Kim Jun-ho (born 26 May 1994) is a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n right-handed

sabre A sabre ( French: �sabʁ or saber in American English) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the early modern and Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such as th ...

fencer, three-time team Asian champion, three-time team world champion, and 2021 team

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...

champion.

Early life

Kim had been a football player throughout elementary school and was introduced to fencing in middle school. He enrolled at

Dong-Eui University Dong-Eui University is one of the leading private universities in Busan, a metropolitan city on the southeastern coast of South Korea. The university has 10 colleges, 116 master and doctoral courses in six graduate schools, with 22,992 students a ...

as it was one of the few universities which had a fencing team.

Career

Kim made the senior national team for the 2014–15 season. He took silver in the 2016 Warsaw competition of the 2015–16 Fencing World Cup, narrowly losing to compatriot

Gu Bon-gil Gu Bon-gil ( or ; born 27 April 1989) is a South Korean right-handed sabre fencer. Gu is an eight-time team Asian champion, seven-time individual Asian champion, and three-time team world champion. A three-time Olympian, Gu is a two-time te ...

, and was also part of the team — along with Gu, Kim Jung-hwan and

Oh Sang-uk Oh Sang-uk (born 30 September 1996) is a South Korean right-handed sabre fencer. Oh is a four-time team Asian champion, 2019 individual Asian champion, three-time team world champion, and 2019 individual world champion. Competing at his firs ...

— which won gold in the men's team sabre at the

2016 Asian Fencing Championships The 2016 Asian Fencing Championships were held in Wuxi, China from 13 to 18 April 2016 at the Wuxi Sports Center. Medal summary Men Women Medal table References Asian Fencing Federation {{Asian Fencing Championships Asian Championship ...

. However, there was no men's team sabre 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 ...

due to the now-abolished rotation policy and he and Oh were not ranked high enough to qualify for the individual event. Unusual for professional athletes, Kim decided to

enlist Military service is service by an individual or group in an army or other militia, air forces, and naval forces, whether as a chosen job (volunteer) or as a result of an involuntary draft (conscription). Some nations (e.g., Mexico) require a ...

early rather than apply for a postponement and was assigned to the

Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps Korea Armed Forces Athletic Corps (), commonly known as the Sangmu (), is the sports division of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces. Its headquarters are located in Mungyeong, Gyeongsangbuk-do. It was founded in 1984 by the integration of the ath ...

. While a member of the Corps, he led the men's sabre team to win the President's National Fencing Championships, the main domestic fencing competition, beating

Korea National Sport University Korea National Sport University (KNSU) is a South Korean national university located in the neighborhood of Bangi-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. It is the only national sport university of South Korea and offers degrees from undergraduate to doctoral lev ...

. In 2018 Kim was part of the team which swept gold in the team sabre event at both the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

and the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation (AGF) from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until t ...

. He was scheduled to be discharged in October but was granted an early discharge; participating athletes who won gold and had yet to complete their military service were granted exemptions but since Kim had already enlisted, he was discharged earlier than scheduled. With the retirement of Kim Jung-hwan, Ha Han-sol joined the team and they won gold in the men's team sabre event at the

2019 World Fencing Championships The 2019 World Fencing Championships was held from 15 to 23 July 2019 in Budapest, Hungary. Schedule Twelve events were held. ''All times are local (UTC+2).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's events References External l ...

. In the individual event, he made it to the Round of 32 where he was defeated by András Szatmári. He also won bronze at the Cairo Grand Prix, having been defeated by Oh in the quarter-final. Kim was reunited with his teammates from the 2018 Asian Games and World Championships after Kim Jung-hwan came out of retirement and they qualified for the

2020 Summer 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 ...

. He was the designated substitute for the team and did not compete in the individual event as Kim Jung-hwan's higher individual FIE ranking meant that the latter entered the individual event instead. Despite the postponement of the Olympics, the quartet successfully defended the men's team sabre gold medal. Kim was part of the team which won gold at both the 2022 Asian Championships and

. He had a disappointing run in the individual events, having been knocked before the quarterfinal stages in both competitions as well as the Grand Prix competitions.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Asian Games

Asian Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

Personal life

In 2018, Kim married his girlfriend Yoo Jung-hyeon. He appeared on '' The Return of Superman'' with their son Eun-woo (born October 2021). In a November 2022 episode of ''The Return of Superman'', the couple announced that they were expecting their second child. Recently they had their second child who was a healthy boy named Jeong-woo (born May 2023). In August 2021, Kim signed with Haewadal Entertainment.

Filmography

Television series

Television shows

Honours

Other

* 2022 KBS Entertainment Awards (2022) – Popularity Award ('' The Return of Superman'')

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Jun-ho 1994 births Living people South Korean male sabre fencers Fencers at the 2018 Asian Games Fencers at the 2022 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2022 Asian Games World Fencing Championships medalists Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for South Korea Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in fencing Olympic gold medalists for South Korea FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea Universiade medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Dong-Eui University alumni People from Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Sportspeople from Gyeonggi Province 21st-century South Korean people