After shooting to newfound internet stardom, Kim Ye-ji insists that ‘nothing has changed much’ since the Olympics

CNN —

One might picture a customized velvet-lined box as a safe and worthy place to store a first Olympic medal, but not Kim Ye-ji. The impossibly cool shooter randomly dug up her silver medal from the bottom of her backpack.

“Oh, here’s the medal,” says Kim. “No wonder my bag was heavy!”

The 32-year-old casually displayed the shining accolade to CNN Sport at her shooting range, nestled amongst endless trees in the mountainside of North Jeolla Province, more than 200 kilometers (about 124 miles) south of the capital of Seoul.

Banners on the streets of Imsil County congratulating Kim on Olympic glory are quiet reminders of the viral fame she gained this summer. Far louder are the photo shoots with luxury brands and numerous appearances on Korean TV.

Earlier this year, the internet fell in love with the South Korean for her stone-cold appearance with a pistol at a World Cup event in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May, and then, more prominently, at the Olympics in Paris, praising her “main character energy” and “the most aura I have ever seen in an image.”

But when she puts down her pistol, her sharp expression turns into a more relaxed demeanor, and she habitually raises her right eyebrow as she speaks, revealing a side not known to the masses.

“Nothing has changed much after the Olympics,” she humbly tells CNN Sport.

Born to be a shooter

Kim’s sporting career began when she raised a hand to an elementary school gym teacher’s simple question: “Who wants to do some shooting?”

At the time, shooting was not a mainstream sport in South Korea, and the country had only won a total of seven medals – two gold, four silver and a bronze – across four Olympics by the time Kim got into the sport in 2005.

“I was so young then, and I