In her event, Kim looked straight out of a steampunk fan-fic—and what’s more, her Olympic ensemble featured enough personable details (the elephant plushie charm!) that could even warrant her theoretical character’s own built-out backstory. Her image went viral after a content-aggregator X account called Women Posting W’s, whose bio-stated purpose is to “celebrate wins, wholesome, funny, and girly things,” posted Kim’s iron-clad stance on the site, saying it had “the most aura I have ever seen in an image.” It’s since spawned fawning fan art, “fan-cam” video edits set to K-pop songs, and Kim’s own KnowYourMeme entry.
“Hideo Kojima will be on a zoom call with her within 30 days,” read another viral tweet, referring to the Japanese video game maestro who also recently linked up with Timothée Chalamet in Tokyo.
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Subsequently, an older video of Kim began to make the rounds online, this time from her gold-winning appearance at the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup held in Baku, Azerbaijan back in May. In the clip, Kim—wearing her hair down underneath a backwards black cap, with her custom matching Fila anorak—appeared coolly, even preternaturally, unflappable as she set a new world record in the women’s 25-meter pistol event.
But while Kim is currently the internet’s favorite Olympic main character, she was outmatched by her Republic of Korea teammate (and roommate) Oh Ye Jin, who won gold in the women’s 10-meter air pistol event. Unsurprisingly, 19-year-old Oh—who decorated her rose-pink air pistol with a heart-shaped decal and wears aviator-shaped shooting lenses as well as her own square dark-rimmed eyeglasses that appear, in our day and age, like a nod to indie sleaze—has her own distinct swag.
“[Oh] is like my youngest sibling, and I always want to care for her and always be there for her,” Kim told ESPN of her teammate. “So when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy. 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.”
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