Paris Olympics silver medal shooter collapses during press conference and is rushed to hospital
An Olympian who has just taken home a silver medal for her country collapsed during a press conference after returning home.
Kim Ye-ji lost consciousness during a press conference in South Korea today (August 9), just 12 days after finishing in second place in the women's 10m air pistol event at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Korean shooter was beaten by her compatriot Oh Ye Jin, who set an Olympic Record with a score of 243.2.
While Ye-ji only missed out on gold by 1.9 points, she was praised by Tesla, Twitter and SpaceX billionaire owner Elon Musk - who took to his social media platform to comment on her style and cool demeanour.
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However, during the press conference in Imsil to the south of the country, she collapsed due to stress and exhaustion.
Ye-ji later regained consciousness and was taken to hospital for checks.
An official said, per Reuters, that the 31-year-old did not receive CPR despite some media outlets saying that she did, and she will stay in hospital for observation until she has recovered fully.
They explained to the publication that her collapsing was likely due to her suffering from exhaustion after participating in the Paris 2024 Olympics.
During the Olympics, Ye-ji was donning futuristic looking glasses which helps with her precision shooting and she has now been dubbed the 'smiling assassin' in South Korea.
Ye-ji thanked Musk on Wednesday (August 7) for propelling her to stardom.
One user posted on the social media platform a video of her competing outside of the Olympics with the caption: “The most ‘Main Character Energy’ I've ever seen in my life.”
Musk commented: “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!”
Replying to him, Ye-ji said: "I received a lot of unexpected attention and I believe it's thanks to Elon Musk rather than myself. So, thank you.”
The boss of the shooting federation Luciano Rossi has praised her for bringing attention to the sport - something that he has had numerous meetings with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on how they could raise the sport's profile.
He said: "This is really very important for us.
"After my election, I met with the IOC and they said maybe the most important thing is social media."
Despite coming home a fan favorite, Ye-ji was left disappointed with herself after being eliminated during the qualifying round in the 25-meter event after she went over the required three-second window to fire.
Ye-ji holds the World Record in the women's 25m air pistol event and so has apologized to her fans for making the 'big mistake' and 'disappointing' them.
Joe Yates