Korean women’s pistol shooting medalist Kim Yeji has gone viral for her unusual glasses and cool demeanor. But who is the first-time Olympian, and what’s the deal with her eyewear? We’ll cover what we know of Kim Yeji and her viral shooting performance below.
Who is Olympic shooter Kim Yeji?
Not much is known about Kim Yeji currently. Since going viral, she hasn’t had an opportunity to sit down for an interview, so details about her life are scant.
According to her official Olympics profile, Kim was born on September 4, 1992, in Danyang, South Korea, and is 31 years old. She currently resides in Imsil County, South Korea, with her one daughter. Kim is a full-time athlete and belongs to the Imsil-gun County Office Shooting Team. Her coach is Kwak Minsu, and she took up shooting in middle school because she was curious about the sport.
Kim holds the world record for the 25m Pistol Women’s category, which she achieved at the 2024 World Cup in Baku. So far in the 2024 Summer Olympics, she’s earned the Silver Medal in the 10m Air Pistol Women’s category, while her friend and former teammate Oh Ye Jin took the Gold.
What kind of glasses does Kim Yeji wear?
The strange glasses that Kim Yeji and many other professional shooting athletes wear might have a cyberpunk aesthetic, but they’re entirely analog. These glasses allow shooters to block out distractions, increase their ability to focus on their gun’s sights, and keep the target sharp.
The glasses consist of three parts. A lens fits over the shooter’s dominant eye and adds a small diopter to their vision. Behind that is a mechanical iris that can be adjusted to change the perceived depth of field. Finally, there’s a series of blinders, one for the non-dominant eye and one for each side of the shooter’s peripheral vision.
Shooters use glasses to augment their ability to focus and increase accuracy. As such, don’t expect them to become a fashion sensation, as they have little application outside this intended purpose.
