Seoul: South Korea will try to return to prominence in judo and bring home at least four gold medals from the upcoming Asian Games in Japan, national team coaches announced Wednesday. South Korea is targeting at least two gold medals each from the women's and men's events, said head coach Jung Sung-sook.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Jung singled out Huh Mimi in the women's -57 kilograms and Lee Hyeon-ji in the women's +78kg as the gold medal favorites on the women's side. "On top of those two athletes, we have others who are capable of claiming gold medals," Jung said during the national team media day at the Jincheon National Training Center in Jincheon, 85 kilometers south of Seoul.
Hwang Hee-tae, who coaches the men's team, mentioned that Lee Joon-hwan in the 81kg and Kim Min-jong in the +100kg should be able to reach the top of the podium. At the previous Asian Games in 2023, Lee won silver and Kim took bronze. South Korea managed just one judo gold medal then, its lowest total ever at an Asian Games, finishing behind upstarts Uzbekistan and Chinese Taipei. Japan led the way with five gold medals.
Hwang expressed confidence that this time would be different for South Korea. "Many of our athletes were competing at their first Asian Games back then. They have since built a ton of experience and developed into world-class athletes," he said. "I am confident we will post great results at this year's Asian Games." He also thanked the Korea Institute of Sport Science for providing the team with a new video analysis system, which helped the athletes study their potential Asian Games opponents thoroughly.
Jung noted that Japan and some other nations will not send their best judokas to the Asian Games due to a scheduling conflict with the world championships in Azerbaijan. "With Japan, there is not much separation between their top-level athletes and the next tier of judokas, but still, this is a favorable situation for us," Jung said.
The athletes themselves shared their determination to return home as gold medalists. Lee Joon-hwan, who also won bronze at the 2024 Olympics, said, "I am more driven and motivated than ever. I don't think I could win gold without that kind of determination." Kim Min-jong, who won the 2024 Olympic silver, mentioned that a minor injury he had picked up in June is now behind him. "I have trained as hard as anyone for this competition," Kim said. "I want to do well in Nagoya and also win gold at the Los Angeles Olympics two years later."
Lee Hyeon-ji, who earned her place at the Asian Games by defeating the reigning gold medalist Kim Ha-yun in the national team trials, also expressed hope that her hard work will pay off. "Ha-yun and I have become rivals in the same weight class, and she has been really helpful," Lee added.
The South Korean team includes two judokas born in Japan -- Huh in the women's -57kg and Kim Ji-su in the women's -63kg. "I feel a little more pressure because the competition will be in Japan," said Huh. "But I will try to regard it as just another event." Kim, whose father was also a judoka, added, "I am really looking forward to competing in a country where I was born. I can't wait to get going."