the 72 arrow men's individual ranking round, with a score of 687 (it was not recognized by the International Olympic Committee as an Olympic record, however, as the ranking round took place on 12 August, before the 2004 opening ceremony). He then won his first three elimination matches, advancing to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, Im faced Hiroshi Yamamoto of Japan, losing to the eventual silver medalist 111–110 in the 12-arrow match. Im was placed 6th overall.
2008 Summer Olympics
At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing Im finished his ranking round with a total of 670 points, nine points behind leader Juan René Serrano. This made him the eighth seed for the final competition bracket in which he faced Ali Salem in the first round, beating the Qatari 108–103. In the second round Im was too strong for Butch Johnson (115–106), but in the third round another American, Vic Wunderle, eliminated him with 113–111.
Together with Lee Chang-hwan and Park Kyung-Mo he also took part in the team event. With his 670 score from the ranking round combined with the 676 of Park and the 669 of Lee the Koreans were in first position after the ranking round, which gave them a straight seeding into the quarter finals. With a score of 224–222 they were too strong for the Polish team and in the semi final they beat home nation China 221–218. In the final Italy came close, but South Korea took the title with 227–225.