Going through continental trials to qualify for the Olympics Taekwondo women’s 57kg class gold medal “I went through a difficult process, so I thought, ‘I can’t do something like this’”
She was confident because she trained herself harder than anyone else. She was not intimidated on the big stage because she had gone through a more difficult process than others to get the opportunity to stand on the Olympic stage.
This is the story of Kim Yu-jin (24, Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Association), who won the gold medal in the women's 57 kg class of taekwondo
at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Kim Yu-jin won the gold medal by defeating Nahid Kiyani Chande (Iran) with a round score of 2-0 (5-1 9-0) in the final of the women's 57 kg class of taekwondo at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France on the 9th (Korean time).
Kim Yu-jin, who met with reporters after the finals, said, “I’m so happy. Aside from gaining personal honor, I want to tell myself that I did well by helping to establish the pride of the Taekwondo home country. I’m just happy.”
When asked who came to mind the most after winning the gold medal, Kim Yu-jin answered her grandmother, saying, “I’m sure she’s not sleeping,” and then exclaimed, “Grandma, I finally won the gold medal. Thank you so much for teaching me Taekwondo.” It was her grandmother who recommended Taekwondo to Kim Yu-jin when she was 8 years old, saying that she needed to learn self-defense
. The road to the Olympic stage was not smooth. She spent a year rehabilitating due to a knee ligament injury suffered just before the 2022 Guadalajara World Championships, and her Olympic rankings for the World Taekwondo Federation (WT), which determines her Olympic qualification, continued to drop. According to the
Olympic sparring rankings compiled by WT in June, just before the Olympics, Kim Yu-jin was only 24th. It was far from the Olympic qualification given to the top five WT Olympic World Rankings in each weight class. The Korea Taekwondo Federation decided to challenge for the Olympic qualification in the women's 57kg class through the Performance Improvement Committee in January, and held a domestic qualification competition in February. Here, Kim Yu-jin got the opportunity to compete in the Asian continental qualification competition. Kim Yu -jin successfully earned the qualification given to the top two in each weight class at the Paris Olympic Asian qualification competition held in Taian, China in March, and stood on the Olympic stage. He said, "Looking back on the process I've done so far, I thought, 'Can I not do something like this?' When I think about the process, I was happy just to compete in the Olympics," and "I had confidence in myself because I prepared so hard, and I played with the mindset of enjoying it." The source of his confidence was the harsh training. Kim Yu-jin described the intensity of the training as "to the point where I wanted to quit exercising." He said, "The amount of training was so much that I felt like I was going to hell every time I went to the gym. Like all players, I really pushed myself and worked hard,” she explained. “I worked out three times a day for more than two hours. I think I did 10,000 kicks per workout.” When Kim Yu-jin faced a crisis during the match that day, she recalled her hellish training. The crisis came when she lost the second round 1-7 after winning the first round 7-0 in the semifinals against Luo Zhongshi (China). Kim Yu-jin said, “After the round, I took a break, and all the training I had done up until then flashed before my eyes. I thought that I had overcome all that tough training, so I couldn’t give up here,” and “I kicked even harder, thinking that I had to win.” Kim Yu-jin’s height of 183 cm is her strength. However, it is difficult to maintain a weight that allows her to compete in the 57 kg class with her height. Even when she wanted to eat something, she held back, and after eating, she trained to lose weight. Kim Yu-jin said, "Once I start controlling my weight, I can only eat about one meal a day. I plan my meals and eat accordingly," and added, "I originally train a lot. I maintain my condition by eating a little and exercising a lot." Kim Yu-jin, who chose pork belly and soybean paste stew as the food she wants to eat the most, said, "Now that I've finished the Olympics, I'm going to eat it no matter what. I can't even remember when I last ate it." The confidence she gained through 'hell training' led to her defeat of the top rankers. Kim Yu-jin, who gained momentum by defeating Hatidze Ilguyn (Turkiye), ranked 5th and the bronze medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, in the round of 16, defeated Skylar Park, a Korean-Canadian player ranked 4th, in the quarterfinals. Both matches ended with a round score of 2-0. Luo Zongshi, whom Kim Yu-jin defeated in the semifinals, is the number one in this weight class and the champion of the 2022 Guadalajara World Championships. In the final, he defeated Kiyani Chande, who was ranked second and last year’s Baku World Championship winner. Kim Yu-jin said, “The world ranking is just a number. I didn’t care at all. I just thought that I shouldn’t let myself get crushed.” When asked, “People say this gold medal is a surprise,” Kim Yu-jin said, “It’s not a surprise,” and added, “I felt so good warming up today. It’s no exaggeration to say that it was the best moment of my career as an athlete.” “I thought to myself, ‘I can do it. ’” Park Tae-jun, who won the gold medal in the men’s 58 kg class the day before, willingly became his training partner, which was also a great help to Kim Yu-jin. Kim Yu-jin said, “(Park) Tae-jun had an injured hand, but he still helped me train,” and expressed her gratitude, saying, “Tae-jun told me that it was nothing and that I shouldn’t be nervous. He told me to enjoy it, and those words really resonated with me.” Kim Yu-jin, who wrote the 'reversal drama', left the mixed zone after leaving a bold comment saying, "The Olympics are nothing special, so you can do it too" when asked to say a word to her juniors. 파워볼사이트
She was confident because she trained herself harder than anyone else. She was not intimidated on the big stage because she had gone through a more difficult process than others to get the opportunity to stand on the Olympic stage.
