'Lightning Man' Lee Joon-hwan won his first medal in men's judo, a valuable bronze medal!
Jul 31, 2024
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Lee Joon-hwan overpowered Belgium's Mathias Kasser in the men's 81-kg bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Chandmars Stadium in Paris, France on the 30th (Korea time). Lee Joon-hwan, who won the bronze medal, won his first men's judo medal in this competition. In Korean judo, Hur Mi-mi won a silver medal in the women's 57kg class the day before.
Lee Joon-hwan overwhelmed Kasser with an aggressive attack as if he was relieved of his disappointment in the semifinals. He continued his attacks in succession. The two players continued their game with extra time while receiving guidance one by one. Lee Joon-hwan won the bronze medal, winning half the gold medal.
Lee Joon-hwan made his way to the medal. Lee Joon-hwan, who advanced to the round of 16 by winning half of the match against Accraf Muti (Morocco) in the round of 32, confirmed his advance to the quarterfinals with a single victory by quickly inserting his opponent into the meth at the Golden Score. In the quarterfinals, he beat Sharopidine Voltavoyev of Uzbekistan, ranked 12th in the world, with his shoulder.
The semifinals were in crisis. 'An old enemy' met Tato Grigalashvili (Georgia). Gri-Galashvili was Lee Jun-hwan's natural enemy. Lee Joon-hwan lost to Grigalashvili in both the semifinals of this year's and last year's world championships, and only won the bronze medal for the second consecutive year. Grigalashvili won the World Championship for three consecutive years from the year before last year to this year, and was also named the strongest gold medalist candidate in this competition. Lee Joon-hwan also changed his style ahead of this tournament to catch Gri-Galashvili.
Lee Jun-hwan, a natural enemy who met in the semifinals, continued to push Gri-Galashvili. Exhausted, Grigalashvili was in a hurry to defend himself. In the end, the game continued with the Golden Score. Lee Joon-hwan's attack continued. Grigalashvili received the map twice. However, he lost his concentration at the last minute. Grigalashvili did not miss it and connected it to the attack. It was a disappointing defeat.
Lee Jun-hwan was one of the dark horses in this tournament. He appeared like a comet in the international judo community in June last year. He beat Grigalashvili in the final of the International Judo Federation (IJF) Tbilisi Grand Slam, his first senior international competition, and won the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam more than 20 days later by defeating the gold and bronze medalists at the Tokyo Olympics. IJF added the modifier 'Lightning Man' to Lee Joon-hwan's play, which does not miss the opponent's gaps and actively penetrates them. IFJ praised 'Very fast enough to win a round even before the introduction of the player is over.
Lee Joon-hwan, who received attention for winning the world championship and the Asian championship, predicted a bright future by winning a bronze medal in his first Olympics.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
