For the past 24 years, South Koreans have ruled the archery field just as the Chinese have dominated at table tennis.

Since the 1984 Los Angeles Games, it has swept all the titles at the women's events, spared just a few crowns for others in the men's competitions, and kept a tight hold on all the Olympic records.

At the 2004 Athens Games, the Asian powerhouse grabbed three out of four golds in the women's individual, and both team competitions.

For the upcoming Beijing Olympics, their strong momentum is expected to continue.

At the "Good Luck Beijing" test event last August, South Koreans sent all the top archers including reigning Olympic champion Park Sung Hyun.

Again, they took three of four golds in the women's individual, and both team events. In the men's individual competition, South Korea-born Australian Sky Kim emerged the winner.

The key to their success: A huge pool of talent, top training methods and hard work.

In South Korea, archery is one of the compulsory sports courses for school children and Koreans pick up bows at a very young age.

From primary schools to universities, each has its own team replete with a professional training system. The sport is also a popular leisure activity in the country which has hundreds of archery clubs. It is estimated that some half a million people practice the sport there.

"In South Korea, it seems that everyone can shoot an arrow and they have already reached a very high level at age 11 or 12," Chinese archery official Lang Wei said. China has been learning from its neighbor for years but still lags behind because of its limited number of archers.

Lang observed that most of Korea's top archers become coaches at local schools after they retire, allowing young students to benefit from their professional training.