Featured Image Credit: Charles McQuillan / Stringer via Getty Images
Topics: Olympics, Sports, Twitter, Viral News
Syeda Khaula Saad
Topics: Olympics, Sports, Twitter, Viral News
Finally, instead of the “white boy of the month” that makes me think half of the world needs to get their eyes checked, the internet is going wild for a woman of color who is not only totally fucking hot, but also the coolest person I’ve seen all year. I’m talking about Kim Yeji, the South Korean Olympian sharpshooter. Kim set a new world record for the 25m back in May, and this time came in second to her own teammate and roommate in the 10m. For my American friends who are confused by the metric system, 10m is a little farther than 32 feet. And even though she’s not the one who got the gold, she definitely has become the center of attention after the internet realized just how badass she looked while competing
Kim is a 31-year-old South Korean sharpshooter who’s been dominating the shooting range since she was a teenager. She started competing professionally at the age of 16 and quickly made a name for herself with her insane accuracy and cool demeanor. But why sharpshooting, you ask? Unlike the rest of us who picked up hobbies like planking or binging Netflix during our teenage years, Kim was drawn to the precision and mental focus required in sharpshooting. She found a sense of calm and control in the sport that nothing else could offer, and let’s be real, it’s not every day you meet someone who can shoot a bullseye from 25 meters away without breaking a sweat.
But more than her story or her dedication, people were just really freaking out about how cool she looked — I mean, did you see her shooting? Speaking of watching the shooting competitions…
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Since I can’t give you an answer to what you really want to know (Kim’s number), I can at least answer the other pressing question you have — WTF is that weird eye gear? If you’ve seen pictures of Kim Yeji and thought she was channeling her inner cyborg, you’re not alone. The eye machinery is called an iris occluder, and it’s like a mix between a high-tech monocle and something out of a sci-fi movie.
So, what’s the deal with it? The occluder helps shooters focus on the target by blocking out distractions. It essentially narrows their field of vision, making sure they’re not thrown off by anything happening outside their laser-focused tunnel vision.
And because people love to take their fangirling to the internet, here are some of the best tweets about how fucking cool Kim Yeji is.