Kim Hyeon-woo (

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 ...

: 김현우, ; born November 6, 1988 in

Wonju Wonju () is the most populous city in Gangwon Province, South Korea. The city is located approximately east of Seoul. Wonju was the site of three crucial battles during the Korean War. Geography Wonju sits at the southwestern corner of Gangw ...

, Gangwon-do) is a male wrestler 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 ...

. 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 ...

, Kim won the gold medal in the 66 kg

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), classic wrestling (Euro English) or French wrestling (in Russia until 1948) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first mod ...

final.

Biography

Kim began to train

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, 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 Nipponi ...

at the age of 9. However he converted his sport into wrestling in 2001. Kim first drew international attention in 2006 when he won the silver medal at the World Junior Wrestling Championships and the gold medal at the Asian Junior Wrestling Championships. Kim became a member of the South Korean senior national team in 2010 when he won the gold medal at the

Asian Wrestling Championships Asian Wrestling Championships is the Wrestling Asian Championship organized by the Asian Associated Wrestling Committee (AAWC). The men's tournament began in 1979 and The women's tournament was first staged in 1996, and it has been held every year. ...

. At the

2011 World Wrestling Championships The 2011 World Wrestling Championships was held at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey. The event took place between September 12 and September 18, 2011. Medal table Team ranking Medal summary Men's freestyle Men's Greco-Roman Wome ...

, Kim won bronze for his first medal at a major competition. In the quarterfinal bout, he beat

2008 Olympic 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 Nati ...

silver medalist

Vitaliy Rahimov Vitaliy Medzhidovich Rahimov (russian: Вита́лий Меджи́дович Раги́мов born 27 August 1984, Meghri, Armenian SSR) is an Azerbaijani athlete. Rahimov moved with his family to Azerbaijan in 1990. He has been trai ...

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 ...

2–0. In December 2011, Kim won the gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman 66 kg at the Pre-London Olympics Test Event. At the

2012 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 ...

, Kim edged out defending Olympic champion Steeve Guenot of

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

2–1 in the semifinals. In the final, Kim beat

Tamás Lőrincz Tamás Lőrincz (born 20 December 1986) is a Hungarian wrestler. He won the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the Greco-Roman 66 kg event and a gold medal in the men's 77 kg event at the 2020 Summer Olympics The , offic ...

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

with 2-0 (1:0, 2:0) to give South Korea its first wrestling gold of the London Games. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Kim was defeated by Roman Vlasov of Russia in the round of 16 in the 75 kg division. He then defeated Yang Bin of

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

during the repechages and

Božo Starčević Božo Starčević (born 11 December 1988 in Zagreb) is a male Greco-Roman wrestler from Croatia. His best achievement is the bronze medal at the 2013 European Wrestling Championships – Men's Greco-Roman 74 kg in Tbilisi, Georgia. Early ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

to win the bronze medal. He was the flag bearer for South Korea during the closing ceremony. He competed in the 77kg event at the

2022 World Wrestling Championships The 2022 World Wrestling Championships was the 17th edition of the World Wrestling Championships of combined events and was held between 10 and 18 September 2022 in Belgrade, Serbia. The UWW Bureau approved the candidature of Belgrade, Serbia ...

held in Belgrade, Serbia.

References

External links

* * *
Hyeonwoo Kim
at

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC television, radio and online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadcasting the sport live or alongside flag ...

(archived)
Kim Hyeonwoo
at

NBC Olympics The broadcasts of ''Summer'' and ''Winter Olympic Games'' produced by ''NBC Sports'' are shown on the various platforms of NBCUniversal in the United States, including the NBC broadcast network, NBC Sports app, NBCOlympics.com, Peacock, Spanish l ...

(archived) * 1988 births Living people Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic wrestlers for South Korea Olympic medalists in wrestling Wrestlers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Wrestlers at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Wrestlers at the 2018 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games medalists in wrestling World Wrestling Championships medalists South Korean male sport wrestlers Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea South Korean Buddhists People from Wonju Sportspeople from Gangwon Province, South Korea 21st-century South Korean people {{SouthKorea-wrestling-bio-stub