LEE Daehoon

General
QUEST FOR OLYMPIC GOLD
He says the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo may be his final Games, and that he is targeting a gold medal after winning silver at the 2012 Games in London and bronze at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro. "I am preparing for this as if it is my last Olympics. Even if I fight in Paris 2024, I don't think I can get gold. When I heard the news about the postponement of the Games to 2021, it was not easy for me to stay focused. Now I feel grateful to have another year to prepare. I'm confident I can maintain my form until 2021, but I doubt whether my rivals will be able to do that. I have won multiple gold medals at the Asian Games and the world championships, but not gold at the Olympic Games, so I'm longing for it more than other athletes." (weekly.hankooki.com, 06 Jul 2020; worldtaekwondo.org, 18 Jan 2021)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
In late 2020 he featured in the 'Let's Get Active with PJ Masks' campaign by World Taekwondo and children's entertainment company Hasbro. The campaign encouraged children around the world to engage in taekwondo. "This campaign by World Taekwondo is a very good opportunity for children to feel closer with taekwondo through a popular animation ['PJ Masks']. When taekwondo is added to such a popular animation and makes children think, 'My favourite characters practise taekwondo', it will be helpful for them to become familiar with the sport. It will also help introduce taekwondo more widely." (tokyo2020.org, 17 Dec 2020; worldtaekwondo.org, 27 Nov 2020)

He became the first Korean taekwondo athlete to win three medals at the Asian Games, following his gold medal in the -68kg category at the 2018 edition of the tournament in Indonesia. He also won gold in the -63kg class at the 2014 and 2010 editions. (nocutnews.co.kr, 23 Aug 2019; SportsDeskOnline, 18 Feb 2020)