PARIS, July 30 (Xinhua) -- What would you do if your opponent has dominated the highest podium for decades, winning almost every gold medal in the event?
During the archery team competitions, China's and France's teams gave their answer by competing against archery powerhouse South Korea -- give your all and never give up.
On July 28, China's women's archery team faced off against the nine-time champions in the gold medal match. Looking towards the audience, South Korean flags and cheering were everywhere, with only a few Chinese flags among them.
In the first two rounds, China's trio of An Qixuan, Li Jiaman and Yang Xiaolei suffered consecutive defeats. At that point, even if they had managed a tie in the third round, they would still have lost the match.
"We could do nothing except giving our all," said 23-year-old An, the youngest archer in China's team.
The Chinese archers, in silence, raised their arrow bows. 9 points, 9 points, 10 points! With the crucial last three arrows, China took the third round. In the fourth round, the trio once again performed steadily, tying the match at 4-4, forcing proceedings into a shoot-off.
During the shoot-off, each archer shot one arrow in rotation. Although South Korea ultimately won their tenth consecutive championship with a two-point advantage, the three Chinese girls, with their tenacity and courage, brought a thrilling competition to the audience.
"We are constantly striving to catch up and narrow the gap, even if the process is difficult, but every time we compete with South Korea, we also gain experience," said China coach Kwon Yong-hak.
In the 1992, 2004, 2008 and 2012 Olympics, China's women lost to South Korea in the gold medal match, while in the past two Olympics, they did not win any medals.
"Being able to stand on the final stage is already a great encouragement for the whole team. We need to have a stronger belief in ourselves and believe that nothing is impossible," said Li.
In the men's team final, France proved to be the biggest surprise. The team, which had never won a single medal in the Olympics, fought all the way to a showdown against South Korea, gaining a historic silver medal.
With South Korea's men's archery team having collected six out of nine gold medals in the past Olympics, France was surely under tons of pressure.
In the first round of the gold match, France kept pace with South Korea almost arrow by arrow, tying the score at 57-57. During the second round, France shot an impressive four straight 10s, gaining 58 out of 60. However, South Korea stepped up the game with a 59 out of 60, and continued with another 59 out of 60 in the third round to win the match.
Although France missed out on the gold medal, it was already their historic best result to take a silver medal.
Despite the age difference in the team -- with 35-year-old Jean-Charles Valladont, 26-year-old Thomas Chirault, and 17-year-old Baptiste Addis, they displayed great teamwork.
"I'm really happy to have worked with this team. We worked really hard, and now we can see the results," said Addis. As the youngest male athlete in the French delegation, Addis started training for archery when he was seven years old.
"We are really proud about the final as we knew it would be difficult to match, because the current South Korean team is very strong," said Chirault afterwards.
