Kim Min-jong, The World-Beating ‘Majang-dong Son’, “Thanks to My Parents for Grilling me Meat”
World Judo Championships men's heavyweight winner after 39 years… His parents run a butcher shop in Majang-dong.
Recently, he lost in the finals of every international competition.
“I tried to play calmly.”
Kim Min-jong (Yangpyeong-gun Office), who earned the title of ‘Korean athlete who won the men's heavyweight division at the World Judo Championships in 39 years', expressed his gratitude, saying it was thanks to his parents who generously grilled him meat since he was young. 카지노사이트위키
After Kim Min-jong returned to Korea through Incheon International Airport on the 26th, he said, “I think he was able to win a gold medal like this because he grew up well thanks to his parents.”
Kim Min-jong won the gold medal by defeating Georgia's Guram Tusishvili in one round in the men's over 100kg final at the 2024 International Judo Federation (IJF) World Judo Championships held at the Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE) on the 24th.
It has been six years since a Korean male athlete won the World Championships in 2018, after Ahn Chang-rim in the 73 kg class and Jo Gu-ham (retired) in the 100 kg class, and the last time a Korean athlete won a gold medal in the men's heaviest weight class at the World Championships was in 1985 with Cho Yong-cheol.
It has been 39 years since the current president of the Korea Judo Association.
The heavyweight division of judo has been considered the exclusive domain of Western athletes with exceptional physical conditions, but Minjong Kim has risen to the top of the world with his extraordinary skills and stamina.
Kim Min-jong said that he was able to grow into the world's best player thanks to his parents, who run a butcher shop in Majang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, which is famous for its livestock market.
He said, “My parents always cooked a lot of meat for me,” and “When they ran out of meat, they would go to the store and bring back more.
I'm so grateful.”
When asked, ‘How many servings do you usually eat?', he answered ‘time', saying, “I don't know the amount, I eat for about two hours.”
Until Kim Min-jong stood at the top of the world, there was some secret pain he suffered.
He was selected as a member of the national team in 2018, when he was in his third year at Boseong High School, and raised great expectations by winning a bronze medal at the World Championships the following year, but he broke down and shed tears at each major international competition he participated in recently.
Minjong Kim won silver medals at last year's Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and the Tokyo Grand Slam, and also lost in the finals at the Portuguese Grand Prix held in January this year and the Paris Grand Slam in February.
People around him even said that Kim Min-jong was suffering from a ‘finals jinx.’
It was pointed out that his restless personality made him lose concentration at important moments.
Minjong Kim said, “Winning the gold medal in this competition brought tears to my eyes because I remembered all the times I had lost in the finals.
In this competition, I tried to play more calmly to overcome my shortcomings.”
He continued by saying, “I will definitely achieve good results at the Paris Olympics based on the experience I gained at the World Championships.”
Minjong Kim was also looking forward to a match with Teddy Riner, the strongest player in this weight class and a leading figure in French judo.
Kim Min-jong said, “I lost to Riner at the Paris Grand Slam (last February) and was unable to win the gold medal,” and added, “I will make up for my problems and definitely overcome the barrier at the Paris Olympics.”
Riner is a legend on the French judo team, having won two consecutive gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
Riner did not compete in this World Championships, saying he was concentrating on preparing for the Paris Olympics to be held in his country.
