Kim Ha-yun wins bronze in women's judo
Kim Ha-yun of South Korea celebrates her win over Kayra Ozdemir of Turkiye in the bronze medal match of the women's +78-kilogram judo event at the Paris Olympics at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris, Aug. 2. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul
Kim Ha-yun earned a bronze medal in women's judo at the Paris Olympics on Friday, after battling her way through the repechage.
Kim, the world No. 4 in the women's +78 kilograms, defeated third-ranked Kayra Ozdemir of Turkiye in the bronze medal contest at Champ-de-Mars Arena in Paris.
Kim had earlier lost in the quarterfinals but then won a match in the repechage round to reach one of two bronze medal matches.
And then Kim defeated Ozdemir by scoring two "waza-ari," or a half point, near the end of the four-minute contest.
She earned the first waza-ari with "uchi-mata," or an inner-thigh reaping throw, and then finished off Ozdemir with "kesa-gatame," or a shoulder hold. Kim maintained her hold for 10 seconds to earn the match-winning score.
Kim's is the second women's judo medal for South Korea in Paris, after Huh Mimi won silver in the 57kg division earlier in the week.
Kim said afterward she was inspired by Huh's performance. Huh even let Kim touch her silver medal for good luck.
"I went to her room to congratulate her, and she showed me her medal," Kim said. "When I touched it, I felt like I got some positive energy from that."
Kim said her goal was to bring South Korea its first women's judo gold since 1996.
"I came here with that one goal in mind," she said. "I will try to win the gold at the next Olympics." (Yonhap)