Im Dong Hyun, born on May 12, 1986 in Chung Ju, lives in Seoul, South Korea. An archer with the Korean National Team that won the gold medal in the XXVIII Olympiad at Athens in 2004, Im Dong Hyun created history by becoming the youngest male champion in archery. He added another feather to his cap by setting a world record with his score of 687 in the 72-arrow men’s individual ranking round and finished 6th overall. In 2006 Im Dong Hyun represented South Korea at the 15th Asian Games at Doha, where he won gold medals in the team as well as the individual category.
The 44th Outdoor Archery World Championship held at Leipzig, Germany in July 2007 turned out to be a memorable one for Im Dong Hyun. He claimed the gold medal by defeating the World No.1 Baljinima Tsyrempilov of Russia with a perfect 10 in the final shot. He also won a gold medal at the men’s recurve team event held at Ulsan, Korea. His next gold came at the men’s recurve individual category held at Antalya, Turkey. Im Dong Hyun, along with his teammates, participated in the “Good Luck Beijing", a warm up test event, held at the Olympic Green Archery Field in Beijing and put up a gold-winning performance over opponents Malaysia.
Ranked second in the world, he struck gold yet again in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics as a member of the South Korean team. The archers beat Italy 225-227 in the final to take home the title.
Reuters revealed a startling bit of information when they claimed that Im Dong Hyun was legally blind. His eyesight is listed at 20/200 by the Korea Archery Federation, which means that he can see at 20 feet what a person with perfect vision can see at 200 feet.
Im Dong Hyun has refused to wear contact lenses or go for any kind of ophthalmic surgery. He said, "I've practiced using glasses before but actually it makes me feel less comfortable when I shoot. For me, seeing the target and not seeing the target doesn't make any difference."
Im Dong Hyun has been shortlisted by the prestigious Times magazine in its list of ‘100 Athletes to Watch in Beijing’. A student, Im Dong Hyun enjoys internet games and bicycling in his spare time.
