Tokyo Olympics: South Korea's An San brushes off critics of ‘feminist’ hairstyle to win third archery gold
- The 20-year-old top seed holds her nerve in final shoot-off against Russia’s Elena Osipova to take gold
- An becomes target for online hostility at home after cutting her hair short, a look labelled ‘feminist’ by some social media users
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An San kept South Korea’s Olympic flag flying in women’s archery on Friday as she took the individual title, brushing off online criticism of her hairstyle to become the first archer to win three golds at a single Games.
Top-seeded An held her nerve as both her final and semi-final went to shoot-offs, downing Elena Osipova of the Russian Olympic Committee to take gold. Italy’s Lucilla Boari won bronze.
The 20-year-old South Korean, already a double gold-medallist in the women’s and mixed teams events, became a target for online hostility at home after cutting her hair short, a look labelled “feminist” by some social media users.
That term has become associated with a rise in misogynist sentiment among South Korean young men.
In her the semi-final, An beat American Mackenzie Brown – herself subject to criticism on social media for choosing to compete unvaccinated against Covid-19.