Kim Un-guk

Korean spelling
Chosŏn'gŭl	김은국
Hancha	金恩國
Revised Romanization	Gim Eun-guk
McCune- Reischauer	Kim Ŭnguk
See also : Korean name

Kim Un-guk (born October 28, 1988 in Pyongyang ) is a North Korean weightlifter . He became an Olympic featherweight champion in 2012 .

Career

Kim Un-guk belongs to the April 25th Pyongyang Sports Club and starts at a height of 1.58 meters in featherweight, the weight class up to 62 kg body weight.

In September 2010 he was used by the North Korean Weightlifting Association at the World Championships in Antalya . As a previously unknown athlete in the weightlifting scene, he immediately won the world title there with a duel of 320 kg (147–173). He referred the Chinese Zhang Jie , who reached 315 kg (141-174) and Erol Bilgin from Turkey, who came to 314 kg (143-171), to the next places. Two months later, Zhang Jie took revenge at the Asian Games in Guangzhou. He lifted 321 kg (145-176) there in a duel, relegating Kim Un-guk, 317 kg (147-170) to 2nd place.

At the Asian Championships 2011 in Tongling / China, Zhang Jie won again. With a duel of 317 kg (147-170), he referred Kim Un-guk, who only lifted 306 kg (140-166), on the 2nd place. Zhang Jie also proved to be the stronger at the 2011 World Cup in Paris . He managed there in a duel 321 kg (145-176) and landed in front of Kim Un-guk, who came in a duel to 320 kg (150-170). Kim Un-guk had two failed attempts with 173 kg in this competition after a successful 170 kg in the push, which cost him the world title in a duel.

Kim Un-guk and Zhang Jie also met at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. This time the Korean turned out to be the clearly better lifter. He achieved in London with 327 kg (153-174) a new world record in a duel, which earned him the gold medal. Zhang Jie wasn't in good shape in London. He reached there with only one valid attempt in snatching only 314 kg (140-174) in a duel. With this performance he even fell out of the medal ranks and took the ungrateful 4th place, because Óscar Figueroa from Colombia with 317 kg (140-177) and Eko Yuli Irawan from Indonesia with 317 kg (145-172) were still ahead of him.

In June 2013 Kim Un-guk was also Asian featherweight champion in Astana. A duel of 315 kg (145-170) was enough for him to secure victory against Farchat Charki from Kazakhstan, who reached 303 kg (138-165). At the 2013 World Championships in Wrocław, China deployed a new athlete. It was Chen Lijun . Kim Un-guk scored 320 kg (150–170) in a duel in Wrocław. Chen Lijun reached 321 kg (146-175) and relegated the North Korean to 2nd place. The main reason for this was again that Kim Un-guk had two failed attempts in pushing with 173 kg, while Chen Lijun pushed 175 kg and thus caught up with his deficit.

At the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon / South Korea, Kim Un-guk was in excellent shape. He won there in the weight class up to 62 kg with the duel performance of 332 kg (154-178) in front of Chen Lijun from China, 321 kg (143-178) and Eko Yuli Irawan from Indonesia, 308 kg (142-166).

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
2010	1.	World Cup in Antalya	feather	with 320 kg (147–173), ahead of Zhang Jie, China, 316 kg (141–174) and Erol Bilgin, Turkey, 314 kg (143–171)
2010	2.	Asia Games in Guangzhou / China	feather	with 317 kg (147–170), behind Zhang Jie, 321 kg (145–176) and Eko Yuli Irawan, Indonesia, 311 kg (141–170)
2011	2.	Asian championship in Tongling / China	feather	with 306 kg (140–166), behind Zhang Jie, 317 kg (147–170)
2011	2.	World Cup in Paris	feather	with 320 kg (150–170), behind Zhang Jie, 321 kg (145–176), in front of Eko Yuli Irawan, 310 kg (139–171)
2012	gold	OS in London	feather	with 327 kg (153–174), before Oscar Figueroa, Colombia, 317 kg (140–177), Eko Yuli Irawan, 317 kg (145–172) and Zhang Jie, 314 kg (140–174)
2013	1.	Asian Championship in Astana	feather	with 315 kg (145–170), before Farchat Charki, Kazakhstan, 303 kg (138–165) and Huang Minhao, China, 298 kg (140–158)
2013	2.	World Cup in Wrocław	feather	with 320 kg (150-170), behind Chen Lijun, China, 321 kg (146-175), in front of Oscar Figueroa, 316 kg (139-177)
2014	1.	Asian Games in Incheon / South Korea	up to 62 kg	with 332 kg (154–178), before Chen Lijun, 321 kg (143–178) and Eko Yuli Irawan, 308 kg (142–166)

World Cup individual medals

• World Cup gold medals: 2010 / Tearing - 2011 / Tearing - 2013 / Tearing
• World Cup silver medals: 2010 / pushing
• World Cup bronze medals: 2011 / pushing

Explanations

• all competitions in single combat, consisting of snatching and pushing
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship
• Feather weight, weight class up to 62 kg body weight

literature

• Athletics magazine

Web links

• Kim Un-guk in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Kim Un-guk at the Institute for Applied Training Science
• Website www.polska-sztanga.pl
• Kim Un-guk breaks 153 kg (new Olympic record) at the 2012 Olympic Games in London (on YouTube )

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Kim is the family name here, Un-guk is the first name.