Past exam of the options I course of the University of Oxford / 2012 / E / E1 / d / Solution

For fixed $x\in X$, the function $a\mapsto d(x,a)$ on $A$ is continuous, indeed $1$-Lipschitz continuous by the reverse triangle inequality. A continuous real-valued function on a nonempty compact space attains its minimum by the extreme value theorem. Hence some $a_0\in A$ satisfiesThe metric is symmetric, so this is also $d(a_0,x)$. Compactness supplies attainment of the infimum.