Olympic Games: New world record shattered ALREADY while Aussie star suffers nightmare start to Paris campaign

While South Korean Lim Sihyeon wowed with a world record in the women’s Olympic archery ranking round, Australia’s Peter Boukouvalas was left disappointed with his Paris debut.

Boukouvalas, 25, and fellow Australian Laura Paeglis, 22, opened their Olympic campaign on Thursday at the Esplanade des Invalides archery venue.

It sits next to the famous Hotel des Invalides, which contains the imperial tomb of former French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in its glittering gold dome.

Boukouvalas said he was trying to soak in the iconic surroundings for his Olympic debut rather than dwell on his showing, with his score of 628 from 12 ends leaving him 60th in the field of 64.

It means he will square off with fifth-ranked Lee Wooseok in the 1/32 elimination round next Tuesday (local time).

Another Korean, Kim Woojin, topped the men’s rankings with a score of 686 while the Olympic champion, Turkey’s Mete Gazoz, finished eighth.

‘It was a much lower performance than I was expecting,’ said the Sydneysider, who revealed he had been battling an injury and mental fatigue.

‘I’m carrying some things from the last couple of months into this tournament and struggling a bit with my shooting.

In the men’s archery, it was a tough start for Australia’s Peter Boukouvalas

‘I tried to put it together today but with the wind and everything else, I tried to make the right choice but kept coming up short.’

Boukouvalas said the wind for the afternoon competition kept changing while the women competed in still conditions earlier in the day.

It was why he wasn’t surprised by the new world mark of 694 set by Lim, which beat the previous record of held by compatriot Kang Chaeyoung, which was set in 2019.

Lim leads a young Korean squad bidding for a 10th individual gold medal and 10th consecutive women’s team gold.

Paeglis finished in 44th spot with a score of 640 which was the best score by an Australian woman in the individual ranking round since the format changed in 1996. 

‘I wasn’t surprised (by the world record), especially in the morning as it was significantly calmer,’ Boukouvalas said.

‘And Laura should be proud, it’s an incredible achievement, and she’s done exceptionally well and she deserves it.’