An Chang-rim (; born 2 March 1994) is a South Korean retired

judoka is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

. An was the world champion in the lightweight division in 2018, He began his rise as one of judo's top lightweights by becoming junior World Champion. It was followed by a two-year podium streak, including wins at the prestigious Grand Slam

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi is the capital city of the United Arab Emirates. The city is the seat of the Abu Dhabi Central Capital District, the capital city of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and the UAE's List of cities in the United Arab Emirates, second-most popu ...

and

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He is known for his physical, aggressive style of fighting, and is a versatile stylist of

seoi nage is a throw in judo. It is one of the traditional forty throws of judo as developed by Jigoro Kano. It belongs to the first group, Dai Ikkyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current of ...

. An won a bronze medal at the 2015 World Championships. South Korea's premier lightweight, he represented Korea at the

2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. He was also seeded first at the Olympics. He is currently ranked fourth in the world. In December 2021 he officially announced retirement.

Early life

An was born to third generation

Zainichi Korean () are ethnic Koreans who immigrated to Japan before 1945 and are citizens or permanent residents of Japan, or who are descendants of those immigrants. They are a group distinct from South Korean nationals who have immigrated to Japan since t ...

parents. He wanted to compete for South Korea from a young age, saying "I was never discriminated against here

n South Korea N, or n, is the fourteenth letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages, and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''. History ...

" An began judo in first grade. He attended Kyoto City Hachijo Junior High School, where he began to compete. He was unable to compete internationally for Japan because he refused naturalization. Before moving to Korea, An was a student at the

University of Tsukuba is a List of national universities in Japan, national research university located in Tsukuba, Ibaraki Prefecture, Ibaraki, Japan. The university has 28 college clusters and schools with around 16,500 students (as of 2014). The main Tsukuba ca ...

, where he trained and was teammates with 2015 World Champion

Takanori Nagase Takanori Nagase (; born 14 October 1993) is a Japanese judoka. Nagase is a double Olympic champion at under 81 kg, winning gold in both 2020 (2021) and 2024. He won bronze in 2016. His other achievements include the Universiade in Kazan ...

. He was the 2013 All Japan University lightweight champion. He currently attends and trains at

Yong In University Yong In University is a private university located in Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Founded as a judo school, it expanded to the present-day comprehensive private university offering both undergraduate and ...

Career

2014 World Judo Championships

An began his competitive senior career in 2014, representing Korea at the 2014 World Judo Championships. He competed in the −73 kg category, after local lightweight number one Wang Ki-chun missed the tournament. He lost in the second round to Israeli champion

Sagi Muki Sagi Aharon Muki (or Moki; ; born 17 May 1992) is an Israeli Olympic and former world champion half-middleweight judoka. Muki is the 2019 World Judo Championships – Men's 81 kg, 2019 World Champion. He also won the Judo at the 2015 European Ga ...

2014 World Junior Judo Championships

An had a breakthrough in his junior career, winning the 2014 World Junior Championships in

Fort Lauderdale Fort Lauderdale ( ) is a coastal city located in the U.S. state of Florida, north of Miami along the Atlantic Ocean. It is the county seat of and most populous city in Broward County with a population of 182,760 at the 2020 census, making it ...

. He won against Japan's Yuji Yamamoto in the final, scoring two

waza-ari is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon'' or ''waza-ari'' contest, usually judo, karate, or jujutsu. ''Waza-ari'' in judo A ''waza-ari'' is the second highest score a fighter can achieve in judo, th ...

s for

ippon is the highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts ''ippon-wazari'' contest, usually kendo, judo, karate or jujitsu. In judo In judo, an ''ippon'' may be scored for a throw, a pin, a choke or a jointlock. For throws, the ...

2014 Grand Prix Jeju

An won his first IJF circuit title at the 2014 Grand Prix in Jeju, beating established opponents such as 2008 European Champion

Dirk Van Tichelt Dirk Van Tichelt (born 10 June 1984) is a Belgian judoka. Van Tichelt's biggest achievement was his 2008 European title in Lisbon. At the same year, at the Beijing Olympics he came fifth after losing in the first round to gold-medallist Eln ...

in the semi-finals, and future European Champion Sagi Muki in the finals, both by ippon.

