Shooter Kim Yeji Is the Olympics' Main Character (or Bond Villain)
Yeji Kim, silver medal-winning Korean shooter, is the 2024 Olympics main character. Or, perhaps more accurately, she's closest thing the Olympic games have to a coolly disinterested James Bond villain.
Kim went viral in late July, right around the time she was competing against fellow Olympic-level shooters during the Women's 10m Air Pistol-Shooting event, though the clip that sent her into the social media stratosphere was actually filmed several months prior.
But context is irrelevant: all that matters is that Kim looked (and still looks) outrageously cool.
Rocking a slick all-black shooting uniform, complete with Sauer shooting shoes, backwards cap, an adorable elephant keychain and shooting glasses straight outta Spy Kids, Kim was not only dressed to reign over the Olympics' style games but she also demonstrated the necessary swagger.
Much deserving hay has been made of the nonchalant pose affected by Kim, hand in pocket, as she notched a big win.
This is the Bond villain of it all, the powerfully aspirational dark energy unmatched by any other athlete.
Indeed, Kim looks like the single coolest person at the Olympics.
Now, online shooting enthusiasts have pointed out that basically everyone who shoots at this level adopts the same pose and backwards hat. And, to be fair, other folks also wear the high-tech shooting lenses.
But no one has the sheer panache to compare, the coolly downcast glance offered after a particularly sharp shot. Kim is literally in a class of her own.
She may have won silver but, stylewise? Pure gold.
