Kim Ye-ji practices at the Chateauroux Shooting Center in France on Sunday for the Paris Olympics 2024. (Yonhap via The Korea Herald)
Korean sharpshooter Kim Ye-ji is experiencing overnight stardom, with social media swooning over her cool aura as she casually broke a world record at an air pistol competition earlier this year.
A 27-second video of Kim performing in the 25-meter air pistol final at the ISSF World Cup, held in May in Baku, Azerbaijan, is circulating on social media, including X.
One post by X user Del Walker, sharing the clip with a comment “most ‘Main Character Energy’ I’ve ever seen in my life,” has over 25 million views as of Wednesday and has been reshared more than 680,000 times.
Kim Ye-ji is a South Korean pistol shooter and quite possibly the coolest athlete at the Olympics.
That stance. 🥶#Paris2024 #Olympics #bbcolympics pic.twitter.com/rzbPSfhLSn
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 31, 2024
Among the many comments on this post is one from Tesla CEO Elon Musk saying, “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!'”
In the video, Kim, wearing a backward black cap, takes the final shot, puts down the pistol and checks her score, all while maintaining a stoic expression. That was the moment she shattered the existing world record to win the World Cup gold medal.
During the ongoing Paris Olympics, Kim is competing in three shooting events, including her primary discipline, the 25-meter air pistol. She has already won silver in the 10-meter air pistol competition.
Silver medalist, South Korea’s Kim Ye-ji poses on the podium at the end of the 10m air pistol women’s Final during the Paris Olympics 2024 at Chateauroux Shooting Centre on July 28, 2024. (Photo by Alain JOCARD / AFP)
The 25-meter pistol shooting, in which Kim is one of the two strongest contenders for gold along with her teammate Yang Ji-in, kicks off Friday. The finals are scheduled for Saturday.
Korean and global media are waiting for a chance to witness her sniper charisma once again.
“Quite possibly the coolest athlete at the Olympics. That stance,” posted BBC Sport on its official X account.
During a media interview after winning silver in the 10-meter event, Kim expressed confidence: “If you believe in me, I, Kim Ye-ji, will definitely win a (gold) medal in the 25-meter event.”