KIM Junghwan

General
RETURN FROM RETIREMENT
He announced his retirement from the national team after the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, and began working as a coach for the Korean Sports Promotion Foundation. However, he decided to return to international competition the following year and has suggested he might continue competing until after the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, People's Republic of China. "I thought that I accomplished everything as a fencer after the 2018 Asian Games. However, I was then haunted by feelings of emptiness. Therefore, I decided to return to competitive action while I was still able to show my abilities for at least one more year. Although the 2020 Olympics was my ultimate goal, due to the postponement, there will then only be one year to go until the 2022 Asian Games." (mk.co.kr, 22 Apr 2021; mdonga.com, 15 Apr 2020; yna.co.kr, 29 Apr 2019)

SANCTION
He was suspended from all competitions for one year after he tested positive for the banned substance hydrochlorothiazide at the 2005 World Cup event in Seoul, Republic of Korea. He argued unsuccessfully that the positive test was a result of sleeping pills he had taken to treat insomnia. "I was going to quit the sport, and travel to other countries. But my father, who passed away in 2009, kept persuading me to carry on." (Central European Journal of Sport Sciences and Medicine Vol.13 No.1, 2016, 07 Jun 2017; joins.com, 04 Aug 2012; donga.com, 25 May 2007)

His bronze medal in individual sabre at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro made him the first male Korean fencer to win an Olympic medal in individual sabre, and the first male Korean fencer to win more than one Olympic medal in any fencing discipline or event, having previously won gold in team sabre at the 2012 Games in London. (SportsDeskOnline, 06 May 2021; imnews.imbc.com, 17 Aug 2016)

His gold in team sabre at the 2012 Olympic Games in London also saw him become a member of the first Korean men's team, along with Bon-Gil Gu, Eun-Seok Oh and Woo-Young Won, to win an Olympic medal in fencing. (SportsDeskOnline, 10 May 2021)