Tears After Defeating No.1... Judo's Lee Junhwan Wins Men's 81kg Bronze Medal [Paris Olympics]

Lee Junhwan (22, Yongin University), a South Korean judoka, defeated the world number one and won the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. This is his second medal in Olympic judo.

On the 30th (local time), Lee Jun-hwan wiped away tears after winning the bronze medal by defeating Belgium's Mathias Casse in the men's 81kg judo bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at Arena Champs de Mars in Paris, France.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Ranked third in the world, Lee Junhwan won the bronze medal match in the men's 81kg judo category at the Champs de Mars arena in Paris, France, on the 30th (local time), defeating world number one Matthias Kas (Belgium) after an overtime battle.

Despite having endured a match more than twice the regular time (4 minutes) in the semifinals, Lee showed no signs of fatigue in the physical contest. Early in the match, Kas frequently attempted to throw Lee by falling backward, but Lee defended well.

Both athletes exchanged one shido each and failed to decide the winner during the regular time (4 minutes), leading to overtime (golden score). Lee almost conceded a point after falling on his buttocks due to a surprise attack from his opponent, but he succeeded in scoring a waza-ari with an ude-hishigi-hara-gatame technique.

On the 30th (local time), Lee Jun-hwan shed tears after winning the bronze medal by defeating Belgium's Mathias Casse in the men's 81kg judo bronze medal match at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at Arena Champs de Mars in Paris, France.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Lee Junhwan won a medal in his first-ever Olympic appearance. This is the second medal for South Korean judo in this tournament, following Heo Mimi (21, Gyeongbuk Sports Council)'s silver medal in the women's 57kg category the previous day.

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