'183cm 57kg' Kim Yujin "I want to eat Samgyeopsal with Doenjang-jjigae" [Paris Olympics]

Taekwondo Women's 57kg Gold Medal
"Couldn't Eat What I Wanted... Strict Management"

Kim Yujin, who won the women's 57kg Taekwondo final at the 2024 Paris Olympics held at the Grand Palais Taekwondo Stadium in Paris, France.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim Yujin (23, Ulsan Metropolitan City Sports Council), who won the gold medal in the women's 57kg Taekwondo category at the 2024 Paris Olympics, brought laughter by saying in her victory speech, "I want to eat samgyeopsal with doenjang jjigae. Beer too? Haha."

Standing 183cm tall, Kim Yujin has always struggled to maintain her weight at 57kg. She revealed the difficulties of weight management, saying, "I had to adjust in advance for this Olympics and kept not being able to eat what I wanted."

She also disclosed that she trained rigorously using a 'direct approach' for weight loss, dedicating more than two hours three times a day. She added, "I think I kicked ten thousand times at once. I pushed myself hard through tough training, and that process led to the happiness I feel now."

The harsh training ultimately brought Kim Yujin the gold medal. South Korea won the Olympic gold in the women's 57kg category for the first time in 16 years since Lim Sujeong at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Ranked 24th in the world, Kim Yujin defeated higher-ranked opponents consecutively from the round of 16 to the final to stand atop the podium. She said, "Just because the ranking is high doesn't mean they are that good. I didn't care about the rankings at all. I thought as long as I didn't break down, it was fine," adding, "Rankings are just numbers."

After winning the gold medal, the first person who came to her mind was her grandmother who raised her. Kim Yujin smiled and said, "Grandma! I finally won the gold medal. Thank you so much for letting me do Taekwondo!"

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