South Korean sharpshooter Kim Yeji is the internet's latest Olympic crush
It's hard to tell if the internet is in love with South Korean sharpshooter Kim Yeji or if everyone wants to be South Korean sharpshooter Kim Yeji.
The Olympian took home silver in the women's 10-meter air pistol event at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and she did it without breaking a sweat — or a smile. It's one of the coolest things I've ever seen in my life. With a short, severe bob, glasses that I'm sure are made for the event, a gun in her hand, and an elephant plushie on her hip, she looks like an assassin. The 31-year-old wears what GQ calls a "cyborgian uniform" that has "captured the nerdiest/most online spectators’ hearts."
According to Korean news outlet Insight, she has a 5-year-old daughter and carried the small elephant-shaped stuffed animal off her waistband as a good luck charm.
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In response, we got fancams and trending videos on Twitter. We had to face questions like, "Why does the U.S. even have a second amendment when we can't win sharpshooting competitions at the Olympics, and countries with far more reasonable gun laws and far fewer deaths are so much better with guns?"
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While Kim won silver, her 19-year-old teammate Oh Ye-Jin took home gold — and despite Kim's stone-cold vibe on the stage, she was elated to celebrate Oh.
"She is like my youngest sibling, and I always want to care for her and always be there for her. So, when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy," Kim told the Associated Press. "I do not view her as my rival. This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver. When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans. I thought it did not matter who won the gold."
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I'm ready for the movie — or video game.
Topics Olympics
Christianna Silva is a senior culture reporter covering social platforms and the creator economy, with a focus on the intersection of social media, politics, and the economic systems that govern us. Since joining Mashable in 2021, they have reported extensively on meme creators, content moderation, and the nature of online creation under capitalism.
Before joining Mashable, they worked as an editor at NPR and MTV News, a reporter at Teen Vogue and VICE News, and as a stablehand at a mini-horse farm. You can follow her on Bluesky @christiannaj.bsky.social and Instagram @christianna_j.
