South Korean shooter wins internet with her ‘Sci-Fi assassin’ style

A South Korean Olympic sharpshooter, Kim Ye-ji, who won a silver medal in the women’s 10-meter air pistol, became an internet sensation on Wednesday, recognised as the breakout style star of the Paris Games.

Wearing her black South Korean uniform zipped up to her neck, a baseball hat, and wire-rimmed shooting glasses, the 31-year-old appeared very calm in videos showing her and her teammate achieving the two highest shooting scores in the Olympics on Sunday.

After her win, a 27-second clip of Kim calmly aiming, shooting, and checking her record-breaking score went viral.

This clip was first shared in a Reddit thread and shows Kim at the Baku World Cup in May, not in the Olympics.

Even though the video kept spreading online on X (formerly Twitter), along with images of Kim from Paris, style magazine GQ quickly called Kim “the coolest style star of this year’s Games.”

Elon Musk (Owner of X) also commented on this video, “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required.”

Kim will compete in the 25-meter pistol again on August 3 at the Olympics.