South Korea’s An San becomes first archer to win three gold medals in a single edition of Olympics

South Korea’s An San won the gold medal on Friday in the women’s individual event, becoming the first archer to win three golds at a single Games. Elena Osipova of the Russian Olympic Committee claimed silver and Italy’s Lucilla Boari won bronze.

An beat Osipova 6-5 in a thrilling gold medal match that needed to be decided via a tie-breaker. An shot a 10 while Osipova could only get an eight, thus settling for silver. It is a third gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics for An, who became a target for online hostility at home after cutting her hair short, a look labelled “feminist” by some social media users.

An is now the first archer to win three gold medals in a single edition of the Olympics.

Traditionally dominant in the sport, South Korea took gold in the mixed and women’s team events at Tokyo 2020, the latter for the ninth Games in a row to equal the overall Olympic record.

An’s women’s squad team mate, Kang Chae-young, was unexpectedly knocked out on Friday at the quarter final stage.

“I thought I shot good, but not many arrows hit 10s,” a tearful Kang, seeded three, said after falling to Osipova, the 22nd seed.