Meet Kim Ye-Ji, the ‘bada**’ South Korean sharpshooter who wowed audiences with a stone cold showing at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, with some saying she’s giving John Wick and Jason Bourne vibes

Kim Ye-ji’s showing at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games

On Sunday, she took home the silver medal in the women’s 10-metre air pistol event. It wasn’t just her impressive shooting that got people talking though, but her cool demeanour and sleek style that had the internet labelling her a “sci-fi assassin” and “the biggest bad*** of the Paris Olympics”.

At first glance, these descriptions shouldn’t apply to someone wearing a team-issued competition outfit. After all, what’s surprising about a white baseball cap paired with matching black track pants and a jacket? But add the futuristic shooting glasses, a stuffed elephant – a gift from her five-year-old daughter – the nonchalant hand-in-the-pocket stance, and a poker face that didn’t react as she set a world record, and you start to understand the fuss.

Curious spectators were quick to mobilise, soon finding footage of Kim at previous events, including at May’s International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup (ISSF) held in Baku, Azerbaijan, earlier this year, where she won gold at the 25-metre air pistol event. Again, she wore her regulation all-black Fila ensemble, but this time, paired with a black baseball cap worn backwards.

What solidified her insouciant, I-couldn’t-care-less image, however, was her answer to a question on how she planned to improve after her win at the ISSF event. She simply responded, “There is nothing to improve,” according to Time.

What is Kim Ye-ji like while off duty?

Besides her shooting persona, little is known about the breakout Olympic star. According to the Olympics website, she was born in Danyang, South Korea, watches movies as a hobby, and has one daughter.

Her profile also states that she took up shooting in middle school simply because she was curious about the sport and that she is a first-time Olympian whose ambition is to win an Olympic medal. Mission accomplished, then.

So who won gold at the 2024 Olympics women’s air pistol event?

While her style has earned her accolades, she came second at the 10-metre air pistol event in Paris, losing out to fellow South Korean Oh Ye-jin. But that didn’t stop her from showing her teammate some love. Her wide smile on the podium alongside the 19-year-old Oh was a striking contrast to the cold-faced calm she sports while taking shots.

Following the 10-metre pistol event, she told AP that she’s happy with silver and is equally pleased for Oh, who nabbed the gold medal. “I was extra happy. 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,” she said.

But her dreams of scoring a gold medal at the Olympics don’t end here. She’s slated to compete at the 25-metre pistol precision qualifier on August 2 and is setting her sights on taking home another win. “I am always confident. At worst, I will try to win one gold medal,” she told The Korea Herald.