Korean Air said on the 9th that it founded a clay shooting team to help broaden the base and invigorate the sport by developing less popular events.

Korean Air held a launch ceremony that day at its headquarters in Gangseo District, Seoul, to establish the clay shooting team.

Korean Air holds a launch ceremony for its clay shooting team on the morning of the 9th at its headquarters in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. From left: Seo Ho-young, head of human resources at Korean Air; Jang Seong-hyeon, vice president of marketing, IT, cabin, and service at Korean Air; Iwona, playing coach of the Korean Air clay shooting team; Eom So-yeon, athlete of the Korean Air clay shooting team; and Kwon Hyeok-sam, head of Korean Air's sports division. /Courtesy of Korean Air

Clay shooting is a sport in which shooters hit flying, disc-shaped targets with a gun, and it became widely known worldwide after being adopted as an official event at the 1900 Paris Olympics.

However, among the shooting disciplines, it is considered one with weak foundations for training elite athletes because it incurs a lot of expense and has a small pool of athletes.

Korean Air recruited athlete Iwona, who won silver in double trap and bronze in trap at the 2004 Athens Olympics to claim Korea's first-ever medals in clay shooting, as a playing coach. A playing coach is a position in which the person competes as an athlete while also serving as a coach.

Eom So-yeon, who joined alongside her, is a veteran who has competed since 2010 and has multiple podium finishes at domestic and international events.

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