(22 July 1996; Day 3)
"If Ki does well, I do well...I believe we are guided by the same spirit," said a reflective CHO Min-Sun (KOR) immediately following her being awarded the gold medal in the women's middleweight judo division.
The "Ki" she was referring to is JEON Ki-Young, also of Korea and also a gold medalist in today's men's middleweight competition. Past performances of these two would indicate that there may be some truth in what she says.
It all seems to have started three years ago when they both took home gold at the 1993 IJF World Judo Championships. Then they both medaled at the Paris Invitational Tournament later that same year. Again the "spirit" carried them both to the gold at the 1995 World Championships.
Whether it's the "spirit" or not, they both demonstrated a great deal of strength and technique today in their "Golden-Double." CHO, a 24-year-old graduate of the Korean National University of Physical Education, attained her bachelor of arts in physical education in 1995. She has been a member of the Korean National Team for the past 11 years.
Scoring three straight ippons in the early going, she defeated Roscileia CAMPOS of Brazil with just 1:35 gone in the match. Her second round match against WANG Xianbo of China saw a near-instant replay, this time with 1:22 remaining. CHO's third straight ippon came against highly touted Claudia ZWIERS of the Netherlands.
Her strength and agility really paid off this time, taking only 8 seconds to dispose of ZWIERS and advance to the finals. Facing Aneta SZCZEPANSKA of Poland for the gold, the anxiety and stress in this level of competition seemed to affect both athletes. Both appeared tired in the early minutes of the match when suddenly, with just 18 seconds remaining, CHO struck Olympic gold using a technique called a waza-ari-aw-ippon (a move that is secondary only to a match-winning ippon).
JEON Ki-Young of Korea spirit was indeed lifted skyward when he too garnered Olympic gold medal. JEON established himself early as a medal contender by taking out Mark HUIZINGA (NED) in the second round He went on to defeat Abolo BIWOLE (CMR) in his second match of the day. His quarterfinal match-up came against Yosvanne DESPAGNE of Cuba. A quick win here with an ippon with 1:05 remaining set up the finale.
Armenia BAGDASAROV (UZB) became JEON's last obstacle
in his quest for international sport's highest honor. This match
proved to be difficult but not impossible for JEON and when the
dust settled Korea had its second gold of the Middleweight division
of Olympic Judo competition. Final results: Men's 86 kg --
Gold: JEON Ki-Young (KOR); Silver: BAGDASAROV, Armen (UZB); Bronze:
SPITTKA, Marko (GER), HUIZINGA, Mark (NED). Women's 66kg -- Gold:
CHO Min-Sun (KOR); Silver: SZCEPANSKA, Aneta (POL); Bronze: WANG
Xianbo (CHN); ZWIERS, Claudia (NED).
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Bill Painter.
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| The volunteer staff of the 1996 Olympic Games totaled 50,152. They worked an estimated 850,000 shifts. |