Korean judo world champion Huh Mi-mi joins veterans for first Olympics

Olympic Sports

Published: 26 Jul. 2024, 10:00

Korean judo world champion Huh Mi-mi joins veterans for first Olympics

Korea's Huh Mi-mi, right, and Mongolia's Batsuuri Nyam-Erdene compete in a mixed team bronze medal match at the Hangzhou Asian Games in Hangzhou, China on Sept. 27, 2023. [AFP/YONHAP]

Eleven judokas, five men and six women, will represent Korea in judo at the Paris Olympics — including a 2024 world champion.

Kim Won-jin, An Ba-ul, Lee Joon-hwan, Han Ju-yeop and Kim Min-jong will compete across the men’s competition while Yoon Hyun-ji, Lee Hye-kyeong, Jung Ye-rin, Kim Ji-su, Kim Ha-yun and Huh Mi-mi will compete among the women.

It’ll be a mix of veterans and first-time Olympians, which includes Huh, the reigning world champion in the women's -57-kilogram division.

An, a two-time Olympic medalist, winning silver in the men’s -66-kilogram division at the 2016 Rio Olympics and bronze in the same event in Tokyo, will be back for a third straight shot at gold.

An Ba-ul faces Ryoma Tanaka of Japan in the men's 66-kilogram judo semifinal match at the Hangzhou Asian Games at the Xiaoshan Linfu Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on Sept. 24, 2023. [YONHAP]

Paris will also be a third Games for Kim Won-jin, 32, competing in the men’s -60-kilogram class and yet to medal at the Olympics. Kim Min-jong, also a member of the Tokyo squad, will return in the men’s +100-kilogram division, where he last reached the round of 16.

Lee Joon-hwan will compete in the men’s -81-kilogram division and Han in the men’s -90-kilogram division as first-time Olympians.

Kim Ji-su will compete in the women’s -63-kilogram division, a different weight class than the one she entered in Tokyo, last reaching the round of 16 in the women’s -57-kilogram class.

Yoon placed the highest among the Korean women in Tokyo, reaching a bronze-medal match in the women’s -78-kilogram division. She’ll return in the same division in Paris.

The rest of the women are all first-time Olympians. Lee Hye-kyeong will compete in the women’s -40-kilogram division, Jung in the -52-kilogram divison, Huh in the -57-kilogram division and Kim Ha-yun in the +78-kilogram division.

Judo events run in a single-elimination format, starting from a round of 64 for both the men and women.

The men’s and women’s competition will be split into seven weight classes.

Each member of the Korean judo squad is also set to compete in a mixed team contest. There are six weight classes in the mixed event.

Korea has 46 total medals in judo at the Olympics, including 11 gold. Judo runs from July 27 to Aug.3 at the Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris.

BY MARY YANG, KEVIN CHUNG [mary.yang@joongang.co.kr]