Shim Min-ji (also ''Sim Min-ji'', ko, 심 민지; born April 25, 1983) is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in freestyle and backstroke events. She is a two-time Olympian (2000 and 2004) and a three-time relay medalist at 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 ...

(2002). Shim made her Olympic debut, as a 17-year-old teen, at the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, where she competed in the women's 100 m backstroke. Swimming in heat three, Shim finished second behind Zimbabwe's

Kirsty Coventry Kirsty Leigh Coventry Seward (born 16 September 1983) is a Zimbabwean swimmer and politician currently serving as the Minister of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation in the Cabinet of Zimbabwe since September 2018. A former Olympic swimmer and wo ...

in 1:03.20, but missed the semifinals by 0.15 of a second, as she shared a nineteenth-place tie with Australia's

Giaan Rooney Giaan Leigh Rooney, OAM (born 15 November 1982) is an Australian former competitive swimmer and television personality. As a member of the Australian team in women's 4×100-metre medley relay, she won an Olympic gold medal and broke a world ...

in the preliminaries. She also placed seventeenth, as a member of the South Korean team, in the 4 × 100 m medley relay (4:16.93). When her nation hosted the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, Shim won a total of three bronze medals: 4 × 100 m freestyle (3:44.81), 4 × 200 m freestyle (8:19.62), and 4 × 100 m medley relay (4:13.41). She also attempted for her fourth straight medal in the

100 m backstroke 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, but missed the podium by a 0.48-second margin behind Japan's

Aya Terakawa (born November 12, 1984) is a retired Japanese backstroke swimmer; she announced her retirement from competitions in early December 2013. She is married to former swimmer Daisuke Hosokawa. Major achievements * 2001 World Aquatics Championships ...

. At the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, Shim competed again in two swimming events. She cleared a FINA B-standard entry time of 1:02.87 (100 m backstroke) from 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, ...

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

. She also teamed up with Ryu Yoon-Ji, Sun So-Eun, and

Kim Hyun-Joo Kim Hyun-joo ( ko, 김현주; born 24 April 1977) is a South Korean actress. She is best known for her leading roles in television dramas ''Glass Slippers'' (2002), ''Toji, the Land'' (2004), '' Twinkle Twinkle'' (2011), ''What Happens to My Fa ...

in the 4 × 100 m freestyle relay. Swimming the third leg, Shim recorded a split of 56.91, but the South Koreans missed the final by two seconds outside the top 8, in a time of 3:44.84. In the

, Shim challenged seven other swimmers on the fourth heat, including top medal favorites

Laure Manaudou Laure Manaudou (; born 9 October 1986) is a retired French Olympic, world and European champion swimmer. She has held the world record in freestyle events between 200 and 1500 meter. She is the daughter of a French father and a Dutch mother, and s ...

of France and

Reiko Nakamura is a Japanese Olympic and Asian record-holding swimmer. She swam in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games, winning the bronze medals in the 200m backstroke at both editions. In doing so, she became the first Japanese woman in 72 years to win medals at ...

of Japan. She rounded out the field to last place by 0.67 of a second behind Canada's

Erin Gammel Erin Gammel (born March 13, 1980) is a competition swimmer from Canada, who competed for her native country at the 2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the ...

in 1:03.14. Shim failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed twenty-fourth overall in the preliminaries.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shim, Min-Ji 1983 births Living people South Korean female backstroke swimmers Olympic swimmers of South Korea Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in swimming South Korean female freestyle swimmers Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Swimmers at the 1998 Asian Games