Meet Kim Yeji, the Cyberpunk Pistol Shooter Taking Over the Internet at the Paris Olympics

As fans are wowed by the impressive ballers, skaters, gymnasts and other athletes participating in the Paris Olympics, one woman in particular has emerged as a breakout star.

Kim Ye-ji, a 31-year-old South Korean pistol shooter, has gone viral across social media this week, drawing countless new fans. While Kim took home the silver medal in the 10-meter air pistol women’s event on Saturday, it wasn’t all about her skill, but also her style, featuring futuristic steampunk-esque glasses and a savage demeanor, that catapulted her to internet fame.

Some social media users praised her effortless confidence while others compared her to James Bond and character Satoru Gojo, a sorcerer in popular manga Jujutsu Kaisen.

Kim’s energy has prompted recognition from big names, as well, including Elon Musk, who wrote that it would be “cool” to feature her in an action movie. But while her popularity has skyrocketed this Olympic Games, a recently unearthed clip of her performance during the International Shooting Sport Federation World Cup in Azerbaijan this past May was what initially kicked off her viral fame. In it, Kim is sporting a backward cap, sharp bob, glasses and signature stone cold glare. After the event, during which she broke the world record in the women’s 25m pistol, she told reporters that there was “nothing to improve” before Paris, according to Yonhap News. “I don’t feel any pressure at all,” she told reporters. “My confidence comes from a reason. It’s confidence based on a foundation.”

This time around, the markswoman opted for a short ponytail. And though she’s been admired for her no-nonsense expression, she’s somewhat of a softy. Viewers pointed out that she competed while clutching a small stuffed elephant in her back pocket, which, according to the Olympics, belongs to her daughter. Kim also displayed her nurturing side when expressing support for teammate Oh Ye-jin, 19, who took home the gold. “She is like my youngest sibling, and I always want to care for her and always be there for her. So, when she won the gold medal, I was extra happy,” Kim said.

She added that she did not view Oh as her rival.

“This is a big stage, the Olympics, and we won the gold and silver,” Kim said. “When we won these medals, we were so proud we are Koreans. I thought it did not matter who won the gold.”

Kimmy Yam is a reporter for NBC Asian America.

Just days into the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the most surprising style zag of the Games so far is somehow not the avant-garde clown suits of the opening ceremony's viral ménage à trois; rather, the Olympic shooters' surprisingly cyborgian uniforms have captured the nerdiest/most online spectators' hearts. Indeed, the internet has already crowned the 31-year-old South Korean shooter Kim Yeji, who took home silver in the women's 10-metre air pistol event on Sunday, as the coldest style star of this year's Games thus far. It's hard not to agree with them.

Over the weekend, the first-time Olympian took to the range at the Chateauroux Shooting Centre looking like an ultra-contemporary, sportswear-wearing sci-fi assassin. Her chin length-hair in a low ponytail, she wore a white baseball cap and a matching black Fila anorak zipped up to the neck (both embroidered with South Korean flag patches) with black track pants and customised red-laced Sauer pistol shoes. Her wonky wire-rimmed shooting glasses – which featured flippable hinged lenses and a very 19th-century silhouette – matched the silver rings on her fingers and dainty stacked piercings on her ears. Dangling from Kim's waistband was a small elephant-shaped stuffed animal, which writer Trung Phan said belongs to Kim's child. (According to the Korean news outlet Insight, the athlete has a five-year-old daughter.)

In her event, Kim looked straight out of a cyberpunk fanfic – 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.

This content can also be viewed on the site it originates from.

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-metre pistol event.

But while Kim is currently the internet's favourite 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-metre 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.”

See More Stories

Condé Nast Britain