"Lost but Fought Well"... Kim Minjong Wins Silver in Judo Heavyweight Category (Summary) [Paris Olympics]

Defeated by French Veteran Riner

Kim Min-jong (23, Yangpyeong County Office), the flagship heavyweight judoka of South Korea, concluded the tournament by winning the silver medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

On the 2nd (local time), Kim Min-jong lost by ippon with a hip throw to 'French judo hero' Teddy Riner (35) in the men's over 100kg final held at the Champ de Mars arena in Paris, France.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Although he narrowly missed the gold medal, he set a record as the first South Korean heavyweight judoka to win a silver medal.

Until now, Olympic heavyweight medals for South Korea were limited to bronze medals: Jo Yong-chul in the men's division at the 1984 Los Angeles and 1988 Seoul Games, and Kim Sun-young in the women's division at the 2000 Sydney Games.

Teddy Riner, who secured victory against Kim Min-jong, is regarded as the greatest heavyweight judoka of all time, having won a record 11 World Championship titles. This individual gold medal is his third Olympic gold, following the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Standing at 184 cm, Kim Min-jong fought valiantly against the much taller Riner (203 cm) but could not break Riner's dominance.

Kim Min-jong remained scoreless in the early stages of the match and was given a shido penalty alongside Riner at 3 minutes and 29 seconds into the match.

Fifteen seconds later, Riner grabbed Kim Min-jong's right shoulder and suddenly swept his right leg, lifting Kim into the air and slamming him onto the mat.

Korean judo concluded the individual events at this tournament with two silver medals (Kim Min-jong in men's over 100kg and Heo Mi-mi in women's 57kg) and two bronze medals (Lee Jun-hwan in men's 81kg and Kim Ha-yoon in women's over 78kg).