Li Gyong-hui (born July 10, 1972) is a retired

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

rhythmic gymnast Rhythmic gymnastics is a sport in which gymnasts perform individually or in groups on a floor with an apparatus: hoop, ball, clubs, ribbon and rope. The sport combines elements of gymnastics, dance and calisthenics; gymnasts must be strong, fle ...

and, after her defection, South Korean gymnastic coach. She competed for the

People's Republic of Korea The People's Republic of Korea (PRK; ) was a short-lived provisional government that was organized at the time of the surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of World War II. It was proclaimed on 6 September 1945, as Korea was being divi ...

in the rhythmic gymnastics all-around competition at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona. She was 17th in the qualification and advanced to the final. She placed 17th overall. In 2007, she

defected In politics, a defector is a person who gives up allegiance to one state in exchange for allegiance to another, changing sides in a way which is considered illegitimate by the first state. More broadly, defection involves abandoning a person, ca ...

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 ...

and became a gymnastic coach for South Korea.

Biography

Early life

Li Gyong-hui was born on July 10, 1972, in

Pyongyang Pyongyang () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is sometimes labeled as the "Capital of the Revolution" (). Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. Accordi ...

. Her father (who died in 2004) was a teacher who re-educated major party officials at the Kim Il Sung Higher Party School. She first started rhythmic gymnastics at age 11 because of her mom. Her father originally opposed the idea of making Li into a rhythmic gymnast as he wanted her to go to university and was concerned about her career as a gymnast hindering her academic achievements to go to university.

Defecting from North Korea

She defected from North Korea in 2007 and now has South Korean citizenship. She worked as a coach for the South Korean rhythmic gymnastics team until 2017. She gained spotlight in South Korea for her sexual assault lawsuit case against the former member of the South Korean gymnastics association.

References

1972 births Living people North Korean rhythmic gymnasts Gymnasts at the 1992 Summer Olympics Olympic gymnasts for North Korea South Korean people of North Korean origin South Korean sports coaches North Korean defectors FISU World University Games gold medalists for North Korea FISU World University Games silver medalists for North Korea Summer World University Games medalists in gymnastics Medalists at the 1991 Summer Universiade {{Rhythmic-gymnastics-bio-stub