She was in one of two shots seen round the world. During the first week of the Paris Olympics, an image of South Korea’s Kim Ye-ji looking very cool while shooting in the women’s 10 meter air pistol competition went viral on social media. This image and another photo—one of Turkey’s Yusuf Dikec looking cool in, umm, a different way while shooting— brought a ton of attention to the sport of pistol shooting and both athletes.
Well, all that attention along with stress from the competition and international travel may have taken it’s toll. After returning back to South Korea, the 31-year-old Kim collapsed and passed out during a press conference on Friday in Imsil, a county in the southern part of South Korea. Fortunately, she did regain consciousness but was taken to hospital for observation until reportedly fully recovering.
Speaking of social media, there were claims on it that Kim had received cardiopulmonary resuscitation after her collapse. But there was no evidence that that had actually happened. Yes, it’s shocking that claims on social media were not supported by, you know, facts.
Kim apparently suffered what is called syncope, which is a fancier way of saying “passing out” when you want to sound all smart and everything. It happens when not enough blood is going to your brain. There can be many reasons why this can happen, ranging from the not-such-a-big-deal to very serious conditions. That’s why if you do lose consciousness, you should get medically evaluated to rule out the bad stuff.
One of the most common types of syncope is vasovagal syncope. It’s when your heart rate and blood pressure drops suddenly so that neither is high enough to keep enough blood flowing to your brain. This can happen after you’ve been standing for a while or going through emotional stress. Such a situation usually is not a big deal as long as it doesn’t keep recurring.
Another common type of syncope is situational syncope, which is an umbrella term for anything that’s caused by a temporary situation affecting your nervous system. This situation may be that you are dehydrated, suffering a lot of pain, very hungry, hyperventilating, coughing quite forcefully or using alcohol or certain drugs. This can be just a one-time thing.
Postural syncope is another relatively common type of syncope. It happens when you change position rapidly such as from lying down or sitting to standing and effectively not enough blood stays in or is going into your head. This can be more likely to happen if you are dehydrated or taking particular medications. This can become a bigger issue if it happens repeatedly and in such cases may merit further medical attention.
The biggest reason you should get evaluated after you pass out is to make sure that you don’t have some type of more serious underlying heart or blood vessel problem that prevented enough blood from getting to your brain such as an abnormal heart rhythm, a problem with the structures of your heart, a heart attack, heart failure, a stroke or seizures. There are a number of other possible causes of syncope such as postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS) and various medications too. It isn’t completely clear what caused Kim’s syncope. But presumably she went through a work-up in the hospital to rule out more serious possibilities.
What is clear, though, was the attention that Kim and Dikec got on social media for their vastly different appearances while competing at the Olympics. Kim sported futuristic glasses to help improve her precision and a very cool demeanor, both of which in the words of some social media posters oozed “main character energy” and earned her the nickname “smiling assassin.” Even Elon Musk got involved in the assassin admiration, post on his social media platform X: “[She] should be cast in an action movie. No acting required!”
Meanwhile, the 51-year-old Dikec went viral for appearing like he just got off the couch to participate in the 10m air pistol mixed team event with fellow countrywoman Sevval Ilayda Tarhan. A widely shared image showed Dikec shooting his pistol while wearing a T-shirt and what looked like just a pair of regular glasses. To add to the casual image, he had one hand in his pocket. This all made him look like either a really regular guy or a really good assassin who was really good at looking like a really regular guy.
