Korea Judo won another medal. Kim Ha-yoon (24, Ansan City Hall) won a valuable bronze medal. After confirming the bronze medal, he smiled brightly, pointing to the national flag engraved on his chest.
Kim Ha-yoon beat Kyra Ozdemir (Turkiye) in the women's 78kg or higher bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Chandemars Stadium in Paris, France on the 3rd (Korea time). As a result, Korean women's judo has won the most weighty medal in judo in 24 years since Kim Sun-young (bronze medal) at the 2000 Sydney Games. Kim Ha-yoon washed away tears of frustration at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Kim Ha-yoon was declared a one-off victory in the quarterfinals, but lost in half due to the reversal of the decision. At that time, Kim Ha-yoon fell on the mat side by side while fighting against Beatrice Gizo (Brazil) in the 7th second of the extra time (Golden Score). The original trial was a match for Kim Ha-yoon. However, about a minute later, the referee canceled the original trial and reversed it to a half-win for Giso. Kim Ha-yoon lost in the quarterfinals and was eliminated from the consolation match. I clenched my teeth. She defeated Larissa Seric of Bosnia to advance to the bronze medal match.
사진=Yonhap News
사진=Yonhap News
Kim Ha-yoon was pushed to the edge of the cliff by receiving one early guidance in the bronze medal match. However, he won the half with 44 seconds left before the end of the game. About 10 seconds later, he filled the other half with a side press to confirm the bronze medal.
Kim Ha-yoon, who was born in 2000, kept her pride in Korean judo by winning the gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year. It prevented the first Asian Games 'No Gold' disaster in Korean Judo history. Coincidentally, Kim Ha-yoon's injured left knee before the national team was called up worsened in the process of playing the Asian Games. It was so serious that rehabilitation exercise and injection treatment had to be combined and even surgery had to be considered. It was less than a year before the Olympics. Kim Ha-yoon postponed her surgery and focused on the Olympic race.
Kim Ha-yoon, who won three international competitions and came in third place twice last year, never won the podium in four competitions before the World Championships in May this year. However, he also ranked third at the 2024 World Championships, raising expectations for the Olympics. This is due to the fact that he devoted his energy to training even though he couldn't afford to do night training.
