Kim Ji-yeon (; or ; born 12 March 1988) is a

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

n left-handed

sabre A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

fencer. Kim is a five-time team Asian champion and four-time individual Asian champion. A three-time Olympian, Kim is a 2021 team Olympic bronze medalist and 2012 individual Olympic champion. Kim is the first South Korean woman to win an Olympic gold medal in fencing and the second South Korean to win any Olympic medal in fencing after Nam Hyun-hee's silver medal in individual women's foil at the

2008 Beijing Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fr ...

. She is also the second South Korean fencer to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games, after Kim Young-ho's gold medal in individual men's foil at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Biography

Kim began fencing at age 13 as a foil fencer, but converted to sabre in high school at age 16 in 2004. Although she first became a member of the South Korean national fencing team at the age of 18 in 2006, Kim was often overshadowed by fellow sabre fencers Kim Hye-lim, Lee Shin-mi and Kim Keum-hwa, omitted from the final national squad before becoming a fixture in the 2011 season. Kim began to garner international attention at the

2011 Summer Universiade The 2011 Summer Universiade ( zh, c=2011年夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no), also known as the XXVI Summer Universiade ( zh, c=, s=第二十六届夏季世界大学生运动会, labels=no) and Shenzhen 2011, was hosted in Shenzhen, Gua ...

where she won the bronze medal in the women's individual sabre fencing. In the semifinals, Kim lost to two-time European champion and eventual gold medalist Olha Kharlan of

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

15-10. She accumulated another bronze medal in the women's team sabre as a member of Team South Korea. Kim finished the 2011 season as her first full-time member of the national team, and her FIE ranking rose from 174 to 11. In February 2012, Kim reached the semifinals at the

Orléans Orléans (,"Orleans"
(US) and Antalya Antalya is the fifth-most populous city in Turkey and the capital of Antalya Province. Recognized as the "capital of tourism" in Turkey and a pivotal part of the Turkish Riviera, Antalya sits on Anatolia's southwest coast, flanked by the Tau ...

World Cup in

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. In May 2012, Kim became a semi-finalist at the

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

World Cup in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and the

Tianjin Tianjin is a direct-administered municipality in North China, northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the National Central City, nine national central cities, with a total population of 13,866,009 inhabitants at the time of the ...

Grand Prix in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

in a row. Her success in these tournaments increased her FIE ranking to 5th before the start of the 2012 Olympics.

2012 Olympics

Kim competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London capturing the gold medal in the women's individual sabre event. This was South Korea's second Olympic gold medal in fencing, Kim Young-ho having won the men's foil gold medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics. Kim reached the final when she defeated two-time Olympic individual sabre champion Mariel Zagunis 15–13 in the semifinal match. Largely regarded as the underdog by both competitors and her teammates, she came back from a 12–5 deficit against Zagunis to advance into the finals. Kim beat Russia's Sofya Velikaya, the reigning world champion, 15–9 in the gold medal match. Kim asserted her dominance early in the contest, with her opponent having little say in the outcome of the first period with an 8–5 triumph for Kim. Velikaya struggled to recover from the setback and the second period followed in much the same way as the first as Kim won 7–4 to win the gold medal.

Medal record

Olympic Games

World Championship

Asian Championship

Grand Prix

World Cup

References

External links

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Kim Ji-yeon
at

BBC Sport BBC Sport is the sports division of the BBC, providing national sports coverage for BBC BBC Television, television, BBC Radio, radio and BBC Online, online. The BBC holds the television and radio UK broadcasting rights to several sports, broadc ...

2012 Olympics
Kim Ji-yeon
at

NBC Olympics ''NBC Olympics'' is the commercial name for the NBC Sports-produced broadcasts of the Summer and Winter Olympic Games as shown in the United States on NBCUniversal platforms. They include the NBC broadcast network and many of the company's cabl ...

(archived) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Ji-yeon 1988 births Living people Sportspeople from Busan South Korean female fencers South Korean sabre fencers Fencers at the 2012 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic fencers for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic bronze medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics Fencers at the 2014 Asian Games Fencers at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Asian Games medalists in fencing Medalists at the 2014 Asian Games Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Summer World University Games medalists in fencing FISU World University Games gold medalists for South Korea FISU World University Games silver medalists for South Korea FISU World University Games bronze medalists for South Korea South Korean Buddhists Medalists at the 2011 Summer Universiade Medalists at the 2013 Summer Universiade Left-handed fencers 21st-century South Korean sportswomen