Korean women judokas capture gold after Olympic medals

South Korean judokas Kim Ha-yoon and Heo Mi-mi, close friends and rising stars of the national women’s team, both won gold at the 2025 Rhine-Ruhr Summer World University Games. They improved on the bronze and silver medals they earned at last year’s Paris Olympics.

Kim, ranked third in the world by the International Judo Federation, won the over-78kg division on July 26 in Essen, Germany. She defeated Japan’s Mukonoki Miki, ranked 51st, by scoring a half-point with her signature inner reap technique 1 minute and 54 seconds before the match ended. She then defended her lead to secure the victory.

Before Kim’s rise, South Korea’s women’s heavyweight division had little success. In 2023, she became the first South Korean woman to win gold in this weight class at the Hangzhou Asian Games, ending the team’s gold-medal drought. She later earned bronze at the Paris Olympics, becoming the country’s first Olympic medalist in the women’s heavyweight division in 24 years. In June, Kim won gold at the World Judo Championships in Budapest, securing South Korea’s first women’s heavyweight world title in 34 years. The previous champion was Moon Ji-yoon at the 1991 world championships in Barcelona.

Kim’s teammate Heo Mi-mi has been a strong support throughout her historic rise. On July 24, Heo won her second consecutive University Games gold in the 57kg division, defeating Hungary’s Zerczási Rozsa with a clean ippon using a left-handed shoulder throw.

At the Paris Olympics, Heo won silver before Kim claimed bronze. Kim later said that Heo’s performance gave her strength, recalling, “I went to her room to congratulate her and asked if I could see her medal. She let me touch it, and it gave me motivation.”

Heo is a fifth-generation descendant of Heo Seok, a Korean independence activist who lived from 1857 to 1920. Born to a South Korean father and Japanese mother, she renounced her Japanese citizenship in 2023 to compete for South Korea, honoring her late grandmother’s wish that she wear the Korean flag at the Olympics. Kim helped Heo adjust to the national team. Heo said traveling with Kim made her feel at home and improved her Korean. The two also helped South Korea win bronze in the mixed team event in Paris. After the result was confirmed, Heo ran to Kim and embraced her in celebration.


한종호 기자 hjh@donga.com