Im's bang on target despite blindness

But, incredibly, Olympic champion archer Im Dong-Hyun, who looks set to clinch the Archery World Cup Final title in Princes Street Gardens this weekend, is legally blind.

The 24-year-old, already a superstar in his native South Korea, is among the world's most remarkable athletes.

Despite struggling to even see a book, Im is already set to have his name carved into sports history. He won Olympic team gold in Athens 2004 at the age of just 18, repeated his success in Beijing in 2008, and now hopes to make history and clinch the individual gold at the London Olympics in 2012.

Despite his eyesight being perceived as a disadvantage, Im said it has little effect on his playing ability.

He said: "I have problems reading characters and in normal life I do have problems with my sight but in contests it is not a problem.

"Most archers can't see the boundaries between the circles anyway, so I just concentrate on the colours.

"When I look at the target, it looks as if different colour paints have been dropped in water. The boundaries are not that clear and the lines between the colours are very blurred."

Im added that unlike most major archery tournaments, where events are held outside the host city, he was delighted to have crowds passing by.

He said: "I'm really enjoying the atmosphere of Edinburgh. Most contests that we compete in are in places right outside the city, so to be able to compete in a city centre is great."

Eunhye Kim, from Seoul, was among the spectators at Princes Street Gardens as competitors warmed up yesterday.

The 21-year-old was visiting the Capital when she heard her national team was in town and changed her plans to cheer them on.

She said: "In South Korea they are really famous. I recognised Im from television. I have lots of work today but when I saw the team were here I came to watch.

"I feel really proud that they're so successful."