By Tony Ubani reporting from London

When archery opened with ranking rounds at the 2012 Olympic Games on Friday morning, South Korea took ownership of London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground.  Im Dong-Hyun broke his own world record with 699 points for 72 arrows. Im, mind you, is legally blind and was ranked second in the world behind U.S. archer Brady Ellison going into the Games.

Im has suffered from myopia all his life. He can see the colors on the target 70 meters away, but not much else. Corrective lenses make him uncomfortable, so he refuses to wear them while shooting. Going off of muscle memory has proven plenty effective for the two-time team gold medalist.

South Korea’s Im Dong-Hyun celebrates breaking his own 72-arrow world record in the archery ranking round on July 27. Photo: AFP

South Korea also set a world record for team shooting with 2087 points. The three South Korean Olympians filled the top three spots. Briton Larry Godfrey was a full bullseye of 10 points back in fourth place.

To aid South Korea en route to the record-setting finish, Kim Bub-Min had a score of 698, just a single point shy of Im’s topper. As Im’s previous world record was 696, Kim would also have made history if not for his teammate.

Oh Jin-Hyek rounded out the top three with another phenomenal score of 690.

Although the U.S. team that ranked best in the world headed into London fell to fourth, the archers remain in a good position. A team bye means the U.S. will advance directly to Saturday’s quarterfinals and avoid facing any of the top teams in that round.

In the individual competition, no U.S. archer will have to face anyone ranked higher than 47th in the first round.