2014 Grand Slam Tokyo

An competed in his first Grand Slam in 2014, at the heart of judo in

. He lost to double world champion

Shohei Ono is a Japanese retired judoka. Ono is regarded as one of judo's top fighters, having won two Olympic gold medals, three World Championships and five Grand Slams. He was the most dominant lightweight wrestler of the 2010s having won in every ma ...

in the quarter-finals, and Ono would prove to be a stumbling block later on in his career. He won his first Grand Slam medal against

Rustam Orujov Rustam Orujov (born 4 October 1991) is an Azerbaijani retired judoka. He competed in the men's 73 kg event at the 2012 Summer Olympics; after defeating Gideon van Zyl in the second round, he was eliminated by Mansur Isaev in the third round. H ...

in the bronze medal contest, winning narrowly by yuko.

2015 Grand Prix Dusseldorf

An again had a fairly successful outing at the Grand Prix in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, where he was guaranteed a medal by beating Muki by ippon in the quarter-finals. However, he was again faced against his budding rival Ono, and lost in the semi-finals. He won a bronze medal by defeating Victor Scvortov.

2015 European Open Warsaw

An continued his medal-winning streak at the European Open in Warsaw, reaching the final after winning all his fights en-route by ippon. He faced his first opponent from Asia in the tournament with Mongolia's Odbayar Ganbataar, where Ganbataar threw him for ippon, therefore beating An to settle for silver.

2015 Asian Judo Championships

An won his first continental title at the Asian Judo Championships in

Kuwait City Kuwait City (; ) is the capital and largest city of Kuwait. Located at the heart of the country on the south shore of Kuwait Bay on the Persian Gulf, it is the political, cultural and economic center of the emirate, containing Kuwait's Seif Pal ...

. He defeated Sharofiddin Boltaboev in just 49 seconds by ippon.

2015 Universiade

An defeated all his opponents by ippon at home ground in

Gwangju Gwangju (; ), formerly romanized as Kwangju, is South Korea's list of cities in South Korea, sixth-largest metropolis. It is a designated Special cities of South Korea, metropolitan city under the direct control of the central government's Home ...

. He defeated Yamamoto again in the semi-final, and took gold against Ukraine's Dmytro Kanivets.

2015 World Judo Championships

An competed in his second world championships in

Astana, Kazakhstan Astana is the capital city of Kazakhstan. With a population of 1,423,726 within the city limits, it is the second-largest in the country after Almaty, which had been the capital until 1997. The city lies on the banks of the Ishim (river), Ishim ...

, and reached the semi-final. He was once again pitted against the eventual tournament winner Ono, and lost for the third time. Ono scored first with an

uchi mata is one of the original 40 throws of Judo as developed by Kanō Jigorō. It belongs to the second group, Dai Nikyo, of the traditional throwing list, Gokyo (no waza), of Kodokan Judo. It is also part of the current 67 Throws of Kodokan Judo. It ...

counter for waza-ari, and An leveled the scores by scoring waza-ari with a minute and a half to go. Ono sealed his win with an ushiro goshi, ending An's hopes of becoming Korea's third lightweight world champion, after

Lee Won-hee Lee Won-hee (; born 19 July 1981) is a South Korean quadruple judo champion. Lee won the gold medal in the Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's 73 kg, men's lightweight division at the Judo at the 2004 Summer Olympics, 2004 Summer Olympi ...

and Wang. He then went on to win by shido against Ganbataar in the bronze-medal contest, becoming one of South Korea's five individual medalists at the championships. In the team competition, Korea faced Mongolia in the semi-finals. An faced Ganbataar and beat him for a second time in Astana with a

to win by ippon in just ten seconds. Korea won 4–1, and was set against Japan in the finals. An's opponent in the team final was double world champion and the 2015 silver medalist

Riki Nakaya is a Japanese judoka. He is a two-time lightweight world champion and an Olympic silver medalist. He was also a finalist at the 2015 World Championships. Personal life Nakaya began judo in kindergarten, following his older brother. Nakaya ma ...

