Kim previously won the men’s team and mixed team gold medals in Paris, joining fellow South Korean archer Lim Si-hyeon as the second triple gold medalist of the Olympics. With five career gold medals, Kim surpassed three others to become the most decorated South Korean Olympian.
The victory also made Kim the third South Korean man to win an individual Olympic archery title, following Oh Jin-hyek in 2012 and Gu Bon-chan in 2016.
Ellison, the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist, pushed Kim to the brink, but the South Korean held his nerve to prevail in a dramatic shoot-off after the match was tied 4-4 after five sets. Both archers shot perfect 30s in the deciding set, forcing the extra arrow. Kim’s 10 was judged closer to the center than Ellison’s.
South Korea has now won all archery gold medals available at the past two Olympics, although the mixed team event was not included in the 2016 program.
Earlier Sunday, South Korean archer Lee Woo-seok claimed the bronze medal, defeating Florian Unruh of Germany.
With Kim and Lim, South Korea became the only nation with two triple gold medalists at the Paris Olympics.
