Taekwondo's Kim Yujin Defeats Four Top 5 World Players to Win Gold [Paris Olympics]

Defeated Kiyanichan 2-0 in the Finals

Taekwondo prospect Kim Yujin (Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Council) defeated the world’s No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, and No. 5 ranked athletes to claim the top spot in the women's 57kg category. On the 8th (local time) at the Grand Palais in Paris, France, Kim defeated world No. 2 Nahid Kiyanichandeh (Iran) with a round score of 2-0 (5-1, 9-0) in the final of the women's 57kg taekwondo event at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Yujin defeated world No. 5 Hatice Ilgun (Turkey) in the round of 16 and world No. 4 Skylar Park (Canada) in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, she overcame Luo Zongsi (China), who is considered the strongest in the weight class, and then went on to defeat Kiyanichandeh. Kim Yujin is ranked 24th in the world.

With these successive victories, Korean taekwondo secured gold medals for two consecutive days, following Park Taejun (Kyung Hee University)’s win in the men’s 58kg category the previous day. It is the first gold medal in the women’s 57kg category since Lim Sujeong at the 2008 Beijing Games, marking a 16-year gap. Additionally, with Kim Yujin’s 13th gold medal, the Korean delegation tied the record for the most gold medals ever achieved, matching the totals from the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Games.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.