Korean judo team eyeing four judo gold medals at Asian Games

Korea will try to return to prominence in judo and bring home at least four gold medals from the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, national team coaches announced Wednesday.

Korea is targeting at least two gold medals each from the women's and men's events, said head coach Jung Sung-sook.

Jung singled out Huh Mimi in the women's under 57-kilograms and Lee Hyeon-ji in the women's over-78 kilograms as the gold medal favorites on the women's side.

“On top of those two athletes, we have others who are capable of claiming gold medals,” Jung said during the national team media day at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon County, North Chungcheong. 

Hwang Hee-tae, who coaches the men's team, said Lee Joon-hwan in the 81 kilogram and Kim Min-jong in the over-100 kilogram categories should also be able to reach the top of the podium.

At the previous Asian Games in 2023, Lee won silver and Kim took bronze.

Korea managed just one judo gold medal then, its lowest total ever at an Asian Games, and finished behind upstarts Uzbekistan, with three gold medals, and Chinese Taipei with two. Japan led the way with five gold medals.

Hwang vowed things will be different this time for Korea.

“Many of our athletes were competing at their first Asian Games back then. They have since built a ton of experience and developed into world-class athletes,” Hwang said. “I am confident we will post great results at this year's Asian Games.”

Hwang also thanked the Korea Institute of Sport Science for providing the team with a new video analysis system, saying it helped the athletes study their potential Asian Games opponents thoroughly.

“We have received help from so many different people, and we want to reward them with strong performances,” the coach added.

Jung noted that Japan and some other nations will not send their best judokas to the Asian Games because of a scheduling conflict with the world championships in Azerbaijan. The Asian Games judo competition runs from Sept. 30 to Oct. 3, while the worlds will go from Oct. 4 to 11.

“With Japan, there is not much separation between their top-level athletes and the next tier of judokas, but still, this is a favorable situation for us,” Jung said.

The athletes themselves said they will do whatever it takes to return home as gold medalists.

“I am more driven and motivated than ever,” said Lee Joon-hwan, who, in addition to his 2023 Asian Games silver, won bronze at the 2024 Olympics. “I don't think I could win gold without that kind of determination.”

Kim Min-jong, who won the 2024 Olympic silver after grabbing the 2023 Asian Games bronze, said a minor injury he had picked up in June is now behind him.

“I have trained as hard as anyone for this competition,” Kim said. “I want to do well in Nagoya and also win gold at the Los Angeles Olympics two years later.”

Lee Hyeon-ji, who earned a trip to her first Asian Games by knocking off reigning gold medalist Kim Ha-yun in the national team trials, also said she hopes her hard work will pay off.

“Ha-yun and I have become rivals in the same weight class, and she has been really helpful,” Lee added.

The Korean team features two judokas born in Japan — Huh in the women's under-57 kilograms and Kim Ji-su in the women's under-63 kilograms categories.

“I feel a little more pressure because the competition will be in Japan,” said Huh, born to a Korean father and a Japanese mother. “But I will try to regard it as just another event.”

Kim, whose Korean father was also a judoka, added: “I am really looking forward to competing in the country where I was born. I can't wait to get going.”

Yonhap