Kim Ki-hoon (born July 14, 1967) is a retired short-track speed skater and the first gold medalist in the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

for

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 ...

. Kim is a three-time Olympic Champion and 1992 Overall World Champion.

Career

Kim first garnered attention when he participated in the short-track demonstration event at the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

, winning the gold medal in the

1500 metres The 1500 metres or 1500-metre run is the foremost middle distance track event in athletics. The distance has been contested at the Summer Olympics since 1896 and the World Championships in Athletics since 1983. It is equivalent to 1.5 kilomet ...

. Kim swept all the gold medals available in short-track speed skating at the

1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Albertville '92 (Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile '92''), were a winter multi-sport event held from 8 to 23 February 1992 in and aroun ...

Albertville Albertville (; Franco-Provençal, Arpitan: ''Arbèrtvile'') is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Savoie Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. It is best k ...

, winning won the gold medal in the

1000 metres The 1000 metres, 1 kilometer run, or 1K run is an uncommon middle-distance running event in track and field competitions. It consists of two and a half laps around an outdoor 400 m track, or five laps around an indoor 200 m track. The 1000 ...

in a world record time of 1:30.76, and claiming another gold in the 5000 metre relay in a world record time of 7:14.02. Kim went on to win his first world overall champion at the 1992 World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. At the championships, Kim captured all five individual gold medals (overall, 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, 3000 m), which made him become the second skater to sweep all five individual world championship gold medals available (Canada's

Sylvie Daigle Sylvie Daigle (born December 1, 1962) is a Canadian speed skater. She is a member of the Canadian short track relay team that won gold at the 1992 Winter Olympics and silver at the 1994 Winter Olympics. She is also a five-time O ...

first achieved the feat at the 1983 World Championships), and the first male one. Kim Ki-hoon defended his gold medal at the 1994 Winter Olympics in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

, winning the

with a time of 1:34.57.

Post career

In 2002, Kim was appointed as a coach of the Korean national short-track speed-skating team. He participated in the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

as the head coach of the South Korean national team. Kim Ki-hoon is known as the leader who helped

Viktor An Viktor An (; born Ahn Hyun-soo () on November 23, 1985),. is a South Korean-born Russian Short track speed skating, short-track speed skating coach and retired short-track speed skater. With a total of eight Olympic medals, six gold and two bro ...

(Ahn Hyun-soo) to become a world-class player. In addition, the Korean national team won two gold, four silver and two bronze medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, while he headed the team. However, in March 2010, the match-fixing between the two Olympic medalists, Lee Jung-su and Kwak Yoon-gy, and the deal for the right to participate in the Olympics and the World Championships became a big issue in the Korean society, and they received a three-years suspension from the Korea Sports Council after it was confirmed that it took place under the instructions and supervision of the coaches. The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee did not pay Kim the reward that successfully led the Olympics at the time. In August 2012, Kim filed a lawsuit with the

Korean Sport & Olympic Committee The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee (, KSOC) is the National Olympic Committee of Republic of Korea (competing as Korea) for the Olympic Games movement and inbound sports issue. It is a non-profit organization that selects players and team ...

and won a court lawsuit and was able to receive his Olympic reward three years later. He was the head of the

Gangneung Gangneung (; ) is a list of cities in South Korea, municipal city in Gangwon, South Korea, Gangwon province, on the east coast of South Korea. It has a population of 213,658 (as of 2017).Gangneung City (2003)Population & Households. Retrieved Ja ...

Athletes' Village during the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. Kim is currently serving as a full professor at

Ulsan College Ulsan College () is a private college with two campuses in Ulsan, South Korea. The East Campus is in Dong-gu and the West Campus in Nam-gu. It was founded on 8 April 1960 as the Ulsan Industrial Technology Institute. Hyundai Heavy Industries i ...

References

External links

Kim Ki-hoon
at olympedia.org

at

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Ki-Hoon 1967 births Living people South Korean male short-track speed skaters Olympic short-track speed skaters for South Korea Olympic gold medalists for South Korea Olympic medalists in short-track speed skating Short-track speed skaters at the 1988 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 1992 Winter Olympics Short-track speed skaters at the 1994 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1992 Winter Olympics Medalists at the 1994 Winter Olympics Asian Games medalists in short-track speed skating Asian Games gold medalists for South Korea Asian Games silver medalists for South Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for South Korea Short-track speed skaters at the 1986 Asian Winter Games Short-track speed skaters at the 1990 Asian Winter Games Medalists at the 1986 Asian Winter Games Dankook University alumni Medalists at the 1990 Asian Winter Games South Korean male speed skaters Winter World University Games medalists in short-track speed skating FISU World University Games bronze medalists for South Korea Competitors at the 1989 Winter Universiade Competitors at the 1991 Winter Universiade South Korean Buddhists Olympic coaches World Short Track Speed Skating Championships medalists 20th-century South Korean sportsmen