This is the story of Kim Yu-jin (24, Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Association), who won the gold medal in the women's 57 kg class of taekwondo
at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Kim Yu-jin won the gold medal by defeating Nahid Kiyani Chande (Iran) with a round score of 2-0 (5-1 9-0) in the final of the women's 57 kg class of taekwondo at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France on the 9th (Korean time).
Kim Yu-jin, who met with reporters after the finals, said, “I’m so happy. Aside from gaining personal honor, I want to tell myself that I did well by helping to establish the pride of the Taekwondo home country. I’m just happy.”
When asked who came to mind the most after winning the gold medal, Kim Yu-jin answered her grandmother, saying, “I’m sure she’s not sleeping,” and then exclaimed, “Grandma, I finally won the gold medal. Thank you so much for teaching me Taekwondo.” It was her grandmother who recommended Taekwondo to Kim Yu-jin when she was 8 years old, saying that she needed to learn self-defense
. The road to the Olympic stage was not smooth. She spent a year rehabilitating due to a knee ligament injury suffered just before the 2022 Guadalajara World Championships, and her Olympic rankings for the World Taekwondo Federation (WT), which determines her Olympic qualification, continued to drop. According to the
Olympic sparring rankings compiled by WT in June, just before the Olympics, Kim Yu-jin was only 24th. It was far from the Olympic qualification given to the top five WT Olympic World Rankings in each weight class. The Korea Taekwondo Federation decided to challenge for the Olympic qualification in the women's 57kg class through the Performance Improvement Committee in January, and held a domestic qualification competition in February. Here, Kim Yu-jin got the opportunity to compete in the Asian continental qualification competition. Kim Yu -jin successfully earned the qualification given to the top two in each weight class at the Paris Olympic Asian qualification competition held in Taian, China in March, and stood on the Olympic stage. He said, "Looking back on the process I've done so far, I thought, 'Can I not do something like this?' When I think about the process, I was happy just to compete in the Olympics," and "I had confidence in myself because I prepared so hard, and I played with the mindset of enjoying it." The source of his confidence was the harsh training. Kim Yu-jin described the intensity of the training as "to the point where I wanted to quit exercising." He said, "The amount of training was so much that I felt like I was going to hell every time I went to the gym. Like all players, I really pushed myself and worked hard,” she explained. “I worked out three times a day for more than two hours. I think I did 10,000 kicks per workout.” When Kim Yu-jin faced a crisis during the match that day, she recalled her hellish training. The crisis came when she lost the second round 1-7 after winning the first round 7-0 in the semifinals against Luo Zhongshi (China). Kim Yu-jin said, “After the round, I took a break, and all the training I had done up until then flashed before my eyes. I thought that I had overcome all that tough training, so I couldn’t give up here,” and “I kicked even harder, thinking that I had to win.” Kim Yu-jin’s height of 183 cm is her strength. However, it is difficult to maintain a weight that allows her to compete in the 57 kg class with her height. Even when she wanted to eat something, she held back, and after eating, she trained to lose weight. Kim Yu-jin said, "Once I start controlling my weight, I can only eat about one meal a day. I plan my meals and eat accordingly," and added, "I originally train a lot. I maintain my condition by eating a little and exercising a lot." Kim Yu-jin, who chose pork belly and soybean paste stew as the food she wants to eat the most, said, "Now that I've finished the Olympics, I'm going to eat it no matter what. I can't even remember when I last ate it." The confidence she gained through 'hell training' led to her defeat of the top rankers. Kim Yu-jin, who gained momentum by defeating Hatidze Ilguyn (Turkiye), ranked 5th and the bronze medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, in the round of 16, defeated Skylar Park, a Korean-Canadian player ranked 4th, in the quarterfinals. Both matches ended with a round score of 2-0. Luo Zongshi, whom Kim Yu-jin defeated in the semifinals, is the number one in this weight class and the champion of the 2022 Guadalajara World Championships. In the final, he defeated Kiyani Chande, who was ranked second and last year’s Baku World Championship winner. Kim Yu-jin said, “The world ranking is just a number. I didn’t care at all. I just thought that I shouldn’t let myself get crushed.” When asked, “People say this gold medal is a surprise,” Kim Yu-jin said, “It’s not a surprise,” and added, “I felt so good warming up today. It’s no exaggeration to say that it was the best moment of my career as an athlete.” “I thought to myself, ‘I can do it. ’” Park Tae-jun, who won the gold medal in the men’s 58 kg class the day before, willingly became his training partner, which was also a great help to Kim Yu-jin. Kim Yu-jin said, “(Park) Tae-jun had an injured hand, but he still helped me train,” and expressed her gratitude, saying, “Tae-jun told me that it was nothing and that I shouldn’t be nervous. He told me to enjoy it, and those words really resonated with me.” Kim Yu-jin, who wrote the 'reversal drama', left the mixed zone after leaving a bold comment saying, "The Olympics are nothing special, so you can do it too" when asked to say a word to her juniors. 파워볼사이트