From Oliver Holt in Sydney
The sound of oriental gongs and klaxons wielded by the small band of fanatical Korean supporters in the stand, accompanied the premature exit of Alison Williamson, one of Britain’s brightest hopes for a gold medal from the women’s individual archery event under a burning sun here today. Williamson was eliminated in the round before the quarter-finals.
Williamson did not perform badly but her opponent, Mi-Jin Yun, was inspired, smashing the Olympic record by scoring 173 points out of a possible 180, hitting the bull's-eye again and again.
Williamson’s tally of 164 with her 18 arrows would have been good enough to win five of the other seven matches and put her into the quarter-finals but that was little consolation.
"It was heartbreaking for me," Williamson said. "I have been working and training hard for four years to get ready for these Olympics and now I have got to start all over again. She performed very, very well and I just wasn’t good enough to stay with her. The Koreans are incredibly strong in this event. They have some very talented women in the sport."
Williamson was behind from the start. Yun started the competition with a series of bull's-eyes which each earned her ten points. When Williamson fired an errant arrow with her fourth attempt that was rewarded with only seven points, she was left facing an uphill struggle. Yun never allowed her hope that she was going to make up the difference as the Korean came within three points of beating the world record of 175.
Williamson gained a measure of fame several years ago when she posed topless for an archery magazine to try to raise the profile of her sport but after this disappointment that photo shoot is in danger of outstripping her achievements.
