Ri Ho-jun (, born 1 December 1946) is a North Korean retired

sports shooter Sport is a physical activity or game, often competitive and organized, that maintains or improves physical ability and skills. Sport may provide enjoyment to participants and entertainment to spectators. The number of participants in a par ...

and Olympic Champion. He won a gold medal in the

50 metre rifle prone 50 meter rifle prone (formerly known as one of four free rifle disciplines) is an International Shooting Sport Federation event consisting of 60 shots from the prone position with a .22 Long Rifle (5.6 mm) caliber rifle. The sport is base ...

event at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

in Munich, the country's first ever Olympic gold medal. In August 1972 he was awarded the title of

Merited Master of Sport of the USSR Unified All-Russian Sports Classification () is a system which regulates the Russian physical education system requirements for both athletes and coaches. History In the Soviet period Unified Sports Classification System of the USSR () exist ...

. He also competed at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

and the

1980 Summer Olympics The 1980 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXII Olympiad () and officially branded as Moscow 1980 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 19 July to 3 August 1980 in Moscow, Soviet Union, in present-day Russ ...

. Ri also taught shooting sports to North Korea's future leader,

Kim Jong-il Kim Jong Il (born Yuri Kim; 16 February 1941 or 1942 – 17 December 2011) was a North Korean politician who was the second supreme leader of North Korea from the death of his father Kim Il Sung in 1994 until his death in 2011, when he was ...

. Ri later became his closest bodyguard.

References

External links

* 1946 births Living people North Korean male sport shooters ISSF rifle shooters Olympic shooters for North Korea Olympic gold medalists for North Korea Shooters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1976 Summer Olympics Shooters at the 1980 Summer Olympics Olympic medalists in shooting Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Asian Games medalists in shooting Honoured Masters of Sport of the USSR Shooters at the 1974 Asian Games Shooters at the 1978 Asian Games People's Athletes Asian Games gold medalists for North Korea Asian Games silver medalists for North Korea Medalists at the 1974 Asian Games Medalists at the 1978 Asian Games Bodyguards {{NorthKorea-sportshooting-bio-stub