--- title: Kim Yeji’s ‘Aura’ Has Won Over the Internet. Now She’s Aiming for Gold description: The South Korean sharpshooter and silver medalist has inspired countless memes on social media with her chic get-up and cool confidence. canonical: https://time.com/7005738/south-korea-pistol-shooter-kim-yeji-main-character-memes/ author: Koh Ewe article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2024-07-31T07:30:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:52:08.506Z article:section: Sports og:title: Kim Yeji’s ‘Aura’ Has Won Over the Internet. Now She’s Aiming for Gold og:description: The South Korean sharpshooter and silver medalist has inspired countless memes on social media with her chic get-up and cool confidence. og:url: https://time.com/7005738/south-korea-pistol-shooter-kim-yeji-main-character-memes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf961d6df18c1ddd/698a59679d83e8bb27b9a5fa/Kim-Yeji-South-Korea-Pistol-Shooter-Social-Media-Viral.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Kim Yeji Paris Olympics Pistol Shooter Viral og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Kim Yeji’s ‘Aura’ Has Won Over the Internet. Now She’s Aiming for Gold twitter:description: The South Korean sharpshooter and silver medalist has inspired countless memes on social media with her chic get-up and cool confidence. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbf961d6df18c1ddd/698a59679d83e8bb27b9a5fa/Kim-Yeji-South-Korea-Pistol-Shooter-Social-Media-Viral.jpg?branch=production&width=2400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Kim Yeji’s ‘Aura’ Has Won Over the Internet. Now She’s Aiming for Gold by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Jul 31, 2024 7:30 AM UTC  Kim Yeji of Team Republic of Korea prepares to shoot during the women’s 10-m air pistol final on day two of the Olympic Games in France on July 28, 2024. Kim Yeji of Team Republic of Korea prepares to shoot during the women’s 10-m air pistol final on day two of the Olympic Games in France on July 28, 2024.Charles McQuillan—Getty Images by [Koh Ewe](https://time.com/author/koh-ewe/) ## Koh Ewe Koh Ewe (Koyu) was a reporter for TIME based in Singapore. Jul 31, 2024 7:30 AM UTC Perhaps “the biggest bada-- of the Paris Olympics” and the “2024 Olympics’ first breakout style star,” according to [_Glamour_](https://www.glamour.com/story/is-sharpshooter-kim-yeji-the-biggest-badass-of-the-paris-olympics) and [_GQ_](https://www.gq.com/story/olympics-2024-kim-yeji-south-korean-shooter-style-icon). “The most ‘main character energy’ I’ve ever seen in my life,” one social media user [posted](https://x.com/TheCartelDel/status/1818081041321783734). No, they’re not talking about [glasses-wearing Pommel Horse Guy Stephen Nedoroscik](https://time.com/7005192/stephen-nedoroscik-usa-gymnastics-pommel-horse-guy-olympics-memes-medalist/) or [Brazilian “warrior” gymnast Flavia Saraiva, who competed with a black eye](https://time.com/7005693/brazil-gymnast-flavia-saraiva-black-eye-olympics/). 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](https://twitter.com/womenpostingws/status/1818147152989929718) that shot the 31-year-old into virality. > [](https://twitter.com/aubreystrobel/status/1818291931559891002) 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](https://www.yna.co.kr/view/AKR20240527138300007): “There is nothing to improve.” > [](https://twitter.com/womenpostingws/status/1818156690484904380) The clip and photos of Kim have since inspired countless memes—[one](https://x.com/TrungTPhan/status/1818314453433356764) 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](https://x.com/MediumSizeMeech/status/1818360675263185042) on social media, particularly from [lesbians](https://x.com/alicesparklykat/status/1818271535561580827) (some of whom were [disappointed](https://x.com/DixPeyton/status/1818354821243847103) to apparently discover she’s a married mother). Billionaire Elon Musk replied to video posts of Kim on X, the platform he owns, [saying](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1818273374445207678) “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!” [and](https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1818274039657328933) “Would be cool to have a shooting world champion in an action movie.” Kim brought her characteristic nonchalance—or “[aura](https://x.com/womenpostingws/status/1818295641183027353)” as [many](https://x.com/ComplexPop/status/1818342905003851989) have [called](https://x.com/Michisugussy95/status/1818346093454790796) it—to Paris, where she was spotted with a small plush elephant doll, believed to be a gift from her [daughter](https://x.com/TrungTPhan/status/1818309407161385081). > [](https://twitter.com/hahyunsing/status/1818149356220109209) Not much is publicly known about Kim. According to her brief [profile](https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/yeji-kim%5F1893930) 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.  Gold medalist Oh Ye Jin (right) and silver medalist Kim Yeji, both of Team Republic of Korea, celebrate after the women’s 10-m air pistol final at Chateauroux Shooting Center on July 28, 2024. Charles McQuillan—Getty Images “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](https://apnews.com/article/olympics-2024-shooting-75648e08a0c4d31eaf7c14f45e51cd44). 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](https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/athlete/yeji-kim%5F1893930). “I am always confident,” she [told local media](https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20240728050251) after getting silver on Sunday. “At worst, I will try to win one gold medal.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/7005738/south-korea-pistol-shooter-kim-yeji-main-character-memes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/7005738/south-korea-pistol-shooter-kim-yeji-main-character-memes/"},"headline":"Kim Yeji’s ‘Aura’ Has Won Over the Internet. 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