Confidence increased by winning the World Championships “If I work hard, I think I will win money.”
Heo Mimi answers
Korean women’s judo star Mimi Heo (21, Gyeongbuk Sports Council) expressed confidence toward the 2024 Paris Olympics.
On the 13th, Heo Mimi met with reporters at the Jincheon Athletes’ Village Judo Center in North Chungcheong Province and said, “Actually, I thought it would be difficult to win a medal at the Olympics, but I gained confidence after winning a gold medal at the World Championships.”
Mimi Heo said, “It’s a big competition, so I’m nervous and anxious,” but she shyly but confidently said, “I think I can win a gold medal if I work hard every day. I’ll work hard.“
When asked to choose a rival, he said, “I have many rivals. (Fortunately) players like Christa Deguchi, Japan, and France are on the other side of the Olympic bracket.”
Mimi Heo won the women’s 57kg final at the World Judo Championships last month by defeating world No. 1 Deguchi (Canada) through a foul after an extended struggle.
It was a feat for a Korean female athlete to win the World Championships for the first time in 29 years since Jeong Sung-sook in the women’s 61kg class and Cho Min-seon in the women’s 66kg class in 1995.
Therefore, there is no reason that the Olympic women’s gold medal drought, which has continued for 28 years since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, cannot be ended.
The application form that Heo Mimi wrote herself and submitted to the Korean Judo Association also begins with the sentence, ‘Full confidence!’
The last sentence of the two-sentence candidacy statement is ‘The descendants of independence activists are going to fly the Korean flag in the French sky.’
Heo Mimi is a fifth-generation descendant of independence activist Heo Seok (1857-1920), who was imprisoned for writing an anti-Japanese declaration during the Japanese colonial period.
Heo Mimi, a Korean-Japanese with a Korean father and Japanese mother, chose Korean nationality and wore the Taegeuk symbol according to the will of her grandmother, who passed away in 2021.
Heo Mimi said, “I think about me playing in Korea (as a national team member) because my grandmother told me to do it, so I think about it more (nowadays),” and added, “(If you look at my recent performance), I think you’ll say I did a good job.”
Heo Mimi, who recently visited her hometown in Japan, said, “I ate omelet rice and showed (my parents) the gold medal from the World Championships. My father said, ‘Congratulations so much. Don’t get hurt in the Olympics and work hard.'” 고스톱