The gold medal represents the 10th consecutive win in women’s archery events for Korea at the Olympics, a streak that stretches back to 1984.

Park, 21, was the form archer of the tournament. She set a new world record of 682 for the 72-arrow Ranking Round last Thursday, then advanced steadily through the field of 64 to today’s Final Round. She beat hometown hero Evangelia Psarra of Greece 111-101 in the quarter-final, then British hope Alison Williamson 110-100 in the semi-final to set up her showdown with Lee.

The young Lee, 19, beat Chinese Taipei’s Yuan Shu Chi 104-98 in the semi-final. Yuan, who beat Yun Mi Jin of Korea, the reigning world and Olympic champion, in the quarter-final, could not match Lee’s greater consistency.

In the final, Lee started strongly to be ahead 56-53 after six arrows. Her second end of three arrows was a perfect 10-10-10.

However, Park, the 2001 world champion and last year’s world championships silver medalist, kept her cool. She closed the match expertly with four nines and 10-10 on her last two arrows, leaving Lee to score a perfect 10 to take the match into a tie-break. Lee could only manage an eight, making the final score 110-108.

For Park, the win was a reward for years of training and dedication.

"I am a Christian person and I believe my last arrow was a gift from God," she said. "Lee and I are from the same club, so I felt relaxed in the final because I knew that the gold and silver medals would be going to the same country and club, whoever won the match."

Lee, though disappointed, accepted her loss with great dignity.

"It was a huge privilege to compete in the final and I am not disappointed because the gold medal went to Korea," she said.

Korea has won every women’s team and individual archery event they have ever contested at the Games.

At the end of their match, Park and Lee rushed into the stands to be cheered and hugged by hundreds of Korean fans.

Williamson, competing in her fourth Olympics, bounced back best from her semi-final defeat to beat Yuan 105-104 to win the bronze medal. Yuan could have won the match with nine or better on her final arrow, but scored a seven.

The bronze medal was celebrated as a treasure by British fans – the last medal for a British woman in archery was at the 1908 Olympics.

The men’s individual gold medal will be decided tomorrow (Thursday).