This is the first installment of a new series Judo Legends in which we will look into the lives and careers of legendary Judokas from around the world. I will try to focus on the legends that have made a huge impact on the sport, but may not be well known in the English speaking, western world, so that we can truly appreciate how global Judo is. I hope you enjoy it, and please stay tuned for more!

The Judoka faces off his opponent. He’s a right-handed player, and his opponent naturally grabs his left sleeve to nullify his attacks. Our Judoka tries to free his right arm by pulling away. Once, twice, but his can’t free his arm as his opponent’s grip is too strong. Then, suddenly…

If you have been following and practicing Judo for a while, you’re probably familiar with this sleek move, the one-handed Tai-otoshi. Our first Judo legend, Lee Won-hee, was a true master at it, and routinely bested tough opponents with this very move. A gifted technician, Lee had a wide range of moves besides his notorious one-handed Tai-otoshi. He would launch his opponents with his powerful Uchi-mata,

dominate them with his Morote-gari and Te-guruma:

surprise them with his sneaky Tomoe-nage

and blow past them with his lightning-speed Seoi-nage.

Impressive right? Now let’s take a look at Lee’s equally impressive Judo career.

Mr. Ippon

Lee had a relatively late start in Judo compared to other competitors when he was a fourth grader. But according to his father, he had already set his eyes on the Olympic gold medal. With his high level of concentration and competitiveness, he quickly caught up to other kids and started winning local tournaments.

He soon was recruited to play for the prestigious Yong In University, and won the Asian Championships in 2003 at the age of 21. He also went on to win the World Championships later that year. It was around this time when earned the nickname “Mr. Ippon”, as he went on a 48-win streak in all competitions, of which 43 were ippons.

Olympic Champion

Lee easily qualified for the Olympics in Athens in 2004. The hype around him was out of control in Korea at that time, to the point where some journalists were writing about various scenarios on how he would go on to win the gold medal. Lee recently said in an interview he was under immense pressure due to this hype, which was worsened by the fact that his condition was not the best going into the Games due to overtraining.

His first opponent was Anatoly Laryukov from Belarus. Due to his unorthodox style, he was known to be a tough opponent for Korean players who prefer a more traditional style of Judo, and he certainly didn’t disappoint. Lee struggled throughout the match to get through Laryukov, trading a yuko and a koka. With less than a minute left in the match, Lee finally was able to throw him for a yuko, advancing to the next round.

Next up was Jimmy Pedro from the USA. The two had a history: Pedro had ended Lee’s winning streak the year before. As expected, it was a close match, Lee winning a waza-ari early on, and Pedro responding by winning a yuko. Then, with less than a minute and a half left, Lee threw Pedro with a sleeve Seoi-nage for an ippon.

Lee faced Gennadiy Bilodid, the European champion at that time who is the father of the current world champion Daria Bilodid. Unexpectedly, this match ended rather quickly, as Lee caught Bilodid with his signature one-handed Tai-otoshi about 30 seconds into the match.

Lee now advanced to semi-finals and faced Victor Bivol of Moldova. Lee was aggressive from the beginning, but Bivol caught him with a Seoi-otoshi for a waza-ari, almost beating Lee in an upset. However, in the next exchange, Lee caught Bivol with his one-handed Tai-otoshi for an ippon.

Lee now had one more match before the gold medal. He had to face off Vitaly Makarov, a formidable foe who was a former world champion himself. Makarov was a talented Judoka who possessed both athletic prowess and technical abilities. As a result, Lee had to be quicker to attack so as to prevent Makarov from playing his game. This strategy worked, and Lee won a yuko against him in the middle of the match. And with seconds left to the match,

With that ippon, Lee became the Olympic champion.

Grand Slammer

Lee’s career did not stop at the Olympics. He continued to fight in the international circuit in search of his next accomplishment, the Grand Slam. The Grand Slam usually refers to winning the four major competitions in a sport. For Judo, it was the World Championships, Olympics and two major continental competitions. Lee had already won the World Championship, Asian Championships and the Olympics, and he only needed to win the Asian Games to complete the Grand Slam. His chance came in 2006.

Lee entered the Asian Games Doha in 2006 and cruised through his competitions. In the final, he faced Masahiro Takamatsu. An accomplished Judoka in his own right, Takamatsu relentlessly attacked Lee. However, after a series of tense exchanges, Lee once again threw him with a one-handed Tai-otoshi.

With that Lee Won-hee became the first Korean Judoka to achieve the Grand Slam.

Retirement

With his win at Doha in 2006, many expected Lee to qualify for the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Unfortunately, in 2007, Lee decided to go through surgery to fix his chronic right ankle injury and spent most of the year recovering. In the meantime, Korea saw a new rising star in Wang Ki-chun, who used to be Lee’s training partner up until 2006. In 2008, Wang, 20 years old at that time, was already ahead of Lee in points for the spot in the Olympics, having beat Lee in the second national team selection tournament. However, Lee wasn’t far behind; he just needed to win the last national team selection tournament before the Olympics to win the spot for his second gold medal.

The last national team selection tournament was held a few months before the Beijing Olympic Games. Lee needed a win in this tournament. However, with some controversies in refereeing, Wang managed to beat Lee in overtime, securing his spot to Beijing. Lee was definitely devastated, but didn’t dwell on it. He worked as a TV commentator for the Beijing Olympics, cheering his rival Wang on. He is now a professor at his alma mater Yong In University and also a coach for the Korean Women’s Judo National Team.

Judo Legends - Lee Won-hee

Mr. Ippon

Olympic Champion

Grand Slammer

Retirement