Hangul
The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, . Hangul may also be written as following South Korea's standard Romanization. ( ) in South Korea and Chosŏn'gŭl in North Korea, is the modern official writing system for the Korean language. The let ...
: 왕기춘, ; born September 13, 1988 in
Jeongeup
Jeongeup (), also known as Jeongeup-si, is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. The city limits include Naejang-san National Park, a popular destination particularly in autumn due to its foliage. Jeongeup is on the Honam Expressway and ...
,
Jeollabuk-do
North Jeolla Province (; ''Jeollabuk-do''), also known as Jeonbuk, is a province of South Korea. North Jeolla has a population of 1,869,711 (2015) and has a geographic area of 8,067 km2 (3,115 sq mi) located in the Honam region in the southwest ...
) is a former
judoka
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo"). ...
from
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 ...
.
He became known for beating the 2004 Olympic champion Lee Won-Hee in the qualification matches for the 2007 World Championships and the
2008 Olympic Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
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 ...
,
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
.
He was the favorite for winning the gold medal in the
2008 Olympic Games
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...
, however, Wang suffered
ribcage
The rib cage, as an enclosure that comprises the ribs, vertebral column and sternum in the thorax of most vertebrates, protects vital organs such as the heart, lungs and great vessels.
The sternum, together known as the thoracic cage, is a semi- ...
fracture when
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
's
Leandro Guilheiro
Leandro Marques Guilheiro (born August 7, 1983) is a Brazilian male judoka. He won the bronze medal in the lightweight (<73 kg) division at the
hit him with an elbow in the quarterfinal. Despite fighting through injury, Wang was beaten in the final by
Elnur Mammadli
Elnur Mammadli ( az, Elnur Məmmədli, born 29 June 1988, Baku, Azerbaijan) is an Azerbaijani judoka.
He won the gold medal during the 2008 Beijing Olympics in the 73 kg division. In the final he beat the favorite Wang Ki-Chun. Wang had ...
from
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
and had to settle for silver medal. He made up for it in the
2009 World Judo Championships
The 2009 World Judo Championships was held in the Ahoy indoor sporting arena in Rotterdam, the Netherlands on 26 to 30 August.
Women's heavyweight champion Tong Wen was stripped of her gold medal because of a doping offence, but was later reins ...
by winning the 73 kg final against
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
n Kim Chol-Su.
After winning the Grand Slam in Paris 2010 he did not compete until the 2010 World Championships Tokyo and lost to
Hiroyuki Akimoto
is a Japanese judoka . After moving up from the –66 kg division to the –73 kg division, he won the gold medal in the lightweight (73 kg) division at the 2010 World Judo Championships.
He married volleyball player Ai Ōtomo
...
in the semi-finals and had to settle with the bronze.
He did not medal at the 2011 World Championships in Paris, crashing out early to
Ugo Legrand
Ugo Legrand (born 22 January 1989, Mont-Saint-Aignan) is a judoka from France. In 2012, he won bronze at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the -73 kg class. He won his first match against Tomasz Adamiec, and his second against Hussein Hafiz. Afte ...
of France. He faced him again in the
2012 Summer Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
in the fight for bronze, losing again.
In his prime, Wang was known for his physical fighting style, and his deadly tai otoshi and
seoi nage
is a shoulder throw, one of the traditional forty throws of Judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the first group, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Thro ...
.
Disciplinary issues
In 2009, Wang assaulted a female club patron, slapping her face after an altercation. No charges were pressed after he reached a settlement with the victim.
Wang was in controversy again in 2014, when he was detained for eight days by the
Republic of Korea Army
The Republic of Korea Army (ROKA; ko, 대한민국 육군; Hanja: 大韓民國 陸軍; RR: ''Daehanminguk Yuk-gun''), also known as the ROK Army or South Korean Army, is the army of South Korea, responsible for ground-based warfare. It is the l ...
's military police for using his mobile phone while serving his national service. He was caught using his phone again a week later, and was sent to the military correctional facility.
On May 2, 2020, Wang was arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a minor. The Daegu District Court sentenced him to 6 years in prison. The Korea Judo Association subsequently banned Wang for life from judo following the charges for greatly damaging the integrity and social standing of judo.