. Japan was one up after former world champion

Masashi Ebinuma is a Japanese judoka. Ebinuma is a triple world champion, having won in 2011, 2013 and 2014. A dominant force in the half-lightweight division, he was ranked first in the world for three years. He is regarded as an ultimate stylist of seoi na ...

beat current world champion

An Baul An Ba-ul (a.k.a. An Baul; , ; born 25 March 1994) is a South Korean judoka. An is the 2015 World Champion at the half-lightweight division (66 kg). He rose to prominence by becoming South Korea's first half-lightweight champion in more ...

, putting pressure on An. An beat Nakaya by ippon with his signature skill seoi nage. Korea eventually lost to Japan 3–2, and had to settle for silver.

2015 Grand Slam Abu Dhabi

An won his first Grand Slam at Abu Dhabi, winning all his fights by ippon with the exception of the quarter-final against half-lightweight

Olympic champion This article includes lists of all Olympic medalists since 1896, organized by each Olympic sport or discipline, and also by Olympiad. Medalist with most medals by sport Summer Olympic sports Sports that will appear in the 2028 Summer Olympics ar ...

Lasha Shavdatuashvili Lasha Shavdatuashvili ( ka, ლაშა შავდათუაშვილი; born 31 January 1992) is a Georgian judoka. Shavdatuashvili is one of the most successful judoka of the early 21st century, having won Olympic medals at the 2012, ...

. He beat Germany's Igor Wandtke for the gold medal.

2015 Grand Prix Jeju

An had a re-match with van Tichelt again in the final for the second year running at the Grand Slam in Jeju. He defeated the Belgian once again by ippon.

2015 Grand Slam Tokyo

An faced his senior from the

world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

Hiroyuki Akimoto is a Japanese judoka . After moving up from the 66 kg division to the 73 kg division, he won the gold medal in the lightweight division (73 kg) at the 2010 World Judo Championships. Personal life Akimoto married volleyball ...

, in the final. After the match he said to

The Japan News The is a Japanese newspaper published in Tokyo, Osaka, Fukuoka, and other major Japanese cities. It is one of the five major newspapers in Japan; the other four are ''The Asahi Shimbun'', the ''Chunichi Shimbun'', the '' Mainichi Shimbun'' ...

, "Two years ago at this event I was Hiroyuki-san's attendant. I intended to send him into retirement." He lost to Akimoto by waza-ari, settling for silver.

2016 Grand Slam Paris

At his first outing to one of the IJF circuit's most prestigious events, An managed to win his second Grand Slam title. He had a re-match with Akimoto in the semi-final, and this time emerged victorious, winning by ippon and waza-ari. He defeated Russia's Denis Iartcev in the final. After winning the gold medal, An spoke to ''L'esprit du Judo'', a French judo magazine. He answered their questions in Japanese, and was quoted saying, "I will win the Olympic final against Ono."

2016 Grand Prix Dusseldorf

An again faced his rival Ono in the semi-final at the Grand Prix in Düsseldorf, and lost for the fourth time. He ended up winning bronze against Mongolia's Khadbataar Narankhuu.

2018 Baku World Championship

An, for the first time, won the World Championship title. In the final he ended up going against his rival, Soichi Hashimoto from Japan. An beat Hashimoto with a Kosoto-gake which lead him to his first World Championship title.

2021

In 2021, he won the gold medal in his event at the

2021 Judo World Masters The 2021 Judo World Masters was held in Doha, Qatar, from 11 to 13 January 2021. Medal summary Medal table Source Men's events Source Women's events Source Prize money The sums written are per medalist, and with the two additional best ...

held in Doha, Qatar.

Competitive record

''(as of 30 November 2019)''

References

External links

* * * * http://www.oasport.it/2015/12/judo-73-kg-orujov-in-testa-sfida-perenne-tra-ono-e-nakaya-bagarre-azzurra/ {{DEFAULTSORT:An, Chang-rim Living people 1994 births South Korean male judoka Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic judoka for South Korea Summer World University Games medalists in judo Zainichi Korean sportspeople Martial artists from Kyoto World judo champions Judoka at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in judo Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea Medalists at the 2015 Summer Universiade Judoka at the 2020 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in judo Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea 21st-century South Korean sportsmen