Lee Ji-hyun (also ''Lee Ji-hyeon'', ; born March 10, 1982) is a South Korean former swimmer, who specialized in individual medley events. She represented her nation

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 ...

in two editions of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

(1996 and 2000), and also a top eight finalist in the 400 m individual medley at the

1998 Asian Games The 1998 Asian Games (), officially known as the 13th Asian Games () and the XIII Asiad,, or simply Bangkok 1998 (), were an Asian multi-sport event celebrated in Bangkok, Thailand from December 6 to 20, 1998, with 377 events in 36 sports and di ...

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

. Lee made her first South Korean team, as a fourteen-year-old teen, at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, swimming only in the women's 400 m individual medley. There, she fought off a sprint freestyle challenge from Hsieh Shu-tzu to invincibly dip the five-minute barrier for the sixth spot and twenty-eighth overall in the opening heat, finishing with a time of 4:59.52. At the

2000 Summer Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Lee qualified for the second time in the 400 m individual medley by clearing

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

B-cut of 4:48.76 from the Dong-A Swimming Championships in

Ulsan Ulsan (; ), officially the Ulsan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's seventh-largest metropolitan city and the eighth-largest city overall, with a population of over 1.1 million inhabitants. It is located in the south-east of the country, neighbo ...

. Swimming in the last of four heats, Lee came from behind at the final turn to edge out Malaysia's

Sia Wai Yen Sia Wai Yen (born 15 January 1984) is a Malaysian swimmer who specialised in long-distance freestyle and individual medley events. At the age of 16 she represented Malaysia at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She won four medals in two editions of the ...

with a robust freestyle kick for the seventh seed in 4:58.94, just ten seconds below her submitted entry standard. Lee failed to advance into the semifinals, as she placed twenty-third overall on the first day of prelims.

References

1982 births Living people South Korean female medley swimmers Olympic swimmers for South Korea Swimmers at the 1996 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 2000 Summer Olympics Swimmers from Gyeonggi Province Swimmers at the 1998 Asian Games Asian Games swimmers for South Korea 21st-century South Korean sportswomen 20th-century South Korean sportswomen {{SouthKorea-swimming-bio-stub