Kim Jae-bum (김재범) (; born January 25, 1985 in

Gimcheon Gimcheon (; , trans., 'gold spring city') is a city in North Gyeongsang Province, South Korea. It is situated on the major land transportation routes between Seoul and Busan, namely the Gyeongbu Expressway and Gyeongbu Line railway. In ancient ...

Gyeongsangbuk-do North Gyeongsang Province ( ko, 경상북도, translit=Gyeongsangbuk-do, ) is a province in eastern South Korea. The province was formed in 1896 from the northern half of the former Gyeongsang province, and remained a province of Korea until the ...

) is a retired

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

judo 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"). ...

ka. Despite being plagued with injuries throughout his career, Kim is known for dominating major competitions at the half-middleweight category (81kg)—particularly between his Olympic debut in 2008 and his 2012 Olympic finals rematch against Ole Bischof. Kim has had several nicknames, including "Man of One Arm Wins" for his successes through injury, "Korean Tiger" for his aggressive play and iconic status in South Korean judo, and "Energizer Bunny" for his quick and relentless style of judo. He was granted exemption from South Korea's mandatory military service in 2010, following his gold medal victory at the Guangzhou Asian Games.

Judo career

Kim won a gold medal in the -73 kg class at the 2004 World Junior Judo Championships in

Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...

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

. At the

2005 Asian Judo Championships The 2005 Asian Judo Championships were held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan from 14 May to 15 May 2005. Medal summary Men Women Medal table External links * Result of the 2005 Asian Judo Championships(Judo Union of Asia) Results of the 2005 Asian ...

Tashkent Tashkent (, uz, Toshkent, Тошкент/, ) (from russian: Ташкент), or Toshkent (; ), also historically known as Chach is the capital and largest city of Uzbekistan. It is the most populous city in Central Asia, with a population of 2 ...

, he won a gold medal in the -73 kg class. Kim was considered one of the Big Three Judokas of the -73 kg class in South Korea, along with Lee Won-hee and

Wang Ki-chun Wang Ki-Chun (Hangul: 왕기춘, ; born September 13, 1988 in Jeongeup, Jeollabuk-do) is a former judoka from South Korea. He became known for beating the 2004 Olympic champion Lee Won-Hee in the qualification matches for the 2007 World Champ ...

. But in 2007, he moved up in weight to avoid the fierce competition, and won a gold medal in the -81 kg category at the

2008 Asian Judo Championships The 2008 Asian Judo Championships were held in Jeju City, South Korea from 26 April to 27 April 2008. Medal summary Men Women Medal table ReferencesResults External links * Result of the Asian Judo Championships(Judo Union of Asia) {{2008 ...

in Jeju. At the

2008 Beijing Summer Olympics 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 ...

, Kim won the silver medal in the -81 kg class. In the preliminary rounds, he defeated 2006 European champion Serguei Shundikov of

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

by points, and 2007 European champion

Robert Krawczyk Robert Krawczyk (born 26 March 1978,Karriereübersicht
bei judoinside.com in ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In Judo In Judo, an ippon may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the four ...

. Kim edged out 2008 European champion João Neto of

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

by points in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, Kim beat 2005 World Champion

Guillaume Elmont Guillaume Ricaldo Elmont (born 10 August 1981 in Rotterdam) is a male retired judoka from the Netherlands, whose biggest success so far was winning the world title at the World Championships in Cairo, Egypt. He did so in the 73–81 kg weig ...

of the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. Despite defeating all of the European champions from 2006-08 in the previous rounds, Kim lost in the final round to the 2005 European champion, Ole Bischof of Germany. Kim won his first major gold medal at the 2010 World Judo Championships held in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. In the gold medal match, he defeated two-time Olympic medalist

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 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 ...

by scoring a

waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, the ...

with ouchi-gari in extra time. Kim proceeded to become a two-time world champion at the

2011 World Judo Championships The 2011 World Judo Championships were held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy in Paris, France from 23 to 28 August. Schedule Medal summary Men's events Women's events Medal table Participating nations 871 competitors from ...

held in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. During the Round of 16, Kim avenged his 2008 Beijing Olympic Games finals loss to Ole Bischof. Kim went on to win gold by defeating Srdjan Mrvaljevic of

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

with a waza-ari by osaekomi. In the

2012 London 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 men's -81 kg division, defeating German rival, Ole Bischof. He announced his retirement on 1 May 2016.

Achievements

Competitive record

''(as of 30 October 2015)''

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Jae-bum Judoka at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka of South Korea Olympic silver medalists for South Korea Yong In University alumni 1985 births Living people Olympic medalists in judo Asian Games medalists in judo Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2010 Asian Games Judoka at the 2014 Asian Games South Korean male judoka World judo champions Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea People from Gimcheon Medalists at the 2010 Asian Games Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Universiade medalists in judo Universiade silver medalists for South Korea Sportspeople from North Gyeongsang Province