12 April 2012 - Interview with LEE Sung Jin (KOR)

Interview with LEE Sung Jin (KOR) Shanghai – 12 April 2012  The 27-year old Korean LEE Sung Jin is competing in her third World Cup event this week in Shanghai (after Antalya 2006 and 2007). She is back in the national team after five years with the London Olympic Games in mind.   LEE was a member of the Korean team from 2003 to 2007. The year after her first appearance on the international scene, she became Olympic team champion and individual silver medallist in Athens. She was crowned world champion (both individual and team) in 2005 and won the individual Universiade title the same year. She was ranked No. 1 in the world in June 2006.   World Archery has met her in Shanghai on Wednesday after the qualification round in which she ranked 4th.   How does it feel to shoot again for your national team after so many years? Do you feel lots of pressure? It is a lot of pressure for me. Before, when I was in the national team, I was quite young. But now I'm a senior in the team and I feel like I have to take biggest responsibility.   What have you been doing since you won the Asian Championships in 2007? Did you continue shooting? I was injured on the right shoulder and got an operation. I was suffering a lot from it for one year, but I tried to overcome it. After one year, it started to get better and I tried to find again my best conditions. So except for that one year of injury, I continued shooting the whole time.   What exactly has motivated you to come back to international archery competition this year? Being at the top in the past was a good experience. After I hit the bottom because of my shoulder injury, I wanted to hit the top again. That has been my motivation!   What are your memories from Athens 2004 and the two Olympic medals you won there? I feel like the medals were a kind of response to me, because I put so much effort for it. I had to give up many things in order to reach the top and it was some kind of rewards.   What kind of experience do you think you can bring to the team? I myself learnt a lot from my first experience in the national team, especially about social life and relationships with the other member of the team. What is the most important for me is that I want to bring team work, team spirit to my fellows.  
   KIM Bo Bae and LEE Sung Jin
What are your expectations here in Shanghai and for the rest of the season? The most important event this year is of course the Olympic Games. In Shanghai, I expect to make the fundamental base. It has taken a long time, a long way to join the national team again, and I need to get back the sense of competing.   How have you been preparing for this event? The winter season has been long with six national team selections. We had a very tight schedule. My club coach is PARK Sung Hyung. Having such a famous archer as a coach brings lots of beneficial things to me, on how to deal with tournaments and on how to manage crisis.   What do you think of the changes made in archery for the last few years compared to what was in place when you were competing before? I prefer to see the positive side of the changes that have been put in place. First, I was a bit uncomfortable with those changes. But now I think it's good to bring more interest into archery.   Finally, is there anything else you would like to add? It feels really good at the moment because I'm given a second chance in the national team. I'm happy that I have had good results here so far (she finished 4th in the qualification round in the afternoon) so that people will cheer up for me.              Thanks and good luck!   Ludivine MAITRE WICKI World Archery Communication   Special thanks to the interpreter CHOI Kyunghwan