Gwak Dong-han (

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 le ...

: 곽동한; ; born 20 April 1992) is a South Korean judoka. He won the gold medal in the 90 kg event at the

2015 World Judo Championships The 2015 World Judo Championships were held in Astana, Kazakhstan, from 24–30 August 2015. The competition was held at the Alau Ice Palace. Schedule ''All times are local (UTC+6).'' Medal summary Medal table Men's events Women's event ...

. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the world (as of 8 February 2016). He was his coach's Song Dae-nam's training partner at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Career

2011 World Cup Suwon

Gwak participated in his first senior tournament at home ground at the World Cup in Suwon. He lost in his first fight against Russia's Victor Semenov by ippon, waza-ari and yuko.

2012 World Cup Ulaanbatar

Gwak won his first IJF circuit title at the World Cup in

Ulaanbaatar Ulaanbaatar (; mn, Улаанбаатар, , "Red Hero"), previously anglicized as Ulan Bator, is the capital and most populous city of Mongolia. It is the coldest capital city in the world, on average. The municipality is located in north ce ...

. He defeated Mongolia's Bat-erdene Davaadorj in the final by ippon.

2012 Grand Slam Tokyo

Gwak's first outing to a Grand Slam ended in his first fight. He was defeated by Japan's Yuya Yoshida by ippon in golden score. The fight lasted for over seven minutes.

2012 World Cup Jeju

Gwak reached the final of the World Cup in Jeju, where he narrowly won by decision and yuko in the quarter-final and semi-final. He eventually lost against Japan's Kensei Ikeda by waza-ari, and settled for silver.

2013 Grand Prix Dusseldorf

Gwak lost in his second fight to European champion

Varlam Liparteliani Varlam Liparteliani (; born 27 February 1989) is a Georgian judoka. He has won silver at Olympic and World level. Career He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the -90 kg event and lost in the second round to Mark Anthony. At the Europ ...

by ippon.

2013 Asian Championships

Gwak played ippon judo en route to the final of his first continental tournament, but lost by shido to Japan's Shohei Shimowada, settling for silver.

2013 World Championships

Gwak participated in his first World Championships in

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 ...

. He lost in his third fight to eventual world champion

Asley González Asley González (born 5 September 1989 in Caibarién) is a Cuban judoka. He won the 2013 World Championship in the −90 kg event. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the silver medal in the Men's 90 kg competition. Career At the 200 ...

by ippon.

2013 Grand Slam Tokyo

Gwak's second outing to

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, ...

was again stunted in his first fight, losing to two-time world silver medalist

Daiki Nishiyama is a Japanese judoka. He won the silver medal in the middleweight (90 kg) division at the 2010 World Judo Championships. Because of nishiyamas ranking and recent form it has come as even more of a surprise that he was not includeded in the ...

2013 Grand Prix Jeju

Gwak won his second IJF circuit title at the Grand Prix in Jeju, causing an upset by defeating legend

Ilias Iliadis Ilias Iliadis ( el, Ηλίας Ηλιάδης, born Jarji Zviadauri, ka, ჯარჯი ზვიადაური, on 10 November 1986) is a Georgian-born Greek judoka. He was named the 2014 Greek Male Athlete of the Year. He won a gold me ...

by ippon with uchi mata.

2014 Grand Slam Paris

Gwak competed in his first

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 ...

Grand Slam and finished fifth, losing to future rival

Mashu Baker , is a male Japanese judoka. His father is an American.Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

, losing to rival Nishiyama in the bronze medal contest by waza-ari.

2015 European Open Warsaw

Gwak participated in his first European Open in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

, and won the tournament by defeating all his opponents by ippon. He faced Lithuania's Karolis Bauza in the final, who was the only one to gain a score against Gwak, but was ultimately defeated.

2015 Asian Championships

Gwak won his first continental title in Kuwait City, making it his second tournament to win all fights by ippon. He defeated long time rival Nishiyama in the final, using his signature skill

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 ...

for ippon.

2015 World Championships

Gwak had a breakthrough in his career at the World Championships in

Astana Astana, previously known as Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and most recently Nur-Sultan, is the capital city of Kazakhstan. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim River in the north-central part of Kazakhstan, within the Akmola Region, tho ...

. He continued playing ippon judo in his first two fights, however narrowly won by yuko until the semi-final. He defeated Russia's

Kirill Denisov Kirill Georgiyevich Denisov (russian: Кири́лл Гео́ргиевич Дени́сов; born 25 January 1988) is a Russian judoka. Career He competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the -90 kg event and lost in the semifinals to Asley G ...

in the final by waza-ari, becoming one of South Korea's two world champions in the tournament. In the team competition, Korea was up against Mongolia in the semi-final. Korea had already sealed the deal by winning the first three fights. Gwak was defeated by Otgonbataar by ippon. Otgonbataar used Gwak's main skill seoi nage against him for a consolation win. According to the IJF commentators, Gwak had no intention of fighting to his maximum to save energy for the final. Korea won 4–1 for a gold medal contest against Japan. In the final, Gwak was against Yoshida. Japan was up by a point, making it a must-win for Gwak. He narrowly won by shido. Korea ended up settling for silver, losing 3–2.

2015 Grand Prix Tashkent

Gwak surprisingly finished seventh at his first outing as world champion. After winning by ippon against Mihail Marchitan, he lost the quarter-final against Dmitri Gerasimenko and was defeated in the repechage by Karolis Bauza, both by ippon.

2015 Grand Prix Jeju

Gwak won his third consecutive Grand Prix in Jeju, narrowly beating the experienced Magomed Magomedov and Iliadis by shido. He defeated France's Axel Clerget for a waza-ari and yuko, winning the gold medal.

2015 Grand Slam Tokyo

Gwak failed to defend his title at Tokyo, but managed to win bronze. He defeated rival Nishiyama in the quarter-final by shido, however lost to Nishiyama's teammate Baker in the semi-final by ippon in golden score. He won the bronze medal by defeating Russia's Kirill Voprosov by ippon.

2016 Grand Slam Paris

Gwak competed in his second Paris Grand Slam, and was the heavy favorite with the absence of Baker. He faced long-time rival and eventual winner Nishiyama in the quarter-final, and lost by yuko. He won the repechage against Eduardo Bettoni and won the bronze medal by defeating

Ciril Grossklaus Ciril Grossklaus (born 17 April 1991) is a Swiss judoka. He competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in 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 ...

by waza-ari.

2016 Grand Prix Dusseldorf

Gwak continued his medal-less streak in Düsseldorf when he lost to Sweden's

Marcus Nyman Marcus Victor Jan Nyman (born 14 August 1990) is a Swedish judoka. He competes in the men's −90 kg judo event. In the 2012 Summer Olympics he was eliminated after losing his first match. In the 2016 Summer Olympics he won three of fiv ...

in the semi-final by a single yuko. He was set to face fellow countryman Kim Jae-yun, however did not fight due to injury, leaving him to finish fifth place.

2016 Olympic Games

Fighting style

Competitive record

''(as of 19 February 2016)''

References

External links

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Gwak Dong-han
at gwangju2015.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Gwak, Dong-han Living people 1992 births People from Pohang South Korean male judoka Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in judo Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Judoka at the 2014 Asian Games Judoka at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in judo Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games World judo champions Universiade medalists in judo FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2017 Summer Universiade Sportspeople from North Gyeongsang Province