"Before competitions, I'd get edgy and irritable when my scores weren't good, and I even argued a lot with my mom over the phone. I just wanted to get it over with and shoot for fun again, so I'm really thrilled it's done."
Kang Yeon-seo, a 14-year-old archer born in 2011 who attends Seongsa Middle School, shared those candid, youthful reflections after wrapping up her first major international multi-sport event, having claimed back-to-back bronze medals in the compound women's team and individual events at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Kang reached the podium on the 1st at the multipurpose plaza of Okazaki Central Park in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, defeating Park Jung-yoon of Changwon City Hall — her role model and a senior member of the national team — 145-143 in the bronze medal match of the compound women's individual event.
"I shot thinking only about the points left, with the mindset of finishing without regrets," Kang said after the match. "Now I've become an athlete who competes shoulder to shoulder with her. She cheered me on and congratulated me a lot, and I want to do well in the next trials so we can train together again," she added with a smile.
Park, who fought Kang for the medal, offered generous praise in return. "Yeon-seo hasn't been shooting for long, but her rate of improvement is remarkable," Park said. "She has outstanding talent and works hard on top of that, so there's a lot I learn from her as well," she said, encouraging her younger teammate.
Kang showed striking progress in April this year, when she became the youngest archer ever named to the national team, just over two years after taking up the sport. Her sights are now set on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, where the compound mixed team event will be introduced for the first time. "I really want to stand on the Olympic stage," she said. "I'll prepare hard and push my results even higher."
