Kim Min-jong, who wrote a new history in Korean judo A great feat of winning a silver medal in the unlimited class

Kim Min-jong kisses the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics Judo Men’s 100kg+ class awards ceremony held at the Arena Champ de Mars in Paris, France on the 2nd (local time).

Kim Min-jong (24) is the first Korean male unlimited weight (over 100kg) judo athlete to win an Olympic silver medal. He lost to French judo star Teddy Riner (35) in a close match in the finals of the Paris Olympics, earning him a silver medal. This is the second silver medal for a Korean judo athlete, following Heo Mi-mi (22) in the women’s 57kg class.

With this silver medal, Kim Min-jong has achieved the best result ever for a Korean male unlimited weight athlete. The previous best result was bronze medals won by Cho Yong-cheol (current president of the Korea Judo Association) in the 1984 Los Angeles (LA) and 1988 Seoul Games.

Kim Min-jong, ranked 1st in the world in this weight class, lost to France’s Riner (ranked 7th in the world) in a back-and-forth match in the final of the Paris Olympics held at the Arena Champ de Mars in Paris, France on the 3rd. The match was close but the momentum changed in an instant. Riner, who won two consecutive gold medals in the 2012 London Games and the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and has won the International Judo Federation (IJF) World Championships 11 times (in individual events), won his third individual gold medal. Riner also served as the torch lighter for the Olympic opening ceremony, along with former French track and field athlete Marie-José Perec (56).

Despite the one-sided cheering of French fans, Kim Min-jong led the match as he wanted. Due to the high interest in Riner, the match was classified as a ‘High Demand Event’, which is unusual for judo. Riner (203cm tall, 140kg) is 20cm taller and 10kg heavier than Kim Min-jong (183cm, 130kg). Kim Min-jong had previously defeated Saito Tatsuru (22, world No. 6), the son of Japanese judo hero Saito Hitoshi, in the semifinals with a shoulder throw.

Kim Min-jong, the second of three sons and one daughter, started judo in the fourth grade of elementary school at his father’s recommendation. His father runs a butcher shop in Majang-dong Livestock Market in Seoul, so he is called the “second son of the Majang-dong butcher shop” in the judo world. Kim Min-jong, who grew up eating plenty of meat since he was young, is on the small side for an unlimited weight class athlete, but he possesses incredible strength, as he can bench press up to 190 kg (per rep) and squat up to 260 kg. He also won first place in the national arm wrestling competition held at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village in 2022, beating athletes from other sports. He is also a rare unlimited weight class athlete who specializes in shoulder throws. He is confident in using his opponent’s strength to throw them, as he has excellent reflexes and elasticity.

Kim Min-jong was eliminated in his first match (round of 16) at the Tokyo Games, which was his first Olympics three years ago. He also shed tears after winning a bronze medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. However, true to his motto, “There is no shortcut to greatness,” Kim Min-jong took each step forward and finally won a valuable silver medal.

Meanwhile, Kim Ha-yoon (24) won a bronze medal in the women’s unlimited weight class (over 78kg) held on the same day. Kim Ha-yoon won the bronze medal match against Turkey’s representative Kaira Oezdemir (36) with a half-legged stance and a half-pressing stance. This is the first medal in this weight class in 24 years since Kim Sun-young (bronze) at the 2000 Sydney Games. With the individual event schedule ending on the 3rd, Korean judo won two silver medals and two bronze medals. 카지노사이트