Lee Won-hee (born July 19, 1981) is a South Korean quadruple judo champion. Lee won the gold medal in the men's lightweight division at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. He was the world champion in 2003. He also won the gold medal in

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

and

2003 Asian Judo Championships The 2003 Asian Judo Championships were held in Jeju, South Korea from 31 October to 1 November 2003. Medal summary Men Women Medal table External links * Result of the Asian Judo Championships(Judo Union of Asia) Daily Report of 2003 Jeju ...

. He won his Olympic gold medal by way of Ippon against Vitaly Makarov of Russia with 9 seconds left. He was leading in the bout anyway, but had secured the win when he went in for Drop

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 ...

and combined it with Ko-Ouchi Gari to deliver Makarov onto his back with force. He was voted top judoka in the 2004 Olympics. Lee was renowned for his favourite technique Tai Otoshi. Lee is arguably one of the best South Korean judokas ever to live. During his active career, he was nicknamed "Mr. Ippon" and "Grand Slammer" for his 48-game winning streak, of which, 43 were won by ippon. He lost to

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 ...

in the qualifications for the 2007 World Championships in Rio de Janeiro and 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Lee taught judo at his alma mater

Yong In University Yong In University is a private university located in Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Founded as a judo school, it expanded to the present-day comprehensive private university offering both undergraduate and graduate ...

. In 2015, he was promoted to head coach of the South Korean Women's Judo National Team.

Personal life

Lee attended Boseong Middle School. He is believed to have an IQ of 148. In 2008, Lee married golfer Kim Mi-hyun, and they have a son, Yeseong. The couple divorced in 2012. In 2018, Lee married South Korean table tennis player

Yun Ji-Hye Yun Ji-hye (born 5 October 1997) is a South Korean female taekwondo practitioner. She represented South Korea at the 2018 Asian Games and claimed a bronze medal jointly with Malaysian Yap Khim Wen in the women's individual poomsae event. This ...

and have a daughter together.

References

External links

* Judoka at the 2004 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka of South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Yong In University alumni 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Seoul Olympic medalists in judo Asian Games medalists in judo World judo champions Judoka at the 2006 Asian Games South Korean male judoka Medalists at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games Universiade medalists in judo Universiade gold medalists for South Korea {{SouthKorea-judo-bio-stub