South Korean pistol shooter and viral Olympian Kim Yeji was hospitalized after collapsing during a competition in her home country on Friday.
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Officials reported that 31-year-old Kim collapsed from “accumulated fatigue,” as noted by Le Huffington Post, which obtained video footage of the Olympian being transported on a stretcher.
According to local authorities, she was admitted to Jeonju Hospital in southern Korea for further testing.
This followed the sharpshooter’s impressive silver medal win in the 10-meter air pistol event at the Paris Olympics on July 28.
Kim was seated, addressing reporters through a microphone when she suddenly collapsed in Imsil, the county she had represented for seven years in southern South Korea.
Kim regained consciousness and was subsequently transported to the hospital, a county official informed Reuters via telephone. The official also stated that the 31-year-old did not receive cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), contrary to reports from some media outlets.
Kim will remain in the hospital for observation until she has fully recovered, he stated. The official noted that she is likely experiencing exhaustion after her performance in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Olympic Shooter Kim Yeji’s Collapse Follows An Iconic Performance at the 2024 Paris Games
Kim, the silver medalist in the 10-meter air pistol event, has become a social media sensation. This is thanks to her futuristic glasses that enhance precision and her stylish demeanor. Her “main character energy” earned her the nickname “smiling assassin” back home.
Kim achieved an impressive final score of 241.3 points at the Châteauroux Shooting Centre in Paris, surpassing the previous Olympic record for women’s 10-meter air pistol shooting, which was 240.3 points set by Vitalina Batsarashkina at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
However, Oh Ye Jin, Kim’s 19-year-old teammate and roommate, outperformed Kim. She claimed the record and secured the gold medal in Paris.
In May, Kim established a new world record in the women’s 25-meter pistol event at the ISSF World Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Meanwhile, Kim attributed much of her viral fame to the brilliant mind behind the Cybertruck. On Wednesday, Kim expressed her gratitude to Tesla CEO Elon Musk for boosting her fame. Musk remarked on his social media platform X that she “should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!”
“I received a lot of unexpected attention and I believe it’s thanks to Elon Musk rather than myself. So, thank you,” Kim told reporters when she returned home.