IM Dong Hyun, the "world record breaker"

Olympic, World and World Cup champion IM Dong Hyun (KOR) has been one of the top recurve archers for almost a decade. In the Ranking Round of the London 2012 Olympic Games on Friday, 27 July the Korean beat the world record at 70m for the fifth time in a row in individual since Athens 2004, and for the fourth in four years in the team event.   By the end of his career, he may be called the greatest archer of all time. Even better, he has done it considerably low eyesight of 20/200. However, the archer does not wear corrective glasses or contact lenses during competition. IM relies on "feel" when he shoots. He cannot see the target properly but is able to distinguish its colours. According to IM, seeing the target or not seeing the target does not make any difference. The Korean has even rejected offers of free eye surgery to improve his vision.   Despite his visual impairment, the Korean has had a Roger FEDERER type of career in archery, according to many experts. He started his international career in great fashion, winning the individual silver medal at the 2003 World Championships in New York City age 17 years old (!). The following year, IM became archery’s youngest male champion at the Athens Olympic Games when Korea won gold in the team competition.   At those Games, IM set a new world record in the individual 70m Round (72 arrows), with a score of 687. He won his first three elimination matches to advance to quarterfinals. At that stage he lost to the eventual silver medallist from Japan Hiroshi YAMAMOTO. IM ended up in 6th place overall at the Athens Games.   2007 was a great year for IM who won both the team and the individual titles at the World Championships in Leipzig, Germany. The Korean picked up his second Olympic gold medal in the team competition at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He claimed another major victory just two weeks after the Olympics: an individual gold medal at the World Cup Final in Lausanne.   IM Dong Hyun has conquered all the titles the archers dream about: Olympic, World and finally World Cup champion. Almost a decade after his international debut, the Korean raised his own world record in the 70m Round from 687 to 691 points in late 2010 under heavy rain at the World Cup Stage in Shanghai, China. One year later, during the London Olympic Test Event he again improved his mark with 693. Lord's Cricket Ground seems to be an inspiring venue for him and he set his fifth individual world record in a row during the Ranking Round of the London 2012 Olympic Games on 27 July 2012. IM now holds four of the nine best scores set between 2011 and 2012 (688, 693, 696, 699) – see list of Top 100 Scores. 
   IM Dong Hyun is Korean archery’s best hope for an individual gold medal at the 2012 Olympic Games. So far this medal has eluded him. In fact no Korean archer has ever won a men’s individual Olympic gold, and IM hopes to be the first.   In team, Korea has set a series of four world records in a row since May 2008 with today's new best score of 2087 points in the Ranking round. IM has been each time a member of the team, and the Koreans own five of the eight best scores of the 2011-2012 seasons (2017, 2038, 2043, 2069, 2087).   IM also holds the 24-arrow final match Olympic record (Beijing 2008, 227 points with LEE Chang Hwan and PARK Kyung Mo), as well as the world record, also set at Lord's in the quarterfinals of the Test Event, with 233 points (together with KIM Woojin and OH Jin Hyek).   However, last October the Koreans were upset by the Americans in semifinal. Will history repeat itself tomorrow?   World Archery Communication