We introduced the statistics, the almost impossible feat and the question in our first article in the series, which can be found here:
https://www.ijf.org/news/show/151-olympic-champions-tokyo-to-tokyo
A reminder of the question:
It could be said that to be in the company of an Olympic judo champion is to be presented with someone who has reached an absolute pinnacle, a ceiling which cannot be surpassed; there is nowhere further to ascend in the world of sport. We often find Olympic champions speaking with freedom and certainty, unafraid to share an opinion, speaking of their lives and journeys with confidence. For many we feel there is peace, and that can be magnetic and inspiring.
So the question is, did they become Olympic champion because of that character or did they become that person having won the Olympic gold medal?
“First of all, it was because of my character that I could get that medal! In my case it’s very special because it was the first Olympics for women. In Korea, when I was young, I didn’t even know what judo was. Sport was not a priority for anyone but I loved all sport. I eventually started judo at 17 at high school.
I thought I might like track and field. I really liked running and so started athletics but one day in middle school my teacher told me that I was not so good at it and that I wouldn’t be good in the future either but he didn’t have the heart to say stop and I enjoyed it. I liked dynamic sports better though and he suggested that from all the track and field events, maybe shot put would be better. Because of that I became very strong; I did a lot of weight training. I became good at it and thanks to that I had access to the specialist sport school. I was 16. While there I found that some students were doing really active training and I liked it. I saw how much they trained and that’s how I found out about judo.
One day some other students had a warm up game with the judo athletes in a wrestling style and I was watching. I told the teacher I didn’t like the judo but maybe I was strong enough to win this wrestling game. When I was 17 women’s judo was only just emerging in Korea. I fell in love with the weight training they did but not the judo itself. I liked how they trained. The teacher told me it wasn’t too late to change to judo, even at 17, because women’s judo was so young in the country."
"I decided to start judo just at the time when the school’s judo team had lost a competition. They had been punished by only being allowed to do a lot of physical training. I saw their hard training and wanted to join immediately. The school director said I couldn’t change sport but I pushed; I insisted because I wanted that hard training. The track and field teacher told me the director would leave and then I would be able to change.
There was 6am running and other morning exercise. I saw that the judoka did that really intensely. I joined their hard training without doing any actual judo even before I was allowed to join officially. So then I was 18, it was 1987, 8th March 8th, and I went back to the judo coach but his answer was that he doesn’t accept women judoka. I was following him around that day asking to be accepted and eventually he said yes.
After 6 months I won a gold medal at a regional competition in Seoul and then silver at the national championships so everyone said I was talented. Finally speaking though, I didn’t really know judo. I just knew that if my opponents back hit the ground I would win. I had just one technique!
In 1988 Korea hosted the Olympic Games and I was selected as a training partner for the national team for the women’s demonstration event. With that team I really learned how to do judo. At the time I was really unhappy with how the training partners were treated so I decided I would be a real national team member instead. In 1989 I won the Korean trials and was selected to join the national team.
Here I should interject a small anecdote about my character, to stay in touch with the question. At high school it was recommended that I do handball due to my body and movements. The reason I said no was that I didn’t want to share the medals with a whole team. Judo is an individual sport and I wanted to do an individual sport!
Back to the judo story; there was then a trials to go to the world championships but I had sustained an inury in one shoulder. I couldn’t move it but I insisted, against advice, on competing. The doctor allowed it because it was just one match and I had an injection for the pain. The opponent’s coach was the national team coach and so they had personal connections. That coach told the opponent that I had a bad shoulder and they should use that against me. That made me angry and I used it as the fuel to fight even harder and I won. I went to the 1989 worlds for Korea. I had only spent two years in judo by then and was already at the worlds. I was competing in big event and had a bronze at the Asian Games but every other event I just lost. I lost by ippon against Yoko Tanabe at the Asian Games in Beijing.
I was always trying to work out why I lost. In 1991 I went to Bulgaria for an open competition. At that time the food was really bad. My husband, who was world champion in 1989, was with me. The food was really terrible and I asked him how it was possible he could eat it. He said that I eat for taste and he eats for calories, so I started to change my thinking. Small things can make a big difference. I was able to adjust.
Sometimes when people lose, someone else says ‘oh don’t worry you can win next time.’ This means it’s ok to lose sometimes but I didn’t accept that. I was there in Bulgaria in a bottom bunk and I stuck a note above me saying ‘I made it,’ always telling myself I must have gold. I looked at it and imagined it. From the German Open in 1991 on, I then always won a gold medal.
"In the 1991 world final I met Tanabe again. It was the first time a Korean woman had gone to a world final. Already, with just that, everyone was congratulating me. They were happy for the medal, any medal. I felt comfort from that and I had no nerves or stress. I was facing Tanabe again and I was really just going to try, try to do my best. In that event I defeated Tanabe and won gold but Tanabe thought it was just a mistake and that she would beat me again next time. However, I met her in Paris and did it again. I have a philosophy that I can never lose against someone I already beat. I will train in order for that to never happen."
"I enjoy popularity and spectator responses. I love Paris with the cheers and energy. In Paris, for example, they cheer for all good judo regardless of country and I loved that.
The main reason I could become successful was that I really, really hated losing in any kind of way. I have to win in every way. When it comes to main factors of success such as mental, physical, technical, it is the mental aspect first and then the physical, in that order or importance. I combined these two parts to make me Olympic champion.”
Did winning an Olympic gold medal change you?
“Nothing changed. Whatever I do, even though I can’t fight for another Olympic gold medal, I will be the best at it. I was born like this. Many social opportunities arose. like being selected for refereeing, came about because of the medal, but I didn’t change as a person. I was an Olympic referee in Athens. Whatever I do, I must make it perfect and so even with refereeing I went to the Olympic Games. Within me, I kept the same attitude; I wasn’t afraid of scoring as an Olympic referee, even though there were corner judges. I did my best in everything and continue to do so.
People have the power of self-rehabilitation. With a strong goal in your mind, you can fix things and rehabilitate the body in the best way. Anyone can teach techniques to athletes but not everyone can manage their mentality. With the young generation it’s hard but this is what I want to pass on.”
Mi-Jung Kim is now the women’s head coach for the Korean national team.