeatedly falling short of podium finishes at major events.
Although Kwak shot a 5 with his first arrow, he bounced back with two 9s to claim the first set.
After dropping the second and third sets to fall behind 2-4 in set points, he leveled the match in the fourth set by posting 27 points, which included his first 10 of the day.
In the final set, he landed all three arrows in the 9-ring to win 27-26 and secure the championship.
Kwak sustained a disability from a fall during his military service in 2010 and picked up a bow after about four years of rehabilitation.
He developed an interest in the sport influenced by his father, who enjoyed traditional Korean archery (gukgung). However, the traditional archery range he visited after discharge was difficult to access with a wheelchair, so he instead tried out a nearby archery range at an acquaintance's recommendation, which led him to the sport.
His next goal is the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympics.
Kwak stated, "I want to secure a qualification ticket at the World Championships in Australia next year and aim for LA as well."
(Photo courtesy of the Korean Paralympic Committee, Yonhap News)
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