Zhang brushed aside all three South Koreans in her way to the Olympic victory. The two-time Olympian Zhang staged a tit-for-tat battle against the reigning champion and No. 1 seed Park Sung-hyun's in her effort to defend her title with a 110-109 win in the final.

In the semifinal, Zhang defeated world record holder Yun Ok-hee 115-109. The mark of 115 was also an Olympic record tying result.

South Korea had never allowed the women's individual gold away from them since the 1984 Los Angeles Games before Zhang's victory over Park.

All three Koreans took over the top three positions in the ranking round and Zhang only managed for a lowly 29th place.

In the bronze medal match, Yun Ok-hee beat DPR Korean Kwon Un-sil 109-106.

The victory for Zhang was China's first Olympic gold medal in archery and also the first for non-South Korea since the Los Angeles Games.

In the team's competition here, South Korea notched up both the men's and women's titles.