Olympian Ren Hayakawa: Profile of a naturalized citizen

早川漣 {HAYAKAWA Ren} (하야카와 렌) was born 嚴惠漣 {EOMHYER Yeon} (엄혜련) in the Republic of Korea and was raised in 全州 {Jeonju} city, in the middle of South Korea. She took the bronze in Olympic Archery in the 2012 London games on July 29th along with medalists 川中香緒里 {KAWANAKA Kaori} and 蟹江美貴 {KANIE Miki}.

She got her Japanese first name by using the 漢字 {hanja} (Korean sinograms) from her Korean first name, then simplifying the 繁体字 {hantaiji} (traditional sinogram form) to the 新字体 {shinjitai} (Japanese new sinogram form), and finally choosing a Japanese reading for it. Her Japanese family name was chosen to be the same as her mother, who was a resident of Japan years before when she was married to a Japanese. Ren moved to Japan in 2007. She naturalized in 2009, at the age of 22. Her older sister, 早川浪 {HAYAKAWA Nami} née 嚴恵浪 {EOMHYER Ang} (엄혜랑), was an Olympian for Japan in the 2008 Beijing Games, and she as well naturalized to Japanese citizenship.

Her parents divorced when she was young. Her mother returned to Japan but Ren stayed in South Korea to be raised by her father. Like her older sister (by three years), both displayed a talent for archery from an early age, beginning in the third grade of elementary school. She would practice until late at night, sometimes nodding off while in the middle of shooting arrows! Her older sister moved to Japan in 2004, took Japanese citizenship in 2006, and participated in the summer Olympics in 2008, taking 8th in group competitions, and 6th in individual competitions, at the Beijing Games. Nami currently works at the Akihabara branch of Shibuya Archery in Tokyo. Like her younger sister, she derived her given name from the 漢字 {hanja} (Korean sinograms) of her birth name.

Shortly after coming to Japan in 2007, Ren resumed her archery training by attending the Nippon Sport Science University (日本体育大学) in Setagaya, Tokyo. NSSU (aka "Nittai") has produced more Japanese Olympic gold medalists than any other university in Japan (they even brag about this fact on their website). After graduating from Nittai in 2011, she moved to Nagasaki Prefecture to work as a sports adviser at Sasebo commercial High School. That same year in July she competed in the World Championships Torino, which qualified her for the 2012 Olympics. She hoped that her performance would be a thanks to both her parents, which bridged two countries while raising her to be an Olympian.

I can't include any videos of her performing for fear of running afoul of strictly enforced copyrights, so instead, here's a performance group from her alma mater, Nittai, showing off their abilties for the public:

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