Kim Jae-bum (김재범) (Korean pronunciation:[kim.dʑɛ̝.bʌm]; born 25 January 1985, in Gimcheon, Gyeongsangbuk-do) is a retired South Koreanjudoka.[1] Despite being plagued with injuries throughout his career, Kim is known for dominating major competitions at the half-middleweight category (81 kg)—particularly between his Olympic debut in 2008 and his 2012 Olympic finals rematch against Ole Bischof.[2]
Kim has had several nicknames, including "Man of One Arm Wins" for his successes through injury, "Korean Tiger" for his aggressive play and iconic status in South Korean judo, and "Energizer Bunny" for his quick and relentless style of judo.[3][4]
Kim was considered one of the Big Three Judokas of the -73 kg class in South Korea, along with Lee Won-hee and Wang Ki-chun. But in 2007, he moved up in weight to avoid the fierce competition,[7] and won a gold medal in the -81 kg category at the 2008 Asian Judo Championships in Jeju.
At the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Kim won the silver medal in the -81 kg class.[8] In the preliminary rounds, he defeated 2006 European champion Serguei Shundikov of Belarus by points, and 2007 European champion Robert Krawczyk of Poland by ippon. Kim edged out 2008 European champion João Neto of Portugal by points in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, Kim beat 2005 World Champion Guillaume Elmont of the Netherlands. Despite defeating all of the European champions from 2006 to 2008 in the previous rounds, Kim lost in the final round to the 2005 European champion, Ole Bischof of Germany.
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