Olympic silver medalist Huh Mi-mi wants to compete at LA 2028 with sister Mi-o

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Olympic silver medalist Huh Mi-mi wants to compete at LA 2028 with sister Mi-o

Published: 03 Sep. 2024, 15:33 Updated: 03 Sep. 2024, 17:52

Judokas Huh Mi-mi, left, and Huh Mi-o pose with the Korean flag during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at the JoongAng Building in western Seoul on Feb. 15. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Paris Olympic silver medalist judoka Huh Mi-mi has set her sights on winning gold at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics with her younger sister Huh Mi-o.

“Our challenge starts from now,” the elder Huh said during an interview with the JoongAng Ilbo at the JoongAng Building in western Seoul on Monday. “My next objective is to win a gold medal together at the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028."

Huh Mi-mi is a naturalized Korean athlete originally from Japan. She was born in 2001 in Tokyo to a Korean father and a Japanese mother, but all four of her grandparents are originally Korean.

She opted to compete for Korea instead of Japan to honor her grandmother, whose last wish was for Huh to represent Korea at the Olympics. In order to make that wish come true, Huh, who had dual citizenship in Korea and Japan, renounced her Japanese citizenship in December last year.

The judoka is also the great-granddaughter of Korean independence activist Huh Suk, who lived from 1857 to 1920 during the Japanese colonial period that lasted from 1910 through 1945.

At the Paris Olympics, Huh won a bronze medal in the mixed team event and silver in the women’s 57-kilogram category, marking Korea’s first Olympic medal from a female judoka since 2016.

Following the Olympics, she visited the memorial altar of her great-grandfather in Daegu and has attended a handful of events since, including appearing on “You Quiz on the Block,” a TV show hosted by Yoo Jae-suk and Jo Se-ho.

“Before going back to my parents’ home in Japan for vacation, I really want to come back to Sangam-dong in Mapo District, western Seoul,” Huh said. “This is the place where I did my first interview after earning the Taeguk mark. Everything has worked out well since then, and I’ve become an Olympic medalist. This area is filled with a good spirit.”

Huh Mi-mi also attended the Asia Cadet & Junior Judo Championship on Aug. 31, where her sister Huh Mi-o won a silver medal in the women’s 52-kilogram category.

The younger Huh, 19, also naturalized to Korea, but she has yet to represent Korea on the senior stage.

“I will train with Mi-o during vacation in Japan and help her represent Korea as soon as possible,” the elder Huh said. “If she enters the Jincheon National Training Center, we can spend time together every day.”

The Huhs' objective before Los Angeles is to represent Korea at the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.

BY PI JOO-YOUNG [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]