Judo's Kim Min-jong Secures Olympic Silver Medal... New History for Korea's Heaviest Weight Class [Paris Olympics]

Kim Min-jong (23, Yangpyeong County Office), South Korea's top heavyweight judoka, secured a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On the 2nd (local time), Kim Min-jong defeated Saito Tatsuru (Japan) in the men's over 100kg semifinal at the judo competition held at the Champ de Mars arena in Paris, France.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

With this, Kim Min-jong achieved the remarkable feat of winning a silver medal in his first Olympic appearance.

This is the first time South Korea has secured a silver medal in the heavyweight division since judo was adopted as an official Olympic sport in 1964.

Previous Olympic heavyweight medals were only bronze, won by Cho Yong-chul at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games, and Kim Sun-young at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Ranked number one in the world and number one in the Olympic rankings, Kim Min-jong had been considered a strong candidate to bring a gold medal to South Korean judo at this tournament.

In May, Kim Min-jong won the gold medal at the World Championships, becoming the first South Korean male heavyweight judoka in 39 years to do so.