Jun Woong-tae (, born 1 August 1995) is a South Korean

modern pentathlete The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

Sports career

The athlete from

Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...

was the first Korean player to win a ticket to the

2020 Tokyo Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

after a series of victories, including winning the UIPM World Cup in 2018, winning a gold medal at the Asian Games in Jakarta and Palembang in the same year, and a bronze medal in the individual event at the World Championships in 2019. Woongtae also competed at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Rio de Janeiro Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...

, in the men's event, achieving 19th place. Woongtae started out as a swimmer, before being encouraged by one of his teachers at the Seoul Sports Middle School to pursue

modern pentathlon The modern pentathlon is an Olympic sport consisting of fencing (one-touch épée), freestyle swimming, equestrian show jumping, pistol shooting, and cross country running. The event is inspired by the traditional pentathlon held during the anci ...

. He trained and mastered the five disciplines of the sport with the support of his school, the Gwangju City Hall and th
Korean Modern Pentathlon Federation
as well as the unequivocal support from his parents. As of July 21, 2021, Woongtae Jun is 4th in the UIPM Senior Global World Championships Ranking and 1st in the UIPM Senior World Cup Ranking, making him one of the sports' most promising medal prospects for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games When reflecting on his performance during the 2016 Rio Olympics, Woongtae candidly spoke of his inexperience at the time and spoke of his commitment to train harder and prepare more, with hopes of being selected to represent South Korea and win a medal at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. "I will definitely win a medal at the Tokyo Olympics next year and make the modern pentathlon into the most important event in Korea." At the 2020 Summer Olympics held in August 2021, Jun won the bronze medal in men's individual modern pentathlon, behind winner

Joe Choong Joseph Choong (born 23 May 1995) is a British Modern pentathlon, modern pentathlete. He won the gold medal in the event at the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 World Modern Pentathlon Championships, World title in 2022. Early life Choong was b ...

and silver medalist

Ahmed El-Gendy Ahmed El-Gendy (born 1 March 2000) is an Egyptian modern pentathlete. He won the silver medal in the men's event at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He also competed in the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics and won gold for Egypt. He is the first athlete fro ...

. His bronze medal was the first Olympic medal from a competitor from South Korea in this sport.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Jun, Woong-tae 1995 births Living people South Korean male modern pentathletes Olympic modern pentathletes for South Korea Modern pentathletes at the 2016 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in modern pentathlon Modern pentathletes at the 2018 Asian Games Modern pentathletes at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games World Modern Pentathlon Championships medalists Modern pentathletes at the 2020 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Seoul Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in modern pentathlon Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea 21st-century South Korean people