Kim Jung-hwan Claims Fencing Gold

It was a ‘gold medal’ that was achieved against all odds.

Kim Jung-hwan (24, Cycle Racing Association), ranked 41st in the world in fencing using a sabre, defeated the 8th-ranked Nicolas Limbach (Germany), 15-13, to reach the top in the Fencing World Cup A Level Competition held in Warszawa, Poland, on May 21.

This is the first time that a Korean fencer has won the sabre in a world competition. Sabre is a field in which scores are valid when the fencing sword stabs or even cuts the torso or arm.

In this competition, Kim Jung-hwan turned the tables. In the round of 32, Kim beat Zsolt Nemcsik, the world’s number one sabre fencer from Hungary, 15-14, and went on to defeat Mihai Covaliu, the world’s seventh ranked sabre fencer from Romania, 15-14 in the semifinals.

Kim Jung-hwan is a promising Korean fencer who won the 2005 SK Telecom World Grand Prix Fencing Championships. However, he came up positive in a doping test immediately after this competition, which stripped him of his medal. He was suspended him from participating in competitions for one year. The pills that he took at home for his insomnia were the source of his misfortune.

Kim Jung-hwan underwent a slump, such as not making it to the national team for the Doha Asian Games in Qatar last year. But Cycle Racing Association Coach Seo Beom-seok, who had coached Kim starting from when he was a student at Hong-ik High School, raised him up again. Near the end of 2005, he took Kim with him for training abroad. Kim Jung-hwan found his game again as he came in first place in the selection match for the national team in February, and was third in the Grand Prix Fencing Championships held in Plovdiv, Bulgaria in March.

Coach Seo said, “Jung-hwan is a player who is good at bold attacks.” He added, “In the Beijing Olympics next year, he will try to win gold medals in both the fencing singles and group matches.”

beetlez@donga.com