Representing South Korea in archery at an Olympics isn’t for the faint of heart.

Expectations are on a wholly different level than many other sports. Anything less than a gold medal is considered a failure, but none more so than in the women’s team event, where South Korea has literally never lost.

Imagine the kind of pressure felt by those female archers. Their pursuit is less about trying to win another gold for the country, but more about trying to avoid becoming the first ones to fail to win the team gold medal.

They say all good things must come to an end, and South Korea’s undefeated run in the Olympic women’s archery team event will suffer that fate at some point.

But a trio of first-time Olympians for South Korea, Jeon Hun-young, Nam Su-hyeon and Lim Si-hyeon, made sure the streak would not end Sunday in Paris.

South Korea defeated China 5-4 in a thrilling shoot-off in the gold medal match at Invalides. The team events are contested in sets, with three archers each taking two arrows per set for their team for a perfect score of 60.

A set win is worth two points, and a tie is worth one point. The first team to reach five points by the fourth set wins.

South Korea led 4-0 before China won the next two sets to pull into a 4-4 tie and force the shoot-off. Each archer took one shot, and Korea won 29-27 thanks to 10s hit by Jeon and Lim.

All three archers were overcome with emotion afterward, offering a peek at just how much pressure had weighed on them.

“I’d be lying if I said we didn’t feel that burden,” Lim said, choking back tears. “We all sensed the weight of expectations of going for our 10th straight 커뮤니티 gold. And I think all three of us did a tremendous job overcoming that pressure. I am grateful that we’ve become a part of South Korean archery history.”

Though the final was a nail-biter, Jeon insisted she never once doubted herself or her teammates.

“I didn’t ever think we would lose,” she said. “I was too locked in to be thinking about the score or the final result. I was just concentrating on every arrow, and I trusted in my teammates and in the work I’ve put in to get here.”