Kim began to train
judo
at the age of 9. However he converted his sport into wrestling in 2001.
[1]
Kim first drew international attention in 2006 when he won the silver medal at the World Junior Wrestling Championships and the gold medal at the Asian Junior Wrestling Championships. Kim became a member of the South Korean senior national team in 2010 when he won the gold medal at the
Asian Wrestling Championships
.
[1]
At the
2011 World Wrestling Championships
, Kim won bronze for his first medal at a major competition. In the quarterfinal bout, he beat
2008 Olympic
silver medalist
Vitaliy Rahimov
of
Azerbaijan
2?0. In December 2011, Kim won the gold medal in the men's Greco-Roman 66?kg at the Pre-London Olympics Test Event.
At the
2012 Olympics
, Kim edged out defending Olympic champion
Steeve Guenot
of
France
2?1 in the semifinals. In the final, Kim beat
Tamas L?rincz
of
Hungary
with 2-0 (1:0, 2:0) to give South Korea its first wrestling gold of the London Games.
At the 2016 Summer Olympics, Kim was defeated by Roman Vlasov of Russia in the round of 16 in the 75?kg division. He then defeated Yang Bin of
China
during the repechages and
Bo?o Star?evi?
of
Croatia
to win the bronze medal.
[2]
He was the flag bearer for South Korea during the closing ceremony.
[3]
He competed in the
77
kg
event at the
2022 World Wrestling Championships
held in Belgrade, Serbia.
[4]