Contact Lens-Less Judoka Gets Bronze

South Korea’s Jeong Gyeong-mi, right, cries after defeating Edinanci Silva of Brazil to win a bronze medal in the women’s 78-kilogram judo competition in Beijing, Thursday. / Joint Press Corps

By Kim Hyun-cheol
Staff Reporter

Female judoka Jeong Gyeong-mi fought with blurry vision in her two most important bouts in Beijing, but earned South Korea's first Olympic medal in the women's part of the sport in eight years.

The 23-year-old athlete had trouble with her contact lenses early in the 78-kilogram semifinals. One fell out twice, forcing her to fight without it. Her counterpart, Yalennis Castillo of Cuba, who kept targeting the legs of the troubled Jeong, made it to the final on points.

In the bronze medal match, Jeong again fought without contacts but defeated Edinanci Silva of Brazil by ippon.

"I have seriously distorted vision. And it was even more vexing to play with one lens only,'' Jeong said of the semifinals. "So I chose to go without them in the bronze match.''

The victory was a boost to South Korean female judokas, who have suffered a fall from grace after going home empty-handed in 2004.

Introduced in the 1992 Barcelona Games, women's judo had brought South Korea a string of medals. Kim Mi-jung (72 kilograms) took the country's first gold in Barcelona, and Cho Min-sun (66 kilograms) followed in Atlanta four years later.

The medal streak continued at the 2000 Sydney Olympics with three bronze medals but was snapped in Athens in 2004. The women's judo team also failed to win anything at the 2005 World Championships in Egypt.

Jeong was the savior for her country at last year's worlds in Brazil, winning the only bronze in women's categories.

In Beijing Thursday, she said she feels sorry over the result because a better result could have raised public interest in women's judo in South Korea, which is overshadowed by the men's competition. "I did want to win the gold medal and get noticed," Jeong said.

Still the ambitious judoka said she will compete at the next Olympics, saying, "My aim is a gold in London in 2012."

hckim@koreatimes.co.kr

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