Zhang Juanjuan of China and her coach Tian Yuling celebrate after winning the women's individual archery gold yesterday. Reuters

    China's Zhang Juanjuan snapped a 24-year women's archery winning streak by Republic of Korea archers.

    The ROK has won gold in every women's archery event since the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.

    Yesterday, Zhang beat Athens gold medalist Park Sung-hyun 110-109.

    Zhang pushed past three ROK archers on her way to Olympic victory and staged a tit-for-tat battle against reigning champion and top seed Park.

    "This medal was won step-by-step," Zhang told the Sports Network after the event. "I prepared for a war. Psychologically I made enough preparation to fight against Park."

    Zhang, who was seeded 27th after the qualifying round, became the first Chinese to win gold in the event since 1980.

    "The entire Chinese archery world heaved a sigh of relief," Zhang said. "Today I played perfectly. I was at my best.

    "I've dreamed about this a thousand times - to see those silver medals in my bedroom turn into gold," Zhang added. "Fans have been waiting for it for quite a long time, I am happy that I didn't let them down again."

    That is not to say that the competition was a gimme.

    "Today's competition was very hard. I had to face three South Koreans. All the best in the world," said Zhang. "But I was ready to challenge them, each of them. The gold is just a reward and encouragement for Chinese involved in the sport of archery. The honour is not just for me but for all those related to the sport. Many years' efforts from out team resulted in the gold medal."

    Zhang, winner of the World Cup final in 2006, defeated all three members of the ROK gold-medal-winning team in the final three rounds.

    She beat Joo Hyun-jung, the No 3 seed, 106-101 in the quarterfinals and then second-seeded Yun Ok-hee 115-109 in the semifinals, tying the Olympic record score Park had set just hours earlier.

    China has played second fiddle to South Korea since archery was introduced as an Olympic sport at Munich in 1972. South Korea's women's team has won the last six Olympic gold medals and their men's team is on a three-gold streak.

    Park said she was disappointed for failing to extend South Korea's streak.

    "I'm very sad because in a way I may have broken the tradition set by the archers who went before me," she told a news conference. "However, by winning the silver I think it will ... make me appreciate the gold more in the future."

    Khatuna Lorig of the US finished fifth while Hayakawa Nami of Japan took sixth place.

    During the ranking stages, the three top spots went to ROK.