Olympic Archery 2012: American Men Stun Top-Seeded Koreans in Semifinal Upset

In stunning fashion, the U.S. took down archery powerhouse South Korea in an Olympics semifinal contest on Saturday. The Americans trailed early in this one, but they came on strong to capture a 224-219 win. 

With the win, the U.S. now awaits the winner of a match between Mexico and Italy to determine the gold. Meanwhile, South Korea's quest to win their fourth straight archery Olympic gold is over. 

Despite the fact that the Americans entered the Olympics as the world's No. 1 ranked team, this was not an outcome many could have seen coming. Not only has South Korea been golden at the past three Olympics, they had been dominant in London. 

South Korea set a record in the ranking rounds by securing 2,087 points. They did so behind the efforts of the legally blind Im Dong-Hyun. The world's No. 2 ranked archer added to the record he already owned by scoring 699 points on 72 arrows. 

Dong-Hyun and his teammates opened up on 55-53 lead, but the Americans had battled back for a 165-164 lead by the end of the third, and they were almost perfect in the fourth—scoring 59 out of a possible 60. 

World No. 1 Brady Ellison started off a little slow in London, but he is cruising now, and teammates Jake Kaminski and Jacob Wukie are not far off his pace. 

With the amazing semifinal performance, and the momentum it earned them, it will now be a surprise if the U.S. does not take the gold.