Kim Ye-ji, the viral Olympics shooter, made waves this summer for her ‘main character energy.’ Her zen-like composure amidst the nervy Paris Olympics environment led people to applaud her aura. However, leaving the French capital with a silver medal and newfound stardom is just the front story. There are many-a-skeletons hidden away in her closet, which came out recently.

Speaking to CNN Sport recently, Kim Ye-ji shared the reality that led up to her defining ‘Olympics Moment.’ She reflected on her life, highlighting how, at 32, she has witnessed a profound transformation in the sport over the years. Remarkably, her journey started with a simple gesture—raising her hand to volunteer when a teacher asked if anyone wanted to try shooting. From that moment, her path unfolded in ways she never could have imagined.

Back then, in 2005, shooting did not sit among the mainstream sports in South Korea. Also, the country’s Olympics success rate was low, and Kim was too innocent to grasp a thing. “I was so young then, and I just thought it would be fun,” she clearly did not put a lot of thought behind getting into the sport. Admittedly, she says, the vision of becoming a world-class athlete was out of bounds. She was just a kid having fun, minding her own business.

Until, her reliance on the sport as a source of income increased. “I just stuck with it to earn money at first,” she confessed. In fact, till 2019, she viewed the sport from the lens of it being just a job. But meeting her coach, Kwak Min-su triggered a transformation. Not only did he motivate her to work hard, but was generous enough to even causally iron her Olympics uniform. Thus, she believed, “He’s been a very credible coach, so I wanted to work hard and pay him back.”

And well, the results are for the world to watch. She started exhibiting magic with the pistol in May, at the World Cup in Baku, where she set a new 25-meter world record. This was followed by the Paris Olympics trials, where she became the first South Korean shooter in history to sail through to two Olympic events, the 10m and 25m shooting categories. Fast track to the Games, and she’d won her first Olympic silver.

But, Kim Ye-ji has experienced multiple versions of success recently. And a lot of them range beyond the shooting arena.

Kim Ye-ji, the Olympics star turned internet sensation signs a movie

Known for her nonchalant attitude and her razor-sharp skills, Kim Ye-ji quickly ascended the ladder of success. In fact, she landed her first on-camera role, as an assassin in September. Kim Ye-ji will now play the said role in Crush, which is a short-form series powered by Asia Lab. But this hardly seems an out-of-the-blue decision, for she garnered praise from many, notably even Elon Musk, who said, “She should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!”

Well, many have had an inkling that she’d be a natural! Lee JungSub, the director of the film added how “Yeji’s casing as a global Korean assassin was a natural choice given her precision and performance at the Olympics…” He even cited that the very instance he saw that, he needed nothing else to convince him to cast as for the role.

Well, as of now, there is very little known on how substantial Kim Ye-Ji’s part in the series would be. But in any case, this will hardly be the first time she faces the camera. After signing up with a talent agency in August, the internet sensation has made many debuts. Shooting for Louis Vuitton’s magazine, the ELLE cover, or endorsing Givenchy products, she turned the talk of the star town. But her shooting career and its rise remained a lesser known fact all this while. What do you think of it? Share with us below