BEIJING: South Korea carried on its dynasty in Olympic women’s archery yesterday, picking up its sixth straight gold medal in the team competition. Korea beat China 224-215 for the gold medal.

The South Korean women are 6 for 6 in the team event since its inception in 1988, and the country has won 15 gold medals overall in archery.

China won the silver, and France took the bronze.

South Korea’s team of Park Sung-hyun, Yun Ok-hee and Joo Hyun-jung routed France 213-184 in the semifinals before beating China. Park, Yun and Joo are the top three seeds in the individual tournament, which begins tomorrow.

“We came to the Olympics with high hopes and expectations,” Park said. “I believe we were able to achieve this medal because of the people around us who helped us.” In 2004, South Korea defeated China by one point, but this one wasn’t even close. However, China’s Zhang Juan Juan, who was on the 2004 team, refused to acknowledge that was an indication that the South Koreans had improved dramatically since then.

“The Korean team really played up to their normal level,” Zhang said through a translator.

“They are a very good team. The gap of one point to the nine points does not really illustrate much. The surroundings may be different ... there may be other factors.” Later Zhang complimented the South Koreans.

“The Korean team indeed demonstrated their strength again,” she said. “I think our team is going to learn more from the Korean team.” The team won in front of a raucous, mostly Korean crowd. When the event ended they danced, sang and chanted while holding up banners and flags.

“More people turned up than was expected,” Yun said.

In the quarterfinals, Athens Olympic champion Park came within a whisker of perfection.

The South Korean missed the 10-point mark only once, with a nine, to guide South Korea to a world record and victory over Italy. Park, Yun Ok-hee and Joo Hyun-jung shot 231 out of a possible 240, breaking the previous record of 228 they set two years ago. Park looked at her feet when she missed the 10, but denied she was disappointed.

“I looked unhappy but I was just trying to maintain my composure,” she said. “We are happy to break the world record but what matters most is the gold medal.”