Kim Ji-yeon (Korean김지연; Korean pronunciation: [kim.dʑi.jʌn] or [kim] [tɕi.jʌn]; born 12 March 1988) is a South Korean left-handed sabre fencer.[1]

Kim Ji-yeon
김지연
Personal information
Born (1988-03-12) 12 March 1988 (age 36)
Busan, South Korea
Height1.65 m (5 ft 5 in)
Weight57 kg (126 lb)
Sport
Country South Korea
WeaponSabre
Handleft-handed
Years on national team2009–present
National coachHan Joo-yeol
ClubIksan City Government
Head coachLee Soo-geun
FIE rankingcurrent ranking

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. 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

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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 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 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 Grand Prix,[2] her first international tournament of the 2012 season. Next month, Kim reached her first individual sabre final at the Antalya World Cup in Turkey.[3] In May 2012, Kim became a semi-finalist at the Bologna World Cup in Italy[4] and the Tianjin Grand Prix in China[5] in a row. Her success in these tournaments increased her FIE ranking to 5th before the start of the 2012 Olympics.

2012 Olympics

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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.[6]

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.[7]

Medal Record

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Olympic Games

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Year Location Event Position
2012   London, United Kingdom Individual Women's Sabre 1st[8]
2021   Tokyo, Japan Team Women's Sabre 3rd[9]

World Championship

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Year Location Event Position
2013   Budapest, Hungary Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[10]
2017   Leipzig, Germany Team Women's Sabre 2nd[11]
2018   Wuxi, China Team Women's Sabre 3rd[12]
2019   Budapest, Hungary Team Women's Sabre 3rd[13]

Asian Championship

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Year Location Event Position
2011   Seoul, South Korea Team Women's Sabre 1st[14]
2012   Wakayama, Japan Team Women's Sabre 1st[15]
2013   Shanghai, China Individual Women's Sabre 1st[16]
2013   Shanghai, China Team Women's Sabre 1st[17]
2014   Suwon, South Korea Individual Women's Sabre 1st[18]
2014   Suwon, South Korea Team Women's Sabre 2nd[19]
2015   Singapore Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[20]
2015   Singapore Team Women's Sabre 1st[21]
2016   Wuxi, China Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[22]
2016   Wuxi, China Team Women's Sabre 2nd[23]
2017   Hong Kong, China Individual Women's Sabre 1st[24]
2017   Hong Kong, China Team Women's Sabre 2nd[25]
2018   Bangkok, Thailand Individual Women's Sabre 1st[26]
2018   Bangkok, Thailand Team Women's Sabre 2nd[27]
2019   Tokyo, Japan Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[28]
2019   Tokyo, Japan Team Women's Sabre 2nd[29]
2022   Seoul, South Korea Team Women's Sabre 1st[30]

Grand Prix

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Date Location Event Position
2011-03-26   Moscow, Russia Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[31]
2012-02-10   Orléans, France Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[32]
2012-05-19   Tianjin, China Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[33]
2013-05-25   Tianjin, China Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[34]
2014-01-31   Orléans, France Individual Women's Sabre 2nd[35]
2014-05-24   Beijing, China Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[36]
2016-12-16   Cancún, Mexico Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[37]
2018-05-12   Moscow, Russia Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[38]
2019-04-26   Seoul, South Korea Individual Women's Sabre 2nd[39]

World Cup

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Date Location Event Position
2012-03-09   Antalya, Turkey Individual Women's Sabre 2nd[40]
2012-05-04   Bologna, Italy Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[41]
2013-03-15   Antalya, Turkey Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[42]
2013-05-03   Chicago, Illinois Individual Women's Sabre 1st[43]
2016-02-19   Sint-Niklaas, Belgium Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[44]
2016-05-13   Foshan, China Individual Women's Sabre 2nd[45]
2016-11-18   Orléans, France Individual Women's Sabre 2nd[46]
2017-01-27   New York, New York Individual Women's Sabre 2nd[47]
2017-02-17   Athens, Greece Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[48]
2019-03-08   Athens, Greece Individual Women's Sabre 3rd[49]

References

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  1. ^ "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  2. ^ "GP de Órleans (França) – 10 e 11/02/2012 (Sabre Feminino)" (in Portuguese). ClickSports. 20 February 2012. Archived from the original on 27 July 2018. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Ukrainian fencer Kharlan wins gold medal at Antalya World Cup". Ukrinform. 12 March 2012. Archived from the original on 19 April 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  4. ^ "Velikaya wins world saber fencing title". Voice of Russia. 6 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Zagunis regains No. 1 spot with Grand Prix gold". NBC Sports. 21 May 2012. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  6. ^ "Kim rises from underdog to champ". AsiaOne. 3 August 2012. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  7. ^ "Result: South Korea's Kim Jiyeon wins individual sabre final". Sports Mole. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  8. ^ "INTERNATIONAL FENCING FEDERATION - The International Fencing Federation official website". FIE.org. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
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