Im Dong-Hyun: Legally Blind Archer Sets New Record at London 2012

How does Dong-Hyun Im Do It? Legally Blind Archer Sets New World Record in Men's Archery Ranking Round

Im Dong-Hyun may soon be getting a visit from Nick Fury. The South Korean archer just set a new world record in the Men's Individual 70-meter, with 699 points. Oh, and the previous record was also his.

Im Dong-Hyun (sometimes written as Dong-Hyun Im in Western outlets) is legally blind, with 20/100 vision in one eye and 20/200 in the other. He refuses to wear corrective lenses when he competes.

So how does he do it? Im Dong-Hyun relies on muscle memory. He has trained himself to recognize minute changes in posture and tension, equated with where his arrows will fly. Relying on the two blurry specks he sees in the distance would not be much help.

This means that Im Dong-Hyun cannot practice any other sports, in case that training messes up his archery-centric muscle tone.

Only officials, staff, and other Olympic archers got to see Im in action, though, as this round of Men's Archery was a non-ticketed event, played at Lords Nursery Pavilion.

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Im Dong-Hyun: Blind Archer Sets New World Record

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