Viral Olympics Shooter Makes Honest Career Confession, Weeks After Film Role Announcement: ‘Stuck to Earn Money’

Kim Ye-ji, the viral Olympic shooter, made waves this summer for her ‘protagonist energy’. Her Zen-like calm amidst the nervous Paris Olympics environment had people applauding her aura. However, leaving the French capital with a silver medal and newfound stardom is only the prequel. There are many-a-skeletons tucked away in her closet that came out recently.

Kim Ye-ji recently spoke to CNN Sport and shared the reality that led her to define the ‘Olympics Moment’. She reflected on her life and highlighted how, at 32, she has witnessed a profound transformation in the sport over the years. Remarkably, her journey started with a simple gesture – she raised her hand to volunteer when a teacher asked if anyone wanted to try shooting. From that moment on, her path unfolded in ways she could never have imagined.

Back then, in 2005, shooting was not among the mainstream sports in South Korea. The country’s Olympic success rate was also low, and Kim was too innocent to grasp anything. “I was so young then and I just thought it would be fun,” she clearly didn’t put much thought into getting into the sport. The vision of becoming a world-class athlete was certainly out of the question, she says. She was just a kid having fun and minding her own business.

Until her dependence on the sport as a source of income increased. “I just stuck with it to make money at first,” she confessed. In fact, until 2019, she saw the sport through the lens of it being just a job. But meeting his coach, Kwak Min-su, triggered a transformation. Not only did he motivate her to work hard, but was generous enough to even causally iron her Olympic uniform. Therefore, she thought, “He’s been a very trustworthy coach, so I wanted to work hard and pay him back.”

And yes, the results are for the world to see. She began showing magic with the pistol in May at the World Championships in Baku, where she set a new world record at 25 meters. This was followed by the Paris Olympic Trials, where she became the first South Korean shooter in history to qualify for two Olympic events, the 10m and 25m shooting categories. Fast track to the Games and she had won her first Olympic silver.

But Kim Ye-ji has experienced several versions of success recently. And many of them extend beyond the shooting range.

Kim Ye-ji, the Olympic star who became an internet sensation made into a movie

Known for her nonchalant attitude and razor-sharp skills, Kim Ye-ji quickly climbed the ladder of success. In fact, she landed her first on-camera role as an assassin in September. Kim Ye-ji will now play the said role in Crush, which is a short series run by Asia Lab. But this hardly seems like an out-of-the-blue decision, as she garnered praise from many, most notably even Elon Musk, who said: “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!”

Well, many have had an inkling that she would be a natural! Lee JungSub, the director of the film added how “Yeji’s holster as a global Korean assassin was a natural choice given her precision and performance at the Olympics…” He even cited that the very instance of seeing it, he needed nothing else to convince him to cast the role.

Well, right now very little is known about how big Kim Ye-Ji’s role in the series would be. But at least it won’t be the first time she faces the camera. After signing up with a talent agency in August, the internet sensation has made many debuts. When she filmed for Louis Vuitton magazine, the ELLE cover or endorsed Givenchy products, she turned the talk of the star city. But her shooting career and its progress remained a lesser known fact throughout. What do you think about it? Share with us below