Kim Yeji’s ‘Aura’ Has Won Over the Internet. Now She’s Aiming for Gold

Perhaps “the biggest bada-- of the Paris Olympics” and the “2024 Olympics’ first breakout style star,” according to Glamour and GQ. “The most ‘main character energy’ I’ve ever seen in my life,” one social media user posted.

No, they’re not talking about glasses-wearing Pommel Horse Guy Stephen Nedoroscik or Brazilian “warrior” gymnast Flavia Saraiva, who competed with a black eye. Rather, it’s South Korean sharpshooter Kim Yeji whose chic get-up and cool confidence have won the internet over.

Kim won the silver medal at the women’s 10-m air pistol event on Sunday, but it was a clip from her previous appearance at the ISSF World Cup in May making the rounds online this week that shot the 31-year-old into virality.

Wearing a baseball cap backwards, one hand tucked into her pocket, Kim casually shoots at the target before flicking the cover up on her futuristic-looking shooting glasses to see her score. She then barely reacts as she breaks a world record in the 25-m air pistol event.

Asked by reporters at the time what areas of the skill she thought she could still improve, she simply said: “There is nothing to improve.” 

The clip and photos of Kim have since inspired countless memes—one shows her alongside action movie protagonists like Keanu Reeves’ John Wick, Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne, and Denzel Washington’s Robert McCall, with the caption “I’m assembling a team”—and even thirsting on social media, particularly from lesbians (some of whom were disappointed to apparently discover she’s a married mother).

Billionaire Elon Musk replied to video posts of Kim on X, the platform he owns, saying “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” and “Would be cool to have a shooting world champion in an action movie.”

Kim brought her characteristic nonchalance—or “aura” as many have called it—to Paris, where she was spotted with a small plush elephant doll clipped to her side, believed to be a gift from her daughter.

Not much is publicly known about Kim. According to her brief profile on the Olympics website, she picked up the sport in middle school because “she was curious about shooting,” and her ambition is “to win an Olympic medal.” (Her hobby? “Watching movies.”)

But for all her seeming indifference on the range, Kim was all smiles when she shared the podium with South Korean compatriot 19-year-old Oh Ye Jin, her roommate who grabbed gold and who Kim describes as a “youngest sibling.” Both Kim and Oh broke the Olympic record in the women’s 10-m air pistol event that was previously set by Russian shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina in Tokyo.

“I do not view her as my rival. This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver. When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans. I thought it did not matter who won the gold,” Kim told the Associated Press.

But the first-time Olympian has made clear that she remains armed with aspirations for a gold medal of her own. And she still has the chance to fulfill that dream. Kim’s next event is on August 2, when she will compete in the 25-m pistol precision qualifier.

“I am always confident,” she told local media after getting silver on Sunday. “At worst, I will try to win one gold medal.”