Li Hak-son

Li Hak-son (born August 12, 1969 ) is a North Korean wrestler . He became a flyweight free style Olympic champion in 1992 .

Career

Details of his origins and sporting development in North Korea are not known about Li Hak-son. At the international championships, in which he participated between 1989 and 1993, he always started in free style. At a height of 1.60 meters, it was very light and initially started in the light flyweight , the weight class up to 48 kg and from 1992 in the flyweight, the weight class up to 52 kg body weight.

The first international championship in which he participated was the Asian Championship in 1988 in Islamabad. He won there in light flyweight before Kim Jong-shin from South Korea and Rahmaty Nadar from Iran . In 1989 he competed at the World Championships in Martigny / Switzerland . He came in second behind Kim Jong-shin.

At the Asian Games in Beijing in 1990 he was not used by the North Korean Wrestling Association.

He did not contest the next international championship until 1992. He was again Asian champion in Tehran in April of this year , but in the flyweight division. He relegated Majid Torkan from Iran, Kim Sun-hak from South Korea and Kazunari Shimizu from Japan to their places. He also competed in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona . There he won the flyweight victory over Joe Oziti, Nigeria , Tserenbaataryn Tsogtbajar , Mongolia , Shane Stannett, New Zealand , Majid Torkan, Ahmet Orel, Turkey, the multiple world champion Valentin Jordanow , Bulgaria and Larry Zeke Jones from the United States and became Olympic champion .

In 1993 the Asian championship in Ulan Bator started. He came in second behind Luwsan-Ischiin Sergelenbaatar from Mongolia.

Like all North Korean wrestlers of those years, Li Hak-son suffered from the fact that his country boycotted international championships several times for political reasons (e.g. the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul, the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul and various world championships).

International success

year	space	competition	Weight class	Results
1988	1.	Asian Championship in Islamabad	Half flying	before Kim Jong-shin, South Korea and Rahmaty Nadar, Iran
1989	2.	World Cup in Martigny / Switzerland	Half flying	behind Kim Jong-shin, in front of Gnel Medschlumjan, Russia and Ilyas Sükrüglu, Turkey
1992	1.	Asian Championship in Tehran	To fly	in front of Majid Torkan, Iran, Kim Sun-hak, South Korea and Kazunari Shimizu, Japan
1992	gold	OS in Barcelona	To fly	after victories over Joe Oziti, Nigeria, Tserenbaataryn Tsogtbajar , Mongolia, Shane Stannett, New Zealand, Majid Torkan, Ahmet Orel, Turkey, Valentin Jordanow, Bulgaria and Larry Zeke Jones, USA
1993	2.	Asian Championship in Ulan Bator	To fly	behind Luwsan – Ischiin Sergelenbaatar , Mongolia, in front of Nasser Zeinal Nia, Iran and Maulen Mamirow , Kazakhstan

Explanations

• all free style competitions
• OS = Olympic Games, WM = World Championship
• Half fly weight, weight class up to 48 kg, fly weight, up to 52 kg body weight

swell

• Trade journal Der Ringer
• "Foeldeak Wrestling Database" website

Web links

• Li Hak-son in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Korean. Li is the family name here, Hak-son is the first name.