Im-Dong Hyun
(South Korea)
South Korea’s Im-Dong Hyun’s claims to be an archery legend can hardly be doubted. After all, he has won two Olympic, four world championships and four Asian Games gold medals. He is also the current world record holder with 699 points, having bettered his own record by three points.
However, Im is a legend like no other. Quite literally. He is ‘legally blind’. In simple terms, his left eye vision at 20 feet is similar to a normal eye’s vision from 200 feet. His right eye is only partially better.
Add to that the size of the centre of the target (not bigger than an average grapefruit) and its distance from the bow and arrow (70 metres) and you find yourself questioning the credibility of this report.
Im’s archery career began more than a decade ago when his primary school teacher in Cheonju, South Korea suggested he should ‘try’ the sport. The sport has been dominated by the Koreans since the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, winning 16 gold medals in the process. Despite its supremacy, South Korea has never won the gold in the men’s individual category at the Olympics. Im’s best performance in the individual event was a sixth place finish at Athens in 2004.
Despite the failure to win the much-coveted gold in the individual event till now, Im has never chosen to improve his sight with glasses or contact lenses.
He believes he is accustomed to see the target naturally. The only help he ever needs from his teammates is to check whether his arrow hit the mark.
With such a magnificent start to the London Games, few would question his ability to spot the ‘yellow blob’.
Im may fail to read the optician’s chart but he is on his way to change the course of history. — Priyansh
