In July 2021, the year she turned 14, she took up shooting at the urging of a friend from her taekwondo academy. She won a Daegu regional competition two months later.
The breakthrough yearIn March 2024, the year she turned 17, she finished first in the national team trials for the women’s 10 m air rifle at the Paris Olympics and earned a place on the team. She was the only high school student among the 38 entrants. On July 28, she set an Olympic record of 634.5 in qualification and reached the final in first place. The next day in the final, she tied Huang Yuting of China at 251.8 and won the shoot-off by 0.1 for gold. It was South Korea’s 100th Summer Olympic gold medal, and she became the youngest South Korean to win Summer Olympic gold, breaking Yun Young-sook’s 1988 record after 36 years. She returned home with the team on Aug. 7, and on the 16th she was third individually and won the team event at the Chuncheon Mayor’s Cup national shooting championship. On the 21st, she appeared on tvN’s You Quiz on the Block.
In April 2025, it was confirmed that she would join the shooting team of the Daegu Facilities Management Corporation, which is under Daegu city. She was to formally join the following February, when she graduated from Daegu Sports High School. At the National Sports Festival in October, she was third individually and won team gold with her Daegu Sports High School teammates. On Nov. 8, she won the women’s 10 m air rifle final at the World Championships in Cairo, Egypt, with a Korean record of 255, and took silver in the team event. In December, she ended the season with silver at the World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar.
In January 2026, the year she turned 19, she joined the shooting team of the Daegu Facilities Management Corporation, and in April she was named a Daegu city ambassador. On Sept. 20, her 19th birthday, she won individual bronze at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, and on the 22nd she added mixed team silver with Park Ha-jun.
Ban Hyo-jin (born Sep 20, 2007) took up shooting on a friend’s urging in Jul 2021, the year she turned 14, and became known on Jul 29, 2024, the year she turned 17, when she won the women’s 10 m air rifle at the Paris Olympics, South Korea’s 100th Summer Olympic gold medal and the youngest by a South Korean at the Summer Games. The next year, 2025, she added gold at the World Championships.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Took up shooting at the urging of a friend from her taekwondo academy. She was in second year of middle school and won a Daegu regional competition two months later.
Source 02 · News1 (Korean) · Welcome ceremony for Ban Hyo-jin in Daegu · opens in a new tabSource 03 · HuffPost Korea (Korean) · Reaches the final with an Olympic record · opens in a new tabFinished first in the women’s 10 m air rifle national team trials with 2,530.6 points and earned a place on the national team. She was the only high school student among the 38 entrants.
Source 04 · Maeil Shinmun (Korean) · Daegu Sports High School’s Ban Hyo-jin selected for the 2024 Paris Olympics · opens in a new tabSource 01 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · National team badge three years after picking up a gun · opens in a new tab The trials were held in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, from Mar. 24 to 30. Outlets differ on whether the final announcement came on the 30th or the 31st, so only the month is given.Shot 634.5 over 60 shots in the women’s 10 m air rifle qualification at the Paris Olympics and reached the final in first place. It broke the previous Olympic record by 1.6 points.
Source 05 · Maeil Business Newspaper (Korean) · An Olympic record three years after starting shooting · opens in a new tab Korea time. In local time it was July 27.Tied with Huang Yuting of China at 251.8 in the final, she shot 10.4 in the shoot-off to Huang’s 10.3 and won gold by 0.1. It was South Korea’s 100th Summer Olympic gold medal, and she became the youngest South Korean Summer Olympic gold medalist, breaking after 36 years the record of Yun Young-sook, a member of the women’s team archery gold medal team at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Returned through Incheon International Airport with her shooting team teammates.
Source 09 · OhmyNews (Korean) · A splendid return home for the shooting team · opens in a new tabAt the Chuncheon Mayor’s Cup national shooting championship, her first domestic event since returning, she shot a competition-record 629.6 in the women’s high school 10 m air rifle qualification. She was third in the final with 228.2 and won the team event with Daegu Sports High School teammates including Kwak Da-hye, Noh Ki-ryeong and Park Gye-eun.
Source 10 · Dong-A Ilbo (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin sets a record at the national shooting championship but wins only the team event · opens in a new tabAppeared with Oh Ye-jin and Yang Ji-in on episode 258 of You Quiz on the Block, the “National Team 2 - I’m the Champion of This World!” special. The broadcast drew a nationwide household rating of 4.8%.
Source 11 · Singlist (Korean) · You Quiz brings in Olympic stars, ratings at 4.8% · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Newsen (Korean) · The women’s shooting team looks cool to us too · opens in a new tabDaegu city said she would join the shooting team of the Daegu Facilities Management Corporation, which is under the city. She formally joins in February 2026, when she graduates from Daegu Sports High School, on a three-year contract.
Source 13 · News1 (Korean) · Youngest Paris gold medalist Ban Hyo-jin settles in Daegu · opens in a new tabFinished third in the women’s under-18 10 m air rifle final at the 106th National Sports Festival with 229.3, and won team gold with Daegu Sports High School teammates.
Source 14 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · National Sports Festival, Kim Woo-min and Hwang Sun-woo set meet records · opens in a new tab The festival was held in Busan from Oct. 17 to 23. The exact date of the individual event was not confirmed.Shot 255 in the women’s 10 m air rifle final at the 2025 International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) World Championships in Cairo and beat Wang Zhifei of China (254) to win. The 255 is a Korean final record in the event, and it was her first World Championship title.
Source 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin wins World Championship gold with a Korean record · opens in a new tab Korea time.In the team event at the same championships she shot 1,899.9 with Kwon Yu-na and Kwon Eun-ji, behind China (1,901.7), for silver.
Source 15 · Newsis (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin wins World Championship gold with a Korean record · opens in a new tabEnded the season with silver in the women’s 10 m air rifle final at the ISSF World Cup Final in Doha, Qatar, shooting 253.1 behind Wang Zhifei (253.4).
Source 16 · SBS (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin ends the season with ISSF World Cup Final silver · opens in a new tabGraduated from Daegu Sports High School and joined the shooting team of the Daegu Facilities Management Corporation.
Source 17 · News1 (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin, who won gold in Paris, now promotes Daegu · opens in a new tab The day was not confirmed in news reports.Was named a Daegu city ambassador and will serve for two years.
Source 17 · News1 (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin, who won gold in Paris, now promotes Daegu · opens in a new tabSource 18 · Financial News (Korean) · Using Ban Hyo-jin to strengthen the city’s brand · opens in a new tabOn her 19th birthday, she shot 230.4 in the women’s 10 m air rifle individual final at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games and took bronze. In qualification she shot 634.9 and reached the final second overall, behind Wang Zhifei with 636.8.
Source 19 · KBS (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin wins Asian Games bronze on her birthday · opens in a new tabSource 20 · SBS (Korean) · Ban Hyo-jin and Kwon Yu-na reach the individual final · opens in a new tabIn the 10 m air rifle mixed team event at the same games she shot 502.9 with Park Ha-jun, behind China, which set a world record of 507.1, for silver. Japan was 0.4 behind.
Source 21 · Segye Ilbo (Korean) · Shooting siblings Park Ha-jun and Ban Hyo-jin win 10 m air rifle silver · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2021–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
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Sports · South Korea
Sep 20, 2007 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 2007: the year of the event minus 2007, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.09.28 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.